Chapter III: Part 3

The plant is--at least partially--a parasite, and preys upon the roots of other plants, which it robs. Probably the lowly forms to which we have referred may be less parasitic than those of greater stature; for if the seeds are sown in pots by themselves they will germinate and grow, but will never get large robust plants.

=Great Reed Mace= (_Typha latifolia_).

Of late years it has become the general error to call this plant Bulrush, a name which belongs by right to _Scirpus lacustris_. Every autumn the hawkers in London and other cities offer the cylindrical spikes of Typha for sale as æsthetic decorations, and call them bulrushes; but they are not the originators of the blunder. It is the artists who have done this thing, especially one Delaroche, whose picture of “The Finding of Moses” is of world-wide popularity. In that painting he depicted the future leader of his people rocking in his ark amid a forest of _Typha_. What more was needed to associate the word bulrush of the Bible (itself a blunder of the learned translators) with this plant?

Typha latifolia.

--TYPHACEÆ.--]

Anthyllis vulneraria.

--LEGUMINOSÆ.--]

There are two British species, perennial plants with long, narrow, grass-like leaves, the bases of which sheath the stem. The stamens and pistils are produced in separate flowers, but upon the same plant. The flowers have no perianth other than a few slender hairs. The staminate flowers occupy the upper portion of the well-known spike or “mace,” and consist simply of several stamens joined together, the anthers opening along their sides. The pistillate flowers consist of a stalked ovary with a slender style and a one-sided narrow stigma. The specific differences are as follows:--

I. Great Reed Mace (_T. latifolia_). Leaves as much as an inch and
a half broad, in two rows, bluish-green. Flowering stem naked, 6
or 7 feet high. Staminate and pistillate spikes continuous, or but
slightly interrupted. Growing in lakes and on the banks of rivers.
Flowering in July and August.

II. Lesser Reed Mace (_T. angustifolia_). Whole plant smaller.
Leaves half the width, dark green, grooved at lower end. Staminate
and pistillate spikes separated by an interval. Stigmas broader.
Ditches and pools. Less common than _latifolia_. Flowering July.

Name from Greek, _Tiphos_, a fen or marsh, from the habitat.

=Kidney Vetch= (_Anthyllis vulneraria_).

The Kidney-vetch or Lady’s fingers was celebrated from early times as a plant that was efficacious in the cure of wounds, and hence its specific name _vulneraria_. There is no doubt that this reputation was well-founded, for its bluish leaves are covered with silky hairs and its calyces downy. It is a perennial herb that affects dry pastures and rocky banks. From a woody rootstock arise several stems and a large number of radical leaves; these consist of a long terminal leaflet and two disproportionately small lateral leaflets. The leaves from the stems (caudal leaves) have a larger number of leaflets in pairs, as well as a terminal one. The flowers are borne in heads, with an involucre of leaflets, and the heads are chiefly in pairs. The calyx is membranous, and therefore permanent, the mouth oblique, with fine teeth. The petals are nearly equal in length, and typically yellow, but subject to considerable variation. After flowering the straw-coloured calyx becomes inflated, and the roundish smooth and veined pod with its solitary seed is hidden within. In some of the coast localities for this plant it will be found with flowers white, cream-coloured, crimson, and purple; this has been especially noted at the Lizard in Cornwall. It is ordinarily in flower from June to August. This is the only British species.

The name is the one in use among the ancient Greeks, and signifies _bearded flower_, which is obviously a reference to the woolly calyces.

=Ox-eye Daisy= (_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_).

We have already given several examples of Composite flowers, and an examination of the Ox-eye Daisy would quickly convince the reader that he has another Composite under consideration. The popular eye noted long ago its similarity to a big daisy, and named it accordingly. In Scotland, too, where _the_ daisy is known as a “gowan,” the resemblance has been recorded by calling the Ox-eye a “horse gowan.” If reference be made back to the Daisy (page 1), it will be seen that the involucre consists of a single series of green scales, whilst in the Ox-eye this part of the flower consists of three or four series of scales with thin brown or purple edges, overlapping each other after the manner of the tiles on a roof. The white ray-florets are notched at the ends, unlike those of the Daisy. The Ox-eye, too, it will be noted, has a distinct stem, the leaves of which differ from those produced directly from the rootstock, being narrower, deeply toothed and stalkless. It is but too abundant in pastures and hay fields, which are effectively whitened by its flowers from May to August. The name is from two Greek words, _Chrysos_, golden, and _anthemon_, flowers, from the golden discs of the flower-heads.

There are two other British species:--

I. Corn Marigold (_C. segetum_). A troublesome annual weed
in cornfields, but as handsome as it is mischievous. Its
ray-florets are of a deep yellow hue, their tips not notched but
divided into two lobes by a central indentation. The involucral
bracts are broad, with wide margins. Flowers June to September.

II. Fever Few (_C. parthenium_). Like the Ox-eye, this is a
perennial plant with a much-branched erect stem, broad pinnate
leaves, downy and aromatic. The flower-heads are small, and are
clustered in many-headed flat-topped bouquets (_corymbs_). The
white rays are short and broad. Whole plant bitter and tonic. Waste
places and hedgebanks. July to September.

Chrysanthemum leucanthemum.

--COMPOSITÆ.--]

Anagallis arvensis.

--PRIMULACEÆ.--

=Chickweed.=

Stellaria media.

--CARYOPHYLLEÆ.--]

=Pimpernel= (_Anagallis arvensis_).

The Scarlet Pimpernel, or Poor Man’s Weather-glass, is one of those wild flowers with which every country-dweller is acquainted, for it has long enjoyed a reputation as a cheap barometer, in consequence of its habit of closing the petals over the essential organs on the approach of rain. The genus _Anagallis_ belongs to the order Primulaceæ, at whose characteristics we have already glanced (_see_ page 2). It has a square stem, which lies along the ground and sends up many erect branches. The leaves are ovate, the margins entire, stalkless, usually borne in pairs, but occasionally in threes or fours. The flowers are produced singly, on very long and slender stalks, from the axils of the leaves. The sepals are narrow, sharp-pointed, almost as long as the corolla. When the flower has passed, their long stalks curve downwards with the globose seed-vessel. When these are ripe they open by a clean fissure all round, so that the upper half falls off and discloses the numerous seeds. There is a variety often found with blue flowers, which was formerly regarded as a distinct species, but experiments with the seeds have proved it to be a mere variety. One or other of these forms is common in all fields and wastes from May till November.

The Bog Pimpernel (_A. tenella_) is a distinct and very beautiful
species. It has a creeping and rooting stem, with small
broadly-ovate leaves on short stalks. The flower-stalks are shorter
and stouter than in _arvensis_, and the sepals much shorter than
the graceful pale-rosy funnel-shaped corolla, which is very large
in proportion to the leaves and stem. It may be found in boggy
places growing amid sphagnum-moss, and flowering in July and
August. The name _Anagallis_ is the old Greek name, and is made up
of _ana_, again, and _agallo_, to adorn.

=Chickweed= (_Stellaria media_). Plate 54.

To utilize a blank space we have printed the portrait of the lowly and ubiquitous Chickweed, a plant that has followed English pioneers wherever they have gone about the world. It is thoroughly known to all, but for particulars concerning it and the genus the reader is referred to page 62.

=Fennel= (_Fœniculum officinale_).

To see the Fennel in its native haunts we must seek the coast where there are cliffs, up whose face we shall find its tall, stout, jointed stems and _umbellate_ flowers. In this plant we make acquaintance with an important Natural Order, the Umbelliferæ, which includes such useful plants as Celery, Parsley, Carrot, Parsnip, Asafœtida, Anise, Dill, Hemlock, etc. The prevailing characteristics of this order are: The stems are hollow; the leaves, with few exceptions, are divided; the leaf-stalk at its base expands and forms a sheath to the stem; the flowers borne on long stalks arranged like the ribs of an umbrella; the flowers five-parted, the ovary below the petals and stamens, and the fruit what is known as a _cremocarp_.

Fennel grows to a height of three or four feet, with a round and tubular, but almost solid stem, quite solid at the joints, and grooved. The leaves are so much divided that the divisions are merely many green threads. The flowers are individually minute, the petals yellow, but to give them greater prominence they are gathered into umbels, and these are arranged in _umbels of umbels_, or what botanists would term _compound_ umbels.

The ovary consists of two carpels placed face to face, in each of which is a single seed suspended like a nut in its shell (_pericarp_). Each of the carpels with its ripe seed is termed a _mericarp_, and the entire fruit is a _cremocarp_. It is hard on the reader to fling all these technical terms at him at once, but in truth there is no help for it. If he wishes to become acquainted with the extensive order of Umbelliferous plants he must constantly use these terms, for the fruits play an important part in distinguishing umbellifers of various genera.

Fœniculum officinale.

--UMBELLIFERÆ.--]

Drosera rotundifolia.

--DROSERACEÆ.--]

The mericarps in Fennel are half-round, and marked on the outside with five ridges, which mark the lines of union of the sepals (which are adherent to the carpels) and the central keels of the sepals. Between these ridges are tubes (_vittæ_) containing essential-oil, and it is to their presence that fruits of this order owe their aromatic qualities.

=The Round-leaved Sundew= (_Drosera rotundifolia_).

The Sundews, of which we have three native species, must be sought out, for they seldom obtrude themselves on the attention of those whose eyes have not been trained to see them. They must be looked for in peat bogs, and in hollows on sandy heaths, where they grow in crowds. The leaves of _D. rotundifolia_ arise from a slender rootstock, and lie on the ground in the form of a rosette, from the centre of which the tall slender flower-stalks appear in July and August. Each leaf bears near the upper margins several rows of long crimson glands, terminating in rounded heads, and reminding one of a sea-anemone’s tentacles; indeed, they serve a similar purpose. These glands secrete a clear sticky fluid, which serves to detain small insects that crawl over the leaf. Their efforts to free themselves irritate the glands, which all bend over to the insect; at the same time the margins of the leaf-blade begin to become incurved, and the insect is effectually secured in the hollow, ultimately being digested and the soft parts assimilated by the plant. Readers desiring to learn more of these curious habits of the plant are advised to grow it in a saucer of peat, and to read Mr. Darwin’s celebrated work on “Insectivorous Plants.”

The leaf in this species, as its name signifies, has a round blade, and this is attached to a long hairy leaf-stalk. In the Narrow-leaved Sundew (_D. intermedia_) the blade is spoon-shaped, and merges insensibly into the smooth leaf-stalk. In the third species, or Long-leaved Sundew (_D. anglica_) the entire leaf is similar to that of _intermedia_, but twice the length. In neither of the long-leaved species are the leaves laid flat as in _rotundifolia_; those of _intermedia_ are erect, whilst those of _anglica_ are borne half-erect. _D. anglica_ is rare in the South of England; the others are well distributed. The name is derived from the Greek, _Drosera_, dewy, in allusion to the bedewed appearance of the leaves.

=Barberry= (_Berberis vulgaris_).

The Common Barberry is a spiny shrub, growing in hedge and copse, and brightening the spot from April to June with its strings of yellow flowers, and later in the year with its oblong red berries. Its shoots attain a height of from six to eight feet, and are clothed in a whitish bark, the wood being yellow. The flowers include eight or nine sepals and six petals: the outer sepals are very small and liable to be overlooked. The petals are in two series, and at the base of each petal are two honey-secreting glands, which induce the visits of honey-loving insects. There are six stamens, which ordinarily lie along the centre of the petals, their bases highly irritable. In an open flower like this any insect can get at the honey, but it is not easy to do so without touching the base of one of the stamens; on this being done the stamen springs forward, and the anthers strike the insect, dusting it with pollen, and in some cases driving it away. This mechanism may be tested by touching the base of a stamen with the point of a pin.

The Barberry is very liable to the attacks of a minute fungus, a stage in the development of wheat-rust (_Uredo graminis_). The name _Berberis_ is the Arabic title of the plant.

Berberis vulgaris.

--BERBERIDEÆ.--]

Viola tricolor.

--VIOLACEÆ.--]

=Wild Pansy= (_Viola tricolor_).

We have already given the general characters of the Violet family on page 4, where the reader was referred to this page for a notice of the British species other than _V. odorata_. The present species, _V. tricolor_, differs from all the others in the fact that the two upper petals are very erect instead of leaning forward, and in the stipules being developed into large leaf-like organs. In addition, this species produces none of the _cleistogamous_ flowers. The leaves, too, assume forms very different from those of the typical species. The flowers vary from white, through yellow to purple, or there may be a mixture of two or more of these tints. They grow in pastures and the waste corners of various fields, flowering from May to September, and are generally distributed. The other species are:--

I. Marsh Violet (_V. palustris_). Growing among _Sphagnum_ in bogs.
Flowers lilac or white, scentless, and with short blunt spur. April
to July.

II. Hairy Violet (_V. hirta_). Similar to _V. odorata_, but more
compact, more hairy, the leaves narrower and more deeply toothed;
spur long, hooked. Odour slight or wholly wanting. A local species
occurring in dry soils. April to June.

III. Dog Violet (_V. canina_). Rootstock produced into a
distinct stem, bearing flowers. Sepals narrow, pointed. Leaves
_not_ enlarging after flowering, as do those of _V. odorata_,
_palustris_, and _hirta_; on long foot-stalks. Plant more or less
smooth. Flowers from April to August, on banks everywhere.

IV. Wood Violet (_V. sylvatica_). Plant smooth. Central rootstock
short, with a rosette of leaves, from which branches are given off
all round. From these branches only are flowers produced. Spur
short and broad. Leaves broad. Copses and woods. March to July.
Often closely resembling _V. canina_, of which it may be only a
variety.

V. Sand Violet (_V. arenaria_). A very rare, compact, hairy plant.
Leaves much rounder than the preceding. Petals broad, pale blue.
Spur short. Recorded from Upper Teasdale and Westmoreland only;
flowering in May and June.

=Round-leaved Mint= (_Mentha rotundifolia_).

Everybody knows a Mint when he comes upon it, by reason of its pungent odour, well represented by Spear-mint (_Mentha viridis_), the cultivated herb of kitchen gardens. Spear-mint is held to be only a naturalized, not a native species, unless it be in one corner of our country--West Yorks. We have, however, seven species that may be set down as natives, but they are a rather troublesome group for the botanical student; there are so many varieties, hybrids, and sub-species, which tend to connect the species and make it difficult to determine the identity of some specimens. With the exception of the Corn-mint (_M. arvensis_), they are all inhabitants of wet and marshy wastes, flowering in August and September. They are Labiate plants, and therefore the reader will know what type of flower to expect (_see_ pages 21 and 23 _ante_). These flowers are individually small, but rendered more conspicuous by being borne in dense whorls, the whorls being often so many and so close together as to form long spikes of bloom. They are all perennial herbs, with square stems and rootstocks, the latter creeping on or just below the surface of the ground, and giving off runners freely. _Mentha rotundifolia_ has broadly ovate, wrinkled, stalkless leaves, the edges indented with rounded teeth, and woolly on the underside. Flower-spikes dense, though with slight intervals between the whorls. The colour of the flowers varies from pink to white. The other species are:--

I. Horse-Mint (_M. sylvestris_). Leaves stalkless, more tapering to
a point than in _M. rotundifolia_, smooth above, sharply toothed,
whitish beneath. Stem covered with white woolly hairs. Flowers
lilac, spike continuous. Rare.

II. Peppermint (_M. piperata_). Leaves stalked, margins with large
teeth, smooth above, a few hairs along the nervures underneath.
Flowers purplish in spikes.

III. Water-Mint (_M. aquatica_). A very common form in marshes and
by riversides, covered with soft hairs. Stout spikes, lilac or
purple. Leaves stalked.

IV. Marsh-mint (_M. sativa_). In this and the two following species
the whorls are produced from the axils of the leaves instead of as
a terminal spike. The leaves are stalked, with sharp teeth. Flowers
purplish. The throat of calyx smooth, calyx-teeth lance-shaped,
ending in a fine point.

V. Corn-mint (_M. arvensis_). Leaves with blunt teeth. Calyx very
hairy, teeth shorter than in last, triangular. Corolla hairy,
purplish. Cornfields and waste places.

Mentha rotundifolia.

--LABIATÆ.--]

Symphytum officinale.

--BORAGINEÆ.--]

VI. Pennyroyal (_M. pulegium_). Calyx two-lipped, downy or hairy, with hairy throat. Leaves small, with short stalks, slightly toothed, recurved. Stem much-branched. Odour powerful.

=Common Comfrey= (_Symphytum officinale_).

Often in May and June, as we wander by the riverbank or brookside, we shall happen upon this very coarse but striking plant, though its flowers may not be of the hue depicted here; its colour varies from pale yellow to red and purple. It is one of those plants whose individuality is so strong that, once seen, it will not be forgotten or confused with any other species. It has a branched rootstock, giving off stalked leaves, and an erect angular stem. The stem-leaves are all but stalkless, their bases running down the stem in such a manner as to give it a winged character. The whole plant is rough with bristles. The genus belongs to the order Boragineæ, whose floral structure has been already described (_see_ pages 9 and 26 _ante_), but the present inflorescence may be noted as a capital example of the “scorpioid cyme,” so called from its curve resembling the curl in a scorpion’s tail!

There is another British species, the Tuberous Comfrey (_S.
tuberosum_), which is usually found in wet copses, but not south
of Bedford. It is not nearly so rough as its congener, although
distinctly hairy. Rootstock thickened, radical leaves with longer
stalks than in _S. officinale_. The stem-leaves do not run far down
the stem, so that it is not so obviously winged, and the flowers
are smaller. Pale yellow. June and July.

The name is derived from the Greek _sumphuo_, to unite, it having
great reputation formerly as a woundwort.

=Common Red Poppy= (_Papaver rhœas_).

The Poppy is another of those plants concerning which it may be thought that neither illustration nor description is necessary; but there are poppies and poppies; and though the rambler may gather a bunch of flowers from various situations and consider them all the same, a few words of description may serve to point out considerable differences.

Through the Poppy we make acquaintance with another Natural Order, the Papaveraceæ, and its typical genus, Papaver. The plants comprised in the genus are annual herbs, with milky juice of a narcotic nature. The flowers are borne on very long slender stalks, and consist of two concave sepals, which are thrown off by the expanding of the four crumpled petals. The pistil, which afterwards develops into the familiar “poppy-head,” is surmounted by the many stigmas which form a rayed disk.

I. The Common Poppy (_P. rhœas_), which is so unpleasantly abundant
in cornfields south of the Tay, has branched bristly stems and
pinnate leaves, the points of the lobes directed upward and ending
each in a bristle. The bristles on the flower-stalks stand out at
right angles, or nearly so. This is an important character. The
scarlet flowers are large (3 or 4 inches in diameter), the petals
in two unequal pairs. Rays of stigma eight to twelve. Capsule
smooth and short, slightly stalked above the receptacle. Flowers
June to September.

II. Round Rough-headed Poppy (_P. hybridum_). Leaves only slightly
bristly. Flower small (1 to 2 inches), scarlet, with a black patch
at the base of each petal. Stigmatic rays, four to eight. Capsule
more globose than the preceding species. Dry sandy and chalky
fields south of Durham and Carnarvon. May to July.

III. Long Prickly-headed Poppy (_P. argemone_). Similar to last,
but smaller and weaker in all respects--in fact, our smallest
species. Petals narrow and paler in colour. Capsule bristly,
club-shaped. Stigmatic rays, four to six. Cornfields. May to August.

IV. Long Smooth-headed Poppy (_P. dubium_). Similar to _P. rhœas_,
but the bristles are pressed against the stalk upwards. Flowers
large, petals broad, but in unequal pairs, light scarlet. Stigmatic
rays, six to twelve. Capsule slender, smooth, tapering downwards,
not stalked above receptacle. Cornfields. May to August.

=The Greater Stitchwort= (_Stellaria holostea_)

One of the prettiest and most characteristic sights of Spring is the mass of brittle, grass-like stems and leaves of the Greater Stitchwort, crowned by the numerous flowers of gleaming white clear-cut stars. It starts life as an erect-growing plant, but is soon fain to lean against the other constituents of the hedgerow as its stems elongate but grow no stouter. It is a perennial plant, and its four-angled stems make their appearance very early in the year. The long, narrow, rigid, sharp-pointed leaves are arranged in pairs, which are more or less connected at their bases. The flowers are produced in a panicle of a few flowers only, which consist of five almost nerveless sepals, five petals which are as long again as the sepals and cleft almost to the middle. They are succeeded by a globose capsule containing many seeds. There are ten stamens and three styles. Flowers April to June.

Papaver rhœas.

--PAPAVERACEÆ.--]

Stellaria holostea.

--CARYOPHYLLEÆ.--]

The genus Stellaria is included in the Natural Order Caryophylleæ, or the Pink tribe, of which we shall have further examples.

I. The Lesser Stitchwort (_S. graminea_) is a similar, but much
more slender plant, with exceedingly narrow leaves, smaller flowers
arranged in a much-branched panicle, and with red anthers. After
flowering the flower-stalks hang downwards, but afterwards rise to
a horizontal position. The sepals are as long as the narrow petals,
united at their bases, and have three nerves. Capsule nodding.
Flowers May to July.

II. The Marsh Stitchwort (_S. palustris_). Smooth, with a fine
bloom (_glaucous_). Sepals united at base, three-nerved, not so
long as the petals. Flowers solitary on long stalks. Marshes and
wet places. May to July.

III. The Common Chickweed (_S. media_), which we have already
figured (plate 54 _ante_), is also a member of this genus. The
stem trails along the ground, is very brittle and marked with a
line of fine hairs up one side. The flowers are inconspicuous, on
account of the sepals being longer than the petals, which are,
in fact, often absent altogether. It grows everywhere, and maybe
found flowering throughout the year. It has followed the Englishman
wherever he has gone about the earth.

The name of the genus is from the Latin, _Stella_, a star, in
reference to the star-like character of the blossoms.

=Silverweed= (_Potentilla anserina_).

The beautiful but too common Silverweed may be taken as a good representative of a genus of Rose-worts that may be conveniently called Cinquefoils, although the leaf of this species has many instead of five divisions. This is the plant that grows in dense patches by the roadside, erecting its long pinnate silky leaves and showing the silvery-greyness of the underside. Its rootstock is the centre from which many rooting runners radiate. The toothed leaflets are not opposite, as may appear at first sight, but alternate; and there is the very peculiar arrangement of two minute leaflets being placed between each two large ones. The flowers are large in proportion to the plant, of one uniform yellow, and borne singly on a long stalk. The calyx is cleft into ten lobes, the petals are five, stamens and carpels many. Although it is a common roadside weed, it may also be met growing abundantly and much more luxuriantly in wet pastures. It flowers chiefly from June to August, and sparingly much later in the year.

Among its more immediate congeners may be noted:--

I. The Tormentil (_P. tormentilla_), a tiny plant that is abundant
on heaths and dry pastures. It has a thick rootstock, and slender,
hairy, creeping stems. The leaves are cut into three, sometimes
five, fingers, which are more or less wedge-shaped, the free end
lobed or toothed. Flowers yellow, and similar to those of _P.
anserina_, but smaller, and usually with only four petals. June to
September.

II. Creeping Cinquefoil (_P. reptans_). Similar to _P. tormentilla_
but larger. Leaflets five, sometimes three, petals five. Meadows
and waysides. June to September.

III. Barren Strawberry (_P. fragariastrum_). Flowers white. March
to June. The general characters of this impostor have been given
on page 27, when describing the Wild Strawberry. The plant has a
general silkiness which is foreign to the strawberry.

The name of the genus is from the Latin, _potens_, powerful, some
of the species having formerly considerable reputation as medicines.

=Small Bindweed= (_Convolvulus arvensis_).

With the appearance of the delicately fragrant Bindweed in our fields the season for summer flowers may be said to have fairly set in. Its grace of form and colour makes it a general favourite, but it resents being plucked, and closes its pink cups almost immediately. It has a perennial rootstock, which creeps and branches underground, taking possession of much soil, and sending up many slender twining stems clothed with spear-shaped leaves. The sepals are five in number, but the petals are entirely united to form a funnel-shaped corolla; though the five folds and lobes indicate the origin of the funnel. The flowers are honeyed, and are much frequented by long-tongued insects, which have to push against the anthers in order to reach the honey, carrying away pollen with which to fertilize another flower. Like a careful, thrifty plant the Bindweed closes in wet weather, and at night, that its honey may not be reduced in quality. It flowers from June to September.

Potentilla anserina.

--ROSACEÆ.--]

Convolvulus arvensis.

--CONVOLVULACEÆ.--]

The Hooded Bindweed (_C. sepium_) is one of the most distinguished
of our wild flowers, and it is almost impossible to see its
large, pure white flowers ornamenting the hedge without desiring
to acquire them. In general form it is like _C. arvensis_,
but very much larger. Instead of being content to twine among
low-growing herbs as that species, it climbs up the thickets to
a height of 6 or 7 feet. In addition to the calyx this species
has an enveloping pair of large inflated heart-shaped bracts--the
“hood” of its popular name. The rootstock is thick and tuberous.
Though it possesses honey it is not odorous, and appears to be,
in consequence, but little visited by insects; it is, therefore,
careless of the quality of its honey, and does not close its
flowers in the rain, nor on moonlight nights, though it does so
on dark nights. Sometimes the flowers are tinged or streaked with
pink. Flowers June to August.

There is a third native species, the Seaside Convolvulus (_C.
soldanella_), which does not twine, or but rarely. It has a long
creeping rhizome, slender stems, and fleshy, kidney-shaped leaves.
Its large rosy flowers are not numerous. There are two bracts, as
in _C. sepium_, but they are smaller than the unequal sepals. It
may frequently be found on sandy shores, and flowers from June to
August.

=The Greater Celandine= (_Chelidonium majus_).

We have already described (page 6 _ante_) a plant bearing the name of Lesser Celandine, and we would at once warn the reader that the Greater Celandine is not even distantly related to the Lesser. Here is an illustration of the dangers that arise from dependence upon the folk-names of plants and animals. The novice would reasonably assume that the Lesser and the Greater Celandines differed only in point of size, whereas the resemblance that struck our forefathers appears to have consisted merely in both plants being in flower what time the swallow (_Chelidon_) returns to our shores. _Chelidonium majus_ is really a kind of poppy, whilst _Ranunculus ficaria_ is a buttercup.

There is only one British species of Chelidonium, a perennial plant, with erect branching stems. The true poppies have a milky juice: this plant, like the Welsh-poppy (_Meconopsis_), and the Horned-poppy (_Glaucium_) has a yellow juice. The leaf is much divided, the leaflets deeply lobed, with somewhat of a resemblance to an oak-leaf. The rather small yellow flowers are combined in umbels, borne on a long stalk, to be out of the way of the somewhat erect leaves. There are two sepals and four petals, as in _Papaver_, but the fruit, instead of being an urn-like capsule as in that genus, is a long pod with two valves, which separate from the base upwards.

It is a plant of the hedgerow and waste ground, where it may be found in flower from May to August. The yellow juice, which is very acrid and poisonous, had formerly a reputation as an eye medicine, and as a caustic for the burning away of warts.

=Ragged Robin= (_Lychnis flos-cuculi_).

Like the Celandines, this plant was known to our fathers as a Cuckoo-flower; in fact, in many parts of the country its name is still “Cuckoo-flower,” but as that title is also given to the Ladies’-smock confusion is caused by its use. It is one of the Campions, a genus of graceful plants that is included in the Natural Order of the Pinks (Caryophylleæ).

The habit of the plant will suggest the Stitchwort, to which it is not very distantly related. It is a perennial plant, delighting in moist places, whether wet meadows, ditch banks or bogs. The leaves that spring directly from the slender rootstock are stalked; those on the reddish stem are not. The calyx is dark red, with purple veins; the rosy petals cut into four eccentric narrow segments. The flowers produce honey, and the stamens come to maturity before the stigmas, thus favouring cross-fertilization. Flowers May to August.

Chelidonium majus.

--PAPAVERACEÆ.--]

Lychnis flos-cuculi.

--CARYOPHYLLEÆ.--]

There is another common rosy-flowered Lychnis that occurs in somewhat similar situations. This is:--

The Red Campion (_Lychnis diurna_), with stem covered with soft
hairs, which are sticky near the upper part of the plant. The
flower has a singularly neat appearance, altogether lacking the
ragged character of _flos-cuculi_. The petals, instead of being
deeply cut, as in that species, are merely divided into two lobes.
The calyx is reddish, with triangular teeth. The anthers and
stigmas are produced in separate flowers; occasionally flowers may
be found with both organs, but one or the other will be undeveloped.

The Red Campion is a plant of the hedge-bank and the copse, where
it may be found in flower from June to September. In Cornwall it
keeps fully in flower till the end of the year. This page was
written there a few days before Christmas, when the fern-clad rocky
hedgerows were lit up with great numbers of the flowers of Red
Campion and Herb-Robert.

The name Lychnis is from the Greek, _Luchnos_, a lamp or torch, the
application of which is obscure.

=Bluebottle or Cornflower= (_Centaurea cyanus_).

The Centaureas are closely allied to the thistles, and share with them that hard-headedness which makes the thistle so good a type of the canny Scot. The Bluebottle must not be sought in the company of the thistles on wastes and in neglected corners of pasture, but, as one of its folk-names indicates, in the cornfield. Beginning to flower in June, it keeps up the display of bright blue until the reapers cut it down.

Bluebottle is a composite flower, and it should afford interest to the reader, when he finds the blossoms, to institute a comparison between it and that of the Daisy or other of the Composites we have already described.

The thin stem is but slightly branched, and the long lower leaves are much cut up and very attenuated. Nearer the summit of the stems the leaves are simpler, and reduced to a very slight width. The stems and the under sides of the leaves are covered with loose cottony fibres. The flower-heads have for involucre a number of greenish scales, with toothed brown margins. The ray-florets are bright blue, their free ends divided into five teeth; the inner or disc-florets are much darker. The stamens are irritable, and if touched withdraw into the tube.

There are five other British species of _Centaurea_, of which several are rare or extremely local in their distribution. The more frequent species are:--

I. Black Knapweed (_C. nigra_). Leaves rough, entire or lobed, the
lower ones with stalks. The heads large and globose, as much as an
inch and a half in diameter. Involucral scales circular, brown,
toothed. Florets purple. Common in meadows and pastures. June to
September.

II. Greater Knapweed, or Hard Heads (_C. scabiosa_). The leaves are
deeply pinnate, like the lower ones of Bluebottle. Heads as much as
two inches diameter. Involucral scales cottony, with dark brown,
almost black, margin, and paler fringe. Florets rich purple. Waste
places. July to September.

=Round-leaved Mallow= (_Malva rotundifolia_).

The Round-leaved or Dwarf Mallow is not so well known as the Common Mallow (_M. sylvestris_), though it is nearly as common. Its flowers are small, and not nearly so conspicuous as those of _sylvestris_. Like that plant it is found growing by the wayside and on waste places where garden refuse, etc., is dumped. Our three species of _Malva_ are all perennials, and all possess tough fibrous stems. Those of _rotundifolia_ are downy, and lie along the ground and bear many lobed, often toothed, leaves, whose general outline is circular. The flowers are clustered in the axils, and consist of a five-parted calyx, to which is attached a kind of involucre of three bracts, and five distant petals, their tips with a central notch. There are ten styles, the inner surfaces of which are stigmatic; they curl about in various directions, mingling with the numerous anthers, and so ensuring self-fertilization. The fruit consists of a large number of one-seeded carpels arranged in a circle, but easily becoming detached after ripening. Flowers June to September.

Centaurea cyanus.

--COMPOSITÆ.--]

Malva rotundifolia.

--MALVACEÆ.--]

The other species are:--

I. Common Mallow (_M. sylvestris_). Its stems are erect, somewhat
hairy. Leaves more distinctly lobed. Flowers large, the petals
heart-shaped, pale purple (mauve). The anthers mature before the
stigmas, unlike _M. rotundifolia_, where both organs mature
at the same time. This brings out an interesting point in their
relations to insects, as shown by H. Müller. The styles, instead
of mingling with the anthers, hold themselves strictly above the
drooping stamens, and self-fertilization is impossible. To secure
cross-fertilization the flowers are large, and more showy than in
_rotundifolia_, and attract many insects, which bring and carry
pollen. June to September.

II. Musk Mallow (_M. moschatus_). Flowers not quite so large as the
last, rosy, clustered at end of erect stems. Leaves divided into
five to seven segments, which are nearly pinnate. Very slight odour
of musk when the leaves are passed through the hands. Dry meadows
and hedgerows. July and August. The Marsh-mallow belongs to another
genus (_Althæa_).

=Chicory or Succory= (_Cichorium intybus_). Plate 69.

The Wild Chicory is peculiarly a plant of the dry roadside, especially in chalky districts, where it is a striking feature. The rigid erectness of its stems is not pleasing, but the bright, pale-blue flowers, attached to the stem without the intervention of flower-stalks, arrest attention. Its thick, fleshy tap-root is the substance that, when roasted and ground, bulks so largely in “The finest French Coffees, as sold in Paris,” of our grocers. For this purpose it is cultivated on a large scale in Germany and Belgium.

If reference be made to the figure of the Dandelion on page 20 it will be seen that there is considerable resemblance between the leaves of the two. The radical leaves of Chicory spread themselves out, rosette fashion, upon the ground; the few that are scattered alternately up the somewhat hairy stem clasp the latter with the two lobes at their base. The flowers are usually in pairs. The involucre consists of two series of bracts, the outer row being reflexed, and shorter than the inner. The tubes of the ray-florets are split open, so that the rays are broad and strap-shaped, with a straight end notched into five teeth. It flowers from July to October.

The generic name is from an old Greek name for the plant, and a similar word is in use in nearly all the languages of civilization.

=Vernal Wood-rush= (_Luzula vernalis_).

The Rushes as a whole (_Juncus_ and _Luzula_) form a group of plants that is generally despised, except for weaving into mats, and, in other days, for providing wicks for rush-lights. We have in the one genus cylindric, in the other flattened grass-like, leaves, and inconspicuous flowers of green or brown; and yet the evolutionists tell us on the evidence of those flowers that the rushes are descendants of a noble family--the lilies--who have in the struggle for existence taken to a less showy _rôle_ in life, in order that they might be included in the list of the surviving “fittest.” The truth of this will be apparent if we take the flower of a present-day lily--a tulip or a tiger-lily will do--and compare it with this Vernal Wood-rush. We shall find every part of the lily reproduced in the rush-flower on a small scale, with the greatest economy of materials.

The Wood-rushes (_Luzula_) are all perennial plants. Their leaves are like the blades of soft grass, the edges fringed with long white silky hairs. The floral leaves (_perianth_) are six in number, in two series, and are chaffy in texture. Stamens six. The ovary is broad, narrowing to the summit, upon which is the style, ending in three long stigmas covered with minute raised points. The fruit is a one-celled, three-valved capsule, containing three seeds at the bottom. In _L. vernalis_ the flowers are chestnut brown, with the perianth-segments shorter than the blunt-topped capsule, and pointed at the tips; clustered in twos and threes and grouped in lax cymes. The radical leaves are broad (¼ inch), soft and sparingly hairy. Woods and shady places, flowering March to May. Other members of the genus are:--

Cichorium intybus.

--COMPOSITÆ.--]

Luzula vernalis.

--JUNCEÆ.--]

I. The Great Hairy Wood-rush (_L. maxima_) is much larger, the
leaves sometimes half an inch broad and a foot long, sparsely
hairy. Flowers paler, three or four clustered; cymes large,
compound. Woods and heaths. May and June.

II. Narrow-leaved Wood-rush (_L. forsteri_). Similar to _L.
vernalis_, but more slender and taller. Capsule pointed. Shady
places on chalk or gravel, not farther north than South Wales and
Oxford. April to June.

III. Field Wood-rush (_L. campestris_). Rootstock creeping. Leaves
very hairy. Perianth segments longer than the broad rounded and
spiked capsule. Flowers in dense clusters of three or four, in
short cymes. Heaths and pastures. April to June.

IV. Spiked Mountain Wood-rush (_L. spicata_). This and the next
are purely mountain species, restricted to an altitude of one to
over four thousand feet for _spicata_, and from three to over
four thousand for _arcuata_. The leaves are narrow, leathery,
and the hairiness is confined to the lower end. Flowers smaller
than the silvery, chaffy, awned scales (_bracteoles_) below
them. The perianth segments end in awns, and are longer than the
abruptly-pointed capsule. The cymes are densely flowered, drooping
and spike-like. Flowers in July.

V. Curved Mountain Wood-rush (_L. arcuata_). The smallest, rarest,
and most distinct of our native species. The stems do not exceed
about 4 inches, and are proportionately stout. Rootstock creeping.
Leaves short, narrow, leathery, slightly hairy. Flowers dark brown,
three to five in a cluster, in lax cymes; the perianth segments
extended into a point. Bracteoles pointed, not awned, not silvery.
Mountains in Scotland only. July.

=The Greater Dodder= (_Cuscuta europæa_).

There are two Dodders indigenous to this country, and we have the misfortune to have introduced a third with flax-seed from abroad. The one figured is the Greater Dodder, which is usually found clinging in a tangle round the stems of nettles, oats, thistles, vetches, etc. This close embrace is sinister in character, for, as may be guessed from the entire absence of leaves and green-colouring matter, the plant is a parasite. Its stem is a mere thread, varying from red to yellow in hue, and having at frequent intervals bunches of reddish flowers. These are very small, but if separated will be found to consist of a four- or five-parted calyx, a persistent pitcher-shaped corolla of similar parts, and stamens to match. Styles two, entirely within the flower. This species is not found north of Yorkshire, and is everywhere rare. It flowers from July to September. The common species, to be found growing on thyme, heather, and furze, is,--

The Lesser Dodder (_C. epithymum_), with finer stems of a more
crimson tint, and the styles protruding. There is a variety of
this which confines its attention to the clover plant, and has, in
consequence, been raised to the dignity of a separate species by
some authors (_C. trifolii_). In addition there is the Flax-dodder
(_C. epilinum_), previously alluded to as having been introduced
from the Continent with flax-seed.

Owing to the serious nature of the attacks of this foreign invader
upon our flax-crops Professor Buckman was induced years ago to
experiment, with the object of elucidating its mode of growth. He
found that seeds of Dodder sown strictly apart from any host-plants
germinated in four days, and on the sixth a thread-like plant was
seeking a foster-parent, but by the eighth, not having succeeded in
its object, it died. Others were sown in company with flax-seed,
and in a few days the young dodders attached themselves to the
young flax-plants, made one or two tight coils round the victims,
whose growth soon lifted the dodders right out of the soil, and
thereupon the parasites sent aerial roots into the flax, and
their natural roots dwindled and perished. Thereafter its true
parasitical growth is most rapid, to the detriment of the foster
plant.

The genus is included in the Natural Order Convolvulaceæ.

=Corn Cockle= (_Githago segetum_). Plate 72.

Wandering through or round the cornfields any time from June to September we are almost sure to find this beautiful flower. It is first cousin to the Lychnis, already described, and in general structure agrees with it, only differing from it in having a leathery calyx, and in the absence of the crown of little scales which surround the mouth of the corolla-tube in Lychnis. They produce honey, but owing to the length of the tube it is only accessible to the long tongues of butterflies and moths, who are instrumental in effecting its cross-fertilization. The plant is an annual, with erect branching stem, clothed with white hairs. The leaves are long and narrow, four or five inches long. The woolly calyx is in one, strongly ribbed, with five very long leaf-like teeth, that considerably exceed the petals in length. The flowers are purple, and measure nearly two inches across.

This is the only native species; indeed, some writers consider it to be only an introduced plant--a form of _Agrostemma gracilis_ that has been altered by its continuous growth in our cultivated fields.

Cuscuta europæa.

--CONVOLVULACEÆ.--]

Githago segetum.

--CARYOPHYLLEÆ.--]

=Purple Medick or Lucerne= (_Medicago sativa_). Plate 73.

Though the rambler will find this handsome plant growing apparently wild in the hedgerow and on the borders of fields, he must not too hastily conclude it is a native. The species has been largely grown here as a green fodder plant, for which it is highly esteemed, and it has escaped from the fields and reproduced itself without man’s aid. A glance at its flowers will show it is a leguminous plant. Its stems are hollow, branched; its leaves trifoliate, with long-pointed stipules at the base of the leaf-stalk. From the axils of the leaves arise long stalks, whose free ends are crowded with the deep purple (sometimes yellow) flowers. A peculiarity of this genus consists in the seed pod being more or less spirally twisted. In the present species it is downy and has two or three coils. It flowers from May to July.

It has been thought to be a cultivated variety of the next species, _M. falcata_. The name _Medicago_ is from the old Greek _medike_, so-called because it was introduced into Greece by the Medes. The following species also occur in this country:--

I. Yellow Sickle Medick (_M. falcata_), with yellow (sometimes
violet) flowers, and a flat downy pod coiled in the shape of a
sickle or a ring. Dry gravelly banks, old walls and sandy wastes
in the Eastern Counties. June and July. This and _M. sativa_ are
perennials; the following are annuals:--

II. Black Medick or Nonsuch (_M. lupulina_). So much like
_Trifolium procumbens_, described on p. 49, that farmers have given
it the name of Hop-Trefoil, which properly belongs to the latter
species, from which this may be easily separated by noting that the
black kidney-shaped pods are naked, that is, not wrapped in the
dried flower. It should also be observed that the pods are marked
by prominent veins running throughout their length. Flowers small,
crowded, yellow. Waste grounds and cultivated fields. May to August.

III. Reticulated Medick (_M. denticulata_). Stems creeping.
Leaflets heart-shaped, toothed. Flowers yellow, in umbels. Pod
beautifully covered with network of veins; broad, flat, and coiled
into a spiral; edges with double row of spines. South and Eastern
Counties, and Ireland. May to August.

IV. Spotted Medick (_M. maculata_). Similar to last, but pod more
globose, network faint, the spines long and curved. Leaflets often
with black spot in centre. Leaf-stalk hairy. Gravelly pastures and
hedgebanks in England and South Ireland. May to August.

=Yellow Iris or Flag= (_Iris pseudacorus_). Plate 74.

Fringing our rivers, ditches and lakes, the Yellow Iris appears to be defending them with drawn sword. Everybody knows the sharp-edged leaves of this species, that may cut the hands of the gatherer if he be not careful. Equally well-known are the bright blossoms that begin to appear in May and keep up a succession until late in July; but probably most of the unscientific readers who have honoured me with their company thus far--and who have learned, I trust, to know the parts of a flower at sight--would be incorrect in their description of this common flower. Anyway, it will be worth their while dissecting a flower. The parts of the flower are in threes, but the sepals are more petal-like than the petals, and so are the styles. The sepals are in fact the most striking organs; they are broad, and reflexed to form convenient alighting platforms for a heavy humble-bee. The petals are narrow, erect, or curved towards the centre of the flower, to be out of the way of the broader, arching style, which is spread out and coloured like a petal, with the stigmatic surface near the upturned tips. Beneath this arching style lies the anther, similarly curved, and opening away from the stigma.

Note the why and wherefore of this departure from orthodox arrangements of floral organs. At the bottom of the flower-tube honey is secreted, and to obtain this the flower is visited by humble-bees. In order that his long tongue may reach the honey, the bee has to push his head and back against the stigma and the anther. If he has previously visited a flag-flower his back will be covered with pollen, some of which will adhere to the stigma. He will also take away on his head and back some of the pollen from the flower he is now visiting, and will fertilize other flags with it.

There is another British species,--

The Stinking Iris, Gladdon, or Roast-beef plant (_Iris fœtidissima_), with purple sepals, yellow petals and stigmas. Flowers not quite so large as the last. Woods and copses. May to July.

Medicago sativa.

--LEGUMINOSÆ.--]

Iris pseudacorus.

--IRIDEÆ.--]

=Marsh Orchis= (_Orchis latifolia_).

There are nearly forty British species of Orchideæ, divided into sixteen genera; and in the space at our disposal it is impossible to give anything like an adequate account of the group or of the specific characters. An attempt will be made, however, to make the reader acquainted with the general structure by means of three figures. The first of these represents the Marsh Orchis (_O. latifolia_), a species commonly to be met in wet meadows and marshy places, flowering from May to July. The two tubers are _palmate_, that is, more or less flattened like a hand, and terminating in finger-like processes. The leaves chiefly spring from the summit of one of these tubers, the lowest acting as sheath for the next, and so on, the tubular flower-stem rising through all the sheaths. The leaves are oblong, and spotted with purple. The inflorescence is a spike, the flowers crowded upon it, but separated by the long three-nerved green bracts. The structure of these flowers will be found to differ widely from all we have considered in these pages. The perianth is placed above the (consequently _inferior_) ovary, which is twisted. This twist, it will be well to bear in mind, brings the flower “upside down.” The three sepals and the three petals are equally coloured, and it is therefore convenient to speak of them as the perianth. There is only one stamen, which is supported by the pistil. Two of the perianth leaves combine to form a hood over the stamen, and a third is greatly larger than the others, divided into three lobes and hanging down like the lip of a labiate flower. This is known as the _labellum_, and it is continued backwards and downwards as a hollow spur, in which, however, honey is not secreted. At the top of this spur, at the back, is the stigmatic surface, and above it protrudes a fleshy knob, called the _rostellum_, which supports the anther. This organ consists of two lobes, side by side, which open in front, and reveal in each a mass of pollen grains tied together by elastic threads and attached to a slender foot-stalk with a sticky base. This is a tedious description, though we have made it as brief as possible. The reader shall see the reason for it if he will conduct a little experiment. We may premise that these orchids are fertilized by long-tongued insects, who suck the juice through the tender skin lining the spur.

Now for the experiment. Take a finely-pointed pencil, which we will pretend is the head and tongue of a humble-bee in search of this sweet juice. We push the point gently down the spur, when a part of the pencil touches against the rostellum and presses it down, touches lightly the viscid feet of the pollen masses (_pollinia_), and as the pencil is withdrawn both come with it, and stick out from it like a pair of horns. Be careful to hold the pencil in the exact position it now occupies, and watch. The heavy heads of the pollinia are drooping forward, but after a few minutes they cease to fall lower. Now push the pencil into this other flower. _The pollen-masses go directly to the stigma, and some of the pollen is detached._ If you are watching where orchids grow it is no uncommon thing to see insects flying around with these pollinia attached to their heads or tongues like a pair of horns.

It will be seen to be impossible for the pollen to fall upon the stigma of the same flower, and from its elastic attachments it is impossible that it should be carried by the wind to another flower, so that insect agency is here an absolute necessity.

Orchis latifolia.

--ORCHIDACEÆ.--]

Habenaria bifolia.

--ORCHIDEÆ.--]

=The Butterfly Orchis= (_Habenaria bifolia_).

This species is very similar in structure and habit to the Marsh Orchis, but the tubers are more cylindrical in shape, the radical leaves almost always restricted to two, the flower-spike lax. Flowers white with a greenish tinge, the labellum and spur very long: fragrant. The stigma two-lobed. Fertilized by moths. Occurs in meadows, hill-sides and woods, flowering from June to August.

=The Bee Orchis= (_Ophrys apifera_).