BRITISH -WILD -FLOWERS 
 IN'THEIR'NATURAL-HAUNTS 
 
 NORWOOD
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 BRITISH WILD FLOWERS
 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 PLATE I 
 
 i. Upright Meadow Crowfoot (A'amnuuh.s acrts, L. , 2. Lesser Celandine (A'. Ficana, I..). 3. July's Slnoc k 
 (Cai-danrine tratenns, L.). 4- Dame's Violet (Heifer is Hiatrcnaiis, I,.).
 
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 KEY TO PLATE I 
 
 No. i. /Upright Meado^ Crowfoot 
 
 (Ranunculus afrir:, L. ) ^ i, ' - - y 
 
 ) Vertical section of 'flowfer.X^ Pe&l, 
 Krth, nectary ai base. *, Achene. 
 stjbck, with bro&d liases of leaf-stalks and 
 fibrous rootle^, e, Clipper part of stem, 
 with linear 1/baves and\ flowers expanded.. 
 and\)in bud, showing .the arrangement of 
 
 L.) 
 
 a, Petef,'with nectary at J^ase. 6, Achene. 
 c; PlaW^o^tatal syte^sfawing rosette habit, 
 with undergrpfund\tuberous rootstock and 
 
 (Jy\ 
 
 (Cardaminepratensis^ L.) 
 , Corolla from above, showing tips of 
 4 long and 2 short stamens, with pistil in 
 centre, b, A single petal, c, Stamens 
 enlarged, and pietjl, w>fti honey-gland, at 
 base of former, d, Upper portion of pjant, 
 with flowers and siliques. e, Rootstock 
 : with radical pSIKL. -iilZtSE 
 
 No. 4 .':Da 
 tm 
 
 \ \, Po^Vith seeds attached 'W septum i- 
 opening from .below upward. b Seed' 
 
 +r\\lrctnA ^i^u'_J ' "i 
 
 . , ee 
 V eilarge<' Botched. j Leaf, showing |i 
 
 \maVgm. d Upp^rj^n of^Iant, witK 
 \ v flowersWdsiliu'eJ
 
 A J\Vro BRITISH FLORA 
 
 BRITISH 
 WILD FLOWERS 
 
 IN THEIR NATURAL HAUNTS 
 
 described by A. R. HORWOOD 
 With Sixty-four "Plates in Colour 
 Representing 350 "Different "Plants 
 From "Drawings by J. N. FITCH 
 and SVlany Illustrations from 
 "Photographs 
 
 VOLUME II 
 
 THE GRESHAM PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD. 
 66 CHANDOS STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON 
 
 19*9
 
 KEY TO PLATE I 
 
 No. i. Upright Meadow Crowfoot 
 
 (Ranunculus afrtsl, ..) 
 (& iVerticaKseption of flower. --AP 
 with, nectary at base, y:, Achene. dfR 
 stock, with brp^dliases of leaf-stalks and 
 fibrous rootless, e, JLJpper pait of stem, 
 wim linear leaves and flowers 
 
 t*. 3. Lje^er^Celandine 
 
 /frcaria, L.) 
 
 pectaty at^base. b, Achene. 
 c, Pla'iut^n^atal sj^7^wing rosette habit, 
 with undergrpjun^xtuberous rootstock and 
 
 ^ -*^ \ 
 
 inejn-atensis^ L.) 
 
 , Corolla from above, showing tips of 
 4 long and 2 short stamens, with .pistil in 
 centre. / , A sin^re^peal c, Staniens 
 enlarged _andp^wA hon4y-gland at 
 base of former. 4 Upper portion of plant 
 "*--^ ^~ 
 
 . 
 with flowers -arid 
 
 A^QpWock, 
 
 wer stem 
 
 1 ar^ K ^V 1 *>*r^*^ ' 
 
 , Pod, with seeds attached to septum 
 opening from below upward. 6. Seed 4 
 
 \ eijlargddr^j^.r;. ^ Leaf sh 
 
 \ma>gm. </, U 
 
 ,s-r .- , 
 ^ Jj 
 
 A 1 1 \ 1 W/' . ^l/~~-^ 
 
 f\b,Viw ^n \ 
 
 W M(ml <V/^ A / >
 
 A V(m BRITISH FLORA 
 
 BRITISH 
 WILD FLOWERS 
 
 IN THEIR NATURAL HAUNTS 
 
 described by A. R. HORWOOD 
 W^ith Sixty-four ^Plates in Colour 
 Representing 350 ^Different 'Plants 
 From T>rawings by J. N. FITCH 
 and 3\4any Illustrations from 
 ^Photographs 
 
 VOLUME II 
 
 THE GRESHAM PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD. ? 
 66 CHANDOS STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON :/ 
 
 1919
 
 yK 
 
 A* 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 VOLUME II 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SECTION II. FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS i 
 
 UPRIGHT MEADOW CROWFOOT (Ranunculus acris, L.) - - - 7 
 
 LESSER CELANDINE (Ranunculus Ficaria, L.) - - - - - 9 
 
 LADY'S SMOCK (Cardamine prafensis, L.) 12 
 
 DAME'S VIOLET (Hesperis matronalis, L.) 15 
 
 RAGGED ROBIN (Lychnis Flos-cuculi, L.) 18 
 
 MEADOW CRANE'S BILL (Geranium pratense, L.) - - - 20 
 
 RED CLOVER (Trifolium pratense, L.) 22 
 
 WHITE OR DUTCH CLOVER (Trifolium rcpens, L.) - - - - 26 
 
 HOP TREFOIL (Trifolium procumbens, L.)- - - - - - 28 
 
 BIRD'S FOOT TREFOIL (Lotus corniculatus, L.) 30 
 
 MEADOW-SWEET (Spircea Ulmaria, L.) - - - - 33 
 CINQUEFOIL (Potentilla rep/ans, L. ) - - - - - - -36 
 
 LADY'S MANTLE (Alchemilla vulgaris, L.) 39 
 
 GREAT BURNET (Poterium officinale, A. Gray) 41 
 
 \ViLD CARROT (DaiiQiis Carota, L.) - 44 
 
 DEVIL'S BIT SCABIOUS (Scabiosa succisa, L.) - - - - 46 
 
 DAISY (Bellis peretim's, L.) - - - 49 
 
 MILFOIL (Achillca Millefolinm, L.) 52 
 
 OX-EYE DAISY (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, L.) - - - 55 
 KNAPWEED (Ccntaurea nigra, L.)- - - - - - -58 
 
 LONG-ROOTED CAT'S EAR (Hypochceris radicata, L.) - - - 60 
 
 DANDELION (Taraxacum officinale, Weber) 62 
 
 GOAT'S BEARD (Tragopogon pratense, L. ) - - - - - 67 
 
 COWSLIP (Primula ven's, L.) -69 
 
 YELLOW RATTLE (Rhinanthus Crista-Galli, L.) - - - 72 
 
 908801
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 SELF-HEAL (Prunella milgaris, L.) - 
 PURPLE ORCHIS (Orchis mascula, L.) 
 SPOTTED ORCHID (Orchis maculata, L.) - 
 PURPLE CROCUS (Crocus officinalis, Huds.) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 75 
 77 
 80 
 82 
 
 SECTION III. FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 MOUSE-TAIL (Myosurus minimus, L.) 
 
 CORN BUTTERCUP (Ranunculus arvensis, L.) - 
 
 LARKSPUR (Delphinium Ajacis, Reichb.) - 
 
 COMMON RED POPPY (Palaver Rhoeas, L.) 
 
 FUMITORY (EARTH-SMOKE) (Fumaria qfficinalis, L.) - 
 
 GOLD OF PLEASURE (Camelina sativa, Crantz) - 
 
 CHARLOCK (Brassica arvensis, O. Kuntze) 
 
 CANDYTUFT (2 'den's amara, L.) - 
 
 HEART'S EASE (Viola arvensis, Murr. ) - 
 
 WHITE CAMPION (Lychnis alba, Mill.) - 
 
 CORN COCKLE (Lychnis Githago, Scop.) - 
 
 SPURREY (Spergula arvensis, L.) - 
 
 FLAX (Linum usitatissimum, L.) - - - - 
 
 ALSIKE CLOVER (Trifolium hybridum, L.) 
 
 SHEPHERD'S NEEDLE (Scandix Pecten-veneris, L. ) 
 
 FOOL'S PARSLEY (^Etlmsa Cynapium, L.) 
 
 FIELD MADDER (Sherardia arvensis, L.) - 
 
 LAMB'S LETTUCE (Valerianella olitoria, Poll.) - 
 
 CORN MARIGOLD (Chrysanthemum segetum, L.) 
 
 CORN-FLOWER OR BLUEBOTTLE (Centaurea Cyanus, L.) 
 
 CORN SOW-THISTLE (Sonchus arvensis, L.) 
 
 VENUS'S LOOKING GLASS (Legousia hybrida, Delarbre) 
 
 SCARLET PIMPERNEL (Anugallis arvensis, L.) - 
 
 FIELD BUGLOSS (Lycopsis arvensis, L.) - 
 
 CORN GROMWELL (Lithospermum arvense, L.) - 
 
 SMALL SNAPDRAGON (Antirrhinum Orontium, L.) 
 
 IVY-LEAVED SPEEDWELL (Veronica hedercefolia, L.) - 
 
 HEMP NETTLE (Galeopsis Tetrahit, L.) - 
 
 WILD OAT (Avena fatua, L.) - 
 
 DARNEL (Lolium temulentum, L.) - 
 
 9 1 
 93 
 95 
 99 
 101 
 
 107 
 
 I 10 
 I 12 
 II 4 
 117 
 121 
 I2 3 
 
 I2 5 
 
 129 
 130 
 
 '34 
 J 35 
 138 
 140 
 142 
 
 H5 
 146 
 
 148
 
 CONTENTS vii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SECTION IV. FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST- - - 161 
 
 YELLOW HORNED POPPY (Glaucium flavum, Crantz) - - - 167 
 COMMON SCURVY GRASS (Cochlearia officinalis, L.) - - - - 169 
 
 WOAD (Isalis tinctoria, L.) - - . . . - 171 
 
 SEA KALE (Crambe maritima, L.) _ ^3 
 
 SEA ROCKET (Cakile maritima, Scop.) - - - '75 
 
 SEA CAMPION (Silene maritima, With.) - _ - 177 
 
 SEA PURSLANE (Arcnaria pcploidcs, L. ) - - - 178 
 
 TAMARISK (Tamarix gallica, L.) - - - - 180 
 
 SEA HOLLY (Eryngium maritimum, L.) - 184 
 
 SAMPHIRE (Crithmum maritimum, L.) - - 185 
 
 ABSYNTH (Artemisia Absinthium, L.) - - - 187 
 
 SEA LAVENDER (Limonium vulgare, Mill.) - 189 
 
 THRIFT (Staticc maritima, Mill.) - - 192 
 
 SEA MILKWORT (Glaux maritima, L.) - - - 194 
 
 CENTAURY (Centaurium umbelhitmn, Gilib.) - . ig= 
 
 SEASIDE BINDWEED (Calystegia Soldnnella, Br.) . xgy 
 
 SEA PLANTAIN (Plantago maritima, L.) - - - - 199 
 
 SALTWORT (Salsola Kali, L.) ..... - - -201 
 
 SEA BUCKTHORN (Hippophae rhamnoides, L.) ..... 203 
 
 COMMON SEA RUSH (Juncus maritimus, Lam.) - 204 
 
 GRASS WRACK (Zostera marina, L.) -...._ 2O g 
 
 SEA CLUB RUSH (Scirpus maritimus, L.) - - - - . 209 
 
 SAND SEDGE (Carcx arenaria, L.) - - - - - _ -21^ 
 
 MARRAM GRASS (Ammop/iila arenaria, Link.) - - - 214 
 
 HEDGEHOG GRASS (Cynosurus echinatus, L.) - - - - - 216 
 
 SEASIDE MAXNA GRASS (Glycerin maritima, Mert. and Koch) - - 218 
 
 RUSHY WHEAT GRASS (Agropyron junceum, Beauv.) - - - 219 
 
 SQUIRREL TAIL GRASS (Hordeum marimnn, Huds.) - 220 
 
 LYME GRASS (Elymus arenarius, L.) - - - - _ - 221 
 
 SOME GENERAL HINTS AND NOTES 
 SECTION II: FIELDS AND MEADOWS- 
 SECTION III: CORNFIELDS 
 SECTION IV: THE SEA-COAST - 
 
 24-
 
 PLATES IN COLOUR 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 PLATE PAGE 
 
 I. UPRIGHT MEADOW CROWFOOT; LESSER CELANDINE; LADY'S SMOCK; 
 
 DAME'S VIOLET Frontispiece 
 
 II. RAGGED ROBIN; MEADOW CRANE'S BILL; RED CLOVER; WHITE 
 
 CLOVER __--_____ -18 
 
 III. HOP TREFOIL; BIRD'S FOOT TREFOIL; MEADOW-SWEET; CINQUEFOIL - 28 
 
 IV. LADY'S MANTLE; GREAT BURNET; WILD CARROT; DEVIL'S BIT 
 
 SCABIOUS ---40 
 
 V. DAISY; MILFOIL; OX-EYE DAISY; KNAPWEED - 50 
 
 VI. LONG-ROOTED CAT'S EAR; DANDELION; GOAT'S BEARD; COWSLIP - 60 
 
 VII. YELLOW RATTLE; SELF-HEAL; EARLY PURPLE ORCHIS; SPOTTED 
 
 ORCHID; PURPLE CROCUS 72 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 VIII. MOUSE-TAIL; CORN BUTTERCUP; LARKSPUR; FUMITORY; COMMON 
 
 RED POPPY; GOLD-OF-PLEASURE - - 90 
 
 IX. CHARLOCK; CANDYTUFT; HEART'S EASE; WHITE CAMPION; CORN 
 
 COCKLE; SPURREY __. 104 
 
 X. FLAX; ALSIKE CLOVER; SHEPHERD'S NEEDLE; FOOL'S PARSLEY; 
 
 FIELD MADDER; LAMB'S LETTUCE 118 
 
 XL CORN MARIGOLD; CORN-FLOWER OR BLUEBOTTLE; CORN SOW- 
 THISTLE; VENUS'S LOOKING-GLASS; SCARLET PIMPERNEL; FIELD 
 BUGLOSS - - - - - -134 
 
 XII. CORN CROMWELL; SMALL SNAPDRAGON; IVY-LEAVED SPEEDWELL; 
 
 HEMP NETTLE; WILD OAT; DARNEL 146
 
 PLATES IN COLOUR 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 PLATE PAGE 
 
 XIII. YELLOW HORNED POPPY; COMMON SCURVY GRASS; WOAD ; SEA 
 
 KALE; SEA ROCKET; SEA CAMPION 168 
 
 XIV. SEA PURSLANE; TAMARISK; SEA HOLLY; SAMPHIRE; ABSYNTH; 
 
 SEA LAVENDER - ------178 
 
 XV. THRIFT; SEA MILKWORT; CENTAURY; SEASIDE BINDWEED; SEA 
 
 PLANTAIN; SALTWORT 192 
 
 XVI. SEA BUCKTHORN; COMMON SEA RUSH; GRASS WRACK; SEA CLUB 
 
 RUSH; SAND SEDGE; MARRAM GRASS - 206 
 
 XVII. SEASIDE MANNA GRASS; HEDGEHOG GRASS; RUSHY WHEAT GRASS; 
 
 SQUIRREL TAIL GRASS; LYME GRASS - - - - - 216
 
 PLATES IN BLACK-AND-WHITE 
 
 PAUK 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF A MEADOW 5 
 
 COMMON YELLOW CINQUEFOIL (Potcntilla reptans, L.) - - - - 37 
 
 DANDELION (Taraxacum officinale, Weber) - - - - 63 
 
 COMMON RED POPPY (Papaver Rhccas, L.) 97 
 
 CORN SPURREY (Spergula arvcnsis, L.) 115 
 
 FIELD MADDER (Sherardia arvensts, L.) - - - 127 
 
 LAMB'S LETTUCE (Valerianella olitoria, Poll.) - - - - 131 
 
 WILD OAT (Avena fahia, L.) 155 
 
 VEGETATION OF THE SEA COAST -------- 165 
 
 TAMARISK (Tamarix gallica, L.)- - - - - - -181 
 
 SEA BUCKTHORN (Hippophae rhamnoides, L.) - - - - 205 
 
 SAND SEDGE (Carex arenaria, L.)- - - - - - - -211 
 
 SEASIDE MANNA GRASS (Glycerin maritima, Mert. and Koch) - - 211
 
 Section II 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 16
 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 The flowers which grow in our fields and meadows are intermediate 
 in character in many ways between (i) those which grow near (or in) 
 water, and require moist conditions, that is, hydrophytes, and (2) those 
 that need dry-soil conditions and grow on the highlands, that is, xero- 
 pkytcs. Hence they are called mesophytes. 
 
 This group, as will be seen, also includes Woodland Plants 
 (hylophytes), plants growing on cultivated soil, and waste -ground 
 plants or ruderal plants. 
 
 Their soil requirements are also of a different type, striking a mean 
 between those of very moist and of very dry conditions. Accordingly 
 the plants included under Sections II-V are not artificially but more 
 or less naturally grouped as here. The soil is not acid, cold, or saline, 
 but fairly moist and well drained, not barren or containing acid humus. 
 These plants range over the Temperate Zones. Generally speaking, 
 a large number are perennials. 
 
 The meadow community consists largely of grasses, rushes, sedges, 
 and "herbs" generally. Such communities are in a sense artificial, 
 having been derived from primeval forest lands, since enclosed and 
 cultivated, with lines of hedges, ditches, and artificially-disposed trees. 
 A few meadows only on hills and near water may be still aboriginal. 
 
 This type consists of wide expanses of grass land, variegated with 
 other herbaceous perennials, in which, of course, though not here 
 shown, grasses predominate. It is much more exposed to frost than 
 woodlands, as are all other wide lowland types of communities. 
 
 In the fields and meadows insect life is most abundant, and it is 
 here that the processes of pollination and seed dispersal are best seen. 
 
 Nearly all the plants are perennials, and only a few are annual. A 
 few have creeping underground stems, which contribute to the expan- 
 sive character of the vegetation, but most are casspitose or tufted. 
 
 Certain types of meadow Mora may be characterized by their
 
 4 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 relative lowland or upland character, depending on relative porosity 
 or humidity, such as (a) that in which Smooth Meadow Grass (Poa 
 pratensis] prevails, (b) Rough Meadow Grass (P. trivialis], (c) Heath 
 Hair Grass (Deschampsia flexuosa\ also an upland type. Where 
 Carnation Sedge (Car ex panicea] and Purple Moor Grass (Molinia 
 ccerulea) grow the habitat is a wet upland meadow, and a marshy 
 meadow is characterized by the dominance of Meadow Fescue (Festuca 
 
 elatior\ 
 
 Amongst these Pascual or Pratal (i.e. meadow) species, of which 
 there are about 120, are some twenty which are addicted to a limy 
 soil. We include here about twenty-nine. Out in the meadows 
 stands the tall meadow Crowfoot, waving its bitter graceful stems 
 in the wind, and usually discarded by the cattle. In the shade of 
 the ditch banks, or on wet clay banks, the golden -hued Lesser 
 Celandine carpets the ground with regal splendour. Lady's Smock, 
 with its delicate lilac-tinted blooms, studs the moist meadows by the 
 streamside. So too the lilac-flowered Dame's Violet, scenting the 
 night breeze, lurks in the cool shade of paddocks and covert sides. 
 Ragged Robin makes gay marshy meadows in hill and dale with its 
 fine, pink, tassel-like blooms, amongst sedges, rushes, and arrow grass. 
 Down by the trout stream, like some fine garden flower, sheltered 
 by protective foliage finely and delicately cut, the deep -blue orbs 
 of the Meadow Crane's Bill reflect in floral emblem the Italian skies. 
 The Humble and the Hive Bee seek the "honeysuckles" of red and 
 white clovers in the meadows, humming, yet busy all the while. 
 Over these one hears the lark carolling sweet melody in the clear 
 fresh skies of early summer and spring. Where the meadows roll 
 into uplands and make rambling ramparts carved by Nature's hands 
 rise the lemon-tinted clusters of Hop Trefoil, giving a touch of gold 
 to the eternal green of the meadows. 
 
 " Bacon and. Eggs ", or the yellow and golden flowers of Bird's- 
 foot Trefoil, clustered up and down on the little undulating knolls, 
 give too a richer hue to the verdant emerald sea. " Queen of the 
 meadows ", the filmy gauze-like heads of Meadowsweet, rise grace- 
 fully from the waterside or the ditch. Trailing over the ridges in the 
 shires or on banks on the uplands the Cinquefoil scrambles over the 
 scrubby grass, lending a new shapeliness to the outlines of the meadow 
 lands with their stereotyped fascicles of short-stemmed grasses. 
 
 Hidden amongst the hillsides in choice spots the sparkling orbs on 
 the Dewcup give the brilliance of diamonds to the common upland 
 flowers. The Great Burnet towers with its graceful dark -brown
 
 UPRIGHT MEADOW CROWFOOT 7 
 
 flower-heads amongst the shorter herbage, ever and anon swaying 
 with the rhythm of the breeze. On the higher slopes the nest-like 
 clusters of white bloom varied with pink of the Wild Carrot, are 
 scattered commonly where the Devil's-bit Scabious rears its heliotrope 
 head in the meadows laid to hay, while on the lawn and in the fields 
 the lowly Daisy preaches eternally a sermon in mute obeisance, with 
 all nature spread out as a book, "which he who runs may read". 
 
 Yarrow and Ox-eye Daisy, common but beautiful, make up many 
 a posy in the boy or girl schooldays. Knapweed, busby-like in 
 flower, the golden Dandelion, with its old-world "clocks", the early- 
 blooming Goat's-beard, Cowslips that reek of anise, the quaking, 
 shivering Yellow Rattle, purple Self-heal, the dainty purple and spotted 
 orchids, and the Purple Crocus are all found here. 
 
 Upright Meadow Crowfoot (Ranunculus acris, L.) 
 
 The deposits in which seeds of this species have been found are 
 post- Roman. It occurs in the Arctic and Cool Temperate Zones in 
 Arctic Europe and N. Asia, and has been introduced into America. 
 It is found in every part of Great Britain, as far north as the Shetland 
 Isles, and up to a height of 4000 ft. in the Highlands of Scotland. It 
 is common in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 Every meadow, whether it be upland or lowland, dry or wet, 
 nourishes a goodly number of individuals of the tall- flowered, upright- 
 growing Crowfoot, which stands out in such contrast to the lowlier 
 grass stems and leaves around. Owing to its acrid properties it is 
 usually avoided by cattle, hence this marked contrast. As a rule it 
 likes flat expanses best, and as far as experience goes it is more 
 uniformly dispersed over dry soils, being thus a xerophile. 
 
 The Upright Meadow Crowfoot is similar in habit to Goldielocks, 
 but is taller. There are few flowering stems, and the leaves are 
 chiefly at the base, lying close to the ground, and are usually little 
 variable but much divided. The tall, erect stems distinguish it from 
 the other species of Buttercup. 
 
 The root is fibrous, but more robust than that of Goldielocks. The 
 flowering stems are unfurrowed, whereas in the Bulbous Crowfoot 
 they are furrowed. The long flowering stems, which are downy, 
 and the finely-divided root-leaves help to distinguish it. 
 
 The sepals are spreading, the honey-gland is provided with a 
 scale, and the carpels are smooth. 
 
 This buttercup grows to a height of 3 ft., flowers from April to
 
 8 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 September, and is a deciduous, herbaceous, perennial plant, having 
 
 no stolons. , 
 
 As soon as the flower is open pollen is discharged by the anthers, 
 commencing from the outside. The stigmas are at this stage not yet 
 mature; the anthers open along their edges, and on ripening turn 
 outwards. Bees dust themselves with pollen, carry it off, and deposit 
 
 it elsewhere on other plants. 
 The stigmas are mature 
 before the inner stamens 
 have shed all their pollen, 
 and self-pollination often 
 takes place by means of 
 small insects crawling over 
 the flowers. 
 
 The inner stamens often 
 touch the stigmas. Larger 
 insects bring about cross- 
 pollination if they go from 
 a young to an older flower. 
 The petals secrete the 
 honey. The female flower 
 may occasionally be on a 
 different plant, though as 
 a rule the flowers are com- 
 plete. Diptera (Empidse, 
 Syrphidae, Muscidse), Cole- 
 optera (Nitidulidse, Derme- 
 stidse, Buprestidae, Mordel- 
 lidse, CEdemeridse, Ciste- 
 
 lidae, Cerambycidae, Chrysomelidse), Hymenoptera (Tenthredinidse, 
 Sphegidae, Vespidse, Apidae), Lepidoptera Small Heath (Satyrus 
 (Ccenonympha) Pamphilus), Small Copper (Chrysophanus (Polyom- 
 matus] Phlccas], Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica) visit it. 
 
 The fruit is dispersed by its own mechanism. The achenes or 
 fruits are close together and are hooked, and dispersed by the normal 
 splitting and scattering of the fruit. It is also wind -dispersed, and 
 dispersed by animals from the effect of the wind upon the long flower- 
 stalks, and by the agency of passing animals. The plants being bitter 
 to the taste are therefore left standing. 
 
 It is largely a sand plant, subsisting usually on a sand soil derived 
 from sandy formations in which there is a sandy loam. 
 
 Photo. B. Hanley 
 
 UPRIGHT MEADOW CROWFOOT (Ranunculus acris, L.)
 
 LESSER CELANDINE 9 
 
 The fungus Entoloma microsporum forms round or spindle-shaped 
 swellings on the stem and leaves, and Puccinia perplcxans infests it, 
 as does Pseudopeziza ranunculi. The beetles Prasocuris Diarginella, 
 a hymenopterous insect, Monophobius albipes, and a fly, Phytomysa 
 flava, live on it. 
 
 The Latin acris refers to its bitter properties. It is also called 
 Bachelor's Buttons, or Bouton d'or in French. The English names 
 are Baffiners, Bassinet, Blister- plant, Bolt, Butter Creeses, Carlock- 
 cups, Clovewort, Crawfoot, Crazy, Crowflower, Crowfoot, Eggs-and- 
 Butter, Gilcup, Gold Crap, Gold Cup, Gold Knobs, Yellow Gowan, 
 Guilty-cup, Horse Gold, King-cup, King's Knob, Paigle, Yellow- 
 Caul, Yellow Cups. 
 
 It is called blister -plant, because used in Lincolnshire by the 
 " herb - women " for blisters. The common names buttercup and 
 butterflower are said to be due to the supposed yellow colour of 
 butter from cows eating them, but more probably because of the 
 richness of the meadows where buttercups also grow. In reference 
 to the name Crazy, it is called an insane herb by country folk from 
 an absurd idea that its smell produced madness. 
 
 Pliny, in his day, noticed that this plant and other buttercups caused 
 blisters like those caused by burning. It was thus used for removing 
 leprous sores. Caustic preparations are made from them, but the 
 bitterness is lost in drying; hence hay is eaten without blistering 
 being caused. In the fresh state cattle refuse it. It is even said 
 to cause blisters from merely pulling it up. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 8. 1 Ranunculus acris, L. Stem tall, erect, no bulb, radical leaves 
 much dissected, upper entire, calyx erecto - patent, carpels smooth, 
 glands of nectary with scale, receptacle glabrous. 
 
 Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus Eicaria, L.) 
 
 Owing to its soft carpels, perhaps, this plant has not been found fossil. 
 It is confined to the Arctic and Warm Temperate Zone, occurring in 
 Arctic Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. It is found in every 
 part of England and Wales as well as Scotland, from the Shetland 
 Isles southwards. In Wales it grows at a height of 2400 ft. It is 
 found in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 The lowly Pilewort, to give it its other name, so unlike the usual 
 
 J The number in front of the specific description of a plant indicates its place in the Analytic Summary 
 at the beginning of Vol. I.
 
 io FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 type of Crowfoot or Buttercup in flower, and especially in foliage and 
 habit, differs in having only one cotyledon, which may be regarded as 
 due to its geophilous habit, that is to say, the green parts live above 
 ground for only part of the year. Thus it is propagated by small 
 tubers, which give it its name, and it would appear according to one 
 view to be a Dicotyledon which has suppressed its other cotyledon or 
 seed-leaf owing to the fact that its habitat was once more aquatic. It 
 will be found down in the damp hollows of clayey ash woods, or 
 in moist open meadows and fields, and under hedges carpeting the 
 bank to the exclusion of all else. In fact, on a lawn it is a great 
 exterminator of grass. 
 
 The Lesser Celandine has a loose rosette habit. The plant is 
 without hairs. The root-fibres are stout, cylindric, or tufted tubers, 
 which are thick, club-shaped, fleshy. The stem is prostrate, short, 
 branched below, weak, sometimes with bulbs or corms in the axils, in 
 which case the plant does not flower but reproduces by the corms. 
 The stem is one-flowered, with 1-3 leaves. The leaves are chiefly 
 radical, heart-shaped, thick, smooth, shining, dark green, angular, the 
 angles blunt, or the margin may be wavy or scalloped. The leaves 
 are stalked, the leaf-stalk stout and thickened below. 
 
 In the typical form the lobes of the lower leaves are separate at the 
 base, not overlapping. The lowest sheaths are narrow. The stomata 
 are on the upper surface of the leaves as in aquatic plants with floating 
 leaves, and this species may once have been aquatic. 
 
 The flowers are large, shining yellow golden, about an inch in 
 diameter. The petals may be absent. The flower-stalks are in the 
 axils, stout, with one or two leaves. The petals are usually eight in 
 number, but vary considerably in number up to sixteen, and in form, 
 being often much reduced. There are three sepals as a rule. The 
 achenes form a round head and are smooth, blunt, large. Seed is not 
 always set, the plant reproducing vegetatively. The style is very small. 
 The cotyledon is single as in Monocotyledons, which may result from 
 suppression of the second, or be a primitive character. Since the 
 plant is a geophyte and adapted to aquatic conditions, as a large 
 proportion of the Monocotyledons also are, the order Ranunculaceae 
 may be regarded as closely allied to the Monocotyledons. 
 
 The Lesser Celandine grows 6 in. high, flowers from March to 
 May, and is perennial. 
 
 The mode of pollination in the Lesser Celandine is not dissimilar 
 on the whole to that in the common Meadow Crowfoots. The anthers 
 ripen before the stigma. The number of the stamens is variable, as in
 
 LESSER CELANDINE 
 
 j i 
 
 the other parts of the flower. The plant flowers early, at a time when 
 few insects are flying", but none the less it is much visited by insects, 
 which seek honey as well as pollen. The anthers are turned towards 
 the centre at first, but the outer anther-stalks bend so that they- lie just 
 above the honey glands at the base of the petals. An insect seeking 
 honey will naturally brush itself with pollen, which it bears to the 
 next flower and deposits on the stigma. The anthers then turn out- 
 
 LESSER CELANDINE (Ranunculus Ficaria, L.) 
 
 wards, an adaptation to prevent self-pollination. The next row of 
 stamens then follows suit and the performance is as before. 
 
 In spite of this, as mentioned already, seed is rarely set, and the 
 plant is vegetatively reproduced to a great extent. In some cases only 
 female flowers occur. Early in the season the flowers of most plants 
 possess few, 2-3, petals, those that come on later having as many as 
 eleven. 
 
 The seeds are scattered by the plant itself, being contained in 
 rounded achenes or fruits, which are adapted for dispersal when the 
 achenes are mature and drop off.
 
 12 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Pilewort is a typical clay-loving plant, requiring a clay soil, gene- 
 rally derived from older rocks, and furnished by granite and schistose 
 formations as well as later Carboniferous and Triassic formations. 
 
 The orange cluster-cups of the small fungus Uromyces t>o<z grow on 
 the leaves of this plant, being the second phase of the fungus, which 
 grows on various grasses. Other fungi which infest it are Peronospora 
 Ficarite and Entoloma Ranunculi. 
 
 The moth Flame Brocade (Phlogophora empyrea or Trigonophora 
 flammed] infests it in the caterpillar stage. 
 
 Ficaria was proposed as a genus by Brunfels in allusion to its 
 supposed cure of piles (Latin ficus, a fig). Celandine is the name 
 given (from Greek ckelidon) from its blossoming when the swallow 
 
 arrives 
 
 CVl I 1 V \^J* 
 
 In English it is called Bright Eye, Celidony, Grain, Crazy, Crow 
 Pightle, Figwort, Foalfoot, Gilding- cup, Gilty Cup, Golden Cup, 
 Golden Guineas, Goldy Knob, King-cup, Marsh Pilewort, Paigle, 
 
 Pilewort. 
 
 There's a flower that shall be mine 
 
 Tis the little Celandine. WORDSWORTH. 
 
 The Lesser Celandine is not so acrid as the other species. The 
 leaves have indeed been employed as a potherb. The roots are, 
 however, acrid and bitter. By the law of signatures it was recom- 
 mended as a remedy for piles. Pigeons are said to eat the 
 tubers. 
 
 The tubers lie near the surface, and when exposed by rains their 
 appearance gave rise to the notion that the atmosphere had rained 
 wheat. In Sweden the plant is used in place of cabbage. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 10. Ranunculus Ficaria, L. i cotyledon, root knob-like, leaves 
 reniform, cordate, radical, shining, entire, flowers yellow, 3 sepals, 9 
 petals, achenes smooth, obtuse, globose. 
 
 Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis, L.) 
 
 Nothing is known of the early distribution or occurrence of this 
 plant. To-day it is found in the Arctic and Northern Temperate 
 Zone, in Arctic and Subarctic regions. A closely-allied species has 
 been met with in Australasia and in Tasmania. This well-known and 
 well-beloved plant is known under one name or another in every 
 county in Great Britain, and also in Ireland, and in Scotland, and it 
 rises to a height of 3200 ft.
 
 LADY'S SMOCK 13 
 
 No water-meadow would be complete in spring without its Lady's 
 Smocks, which are dotted up and down the low-lying districts border- 
 ing our streams and rivers from Land's End to John o' Groat's. It 
 may be found also in hilly districts where springs issue from the 
 hillside, and make the meadows moist and damp on their flanks. It is 
 found in true marsh and bog-land, and once formerly in the Fens. 
 
 The Cuckoo Flower has the rosette habit. The rootstock is short 
 
 LADY'S SMOCK (Cardamine pratensis, L.) 
 
 and stout, and the plant is sometimes stoloniferous. The stem is, as a 
 rule, round in section, rarely angular, tall and erect. The leaves are 
 pinnate, the lobes arranged each side of a common stalk. The radical 
 leaves have small leaflets rather round and somewhat angular, and are 
 stalked, whilst those of the upper leaves are more or less stalkless, 
 narrow linear or lance-shaped, entire and longer. 
 
 The flowers are large, of a delicate lilac tint, or white. The petals 
 are large, three times as long as the calyx, spreading, inversely egg- 
 shaped. The stamens are half the length of the petals, and the anthers 
 are yellow. The style is stout and short. The stigma is small. The 
 pod is erect, on a slender, ultimate flower-stalk, long, flattened at the
 
 i 4 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 border, linear, with flat, nerved, elastic valves. The seeds are flattened 
 at the border. 
 
 Lady's Smock is in flower between April and June. It is a 
 herbaceous perennial, 1-2 ft. in height. 
 
 The flowers are large and conspicuous, the yellow anthers serving 
 as honey-guides, by the strong contrast of colour they exhibit to the 
 lilac petals, which are large, the flower being about f in. across. 
 There are four honey-glands, which lie at the base of the two short 
 stamens, forming green fleshy cushions most conspicuous externally 
 where honey collects. Two other glands lie at the base of the two 
 long' stamens. The honey collects in the pouches formed by the base 
 of the persistent rather large sepals. The pouches of the two sepals 
 subtending the larger honey-glands are larger than the others, broad, 
 and more inflated below. 
 
 At first the anthers face the centre, the pistil being slightly lower 
 than the long stamens on a level with the short stamens. The four 
 inner lengthen before the flower opens and turn sideways, and an 
 insect visitor is dusted with their pollen in seeking for honey from the 
 larger honey -glands. When the flowers do not open, or in wet 
 weather, the stamens do not always revolve, pollen may fall on the 
 stigma and the flower is then self-pollinated. 
 
 The shorter stamens remain turned inwards towards the stigma, and 
 they may be shorter (when self-pollination is impossible) or longer than 
 the latter. There are thus equal chances of self- or cross-pollination. 
 
 The visitors are Hymenoptera (Apidae), Diptera (Bombyliidse, 
 Empidae, Syrphidae, Muscidae), Lepidoptera, Coleoptera (Nitidulidae, 
 Staphylinidae), Thysanoptera (Thrips\ 
 
 The Cuckoo Flower disperses its seeds itself. The fruit is a dry 
 capsule or siliqua, in which when ripe the valves become ready to 
 burst, and after rolling U p they are often detached, and so disperse the 
 seeds which are jerked out by an explosive motion. 
 
 The plant is galled by Cecidomyia Cardaminis. Two beetles, 
 Phyllotreta tetrastigma, Phczdon betulce, and a Hemipterous insect, 
 Cimex f estiva, infest it. 
 
 Dioscorides gave the name Cardamine, which is the Greek for 
 subduing the heart karda, heart; damao, to strengthen, overpower. 
 The English name alludes to the white appearance of linen, and 
 Cuckoo Flower to the time when the cuckoo is first heard. 
 
 The English names are Apple-pie, Canterbury Bells, Bird's-eye, 
 Bogspinks, Bonny- Bird- Een, Cuckoo's Bread, Bread-and-Milk, Cuckoo- 
 pint, Cuckoo's Shoes and Stockings, Gookoo- buttons, Headache,
 
 DAME'S VIOLET 15 
 
 Lady Flock, Lady's Glove, Lady's Smock, Lamb Lakins, Lucy 
 Locket, May Blob, May Flower, Milkgirl, Faille, Pigeon's Eye, 
 Pink, Shoes and Stockings, Smell Smock, Whitsuntide, Gilliflower, 
 Spink. 
 
 Or can our flowers at ten hours bell 
 The gowan or the spink excell? 
 
 The name Apple-pie refers to the odour of the flowers and young 
 shoots. It is called Bread-ancl-Milk from the custom of taking bread 
 and milk for breakfast at the season when the Cuckoo Pint is in 
 bloom. It is called Cuckoo Spit in allusion to those flowers which 
 are attacked by an Aphis, and thus exhibit the "spit". Children 
 regard it as unlucky to pluck such specimens, thinking the cuckoo 
 has spit on them. Because " sile " means "strain" it is called Milk 
 Sile, and the flower is thought to be in shape like a milk-strainer. 
 
 It was one of the flowers used in bridal bouquets when in season. 
 But it was carefully avoided for May festivals. 
 
 Shakespeare uses the name "Lady's Smock" in Loves Labour's 
 
 Lost: 
 
 When daisies pied and violets blue, 
 
 And Lady's Smocks all silver white, 
 And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue 
 
 Do paint the meadows with delight, 
 The cuckoo then on every tree 
 Mocks married men, for thus sings he, 
 Cuckoo! 
 
 The cuckoo flower was used as a salad, but is rather bitter. 
 
 Formerly it was held to be antiscorbutic, and used in stomach 
 disorders, in spasmodic complaints, convulsive asthma, St. Yitus's 
 dance, and epilepsy. 
 
 If inserted in a May garland, it was held unlucky and destroyed. 
 
 ESSKXTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 27. Cardaiuinc pratensis, L. Flowering stem erect, radical leaves 
 rounded, dentate, upper linear-lanceolate, entire, pinnate, petals white 
 or lilac, three times as long as the sepals, pods erect, style short. 
 
 Dame's Violet (Hesperis matronalis, L.) 
 
 There is no instance of the seeds being found in Glacial or earlier 
 deposits. The plant is met with to-day in Europe and temperate 
 Asia. This plant is always an escape from gardens, and is not even 
 reo-arcled as naturalized, though in some districts it seems to have
 
 1 6 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 established itself. Its present dispersal is no doubt due in a measure 
 to the former practice of using the plant for growing in pots indoors 
 (hence the Latin specific name). 
 
 The Dame's Violet is found in meadows often in or near thickets, 
 but seldom very far away from houses or gardens. It may, when the 
 seeds have been carried downstream or dispersed by birds, be found 
 in moist valleys in the west, as Shropshire, in some abundance, but 
 as a rule its occurrence coincides with habitation. 
 
 Of neat habit, Dame's 
 Violet has a stout stem, 
 erect, branched at the top 
 only, with linear-lanceolate 
 leaves, which are alter- 
 nate, entire, and slightly 
 toothed, giving it a com- 
 pact habit, which with its 
 height gives it an air of 
 grace, added to which the 
 fragrance of the flowers 
 at night (hence the first 
 Latin name) surrounds 
 the plant with pleasant 
 memories. 
 
 The flowers are of a 
 deep lilac or white tint, 
 and large, the sepals being- 
 erect. The petals are 
 blunt at the tip with a 
 claw or stalk. The pods 
 are long siliquae, which 
 are erect and round, and the flow r ering branches are spreading. 
 The valves are flat on the sides, ribbed or keeled, with three nerves, 
 and there are numerous margined seeds. The pods have divisions 
 or are knotted. 
 
 The plant is often 2 to 3 ft. high. It is usually in flower from 
 May to August. Dame's Violet is perennial (according to many 
 biennial), and is a deciduous, herbaceous plant increased by division. 
 
 As the Latin name implies it is especially odoriferous in the 
 evening, and therefore is probably usually fertilized by moths, although 
 it is visited by day by insects such as the hive bee, Large White 
 Butterfly (Pieris brassicce), Small White Butterfly (P. rape?}, Green- 
 
 . J. H. Crabtr 
 
 DAME'S VIOLET (Hcsperis matronalis, L.)
 
 DAME'S VIOLET 17 
 
 veined White Butterfly (P. napi), Halictus leucopns, H. albicans, 
 
 pellucens, Rliingia. 
 
 There are two large, green, fleshy honey-glands at the base of 
 the short stamens, well developed internally, and the honey collects 
 between the pistil and base of three stamens each side. The longer 
 anthers fill the entrance of the flower, and when withered project, 
 while the shorter stand inside below them, opening close to the stigma, 
 afterwards protruding. The pistil is elongated, and the anthers thus 
 opening internally, cover the stigma with pollen. When insects visit 
 the flowers at the right time they cross-pollinate them, honey-seekers 
 touching the stamens and stigma on opposite sides of the proboscis, 
 and this happens in the case of pollen-seekers occasionally. 
 
 Dame's Violet disperses its seed itself. The dry pod opens and 
 the seeds fall out around the plant by tension of the valves, or are 
 blown away by the wind. 
 
 Requiring a sand soil, or partly a humus soil, it is a sand lover. 
 There are no fungi which are parasitic upon it. The butterflies and 
 moths, Large White (Picris brassicec], Orange-tip (Euchloe Carda- 
 mines), Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia), Buff Ermine (Spilo- 
 sonia lubricipeda), Plutella porrectella, feed upon it. 
 
 Pliny applied the name Hesperis, Greek kcspera, evening; and 
 the Latin matronalis means Dame's. 
 
 The English names are: Close Sciences, Damask Violet, Dame's 
 Violet, Double Sciney, Eveweed, Gilliflower, (Dame's, Queen's, Rogue's, 
 Whitsun, Winter) Rocket, (Red, White) Rocket, Sciney, Summer Lilac. 
 Because ladies in Germany were said to put pots of it in their 
 boudoirs it is called Dame's Violet. Sciney is a contraction for 
 Damascena, once its specific name. The name Eveweed refers to 
 its sweet scent at night. 
 
 It is cultivated as a garden plant, but it does not remain double- 
 flowered any length of time. In the garden it needs a good loamy 
 soil. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 30. Hesperis matronalis, L. Stem erect, tall, branched above, 
 pubescent, leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, dentate, flowers lilac, 
 scented, calyx erect, pedicels twice as long, pods tetragonal, stigma 
 lobed. 
 
 17
 
 1 8 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Ragged Robin (Lychnis Flos-cuculi, L.) 
 
 This plant is found in older Glacial, Neolithic, and Roman deposits. 
 It is confined to the Cold North Temperate and Arctic Zones in Arctic 
 Europe and Siberia. The Ragged Robin is found in every county in 
 Great Britain, and in the Highlands at a height of 2000 ft. 
 
 Almost every meadow, field, and pasture, especially those which 
 border marshy tracts or wet spongy ground on the sides of hills, is 
 made gay with the feathery pink petals of the Ragged Robin in 
 spring. It is especially fond of growing in the spongy, wet ground, 
 surrounding a pond where Marsh Orchis, Toad Rush, Horsetails, 
 Valerian, and other paludal species or marsh plants congregate. 
 
 The tall, slender, erect, nearly angular, furrowed stems are ascend- 
 ing, and have swollen joints, and are covered with hairs bent down- 
 wards, being purple in colour. Ragged Robin has the radical leaves 
 blunt at the tip, with stalks, and narrow stem-leaves. The lower part 
 is clothed with bristles, the upper is clammy. 
 
 The flowers are pink, and the petals divided into four parts, with an 
 appendage on the upper side at the base of the limb. The narrow 
 segments are erect and have a tooth on the outer margin. The 
 flowers are in a loose cluster. The calyx is purple and has ten ribs. 
 It is tubular and expanded. On the petals the hair is as long as that 
 on the calyx. The capsuie has five teeth bent inwards. There are 
 no divisions in the fruit, and the seeds when the capsule opens are 
 exposed to the wind. 
 
 Ragged Robin is often 3 ft. high. This pretty plant may be found 
 in flower in May and June. It is perennial and increases by division. 
 
 The honey is placed in a position in the flower which is inter- 
 mediate compared with the place of the honey-glands in Stellaria, 
 Cerastiwn, and Gypsophila, where the honey is easily accessible, and in 
 Dianthus and Saponaria, where it can only be reached by long-tongued 
 Lepidoptera. 
 
 The nectaries unite in a fleshy ring round the ovary at the base 
 of the stamens. The calyx is only 6-7 mm. long, with teeth 3 mm., 
 which are erect, and support the claws or stalks of the petals. Insects 
 with a proboscis 9-10 mm. long can thus reach the honey, and those 
 with a proboscis can push the calyx-teeth to one side, whilst some 
 insects are small enough to creep down the tube. The anthers ripen 
 first. The five outer anthers open first and occupy the entrance to the 
 flower, their pollen-covered sides are turned towards each other, and
 
 KEY TO PLATE II 
 
 wV?. 
 
 ^ptyJtijlc^jUfon of flower, b, 
 sale, with recurved teeth, open 
 aud a seed, c, Rootstock, with 
 
 of plant, infloresc 
 
 (FW 
 
 * 
 
 No.,. 
 
 "^\^Geranium pratense, L.) 
 a, Fruit, showing the pistil with re- 
 curved seeds attached by rod-like appen- 
 dages to the carpophore and the Jong 
 style. , Upper j&rtion of plant, shewing 
 stem-leaves, floW*r-buds, and t\wb ex- 
 panded flowers with well-marked honey 
 guides and the stamens and style. 
 
 D Clover 
 
 ( Trifolitem prat erne, L. ) 
 a, floret, showing papilion 
 and gamosepalous calyx. 
 c, Rootstock, with runner and young 
 leaves or stipules, d, Upper portion of 
 plant, natura size, head of flowe 
 leaved witfr 
 
 rDutch Clover 
 
 (Tnfolium refcns, L.) 
 , Floret, showing form of corolla and 
 calyx, b, Pod. c t Runner, with leaves, 
 
 lower ones discoloured 
 late, ripening fniits.
 
 -naqs diTrf-boi ^d b$rfoj;e tfrrx. bavwo 
 arfJ bn siorfqogiip ^ffJ o 
 
 ^^>^t ^if^ 
 
 bss H >v .?slaq i Ja imfi ?,f[fl.U jen ^rti woda 
 33 no -,-jwl niworf? *i9v/oft'io
 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 PLATE II 
 
 I. K^-^'l \<<>\>\n (fj'f Juris Hos-cnculi, L. ). 2. Meadow Crane's \l\\\ (Geranium frateiise. I. 
 
 I 'l~i-ifoliiiin frateufe. I..j. 4. White i>r Dutch Clover I. 7'. npciis. L. i.
 
 RAGGED ROBIN 
 
 J 9 
 
 pollen is conveyed to the proboscis owing to the crowded corolla- 
 mouth. The stamens next elongate and bend, so that they lie in the 
 space between the petals, and the inner whorls occupy the middle. 
 When they wither the five styles arise under the stigmatic papillae. 
 The styles move as far as the entrance, making i^ or 2 spiral 
 twists. 
 
 The visitors are Hymenoptera (Apidae), Lepidoptera, Diptera 
 (Syrphidae). 
 
 Like other species 
 Ragged Robin is dis- 
 persed by the wind. The 
 capsule opens above, and 
 allows animals or the 
 wind to cause the seeds 
 to be flung to a distance 
 when the stem is shaken. 
 
 The plant is fond of 
 peat, living only in a wet, 
 peaty soil, which is found 
 in low-lying districts or 
 meadows. 
 
 It is infested by a 
 fungus, Ustilago violacea, 
 one of the rusts and 
 smuts. The other species 
 of Lychnis are infested 
 by Pink Rust, Puccinia 
 arcnarifz, Ascochyta Di- 
 anthL Puccinia lychni- 
 dcarnni. Two moths, the 
 White Spot (Dianthcecia 
 albi macula} and the Marbled Coronet (D. conspersa), visit it. 
 
 Flos-cuculi, Tragus, was once a generic name, and is Latin for 
 Cuckoo-flower. Ragged Robin is known by the names of Bachelor's 
 Buttons, Meadow Campion, Cock's-caim, Cock's-comb, Crow -flower, 
 Fair Maicl of France, Cuckoo Gilliflower, Indian Pink, Marsh-gilliflower, 
 Meadow Pink, Pleasant-in-sight, Ragged Jack, Ragged Robin, Robin 
 Hood, Rough Robin, Meadow Spink, Wild Williams. The name 
 Cuckoo Gilliflower was given in allusion to its flowering in spring, and 
 its resemblance to a Gilliflower. Meadow Spink is given because its 
 flowers resemble those of Dianthus plumarius. 
 
 RAGGED ROBIN (Lychnis Flos-cuculi, L.)
 
 20 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 When cultivated in the garden the flowers are double. Occasion- 
 ally the plant is white-flowered. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 50. Lychnis Flos-ciiculi, L. Stem angular, purplish-green, leaves 
 lanceolate, flowers pink, notched, in a loose panicle, calyx tubular, 
 capsule 5-toothed. 
 
 Meadow Crane's Bill (Geranium pratense, L.) 
 
 The seed-bearing beds have yielded no testimony as yet as to 
 the antiquity (or otherwise) of this fine plant. It is found in the North 
 Temperate and Arctic Zones, in Arctic Europe, and Siberia. It is 
 found in several counties of England and Wales, as well as Scotland, 
 but is absent apparently from N. Cornwall, N. Devon, Isle of Wight, 
 W. Sussex, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Merioneth, Lincoln, Mid Lanca- 
 shire, Isle of Man, Peebles, Selkirk, Stirling, Elgin, Inverness, Mid 
 and N. Ebudes. It is found in the Orkneys. In the N. Highlands 
 it is found only in East Ross. In the Highlands it is found at 1800 ft. 
 In N.E. Ireland it is very rare. 
 
 The Meadow Crane's Bill is a plant of the meadows and fields, 
 growing by the sides of streams, and generally in moist situations, 
 usually in lowland districts, but sometimes at high elevations, under 
 moist conditions. With it grow Meadow Sw r eet, Cowslip, Yellow 
 Rattle, Self-heal, Spotted Orchid, amongst many others. 
 
 The habit of the Meadow Crane's Bill is more or less erect and 
 pyramidal, inversely so, the leaves on long stalks, forming a flat plat- 
 form above, radiating from the rootstock. Thus they present a wide 
 surface to the light and air. The rootstock is blunt. The stems are 
 erect to spreading, branched above, and are glandular hairy above, 
 with the hairs turned downwards. The leaves are all stalked, the 
 radical ones very long-stalked, and are rounded or palmate with seven 
 lobes radiating from a common centre, the lobes cut and coarsely 
 toothed, irregularly lobed, acute. The stipules are awl-shaped to lance- 
 shapecl. 
 
 The flowers are large, i-ij in. across, bluish-purple, veined. The 
 petals are long, inversely egg-shaped, entire or notched, the claw or 
 stalk fringed with hairs, or bearded. The sepals are long-awned, 
 spreading. The filaments are slender, wedge-shaped below, hairless, 
 or hairy at the base. The flower-stalks are 2 -flowered, bent back in 
 fruit. The carpels are smooth, glandular to hairy, the hairs spreading. 
 The seeds are minutely netted.
 
 MEADOW CRANE'S BILL 
 
 21 
 
 The Meadow Crane's Bill is often 3 or 4 ft. high. The flowers 
 may be found from June to September. The plant is perennial, in- 
 creasing by division of the root. 
 
 This well-known wild flower exhibits admirably numerous adapta- 
 tions to cross-pollination. Dark lines on the petals converging towards 
 the centre act as honey-guides, and indicate where the honey-glands lie 
 at the base of the outer stamens. The hairs on the claws of the petals 
 protect the honey from the 
 rain. The flowers are large 
 and conspicuous and wide 
 open, and short-lipped in- 
 sects can gain access to the 
 honey. 
 
 The anthers ripen in 
 advance of the stigma, 
 which is a means of pre- 
 venting self-pollination. 
 When the anthers open, 
 and in this stage hang over 
 the stigma, the latter is in- 
 capable of being pollinated, 
 all the stamens ripening, 
 opening, and shrivelling 
 before the stigma is recep- 
 tive. Hence pollen must 
 be borne by insects from 
 other flowers before the 
 plant can be pollinated at 
 all, and as good seed is 
 usually set this must usually 
 be the case. 
 
 As the anthers wither the whorls of stamens bend outwards. When 
 the anthers open the stigmas cannot be pollinated, but only when the 
 anthers are farthest away from them. The visitors are Hymenoptera 
 (Apidai, Apis mellifica, Osuiia rnfa, Chelostoma stclis, Andrena, 
 Halictus, Prosopis)', Diptera (Syrphidae, Melithreptus}. 
 
 The Meadow Crane's Bill disperses its seeds by its own mechanism. 
 The fruit is many-seeded, splitting into single parts that break off 
 separately. When the seeds are ripe the carpels split, and the seeds 
 are scattered by an explosive movement. 
 
 In the case of this species the carpels, which are hairy, not netted, 
 
 MEADOW CRANE'S BILL (Geranium pratense, L. )
 
 22 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 are not thrown. It is the seed which is netted that is thrown by the 
 same means as in G. Robertianum, by the tenseness of the rodlike 
 attachment of the capsule. 
 
 This plant is fond of peat and requires a humus soil, such as that 
 afforded by loamy soil mixed with humus or a little peat peaty loam. 
 
 The fungus Sphcerotheca humuli infests Geranium generally, and 
 Uromyces Geranii grows upon this one. 
 
 A beetle, Cosliodes geranii, lives on it. 
 
 Geranium, Dioscorides, is from the Greek geras, crane, in 
 allusion to the beaked fruits, and pratense alludes to its habitat, in 
 meadows. The plant is called Crowfoot, Crane's-bill, Grace of God, 
 Gratia Dei, the first from the resemblance between its foliage and 
 that of some Buttercups. 
 
 The Meadow Crane's Bill has been cultivated in the garden, and is 
 a beautiful, showy, and striking plant. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 67. Geranium pratense, L. Stem erect, leaves palmate, 7-lobed, 
 serrate, flowers large, blue, with ciliate claw, smooth stamens, tapered 
 from broad base, capsule hairy, hairs glandular, spreading, seeds netted, 
 fruit-stalks cleflexed. 
 
 Red Clover (Trifolium pratense, L.) 
 
 No traces of this have been discovered where seeds have been 
 found in Glacial beds. It is spread over the Northern Temperate 
 Zone, in Arctic Europe, North Africa, North and West Asia, India, 
 and has been introduced into North America. In Great Britain it is 
 found in every part of the country northwards to the Shetland Isles. 
 It also ascends to 1900 ft. in the Highlands, and it occurs in Ireland 
 and the Channel Islands. 
 
 The wild red or purple clover is essentially a meadow plant, asso- 
 ciated with Self-heal, Bugle, Bird's Foot, Milkwort, and a hundred 
 other meadow species. In some places, especially sandy districts, the 
 banks are luxuriantly clothed with this widespread Trefoil. It flourishes 
 on clay, gravel, or sand, and its honey-bearing heads attract attention 
 from their beauty and the fragrance they emit along the roadside and 
 on pastures. 
 
 The Red Clover is more or less erect in habit. The stems are 
 either solid or hollow, and slender or stout, the whole plant more or 
 less downy. The leaves are trifoliate, with leaflets in threes. The 
 leaflets are oblong, blunt, with a white spot or crescentic band, finely
 
 RED CLOVER 
 
 23 
 
 toothed, notched, the upper entire, with a blunt point. The stipules 
 are membranous, with long bristle-like points, closely pressed to the 
 leaf-stalk, the free part blunt, egg-shaped, the veins branched and 
 crossing. 
 
 The flowerheads are dense, stalkless or with a short stalk, egg- 
 
 RED CLOVER (Trifoliuin pratense, L.) 
 
 shaped, terminal, at length round, with opposite leaves below. The 
 florets are pink, purple, or dirty white. The calyx is strongly ten- 
 veined, hairy above, not half as long as the corolla, with a two-lipped 
 contraction in the throat, the five teeth not longer than the corolla, 
 slender and unequal, four nearly equal to the tube, the lower twice as 
 long, fringed with hairs. The pod opens by the falling off of the top.
 
 24 FLOWERS OF .THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Red Clover is rarely more than i ft. high, and flowers from May 
 to September. It is perennial, and may be increased by division. 
 
 The tube is long, 9-10 mm., and is not accessible as a rule to 
 short-lipped bees such as the Honey Bee, which gets its supply of 
 honey from the White Clover. The tube is formed by the cohesion 
 of the nine inferior stamens with each other, and with the claws of the 
 petals (keel, and base of the wings and standard or vexillum). The 
 honey, which is abundant, lies at the base of the stamens, and is 
 accumulated round the base of the ovary in the tube. The bee thrusts 
 its head under the vexillum and into the staminal tube, and if the 
 superior stamen were united with the others to form a tube the in- 
 sect's proboscis would come in contact with it; but only its two ends 
 are in the middle line, the rest lying on the side throughout its whole 
 length. At the anterior end of the tube lie the broad base of the 
 standard, continuous with the superior and lateral portion of the tube 
 and with the inferior part by an expansion at the base of the free limb, 
 and also the base of the carina attached to the inferior part of the tube 
 in the interval left by the standard, which returns at once to its position 
 after it has been depressed. The two alse with flexible claws, with 
 a lamina expanded at the base, cover the top of the tube, and keep it 
 and the petals in position. The two alse and the staminal tube also 
 (like the vexillum and carina) come off from the anterior end of the 
 common tube, the tube, as has been seen, being split superiorly to 
 include the free tenth stamen, dividing into stiff filaments curving 
 upwards, thickened at the end. 
 
 The style lies in the centre of the tube, curving upwards, the stigma 
 exceeding the anthers. The bee clings on to the alae and rests the 
 middle and hind legs lower down, the keel and alye are depressed, 
 and the stigma and anthers touch the bee's head below. Pollen 
 brought from elsewhere is deposited on the stigma by the bee. The 
 bee is then dusted afresh with pollen from the anthers, and cross- 
 pollination follows. As the bee withdraws from the flower it may 
 touch the stigma with some of the pollen just applied, and cause self- 
 pollination. The pod opens at the top, allowing the 14 seeds to fall 
 out. 
 
 The visitors are Apiclae, Diptera (Bombyliidce, Syrphidae, Conopidai), 
 Lepidoptera Large White (Pieris brassicc?}, Small White (P. rape?), 
 Small Tortoise-shell ( Vanessa urticee), Wall Butterfly (Satyrus (Par- 
 arge] megcera], Meadow Brown (S. (Epinephele] janira), Large 
 Skipper (Augiades (Hesperia] sylvanus], the Small Skipper (Adopcra 
 (H.) thaumas\ Silver Y Moth (
 
 RED CLOVER 25 
 
 Red Clover is above all others addicted to a sandy habitat, re- 
 quiring a sandy soil. It is found on Keuper Marl, Lias, Boulder 
 Clay, &c. 
 
 Several fungi infest it: Urophlyctis trifolii, Peronospora trifolii, 
 Sclcrotinia trifoliorum (Clover Sickness), Pseudopeziza trifolii, Gleo- 
 sporium caulivorum, Macrosporium sareni<zformis\ and it is galled by 
 Cecidomyia trifolii. The beetles Sitones lineatus, Apion virens, Phyto- 
 nomus meles; the moths Leucophasia Sinapis, Zygccna trifolii, Lasio- 
 campa trifolii, Eulalia bipunctaria, Eubolia palumbaria, Stigmonita 
 composite lla, and the Hemipterous Orthocephalus saltator feed on Red 
 Clover in one form or another. 
 
 Trifolium (Pliny) is from the Latin tres, three ; folium, leaf, hence 
 trefoil; and pratense alludes to its meadow habitat. Clover is from 
 A.S. clfffer, Belg. klaver, from A.S. c leaf an, to cleave. It is called 
 Beebread, Broad Clover, (Broad, Meadow, Red, or Soukie) Clover, 
 Clatter Malloch, Clover-grass, Cob, Cock's-head, Cow-clover, Cow- 
 grass, Honey-suck, Honeysuckle Trefoil, Knap, Marl-grass, Plyvens, 
 Shamrock, Sleeping Maggie, Sookies, Suck-bottle, Suckies, Sucklers, 
 Suckles, Sucking Sugar Plums. 
 
 Under that tree, and on the suckler brae, 
 
 Where oft we wont, when bairns, to run and play. 
 
 Though called Beebread the hive bee does not visit it. The name 
 Soukie Clover is given because children suck the flowers for honey. 
 In Virginia it was said to have sprung from the blood of men slain 
 in battle. It is a talisman to detect fairies: 
 
 I '11 seek a four-leaved clover 
 In all the fairy dells, 
 And if I find the charmed leaf 
 Oh, how I '11 weave my spells ! 
 
 Two-leaved clover is lucky, and gathered with a formula: 
 
 A clover, a clover of two, 
 
 Put it in your right shoe, 
 
 The first young man you meet, 
 
 In field, street, or lane, 
 
 You '11 get him, or one of his name. 
 
 If a lover puts a sprig of clover in his shoe before he sets out on 
 a journey in Bohemia he will remain faithful, and a lover also puts a 
 four-leaved one under his pillow to dream of his sweetheart. To 
 dream of it foretells a happy marriage. To live in luxury is " to lie 
 in clover '. Bad luck attends the finding of a five-leaved cloven
 
 2 6 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Reel Clover is one of the most useful plants for meadow lands. 
 It is sown in spring with corn, and when the corn is cut it furnishes 
 a winter fodder, growing up with it. It is also ploughed in as a 
 green crop, enriching the soil by the power it has of fixing nitrogen 
 by bacterial agency. It was first grown in 1645 in this country. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 78. Trifolium pratcnse, L. Stem rigid, hairy, leaflets broad, entire, 
 stipules blunt, ovate, flowers purple, sessile, in round heads, calyx 
 downy. 
 
 White or Dutch Clover (Trifolium repens, L.) 
 
 This is one of the Leguminosatj which, so far as we know, is of 
 quite recent date. The North Temperate and Arctic Zones are its 
 home, i.e. in Arctic Europe, N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, India, and 
 N. America. In Great Britain it is found in every county as far north 
 as the Shetlands, and in the Highlands it is found growing at 2700 ft. 
 It is a native of Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 Truly wild upon most sandy stretches of pasture, the Dutch or 
 White Clover is to be found in fields, on banks, upland as well as 
 lowland, in all parts of the country; but it is rather more common 
 in the eastern and southern counties than in the west and northern 
 counties. With its occurrence is connected the honey output of most 
 hives, as the Red Clover is inaccessible to the hive bee. 
 
 While Alsike and Red Clover are more or less erect, Dutch Clover 
 is a creeping, trailing plant, with numerous, widespreading, simple 
 steins, with leaflets in threes, egg-shaped at either end, slightly notched 
 at the tip and toothed, with a green or purple or white spot in the 
 centre. The leaf-like organs on the leaf-stalks are narrowly elliptic, 
 and drawn out into a point, with purple veins. 
 
 The white, rarely purplish, flowers are in clusters, and when young 
 are erect, but later bent clown, on long stalks, the heads being in 
 umbels. The ten calyx teeth are about equal, and ribbed, with bristle- 
 like teeth. The corolla, like the pea flower, is twice the length of the 
 calyx, the standard being brown, not falling. 
 
 The pods are long, and contain four seeds. 
 
 Rarely does the White Clover exceed 2 to 3 in. in height. The 
 flowers are in bloom from May to September. It is perennial, and 
 increases by root division. 
 
 The Dutch Clover has a very simple flower, in which the wings 
 are united to the keel at one point, and the stamens and pistil are 
 enclosed in the keel. They protrude when it is depressed and return
 
 WHITE OR DUTCH CLOVER 
 
 27 
 
 when the pressure is removed, and the pollen is thus well covered, 
 or protected from rain or creeping insects. The honey lies at the base 
 of the ovary near the base of the united stamens, being- reached by 
 apertures each side of the free stamen. The insect stands on the 
 two wings, thrusting its head beneath the standard, which it forces 
 up, depressing the wings and keel and forcing the stamens and pistil 
 against the bee's abdomen, and possibly causing cross-pollination on 
 the return of the parts 
 to their place if the insect 
 has previously visited an- 
 other nower of the same 
 species. The stigma pro- 
 jects above the anthers, 
 first touching the abdomen 
 of a visitor. The calyx-tube 
 is short, allowing Andrena 
 and Halictns to reach the 
 honey. The wings and keel 
 move together or rotate 
 when pressed, and the 
 former projecting beyond 
 the latter this causes a lever 
 motion. The elasticity of 
 the standard causes the 
 parts to return to their place 
 after insects' visits, and the 
 other parts also. The 
 visitors are Hymenoptera 
 ( Apidse, Apis mellifica, Bom- 
 bus pratonun, Megachilc 
 
 willoughbiella, Halictus tar sat us, H. iimnaculatus, Andrena fulvicrus}\ 
 Diptera (Syrphidae, Volucella bombylans, Conopiclai, Myopa buccata, J/. 
 tcstacca}; Lepicloptera (Large \Yhite Butterfly (Pieris brassies?)). 
 
 The pods are covered by the corolla not falling in fruit, and these 
 when the head is ripe fall off just round the plant. The seed is thus 
 dispersed by the plant itself. 
 
 Like the Red Clover, White Clover requires a sand soil, never 
 (or rarely) growing in humus soil as the former does. 
 
 Urophlyctis trifolii and Peronospora trifoliorum are fungi parasitic 
 upon it. A beetle (Apion flavipes) and a hymenopterous insect 
 (Colletes marginata) live on it. 
 
 \VHITE CLOVER (Trifolium repeiis, L.)
 
 28 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 The second Latin name refers to its creeping habit. It is called 
 Bloodwort, Claver, Clover, Dutch or White Clover, Curl-doddie, 
 Fourleaved Grass, Sheep's Gowan, Purple Grass, Honeystalks, Honey- 
 suckle Clover, White Honeysuckle, Lamb's Sucklings, Purple-wort, 
 Quillet, Sucklers. The name Purple Grass is given to a cultivated 
 form with dark-brown purple foliage. 
 
 Parkinson says of this : 
 
 The purple grasse spreadeth on the ground. 
 
 " The leaves are in some three, in others foure or five, on a stalke 
 of a sad greene colour, with a shadow of darke purple cast over them, 
 the flowers are white; I never saw this but in gardens where women 
 keepe it with confidence to be good for the purples in children or 
 others." This is a good instance of the absurd "doctrine of signa- 
 tures " then in force. 
 
 " Honeystalks " are clover flowers " which contain a sweet juice ". 
 Cattle sometimes overcharge themselves with clover and die. 
 
 Words more sweet, and yet more dangerous, 
 Than baits to fish, or honeystalks to sheep. 
 
 SHAKESPEARK, Titus Andromcus. 
 
 Lambs were fed on clover, hence the name Lamb's Sucklings. 
 As a fodder plant it is valuable, and it spreads and roots widely, being 
 permanent, unlike the Red Clover. A square yard is quickly covered 
 by a plant in one year. The seeds have been used in times of famine 
 for making bread. The hive bee seeks its honey from this clover. 
 
 ESSKXTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 8 1. Trifolium repens, L. Stems creeping, leaflets obovate, serrate, 
 flowers white, in round heads, fruit-stalks cleflexed after flowering, 
 peduncles axillary, longer than the leaves, legumes 4-seeded. 
 
 Hop Trefoil (Trifolium procumbens, L.) 
 
 The present range of Hop Trefoil for this is only known in the 
 present-day flora is the North Temperate Zone of Europe, North 
 Africa, North and West Asia, and it is also an introduction in North 
 America. In Great Britain it is unknown in Monmouth, South-east 
 York, Main Argyle, Hebrides, Orkneys, elsewhere it grows from 
 Ross southwards, ascending to 1200 ft. in Derbyshire, Ireland, and 
 the Channel Islands. 
 
 The Hop Trefoil, while commonly a meadow plant, is also a
 
 KEY TO PLATE III 
 
 a, Floret before pollination, b, Floret 
 
 after pollination, discoloured chocolate. 
 
 c, Potf. ' V, art ofj pianv^ith heads of 
 
 flowers in different stages. 
 
 No. 4. CinquefoiK^ 
 (SS^^^^SW W f^entillarepian^^ 
 
 lly-twisted acrten^, foming a a, Qalfx, seer^'^oto belowr tyth bracts. 
 
 ^ efca^ate ach^weTO/^'^nflo- ^, Head of achen^s. ^~P3ft 'of^pfant, 
 
 showing flowers with stamens sn^ing^ro^eiyddventitipjjslUrogt^, slip- ^L 
 
 and pistils. 4. Flower-stalk, with buds ules,Hea^ar and a flower wittfstamen s ^*b 
 
 aM tijptj-,ste$*leavs arfd'stipuleJs^U- -^ and yisjj^; ahtLthe cinquefoil /or Tudor ) 
 
 t^P^ 1 rosefrorstt of corolla, with /the linear 
 
 ** 
 
 L ^r^
 
 Ilob-rT Joo'T e'briil . .oil 
 
 if Jew .abol ,a 
 woda oJ ,oaiw 
 ifi abaae owJ) 
 
 brufc stoiod 
 
 j 
 
 ! // ; 
 
 -VrT x' 
 
 J' 
 
 3 
 
 - ti^i. orsr.vcyon a . styj**"""", 
 
 Cw # '/^l*fe^ 
 
 Yo 
 
 ^na/ofiJE rfjiw i37/oft B bns 
 ioI)oT loV Iio>9L'pnb orfl 
 -f/joriil arfJ 
 
 -v-^^feM 
 
 *quar$ 
 
 iavf 
 
 bafi 
 
 to>9L-pnin :ii b/fe iiiiaiqi- bos .-<t^H|$flVr b^ 
 
 riliw ,cl[oiot> to rjinol X 9301 " "l>\ ^; ' ^ , t " -'^v ' *" ; " ' V, **/ 
 
 ilfiGSS ^CUlGCTI^jIf, ~*l'; :-.-,' L ; : 
 
 V- i . .;.;:. 'iiC^- 4 - 
 
 ^%'. 
 
 f ^C ; 
 
 '/- ^> v>>' 
 
 ^A^r'W^i ^1^ :!H 
 
 11' ,/^ V^J h^-
 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 PLATE III
 
 HOP TREFOIL 
 
 29 
 
 frequent associate of species that delight in the more or less undis- 
 turbed security and protection of the railway banks, which are now 
 so general a feature of most districts. 
 
 Likewise it frequents natural banks and slopes, being accustomed 
 to dry conditions, and is largely a dry-soil lover. 
 
 HOP TREFOIL (Tri folium procumbens, L. ) 
 
 The specific name suggests the trailing habit of most of the stems, 
 the principal one being erect, slender, the leaflets blunt at the tip, the 
 leaves with lobes each side of a stalk, the leaflets in threes, and the 
 stems are also slightly downy. 
 
 The flowerheads are round, large, in oval spikes, with overlapping 
 florets, having a hop-like appearance (hence the name). When the 
 flowers are withered the standard yellow, like the rest of the flowers, 
 is arching but does not fold over the pods. It is bent down, does not
 
 3 o FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 fall, and is furrowed. The flowers are stalked, the style is less than 
 the pod, the leaf-like organs on the leaf-stalks are ^-ovate, acute, 
 and the seeds are oval. 
 
 The stems are rarely 18 in. long, and usually i ft., and on the 
 coast about 6 in. high, with larger flowers. The flowers are in bloom 
 in June and July. The plant is annual. 
 
 The flowers are large and conspicuous, and are visited by bees, 
 Apis mellifica, Halictus flavipcs. The tube is not so long as in 
 Red Clover, the flowers numerous and dense. The standard is broad, 
 and arches over the centre, and the style is hooked. The short calyx 
 allows the other parts of the flower to return to position after an insect 
 visit. 
 
 The pocl is a i -seeded fruit, not splitting into many parts, egg- 
 shaped, and when ripe it falls off or is broken off. It is therefore 
 dispersed by its own agency. 
 
 Hop Trefoil is addicted to a sand soil. Like Hare's Foot Trefoil, 
 it also grows on the more ancient rock formations on stony barren 
 ground. 
 
 It is a food plant for a beetle, Apion pisi, and a moth, Antkocera 
 trifolii. 
 
 The second Latin name refers to its procumbent or trailing habit 
 It is called Hop or Yellow Clover, and Hop Trefoil. From the hop- 
 like shape of the flowers it is called Hop Trefoil. Not so valuable 
 as Red or White Clover, it is an annual. It often covers barren 
 ground where nothing else will grow. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 82. Trifolium procumbens, L. Stem erect, branches procumbent, 
 leaflets obovate, central petiole longest, stipules ovate, flowers yellow, 
 in dense, round, hop -like heads, forty flowers, standard dilated not 
 folded. 
 
 Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus, L.) 
 
 This plant, which is known only, as regards its distribution, as a 
 member of the flora of the North Temperate Zone to-day, is a native 
 of Europe, N. Africa, N. and W. Asia. In Great Britain it is found 
 in every part, as far north as the Shetlands, growing at a height of 
 2800 ft. in the Highlands. It is found in Ireland and the Channel 
 Islands. 
 
 The common Bird's Foot Trefoil forms clumps and patches of 
 golden colour in the meadows from June till late in the summer. 
 There it is associated with Yellow Rattle, the Daisy, the Ox-eye
 
 BIRD'S FOOT TREFOIL 31 
 
 Daisy, and other widespread pratal species, growing luxuriantly also 
 on banks, such as railway embankments or cuttings. 
 
 The slender, numerous stems grow in close clusters, and are 
 branched, the leaflets, which are in threes, are egg-shapecl and smooth, 
 but hairy here and there. The stems are half-erect and somewhat 
 square-stalked. The leaflets are only shortly stalked. The stipules 
 (in pairs) are narrowly elliptical, ending in a point. 
 
 The flowers vary in colour from red to lemon colour, and in 
 number from 5 to 10, but are usually golden yellow, and borne on short 
 
 BIRD'S FOOT TREFOIL (Lotus corniculatus, L.) 
 
 flowering branches, in a sort of umbel, the heads being bent down. 
 The calyx is not quite half as long as the corolla, and at first the 
 teeth are pressed together and erect, and are triangular below, awl- 
 shaped above, the points of the two upper teeth meeting together. 
 The pods are cylindrical, separated by divisions between the seeds, 
 and two-valvecl. 
 
 Sometimes the plant is a foot or more in height, but usually 
 4-6 in. The flowers may be seen from May to September. Bird's 
 Foot Trefoil is perennial. 
 
 In this common flower we have a type of the relation of parts to 
 insect visits typical of flowers like the Pea in general. There are five 
 petals, of which the upper is erect and called the standard. Below
 
 3 2 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 these are the two wings or alse. The other two lower petals are 
 united along the anterior margin to form a carina or keel. 
 
 The nine stamens are united at the base to form a tube encircling 
 the pistil, and project beyond it into a triangular cavity at the bottom 
 of the keel which is a repository for pollen. The tenth is free. The 
 alae are locked by projecting knobs fitting into a hollow opposite (as 
 in the mantle of a Sepia or Cuttle-fish). An insect alighting on the 
 flower bears down the alae and the keel, which is pushed over the 
 column or ring of stamens and forces the pollen up into the cavity 
 and against the abdomen of the insect, and when the insect goes off 
 to another flower the parts return again to their former position and 
 cover up the pollen. The bee is able to reach the honey when the 
 tenth stamen is free. In other species of Leguminosae where the tenth 
 stamen is united there is usually no honey. 
 
 Pollen is discharged when the anthers burst before the flowers are 
 opened. Of the two groups of five stamens one has thickened ends, 
 and after the five inner anthers have shrivelled they fill the hollow in 
 the keel in which the pollen is collected. The wings and keel are 
 both depressed when a bee alights, and being locked together they 
 spring back as by a "piston mechanism" after pressure is removed. 
 
 The visitors are Hymenoptera (Apidse), Diptera, Sphinges, Sesia, 
 Zygccna, Bombyces, Porthesia, Noctuce, Euclidia, &c. 
 
 The pod is a many-seeded fruit, and is divided into divisions which 
 alternate with the seeds, and as the chambers break off when the pod 
 is ripe, the seeds travel to a short distance, and the Bird's Foot Trefoil 
 is therefore extended in range by its own agency. 
 
 This plant is best suited by a sand soil in which there is a fair 
 proportion of clay, or sandy loam, and is therefore both a sand-lover 
 and a clay-lover. It is abundant on Triassic and Liassic clays as 
 well as on later Oolitic rock soils. 
 
 The fungi Peronospora trifoliorum and Uromyces striatus attack 
 Lotus. The beetles Apion loti, Bruchus loti, Meligethes solidus, a 
 hymenopterous insect Megackile argentata, and the Lepidoptera, 
 Dusky Skipper, Wood W T hite, Common Blue, Clifden Blue, Common 
 Heath, Gelechia tumidclla, G. tceniolella, Nepticula cryptella, Silver 
 Cloud (Xylomyges conspicillaris}, &c., Transparent Burnet (Zygcena 
 minos], Broad-bordered Five-spotted Burnet (Z. trifolii], Narrow- 
 bordered Five-spotted Burnet (Z. lonicera), Litlwsia palliate lla, 
 Coleophora discordella, Bordered Gray (Selidosema plumaria), and 
 Myllophila semi-rubella, and the fly Diplosis loti feed on it. 
 
 Lotus, a name given by Theophrastus, is the Latin for this common
 
 MEADOW-SWEET 33 
 
 plant, and the second Latin name means shaped like a little horn, 
 referring to the fruit, from the Latin corniculum, a little horn. It is 
 
 <"5 
 
 called Bird's-foot, Bloom-fell, Boots-and- Shoes, Feal Broom, Butter- 
 and-Eggs, Butter-jags, Cat cluke, Claver, Cat-poddish, Cat's Claws, 
 Cat's Clover, Cheese-cake, Craw-taes, Crow-foot, Crowtaes, Cuckoo's 
 Stockings, Lady's Cushion, Dead Man's Fingers, Devil's Claws, 
 Devil's Fingers, Eggs-and- Bacon, Fell-bloom, Fingers-and-Thumbs, 
 Fingers -and -Toes, God Almighty's Thumbs-and- Fingers, Ground 
 Honeysuckle, Hen-and- Chickens, Jack -jump -about, King Finger, 
 Lady's Boots, Lady's-finger-Grass, Lady's Glove, Lady's Shoes and 
 Stockings, Lady's Slipper, Lamb's Sucklings, Patten and Clogs, Milk- 
 maid, Pig's Foot, Pig's Pettitoes, Sheep Foot, Tommy Tottles, c. 
 The name Cat cluke or Cat-luke is applied from a supposed resem- 
 blance it has to a cat's or bird's foot. 
 
 The yellow Lambtoe I have often got 
 Sweet creeping o'er the banks in sunny time. 
 
 It is a valuable meadow plant, and will grow freely and luxuriantly 
 in damp spots. Mixed with other plants and grasses it affords good 
 fodder for cattle and horses. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 84. Lotus corniculatus, L. Stem prostrate, leaves smooth, obovate, 
 stipules ovate, flowers in an umbel, 5-10, yellow, calyx teeth appressed, 
 points of two upper teeth converging, erect in bud. 
 
 Meadow-sweet (Spiraea Ulmaria, L.) 
 
 Beds of Preglacial, Interglacial, Neolithic, and Roman age (as at 
 Silchester) have afforded seeds of this spec.es. It is found in the 
 North Temperate and Arctic regions of Arctic Europe, Asia Minor, 
 and North Asia. The Meadow-sweet is found in all parts of Great 
 Britain as far north as the Shetland Islands, up to 1200 ft. in York- 
 shire. It is found in the West of Ireland. 
 
 Meadow-sweet is a very common riverside flower, fond of damp 
 places, growing also in hollows in moist meadows, where it is accom- 
 panied by other moisture-loving plants, such as Lesser Spearwort, 
 Water Avens, Bugle, Spear Thistle, various docks, Spotted Orchis, 
 and other plants, amongst which one may name various kinds of 
 rushes and sedges. 
 
 The Meadow-sweet is erect in habit, tufted. The rootstock is 
 short. The stems are erect, furrowed, angular, simple or branched, 
 
 VOL. II. 18
 
 34 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 leafy. The leaves are pinnate, with lobes each side of a common 
 stalk, white-felted below or hairless, toothed, with large toothed leaflets 
 and smaller intermediate ones. In the radical leaves the terminal 
 ones are large, the lateral ones egg-shaped, entire, small, alternate. 
 The terminal leaflets are large with acute lobes, palmately lobed, with 
 3~5 segments. The stem leaves are downy below. The stipules are 
 
 leafy, rounded, half- 
 egg-shaped, toothed. 
 The flowers are 
 creamy white, sweet- 
 scented, in corymb- 
 like cymes, which are 
 very compound, with 
 long lateral branches. 
 The lobes of the 
 calyx are turned 
 back. The petals are 
 rounded. The car- 
 pels are hairless, 
 twisted together, al- 
 most horizontal, 5-9, 
 with two pendulous 
 ovules. The stamens 
 are numerous, 20-60. 
 Meadow-sweet is 
 from 2 to 3 ft. high. 
 The flowers may be 
 gathered from May 
 or June to October. 
 The plant is peren- 
 nial and increased by 
 division. 
 
 The Meadow-sweet, as the name implies, is a sweet-scented flower. 
 The compound cymes are conspicuous, and though the flowers do 
 not contain honey they are much visited by insects, as the stamens are 
 numerous and pollen is therefore abundant. In the first stage the 
 stamens bend over towards the centre completely hiding the stigmas. 
 But they gradually become erect, and bend outwards in succession. 
 They then open and are covered with pollen. The centre of the 
 flower then becomes accessible to insects, either small creeping ones or 
 larger flying insects. When the stigma ripens it is thus open to 
 
 Photo. B. Ha 
 
 MKADO\V-S\VKET (Spirtea Ulmaria, L.)
 
 MEADOW-SWEET 
 
 35 
 
 cross-pollination. But self-pollination may occur as pollen may fall 
 from the anthers on the stigma, and insects may cause this, owing to 
 the crowding of the flowers, the stamens of one flower bending over 
 another may also lead to cross- pollination. The flowers may also be 
 homogamous, in which case self-pollination will usually occur. 
 
 In the Meadow-sweet the fruit is a collection of follicles, with i -celled 
 carpels. The fruit splits open, allowing the seeds, which are few, to 
 be jerked or blown out 
 around the parent plant. 
 
 As it requires a clay 
 soil, or a sandy loam in 
 other cases, this plant is 
 more or less a clay-lover. 
 
 The foliage is dis- 
 torted by Triphragmium 
 uhnarice, and a fungus, 
 Sph&rotheca huvnili, lives 
 on it, while it is galled 
 by Cecidomyia ulmarifc. 
 
 The beetles Ischno- 
 mera melanura, Asclcra 
 c&rulea, a H ymenopterous 
 insect Blemocampa ungui- 
 cnlata, the Homopterous 
 Eupteryx signatipennis, 
 the Heteroptera Lygus 
 lucorum, L. spinolia, and 
 the beetles Cereits pedi- 
 cular ins, C. bipnstiilatns, 
 Galcrnca tend la feed on it. 
 
 Sfiir&'a, Theophrastus, 
 
 from speira, cord, is the Greek name from its twisted seeds, and Ulmaria, 
 Dodonseus, is from Ulmus, elm, from the elm-like foliage. It is called 
 Bittersweet, Bridewort, Courtship-and-matrimony, Goat's Beard, Harif, 
 Honey-sweet, Maid -of -the -Meadow, Maid-sweet, Meadow-soot, 
 Meadow-sweet, My Lady's Belt, Oueen-of-the- Meadow, Sweet Hay. 
 
 Oueen-of-the- Meadow is a translation of the old name Regina 
 prati. Bridewort is from its resemblance to the white feathers worn 
 by brides; and it was used for strewing houses at wedding festivals: 
 
 Amongst these strewing kinds some other wild that grow, 
 
 As burnet, all abroad and meadowwort they throw. DRAVTON. 
 
 MEADOW-SWEET (Spircea Uhnaria, L.) IN FLOWER
 
 36 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 In Ireland they believed if Meadow-sweet was put in water on 
 St. John Baptist's Day it would reveal a thief, and if floating the thief 
 would be a woman, if sinking a man. Its fragrant flowers were con- 
 sidered to have medicinal virtues, and it was an ingredient of the 
 remedy "Save" referred to in the Knight's Tale: 
 
 Eek save they drunken, for they wode here lymes have. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 93. Spircca Uluiaria, L. Stem tall, erect, herbaceous, leaflets 
 entire, terminal palmately lobecl, downy below, flowers white, in cyme, 
 numerous, fragrant. 
 
 Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans, L.) 
 
 Unlike the Tormentil this plant has not been discovered in any 
 early deposits. Its distribution in the Northern Temperate Zone is 
 confined to Europe from Gothland southward, N. and W. Asia, 
 Himalayas, Canaries, Azores. In Great Britain it is a common plant, 
 but it is not found in Cardigan, S. Perth, Mid Perth, N. Aberdeen, 
 Elgin, Easterness, Main Argyle, Dumbarton, Clyde Islands, Ebudes, 
 and the whole of the N. Highlands, and Northern Isles, ranging thus 
 from Banff southward. It is a native in Ireland and the Channel 
 Islands. 
 
 The common Yellow Cinquefoil is a familiar plant in the meadows 
 and fields when in bloom, covering some few feet with its golden 
 flowers and creeping stem. It is addicted to little knolls and banks, 
 and being fond of dry soil prefers high ground, spreading rapidly on 
 the hillside or open meadow. 
 
 The common English name Cinquefoil describes the fivefold 
 arrangement of leaflets in this plant, and the second Latin name 
 describes its habit, creeping, the stem lying quite flat. It is usually 
 a larger plant than Tormentil, and the stem is slender, thread-like, 
 rooting at intervals. The leaves are larger, and are stalked, having 
 finger-like, toothed leaflets, blunt at the tip, with some small leaves in 
 the axils in pairs, and slightly hairy. 
 
 The flowering stalks bear solitary flowers and are long, in the axils, 
 and half-erect, with large flowers, the sepals being alternately smaller, 
 the petals heart-shaped. The achenes or fruits are rough, the seeds 
 numerous. 
 
 Cinquefoil being a plant which lies on the ground is never more 
 than 6 in. in height. It flowers freely in June and July. It is 
 perennial and propagated by runners.
 
 LADY'S MANTLE 39 
 
 The flower is like that of P. verna, in which there is a ring-like 
 ridge on the inner wall of the tube borne on the top of the flower-stalk, 
 which surrounds the base of the stamens, and is marked by its dark 
 reddish-yellow colour. The honey is not secreted in drops, but in a 
 very evident, smooth adherent layer. The anthers become covered 
 on both sides with pollen, and ripen at the same time as the stigmas. 
 
 Insects alight in the centre, or on the petals, and in the latter case 
 they dust themselves with pollen, but do not touch the stigmas, as the 
 honey-ring lies farther out. If they alight in the middle of the next 
 flower they cross-pollinate it. But the flower is often self-pollinated. 
 The flowers close up in part in dull weather, and completely at night, 
 and it is then that the anthers touch the stigmas. 
 
 The visitors are Prosopis aruiillata^ P. hvalinata, Halictiis inacii- 
 latus, //. lencozonus, H. sexstrigatus, Andreua albicnis, ^-/. nana, 
 Sphecodcs gibbns, Noinada xanthosticta, N. succincta, Amviophila 
 sabulosa, Syrphus arcuatus. 
 
 The achenes or fruits are granulated or covered with little points, 
 and are dispersed, when dry, around the parent plant. 
 
 A dry sand soil is the principal requirement of Cinquefoil, which 
 is strictly a sand plant, growing luxuriantly on sand, derived from 
 sedimentary rocks or even directly from older granitic debris. 
 
 Xcstophancs potentilla forms galls upon the stems and rhizomes, and 
 a moth, the Knotgrass {Acronycta rumicis}, feeds on the Cinquefoil. 
 
 The second Latin name refers to its creeping habit. It is called 
 Cinquefoil, Fiflef, Five-finger-blossom, Five-finger-grass, Five-fingers, 
 Five-leaf, Five-leavecl-grass, Golden-blossom, Herb Five-leaf, Sink- 
 field, Synkefoyle, Tormentil. Sinkfield is merely a corruption for 
 Cinquefoil, which alludes to the five leaflets. 
 
 In the fourteenth century it was much used, and imagined to be 
 a cure, for stomach complaints. Like Tormentil it is astringent and 
 used in dysentery, being also used for tanning. Tea used for fevers 
 was made with it. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 100. Potentilla rcptans, L. Stem slender, rooting, creeping, leaflets 
 obovate, leaves stalked, flowers large, yellow, petals five, obcordate, 
 carpels rough. 
 
 Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris, L.) 
 
 No trace of Lady's Mantle is found in the rocks. It is an Arctic 
 plant found in the North Temperate and Arctic regions in Arctic 
 Europe, N. and W. Asia, Kashmir, Greenland, Labrador. In Great
 
 4 o FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Britain it occurs in every part of the country except in Mid Lancashire, 
 as far north as the Shetlands. In the Highlands it is found at a height 
 of 3600 ft. It is native also in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 Lady's Mantle is a plant of the uplands, being rarely found at 
 low levels. Whilst it grows in meadows and fields of intermediate 
 altitude, it is more often found on the sides of hills, where such plants 
 as Viola calcarea, Hieracium Pilosella, Salad Burnet, Kasleria, and 
 other plants are found. 
 
 It is an erect plant, with kidney-shaped leaves, plaited, with 6-9 
 
 
 Photo. J. H. Crabtret 
 
 LADY'S MANTLE (Alchemilla wulgaris, L.) 
 
 lobes, and toothed, the stem and leaf- stalks being smooth, the leaves 
 greenish below and downy. The stipules or leaf-like organs on the 
 leaf-stalks are united at the base and toothed. The leaves are mainly 
 radical leaves, and spring from the rootstock, being large and neat. 
 Such leaves borne on the flowering stems are without stalks. 
 
 The yellowish-green flowers are borne in racemose cymes, which 
 are spiked and panicled. The short flower-stalks are downy, and the 
 texture of the whole plant is more or less silky. The achenes or 
 fruits are few and glandular. 
 
 Occasionally the stem is a foot long, usually less, or about 6 in. 
 June to August are the months when the flowers are in bloom. The 
 plant is propagated by dividing the roots. It is a deciduous, herba- 
 ceous perennial. 
 
 The small flowers have no corolla. Because they are green beetles
 
 KEY TO PLATE IV 
 
 schizocarp. <:, Section- >6f a fruit 
 in,< rows of prickles, </, Infl 
 showing pwnare bracts ^jf-invol 
 r->ass of flowers in o>>nipound 
 
 1,2.^ Oeaj gurnet 
 
 ^^^Y Gray) 
 
 ion of flower, fa -flower, showing 
 :nyfc*<k>ng }fy of pistil, , 
 gamosepafcus c^yx, and bract^. > 
 k, with.pinna^ le^O^f Inflo- 
 rescence, wit 
 
 rescence, with fltvferheads in different
 
 VI 3TAJ<I OT 
 
 bnjs (seiom 
 
 itmdftib ni ?bB9fh9wbfr rfJiw < 
 .W8W 
 
 t: k t ^\^ m 
 
 k'^.7^1 ^-Wi ^ ^ 
 i \.-y .,./ :. x:>tf- iK\\// 
 
 -^r-/ : -nxn i ! 
 
 -^V ii 
 
 4\ ii ^_ 
 
 ; ; V^T 
 
 /! . l\ * 
 
 ^nv/--;':^ ' 
 
 /;;,' 
 r/t 
 
 |Qg^ vWr- 
 
 > - 
 
 Mlv?V 1 ^ 
 
 L_ "' '^
 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 PLATE IV
 
 GREAT BURNET 41 
 
 do not visit them. There is a yellow, fleshy ring on the inner wall of 
 the receptacular tube which surrounds the style (and later the ovary) 
 which secretes a thin layer of honey, giving a greenish-yellow colour to 
 the flower. 
 
 The small amount of honey makes it unattractive to insects with a 
 long proboscis. It is not usually self-pollinated, but the partial separa- 
 tion of the sexes makes for cross-pollination. It is not often that male 
 and female organs are equally developed, but usually either the stamens 
 are fully developed and the pistil is short, barely projecting above the 
 honey-secreting ring, or the style is long and projects and the anthers 
 are completely useless. Sometimes flowers occur in which one or two 
 stamens are developed as well as the pistil. It is visited by Xantho- 
 graninia, Flies, and Butterflies. The plant is becoming dioecious, 
 stamens and carpels being often found on different plants. 
 
 The glandular achenes are enclosed in the membranous calyx and 
 are chiefly dispersed by the wind. 
 
 Lady's Mantle is a sand-loving plant, addicted to a dry soil, in which 
 there may be some little lime. 
 
 The leaves are checked in growth by a fungus, Uroiuyccs alchemillce. 
 A beetle, Phyllobius viridicollis, two moths, the Small Rivulet 
 {Emmelesia alchemillata}, Lainpronia prcclatella, and a Homopterous 
 insect, Trioza scntipennis, live upon it. 
 
 Alchcmilla, Tragus, is from the same Arabic origin as alchemy, from 
 its supposed virtues, and the second Latin name from its universality. 
 
 Lady's Mantle is called Bear's-foot, Dew cup, Duck's-foot, Great 
 Sanicle, Lady's Mantle, Lamb's Foot, Lion's Foot, Padelion, Pedelyon, 
 Synclaw. The name Dew cup is given to it because the moisture, 
 owing to the hairs on the surface, collects in a drop in the middle of 
 the leaf, which thus appears unwetted. It was also called Our Lady's 
 Mantle. It is the Maria Stakker of Iceland, which produces sleep if 
 placed under the pillow. It had a reputation for restoring feminine 
 beauty. It is astringent. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 101. Alchcmilla vulgaris, L. Herbaceous, erect, leaves reniform, 
 plaited lobed, hairy, flowers yellowish-green, terminal, in racemes or 
 cymes. 
 
 Great Burnet (Poterium officinale, A. Gray) 
 
 This common plant is an ancient one, having been found in Pre- 
 
 glacial, Early Glacial, Interglacial, Late Glacial, and Neolithic deposits. 
 
 It is a Northern Temperate and Arctic Zone plant found in Arctic
 
 42 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Europe, N. and W. Asia. In Great Britain it is found throughout 
 the Peninsula province, in Wilts and Dorset in the Channel province, 
 in the Thames province not in Kent or Essex, throughout Anglia, 
 Severn, S. Wales and Montgomery, Carnarvon, Anglesea, and Flint, 
 in N. Wales, in the Trent, and in the Mersey province except in 
 Mid Lanes, H umber province, Tyne and Lakes provinces except in 
 the Isle of Man, in the whole of the W T est Lowlands except Renfrew 
 and Lanark, and in Roxburgh, Berwick, and Forfar. It is found in 
 Yorkshire at 1500 ft. It is native in W. and N. Ireland and the 
 Channel Islands. 
 
 Great Burnet, with its tall purple flowerheads, is a conspicuous plant 
 in most meadows laid to grass in the summer. In meadows, fields, 
 and pastures it grows side by side with Yellow Rattle, Sorrel, Saw- 
 wort, Field Scabious, Ox-eye Daisy, &c. 
 
 Quite a familiar sight in the meadows in summer, the tall erect 
 stems of the Great Burnet are branched, with egg-shaped, half-heart- 
 shaped leaflets, the leaves smooth, the lobes one each side of the 
 common stalk, and distant or few. 
 
 Deep purplish-brown, the heads of flower are conspicuous amid 
 the green sea of wild flowers and grasses in a meadow. The spike 
 is egg-shaped or oblong, with calyx and stamens of the same length, 
 the latter not shorter than the sepaloid calyx, which is smooth. In fruit 
 the calyx is four-winged in the upper part. 
 
 Two to three feet is the height of this species. It flowers from 
 June to August. A deciduous, herbaceous perennial, it is propagated 
 by means of seeds. 
 
 The flower has no corolla, and the calyx does duty for petals. 
 This in the lowest part (and the middle belongs to the tube of the 
 receptacle) surrounds the ovary, and the middle part, a fleshy ring 
 round the base of the style, secretes honey, while the upper part 
 spreads out into four dark-purple, sepal-like lobes. The anthers and 
 stigmas develop together. The plant is moncecious, the sexes being 
 on the same plant. The flowers are pollinated by insects, unlike P. 
 sanguisorba, though the stigma is divided as in a wind-pollinated 
 flower, and the character is doubtless inherited from a wind-pollinated 
 ancestor resembling Poterinm. 
 
 The fruit is dispersed by wind, the calyx is four-winged and 
 encloses the achenes or fruits, helping to disperse them by the wind. 
 
 Being addicted to a sand soil it is sand-loving, or clay-loving, and 
 found on a clay soil, but it usually grows on sandy loam. 
 
 Burnet leaf -spot, Xenedoclms carbonariiis, is parasitic upon it.
 
 GREAT BURNET 
 
 43 
 
 Photo. Flitters & C.arnttt 
 
 GREAT BTRNET (Poferium officinalc, A. Gray) 
 
 The moths, Brown Tail Moth (Eupristes chrysorrliccci), Reddish Buff 
 (Acosnictia caliginosa], Orthosia gracilis feed on it. 
 
 The second Latin name refers to its use in medicine. It is culti- 
 vated as a fodder plant abroad. In early times it was a cure for 
 wounds, being bitter. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 103. Potcnum officinalc, A. Gray. Stem erect, branching above, 
 leaves few, pinnate, smooth, leaflets 3-5 pairs, serrate, flowers purple 
 in oblong head, calyx as long as filaments, fruit of 2 achenes, oblong, 
 winged above.
 
 44 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Wild Carrot (Daucus Carota, L.) 
 
 So far there have been no traces of the Wild Carrot found in 
 early deposits. In the North Temperate Zone it is found in Europe, 
 N. Africa, N. Asia, as far east as India. It has been introduced into 
 N= America. Though common, it is not known in N. Perth, Banff, 
 Main Argyll, E. Sutherland, the Orkneys. 
 
 The Wild Carrot is a common meadow species growing in fields 
 and meadows, or upland pastures on dry soils. The railway banks 
 have now become a permanent habitat for it in many places. On 
 rising ground it is especially common, and on hillsides amongst such 
 plants as Great Burnet, Devil's Bit Scabious, Ox-eye Daisy, Knap- 
 weed, Goat's Beard, &c. It is also frequently to be seen by the 
 wayside. 
 
 Fairly tall, erect, rigid, with a stiff, wiry stem, sparingly branched, 
 clothed with bristles, and striated, Wild Carrot is distinguished by its 
 foliage apart from its curiously nest-like umbels of flowers. The radical 
 leaves are oblong with lanceolate leaflets with lobes on each side of 
 the common stalk. The upper leaves are more triangular and larger, 
 with sheathing leaf-stalks, thrice branched. 
 
 At first the umbel of flowers is cup-shaped or hollow, and this with 
 its numerous rays and small deeply divided bracts or leaflike organs 
 in the partial involucre or whorl of leaflike organs give it the appear- 
 ance of a bird's nest. 
 
 There is a bright-red flower in the centre; the others white. The 
 fruit is bristly, bearing numerous hooked spines. The stem is usually 
 i ft. to 1 8 in. in height. Flowers are to be found in July and August. 
 The plant is a biennial, propagated by seeds. 
 
 Compared with other umbellifers the flowers are large and con- 
 spicuous in proportion to the size and height of the stem. The 
 umbels are white and purple in the centre, and bear a row of ray 
 florets. The styles are erect, short, and thick. It is visited by 
 numerous insects, and cross-pollination is in this way ensured. 
 
 Sixty-one insects have been noticed, 19 Diptera, 10 Coleoptera, 
 28 Hymenoptera, 2 Lepidoptera, 2 Hemiptera. 
 
 The fruits are provided with hooks which catch in the wool and 
 fur of passing animals, and it is therefore dispersed by animals. 
 
 Wild Carrot is addicted to a sand soil and it is therefore a sand 
 plant. 
 
 It is infested by the fungi Plasmopora nivea, Phoinis sanguino-
 
 WILD CARROT 
 
 45 
 
 lenta. and Protomyces pachydermis, and is galled by Asphondylia 
 Pimpinellec. The beetles Melolontha vnlgaris, Agriotes lincatus, a 
 Thysanopterous insect Thrips vulgatissima, three Hymenoptera (Myr- 
 mosa melanocephala, Tibhia femorata, Mellinus sabulosus), Hawk Moth 
 and Lepidoptera (Swallow Tail (Papilio Machaon), Death's Head 
 
 WILD CARROT (Daucus Caro/a, L.) 
 
 (Acherontia Atropos), (Botys palealis}, Depressaria nervosa, Clisio- 
 campa castrciisis, Scmasia rufi llano], and a fly Psila roste, feed on it, 
 also a Homopterous insect, Trioza viridula. 
 
 Dancus is a Greek word denoting a kind of parsnip or carrot. 
 Carota is a Latin word for carrot, derived from Greek. The Wild 
 Carrot is called Bee's-nest, Wild Carrot, Crow's-nest, Dawke, Dill, 
 Fiddle, Field More, Hill -trot, Mir- rot, Rantipole. Bird's Nest is 
 given because the flower has a nest-like shape, of which resemblance
 
 46 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Gerarde remarks, " The whole tuft (of flowers) is drawn together when 
 the seede is ripe, resembling a bird's nest". He speaks of it as "serv- 
 ing for love matters ". 
 
 The Wild Carrot is the origin of the garden forms. It contains 
 much sugar, and a spirit has been prepared from it. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 132. Daucus Carota, L. Root long, stem erect, rigid, downy, leaves 
 tripinnate, leaflets pinnatifid, flowers white, central red, in large umbels, 
 with trifid bracts below. 
 
 Devil's Bit Scabious (Scabiosa succisa, L.) 
 
 In Interglacial beds at West Wittering seeds of the Devil's Bit 
 Scabious have been met with. It is found to-day throughout the 
 Northern Temperate and Arctic Zones in Arctic Europe, Siberia, and 
 N. Africa. Devil's Bit Scabious is found in every part of Great 
 Britain, ascending to 2500 ft. in the Highlands. 
 
 This plant is a meadow species growing in fields and meadows at 
 low as well as high elevations. It forms quite a feature of the fields 
 laid to grass in summer, and is equally common upon the hillsides and 
 along the roads and lanes all over the country, being widely dispersed 
 and growing in some quantity. 
 
 The tall -flowered stems of this plant are conspicuous in the 
 meadows in summer, and are easily recognized by the mode of branch- 
 ing of the flowering stems. The stem is simple that is, not branched 
 below, but branched above. The smooth leaves are hairy, are narrowly 
 elliptical, egg-shaped at the base, the stem-leaves being linear and 
 nearly entire. 
 
 Its principal feature, however, is its blunt rootstock, termed pre- 
 morse, as though bitten off abruptly below, hence the name. 
 
 The beautiful lilac or blue flowers are borne on hemispherical 
 heads, which have numerous bracts below, and the flower-stalks are 
 long. The flowerhead contains many florets in its involucre or whorl 
 of floral organs. The outer involucre or whorl of leaflike organs has 
 membranous plaited scaly bracts, the receptacle being hemispherical. 
 The corolla is equal and 4-cleft. The calyx is crowned by five 
 bristles ; the fruit is sub-cylindrical, with eight furrows. 
 
 The plant is about 18 in. in height. The flowers are late, 
 opening in August, up to October. It is a perennial plant, increasing 
 by division. 
 
 The flowerhead is hemispherical, the florets all one size, 50-80,
 
 DEVIL'S BIT SCABIOUS 
 
 47 
 
 developing towards the centre. A fleshy ring above the ovary at the 
 base of the style secretes honey, which collects in the narrow mouth of 
 the tube 3-4 mm. long. Above the smooth part this is lined with 
 hairs to exclude rain. The tube widens above to 2 mm., and four (or 
 five) rounded lobes of the corolla (the external being largest) are" easily 
 thrust open, and the honey can be reached by short-lipped insects. 
 The florets are conspicuous, and in sunny weather many insects settle 
 upon them. The anthers 
 ripen first, and anthers and 
 stigmas ripen separately, 
 so it is cross-pollinated. 
 The stamens are bent 
 inwards in bud, and 
 straighten one by one 
 when the flower opens, 
 then when the style 
 scarcely projects beyond 
 the corolla the anthers 
 open in succession. When 
 the stamens are quite 
 withered, and the anthers 
 if the flower has been 
 visited are shaken off, the 
 style lengthens and the 
 stigma is clammy, and it 
 can only be pollinated if 
 an anther is still dusted 
 with pollen and acciden- 
 tally touches the stigma. 
 
 DEVIL'S BIT SCABIOI s (Scabiosa succisa, L.) 
 
 The visitors are Hy- 
 
 menoptera (Apis, Bombus, Andrcna, Halictus], Diptera (JExoprosopa, 
 Hclophilus, Eristalis, Syrplius, Rhingia, Empis, Luc ilia, Musca), 
 Lepidoptera (Small White (Picris rapa), Meadow Brown (Epin- 
 cplicle (Satyrus) janira], Small Copper (Cliry soph anus (Polyommatus] 
 phlcras}, Silver Y Moth (Plusia gamma}, Botys piirpurahs}, Coleoptera 
 ( Cry 'toccphahis scriccus). 
 
 The fruits are surrounded by the four calyx-lobes, which do not 
 fall, and being light these aid the wind in dispersing the fruit. 
 
 Devil's Bit Scabious is a clay-loving plant, growing in clay soil 
 or sandy loam on a variety of rock soils. 
 
 A fungus (LJslilago Scabiosa) attacks the anthers and forms
 
 48 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 a black powdery mass. Bremia lactucce and Puccinia hieracii also 
 infest it. 
 
 Meligethes lidens, a beetle, two Hymenoptera (Andrena hattorfiana, 
 A. cetii}, the Lepidoptera Nematois capriasellus, Pterophorus serotinus, 
 Melittis artemis. Satyr Pug (Eupithecia Satyr ata\ two Homoptera 
 (Eupteryx tenella, Aphalara nervosa), are associated with this as a 
 food plant. 
 
 Scabiosa, Brunfels, is so named from being or having been a remedy 
 for scab, scabies; and succisa, Fuchs, is Latin for cut off below, in 
 allusion to the premorse rootstock. It has many names: Bachelor's 
 Buttons, Blue-ball, Blue-bannets, Blue Bonnets, Blue Buttons, Blue- 
 caps, Blue-heads, Blue-kiss, Blue-tops, Bunds, Bundweed, Carl-doddie, 
 Curl-doddy, Devil's Bit, Devil's Bit Scabious, Fire-leaves, Forbete, 
 Forebit, Forebitten More, Gentleman's Buttons, Hardhead, Woolly 
 More, Hardhead, Herbyw Ofbit, Remcope, Stinking Nancy. 
 
 As to the Blue Bonnets, Jameson says: "In Gothland in Sweden 
 this plant has a fanciful name somewhat similar, Bailsman's Myssa, the 
 Boatsman's cap or mutch"; and he says of the name Curl Doddy, 
 " The provincial name is derived from the resemblance of the head 
 of flowers to the curly pate of a boy, and is very ancient ". Children in 
 Fife thus address it : 
 
 Curl doddy do my biddin, 
 
 Soop my house, and shool my midden; 
 
 and as it untwists in the hand they say: 
 
 Curl doddy on the midden, 
 Turn round and take my biddin. 
 
 The name Devil's Bit is from the legend that the root was bitten 
 off by the devil, who wished to destroy its properties, "for he needed 
 it not to make him sweat who is always tormented with fear of the 
 Day of Judgement", says Gerarde, who says he bit it from envy. 
 
 Devil's Bit Scabious yields a yellow and green dye. The plant 
 is highly bitter, and it has been used for tanning. Swellings in the 
 throat, Gerarde says, were cured by it. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 148. Scabiosa succisa, L. Rootstock premorse, stem erect, simple, 
 leaves entire, oblong, upper narrower, flowers blue, all alike, corolla 
 4-cleft, involucel hairy, fruit subglobose.
 
 DAISY 
 
 49 
 
 Daisy (Bellis perennis, L.) 
 
 Found in the North Temperate Zone in Europe generally at the 
 present time, there is nothing to indicate that the Daisy is an ancient 
 plant in Great Britain. The Daisy is ubiquitous, growing in every 
 part of Great Britain, and ascending to 3000 ft. in the Highlands. 
 
 So common is the Daisy that its occurrence is scarcely noted, and 
 if it were not that it is absent from wooded districts one might consider 
 it as the commonest of British plants, except the Annual Meadow 
 Grass, but as the latter is driven from arable soil probably the two are 
 about on a level in 
 this respect. Fields, 
 highways, hills, as 
 well as dales, are 
 everywhere studded 
 with Daisies in the 
 spring and summer 
 months. 
 
 The habit of the 
 Daisy is the rosette 
 habit. The plant may 
 be quite hairless or 
 hairy, according to 
 situation. The root- 
 stock is stout, with 
 numerous stout fibres, 
 and prostrate. The 
 aerial stem is a scape. 
 
 The leaves are all radical, as in true rosette plants, and lie on the 
 ground, or the inner ones may be erect. They are stalked, inversely 
 egg-shaped to spoon-shaped, fleshy, blunt or rounded at the tip, which 
 is scalloped, toothed, with a broad midrib, dark green and frequently 
 glossy. 
 
 The flowerheads are borne on simple, single scapes, with a yellow 
 disk and a white or pink ray. The florets are occasionally all ligulate, 
 or rarely all tubular. The ray florets are numerous in one series, 
 ligulate. The arms of the style are linear, blunt, with a thick border. 
 The disk florets are tubular, 4-5 toothed, the anther cells simple, the 
 arms of the style short, thick, with papillose cones at the tip. The 
 involucre or whorl of bracts is bell-shaped, the bracts in 1-2 series, 
 
 DAISY (Bellis perennis, L.)
 
 S o FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 green, blunt, black at the tip. The achenes are flattened at the margin, 
 somewhat hairy without pappus. 
 
 Flowering takes place in March up till August or later. It is 
 perennial, and multiplied by division of roots. 
 
 The flowers are gynomonoecious, with female and complete flowers 
 on the same head. The ray florets are female, as a rule. The disk 
 florets are hermaphrodite. The ray florets are 5 mm. across, the disk 
 6 mm., so that the whole capitulum is about 16 mm. There are no 
 stamens in the ray. and the styles have no sweeping hairs as happens 
 in some cases, the two branches being covered throughout with larger 
 stigmatic papillae, receptive to pollen. The style is short in the com- 
 plete disk florets, and is provided with a pollen brush, on the outer 
 surface, from the broad part to the tip. The pollen brush serves as the 
 style lengthens to sweep the pollen out of the anther cylinder, and to 
 heap it up in a mass till insects visit the flower. The stigmatic papillae 
 are in the disk florets confined to a narrow line on each border below 
 the broadest part. The stigmas after pollination has taken place are 
 withdrawn into the tube, and this economizes the use of the pollen. 
 
 At sunset the florets close up, hence Daisy (daies eye), and in wet 
 weather also. 
 
 The plant is visited by the Hive Bee, Andrena, Halictns, Sphecodes, 
 Nomada, Osmia, Myrmica; flies, Empis, Eristalis, Rhingia, Syritta, 
 Mclithreptes, Scatophaga, Lucilia, Musca; and the butterflies Polyom- 
 inatus; beetles, Meligethes, CEdemera, Leptura. 
 
 There is no pappus, but the achenes are provided with flattened 
 ribs, which aid in wind dispersal. 
 
 Though the Daisy grows apparently everywhere in spring and 
 early summer, from the wealth of flowers to be noticed on all hands, 
 yet it has a predilection for sandy soil, and is more or less a sand plant. 
 It will grow, too, on a clay soil, and in such cases is a clay plant. 
 
 A minute little cluster-cup fungus, Puccinia obscura, grows upon 
 it. No insects feed upon it. 
 
 The name Bellis, Fuchs, is from the Latin bellus, pretty, and the 
 second Latin name refers to the length of its flowering season and 
 perennial nature. 
 
 So common a plant has an abundance of names, which, on account 
 of its universality, we give in full: Bachelor's Buttons, Bairnwort, 
 Banwort, Bennergowan, Bennert, Bennet, Benwort, Bessy-banwood, 
 Billy Button, Boneflower, Bonwort, Briswort, Bruisewort, Cat-posy, 
 Cockiloorie, Comfrey, Confery, Less Consound, Cumfirie, Daiseysheg, 
 Daisy, Dog-, Shepherd's-, Small-, or the Children's Daisy, Dazeg,
 
 KEY TO PLATE V 
 
 a-^rmx 
 
 No. i. Daisy (Bellisptftnnis, L.) 
 a, Ray or iigulate floret d, Disk or 
 tubular floret 1 c, Achene d, Plant, 
 showing rosette ^Mdwjicai leaves, and 
 fibrous roots below/ jvith 3 scapes bearing 
 flowerheads ip different stages. 
 
 ^^l 
 
 ,-,rvYj/>v. 
 
 kp. 3. ^>x-eye Daisy 
 (Chrys&nftietHVtn Leucanth&num^ 1^)'- 
 ~tf,"^ay or Iigulate floret. ^, pisk 
 ,- tubular floret c, Achener ribbed* < R 
 
 A_ ^^^ 
 
 J*f-\ 
 
 A ' 
 
 {Cetudurea nigra, L.) 
 a, Lijpilate floret. 6, Complete floret. 
 c, Frilled ^c^ ,0^ JDAS^cre (^yllar>'), 
 4 AcheneT>^A|fcijJpus. .<?, Rafflwl leaf. 
 'Upper po^^lirf plant, ' 
 in
 
 v 3TAjq ?U>$ KR? 0!> m*. T-iriDs AND MEA . 
 
 
 ^ r $tf*&l: ,4 ^^JaJElu^M _ 
 
 t^y&tf* * 
 
 ' 
 
 .90RSi^.91ofli i r 
 
 .?9y9l feoifif.1 
 fK-ftoo i^liw ,in^<jil ^/ 
 
 i.Hrti^ ^'ir';'/^^^ 
 
 i<w; 
 
 :-^- ^'-' 
 
 .--r tlaUene 
 
 ; (^^t^^draMBD .1 
 
 gohflod et>q^ f riliw ',wof9cf aluoi zifoidd 
 
 JnsisTtib oi , 
 
 -/a^ 
 
 
 V;'ft, 
 
 flif's, /fp^?V. tiristtilis* l^kif 
 
 USCH\ and the'^ 
 , ? ; 
 
 * 1 * ' { ' 
 
 ^ \ A\/K^b 
 K\y -\ w^/m 
 i v\\ H ^ x
 
 FLOWERS OF THK FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 PLATE V 
 
 " 
 
 I. Daisy (AV/Y/y /y. 
 
 Milfoil (A.-hillca .Wllffotiiini, L.). 
 
 itin, I., i. 4. Knujm et-d ( 6V ///<//,
 
 DAISY 51 
 
 Dicky Daisy, Ewe-gowan, Gowan, May Gowan, Gowlan, Mary Gow- 
 lan, Hen and Chickens, Herb Margaret, March Daisy, Margaret's 
 Herb, Marguerite, Maudlinwort, Mother of thousands, Silver Penny, 
 Primrose, Sweep, Sweeps. 
 
 The name Bairnwort may be given because children gather it so 
 much; but as to Benwort, of which it may be a variant. Turner says: 
 "The northern men call this herbe a banvvort because it helpeth bones 
 to knyt agayne." The name Bruisewort is applied because "the 
 leaves stamped taketh away bruises and swellings if they be laicle 
 thereon, whereupon it was called in olde time Bruiseworte ". So at 
 any rate says Gerarde. The name Daisy is from the A.S. dacgcs eage, 
 eye of day, from its opening and closing its Mowers with the daylight. 
 In connection with the name May Gowan there is a Berwickshire 
 saying: " Ye'll get round again, if ye had your fit (foot) on the May 
 Gowan." 
 
 A Daisy is taken and its leaves plucked one by one to test sincerity 
 by lovers, who say at the same time, " Does he love me a little- much 
 passionately not at all?" when they count. 
 
 La Blanche et simple Paguerette, 
 
 Qui ton coeur consulte surtout, 
 
 Dit, ton amant, tendre filette, 
 
 J'aime, un peu, beaucoup, point du tout. 
 
 Girls put Daisy roots under their pillows to dream of their lovers. 
 To dream of the Daisy is lucky in spring or summer, but not so in 
 autumn or winter. The appearance of the Daisy helps the peasant in 
 the north to mark the season's advance. 
 
 Spring has not arrived till you can set your foot on twelve Daisies. 
 
 When a tooth is extracted, to be free from toothache, in Thuringia, 
 you must eat three Daisies. 
 
 They were scattered over graves, says Gay. The name Marguerite 
 was erroneously derived from Margaret of Cortuna. 
 
 There is a double flouret, white and red, 
 
 That our lasses call herb-Margaret, 
 
 In honour of Cortona's penitent, 
 
 Whose contrite soul with red remorse was rent, 
 
 While on her penitence kind heaven did throw 
 
 The white of purity, surpassing snow; 
 
 So white and red in this fair flower entwine, 
 
 Which maids are wont to scatter at her shrine. 
 
 The ointment "Save" in Chaucer's clay was partly prepared from 
 the Daisy. It was said in the eighteenth centurv to be a cure for
 
 52 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 hectic fevers caused by drinking- cold water when overheated. In 
 Germany it was eaten with meat as a potherb. Cattle, horses, and 
 sheep do not touch it. 
 
 Chaucer eulogized it in his day: 
 
 In special one called Se of the Dale, 
 
 The Daisie, a floure white and rede, 
 
 And in French called La bel Margarete, 
 
 O commendable floure above all flouris in the meede, 
 
 Than love I most those flouris white and rede, 
 
 Such that men callen Daisies in our Town. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 152. Bellis perennis, L. No aerial stem, but prostrate rhizome, 
 leaves radical, obovate, crenate, dentate, flowerheads on scapes, white 
 ray florets, yellow disk florets. Some flowers have all ligulate florets, 
 or all tubular florets, bracts in one row. 
 
 Milfoil (Achillea Millefolium, L.) 
 
 This common Composite is found throughout the North Temperate 
 and Arctic Zones in Arctic Europe, Temperate and cold North 
 Asia, the Himalayas, and N. America, but is not found in any early 
 deposits. It is found in all parts of Great Britain, and up to about 
 4000 ft. in the Highlands. 
 
 Yarrow or Milfoil is common in all sorts of habitats up and down 
 the country. It is to be found in fields and meadows, especially dry 
 pastures, along the roadside and on waste ground, preferring sandy 
 soil, and growing on the margins of arable land, allotments, and 
 gardens, in which last it is encouraged for its fever-curing properties. 
 
 The glistening leaves of the Milfoil with its thousands of delicate 
 leaflets bathed in silvery dew on a frosty morning are a familiar sight 
 not soon forgotten. The stems are erect, rigid, striate, and prostrate 
 below, but ascend at the tip, and are angular. The leaves have the 
 lobes on each side of the stalk divided again, slightly hairy, alternate, 
 linear, narrowly elliptical, the radical leaves stalked, the segments very 
 slender and narrow. The bottom of the stem is covered with a dense 
 cobweb-like down. 
 
 The flowers are numerous, and borne in close terminal corymbs in 
 which the flower-stalks are shortened and form a flat-topped flower- 
 head. The ray florets are large in proportion, equalling half the whorl 
 of leaf-like organs. The leaf-like organs are downy with a brownish 
 ^fcargin blunt and hollow. The disk florets are funnel-shaped with a
 
 MILFOIL 
 
 The fruit is smooth and shining-. 
 
 53 
 The flowerheads 
 
 dirty-yellow tube, 
 are often pink. 
 
 The height varies from i to 2 ft. Flowers are to be found between 
 June and September. Milfoil is a deciduous, herbaceous, perennial, 
 propagated by division. 
 
 The head is made up of several small florets, which make it 
 attractive, and lead to cross-pollination. The disk florets have a tube 
 2 mm. long, with a throat i mm. long, and wide, having five triangular 
 
 MILFOIL (Achillea Millefolium, L.) 
 
 Photo. B. Hanley 
 
 teeth. At the base of the style a ringlike ridge secretes honey. The 
 honey rises in the tube and short-lipped insects can reach it. The 
 lobes of the style are pressed together when the flowerhead opens, and 
 project with spreading hairs into the lower part of the cylinder. When 
 the style lengthens pollen is pressed out of the upper end of the tube, 
 the lobes of the style project and spread, turning the stigmatic ends 
 upwards, bending the hairy tips back so that some pollen sticks to 
 them, and so is not left for insects. When the pollen is pushed up 
 the tube projects beyond the corolla. When the stigmas project the 
 tube lies lower in the corolla, depressed by the contracting filaments. 
 In this way the stigmas may lie above the corolla where the pollen 
 was. As the abdomen of an insect sweeps over a flower it touches 
 many florets, and also causes cross-pollination.
 
 54 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Twenty florets develop towards the centre from the disk, 3 mm. 
 broad, and the five marginal florets have an external lobe 3 mm. long 
 and broad, so that the disk is 9-10 mm. across. The florets of each 
 marginal ray have a highly developed corolla at the expense of the 
 stamens, which are absent. The style has spreading lobes with stig- 
 matic papillse. 
 
 The fruit is compressed and margined, and thus adapted for wind 
 dispersal. There is no pappus. 
 
 Milfoil is especially at home on sand soils, and is a sand plant, 
 growing on many different rock soils. 
 
 The fungi Pnccinia millefolium and Sphcerotheca Jiumnli are found 
 upon it. The minute leaflets are galled by Tylenchus Millefolii, and 
 by Hormomyia Millefolii. Many insects choose it for their food plant, 
 e.g. beetles, Cassida ferruginea, C. biber, C. snbferruginea, C. sanguino- 
 lenta, Olibrus millefolii; a Hymenopterous insect, Prosopis Masoni; 
 several Lepidoptera, e.g. Beautiful Brocade (Hadena contigua}, Straw 
 Belle (Aspilates Giharia}, Bordered Lime Speck (Eupithecia succentu- 
 riata], ColeopJwra argentnla, Belted Beauty (Nyssia zonaria), Small 
 Dusty Wave (Acidalia, incanaria), Dicranorainpha petiverella, Buccula- 
 trix cristate I la, Ptcropliora ochrodactylus, Netted Carpet (Cidaria reti- 
 culata), Essex Emerald (Creometra sinaragdaria\ Lesser Cream Wave 
 (Acidalia in limit at a}; two Homoptera, Eupteryx tenella, Aphalara 
 nervosa; two Heteroptera, Camplotrochns Intescens, Macrocoleus tana- 
 ccti; and the flies Honnoinyia mi He fo Hi, Carpotricha guttularis, Cnemo- 
 pogon apicalis. 
 
 Achillea, Theophrastus, is named after Achilles, who is said to have 
 first discovered that it healed wounds, and Millefoliuni, Tragus, is from 
 the Latin ;;////?, thousand, yW///;;/, leaf, the reference being to its much- 
 divided leaves. 
 
 The following names show its universal use: Green Arrow, 
 Arrow-root, Bloochvort, Camil, Cammock, Carpenter-grass, Thousand- 
 leaved Clover, Devil's Nettle, Dog Daisy, Eerie, Garwe, Stanch or 
 Stench Girs, Hundred-leaved Grass, Melefowr, Milfoil, Nosebleed, 
 Old Man's Mustard, Old Man's Pepper, Wild Pepper, Sanguinary, 
 Sneezewort, Tansy, Thousand-leaf Yallow, Yarrow, Yarroway. 
 
 Eerie is a corruption of Yarrow. " Lassies used to take it and put 
 in their breasts " as a charm, repeating this rhyme: 
 
 Eerie, eerie, I do pluck, 
 
 And in my bosom I do put, 
 
 The first young lad that speaks to me 
 
 The same shall my true lover be.
 
 OX-EYE DAISY 55 
 
 Green Arrow is a corruption for Green Yarrow: 
 
 Green Arrow, Green Arrow, you bears a white blow. 
 
 If my love love me, my nose will bleed no\v, 
 
 If my love don't love it 'ont bleed a drop, 
 
 If my love do love me ! t will bleed every drop. 
 
 " In some places it is called Carpenter Grasse, it is good to rejoyne 
 and soundre woundes." The name Devil's Nettle is given because 
 children draw the leaves across their faces, which leaves a tingling 
 sensation. From the styptic properties it was supposed to possess it 
 was called Stanch or Stench Grass or Girs. 
 
 Melefowr was for Milfoil. " Plucking ane herb called Melefowr 
 quhilk causis the nose bleed, sitting on the right knee and pulling 
 it behind the mid-finger and thorn be and saying, 'nomine Patres 
 Filii et spiritus sancti ', was to impart the faculty of prediction." As to 
 the name Nose Bleed, Parkinson says, "assuredly it will stay the 
 bleeding of it ". But this property of the plant seems to be popularly 
 credited in more than one district, and it forms the basis of a love 
 divination: " 'Tis an old superstition to take a leaf and tell one to 
 put it up his nose, turn it thrice round, and all the while think of 
 his sweetheart, if his nose bleeds he is sure to get her. The applica- 
 tion scarcely ever fails, at least if the leaf be smartly turned." 
 
 Yarrow was an old cure for ague. When carried about the person 
 it was believed to drive away fear, and so worn in time of danger. It 
 is bitter, and was used for a variety of complaints, as a cure for wounds, 
 for spasmodics, and hypochondria. An essential oil has been distilled 
 from the flowers. It is put in beer in Sweden. Brewed as a tea, it is 
 a good remedy for colds and influenza. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 157. Ackillea J\Iillefoliuin, L. Stem erect, rigid, angular, woolly, 
 leaves bipinnatifid, downy, leaflets linear, flowerheads small, numerous, 
 in a corymb, terminal, disk florets white or yellow, ray pink or white, 
 phyllaries glabrous. 
 
 Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, L.) 
 
 Fruits of the Marguerite, so welcome a sign of summer in our 
 fields, have been found at Silchester. The distribution of this common 
 plant is limited to the North Temperate and Arctic Zones in Arctic 
 Europe, Siberia to Asia, and it is introduced in North America, 
 ranging throughout Great Britain, and ascending to 2100 ft. in 
 Wales.
 
 5 6 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 The Ox-eye Daisy is a familiar sight in spring and summer in 
 every meadow and field, and is also common on railway banks, 
 contributing to make them unusually gay at those seasons with a 
 wealth of white and golden bloom. It is to be found on hills, and 
 in valleys, by the wayside, and even amidst the corn, being every- 
 where a favourite, common though it is. Every meadow or railway 
 bank is covered with extensive patches of the Marguerite in summer, 
 and when in flower it is a beautiful sight. 
 
 OX-EYE DAISY (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, L.) 
 
 The Ox-eye Daisy has the rosette habit more or less. The plant 
 is either devoid of hairs or sparingly hairy. The stem is erect, simple 
 or branched, furrowed. The leaves are dark-green, bluntly cut or 
 divided. The lower leaves are inversely egg-shaped, spoon-shaped, 
 stalked, with the stalk winged, auriclecl; the upper are oblong, blunt, 
 cut, stalkless, deeply divided nearly to the base at the base, half 
 clasping. 
 
 The flowerheads are borne on slender stalks, broad (2 in.), solitary, 
 terminal. The disk florets are yellow, the ray florets white. The 
 phyllaries are blunt, lance-shaped, with a narrow, dark-purple, mem- 
 branous border. The ligules are 6-notched at the tip. The fruits are 
 all rounded, without a border, with equal ribs, those of the ray florets 
 having a small crown.
 
 OX-EYE DAISY 57 
 
 Marguerites are commonly 2 ft. in height. The flowers may be 
 gathered in June and July. The plant is perennial, increased by divi- 
 sion of roots. 
 
 The flowerhead is large and conspicuous, 40 mm. across. The 
 plant is gynomonoecious, the ray florets female, the disk florets com- 
 plete. The ray florets are ligulate, the disk florets tubular. In the 
 disk, 12-15 mm. across, there are 300 to 500 florets. The corolla 
 is 3 mm. long. The ray florets are 20 to 25, and possess functionless 
 stamens. The ray florets have a white external ligule, 14-18 mm. 
 long and 3-6 mm. broad. 
 
 The throat of the disk florets is short, hardly i mm., and the honey 
 is therefore accessible to short-lipped insects. In the male stage the 
 pollen rises above the toothed corolla, in the second or female stage 
 the stigmas take the place of the anthers, and are projecting. When 
 an insect crawls across the capitulum it therefore cross-pollinates many 
 florets. Spreading hairs on the style form a tuft which sweeps the 
 pollen out of the tube as the style grows longer. Two separate broad 
 rows of papilla; border the style below the tip, and pollen lies on 
 the outer edges, so that self-pollination results if the pollen is not 
 removed by insects, and when they do not visit the flower it regularly 
 occurs. 
 
 The plant is visited by insects, Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, 
 and Coleoptera. 
 
 The fruits are aided in their dispersal by the wind, being light and 
 flattened. 
 
 The Marguerite is essentially a sand-soil lover. It may be found, 
 however, on clay soil to some extent also, growing on sandy loam. 
 
 Phytomyza affinis mines the leaves. Three beetles, Ceutorhynckus 
 caiupestns, Longitarsus fai'i's, Mantura chrysanthemi; two moths, 
 Sciaphila wahlbomiana, Bucailatrix auriniaculella; a Homopterous 
 insect, Aphalara picta; and the flies Tephritis leontodontis, Spilo- 
 grapha artcmisia, S. Zocc, Chromatomyia a/biceps, all feed upon it. 
 
 Chrysanthemum is from the Greek words, c/irysos, gold, and anthos, 
 flower. Leucanthemum, Dioscorides, is from the Greek leucos, white, 
 anthos, flower. 
 
 The Ox-eye Daisy is called White Bothen, Bozzom, Caten-aroes, 
 Cow's Eyes, Daisy (Big, Bull, Butter, Devil's, Dog, Dun or Dunders, 
 Field, Great, Horse, London, Midsummer, Moon, Ox-eye, Poor-land, 
 Thunder), Daisy Goldins, Large Dicky Daisy, Dog-flower, Espibawn, 
 Gadgevraw, Gadjerwraws, Girt Ox Eye, White Gold, Goode, Gowan 
 (Horse, Large, \Vhite), White Gowlan, White Gull, Horse-pennies,
 
 5 8 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Hoss-daisy, Magweed, Maudlinwort, Mayweed, Moon, Moonflower, 
 Moon-pennies, Dutch Morgan, Ox-eye, Moon Penny, Poverty Weed. 
 
 From its size and coarseness it is called Horse Daisy, and Mid- 
 summer Daisy from its flowering about Midsummer, Poorland Daisy 
 from its growth on poor clay lands. 
 
 Though horses and sheep eat it, other animals will not touch it. 
 The leaves are unpleasant, the smell aromatic, the taste neither hot 
 nor biting. This plant was used in diseases of the chest, asthma, 
 phthisis, and as a diuretic. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 1 60. Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, L. Leaves mostly radical, 
 lower petiolate, upper pinnatifid, sessile, obovate, ray florets white, 
 disk yellow, phyllaries with narrow, purple, membranous border. 
 
 Knapweed (Centaurea nigra, L.) 
 
 Knapweed is well distributed at the present day throughout 
 Europe. In N. America it is an introduction. No traces of it occur 
 in any ancient deposit, in spite of its being so common to-day. 
 
 It is found in every district in Great Britain, and ascends to 
 1600 ft. in Northumberland. 
 
 No meadow would be complete without a sprinkling of the dark 
 heads of Knapweed in summer. It is a plant that grows along every 
 wayside, and is found on hills and dry pastures in great abundance, 
 being addicted to both wet and dry ground. 
 
 The wiry hard stems of Knapweed are a familiar sight in a hay- 
 field scattered here and there, and when in flower the plant is easily 
 recognized. The stems are very erect and either simple or branched, 
 furrowed, the branches bearing a single head of flowers. 
 
 In the autumn the prevalent habit is characterized by the half-erect 
 branches. The lower leaves are angular, divided, with the lobes 
 enlarged upwards, on long stalks, toothed, and the upper ones are 
 without stalks, egg-shaped, entire. 
 
 The flowers or "hard heads" are purple with bractlike scales fringed 
 with hairs at the margin, brownish-black, and egg-shaped, narrowly 
 elliptical. The flowers differ, in some instances possessing a ray or 
 not. The hair or pappus is short, or wanting. The fruit is grey, 
 oblong, and downy. 
 
 The plant grows to the height of 1-2 ft. It is usually in flower 
 in June, continuing late in the autumn, and even when frosts are 
 Irequent. It is perennial, and may be propagated by seeds.
 
 KNAPWEED 
 
 59 
 
 The marginal florets are like those in the centre, but are some- 
 times enlarged and neuter as in CcntaiLrea Cyanus. The corolla is 
 tubular, and enlarged above, making it accessible to many insects. 
 The flowerheads are purple and conspicuous. The central florets 
 are bisexual, the filaments glandular, and the anthers have an appen- 
 dage at the farther extremity. 
 
 KNAPWEED (Centaitrea nigra, L.) 
 
 The fruits have short hairs which aid in their dispersal by the wind 
 like other Composites. 
 
 Knapweed is a clay plant, growing on clay soil, or sandy loam, 
 and is common on Triassic and Liassic formations, Boulder clay, &c. 
 
 A search over the leaves will reveal two kinds of cluster cup, 
 Pnccinia arenariicola and P. centaurctz. A gall, Chiophora solstitialis, 
 infests it; two beetles, Spliaeroderma cardui, Cassida vibex\ the 
 moths Parasia victzncriiiella, Colcophora conspiciella, C. alcyonipennella, 
 Common Heath (Fidonia atoniaria\ Lime Speck (Eupithecia centau- 
 reata, Depressaria lit ure Ha, D. arenella; a Heteropterous insect, Onco- 
 tylus viridiflavus; and the flies Urcllis elata, U. ^.-fasciata, Trypcta 
 jacecc. 
 
 Ceiitaurca, Pliny, is from Centaur, which is fabled to have had
 
 6o FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 its foot cured by the plant. The specific name, nigra, is Latin for 
 black. Knapweed is the same as Knobweed, from its knob-like head. 
 So common a flower is certain to be known by a variety of names, 
 such as Bachelor's Buttons, Ballweed, Belweed, Black Soap, Blue 
 Tops, Boleweed, Bolwes, Bowweed, Bowwood, Bullweed, Bunds, 
 Bundweed, Buttonweed, Centaury, Great or More Centaury, Churl's- 
 head, Clobweed, Club-weed, Cnop-wort, Cockheads, Codweed, Crop- 
 weed, Darbottle, Drumstick, Hardhead, Hardhead Horse, Hard-iron, 
 Harebottle, Harsh-weed, Horse Hardhead, Horse Knobs, Horse 
 Knops, Horse Knot, Horse-snap, Hurt-sickle, Hyrnehard, Iron- 
 heads, Iron-weed, Knapweed, Knobweed, Knop-weed, Knot-grass, 
 Knotweed, Lady's Cushion, Logger-heads, Matfellon, Shaving-brush, 
 Sweeps, Tarbottle, Tassel, Yronhard. 
 
 Knapweed was called Bullweed because cattle were said to be fond 
 of it, and Churl's Head from its rough hairy head, Codweed because 
 the head is like a pudding bag. Drumstick is applied because the 
 head is like a drumstick, Horseknot from being used in divination, 
 and Knobweed from the round head. 
 
 In Chaucer's day it was called Matfellon, and it was one of the 
 ingredients of the ointment " Save " for wounds and the pestilence. It 
 was also used to promote appetite, with pepper. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 174. Centanrca nigra, L. Stem erect, rigid, furrowed, radical 
 leaves lyrate, lobed, upper lanceolate, flowerheads purple, with ray 
 or not, phyllaries with black fringe, pappus tufted. 
 
 Long-rooted Cat's Ear (Hypochseris radicata, L.) 
 
 Like the Hawkweeds, except the Mouse-ear Hawkweed, this is 
 apparently quite a modern Composite. At the present day it is found 
 in the Northern Temperate Zone in Europe, and N. Africa. In Great 
 Britain it is found everywhere, except in Roxburgh, as far north as 
 the Orkneys. In the Highlands one may find it growing at a height 
 of 1600 ft., and it is native in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 The Cat's Ear is one of those exceedingly familiar meadow plants 
 that are to be found practically in every field and meadow throughout 
 the length and breadth of the land. 
 
 It is perhaps more partial to lowland districts, though it is also 
 found on hills, and at high elevations. Like Hawksbeard it is found 
 also on waste ground and along the wayside. 
 
 The aerial stems are scapes, or flowering stems. A characteristic
 
 KEY TO PLATE VI 
 
 No. i. Long-routed Cafs Ear 
 
 {Hypocharis radicatA, L.) 
 a, Ray or ligulate ftB^^j^/S^hene 
 and pappus below, b, Radical leaf, runci- 
 nate type, c, Scape, with flowerheads in 
 different stages. //, Scape, with fruits JBnj& 
 pappus forming "clock", a 
 
 Phylla^ft/^yy^j 
 
 % 
 
 W 
 
 , ^ ( Taraxacum officinal** Weber ) 
 
 a, Ligulate floret, with achene and "pap- 
 pus. b t Achene. c, Achene, with pappu 
 d, Radical leat e, Scape, \vith flowerhead 
 and outer recurved phyjlaries. f, Scape, 
 , with fruite forming "clock" from the 
 parachute-like pappus. 
 
 K 
 
 sjjlowing 
 
 short style, b, \ r ertical section of flower, 
 showing long style, c, Rootstock, with 
 leaf-bases and radical leaves. </, Scape, 
 
 with \e*A of 'flft\vpr<;.
 
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 L nst;c
 
 FLOWERS OK THK FIELDS AND MEADOWS
 
 LONG-ROOTED CAT'S EAR 61 
 
 feature is the long root, which is white, simple, and milky, hence the 
 English and second Latin name. The radical leaves are prostrate, 
 lying on the ground in a rosette, flat, oblong, and the leaf seg- 
 ments are turned back, rough, toothed, hairy, the hairs originating 
 from minute points. 
 
 The flowerheads are yellow, borne on branched scapes, which 
 are thickened just below the flower-heads, and nearly erect. The 
 whorl of leaf-like organs is shorter than the florets, which are over- 
 lapping, equal, and numerous, 
 with ray florets, with five teeth, 
 with yellow anthers forming a 
 tube. The flower-stalks bear 
 small scales near the top, and are 
 often flattened along the sides. 
 
 The plant is about 18 in. in 
 height. The flowers can be 
 found in June up till September. 
 It is perennial, increased by 
 division of the root. 
 
 The flowerhead is yellow, 
 large, and conspicuous, and is 
 thus visited by numerous insects. 
 The florets bear both stamens 
 and carpels, with both ray and 
 disk florets, the petals forming 
 a tube which is hairy at the top, 
 preventing the entrance of rain. 
 The stamens are capillary, and 
 the anthers unite to form a tube, 
 as in the majority of Composites. 
 
 The style is threadlike and as long as the stamens. The two stigmas 
 are recurved to prevent self-pollination when insect visits are possible. 
 Amongst the visitors are Honey Bee, Boinbus, Dasvpoda, Panurgus> 
 Col let cs, Rhophites, Andrena, Halictus, Spliecodes, Diphysis; Diptera 
 (Syrphidae, Eristalis, Pipiza, Conopidae, Sicus, Muscidae, Demoticus). 
 
 The fruits are provided with pappus, and are dispersed by wind. 
 
 The Long-rooted Cat's Ear is largely a clay-loving plant, growing 
 on clay soil and also on sand soil. 
 
 The stems of the Cat's Ear are liable to be galled by Aulax 
 hypoch(cridis. A beetle, Cryptoccphalus sericcus, a Homopterous insect, 
 Apkalara pic I a, and a fly, Tephritis vespertina, feed on it. 
 
 Photo. W. H. Maycs 
 
 LONG-ROOTED CAT'S EAR (Hypoc/ueris 
 radicata, L.)
 
 62 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Hypocheeris, Theophrastus, is from the Greek hypo, under, and 
 c/iotros, a hog, the roots being eaten by pigs. The second Latin 
 name refers to the long root. It is called Bent, Cat's-ear, Gosmore. 
 
 It is to be distinguished from Leontodon autumnale by its long 
 root, apart from the following characteristics. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 181. Hypoch&ris radicata, L. Stem scaly, leaves radical, runci- 
 nate, lobes recurved, hirsute, flower- stalk forked, smooth, thickened 
 above, flowerheads yellow, involucre shorter than florets. 
 
 Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale, Weber) 
 
 The Dandelion, which affords so dear a recollection of youthful 
 days and clock-blowing, has been native in Britain since very early 
 times. It is found, in fact, in beds of Interglacial, Late Glacial, and 
 Neolithic age. It is found in the Northern and Southern Temperate 
 Zone as well as in the Arctic Zone. It is common in all parts of 
 Great Britain, as far north as the Shetlands, and also in Ireland 
 and the Channel Islands. 
 
 The Dandelion is a widespread plant, which in spring and early 
 summer makes the meadows bright with golden blooms. The typical 
 form is found in moist meadows, but one form is more confined to dry 
 soils, whilst another form grows in wet marshy ground. It is common, 
 too, at the foot of walls, in villages, and on waste ground. 
 
 The Dandelion is a good example of a plant having the rosette 
 habit. The plant is either smooth and hairless or cottony at the 
 crown and involucre. The root is long, stout, brownish or black, 
 with milky juice, which also occurs throughout the whole plant, serving 
 to protect the aerial parts. The leaves are bright-green, all radical, 
 entire or deeply divided nearly to the base, runcinate, with the lobes 
 turned backward towards the centre, toothed, and are oblong to 
 inversely egg-shaped, spoon-shaped, w r avy. 
 
 The flowerheads are golden -yellow, borne on hollow, succulent, 
 juicy, round, radical scapes, ascending or erect. The heads are broad, 
 erect in bud. The involucre is bell-shaped, the outer phyllaries bent 
 back, the inner erect. The outer corollas are sometimes brown on 
 the back. The fruit, a cypsela, is pale -brown, linear to inversely 
 egg-shaped, blunt, prickly at the top, with longitudinal furrows, and 
 a long beak, as long as the fruit. The pappus has a short neck, 
 which is a continuation of the receptacular tube, adherent to the ovary. 
 In fruit it lengthens and bears the spreading hairy silky pappus.
 
 DANDELION 65 
 
 There are bristly points near the top of the inferior ovary which 
 affix it to the soil. 
 
 The Dandelion is about 8 in. high. The plant flowers from March 
 or April till October. It is perennial and propagated by division. 
 
 The flowerheads are conspicuous. They close up at night and 
 when it is raining. They open at 5-6 a.m. and close between 8 and 
 10 p.m. at Upsala, but at Innsbruck they open between 6 and 7 a.m. 
 and close between 2 and 3 p.m., showing that a slight difference in 
 latitude greatly affects the opening of flowers. 
 
 In each capitulum there are 100-300 florets. It measures 30-50 
 mm. across, though the receptacle is 5-7 mm. across. The tube is 
 3-7 mm. long. The honey rises high up the tube. The style nearly 
 fills the tube. The anther cylinder, 2^-5 mm. long, projects from 
 it, and the style is 3-5 mm. above this after lengthening. Upon 
 this projecting portion are pointed hairs which sweep the pollen out 
 of the tube and accumulate it. The style branches are 1^-2 mm. 
 long, and covered with stigmatic papillae on the inner face. They 
 bend over and backwards, making one and a half spiral turns, and 
 in the absence of insect visitors, that may remove the pollen, self- 
 pollination occurs. 
 
 The last phase is of advantage to the plant, which flowers peren- 
 nially when insects are not flying, as in early spring and late autumn, 
 or even winter. The pollen is variable in the same floret. 
 
 The flower is visited by the Honey Bee, Bombns silvaruni, B. 
 confusus, B. barbutclhis, and other Hymenoptera, besides Diptera, 
 Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera. 
 
 The fruits are provided with a tuft of hairs, forming the " clock " 
 or pappus, which assist in wind dispersal. 
 
 The Dandelion grows on different soils, according to the forms 
 (of which there are several) into which one may split it up. It is 
 common on sand soil, other forms grow on clay soil, while one form 
 {palustre) is a peat plant and requires rather peaty conditions. 
 
 The fungi Pnccinia variabilis, P. taraxaci, P. syhatica, and Pro- 
 toniyccs pachydermis attack the leaves. Several insects adopt the 
 Dandelion as a food plant, such as a beetle, i\Ieligcthcs syiuphyti; 
 several Hymenoptera, Andrcna albicans, A. filipcs, A. tibialis, A. 
 thoracica, A, nitida, A. nigroffnea, A. gwynana, and Lepidoptera 
 Buff Ermine (Arcf/'a lubricipcda\ The Shears (Hadena dentina}, 
 Cream Wave (Acida/ia remutata\ Gold Swift (Hcpialus hccfus), 
 Clouded Buff (Euthemonia rnssuld], Northern Rustic (A grot is luccr- 
 nca\ Great Brocade (Aplccta occultd). 
 
 VOL. II. 20
 
 66 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Taraxacum, Lonicerus, may be from the Greek tarasso, I disturb, 
 from its medicinal effects. Dandelion is from the French dent de lion, 
 in allusion to the leaf margin, and the second Latin name refers to the 
 use in medicine. 
 
 The Dandelion is known by a variety of vernacular names, such as 
 Bitterwort, Blowball, Blower, Canker, Cankerwort, Clock, Crow-par- 
 snip, Irish Daisy, Dandelion, Dentelion, Dinclle, Doon-head-clock, 
 Fortune-teller, Gowan, Monkshood, One o'clocks, Priest's Crown, 
 Stink Davie, Swine's Snout. It is called Priest's Crown and 
 Monkshead because the naked receptacle after the fruits are dis- 
 persed is like the shaven head of a priest. As to the name Doon- 
 head-clock, Mactaggart says: "Rustics, to know the time of the 
 day, pull the plant and puff away at its downy head, and the puffs 
 it takes to blow the down from it is reckoned by them the time of 
 the clay ". Blowball; Blower, Fortune-teller, are all connected with the 
 same choristic feature. 
 
 If seen in dreams the superstitious believed it was a bad omen. 
 
 It is called Peasant's Clock, the flower opening early in the 
 
 morning. 
 
 Dandelion with globe of down, 
 The schoolboys' clock in every town, 
 Which the truant puffs amain, 
 To conjure lost hours back again. 
 
 The name Dent de lion has been connected with the sun, of which 
 the lion is the symbol, the teeth in this way being rays round a golden 
 head, the sun. 
 
 An Irish charm was to give the patient nine leaves of Dandelion, 
 three leaves being eaten on three successive mornings. 
 
 Warts have been supposed to have been cured by the juice of 
 the Dandelion in the Midlands. 
 
 The leaves are used in medicine for several remedies. In spring 
 the leaves, blanched under a tile, are used as a salad, and resemble 
 Endive. The French eat the long, milky roots as a salad, raw; and 
 it is boiled in Germany as Salsify. The root dried and ground has 
 been used for coffee. Pigs and goats are fond of it. It was used as 
 a remedy for jaundice. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 182. Taraxacum officinale, Weber. Flowering stems scapes, leaves 
 radical, runcinate, smooth, lobes recurved, sinuate, toothed, flowerheads 
 large, yellow, outer florets brown beneath, outer scales of involucre re- 
 flexed, scape hollow, milky, pappus pilose, stalked, receptacle convex.
 
 GOAT'S BEARD 67 
 
 Goat's Beard (Tragopogon pratense, L.) 
 
 This plant is apparently quite a modern one, known only from its 
 present distribution, Europe, N. and \V. Asia as far east as the 
 Himalayas. 
 
 It is found in Great Britain in the Peninsula, Channel, Thames, 
 Anglia, and Severn provinces. In S. Wales it is absent from Radnor 
 and Cardigan, Merioneth in N. Wales, but occurs in the Trent, Mer- 
 sey, H umber, Tyne, and Eakes provinces, except the Isle of Man. In 
 the W. Lowlands it is found generally, except in Wigtown and Ren- 
 frew; in the E. Lowlands generally, except in Peebles, Selkirk, Lin- 
 lithgow; in the E. Highlands generally, except in Mid and N. Perth, 
 Banff, and Easterness; in Clyde Isles, W. Sutherland, and Caithness, 
 or from Lanark and Caithness to the S. Coast. It is rare in Scotland. 
 In Ireland and the Channel Islands it is also native. 
 
 Goat's Beard is found in fields and meadows, especially in upland 
 pastures laid to grass. It is found, moreover, more or less commonly 
 by the side of pathways, and is common on railway-banks, and on 
 allotment gardens and waste ground. But it is quite native in grass 
 meadows, occurring in some abundance here and there. 
 
 Goat's Beard is an erect plant, with a cylindrical stem, with 
 sheathing leaves arising mainly from the base, and branched. The 
 leaves are tapering, narrowly elliptical, acute, and with the base 
 expanded, clasping the stem, entire, smooth. 
 
 The flowerheads are greenish-yellow, and may be equal to, or less 
 than the involucre, as here, or half as long (as in T. minus}. The 
 flower-stalks are cylindrical. The pappus hair has a stalked feathery- 
 do vvn. 
 
 The Goat's Beard is 2 ft. high at the most. It is in bloom in 
 June. It is perennial, propagated by division. 
 
 The ilower closes at noon according to some, but the best time to 
 see it wide open is at night or early in the morning (3 a.m.). The 
 structure of the flowerhead is much like that of Taraxacum, the style 
 being hairy above, with narrow lobes. The flowers when open are 
 yellow and conspicuous, but are not likely to be visited by insects 
 because of their crepuscular habit, i.e. open at night, and are more 
 frequently self-pollinated on that account. 
 
 The fruits are provided with a tuft of hairs which assist in dis- 
 persing them by the wind, in the same way as the Dandelion, but 
 forming a bigger "clock".
 
 68 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Goat's Beard is very largely a clay plant, and addicted to a clay 
 soil, but will also grow on sandy loam, especially on cultivated ground. 
 It is abundant on Triassic, Liassic, and Glacial clay and sands. 
 
 The fungus Ustilago tragopogi converts the inflorescence into a 
 black powdery mass; Puccinia tragopogi, Cystopus tragopogonis, and 
 Bremia lactuca are other fungi pests. A moth, The Mouse, Am- 
 phipyra tragopogonis, and a fly, Urellia stellata, also attack it. 
 
 Tragopogon, Dioscor- 
 ides, is from the Greek 
 tragos, goat, and pogon, 
 a beard, because of the 
 bearded fruit, and the 
 second Latin name re- 
 fers to the habitat, a 
 meadow. 
 
 Buck's-beard, Shep- 
 herd's Clock, Gait-berde, 
 Goat's Beard, Go-to- 
 bed-at-noon, Jack-by- 
 the- hedge, John-go-to- 
 bed-at-noon, Joseph's 
 Flower, Nap-at-noon, 
 Noontide, Sleep-at-noon, 
 Star of Jerusalem are 
 some of its common 
 names. Of the name 
 Go-to-bed-at-noon says 
 Gerarde: "It shutteth 
 it-selfe at twelve of the 
 clock, and sheweth not 
 his face open until the 
 Wherefore it was called 
 
 Photo. H. 
 
 GOAT'S BEARD (Tragopogon pratense, L.) 
 
 next daies sunne do make it flower anew. 
 Go-to-bed-at-noon. " 
 
 Joseph's Flower was a name given to it, according to J. C. Hare, 
 because of the pictures representing Joseph, the husband of Mary, 
 as a long-bearded man. 
 
 Bishop Mant says of the first name: 
 
 And goodly now the noon tide hour, 
 When from his high meridian tower 
 The sun looks down in majesty, 
 What time about the grassy lea
 
 COWSLIP 69 
 
 The goat's beard, prompt his praise to hail, 
 With broad expanded disk, in veil, 
 Close mantling, wraps its yellow head, 
 And goes as peasants say to bed. 
 
 It is used like Salsify, and has a long root like a parsnip, with a mild, 
 sweet flavour. It is dressed like Asparagus, grown like the carrot, 
 and cultivated in France and Germany, but seldom in Britain. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 185. Tragopogon pratcnsc\ L. Stem erect, branched, glaucous, 
 leaves clasping, erect, long, lanceolate, channelled, simple, alternate, 
 flowerheads yellow, involucre as long as or shorter than the llower, 
 florets ligulate, perfect, pappus feathery, anthers yellow. 
 
 Cowslip (Primula veris, L.) 
 
 The Cowslip ranges farther east than the Primrose in the N. 
 Temperate Zone, where it is found in Europe, Siberia, W. Asia, 
 N. Africa, but, like it, is unknown so far in early deposits. 
 
 In Great Britain it is found in the Peninsula provinces, in the 
 Channel, Thames, Anglia, and Severn provinces, in S. \Yales it does 
 not occur in Radnor or Cardigan, in N. Wales not in Montgomery 
 or Merioneth, but throughout the Trent and Mersey provinces, except 
 Mid Lancashire, and in the H umber, Tyne, Lakes provinces generally. 
 In the E, Lowlands it is general except in Wigtown, and in the 
 W. Lowlands except in Peebles and Selkirk, in the S. Highlands 
 except in Stirling, S. Perth, Elgin, Easterness, and in the W. High- 
 lands in Westerness, Main Argyle, Dumbarton, and in W. Sutherland, 
 and Caithness. In Northumberland it grows at 1600 ft. 
 
 There is no more common plant in most lowland counties of Great 
 Britain in early spring than the Cowslip, which dots the meadows, 
 fields, and upland pastures with its yellow flowers as uniformly as the 
 Lady's Smock does the moister meadows and marshes. It also grows 
 under hedgerows in the shade, in copses, and woodlands, when it is 
 taller and finer in flower and foliage. 
 
 The general habit of the Cowslip is like that of the Primrose, but 
 the scape bears more than one flower. It is a typical rosette plant. 
 
 The radical leaves are heart-shaped to egg-shaped, narrowed at 
 the base, running down the stalk, wrinkled, with rounded teeth, shorter 
 than those of the Primrose, hairy beneath. 
 
 The flowers are in umbels, funnel-shaped, drooping, yellow, with 
 orange dots. The calyx is bell-shaped with short egg-shaped teeth,
 
 7 o FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 loosely enclosing the corolla. The capsule is oval, and half as long 
 as the calyx. 
 
 The scapes are 6-8 in. tall. The flowers may be sought in May 
 and June. The Cowslip is perennial and easily propagated by division. 
 
 The Cowslip has flowers very similar to those of the Primrose or 
 Oxlip, but the limb of the corolla is not flat but cup-shaped, and the 
 throat is open, with obscure not thickened folds. 
 
 It has orange honey-guides, and the flowers are very strongly 
 
 Photo. B. Hanley 
 
 COWSLIP (Primula vert's, L.) 
 
 scented. The Cowslip usually grows in the open, while the Primrose 
 grows in the shade. It is visited by humble bees and Anthophora 
 pilipcs. 
 
 The capsule is 5-valved and opens out at the top, and the seeds 
 are shaken out by the wind. 
 
 The Cowslip is a truly clay-loving plant, growing freely on a clay 
 soil, and it is common on Liassic clay and Boulder clay. 
 
 Phyllosticta primulcccola attacks it. A moth, Eupcecilia iiifici liana, 
 feeds on it. 
 
 The second Latin name means of spring, in reference to the time 
 of flowering. The different names by which it is known are: Arte- 
 tyke, Horse Buckles, Cooslip, Coostropple, Couslop, Cow Paigle,
 
 COWSLIP 
 
 Cowslap, Cowslek, Cowslip, Cowslip Primrose, Cowslop, Cow's-mouth, 
 Cow-stripling, Cow-stropple, Crewel, Culverkeys, Fairy Cups, Galli- 
 gaskins, Gaskins, Herb Paralysy, Herb Peter, Lady keys, Lady's 
 Fingers, May Flower, Paigle, Cow Paigle, Palsywort, Passwort, Peter, 
 Petty Mullein, Plaggis, Plum-rocks, St. Peterwort. 
 
 Paigle is a name given to several different plants, and several 
 sayings are current in connection with it in different parts. 
 
 " The yellow marigold, the Sunnes owne flower, Pagle, and Pinke, 
 that Decke fair Floraes 
 bower." Professor Skeat 
 derives it from the French 
 paillole, Italian pagniola* a 
 spangle, the root being/w///t", 
 straw, from Latin palca. 
 As to the name Palsywort, 
 Gerarde says: "They are 
 thought to be good against 
 the paines of the joints and 
 sinewes", and "A conserve 
 made with the flowers . . . pre- 
 vailed! woonderfully against 
 the palsie." Artetyke is a 
 corruption of Arthritica, a 
 name given because the 
 Cowslip was supposed to be 
 good for pains in the joints. 
 
 The name Cowslip is 
 supposed to be Cow's lip. 
 In Yorkshire it is called 
 Cooslop from Keslop, the prepared stomach of a calf used as rennet, 
 and the wrinkled leaves and calyx were connected with that of the 
 calf's stomach. 
 
 It is called Herb Peter because the flowers resemble a bunch of 
 keys, the badge of St. Peter. Ariel is pictured by Shakespeare 
 reclining in a "Cowslip's bell", the crimson spots being called "Gold 
 Coasts Spots", "these be rubies fairy favours". 
 
 It is the Key-flower in Germany. An ointment was formerly made 
 of the flowers for the complexion, and supposed to take away spots by 
 the Doctrine of Signatures. 
 
 Quite recently a writer said: "The village Damsels use it as a 
 cosmetic, and we know it adds to the beauty of the complexion of 
 
 COWSLIP (Primula rcris, L. )
 
 72 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 the town-immured lassie when she searches for and gathers it herself 
 in the early spring morning". 
 
 This plant was called Our Lady s Bunch of Keys and St. Peter- 
 wort from its resemblance to a bunch of keys. It was supposed to 
 induce sleep. Another legend has it that the nightingale is only to 
 be heard when Cowslips are in profusion, but the nightingale's range 
 is not so extensive as that of the Cowslip. It was used as a drug 
 in the time of Chaucer. At the present day it is used in country 
 districts for making Cowslip wine, which is very like the sweet wines 
 of S. France. 
 
 Cowslip smells of anise. The leaves have been used as potherbs 
 and in salads. Silkworms are fed upon them. Liqueurs and syrups 
 are flavoured with the leaves. 
 
 It is not variable under cultivation, though it is remarkable that 
 Parkinson and Gerarde speak of a double variety. Milton speaks of 
 "the yellow Cowslip and the pale Primrose". 
 
 The Cowslip has been used as a corroborant and antispasmodic, 
 and as an anodyne. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 200. Primula rcris. L. Flowering stem a scape, leaves ovate, 
 contracted below, flowers pale yellow, in drooping umbels, calyx cam- 
 panulate, teeth ovate, corolla limb cup-shaped, capsule oval. 
 
 Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus Crista-Galli, L.) 
 
 Though one of the Arctic plants, Yellow Rattle is not represented 
 at present in ancient deposits. It ranges throughout the Arctic and 
 Temperate X. zones in Arctic Europe, X. Asia, and X. America. It 
 is found, moreover, throughout Great Britain as far north as the Shet- 
 lands. and ascends to 2500 ft. in the Highlands. It is found in Ireland 
 and the Channel Islands. 
 
 Xo plant is more typical of low-lying meadow land than Yellow 
 Rattle, for when grass is laid to hay in spring and early summer it is 
 one of the commonest of flowers. To the farmer, as with Rest Harrow, 
 it is a sign of rough and poor pasture. It grows mainly on wet clayey 
 ground, along with Plantains, Cat's Ear, Dog Daisy, Early Purple 
 Orchis, and other plants of the valleys. 
 
 This is an erect plant, either simple or branched, with a square 
 stem, spotted with black or brown, and smooth. 
 
 The leaves are opposite, distant, stalkless, narrowly elliptical, heart- 
 shaped, blunt-veined, smooth, net-veined, toothed, the notches nearly
 
 KEY TO PLATE VII. 
 
 No. ij 
 (Rhinantnii* 
 
 Rattle 
 ist* GaMi, 
 
 rfl A fc -^ 
 
 a. Vertical section of flower. 
 t>, Oyary, style, afed-wgrna. 
 t, Capsule, cut open, to show- 
 seeds, d, Rootstock, with /> 
 rootlets attached to rootlets 
 j of grass, e, Part of plant, 
 showing flowers and capsules 
 -wiUf bracts. 
 
 NO. - ^w-cxj 
 
 (Pnuulk vmlguris, L.} 
 
 a, Vertical section of corolla. 
 
 b, Calyx, with stigma, and 
 styfe projecting/ .c,. Nutlet. 
 d, Nutlet, cut open. <?, Up- 
 per part of plalnV showing 
 stem - leaves, bracts, and 
 spike, with the overlapping 
 
 bracts and flowers. 
 
 {Orchis taasctifcr L.) 
 a, Section o/ .flower, '-show- 
 ing twisted ovaiy, spur, and 
 exposing the pollinia and ros- 
 tellum. b, Leaf, showing 
 characteristic spots, c, Scape 
 and inflorescence, showing 
 the form of the lower (really 
 upper) lip and the lateral 
 lobes and upper (i 
 lower) lip. 
 
 No. 4. Spotted Or 
 
 (Orchis maculata, 
 
 Oj Front view of flower, showing mark- 
 ings. <*, Section of flower, showing pol- 
 Imia and rostellum. c t Tubers and scape 
 with leaves, d, Scape, with bracts and 
 
 V >-^rfc> 
 
 ko. $. Pntpte Crocus 
 \C*vus offictoalis, Huds.) 
 
 . magnified. 6, Ca 
 _&, with sheaths and leases. 
 t, with tenf-sheaths and two/ flowers, 
 nd stigmas projectir
 
 II V 
 
 eiifcyiO 
 
 gniwotfe 
 
 srfi to mtol 
 bo* q 
 
 50* 9ii f 
 
 ia*iq to iusq 
 
 ,a 
 ^rf-* 
 bite 
 
 . 
 
 .?ti*rt-9femr*\) 
 
 -wod? fi&wofy -to aortal > ; js(k> 
 bitt ,t'Jq?- t "ftByo fa^lsiwl got bae 
 
 -qU 
 
 ja V - 
 
 I .OK 
 
 .Km;;: '. f 
 
 worie oJ , rf-xfo it'i^Ii 
 -.ftii:^?<K!'.- 
 
 < i ;!"JOOT 
 
 fife*!' t v ^.l&rrg lo 
 lixgqco bwiK af*oft ^gniworf? 
 
 \; ^! 
 
 -: v^ 
 
 to 
 
 fans gtadaT ,-i .ntul&teoi b'ifl 
 bos gJ3r<J rfnw 
 
 ^ > W ^ 
 ry A spoM ^' 
 
 ai'i/f- 
 
 'U-* ; \ Y 
 
 ''1 t'J *w 
 
 Myv / I * ' ^ i 
 
 faorb^7/C^OT u 
 
 / for ^^^ f -M smoot^ A j / \1> 
 
 distant, stalkless, n.i 
 - net-veined, too*'^
 
 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 PLATE VII
 
 YELLOW RATTLE 73 
 
 rolled inwards from the back. The second Latin name refers to their 
 shape, like a cock's comb, or possibly to the calyx. 
 
 The flowers are yellow, borne in loose spikes on very short flower- 
 
 *> 
 
 YELLOW RATTLE (Rhinanfhus Crista-Galti, L. ) 
 
 stalks, with an expanded, flattened, smooth calyx, with 4 equal teeth, 
 pale-green, not falling. The corolla is gaping, the upper lip being 
 helmet-shaped with a notch at the tip, the edges rolled inwards from 
 the back, the lower lip divided halfway into 3 segments. The bracts
 
 74 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 are egg-shaped, toothed. The capsules are included in the expanded 
 calyx, and the seeds rattle about when ripe (hence the English name). 
 
 Yellow Rattle is 18 in. high. The flowers open in July and August. 
 The plant is an annual propagated by seeds. 
 
 The anthers open widely, lie close to each other, and form enclosed 
 in the upper lip a pollen reservoir. When this is penetrated by an 
 insect pollen falls on the bee's head. The honey lies deep in the tube 
 near the ovary on the receptacle, and the tube mouth is narrow. The 
 two anthers-stalks situated forward lie close together and are clothed 
 with pointed hairs on the inner side, so that the bee cannot insert its 
 proboscis between them at that point, but where they are smooth. 
 The bee, pressing the filaments back, shakes the anthers and clusts 
 itself with pollen. The hairs prevent the pollen from being scattered. 
 
 There are two forms, one large-flowered form being cross-pollinated; 
 the other, smaller, is self-pollinated. Yellow Rattle is visited by Bombus, 
 and short-lipped insects cannot reach the honey. 
 
 The seeds are provided with a broad wing which aids their dis- 
 persal by the wind. 
 
 Parasitic on grasses, Yellow Rattle is a clay plant, and generally 
 indicates by its presence poor clay soil. 
 
 The fungi Ephelina radicalis, Yellow Rattle root knot, and Coleo- 
 sporiuni Euphrasice attack it. 
 
 Two moths also infest it, Emmelesia (Lygris) albulata, grass rivulet, 
 Botys fusialis. 
 
 Rhinanthits, L., is from the Greek rhinos, nose, anthos, flower, 
 from the shape of the upper lip of the corolla; Crista-Galli, Dodonaeus, 
 is the Latin for crest of a cock, in allusion to the shape of the calyx. 
 
 It is called Clock, Cock -grass, Cock's -comb, Cow -wheat, Dog's 
 Siller, Fiddle-cases, Gowk's Sixpence, (Penny, Rattle) Grass, Hen 
 Pen, Hen's Combs, Honeysuckle, Horse Pens, Locusts, Meadow- 
 Rattle, Money, Money-grass, Pence, Henny Penny, Penny Rattle, 
 Penny Weed, Rattle, Rattle-bags, Rattle-box, Rattle-penny, Rottle 
 Penny, Snaffles, Yellow Rattle. 
 
 This plant is called Rattle-penny and Money from its dry calyces 
 rattling when shaken, and the shape of its round flat capsules. Gowk's 
 Sixpence is the name conferred also from the shape of the capsules, and 
 Gowk's Siller because, like the fool, it is unable to conceal its wealth. 
 
 Hen Pen is of double origin, the first from the shape of the calyx, 
 the second from the flat seeds, like pennies. Yellow Rattle was called 
 Locusts because in N. Bucks it was supposed to have been the food of 
 St. John the Baptist. It was dedicated to St. Peter.
 
 SELF-HEAL 75 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 242. Rhinantkus Crista-Galli, L. Stem erect, leaves lanceolate, 
 serrate, opposite, flowers yellow, in a spike, with ovate bracts exceeding 
 the calyx, the lobes of upper corolla-lip round. 
 
 Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris, L.) 
 
 This pretty Arctic species has been preserved in the early deposits, 
 in Neolithic beds at Edinburgh, and Roman deposits at Silchester. 
 It is found at present in the Arctic and Temperate Zones in Arctic 
 Europe, N. Africa, Temperate Asia, America, and Australia, being thus 
 widespread. It is very common in every part of Great Britain, and in 
 Yorkshire is found up to an altitude of 2400 ft. 
 
 Self-heal is a representative meadow species, which is common in 
 fields, meadows, and pastures at different elevations. It is quite at 
 home in wet meadows which merge into a marsh formation. 
 
 It is common in damp woods also; but it is also frequent on lawns 
 and turfy ground, where it covers wide areas, often to the exclusion of 
 the grass itself. 
 
 The habit of Self-heal is either erect or prostrate. The whole 
 plant is more or less hairy. The rootstock is creeping. The stems 
 are erect or ascending, the branches often short. The leaves are egg- 
 shaped to oblong, blunt, stalked, nearly entire or with a few teeth or 
 divided. The upper leaves are stalkless. 
 
 The flowers are violet, purple, rarely white, in cylindrical whorls 
 forming a dense spike, with two leaves at the base. The calyx is 
 reddish-purple, with the very small teeth fringed with a few hairs. 
 There are two kidney-shaped, or egg-shaped to heart-shaped, broad, 
 long pointed bracts below each whorl which are fringed with hairs and 
 green with purple edges. 
 
 The upper lip of the calyx has short, blunt teeth, the lower lip egg- 
 shaped to lance-shaped, with blunt, pointed, teeth. The corolla is less 
 than twice as long as the calyx. The nutlets are smooth and oblong. 
 
 Self-heal is about i ft. high. Flowers may be found between July 
 and September. The plant is perennial, and propagated by division. 
 
 The flowers of Prunella are dimorphic. There are large, complete 
 flowers, and others smaller and rare, which are female. In the latter 
 only functionless stamens occur. The tube is 4-5 mm. long, and the 
 style projects above and beyond the upper lip, the two stigmas being 
 w T ide-spreading. 
 
 In the complete flowers the tube is longer, 7-8 mm. The longer
 
 76 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 stamens divide into two spreading branches at the tip, the branches 
 being unequal, and the shorter one with the anther lobes faces the 
 centre, the other longer one outwards, its pointed ends resting on the 
 concave surface of the upper lip, and this causes them to lie in such a 
 position that the insect touches them on either side of the head. They 
 open downwards and lie on each side of the stigma. The shorter 
 stamens are similar in structure. The bee touches the lower stigma 
 first with its back, and afterward is covered with fresh pollen. So that 
 
 SELF-HEAL (Prunella vulgaris, L.) 
 
 when insects visit the flower it is cross-pollinated, whilst in their 
 absence self-pollination occurs and seed is set. 
 
 Self-heal is visited by the Honey Bee, Bombus, Megachile, Antho- 
 pkora, Cilissa, Lyccena, Hesperia, Melitcea. 
 
 The smooth elongated nutlets when ripe drop out around the plant, 
 assisted by the wind. 
 
 Growing on clay soil in a variety of situations it is a clay plant. 
 
 The fungus ^Ecidium prunelke attacks the leaves. 
 
 Prunella or Brnnella, Brunfels, is from the German Braune^ a 
 kind of quinsy which the plant was supposed to cure, and the second 
 Latin name refers to its widespread occurrence.
 
 PURPLE ORCHIS 77 
 
 Self-heal is also called All-heal, Brown-wort, Brunei, Bumble-bees, 
 Herb Carpenter, Proud Carpenter, Carpenter-grass, Carpenter's herb, 
 Fly Flowers, Heart of the Earth, Hook-heal, London Bottles, Pick 
 Pocket, Pimpernel, Prince's Feather. 
 
 Brunei is a modification of Brzmella, from the German die Braune, 
 which Gerarde describes as "an infirmitie among' soldiers that lie in 
 campe ". 
 
 Self-heal is called " Heart of the Earth " because it chiefly grows 
 on thin, poor soils, where the farmers give it the credit of eating 
 away all the substance of the soil. Because the corolla is shaped 
 something like a billhook it was supposed to be (by Doctrine of 
 Signatures) a vulnerary. 
 
 It was formerly applied in cases of quinsy. Formerly it was used 
 in gargles, being aromatic and astringent. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 255. Prunella vnlgaris, L.- Stem erect, leaves ovate, entire, 
 stalked, with 2 acute bracts at the base of the flowers, flowers 
 purple, in whorls of 6, in a terminal spike, calyx flattened, dentate. 
 
 Purple Orchis (Orchis mascula, L.) 
 
 Like other Orchids this is known only from its modern distribution, 
 which is the North Temperate Zone in Europe, N. Africa, and \V. 
 Siberia. 
 
 It is found in every county in Great Britain, except Glamorgan, 
 S. Lines, Isle of Man, Peebles, E. Sutherland, as far north as the 
 Shetlands. It grows up to a height of 1500 ft. in the Lake District, 
 and in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 This fine tall Orchid is a regular woodland species growing in 
 clumps beneath the trees in the deepest shade in woods, copses, and 
 plantations, and is strictly a shade lover like Dog's Mercury and Lords 
 and Ladies, which grow side by side with it. It may also be found in 
 pastures, but less commonly. The usual meadow Orchid taken for 
 small forms of the Purple Orchid is the Green-winged Orchid (O. 
 Morio], Its occurrence in meadows indicates former woodland. 
 
 From a tuberous base the stem rises erect, tall and graceful. The 
 leaves are broad, spotted, oblong, narrowly elliptical, blunt. The stem 
 is naked above and purple. The central vein in the leaves projects 
 sharply below. The bracts are as long as the ovary, purple, narrowly 
 elliptical, membranous, with twisted tips, nerved. 
 
 The flowers are deep-purple, large, in a loose spike. The lip has
 
 7 8 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 rounded teeth, and is 3-lobed, as broad as long, with the margin bent 
 back, the spur longer than the ovary, and ascending. The 2 outer 
 sepals are acute, and bent back upwards. 
 
 The Purple Orchid is i ft. to 18 in. high, and the flowers are in 
 bloom from April to May. It is perennial, propagated by division of 
 the tubers. 
 
 The 3 sepals and 2 upper petals arch over the stigma. The 
 lip is adapted for an alighting place, and is prolonged backwards to 
 
 form a hollow spur with 
 walls of delicate tissue. 
 
 The stigma is just above 
 the spur, with inferior lobes 
 which are stigmatic surfaces, 
 and the third forms the 
 beak, full of clammy fluid, 
 projecting into the mouth 
 of the spur. The 2 lateral 
 anthers are sterile scales, 
 and the perfect one stands 
 above the beak. The two 
 cells are separated by a 
 broad process connecting the 
 anther cells with the fila- 
 ment, splitting" longitudin- 
 ally, and within lie the two 
 masses of pollen grains, 
 attached only by threads 
 and adhering to the upper 
 surface of the beak. When 
 
 an insect thrusts its head into the spur it touches the beak, when the 
 covering membrane splits, and curls back, and two small disks con- 
 nected with the caudicles or stalks which bear the pollen masses, 
 coated with sticky matter below, stick to the insect's head, and the 
 fluid hardens like cement. The insect when quitting the flower 
 bears the pollinia attached to the disks away on its head. The 
 pollinia are at first erect, but when the disks dry they bend forward 
 into an almost horizontal position, so that in visiting another flower 
 they come in contact with the stigma, and cross-pollination is the 
 natural result. 
 
 This Orchid is visited by the Humble bee Bomb-its pratoruni, the 
 flies Empis livida, E. pennipes, Vo luce Ha bombylans, Eristalis horticola. 
 
 Photo. Flatters & Garnett 
 
 PURPLE ORCHIS (Orchis mascnla, L.)
 
 PURPLE ORCHIS 
 
 79 
 
 The seeds being light and small are dispersed by the wind. 
 
 The Purple Orchid is a peat plant, and requires humus soil. 
 
 A fly, Parallelomma albiccps, is found on it. 
 
 Orchis, Theophrastus, is from a Greek word orchis, used for plants 
 with a tuberous root. 
 
 The plant is called Drake's-feet, Frogwort, Gandergoose, Gandi 
 gosling, Gethsemane, Geuky- 
 ilower, Giddy Gander, Goosie 
 gander, Gowk Meat, Gramfer- 
 greygles, Red Granfer gregors, 
 Slander Grass, Greygles, 
 Gussets, Kettle Case, Kettle 
 Pad, King Finger, Long Pur- 
 ples, Man Orchis, Nightcap, 
 Poor Man's Blood, Priest's 
 Pintle, Purples, Rag- wort, 
 Red Butcher, Red-lead, Ring 
 Finger, Salep, Scab -gowks, 
 Single Castle, Single - grass, 
 Skeat - legs, Snake Flower, 
 Soldiers' Jackets, &c. 
 
 The Purple Orchid is called 
 Gethsemane because it was 
 said to have grown at the foot 
 of the Cross, and received 
 drops ot blood on its leaves. 
 
 The name Lover's Wanton 
 is explained thus: "Rustics 
 believe that if you take the 
 proper half of the root of an 
 
 PCRPI.K ORCHIS (Orchi 
 
 Orchis and get anyone of the 
 
 opposite sex to eat it, it will produce a powerful affection for 
 
 while the other half will produce as strong an aversion ". 
 
 Then round the meddowes did she walke, 
 Catching each flower by the stalke; 
 Such as within the meddowes grew, 
 As dead men's thumb and harebell blew. 
 
 you, 
 
 The tubers are so called from their reddish colour. 
 Skeat - legs, scaet meaning a swathing, refers to the sheathing 
 leaves. The dark flower spikes were called Adam, the pale ones Eve,
 
 80 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 hence the name Adam and Eve. Children say the roots (tubers) were 
 once the thumb of some unburied murderer, and call them Bloody 
 Man's Thumb. There was a belief that Orchids sprang from the seed 
 of the blackbird or thrush. 
 
 Jalep (Salep) was made from the tubers, and was much used in the 
 East. The substance it contains is bassorine, which replaces the starch, 
 and is dried and ground into powder. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 291. Orchis mascula, L. Aerial stem a scape, tall, leaves radical, 
 lanceolate, with purple spots, flowers purple, in a lax spike, 2 sepals, 
 reflexed upwards, acute, lip tri-lobed, bracts veined. 
 
 Spotted Orchid (Orchis maculata, L.) 
 
 Though an upland Arctic type this Orchid is not found in early 
 deposits. It is distributed throughout North Temperate and Arctic 
 Europe, except in Greece and in N. and W. Asia. 
 
 This species occurs in all parts of Great Britain, except in Cardigan, 
 Montgomery, Isle of Man, Roxburgh, as far north as the Shetlands, 
 and in the Highlands is found at 3000 ft. It grows in Ireland and the 
 Channel Isles. 
 
 No more common Orchid is to be found than the Spotted Orchid, 
 which is to be found growing in moist places in a variety of situations. 
 It occurs in low-lying marshes, in wet meadows, or hollows in fields, 
 bordering rivers and lakes. It also occurs on hillsides in wet places 
 from which issue little rills or springs. 
 
 The Spotted Orchid has the usual Orchid habit, being erect. The 
 tubers are palmate. The stem is slender, leafy above, solid. The 
 leaves are narrow, lance-shaped to inversely egg-shaped, usually 
 spotted with purple or black (hence maculata}. The lower leaves are 
 blunt or acute, broader toward the tip; the upper are linear to lance- 
 shaped, and like the bracts. The bracts are awl-like, green, 3-nerved, 
 the lateral veins conspicuous, the upper bracts as long as the ovary, 
 the lower longer. 
 
 The flowers are lilac, spotted with rose or purple, or white. The 
 spike is egg-shaped. The lip is flat, as broad as long, 3-lobed, the 
 margins curved backwards, scalloped, the middle lobe narrower, and 
 about as long as the lateral lobes, which are spreading. The spur is 
 straight, awl-like, shorter than the ovary. The 3 sepals are spreading. 
 The petals are converging. 
 
 The Spotted Orchid is about i ft. high. The flowers may be found
 
 SPOTTED ORCHID 
 
 81 
 
 in June and July. The plant is a perennial, propagated by division of 
 the tuberous root. 
 
 The flowers are stalkless in the axils of the bracts. Two of the 
 petals arch over, and the third forms the spurred labellum. The 
 column consists of the style and filament, which cohere, and the single 
 anther is above, with a small round rostellum at the base and projecting 
 over the entrance to the 
 spur. At the back of 
 this cavity lie the 2 stig- 
 mas, which form a sticky 
 disk-like area below the 
 rostellum or third stigma. 
 An insect's proboscis 
 thrust into the cavity 
 towards the spur touches 
 the rostellum, opening it, 
 and the pollinia or pollen- 
 masses are detached in 
 an erect position, united 
 by a netlike caudicle with 
 a sticky disk below, which 
 adheres to the bee's head, 
 after it has been with- 
 drawn from its gummy 
 seat on the rostellum. 
 The pollinia in thirty 
 seconds bend forwards, 
 and an insect in entering 
 a second flower and try- 
 ing to insert its proboscis 
 into the spur leaves the 
 pollinia attached by their club-shaped extremity on the stigmatic disk. 
 Hence cross-pollination will occur. 
 
 The flower is visited by Boinbus pratonun, Einpis livida, E. 
 pcnnipcs, Volncclla bouibylans, Eristalis horticola. 
 
 The seeds are very small and light, and dispersed by the 
 wind. 
 
 The Spotted Orchid is found on a clay soil, being a clay plant, or 
 a peat plant growing in wet peat soil. 
 
 The Spotted Orchid is liable to attack by two fungi, Melampsora 
 rcpcntis and Caioina orchidis. 
 
 SPOTTED ORCHID (Orchis maculata, L.)
 
 82 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 The second Latin name refers to the spotted petals, the spots being 
 honey-guides, or to the spotted leaves. 
 
 It is called Adam-and-Eve, Adder's-grass, Baldberry, Crawfoot, 
 Crowfoot, Dead Man's Fingers, Dead Man's Hands, Hen's Combs, 
 Lover's Wanton, Man Orchis, Nightcap, Red-lead. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 292. Orchis maculata, L. Tubers palmate, stem tall, solid, leaves 
 lanceolate, spotted, flowers lilac, spotted, sepals 3, spreading, bracts 
 with three or more veins. 
 
 Purple Crocus (Crocus officinalis, Huds.) 
 
 The Purple Crocus is a southern plant found in Mid and S. Europe, 
 and not earlier in the N. Temperate Zone. It is naturalized in Notts 
 and Middlesex, and a few other places in England and Ireland. 
 
 Like the Yellow Crocus, which is found likewise in meadows in 
 Warwick, Stafford, Salop, Notts, Derby, Chester, S. Lanes, S.W. 
 Yorks, the Purple Crocus is but naturalized, and though established 
 in the localities now known for it, it was doubtless an escape 
 originally. 
 
 It grows in wet low-lying meadows by the margin of rivers in 
 central and S. England. 
 
 This short-stemmed plant (the aerial stem is really a scape) is 
 characterized by its bulb-like stem base, with fibrous coats, broad and 
 flattened. The sheaths of the leaves are netlike, torn, dirty brown, 
 and enclose the scape. The leaves are radical leaves, linear, furrowed, 
 white below. 
 
 The flowers are purple and appear with the leaves. They are 
 borne on erect scapes with hairs. The mouth of the flower is closed 
 with hairs, and the segments are blunt. The stigmas, which are deep- 
 orange colour, are expanded. The anthers are bright -yellow. The 
 capsule is on a long, slender flower-stalk with small red seeds. 
 
 It is 6 in. in height. The flowers open in April. It is a perennial 
 plant propagated by division of the roots. 
 
 In Crocus vernus honey is secreted by the ovary and rises in 
 the tube, which is narrow and filled up by the style, nearly to the 
 expanded mouth. Long-lipped Lepidoptera alone can reach it. The 
 anthers ripen first. The ovary remains below the soil and is thus 
 protected. The anthers dehisce away from the centre or extrorsely, 
 and the stigmas unfold afterwards and touch an insect alighting on the 
 petals. The stigmas are branched. Humble-bees can only skim the
 
 PURPLE CROCUS 83 
 
 surface of the nectary. The flowers being violet (or white) indicate 
 adaptation to pollination by night-flying insects. 
 
 The Purple Crocus is visited by the Silver Y Moth (Plusia gamma), 
 Painted Lady (Pvrauieis cardui}, which cross-pollinate it. If un visited, 
 the grooved stigmas passing between the anthers are dusted with 
 pollen and the plant is self-pollinaced. 
 
 The seeds, which are small, are contained in a capsule which opens 
 above and allows the seeds to be jerked out by the wind. 
 
 Pl'RPLK CROCUS (Crocus officinal is, Huds.) 
 
 The Crocus is a sand plant requiring a sand soil or sandy loam 
 with some clay and humus. 
 
 Purple Crocus is infested with Bulb Sclerotinia (Sclerotinia 
 bitlbosuiu). 
 
 Crocus, Theophrastus, is the latinized form of the Greek name 
 of the plant and its product saffron; and. the second Latin name refers 
 to its use in medicine. 
 
 It was supposed to inspire love. There is a proverb as to un- 
 expected results: "You set saffron and there came up wolfsbane ". 
 
 Purple Crocus was used for garlands in Greece. 
 
 This flower is said " to blow before the shrine at vernal dawn of 
 St. Valentine ".
 
 84 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 It was sacred to Juno. It is, or was, considered unlucky to pluck it 
 in Germany, and said to draw away the strength. 
 
 It was used for consumption and lung diseases. The Purple 
 Crocus ripens its seeds more readily than the yellow, and after the 
 mature ovary has lain buried in the soil it rises above the ground when 
 ripe. 
 
 It is much cultivated and planted in gardens, where it is a useful 
 border plant. Saffron is used by painters and dyers for pigments. It 
 is also used in sauces, creams, biscuits, preserves, liqueurs, &c. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 297. Crocus officinalis, Huds. Leaves radical, linear, channelled, 
 flowers purple, appearing with the leaves, stigmas dilated.
 
 Section III 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 The flowers that follow man and the plough are perhaps no more 
 artificial than those of the fields and meadows previously described, 
 which have been equally disturbed by agricultural operations following 
 the felling of forests, but there is a difference of degree, and a decidedly 
 marked difference of origin as regards the unstable flora of a truly 
 arable pasture, greater than that of one which is not actually under 
 cultivation, unless we regard grazing as on a par with ploughing, w r hich 
 to be logical we ought to do. But with the former operation there is a 
 marked physiological effect and a repeated reduction of all herbaceous 
 growth to one level, while in the case of a cornfield we have free 
 growth allowed till harvest, following seed ripening, and a temporary 
 cessation of the struggle for existence caused by grazing. But, in the 
 cornfield there is not that stationary association of species that a grass 
 meadow possesses. It is largely ephemeral, the weeds (plants not 
 classed as cultivated as barley, wheat, oats, &c.) being of sporadic, 
 alien or variable, colonist or denizen type, which may or may not 
 persist perennially or annually. 
 
 Arable land generally is well drained and dry, and hence we may 
 class it as pasture on cultivated soil, or under the plough. It is thus 
 a part of the artificial though to some extent (because so stamped by 
 time) natural mesophytic type of community, i.e. requiring a medium 
 supply of moisture. 
 
 Really the cornfield flora is on a par with a waste land association 
 (Vol. V, Section XI), which is here kept separate. But though there 
 are many plants common to both, yet there are some peculiar to each; 
 and because they have this distinctive character, though caused by the 
 same abnormal factor, man, we keep them separate, as they are also 
 topographically distinct. And this descriptive account of the common 
 wild flowers blends the natural with the expedient; that is to say, the 
 field botanist, whom we have especially in mind, finds here the most
 
 88 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 natural botanical mode of mapping the district, combined with the 
 readiest mode of surveying it from a practical point of view. 
 
 Moreover, associated with the striking alien plants that come up 
 with cereal and root crops are a good sprinkling of the pasture 
 grasses, &c., which persist in spite of cultivation, especially on the 
 borders of cornfields where the plough does not disturb the turf. Of 
 these other plants, we have included here three at least, the prickly 
 multi-coloured Hemp-nettle, which lurks in the hedge, White Campion, 
 which grows frequently elsewhere, and several Fescue grasses, which 
 are found also at higher levels on dry hills and the sides of walls, such 
 as Sheep's Fescue. 
 
 Here between the blades of wheat we expect to find the Mouse-tail. 
 Abundant and pernicious in the farmer's opinion, the neat Corn 
 Buttercup fills many a wide interspace left where the grain has not 
 matured. Towering halfway as high as the cornstalks in the East 
 counties, Larkspur here and there is frequent, with its delicate blue 
 blooms. 
 
 Poppies spread a blood-red mantle over the golden grain in almost 
 every field of corn, and lurking low down cowers the foetid Earthsmoke 
 with foliage like maidenhair. Everywhere the young blades of corn 
 are outdone in the massing of colour by the Yellow Charlock, which, to 
 the farmer's chagrin, studs the fields so plentifully in early spring. 
 Sparingly the graceful woad-like Gold of Pleasure struggles upward, 
 too, amid the ripening corn. 
 
 Purple and white, the lowly but pretty Candytuft in East Anglian 
 cornfields brings a touch of the garden to the field. So too the little 
 Heartsease, with its diminutive heads like dwarf pansies, recalls the 
 rows of V. tricolor in the garden. The tall graceful White Campion 
 opening to the honey-seeking insects at night is common here. Then 
 no cornfield is complete without its Corn Cockles in the popular mind, 
 but they are really more local than is usually supposed. The useful 
 Spurrey spreads over the bare soil, affording fodder for cattle, but is 
 little used in England. Common Flax reminds us of one of the 
 sources of her greatness to-day, and once many a flax field could be 
 seen in several districts, while now, as a rule, flax is imported. 
 
 On the stubble after the corn is cut, or amongst clover, Alsike 
 Clover with its cream-and-pink orbs rises above the sandy soil laid 
 bare at intervals. Shepherd's Needle with its comb-like seedcases, 
 and its delicate little flowers and fine-cut foliage, is to be seen in most 
 cornfields; and the foul and poisonous Fool's Parsley covers all the 
 underglade with dark-green foliage; Field Madder and Lamb's Lettuce
 
 MOUSE-TAIL 89 
 
 both cover the soil at the foot of the cornstalks where light pierces the 
 rows of haulms. Bright-golden appear the flowers of the beauteous 
 corn marigold amid the grain, varied with the rich blue flowerheads 
 of the cornflower. Seeking the sun the scented Corn Sowthistle 
 slowly twists its shocks of golden bloom in the wake of Hyperion. 
 Hiding away itself and its bloom Venus' Looking-glass is rarely seen, 
 though it is fairly common. Small Snapdragon, Ivy-leaved Speedwell, 
 Scarlet Pimpernel, wakeful up till morning, the hard-fruitecl Corn 
 Cromwell, the prickly but pretty field Bug-loss, are all familiar weeds 
 here amid the ancient Wild Oat and the death-dealing Darnel grass. 
 
 Mouse-tail (Myosurus minimus, L.) 
 
 No trace of the Mouse-tail has been found in beds earlier than 
 recent accumulations. It is a plant of the Warm Temperate Zone, 
 found in Europe, W. Asia, N. Africa, and has been introduced in 
 ballast into America and other countries. It is found in S. England, 
 in S. Devon, S. Somerset, Wilts, Dorset, Isle of Wight, Hants, 
 Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Essex, Herts, Middlesex, Berks, Oxford. 
 Bucks, the whole of E. Anglia, W. Oloucestershire, Hereford, 
 \Vorcester, Warwick, Stafford, Lincolnshire, Leicester, Notts, Derby, 
 Chester, N.E., Mid W., X.W. Vorks, Durham, and Northumberland, 
 and thus ranges from the last county to Kent and Devon, as well as 
 in the Channel Islands. 
 
 The Mouse-tail, as almost implied by its name, is a diminutive 
 plant, likely to be overlooked by all but the most observant. Its 
 distribution shows that it is a plant of cultivated ground, coming up 
 in cornfields, when the wheat is yet green, between the lines of grain 
 It is fond of dry soil, and as such is a Xerophile, and though not 
 confined to chalk districts is rather more abundant there than else- 
 where. It has the grass habit, which may be regarded as an adaptive 
 character here. It is also found in clover fields, and on the sides of 
 paths in the dried-up pools where water has long accumulated. The 
 Mouse-tail is associated with Plantain, Corn Buttercup. 
 
 It is a small, erect plant, with a fastigiate habit, i.e. with parallel 
 ascending branches, the leaves, which are linear, expanded below, 
 being clustered in a rosette, but erect, surrounding the taller receptacle, 
 which resembles the mouse's tail, give it a plantain-like habit, in which 
 again it resembles fsoi'/cs, or even Limosella. 
 
 1 his plant is unlike any other British plant, or the three mentioned, 
 in the appearance its ripe carpels present, a plantain also having a
 
 9 o 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 different flower. In the Mouse-tail it is yellow, and the petals are 
 clawed. The flowers are borne on single scapes. 
 
 The sepals, 5-7, are closely parallel with the scape, and there is a 
 scale at base. The Mouse-tail is 26 in. high. It is in flower from 
 April to June. It is annual, coming up year by year in the same 
 district. 
 
 The flowers are proterandrous, i.e. the anthers ripen first. After 
 the anthers have withered, the top of the ovary elongates into a long 
 cone and develops the stigmas. The elongation of the pistil axis makes 
 possible the self-pollination of the neighbouring- 
 stigmas by means of the few anthers, which 
 lie close around, the pollen emerging gradually 
 by two lateral slits, the elongated axis (i-ii 
 in.) bringing fresh stigmas in contact with 
 the anthers. The Mouse -tail is pollinated 
 by flies, Diptera, Sciara, Chironomus, Scatope, 
 Phora, Cecidomyia, Oscinis, Microphones, 
 Pteromalidce, Ichneumonida, Haltica, AntJw- 
 myia, Melanostoma mellina. 
 
 The fruit of the Mouse-tail is dispersed 
 by the plant's own special mechanism. The 
 achenes or fruits are small, numerous, and dis- 
 persed by the falling of the fruits around the 
 parent plant. The styles do not fall off. 
 
 The Mouse-tail is a sand plant, frequent- 
 ing districts with a sand soil, derived chiefly 
 from the older sandy formations, from which 
 
 are derived sandy loam, or one inclined to be oolitic, not limy or 
 gritty. It is also found on the chalk. 
 
 No fungal pests attack it, nor is it a food plant for insects. 
 Dodonaeus invented the name Myosurus (Greek vmos, mouse, and 
 our a, tail) from the shape of the scape, while miniums is Latin for 
 very small. 
 
 Mouse-tail and Blood Strange are its only names. 
 Parkinson in the last connection refers to it as styptic, and says: 
 " Blood-strange, I think corruptly from blood-staying". 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 4. Myosurus minimus, L. Sepals 5, spurred, petals with filiform 
 claw, tubular, honey gland at base, 5 stamens, carpels imbricate, borne 
 on a long scape, the seed pendulous. 
 
 MOUSE-TAIL (Myosunis 
 minimus, L.)
 
 KEY TO PLATE VIII 
 
 (Myosurus ininimus, L.) 
 o, Scape, with flowers, mag- 
 nified. 3, PetaJ, showing 
 tubular limb. <r, <& Achenes 
 from different aspects. , 
 Plant, with radical leaves 
 and 
 
 Upper part / fcf jj4ot,. Row- 
 ing tufted leuves (linear, 
 tlower open and 
 
 achenes with spines 
 
 'Is coach 
 
 | 
 
 Delphinium Ajocil, Reichb.) 
 a, Section (vertical) of co- 
 rolla, b, Raceme, with leaves 
 below, showing spurred calyx 
 
 i/V, L.) 
 
 ion cf tiower. 
 f>, T\<>\\ ( r, from lateral aspect^ 
 sho\v,;.^ 3 caJe and bract 
 inflo- 
 ruit. ' 
 
 so\v ,11V scae an 
 //W Plant^itftS^ale, 
 
 _re>c^PCc,,md frui 
 
 No. 5. Common Red Poppy 
 
 (Pcipaver Rhaos, L.) 
 /, Capsule, showing sessile, 
 radiate stigma, and pore-like 
 apertures, b. Plant, with foli- 
 age, ;uid two flowers, one in 
 bud showing sepals J^i place 
 and thlTcioTotta folded, the 
 other expjmdect, withjmany 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 (Camelino. s<itiva, Crantz) 
 a, Capsule, with seeds at- 
 tarhed to septum. b, Sa- 
 gittate leaves pn stem and 
 flowers in nn expanded state. 
 4ln<l6res<;ence (raceme) and 
 jBruits (silique$) r ^ ip various
 
 JIIV 3TAJ1 OT Y3X 
 
 ivTr>WFH<; rvi 
 
 ID 
 
 ^IJJD banuq's gniwoda , 
 
 ,{ u al^w 
 
 ''-;/:- 
 
 / ''. '.. j /:'. >-t At'-. '../_; . r : : ' '. ' ''ftitM*//. / . 
 
 PfyromalifU?* Ichneumonid^^^^^iii{ , ,> . 
 
 irur 
 
 
 / "j \ d ^ \ 
 
 . 
 
 
 -B8 <i 
 
 bfiB maie no 
 
 \tormi 
 
 'P^ Uj, ^^ 
 m ono f ai3woft owJ bm; ,-j#s , 4Dnl bftii -^'jar-^niifoitf^A 
 
 bW* 
 
 ,6Of!9&^3lV 
 
 ^^ofiae, an
 
 FLOWERS OF THF CORNFIELDS 
 
 / 
 
 PLATE VIII 
 
 I. Mouse-tail (.J/JWJ//VM ////W//W//J, L. ). 2. (urn Buttercup ( .Kanun. -iiin, ,i.-r: //>/,. L. I. ; v I -arl^pur I Dcirhiui, 
 
 Aia,-is. Reich!..). 4. I-'uniilury I Karth-snmke) I l-'uniana olti.ma;^. L. ). 5. Common Ri-<i I'"|'P. V ' /<: '/' 7r 
 
 A'/i(j-(7j, L. ). 0. tjulcl-ut'-rieasurc i Carunina tatn-j, Ciani/j.
 
 CORN BUTTERCUP 
 
 9 1 
 
 Corn Buttercup (Ranunculus arvensis, L.) 
 
 No trace of achenes of this pest to the farmer has been found in 
 Prc- or Post-glacial beds. It frequents the Warm Temperate Zone, 
 including Europe, 
 Temperate Asia, 
 
 India, North Africa. 
 It is more or less con- 
 fined to cultivated 
 areas, and so is absent 
 from North Devon, 
 Monmouth, occurring 
 in South Wales only 
 in Carmarthen, only 
 in Montgomery, 
 
 Hint, and Denbigh 
 in North Wales, 
 throughout the Mer- 
 sey district, but not 
 in Mid Lanes. In 
 Scotland it is confined 
 to Kirkcudbright, 
 Ayr, Lanark, Ber- 
 wick, Hadclington, 
 Edinburgh, Stirling, 
 Perth, stretching from 
 Perthshire to the 
 South of England in 
 general. It is found 
 in Ire-land around 
 Dublin. 
 
 The Corn Butter- 
 cup is essentially a 
 plant of the cultivated 
 districts, being a 
 regular denizen of the 
 cornfield, in which it 
 regular companion of 
 
 CORN BfTTERCrP (Ranunculus aK'cnsis, L. ) 
 
 is, according to Watson, a colonist. It is a 
 Eool's Parsley, Alopcciirus agrestis, Venus' 
 Comb, and similar followers of the plough, and it may be found with 
 them also around stackyards. Being a tall plant it is bound up with
 
 9 2 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 the wheat, and is held by the farmer to be a pest. But it has a 
 pretty habit and bloom, and the prickly fruits are unique amongst 
 English Crowfoots. 
 
 It is an erect plant, rather rigid, branched, with small leaves, 
 smooth, linear, lance-shaped, and rather stout stems, and pyramidal 
 from below upwards in outline. It grows in scattered groups, and its 
 outline and shape are naturally modified by the distribution of the 
 corn amongst which it grows, the close and erect habit being due 
 to its being elongated. 
 
 This plant is quite smooth with furrowed stems, much divided, and 
 with lower leaves, with leaflets in threes, the upper linear, and the 
 carpels are prickly and hooked, large, flattened, and few. 
 
 The flower is pale-yellow. The stamens vary in number as do the 
 carpels, and the former are sometimes wanting. 
 
 The Corn Buttercup is i to 2 ft. high, flowering in June (and May). 
 It is an annual. 
 
 Hidden amongst the corn this plant has little chance of being cross- 
 pollinated by insects, though it has honey-glands at the base of the 
 petals, which are pale-yellow, glossy, and open. The sepals are also 
 sub-erect. The stamens are numerous (16), and the stigmas are 
 reflexed, the stamens being brighter in colour than the petals. 
 
 The fruit is dispersed by animals. The achenes are provided with 
 numerous hooked spines, which assist in distributing them by means 
 of the wool of animals' coats, in which they may catch. 
 
 Corn Buttercup is distinctly a sand plant, growing on sandy soil 
 derived from sandy formations which furnish a sanely loam. 
 
 No plant or insect pests are known to infest this plant, but it is 
 regarded itself as a pest by the farmer. 
 
 The name arvensis means growing on arable land. 
 
 The English names are Yellow Crees, Corn Crowfoot, Corn 
 or Urchin Crowfoot, Crows'-claws, Devil-on-both-sicles, Devil's-claws, 
 Devil's Coach-wheel, Devil's Currycomb, Dill-cup, English Stavesacre, 
 Goldweed, Gye, Hard-iron, Hedge-hog, Hellweed, Horse Gold, 
 Hungerweed, Jack-o'-both-sides, Joy, Peagle, Pricklebacks, Scratch- 
 bur, Starveacre, Yellowcup. 
 
 It was called by the name Starveacre because it indicated poor 
 land, as also did Hungerweed. The name Urchin Crowfoot refers to 
 its prickly fruits, which also account for Devil-on-both-sides, Devil's- 
 claws, Heclge-hog, Pricklebacks. 
 
 Some of the folk in olden days called it Devil-on-both-sides, because 
 of its supposed association with the Evil One.
 
 LARKSPUR 93 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 9. Ranunculus arvensis, L. Stem tall, leaves much divided, linear- 
 lanceolate, calyx spreading, carpels beaked, spinous, nectary with a 
 scale. 
 
 Larkspur (Delphinium Ajacis, Reichb.) 
 
 Larkspur is unknown in a fossil state. It belongs to the Warm 
 Temperate Zone, growing in Central and S. Europe, North Africa, 
 and has been introduced into the United States of America. It was 
 regarded by H. C. Watson as an alien or colonist, and as naturalized in 
 Cambridgeshire, but elsewhere sporadic. 
 
 The Larkspur is a plant of the Eastern counties, which has 
 become established where arable land still remains. Doubtless, since 
 it is an old garden favourite in another form, it was once much 
 commoner than it is to-day. Now it is only with good fortune that 
 one may expect to find it in East Anglia in the cornfields, where it 
 gives just that blue tinge to the growing grain that is to be seen 
 more extensively where the Cornflower grows. 
 
 Chalky or calcareous soil suits it best. 
 
 Larkspur is a tall, erect plant, with many spreading branches, and 
 the numerous dowers in the raceme or flowerhead give it a handsome 
 appearance, and this is noticeable in the cultivated form in our gardens. 
 The leaves are much divided, with linear lobes. 
 
 Its first Latin name was bestowed on it in reference to the shape 
 of the nectary, like the mythical dolphin. The second name was 
 given in allusion to the fancied resemblance between some markings, 
 like A I A, upon the flower. The terminal crowded racemes or flower- 
 heads have as many as sixteen flowers, white, purple, blue, &c. The 
 seeds, which are numerous, black, and angular, have transverse undu- 
 lating ridges around them. The style is awl-shapecl. The follicles 
 or fruits are downy or smooth. 
 
 The plant is i to 2 ft. high, flowering in June and July, and is 
 annual. 
 
 In this, as in D. consolida, 2 petals have united. The posterior 
 sepals form a spur. The 2 upper petals have united by their back- 
 wardly- directed processes into a single spur in the point of which 
 honey is secreted. The enlarged parts of the upper petals turned tor- 
 ward lengthwise are united into an inner spur, and when the bee enters 
 cannot be thrust on one side. They form a sheath with the lower petals, 
 only open below. At first the anthers, in the second case the stigmas, 
 touch the bee below the head. The lower petals unite with the upper,
 
 94 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 and yield at the side when the bee, which must have a long proboscis, 
 
 attempts to thrust in its head. Cross-pollination is caused by insects, 
 
 and self-pollination will take place in any case. Larkspur is generally 
 
 pollinated by humble-bees. 
 The seed of the Lark- 
 spur is dispersed by the 
 wind. The seeds are 
 black and angular and 
 ridged, and contained in 
 a follicle or dry fruit, and 
 are shaken out only by a 
 strong wind. 
 
 The Larkspur is a 
 lime-loving plant and re- 
 quires a lime soil, being 
 suited to districts where 
 chalk or limestone contrib- 
 utes to form a subsoil of 
 a limy character. 
 
 This plant is not in- 
 fested by micro-fungi. 
 
 The moths Chariclea 
 Delphinii and the Viper's 
 Bugloss moth (Dianthoscia 
 Echii) visit it, as also 
 Heliothis dipsacea. 
 
 Dioscorides gave the 
 name Delphinium (Greek 
 delphis, a dolphin) from 
 the form of the nectary. 
 Ajacis is from Ajax 
 (Greek, Aias), from mark- 
 ings like AIA. Larkspur 
 is the only name, perhaps 
 
 in allusion to the length of spur like the toe of the lark's foot. 
 
 The plant is a favourite in our gardens, and the flowers have been 
 
 varied considerably by cultivation. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 14. Delphinium Ajacis, Reichb. Stem erect, leaves alternate, 
 
 multifid, flowers in raceme, sepals united, petals small, spurred, blue, 
 
 white, pink, follicles i to 5, downy, seeds wrinkled. 
 
 Photo. J. H. Crabtr 
 
 LARKSPUR (Delphinium Ajacis, Reichb.
 
 COMMON RED POPPY 95 
 
 Common Red Poppy (Papaver Rhoeas, L.) 
 
 Unlike the Opium Poppy and Long Rough-headed Poppy, both 
 of which appear in Neolithic beds (when they \vere cultivated), this 
 species is not found so early. 
 
 It is found in Europe, N. Africa, \Y. Asia as far as India. It is 
 found in 106 vice-counties of Great Britain, but not in Cardigan, 
 Mid Lanes, Cumberland, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Stirling, or Elgin. 
 It is rare north of the Tay; and occurs in Ireland and the Channel 
 Islands. \Yatson calls it a colonist. 
 
 The Common Red Poppy which reddens, as though with blood- 
 drops, the golden grain in autumn, is a widely distributed plant which 
 has followed the plough, and comes up in every cornfield, and along 
 the railway-bank, where weeds are liable to accumulate, being blown 
 out of passing trucks or caught as by a barrier by the line of rail, and 
 in all waste places, and by roadsides. \Yhere we find Shepherd's 
 Purse and the Golden Charlock, there also we shall find the Red 
 Poppy. 
 
 This elegant plant, whose flowers are so fugacious or shortlived 
 (hence Rkozas) and tend to tumble so soon, is an erect plant, with 
 divided leaves, with many branches, which spread out in a nearly erect 
 manner. The leaves are deeply notched and deeply divided (1-2). 
 
 The whole plant is thus pyramidal from below upwards, It grows 
 in clusters amid the corn, or more thickly when it is more erect and 
 less spreading, by the wayside. 
 
 The flower is scarlet with a black spot at the base, and in bud 
 the flowers hang down but are erect afterwards. 
 
 The capsule or fruit is smooth and rounded, and the flower-stalk 
 has spreading hairs. The filaments are awl-shaped, numerous, and 
 there is no style. The stigma is convex, with the lobes overlapping. 
 
 In height this poppy reaches 2 ft., flowering from June to July. 
 It is an annual, the seeds falling out by the opening of pores in the 
 capsule beneath the stigma. 
 
 The sepals fall off as the flower expands. The flower has 4 petals, 
 and many stamens closely surround the stigma and ripen before the 
 flow r er opens, and are covered with pollen. This covers the lobes of 
 the stigma which radiate from the centre of a circular disk on the top 
 of the pistil, but the higher parts protrude, so that they are free from 
 pollen. There is no honey, but insects alight on the broad stigma 
 tor pollen, and if another flower has been visited already cross-pollina-
 
 96 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 tion follows. The petals are weak and liable to drop, so that the 
 stigma is necessarily the resting-place. 
 
 The seeds of the Common Red Poppy are dispersed by the wind. 
 The capsule or fruit is perforated at the top, and when the wind blows 
 the seeds are scattered through the pores as pepper from a pepper-box, 
 but here in an erect position. 
 
 It is a sand plant and requires a sand soil, being found on the 
 older rocks largely of clastic origin, as well as on gravel and on 
 lime soil. 
 
 Entoloma bicolor, a rare fungus, and Peronospora arborescens often 
 destroy whole beds of cultivated poppies. 
 
 The plant is galled by A^llax papaveris, Aulax minax, Cecidomyia 
 brassier, Sciapkila waklbomiana; the Homopterous Aphis brassier 
 and the fly Chromatomyia albiceps infest it. 
 
 Pliny gave the name Papaver, a poppy, which is the same as the 
 Anglo-Saxon popig. Rhceas, given by Lobel (tenth century), is from 
 Greek rkeo, flow, meaning falling off, in allusion to the fugacious petals 
 or milky stem. 
 
 The English names are Blind Eyes, Blindy-buffs, Bledewort, 
 Canker, Canker Rose, Cheesebowl, Cockrose, Cock's-comb, Collin- 
 hood, Copper-rose, Corn Rose, Corn-flower, Cuprose, Cusk Darnel, 
 Ear-aches, Fireflout, Lightnings, Maws, Poison Poppy, Pope, Ricl- 
 weed, Soldiers, Thunder Bolts, Yedwark. 
 
 The Red Poppy is called Poison Plant in allusion to the supposed 
 properties (cf. also Headache). To weed poppies is called "poping". 
 Blind Eyes is the Yorkshire name, from a belief it will cause blindness 
 placed too near the eyes. Cusk or cushion, a drinking-cup, alludes to 
 the shape of the capsule. Poppyheads are said to cause violent earache 
 if placed in the ear, and the same applies to headaches. 
 
 Corn poppies that in crimson dwell, 
 Called headaches from their sickly smell; 
 and again, 
 
 When headaches rattle 
 Pigs will sattle; 
 
 that is, fall in price, they being cheap in July. Irishwomen particu- 
 larly object to poppies. 
 
 If the petals fall off, the would-be gatherer in Berwickshire was 
 supposed to be struck by lightning, hence the name Lightnings. 
 The Red Poppies which sprang up after Waterloo on the field are 
 locally held to have sprung from the blood of the slain. Virgil calls 
 it the Lethean poppy. From its sleep-producing properties it is the
 
 COMMON' RED POPPY (Papaver Rhocns, L.)
 
 FUMITORY 99 
 
 symbol of sleep and death. The heads were once steeped in wine 
 and used to induce sleep. The petals are still employed to colour 
 medicines. Owing to the quantity of the seeds Cybele, mother of 
 the gods, is represented as crowned with poppy-heads. 
 
 This poppy is cultivated as a garden flower, both single and double 
 varieties being known. 
 
 The juice is employed to form a sedative medicine. It was used 
 in love divination, the leaf being prophetic. It was sacred to Venus. 
 St. Margaret's Day (July 20) was celebrated in connection with the 
 vanquished Dragon. 
 
 Poppies a sanguine mantle spread 
 
 For the blood of the Dragon that Margaret shed. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SH-:CIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 1 8. Papaver Rhccas, L. Stem hispid, bristles patent, many-flowered, 
 leaves sessile, pinnatifid, flower scarlet, large, black at the limb, capsule 
 globose, smooth, filaments subulate. 
 
 !5 
 
 Fumitory (Earth-smoke) (Fumaria officinaiis, L.) 
 
 Seeds have been found with flax seeds and weeds of cultivation 
 in Neolithic deposits. Fumitory is confined to the \Yarm Temperate 
 Zone, and is found in Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia, and has been 
 introduced into the United States. It is absent from the following 
 counties in Great Britain, but common elsewhere, viz. : S. Lines, 
 Main Argyle, X. Ebudes; and it ascends up to 1000 ft. in the north 
 of England. It occurs in Ireland and the Channel Islands. By 
 Watson it was regarded as a colonist. 
 
 The Earth -smoke is so constant an accompaniment of the growing 
 grain that a cornfield would hardly be complete without it, and the 
 widespread character of its distribution shows the length of its estab- 
 lishment, did not its occurrence in Neolithic deposits, with other weeds 
 of waste ground, testify to this. It grows in the furrows, or around 
 the borders, of wheatfields, associated with Corn Marigold, Corn Sow- 
 Thistle, S/icrantia, and the usual plants of arable land, which wander 
 afield to waste places around the straw-stack, farmyard, or mill. 
 
 The connection between this plant and Climbing F"umitory is seen 
 in its spreading, not erect, habit, the principal stem which gives rise 
 to others being weak and trailing over the surface if very long The 
 joints are swollen to add strength on this account, as the plant is 
 tender and the stem is more or less wavy.
 
 IOO 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 Earth-smoke may be recognized by its finely-divided bluish-green 
 foliage, simulating umbellifers, or Hymenophyllous ferns, its versi- 
 colorous, purple and white flowers, nearly round fruits, with two 
 sepals, lance-shaped, toothed, narrower and smaller than the corolla, 
 and the lower petal of the four spatulate or spoon-shaped, the upper 
 spurred or pouched. The pods are curved downward, erect, and 
 shortly stalked. The leaves or petioles, which are sensitive, act as 
 tendrils to support the plant. The raceme or group of flowers is long, 
 
 RED RAMPANT FUMITORY (Fumaria officinal is, L.) 
 
 and many-flowered. Two ovules are contained in the ovary, but only 
 one matures. 
 
 The stem may be 18-24 in. long. Flowers are seen from May to 
 September. Fumitory is a common annual. 
 
 The flowers are inconspicuous, and little visited, therefore, by 
 insects. The flower is much the same as in Corydalis cava, but is 
 smaller, and instead of a spur there is a short round pouch formed by 
 the upper petal and the two at the side which form a tube, hinged at the 
 base, and honey is secreted by a short process from the upper stamen. 
 Flowers are fertile to their own pollen, and the chief visitor is the 
 hive bee. The honey being easily accessible can be obtained by many 
 insects, but it flowers in the middle of the summer, and the small 
 flowers and little honey, therefore, cause it to rely on self-pollination 
 almost entirely. 
 
 Fumitory is dispersed by the agency of the plant itself. The
 
 GOLD-OF-PLEASURE 101 
 
 capsules are two-valved, and do not open, but the seeds are left to 
 germinate around the parent plant. 
 
 The Fumitory is a sand plant, luxuriating- in a sand soil, and 
 growing on marly formations such as the Keuper, and sandstone such 
 as the Middle Lias. 
 
 The only fungal pest is Pcronospora affinis. No insects prey 
 on it. 
 
 The name Funiaria was invented by Gesner from the Latin fumus, 
 smoke, and fumus tcrrtc (hence Fumitory) means earth smoke, while 
 officinalis refers to its former medicinal use. 
 
 The English names are Beggary, Earth-smoke, Fume-of-the- 
 Earth, Fumiterre, Fumitory, Fumusterre, God's Fingers and Thumbs, 
 Snapdragon, Wax Dolls. 
 
 The old writers called it Fumitory, imagining that it was produced 
 without seed from vapours rising from the earth. This may be con- 
 nected with the fact that the root when just pulled up gives off a 
 gaseous smell, like fumes of nitric acid. Others held it so because 
 at a distance it looked like blue smoke. 
 
 It was " used when gathered in wedding hours, and boiled in water 
 milk and whey, as a wash for the complexion of rustic maids". The 
 juice was said to cure bad sight or clear it. In the fourteenth century 
 it formed an ingredient in a remedy for bad blood and leprous diseases, 
 but is of no medicinal value, though it was used for scurvy, eczema, &c. 
 
 ESSKXTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 22. Fnmaria officinalis, L. Stem erect, leaves bipinnate, leaflets 
 cuneate, sepals not so wide as corolla tube, flower rose-coloured, 
 capsule subglobose, retuse. 
 
 Gold-of-Pleasure (Camelina sativa, Crantz) 
 
 Seeds of this plant have not yet been found in Glacial beds, nor 
 earlier than the present epoch. It is found in the Warm Temperate 
 Zone in Central and S. Europe, and Temperate Asia. The occurrence 
 of this plant in England is merely sporadic, and it is associated with 
 other plants of alien origin and merely passing permanence. Its dis- 
 tribution is not therefore known. 
 
 Gold-of-Pleasure is one of those chance occupiers of the cornfield or 
 flax field that delight the heart of the bird-fancier, who uses their seed 
 for his stock, but it is not regularly found in its favourite stations year 
 by year, coming up with grain sown yearly, or perchance here and there 
 surviving a good cleaning of the stubble of last year. Flax-like it hides
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 amid the tall cornstalks, and is half-obscured unless one has eyes for 
 the unexpected. 
 
 Tall and erect, with nearly entire leaves, which on the stem have 
 ear-like lobes at the base, it is only branched at the top, and is a 
 graceful plant, having- the flax habit, as the Latin generic name 
 implies. 
 
 Amid the corn it is elongated, and never becomes a branched, 
 
 spreading, or cymose plant. The 
 radical-leaves are stalked. With 
 small yellow flowers, like a Sisym- 
 brium, the Gold-of- Pleasure may 
 be distinguished by the shape of 
 the pods, which are swollen, blunt 
 at the tip, the pouches keeled, the 
 four keels continued in the long- 
 style, and the ultimate flower- 
 stalks are spreading. The seeds 
 are in two rows, without margins, 
 oblong, and covered with small 
 points. 
 
 The stem varies in height 
 from 2 to 3 ft. Flowers may be 
 gathered from June to July. The 
 plant is annual and propagated by 
 seeds. 
 
 The flowers are small and 
 largely hidden amongst the corn, 
 so that insect visitors are few, and 
 the petals are erect, the stigma 
 undivided. Self-pollination is thus 
 the normal mode of producing 
 
 fertile seeds. The seeds of Gold -of- Pleasure are dispersed by the 
 plant itself, the pocls opening and allowing the seeds to fall imme- 
 diately around the parent plant. 
 
 The soil required is a sand soil, and the plant is strictly a sand plant. 
 No fungi or insects are known to infest the plant. 
 The name Camelina is derived from the Greek chamai, in the 
 ground, and linon, flax, while sativa is Latin, meaning sown or culti- 
 vated, as opposed to wild. The English names are Camline, Cheat, 
 Dutch Flax, Gold-of- Pleasure, Myagrum, Oil-seed. 
 
 It is often, no doubt, introduced, as perhaps originally, with linseed. 
 
 GOLD-OF-PLEASURE (Camelina saliva, Crantz)
 
 CHARLOCK 103 
 
 Abroad it is cultivated for the sake of the oil in the seeds, which are 
 used for different domestic purposes. It is valued as a bird seed and 
 for feeding poultry. It is used in oil for soap-making, and in oilcake, 
 for which it is cultivated in some places. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 33. Camclinasativa, Crantz. Stem tall, erect, radical leaves stalked, 
 entire, those on the stem auricled, flowers yellow, minute, pods inflated, 
 obovate, valves keeled. 
 
 Charlock (Brassica arvensis, O. Kuntze) 
 
 Widely dispersed as it is, no seeds of Charlock have yet been found 
 in Pre- or Post-glacial beds. It is found in the Warm Temperate Zone, 
 in Europe, N. Africa, X. and W. Asia, as far as the Himalayas, and 
 has been introduced into America. 
 
 The Common Charlock, unfortunately for the farmer, is found in 
 every county in Great Britain, and in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 It is found at elevations of over 1000 ft. 
 
 Charlock is above all a constant denizen of cultivated ground, being 
 evident when in flower in every cornfield, in some cases in such quan- 
 tity as to give a sulphur-yellow colour to the field. But it often strays 
 beyond arable land, and is found by the wayside with poppies on the 
 bare ground where stone heaps have sometime stood, or along the 
 margin of the macadam, where seeds accumulate in the gutter, amongst 
 numerous similar stations. And then it is to be found in every stack- 
 yard and on manure heaps, or where they have once been made. 
 
 Being short, roughly hairy, and branched often into two parts about 
 halfway up the stem, Charlock is a compact shrubby plant, with stalked 
 lower leaves, somewhat divided, with the lobes larger upwards, rough, 
 and the upper stalkless, entire, finely toothed, with the lower part of 
 the stem tinged a milky purple colour. It grows profusely in a scat- 
 tered manner wherever it is found. An alternative Latin name, Sinapis, 
 was given to indicate its turnip-like aspect. 
 
 The flowers are bright yellow, and the plant is well distinguished by 
 its smooth, jointed, many-angled pods, which are longer by three times 
 than the single-seeded beak, which is flattened at the sides and conical. 
 The pods are nearly cylindrical. The seeds are black and numerous. 
 
 The plant sometimes grows to a height of 18 in. It is in flower 
 from May till August. It is annual, and increased enormously by seed. 
 
 The stigma is mature? first, when the flower is in bud, opening in the 
 early morning. At the inner side at the base of the short stamens two
 
 IO4 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 honey glands are situated, and two in the place of the functionless 
 stamens that do not produce pollen. 
 
 The glands can be seen when the calyx expands, and are visible 
 and accessible from outside. Insects can reach them without touching 
 any of the other parts of the flower. The insect thrusts its proboscis 
 down between the stamens, because the flowers are so close. The 
 
 stamens laterlengthen 
 
 "^N&t and are twisted out- 
 
 wards, and the oppor- 
 tunities for cross-pol- 
 lination agree with 
 the conditions in 
 Cardamine pratensis. 
 When the flowers 
 wither and the stigma 
 lengthens the anthers 
 turn the pollen- 
 covered sides up- 
 wards, bend down- 
 wards, and self-pol- 
 linate the plant. The 
 visitors are Diptera 
 (Syrphidse), Hymen- 
 optera (Tenthredin- 
 idse, Apidae), Coleop- 
 tera (Coccinellidse), 
 and Lepidoptera 
 
 (Eiiclidia glyphica, 
 Burnet Nochia). 
 
 The seeds of 
 Charlock are dis- 
 persed by the plant 
 
 itself. The pods open and allow the seeds to be scattered around 
 the parent plant. 
 
 It is a sand plant, and requires a sand soil, which may be derived 
 from any of the older formations, such as Coal-measures, Keuper, Lias, 
 &c., in which there are sandstones. 
 
 This plant is infested by Ceuthorhynchus sulcicollis, Psylliodes 
 chrysocephalus, Meligethes ceneus, Balanienus brassier (Beetles), Athalia 
 spinarum (Hymenoptera), Large White (Pieris brassier], Small White 
 (P. rapce], Green-veined White (P. napi), Turnip Moth (Agrotis 
 
 CHARLOCK (Brassica arvensis^ O. Kuntze)
 
 KEY TO PLATE IX 
 
 No. a, Candytuft 
 
 (Brassica arvensis, 
 O. Kuntze) 
 
 a, Petal, showing claw and 
 limb. 6, Silique. r, Part of 
 plant, with leaves and inflo- 
 rescence (raceme of flowers 
 and**,). 
 
 , CoroUl. Caps 
 
 notch and stigma 
 
 showing seeds in 
 
 Plant, with flowers yjm ra- \ rw 
 
 ~ 
 
 ( Viola, arvensis, Murr.) 
 a, Standard, ala, and lower 
 lip of corolla, showing spur. 
 
 Pistil and stamens, with 
 tailed anthers, c, Capsule, 
 with sepals dietached. d, 
 with flowers, fruits, 
 
 Campion V /"^rlo. iyCorn CocUe 
 p, Mill.) (?<*# C/V^^, Scop.) ' 
 
 i i^ 
 
 / \ v * \y.^ 
 
 No. 6. Sourrev 
 
 >&&' ^Group of sta- \A Capsule, b, PJaif/with ^f,j Flower. ^, 
 
 Pistil, with fea- foliage, flower closed up, ai 
 
 Capsule? showing garnosepalous cal 
 
 with teefl. e, Plant, show- with long calych) 
 
 ing flowers in different stages, flower expanded, 
 
 and stem-leaves* guides, and sta 
 
 stigmas projecting in 
 
 b 
 
 with 
 
 Murr.). 4. White Campion (I.yJinis ,iif>a. Mill. i.
 
 XI STAJR OT Y3H 
 
 }\VKRS OF 
 
 CORNFIELDS 
 
 $pf 
 
 . ,J _ 
 
 . (gslovJI .O : 
 bflfcJ^'isaw 
 
 
 
 tnoL) .5 .o"/T noiqmsD ^JrtfW ^ 
 
 - :^A) (JliM ,^ 
 
 qooiO , 
 
 
 vde a{uzqD 
 
 H -Wifc 
 
 : ; l .egigBJa JnaiiJBib oi etawoft ^oi 
 
 ' 
 
 U < j-:un, ancequfKtt-.JVi \'f^ 
 
 V^ 
 
 '
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 PLATE IX 
 
 1. Charlock i/V/w,. /< a an; -;i>/>, U. Kuul/n. 2. Caixiyuili ( /t<< ;v, </w,f/w. 1.. i. 5. Ik-ait'.> Ka.-c (/><;.</ <//T, //,/.>. 
 Murr.i. 4. White Campion (Lr< /mis tit'\i. Mill. i. 5. Coin Co, U c i/,i. /}//... (Jiika^o, Scop.). o. Spunx-y 
 
 \ .>/;>"'' ""<-. v/./,. L.I.
 
 CANDYTUFT 105 
 
 segctum\ Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicee), Bright-line Brown Eye 
 (J7. olcnuca], P lute! la cruciferarum (Lepidoptera) feed on it. 
 
 Brass ica is Latin for cabbage, and arvensis means belonging to 
 arable land. 
 
 It is called Charlock; Brassies (from the Latin which was used 
 in old leases, in which were conditions as to its being kept under); 
 Corn Kale, so called when hawked as a salad, before flowering, 
 in Dublin. It has been grown as a salad, and mixed with Black 
 Mustard as mustard. It contains an oil, and the seeds are hot and 
 acrid. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 34. Brassica arvensis, O. Kuntze. Stem thick, hirsute, purple at 
 the joints, radical leaves petiolate, sublyrate, upper sessile, dentate, 
 flowers yellow, large, pods knotted, subcylindrical, many-angled, with 
 conical beak. 
 
 Candytuft (Iberis amara, L.) 
 
 No instance of its occurrence before the present day is known as 
 yet. It is found in the Warm Temperate Zone to-day in Europe to 
 the south of Belgium. It is common in Great Britain, occurring in 
 Somerset, S. Wilts, Dorset, N. Hants, Surrey, Herts, Berks, Oxford, 
 Bucks, W. Norfolk, Cambridge, Carnarvon, Flint, Anglesea, Bedford, 
 or principally, that is to say, in Micl and East England, and it is rare 
 in Scotland, according to Watson, being only a colonist. 
 
 The Candytuft, as really but a wild form of the cultivated form, is 
 in England an escape from gardens or cultivated sources. It is found 
 in cornfields and on cultivated ground entirely, indicating its want of 
 permanence and source of introduction. As a rule the soil it favours 
 is dry, and it usually occupies a lowland station. 
 
 It is an herbaceous plant, erect, with a branched stem, giving 
 it a shrubby appearance on a small scale. The leaves are narrowly 
 elliptical with several blunt teeth, and the whole plant is fleshy. The 
 stem is ribbed and downy along the ribs, smooth elsewhere. The 
 leaves are not very closely placed, and are stalkless, and occasionally 
 fringed to some extent with hairs. 
 
 The flowers are white or purple, two outer petals exceeding the 
 others and spreading. The flowers grow in a corymb or flowerhead, 
 or in lengthened racemes. The pods are heart-shaped at the tip, with 
 a triangular notch, and the valves are winged, usually flat. The style 
 is longer than the wings, and the stigma notched. 
 
 Candytuft rarely reaches a height of I ft., being usually 6-9 in.
 
 io6 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 It is in flower from June or July to August. It is annual and propa- 
 gated by seeds. 
 
 The flowers, though conspicuous and fairly large, do not usually 
 become cross-pollinated, owing to their place of growth, amongst corn, 
 in which they are quite hidden, so that insects do not see the flowers. 
 
 Candytuft is dispersed by its own agency. The winged pods 
 open and allow the seeds to fall out around the plant. 
 
 It is a lime-loving plant, and subsists mainly on a lime soil, fur- 
 
 CANDYTTFT (Iberis ainara, L.) 
 
 nished by rocks such as the Chalk, which produces a gravelly, flinty, 
 and rubbly subsoil. 
 
 There is no fungus that infests it; but a beetle, Pselliodes picipes, 
 and a moth, Pionea niargaritalis, frequent it. 
 
 The name Iberis was given by Dioscorides, and refers to its being 
 a native of Iberia, the old name for Spain. Ainara means bitter, 
 referring to the taste. Candytuft alludes to the habit of the flowers, 
 and to its coming from Candia in Crete. 
 
 It is called Candytuft, Churl's Mustard, Clown's Mustard, Sciatica 
 Cress. 
 
 It grows in a wild state in the eastern counties at Hitchin. It is 
 cultivated for growing in the garden, where it is an improved form
 
 HEART'S EASE 107 
 
 of the wild plant, and is either white or crimson in colour. Iberis 
 uuibellata, which came from Canclia, is a larger Mower. 
 
 It is endowed with a very bitter taste, but has not been largely 
 used except as a Cress or for such complaints as sciatica. It is not 
 now employed for any such purposes. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 36. Iberis amara, L. Stem branched, spreading, leaves lanceolate, 
 dentate, flowers in a corymb, petals unequal, the outer radiant, white 
 or lilac, pods orbicular, winged, notched, with triangular lobes. 
 
 Heart's Ease (Viola arvensis. Murr.) 
 
 This plant has not been found in seed-bearing beds. The Marsh 
 Violet, however, is found in beds ranging from the Pre-glacial to 
 the Neolithic period. It is to-day found in the Temperate and 
 Arctic Zones in Arctic Europe, X. Africa, X. and \V. Asia, as far 
 as Siberia and XAV. India. It is found in every county in Great 
 Britain, as far as Shetland, as well as in Ireland and the Channel 
 Islands. In Yorkshire and in Scotland it is found at altitudes of 
 1000 ft. 
 
 Heart's Ease is one of the commonest cornfield weeds, coming up 
 not only in the furrows, but covering every available space it can 
 obtain. In its forms it varies tremendously, and V. tricolor or the 
 garden form will revert to a form like this. It is found also on waste 
 ground around farmyards and by the wayside. 
 
 The stem is angular, spreading, and branched, and more or less 
 lies on the ground except at the tip, the leaves have long stalks, and 
 are narrowly elliptical, with rounded teeth or oval, the stipules are 
 divided with lobes larger upwards, or deeply divided, and very variable. 
 The whole plant is slender and delicate. Many plants grow together 
 in a station, and vary much in general habit according to the crops 
 with which they grow. 
 
 The flowers are white with a yellow centre, and the calyx is longer 
 than the petals, and hairy. The capsule is rounded, and contains 
 numerous brown shining smooth seeds, inversely egg-shaped. 
 
 The plant is usually 6 in. high, sometimes 9. It is in tlower for 
 nearly six months, from April onward. It is annual, and reproduced 
 by the numerous seeds. 
 
 The Heart's Ease is pollinated by Thrips, though Darwin said if 
 bees were excluded it was more or less barren. When the flowers 
 were covered up they yielded only 18 capsules, in which some pos-
 
 io8 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 sessed several good seeds, some only 1-3; but 105 large capsules 
 were produced when uncovered. 
 
 The few capsules formed when the plant is covered up are due to 
 curling up of the petals when the stigma is covered with pollen. 
 The flowers are visited by Plusia, and by Humble-bees, and Rkingia 
 rostrata. 
 
 The plant is not frequently visited, but when insects do visit it the 
 flower withers. For the secretion of the nectar certain atmospheric 
 conditions are needed, and insects perceive it by the odour. There is 
 a lip-like valve in the stigmatic cavity by which pollination is facilitated 
 in V. tricolor, but not in this plant, the opening of the stigma lacking 
 the lip, and it is curved inwards. The plant is self-pollinated soon 
 after the flower opens. The pollen grains are 4- or 5 -sided prisms. 
 
 The plant is dispersed by its own peculiar device, the valves of the 
 capsule opening and expelling the seeds, when dry, by an explosive 
 motion due to the shrivelling or drying up to which the parts are 
 subjected, 
 
 Heart's Ease is a sand plant, which is especially characteristic of 
 sandy formations, and requires a sand soil, or sandy loam, or alluvium. 
 
 The Queen of Spain Fritillary, and a Fly, Lauscania aen&a, feed on 
 it, also the High Brown Fritillary. 
 
 The specific name arvensis was bestowed by Linnaeus to indicate 
 its predilection for arable ground. 
 
 The names given to V. tricolor apply to this plant Beedy's Eyes, 
 Bleeding Heart, Buttery-entry, Call-me-to-you, Cat's-faces, Cull-me- 
 to-you, Face-and-Hood, Fancy Flamy, Garden Gate, Godfathers and 
 Godmothers, Heart's Ease, Heart seed, Herb Trinity, Jack-behind- 
 the-garden-gate, Jump-up-and-kiss-me, Kiss-me, Kitty- Run-the-Streets, 
 Leap-up-and-kiss-me, Live- (and Love-) -in-Idleness, Love-true, Meet- 
 her-i'-th'-entry Kiss-her-i'-the-Buttery, Monkey's Face, Pance, Step- 
 mother, Three Faces in a Hood, Two-Faces-Under-the-Sun. 
 
 Flamy was the name given because its colours are like the flame 
 in wood. Herb Trinity is given because of the three colours of the 
 flower, Shakespeare uses the name Love-in-idleness. 
 
 Maidens call it Love-in-idleness. 
 
 Midsunimer-Nighfs Dream. 
 
 Miss Alcott, in Little Women, has the following: 
 
 The story of panzy how the stepmother leaf sat up in her green chair in purple and 
 gold; how the two own children in gay yellow had each its little seat, while the step- 
 children in dull colours both sat on one small stool, and the poor little father in his red 
 nightcap was kept out of sight in the middle of the flower.
 
 HEART'S EASE 
 
 109 
 
 The name " Face-and-Hood " is in reference to the markings of the 
 petals, which bear some sort of resemblance to a face, the limb of the 
 flower being" often dark and hood-like. 
 
 In Midsummer- Nighfs Dream, Oberon tells Puck to place a pansy 
 
 HEART'S EASE ( Viola arvensis, Murr.) 
 
 on Titania's eyes to cause her to fall in love with the first object she 
 sees when she wakes. The pansy was used in brides' bouquets. 
 
 Heart's Ease was reckoned a cure for heart disease. It was used 
 as a decoration on Trinity Sunday. Though regarded as a cordial it 
 has no such value. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 44. Viola arvensis, Murr. Stem branched, angular, leaves oblong,
 
 no FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 crenate, stipules lyrate, pinnatifid, flowers purple, white, yellow, petals 
 shorter than the calyx, capsule globular. 
 
 White Campion (Lychnis alba, Mill.) 
 
 This plant has been met with in Neolithic beds at Fife. It is 
 found to-day in the Temperate Zone in Europe, N. Africa, Siberia, 
 Western Asia. It has been introduced in the United States. 
 
 In Great Britain it is absent from \Vorcester, and in S. Wales 
 in Radnor. In N. Wales it occurs only in Carnarvon, Denbigh, 
 Flint, and Anglesea. It is absent from Mid Lanes, Isle of Man, 
 Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburgh, and in F. Highlands in Mid Perth, in 
 W. Highlands in Main Argyle, Mid and North Ebudes, Caithness, 
 Orkneys and Shetlancls. 
 
 The night-flowering or White Campion is undoubtedly a follower 
 of cultivation, for it is specially characteristic of the cornfield, where 
 it is abundant and well-established. Not infrequently it will be found 
 in place of its allied species, the Red Campion, lining the hedgerow 
 in a district where corn is, or has been, largely grown, but it is on 
 arable land that it is most conspicuous and at home. 
 
 This is a tall, smooth or hairy, graceful, slender plant, with egg- 
 shaped, narrowly elliptical leaves, very similar in habit to the Red 
 Campion, usually growing in scattered groups in cornfields or hedge- 
 rows, not in massive clumps like the latter. It is slightly clammy. 
 
 The flowers are white, and open completely at night, from six 
 o'clock till nine next morning, when they droop, except in dull weather, 
 when they are fragrant. The petals are divided halfway into two parts, 
 the lobes approaching and broad, crowned, and the calyx teeth are long 
 and linear, narrowly elliptical. The capsule is conical with 10 erect 
 straight teeth, and no divisions. The seeds are small and numerous. 
 
 The plants are dioecious, stamens and pistils occurring on different 
 plants as a rule, or there may be three forms male, female, and 
 bisexual. 
 
 White Campion grows 2 ft. high, and is in flower in June and 
 July. It is perennial and propagated by division. 
 
 In fertile pistillate or female flowers the honey glands are placed 
 20-25 mm. from the entrance in the fleshy part of the ovary, in barren 
 staminate or male flowers at 15-18 mm. The upper part of the calyx 
 in both forms is narrower. It is necessary for the insect to force this 
 narrow passage with its head, and honey cannot be reached except 
 by insects with a proboscis 15-20 mm. long. The flowers open in the
 
 WHITE CAMPION in 
 
 evening (hence vespertine another name), and are pure white, suitable 
 for crepuscular or evening visits. The stamens and pistil vary in 
 length. 
 
 Of the diurnal or day visitors only pollen - seekers could obtain 
 anything. It is thus adapted to night-fliers. The anthers ripen two at 
 a time. The Elephant Hawk moth visits it and cross-pollinates it. 
 
 The seeds of White Campion are dispersed by the wind like many 
 of the Caryophyllaceae. The capsule or seed vessel opens at the top 
 
 WHITE CAMPION {Lychnis alba, Mill.) 
 
 whc'ii ripe, and allows the seeds to be hurled to a distance bv the 
 wind or when the stem is shaken by passing animals. 
 
 It is a sand-loving plant, requiring primarily a sand soil, which 
 is furnished by very different rock formations, the older Palaeozoic, 
 and even Oolitic or Cretaceous formations. 
 
 Two fungi, Ascochvta cookei and Ustilago violacca, infest this plant, 
 but no insects. 
 
 The name Lychnis, Theophrastus, is from the Greek lychnos, lamp, 
 in reference to the cottony substance on some species being used 
 for lamp wicks. Alba refers to the white flowers. 
 
 It is called Bachelor's Buttons, White Bachelor's Buttons, Bull- 
 rattle, White Campion, Cowmack, Cow-rattle, Cuckoo flower ('White
 
 ii2 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 Wild), Grandmother's Nightcap, Plum-puddings, White Robin, Snake's 
 flower, Thunder Bolts, Thunder-flower. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 48. Lychnis alba, Mill. Stem tall, branched above, leaves oblong, 
 downy, flowers white, fragrant at night, petals 2 -cleft, calyx-teeth 
 linear, capsule conical. 
 
 Corn Cockle (Lychnis Githago, Scop.) 
 
 As yet the Corn Cockle has not been met with in any Glacial or 
 other early deposits. It is found in the Temperate Zone in Europe, 
 Siberia, Western Asia, as far as Persia. It has been introduced into 
 the United States. In every county of Great Britain will you find this 
 plant except Mid Lanes, Stirling, Mid Perth, Westerness, Main 
 Argyle, East and West Sutherland, Caithness, Hebrides, Shetlands. 
 It was considered to be a colonist by Watson. 
 
 A district without Corn Cockles is as bad as one in which Red 
 Campion is absent. Both are well-known country favourites. But 
 while the last is found only on uncultivated ground, the Corn Cockle 
 is essentially a follower of the plough, and is seldom found but in 
 cornfields. But the seeds which are reaped with the corn when ripe 
 get amongst fowl corn, being sifted into the offal or winnowing, and 
 commonly appear in poultry runs, having been used for poultry corn. 
 
 The Corn Cockle is a rigid, tall, slender, repeatedly dividing, 
 hollow-stemmed plant, very hairy, with swollen joints. The leaves 
 are oblong, narrowly elliptic, keeled, at the base united, hairy both 
 sides, with the longest hairs at the base. 
 
 The flowers are purple, they are not crowned and enclosed by 
 longer linear green sepals, the petals being entire, and with long- 
 claws or stalks and with no scale on the blade. The flowers are 
 single on long stalks. The capsule is 5-toothed, and the seeds have 
 a shagreen surface, and are large, black, wedge-shaped or kidney- 
 shaped with rows of points, the capsule being as large as an 
 acorn. 
 
 The Corn Cockle is often 3 ft. in height. It flowers from June 
 to July, and is an annual. 
 
 The nectaries are situated, as in Dianthus, at the bottom of a long, 
 narrow tube, and from the position of the honey the flower is adapted 
 to pollination by long-tongued Lepidoptera. The anthers ripen first, 
 the stigma later, but occasionally together. In the order of develop- 
 ment of the anthers (in some flowers there are no stamens) it resembles
 
 CORN COCKLE 
 
 Dianthus also. Species of Silene and Lychnis have a relation to 
 species of Dianthoscia (Noctuidae). The species pollinate Silene and 
 Lychnis, and provide for their larvae, which feed entirely on unripe 
 seeds of these plants, but Silene and Lychnis are pollinated by other 
 insects besides. The visitors are Lepidoptera (Large Skipper 
 (Hesperia silvanns\ Large White (Pier is brassiccs}), and Diptera 
 (Syrphidoe, Rhingia). 
 
 The seed of the 
 plant is dispersed by 
 the wind. The seeds 
 are blown out of the 
 open capsule, which 
 opens by 5-10 teeth or 
 valves, by the wind, 
 and the stem being tall 
 and rigid, they are 
 jerked a long distance 
 away. 
 
 It is a sand plant, 
 and addicted to a sand 
 soil. 
 
 The plant is in- 
 fested by such fungi 
 as Puccinia arenaria, 
 P. lychnidearuni, Asco- 
 chyta Di an tki. 
 
 Githago, Tragus, is 
 derived from the re- 
 semblance of its seeds 
 to those of the plant 
 called gith by the 
 Romans, our fennel- 
 flower. It is called 
 
 Bachelor's Buttons, Corn Campion, Corn Cockle, Cockweed, Corn- 
 flower, Corn Pink, Drawk, Field Nigella, Gith, Gye, Hardhead, 
 Nele, Papple or Pawple, Pink, Popille, Popple, Poppy Wild Savager. 
 Field Nigella because it has a flower in structure like Nigella. 
 
 It clogs the millstones when used with corn. The seeds are used 
 as a bird seed. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 51. Lychnis Githago, Scop. Stem tall, wiry, clichotomous, flowers 
 
 VOL. II. or? 
 
 CORN COCKLE (Lychnis Githago, Scop.)
 
 ii 4 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 puce, calyx -lobes longer than the corolla, downy, petals entire, not 
 crowned, capsule with large hard seeds. 
 
 Spurrey (Spergula arvensis, L,) 
 
 Seeds of Spurrey have been found near Edinburgh in beds of 
 Neolithic age. It is found to-day in the Northern Temperate and 
 Arctic Zones, in Arctic Europe, North Africa. West Asia to N.W. 
 Asia, and has been introduced into North America. Spurrey is found 
 in every part of Great Britain, and ascends to a height of 1000 ft. 
 
 It is one of the usual weeds of cultivation associated with crops, 
 and is seldom found far away from cornfields, where it is extremely 
 abundant. If a field is allowed to return to seed or to become fallow, 
 Spurrey may establish itself in the more open parts of such fields and 
 remain for some period. 
 
 The plant is nearly erect, with branched stems, which are numerous, 
 smooth, clammy above, bent like a knee, with swollen joints. The 
 leaves are cylindrical, in whorls, in two rows, the inner shorter, or 
 in opposite pairs with short leaf- buds in the axils, grooved beneath, 
 with small semi-transparent stipules or leaves. A few plants grow 
 together. 
 
 The flowers are white, arranged in a repeatedly dividing stalked 
 cyme, the ultimate stalks being turned down in fruit, and clammy. 
 The calyx is spreading, the petals are attached by a short claw, longer 
 than the sepals. There are 5 stamens, fewer, or none. The capsule 
 is nearly round, and protected by the permanent calyx. The seeds 
 are rough, angular, kidney-shaped, with club-shaped warts, black, and 
 bordered with a semi-transparent margin. 
 
 The plant grows to a height of 6-10 in. It is in flower from 
 June to August. Being an annual it is reproduced by seeds only. 
 
 The flowers are very small, and as with Corn Buttercup and Gold 
 of Pleasure not adapted specially for insect visits, having no scent. 
 There are numerous pistils, and styles to the number of 5. 
 
 The seeds of Spurrey are dispersed by the plant's own mechanism. 
 When ripe the valved capsule or seed vessel breaks open, and the seeds 
 are dispersed around the parent plant. 
 
 This species is a sand plant and addicted to a sand soil, being found 
 on a variety of formations, from the older arenaceous to the newer 
 Oolitic and chalky formations. 
 
 It is infested by Cystopus lepigoni and Puccinia arenaria. A 
 beetle, Cassida nobilis, lives upon it.
 
 CORN SPL'RREV (Spergu/a arvensis, L.)
 
 FLAX 117 
 
 The name Spergula, Dodonaeus, is from the Latin spargo, I scatter, 
 the seeds being widely scattered in cornfields, and arvensis denotes its 
 preference for cultivated ground. 
 
 It is called Beggar-weed, Bottle Brush, Cowquake, Dodder, Dother, 
 Farmer's Ruin, Toad Flax, Franke, Granyagh, Lousy Grass, Make- 
 beggar, Mountain Flax, Pick Pocket, Pick Purse, Poverty Weed, 
 Sanclweed, Spurry, Yarr, Yarrel, Yawr, Yur. 
 
 The name Spurrey is said to be given because "on the stalk are 
 set at distances, or joints, small narrow leaves, waving or bending, in 
 the manner of a star or a spur rowel of many points ". But Spurrey 
 may be from Spergula. It was called Franke because it has the pro- 
 perty of fatting cattle. 
 
 On the Continent it is used as fodder, and is thought equal to clover 
 in France. Poultry eat the seeds. An oilcake is prepared from it, 
 excellent for cattle. It can be sown and reaped in eight weeks. In 
 times of famine it has been used to make bread. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 58. Spergula arveusis, L. Stem slender, suberect, leaves whorled, 
 linear, subviscid, with chaffy stipules at the base, flowers panicled, small, 
 white, petals entire, seeds with clavate papillae 
 
 Flax (Linum usitatissimum, L.) 
 
 This plant is one of the most anciently cultivated plants, found in 
 Neolithic and Roman beds in Britain, Capsules and seeds of flax are 
 common at Redhill, suggesting the bundles were steeped there. It was 
 cultivated in Neolithic times. It occurs to-day where flax is cultivated 
 either for oil or fibre, and has been so for 4000 to 5000 years in Meso- 
 potamia, Assyria, Egypt, being still wild in the district between the 
 Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea, Black Sea. 
 
 The early cultivation of this plant shows that it has been used in 
 the weaving of textiles for a long period, and as its occurrence to-day is 
 merely an indication of its escape from cultivation its habitat is always 
 (in Britain) an artificial one. It is found on waste ground, in offal 
 yards, millyards, docks, and granaries, and generally in and about 
 towns where the seeds are liable to dispersal, or where canals and 
 railways assist in the accidental scattering of seeds. 
 
 Flax has a characteristic habit of its own, being usually erect and 
 single-stemmed. It has narrowly elliptical alternate leaves, which are 
 ascending and linear. It is branched above, and smooth, the leaves 
 close, without order, and 3-nerved.
 
 n8 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 The flowers, in a panicle, are blue and large. The 5 sepals are 
 egg-shaped, acute, keeled, 3-veinecl, and the 5 petals are notched. 
 
 The capsule is smooth within, rounded, with 5 valves, and blunt, 
 with a sharp point at the tip. The seeds are glossy, flattened at the 
 side, the pods opening elastically. 
 
 It is often 18 in. high. The flowers bloom in June and July. It is 
 annual. 
 
 Flax is like Purging Flax in the position of the honey glands, 
 and the anther stalks are united below and form a fleshy ring in the 
 hollow of the ovary, secreting drops of honey, which enlarge and 
 reach the sepals below, from 5 glands on the outer surface opposite 
 the stamens. The petals, which are much larger and blue, are 
 attached to this fleshy ring just above the honey glands, and alternate 
 with the stamens, the lower halves of the petals touching, becoming 
 narrow at the base, and leaving a round opening just above the 
 honey gland. The 5 anthers empty their pollen at the same time as 
 the stigmas are ripe, and as the stigmas are on the same level, they 
 become dusted with pollen, though the anthers are at first some 
 distance from the stigmas, and thus avoid self-pollinating the plant. 
 When a visitor comes from another flower and inserts its proboscis 
 between the stigmas and anthers it cross-pollinates the flower, but if 
 it approaches from outside it presses the anthers against the stigma 
 and self-pollinates it. In the absence of insects the stamens bend 
 inwards. 
 
 The visitors are Hymenoptera (Apidse, Apis mellifica, Halictiis 
 cylindricus) and Lepidoptera Silver Y Moth (Plusia gamma]. 
 
 The seeds of Flax are dispersed by the plant's own agency. The 
 fruit is 5 -celled, and divided into 2 chambers occasionally. The outer 
 seed coat swells when moistened and glues the seeds to the ground. 
 When ripe and dry the capsule opens by 10 slits, and the seeds are 
 dispersed round the parent plant. 
 
 It is more or less a lime-loving plant, growing on a lime soil in 
 chalk and limestone districts, but it is also at home on sand and gravel, 
 which are also largely associated with both formations. 
 
 The fungi Flax rust, Melampsora lini, and Flax wilt, Fiisariitm 
 lini, attack Flax. 
 
 The beetles Aphthona euphorbia, A. virescens, Melolontha vulgaris, 
 and the moths Silver Y Moth (Phisia gamma], Broom Moth (Mamestra 
 pisi}, Sword-grass (Calocampa exoleta], feed upon it. 
 
 Linum, Theophrastus, is the Greek linon. Flax is cognate with 
 the German flachs, and may be from the Latin filum, a thread, filare,
 
 KEY TO PLATE X 
 
 No. I. 
 
 usitalissimum, L.) 
 
 i^Uojwe*. with stamens and j -> <$ Floret 
 stigmas exposed and corolla 
 removed. , Plant, with 
 
 stem 
 
 Fool'* 
 
 ', L.) // 
 
 a, Floret from above, show- 
 ing stamens. b t Mericarp, 
 side view, c, Section of men- 
 carp. </, Plant, showin 
 bipinnatifid leaf, and ambel 
 of flowers, with linear bracts 
 
 w tmoiurp. 
 sowing foliage, flo 
 
 Flower. 
 
 enclosi 
 
 Plant, showin 
 teaves and flo 
 
 in 
 
 talous stariUns. l>, 
 nd cal&J/c, Nut 
 ut oDCtolVto show 
 ant. show-
 
 X 3TAJ1 OT Y3X 
 
 : 
 
 I'lHLD; 
 
 *IA.i.o- 
 
 u 
 
 ( 
 
 098'^' JMiVnTgwn \tstiol1 & -worfa ^ftinii^n-.ldiott > , bns snymEteitivfr &*$& fr 
 
 ,JifcI*A* .qreJ^miw flpi^ / JBlIoioD ieuosi^SoiliqBq igw I ; \ fi Ugib farifl b^oob EBfti^b* 
 Uel sntvrarf* j, 99 8 ,v, I .^^^ &a^ ^^ jia ; jfV^om ) 
 
 -ru> ffl a^woft K ^mtf 4 ! Ik f/ , ^i^s^wWoft &jJk-n*tt 
 
 ^^%;f | , 
 
 Cl Cr s "^QiY 
 
 the vti.o'ni.'i..s an;! ;uit& r / 
 
 bns JBtfoidO lo aho^Mf .^aiworf?. ^asM: -HMD U) xioi2S 4'^ 
 
 worfs ofnaqo Joi^fiM flfc J)B3rf ftj aiswoft bns savjwf ;,f! 
 
 ;; , 
 
 (j >;>
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 PLATE X
 
 FLAX 
 
 119 
 
 FLAX (Linum usitatisst'mum, L.) 
 
 to spin. The second Latin name refers to its extraordinary usefulness 
 to man. It is ///// in Welsh, fion in Gaelic. 
 
 Flax is called Lint Bells, Lint Bennels, Blaebows, Flix, Lin, Line, 
 Lint, Lint-bow, Vlix. A man in the flax trade in Dorset is called a 
 Human. Line is pronounced Kin (as in Norse or Danish) either in 
 reference to the plant, or seed linseed, or fibre once prepared on
 
 120 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 the lun-wheel. Fields in Westmorland still go by the name of Liin- 
 holmes, Lindale, Lugnegnards. 
 
 Lintlaw, Linthill, in Berwickshire, and Linthaugh, probably derive 
 their names from the cultivation of lint. Lint Bells, Lint-bows, mean 
 the flowers and seed pods of flax. 
 
 Flax was worn as a talisman against witchcraft. One who spins 
 after the Twelfth Night is bewitched. The fairies' clothes are made of 
 fairy flax. On St. John's Eve men wearing wheat, women flax, meet 
 around an historic stone and place wreaths on it, and if they are fresh 
 for some time the lovers they represent will be united, but if they wither 
 love will die. The proverb, " Get thy spindle and thy distaff made, 
 and God will send the flax", enjoins faith. If the sun shines on New 
 Year's Eve in Westphalia the flax will be straight. When Joseph and 
 Mary were fleeing into Egypt the flax bristled up. 
 
 In Bohemia, if children dance in the flax they will grow up 
 beautiful. To spin on Saturday in Germany is bad luck. They 
 have this legend: 
 
 Two old women, good friends, were the most industrious spinners in their village, 
 Saturday finding them engrossed in their work as on other days of the week. At length 
 one of them died, but on the Saturday evening following she appeared to the other, who 
 as usual was very busy at her wheel, and showing her burning hand, said: 
 
 " See what I in hell have won, 
 Because on Saturday eve I spun". 
 
 In Thuringia, however, they consider flax a lucky plant. When 
 a young woman gets married she places flax in her shoes as a charm 
 against poverty. It is supposed also to have health-giving properties. 
 In Germany when an infant seems weakly and thrives slowly it is 
 placed naked upon the turf on Midsummer Day, and flax seed is 
 sprinkled over it, the notion being that just as flax seed grows so 
 will the infant grow gradually stronger. If a person is dizzy in 
 Thuringia he is advised to run after sunset naked through a flax field 
 three times, and the flax will take upon itself the dizziness. 
 
 Flax has been used since prehistoric times, and the inner fibrous 
 bark was used then as it is now. The fibres consist of bast, which is 
 very strong, and with cells 20-40 mm. long. The Egyptian mummy 
 clothes are made of flax. The tow was used by the ancients for wicks 
 for oil lamps, and linseed for oil. It is used in oil painting. 
 
 Seed is sown broadcast in pulverized sandy loam in April. It is 
 kept well weeded. When the seed is ripe it is pulled up by the roots, 
 and capsules are removed by the combs, the stalks are tied in bundles,
 
 ALSIKE CLOVER 121 
 
 and macerated in still water, kept below the surface by weights for 
 about a fortnight, when it appears to be decaying and becomes soft. 
 It is then taken out and laid on grass for another fortnight, dew and 
 heat helping the decay. When dry it is tied up in bundles and stacked 
 for manufacture. 
 
 If it is not steeped it is simply laid on the grass, a process known as 
 clew-retting. Hut it has latterly been simply dried, bound, and stacked 
 like corn, and the capsules and fibre separated by machinery, the fibre 
 being much stronger by this process. It is bleached by the machine 
 process by steeping in soft soap. The crushed seed yields an oil, used 
 in poultices, for oilcake, and for manure. 
 
 The offensive nature of macerating it caused an Act, 33 Hen. VIII, 
 c. 17, to be enacted in order to stop it: 
 
 No person shall water any hemp or flax in any river, running water, stream, brook 
 or other common pond where beasts are used to be watered, on pain of forfeiting for every 
 time so doing twenty shillings. 
 
 Once hemp and flax grew in every garden. A premium was given 
 by Parliament in the eighteenth century to encourage the growing 
 of flax. 
 
 After growing it on land it is necessary to manure the ground well, 
 and to have a rotation of crops. 
 
 Urit enim lini campum seges. 
 
 VIRGIL, Georgics, i, 77. 
 
 It is used as an emollient for coughs and lung troubles. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 66. Lhium usitatissimum, L. Stem tall, single, leaves broad, 
 distant, lanceolate, alternate, flowers large, blue, sepals ovate to lanceo- 
 late, petals notched. 
 
 Alsike Clover (Trifolium hybridum, L.) 
 
 Like other Leguminosce of quite modern date, the range of this 
 introduced plant is included in the North Temperate Zone, in Europe, 
 North Africa, and Western Asia. It is everywhere an introduction, 
 being found with other clovers, Sainfoin, Lucerne, &c., grown for 
 fodder. 
 
 As a fodder plant, too, Alsike Clover is a common companion ot 
 the cultivated Red and White Clovers. It is also found in many corn- 
 fields, and where roots are grown. It is frequent in old brickyards and 
 some types of quarry, and on railway embankments. This may be due
 
 122 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 in some cases to the growing of clover with wheat to serve as a second 
 crop after the wheat is cut. In a general way it occurs in sandy places, 
 and on waste ground, where it is quite established. 
 
 This is a handsome, tall, erect, or sometimes trailing, and clustered 
 or branched species, with fresh bright-green foliage. The leaflets are 
 oblong, with small sawlike teeth, and notched at the tip, the stem 
 hollow, the stipules or leaves membranous with few nerves, the stalks 
 
 long. 
 
 The flowerheads are 
 in umbels, rounded, in 
 threes, the stalks long, 
 placed in the axils, the 
 petals being white or rose- 
 colour, and the teeth of 
 the calyx are subequal, 
 awl-shaped, and half as 
 long as the corolla. The 
 pods contain 4 seeds. 
 
 Usually Alsike Clover 
 is about 9 in. to i ft. high. 
 The flowers may be found 
 in June, July, August, and 
 September. It is peren- 
 nial. 
 
 The flowers are larger 
 than, but resemble those 
 of T. repens, and are thus 
 more liable to be cross- 
 pollinated than smaller- 
 flowered species which are 
 
 inconspicuous. The flower is partly drooping after flowering and the 
 calyx bell-shaped. The pods are enclosed in the calyx, which does 
 not fall, and drop in the immediate neighbourhood of the parent plant. 
 
 Alsike is a sand plant and thrives well on a sand soil, derived 
 from arenaceous rocks, such as Coal-measures and other sandstone 
 formations. 
 
 Insect or fungal pests are unknown. 
 
 The name hybridum refers to a supposed hybrid origin, the plant 
 being derived from T, pratense and T. repens, between which it is 
 intermediate. 
 
 The plant is called Alsike or Alsike Clover. Linnaeus found it 
 
 Photo. J. H. Crabtr 
 
 ALSIKE CLOVER (Tri folium hvbridnm, L.)
 
 SHEPHERD'S NEEDLE 123 
 
 growing in the parish of Alsike, about ten British miles south of 
 Upsala, and in Sweden it is known as Alsike Klover. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 80. Trifolium hybridum, L. Stems spreading, branched, erect, 
 leaves obovate, stipules ovate to lanceolate, flowers in globular de- 
 pressed heads, white or pink, calyx-teeth subulate. 
 
 Shepherd's Needle (Scandix Pecten-Veneris, L.) 
 
 The Shepherd's Needle is known from its present distribution 
 throughout the North Temperate Zone in Europe, North Africa, 
 \V. Asia, as far as the N.W. of India. In Great Britain it is not 
 found in Mid Lanes, Westmorland, Kirkcudbright, Stirling, S. Perth, 
 but occurs in the West Highlands except in Cantire and S. Ebudes, 
 E. Sutherland, the Hebrides, and the Orkneys from Ross southwards, 
 ascending to 1000 ft. in Yorkshire. Watson regards it merely as a 
 colonist. 
 
 Shepherd's Needle is a common cornfield weed, growing amid the 
 corn, where it is accompanied by Corn Buttercup, Poppies, Charlock, 
 Heart's Ease, White Campion, Spurrey, Alsike Clover, Fool's Parsley, 
 Field Madder, and other equally widespread followers of man and the 
 plough. 
 
 Though usually consisting of several stems, Shepherd's Needle often 
 has only one, and is not very tall, but branched, ascending, downy, 
 with a purple stem below and purple stripes. The leaves are light 
 green, deeply divided, with lobes on either side of the stalk, delicately 
 cut, sheathed at the base, and finely fringed with hairs at the margin. 
 
 The flowers are in small umbels of 2 rays, with no general involucre, 
 the partial whorl of leaf-like organs being much divided. Before 
 pollination the involucre consists of 5 simple entire leaves, afterwards, 
 even if only one flower is pollinated, they branch repeatedly. The 
 flowers are white, 5-7, with petals blunt at the tip, the outermost 
 the largest, spreading, with the tips turned in. The bracts in the 
 involucre are divided into two halfway. The beak of the fruit is three 
 times as long as the fruit. The fruit is rough, flattened on one side, 
 finely furrowed on the other, with hairy edges. 
 
 The plant is not more than i ft. high. The flowers bloom in 
 June and July. Venus's Comb, as the Shepherd's Needle is also 
 called, is an annual, coming up spontaneously from seed. 
 
 The flowers are polygamous, small, and inconspicuous. There may 
 be male flowers and bisexual flowers, and they may be homogamous,
 
 I2 4 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 anthers and stigma ripening together, or the anthers first. The 
 staminate flowers are usually in the middle, or absent, but those in 
 the umbels of the third order are male as a rule. The points of the 
 petals are turned inwards. The styles are straight, the disk expanded. 
 The whole contrivance of the flower shows that it lends itself to self- 
 pollination, the flowers being little visited or liable to be visited by 
 insects, because like other cornfield plants they are not generally 
 accessible to insects. 
 
 SHEPHERD'S NEEDLE (Scandix Pecten- Veneris, L.) 
 
 Flatters & G.irne 
 
 The long needle-like pods open and expel the seeds by an elastic 
 movement. 
 
 Being a sand plant, Venus's Comb is addicted to a sand soil, and 
 may also be a lime -loving plant growing freely on a lime soil on 
 calcareous rock soils. 
 
 Like other plants of cultivated ground there are no fungal or insect 
 pests that infest it. 
 
 Scandix, Theophrastus, is the Greek name for Chervil; pecten 
 veneris, Dodonaeus, is the Latin for Venus's Comb. 
 
 This plant has many common names: Adam's Needle, Beggar's 
 Needle, Needle Chervil, Clock-needle, Lady's Comb, Venus's Comb, 
 Shepherd's Comb, Coombs, Crake -needle, Crow -needle, Crowpecks,
 
 FOOL'S PARSLEY 125 
 
 Deil's or Devil's Darning -needle, Darning Needles, Devil's Elshin, 
 Elshins, Ground Enell, Hedge-hog, Needle, Pink Needle, Old Wife's 
 Darning Needles, Old Woman's Needle, Wild Parsley, Poke Needle, 
 Pook Needle, Powkenely, Pound Needle, Powk Needle, Puck Needle, 
 Shepherd's Needle, Stikpyle, Tailor's Needles, Throck-needle, Venus's 
 Needle. 
 
 As to the name Venus's Comb, Gerard says, " After (the flowers) 
 come uppe, long seeds very like unto pack-needles, orderlie set one by 
 another like the great teeth of a combe." 
 
 There is a common saying, says W. K. Wise, " in the New Eorest 
 that two crow-pecks are as good as an oat for a horse ", to which the 
 reply is " that a crow-peck and a barley-corn may be ". 
 
 This plant is called Adam's Needle from the long seed-pods, and 
 the name Devil's Darning Needle arises from its long awns. Elshins, 
 or awls, is the name given on account of the long-pointed fruits. 
 
 At first called Our Lady's Comb, this became Venus's Comb. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 126. Scandix Pecten-Veneris, L. Stem short, erect, leaves tri- 
 pinnate, flowers small, white, in an umbel of few rays, fruit long, 
 beaked, rough, with marginal bristles. 
 
 Fool's Parsley (^Ethusa Cynapium, L.) 
 
 The antiquity of this umbellifer, in spite of its association with 
 cultivated land to-day, is shown by its occurrence in Neolithic beds 
 in Hants, and Roman deposits at Edinburgh. 
 
 It is found in the Temperate Zone in Europe and Siberia, and it 
 has been recently introduced into N. America. In Great Britain it is 
 not found in Cardigan, Isle of Man, Linlithgow, Easterness, and only 
 in the Clyde Islands, in W. and N. Highlands, and in the Northern 
 Isles, or from Elgin to the S. Coast. It is native in Ireland. 
 
 Eool's Parsley is a very characteristic plant of all cultivated ground, 
 occurring there and elsewhere always as a weed. It is also a common 
 plant around houses, in gardens, plantations, stack- and farm-yards, and 
 is found on all pieces of waste land. 
 
 The burning properties of the plant, when taken, are referred to 
 in the first Latin name. It is poisonous, and this may be indicated 
 by its extremely smooth, shiny stem, and dark-green lurid colour. 
 The main stem divides above, and the leaflets are all linear, narrowly 
 elliptic, of one size, the leaves being several times divided, with lobes 
 each side of the stalk. The stem is hollow and bluish-green. The
 
 126 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 leaf-stalks have small membranous sheaths, and are ascending and 
 furrowed. 
 
 The flowers are in umbels, and white, with smaller rays in the 
 centre. There are no general bracts or leaves, and no general whorls 
 of leaf-like organs. The partial involucres have bracts all one side, 
 long and pendulous. The flowers are irregular, with no calyx-teeth, 
 
 and notched petals. 
 The fruit is green 
 and finely furrowed. 
 The Fool's Pars- 
 ley is usually i ft. to 
 1 8 in. high. It is in 
 flower from July to 
 September. It is 
 annual, and increased 
 by seeds. 
 
 The flowers are 
 white, small, and in- 
 conspicuous. As the 
 plant has a disagree- 
 able odour and is 
 poisonous, it is on 
 this account little, if 
 at all, visited by in- 
 sects. The petals are 
 turned in, and the 
 stigmas as well as the 
 5 turned-in stamens 
 are short, and below 
 the corolla, or more 
 
 FOOL'S PARSLEY (.-Ethusa Cynapinm, L.) properly the Stamens 
 
 overtop the ovary, 
 
 which is glandular. Self-pollination is therefore encouraged. Opinion 
 differs as to whether the perfect flower matures the stigma or anthers 
 first. 
 
 The seeds being flattened are more readily wind-carried, and when 
 the old stems are dry the seeds are easily jerked out to a distance by 
 wind or passing animals. 
 
 Fool's Parsley grows on sand soil, and is a sand plant, but it will 
 grow in the shade on clay as well, though it is most prevalent on rock 
 soils yielding a sandy loam, and limestone soils, those yielded by such
 
 FIELD MADDER 129 
 
 geological formations as the Lias and the Great Chalky Boulder clay, 
 to mention two out of many suitable formations. 
 
 A little fungus, Puccinia bullata, attacks it. Xo insects infest it. 
 
 sEt/iusa, Linnaeus, is from the Greek ait ho, I burn, in allusion to 
 the hot taste, and Cynapium, Rivinus, from knon, kitnos, dog, and 
 apion, parsley. 
 
 This plant is called Ass-parsley, Dill, Dog-poison, Dog's- Parsley, 
 False Parsley, Fool's Cicely, Fool's Parsley. 
 
 F"ool's Parsley causes vomiting when eaten, and is very acrid. 
 
 From common Parsley it is distinguished by the dark-green leaves, 
 with finely-divided, and not yellow leaves. The three long bracts 
 distinguish it from all others of this group. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 1 29. s^Lthusa Cynapium, L. Stem erect, branched, glabrous, leaves 
 bipinnate, leaflets lanceolate, flowers white, with long bracts at the base 
 of the partial involucres, fruit ribbed. Poisonous. 
 
 Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis, L.) 
 
 Found to-day (with no earlier records) in Europe, North Africa, 
 and Siberia, F'ield Madder is a North Temperate Zone species. It is 
 found in every part of Great Britain, except in Main Argyle, N. 
 Ebudes, and the Shetlands. 
 
 Field Madder is a typical cornfield weed, which is seldom found 
 elsewhere, except it be on ground allowed to lie fallow, once corn land. 
 It is especially common on sand soil, and is widespread in the south on 
 the chalk soils, but is abundant also in the Midlands and elsewhere. 
 It is found with Corn Buttercup, F~umitory, Poppies, Charlock, Spurrey, 
 Shepherd's Needle, Lamb's Lettuce, &c. 
 
 Having much the same habit as Woodruff, but being more branched, 
 and lying flat or erect at one end, the stems are rough and square. 
 The lower leaves are in S's or 4's. The branches are quite rough. 
 The upper leaves are 5-6, narrowly elliptic, and the lower ones are 
 blunt with a sharp point at the tip, and often opposite. 
 
 The flowers, which are lilac or pink, are in terminal umbels. The 
 calyx- teeth are 4-6, and the calyx does not fall off. The corolla is 
 funnel-shaped with a slender tube. The involucral leaves are / -8. 
 The corolla is united into a tube. The simple anthers are pale purple. 
 The fruit is oblong, divided longitudinally, containing 2 seeds, which 
 are oblong, concavo-convex, with 3 points. 
 
 Field Madder is about 6 in. high. The flowers bloom from April to
 
 130 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 September. The plant is annual or biennial, highly worth cultivating 
 and reproduced by seeds. 
 
 The flowers resemble those of Woodruff, but are lilac in tint. They 
 are gynodicecious. Though they are small they are numerous, and 
 from association are the more conspicuous. The anthers or the stigmas 
 may mature first. Self-pollination occurs. Flies visit the flowers. 
 
 The fruit is provided with a fringe of hairs on the teeth of the 
 calyx, which enlarge after flowering, and is hairy, and dispersed by 
 animals. 
 
 Field Madder is a sand plant, growing in a sand soil, but may be 
 found commonly on lime soils. 
 
 Peronospora calotheca is a microscopic fungus that infests it. The 
 Humming-bird Hawk-moth, Phragmatobia fuliginosa, and Melanippe 
 cristata feed upon this pretty prostrate flower. 
 
 S/ierardia, Dillenius, is a commemoration of Dr. Sherard, a native 
 of Bushby in Leicestershire, b. 1659. The second Latin name indicates 
 its preference for cultivated land. 
 
 This plant is called Allison, Dodger, Herb Sherard, Field Madder. 
 Madderlen, Spurwort. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 144. Shcrardia arvensis, L. Stem spreading, branched, prostrate, 
 leaves 6 in a whorl, lanceolate, obovate, acute, flowers lilac, in a terminal 
 umbel, calyx 4-fid, fruit small. 
 
 Lamb's Lettuce (Valerianella olitoria, Poll.) 
 
 Seeds of the Lamb's Lettuce have been found in Interglacial beds 
 at West Wittering. The plant is found throughout the Temperate 
 Northern Zone in Europe, N. Africa, and Western Asia. In Great 
 Britain it is absent in Hunts, S. Lines, Kirkcudbright, Stirling, Mid 
 Perth, N. Perth, Elgin, Westerness, Cantire, S. Ebudes, N. Ebudes, 
 W. Ross. Watson regards it as doubtfully native. 
 
 Corn Salad or Lamb's Lettuce is a typical cornfield weed, being 
 always found on cultivated land unless it be waste ground, where it is 
 sometimes to be seen. It grows with Heart's Ease, Corn Marigold, 
 Venus's Looking Glass, Scarlet Pimpernel, Field Bugloss, Hemp 
 Nettle, and many another sand-loving species. 
 
 Lamb's Lettuce is a short, erect plant, with an angular, furrowed, 
 downy, slender stem, divided into two repeatedly, with numerous radical 
 leaves, smooth-veined, spoon-shaped, the upper ones stalked, opposite, 
 distant, fringed with hairs, and notched.
 
 
 LAMB'S LETTUCE ( Valerianella olitoria , Poll.)
 
 LAMB'S LETTUCE 133 
 
 The flowers are blue and numerous, borne in close terminal cymes, 
 surrounded by long narrowly elliptic bracts. The fruit is naked, 
 flattened, spuriously 2-3 celled, and contains one seed with a corky 
 mass on one side; the barren cells touch, and are not furrowed, being 
 separated from the fertile seed by grooves on each side. This reduc- 
 tion of the fertility of the ovules may conduce to the lightness of the 
 seed, and enable it thereby to be more widely dispersed by the wind. 
 
 The plant is from 6 in. to i ft. high. It flowers in April and May. 
 It is annual and propagated by seeds. 
 
 The flowers are small and lilac, and the plant grows amongst corn, 
 and is therefore less likely to be insect-visited than the Marsh Valerian, 
 though concealed honey is found. There are only 3 stamens and 3 
 stigmas, which are simple. The anthers and stigma may ripen together, 
 or the latter first. The visitors are Coleoptera, Uiptera, Hemiptera, 
 Apicke, Lepidoptera. 
 
 The fruit, besides being flattened, is spuriously 2-celled, and being 
 small is easily dispersed by the wind. 
 
 Lamb's Lettuce is a cornfield plant, found on sand soil, and there- 
 fore a sand plant. It is also found on lime soils. 
 
 The moth Caradrina ciibicnlaris, a Hymenopterous insect Trioza 
 centranthi, and a fly Chromatomyia albiceps feed upon it. 
 
 Valerianella, Columna, is a diminutive of Valeriana, and the second 
 Latin name refers to its use as a salad. 
 
 The English names are few, such as Cornel-sallet, Corn Salad, 
 Lamb's Lettuce, Milk Grass, Potherb. 
 
 Gerard says: "In English the white potherbe, so called for that 
 there is a blacke potherbe, which is called Alisander ". The name 
 Milk Grass may be said to be due to the following: " In June at a 
 distance the fields look as if all covered with spilt milk, which is from 
 a flower for that reason called Milk Grass (Lamb Lettuce), for it has 
 now lain for six or seven years lee ". 
 
 Lamb's Lettuce is used as a salad plant, and has been cultivated for 
 a long time. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 146. / \ilcrianclla olitoria, Poll. Stem repeatedly 2 -forked, spread- 
 ing, slender, leaves ovate, toothed at base, flowers blue, in terminal 
 cymes, capsule compressed, with ciliate bracts.
 
 134 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 Corn Marigold (Chrysanthemum segetum, L.) 
 
 In spite of its being addicted to cultivated ground, and its suspicious 
 status as a native, Corn Marigold is found in Neolithic beds near Edin- 
 burgh. Its present distribution is Europe, North Africa, and Western 
 Asia. It is not found in Hunts or Stirling in Great Britain, but 
 everywhere else. It was regarded as a colonist by Watson. 
 
 The Corn Marigold is 
 entirely a cornfield plant, 
 being rarely found elsewhere 
 except as an escape from 
 such cultivated districts, 
 occasionally coming up in 
 allotments and gardens and 
 on waste ground. It is usu- 
 ally to be found on high 
 ground on dry, sandy, or 
 loamy hills. 
 
 A field studded with 
 Corn Marigolds in flower is 
 a sight to be remembered. 
 It is a tall, branched plant, 
 with an erect, woody stem, 
 smooth, shiny, and rather 
 bluish-green. The leaves are 
 linear or oblong, narrowly 
 elliptic, stalked, egg-shaped 
 above, not downy, notched, 
 toothed; the stem-leaves are 
 alternate, stalkless, half- 
 clasping the stem, oblong or egg-shaped above, with few teeth. 
 
 The flowerheads are golden-yellow (both disk and ray florets) and 
 stalked, terminal, solitary, large, with leaf-like organs, with blunt, outer 
 membranous margin, brown in colour. The first Greek name refers to 
 the yellow colour of the flower. Small wart-like knobs occur on the 
 upper sides of the corolla segments in the disk and in the ray. 
 
 This handsome plant is about 18 in. to 2 ft. high. Flowers are 
 
 to be seen in June and July. It is an annual, propagated by seeds. 
 
 The flowers are large and conspicuous, of a deep golden yellow, 
 
 both ray and disk florets, the former female, the latter bisexual. But 
 
 CORN MARIGOLD (Chrysanthemum segetum, L.)
 
 KEY TO PLATE XI 
 
 ;AMT +s^' j 
 
 (fentaurea Cyanus, L.; 
 a. Disk or tubular 
 
 Ray floret, b, Achene, 
 \vith pappus. ^Inflorescence, 
 with nowerheadsjj2@Ca^ 
 
 part 
 flower-ead ex 
 
 ^Nb. 6. Field Bug 
 
 No. 4. Venus's Looking Glass 
 , Delarbre) 
 
 {An^gall^s arvensis, L.) 
 a, <r*i4neB^! *, Stamen. c t
 
 IX .3TAJ1 OT Y35|( } \V 
 
 A,\; ' 
 
 ^4" i? 
 
 J x .oK 
 
 s bos~^ufi t 
 
 ooJ e'aonsV 41 .oH 
 
 '"f A -qU ^ . 
 
 tw t muibixxS -maJe djiv ,3flfq lo tmq 
 
 
 . 
 
 T" ^"':
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 PLATE XI 
 
 om WAr\lil(t'/in'sanrfi>Hiii/HS t '<tiiHi, L.I. 2. C>rn-tlmvr or Bl 
 -Thistle (Sw/ins ai-vitsts, L. I. 4. Venus's Looking < ;i;i^ I L.^onsia h 
 (Aiiajallis aivfiKi*. L.I. '. KicM I'.n-l.i- i /i v./
 
 CORN MARIGOLD 135 
 
 it is one of those cornfield plants which are not easily accessible to 
 insects, which cannot therefore cross-pollinate it. 
 
 The achenes are dispersed by the wind, the fruit being ribbed and 
 winded, though in the case of ray tlorets they are not winged. 
 
 Corn Marigold is more or less strictly a sand plant, growing on 
 sand soil. It is common on the sandy beds of the Lias, especially the 
 Marlstone Rockbed. 
 
 The larva of Phytomyza affinis mines the leaves of this species and 
 of Chrysanthemum Leticanthemum. 
 
 Chrysanthemum^ Dioscorides, is from the Greek c/irysos, gold, 
 anthos, flower, and the second Latin name refers to its cornfield 
 habitat. 
 
 The plant goes by many different names: Bigold, Boodle, Boswell, 
 Yellow Bottle, Bothem, Bothen, Botherum, Bothul, Boz/.om, Buddie, 
 Budland, Golden Corn-flower, Corn Marigold, Fat Hen, Geal Gowan 
 or Geal Seed, Gil Gowan, Gold, Yellow Gold, Golding, Goldings, 
 Marigold Goldings, Goles, Golland, Gool or Goold, Gouls, Gowan, 
 Gule or Yellow Gowan, Manelet, Marigold, Field or Wild Marigold, 
 Marigold Goldins, Moon or Moons, Ox-eye, Ruddes, Sunflower, 
 Tansy. 
 
 As to the name Boodle a writer remarks: 
 
 "The brake and the cockle be noisome too much, 
 Vet like unto Boodle no weed there is such". 
 
 In regard to Gool or Goold. the term gool-riding was applied to 
 the custom of riding through a parish to observe the growth of this 
 plant, and to fine the negligent farmer who allowed it to increase on 
 his land. 
 
 " As yellow as a gowland " is a proverb in Yorkshire. 
 
 ESSENTIAL Sl'ECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 159. Chrysanthemum scgctuiu, L. Stem erect, branched, glaucous, 
 glabrous, upper leaves clasping, dentate, oblong, lobed, flowerheads 
 yellow, phyllaries broad, with margin membranous. 
 
 Corn-flower or Bluebottle (Centaurea Cyanus, L.) 
 
 Though the more native Knapweed is only known from its present- 
 day distribution in Furope. West Siberia, X.W. India, being an 
 introduction in X. America, the Corn-flower is found in Neolithic beds 
 at Edinburgh with other weeds of cultivation and flax. In Great 
 Britain it is absent from Monmouth, Brecon, Radnor, Carmarthen,
 
 136 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 Montgomery, Merioneth, Pembroke, N. Lines, Cumberland, Isle of 
 Man, Dumfries, Wigtown, Selkirk, Stirling, Mid and N. Perth, Can- 
 tire, S. Ebudes, N. Ebudes, Orkneys, but elsewhere it is general from 
 Moray to the English Channel, and in the Highlands grows at a 
 height of 1000 ft. By Watson it was considered a colonist. 
 
 Bluebottle is a cornfield plant, always coming up spontaneously in 
 cultivated fields, or on waste ground, or in gardens, being associated 
 with such plants as Stork's Bill, Common Melilot, Chicory, Viper's 
 Bugloss, Yellow Toadflax, and other casuals. 
 
 Apart from its lovely flowers, Bluebottle has a characteristic habit. 
 It is an erect plant, with the stem repeatedly dividing, and thus 
 inversely triangular in outline. The stems are slightly angular, and 
 densely cottony and hollow. The stem-leaves are alternate, stalkless, 
 linear, with several nerves, acute, the radical leaves broader, and more 
 blunt, often deeply divided, covered like the stem with a web of cotton. 
 
 The flowers are of a deep blue, on simple flower-stalks with dark 
 threadlike anthers. The whorl of leaflike organs has notched leaves 
 fringed with hairs, narrowly elliptical, and overlapping semi-transparent 
 margins which run back. The hair is shorter than the fruit. There 
 are scales in the receptacle. 
 
 The stem is 1-3 ft. high. The Corn-flower is in flower in June 
 and up till August or September. It may be annual or biennial and 
 reproduced by seed. It is worth cultivating, and is indeed a garden 
 plant. 
 
 The plant is downy, but the involucres forming the flowerhead are 
 bordered with turned-back teeth, which serve as a chevaux de /rise 
 to exclude ants. There are no prickles on the stem and leaves. The 
 ray florets are neuter. The anther-stalks of the stamens are able to 
 contract, so that the anther -cylinder is drawn down 2-3 mm. and 
 slowly up to 4-6 mm., returning to their original position in ten 
 minutes. They lose the power of contraction when the stigmas are 
 ripe. The ray florets are large and funnel-shaped, and radiate out- 
 wards, attracting insects, and make the width of the flower head 
 20-50 mm. On the opening of the flower the pollen lies between the 
 pistil and the hood which the anther -heads form. The stamens are 
 sensitive and contract when touched, so that they expose the pollen. 
 The hairs are the sensitive portions. The stigmas later open and curl 
 over, and the flower is bound to be pollinated. 
 
 Honey can easily be reached, for the flower is wider for 3 mm. 
 above the narrow tubular part, up to the point where it is divided 
 into narrow linear segments, and pollination is largely simultaneous.
 
 CORN-FLOWER OR BLUEBOTTLE 
 
 137 
 
 There are few florets in the disk or centre, and the anther-cylinders 
 project at distant points. On an insect touching them the anther- 
 stalks contract, and the cylinder is depressed. A mass of pollen quickly 
 emerges from the upper opening of the cylinder, and the style is 
 projected 3-4 mm. beyond it. The Honey Bee, Bombns silvarum, 
 Megackile, Psammophila, Diptera, limpis livida, Eristalis arbustorum, 
 Rhingia rostrata, and the Silver Y Moth (Plusia gamma) visit it. 
 
 The pappus, which is 
 shorter than the fruits, assists 
 in dispersing the smooth 
 achenes by the wind. 
 
 Corn-flower is a sand 
 plant growing in sand soil, 
 or sandy, gravelly beds, often 
 on the chalk, where there is 
 gravel and sand at the top. 
 
 The leaves are liable to 
 attack by a clustercup fungus, 
 Puce in ia suaveolens. 
 
 A moth, Depressaria 
 I it lire /la, and a fly, Try pet a 
 colon, are found on it. 
 
 Centaurea, Pliny, is from 
 Centaur, in heathen my- 
 thology half-man, half-horse. 
 Centaury helped to cure 
 Chiron when one of Her- 
 cules's arrows entered his 
 foot. The name was also 
 Chironion. Chiron was 
 versed in the knowledge of herbs. 
 cyanos, blue. 
 
 Bluebottle is called Bachelor's Buttons, Witch Bells, Blaver, Blave- 
 role, Blawort, Blue Blawort, Blewball, Blewblow, Blue-blaw, Blue-caps, 
 Blue-bottle, Blue-bonnets, Blue Poppy, Break-your-Spectacles, Brushes, 
 Corn Centaury, Corn-binks, Corn-bottle, Corn-flower, Cuckoo-hood, 
 Hawclod, Hurt-sickle, Knobweecl, Knotweed, Loggerheads, Thumble, 
 \Yitches' Thimble. 
 
 " Gay lark-heels soon, and Bottles will o'er run 
 The fields with numerous crops tho' never sown." 
 
 As to the name Hurt-sickle, Turner says: "Some herbaries call it 
 
 CORN-FLOWKRS (Ccntanrca Cyciiuis, L.) 
 
 Cyanus, Pliny, is from the Greek
 
 1 38 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 baptisecula or blaptisecula because it hurteth sides, which were ones 
 called of old writers seculse". The name Loggerheads is given because 
 of the resemblance of its knobbed involucres to a weapon so called, 
 consisting of a ball of iron at the end of a stick. 
 
 In Goethe's Faust, Margaret selects it as the floral indication by 
 which she may learn the truth respecting Faust: 
 
 " And that scarlet poppies around like a bower, 
 The maiden found her mystic flower. 
 ' Now gentle flower, I pray thee tell 
 If my love loves, and loves me well; 
 So may the fall of the morning dew 
 Keep the sun from fading thy tender blue. 
 Now I remember the leaves for my lot 
 He loves me not he loves me he loves me not. 
 He loves me! yes, the last leaf yes; 
 I '11 pluck thee not for that last sweet guess. 
 He loves me!' 'Yes,' a dear voice sighed, 
 And her lover stands by Margaret's side." 
 
 Bluebottle has been known as a garden flower for a long time, 
 and varies in colour under cultivation. Ink has been made from the 
 juice of the flowers, which stain linen blue. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 175. Centaurea Cyanus, L. Stem tall, branched, downy, leaves 
 lanceolate, lower dentate or pinnatifid, flowerheads blue, disk purple, 
 phyllaries decurrent, fringed, pectinate, anthers dark, involucre greenish- 
 yellow. 
 
 Corn Sow-Thistle (Sonchus arvensis, L.) 
 
 Though usually connected with corn-growing, and so modern, this 
 plant can claim some antiquity, having been found in Lacustrine 
 deposits of Neolithic age. To-day it is found in Arctic Europe, North 
 Africa, Temperate Asia, and India. In North America it is an intro- 
 duction. In Great Britain it is found in every part of the country 
 except N. Ebudes, as far north as the Shetlands. In Northumberland 
 it is found at 1000 ft. It occurs in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 Common Sow -Thistle is a frequent cornfield plant, growing in 
 numbers amid the ripening grain, and as it is one of those plants that 
 are especially sensitive to light it turns its head to the sun, being 
 heliotropic in this respect, as are the leaves and flowers of many other 
 plants. This plant grows also on waste ground, and is essentially a 
 follower of man and the plough. 
 
 The root is milky, spreading, and difficult to dislodge. The stem
 
 CORN SOW-THISTLE 
 
 139 
 
 is tall, simple, with radical leaves divided, with lobes enlarged upwards 
 the lobes turned back, heart-shaped at the base, the leaves being- 
 alternate, clasping, smooth, pale below, dark-green above. The edges 
 are lined with prickles. Some leaves are linear-acute higher up. 
 
 The flowers are yellow, borne on flower-stalks which are highly 
 glandular, with black or brown hairs, and in a sort of umbel also 
 like the leaf-like organs, which are unequal, keeled, very hairy, and 
 glandular. The fruit is 
 rough and transversely 
 downy, not beaked. The 
 pappus is stalkless, the 
 hairs numerous. 
 
 The plant is ii ft. 
 high. Flowers are to be 
 seen in July and August. 
 The plant is perennial. 
 
 The (lowers are as 
 conspicuous as those ol 
 the Dandelion, and built 
 upon much the same 
 plan, attracting many 
 insects, though hidden, 
 or rather appearing just 
 above the corn before 
 it is ripe. The corolla is 
 yellow, like that of most 
 hermaphrodite tlorets in 
 Compositae. Each floret 
 is tubular, with a white 
 tube, which is narrow 
 and beset with hairs 
 
 above, to preserve the honey at the base of the stigmas, and the limb 
 is yellow, as long as the tube, with edges rolled from the back inwards. 
 
 The stamens unite to form a cylinder, the two threadlike stigmas 
 are bent inwards, and the style is hairy above, with slender lobes. 
 Thus cross -pollination is rendered possible by the sweeping of the 
 pollen out of the tube away from the stigma. The plant is visited 
 by the Honey Bee, Boinbits, Pannrgns, Halictns, Noiuada, Mcgachile, 
 Osmia, Syrphidce, Eristalis, Chcilosia, Conopiclce. Sicus, Lepidoptera, 
 Hespcrta, Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Spermophagiis cardui, Malacoder- 
 mata, Malackius, 
 
 CORN SOW-THISTLE (Sonchm
 
 1 40 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 The many rows of silky pappus or hair assist in the dispersal of the 
 achenes by the wind. 
 
 Corn Sow-Thistle is a sand plant, fond of sand soil or sandy loam, 
 growing on the sandy portions of the Triassic and Liassic forma- 
 tions, &c. 
 
 The fungi Puccinia soncki, Coleosporium sonc/ii, ^Ecidium soncki, 
 Bremia lactuctz all attack it. 
 
 The three moths, Hecatera serena, July Chi (Polia cki], Shark 
 (Cucullia umbratica\ and two flies, Eusina soncki, J^ephritis tessellata, 
 are found on it. 
 
 The name Sonckus, of Theophrastus, is from the Greek name of 
 the plant, sonckos, and said to be from the Greek soos, safe, and eckein, 
 to have, because it yields a health-giving juice. The second Latin 
 name proclaims its preference for cultivated ground. 
 
 The names Dindle, Gutweed, Hogweed, Rosemary, Swine Thistle, 
 Tree Sow Thistle are also given to Corn Sow-Thistle. Gutweed is 
 applied to it because of its long creeping roots, which wind about. 
 
 In Russia they say the plant belongs to the Devil. Like the Evil 
 Spirit in northern mythology it is spoken of sometimes as sowing 
 weeds amongst the good seed, from whence has originated, it is said, 
 the popular saying, "Sowing one's wild oats". It was believed to 
 reveal hidden treasure when appealed to, possibly because of its golden 
 flowers and heliotropic property. Rabbits and hares are especially fond 
 of it, hence their occurrence in cornfields. Goats, sheep, and pigs eat it. 
 
 The young tender leaves are eaten as greens and as spinach. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 184. Sonchus arvensis, L. Stem tall, simple, leaves runcinate, 
 toothed, upper entire, long, flowerheads large, yellow, in corymb, 
 peduncles and involucres glandular, hairy. 
 
 Venus's Looking Glass (Legousia hybrida, Delarbre) 
 
 This local elusive species is found south of Holland, and in N. 
 Africa in the North Temperate Zone. In Great Britain it is found in 
 the Peninsula province, except in N. Devon, and in the Channel pro- 
 vince; in the Thames, Anglia, and Severn provinces, except in Mon- 
 mouth ; in the Trent province, except in N. Lines and Notts; and 
 in the Humber province, in Durham, and Hacldington. Watson 
 regards it as scarcely a true colonist. It occurs in the north from 
 Durham to Cornwall and Kent, chiefly in the eastern counties. It is 
 an introduction in Scotland.
 
 VENUS'S LOOKING GLASS 
 
 Venus's Looking Glass is more common in the south and east, 
 because it is best suited by a chalky or calcareous soil, and this type of 
 rock soil is confined to those districts. It grows amid the corn in parts 
 of the fields where the stalks are not close, and hides at the foot of the 
 corn like Lamb's Lettuce, with which at a cursory glance it might be 
 confused. 
 
 It is a weak straggling weed, with a simple or branched stem, 
 branched at the base, and 
 erect. The leaves are ob- 
 long, with rounded teeth, 
 the radical leaves stalked, 
 egg-shaped or spoon-shaped, 
 and the stem -leaves are 
 blunt. 
 
 The flowers are in the 
 axils, nearly stalkless, lilac, 
 few, terminal, or single. 
 The calyx exceeds the blue 
 corolla, which is open, and 
 the segments are long. The 
 corolla is wheel-shaped. The 
 capsule is triangular and 
 long. 
 
 Venus's Looking Glass 
 is about i ft. in height. 
 Flowers are found from 
 May till August. It is an 
 annual plant, and increased 
 by seeds. 
 
 The whole flower is like 
 
 Campanula^ but the ovary is very long, and narrower. The corolla- 
 limb is peculiar, the corolla regular, wheel-shaped, with the anthers, 
 which mature first, free, the corolla-lobes deep. The pollen is accumu- 
 lated on the hairs of the style. Insects alight on them and carry away 
 the pollen. At night the corolla folds up lengthwise, and the five 
 lobes become dusted with pollen. \Yhen ripe the three stigmas 
 lengthen, and insects deposit pollen on them from another flower, 
 whilst at night the pollen on the corolla touches the stigmas. 
 
 In Specularia pcrfoliata the flowers are cleistogamic. In this 
 species the flower grows hidden amongst the corn, and insects cannot 
 find it, so that self-pollination is inevitable. 
 
 VENVS'S LOOKING GLASS (Legousia hybrida, Delarbre)
 
 I 4 2 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 The capsule is long and narrow and ribbed, and the seeds may be 
 partly dispersed like those of the censer fruits by aid of the wind. 
 
 This plant is largely a lime plant growing on a lime soil, but will 
 also subsist on a dry sand soil. The Oolites are a specially favourite 
 formation of this plant. 
 
 Legoiisia is from Legous, in honour of an early botanist, and the 
 second Latin name refers to the twofold colour of the corolla, blue 
 inside, lilac outside. 
 
 This plant is called Venus's or Our Lady's Looking Glass and 
 Corn Violet. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 189. Legousia kybrida, Delarbre. Stem wiry, terete, sub-simple, 
 glabrous, angular, leaves sinuate, radical leaves stalked, stem-leaves 
 sessile, flowers few, solitary, lilac-blue, sessile, in the axils, corolla 
 rotate, shorter than the rough calyx, capsule triangular. 
 
 Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis, L.) 
 
 This pretty trailing cornfield weed is apparently quite a modern 
 plant in this country, not having been found in ancient deposits. At 
 the present day it is found in Europe and N. Africa, Siberia, West 
 Asia, as far east as the Himalayas in the North Temperate Zone. 
 It is an introduction in North America. The Scarlet Pimpernel is 
 found in every part of Great Britain except Peebles, Selkirk, Ross, 
 and the Shetland Islands. It is thus common from Ross and Banff 
 southwards. Watson regards it as a colonist in Scotland. 
 
 The Scarlet Pimpernel is a typical cornfield plant, growing in open, 
 loamy, clayey fields, rarely lingering long in fields that have run to 
 fallow. It is similarly found in all places that are connected with 
 farming operations, and in the garden, being unable to compete with 
 grass in a meadow, and on the sea coast it is found upon shingle 
 and sand. 
 
 This plant has the habit of Wood Loosestrife, which has in fact 
 been called Yellow Pimpernel. The stem is erect or lying on the 
 ground, branched, square, smooth and twisted, with water furrows 
 between the leaves. The leaves are opposite, stalkless, three-nerved, 
 egg-shapecl, narrowly elliptical, or heart-shaped, smooth, and with 
 brown dots below. 
 
 The flowers are usually scarlet and solitary. They are borne in 
 the axils on long, slender, turned-back flower-stalks. The calyx has a 
 membranous margin and is triangular. The petals are purplish at the
 
 SCARLET PIMPERNEL 143 
 
 base, and the edges are notched and hairy. The corolla is wheel- 
 shaped. The capsule, a pyxis, is shining, 5-nerved, opening trans- 
 versely, and containing many brown, angular seeds. 
 
 Scarlet Pimpernel is usually about 6 in. in height. The flowers 
 bloom between June and September. It is an annual, propagated 
 by seeds. 
 
 The flower, which contains no honey, is homogamous (the stamens 
 and pistil maturing simultaneously), so that the flower is usually self- 
 
 SCARLET PIMPERNEL (Anagallis arvensis, L.) 
 
 pollinated, as it is only expanded from 9 a.m. till 3 p.m., and few insects 
 visit it. If insects visit it, it is both self- and cross -pollinated. The 
 petals unite in a fleshy ring at the base and then spread out vertically 
 10-12 mm. The stamens are projected above the style, which is 
 between them, and is bent down, and an insect settling on the lower 
 parts towards the anthers, first touches the stigma, the anthers being 
 covered with pollen. The stigma may also be self-pollinated. When 
 the flower closes the stigma is drawn back and touches the 3 inferior 
 stamens, which cause it to be self- pollinated, unless insects have 
 visited the flower beforehand, and have removed its pollen, and 
 transferred it, or fresh pollen, to the stigma. The petals soon drop, 
 and as they fall touch the stigma with pollen. 
 
 The Scarlet Pimpernel is visited by a Hymenopterous insect, 
 Halictus nwrio.
 
 i 44 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 The capsule is a many-seeded fruit, and splits up transversely by 
 a circular fissure round the middle when ripe, and the seeds fall out 
 around the parent plant. 
 
 The Scarlet Pimpernel is essentially a sand plant growing on sand 
 soil, usually where it is brought into use by cultivation. 
 
 The Lepidoptera, Papilio machaon (the Swallow-tail Butterfly), 
 Zygeena purpuralis, and Angle Shades, Phlogophora meticulosa, are 
 the only ones that are found on the plant. 
 
 The name Anagallis, Dioscorides, is of doubtful origin. The 
 second Latin name refers to its preference for arable land. Pimpernel 
 is from the Latin bipinnella, applied in the sixteenth century to plants 
 with bipinnate leaves. 
 
 There are many names for this plant, as Bird's Eye, Bird's-tongue, 
 Shepherd's Clock, Female Pimpernel (the var. ccemled], John-go-to- 
 bed-at-noon, Male Pimpernel, Merecrop, Orange Lily Pernel, Pim- 
 pernel, Poor Man's Weather-glass, Shepherd's Calendar, Shepherd's 
 Delight, Shepherd's Glass, Shepherd's Sundial, Shepherd's Warning, 
 Shepherd's Watch, Sunflower, Tom Pimpernowl, Waywort, Winco- 
 pipe, Wink-a-peep, Weather-glass. 
 
 The last name but one is given " from the habit the flower pos- 
 sesses of closing and winking in damp and opening or peeping again 
 in fine weather, and the same reason answers for Shepherd's Clock, 
 &c., and John-go-to-bed-at-noon ". 
 
 " Boys that mark them shut so soon, 
 Call John that goes to bed at noon." CLARE. 
 
 This common wild flower was said by the credulous to counteract 
 the evil designs of malevolent beings. The Scarlet Pimpernel was 
 once used as a cure for hydrophobia. The taste of the plant is acrid, 
 and it has been reported to have killed birds feeding upon it. The 
 name Anagallis has been derived from the Greek anagelao, laugh, 
 because it was used for liver complaints and removed low spirits. 
 One writer says the flower opens at eight minutes past seven and 
 closes at three minutes past two. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 205. Anagallis arvensis, L. Stem prostrate or ascending, leaves 
 ovate, dotted beneath, sessile, flowers scarlet, axillary, solitary, petals 
 crenate, filaments free.
 
 FIELD BUGLOSS 
 
 Field Bugloss (Lycopsis arvensis. L.) 
 
 Conspicuous and common in the cornfields this plant is found to- 
 day (and not in any early deposits) in Europe, \Y. Siberia, \V. Asia, 
 as far as N.W. India. It has been introduced into the United States. 
 Eield Bugloss is found in every part of Great Britain, except Radnor, 
 Cardigan, Montgomery; and up to 1000 ft. in the Highlands. 
 
 Eield Bugloss does not ever, in spite of its name, occur anywhere 
 except upon cultivated land. It 
 is a familiar weed in the corn- 
 field, where it grows side by side 
 with the Poppy, Charlock, Corn 
 Marigold, Common Sow Thistle. 
 It is also to be seen in the vicinity 
 of waste places and kindred spots 
 where cultivated weeds abound. 
 
 The first Greek name is said 
 to refer to a fancied resemblance 
 between the flower of the plant 
 and a wolf's eye. It is a tall, 
 erect, slender, usually unbranched 
 plant, with a stem nearly angular, 
 and very hairy or prickly. The 
 leaves are narrowly elliptical .alter- 
 nate, stalkless, blunt, and hairy, 
 the hairs rising from a small wart- 
 like or tuberous base or tubercle, 
 wavy, pale underneath, turned 
 back and clasping the stem. 
 
 The flowers are deep blue, and more or less turned to one side, 
 nearly stalkless, in turned -back drooping cymes. The sepals are 
 narrow, deeply cut, do not fall, and are erect. The corolla is funnel- 
 shaped with a crooked limb, with a closed mouth and white scales. 
 The nutlets are black, wrinkled, and netted. 
 
 Eield Bugloss is about 1-2 ft. high. The flowers bloom in May 
 right on until August. This plant is an annual, propagated from seed, 
 and quite worth placing in the garden. 
 
 The flowers are similar to those of Anc/nisa, and they have similar 
 contrivances for secreting, holding, protecting, and indicating the 
 honey. The corolla is tubular, the mouth closed by live white hairy 
 
 FIELD BUGLOSS (Lycnpsis arvensis, L. )
 
 i 4 6 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 scales. The tube is curved and longer than the limb. The stamens 
 are included, small, and placed at the junction of limb and tube, with 
 small anthers. The style is as long as the stamens, the stigma lobed 
 and blunt. The flowers are visited and pollinated chiefly by bees, and 
 partly by Lepidoptera, &c., Hesperia. The nutlets are dispersed when 
 ripe around the parent plant. 
 
 Field Bugloss is a sand plant and addicted to a sand soil. 
 
 A microfungus, Pucciuia dispersa, attacks the leaves. 
 
 Lycopsis, Dioscorides, is from the Greek lycos, wolf, ops, opsis, face, 
 because the flowers were supposed to resemble a wolf's face; and the 
 second Latin name indicates its preference for arable land. 
 
 The only name is Bugloss. 
 
 The Field Bugloss was held to be a remedy for carbuncle or the 
 plague. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 214. Lycopsis arvensis, L. Stem erect, branched above, hirsute, 
 radical leaves obovate, stem-leaves linear-ovate, sinuous, hispid, flowers 
 blue, in cymes, subsessile. 
 
 Corn Cromwell (Lithospermum arvense, L.) 
 
 Corn Gromwell is found in Europe, N. Africa, Siberia, W. Asia, 
 as far as N.W. India, in the North Temperate Zone, and has been 
 introduced into the United States. It is unknown in any early de- 
 posits. In Great Britain this plant does not grow in Glamorgan, 
 Brecon, Radnor, Cardigan, in South Wales, Montgomery, Merioneth, 
 the Isle of Man, Dumfries, Wigtown, Kirkcudbright, Peebles, Selkirk, 
 S. Perth, the whole of West Highlands except Mid Ebudes, W. Ross, 
 Sutherland, Caithness, Orkneys, Shetlands, but elsewhere from Ross 
 to the south coast. It is native in Ireland. 
 
 Corn Gromwell is one of the plants which seldom, if ever, subsist 
 anywhere else except in cultivated fields of one description or another, 
 being found with other plants, such as Gold of Pleasure, Corn Cockle, 
 Flax, &c., which are only found in cornfields or in waste places, when 
 they may reasonably be supposed to have sprung from a like origin. 
 
 The first Latin name (from Greek) refers to the hard stony 
 character of the nuts or fruit. Corn Gromwell is a slender-stemmed 
 plant, erect, branched at the base, with narrowly elliptical, linear, 
 tapering, hairy leaves, the radical leaves stalked, the stem -leaves 
 stalkless, clasping, hairy, and the hairs are bulbous both sides. 
 
 The flowers are small, creamy-white, growing in short cymes,
 
 KEY TO PLATE XII 
 
 No. 2.. Small Snapdragon 
 (Antirrhiittim Orontii-m, L.,< 
 
 . Flower, etUaiyc 
 ing personate cor 
 Plant, 
 flowers, long 
 
 No. 3. Ivy-1 
 ( Veronica h 
 
 (Lithosperniwn ttrvenfe, L.) 
 a, Flower, enlarged, b, Up 
 per part V 'planf, 
 : ng upper stem -leaver and 
 
 ms?*- 
 
 Inflorescence, with 
 
 in axillary whorls aad nutlets. 
 
 Floret, 
 topping 
 c, Spike, with 
 
 a
 
 IIX aTAjq OT Y32LOWERS ( 
 
 . 
 
 The tube is curvc-d -xr 
 
 drfec/ybrai!cht-.d 
 
 W/ iM.d,c^ / 
 
 s 
 f e - 
 
 ; : ,SP t fl 
 
 % s^rork ^m 
 
 I NK
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 PLATE XII
 
 CORN GROMWELL 
 
 terminal, with long leaf-like bracts. The calyx is equal to, or slightly 
 shorter than, the corolla, lengthening in fruit, and spreading, containing 
 3 or 4 pale-brown, polished nutlets, which are covered with dots, and 
 wrinkled. 
 
 The plant is normally quite 2 ft. in height. It flowers in May and 
 June. It is annual, propagated by seeds. 
 
 The honey, which is scanty, is protected by hairs and secreted at 
 the base of the tube near 
 the smooth ovary, the tube . 
 
 being 4-5 mm. long, i mm. 
 wide in the lowest part. The 
 stamens are inserted on the 
 corolla below the middle. 
 The anthers open inwards 
 longitudinally, and pollen is 
 set free before the flower 
 opens, though in some the 
 stigma is ripe first. The 
 short style (2 mm.) ends in 
 two small rounded lobes, 
 with ring-like lobes beneath, 
 which are covered with warts. 
 They are level with the an- 
 thers, and take up the space 
 to the base of the flow : ers. 
 The stamens curve outwards 
 
 -sy \ 
 
 Photo. A. R. 
 
 at the top and guide the in- 
 sect's proboscis to the flower 
 
 centre, so that it passes be- CoRN r , ROMWKU . (Uf , w , pcr ,, ll<llt ., L ., 
 
 tween the anthers and the 
 
 stigma. If in a young flower an insect thrusts its proboscis which 
 bears pollen from another flower into it, it cross-pollinates it, and 
 fresh pollen also adheres to the proboscis. As pollen is withdrawn it 
 is finally sell-pollinated, a mode which is necessary on account of the 
 few insect visits and small (lowers, growing amongst corn. It is visited 
 by the butterflies, Large White (/'icris brassiere). Small White (P. 
 nipu"\ and by bees and Syrphiche. 
 
 The smooth nutlets when ripe fall around the parent plant, or are 
 dispersed directly by birds, game, c. 
 
 Gromwell is a sand plant, growing on rock soils which afford a 
 sand soil.
 
 148 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 A fungus, Peronospora myosotidis, attacks the leaves. Two moths, 
 Anescychia pusiella and A. decemguttella, and a fly, Ckromatomyia 
 albipes, are the chief insect pests. 
 
 Lithospermum, Dioscorides, is from the Greek lithos, stone, and 
 sperma, seed, alluding to the hard stone-like seeds; and arvense indi- 
 cates its occurrence on arable land. 
 
 Gromwell is possibly from granum milii. It is called Bastard 
 Alkanet, Lichwale, Painting Root, Pearl-plant. Salfern. Corn Grom- 
 well is called Painting Root because girls in the north were said to 
 paint their faces with the juice of the root on festival days. 
 
 The stony seeds were, by the " Doctrine of Signatures ", used in 
 cases of " Stone ", hence lich wale, lythe wale, and stone switch. A 
 red dye has been prepared from it for paper and linen. In Sweden 
 the women stain their faces with it as rouge. The dye is readily 
 applied to oily substances, hence the name Bastard Alkanet. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 218. Lithospermum arvense, L. Stem erect, branched, leaves 
 linear-lanceolate, hispid, flowers creamy-white, nutlets tuberculate. 
 
 Small Snapdragon (Antirrhinum Orontium, L.) 
 
 This is a southern type of plant, and does not occur in early 
 deposits. It is found in the N. Temperate Zone, South of Denmark, 
 North Africa, N. and W. Asia, N.W. India, and is introduced in N. 
 America. In Great Britain it is found in the Peninsula, Channel, 
 Thames, and Anglia provinces, except in Hunts and Northants; in the 
 Severn province, except in Monmouth and Warwick. In S. Wales 
 it is found in Glamorgan, Carmarthen, Pembroke; in N. Wales in 
 Merioneth, Carnarvon, Denbigh, Anglesey; and in N.E. York and 
 Cumberland. It is very rare in Ireland, and occurs in the Channel 
 Islands. It was regarded by Watson entirely as a colonist. 
 
 The Small Snapdragon is found chiefly on chalky and cretaceous 
 soils in the south and centre of England, especially in cornfields, but 
 sometimes on railway banks; and in cultivated ground it is accom- 
 panied by such plants as Mousetail, Larkspur, Candytuft, Flax, Corn- 
 flower, Venus's Looking Glass, and similar southern types of plants. 
 
 The Small Snapdragon is a simple or branched, erect, hairy- 
 stemmed, low plant, with the leaves linear, narrowly elliptical, without 
 stalks, opposite below, the upper ones alternate, turned back, and entire. 
 
 The flowers are reddish, solitary, stalkless, in the axils or in a leafy 
 raceme, with a calyx with 5 linear segments that do not fall, equalling
 
 SMALL SNAPDRAGON 
 
 149 
 
 or longer than the corolla, the upper ones being longest. The corolla 
 is striped with veins, with a yellow palate or throat, somewhat hairy. 
 The capsule is stalked, with angular, black seeds. 
 
 The plant may be i ft. high. July to September is the flowering 
 season. It is annual, and increased from seeds. 
 
 The flower has much the same structure as in the Toadflax, being 
 closed and accessible only 
 to humble bees, and the 
 stamens and pistil are 
 arranged in such a way that 
 other insects could not bring 
 about pollination. Both 
 anthers and stigma ripen 
 together. The upper and 
 lower lip (which opens by 
 a spring) close the tube ot 
 the corolla. The stamens 
 are under the upper lip, 
 in pairs, the two longer 
 stamens projecting. 
 
 The flowers are larger 
 in A. majus and the en- 
 trance is more tightly 
 closed, whilst the nectaries 
 and honey receptacles are 
 differently placed. The 
 honey is secreted by the 
 green, smooth, fleshy base 
 of the ovary, of which the 
 
 upper part is pale and covered with fine hairs, remaining fixed to the 
 downy nectary and the base of the anterior stamens. The short, wide 
 spur allows the insect to reach the honey with its proboscis from 
 below\ Above and in front there is a thick fringe of stiff, knobbed 
 hairs on the angles of the anterior stamens, Pollen is deposited on 
 the back of the bee. 
 
 I he capsule opens by the bursting of I pore above and 2 below, 
 and the seeds fall around the parent plant. 
 
 I he Small Snapdragon is a lime-loving plant, and requires a lime 
 or chalk soil, being found mainly on chalk, limestone, or oolite. 
 
 A moth, Mamestra persicarid'i is found upon it. 
 
 Antirrhinum, Theophrastus, is from the Greek anti, and r/iin, nose, 
 
 .. A. K. H..MVOM 
 
 SMALL SNAPDRAGON (Antirrhinum Oronlinni, L. )
 
 1 50 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 from the snout-shaped flower; and Orontium, Dodonseus, is an old 
 mediaeval generic name for Snapdragon. It is called Calf-snout. 
 
 This species is distinguished by the absence of a spur, in being- 
 annual, and having long pointed leaves in the calyx, whilst they are 
 short and obtuse in A. majns. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 230. Antirrhinum Orontium, L. Stem short, leaves narrow, linear 
 lanceolate, flowers purple, in a loose spike, sepals exceeding the corolla, 
 linear. 
 
 Ivy-leaved Speedwell (Veronica hedersefolia, L.) 
 
 Familiar to us from its almost universal occurrence on cultivated 
 ground this plant is found in the N. Temperate Zone in Europe, 
 N. Africa, W. Asia, and the Himalayas. It is unknown in seed- 
 bearing deposits. In Great Britain it is absent in Brecon, Radnor, 
 Cardigan, S. Lines, Isle of Man, Wigtown, Peebles, Selkirk, Stirling, 
 Main Argyll, Mull, N. Ebudes, \V. Ross, Caithness, and the Hebrides, 
 as far as the Shetlands. It is found in Ireland and the Channel 
 Islands. 
 
 Ivy-leaved Speedwell is a typical cornfield weed, which comes 
 up year after year in great abundance in all cultivated fields, as well as 
 in gardens, on waste ground, and by the roadside here and there. It 
 is associated with Corn Buttercup, Poppies, Charlock, Heart's Ease, 
 Spurrey, Fool's Parsley, and many other cornfield weeds. 
 
 The stem is trailing branched, round, soft, covered with soft hair, 
 
 t> 
 
 stringy internally. As the second Latin and English names imply the 
 leaves are ivy-shaped, i.e. 3-5 lobed, with wide angles. The leaf- 
 stalks equal the leaves, and the leaves are alternate, heart-shaped 
 at the base, fleshy, hairy. 
 
 The flowers are pale blue, in the axils, borne on i -flowered flower- 
 stalks, which in fruit are turned back. The sepals (4) are heart-shaped, 
 acute, hairy on the margins. The corolla is bell-shaped, with oval 
 petals, the lower of which are less than the calyx, and hairy within. 
 The capsule consists of 2 swollen heart-shaped lobes, containing 
 2 seeds in each. 
 
 As a trailer the plant is not more than 3 in. high. It flowers in 
 March up to June. The plant is annual, reproduced by seeds and 
 division of the root. 
 
 The flowers are small and solitary, appearing in succession, the 
 male and female organs ripening at once. They are less conspicuous 
 than others in the same genus, being pale blue. Few insects visit
 
 IVY-LEAVED SPEEDWELL 
 
 them, as with many other cornfield weeds. They give good seed, this 
 being- the commonest species of Veronica, so that the self-pollination 
 which occurs when the flower expands must be effective. The anthers 
 open before the flowers open, and their surface, covered with pollen, 
 touches the stigma. The honey is secreted by a yellow, fleshy disk 
 below the ovary at the base of the tube, and hairs protect it above. If 
 insects visit it they are not more liable to cross- than to self-pollinate 
 the flowers. 
 
 The Hymenoptera, 
 Andrena parvula, Hal ic- 
 tus nitidinsculus, //. Icn- 
 copus, H. albipcs, visit it 
 in the spring on warm 
 sunny days. 
 
 The seeds are con- 
 tained in a capsule which 
 breaks up into several 
 parts, and the seeds are 
 dispersed around the 
 parent plant. 
 
 Ivy-leaved Speedwell 
 is especially a sand plant, 
 and nearly always found 
 on sand soil or gravel. 
 
 Pcronospora gnsca 
 and Sorosphcera vcroniccc 
 attack the leaves. 
 
 / 'cronica, Fuchs, is 
 from the Latin z'i-ra, true, 
 and the Greek eikon, pic- 
 ture; and Lonicerus says 
 
 it was called after some king of France, but it was probably named 
 from Veronica of religious legend. The second Latin name, meaning 
 "ivy-leaved", refers to the shape of the leaves. 
 
 This plant is called Bird's Eye. Botherum, Corn Speedwell, 
 Dotherum, Hen-bit, Ivy Chickweed, Morgeline, Mother of Wheat, 
 Winter-weed. 
 
 The petals were said to display in their markings a representation 
 of the kerchief of St. Veronica, imprinted with the features of Christ. 
 A legend runs that when Our Lord was. on His way to Calvary bear- 
 ing His Cross He passed by the door of Veronica, who, beholding the 
 
 IVY-LEAVED SPEEDWELL (Veronica hederce folia > L.)
 
 1 52 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 drops of agony on His brow, wiped His face with a kerchief or napkin. 
 The sacred features remained impressed on the kerchief. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 234. Veronica he derce folia, L. Stem prostrate, leaves cordate, 5-7 
 lobed, petiolate, flowers pale blue, axillary, single, sepals ciliate, seeds 
 concave. 
 
 Hemp Nettle (Galeopsis Tetrahit, L.) 
 
 This plant is found in Late Glacial beds at Twickenham, Neolithic 
 and Roman beds deposits at Silchester. At Twickenham it was 
 associated with Reindeer, Bison, and Bos longifrons, but not extinct 
 animals, suggesting a transition period between Palaeolithic and Neo- 
 lithic. It is found to-day in the Arctic and Temperate Zones in Arctic 
 Europe, N. Asia, W. Asia, to N.W. India, and is introduced into 
 N. America. It is found in all parts of Great Britain, up to 1300 ft. 
 in Northumberland. Watson regarded it as native or a colonist. 
 
 Hemp Nettle is found by the roadside, and in hedgerows, generally 
 in the shade, and is frequent on the borders of cornfields, where 
 perhaps it is most at home. But it is also to be found along other 
 hedgerows in fields. It occurs again in waste places, suggesting it is 
 largely a weed of cultivation. 
 
 Tall-stemmed and erect, the plant is well distinguished if only by 
 its long, dense bristles. The stem joints are thickened above, 1 the 
 leaves are hairy, egg-shaped, acute, notched, shortly stalked, with 
 opposite branches. 
 
 The flowers are in dense whorls and white or purple or yellow. 
 The calyx-teeth are long and come to a point, or are awl-shaped. The 
 tube of the corolla is slightly expanded. The nutlets are large, green, 
 and veined. 
 
 Hemp Nettle is 2 ft. high. The flowers open in July and 
 August. It is an annual plant, propagated by seeds. 
 
 The tube is from 11-17 mm - ^ on "- The upper part for 4-6 mm. is 
 expanded so that long-lipped bees can reach the honey. When fully 
 developed the pistil lengthens. The honey is contained in the swollen 
 base of the ovary, and lies in the smooth part of the tube which 
 obliquely ascends. The corolla is divided into an upper lip which is 
 arched over, covering the anthers, and a lower lip, trifid, for alighting, 
 which has honey-guides or yellow spots with a network of red lines. 
 There are two convex pouches in the sides of the lower lip which help 
 a bee to insert its head. The anthers like boxes with a closed lid 
 
 1 These act as pulvini and are connected with sleep movements.
 
 HEMP NETTLE 
 
 '53 
 
 open before the flower opens, with their pollen-covered surface down- 
 ward. The style, which is bilobecl, lies behind and above the anthers 
 at first, the upper lobe being warty, the longer bent up. The bee in 
 a younger flower first touches the anthers with its back, and then the 
 papillose or warty stigma. Usually the bee's back touching the stigma 
 lies between spots dusted 
 with pollen in the same 
 flower. The end of the 
 style curves down, and the 
 lower division projects 
 between the anthers, and 
 if the pollen is not removed 
 it is then self-pollinated. 
 
 Hemp Nettle is visited 
 by the Hymenoptera 
 Bomb us, Andrena, J/e/atw- 
 stouia. 
 
 The nutlets, which are 
 slightly netted, when ripe 
 fall around the parent plant. 
 
 Hemp Nettle is a clay 
 plant growing on clay soil, 
 or a sand plant growing 
 on sand soil. 
 
 Several beetles, Meli- 
 gethcs viduatus, A/, ovatus, 
 Chrysomcla lucnthastri, C. 
 fastuosa, a moth, Lygris 
 alchemillata, a Hemipter- 
 ous insect, Eysarcoris 
 luclaiwccphaliis, and a fly, 
 Chromatomyia albiccps, are 
 found on it. 
 
 Galcopsis, Dioscorides, 
 is from the Greek gale* a weasel, and opsis, appearance, because the 
 top of the flower is like a weasel's snout. Tetrahit, Dillenius, is from 
 the Greek word for four, because of the four-angled stem. 
 
 The plant is called Bee-nettle, Blind Nettle, Dai-nettle, Day-nettle, 
 Dea-Netle, De- Nettles, Deye- Nettle, Dog Nettle, Donnine-thell, 
 Female Hems, Glidewort, Bastard Hemp, Hemp-Nettle, Holyrope, 
 Nettle Hemp, Stinging Nettle, Sting Nettle. 
 
 HKMP NETTLE (Galeopsis Tetrahit, L.)
 
 i 54 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 The names Day-nettle, Deye- Nettle are derived from the injurious 
 effects of the plant, which stings severely, upon reapers. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 257. Galeopsis Tetrahit, L. Stem erect, hirsute, branched, swollen 
 at the joints, leaves ovate, serrate, hispid, flowers white, or rose, in 
 dense whorls, with long subulate calyx-teeth, corolla-tube as long as 
 the calyx. 
 
 Wild Oat (Avena fatua, L.) 
 
 The Wild Oat is confined to the North Temperate Zone of Europe, 
 N. Africa, Siberia, and N.W. India. It is not known in any early 
 plant beds. In Great Britain the Wild Oat is found in all English 
 counties, except N. Wilts, W. Kent, Monmouth, S. Lines, Mid Lanes, 
 Westmorland, Cumberland; in Wales, in Carmarthen, Cardigan, Car- 
 
 o 
 
 narvon, Denbigh, Flint, Anglesey; in Scotland (probably introduced), 
 in Ayr, Lanark, Roxburgh, Berwick, Haddington, Edinburgh, Fife, 
 Kincardine, S. Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Easterness, Orkneys, and as 
 far north as the Shetlands. It is a native of Ireland and the Channel 
 Islands. 
 
 Regarded by Watson as a colonist, the Wild Oat is a plant only of 
 the cultivated districts in this country, and is but a wanderer in Scot- 
 land. It is found on arable land in cornfields, as well as in all those 
 quarters where corn is liable to be stacked or strewn near buildings, 
 and on waste ground. 
 
 The Wild Oat is tall, erect, graceful, with glossy stout stems, and 
 leaves alike both sides, flat, and slightly rough, the sheaths smooth, 
 with a short torn membrane. 
 
 The flower-stalk is erect and spreading, with whorls of branches, 
 roughish. The spikelets of 2-3 flowers are green, and drooping ulti- 
 mately, with glumes 5 -veined, the flowers shorter than the glumes, 
 having a ring of hairs at the base. The awn is twice as long, and 
 brown. The lower palea is divided into two halfway down. 
 
 The Wild Oat is 2-3 ft. high. The flowers are in bloom from 
 June to August. It is annual, and propagated by seed. 
 
 The floral mechanism closely resembles that of other grass types, but 
 there are 2-3 flowers in each spikelet. There are 3 stamens, short dis- 
 tant styles, and feathery stigmas. The flower is pollinated by the wind. 
 
 The fruit is provided with hairs at the top and attached to the 
 glume, which has a twisted bent awn, and may be caught in the wool 
 of sheep or blown away by the wind, and the awn being hygroscopic 
 jerks the seed away.
 
 WILD OAT (Avcnafaliia, L. )
 
 DARNEL 157 
 
 The Wild Oat is a sand plant and addicted to sand soil. 
 
 Barley leaf stripe, Pyrenophora trichostonia, attacks the Wild Oat. 
 
 Two beetles, Lenta Cyanella, L. melanopa, and a fly, Oscinus 
 pnsilla, infest it. 
 
 Arena, Pliny, is the Latin for oat, and the second Latin name 
 means insipid. 
 
 The plant is called Wild Aits, Drake, Flayer, Hayer, Kentish 
 Longtails, Wild Oat, Poor Oats, Sowlers, Uncorn. 
 
 The awn is hygroscopic, and has been used for artificial hygro- 
 meters and for fly-fishing. 
 
 The seeds lie dormant in the soil for a long time, retaining vitality 
 a long time. The plant is the origin of the cultiyated Oat, A. satira. 
 
 ESSKXTIAL Sl'KCIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 335. Arena fatua, L. Stem tall, leaves bright green, spikelets 
 drooping at length, panicle spreading, hairs at base of the flower. 
 
 Darnel (Lolium temulentum, L.) 
 
 At the present day this pernicious plant is found in the North 
 Temperate Zone in Europe, N. Africa, W. Siberia, and India, and 
 has been introduced in N. America. Watson states that it has been 
 found in sixty-four counties, but does not cite them, and says only: 
 "It seems needless to enumerate counties and authorities in detail 
 for a plant so uncertain of being refound in the same places (fields 
 or even farms) from year to year". It is found as far north as the 
 Shetlands, and in the Channel Islands and Ireland. 
 
 Regarded as a colonist by Watson, this plant is a very widespread 
 grass, in most parts of the country growing on cultivated land, and 
 coming up like other weeds spontaneously in cornfields as well as in 
 waste places, being found sometimes with foreign plants, as well as in 
 refuse thrown out at a mill in ballast, &c. 
 
 The stem is erect, with much the same habit as Rye, rough, with 
 hairs turned back. There are no underground stems as in the latter. 
 The membrane is quite short. 
 
 The panicle is a spike, with long-awned spikelets, of which there 
 are six, less than the glume, or equal to it, the lower palea or inner 
 glume being awned. The empty glume is longer, the upper glume 
 divided into two halfway. The flowering glumes are swollen when 
 in fruit. 
 
 Darnel is 18 in. in height. The flowers are in bloom in June 
 up to August. It is annual, and the seeds are poisonous.
 
 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 
 
 (Loliu 
 
 tlentuiii, L.) 
 
 The spikelets are dis- 
 posed in a 2 -ranked spike, 
 and in 2 rows, with 3 
 stamens, distant feathery 
 stigmas. The flowers are 
 3 to many, and anemo- 
 philous, pollinated by the 
 wind. 
 
 The fruit is poisonous, 
 light, and adhering to the 
 palea, and is dispersed by 
 the wind. 
 
 Darnel is a sand plant, 
 and addicted to a sand 
 soil. 
 
 Lolium, Pliny, is the 
 Latin name for the plant, 
 and the second Latin 
 name, meaning "intoxi- 
 cating", refers to its re- 
 puted effects upon those 
 who eat it. 
 
 Darnel is called 
 Bragge, Cheat, Cockle, 
 Darnel, Dornel, Dragge, 
 Drake, Drank, Dravick, 
 Droke, Drunk, Drunken 
 Plant, Eaver, Ivray, Jum, 
 Lover's Steps, Ray, Riely, 
 Rivery, Sturdy. The 
 name Riely is thus ex- 
 plained by a writer of the 
 early nineteenth century: 
 " Well known in most 
 counties in Ireland by the 
 name Rilch and Rivery, 
 for its intoxicating quality, 
 whether taken in bread 
 or drink. The Gaelic 
 name is Ruintelais, called 
 the loosening or purga-
 
 DARNEL 159 
 
 tive grass, from ruinnec, grass, and tealach^ loosening." A writer 
 remarks as to the name Sturdy: " Near the sea-coast a sort of Poyson, 
 I take it, called darnell, rises in the oats and other grain, very offen- 
 sive to the brain, and cannot be cleaned out of the corn; ye country 
 people call it sturdy, from the effects of making people light-headed ". 
 The seeds cause giddiness, and there is a vertigo in sheep called 
 "Sturdy" or "Staggers", hence probably the application to Darnel, 
 and meat is said to be sturclied when it has much Darnel. 
 
 " But Bragge amongst the corn aspires proudlie 
 Onemphe eau lookinge above the reste, 
 Advancing his brighte creste presumptuouslie 
 Even to the stars, as though he were the beste, 
 Who, being lighte, and fruitlesse of all grayne, 
 For want of weight, showes all pride is vayne." 
 
 It is called Cheat, " from its resemblance to the grain amongst 
 which it grows a name applied, for the same reason, in some places 
 to Bromus secalinus, L.". 
 
 " Darnel groweth amonge the corne," says Turner, "and the corne 
 goeth out of kyncle into darnel." Drunk refers to its intoxicating 
 qualities. 
 
 Cokkil Meal, as it was called, was supposed to cure freckles. In 
 Chaucer's day it was used for " festour and morsowe ". 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 342. Loliuin teniulentwn, L. Stem erect, tall, leaves flat, long, 
 ligule short, awn long, glumes longer than the spikelets.
 
 Section IV 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 25
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 The maritime flora is composed of halophytes, which require a 
 certain amount of salts, such as common salt, gypsum, magnesium 
 chloride, in which to grow, making a saline soil. Such plants are little 
 affected by altitude, and are cosmopolitan, e.g. Sa/sola Kali, Glaux 
 maritima. Salsola also occurs in cornfields as a weed. 
 
 The flora is poor and open. The plants are xerophytes, for 
 saline soil is physiologically dry: that is to say, the water, though 
 abundant, is not available for absorption. They are unusually succu- 
 lent, and have thick palisade-tissue to prevent transpiration being 
 too free. They are at first dark -green, then yellowish, as a salt 
 solution is not compatible with chlorophyll being made in the tissues. 
 They have waxy coats, hairy coverings, thick, leathery, glossy leaves, 
 assisting them to resist intense light, drought, &c. Doubtless the 
 halophytic characteristics are counteracted by the xerophytic tendency, 
 too much salt being deleterious even to halophytes. The rate of the 
 absorption of water is slow owing to the saline matter in the soil. 
 Transpiration is checked by the xerophytic character of the leaves and 
 stem. The amount of water passing through the plant is thus limited, 
 and the necessity for a reduction of surface and other adaptations to 
 drought is thus clear. Halophytes may be situated on a rock soil, a 
 sand soil, a clay soil, or they may be marsh plants as well. 
 
 Lithophilous Halophytes are Samphire, Sea Lavender, Thrift, &c. 
 
 Sea Kale, Saltwort, and other plants grow on sand soil, which is 
 periodically saturated with sea water. Many have bluish-white stems, 
 such as Rushy Wheat Grass, Sea Rocket, Yellow Horned Poppy, Sea 
 Holly. 
 
 One may recognize zones which form radical associations from the 
 sea to the shore. They have been called after the chief plants in 
 each zone: 
 
 1. Salicornietum, Salicornia herbacca. 
 
 2. Atriplicetum, with Atriplex, Siuzda maritima.
 
 164 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 3. Cakiletum, with Cakile maritima, Salsola Kali, Arenaria peploides, and 
 
 Cranibe, Convolvulus Soldanella. 
 
 4. Triticetum, with Triticum junceum, Elymus arenarius, Ammophila arun- 
 
 dinacea, Festuca arenaria, Plantago Coronopus. 
 
 These are succeeded inland by a zone of Tamarisk, Hippophae, 
 Sand Sedge, Furze, &c., the first forming Tamarisk bushland in 
 S. Europe. 
 
 Amongst clay-loving halophytes we have Zostera marina, which 
 forms a zonal association called Zosteretum, followed by Salicornia 
 above low-water mark. 
 
 Then comes Salt meadow land, with Sea Manna Grass, Sea Plan- 
 tain, Sea Milkwort, Sea Lavender, Scurvy Grass. 
 
 The higher littoral meadows farther inland are made up of such 
 plants as Sea Plantain, Sea Milkwort, Thrift, Gentaury. 
 
 In salt swamps Common Sea Rush and Sea Club Rush are found. 
 Amongst these maritime plants none is more beautiful than the 
 gorgeous Yellow Horned Poppy, whose bluish-white foliage and rich 
 yellow blooms followed by the long seed-vessel are a feature of every 
 beach. Woad on the cliffs at Tewkesbury (much inland) is also found 
 to grow luxuriantly at Wisbech, and having glaucous foliage it has a 
 character in common with other truly maritime plants. Sea Campion 
 with its cream -white flowers is of interest, because it is one of the 
 few Caryophyllaceae found along the coast. 
 
 Sea Kale, Sea Rocket, and Sea Holly all have foliage which adapts 
 them to the coastal requirements. Thrift forms beautiful cushions on 
 the rocks in Wales, on the coast as well as inland in the Highlands. 
 Sea Lavender grows on rocks and on mud, forming a pleasing con- 
 trast, with its filmy fiowerheads, to the more solid panicles of bloom 
 of Thrift and Horned Poppy. 
 
 The pink flowers of Tamarisk along the sandhills give one an idea 
 that the plant is an introduction upon our coast, as is usually agreed. 
 
 The delicate flowers of Sea Milkwort are very beautiful objects 
 seen with a hand lens. The pink blooms of Centaury are not con- 
 fined to the sea-coast, for it is also found inland. The Seaside Bind- 
 weed is perhaps prettier than our common form inland. Sea Plantain 
 also grows on highland elevations inland. Saltwort is diminutive, 
 interesting from its former use in making barilla. Sea Buckthorn, a 
 feature of the east coast, forms dense bushes which are as spinose as, 
 or more so than, a blackthorn hedge. Common Sea Rush, Sea Club 
 Rush, Sand Sedge are all typical maritime grasslike plants, and 
 Marram Grass, Rushy Wheat Grass, Lyme Grass help materially
 
 YELLOW HORNED POPPY 167 
 
 to keep the coasts intact from the ravages of the sea in many places. 
 Hedgehog Grass, Squirrel-tail Grass, Seaside Manna Grass are typical 
 seaside grasses which grow on sand or clay. Grass Wrack grows in 
 the sea. 
 
 There are some 100 littoral plants, about 28 of which we have in- 
 cluded. Three at least grow inland, Sea Campion, Sea Plantain, and 
 Thrift. Some twenty more are natives of salt marshes, &c. 
 
 Yellow Horned Poppy (Glaucium rlavum, Crantz) 
 
 No seeds of this plant have been detected in Glacial beds. It is a 
 plant of the Warm Temperate Zone, common to Europe, N. Africa, 
 
 YELLOW HORNED POPPY (Glaucium flavum, Crantz) 
 
 and Western Asia. It has been introduced in the United States. It 
 is absent from Merioneth and Flint in N. Wales, arid occurs in 
 N. Lines only in the Trent province, and in the H umber province 
 only in S.E. and N.E. Yorks. It is not found in the Isle of Man. 
 In the E. Lowlands it only occurs in Berwick, Haddington, Linlithgow; 
 in the E. Highlands only in Fife and Kincardine. It occurs also in 
 Argyll, Dumbarton, Clyde Isles, and the Shetlancls, and elsewhere on
 
 1 68 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 the maritime coasts except in the counties named. It is found in 
 Ireland and the Channel Isles. 
 
 The Yellow Horned Poppy takes the place on the sea-coast of the 
 Red Poppies inland. It is a halophyte, addicted to salt, and occurs 
 around the whole of the British coast except in the above counties. 
 It grows on rocky coasts as well as in the flat eastern counties, forming 
 beautiful clumps usually on sandy soil. 
 
 It is a very free-flowering plant, whose golden-yellow blooms form 
 a pleasing- contrast to the widespreading leaves of a bluish-white 
 colour. The crisped wavy leaves, nearly clasping, conceal the robust, 
 tall, branched stems, and give the plant a cabbage-like habit; the stem 
 is smooth, the leaves stiffly hairy. 
 
 The long capsules or pods, 6-9 in. long, warted and rough, are 
 curved, the seeds brown, with ridges enclosing squarish areas, and the 
 lobes of the stigma (3) are spreading. The large, yellow, poppy-like 
 flowers are 2-4 in. across and distinctly characterize the plant. They 
 last two days. 
 
 The stem is 2-4 ft. high. Flowers last from June to October, 
 and the plant is annual or biennial. 
 
 When pollinated by its own pollen the Yellow Horned Poppy 
 bears seed. The flowers are conspicuous and suited to insect visits, 
 the stigma being deeply lobed and serving for an alighting place. 
 
 The Yellow Horned Poppy is dispersed by its own agency. The 
 pods are long and narrow, and the seeds are dispersed by the tension 
 and splitting open of the pods when dry. The seeds are numerous. 
 
 The Yellow Horned Poppy is a halophyte, and requires a saline 
 soil, such as that afforded by a maritime habitat. 
 
 Glancium was the name given by Tournefort, from the Greek 
 glaucos, alluding to the bluish-green colour of the leaves, and flavum 
 alludes to the yellow flowers. 
 
 The English names are Horned Poppy, Sea Poppy, Spatmore, 
 Squatmore. It is called Squatmore, or Bruisewort, because it was 
 once employed in curing bruises. In the language of the western 
 counties squat equals bruise, and a root is called a more. 
 
 This plant was regarded as a herba mirabilis in ancient times, 
 being called Fie us inf emails. It was one of the plants used by 
 witches in their potions. In the witches' song Ben Jonson says: 
 
 " Yes, I have brought to help our vows, 
 Horned poppy, cypress boughs, 
 The fig tree wild that grows on tombs, 
 And juice that from the larch tree comes".
 
 KEY TO PLATE XIII 
 
 No. i. Yellow iTpjttjfed Ppppjf No. 2. Common 
 (Glaucium JIavttounxi\z) \^ (Cochlearia oi 
 a, Pod, dehiscing, showing X a, Capsule. , Caftoi^Jaa^ , Blower, tfffl*#fctjanth re- 
 seeds within, f, Section of section, with 4 seeds. c, Up- moved, e, Section of pod, 
 seed, showing emhmyo. c, per part of ; plant, showing with seed, showing, incum - 
 Upper part of plant, showing stem-leaves and flowers in bent radicle. r t Pod, exterior 
 upper stem-leaves, flower in racemes, arid fruit view. d. Raceme, -with. 
 
 .flowers and fruit and sagit- 
 
 No. 5. Sea Rocket 
 (Caktie nwritima, Scop.) 
 
 , Pod, 
 eft posed, 
 
 ;^*&PHr^& 
 
 tooth on filament c. 1
 
 1 1 IX 3TAJ1 OT Y3X 
 
 ^qoir^sa "to .ip^ba^, A ,. v ^u 
 
 ; .-'VUr pr i-i- vv eii 
 
 ; - .iv, t 
 
 -WMW 
 
 u \ f 7^ J Vii <i 
 
 O'^rs W6,j4--4^;in. / acr(")ss anal as 
 
 ife .? .o'/I 
 
 (.qo:>t' vii 
 
 ,t s ,t 
 
 .beor 
 
 ^gpyffmi^-' 
 
 *^-V-*< /.<^"jkf7vS 1 _7*y)rS 
 
 ^m 

 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 ~^v 
 
 PLATE XIII 
 
 
 W 
 
 \\-llo\v He. HUM! I'oppy ((ihtuciiini /Lin/in. C'rant/i. 2. Conimmi Scurvy (',ia>s (Ci>chL\i>-ia ojfitiiiti/i*. I,.). 
 
 Winul (Isatis liiiitsna. L. i. 4. Sea Kale ( Oww/v iiiantuiia. \..\. ;. Si-a Rocket (Cakilc iiiaiitiina, Scup.). 
 6. Sea C'ampion (SiUne tiuiritnnu. \\'itli. ).
 
 COMMON SCURVY GRASS 169 
 
 A yellow juice is afforded by the plant, which is poisonous and 
 disagreeable, and has been said to cause madness. It is grown in 
 gardens, and is a showy annual. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 19. Glauciiim flavum, Crantz. Stem branched, smooth, with yellow 
 juice, leaves glaucous, sinuate, rough, amplexicaul, radical leaves lyrate. 
 flower yellow, large, capsule tuberculate. linear 2-valved. stigma 
 ^essile. 
 
 Common Scurvy Grass (Cochlearia officinal! ;. L.) 
 
 The seeds of Common Scurvy Grass have never been discovered 
 in Glacial beds up to the present. It is confined to the Arctic and 
 sub-Arctic shores of Europe. X. Asia, and X. America, and the Alps 
 of \V. Europe. In the Peninsular province it is absent from S. 
 Somerset, in the Channel provinces from Sussex, in X. Wales it does 
 not occur in Merioneth, in the Mersey province not in Mid Lanes, and 
 it is absent from Westmorland in the Lakes province. It > 
 from Wigtown. Main Argyll, and Mid Ebudes; and in the X. High- 
 lands occurs only along the coasts of Caithness, and an 
 Xorthern Isles it is absent from the Hebrides. But it is generally 
 distributed around the other maritime coasts, as well as on some high 
 mountains inland. It is found in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 The Scurvy Grass occurs around the coast on muddy - 
 It is a common associate of Sea Rocket, Sea Kale. Sea BiV I. Sea 
 
 Plantain, and many other strand plants. The form which 
 inland on alpine mountains is now separatee as a distinct - 
 
 ^xtutiHiiiia). This plant is perhaps more common or. the v.est 
 coast than the east, though where tidal rivers bring down n: ud and the 
 coast is not so sandy it grows in every part of the country. 
 
 The plant is provided with many stems, usually ascenc:r._ and 
 the radical leaves are kidney-shaped and stalked. those on the stem 
 stalkless. clasping the stern, wavy, and angular. The whole plant is 
 fleshy, and the first Latin name is given in allusion to the hollow, con- 
 cave leaves, which are thus spoonlike. The stem is often stoloniferous. 
 with trailing stems. 
 
 The silicules or pods are nearly round, half as long as the flower- 
 stalks. The flowers are white, and in loose corymbs. The style is 
 very short. The seeds are lar^e. the valves of the pod netted. The 
 pods are 2-celIed. with 4-6 seeds in each cell. 
 
 The height varies from 4-10 in. The plant -_-r fron 
 
 to June or August, and is bienniaL
 
 1 7 o FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 The flowers are small, and are not conspicuous. The petals have 
 but a short stalk. The stigma is simple, and cross-pollination is not so 
 likely as self-pollination. The visitors are Diptera (Syrphiclse), Eristalis 
 tenax, Helophiliis floreus, Melanostoma viellina, Coleoptera, Cetonia 
 ait rat a. 
 
 The fruit is dispersed by its own agency. The pods are globose, 
 and contain many seeds, which are dispersed with the bursting of the 
 capsule when dry and ripe, the seeds becoming turgid or swollen. 
 
 Photo. ]. H. Crabtree 
 
 COMMON SCURVY GRASS (Cochlearia officinalis, L.) 
 
 The seeds are flattened lengthwise, with a notch at the apex. The 
 testa is brown and covered with wartlike projections, blunt, large, and 
 crystalline in lines. In water these lengthen and become transparent, 
 and there are then visible furrowed threadlike thickenings. They do 
 not burst but become larger in water, and these mucilage cells help to 
 fix the seed in the ground. 
 
 The plant is a halophyte or salt-loving plant, and requires a saline 
 soil. 
 
 Scurvy Grass is not infested by fungi, but by such beetles as 
 Psylliodes marcida, Ceutorhynchus Cochlearice, Ph&don armoracic?, 
 and Lepidoptera, the large \Yhite Butterfly, Pieris brassier, Aplecta, 
 Cidaria, Botys forficalis. 
 
 Gesner gave the name Cochlearia, from Latin cochlear, spoon, in
 
 WOAD 171 
 
 allusion to the shape of the leaves, and officinalis means " used in 
 medicine ". 
 
 The English names are Bad Man's Oatmeal, Scrooby Grass, 
 Scurvy Grass, Scurvy Cress, Scurvy Weed, Spoonwort, the latter 
 alluding to the shape of the leaves. 
 
 The plant is endowed with antiscorbutic properties by the older 
 writers, hence some of the names. It certainly contains much oil, and 
 might be used more largely as a salad. It was used for ague in 
 Gerard's day. It is a stimulant to the digestive organs. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 29. Cochlearia officinalis, L. Stems fleshy, numerous, rooting, 
 radical leaves reniform, cordate, stem-leaves sessile, oblong, toothed, 
 flowers small, white, capsule a subglobose pouch, style short. 
 
 Woad (I satis tinctoria, L.) 
 
 In spite of its reputed use by the early Britons no trace of this 
 plant has been found even in Neolithic or Roman deposits. It is found 
 throughout Europe and in N. Asia. The ancient Britons are usually 
 said to have used it to stain their bodies with a blue dye they pre- 
 pared from it, and the Saxons imported it. Watson regards it as 
 an alien and sporadic, except in the two localities where it is said to 
 be wild. 
 
 Woad is regarded as wild on the cliffs at Tewkesbury on the banks 
 of the Severn. It has become naturalized at Guildforcl, and is culti- 
 vated at Wisbech, where it is used to fix indigo. Its more or less 
 restricted range in Britain does not give one an adequate idea of its 
 former occurrence. If the Britons used it there should be some traces 
 of it in Roman deposits, but, as we have seen, there are none. 
 
 Woad is a tall, erect plant, with a single main stem, dividing at the 
 top into numerous branches devoid of leaves. The radical leaves are 
 stalked, and oblong or tongue-shaped, those on the stem are arrow- 
 shaped, with long, pointed ear-like lobes. The stem is stout and 
 strong, and the plant is a vigorous grower, bluish-green and smooth. 
 
 There are numerous, crowded yellow flowers in close panicles, with 
 equal sepals and petals, the flower-stalks being slender and bent back 
 in fruit. The pods are three times as long as broad, wedge-like, 
 narrow below, broad in the middle or spoon-shaped, and blunt in front, 
 with a narrow margin, and hang clown when ripe, giving the plant a 
 drooping appearance. When ripe they turn brown. 
 
 The stem grows to a height of 4 ft. when well developed. July
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 and August is the time to see it in flower, though it is occasionally in 
 bloom in May. It is biennial. 
 
 The flowers are fairly large and conspicuous, and are numerous; but 
 Woad is not largely visited by insects, and is as a rule self-pollinated. 
 The fruit is dispersed by its own mechanism. The pods do not 
 
 open, but fall, partly 
 aided by the wind, at 
 some distance from the 
 parent plant, being 
 pendulous when ripe. 
 Woad is a sand-lov- 
 ing plant, and requires 
 a sand soil, growing in 
 districts where sand- 
 stone rocks contribute 
 to form a sandy soil 
 at the surface. 
 
 No fungus infests 
 it, and Aphis brassier 
 is the only insect that 
 lives on it. 
 
 By Pliny, Woad 
 was called Glastuni, 
 hence the name Glas- 
 tonbury (Welsh glas, 
 blue; Gaelic glas, 
 grey, green). \Voad 
 is akin to Vitrum, 
 the Latin name for it. 
 Dioscorides gave the 
 name Isatis, and tinc- 
 toria refers to the 
 dyeing properties. 
 
 Woad is called 
 Ash of Jerusalem, Dyer's Weed, Goud, Ode, Woad, Wad. 
 
 When the leaves are used as a dye they are covered with boiling 
 water, steeped for an hour, and weighted down. The water is then 
 poured off, and the leaves are treated with caustic potash and then 
 with hydrochloric acid, yielding an indigo-blue. Woad mills are still 
 worked at Wisbech, but the use of indigo has superseded it, and it is 
 only used to fix indigo. 
 
 Photo. T. R. Godclard 
 
 WOAD (Isatis linctoria, L.)
 
 SEA KALE 173 
 
 The plant was said to remove inequalities from the skin. When 
 cultivated it is sown on freshly -ploughed land, well prepared, well 
 pulverized, to produce large and good leaves, the plants being well 
 thinned out, and the soil stirred between them. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 37. Isatis tinctoria, L. Stem erect, tall, radical leaves oblong, 
 crenate, stalked, stem-leaves sessile, sagittate, flowers yellow, on slender 
 pedicels, deflexed in fruit, in a panicle, pouch obovate, i -seeded. 
 
 Sea Kale (Crambe maritima, L.) 
 
 There is, as usual in the case of most succulent plants, no instance 
 of the occurrence of this plant or its seeds in Glacial, earlier, or later 
 deposits. It is found generally from the coasts of Finland and the 
 Bay of Biscay to the Black Sea. Two hundred years ago it was 
 cultivated, and introduced to the Continent from Great Britain. It 
 occurs in N. and \\ . Ireland. In Great Britain it is absent from W. 
 Cornwall, S. Somersets, S. Essex, W. Norfolk, Carmarthen, Cardigan, 
 Denbigh, Flint, S. Lines, Durham, Northumberland, Cheviotland; and 
 in Scotland it is found only in Kirkcudbright, Wigtown, Ayr, Berwick, 
 Linlithgow, Fife, Clyde Islands, Cantire, Islay, Hebrides, but occurs 
 on the remaining coasts. It is on the decrease in some parts. It 
 is found in the Channel Islands. 
 
 The wild form of Sea Kale, much used as a salad, is found on 
 sandy and shingly sea-coasts, and it is a halophyte or salt-lover. It 
 is also a xerophyte, though requiring moist conditions, and may be 
 called a strand plant. With it grow Sea Rocket, Sea Purslane, Sea 
 Milkwort, Sea Holly, and other maritime species. 
 
 The first Latin name is the Greek for cabbage, with the habit 
 of which it agrees. It has a thick fleshy root, a stout stem much 
 branched, with wide, wavy, rounded leaves, toothed, and bluish-green. 
 The stem and leaves are smooth, and the plant is compact, and as 
 broad as long. It grows in clumps. 
 
 The flowers are white, large, and distinct, in corymbs containing 
 several racemes, and much branched. The outer anther-stalks are 
 forked and long. The pods are blunt or egg-shaped, on ascending 
 flower-stalks, with two joints, one forming a flower-stalk, and there 
 is no style. 
 
 Sea Kale grows to a height of 2 ft. The flowers are in bloom in 
 June, July, and August. The plant is perennial, increased by division. 
 
 The diameter of the flowers is as much as 12 mm., and together
 
 i 7 4 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 they form a conspicuous head. The petals form a tube by being 
 enclosed by the sepals. The stalks of the petals, the stamens, and 
 pistil are yellowish-green before they turn violet. 
 
 The anthers are yellow. Below the longer stamens are two round 
 honey glands, which are large and green in colour. Two smaller ones 
 lie at the base of the shorter stamens. The anthers in the longer 
 stamens lie between knoblike extremities, perhaps helping to guide 
 
 the insect's proboscis. The 
 stigma is ripe first when the 
 flower expands, and is over- 
 topped by the longer stamens. 
 The honey is attractive to 
 the larvae of a beetle (Meli- 
 getkes), and they may help 
 to cross-pollinate the flower. 
 The flowers are large 
 and conspicuous, white, with 
 the longer anther-stalks 
 notched. The habitat being 
 maritime the plant is not 
 open to insect visits in great 
 numbers, and self-pollination 
 becomes a necessity. 
 
 The fruit of Sea Kale is 
 dispersed by its own agency. 
 The pods do not open to let 
 the single seeds fall out, but 
 drop off, and the seeds ger- 
 SEA KALE (Crambe maritima, L.) miiiate around the parent 
 
 plant. The pods are appa- 
 rently stalked, the lower joint being without seeds and serving as a 
 stalk to the upper, i -celled and i -seeded. 
 
 The plant is a halophyte or salt-lover growing in saline soil on 
 the coast, and under cultivation in rich mould. 
 A beetle, Psylliodes viarcida, is found on it. 
 
 The name Crambe, Greek for Kale, was given by Hippocrates, and 
 maritima (Latin) refers to its habitat. 
 
 Sea Kale is called Sea Cabbage, Sea Cale, Sea Cole, Sea Cole- 
 wort, Sea Kale. 
 
 It is cut by the people on the coast in the west of England, and 
 used like asparagus, the young shoots being boiled. People watch
 
 SEA ROCKET 175 
 
 for the shoots and leaves pushing 1 up from below ground. It was first 
 employed in the garden about 200 years ago, and the practice was 
 also afterwards copied on the Continent. In the garden it is sown 
 in rich sandy soil, blanched and covered up to promote a quick and 
 white growth (to improve the flavour) under pots, kale pots being 
 now the vogue. The roots are taken up, and forced in a hot-bed or 
 forcing-house, or covered with straw, &c., in the open like rhubarb, 
 a frame being placed over the stools before the litter is put on. It 
 is easily forced, and is productive the first season after sowing seed. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 38. Crambe maritima, L. Stem erect, tall, leaves sinuate, broad, 
 glaucous, pinnatifid, dentate, flowers corymbose, white, pods ovoid, 
 large, on slender suberect pedicels. 
 
 Sea Rocket (Cakile maritima, Scop.) 
 
 Though this plant is not found in any deposit in England it occurs 
 in the Oak Zone abroad. It is confined to the North Temperate 
 Zone, and found in Europe, N. Africa, and Ireland. It is absent from 
 S. Lines, Renfrew, \Y. Ross, but is found on every other British coast- 
 line directly open to the sea up to Shetland. It is also found in 
 Ireland and in the Channel Islands. 
 
 Like Sea Kale, Sea Rocket, which is associated with it, is fond 
 of sand and shingle, and it forms fairly wide patches in company with 
 Samphire, Thrift, Sea Lavender, Seaside Bindweed, Sea Plantain, 
 Saltwort, maritime sedges and rushes, &c. 
 
 Like Sea Kale, again, the Sea Rocket is a bushy, compact, shrubby 
 plant, with branched stems, the branches being arranged in a zigzag 
 manner. It is also fleshy, and has bluish -green leaves, in this case 
 more linear-pinnatifid, or with the lobes divided nearly to the base, or 
 else quite entire. It is quite smooth, and has much the same appear- 
 ance and habit as a broccoli. According to Lesage the leaves of other 
 plants when grown inland may become fleshy if treated with salt. 
 
 The flowers are white, or purple, or lilac, in corymbs, and the 
 flower-stalk is strong. The upper portion of the pod is spindle-shaped, 
 the two joints are angular, the lower joint is smaller than the upper, 
 the former being erect. The latter is pendent, and has two teeth at 
 the base. The pods are square in section, and when ripe are ribbed. 
 
 The plant grows to a height of 9 in. or i ft. It is in flower from 
 June to September. It is annual and reproduced by seed. 
 
 The anthers of the long stamens project slightly, and as pollen may
 
 i 7 6 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 thus fall on the stigma self-pollination may occur. The flowers are 
 scented. Two honey-glands, as in Sea Kale, lie at the base of the 
 long and short stamens respectively. It is also visited by numerous 
 insects. There is as much chance of cross-pollination in this plant 
 as in the Sea Kale. The flowers, white and purple, are about the 
 same size, but the stigma is stalkless, and there is little to prevent 
 self-pollination as it is below the anthers. 
 
 The Sea Rocket is dispersed by its own special mechanism. The 
 
 Photo. Messrs. Flatters & Garnett 
 
 SEA ROCKET (Cakile maritima, Scop.) 
 
 pods do not open, but drop off, and the seeds germinate around the 
 parent plant. 
 
 Sea Rocket is a halophyte or salt-lover, and requires a saline soil, 
 growing generally on sandy coasts, and is thus a sand-loving plant. 
 
 The Sand Dart (Agrotis ripcz] is the only moth which feeds upon 
 it in the caterpillar stage, and a beetle, Psylliodes marcida. 
 
 Linnseus adopted the name Cakile from Serapion. Cakile is said 
 to be the Arabic name of the plant, but the significance (as applied to 
 this plant) is unknown, while the Latin maritima refers to the plant's 
 habitat. 
 
 Its English name Sea Rocket is the only one. It was reputed 
 to be cathartic by the old botanical writers. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 39. Cakile maritima, Scop. A bushy plant with glaucous, fleshy
 
 SEA CAMPION 
 
 177 
 
 leaves, rounded stem, glabrous, zigzag; flowers white or lilac, pouches 
 with 2 seeds ensiform above. 
 
 Sea Campion (Silene maritima, With.) 
 
 This plant is found in Interglacial beds in Sussex. At the present 
 day it ranges from the shores of Arctic Europe, from Italy westward 
 to the Canaries, and northward to Norway and Finland. It may be 
 
 SEA CAMPION (Silene maritima, With.) 
 
 Photo. J. H. Crabtr 
 
 found around the entire coast of Great Britain, except in Merioneth. 
 South Lancashire, and West Ross. It ascends to 3000 ft. in the 
 Highlands. 
 
 The Sea Campion, or Seaside Catchfly if we may coin the 
 name, is a familiar sight on all our seashores in the summer months, 
 loving best the sandy tracts. It is thus a strand plant, a sand-lover, 
 and a salt-lover, though occasionally it is found in Alpine tracts by 
 streams, but this is the exception. It is practically thus a xerophyte 
 or dry-soil type. It is associated with the Yellow Horned Poppy, 
 Tamarisk, Sea Buckthorn, Thrift, and Centaury amongst other mari- 
 time wild tiowers. 
 
 VOL. II. 27
 
 i 7 8 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 It is much less compact than Cheddar Pink, having numerous 
 branched stems (being caulescent or forming aerial stems), the barren 
 stems spreading, and suberect or prostrate, while a rosette of barren 
 shoots is formed. The stems are not dwarfed as in Moss Campion. 
 The leaves are oblong, tapering. 
 
 The flowering stems are panicled or solitary, and erect, the calyx 
 bladder-like, swollen, netted, the flowers panicled, the petals white, 
 cleft, and crowned. The nerves of the calyx are netted, and the capsule 
 is not completely divided by septa. The flowers are larger than in 
 the Bladder Campion. The bracts are herbaceous, and the styles are 
 divided into two nearly to the base. 
 
 The plant is usually 9 in. high. The flowers are in bloom from 
 August to September. It is perennial and propagated by division. 
 
 The tube is long and narrow, and the flowers are adapted to 
 pollination by long-tongued Lepidoptera; the flowers are drooping in 
 habit, with an inflated calyx, and the anthers are projected after they 
 mature, and the flowers are proterandrous, i.e. the anthers ripen first. 
 In S. Cucubalus the flowers are trimorphic. 
 
 The seeds of Sea Campion are dispersed by the agency of the 
 wind. The capsule opens above, and the many small seeds, partly 
 winged, are upset by gusts of wind and blown to a distance. 
 
 The plant is a halophyte or salt-lover, requiring a saline soil, and 
 is a sand plant, addicted to sandy seashores. 
 
 Uromyces behenis and Ustilago violacea are parasitic fungi which 
 live on it. The Netted Pug Moth (Eitpithoscia venosata], Bordered 
 Gothic (Nenria Saponarice), Gelechia leucomanella, Barrett's Marbled 
 Coronet {Dianthcecia barrettii], the Gray (D. ccesia), and the Pod-lover 
 (D. capsophild] feed on it. 
 
 Silene, of Theophrastus, is from the satyr Silenus of ancient Greek 
 mythology, and maritima refers to the habitat of the plant. 
 
 Sea Campion is called Thimble and the Witches' Thimble. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 47. Silene maritima, With. Stems numerous, spreading, leaves 
 glaucous, entire, oblong, flowers white, solitary, erect, calyx inflated, 
 petals notched, crowned. 
 
 Sea Purslane (Arenaria peploides, L.) 
 
 This maritime species has been found in the Interglacial deposits 
 of Hants. It is found in the Arctic and North Temperate Zones on 
 the shores of Western Europe, from the Arctic regions to Spain, and
 
 KEY TO PLATE XIV 
 
 a, Petal, enlarged. 
 Flower, with perianth re- 
 moved, c, Capsule and seed. 
 d y Plant, showing flowers and 
 upper stem-leaves. 
 
 fcA/L-f 
 
 No. 3. Se* Holly 
 'um mariiimum, L.) 
 
 Petal, showiog notch and 
 int turned in. fi, Flower, 
 with st4m$ns, briSqycah/x, 
 Up- 
 
 No. 6. Sea Lavender 
 (Limoniutn vul^^re, MilL} 
 
 No. 4. Samphne No. 
 (Crithmum maritimut*, L.) ^Artemisia Absinthium, L.) 
 a., Floret enlarged, v, Fruit, a, Kay floret. l>, Disk floret, 
 showing persistent styles, c, c, Involucre, with bracts, en- 
 Section f>f fruit. </, Upper closing florets, d. Raceme 
 
 part of plant, showing leaves ' ' of 
 and umbels of flowers
 
 VIX 3TAJ1 OT Y3X 
 
 
 |r Fink. 
 
 ^ jjr b^A-ipi iijxj 
 
 are 
 . projected 
 
 e. the anthers 
 
 \V/,h -mrJgirierous 
 
 '-v-i V4 
 
 Radial Ideoorft 
 
 V* ^oneVMb 
 
 Mrr, Eurfc
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 PLATE XIV 
 
 I. Sea Purslane (.t>,-naria /,//</' y. I.. I. 2. Tamarisk I Tamarix ^,ilii,-,i. [..). ;. Sea I Ill\ i Ervn^hini n/.ni- 
 
 1111111111,1,.}. 4. Saniphin.- (Cri/Inianii inarithnuiii . L. I. v Absinth ( Art,-nii>ia Absinthium , L. ). 6. Sea 
 
 Lavender (l.tiiioniitin z'lti'jare, Mill.).
 
 SEA PURSLANE 
 
 179 
 
 in Arctic America. In Great Britain it occurs on most parts of the 
 coast, but is absent from East Sussex, Monmouth, Flint, Westmorland, 
 Mid Kbucles. 
 
 The Sea Purslane is a sine qua non, as it were, of the flora that one 
 meets with on most sea-coasts. It grows on every sandy beach, being 
 a sand plant like the majority of the species of this group (hence the 
 generic name), and is a salt-lover and one of the strand plants, accom- 
 
 ^-?.^ ?S%^j5tt^^ ' >r '*> -> 
 
 yj?^^^^^fe^PSfflBB J5 ^ ai ' 
 %*?%^ sa^^^i^^fiMBS 
 
 k >-K'!>, ;*$ 
 
 m^ 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 S56S 
 
 I 
 
 
 SEA Pi'RSLANE (Arenana peploides, L.) 
 
 panied usually by such plants as Sea Rocket, Saltwort, Sea Milkwort, 
 Sand Sedge, Marram Grass, and other plants. 
 
 It has a creeping habit, the so-called roots being really rhizomes. 
 The stem is prostrate, then ascending, fleshy, forked, and the branches 
 are suberect. The leaves are lance-shaped, stalkless, arranged in 
 opposite rows, egg-shaped, acute, bent backwards, close, and single- 
 nerved, with the margins distinct. The whole plant is smooth, shiny, 
 and dark green, like a Stonecrop or Sea Milkwort. 
 
 The flowers are white, solitary, axillary, the petals are inversely 
 egg-shaped, the sepals blunt, single-veined, and shorter than the petals 
 in the male, longer in the female Mowers. The long and short stamens
 
 1 80 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 alternate. The capsule is rounded, the seeds are inversely egg-shaped, 
 large, and not numerous. 
 
 The height of this plant rarely exceeds 3 in. It is in flower from 
 May till August. The perennial stems can be propagated by division. 
 
 The flowers are polygamous. The disk is glandular. There are 
 3-5 styles, and the flower is able to self-pollinate itself in the absence 
 of insects, which do not visit it commonly, the species being a mari- 
 time with inconspicuous flowers. 
 
 The seeds are dispersed by the agency of the plant's own mechan- 
 ism. The capsules break up along the valves when ripe and allow the 
 small seeds to fall around the parent plant, which is usually found 
 to grow in scattered clumps. 
 
 A fungus, Cystopus lepigoni, attacks Arenaria. 
 
 Hcliotkis pelliger (the Bordered Straw Moth) feeds on species of 
 Arenaria also, and the beetles Malachius marginellus and Cassida 
 no bilis. 
 
 Sea Purslane is a sand-lover and requires a sand soil, and as a 
 salt-lover saline soil. 
 
 Arenaria, Linnaeus, is derived from the Latin arena, sand, and 
 peploides is from its resemblance to peplion, a purslane. 
 
 The Sea Purslane is called Sea Chickweed and Sea Sandwort. 
 
 It was thought to inspire love. Formerly it was occasionally 
 pickled, like samphire, for which its fleshy foliage is suited. It was 
 fermented in Ireland, and eaten as sauerkraut is in Germany. 
 
 The flower is very variable in the number of the stamens, a feature 
 of the group. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS:- 
 
 57. Arenaria peploides, L. Stem fleshy, creeping, forked, leaves 
 in 4 rows, ovate, sessile, smooth, dark -green, flowers small, white, 
 petals obovate, exceeding the sepals, from the angles of the stem. 
 
 Tamarisk (Tamarix gallica, L.) 
 
 This shrub has never been found fossil, but, even if it were native, 
 it is unlikely that it will be preserved, as it rarely produces seed now 
 in this country. The Northern Temperate Zone is its home, and it 
 is found on the shores of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and inland 
 in Western Asia as far east as N.W. India. In the south and east 
 of England it is an alien, being in all cases planted. 
 
 The Tamarisk is an evergreen shrub which is now one of the 
 familiar members of the coastal flora (hence its inclusion in this work),

 
 TAMARISK 183 
 
 flourishing- on sandy stretches, where it affords some shelter from the 
 bleak east wind. It has served, moreover, with the native Sea Buck- 
 thorn, apart from Marram Grass and Sand Sedge, to bind together 
 the otherwise shifting sands of the east coast. 
 
 So called from its native place in Spain, Tamaris, the Tamarisk is 
 an evergreen shrub which is planted on account of its predilection for 
 the sea. It is woody, erect, and possesses slender, feathery branches, 
 with threadlike or awl-shaped leaves below, triangular, with earlike 
 lobes above, overlapping, and small. 
 
 The flowers are pink, in spikes, which are lateral, close, alternate, 
 slender, and with broad arrow-shaped bracts or leaflike organs below. 
 The sepals and petals are five in number, the lateral ones do not fall, 
 and all are united at the base, with apiculate anthers. The capsule, 
 which is globular, 3-sided, is narrower at the top, and contains nume- 
 rous feathered seeds, the hairs being lateral and terminal. 
 
 The Tamarisk is sometimes 12 ft. in height. The flowers bloom 
 from May to October. It is a perennial shrub. 
 
 The flowers, though small, are rather conspicuous as a whole. 
 This is one of those maritime plants which, though they flower late, 
 are not attractive to insects, and have thus to rely on self-pollination 
 very larg-ely. The anthers are capable of moving when they are about 
 to discharge pollen. There are several carpels and many stamens. 
 
 The Tamarisk is dispersed by the agency of the wind, and the seed 
 is provided with a tuft of hairs which render it fit for wind dispersal. 
 
 Requiring a saline soil, it is a salt-lover, and is also a sand-loving 
 plant, living on a sand soil. 
 
 No fungi or insects infest the Tamarisk, so far as is known. 
 
 Taman'x, Pliny, is the Latin name of the plant, and gallica refers 
 to its French derivation (in our case). 
 
 The Tamarisk is called Cypress, Heath, Ling, and Tamarisk. 
 Turner, in his Names of Herbcs, says it was once called Heath: "the 
 Schole maisters in Englande have a long time called myrica (Tamarix) 
 heath, or lyng, but so longe have been deceyved altogether ". 
 
 In Sicily they believed it was the tree upon which Judas hanged 
 himself. It is cultivated as a hedge plant, and much used for this 
 purpose along the coast, where nothing else will grow. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 60. Tamarix gallica, L. Shrubby, branches slender, leafy, flexible, 
 leaves scale-like, glabrous, appressed, minute, flowers pink or rose in 
 a panicle, capsule rounded, truncate.
 
 184 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum, L.) 
 
 The distribution of Sea Holly to-day (as far as our knowledge goes) 
 is limited to the North Temperate Zone in Europe, and N. Africa. 
 In Great Britain it is absent from West Sussex, Northumberland, 
 Wigtown, Berwick, as far as Aberdeen, and N. Ebudes, occurring on 
 the coasts of other maritime counties, and to the north it is found in the 
 Orkneys and Hebrides. It is found throughout Ireland. 
 
 A maritime species, addicted to a sandy habitat, on the shores of 
 
 SEA HOLLY (Eryngium maritimum, L.) 
 
 Photo. J. H. Crabtree 
 
 the British Isles, it is both a xerophyte or dry-soil type and a halophyte 
 or salt-lover. It grows with Sea Kale, Sea Rocket, Samphire, Thrift, 
 Sea Milk wort, and many other sand-loving species. 
 
 The English name suggests one of its main characteristics, its 
 spinous character, like that of Holly, and its Thistle-like appearance. 
 The plant is bluish-green in colour, and has stiffly hairy, spiny, leathery 
 leaves, the radical leaves being rounded and 3-lobed, with cartilaginous 
 margins, and folded. The stem is rigid, much-branched, with nume- 
 rous leaves, the upper leaves clasping the stem and the lobes starting 
 from a common centre. The plant has long thick roots. 
 
 The flowerheads, which are blue, are in heads with involucres, with 
 a whorl of stiff coloured bracts or leaflike organs below, spinous, longer
 
 SAMPHIRE 185 
 
 than the heads. The scales in the receptacle are 3-toothed. The 
 petals are narrow and deeply notched, turned clown, and help with the 
 anther-stalks to close the flower, though they can be pushed on one 
 side by an insect. 
 
 Eighteen inches or two feet is the usual height of the Sea Holly. 
 To find the flowers search the seaboard in July and August. Perennial, 
 and increased by roots, the plant is well established in its habitats. 
 
 The flowers are small and inconspicuous, and not adapted for insect 
 visits, like some other maritime species. The styles are threadlike and 
 erect, and the petals are narrow and have the point turned in, whilst 
 the umbels are in very dense heads, and are more liable in this way to 
 be self- than cross-pollinated. The anthers ripen first. The honey is 
 secreted by a disk with 10 rays at the base, and is concealed. 
 
 The achenes are flattened, and when ripe are aided in dispersal 
 by the wind or passing herds, being detached and jerked to a distance. 
 
 Sea Holly is a salt-lover, and delights in a saline soil, and is also 
 a sand plant, addicted to a sand soil. 
 
 The Lepicloptera Silky Wainscot, Argyrolcpia maritiina, Conchylis 
 francillana and the Dingy Skipper Thauaos (Hesperia] tages, and a 
 Heteropterous insect, Therapha Hyoscyami, feed on it. 
 
 Eryngiiiui, Dioscoricles, is latinized from the Greek name of the 
 plant, and the second name (Latin) indicates its habitat. 
 
 Sea Holly is called Eringo, Eryngo, Sea Holly, Sea Holme, Sea 
 Hulver, Ringo-roots. 
 
 The plant used to be employed as a love charm, and it was candied 
 and sold in Shakespeare's day as the " kissing comfits " of Falstaff. In 
 Sweden the tops are all eaten like asparagus. It is held by the Arabs 
 to be a restorative, the chief virtue residing in the roots. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 122. Eryngmm maritimiun, L. Root fleshy, large, stem rigid, 
 glaucous, leaves spinous, clasping, leathery, palmate, involucral leaves 
 3-lobed, flowers blue, in a dense head, with a whorl of bracts. 
 
 Samphire (Crithmum maritimum, L.) 
 
 The coasts of Europe to the south of Erance, and those of N. 
 Africa, or the Temperate Zone, mark the present distribution of this 
 plant, which is unknown in earlier times. It is found in Great Britain 
 throughout the whole Peninsular province, and the South coast, on 
 the East coast only in E. Suffolk, on the entire Welsh coast except 
 Denbigh and Flint, throughout the Lakes province, in Kirkcudbright,
 
 i86 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Wigtown, Ayr, or generally from Ayr southwards, and on all the Irish 
 coasts. 
 
 Samphire is a maritime plant which grows on the rocky south and 
 west coasts, where also are to be found Yellow Horned Poppy, Scurvy 
 Grass, Sea Campion, Thrift, Sea Lavender, Sea Plantain, Saltwort, 
 and other salt-lovers. It is found on stone walls as well as on rocks. 
 
 Like many other maritime species, Samphire is a fleshy plant with 
 a more or less shrubby habit, compact, with suberect, branching stems. 
 The leaves are several times divided with leaflets each side of a 
 
 SAMPHIRE (Crithmum maritimum, L.) 
 
 Photo. Flatters & Garnett 
 
 common stalk, linear lance-shaped, fleshy to succulent, acute above 
 and below, and triangular. The leaf-stalks are short but stout, with 
 long membranous sheaths. 
 
 The flowers, which are highly odorous, are white or yellow, in 
 umbels with involucres, with lance -shaped, acute leaves, flat, and 
 with stout peduncles. The bracts are spreading, small, and acute. 
 There are no calyx-teeth, the petals are very small and soon drop. 
 
 In the Samphire the fruits are oblong, like barley, whence the first 
 Greek name (latinized). 
 
 The plant is about i ft. or 18 in. high. It flowers from July to 
 September. It is a deciduous, herbaceous perennial, multiplied by 
 division. 
 
 The flowers are small, white, with minute petals with a long point, 
 turned inwards, soon dropping, and with short styles. The plant is
 
 ABSINTH 187 
 
 inconspicuous, and owing to its maritime habitat not liable to be 
 visited by insects. The anthers mature first, and only when the 
 pollen is all shed does the stigma ripen. 
 
 The fruits are flattened, and so more easily dispersed by the wind. 
 When ripe, being semi-detached, they are easily blown away. 
 
 Samphire is a salt- lover which requires a saline soil. It is also a 
 sand plant and is addicted to a sand soil. 
 
 The only insect which feeds upon this plant is Tnoza crithmi, a 
 Homopterous insect. As in the case of other seaside species fungi do 
 not attack it. 
 
 Crithmum, Dioscorides, is the Greek name of the plant, which may- 
 be from the Greek critht\ barley, on account of the shape of the fruit, 
 and the second Latin name is in allusion to the habitat. 
 
 The plant is called Camphire, Peter's Cress, Crestmarine, Sea 
 Fennel, Pasper, Pierce-stone, Sampere, Samphire, Rock Samphire, 
 Sampier, Semper, Rock Semper. 
 
 Samphire was described by Gerard as yielding "the pleasantest 
 sauce, and best agreeing with man's body, for the digestion of meats". 
 It is liked by cattle. Samphire is used as a pickle and in salads, 
 and as a pot herb. It can be grown in the garden in beds of sand, 
 rubbish, or in pots, but should be supplied with barilla, as it is on the 
 coast, from the sea breezes containing salt, and the salt blown upon 
 it by the wind. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 127. Crithmum maritimnm, L. Stem short, fleshy, glabrous, 
 leaves glaucous, bi- or tri-pinnate, leaflets linear -lanceolate, flowers 
 small, white or yellow, in umbels, with short bracts, fruit green or 
 purple. 
 
 Absinth (Artemisia Absinthium, L.) 
 
 Absinth is not found in early deposits, but is confined at the 
 present day to the North Temperate Zone, in Europe, N. Africa, 
 X. and \V. Asia, the Himalayas, and North America. In Great 
 Britain it occurs in the Peninsula, Channel and Thames provinces, 
 except in Bucks, in Anglia and the Severn provinces, in Wales in 
 Glamorgan, Brecon, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Merioneth, Carnarvon, 
 Denbigh, Anglesea, in the Trent province, except in N. Lines, the 
 Mersey province, except in Mid Lanes, the H umber province, except 
 in S.E. Yorks, in the Tyne province generally and the Isle of Man; 
 in Scotland in Berwick, Haddington, Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Fife, 
 W. Perth, Forfar, E. Ross, Orkney, and Shetland. It ascends, as a
 
 i88 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 cultivated plant, to 2200 ft. in Northumberland. In N. and W. Scot- 
 land it is rare, and it is doubtfully native in Ireland. 
 
 Absinth is to all intents and purposes native only along the sea- 
 coast, as Watson remarks, but it grows inland in a variety of places, 
 havino- been used for medicinal and other purposes. So it is found 
 on waste ground, and in gardens and similar places where it is 
 evident that man has planted it. 
 
 This is a tall, handsome, 
 branched plant with bi- or tri- 
 pinnatifid leaves, i.e. with lobes 
 divided nearly to the base, and 
 narrow linear - acute segments, 
 with both sides of the rather 
 broadly oval leaves silky and 
 downy, white on both sides. The 
 flowerheads are yellow, and 
 arranged in hemispherical droop- 
 ing heads. Only the outer florets, 
 which are small, produce fruit. 
 The receptacle is softly downy, 
 with the outer phyllaries or whorl 
 of leaflike organs linear and silky, 
 the under ones round and scarious 
 with a semi-transparent border. 
 
 Absinth grows at least 18 in. 
 high, but often 3 ft. The flowers 
 are in bloom in July and Sep- 
 tember. The plant is perennial 
 and propagated by division. 
 
 The flowers in Artemisia 
 Dracunculus are pollinated by 
 the wind, and the same applies to this plant. 
 
 There is no pappus or hair, but the fruit or achene is adapted for 
 dispersal by the wind, the branches being easily swayed to and fro. 
 Absinth is a sand-loving plant growing in sand soil. 
 A fungus, Puccinia tanaceti, is found on the leaves. 
 A beetle, Mordellistaria pusilla, several moths, Wormwood Moth 
 (Cucullia Absynthii\ Ling Pug (Eupithecia mimitata), Bordered Lime 
 Speck (E. succenfnriata), Wormwood Pug (E. absynthiata], Botys 
 stictualis, Halonota btznella, and the Ground Lackey (Clisiocampa cas- 
 trensis), Graplwlitha wimmerana, G. pipillana, Ringed Carpet (Boarmia 
 
 ABSINTH (Artemisia Absinthium, L.)
 
 SEA LAVENDER 189 
 
 cinctaria), two Homoptera, Eupteryx teuella, Aphalara arteinisitr, two 
 Heteroptera, Seherus bicolor, Plagiognathus albipcnnis, and the flies 
 Cecidomyia folwrum, Spilograplia artcmisicc, Lcucopis annnlipes, are 
 found on it. 
 
 The name Artemisia, Hippocrates, is derived, so Pliny says, from 
 the goddess Artemis, goddess of Chastity, Absinthium, Dioscorides, is 
 the Latin name for wormwood, taken from the Greek apsinthion. 
 
 The names Absinth, Maderwort, Mingwort, Mugwort, Old Woman, 
 Warmot, Wormwood, are all applied to this plant. 
 
 In reference to Absinth, Benevenuto, 1612, says: "Absinth and 
 poyson be my sustenance." 
 
 When seen in dreams it was regarded as a good omen. On St. 
 Luke's day a maiden was told to " Take marigold flowers, a sprig of 
 marjoram, thyme, and a little wormwood ; dry them before a tire, rub 
 them to powder, then sift it through a fine piece of lawn; simmer these 
 with a small quantity of virgin honey, in white vinegar, over a slow 
 fire; with this anoint your stomach, breasts, and lips, lying down, and 
 repeat these words thrice: 
 
 ' St. Luke, St. Luke, be kind to me, 
 In dream let me my true love see.' 
 
 This said, hasten to sleep, and in the soft slumbers of night's repose, 
 the very man whom you shall marry shall appear before you." It was 
 called St. John's Girdle in Germany, and in Sicily St. John's Beard. 
 
 In the Middle Ages it was often used as a remedy. It is said 
 to be tonic, antispasmodic, and antiseptic applied externally. It has 
 also been used in fevers, gout, scurvy, dropsy. It is said to be of use 
 as a stomachic. The seeds are used in rectifying spirits. It used 
 to be hung up to prevent infection, and with Rue was put in the 
 dock by the prisoner's side to prevent jail fever. It flavours absinth 
 and is used in beer abroad. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 162. Artemisia Absinthium, L. Stem erect, bushy, leaves lanceo- 
 late, silky, segments blunt, bipinnatifid, flowerheads drooping, dull 
 yellow, in hemispherical heads. 
 
 Sea Lavender (Limonium vulgare, Mill.) 
 
 The Temperate (Northern) Zone throughout Europe, N. Africa, 
 and N. America marks the limit of the range of Sea Lavender to-day, 
 no earlier records of its occurrence being known. In Great Britain it 
 is absent from the coasts of East Norfolk, Monmouth, Pembroke,
 
 1 9 o FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Cardigan, Denbigh, Flint, S. Lanes, S.E. Yorks, Northumberland, 
 but is ubiquitous elsewhere. In Scotland it is found on the coasts of 
 Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Wigtown, Fife. It is thus general from Fife 
 to Kent and Devon. It is native in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 Sea Lavender is found on muddy shores, fiat coasts, and estuaries, 
 especially on the east coast as well as on the west, where the rocky 
 foreshore is flanked by stretches of mud or sand. It is found where 
 Thrift, Sea Purslane, Sea Milkwort, Seaside Bindweed, and Sea 
 Plantain grow. 
 
 The aerial flowering stem is really a scape, and all the leaves are 
 radical, having a wavy margin, with long leaf-stalks, and pinnately- 
 arranged veins. The leaves are oblong, smooth, blunt, and mucronate, 
 or bluntly terminated with a sharp point. 
 
 The flowers are small but conspicuous, blue, and borne on leafless 
 scapes or flowering stems, which are numerous, angular, and bear 
 terminal flowers in a much-branched corymb or panicle, each spikelet 
 bearing two or three flowers, and the spikes are spreading and even 
 curved backwards. The outer bracts or leaflike organs of the calyx 
 are rounded on the back, the calyx lobes having intermediate teeth. 
 The calyx and corolla each form a tube. There is honey at the base 
 of the latter. 
 
 The plant is about i ft. high. It flowers between May and 
 August. It is perennial, and propagated by division, and worthy of 
 cultivation. 
 
 The flowers are dimorphic, of two types. Being a maritime plant 
 the flower is not visited by insects like an inland species. The petals 
 have long claws or stalks, the stamens are opposite the corolla lobes, 
 and the anther-stalks are threadlike; the anthers open inwards, and the 
 styles are free, their stigmas being hairlike or linear, and the flower is 
 thus adapted to self-pollination. The anthers are ripe before the 
 stigma. 
 
 The calyx is coloured. The calyx does not fall, and some flowers 
 have undeveloped anthers; being membranous above, the capsule is 
 dispersed by the wind. 
 
 Sea Lavender is a salt-lover and requires a saline soil, being also a 
 sand-loving plant and growing on a sand soil. 
 
 A micro-fungus, Uromyccs limonii attacks it. A beetle, Apion 
 limonii, and a moth, Adactyla benuetii, are to be found upon it. 
 
 Limoniwn, Dioscorides, is from the Greek leimonios, belonging to 
 a moist place or meadow, and the second Latin name refers to its 
 common occurrence.
 
 SEA LAVENDER 
 
 191 
 
 The plant is known as Sea Lavender, Lavender Thrift. A former 
 name, Statice (now applied to Thrift), was given to Sea Lavender for 
 the supposed property it possessed of stopping diarrhoea. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 196. Limonium vulgare, Mill. Flowering stem a scape, leaves 
 radical, oblong, petiolate, mucronate, I -ribbed, flowers purple, in a 
 secund panicle in dense patent spikes, with outer bract rounded on 
 back, scentless, flower-stalk angular, leafless, branched.
 
 1 92 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Thrift (Statice maritima, Mill.) 
 
 The pretty tufted Thrift is found in the Northern Temperate and 
 Arctic Zones in Arctic Europe, Asia, N. America, and also in Chili. 
 While thus a northern plant it has not been found to belong to any of 
 the ancient deposits so far. It occurs on all the coasts of Great 
 Britain, except those of estuaries in Middlesex and Lanark, and in 
 the Highlands at the height of 3800 ft. 
 
 Thrift is a typical maritime species, which is perhaps more common 
 on the west than the east coast, preferring rocks and stony shores to 
 sandy or muddy districts. It is also to be found in Scotland at high 
 elevations or mountain heights inland, where the same moist humid 
 conditions exist that are prevalent at the seaside, so that it cannot 
 strictly be regarded as always a salt-lover. 
 
 As with Sea Lavender the flowering stalks of Thrift are the only 
 aerial stems, and are scapes. The leaves are all radical, linear lance- 
 shaped, flat, blunt, and fringed with hairs at the margin, with one vein, 
 and fleshy. The plant has a tufted habit. 
 
 The flowers are reddish-pink, and are borne on the scapes, which 
 are downy and rounded. The outer calyx, or involucral whorl of 
 leaflike organs of brownish, membranous bracts, is very characteristic, 
 bracts coming also between the flowers. The hairs on the scape are 
 spreading or turned back. The calyx has 5 downy ribs with acute 
 segments, and the tube is hairy. 
 
 The plant is about 6 in. in height. It is in flower from May till 
 July. It is a deciduous, herbaceous plant, increased by division. 
 
 The flowers are scented. The calyx is 5 mm. in length, and is 
 violet above, strengthened by 5 shortly-toothed ribs. Hairs line the 
 tube and so protect the honey. The anthers are above the latter, and 
 in the centre are the 5 stigmas, which take the place of the former, 
 moving to the margin, and the anthers become central. The stigmas 
 make a spiral turn, and so touch the anthers. 
 
 The flower is conspicuous, more so than Limonium, to which other- 
 wise it has some affinity. As the anthers open, the anther-stalks curve 
 inwards, bringing the anthers immediately above the depressed centre 
 of the stigma, on which they shed their pollen; the flower is thus 
 normally self-pollinated. 
 
 The achenes are provided with a parachute-like wing, a persistent 
 membranous calyx, to aid in wind dispersal. 
 
 This plant is a salt-lover requiring a saline soil, but it is also a rock
 
 KEY TO PLATE XV 
 
 /^9 r ~?T) Th ft 
 (StatiCe maritima, 
 
 a, Flower, enlarged. 
 Ovary with hairy styles. 
 Plant, wtth head of flowers 
 rt^p^paw^a cyme. 
 
 Centaury 
 
 Glffux mariiima, L.) 
 
 ^L-^wte^*^, Lwrth^flfe 
 
 Flower, with perianth turned back ^ Calyx 
 
 turned^! ta-^)w stamei^ r>(/ajshl e , openin^y tj^ 
 andpi5t^^^,acapsu^^,^ ves x Xjj^^^ ^^7 
 r, Plaot^^owmg flowers injr~^ <^ dical ^^ ^ d n^Zg* 
 
 showi:g flower^ in 
 t richoton i )us cy 
 
 No. 4- Se 
 
 a Soldfinella^Rr.) 
 
 ^ CapsA. ^ jbpper jji*^ \SW-i-, enlargeidl;^ ^6- / 
 ot^piant, showind leaves and sule, opening along themiddle 
 
 moved to show stamens and 
 pistil. <, Utricle and calyx. 
 Section o^\tricle, with 
 persistent calyx, with seed 
 
 conical helix 
 Plant, showing flowers and 
 
 f ^N W
 
 VX STAJ 4 ! OT Y3X 
 
 ns ( <ftrp , ' .igwo ,n 
 
 -an itiaBnsq itliw . 
 
 bnfi eta^^ifiJa wod oJ bavom 
 
 bite >bfitJJ 3 Jifetv rfirw 
 
 ,- .sugq*:) ,j> 
 qworfe ,}aBfcf lo 
 I> 
 
 ritiw ^3 Jnslaiaisq ?, ,1*0*6* 
 xifswi IfiDiooD ^niworfis 
 
 y* - 
 
 '
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SKA-COAST
 
 THRIFT 193 
 
 plant, growing on Cambrian and Silurian and other rocks, and is also 
 a sand-loving plant growing on a sand soil. 
 
 Like Sea Lavender it is attacked by a fungus, Uroniyccs linwnii. 
 
 A Thysanopterous insect, Pklosothrips Staticcs. and three moths, 
 a Clearwing, Sesia musciformis, Scricoris littoralis, Gclcchia bizclla, 
 feed upon Thrift. 
 
 Statice, Dalechamps, is from the Greek name, denoting astringency, 
 and the second Latin name refers to its habitat. 
 
 Attractive as Thrift is, it is called Arby, Cliff-rose, Cushion, Lady's 
 
 THRIFT (Staticc maritima, Mill.) 
 
 or Sea Cushion, Cushion-pink, Marsh or Sea Daisy, Sea Gilliflower, 
 Sea Grass, Lady's Pincushion, Pink, French Pink, Scawfell Pink, Sea 
 Pink, Ouishion, Rock Rose, Sea Turf, Thrift. As to the name Sea 
 Daisy, Scrope says: "Even the hills afford good pasture, and are 
 scattered over with the Sea Daisy and other plants ". Names com- 
 pounded with cushion all refer to the tufted habit of the plant. 
 
 Thrift is astringent, hence its reputed use. Hut the principal value 
 of Thrift lies in its adaptation to the garden, where it is grown as an 
 edging plant, and is very prolific. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 197. Staticc maritiina. Mill. Flowering stem a scape, leaves 
 radical, tufted, oblong, mucronate, fleshy, linear, veined, flowers rose, in 
 round heads, with downy scapes, and scarious involucre, with scaly bracts. 
 
 VOL. II. ' 28
 
 194 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Sea Milkwort (Glaux maritima, L.) 
 
 This diminutive plant with its delicate flowers is represented in 
 ancient deposits in Interglacial beds at West Wittering, Sussex. It 
 is found in the Northern Temperate and Arctic Zones in Arctic 
 Europe, except in Turkey, N. Asia, W. Asia, eastwards as far as 
 N.W. Himalayas, and in North America. Sea Milkwort occurs on 
 the coasts of every maritime county in Great Britain, except those of 
 estuaries in Middlesex and Lanark, as in the case of the Sea Lavender. 
 
 Sea Milkwort is a maritime species addicted to the muddy shores 
 
 
 Photo. Dr. Somerville Hastings 
 
 SEA MILKWORT (Glanx maritima, L.) 
 
 of estuaries and coasts generally. In this it agrees with the habitats of 
 Sea Lavender, Sea Plantain, Scurvy Grass, Sea Kale, Sea Rocket. 
 It is found also in salt-pans in Worcester and Staffordshire. 
 
 This little plant is usually found in patches, like the Stonecrop and 
 other semi-prostrate plants. It has a suberect stem, at first prostrate. 
 The leaves are oval, bluish -green, smooth, stalkless, and entire. The 
 root-stock is stoloniferous. 
 
 The small flowers are pink, stalkless, and unique amongst apetalous 
 flowers. The flowers are suberect, with blunt segments. The calyx 
 is bell-shaped, and does duty for the corolla, with membranous margins. 
 The anthers are prominent. The capsule is small, globose, containing 
 seeds which are plano-convex.
 
 CENTAURY 195 
 
 Sea Milkwort is about 3 in. high. The flowers are in bloom in May 
 and June. The plant is perennial, and can be propagated from seed. 
 
 A small quantity of honey is secreted at the base of the calyx. 
 The flowers, which lack a corolla, are small and inconspicuous, and 
 the plant being maritime is little visited by insects. The stamens are 
 shorter than the stigma, and the style is threadlike, the stigma blunt, 
 and when mature the anthers are not quite projecting. Self-pollination 
 is thus rendered easy. The capsule is 5-valved and splits open when 
 ripe, and the seeds, which are few, are dispersed by the shaking of the 
 flowering stems by the wind. 
 
 Sea Milkwort is a salt-lover, and requires a saline soil. It is like- 
 wise a sand-loving plant, and addicted to sand. 
 
 The leaves are attacked by a fungus, sEcidium Glands. 
 
 G/a?t.r, Tournefort, is from the colour of the leaves, Greek glaucos, 
 bluish-green, and the second Latin name indicates its maritime habit. 
 
 Milkwort, Black Saltwort, Sea Trifoly are the names popular usage 
 has conferred upon this plant. In reference to the name Milkwort, 
 Lyte says: "This taken with meate, or milke, or potage, ingendreth 
 planty of milke: therefore it is goode to be used of nurses that lacke 
 milke. The same virtue hath Polygala taken with his leaves and 
 flowers." 
 
 It is a pretty little flower, and quite suited for garden culture in 
 pots or sandy soil in the open. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 204. Glaitx niarithna, L. Stem sub-prostrate, fleshy, leaves 
 glaucous, glabrous, ovate, opposite, flowers pink, in the axils, sessile, 
 apetalous, calyx coloured, blunt. 
 
 Centaury (Centaurium umbellatum, Gilib.) 
 
 This maritime and inland plant is found in the North Temperate 
 Zone in Europe, South of Scotland, N. Africa, and has been intro- 
 duced in North America. It is unknown in any early deposits. In 
 Great Britain it occurs on all the coasts, except Kincardine, N. Aber- 
 deen, Banff, W. Sutherland, Caithness, Orkneys, and is rare in the 
 Shetlands. 
 
 Centaury is essentially a maritime species, growing on practically 
 all the coasts of counties in Great Britain where the shore is sandy. 
 But it also occurs inland, and there grows on dry pastures and in sandy 
 fields, often in quarries or pits where exposed rocks have produced a 
 suitable sandv soil.
 
 196 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Centaury is a short, erect plant, repeatedly dividing into two above, 
 with a single stem below, square -stalked, with oblong egg-shaped, 
 lance-shaped leaves, with numerous parallel veins, and smooth, the 
 upper leaves acute. There are numerous radical leaves. 
 
 The flower is red or pink, with two kinds of style, and borne in a 
 paniclecl corymb of flowers, open in fine weather only. The flowers 
 are nearly stalkless. The calyx, 5 -fid, is less than the corolla, which is 
 
 tubular, and the flowering 
 stems are repeatedly divided. 
 The 5 lobes of the corolla 
 are oval. The lateral flowers 
 are stalked, or stalkless be- 
 tween two floral leaves. The 
 capsule is slender. 
 
 The plant is about 6 in. 
 to a foot in height. The 
 flowers bloom in July and 
 August, lasting 4 or 5 days, 
 and are open from 5-7 a.m. 
 up till midday, closing if it 
 rains. It is a deciduous, 
 herbaceous plant, propagated 
 by seed. 
 
 The anthers and stigma 
 are mature at the same time, 
 and the flower is somewhat 
 heterostylic, with pollen of 
 different sizes. The flowers 
 contain no honey, but are 
 visited by Lepidoptera. The 
 
 spiral stamens, like the twisting of the stigma in Sileneae (which are 
 pollinated by Lepidoptera), seem to be an adaptation to secure its 
 being touched by the thin proboscis. At first the stamens and pistil 
 are far apart, but approach later. Probably some soft tissue is pierced 
 by the insect with the sharp points at the tip of the proboscis to get at 
 the sweet sap. The flower is visited by the Humming-bird Hawk 
 Moth, Macroglossa stellataruin, Agrotis promtba, and other Lepido- 
 ptera, Bees, and by the Dipterous Empis. 
 
 The capsule is divided by septa, and when ripe the parts break 
 away and fall around the parent plant, allowing the seeds to 
 escape. 
 
 Photo. Dr. Somerville Hastings 
 
 CENTAURY (Centaurium umbellatum, Gilib.)
 
 SEASIDE BINDWEED 197 
 
 Centaury is a sand plant, and grows in sand soil on heaths and 
 bare ground. 
 
 Centaury is a food plant for Pteropkorus hoeuri. 
 
 Ccutauriuni, Dioscorides, is from the Latin, Centaur, Chiron the 
 Centaur being reputed to have discovered its medicinal properties. 
 The second Latin name refers to the umbellate head. 
 
 This plant is called Banwort, Bitter Herb, Bloodwort, Centaury, 
 Little Centaury, Century, Christ's Ladder, Earth-gall, Feltrike, Fever- 
 few, Mountain Flax, Gall-of- the- Earth, Gentian, Hurd-reve, Sanctuary. 
 On the shores of the Moray Firth it is called Gentian, where an 
 infusion is drunk as a tonic. 
 
 People used to burn it to expel serpents. An infusion was used to 
 remove freckles. The plant contains a bitter principle like Gentian. 
 It has been used as a tonic and febrifuge, and is a good stomachic. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 209. Centaurium nvibcllatniii, Gilib.- Stem erect, quadrangular, 
 branched above, leaves ovate, upper acute, Mowers pink, sub-sessile, in 
 corymbose cyme, calyx less than corolla, lobes of latter oval. 
 
 Seaside Bindweed (Calystegia Soldanella, Br.) 
 
 This plant is not found in any ancient deposits. In the North 
 Temperate Zone to-day it is found in Europe, South of Belgium, 
 N. Africa, \Y '. Asia, and the S. Temperate regions. In Britain it is 
 found around the entire coast, except in E. Sussex, Denbigh, S. Lines, 
 Northumberland, Berwick, Fife, as far as Islay, but on the west 
 to the southward, and in the Hebrides. It is native in Ireland and 
 the Channel Islands. 
 
 The Seaside Bindweed is a strictly maritime plant, a salt-lover, and 
 dry-soil type, growing on sandy coasts, where it obtains plenty of salt, 
 and where dry conditions are ensured. It is associated with Sea Kale, 
 Sea Rocket, Sea Milkwort, Samphire, and numerous other sand-loving 
 marine plants. 
 
 This seaside species differs from other bindweeds in not having 
 a climbing but a trailing stem. Its stem is prostrate, then ascending, 
 short, slender, and only rarely twining. The leaves are kidney-shaped 
 or heart-shaped, fleshy, with rounded lobes. The stems are often 
 much below the surface in the sand. 
 
 The flowers are flesh-coloured, borne on i -flowered flower-stalks, 
 square, with membranous angles. The bracts or leaflike organs are 
 less than the calyx, and egg-shaped. The flowers are large, axillary,
 
 198 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 and the pink corolla is marked with longitudinal yellowish or red 
 streaks. The capsule is large. 
 
 Seaside Bindweed is at most I ft. high. It is usually in flower in 
 June and July, and is a perennial plant, which is increased very freely 
 by division of the roots. 
 
 The flowers are complete and the plant is gynodioecious. The 
 flowers are as in C. arvensis, but they possess two bracts enclosing the 
 calyx, and the stigma is broad. The stamens and pistil vary in length. 
 
 SEASIDE BINDWEED (Calystegia Soldanella, Br.) 
 
 Being a maritime plant it is not visited to any extent by insects. In 
 C. arvensis, which is pollinated like the Seaside Bindweed, the flowers 
 are scented, opening between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., closing at night and 
 during rain. There is honey at the base of the tube. The stamens 
 lie close to the tube and have enlarged bases. At their edge the 
 anther-stalks are interwoven by stiff projections. The anthers open 
 outwards and lie below the stigmas, which an insect touches first. 
 The corolla may have a red band, the flower may be small, and there 
 may be a pistillate type with short stamens and undeveloped anthers. 
 The capsule splits open when ripe, and is filled with black seeds, 
 which are dispersed around the parent plant being aided partly by the 
 wind.
 
 SEA PLANTAIN 199 
 
 The plant is a salt-lover, and grows in saline soil which is largely 
 sand soil also. 
 
 A fungus, Thecaphora kyalina, attacks the leaves. 
 
 Calystcgia is from two Greek words denoting calyx and cover, 
 reference being to the two large bracts of the calyx. Soldanella, 
 Dodona;us, is possibly derived from the Latin soldo, an Italian coin, 
 because of its rounded leaves. 
 
 Sea Bells, Sea Bindweed, Sea Cawle, Sea Coale, Sea Cole, Sea 
 Colewort, Sea Foalfoot, Scottish Scurvy Grass, Sea \\ithwind, are 
 names it has been given. Sea Foalfoot is bestowed on it because 
 of the shape of the leaves, and Scottish Scurvy Grass because, as 
 Gerard says, "They use it instead of true scurvy grass (Cochlearia 
 ojjicinalis} ". The plant is an acrid purgative. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 221. Calystegia Soldanella, Br. Stem prostrate, short, leaves fleshy, 
 reniform, flowers pink, with yellow bands, bracts shorter than the calyx, 
 on winged, square stalks. 
 
 Sea Plantain (Plantago maritima, L.) 
 
 Though an Arctic plant this maritime species, like some other mari- 
 time plants, is not represented in any ancient deposits. It is found 
 to-day in Arctic and Temperate Europe, N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, 
 as far east as the Himalayas, and in N. America. This plant is found 
 around the entire coast of Great Britain, except in Middlesex, as far 
 north as the Shetlands, and by mountain streams in Yorkshire and 
 Perth up to a height of 1800 ft. 
 
 Sea Plantain is one of those species which are more or less confined 
 to maritime conditions, existing there as a halophyte, growing in salt 
 marshes close to the sea with Saltwort, Samphire, Sea Rush, Sea Club 
 Rush, Sand Sedge, Marram Grass, and other seaside grasses that 
 fringe the salt-pans and the coast. It also invades the inland streams 
 in the far north at high altitudes, just as Thrift and some other plants 
 do, growing in crannies and holes. 
 
 This plant has the grass habit with only radical leaves, the aerial 
 stems being scapes only. The leaves are smooth, long, lance-shaped, 
 erect, 1 fleshy, toothed, with three veins, narrowed into leaf-stalks below, 
 and at the base downy, semi-cylindrical, not flat. The leaves vary in 
 size from an inch to a foot and in other particulars. 
 
 The flowers are green, variable in number, borne on a rounded, 
 
 1 In the broad-leaved types they are horizontal.
 
 200 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 smooth scape, sometimes hairy. The anthers are yellow, on long 
 anther-stalks. The 4 sepals are not winged, the tube of the corolla 
 is downy, the placenta 2 -winged, and the seeds are single in each 
 cell, the capsule being 2-celled. 
 
 The plant is 6 in. to i ft. high. The flowers bloom in July, open- 
 ing in fine weather closing when it is wet, and the plant is perennial, 
 propagated by seeds. 
 
 The Mowers are complete, homomorphous, the tube of the corolla 
 downy, to catch pollen, and the stamens are long and thin, pale yellow, 
 
 Photo. Messrs. R 
 
 SEA PLANTAIN (Plantago maritima, L.) 
 
 sensitive, easily shaken by wind. In Plantago lanceolata the flower is 
 proterogynous, the stigmas maturing first, and the plant is gvnodicecious, 
 with female and complete flowers on different plants, while P. media 
 is intermediate between them, being pollinated by the wind and also 
 by insects, and less proterogynous, being dimorphic, with two forms 
 of flower. Some of the species are cleistogamic with closed flowers. 
 This one is pollinated by the wind. The style has two lines of hairs. 
 The stigma is feathery. The anther cavity is small, and pollen is only 
 dispersed if the stamens are violently shaken. The anthers open 
 above. The pollen is a dry dust and is moistened by bees. 
 
 The capsule when ripe splits across, and sets free the large seeds, 
 which fall around the plant, and being winged they may be blown some 
 little distance by the wind.
 
 SALTWORT 201 
 
 The plant is a salt-lover and requires a saline soil, and is also a 
 sand plant, and grows on sand soil, or a rock plant, growing on rocks. 
 
 It is galled by Mecinus collaris, a beetle. A Thysanopterous 
 insect, Thrips subatra, is found on it, also two moths, Fumca ret ice/la, 
 Gc Ice Ilia instabilclla. 
 
 Plantago, Pliny, may be from the Latin planta, sole of foot, from 
 the shape of the leaf, and the second Latin name indicates its 
 habitat. 
 
 This maritime species is known by the names of Bucks-horn, 
 Buck's-horn Plantain, Gibbals, Sea Kemps. Sea Plantain. 
 
 Lightfoot relates how he " went to Rummy Marshes, about two 
 miles from Cardiff, where we saw large crops of the Plantago maritima, 
 call'd here by the people Gibbals, which the hogs are very fond of. 
 They root up the roots as we saw, and grow fat upon them, as we 
 were assured. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 263. Plantago niaritiina, L. Flowering stem a scape, leaves 
 radical, fleshy, linear, convex below, scape terete, flowers 3-4, sepals 
 not winged. 
 
 Saltwort (Salsola Kali. L.) 
 
 This is quite unrepresented as a maritime species in early deposits. 
 It is found in the North Temperate Zone in Europe, X. and S. Africa, 
 and X. and \Y. Asia, India, X. and S. America, Australia. In Great 
 Britain it does not grow in \Y. Sussex, S.E. Vorks, Renfrew, Mid 
 Ebudes, \V. Ross. \Y. Sunderland. the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. 
 It ranges from Caithness to the south coast, and is found in Ireland 
 and the Channel Islands. 
 
 Saltwort is a maritime species, a typical salt-lover, on which account 
 indeed it is used commercially to obtain salt, and is found on all the 
 sandy coasts of Great Britain, growing in the same habitats as Sea 
 Blite. Samphire, and many other true salt-lovers, abounding in salt 
 and yielding alkali, whence the Latin, Arabic, and English names. 
 
 Saltwort is a spreading or prostrate plant, with hairy, limp, or fleshy 
 stems. The leaves are awl-shaped, bluntly terminated with a sharp 
 point, spinous. hairy, sub -cylindrical. The stem is finely furrowed, 
 branched, wavy, angular, and rigid. 
 
 The flowers are small, single, pink, inconspicuous, with the winged 
 appendages of the calyx spreading, scarious, or with a membranous 
 margin, rose-coloured. The bracts or leaflike organs are 3. spinous. 
 The segments of the perianth are as long as the appendages. The
 
 2O2 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 flowers are axillary, the seeds are brown, and adhere to the mem- 
 branous pericarp. 
 
 The plant is 6 in. to i ft. high. It flowers in July and August. 
 Saltwort is annual, propagated by seeds. 
 
 The plant is dichogamous, the anthers and stigma ripening at 
 different times. The stamens, 3-5, are hypogynous, the ovary superior, 
 the anther -stalks linear. The style is elongate, and the stigmas 
 attenuate. The plant is pollinated by the wind or is self-pollinated. 
 
 SALTWORT (Salsola Kail, L.) 
 
 The anthers and stigma may ripen together, or the latter first. Pollen 
 may be carried about by creeping insects. 
 
 The fruit is a utricle, is enclosed in a winged calyx, and may be 
 dispersed mainly by the wind. 
 
 The plant is a salt-lover addicted to saline soil, and is also a sand 
 plant flourishing in sand soil. 
 
 Three moths, the Sand Dart (Agrotis rip(?\ Coast Dart (A. cursoria), 
 and Gymnancyla canella, and a Heteropterous insect, Orthotylus 
 rubidus, infest it. 
 
 Salsola, Caesalpinus, is from the Latin sal or salsus, salt, from the 
 abundance of alkali yielded by its ashes, and kali is an Arabic word for 
 the ashes of the saltwort or the glasswort, or for the plants themselves. 
 
 Saltwort is called Eestrige, Prickly Glasswort, Kelpwort, Sowd- 
 wort, Sea Thrift. The name Prickly Glasswort is bestowed on it from
 
 SEA BUCKTHORN 203 
 
 its prickly nature, and because it was used for the manufacture of 
 barilla for glass-making. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 266. Salsola Kali, L. Stem prostrate, branched, leaves rough, 
 spinous, subulate, with prickles at the extremity, flowers axillary, with 
 3 bracts at the base. 
 
 Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides, L.) 
 
 Local and confined to the sea margin this plant is apparently not 
 represented in any early deposits in Great Britain, but is recorded from 
 the Oak Zone in Gothland. It is found in the N. Temperate Zone in 
 Europe, N. and Central Asia, as far east as the Himalayas. 
 
 In Great Britain it is found in W. Cornwall, E. Kent, E. Suffolk, 
 E. and \V. Norfolk, Anglesea, N. Lines, S.E. Yorks, N.E. Yorks, 
 Dumfries, Wigtown, Ayr, Renfrew, Forfar, N. Aberdeen, Main 
 Argyll, \Y. Ross, or from York to Kent and Sussex. It is common 
 and only naturalized in Scotland and Ireland. 
 
 This is one of the peculiarly characteristic maritime species growing 
 on sandy shores, where it is a salt-lover and a dry-soil type. It forms 
 a natural defence by helping to bind the sand together. Doubtless 
 this reason has caused it to be planted in some spots where it was not 
 formerly present. 
 
 This is a compact prickly shrub, which is much branched and 
 generally erect. The leaves are linear lance-shaped, silvery, with a 
 furrow in the centre, limp, alternate, dullish green above. After 
 flowering they elongate. There are red scales on the underside of 
 the leaf. 
 
 Sea Buckthorn is a dioecious plant, with axillary minute male 
 flowers in clusters, the sepals broadly oblong. The flowers appear 
 with the young leaves. The female flowers are solitary. The fruit is 
 a berry, orange, enclosed in the calyx, membranous, with oblong seeds. 
 
 The plant is 1-8 ft. high. It flowers in May. The Sea Buckthorn 
 is a shrub. 
 
 The plant is dioecious, the male flowers minute in axillary clusters, 
 the female solitary. The filaments are short and the anthers yellow. 
 The flowers are pollinated by the wind. The bracteoles form a hood 
 over the male flowers to protect them from the rain, separating when 
 it is dry, allowing pollen to be blown away by the wind. 
 
 The utricle is orange-red when ripe, and probably principally dis- 
 persed by birds.
 
 204 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 A beetle, Haltica tamaricis, a moth, Gelechia hippophaella, three 
 Homoptera, Cixiits stigmaticus, C. remotus, Psylla hippophaes, are found 
 upon it. A Hawk Moth, with large orange caterpillars, feeds on it, 
 resembling the yellow fruits. 
 
 Hippophae, Dioscorides, is from the Greek hippos, horse, phao, 
 shine; rhamnoides means buckthorn-like. 
 
 The plant is called Sea Buckthorn, Sallow Thorn, Willow-thorn, 
 Wirwivvle, Wyrvivle. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 273. Hippophae rhamnoides, L. Dioecious shrub, spinose, leaves 
 linear-lanceolate, silvery, male flowers in catkins, female solitary, berries 
 scarlet. 
 
 Common Sea Rush (Juncus maritimus, Lam.) 
 
 Few of the maritime species are preserved in seed-bearing beds, 
 partly because no sections present themselves, and partly because the 
 sea line in still earlier times was different, England being joined to 
 the Continent, and most of the maritime species are of more recent 
 date. The Common Sea Rush is no exception to this rule. This plant 
 ranges in the N. Temperate Zone from Gothland to Turkey, N. Africa, 
 W. Siberia, North America. In Great Britain it is absent in N. Wales 
 from Merioneth, Carnarvon, in the Trent province from S. Lines, in 
 the H umber province from S.E. Yorks, not occurring in Cumberland 
 in the Lakes province, the coasts of Berwick, Haddington, Edinburgh, 
 Forfar, Aberdeen, Banff, Main Argyll, Mid Ebudes, and not in the 
 N. Highlands or N. Isles. Elsewhere it is general around the coast 
 from I slay and Elgin to the English Channel. It is common in 
 I reland. 
 
 The Common Sea Rush is familiar to all dwellers by the sea-coast, 
 being a regular member of the Salt-marsh formation, where it forms a 
 continuous fringe, as it does along the sea-coast itself. It grows with 
 other Rushes, Sedges, and Grasses, helping in places to protect the 
 coast from incursions of the sea. 
 
 Owing to its deeply -rooted character forming a densely -matted 
 entanglement in which sand is retained, it is used as a coast protector 
 in Europe and America. The first Latin name refers to the use made 
 of Rushes as ropes, on account of their stringy nature. The stem 
 is wiry, erect, slender, with pale sheaths. The leaves are rounded and 
 acute. 
 
 The flowers are pale, apetalous, without a corolla, in a loose 
 cyme which is terminal, and proliferous. The involucre consists of
 
 KEY TO PLATE XVI 
 
 /r> Pistil, with 2 
 
 '^Stamen, 
 l\ <, Spadn, 
 
 \\ pistils J^nfling. Utride. 
 \ y, PlaafCsbowinr\ leaves and 
 
 , 
 
 (Sarpuj Hueritimus, 
 
 a, Stamens and pbtH, en 
 
 larged. ,>Z/Glume. ,. Nut 
 
 glumes, and stamefts 
 
 g me ^Noriet.r, Flower 
 
 h 6 bristles. X 
 vfith leaves and ^ 
 Flower-stalk, with 
 
 ad pistil, enlarged. , Sec- 
 tfon of leaf. * Stem, -v tl 
 sheath, ltguie > and leaf show 
 
 tWfertile ^on of leal'. * Stem, wi 
 ' bracts. 
 
 jug in rolled margin. 4, Spike, 
 
 w.th dowers, aixi antbers in 
 hi '
 
 IVX 3TAJ1 OT Y3X 
 
 UV^^R"" r,i\\
 
 FLOWERS OF THF SEA-COAST 
 
 PLATE XVI 
 
 r/ia'inioni.-f. I..'. 2. ('<>mmn Sea Ku>h i ///'/<//.< marilimns, I.am.i. j. fir; 
 4. Sea Chil. Rnsli (Sdi-nts waritinuis, I., i. 5. Sand Scdyc (Car, \ arcnaria, L 
 6. .Marram (ir;iss (Awi/tofhila an naria, Link.j,
 
 COMMON SEA RUSH 
 
 207 
 
 2 perianth -segments, which are as spiny and as long as the capsule, 
 which is oblong-acute. The dry perianth is regular. 
 
 The plant is 4 ft. high. It flowers in August. Sea Rush is peren- 
 nial and propagated by seed. 
 
 The stigma matures before the anthers, and self-pollination is thus 
 rendered impossible. As in the other species of the genus the flowers 
 are pollinated by the agency of the wind. There are 6 stamens, a short 
 style, 3 stigmas, with wart-like knobs all over. The flowers last for a 
 day and a half, the female condition 
 only a day. The flowering is inter- 
 mittent. 
 
 The capsule splits when ripe, 
 and the seeds are numerous and 
 dispersed close to the parent plant, 
 this species growing in clumps 
 covering wide areas. 
 
 The plant is a salt-lover, and 
 grows in saline soil, being at the 
 same time a sand plant, and ad- 
 dicted to sand soil. 
 
 Sea Rush is liable to attack 
 by a fungus, Sclcrotinia currcyana. 
 Rushes, maritime and inland, are 
 the resort of numerous Coleoptera, 
 e.g. Agonium micans, A. finellns, 
 Demetrius unipunctulatns, Ouc dins 
 semiceneuS) Crepidodera transversa, 
 Cere us rujilabris, Telephones 01 'a Us ; 
 Heteroptera, Teratocoris Saundersi, 
 Mccomma ctnibulans, Cyrtorrhinus cartel s, C. pygmeeus\ Homoptera, 
 Liburnia rcuosa, L. linibetta, L. douglasi, Livia juncorum. 
 
 Juiiciis, Pliny, is the Latin for rush. The second Latin name here 
 refers to the maritime habitat. 
 
 The roots strike deep into the sand, and a clump forms a regular 
 network or matted mass, and is excellent for reclaiming shifting sands. 
 Hence it has been planted for coast protection with J. acutus, &c. 
 The stems are cut down when ripe, and dried like corn, and used 
 for bedding, fodder, &c. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 305. Juncus maritinius, Lam. Stem tall, erect, leaves terete, acute, 
 long, flowers in long lax raceme, perianth-segments as long as capsule. 
 
 COMMON SEA RUSH (Juncus maritimus 
 Lam.)
 
 208 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Grass Wrack (Zostera marina, L.) 
 
 This is not known in early deposits, though Zostera-like foliage 
 occurs in estuarine deposits, but it is found in plant beds in S. Sweden 
 in Gothland. To-day its distribution is around the North Temperate 
 and Arctic coasts. In Great Britain it is absent from the coast of 
 N. Devon, Cardigan, Merioneth, Denbigh, Flint, Westmorland, Dum- 
 fries, Berwick, Aberdeen, 
 Banff, Mid Ebudes, but is 
 generally distributed else- 
 where, around the coast of 
 other maritime counties, as 
 far north as the Shetlands, 
 and in Ireland and the 
 Channel Islands. 
 
 This is one of the few 
 marine, aquatic plants which 
 grow in salt water at low- 
 water mark, and they are 
 typical of the flora of estu- 
 aries, and coasts which ex- 
 hibit numerous small bays 
 and inlets, especially on 
 sandy and muddy coasts. 
 
 The habit is that of a 
 submerged, streaming sea- 
 weed. The leaves are grass- 
 like, borne on flattened or 
 nearly round stems, and are 
 long, lance-shaped, wavy, 
 
 blunt, with 1-7 nerves, bright green, and entire. The first Greek 
 name indicates their ribbon-like character. 
 
 The flowers are green, enclosed in a spathe or sheath which is like 
 a hollowed-out leaf, on a long, stout flower- stalk, like the leaves, 
 enclosing a spadix with anthers and an ovary, in two series, opposite, 
 the ovary alternating with the stamens, and stalkless. The capsule 
 contains i ribbed seed, and is furrowed, and the seed milky-white. 
 The spaclix is not banded and contains many flowers. The top of the 
 spathe exceeds the spadix. There is no extine in the pollen. 
 
 Grass W T rack is 1-3 ft. long. It flowers in August and September. 
 Grass Wrack is perennial and propagated by seeds. 
 
 A. R. Horwood 
 
 GRASS WRACK (Zostera marina, L.)
 
 SEA CLUB RUSH 209 
 
 The stamens with 2 half-anthers and the carpels with 2 stigmas 
 are borne in two rows on a spadix enclosed in a spathe. The flowers 
 are submerged. The pollen tubes are long thread-like bodies, which 
 float in sea water at any depth, having the same specific gravity. The 
 hairlike stigmas being large and projecting easily catch some of the 
 threads, and are pollinated in this way by water as trees are by the 
 wind. 
 
 The fruit is an achene, which is furrowed, and the plant being 
 immersed the seeds are dispersed by water. 
 
 This species is aquatic and confined to sea water. 
 
 A beetle, Hcpinonia Curtisi, is found on it. 
 
 Zostera, Linnaeus, is from the Greek zoster, girdle, in allusion to 
 the long strap-shaped, streaming leaves. The meaning of the specific 
 name is obvious. 
 
 Grass "Wrack is also called Barnacle-grass, Drew, Sweet Grass, 
 Grass-weed, Mallow, Sleech, Widgeon Grass, and Sea Wrack. 
 Another name is Bellware, this plant being the " Seaweed " from 
 which kelp is made. 
 
 The leaves are used as manure in Sweden and Holland, and used 
 for stuffing packing-cases, beds, and cushions, being flexible. It is 
 used for the covering of liqueur flasks. It is also employed for thatch- 
 ing, roofs thus made lasting over 100 years. Grass Wrack is also used 
 for packing glass and china. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 317. Zostera marina, L. Leaves broadly linear, veined, sub- 
 merged, flower in spadix, fruit a nut. 
 
 Sea Club Rush (Scirpus maritimus, L.) 
 
 Found in Neolithic deposits at Southampton clocks, like other 
 maritime but Arctic species, this is represented in plant beds of Glacial 
 and later age. It is found to-day in N. Temperate and Arctic Europe, 
 N. Africa, W. Siberia, N.W. India, and N. America. In Great 
 Britain it is found in Surrey, Berks, and Middlesex, on the banks of 
 the Thames, and in Cambridge and Huntingdon, Worcester, Warwick, 
 Stafford, Montgomery, and Perth amongst inland counties, and is 
 absent from the coastal counties of Cardigan and Westmorland, ranging 
 elsewhere; but is not found in Banff and Elgin, S. or Mid Ebudes, 
 W. Ross, and farther north or west it is only found in the Hebrides, 
 and from Ross and Skye it is general elsewhere to the English 
 Channel. It is also a native of Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 VOL. II. 29
 
 210 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Sea Club Rush is one of the commonest maritime species, being 
 found more continuously along the coast on sandy shores and in 
 estuaries and salt marshes than any other plant. It is also, like Golden 
 Dock, found inland. It grows above high-water mark on sand dunes, 
 as well as farther inland. 
 
 The stem is 3 -angled and leafy, from a tuberous root. The stems 
 
 are tufted, and bear leaves 
 at the base, which are 
 broad, long, and keeled, 
 with channels. 
 
 The flowers are borne 
 in a dense terminal cyme 
 or cluster, the spikes be- 
 ing stalkless or stalked, 
 with long leafy bracts. 
 The glumes are smooth, 
 blunt, with a sharp point, 
 divided nearly to the base, 
 and there are 6 bristles. 
 The nut is 3 - sided, 
 flattened lengthwise, and 
 shiny. 
 
 The plant is 2-3 ft. 
 high. Flowers are to be 
 found in July up to Sep- 
 tember. It is perennial, 
 and propagated by suckers. 
 The flowers are pol- 
 linated by the wind, bisexual, with similar floral mechanism to the 
 Bulrush. 
 
 The fruit is a nut, indehiscent, which falls when ripe to the ground, 
 and is dispersed by the plant itself or by the wind. 
 
 Sea Club Rush is a salt-lover, addicted to a saline soil, and at 
 the same time a sand plant, being more essentially the latter than 
 the former. 
 
 It is infested by a Homopterous insect, Paramesus nervosus. 
 The second Latin name refers to its maritime habitat, and Scirpus 
 is Latin for rush or bulrush. 
 
 The plant is called Spurt, Star Grass. 
 
 The roots taste sweet, and have been ground and used for flour. 
 The plant is relished by cattle, and also especially by swine. 
 
 SKA CLUB RUSH (Scirpus maritim-us, L.)
 
 SAXD SEDGE (Carex arenaria, L.) 
 
 Photo H Irvi 
 
 SEASIDE AIANXA GRASS (Glycerin marih 
 Alert, and Koch)
 
 SAND SEDGE 213 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 321. Scirpns maritimuS) L. Stem caespitose, leaves numerous, 
 furrowed, linear, spikelets in cyme, many, brown. 
 
 Sand Sedge (Carex arenaria, L.) 
 
 This common maritime sedge is found in the North Temperate 
 Zone in Europe and Siberia, but not in any early plant beds. It 
 occurs in all maritime counties, except \V. Kent, S. Lines, N. Ebudes, 
 as far north as the Shetland Islands. Inland it is found in Surrey, 
 Norfolk, Suffolk, Ireland, and the Channel Islands. 
 
 The Sand Sedge is a familiar seaside species, which is very widely 
 distributed and common on sandy coasts, growing on sand dunes and 
 elsewhere at high-water mark amongst grasses and herbage, and helping 
 to bind it together by its numerous stolons. 
 
 From a creeping root, which forms a matted kind of growth over 
 a wide area, the stems are but short, with long, underground trailing 
 shoots lying on or near the surface, curved, 3-sided, 1 and roughish. 
 The leaves are rigid, with the margins rolled back. The bracts resemble 
 the leaves, the lower ones being subfoliaceous and membranous. 
 
 The flowers are in spikelets, borne in a terminal spike, with barren 
 upper male flowers, the fertile ones below, many-flowered, crowded, and 
 interrupted. The spikes are flattened at the margin, and pale brown. 
 The nut is brownish in colour, and flat, plano-convex, with 2 ridges. 
 There are 2 stigmas with branched styles. The spikelets are more or 
 less unisexual. 
 
 The Sand Sedge is 6 in. high. The flowers are found in June. 
 The plant is perennial, propagating itself rapidly in loose sand, on 
 which account it is used for planting to keep the coast unimpaired. 
 
 The flowers are proterogynous, the stigmas ripening first, bringing 
 about cross-pollination, and they are wind-pollinated. The flowers 
 are solitary, and the lower are female, the upper male, and those in 
 the middle are bisexual. There are 2-3 stamens and 2 stigmas. 
 
 The nut, a utricle (one-seeded), when ripe falls in the immediate 
 vicinity of the parent plants, being indehiscent, and thus clumps of the 
 plant are formed in course of time. The plant is also reproduced 
 vegetatively to a very great extent. 
 
 It is a salt-lover, living in a saline soil, and at the same time a 
 sand plant, requiring a sand soil. 
 
 Two stages of the fungi Puccinia arenariicola and P. schoeleriana 
 
 1 Possibly connected with the threefold arrangement of the leaves.
 
 2i 4 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 attack this plant, the first stages in each case growing on a Composite 
 plant. This and other Carices are also liable to be infested by 
 Sclerotinia duriceama. 
 
 A beetle, Anthicus biinaculatus, is found amongst herbage made up 
 of this sand sedge. 
 
 Carex is the Latin word for reed-grass or sedge, and the second 
 Latin name indicates its preference for a sandy habitat. It is called 
 Sea Bent and Stare. 
 
 The Sand Sedge has been planted on dykes in Holland to prevent 
 the incursions of the sea, and has been used for this purpose on the 
 British coast. From the roots a sort of sarsaparilla has been made in 
 Germany. Sedges have been used as fodder for cattle, for thatch, 
 and fuel. Some species are used like Raffia Grass to tie up vines, 
 or to put between the staves of casks to make them water-tight, and 
 they have also been woven over Florence flasks, or used for chair 
 bottoms. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 325. Carex arenaria, L. Stem rough above, soboles long, leaves 
 linear-lanceolate, spike oblong, interrupted, upper spikelets male, fruit 
 ovate, broadly winged. 
 
 Marram Grass (Ammophila arenaria, Link.) 
 
 This littoral grass is found in the North Temperate region in 
 Europe and N. Africa, not having yet been found in any Glacial 
 plant beds. In Great Britain it is found on the coast of all maritime 
 counties except \V. Kent, Gloucs, S. Lines, Westmorland, I. of Man, 
 Lanark, Perth, Westerness, Main Argyll, N. Ebudes, Ross, E. Suther- 
 land, as far north as the Shetlands. It is a native of Ireland and the 
 Channel Islands. 
 
 Marram Grass is a common maritime species, so much so as to 
 form practically an association along the littoral with different species 
 of Agropyron and Elymus. It grows only on sandy coasts, being 
 strictly a sand-lover, as the second Latin name indicates, and frequents 
 sandhills at high-water level, invading the sand dunes inland for some 
 distance. It has been regularly planted in Norfolk forecast protection, 
 and laws regulate its removal. 
 
 The stem is tall, erect, stout, rigid, from a creeping root (with 
 numerous tubers), which is matted and binds the sand around its base 
 closely together. The leaves are long, smooth on the outside, rough 
 within, with their edges rolled inward, acute, and bluish-green, with
 
 MARRAM GRASS 
 
 long sheaths at the base, and the ligule is torn, long, and split into two 
 portions. 
 
 The panicle is cylindrical, linear, stouter in the middle. The glumes 
 are long, acute, with hairs a third as long as the palea. The anthers 
 are yellow and linear. 
 
 Marram Grass is 2, 3, or 4 ft. high. Flowers may be found 
 in July. The plant is a perennial, propagated by division, and 
 widely planted. 
 
 The flowers are bi- 
 sexual, and pollinated by 
 the wind. There are 
 3 stamens, short styles, 
 and feathery stigmas. 
 The anthers are yellow 
 and linear. 
 
 The fruit is attached 
 to the glume, and is dis- 
 persed by the latter by 
 aid of the wind. 
 
 Fhe plant is a salt- 
 lover and grows in saline 
 soil, and is at the same 
 time a sand plant, and 
 grows in the sand. 
 
 It is attacked by a 
 f u n g u s , Ustilago hypo - 
 dytcs, and is galled by 
 Eurytoma hyalipennis. A Heteropterous insect, Chorosoma schilling} % 
 and a Homopterous insect, Liburnia boldi, are found on Marram 
 Grass. 
 
 Ammophila is from the Greek psammos ( ammos\ sand, and 
 phileo, I love, and the second Latin name refers to the sandy habitat. 
 Marram, Danish Markaim = sea haulm or straw. 
 
 This plant is called Bent, Broad Bent, Helme, Marram, Mat-grass, 
 Mat Reed, Signs, Spire, Stare. 
 
 On account of the long creeping rhizomes it is used for binding- 
 sand together, and has helped to reclaim much land on the east coast. 
 It is both planted and encouraged on the Norfolk and other coasts, 
 having rhizomes 30 ft. long sometimes, which are used as ropes. It 
 is used for thatching. So important was the service it rendered in 
 staving back the advance of the sea that it was held to be penal to 
 
 MARRAM GRASS (AmmophiL
 
 216 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 destroy it, laws being framed to prevent its destruction. It has been 
 used for mats (hence the name). 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 332. AniniopJiila arenaria, Link. Stem tall, erect, leaves involute, 
 glaucous, long, panicle in spike, cylindrical, glumes keeled. 
 
 Hedgehog Grass (Cynosurus echinatus, L.) 
 
 This common maritime grass is found in the North Temperate 
 Zone in Mid and S. Europe, N. Africa, and West Asia, but not in 
 early plant beds. The typical station for this species is in the Channel 
 Islands, and it is merely an introduction on the coasts of Great Britain, 
 as well as inland, as it is also in Ireland. In its native habitat this 
 grass grows on the seashore on coasts normally sandy. It has been 
 brought over to England, and is found on the British coast, but in 
 inland stations it has been dispersed with ballast, coming up in waste 
 places, mills, offal yards, and so on. 
 
 The stem is erect, with broad, flat leaves, and the plant is in 
 general taller and larger than the Common Dog's Tail Grass. The 
 bracts are comblike, with long points. 
 
 Hedgehog Grass has a dense, spikelike panicle which is narrowed, 
 glossy, lobed, and with comblike branches which have awl-like seg- 
 ments, with a membranous edge, and rough. The awns are short, 
 and as long as the palea. The empty glumes are hyaline, or semi- 
 transparent, the flowering ones green. 
 
 This grass is 1-2 ft. high. The flowers are in bloom in July. The 
 plant is annual and propagated by seeds. 
 
 The spikelets are in a dense panicle and dimorphous. The floral 
 structure is similar to that of other grasses, with 3 stamens, yellow 
 anthers, short and terminal styles, and feathery stigmas. The flowers 
 are wind-pollinated. The anthers and stigma ripen at the same 
 time. 
 
 The fruit is light, and easily dispersed by the wind, the glume and 
 palea being attached to it. 
 
 The plant is a salt-lover and found in saline soil. 
 
 A butterfly, the Small Heath (Ccsnonvmpha pamphilus], is the only 
 insect which is attracted by it. 
 
 Cynosurus, Linnaeus, is from the Greek ciion, dog, and oura, tail, 
 from the shape of the spike, and the second Latin name refers to its 
 spinous character. The only name cited by Britten & Holland is 
 Cock's Comb Grass.
 
 KEY TO PLATE XVII 
 
 No. i. Seaside Manna Grass 
 (Glyceria tnaritima, WahL) 
 
 a, Floret, witlj stamens and 4 
 versatile anthers, with palea, 
 with inflexedjedges, and flow- 
 ering glume. I, Pistil, with 
 2 feathery stigmas, c, Spike- 
 let, with anthers appearing 
 between glumes of 
 florets, d, Stem, with 
 and sheaths and flowers ip 
 panicle. 8 
 
 No. 2. rf edgebog Grass 
 
 (Cynosurus echinatus, L.) 
 
 a. Floret, with-ciliate palea, 
 awned flowering glume, and 
 within stamens, with yellow 
 anthers, a^d pistil with stig- 
 mas (feathfcry) ; empty glumes 
 below. ^Floret, with pecti- 
 t nate em pty glumes and sp i ke- 
 ' let With glumes ani^anthie^ 
 Xfc, Plant, wjkh root^tpHc, M0ts, 
 r leaves\\^ ' 
 with spik 
 
 ' 
 
 ushy Wheat Grass/ 
 
 njunceum, Beauv.) 
 with stamens, long ; 
 -.-^and ^urp/e anthers, 
 palea and flowering glume, d, 
 Sptfctffety'/^f lowering steal/ 
 with leaves, sheathed belovr 
 and spike with altern^t 
 
 No. 4. Squirrel-tail Grass 
 (Hordeutn maritimum, With.) 
 a, Pistil, with 2 feathery stigmas, lodicules 
 below, b, Bisexual middle spikelet with 
 palea, awned flowering glume, and awned 
 setaceous empty glumes, c. Lateral floret 
 with awned empty glumes ; awns! longer 
 than the glume, curved flowering jlumes, 
 and rachilla. ^Flowering steito, with 
 sheathing leaf and spike, with awned 
 spikdets.
 
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 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 PLATE XVII
 
 HEDGEHOG GRASS (Cynosurus echinatus, L.) SQUIRREL TAIL GRASS (Honienm marilinium, L.)
 
 218 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 337- Cynosurus echinatus, L. Stem erect, flowers in dense raceme, 
 the awns as long as the palea, with bristly bracts. 
 
 Seaside Manna Grass (Glyceria maritima, Mert. et Koch) 
 
 (See illustration on p. 211.) 
 
 In common with other maritime plants our only knowledge of this 
 grass is obtained from its present-day distribution in the N. Temperate 
 Zone in Europe, N. Africa, Siberia, and N. America. It is found 
 around the whole of the British coasts, except in Pembroke, Cardigan, 
 Merioneth, Denbigh, Lines, as far north as the Shetlands. It is also 
 a native of Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 The seaside form of Manna Grass is a very universally dispersed 
 maritime species, which is typically a salt-lover, and is found almost 
 exclusively on coasts that are muddy or sandy, occurring in the same 
 stations as G. distant and various other grasses. 
 
 The stem is round and smooth, the root fibrous, creeping, and with 
 long trailing shoots, rooting and leafy. The leaves are acute, with a 
 strong ridge, the margin rolled inwards, with smooth sheaths, and a 
 long blunt ligule. 
 
 The flowers are borne on a one-sided panicle, which is branched 
 and narrowed, with solitary or the lower 2-3 short branches, horizontal, 
 sometimes turned down, with a nearly round rachis. The spikelets are 
 5-flowered and blunt, linear, 5-nerved, the empty glumes subacute. 
 The lower palea is blunt apiculate, rolled inwards. 
 
 The plant is about i ft. high. It flowers in July. Seaside Manna 
 Grass is perennial, increasing by means of its stolons. 
 
 The flowers are pollinated by the wind, and the stigmas mature 
 first, ensuring cross-pollination. The stamens are 3, the styles are 
 short or wanting, and the stigmas feathery, the spikelets being 5, in a 
 narrowed panicle. 
 
 The fruit, covered by the glume, is light, and wind-borne. 
 
 This Manna Grass is a salt-lover, and grows in a saline soil. It is 
 also a sand plant, and addicted to a sand soil or a dirty loam. A moth, 
 Epichnopteryx reticella, is found to infest it. 
 
 Glyceria, R. Brown, is from the Greek glukeros, sweet, in allusion 
 to the sweet grains, and the second Latin name refers to the habitat 
 (maritime). 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 339. Glyceria maritima, Mert. et Koch. Root creeping, fibrous,
 
 RUSHY WHEAT GRASS 219 
 
 leaves involute, ribbed, ligule blunt, panicle contracted, lower palea 
 blunt, spikelets compressed. 
 
 Rushy Wheat Grass (Agropyron junceum, Beauv.) 
 
 This is a common maritime grass, found in the N. Temperate Zone 
 in Europe, N. Africa, and N. America. It is found in every maritime 
 county in Great Britain, except S. Lines, Westmorland, Kirkcudbright, 
 Linlithgow, S. Perth, N. Perth; but there is some doubt as to what 
 was meant by the name in early days, so that it is uncertain if all 
 the older stations are correct. It is thus found from the Orkneys to 
 Devon and Kent, and in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 
 
 The Rushy Wheat Grass is a characteristic shore or sand plant, 
 which helps to form a regular botanical association with Eyme and 
 Marram Grass, all of which grow on sanely shores and cover a wide 
 area, extending from high-water level to some distance inland. 
 
 The stems are bluish-green, prostrate below, with creeping roots, 
 then ascending, smooth, with thick leaves, with the margin rolled 
 inwards, hairy on the ribs below, with smooth sheaths, and a short 
 ligule. 
 
 The panicle is a loose, stout, curved spike, with 4-5 flowered 
 spikelets, with glumes with 9 nerves, and without awns. The rachis 
 of the panicle is smooth, fragile, separating above each spikelet. The 
 spikelets are distant, glossy, pale, thick, the flowering glumes are 
 slightly nerved, the empty glumes strongly so, and blunt. 
 
 The plant is i ft. to 18 in. high. It is in flower in July and August. 
 The plant is perennial, propagated by soboles or underground creeping 
 shoots. 
 
 The floral symmetry resembles that of Darnel, and both are 
 anemophilous in their mode of pollination, the stigma maturing before 
 the anthers. 
 
 The fruit is light, and adhering to the palea, which has keels 
 fringed with hairs, and it is easily dispersed by the wind. 
 
 This grass is a halophyte or salt-lover living in a saline soil, and 
 also a sand plant living in sand soil. 
 
 It is attacked by a Smut, Ustilago hypodytes. 
 
 Agropyron, Gaertner, or Agropyruvi, is from agros, field, and 
 foil-OS, wheat, and the second Latin name refers to the rush-like or 
 jointed stem. This plant is called Bent, Bentles. 
 
 The name Bentles is given to low, sandy, flattish land on the sea- 
 shore of Suffolk, where nothing but this coarse grass grows. It is
 
 220 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 useful in binding the sand together and preventing erosion. It is from 
 this group, formerly included in Triticum, that the wheats are derived. 
 
 Photo. Messrs. Flatters & Garnett 
 
 RUSHY WHEAT GRASS (Agropyron junceum, Beauv.) 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 343. Agropyron junceiim, Beauv. Root creeping, stem glabrous, 
 prostrate, leaves involute, ribbed, hairy, rachis tender, awnless glumes 
 ribbed, outer palea blunt. 
 
 Squirrel Tail Grass (Hordeum maritimum, Huds.) 
 
 (See illustration, on p. 217) 
 
 The distribution of this universal maritime grass is from Denmark 
 southwards, in Europe, and in N. Africa. In Great Britain it is found 
 throughout the Peninsula province, in the Channel province, not in 
 Wilts, only in Essex, and W. Kent in the Thames province, E. Suffolk, 
 Norfolk, Cambridge, W. Gloucs, Glamorgan, Carnarvon, N. Lines, 
 S.E. Yorks, N.E. Yorks, Durham, southwards to Kent, and is absent 
 in Wales elsewhere, and in the Channel Islands. 
 
 Squirrel Tail Grass is another of those maritime species which
 
 LYME GRASS 221 
 
 on the south and east coast make a characteristic feature of coastal 
 botanical formations, growing on sandy coasts, and invading the inland 
 districts in a few places where dunes abound. 
 
 The stems are prostrate, afterwards erect, smooth, rounded, with 
 numerous leaves. The leaves are short, flat, bluish-green, rough, with 
 downy lower sheaths, the upper ones swollen. The ligule is very 
 short. 
 
 The ilowers are in an erect spike, with 3 spreading spikelets, rigid, 
 with all the glumes rough, and the inner glume of the middle spikelet 
 is egg-shaped, the others are bristle-like, the lateral florets being 
 lanceolate and imperfect. The spike is erect and thick. 
 
 The plant is i ft. in height. Mowers are in bloom in June and 
 July. Squirrel Tail Grass is an annual, propagated by seeds. 
 
 It is anemophiloiis, and pollinated, like Common Wall Barley, by 
 the wind. The spikelets are in groups of 3 on the rachis, and form a 
 dense spike. Each is i -flowered when perfect, but the central or two 
 lateral flowers are often male or sterile. 
 
 The fruit is light, and adapted for wind dispersal. Squirrel Tail 
 Grass is a salt-lover, and grows best in saline soil, being also a 
 sand plant and addicted to sand soil. 
 
 This plant is galled by Cccidomyia destructor, Diplosis flava, and 
 another fly, Oscinia tritici. 
 
 The second Latin name refers to its maritime habitat, and the 
 generic name is the Latin for barley. 
 
 This grass is called Squirrel Tail Grass and Squirrel Tail. 
 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 346. Hordeum maritimum, Huds. Stem and leaves as in 345, 
 glumes asperous, inner of lateral florets subovate, spike erect, nearly 
 round. 
 
 Lyme Grass (Elymus arenarius, L.) 
 
 Lyme Grass is not found in any early plant beds. It is distributed 
 in Europe, N. Asia, and N. America in the Temperate Zone. In 
 Great Britain it is found in Somerset, Dorset, S. Hants, Sussex, 
 E. Suffolk, Norfolk. Merioneth, Carnarvon, Anglesea, N. Lines, 
 S. Lanes, S.E. Yorks, N.E. Yorks, Durham, Northumberland, 
 Cheviotland, Cumberland, Ayr, Hadclington, Fife, Kincardine, Aber- 
 deen, Banff, Elgin, Easterness, \Yesterness, Clyde Is., Cantire, 
 N. Ebudes, \Y. Ross, Sutherland, Caithness, Northern Isles. From 
 Essex and N. \Yales it ranges to the Shetlands, and occurs in Ireland 
 and the Channel Islands.
 
 222 
 
 FLOWERS OF THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Lyme Grass is a familiar seashore grass which forms quite a feature 
 along the coast. It grows on sandy shores associated with Hedgehog 
 Grass, Seaside Manna Grass, Squirrel Tail Grass, Sand Sedge, 
 Common Sea Rush, and other maritime favourites of the botanist. 
 
 The stems are robust, smooth, round, and give rise to soboles or 
 underground trailing shoots. The leaves are broad, rigid, straight, 
 and erect, with smooth sheaths, which are furrowed, with a short ligule. 
 
 The flowers are in an upright, dense 
 spike, with 3-flowered spikelets, and downy. 
 The lower and upper ones are in pairs, 
 the intermediate ones in 3's with a flat 
 rachis. The glumes are downy, lanceo- 
 late, not longer than the spikelets. The 
 plant is 3-6 ft. in height. It flowers in 
 July. The plant is perennial, propagated 
 by soboles. 
 
 Lyme Grass is anemophilous, with 
 spikelets in two rows, 2-6 flowers in each. 
 There are 3 stamens, and the 2 stigmas 
 are feathery and subsessile. The fruit is 
 attached to the palea, and the glume awn- 
 less, but readily dispersed by the wind. 
 
 The plant is a halophyte, addicted to a 
 saline soil, being likewise arenophilous and 
 found in sand soil. 
 
 A fungus, Ustilago hypodytes, infests it. 
 Three moths, the Lyme Grass (Tapino- 
 
 stola elymi), Shore Wainscot (Leucania littoralis], and the Rustic 
 Shoulder-knot (Apamea basilinea), are found upon it. 
 
 Elymus, Dioscorides, is the Greek word for a kind of millet. The 
 second Latin name refers to the sandy habitat. 
 
 The plant is called Narrow Bent, Mother of Bent, Lyme Grass. 
 As a littoral plant it is valuable in binding together the shifting 
 sands on the sea-coast. It contains a large percentage (30%) of sugar. 
 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 
 
 347. Elymus arenarius, L. Soboliferous, stem tall, erect, leaves 
 broad, long, Iigule short, spike dense, erect, glumes not as long as the 
 spikelets, downy. 
 
 Photo. Messrs. Flatters & Gar 
 
 LYME GRASS (Elymus arenarius, L.)
 
 SOME GENERAL HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 SECTION II 
 
 FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 Accessibility of the Meadows. A meadow 
 or pasture is perhaps for field work the most 
 accessible type or habitat for purposes of 
 teaching botany first-hand. As a rule, in 
 most parts of the country permission need not 
 be obtained for this or any other purpose, if it 
 be a legitimate one, hence the advantage of 
 studying the meadow from this one point 
 alone. 
 
 There are generally public footpaths across 
 meadows leading from one place to another, 
 and these can always be used, each district 
 usually having its own footpath maps, which 
 should be secured as a guide to the topography 
 of the district and to avoid trespassing. In 
 general, meadows laid to grass must not 
 in summer be entered, nor those that abut 
 upon woods where game is preserved, and 
 where there are coops with hens and young 
 pheasants. 
 
 Care should also be taken to close every 
 gate, as this is a frequent source of annovance 
 to farmers, as is also the breaking down of 
 fences in going from one field to another. If 
 these precautions are taken few farmers will 
 make any objection to excursions across 
 country, except in areas where game is pre- ' 
 served. 
 
 If in any particular district such common 
 rights are not recognized it is advisable to 
 obtain permission, which, as a rule, owners or 
 occupiers will grant for such purposes. 
 
 A word should here be said as to the neces- 
 sity of preserving wild plants, and protecting 
 them from any possible chance of extermina- 
 tion by exercising, in the case of rare species, 
 if it is desired to make collections, great care 
 in picking plants in such a way as not to 
 endanger their chance of perpetuating them- 
 selves, and where only a few plants are to 
 be seen none should be picked. 
 
 Some remarks should be made as to col- 
 lecting and observing, but only general direc- 
 tions can be given here. Reference should be 
 made to the author's Practical Field Botany 
 (Griffin & Co.) for full details on this subject. 
 Plants should be collected in a fresh state, 
 and it should be settled beforehand whether 
 ! they are for study merely or for preserva- 
 tion. As complete a specimen as can be found 
 I should be selected, and this should be a typical 
 j one without any abnormal characters. 
 
 Observations should be made on the spot, 
 and for this reason the pupils should be 
 provided with notebooks, pencils, sketching 
 blocks, squared paper, materials for making 
 maps, callipers for measuring, dissecting in- 
 ! struments of a simple kind, apart from those 
 , appliances, &c., that are required for definite 
 survey work if such is undertaken on more 
 scientific lines. For elementary work, of 
 course, fewer and more simple appliances 
 will be sufficient. 
 
 Meadows once Common Land. Originally 
 meadows and pastures were forest lands. 
 Gradually, owing to one cause or another, 
 these forests were cut down. A great part 
 of the land not under cultivation or planted 
 with trees was common land, upon which the 
 countryman could graze his cattle, &c., free of 
 rent or tithe. But gradually these rights of the 
 people, as they were looked upon, were taken 
 from them, and to-day very little common land 
 exists. In some cases these lands were en- 
 closed so long ago as the sixteenth century, 
 but the bulk of the common land was enclosed 
 in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 
 
 The significance of the enclosure of land is 
 very important, and is usually ignored in 
 studying the character of vegetation. But 
 upon a meadow or pasture the effect has been 
 profound. Instead of wide stretches of pasture
 
 22 4 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 or meadow we have the squares, rectangles, 
 or irregular areas known as fields, separated 
 from each other or from roads by boundary 
 fences. 
 
 In a pasture, particularly, the effect is very 
 marked, and has a tendency to encourage the 
 supremacy of the Grasses and the ousting of 
 the less sturdy, herbaceous, succulent plants. 
 In fact, they are driven to the boundaries or 
 hedges and ditches in many cases, such plants 
 as White Dead-nettle and a host of others not 
 being able to cope with the stronger plants. 
 The planting of hedges with trees at intervals, 
 whilst quite artificial, has a tendency to 
 equalize matters or to preserve the balance, 
 and woodland types find a suitable habitat 
 there. The moisture -loving plants, driven 
 from the open field by over-drainage, can be 
 shown to have found refuge in the ditches. 
 
 Where walls and dykes (i.e. deep ditches or 
 streams used as fences) are the boundary 
 fences the conditions of course vary again, 
 rock plants growing on the walls and aquatic 
 plants in the dykes. 
 
 To-day it can be shown in each district that 
 there are few heaths and commons left. As 
 a rule, they are the special resort of gipsies. 
 They may also be shown to have a different 
 type of flora to that of the meadow or pasture, 
 which are derived very largely from them. 
 These points made clear will throw a flood 
 of light upon the character of meadow-land 
 vegetation. 
 
 The Expansiveness of the Fields. What 
 will at once strike the observant mind is the 
 open character of meadow lands as a rule, if 
 one ignores the boundary hedges. A stretch 
 of meadows unrelieved by woodland or water 
 appeals at once to one as a great expanse 
 characterized by its openness. 
 
 With this broad fact is connected the main 
 character of meadow and pasture plants. 
 They are as a rule sun plants, being on all 
 hands exposed to the heat and warmth of the 
 sun. There are no longer as a general rule 
 trees giving an ample shade above, and the 
 shade plants in the meadows for this reason 
 seek the shelter of the hedgerow, where they 
 can lurk in the undergrowth much as they did 
 formerly when denizens of the forest. 
 
 In examining the meadow or pasture some 
 plants will be found that have not yet retreated 
 to the hedge or become extinct, such as Wood 
 Betony, whilst in the hedge itself the Greater 
 Stitchwort may be found. Both indicate 
 woodland conditions formerly. Amongst the 
 grass, or upon banks, mosses and other 
 lowly plants will be found, also, that have 
 survived the conversion of woodland into 
 meadows. The discovery of such relics will 
 
 provide at least one problem of interest in this 
 direction. 
 
 Lowland and Upland Meadows. The sur- 
 face of the country, once perfectly level, has 
 become extremely diversified, owing to various 
 causes, such as disturbance of the crust, de- 
 nudation and river development. 
 
 We therefore find that meadows may be 
 lowland or upland in character. The lowlands 
 are characterized by such well-known plants 
 as Meadow Sweet, Great Hairy Willow Herb, 
 &c., whilst upon the uplands grow Dropwort, 
 Lady's Mantle, and many others. As a rule, 
 the plants of the lowland meadows are allied 
 to the marsh plants, and have come to us 
 from the north with the Great Ice Age, 
 or previously, whilst the upland plants are, 
 though at the highest altitude palaearctic types, 
 usually of southern origin. 
 
 The vegetation of the upland meadows has 
 an affinity to the vegetation of a hill, but in the 
 last case the flora may be much less disturbed 
 and influenced by cultivation, and in this way 
 the floras are distinct. Altitude can thus be 
 shown to cause great differences in a flora. 
 
 Northern and Southern Meadows. As we 
 travel northwards from the English Channel 
 to the north of Scotland a great change is 
 to be noticed in the character of the meadows 
 and pastures. This is due not only to the 
 difference of soil in the south, a great part of 
 this being made up of chalk, with calcareous 
 pastures dotted with fragrant orchids and 
 many plants not usually seen elsewhere, but 
 also to the difference in climate. For the 
 south coast as a rule is warmer than the Mid- 
 lands, and the latter much warmer than the 
 north of Scotland. In the south we have 
 southern plants, some of which, such as the 
 Cornish Heath, are allied to the plants found 
 in the Pyrenees. 
 
 In the north of Scotland the plants of the 
 Highland pasture are more allied to the plants 
 that are found upon the Alps in Switzerland, 
 where many Saxifrages and Stonecrops, and 
 other cold-enduring plants, thrive even above 
 the snow line. But even in the lowland 
 meadows in the north the plants again are 
 very different, and are known as a whole as 
 Scottish types, though some British types 
 found in N. England also grow there. The 
 rocks also are much older and the soils they 
 form very different. 
 
 The southern plants are also known as 
 English types, excluding the Pyrenean types, 
 and are of southern origin. It may be possible 
 to get the pupil to note these facts, when holi- 
 days are taken in different districts, by sug- 
 gesting the drawing up of a list of the plants 
 seen in each district.
 
 FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 225 
 
 Wet and Dry Meadows. A very few simple 
 observations will enable the pupil to discover 
 that meadows differ very greatly in the relative 
 water content. It will be seen very readily 
 that the influence of a cold clay soil is to 
 make some meadows wet or even water- 
 logged. In other cases the soil may be found 
 to be very dry, and at certain seasons of the 
 year to exhibit a parched appearance, espe- 
 cially in seasons of drought. This would natu- 
 rally be connected with the existence of a sandy 
 soil. A few rough examinations of soil may 
 with advantage be undertaken to elicit these 
 facts. But the appearance of a cracked 
 surface in summer will very quickly suggest 
 the fact that the soil is a clay. 
 
 As a rule, too, the contour of the surface 
 will mould itself according to the distribution 
 of wet and dry meadows, and a connection will 
 be observed between the occurrence of hollows 
 where water will usually lie, and hilly or 
 slightly rounded surfaces where it will run off. 
 So that the difference between soils and the 
 occurrence of hollows and slopes will suggest 
 the division of meadows into wet and dry 
 meadows. Then the plants that are respec- 
 tively found in each will readily be recog- 
 nized after a little practice. The occurrence 
 of Clovers and Sandworts, or such very dry 
 soil plants as Mouse-ear Hawkweed, which 
 also grows on walls, will indicate dry soils. 
 The extensive patches of Sedges, Rushes, and 
 Spike Rushes which are found in wet spots will 
 indicate! on the other hand wet meadows. 
 
 Slope and Aspect. If the relation of the 
 meadows and pastures to the drainage of the 
 country be studied, it will be seen that streams 
 and rivers are arranged upon a definite system. 
 In many cases the streams may be found to 
 run in parallel series. And between one sys- 
 tem of streams and another there may be seen 
 to be dividing ridges which determine the 
 areas of drainage of each system. This will 
 be at once connected with the natural slope of 
 meadows on either bank of the stream. The 
 influence of such slopes may be regarded as 
 the cause of distribution of certain plants at 
 certain points. The aspect of the slopes will 
 be found to have an important bearing again 
 upon the occurrence of a plant, some species 
 preferring a north, south, west, or easterly 
 aspect. 
 
 These facts may be illustrated by the draw- 
 ing up of a list of the plants found to grow on 
 the different aspects. The same thing will be 
 noticed in regard to the banks of a ditch or 
 hedge, and it will be recognized that banks or 
 slopes are the special habitat of some plants, 
 as Ivy, Ground Ivy, &c. 
 
 Effect of Grazing of Animals. In addition to 
 VOL II. 
 
 the effect of enclosure, which has been pointed 
 out, there is the effect of the grazing of 
 animals. Enclosure has resulted in this case 
 in limiting the area to be grazed or browsed. 
 Consequently the influence of this factor to- 
 day is much greater than in the past. It is 
 readily appreciated in a pasture. In times of 
 drought the surface is almost entirely dried up 
 and parched where animals are in the habit of 
 grazing. 
 
 Several effects are produced by all classes of 
 animals. The flowering stems and the later 
 fruits are necessarily reduced in number by 
 the browsing of animals. The normal struggle 
 for existence, it may be pointed out, is thereby 
 also greatly accentuated. For the tenderer 
 succulent plants are liable to disappear, or to 
 retreat to the hedgerow, where they are more 
 or less protected, owing to the possession of 
 thorns and prickles or spines by the Hawthorn, 
 Bramble, Sloe, Rose, and other plants. Such 
 fodder plants as Furze are protected by their 
 needle-like spines. Trees in the hedgerow, as 
 the Kim or Ash, are protected by their hard 
 bark and by the tree habit, which raises the 
 main branches and foliage above the reach of 
 animals that relish the leaves, &c. 
 
 Among herbaceous plants, thistles and Rest 
 Harrow are protected by their sharp spines, 
 the Sow Thistle by its prickly leaves. The 
 Dandelion and Goat's Beard possess a bitter 
 juice which is distasteful to cattle as a rule. 
 Some plants, as Alkanet, Comfrey, and Borage, 
 are provided with stiff bristly hairs. The 
 Nettle, found also in fields, which protects the 
 other plants below it, is provided with stinging 
 hairs containing a poison. 
 
 The White Dead-nettle has a bristly calyx 
 which may assist it in being protected. Some 
 plants that are poisonous, as Hemlock, grow 
 in fields. This latter has a nauseous smell and 
 spotted stem. The Bittersweet is also poison- 
 ous, and the flower a purple colour, with a 
 central yellow cone, which is also a warning 
 sign. The common Buttercups, owing to their 
 acridity and power of blistering, are thus pro- 
 tected. 
 
 Grasses and Sedges in meadows are often 
 protected by the sharpness of the leaf margin 
 in the former, e.g. Tussock Grass, or by the 
 triangular sharp-edged stem, as in the latter. 
 These are only a few of the facts that may very 
 usefully be pointed out, or better, discovered by 
 the pupils, in studying the relation of grazing 
 to the meadow or pasture. 
 
 Apart from these general features, it may be 
 seen that it makes a great deal of difference 
 what class of animal grazes a meadow. For 
 instance, when sheep are continually grazing 
 it may be noticed that crested Dog's Tail grass,
 
 226 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 Sheep's Fescue, and other grasses with sharp 
 or filiform flower-stalks, have the bottom leaves 
 alone browsed, and the flower-stalks are left. 
 Where cows or horses browse such grasses 
 are eaten entirely. Where donkeys are kept 
 in meadows by the sea, thistles and other 
 plants are eaten, whereas inland where don- 
 keys are rarer they are left. 
 
 Meadow and Pasture. Though it is a very 
 well known fact to those brought up in the 
 country that a meadow differs greatly from a 
 pasture, yet the townsman treats both alike as 
 fields, and save at haytime rarely distinguishes 
 them. Even those who are conversant with 
 the country, if not intimate with the methods 
 and practice of farming, are liable to overlook 
 this fact, which is of the greatest importance 
 from the botanical standpoint, as has already 
 been pointed out under other heads. 
 
 The essential differences between them 
 should be properly grasped, and then the 
 difference in the flora of each will soon be 
 appreciated. 
 
 A meadow is subjected to several different 
 changes during the year. About March the 
 surface is covered with a dressing of soil or 
 manure, and in many cases basic slag is em- 
 ployed. This has a beneficial effect upon grass 
 for a certain time (after which it is deleterious 
 if continually used), but it kills off such plants 
 as orchids. 
 
 This dressing is evenly strewn over the sur- 
 face by a brush- or chain-harrow. The grass 
 is laid between April and June or July. The 
 meadow is then cut after the flowers have all 
 bloomed and seeded, and the Grasses in par- 
 ticular are ripe. It then assumes a sere aspect 
 till it becomes green again, but all its former 
 diversity vanishes until late in autumn. When 
 the new grass has become strong, often yield- 
 ing a second crop in good years, it may in 
 October or earlier be turned into pasture for 
 the time being. 
 
 The pasture may or may not be a meadow 
 originally. And as a rule meadows are 
 periodically turned into pasture, and pastures 
 are allowed to be laid to grass. But as a 
 matter of fact, apart from this rotation, there 
 is usually another reason for the setting aside 
 of certain fields for pasture, and others for 
 grazing, in addition to the general convenience 
 of position upon a particular farm. This is 
 due to the character of the vegetation, some 
 fields being better suited to the one than the 
 other. The reasons for this vary in each area 
 owing to the difference of soil. 
 
 Pupils may be set to examine each to dis- 
 cover the differences. As a rule, drv ground 
 is given up to pasturage, and moist ground to 
 meadows, so that one has a natural division 
 
 into dry pastures, often hilly, and wet meadows, 
 generally lowland. 
 
 One feature that must not be overlooked is 
 the greater intensity of the struggle for exis- 
 tence in the pasture than in the meadow, and 
 a good deal of interesting work awaits the 
 pupil in estimating the reasons for this, and in 
 collecting details to explain it. 
 
 Cultivation and its Effects. Subsequent to 
 the cutting down of the continuous aboriginal 
 forests and the making of clearings the 
 country was crudely drained and cultivated. 
 A great deal of this had been already done at 
 the time of the Norman Conquest, for the 
 survey speaks of so many carucates of land, or 
 land under the plough, in each village. And 
 certain parts of the country bear unmistakable 
 signs of this, especially in the Midlands, the 
 land of ridge and furrow. The ridge and 
 furrow was the result of the old-fashioned 
 mode of ploughing, the furrows being the 
 drainage system, the ridge being prepared for 
 the raising of corn. 
 
 The boundaries of such fields at right angles 
 to the ridge were termed sillons, and were 
 caused by the necessity of going round the 
 ends, and not up and down alternate furrows 
 as nowadays. These sillons exist to-day, and 
 may be seen to coincide sometimes with present 
 boundaries. 
 
 Thus meadow and pasture were once corn 
 land in many cases. Where no such furrows 
 exist the ground may (i) not have been drained 
 and cultivated in early days, or (2) may have 
 been once ridge and furrow and since culti- 
 vated recently. In modern cornfields and fields 
 relaid, or "seeds", and fallow land, the 
 ridge and furrow are obliterated. The present 
 system of drainage with pipes is relatively 
 modern, dating usually from the sixteenth or 
 seventeenth century in early cases, but from 
 the eighteenth or nineteenth more generally. 
 
 The difference between meadow, pasture, 
 seeds, and fallow should b'e noted, and lists of 
 plants on each compared. The two last are at 
 first transitional from cornfields with a broken 
 open surface 
 
 The effect of cornfields upon the surrounding 
 grassfields should be noticed. It is a neglected 
 feature. The introduction of many cornfield 
 and waste-ground plants into fields is due to 
 the influence of wind blowing seeds, cartage, 
 &c. Where a cornfield is dirty, the surround- 
 ing fields will soon be filled with thistles, &c. 
 
 Modern Meadow Plants. The origin of the 
 present meadow plants must be sought in the 
 far past. Apart from the derivation of the 
 vast bulk of meadow and pasture plants in the 
 way described, i.e. after tree felling, cultiva- 
 tion, drainage, enclosure, &c., there were
 
 FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 227 
 
 originally certain areas where trees did not 
 grow, usually at high altitudes or near the 
 coast, where in the distant past the forerunners 
 of the plants of the present open spaces were 
 already evolved. 
 
 Some of these belong to those northern 
 plants which were driven south from the far 
 north with the Ice Age, and retreated to the 
 north again, or the tops of high hills, when 
 the country became milder. 
 
 Certain of these northern plants are common 
 associates of the wet meadows, such as the 
 White Clover, Red Clover, Meadow Sweet, 
 &c., and many have been found in beds of 
 Preglacial and later ages. In each area the 
 river valleys of a district should be carefully 
 investigated to obtain traces of seeds to deter- 
 mine what was the type of vegetation in each 
 district. 
 
 Meadow Habitats. By referring to the sum- 
 mary of the British Flora, in Vol. V, it will be 
 seen that in addition to the score or more of 
 common plants described in detail in this 
 volume, there are over 150 other British plants 
 that are found in meadows or pastures of one 
 type or another, some being common species, 
 others extremely rare. 
 
 In studying this section the opportunity 
 may be taken to treat these other species in 
 the same way as those fully described, in other 
 words to elaborate a short life-history of some 
 of the more familiar ones ; and to make notes 
 upon them all. 
 
 The Grass Habit, &c. In studying meadow 
 and pasture vegetation one outstanding feature 
 will soon make itself apparent, namely, the 
 prevalence of what may be best described as 
 the grass habit of the vast majority of the 
 plants that make it up. 
 
 An examination of a field will show that the 
 bulk of the plants are Grasses. This will be 
 found out by making a careful survey field by 
 field on lines suggested later. The dominance 
 of the Grasses and the usefulness of the cereals 
 from prehistoric times is one outstanding 
 feature of civilization. 
 
 The grass habit has succeeded, along with 
 the tree habit and shrub habit, over and above 
 all other types put together, and the various 
 reasons for this, and its bearing upon plant 
 life and distribution, will afford a great deal of 
 instructive inquiry. The grass habit, in a few 
 words, has been acquired because it enables 
 the greatest number of individuals to survive 
 in the struggle for existence in the least 
 possible space, and at the same time by its 
 peculiar adaptiveness to wide open spaces to 
 occupy by far the greatest area proportionally 
 of the earth's surface successfully. 
 
 Attention should be directed to the existence 
 VOL. II. 
 
 of plants in the meadows with other habits, 
 such as the rosette habit of many Composites, 
 as the Dandelion, &c., the pyramidal habit of 
 others, as Meadow Crane's Bill (inversely 
 pyramidal), and other types. 
 
 Diversity and Brilliance of the Colours of 
 Meadow Plants. A noticeable feature of the 
 plants of open meadows and pastures is the 
 predominance of brilliant flowers, and these 
 are not less remarkable again for their diver- 
 sity of colour. 
 
 Though we cannot definitely say the colours 
 of flowers are brilliant and brightly coloured 
 merely to attract insects to perform, in return 
 for honey or pollen, the much-needed office of 
 cross-pollination, yet the two are obviously 
 connected. It is a fact worthy of notice that 
 the fields are especially the happy hunting- 
 grounds of all manner of insects. Beetles, 
 flies, butterflies and moths, bees and wasps, 
 dragonflies, and all the other less-known 
 orders are fully represented in the life of the 
 meadows. And with the hum of the bees, the 
 drone of the wasp, the buzzing of flies, one 
 notices that the fields are covered continuously 
 with masses of bloom from March to Sep- 
 tember. Early one sees the lilac Lady's 
 Smock, and later on, the primrose-tinted 
 Cowslip, the golden Dandelions, the golden 
 Buttercups, the crimson Clover, the lovely 
 blue Meadow Crane's Bill. These grow so 
 densely that the fields are one mass of colour. 
 Compare this with a woodland or a lake or a 
 salt marsh, and one is at once struck with the 
 beauty and diversity of the flowers of the fields. 
 
 Height of Meadow Plants. An interesting 
 feature of meadow vegetation is the resem- 
 blance it presents to the types of plants to be 
 distinguished in a woodland. These consist 
 of a tree zone, the highest, with a lower stra- 
 tum of scrub, and the ground flora or lowest 
 stratum. It is probable that the tree type, 
 which usually has a more or less even or level 
 upper surface, has its normal level regulated 
 by the effect of wind, and where the wood is 
 dense by the effect of the close grouping of the 
 ultimate branches. 
 
 The lower zones are regulated by the in- 
 fluence of light, and by the adaptation of the 
 plants to the overlying zones of tree and scrub, 
 and, of course, the character of the soil, &c. 
 
 The same factors regulate the association 
 of the three tiers in a meadow. The Grasses 
 represent the tree zone, and their height may 
 be largely said to be regulated by the influence 
 of the wind. As a rule, the Grasses are of the 
 same height generally, but there are giants (as 
 amongst the trees) such as Tussock Grass, and 
 dwarfs, as Annual Meadow Grass. 
 
 The scrub zone may be said to be represented
 
 228 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 by such plants as thistles, which (like scrub) 
 have a more close-set spreading habit than the 
 tree type, here the Grasses. The ground flora 
 is made up of trailers, such as the Yellow 
 Cinquefoil, frequent also on roadsides and 
 banks, and rosette plants, such as the Daisy. 
 In the case of these their close or open char- 
 acter is due to the effect of the two higher 
 zones, or overcrowding and the dominance of 
 sturdier plants, apart from main causes such 
 as soil. 
 
 An interesting inquiry may here be set on foot 
 as to the chief plants in each zone, and at 
 different points vertical sections may be made 
 from the highest to the lowest zone to show 
 the relation of one to the others, especially in 
 relation to the amount of light. 
 
 The types of meadow along the coast, in the 
 lowlands and in the highlands, on nearly bare 
 rocks or upon thick soils, may be studied in 
 relation to height, and compared. 
 
 Flowering of Meadow Plants. The open- 
 ness of the meadow as a whole causes the 
 flowering of meadow and pasture plants to be 
 less restricted to certain seasons than in the 
 case of woods where more sun (later in the 
 summer) is needed for fruition, e.g. for bulbous 
 plants. So that on the whole, disregarding 
 the differences in latitude, and their effect on 
 different areas, meadow and pasture plants 
 bloom far earlier than other types. Thus 
 amongst Orchids the Green-winged Orchid is 
 in flower before the Purple Orchid of the 
 woods, as is the Spotted Orchid in front of 
 the Marsh Helleborine, whose moister habitat 
 retards its blooming. 
 
 As a whole, most meadow plants are peren- 
 nials, though some, as Annual Meadow Grass, 
 are annual. As part of the dominant vege- 
 tation of the earth this is quite natural, for the 
 perennial has a far greater chance of succeed- 
 ing than the annual, and the biennial than 
 the annual. 
 
 As in all types of vegetation, the flowering 
 periods of certain groups of plants are char- 
 acteristic of certain months. Thus the Com- 
 posites are, as a rule, late -flowering, the 
 Autumnal Hawkbit lingering far on into 
 winter even. The Grasses also flower rather 
 late, usually between May and July. But 
 Vernal Grass and Meadow Foxtail are to be 
 found in flower in April. There are also 
 phases of flowering. The spring is charac- 
 terized by the Lady's Smock and Lesser 
 Celandine, and some early Buttercups and 
 Daisies. Later, the Cowslips, Clovers, Self- 
 heal, Bugle, come on, whilst last of all, the 
 Meadow Saffron revives the touch of spring 
 when the thistles are specially in evidence. 
 
 In this connection the pupil may be asked 
 
 to note all the flowers in season in each month, 
 and compare the lists. Such lists kept each 
 year show whether any season is backward 
 or forward, and lists made in different counties 
 show the range of variation owing to latitude, 
 temperature, &c. 
 
 Insects and Meadow Plants. As has been 
 pointed out, the meadow is the home, as it 
 were, of insect life, and this has a great sig- 
 nificance, for by the agency of insects the plants 
 of the meadows are better able to cope with the 
 adverse conditions of existence. For without 
 the advantage of cross-pollination the seeds 
 are not so likely to be fertile. 
 
 The brilliance of the meadow flowers and 
 the number of flowers of the same kind make 
 the meadow especially suited to insect life. It 
 is an interesting and engaging occupation to 
 watch the wanderings of any particular insect 
 from one flower to the next, and by practice 
 and study the exact name of the individual 
 insects may be learnt. The experiments of 
 Lord Avebury may be repeated for every type 
 of insect and a study made as to which colours 
 most attract each insect; whether insects fly 
 from plants having a certain coloured flower 
 to flowers of a different colour, and the order 
 of these ; and the preference for any particular 
 colour may be noted. 
 
 The absence of night-flowering plants and 
 nocturnal butterflies or moths (which are more 
 often found in woods) may be noticed. 
 
 Dispersal of Fruits and Seeds of Meadow 
 Plants. The points first noted, the expansive- 
 ness and openness of the meadows, will here 
 again, as in the last section, be shown to have 
 great significance in the life of the meadow- 
 plants when the question of fruit and seed 
 dispersal is considered. 
 
 Amongst meadow plants there are few, ex- 
 cept some of the large Umbelliferae, and such 
 Composites as Burdock, that have large seeds 
 or fruits. The hedgerow and woodland plants 
 include many that are edible, and devoured by 
 animals, especially birds, and these are heavy, 
 e.g. Acorn ; these are external agents. 
 
 But the two main external agents amongst 
 meadow plants are the wind and animals, and 
 in the latter case the seeds are not eaten, but 
 catch in the wool or fur of passing animals. 
 Thus the fruits of the Burdock have long hooks 
 which catch in the wool of sheep. 
 
 Wind, however, plays the greatest part in 
 the dispersal of seeds of meadow plants; for 
 as a whole the seeds are small, and are thus 
 easily blown away either directly or by some 
 special device adapted to wind dispersal. All 
 the grasses are dispersed in this way, as in- 
 deed they are pollinated also, viz. by the wind. 
 
 Great Burnet pollinated by the wind has its
 
 FIELDS AND MEADOWS 
 
 229 
 
 fruit dispersed in the same way. The gre- 
 garious plants are dispersed usually by the 
 wind. The Composites generally, such as 
 thistles with feathery pappus, the Dandelion 
 and Goat's Beard with their parachute arrange- 
 ment, disperse their fruit with the assistance 
 of the wind. 
 
 The small seeds of the Orchids, those of the 
 Campions, &c., with a sort of "censer" fruit, 
 are jerked out of the capsules by the swaying 
 of the fruit-stalks in the wind. The catapult 
 arrangements of such plants as the Meadow 
 Crane's Bill are devices of the plant itself. 
 Of these the majority are hedgerow plants 
 which, growing in sheltered spots, require 
 such assistance to disperse them to a distance. 
 
 Clayey Meadows, Sandy Meadows. &c. 
 One of the most important factors in causing 
 the distribution of plants is the character of 
 the soil. There are some fifty geological 
 formations which are distributed in different 
 parts of the country, and these are responsible 
 for the different types of soil. Of these there 
 are six or seven, clay and loam, siliceous soils, 
 sand, lime or chalk, humus, peat, saline soil. 
 
 The soil of meadows and pastures is of one 
 of the first four types as a rule. Where peat 
 or humus are present the vegetation is usually 
 of moorland or heath type, and by the sea the 
 salt marsh is largely saline. 
 
 Where a clayey meadow exists we shall find 
 such plants as the Pilewort and the Cowslip. 
 On a sandy meadow the clovers, especially 
 White Clover, are common. A limestone or 
 chalk meadow is indicated by such plants as 
 Knapweed, Salad Burnet, Cicely, Bur Parsley, 
 Purple Scabious, &c. Lady's Smock, Meadow 
 Crane's Bill, Yellow Rattle, Spotted Orchis 
 usually indicate sandy meadows with some 
 peat and a little lime in the soil, as they are 
 very often members of a marshy type of flora. 
 In saline soils of salt marshes, which are con- 
 verted into meadows by the sea very often, 
 the Sea Aster, Wild Celery, Sea Milkwort, 
 and many other maritime plants are found. 
 
 It will be very useful for pupils to draw up 
 lists of plants found upon different types of 
 soil in meadows and pastures, and to compare 
 them. 
 
 Drainage and its Effect upon Meadows. 
 Not less profound than the effect of tree-felling 
 and cultivation upon the original forest land 
 has been that of drainage. Apart from the 
 conversion of the forests into corn lands by 
 the ridge-and-furrow method which at once 
 disturbed the plant formations native to the 
 soil, the influence of modern drainage has been 
 still more marked by (i) causing wet meadows 
 to become dry, (2) causing bog and marsh 
 plants to disappear, (3) assisting the work of 
 
 tree-felling and other modern causes in making 
 the whole country much drier as a whole. 
 
 The whole of the Fens has been converted 
 in this way during the last two hundred years 
 from aquatic vegetation into meadow and 
 arable land. In other parts unreclaimed land, 
 often swampy, boggy, or waste, more espe- 
 cially in lowland regions, has become ordinary 
 pasture. Many persons living to-day can 
 testify to this, and it is going on at the present 
 time on a grand scale in Ireland. 
 
 So that it is only here and there, in areas 
 largely given up to meadows to-day, that it 
 is possible to find any traces of the original 
 vegetation, so many different stages has it 
 gone through owing to different causes. But 
 there do exist what the author has called "ves- 
 tiges " or "vestigial floras" that help one to 
 understand what the virginal character of the 
 vegetation really was. These are quite isolated 
 and owe their isolation largely to drainage. 
 
 General Methods of Survey. (a) The Field 
 Itself. The author has recently had to under- 
 take the survey of a particular district upon 
 ecological lines, and has found that the intro- 
 duction of a novel plan of work has been the 
 most productive of results, and is adapted to 
 all classes of workers. 
 
 In this system fields are studied one by one. 
 An Ordnance map of the district is procured, 
 and upon this the fields are numbered. In the 
 field the plant-lists bear the same numbers as 
 those given to the fields on the map. 
 
 The plan adopted is to make a general survey 
 of the field by considering the abundance or 
 dominance of the Grasses in the first place. 
 The one which is most dominant is put down 
 first in the list, and the percentage may be 
 stated in relation to that of other Grasses. 
 Then the next most common Grass is put down 
 second, and the others in their order, and so 
 on. In a dry field one may have an abundance 
 (75 per cent) of Yellow Oat Grass or Sheep's 
 Fescue ; in a wet meadow Tussock Grass may 
 locally be dominant. As meadows are artificial 
 enclosures, the dominance or frequency in one 
 has to be contrasted and checked by that of 
 other fields. (The terms used are abundant, 
 locally abundant, frequent, occasional, rare.) 
 
 After the Grasses have been put down, the 
 rest of the plants are noted in order of abun- 
 dance or by frequency or percentage. When 
 a detailed survey is required, a plot is staked 
 out in squares, and every plant is noted and 
 mapped on squared paper. 
 
 (b) Ditch. The examination of the ditches 
 surrounding a field may come next. These 
 are likewise artificial, but may indicate in 
 connection with the type of water (hard or 
 soft) the character of the natural aquatic
 
 2 3 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 vegetation from which they are derived. The 
 ditch is rather too small to treat in the same 
 way as a river or stream, and to show the 
 zonal arrangement or riparial vegetation, float- 
 ing plants, submerged plants, &c. But where 
 these different types or others (on the basis of 
 Nymphcua, Hippuris, Hydrocharis types, &c.) 
 occur they should be noted. It is as well, if 
 this can be done, to note the absence or 
 presence of Algae, Liverworts, or Mosses (the 
 last on banks usually), as these also throw 
 a light upon the vegetation. 
 
 A list of the plants upon the ditch banks 
 may be made, each bank being kept separate 
 for this purpose. The direction and slope of 
 the ditch, and the character of the soil, should 
 be noticed. 
 
 All ditches do not contain water all the year 
 round, and this should also be stated. Some 
 ditches are perennially dry, and many are 
 filled with thorns cut from a layered hedge. 
 The fact that a ditch has been just cleared out 
 should be noted, and it is important to com- 
 pare the new flora of such a ditch with the 
 result of a former examination. The seedlings 
 that come up will not all live, but all should 
 be observed and put down in the memoranda 
 on the spot. Where bridges and culverts exist, 
 these should be examined. Many lichens grow 
 on the stones or brickwork. 
 
 (c) Hedge and Hedgerow. The hedge forms 
 an artificial barrier to the field or division 
 between two ditches and contiguous fields. 
 It serves two purposes in the main apart from 
 the use it has as a boundary: (i) it acts as a 
 barrier to dispersal of seeds, and thistle down 
 will not travel beyond it usually, hence the 
 affinity of some thistles for the hedgerow ; 
 (2) it serves, as pointed out already, as a 
 retreat for the shade-loving plants ; and we 
 may add (3) it forms a line of distribution by 
 aid of birds, &c., for the dispersal of seeds 
 carried by such agency from one point to 
 another. The hedgerow is thus an important 
 factor in botanical work in the meadow. 
 
 The method of survey may be carried out 
 as for woods. The trees, which are mainly 
 planted like the hedgerow, should be noticed 
 in order of frequency. Their influence upon 
 the plants covered by their overshadowing 
 branches should be noted. It is often very 
 marked. The lichen and moss flora upon 
 such trees may be studied by advanced pupils, 
 and the several aspects taken up by each noted. 
 The hedgerow plants may then be noted in the 
 same way. The direction of the hedgerows, 
 as in the case of the ditches, should be stated. 
 
 Then the ground flora beneath should be 
 noted, as in the case of the plants in the open 
 field, the frequency estimated, and the plants 
 on the different sides should be distinguished. 
 Where the hedge bank has no ditch its flora 
 will differ from that of a ditch bank. 
 
 Climbing plants should be put down sepa- 
 rately, and a distinction drawn between the 
 trailing plants in the hedge bottom and the 
 erect types. 
 
 (d) Ponds. In many if not most fields there 
 are one or more ponds. These isolated tracts 
 of aquatic vegetation should be studied sepa- 
 rately, though as parts of the meadow flora. 
 They are often artificial, but some are natural 
 pools adapted to agricultural purposes. 
 
 The plants growing on the banks may be 
 noted first. Then the vegetation around the 
 margin, such as Sedges growing in the water, 
 but sending up erect stems and leaves. Occa- 
 sionally in large pools there are patches of 
 Reed-mace and Reeds, forming a further type 
 or reed swamp. The floating plants may be 
 studied by themselves, then the submerged 
 and half-submerged types. 
 
 The pupil should be on the lookout for such 
 rare plants as Hydrocharis or Frogbit, or 
 others that give the pool or pond a special 
 character. 
 
 As in the case of ditches, the presence or 
 absence of Algae and other Cryptogams 
 should be noticed if possible. 
 
 See also Section VIII (Vol. IV). 
 
 SECTION III 
 CORNFIELDS 
 
 Similarity of Cornfields to Fields. The corn- 
 field characters are in many respects similar 
 to those of grass fields, meadow, or pasture. 
 Within the term cornfields are included all 
 types of arable or cultivated land which are 
 subjected to the plough, a factor which is of 
 
 the greatest importance. For this mechanical 
 instrument alone causes all the difference 
 between the close grass of the meadow sur- 
 face and the open broken ground of the 
 cornfield. 
 
 The first characteristic common to ordinary
 
 CORNFIELDS 
 
 231 
 
 fields and cornfields and allied cultivated tracts 
 is their accessibility. At least the margins of 
 such fields usually grassed over may be exam- 
 ined. 
 
 They were once like meadows occupied by 
 woodlands, and in many cases common land. 
 Their expansiveness is similar (though they 
 are less continuous) to that of meadows. The 
 cornfield plants are sun plants, though the 
 ground flora, as in meadows, is obscured by 
 the higher zones. This is one of their most 
 marked characteristics. As in the case of 
 meadows, some are lowland, some are upland, 
 but few range above an altitude of 1000 ft., 
 whereas meadows occur at higher levels. 
 
 The Impermanence of Cornfields. There is 
 a marked contrast between the longevity of 
 the meadow and the cornfield. In the former 
 there is but a slight disturbance of the main 
 conditions when a meadow is converted into 
 pasture, or vice versa. But in a cornfield 
 there is the yearly ploughing, harrowing, 
 sowing, drilling, rolling, hoeing, cutting, 
 reaping, and harvesting, and a repetition of 
 this process for the next crop. 
 
 It is important to remember that the plants 
 of especial interest to the botanist in a cornfield 
 are treated as weeds, and are there on suffer- 
 ance, their eradication (total or partial) depend- 
 ing upon the diligence or laxity of the farmer. 
 In the meadow no such artificial selection 
 or division into weeds or crops takes place, 
 if one excludes thistles and a few other plants 
 that are distasteful as hay, or useless, e.g. 
 Yellow Rattle. Hence one reason for the 
 ephemeral character of the denizens of the 
 cornfield, or colonists as they are called. 
 
 Another equally important factor in regulat- 
 ing the permanence of the cornfield flora is 
 the rotation of crops, of which more is to be 
 said later. Owing to the exhaustion of the 
 soil by certain crops of a highly-specialized 
 character, such as wheat, the plants that grow 
 in cornfields are rendered unstable, because 
 each different type of crop brings with it in the 
 sowing, and by reason of the different method 
 of tillage, a different set of weeds. 
 
 A further reason for the short life of corn- 
 field plants is the possible return of arable to 
 pasture or fallow. All these facts should be 
 studied in detail. 
 
 Cornfields and Woodlands : some Similarities. 
 In describing the tiers of plants in a meadow 
 attention was drawn to the analogy between 
 this and that noticed in woodlands. An even 
 more marked similarity exists between this 
 arrangement of crops and other plants in a 
 cornfield pure and simple and that observed 
 in woods. In this case the tree zone is repre- 
 sented by the corn itself and those giants of 
 
 the cornfield, such as Corn Cockle, Corn Sow 
 Thistle, &c. , which tower above their fellows. 
 This, of course, obtains only in the summer, 
 when the stalks are tall and close set. They 
 provide an ample shade for the Igwer zones of 
 plants. 
 
 Intermediate between the tree zone and the 
 lowest zone (ground flora) is a middle zone, 
 comparable with the scrub of the woods, 
 which consists of such medium plants with a 
 widespread pyramid habit as Corn Buttercup, 
 or the later Fool's Parsley. These have 
 narrow leaves, adapted to growth amongst 
 close, erect plants such as cereals, an adapta- 
 tion not noticed definitelv so far. Below come 
 the trailers, dwarf plants, such as Scarlet 
 Pimpernel, and short erect plants (with linear 
 leaves) as Least Spurge. Rosette plants, as 
 Great Plantain, are found like the Daisy 
 covering the surface. There are some 
 climbers, too, as Corn Bindweed or Small 
 Convolulus. 
 
 Denizen and Colonist Flora. The plants 
 which are found in cornfields are a motley 
 assemblage. Some are pure aliens and of 
 merely sporadic occurrence, as Larkspur, 
 Gold of Pleasure, Venus's Looking Glass. 
 Charlock is a denizen. Corn Buttercup, Red 
 Poppy, Fumitory, Candytuft, Corn Cockle, 
 Venus's Comb, Corn Marigold, Cornflower, 
 Snapdragon, Wild Oat, and Darnel are 
 colonists, which were defined by Watson to 
 be weeds of cultivated land, by roadsides of 
 about houses, only existing here as long as 
 human agency provides suitable conditions. 
 The denizen is apparently indigenous, but 
 liable to some suspicion of having been origi- 
 nally introduced by man, as the Horse-radish 
 and Melilot. The alien plants are certainly 
 or very probably of foreign origin, though 
 now more or less distinctly naturalized, as 
 among trees the Sycamore and the Bird 
 Cherry. The casual was accidentally im- 
 ported or strayed from cultivation, not truly 
 naturalized, and generally unable to maintain 
 itself from year to year, as the Caraway, and 
 perhaps Larkspur. 
 
 Native plants are believed to be truly abo- 
 riginal species, and amongst cornfield plants 
 perhaps the following are native: Scarlet 
 Pimpernel (this grows also in woods and on 
 shingle), Corn Gromwell (Common Gromwell 
 grows by the roadside), Hemp Nettle, also a 
 wayside plant. 
 
 The Limits of Cultivation. Several reasons 
 determine the limits between which cultivated 
 plants will grow and thrive. These in general 
 are similar to those which regulate the distri- 
 bution of all plants, but they apply in a more 
 marked degree. For the cultivated cereals,
 
 2 3 2 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 and most of the cornfield weeds, are essentially 
 southern plants, hence they will not grow 
 where northern plants are quite at home. 
 
 Soil, altitude, and climate are the three 
 essential factors for plant growth ; the first is 
 especially important in determining the dis- 
 tribution of cereals. The best soil is a loam 
 or clay, with some proportion of silica or sand. 
 Calcareous soils and marl, which contains up 
 to 25 per cent of lime, are also suitable. 
 Sandy and siliceous soils are in general too 
 dry or close, or barren in alumina. Rocky 
 districts, such as those of Scotland, and high 
 hills in England and Wales, are better suited 
 for oats, but even here this crop does not 
 flourish beyond a certain altitude. The lime- 
 stone massifs of the Pennine Chain are also 
 too bare and lacking in deep soil for cereals. 
 
 Altitude, however, governs the distribution 
 of cereals mostly, for with increase in altitude 
 there is increase in rainfall, and this is dele- 
 terious. Watson established a zone, the 
 Agrarian zone, up to 1000 ft., above which 
 cereals do not usually grow well. Climate, 
 again, has the same effect as altitude, and for 
 this reason the south and east of England 
 and Scotland are best suited for cereals. The 
 N. and W., and the whole of Ireland, are too 
 moist and wet as a whole. 
 
 Arable Land Mainly Confined to Lowlands. 
 Apart from the limits of cultivation owing 
 to altitude, there are some considerations 
 which tend to confine the distribution of the 
 cereals, and hence cornfield plants, as a rule, 
 to the lowlands. 
 
 In the first place the lowlands as compared 
 with the highlands are far more easy to culti- 
 vate. For in the plains the surface is more 
 level, and ploughing and kindred operations 
 are less arduous, though the slopes of many 
 uplands, as on the chalk, are often given up 
 to cereals. But on the chalk as on other hilly 
 tracts the soil, owing to denudation, rain 
 wash, &c., is very shallow, and the ground 
 becomes more and more stony the more it is 
 tilled. Hence the lowlands offer better condi- 
 tions, for almost universally they possess a 
 deep soil. 
 
 Another and very important reason is that 
 the lowlands as a rule are more closely con- 
 nected with the main systems of railway, 
 canals, &c., and transit is easier. 
 
 Another reason is the better drainage of the 
 lowlands. River systems form a natural drain- 
 age for the plains, and artificial drainage also 
 is more readily applied, being impossible in the 
 uplands, save for the natural fall of the surface 
 waters by gravity, its distribution and direction 
 being difficult on hill slopes, as the occurrence 
 of springs shows. In valleys, too, there is a 
 
 natural alluvium, and the river gravels, which 
 are especially suited to light and early crops, 
 are made use of by the agriculturist who knows 
 the local geology. 
 
 Difference between the Plants of the Hedges 
 and Furrows. The cornfield as a complete 
 whole is a composite type of vegetation. 
 Apart from the portion of each field under 
 cultivation, there is usually a grassy strip 
 along the borders, varying in width according 
 to circumstances, and in some cases as exten- 
 sive as the grass rides in a wood. Beyond 
 this zone or border conies, as a rule, a ditch 
 with banks on either side. Then there are 
 also the boundary hedges in most districts, or 
 in some areas dykes or ditches alone, with no 
 other boundary, and in the north of England, 
 Wales, and Scotland, stone walls. 
 
 Each of these extensions or limits to the 
 cornfield is of particular importance in study- 
 ing a cornfield flora, and special attention 
 should be devoted to them. For not only do 
 they form a transition from the grass-field type 
 of vegetation upon which they abut, but they 
 also serve in the case of the grass fringe to 
 stabilize the cornfield flora, and in the case of 
 the ditch and hedge to retain certain of its 
 constituents. The weeds that can subsist 
 under such conditions (more intense than on 
 the open ground of the cultivated area) are 
 thus selected as the dominant and sturdier 
 types, e.g. White Campion and Hemp Nettle. 
 
 The Affinity of Cornfield Plants for Waste 
 Ground. The soil conditions of the cornfield 
 exhibit a striking similarity to those of the 
 waste place and kindred habitats. It might 
 be in some ways better to combine the two. 
 But there is in the first place a greater simi- 
 larity between the character of the meadow 
 and the cornfield, the origin of which is the 
 same; and in the second place there is a 
 marked difference between the character of 
 the cornfield and all cultivated land, and that 
 of the waste place. For in the former certain 
 definite operations are continually going on 
 which are responsible very largely for the as- 
 sociated cornfield wild plants, whilst the very 
 nature of the waste places, and the absence of 
 any such operations, renders such habitats 
 entirely lacking in the chief characteristics 
 that distinguish cultivated land from all other 
 types. 
 
 None the less the essential connection be- 
 tween many descriptions of waste place asso- 
 ciated with farming causes the flora of the two 
 to be essentially similar. For there is, in the 
 first place, a continual carting of materials 
 from the cornfield to stackyards and similar 
 storage areas, when seeds are being continu- 
 ally dropped or dispersed, so that their range
 
 CORNFIELDS 
 
 is extended. In the second place, waste ground 
 is usually broken and open, and thus suited to 
 the colonization of plants derived from corn- 
 fields. In the third place, the origin of the 
 waste -ground plants, such as aliens and 
 casuals, is essentially the same. They have 
 been brought from elsewhere by the same 
 agencies. 
 
 The Grass Habit in the Cornfield. If the 
 growth habits of the plants are studied it will 
 be seen that though there are three zones of 
 plant societies, as in woods and meadows, 
 and though several types of habit may be 
 distinguished, yet, considered generally, a 
 dominant habit is resolved from the manifold 
 conditions of the cornfield which is in all par- 
 ticulars analogous to that of the chief charac- 
 teristics of meadows and pastures. This is 
 the grass habit. 
 
 The cereals themselves are Grasses, and are 
 associated, like meadow-grasses, in close rank. 
 It is one feature of a cornfield that it should 
 make for this manner of growth in order that 
 there may be the greatest possible result in 
 the least possible space, and the exact balanc- 
 ing of the conditions most favourable to attain 
 this end. 
 
 Consequently this factor has the most pro- 
 found effect upon the associated cornfield 
 weeds. All the plants that may be said to 
 belong to the tree type or zone, such as Gold 
 of Pleasure, Flax, Corn Cockle, Chicory, Corn 
 Sow Thistle, are of the grass habit more or 
 less. Many, too, in the two lower zones 
 (scrub and ground flora) adopt the same habit, 
 as Spurrey, Shepherd's Needle, Lamb's Let- 
 tuce, Mousetail, c. 
 
 Absence of Brilliant Colours in the Corn- 
 fields. One usually associates a cornfield with 
 masses of scarlet poppies or sulphur-yellow 
 Charlock. In favoured localities a touch of 
 puce or magenta is lent by the Corn Cockle, 
 but this plant seldom grows en masse, and the 
 same may be said of the Cornflower, which 
 like the last is dying out of the cornfield. On 
 rich red soils the Corn Marigold may here and 
 there contribute a golden glow to the corn- 
 field. 
 
 These, however, are the jewels of the corn- 
 field, as the buttercups and lady's smocks and 
 red clovers are in the meadows. As a whole 
 we may indeed regard the cornfields as devoid 
 of brilliantly-coloured flowers. Many are white, 
 or nearly so, such as Candytuft, Heart's Ease, 
 White Campion, Spurrey, Shepherd's Needle, 
 Fool's Parsley, Lamb's Lettuce, Blue Sherardia 
 (pale lilac), Corn Gromwell, Hemp Nettle(white 
 or pink), and a number apetalous. 
 
 This may be connected with another factor 
 which is characteristic of the cornfield, namely, 
 
 the inaccessibility of the cornfield plants to 
 the insects that visit, as a rule, the brilliantly- 
 coloured flowers. 
 
 Late Flowering of the Cornfield Weeds. The 
 majority of the cornfield plants do not flower 
 so early as those in the meadows. There are, 
 of course, as in all different types of vegeta- 
 tion, natural or artificial cycles of flowering. 
 For each month is characterized by the flower- 
 ing of some particular species, whilst locally 
 some are perennially in flower, e.g. Shepherd's 
 Purse, Groundsel, White and Purple Dead 
 Nettle, and in the cornfield the Heart's Ease 
 also. Some of the Speedwells are also in bloom 
 nearly all the year round. Blue Sherardia 
 flowers as early as March, and as late as 
 November. 
 
 The earliest- flowering cornfield plants in- 
 clude Mousetail, Ivy-leaved Speedwell, Heart's 
 Ease, Lamb's Lettuce (April). In May Corn 
 Buttercup, Fumitory, Charlock, Venus's Look- 
 ing Glass, Field Bugloss, Corn Gromwell, 
 begin to flower. The majority appear in June, 
 which is somewhat late compared with the 
 season for flowering in other habitats. Such 
 are Larkspur, Poppies, Candytuft, Charlock, 
 White Campion, Corn Cockle, Spurrey, Flax, 
 Alsike Clover, Shepherd's Needle, Corn Mari- 
 gold, Bluebottle, Scarlet Pimpernel, Wild Oat, 
 Darnel. Several of these continue till Sep- 
 tember, e.g. Alsike Clover, Cornflower, Scarlet 
 Pimpernel. Still later in flowering are Fool's 
 Parsley, Corn Sow Thistle, Small Snapdragon, 
 Common Hemp Nettle. 
 
 The reason for this late flowering is the 
 disturbance of the ground in February and 
 March. 
 
 Annual Character of Plants. One feature of 
 the cornfield is its ephemeral character. This 
 lack of permanence of conditions makes itself 
 felt upon the plants associated with the corn 
 itself. It can hardly be otherwise. For the 
 time which elapses between one ploughing 
 and the next precludes the continuity of the 
 bulk of the plants in the cornfield beyond one 
 season. Thus all but three of the plants whose 
 life-history has been described in detail are 
 annuals which must germinate in March and 
 April, and flower and fruit from June till 
 September. 
 
 This indeed is the only adjustment that can 
 be made, and it is owing to their annual 
 character that nearly all the cornfield plants 
 bloom so late. White Campion (June to July), 
 Alsike Clover (June to September), Corn Sow 
 Thistle (July to August), are three cornfield 
 perennials that grow in cornfields. 
 
 Two others, Cornflower and Blue Sherardia, 
 both of which flower up till September, may 
 be annual or biennial. So that there seems
 
 234 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 to be a tendency for the plants to struggle 
 towards perennial habits. 
 
 Relative Absence of Insects. Emphasis has 
 been laid upon the close ranks of the corn 
 itself and the struggle of the plants towards 
 the light. The cornfield is indeed extremely 
 inaccessible for all classes of animal life ; 
 attention should be drawn to this aspect, and 
 lists of animals noticed drawn up. 
 
 It is true that one may find a good many 
 insects and other small animals in a cornfield 
 especially associated with the ground flora, 
 where beetles, spiders, and myriapods are not 
 uncommon. Often one may see butterflies 
 soaring over the cornfield, but few of them 
 settle, and the food plants of their larvae are 
 not usually cornfield species. 
 
 The night-flowering Catch-fly and the White 
 Campion are exceptions to this rule that plants 
 depending on Lepidoptera are absent from the 
 cornfield. Cross-pollination by insect agency 
 is on the whole rare. 
 
 Difficulties of Natural Seed Dispersal. The 
 groups of plants found in cornfields are as a 
 whole deficient in adaptation for seed dispersal 
 by animal agency ; for except the Field Bu- 
 gloss, Corn Buttercup, and Wild Oat, there are 
 none which are likely to catch in the wool or 
 fur of animals. 
 
 Only a few have special devices of their own 
 apart from the external agency of the wind 
 for dispersal to a distance, such as Shepherd's 
 Needle and Heart's Ease. The seeds of Gold 
 of Pleasure and Corn Gromwell may be eaten 
 by birds. 
 
 A large number are dehiscent, dry fruits, 
 which split open when ripe, as Charlock and 
 Larkspur, and the Scarlet Pimpernel has a 
 special type, or pyxis, with a lid which opens 
 when the seeds are ripe. The bulk of the 
 plants have fruits of the pepper-box type, as 
 the Poppy, or censer fruits, which scatter their 
 numerous small seeds, when the wind jerks 
 the flowering stems, around the plant itself. 
 In a high gale they may be driven some dis- 
 tance. A few, as Corn Sow Thistle, have a 
 feathery pappus which assists in their dispersal 
 by the wind. 
 
 The closeness of the cornstalks, by its shield- 
 ing effect, rather counteracts the action of the 
 wind. And the seeds of the majority of the 
 plants are thus as a rule scattered over a small 
 area. Hence the patches of the same plant in 
 a cornfield in addition to the even dispersal of 
 most as a result of harrowing, &c. 
 
 Man's Agency. In a cornfield one is met 
 at every turn by artificial agencies. Not least 
 is the direct intervention of man causing the 
 distribution of cornfield weeds. The cultural 
 operations themselves are so far-reaching that 
 
 there is very little scope for any other 
 natural agency in the matter, except that of 
 the wind, which may not only disperse the 
 seeds in one cornfield over the whole area, 
 but also cause dispersal from one area to an- 
 other. 
 
 The operations of preparing the ground for 
 corn are not in themselves selective so far as 
 the dominance or otherwise of the plants as- 
 sociated with corn are concerned, though 
 indirectly they are so, as has been shown. 
 But there is a direct influence upon the weed 
 flora when weeding is undertaken, as in clean 
 fields it always is. In this case the farmer or 
 his men exercise a good deal of personal dis- 
 crimination as to what plants are to be specially 
 eradicated and what may with advantage be 
 left. Thistles are of course exterminated 
 where possible, and so are such Grasses 
 as Couch Grass. The Corn Buttercup and 
 Charlock also are regarded as special enemies 
 of the farmer, and in some areas the Corn 
 Marigold has been laid under the ban, and 
 a royalty paid upon its eradication. Such 
 poisonous plants as Fool's Parsley and Darnel 
 are harmful for when (-growing purposes, and 
 are also exterminated wherever they occur. 
 Hence the character of the cornfield flora must 
 be regarded as largely dependent upon man 
 himself. 
 
 Easier Struggle for Existence. There are 
 two distinct features of the cornfield that are 
 compensative in effect in relation to each other. 
 The struggle of the cornfield weeds amongst 
 the corn towards the light has already been 
 emphasized, and this may be said to mould 
 their characters more than any other factor. 
 The difficulties that cornfield plants have to 
 contend with in this connection are very great ; 
 and they would be even more so if the plants 
 were perennial, and under necessity of storing 
 up reserves to help them over the resting 
 season and to make a fresh start in spring. 
 But this duty is not required of them. Hence 
 the light requirements are not so vital as 
 might seem to be the case. 
 
 If this were so, however, the plants have not 
 to struggle for their existence against over- 
 crowding or lack of nutritive elements derived 
 from the soil, for the latter is open and not 
 thickly colonized, so that the intensity of the 
 struggle for the light is directly counteracted 
 by the favourable conditions in the soil. This 
 is shown by the luxuriance of such plants as 
 Red or White Dead Nettle growing in a turnip 
 field, compared with their growth in a corn- 
 field, and Selfheal is a good example of the 
 same kind of thing. Wall Speedwell, which 
 sometimes grows in a cornfield, is much more 
 luxuriant than when growing on a wall, and
 
 CORNFIELDS 
 
 235 
 
 so is Creeping Speedwell, which grows usually 
 in meadows. 
 
 Effect of Dressing, &c. A cornfield or allied 
 cultivated tract is unique amongst botanical 
 habitats in the fact that the soil is enriched 
 each year with some form of manure or 
 dressing. Normally no other type of vegeta- 
 tion receives the same type of dressing. 
 Humus accumulates in a wood or hedge, and 
 as a thin layer in meadows, whilst peat and 
 humus (thick) play a great part in moors, bogs, 
 and heaths. But though these are organic 
 soil renewers, they do not resemble in effect 
 the artificial dressings in the cornfield. 
 
 The direct result of such manuring is to 
 cause the plants (weeds included) in a cornfield 
 to present generally a robust, well-matured 
 appearance. They are usually luxuriant and 
 in marked contrast to similar or allied species 
 growing elsewhere. The peat or humus- 
 loving plants are not represented as a whole 
 in the cornfield flora, and most of them are 
 fond of clay, sand, or lime, and these soils are 
 improved by the addition of manure in one 
 form or another. At the same time there are 
 some plants that dislike dressing, and will not 
 grow under such conditions. The discovery 
 of the requirements of plants in this respect 
 will be an object for inquiry here also. 
 
 Effect of the Soil. The conditions required 
 for the effective growth of a cereal crop are 
 light but fertile soils, which are dry and warm. 
 The soils that furnish these conditions are 
 mainly sandy loams, clayey loams, and cal- 
 careous soils. Rocky, too sandy, or siliceous 
 soils do not give a deep or rich soil. Heavy 
 clays are also unsuitable. Marls are, however, 
 well suited for cereals. 
 
 These conditions are not always found in 
 the soil itself without cultivation or improve- 
 ment, hence the plants that would naturally 
 come up in a cornfield are not always to be 
 found on the soil, but are replaced by others, 
 that may be introduced from elsewhere. But 
 in some cases the weeds that are common to 
 the district are able to adapt themselves to the 
 altered conditions, and where a sandy soil is 
 improved by the addition of lime, plants that 
 prefer the former may still linger, and where 
 the latter is the principal natural soil the 
 addition of loam may not affect the lime-loving 
 plants. 
 
 As a rule, the cornfield plants are those that 
 grow naturally upon a sandy soil or a sandy 
 loam. A few such, as the Hemp Nettle, are 
 lovers of clay as well. A fair proportion are 
 characteristic of limestone or chalk areas, such 
 as Larkspur, Candytuft, Flax, Venus's Look- 
 ing Glass, Small Snapdragon. Some are 
 able to subsist on either, as the Red Poppy, 
 
 Shepherd's Needle, Fool's Parsley, Lamb's 
 Lettuce, Cornflower, and Blue Sherardia. 
 
 Dry-soil Types. The preponderance of the 
 sand plants in cornfields owing to the con- 
 ditions required by cereals, such as lightness 
 and dryness of soils, is a well-marked feature, 
 which is explained by the processes to which a 
 cornfield is subjected in fitting it for cultivation. 
 
 The transition from the damp conditions of 
 the woodland to those of a meadow is less 
 great than from those of a meadow to those of 
 a cornfield. It is true that the cutting down 
 of trees has a great effect upon a district in 
 making it as a rule much drier, and a meadow 
 also has usually been drained before it is used 
 for pasturage, &c. 
 
 In a cornfield, however, these conditions 
 have been already fulfilled before a further 
 stage, that of cultivation and better drainage, 
 with yearly ploughing, is attained. These 
 last factors tend to make the soil very much 
 drier, and owing to this a cornfield is the 
 extreme stage towards dry-soil conditions, 
 which in a meadow are not nearly so well 
 marked. The shielding of the lowest zone of 
 plants amid the corn in mid and later summer 
 does not prevent the free access of the sun to 
 the soil and the rapid evaporation of the 
 surface moisture. 
 
 Consequently, as would be expected from 
 the natural predilection of the great majority 
 of the plants for sandy soils, the plants in a 
 cornfield are mainly xerophilous or dry-soil 
 types. There are, in fact, few if any of them, 
 except perhaps Corn Sow Thistle and Mouse- 
 tail, that will grow in a moist habitat. White 
 Campion is intermediate in this respect. 
 
 Methods of Survey. The mode of examina- 
 tion of a cornfield flora differs very little from 
 that of a meadow or pasture, except that the 
 cereal itself supplies the dominant plant. 
 
 Proceeding to examine the cultivated area 
 first of all, it may be pointed out that Grasses 
 have been artificially eliminated, and therefore 
 the best means of studying the flora is to take 
 each tier or zone by itself, and to estimate the 
 dominance of the several plants that make up 
 each zone. In some fields Creeping Thistle 
 will be dominant in the zone corresponding to 
 the tree zone, with Corn Sow Thistle propor- 
 tionally next so. 
 
 In the intermediate zone, if the Creeping 
 Thistle does not occupy this, we may have 
 Corn Marigold. Charlock and Corn Butter- 
 cup may come next. In the ground flora the 
 dominant plant may be Ivy-leaved Speedwell, 
 early in the year, and Scarlet Pimpernel later. 
 
 Mousetail grows sporadically in the furrows 
 rather than in large societies. The vegetation 
 of the borders, especially the cornfield plants,
 
 236 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 should next be studied as in a meadow, since 
 Grasses are here allowed to grow. The ditch 
 and hedge should be also treated as in the 
 
 case of a meadow or pasture, the definite 
 occurrence of cornfield plants being especially 
 noted. 
 
 SECTION IV 
 
 THE SEA-COAST 
 
 Zonal Character of the Coastal Vegetation. 
 
 The vegetation of the sea-coast differs from 
 every other type of vegetation in that it is 
 entirely restricted to the junction of the sea 
 with the land. This causes at once a more 
 or less uniform altitude, the sole difference in 
 this respect being defined by the rockiness 
 or otherwise of the seaboard. Thus the mari- 
 time plants are at once confined to a fringe 
 along the coast of little extent, rarely en- 
 croaching inland more than half a mile, or a 
 little more where salt marshes, which are 
 secondary products of the coastal vegetation, 
 are concerned. It is, in fact, the marginal 
 action of the sea, with its saline waters and 
 peculiar deposits, that determines the forma- 
 tion of maritime vegetation. 
 
 There are two limits to the action of the 
 sea, high-water mark and low-water mark, 
 and as regards flowering plants these have 
 little or no effect upon distribution. It is on 
 the deposits thrown up and conserved above 
 the high-water mark that the maritime plants 
 are especially found, and these form the first 
 zone, which may in the case of a low shore 
 line be of sand or shingle. Where there are 
 cliffs lashed at high tide by the sea there is 
 a single zone, the rocks and cliffs. But on a 
 low shore there are usually parallel with the 
 first sandy shore or shingle beach dunes of 
 aeolian origin, whilst a third zone is constituted 
 by the salt marshes on the landward side of 
 the dunes, though these may not everywhere 
 be present, nor are dunes always developed on 
 a low shore. To leeward of the salt marshes 
 there may be a second line of dunes, and 
 then inland vegetation. There are normally 
 three or four zones of vegetation on the sea- 
 coast. 
 
 Absence of Trees on the Sea-coast. One 
 feature of most maritime tracts is the almost 
 universal absence of trees. This is due to the 
 regular occurrence of sea breezes and land 
 breezes, which constantly subject the coast to 
 unusual wind force, so that trees are unable 
 to flourish except in a dwarfed state, and 
 generally have their branches blown land- 
 wards. The exposed nature of the sea-coast 
 
 also, apart from the wind, contributes to the 
 absence of trees. Another reason is the char- 
 acter of the soil, which is saline, and usually 
 of coarse texture unsuited to tree growth. 
 
 The fact that along most coasts there are 
 relics of ancient submerged forests does not 
 denote that the maritime border was formerly 
 more suited to such conditions, but is an 
 indication of the great amount of submer- 
 gence or sagging that has occurred. Such 
 forests were originally not only above the 
 sea-level but a good distance inland. The 
 maritime formations are thus without any 
 native forests of their own. From this cause 
 there is generally a relative absence of humus 
 in the soil, except in the salt marshes where 
 semi-marine peat is formed. 
 
 An exception must be made to the foregoing 
 general rule in the case of sheltered coves and 
 estuaries, as in Devonshire, Somerset, &c., 
 where trees grow down to the sea margin, 
 at any rate on rocky coasts. There are some 
 shrubs that are characteristic of the sea-coast, 
 such as Tamarisk, Sea Buckthorn, Coton- 
 easter, and Elder is in many places common, 
 as also the Tea Plant. 
 
 Exposure of the Sea -coast. Except upon 
 lofty hills and mountains no type of vegetation 
 is so much exposed as that of the sea-coast. 
 It is this factor which causes the vegetation 
 to have so distinctive a character, not only as 
 regards height and form, but also in regard 
 to its physiological adaptation to dry condi- 
 tions. One reason of this exposed character 
 is the relation of the sea to the land. The 
 maritime zones are constantly being exposed 
 to the land and sea breezes, which set up 
 regular air currents periodically. The general 
 absence of trees or of shrubs thus subjects the 
 ground vegetation to the influence of the wind 
 and the other factors. 
 
 The winds which blow to the land bring 
 with them salt, which accumulates upon the 
 coastal vegetation, and for this reason the 
 maritime plants are halophytes, or plants 
 adapted to soil in which there is a large pro- 
 portion of chloride of sodium, as well as some 
 bromides and iodides.
 
 THE SEA-COAST 
 
 237 
 
 There are also frequent sea-mists, which 
 may be distinguished in this connection from 
 the normal landward breezes, since they do 
 not possess much force, but are characterized 
 by their saturated condition. To these sea- 
 mists may largely be attributed the high per- 
 centage of saline matter in the coastal sands, 
 shingles, and salt marshes. Frequently also 
 sand storms are set up which have several 
 different effects, such as the burying of the 
 plants in sand, and the erosion by sand blast 
 of those that are exposed. 
 
 The waves also are powerful factors upon 
 the sea-coast, exposing plants to destruction 
 by the erosion of the coast. They also, in the 
 case of land to the leeward of dunes or shingle, 
 have a beneficial effect by making the condi- 
 tions saline. It is usually when there are 
 gales that such occurrences take place. Thus 
 many factors contribute to the exposure of the 
 sea-coast. 
 
 Erosion of the Coast. One of the most 
 marked features of the present conditions so 
 far as the sea-coast is concerned is the erosion 
 of certain portions of the east and south coasts, 
 and to a far less degree of the west and north 
 coasts. 
 
 Whilst there has been accretion or addition 
 to the coast in some areas erosion has been 
 going on from time immemorial. So long 
 ago as the Roman period the Wash area has 
 been protected by banks in order to prevent 
 the farther advance of the sea. 
 
 The sea margin is in fact continually chang- 
 ing. Generally speaking, however, a dis- 
 tinct difference exists between the west and 
 north coasts and the south and east coasts. 
 Along the former there has been little destruc- 
 tion, and some addition, whilst on the latter 
 there has been almost generally a depletion of 
 the land, with some exceptions. 
 
 This is due to the fact that the older and 
 harder rocks are mainly found on the west 
 and north, whilst the newer and less resistant 
 rocks are found on the east and south. The 
 occurrence of hard rocks, however, such as the 
 chalk, locally, on the east and south coast, 
 as in Yorks, Norfolk, and Sussex, causes the 
 coast to preserve its contour intact, whilst 
 alternating soft bands, often where river 
 estuaries occur, are the areas where the coast 
 has been destroyed. Along the east coast, 
 however, there is a drift of shingle southwards 
 to the Thames, so that some parts are pre- 
 served, or there may even be some accretion, 
 as at Blakeney and Lowestoft, and along the 
 Essex coast. 
 
 West and East Coasts. As one passes from 
 the west of England to the east one is struck 
 by one important feature at least, apart from 
 
 the difference in the character of the coast, the 
 one rocky and elevated, the other flat. For 
 owing to the beneficent influence of the 
 Atlantic Drift, which flows to the west of 
 Ireland, and is felt in the St. George's Chan- 
 nel, the temperature of the west coast is much 
 higher than that on the east coast. This of 
 course makes the west coast much moister or 
 more humid. The hills are nearer the west 
 than the east coast, hence the rainfall is again 
 much heavier in the west than the east. 
 
 On the east coast the climate is cold ; winds 
 reaching the coast from the Atlantic are al- 
 ready deprived of their moisture, and the 
 easterly winds from the Continent are dry. 
 The east is much drier as a whole, therefore, 
 and there is much less rain. 
 
 In South-west Ireland the temperature in 
 winter is like that of the Mediterranean. The 
 coldest area is in Central England northwards 
 to Scotland. The rockiness of the west and 
 south coast is another factor. Hence we have 
 on the west coast rupestral plants such as 
 Welsh Poppy, Thrift, and Scurvy Grass, on 
 the muddy sandy east coasts Sea Lavender, 
 Sea Kale, Saltwort, &c. 
 
 All these factors higher temperature, more 
 humid conditions, and a rocky substratum 
 cause the western plants to differ from the 
 eastern, as may be illustrated by lists of plants 
 from each. The same applies largely to the 
 north and south coasts. The western plants 
 are Atlantic types, the eastern Germanic. 
 
 The Limitations of Seaside Vegetation. 
 There are one or two features of maritime 
 regions, so far as the British Isles are con- 
 cerned, which influence the vegetation they 
 support that ought to be pointed out, as they 
 are peculiar to this type. In the first place, 
 as briefly mentioned, the coastal border is near 
 the sea-level. The temperature therefore is 
 more or less uniform, and were it not that 
 there is a marked difference on the west to 
 that on the east, and relatively between that 
 on the north and south coasts, the effect of 
 altitude would be negligible in this case, and 
 the sole influence upon temperature would be 
 owing to latitude. 
 
 As a whole the altitude at which maritime 
 plants grow, except a few inland types, as 
 Thrift, Sea Plantain, and Scurvy Grass, varies 
 between i and 100 ft., so that all the plants 
 are of the ascending type, though they do not 
 actually encroach upon other types owing to 
 the necessity of saline conditions in the soil 
 and the restriction of this to the sea border. 
 Another feature is the generally uniform aspect 
 of plants on each of the coasts north and 
 south, east and west. Each seaboard is more 
 or less restricted to certain classes of wind,
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 even if the uniform land and sea breezes were 
 not equally influential in this respect. 
 
 Again, the sequence of changes from one 
 type of maritime zone to another is quite 
 definite, and there are few sea-coast types 
 that are to be found inland under other condi- 
 tions, except some Grasses (as Seaside Manna 
 Grass), Buckshorn Plantain, Woad, and Cen- 
 taury, and these are chiefly sandy-soil types. 
 The vegetation of the sea-coast is thus as a 
 whole more or less specialized, and does not 
 grade into inland types. This is an important 
 feature upon which due emphasis should be 
 laid. The occurrence of many inland plants 
 on the sea-coast on the contrary is an equally 
 noticeable feature, e.g. Scarlet Pimpernel on 
 shingle, &c. 
 
 Composite Types of Seaside Vegetation. 
 The title of this section may seem paradoxical 
 compared with the last. But whilst the condi- 
 tions of vegetation are limited to certain types, 
 the types met with upon the sea-coast are 
 sufficiently diverse or composite. Thus there 
 are sandy tracts of sea-coast, and others that 
 are muddy. There are the mouths of estuaries, 
 and alluvial flats or warp. There are again 
 stretches of shingle with peculiarities of their 
 own. Where rocks bound the sea-margin 
 there are diverse types of soil derived from 
 each type of rock. There are the special 
 types of sand-dune, usually mobile, unless 
 well stabilized by dune plants, such as Lyme 
 Grass or Dwarf Willow, as in Anglesey. 
 
 There are again open or closed bays with 
 brackish water in which Grass Wrack, Naias, 
 and Ruppia grow, with characteristic brackish- 
 water Algae and Mollusca. The salt marshes 
 finally form another type, and one with very 
 marked characteristics. In addition to these 
 genuine maritime plant-formations there is 
 a large flora of alien plants which have estab- 
 lished themselves along the coast, on kitchen 
 middens or elsewhere. The neighbourhood 
 of docks and ports is particularly favourable, 
 especially where grain is imported, for the 
 introduction and establishment of such plants. 
 The inland flora again is always encroaching 
 upon the coast flora. So that taken as a 
 whole, though the alien plants and those 
 found near docks and ports rightly belong 
 to other sections, the flora is decidedly com- 
 posite. 
 
 Dry-soil Conditions of Coast Vegetation. 
 The plants that grow by the sea-coast, also 
 called strand plants, are distinguished from 
 the inland types. The latter are adapted 
 to a moderate supply of moisture, and are 
 known as mesophytes, as meadow plants. 
 They also differ from those that are adapted 
 to dry summer conditions and cold or wet 
 
 | winter conditions, or tropophytes, such as 
 deciduous trees, &c. Strand plants are in 
 fact especially adapted to dry conditions. The 
 
 : same applies to the dunes and salt marshes 
 as to the sandy sea-coast. This is due to the 
 
 j fact that in absorbing water, coastal plants 
 
 , would necessarily absorb a large proportion of 
 
 j salt, and since this would upset the balance of 
 nutritive materials, the plant therefore takes 
 up less water than it otherwise would do. 
 
 To compensate for this, the plant has a 
 reduced leaf surface, few of the plants, except 
 Yellow Horned Poppy, Sea Kale, and some 
 
 I few others, developing broad leaves. Most 
 are linear or narrow and oblong. They are 
 also, as a rule, fleshy and thick and suc- 
 culent, e.g. Samphire, Oraches, Sea Holly, 
 
 j Saltwort, &c. 
 
 The stems are equally fleshy and succulent. 
 The herbaceous types, as Sea Blite, Sea Heath, 
 have heath-like, small, short, linear leaves. 
 The majority of the maritime plants are dwarf, 
 and not luxuriant, and many are procumbent 
 
 . or trailing. Other factors are the thick cuticle 
 
 ! or epidermis preventing ready transpiration. 
 
 \ The stomata are also sunk in this thick cuticle, 
 assisting the plant in fitting itself to physio- 
 logical drought. 
 
 The sandy and shingly character of the sea- 
 coast, and the wind, cause the substratum on 
 
 . which they grow to be destitute of moisture, 
 and the plants have largely to rely on atmos- 
 pheric moisture. 
 
 Modern Character of Sea-coast Vegetation. 
 The sand and shingle cast up by the agency of 
 the sea is of purely modern origin. Marine 
 deposits in fact belong to the latest geological 
 period, the recent or Quaternary epoch. 
 
 It is also known that England was con- 
 nected with the Continent in Preglacial times, 
 and during some part of the Glacial period, 
 hence the present maritime flora is of com- 
 paratively modern type. Apart from the records 
 of a few present maritime plants in Glacial 
 and later beds the succession is broken, for 
 apart from Naias, which occurs in the Pre- 
 glacial Cromer Forest Bed, there are no earliei 1 
 records of marine types that are connected 
 with our present maritime flowering plants. 
 
 Amongst those described, two are found in 
 the Oak Zone in Scandinavia, Sea Rocket 
 and Sea Buckthorn; three in Interglacial beds 
 in this country, Sea Campion (found to-day, 
 inland, on the hills), Sea Purslane, Sea Milk- 
 wort; and the Sea Club Rush is found in 
 Neolithic beds. The raised beaches and shingle 
 beaches found inland are of modern origin also. 
 Isolation of Maritime Types on Hills. The 
 occurrence of certain typical maritime plants 
 upon inland mountains, and their absence
 
 THE SEA-COAST 
 
 239 
 
 from intervening lowlands, constitute one of 
 the most curious facts of plant distribution. 
 Discontinuous distribution, as shown by Dr. 
 A. R. Wallace, is an indication of the antiquity 
 of the plant types so dispersed. Hence it may 
 be considered that the occurrence of such plants 
 as Scurvy Grass, Thrift, Sea Plantain, Sea 
 Campion, &c. , inland on lofty mountains is 
 connected with the existence in earlier times 
 of sea margins, of which there are indications 
 (not where these plants occur) elsewhere at a 
 distance from the sea. 
 
 There are other reasons for the occurrence 
 of such types inland away from the sea. It 
 is quite possible that the seeds of such plants 
 may be conveyed thither by animal agency, 
 especially birds. Wild fowl, ducks, geese, 
 swans, plovers, and many other birds frequent 
 the coast on migration, and also inland lochs 
 and upland moors and bogs. Some maritime 
 birds, as the Dotterel, Redshank, Blackheaded 
 Gull, and others, leave the sea-coast during 
 the breeding season to seek such habitats as 
 the inland types of maritime plants frequent. 
 
 Whatever be the cause of the isolation of 
 these maritime plants upon hills inland, their 
 occurrence in such spots is of the greatest 
 interest, and any observations that may be 
 made upon these points will assuredly be pro- 
 lific in results. 
 
 Inland Salt-marshes. In the case of the mon- 
 tane types of maritime plants described in the 
 last section, there were no conditions inland 
 resembling those on the sea-coast to account 
 for the occurrence of Thrift, &c., in alpine 
 situations. In the case of certain inland salt- 
 marshes, however, the conditions are similar 
 to those on the sea-coast ; that is to say, they 
 are suited to halophytes, plants that require 
 salt or brackish water. In the neighbourhood 
 of Droitwich, famous for its brine springs, 
 such plants are to be found, also in the Severn 
 valley from the Salwarpe valley to Droitwich, 
 and in the Tewkesbury and Evesham district. 
 
 At Longdon and Welland marshes CEnanthe 
 pimpinelloides , CE. lachenalii, (E. silaifoUa (all 
 maritime species of Dropwort), Golden Dock, 
 Sea Club Rush, and Alexanders occur. If 
 the land were submerged 100 ft., the tide 
 which comes far up the Severn would reach 
 this point. Woad was found on cliffs also in 
 the Severn valley. Parsley, Fennel, Soapwort, 
 and Carum segetum also grow at Dodder- 
 hill in the same region. Dittander, a salt- 
 marsh plant, occurs at Salwarpe, and Senecio 
 squalidus at Droitwich. 
 
 Between Droitwich and Hawford Lock 
 grow Celery, Sea Milkwort, Sea Spurrey, Sea 
 Orache, Sea Arrow Grass, Sea Club Rush, 
 Juncus compressus, and Brookweed. In the 
 
 valley of the Trent, near Stratford, 250 ft. 
 above the sea, also grow Sea Spurrey, Celery, 
 Sea Aster, Sea Milkwort, Sea Arrow Grass, 
 Sea Club Rush. Sea Stork's Bill is also found 
 in various parts of Worcestershire. Wher- 
 ever these plants occur there are salt springs, 
 hence their occurrence inland. They may have 
 been introduced by birds that frequent mari- 
 time salt marshes. 
 
 The Sandy Coasts, Muddy Estuaries, Rocky 
 Coasts. The first zone is made up of sandy 
 coasts, muddy estuaries, rocky coasts, and 
 sea cliffs. Of the plants here described in 
 detail the bulk grow on sandy coasts, as Sea 
 Kale, Sea Rocket (both also growing on 
 shingle), Sea Campion (also on shingle and 
 dunes), Sea Purslane (also on shingle), Tama- 
 risk (also on dunes), Sea Holly, Absinth, Sea 
 Lavender (also in salt marshes), Centaury, Sea- 
 side Bindweed (also on dunes), Sea Buckthorn 
 (also on dunes), Grass W T rack (in estuaries in 
 water), Sand Sedge (also on dunes), Crested 
 Dog's Tail Grass, Seaside Manna Grass, 
 Squirrel Tail Grass. 
 
 Scurvy Grass grows on muddy coasts, Woad 
 on cliffs, and Samphire and Thrift on rocks, 
 the latter also in salt marshes and on sand. 
 Amongst other plants that are found upon the 
 sandy coasts are Sea Radish, Bloody Crane's 
 Bill, Scotch Rose, often farther inland, Cotton 
 Weed, Small Yellow Gentian, Buckshorn Plan- 
 tain (also often far inland), Rupture Wort, 
 Sea Spurge, Asparagus, Baltic Rush, Bulbous 
 Meadow Grass. On muddy coasts Beet is to 
 be found. On sea cliffs and rocky coasts the 
 following occur, amongst many others : Queen 
 Stock, Wild Cabbage, Isle of Man Cabbage, 
 Tree Mallow, Lovage, Blue Gromwell, the 
 latter also on shingle. 
 
 It is thus evident that the flora of the first 
 maritime zone is of an extremely diverse and 
 interesting character, and that it is highly- 
 adapted to travel inland where conditions are 
 suitable, for many are common to the other 
 zones. 
 
 The Shingle Beach. The extent of the 
 shingle beaches around the British coasts is 
 strictly limited, therefore the extent of the 
 flora which is established upon them is not 
 great. Furthermore, it is an extremely mo- 
 bile formation, and the age of the shingle 
 beach is distinctly recent in the majority of 
 cases. Again, the flora is made up largely 
 of the few plants with long far-reaching roots 
 that can establish themselves and adapt their 
 growth to the movement of the shingle, which 
 is liable to frequent additions to or removal of 
 the component pebbles. 
 
 A striking feature of the shingle beach is 
 the manner in which laterals are formed at
 
 2 4 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 right angles more or less to the main bank, 
 and the part played by plants that help to 
 stabilize the newly-formed shingle, such as 
 Shrubby Sea Elite, is of the greatest interest. 
 The work of this natural shore preserver, ably 
 described by Prof. F. W. Oliver at Blakeney, 
 is of supreme importance. 
 
 The plants that are most frequently found 
 upon shingle beaches on the east and south 
 coasts of England are Yellow Horned Poppy, 
 Sea Kale, Sea Rocket, Sea Campion, Sea 
 Purslane, Sea Holly, Orache, Curled Dock, 
 Ragwort, Marram, Seaside Wormwood. The 
 latter in some places, as at Salthouse, helps to 
 establish embryonic dunes where the Shrubby- 
 Sea Elite is less dominant. 
 
 The Sand Dunes. The sand dune is just as 
 local along the British coasts as the shingle 
 beach. Sand dunes, in the same way as 
 shingle beaches, owe their preservation, once 
 they are accumulated, to the action of a few 
 dominant plants that in this case help to 
 bind them together by the development of 
 long rhizomes which reach far down into and 
 amongst the loose sand, and by interlacing 
 and constant multiplication form a strong 
 and resistant barrier (when compared with the 
 sand) to the further effect of the wind. 
 
 Whilst shingle beaches are a direct product 
 of marine action, dunes on the coast are due 
 to aeolian agency, though the material is di- 
 rectly brought into its position upon the coast 
 by the same agency, or the sea. Dunes are 
 if anything of much quicker growth than 
 shingle beaches, and as readily destroyed in 
 the absence of binding Grass rhizomes. So 
 important is the office of Marram, Lyme 
 Grass, &c., in binding the sand together that 
 there was once a law made to prevent these 
 useful plants from being destroyed. In such 
 low-lying countries as Holland such a law is 
 of primal importance. 
 
 The plants that are found most commonly 
 on sand dunes are Saltwort (also on sandy 
 shores), Seaside Bindweed, Sea Buckthorn, 
 the Creeping Willow (acting as a sand binder 
 in Anglesey), Sand Sedge (a most useful sand 
 binder), Marram, Lyme Grass, Rushy Wheat 
 Grass, Squirrel Tail Grass. Others not de- 
 scribed in detail here are Sea Campion, Sea 
 Purslane, Sea Rocket, and Sandhill Cat's 
 Tail. 
 
 The Salt Marsh. The salt marsh is as a 
 rule protected from the sea by a shingle 
 beach, or dune, or sandy bank, or line of cliffs, 
 but usually one or other of the former. It 
 consists of low-lying meadows by the sea, 
 which have at some period become inundated 
 by the sea, have become salt or brackish, 
 and have continued to be so. In addition to 
 
 periodical reflooding, there is a certain amount 
 of creep of salt water through the sand or 
 shingle. This makes the marshes salt. 
 
 Amongst the true salt-marsh plants may be 
 found a large number of ordinary meadow 
 types. But sometimes these are driven out by 
 the salt-marsh plants entirely. Here one may 
 find that one salt-marsh plant occurs to the 
 exclusion of all others, e.g. Buckshorn Plan- 
 tain, there Sea Aster, or again Juncus Gerardi, 
 &c. Frequent plants in the salt marsh, which 
 usually grow in extensive societies or associa- 
 tions, are Sandwort (several kinds), Sea La- 
 vender, Sea Milkwort, Sea Plantain, Shrubby 
 Sea Elite, forming small plantations 2-3 ft. 
 high and several acres in area, Samphire, 
 Sea Rush, Sea Club Rush, usually in water, 
 in drains, &c. 
 
 Others not described in detail here are Marsh 
 Mallow, Dittander, Sea Heath, Seaside Clover, 
 Slender Hare's Ear, Hog's Fennel, Sea Aster, 
 Golden Samphire, Sea Wormwood, Marsh 
 Samphire, Sea Elite, Sea Arrow Grass, form- 
 ing large tussocks in wet submerged places, 
 Long-bracted Sedge, Perennial Beard Grass, 
 Nit Grass, &c. 
 
 The Habitats of Coast Plants. The four 
 zones of sea-coast vegetation above referred to 
 furnish a variety of habitats, as each is dis- 
 tinct in itself. On the sandy coast there are 
 long stretches of sand where plants grow in 
 extensive patches, or discontinuously. Such a 
 coast may be diversified with rocks jutting 
 out here and there, and there may be creeks 
 and pools caused by storms which quickly 
 become colonized by Samphire, Ruppia, &c. 
 The sand may be grass-grown, and stretch 
 inland. 
 
 The muddy coast also furnishes a diversity 
 of habitats. As a rule, it is in the mouth of an 
 estuary. On some coasts, however, the shore 
 is eaten out of a clayey formation. 
 
 The rocky coast is usually made up of hard 
 granitic, siliceous, sandstone, limestone, or 
 other old rocks, or of modern chalk or sand- 
 stone, or Crag, covered by Boulder Clay. The 
 influence of the soil will here determine the 
 flora which comes down to the sea-coast, and 
 is mingled with the true coastal vegetation, 
 such as Scurvy Grass, Thrift, Sea Lavender. 
 Here and there on such rocky coasts trees and 
 shrubs may shelter the vegetation, and give it 
 an extraordinary luxuriance where the climate 
 is warm and moist, as in the south-west. 
 
 The shingle beach affords a uniform type 
 of habitat suited only to a few types. The 
 dunes also exhibit a uniform vegetation made 
 up of a few special types, the sandy and 
 saline soil suiting a minority. But in both of 
 the last cases there are frequently many weeds
 
 THE SEA-COAST 
 
 241 
 
 of inland origin which are widespread and 
 able to grow almost anywhere. 
 
 The salt marsh varies considerably in regard 
 to the degree of moisture. In some cases 
 there are few or no pools, in others these are 
 general. In some cases there is a struggle 
 between inland types and salt-marsh plants, 
 in others the latter are entirely dominant. 
 
 The Habits of Sea-coast Plants. The special 
 factors of the maritime habitats cause the 
 plants in each zone to have marked character- 
 istics. Generally the sandy coast vegetation 
 is composed of fleshy herbaceous types having 
 a branched or pyramidal habit. In many 
 cases the upright erect habit, giving the plants 
 a strict appearance, is developed. Others are 
 trailers, as some Oraches, Sea Bindweed, Sea 
 Purslane, &c., and Sea Heath is a shrubby 
 type of trailer. Some are rosette plants, as 
 Thrift, Buckshorn Plantain (and these are 
 most general on rocky coasts). The grass 
 habit is adopted by a few, as Centaur)-, Woad, 
 and the number of Sedges and Grasses is large. 
 A few are shrubs, as Sea Buckthorn, Tama- 
 risk (the latter with ericaceous habit), Coto- 
 neaster, the first spinose. 
 
 On the shingle the habit is trailing, and the 
 plants produce resting shoots or hibernacula, 
 as in Sea Purslane, Sea Campion (procum- 
 bent). A few are pyramidal, and all are 
 fleshy, with the Sea Kale type of habit, as in 
 Sea Holly, Yellow Horned Poppy, &c. 
 
 On the dunes the habit is trailing, as in 
 Seaside Bindweed, with subterranean stolons, 
 and the grasses produce long rhizomes, deeply 
 rooting. The grass habit is the dominant one. 
 In the salt marshes the habit is largely the 
 grass habit of the rushes, sedges, and grasses. 
 The shrub type is represented by Sea Elite. A 
 few have the rosette habit, as in Sea Lavender, 
 Thrift, Buckshorn Plantain. The trailing 
 habit is adopted by Sandwort, Sea Milkwort, 
 Procumbent Sea Elite. Arrowgrass and Sea 
 Plantain also have a grasslike habit. The 
 bulk of the plants are fleshy, except the 
 grasses, &c. , and the shrubby types. Samphire 
 has a very marked strict habit. 
 
 The Height of Maritime Plants. Most of 
 the maritime plants are herbaceous perennials. 
 Only a few attain the size of shrubs, and these 
 are quite local. Trees as a whole are absent. 
 The factors which regulate the height of mari- 
 time plants are chiefly wind, and the various 
 ways in which they are subjected to exposure. 
 The manner in which the few trees that grow 
 by the sea -coast are affected by wind and 
 dwarfed has been shown. The shrubs, as 
 Tamarisk and Sea Buckthorn, are affected in 
 much the same way. Many of the plants, 
 especially those that grow next to the sea in 
 
 the first or second zone, are trailing or pro- 
 cumbent plants, as Sea Bindweed, Sea Purs- 
 lane, Sea Campion, &c. 
 
 The succulent character of so many of the 
 maritime plants prevents them from attaining 
 any great height, apart from the foregoing 
 factors. Their increase by growth is thus 
 lateral, not upward. The softness or looseness 
 of the soil also favours a low shrubby habit, 
 even amongst those that are more diffuse, as 
 in the case of Yellow Horned Poppy and Sea 
 Kale. Plants with the erect habit frequently 
 also have a procumbent habit in some situ- 
 ations, and there are some plants again, of 
 which there are several species, in which one 
 is erect and others are procumbent, showing 
 that the latter is of advantage to the plant, and 
 an adaptation to maritime conditions. Of such 
 type are Shrubby Sea Elite, which has an 
 allied species, Procumbent Sea Elite, and 
 Samphire, of which there are numerous species 
 (recently defined by Dr. C. E. Moss), in which 
 all stages from the erect to the prostrate habit 
 are represented. These facts tend to show that 
 the height of maritime plants is generally low, 
 since a low height is most favourable in such 
 habitats. 
 
 The Flowering Seasons of Maritime Plants. 
 Maritime plants labour under disadvantages. 
 They are subjected to continual wind-force and 
 exposure, and where sea mists are constant, 
 a reduction in temperature (otherwise normal 
 at the coast) occurs, and frequent moisture, so 
 that they are as a whole late in flowering. 
 The radiation from sand and shingle is very 
 rapid, and therefore the ground temperature 
 is relatively high, with rapid cooling as a 
 result. But the plants are subjected to a 
 physiological drought, and the necessity of 
 developing long and far-reaching rhizomes 
 and thick and long roots, with, as a rule, 
 enormously developed vegetative organs, may 
 have much to do with this feature. 
 
 The insects that pollinate the maritime 
 plants are largely drawn from the order 
 Coleoptera or Beetles, and as a whole these 
 insects are late in appearing. This may be 
 in part the reason. 
 
 The earliest flowering plants amongst those 
 described in detail do not put forth so great a 
 number of leafy shoots, or develop rhizomes 
 on a large scale, and are shrubs, trailers, or 
 rosette plants, as, in May, Sea Milkwort, Scurvy- 
 Grass, Sea Purslane, Tamarisk, Sea Lavender, 
 Thrift, Sea Buckthorn. In the next month, 
 June, Yellow Horned Poppy, Sea Kale, Sea 
 Rocket, Seaside Bindweed, Sand Sedge, 
 Squirrel Tail Grass commence to flower. July 
 is, however, essentially the month when mari- 
 time plants are generally blooming, as Woad,
 
 2 4 2 
 
 HINTS AND NOTES 
 
 Sea Holly, Samphire, Absinth, Centaury, Sea 
 Plantain, Sea Club Rush, Marram Grass, 
 Crested Dog's Tail Grass, Seaside Manna 
 Grass, Rushy Wheat Grass, Lyme Grass, 
 and these continue in flower till August and 
 September. Not until August do Sea Campion, 
 Sea Rush, and Grass Wrack commence to 
 flower. 
 
 The Duration of Maritime Plants. There 
 are several reasons why maritime plants should 
 be uniform in their duration. They flower late 
 as a whole, hence there is scarcely scope for 
 many of an annual or biennial nature. The 
 depth to which their rhizomes and roots pene- 
 trate demands that they should be of long 
 duration, for such a foothold must be obtained 
 before the necessary flowering and seeding can 
 occur, and this takes a long time to secure. 
 
 The possibility of germination is rather re- 
 mote, for there are so many disadvantages 
 with which the seeds have to contend, even 
 if they are not blown completely away from 
 their suitable habitat (as may happen in a 
 large number of cases). This causes the small 
 patches of many species. Hence it is not 
 surprising that maritime plants are almost 
 entirely of a perennial character. The great 
 development of the vegetative parts of such 
 trailers as Sea Campion, &c. , and their resting 
 buds or hibernacula, are all characteristic of 
 perennials. 
 
 A few, however, are annuals, producing 
 much seed, as Yellow Horned Poppy, which, 
 sometimes, may be also perennial. Sea Rocket, 
 a fleshy plant, is also annual, and so again 
 are Saltwort, Crested Dog's Tail Grass, and 
 Squirrel Tail Grass. Scurvy Grass and Woad 
 are biennials. All the rest are perennials, 
 herbaceous, and deciduous, and except two 
 shrubs die down in winter as a rule. 
 
 Pollination of Seaside Plants. As one walks 
 along the shore one is struck by the almost 
 entire absence of land animals. All the forms 
 one meets with are in fact marine animals, 
 and these are the flotsam and jetsam of the 
 waves, save in the little pools left by the tide 
 where some living shells, starfish perchance, 
 or sea urchins, manage to survive. Rocky 
 coasts are more prolific. But the most obvious 
 factor to the entomologist is the absence of 
 insects. This applies to the low sandystretches. 
 Chalk cliffs and other rocky coasts with land 
 plants, such as heaths, &c., are, however, very 
 often the habitat of butterflies. Beetles are the 
 most frequent insects on the coast, and a few 
 species are known to inhabit the salt water 
 itself. 
 
 These facts have a considerable bearing upon 
 the pollination of plants along the shores. For 
 in the absence of insect visitors plants adapted 
 
 for cross-pollination by insects are unable to 
 effect cross-pollination. It, however, self-polli- 
 nation is also possible seed will be set. Sea 
 Campion is proterandrous whilst Sea Rush 
 is proterogynous, two examples showing that 
 there is a tendency to promote crossing. Sea 
 Lavender is dimorphic. Several sea-coast plants 
 are pollinated by aid of the wind, as Absinth, 
 Sea Plantain, Saltwort, Sea Club Rush, and 
 the grasses Crested Dog's Tail, Seaside Manna 
 Grass, Rushy Wheat Grass, Squirrel Tail 
 Grass, Lyme Grass are also pollinated by the 
 wind. Grass Wrack is pollinated by water. 
 
 Dispersal of Seaside Plants. The special 
 character of the maritime habitats of plants 
 naturally affects dispersal of seeds of plants. 
 One feature to be noticed is the " spot-bound " 
 character of many of them. Many species of 
 seaside plants are restricted to a few localities. 
 In other cases they are confined to small 
 patches, perhaps owing to the character of 
 the soil. The dominant types, however, as 
 the Grasses on the sand dunes, locally form 
 continuous associations. The less dominant 
 types are in such cases discontinuous or 
 sporadic. 
 
 In the salt marshes a number of the species 
 form again extensive societies, or even asso- 
 ciations, the conditions being more uniform. 
 The seeds of maritime plants are, as might 
 be expected where wind plays so great a part, 
 largely carried by the wind. The following 
 are dispersed by this agency, viz.: Woad 
 (partly), Sea Campion (censer fruit), Tamarisk, 
 Sea Holly, Samphire, Absinth (pollinated by 
 the same agency), Sea Lavender, Thrift (para- 
 chute arrangement), Sea Plantain, Saltwort, 
 and the Grasses. 
 
 The Yellow Horned Poppy disperses its seeds 
 by aid of the tension in the pod, which causes 
 the pod to split open and to jerk the seeds, 
 which are numerous, to a distance. Other 
 plants, as Scurvy Grass, Woad (partly), Sea 
 Kale, Sea Rocket, Sea Purslane, Centaury, 
 Seaside Bindweed, Sea Rush, Sea Club Rush, 
 Sand Sedge, and Marram have also devices of 
 their own for dispersal of their fruits and seeds. 
 In Sea Buckthorn the berries are dispersed by 
 birds. Grass Wrack is dispersed by aid of the 
 water. 
 
 The Soil of Maritime Plants. The out- 
 standing feature of maritime vegetation is the 
 saline character of the soil. Probably the area 
 to which the land is subjected to spray from 
 sea breezes is the limit of the area in which 
 the soil is saline. Rocky coasts and those 
 fringed by sand dunes may in a measure be 
 less subjected to impregnation with salts from 
 the sea. 
 
 Since the soil along the coast is largely
 
 THE SEA-COAST 
 
 243 
 
 sandy, it is quite natural that the maritime 
 plants for the most part are equally at home 
 upon sand soil without salt. Experiments 
 made by the author with plants from each 
 zone show that all of them can subsist inland 
 in river silt without salt. The Yellow Horned 
 Poppy, for instance, will grow and produce 
 abundant flowers and seed in an ordinary 
 gravel drive, and Sea Campion is if anything 
 more luxuriant in river alluvium. Sea Heath 
 does well under the same conditions. At the 
 same time the xerophytic characters evoked 
 by the excess of salt are largely lost when these 
 plants are grown inland. 
 
 Methods of Survey. The zonation of the 
 maritime plants and the diversity of the vege- 
 tation necessitates to some extent a different 
 method of survey of each zone. But generally 
 the method of studying meadow or pasture 
 plants may be applied here, more especially 
 in regard to the salt marsh, in so far as the 
 mapping of the association is concerned. 
 
 The problems of soil character, origin of 
 
 | each formation, and its inception and growth, 
 which are rather the work of the advanced 
 student, need not be detailed here fully (see 
 Professor Oliver's work on Blakeney). 
 
 In the case of the sandy coast, and the 
 muddy coast, it is important to consider the 
 continuous or discontinuous character of the 
 plants that one notices. The distance of each 
 from the sea at high tide, the zonation of each 
 type within the first zone, the slope of the 
 shore, and the aspect are each objects for 
 study. The adaptations of the plants to the 
 halophytic conditions are also points for ob- 
 servation. The shingle beach may be studied 
 in the same way. On the sand dunes the part 
 played by the Marram, Lyme Grass, and other 
 Grasses in protecting the sand from erosion, 
 and the influence of the Grasses upon the other 
 types, will be the principal features to be 
 studied. In the salt marsh the associations 
 should be studied with a view to discovering 
 the effect of one type upon another, and the 
 order of colonization of each plant.
 
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