THE WILD FLOWERS f|ofo to Ste ano frofo to $a%r %nt. TWO CHAPTERS ON THE ECONOMICAL AND MEDICINAL USES OF OUR NATIVE PLANTS. SPENCEE THOMSON, M. D. F.R.C.S.E, FELLOW OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OK EDINBURGH. SECOND EDITION. ITottbott : GROOMBRTDGE & SONS, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1854. /^M'UT f tv The stamens Their position, actual and relative- Their numbers Parts of the stamen Attachments of stamens, and their importance as distinctions Connection of stamens with each other, by the fila- ments or anthers The pollen ; its profusion ; its form and minuteness ; how discharged from the anther The peculiarity of the stamen in the orchis tribe. THE PISTIL 54 Its position and office in the flower Its parts, and their varieties The stigma ; its varieties ; its special characteristic Fertilization ; its effects and importance Provisions for securing the process Barren and fertile plants Pistils often numerous in the same blossom Separate or combined. Pistil when matured becomes The Fruit Changes undergone in maturing Fruit classification Reference to monthly illustrations Fruits seldom studied by beginners in botany. Review of last chapter Recommendation of study of Botany Advantages conferred by a knowledge of Botany upon the tourist Illustrations. FLOWER-BUDS, AND FLORAL METAMORPHOSIS . . . t> Varied arrangement of petals within the bud Exam- ples of floral metamorphoses Series of metamor- phoses in Dutch clover. CONTENTS. XI PAGE. ARRANGEMENT OF BLOSSOMS INFLORESCENCE . . 70 The peduncle, or flower-stalk The pedicels The scape Blossoms, solitary Blossoms in racemes Blossoms in corymbs Blossoms in umbels Blos- soms, at first in a corymb, at last in a raceme Blossoms of grass, in a panicle Blossoms in a spike Blossoms in a catkin Blossoms in a compound head Blossoms in a whorl Bracts, or floral leaves Characters of bracts Bract involucres. PLANT CLASSIFICATION. NECESSITY FOR AND USES OF CLASSIFICATION . . 90 Natural groups of plants First modes of classification Tournefort's classification Linnsean classification Natural classification Characteristics of Linnsean method Advantages of Natural System Detailed account of Linnsean classification Natural classifi- cation explained Three great divisions of vegetable kingdom. Dicotyledonous plants Characters Divisions A species ; .what it is A genus. Practical exposition of plant distinctions Ranunculus, or crowfoot tribe Cruciferse Crucial flowers, or mustard tribes, &c. Leguminous, or pod-bearing tribe Rosaceous, or rose-blossomed tribe Umbel- bearers, or hemlock-like tribe Composites, or com- pound-headed tribe Figwort tribe Labiates, lipped-flowered, or mint-like tribe. Monocotyledonous plants Orchis tribe Sedge tribe Grass tribe. xii CONTENTS. PAGE. ipart 3E1E1E. MONTHLY ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH WILD FLOWERS 12 <" Pleasant recollections of botanical excursions in early life Description of a Student's botanical excursion . Arguments in favour of the study of the natural sciences. THE MONTHS. JANUAKT 187 Inducements to study of botany A Flora and its uses The daisy and the gorse FEBRUARY 144 Botanical distribution Habitat Reminiscences connected with dried plants Plant collecting and preserving The botanical box and the digger The snow-drop, and aconite The spurge-laurel, hazel, and dead nettle. MARCH 155 Selection of specimens Preparation and carrying of specimens Plant drying or preserving The colts- foot and dandelion The butter-bur Ground-ivy Whitlow grass, &c. The mistletoe and mercury The willows, &c. APRIL 166 Hints on plant gathering Mounting dried plants Primroses and cowslips Their symmetrical flowers Violets Anemones and the ranunculus tribe Cardamines The moschatell, &c. Cuckoo-pint, and toothwort Tree blossoms. MAT 178 The month Ranunculus species and their characters The poppies Cruciform plants Umbelliferous plants The saxifrages and their connexions The forget-me-not and its legend The geraniums or cranesbills The rosaceous tribe The barberry and vegetable irritability Herb Paris Bog-plants of May Hill plants, and others The broom, &c. The Gone, &c. Linnaeus. CONTENTS. Xlll PAGE. JUNE 195 Signs of summer Umbelliferae and their characters Leguminous, or pod-bearing, and papilionaceous flowers Trefoils and vetches The lady's-mantle, and its name Labiate plants Trientalis, and globe- flower The orchis tribe June wood-plants Mares-tail and bladderworts Iris and water-plants Potentillas, pimpernel Plantains Meadow-rue Lychnis, &c. JULY 211 Plants of sea-shore Samphire, wild celery Sea Holly Glaucous plants Horned poppy, sea-rocket, and scurvy-grass Glasswort and saltwort The sea-reed and sea-wheat-grass Grasses and their characters The sedges The rushes The flower- ing rush The bur-reed, arrow-head and water-plan- tain The raspberry and the bramble The Linnsea The winter-green and rock-rose Wood-plants of July Willow-herbs Plants of the corn-fields. AUGUST 228 'The eyebright and its effects The heaths The sheepsbit and the gentian The centaury and yel- low-wort Perfoliate, amplexicaul and connate leaves The Teazel The grass of Parnassus ; its beauty The white and yellow water-lilies The fig-worts and purple loose-strife The bitter- sweet, nightshade, henbane and thorn-apple Fools' -parsley, and water umbel-bearing plants Parsnip and carrot- Agrimony and salad-burnet - August leguminous plants The stone-crops The St. John's-worts. SEPTEMBER 243 A sad month for the botanist The chamomile tribe Composite plants ; their floral structure The milk- thistle The plume-thistles, &c. The chicory, field- madder, &c. The self-heal and devil's-bit The scabious Wormwoods and cudweeds Autumnal sea-shore botany Mallows and mulleins Mints and autumnal labiates Toad-flax OCTOBER 257 Good King Henry, or mercury goosefoot The nettle and its sting Pellitory of the wall, and other nettle connexions The hop The dodders, parasites The broom-rapes The autumn crocus and its his- tory Duckweed. XIV CONTENTS. PAGE. NOVEMBER 266 What fruit is botanically The wake-robin berries True berries and false berries The strawberry not a berrv. An achene, and what it is Carpels Follicles The rose-hep A drupe The blackberry Honeysuckle berries and bryonies A pome and a nut Pods and pouches. DECEMBER 2 ^^ Arranging and disposing of dried plants Mode of affixing names Necessity of order in arrangement Pleasures of botany in winter More winter berries Holly Ivy Mistletoe The beauty of our winter wild fruits A samara The Cone The grains or grass-seed or caryopsis Modes by which seeds are dispersed The feathery wing The gorse and broom spring guns The hooks of the burdock and screw of the cranesbill How seed-cups open The increasing interest of botani- cal studies. OUR CHAPTER OF WILD FLOWERS . . .289 WITHOUT FLOWERS. Plants with flowers and true seeds Plants without flowers and without true seeds the ferns and their organs The male fern How the young fern frond unfolds " Fern seed," or spores Coverings of fern spores Capsules and their jointed rings The bracken The hart's-tongue The spleenworts and the lady-fern The royal fern The maiden's hair Adder's tongue and moon- wort Club mosses and horse-tails Conclusion of wild-flower notices. ECONOMIC PROPERTIES OF BRITISH WILD PLANTS 301 Reasons why native wild plants are neglected in Britain. Native wild plants the origin of some garden vegetables. Celery and sea-kale ; cabbage, beet and asparagus ; parsnip, carrot, and turnip. Native plants used in an uncultivated state Nettles, goosefoot, and hop. Wild originals of garden fruits Cherry, pear, and crab- apple ; currant, gooseberry, and strawberry ; rasp- berry and brambles ; bilbery and cranberry ; hazel nuts. CONTENTS. XV PAGE. i'lants yielding Condiments Mustard, horse-raddish, pars- ley, water-cress ; salad burnet and samphire. Farinaceous Roots Orchis tribe, cuckoo-pint, rampion and bitter-vetch ; pig-nut. Seeds. Linseed, seed of iris, buckwheat. Mucilage. Mallow tribe. Oil. Linseed, and mustard. Aromatic Products. Umbel-bearing and labiate plants ; angelica ; gout-weed, spignel, and sea-holly ; caraway, coriander and dill ; mints, thyme, marjoram, sage, &c. ; juniper and sweet sedge. Aromatic Bitters. Hop, germander, &c. Dyes. Dyers' green-weed, dyers' -woad ; dyers' yellow- weed. Water-lily and Gypsywort. Tormentil and whortleberry. Astringents and Tanning. Saltwort and glasswort. Mechanical Properties of Native Plants. The lint and the rush tribes ; willow, teazel, and holly ; the horsetail ; the grasses ; Lyme-grass, sea-reed, and common reed ; Dutch myrtle and hornbeam ; the birch, and its wine ; timbei'-trees ; fencing and fodder. NATIVE MEDICINAL PLANTS, 310 EMPLOYED IN REGULAR MEDICINAL PRACTICE. The meadow crowfoot and spearwort ; the red poppy and the opium poppy ; scurvy-grass, mustard and cuckoo- flower ; sweet violet ; mallows and linseed ; wood- sorrel ; rose-tribe astringents ; umbel-bearers, aroma- tics and hemlock ; the elder ; the valerian ; bitter composites, opium lettuce and coltsfoot ; foxglove ; the nightshade family ; water-dock and sorrel ; bistort and asarabacca ; hop catkins and willow-bark ; fir tur- pentine and juniper ; male fern and colchicum. MEDICINAL NATIVE PLANTS CHIEFLY EMPLOYED POPULARLY. Bitter herbs and "bitter teas ;" agrimony, chamomile ; tansy and wormwood ; buckbean and centaury ; butter- bur ; yarrows and fever-few ; wall-pennywort ; adder's- tongue and nettle ; arrowhead and dock. Popular superstition and fancies respecting plant virtues. LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. 1. Magnified view of the cells and breathing pores of the skin of a plant. '2. Specimens of hairs of plants. 3. Root of ipecacuanha. 4. Root appendages of bird's nest orchis. 5. Tubers of root of spotted orchis. ti. Underground stem (bulb) of crocus. 7. Underground stem of iris. 8. Ascending stem of Dutch clover. 9. Winged stem of vetch. 1 0. Bud of horse-chestnut. 11. Hart's-tongue fern. 12. Leaf of nettle. 1 3. Lance-shaped leaf of senna. 14. Oval leaf of senna. 15. Sessile leaves. 10. Palm-shaped leaf. 1 7. Arrow-shaped leaf. 18. Linear leaf. 1 9. Part of a compound leaf. 20. Connate leaves of teazel. '21. Decurrent leaf of thistle. 22. Compound leaf of ash. 28. Compound leaf of clover. 24. Partite leaf of bur marigold. 25. Compound leaf of cow-parsnip. 26. Seed-leaves of dead nettle. 27. Leaf of pitcher plant. 28. Blossom of wall-flower. , 29. Section of primrose blossom. 30. Back view of blossom of common loosestrife. 31. Blossom of gorse. 32. Bud of dead nettle. 33. Bud of poppy. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 34. Section of rosebud. 35. Petal of buttercup. 36. Petal of wall-flower. 37. Blossom of sweet violet. 38. Blossom of umbel-bearing plant. 39. Blossom of wall-flower. 40. Pea or papilionaceous blossom. 41. Blossom of primrose. 42. Bell-shaped blossom of campanula. 43. Wheel-shaped blossom of forget-me-not. 44. Florets of daisy. 45. Blossom of dead nettle. 46. Blossom of hairy wood-rush. 47. Spikelet of grass. 48. Stamens and pistils of wall-flower. 49. Section of buttercup. 50. Blossom of speedwell. 51. Blossom of common starwort. 52. Stamen of wood anemone. 53. Floret of ribwort plantain. 54. Section of rosaceous calyx. 55. Stamens and pistils of common gorse. 56. Blossom of orchis. 57. Pistil of bell-flower. 58. Section of blossom of common crocus. 59. Section of primrose blossom corolla removed. 60. Pistils and seed-vessel of poppy. 61. Carpels of columbine. 62. Capsule of speedwell. 63. Diagram of a symmetrical flower. 64. 68. Stages of flower metamorphosis. 69. Plant of cowslip. 70. Sprig of lesser loosestrife. 71. Raceme-bearing branch of red-currant. 72. Raceme of germander speedwell. 73. Corymb of beam-tree. 74. Umbel. 75. Corymb, becoming a raceme, of shepherd's-purse. 76. Panicle of hair-grass. 77. Pendent-spike of hazel. 78. Composite-head of leopard's bane. 80. Bract of lime-tree. 81. Composite head of daisy. 82. Spathe of wake-robin. 83. Leafy bracts of sedge. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 84. Spikelet of grass. 84. Wood crowfoot Nat. order Ranunculacese. 85. Petal of ranunculus. 86. Section of ranunculus blossom. 87. Stamen of a ranunculaceous plant. 88. Water-cress Nat. order Cruciferae. 89. Cruciform wall-flower blossom. 90. Stamens and pistil of wall-flower. 91. Wood : vetch Nat. order Leguminosse. 92. Stem of vetch, winged. 93. Stamens and pistils of gorse. 94. Wild strawberry Nat. order Rosaceae. 95. Section of rose-bud. 96. Rosaceous calyx. 97. Section of strawberry blossom. 98. Rough chervil Nat. order Umbelliferse. 99. Blossom of umbelliferous plant. 100. Fruit of umbelliferous plant. 101. Michaelmas daisy Nat. order Composite. 102. Florets of daisy. 103. Composite head of leopard's bane. 104. Seed of dandelion. 105. Water-figwort Nat. order Scrophulariaciae. 106. Large-flowered hemp nettle Nat. order Labiate. 107. Blossom of labiate plant. 108. Small white butterfly orchis Nat. order Orchideie. 109. Tubers of spotted orchis. 110. Blossom of orchis. 111. Cyperus-like sedge Nat. order Cyperacese. 112. Sedge. 113. Rushy sea-wheat grass Nat. order Gramineae. 114. Spikelet of grass. 115. Composite head of common daisy. 116. Botanical box. 117. Botanical digger or hand-spade. 118. Blossoms of hazel. 119. Flower of dead nettle. 120. Seedling of common goose-grass. 121. Receptacle and seeds of dandelion. 122. Reproductive organs of wall-flower. 123. Primrose section. 124. Flower of sweet-violet. 125. Section of buttercup. 126. Floral spadix of cuckoo-pint. 127. Buttercup petal. LIST OF ILI/USTBATIONS. XIX 128. An umbel. 129. Blossom of germander speedwell. 130. Calyx and stamens of a rosaceous plant. 131. Plant of herb Paris. 132. Umbelliferous blossom and fruit. 133. Pea-blossom. 134. Orchis blossom. 135. Plantain florets. 136. Spikelet of grass. 137. Spikelet of grass. 138. Sedge-plant. 139. Floret of hairy wood-rush. 140. The Linnaea borealis. 141. Perfoliate leaf. 142. Amplexicaul leaves, and whorled flowers. 143. Connate leaves. 144. Section of umbelliferous fruit. 145. Leaf of cow-parsnip. 146. Section of daisy-blossom. 147. 148. Florets of daisy. 149. Decurrent leaf. 150. Sting of nettle. 151. Hop catkin. 152. Autumnal crocus. 1 53. Section of blossom of autumnal crocus. 154. Strawberry fruit. 155. Section of strawberry -blossom. 156. Seed and pappus of dandelion (magnified.) 157. Carpel of ranunculus (magnified). 158. Capsule of lychnis. 159. Follicles of marsh marigold. 160. Section of rosebud. 161. Samara of maple. 162. Cone of juniper. 163. Capsule of lychnis, opening. 164. Siliqua of wall-flower, opening. 165. Portion of fern-frond with " round son." 166. Portion of fern frond with " kidney-shaped sori." 167. Capsules which contain fern-seed or spores, with their elastic jointed rings. 168. Portion of frond of maiden' s-hair fern. 169. Hart's tongue fern. 170. Adder' s-tongue. 171. Moonwort. ito Jfkfm " O Father, Lord ! The All-beneficent ! I blew thy name That thou has mantled the green earth with flowers, Linking our hearts to nature I By the lore Of their wild blossoms our young footsteps first Into her deep recesses are beguiled." "By the breath of flowers Thou callest us, from city throngs and cares, Back to the woods, the birds, the mountain streams, That sing of Thee !" " Thou bidd'st The lilies of the field with placid smile Reprove man's feverish strivings, and infuse Through his warm soul a more unworldly life, With their soft holy breath." "Receive Thanks, blessings, love, for these thy lavish boons, And most of all their heavenward influences, O Thou that gavest us flowers," MRS. HEIIANS. How quickly are the feelings and the imagination interested in the associations connected with flowers. 2 WANDEBIHGS AMONG How easily, how early in life, do the young wild blossoms "link the heart to nature," form as it were " A flowery band to bind us to the earth :" and yet, strange is it, no sooner do we speak of the intellectual study of this fairest portion of Grod's creation, than people generally think of something dry and unattractive ; they seem frightened at the very name of botany, which conveys to their minds little else than an idea of long catalogues of "dreary" latin names. True it is that the scientific study of botany does involve a knowledge of a good many ap- parently learned terms ; but it does so for the simple reason, that in such lavish profusion has He who gave us flowers "mantled" with them the green earth, so diverse has He made the forms and vestiture of these " bright children of the sun," that those who study them, have had to find names for some eighty or ninety thousand different kinds or " species." Names, too, which shall not merely be understood in a limited locality, but which shall pass current among men of all civilized nations and tongues. Hence, plants and flowers, even the most familiar, must all have their botanical names, and for this purpose the latin language is the most convenient, to distinguish them in their places in the great system of plant arrangement, well named the "Vege- table Kingdom." These long names, therefore, which appear so THE WILD FLOWERS. 3 terrible, are really no essential part of the botanical lore of our British wild flower gatherer and student. We could take all our wanderings amid the woods and glades of England, over the hills and by the mountain burns of Scotland, without troubling one of them, or finding them stand in the way of our study of any wildling we pick up. You need have nothing to do with them unless you like, and yet, we venture to say, that when you have got inte- rested in botanical study, you will find these names so convenient, that you will then think it no trouble to learn and to use them. If you really love wild flowers, even their hard names will gradually fix themselves in your memory ; and once in, they do not very readily escape. Nevertheless, in our little volume, we promise you shall find as few of these learned terms as possible. Its intention is not to speak of botanical science, but of wild flowers ; not to lead you into the microscopic intricacies of vegetable anatomy, but simply to deal with the outward forms and distinctive features of our floral favourites, to Show you how to see them, how to appreciate those varied characters which distinguish "classes," "families," and " species," of plants from one another ; and which, though ap- parently separating the vegetable kingdom into diverse parts, actually give rise, by their combined differences, to the beautifully harmonious whole which it presents to us, whether we view it with the eyes of the scientific student, or with those of the B 2 4 WILD FLOWERS. admirer of nature's beauty. Whether we give our mind to learn how " The folded leaf is woo'J from out the bud,'" in early Spring, or the down- clothed seeds wafted abroad by the winds of Autumn ; or whether, taking a wider view, we seek to appreciate the beauty of the extended landscape, which owes so much to the varied forms and glowing colours of tree, and shrub, and flower. [ito Jfloters. PART I. ORGANS OF PLANTS. THE COYEEING, SKIN, OB EPIDEEMIS OF PLANTS. PLANTS, like animals, have a skiu, that is, have an outward covering, which protects, and assists to bind together the internal structures. Generally, this skin, which is composed of two layers, is extremely thin, as we find it on most leaves, and is usually colourless, allowing the varied tints of the parts beneath to shine through it. In most plants the skin or epidermis is simple; but in some, such as the grasses, horsetails, &c., it contains silica or sand substance, and from this derives peculiar hardness.* Moreover the plant covering is not impervious, but is pierced with numberless minute openings called * The use of what are called Dutch rushes in polishing brass, or breathing pore-a, a. weather, and so checking the escape of the vegetable juices, and of opening to receive grateful refreshment in a moist atmosphere. As we might expect, these stomates would be of but little use on roots, or on plants immersed in water, and there we scarcely find them ; they are most numerous on the undersides of leaves ; a tolerably good microscope, however, is required to see them. But the plant covering has appendages much less microscopic than these curious little stomates ; occasionally it is smooth, but very often it has a clothing of hairs of all kinds, from the softest down to the stiffest bristles, merging into the spines and prickles which arm our roses and brambles, or into the stings of the nettle. The disposition and form of the hair coverings of plants often aiford us valu- able distinctions. Pluck a piece of chickweed, or of the germander speedwell, Veronica chamoedrys. On the stem of the first you will perceive alternate lines of hairs, on that of the second opposite lines of hairs, both well marked characters. Most hairs OEGAKS OF PLANTS. perhaps are simple, but many are varied, some are star-shaped Fig. 2 b others forked Tig. 2 a others glan- dular Fig. 2 c. Having looked well to our plant covering, we must go to what very few incipient bo- tanists trouble them- selves about 2. Varieties of plant hairs a, forked hair i, star-shaped hair c, branched and glandular nair of gooseberry. THE BOOT. And yet roots are often beautiful yes, beautiful ; offcener still, remarkably characteristic very varied in form. Although the root is usually the part of the plant by which it is fixed in the ground, and by means of which it draws up nourishment, the arrangement is by no means constant ; some of the orchis family, and others, do not have their roots in the ground at all, but possess what are called aerial roots ; others develope their roots in the air in the first place, although they subsequently be- come fixed in the earth. Boots are classed as annual, biennial, and perennial, according as they last for one, two, or more years. A root may be said to consist of two parts, the body, or, as it is often called, the caudex, and the radicles or fibres. Some 8 WILD FLOWERS. roots, like the carrot, dandelion, &c., are simple, and terminate in a point ; others terminate abruptly, as in the devil's-bit scabious, mentioned among our September wild flowers ; whilst some are globular, like the turnip. Many roots, like those of the majority of the grasses, and the sedges, are com- posed solely of fibres. Perhaps, however, the com- monest form of root is the branched, such as we find possessed by trees and shrubs generally. Of the curious roots, that of the Ipecacuanha Fig. 3 is not the least so. It is annulated or ringed. Another form of root, the fasciculated or bundled Fig. 4. we see in the bird's-nest orchis, ap- >. Hoot of the Ipoecciuuiha an- nolutod or riugeJ. 4. Hoot of BirdVnest Orchil, composed o many fleshy fibres a fasciculated or bundled root. OBGANS OF PLANTS. 9 preaching the tuberous roots of others of the orchis species. Here is one Pig. 5 the palmated root of the common Orchis maculata, or spot- ted leaved orchis. Properly, however, we ought to speak of these tubers, and of others like them, such as those of the potato, rather as appendages to the root than the root itself. Some of our readers, perhaps, are ready to remind us that we have for- gotten to speak of bulbs ; but for these we must refer them to our next section, the stem, to which, perhaps to their surprise, they will find these apparent roots truly belong ; for as there are aerial roots, so are there underground stems. 5. Root of the Spotted Orchis, with palmated (hand-shaped) tubers. THE STEM. The stem is that portion of the plant which, as a general rule, rises from the root at the surface of the ground, and supports the leaves, flowers, &c. It is not, however, an essential part of plant exist- ence, many species, such as the primrose, plantain, &c., having no. apparent stem whatever, whilst others possessing bulbs, like the onion or lily, or 10 WILD FLOWERS. 6. Underground stem, or, as it is commonly called, bulb or root, of the common crocus , proper fl- brous root b, the corm which pro- perly represents the stem c, buds, consisting of leaves and flowers. solid conns, like the crocus, are said to have their stems underground. Pig. 6, is a section of the common crocus, of which a is the fibrous root b the corm, which may be taken to represent the stem, and c, c, buds springing from that stem, and unfold- ing into leaves and flowers. Another form of stem usually considered as an underground one, is such as we find in the lily of the val- ley, or more conspicuously in the iris Fig. 7. To proceed to what our readers will have less difficulty in recognizing as stems, we find those which rise above the ground, pre- senting us with almost every conceivable form and appearance, from the slen- der thread-like support of the "slight hairbell," to the trunk of the gnarled and knotted oak, or the light elegant shaft of the oriental palm. How g rea tly this almost infinite OBGANS OF PLANTS. 11 diversity of stem and branch* for branches are but secondary stems adds to the beauty of natural scenery, it is almost superfluous to remark, and our readers may well imagine, how valuable and distinct must be the characters which botanists derive from the stems, as signs of difference between one plant and another. One great division among stems is into herba- ceous or green, and woody. The stem of an annual plant or of a one year's shoot is always herbaceous, that of two years growth becomes woody ; hence, like roots, stems are annual, biennial, and so forth. Stems vary greatly in their directions, here is another source of difference ; some, like the pine tree, are erect, shooting straight upwards ; among smaller plants, the mints and the foxgloves are good specimens of the straight stem. Some, unable to support their weight, lie on the ground, like the ground-ivy, they are procumbent. Some of these procumbent stems send down roots, and are then rooting. Some stems which are at first procumbent, show a tendency to rise upward ; of this the com- mon clover Fig. 8 is a good example. Such stems are ascending. Then we have the well-known trailing stems of the hop, of the honeysuckle, and convolvulus or bindweed : differing from these are the climbing stems of the vine, of many of the pea species, or of the now well-known canary creeper; the former, the vine, the vetches, &c. * Refer to Figs. 84 to 113. 12 WILD rLOWEBS. supporting themselves by means of their tendrils, the latter climbing by means of the graspings of its '- 8. Ascending stem of common Dutch Clover. leaf and flower stalks. The incurved stems of the bramble afford us another example of stem variety as regards direction. Other stems simply droop, either bending stiffly as it were, or with the grace- fulness which we see in some of the grasses, such as the brome, or the melic grass. A few seem unde- termined what course to take, and so follow the zig- zag, like a species of clover. Again, stems may be simple, like that of the foxglove ; or they may be branched, that is, sending out secondary stems, and in the distribution of these branches we find another source of distinction. There is the simply forked stem dividing itself into pairs of branches, or the many-branched. In some cases these branches come off singly, and apparently without OEGAKS OP PLANTS. 13 regularity, in others, by regular alternations, and again by twos opposite each other. Occasionally a number of branches shoot out from around the same centre of the stem in a whorl. Then we must remark what position the branches hold with respect to the stem whether they are erect, spreading, or, like those of some of our most graceful trees and shrubs, pendent or drooping. Eunners, such as we find in the strawberry Fig. 94 and many other plants, we may look upon as long weak stems or branches, unable to support their own weight, and resting upon the ground. Exactly the opposite of these we find on the common thorn, and other spinous plants, the prickles of which are but short, stiff, undeveloped branches, giving their own special character to the plant which bears them. Very different, however, are these thorns from the prickles of the rose or of the brambles : of this, the most superficial examination will be sufficient to convince any one. The thorn is connected with the wood, the prickle is simply an appendage to the skin or epidermis. Additional plant characteristics do we find fur- nished to us by the surface of stems and branches. Some are perfectly smooth, some clothed with hairs of various degrees of softness or stiffness. Some stems, as that of the common hemlock, are spotted, or, like the toothwort or broom-rape, scaly ; on others the bark is rough and wrinkled, even on the small branches. Another variation presents itself when a stem is winged, as it is in some of the 14 WILD FLOWEBS. vetches. Fig. 9 or sheathed, as in the glasses Fig. 113. Next we have to look to the form of stems, some being cylindrical or nearly so, others flattened or compressed, many presenting us with angles moye or less numerous. There is the triangled, and often very sharp-angled, stem of the sedges Fig. Ill the square four- angled stem of the figwort or scrophularia Fig. 105 and other plants; or those of the gentian, or of the starwort, with more angles still. Lastly, we have stems knotted as in the brittle geranium, jointed or knotted as in the grasses, which last also offer us examples of hollow or fistulous stems. But enough : we have shown how many and how distinct characters may be derived from the stems of plants ; and our readers must and nothing is easier both verify and extend the knowledge for themselves. Scarcely two will they find alike ; the variety is infinite as it is perfect, telling of "The well ordained laws of Jehovah." " The wonderful all-prevalent analogy that testifieth one Creator. The broad arrow of the Great King carved on all the stores of his Arsenal." MA.KTIN TUPPER. OBGANS OF PLANTS. 15 THE LEAYES THE BUDS. In the tree or shrub, bare even as we see it in winter, there are all the points which have hitherto engaged our attention the root, the stem, and the branches ; but there are also the buds, which, hard and lifeless as they appear when "Winter winds are piercing chill," nevertheless contain closely packed up, and well protected, the future leaves and branchlets, the flowers and fruits, destined to burst into bloom and being, when "Winter has passed with its frowns away, And the beautifuf Spring is coming." Most buds have a general external resemblance, but they differ considerably in the internal arrangement and packing of their contents. As all are aware, these contents are either leaves or flowers or both, or at least their germs, which during winter are so well protected from the nipping frost, or rotting damp, by the covering of hard brown-looking scales which so closely invests them. Overlapping one an- other Fig. 10. these scales are assisted in their protective office in some cases by a covering of a hard dry varnish ; in others, as in the poplars, 16 WILD FLOWEBS. horse chesnut, Fig. 10 &c., &c., from being glued together by a sticky resinous sub- stance ; whilst in not a few instances they have a warm woolly lining. Within these carefully constructed coverings lies the fu- ture foliage at pre- sent we refer only to leaf-bud s of the tree, packed most closely, most beautifully, and in very varied forms, according to the na- ture of the plant which bears it. Take any bud swelling to the bursting in spring, cut it both across and lengthwise, and you will at once gain an idea of the disposition of the foliation, or vernation, as it is called, of the future leaf. If your bud belongs to the oak, the rose, or various other plants, you will find the leaves doubled side by side, conduplicate ; if it claims parentage from the maple, the lady's- mantle, or the birch, the leaves will lie plaited up like a fan. In some plants, the leaves as it were embrace one another, in others, they are rolled in- wards, or, as in the primrose or cowslip Fig 69 outwards or backwards. In the fern tribes we find 10. Leaf-bud of Horse Chesnut, s the overlapping, imbricated, scales by the young leave* are protected. OBGANS OP PLANTS. 17 the very curious and beautiful circinnate or gyrate mode of foliation Pig. 11 in which the whole leaf or frond, as it is called, and at the same time every seg- ment of it, is rolled inwards upon itself. Many other modes of leaf-folding will the careful examiner dis- cover, and he should mark them, not only as valuable distinctive characters be- tween plants of different tribes, but as examples, and beautiful examples, of His handiwork " who hath made all things well." 11. Harts-tongue Pem, shewing the The packing of the flower peculiar gyrate mole of unfolding of i /> , i t it the/rond* or leavw. and fruit bud, named by botanists its (Estivation, will be considered in a future section. THE LEATES. Few are there who cannot appreciate the beauty at least, as the gaze falls upon some stately tree, " which proudly spreads the bough" in the full flush of its summer leafiness, or as the eye wanders over the foliage of every form, and of every shade of green, which decks the broad bosom of the earth at all times : but how few, comparatively, know the use c 18 WILD FLO WEES. for which this enormous breadth of leafy expansion is designed, for what purpose it is exposed to the influence of the sun's heat and light, and to the vicissitudes of our ever-changing atmosphere. Few are aware that every perfect leaf is an organ of respiration, a breathing mouth of the plant to which it belongs ; that through the little pores or stomates of its surface See Fig. 1 constant changes and interchanges are going on with the sur- rounding atmosphere, whereby that atmosphere is continually purified, kept fit to support animal life, whilst, at the same time, it is made to yield to the plant, materials for its continued growth. Through the leaves, too, pass all the peculiar juices by which different plants are characterized ; exposure to the influence of light and air in the leaf being requisite before the sap can become the proper juice of the vegetable ; that is, can possess the odour, flavour, medicinal or nourishing properties, which are peculiar to the individual. Some plants it is true, such as the cactus tribe, do not possess true leaves ; but in such cases the duties of the leaf are per- formed by the green stem. A leaf, as all can see at once, is composed of two different structures the ribs or veins, and the vegetable substance lying between them. The term rib is applied to the more prominent markings, the central See Figures being called the midrib; the less conspicuous markings are the veins. More- over, it can scarcely have escaped the notice of the least observant, that throughout plants generally, OEGANS OF PLANTS. 19 the ribbing or veining is arranged according to two very distinct plans. In one set of plants, more especially in those which are common to temperate climates, the veining is netted, or reticulated, or branching Fig. 12, &c. as we see it in the elm, the oak, the rose, and indeed in the majority of our British native plants. Another division of plants, such as the grasses, the lilies, &c., we find character- ized by the ribs or veins running directly parallel throughout the leaf Figs. 18, 108, 111, 113. In tropical countries a considerable proportion of the vegetation is composed of plants and trees with such parallel veined leaves.* The outward marks upon the leaves are in themselves valuable and ready distinctions, and greatly add to the beautiful diver- sity of foliage ; but to the mind of the botanist, they convey more than a mere surface character ; they indicate the division of t\Q flowering vegetable kingdom into two great sections, each distinguished by peculiarities which run through its members, which commence with the seed, and which stamp the stem, the leaf, the flower, till they end in the seed again. From the form of the seed, these two great sections of flowering plants are named. In plants with netted veins the seed has two lobes, or as they are called botanically, cotyledons, as any one may see who opens a bean or pea hence such plants are classed as DICOTYLEDONOUS. In * The palms, the bananas, the aloe, the bamboo, all belong to this sec- tion of the vegetable kingdom, and associate with them the beautiful and varied orchis family, of which we have many species in our own land. c2 20 WILD FLOWEBS. plants with parallel veins, on the other hand, such as wheat, oats, and barley, the seed has but one lobe or cotyledon ; hence such are named MONO- COTYLEDONOTJS.* It may readily be comprehended, that the immense variety of form, substance, position, &c., presented by leaves, must furnish botanists with many and valuable distinctive marks ; at the same time, it must be evident, that these distinctions necessarily call for a long catalogue of terms too long, by far, for us to enumerate here but yet one which ought to be learned, generally at least, by those who desire to make any real progress in botanical lore. Most leaves are composed of two distinct parts, the broad expanded portion, or blade, or limb, Fig. 12, 1 and the leaf-stalk or petiole, 2. Some leaves, however, have no stalk, as at Fig. 15, and then they are called sessile, or sitting as it were close to the stem. The portion of the leaf next the stem Fig. 12, 3 is designated the base, the opposite extremity 4 the apex. The boundary Fig. 12, 5 is the margin of the leaf; and the angle of junction with the stem 6 the axilla, or axil. At the base of the leaf-stalk or petiole, and sometimes running down the latter, there are frequently found certain leaf-like appendages Figs. 19, 91 ; these are named stipules ; they often afford valuable distinctive characters. They are very prominent in the pansy, and in many other * See Chapter on tbe Classification of Vegetables. OEGAKS OF PLANTS. 21 plants, and take various forms. In the example shown, Fig. 19, the leaf of the tuberous bitter 12. Leaf of common Nettle, with branched or reticulated veins. 1, the blade or limb 2, the petiole or leaf-stalk 3, the base of the leaf 4, the apex 5, the mfirgin 6, the axil. The leaf i heart-shaped, acute, with a deeply toothed or serrated margin. vetch, they are half-arrow shaped. Some leaves which are without stalks, not only sit quite close to the stem, but embrace it in various ways : in some cases completely surrounding it in a leafy cup Fig. 20 in others furnishing it with leafy wings, which run down it from one leaf to another Fig. 21. The attachment of the leaves of parallel-veined plants is often what is called sheathing, as we see in the grasses Figs. 18, 113 in which the leaf springs form a sheath, entire or split, which embraces the stem for some distance. The form of a leaf is of course determined by its 22 WILD FLOWERS. margin. Some, like those of the grasses, are linear Fig. 18. Some Fig. 13 are lancet-shaped ; others have the base heart-shaped Fig. 12 the general outline of the rest of the leaf varying from round oval to even linear. At Fig. 14, we have the acutely oval leaf; at Fig. 16, the palm-shaped ; at Fig. 17, the arrow-shaped. "We might multiply greatly our numeration of the varieties of simple leaves ; but the examples already given will serve to illustrate, how the form of the leaf is employed by botanists in the description and distinction of plants. There are yet, however, other means 13. Lancet, shaped Senna leaf with the margin entire. 14. Oval Senna leaf, acute at the apex. 15. Lcav,sof Ground Ivy without petioles or footstalks, called sessile leaves. of distinction to be drawn from the leaves. Take any number of different specimens and examine their margins, scarcely two will you find alike. Some will have the margins entire Figs. 13, 14, in others it will present just perceptible notch- ing - - Fig. 23 whilst in another set, this notching or saw-toothing is much more evident OEGANS OF PLANTS. 23 though still minute Fig. 16. Some plants, like 16. Palmate, or palm-shaped leaf of Castor oil. 17. Arrow-shaped leaf of Arrow-head. the common nettle Eig. 12 have their leaf margins re- gularly saw-toothed, serrated as it is called. The rose leaf presents us with another and very beautiful example of this sharp serrature. The cuttings of the leaf margin, however, are not necessarily sharp ; at Fig. 15 we have an instance of leaves in which they are a rounded. In other cases, they are not only notched, but they are curved and crimped in various ways. Then again, we is. Linear leaf of grass with find the leaf margins, as in the irallel veins, and with sheath, ' thistle, the holly,&c., &c., armed paral! 1, to the stem, 3. 24 WTLD FLOWEBS. with sharp spinous projections, whilst some plants 19. Portion of compound-leaf of Bi.ter Vetch. 1, 1 Half-arrow shaped stipules. 20. Connate leaves of common Teazel. W; Dccurrcnt leaf of Thistle like the primroses Pig. 64 curl the mar- gin back. Besides the margin, the apex of the leaf also presents us with often well marked characters ; it may be rounded, or blunt, or sharp-pointed ; it may end in a curled tendril, ORGANS OF PLANTS. 25 or in some few cases in such a curious appendage as we see in the pitcher plant Kg. 27. Moreover, as all know, leaves differ in substance, some are fleshy like those of the house-leek ; some limp and soft, like the leaf of henbane, &c. ; some leathery, like the oak, or stiff", like the holly. Position, form, marginal cutting, substance, all add to the never-ending variety of leaves : but to these we have yet to add the variety of surface which gives so much character to plants, whether we regard them with the eye of the botanist, or with that of the simple lover of nature. How bright is the polish of the holly's "gay green leaf:" how soft with downy hair that of the downy wound- wort ; how curiously covered with glands that of the sundew ; how rough with bristles the surface of the borage tribe ! But why go on with an enume- ration which would occupy our volume. To our readers we say, go, take practical lessons. None more accessible will you find in this world: for the " Flowers that spring by vale or stream, Each one may claim them for his own." Take the great volume of the Book of Nature, that book ever spread open before us by Him who is its Author ; go straight on, gather leaf after leaf, examine, compare, and ponder over them. Ponder how well "The Almighty Maker has throughout Discriminated each from each, by strokes And touches of his hand, with so much art Diversified, that two were never found Twins at all points. " 26 WILD FLOWEBS. Thus, and thus only, will you gain practical know- ledge of, will you acquire real interest in, the study of plants. "When you have acquired that real in- terest, the long enumeration of varied forms will cease to weary ; it will be forgotten as a theoretical study, as it merges into the practical knowledge of the subject. "When the cutting of the leaf margin goes far into the substance of the leaf Figs. 24, 84 so as almost to divide it into different portions, it becomes a partite leaf ; but when the leaf is cut quite down to the midrib, forming as it were separate leaflets Figs. 22, 88, 91, 98 we have the COMPOUND LEAF, 34. Partite leaf of Bur-mari gold. as distinguished from the simple leaves which have hitherto en- gaged our attention. Compound leaves, although very varied in form, belong either to the same class as the leaves of the pea tribes Fig. 19 or of the ash Fig. 23 they are pinnated leaves ; or they rank with the class which includes such as the horse-chesnut, the po- tentillas, &c., in which the leaflets radiate as it were from a centre. Pick up a fallen ash-leaf from the heap which strews the path after the first real frosty night of October, and you will have an excellent ORGANS OF PLANTS. 27 specimen of a compound leaf broken off at its joint with the main stem, and with its numerous little 22. Pinnated compound leaf of Ash-tree 1, petiole or midrib 2, leaflets, jointed at 3 to petiole. 23. Radiate compound leaf of Clover. leaflets readily breaking off at their jointed attach- ments with the central petiole or midrib. The umbel-bearing plants, such as the hemlock, offer us many specimens of extremely compound leaves. Kg. 25 is a specimen of the compound leaf of an umbelliferous plant ; but is not, like some of the leaves of the family, doubly and trebly compound. We must not bring our brief chapter to a conclu- sion without noticing certain leaves that are scarcely true leaves, and yet look extremely like them we 28 WILD F1OWEES. mean the first, or seed, or cotyledonary leaves, with which many plants first make their appearance 25. Leaf of an tlmbelliferoui Plant. above-ground. These leaves do not resemble the true leaves of the plant, but, having served the purpose for which they were designed, of nourishing and protecting the first tender shoot, they wither and die. At Fig. 26, we see the seed leaves and first true leaves of the common white nettle, differing greatly from each other ; in the March wild flowers will be found a different example of the same fact. With the subject of leaves, we conclude the con- sideration of what are classed as the conservative or nutritive organs of plants. The root, the stem, the leaves, are devoted to the preservation and de- velopment of the individual plant to which they belong ; the whole plant itself tending to the deve- lopment of the reproductive organs, by which the OBGANS OP PLANTS. 29 perpetuation and multiplication of the species is 26. Seedling of common Dead Nettle 1, 1, the seed leaves or cotyleilonary leaves 2, 2, the proper leaves of the plant. secured. Our next section is devoted to the con- sideration of these reproductive organs. 37. Curious leaf appendage of the Pitcher Flan- 30 RE-PRODUCTIVE ORGANS OF PLANTS. THE FLOWEB, AND THE SEED. " There lives and works A soul in all things, and that soul is God. The beauties of the wilderness are His, That make so gay the solitary place, Where no eye sees them." "He" "in its case, Russet and rude, folds up the tender germ Uninjured, with inimitable art ; And, ere one flowery season fades and dies, Designs the blooming wonders oftht next." COWPER. The re-productive organs of plants are composed of certain parts essential to the production of the seed. In themselves these essential parts are ex- tremely simple, the gay colourings and beautiful forms of what is usually called a flower, being by no means necessary to constitute a perfect blossom to the eye of the botanist. But of this more hereafter. THE TLOWEE-CUP, OB CALYX. Our present lesson, like all other botanical lessons, must, to be worth anything, be a practical one. Let us take a few simple flowers, living ones if possible, but in case these should not be forth- EE-PEODUCTITE OEGANS OF PLANTS. 31 coining with some of our readers, and at all seasons, we must give their portraits. Take the wall-flower Fig. 28 for one ; the primrose Fig. 29 for another ; the loose -strife Fig. 30 for the third; and the gorse flower Fig. 31 for a fourth. Ex- amine the outside of each of these flowers. You will 28. Blossom of common Wall-flower, cross-like, ODSCrVO that or cruciform in shape 1, peduncle or flower-stem =^r^2r^v^sr^s5 has a p"* or p arts ' the corolla^, rtamens-6, pistil. well mar t e d in all the figures, which surrounds the rest of the flower. In the primrose it is green, and in one piece ; in the loose-strife it is also green, and in one piece, but deeply divided into five divisions. In the gorse there are two all but complete divisions, more yellow than green; and in the wall-flower the divisions are four, and deeply coloured. In all these instances, the part we have described is the flower-cup, the calyx of botanists, the outer en- veloping portion of the flower. Multiply your observations on flowers generally, and you will find that, almost without exception, they have this outer part or calyx in some form or other. At the same time you must not expect to find it always as 32 WILD FLOWEES. distinctly marked as it is in the instances pointed out above. In the majority of flowers it is easily enough distinguished by its position, and by its green leaf-like colour ;but in some, especially among the parallel -veined leaf plants, such as the iris, the snow-drop, the crocus Fig. 58 the calyx is quite flower-like. In such plants it is often included in the term perianth. By botanists the flower-cup is con- 29. Vertical section of blossom of com- sidored to be made UD mon Primrose 1, the limb of corolla, which is in one piece 2, the tube of -f _ ^arfoin TmrnVlPT nf the corolla 3, the calyx or flower-cup, OI a Certain nUmUBr OI In one part or sepal 4, the pistil 5, -, two of the flve stamens-6, the ovary Separate UIVISIOUS OT or seed vessel 7, the peduncle or flower- parts, which are called sepals, these sepals being either distinctly separate, Back view of blossom of com- mon Loose-strife, deeply divided into five segments, partite 1. calyx 3, 8, corolla 3, peduncle. 31. Blossom of common Gorse or Whin 1, calyx or flower-cup, of two parts, lips or sepals 2, 2, petals of the corolla 3, curved pistil. as in the wall-flower, or united into one, as in the BE-PBODUCTIVE OEGANS OI" PLANTS. 33 primrose ; in the latter case the calyx is spoken of as monosepalous, or one-sepaled. The expression, however, is not perfectly correct ; for the one-sepaled calyx does not consist of one part, but of several joined together. The existence of these parts is generally indicated by some approach to division. In the primrose Fig. 29 the five parts are indi- cated by the ftve-toothed flower-cup ; but in the loose-strife Fig. 30 they are much more strongly marked in five deep divisions, constituting a five- parlite calyx. In the wall-flower Fig. 28 the sepals are completely separate. In most plants, perhaps, the flower-cup is regular in form, but not in all. In the labiate plants, for example, the class to which the white and red dead nettles belong, the calyx is irregular Fig. 32. Some flowers you will examine in full bloom, and yet you will be unable to detect any calyx at all, for the good reason, that when the blossom is fully expanded it is not there, it has been cast off. The familiar garden escholtzia, which may be seen any summer morning ca? Jrfcc s up p o d f throwing off its extinguisher-like a Labiate plant. _ . , . caps, or calyces, irom its expanding gay yellow blossoms, is a good example. Another we have in our own wild poppies, which separate their flower-cups, or rather, in their case, flower- caps Fig. 33 as the blossom expands. D 34 WILD FLOWEBS. In most plants, perhaps, the calyx withers with the flower; but in some it adheres more or less 33. Buil of common Poppy casting off its deci- durnui calyx, composed of two parts, or sepals. 34. Section of Rosebud, show- ing the calyx 2 -adhering to and forming a part of the ovary or secil-cup, 3. completely to the seed-vessel, and not only does not wither and fall off, but continues to grow with the increase and growth of the seed-vessel, and eventually forms part of the fruit, as it does in the apple or pear, or in the hep of the rose, as shown in Fig. 34, where 2 is simply the calyx adhering to the seed receptacle contained within. One singular form is the bladder calyx, which looks as if blown up by air ; the most familiar example of this form among our native wild flowers is seen in the bladder campion Silene inftata. RE-PRODUCTIVE ORGANS OF PLANTS, 35 Many pages might we fill with descriptions of the different forms of calyx ; but again we say, go to the book of Nature, pick blossom after blossom, and compare each with the other. This little work is not meant to spell out any part of that great Book of God for its readers ; it simply aims at shewing them how they may spell it out for them- selves how they may truly see the things they look at : many there are who look at things, but comparatively few are there who see them few who feel them few are there to whom " There is a tougue in every leaf, A voice in every rill." We would make the few the many. THE FLOWER, OR COROLLA. Again, we return to our practical lessons, and have recourse to the living flower or to its picture if the original fails us. The corolla, that which in the eyes of people generally constitutes the flower, is the floral envelope lying next within the flower- cup or calyx ; the divisions of this floral envelope being known to botanists by the name of petals, a term corresponding to the sepal division of the calyx. The bright yellow petals of the buttercup, the pink petals of the wild rose, the blue, bell-like, conjunction of petals which forms the hairbell blossom, are all the corollas of their respective plants. In plants, such as the buttercup,' the rose, D2 36 WILD FLOWEES. &c., &c., in which the corolla is made up of a number of separate petals, the term polypetalous, or many-petaled, is applied to it. In those, like the hairbell, in which the corolla is in one piece, it is called monopetalous, or one-petaled, a term, however, which is scarcely correct, seeing that such corollas are not truly one-petaled, but are actually formed by the conjunction of a number of petals, of which, moreover, the points of union are often well marked. As in most instances, the calyx of the flower is green in colour, leaf-like, and comparatively incon- spicuous, so, generally, we find the corolla bright in hue, showy, and often fragrant. Not always, how- ever, is it so distinguished or distinguishable ; for in some plants, as the ivy, or its relative the moschatell, in the lady's mantle, and various others, the corolla is greenish and insignificant. In other instances, as in the hellebores, whilst the corolla is small and scarce noticeable, the calyx is large and conspicuous. In others of the ranunculus family to which the hellebores belong the calyx is still more con- spicuous from its gay colour, such as we find in the beautiful globe flower, in the anemones, &c. These, however, are exceptions ; generally speaking, the corollas, the flower petals, are the ornamental part of the blossoms, to them we mostly owe the beauty and fragrance of these lovely creations, these bright revelations of pure benevolence ; which make the earth BE-PEODTJCTITE OBGANS Or PLANTS. 37 "all Eden bright, With these her holy offspring, Creations of the light ; As though some gentle angel, Commissioned love to bear, Had wandered o'er the green sward, And left her foot-prints there." Before going farther, mark the fact in any flowers which you gather, that the petals of the corolla are not opposite the sepals of the calyx, but alternate with them. Now take our old friend the buttercup : you find its petals perfectly simple Fig. 35 so 35. Petal of com- mon Buttercup, show- ing nectary 1 at its base. 36. Single petal of com- mon Wall-flower 1, the limb- 2, the claw. also in the rose, in the poppy, &c. Now take the wall-flower Fig. 39 you will find it has four distinct petals, but different from those of the rose, or of the buttercup. These petals have two parts, the limb Fig. 36, 1 and the claw, 2. Similar petals will you find in the pink, carnation, and many other flowers. How much might we say respecting the varied forms of the petals ! Like the leaves, scarce two do 38 WILD FLOWEKS. we find alike. Differing in general outline, so do they in the cuttings of their margins. Many are perfectly even ; some are simply toothed, as they are in the pinks; some, like those of the campions, are deeply cleft ; and in a near relative of the campions, the bright-coloured but forlorn-looking ragged- robin, you find the petals cut in all directions, as if some fairy folk had gone at them hap-hazard with their scissors as they expanded. The now well-known garden Clarkia is another instance of petals deeply cut. Some plants, like the columbine, the larkspur, or the violet, have their petals, or some of them at least, rolled up into a spur-like appendage Fig. 37. In many of the umbel-bear- 37. Dlossom of common sweet Viotft. I he corolla a, 3 com- posts! of five petal-, the lower one of which is extended into a sour 1. The calyx -4 of five sepals! 'I he |M duuclc or flower stalk having two bracts, 3. 3.S. Dlossom of an bearing plant, havi pctiils 2, -2 each wit flected point; five sta and a pistil with two styl ig five ing plants the petals end in a point, which is turned inward, or inflected Fig. 38. BE-PBODUCTIYE OBGANS OP PLANTS. 39 Varied as blossoms are by the form of their petals, not less so are they by the disposition or arrangement, which in some is of the most regular character, in others of the most irregular. First examine the blossom of the wall-flower Fig. 39 39. Blossom of Wall flower. Peduncle, 1. The calyx, 2. The petals of the corclla, 3. The stamens, 4. The pistil, 5. or of the wild mustard, charlock, or any similar plants ; mark their regular, cross-like arrangement, from which the family to which they belong, the Cruciferse, derives its name. Take up the rose, the apple blossom, the potentilla, the strawberry, and you will find them exhibiting another general flower-form, the rosaceous also regular. Refer to the pea tribes ; look at the flower of the broom, or of the gorse Fig. 31 or of the common pea Fig. 40, also Fig. 91 and you will find 40 WILD FLOWEES. different petals, of very different form, combined to form an irregular blossom, that is to say, one which can only be severed into two equal halves by one way of cutting. Examine the violets, and you will find similar irregularity, but under arrange- 40. Papilinnac-ous or butterfly-shape.! bios- ffiCnt VCry different - of comm. n Pea. Corolla, composed of five - , . from what we find m petals ; 1, the standard, of one petal 2, the wings, of two petals 3, the keel, of two petals. the pea. Hitherto, we have confined our attention to blos- soms which are polypetalous, that is, in which the petals are separate : no less varied are those in which they are united into one piece, forming a monopetalous corolla. Our old familiar friend the primrose offers us an excellent example of a one-piece flower. "We see Fig. 41 its salver- shaped limb, as the broad expanded, part is named, surrounding the throat of the tube Fig. 41, 2 which passes down into the calyx. 1. The corolla of the common I'rim- -\r 1 1 * in one piece, or ther of ft petals I ou may remark, however, joined in one, const tutinu a mono- p.ocoroiia-2 the pirtii appearing that although the pnmrose at the throat of the Cube of the corolla. corolla is all in one piece, it is evidently marked off by partial division into five segments or petals, just as we found to be the 41. The corolla of the comn EE-PBODUCTIYE ORGANS OF PLANTS. 41 case in the calyx. Very numerous do we find the forms of our one-piece, or monopetalous, corolla : some, like the primrose just alluded to, are what are called salver-shaped, others have the bell shape of the campanula Fig. 42 or are rotate (wheel- shaped) like the blossoms of the well-known forget- me-not Fig. 43 or like the yellow florets in the 42. Corolla of clustered Bell- 43. Sprig of common Forget-me-not, showing rotate flower, composed of one piece or wheel-shaped corollas, monopetalous the calyx, 2, also of one piece monosepalous deeply divided into five lobes. centre of the daisy Fig. 44 B are tubular. The daisy, belonging to the class of compound flowers, offers in the same head of collected florets, the regular tubular corollas which make up " The gold-embossed gem " of the centre, and the irregular strap-shaped corollas Fig. 44 c of the white ray, which surrounds 42 WILD FLOWEBS. that centre gem with a setting of silver. The forms of irregular corollas, in one piece, or monopetalous, are very numerous. Such we find in what are called the labiate or lipped plants, of which the white and red dead nettle Fig. 45 the mints, the hemp-nettles Fig. 106, &c. are familiar examples and the larger salvias excellent ones. You will find some plants, especially among the parallel-veined or monocotyledonous, in which the blossom is all of one colour; such is the case in the tulip, the wild garlic, the crocus, &c. In these cases the term perianth is applied, instead of corolla. This same term also is used in the case of the 44. Blossoms or florets of common Daisy. B, one of the yellow tubular florets of the central disk 1, its stamens and style 2, the seed. C, one of the white strap-shaped floras of the ray without Btumens 1, the style 2, the seed. irregular, very often beautiful, and almost as often singular flowers of the orchis family. Our next step takes us from the region of gay flowers into the domains of the rush, the sedge, and the grass. One of the rush family, to be sure, the yellow bog asphodel, is really pretty and flower- like, and the flowering rush of English pond and EE-PEODTJCT1TE OEGAKS OF PLANTS. river sides bears an umbel of handsome flowers, albeit it is not a true rush at all ; but the rushes generally are, we need scarcely say, sombre and unattractive, until close examination detects the floral formation of their dark-coloured little blos- soms, which consist of a single perianth rig. 46, 3. 45. Blossom of a labiate plant. 1, the Irregular corolla 2, the calyx 3, the lower lip of the co- rolla 4, its upper liji cwlo-ing the four stamens, 5, of which two are longer than 46. Blossom of hairy Wood- rush 3, the perianth, composed of six jrlumaceous pieces 2, the stamens, six in number 4, the thiee-valved capsule surmounted by the triple stigma, 1. In the blossom of the grasses we lose the rayed flower character; and though still we have what answers to calyx and corolla, these bear but little resemblance to the parts as we have hitherto seen them. Take up almost any grass ; an ear of wheat will do as well, or indeed of any grass. You will find that each little spikelet, as in Fig. 47, is com- posed in the first place of two outer scales 1, 1, usually called glumes. These outer scales have been WILD FLOWERS. considered to be analogous to the calyx or flower cup of flowers generally; but as they inclose, usually, not one but several blos- soms, they rather re- semble the involucre, or green outer enve- lope, of such composite plants as the daisy, the dandelion, &c. "Within these outer scales or glumes, you will find another set of scales or palece Fig. 47, 2, 2 which differ in 47. Spikelet of grass 1, the involucre, or rnirnhpr nPPOrfHnO 1 to glumes, sometimes called the calyx-2, the scales -UUIIlUei dCCUIUlIlg tU or palese of the perianth, sometimes called the ji r> corolla 3, the feathery stigmas- 1, the veriatile tn6 SpCClBS 01 gl'aSS. ttamena 5, the awns. These inner scales inclose within them the essential flower organs, and may therefore be considered to hold the place of the corolla or of the perianth. The blossom of the grass is sober of hue, and yet how well do we find the absence of gay colouring compensated for by the neatness, so to speak, of the compact spikes, or by the elegance of the drooping panicles of many of the grass family, still further adorned by those long awn appendages Fig. 47, 5 which in the barley or the rye are so conspicuous, and which in the beau- tiful feather-grass attain the perfection of graceful ornament. Appendages of various kinds are not uncommonly met with attached to the corollas, HE-PEODTJCTIVE OHGANS OF PLANTS. 45 of plants, and fringes of hairs, of glands, &c., as in the buckbean, or in the grass of Parnassus, give additional beauty ; as if no " array " could be too bright for the " lilies 'of the field." 46 ESSENTIAL ORGANS OF RE-PRODUCTION. STAMENS AND PISTILS. THE STAMEN. THE two parts of the flowering plant which have just engaged our attention, the calyx and the corolla, though generally forming a part, and that seldom the least conspicuous, of the re-productive organs, are not by any means essential to the perfection of these organs, so far as regards the end of their existence the perpetuation of the species. We now come to organs which are necessary for that perpetuation in the flowering plant, without which perfect seed, that is seed capable of being the germ of a new plant, cannot be formed. These essential organs are the stamens and the pistils of flowers. As we found in such a flower as the wall-flower, an outermost circle of floral development, the calyx, and within that the corolla, the divisions of the one alternating with those of the other; so we find within the corolla, in a perfect flower, the circle of stamens, also in alternate series, these organs encircling the last or central series, the pistil or pistils, which constitute the centre of the flower. You cannot mistake the stamens in the gene- rality of flower plants ; here we have them in our ever faithful example, the wall-flower Fig. 48 ESSENTIAL OBGANS Of KE-PRODUCTION. 47 from which, for the sake of distinctness, the calyx sepals and corolla petals have been removed. These 8. Essential re-pro.luctire 49. Section of blossom of common Buttercup orgnnsofcommon Wall Hower 1, petals, of which there are five 2, portion of calyx (the calyx and corolla being eepal 3, numerous instils or ci>rpels 4, numerous removed) 1, 1, the ttamens stamens. 2, the pistil. stamens Fig. 48, 1 are six in number, four long and two short. Open up a buttercup, and we have a whole crowd of these stamens Fig. 49, 3 too many to count. Turn to the bright blue blossom of the germander speedwell Fig. 50, and we find 50. Monopetalous or one- pieced corolla of common Speedwell, having its two stamens 1 attached to It. 51. Magnified view of simple blossoms of water Star-wort. 1, the bracts whic : constitute the sole floral appendages of the solitary stamens 2, 2. but two. In the mare's-tail of our marshes, or in the water star-wort of our streams Fig. 51 48 WILD FLOWEES. the number is reduced to one solitary stamen to each, flower, if our readers will permit us to call that a flower, which is little more than an insig- nificant looking scale. In the examples we have given, you will perceive that the stamen is composed of two parts ; that like many leaves, it has a supporting stalk, called thej^Zo- ment Fig. 52, 1 and an expanded portion, called the anthei Fig. 52, 2. Moreover, you will generally find the anther marked off into two halves, or lobes Fig. 52. These are the cells or pouches which contain the flower-dust or pollen, and as we have remarked, are generally two to each anther, but not always. As an exceptional example the water star-wort Fig. 51 has its anthers but one- celled. The attachment of the filament to the anthers varies, and hence becomes a source of distinction. It may pass up between the lobes, as in Fig. 52, and is then called adnate ; it may extend only to their base, when it is innate ; or as in the grasses Fig. 47 be so attached to some point of the anther, as to allow it to swing loosely, when a versatile anther is constituted. When we discussed the subject of leaves, we found that the length of their supporting footstalks varied greatly. So we find it in the stamen. Re- fer back to Fig. 29, and you will perceive that 52. Stamen of "Wood Anemone 1, the adnate anther with its two lobes 2, the filament. ESSENTIAL ORGANS OF BE-PBODUCTION. 49 in the section of the primrose flower there repre- sented, the stamens 5 situated within the tube of the corolla, are almost destitute of filaments. On the other hand, there are plants whose stamens have filaments so long that they cannot be packed in the bud without being folded and refolded, as occurs in that familiar plant the ribwort plantain, the little florets of which Pig. 53 are well worthy 53. Floret of common ribwort Plantain 1. corolla, within which the long filaments 2 of the stamens are folded when in bud 3. of examination. Refer again to our primrose sec- tion Pig. 29 or better still, go, where you can, and gather primroses or cowslips either will do by the hedgerows and in the fields of April, and examine them ; you will find the stamens five in number, attached to the corolla. Take the bright 50 WILD FLOWEBS. blue blossoms of the speedwell Fig. 50 and exa- mine as many as you may, you will find but two stamens to each, and these also attached to the corolla. Gro to the wall-flower, pull off" its calyx, and then its petals, as we have done Fig. 48 but still the stamens, six in number, remain firmly attached just below the seed-pod. In like manner you may serve the buttercup ; its stamens also remain after both calyx and corolla have been taken away. Try the same thing with the potentilla, the straw- berry, or the wild rose also plants of many stamens. The petals come off easily enough and leave the stamens behind them ; but when you try to detach the calyx, you bring the stamens with it, for the reason that, as we see in Fig. 54, the stamens are attached to it. As our readers may imagine, these attach- ments of the stamens to various parts of the flower, are to the botanist most valuable distinctive marks. Indeed, in the case we have cited, 54. Section of calyx of a rosa- . , , . . ceou. plant, with the numerous the different DOSltlOn Of the stamens fixed upon it. stamens in the ranunculus or buttercup tribe, and in the rose tribe, draws a well- defined line of separation between two most impor- tant sections of the vegetable kingdom, the blossoms of which bear a near general resemblance. Neither is the distinction in this case, and indeed in many others, simply one of scientific import ; for we find ESSENTIAL ORGANS OF RE-PRODUCTION. 51 that certain families of plants, distinguished by certain characters of outward form, are also distinguished from one another by their economic uses. To refer to our examples : whilst we find the ranunculus tribe notorious for the acrid and poisonous pro- perties of its members, we draw from the rosaceous plants some of our most delicious and wholesome fruits. Mark then, well, when you examine a flower, how its stamens are attached. But you have more to do than this ; within certain limits the number of stamens has to be counted. Indeed, if you study the Linnaean mode of classifying plants, this must be one of your first-sought characters in their examination, for upon the number of stamens the Linnsean classification is principally based. Some plants, like the speedwell Fig. 50 with its two conspicuous stamens, give us but little trouble : if we take the grasses, we find them, with one exception, in Britain at least, hanging out three versatile stamens from each little floret. In the plantain Fig.53 in the holly, in the bedstraws,&c., we count four stamens, and in many plants five. But we are anticipating our remarks on plant classification. Let us look for another mark. of distinction, and indeed of classification also, in the connexion which in some tribes exists between the stamens themselves. Gather one of the mallows those things you called " cheeses," in the young days, when anything edible about a plant was its most striking character in your eyes examine this E 2 52 WILD FLO WEES. mallow blossom, and you will find the filaments of the stamens so united, as to form a tube through which the pistil passes. Take the pea tribe, you will find the filaments in like manner connected. The tube, however, is either split above, as it is in the gorse Fig. 55 or, while nine of the stamens seem to form an exclusive brotherhood, one is left solitary. As, however, this solitary member is the upper- most, we may suppose that he . J f tf constitutes the exclusive, and looks down upon "the mass." Not only, however, are stamens at times united by their fila- ments, they may be so by their anthers likewise. If you have never observed this in the violets, look, and you will find it so now ; so also is it in the composite flowers, the family of the daisy Fig. 44 the dandelion, and the marigold. The anthers of the stamens, we remarked above, are generally divided into two cells or pouches, which contain the pollen or flower-dust, that yellow powder which often shakes out so profusely from blossoms in full flushing. Look under the full- blown catkins of the willow in early spring, when " Tender leaves on tree and bush, Scarce hide the blackbird and the thrush " nay, even before the tender leaves appear and ESSENTIAL OBGANS OE KE-PBODUCTION. 53 you will find the pollen sprinkling the ground with a golden shower. But, indeed, almost any full- blown blossom furnishes a specimen, and when " The breath of May Creeps whisperingly where brightest flowers have biroh," look at the bees after they have been rifling some of these flowers ; their well-dusted coats tell of the scenes of their robberies. Abundant, extremely so, is this pollen dust ; in some places its quantity must be enormous, for showers of it have been known to fall in localities to which it must have been carried from a distance by the winds. This pollen, this apparently formless dust, is made up of innu- merable minute grains, round, oval, or at times triangular, each one of which is instinct with life to fulfil its office. Very minute, however, are these little grains, and you will require a microscope to see them well. The mode in which anthers open to discharge their pollen varies considerably, some affording it exit by pores, others by valves, &c. ; but the most general mode of opening is by what is called the suture, or line of opening, which may be traced, by a little examination, in many anthers. An exception to the ordinary form of stamen we find in the family of the orchis. If you take an orchis flower Fig. 56 to examine for the first time, you will have some difficulty in finding the stamens at all. Our illustration will help you. Mark the point corresponding to that marked 1 in the WILD FLOWEES. figure, and there you will find two little pouches, each of which contains a waxy looking stamen, or pollen mass, of the form represented Pig. 56, 5. If you are a young botanist and getting en- thusiastic, you will be highly delighted with the novelty of poking out, with the aid of a needle, these little organs from their snug concealment. To the careless, these seem trifles; indeed they cannot appreciate the pleasure which the real lover of natural science experiences, as each step leads him on to fresh discoveries of design, ever varied in its beautiful adaptations. 56. Blossom of an Orchis, consisting of a perianth i lowest bearing a spur 4 The pouches containing the pollin masses 1. A spot corresponding to tho stigma 2. The twi-te7. r'ioret of Dutch clover, showing half developed pod 1 part of the flower developed 2 and the cftlyx 3 tending to be- come leaf-like. 68. The half de- veloped pod of Kig. 67 laid open to show seeds. FLOWEB-BUDS, ETC. 69 may be regarded in a similar light Fig. 66, 2 the carpel or seed-vessel of the pistil, being simply a folded leaf joined at the margins, and bearing at these margins the seed. The subject of floral metamorphosis we have just lightly touched upon, is full of interest for its own sake ; worthier still is it of attention as a beautiful exemplification of the simple principles which form the foundations of His works, from whom both works and principles alike derive their origin. 70 ARRANGEMENT OF BLOSSOMS. INELOBESCENCE. HAVING examined the various parts of the plant and of the blossom, our readers might imagine that with this our remarks on descriptive botany should cease ; but there yet remains for us that most important subject, the form of flower development, and the arrangement, so to speak, of the blossoms upon the plant ; the inflorescence, as botanists designate it. Many different circumstances are there, as we have already seen, contributing to give that charming and never-ending variety which extends over the whole of the vegetable creation, but none perhaps adds more largely to that variety than the differences in the modes of inflorescence. Most blossoms, or collections of blossoms, are supported upon a primary stalk or flower-stem, named the peduncle Figs. 69, 71, &c. In some cases the flower or flowers are directly ^orne by the peduncle, but very frequently this main stem gives off other little stems, as in the currant, cows- lip, &c. Figs. 69, 71, 72, &c., and then these little stems are named the pedicels. Many plants, like AEEAKGEMENT OF BLOSSOMS. 71 the primrose, the dandelion, &c., send the flower- stalk as it were direct from the ground; it is a simple stem, bearing the flower alone, but neither leaf nor branch, and is then further distin- guished as the scape Fig. 69. When a peduncle or flower-stalk bears but one blossom, the latter 69. Common Cowslip -the peduncle, in this case called a scape 1 bearing the blossoms in the form of an umbel 2 on short pedicols 4. The leaves are crenate, and are revotute or folded back 3 previous to full expansion. is said to be solitary, as it is in the poppy: in flowers borne on scapes, like the dandelion, and in 72 WILD FLOWEES. many others. A solitary flower, however, is not necessarily a terminal one, does not necessarily terminate the peduncle : such flowers as those of the wood loosestrife Fig. 70, are solitary, but they are also axillary, being developed from the axil of the floral leaves. When, as in the currant Fig. 71 70. Spris of lesser Loosestrife, shewing solitary axillary flowers ; the pedicels 1 springing from the axils of the floral leaves, or bnv:ts 2. The leaves arc ovate actiU' the segments of the five- fxirtHf calyx 3 are tubulate or awl- shaped. H. Branch of common red currant (Ribetrubrum) shewing the bios- pendent. Th- pedicels 1 have each a small bract 2 where thoy spring from the peduncle 3. or in the speedwell Fig. 72 there are many blos- soms borne on short pedicels, a raceme is formed. "When, however, these pedicels are of unequal length, those near the extremity of the peduncle being short, whilst those further from the extremity increase in length as they descend the stem, so as to bring all the blossoms nearly to a level, what is ARRANGEMENT OF BLOSSOMS. 73 called a corymb is produced, as we have it in the beam tree Fig. 73. 73. Sprigof common Germander Speedwell Veronicfi cJHima&trys) shewing the blossoms arranged in a raceme which is erect. Tho pedicels 1 have each a small bract 2 where they spiring from the peduncle 3. The corolla 4 rotate and four-cleft. 73. Twig of white Beam tree (Pyrua aria) shewing the blossoms arranged in a compound corymb. The leaves are deeply serrated or saw-toothed. The corymb form of inflorescence must not be confounded with another which it somewhat re- sembles, in which the flowers are brought up to a level as they are represented Figs. 74, 69. This kind of flower arrangement is the umbel, one of the most important and characteristic among plants. Now, compare it with the corymb ; mark, that while the little pedicels of the latter spring from various points of the main stem, the pedicels of the umbel 74 WILD FLOWEBS. all take their origin from the same point:' a dis- tinction sufficiently plain to be at once recognised and remembered. The umbel form of inflores- cence is universal in one family of plants, which derive their name from the fact, and are called the UmbelliferaB, having at the same time other characteristics peculiar to themselves. Other plants, such as the cows- lip Fig. 69 also bear their flowers in umbels, but, not possessing the other characters of true urnbellifer, do not of course belong to the order. At times it occurs, that when the first blossoms of a plant are developed, the inflores- cence is in the form of a corymb ; but as these first-opened flowers are on the outside of the inflorescence, and as the centre blossoms continue to be carried forward by the growth of their pedicels as they expand, it comes to pass that the inflorescence which began as a corymb ends in the form of a raceme, . , , . ^ . _ as shown ig. 75 in the case oi the common Shepherd's purse. These ,-t n IIP p n three well marked forms of inflores- 75. sprig of com- on Hhepheralea! '2- inclosing th pistils 3 ami stamens 4. In the figure th' ouUr scales of the floret bear awns a. bracts afford a good general idea of the characters which distinguish the native wild flowers of our own land, and of the principles on which botanical distinctions are based. Our next step must be to point out how the vegetable kingdom is mapped out by means of those plant characters which have just engaged our attention : how it is divided and subdivided, and its great leading classes marked off; how these again are resolved into tribes, families and genera, so that the skilled botanist finding a plant he had never seen before, may, provided the plant lias been enrolled with its brethren, as it were track it down, fix it in class, in tribe, in family, till ABBANGEMENT OF FLOWERS. 81 he finds it amid its own kindred, associated with the other members of its own genus, and finally pounces upon it by the special mark of the in- dividual. 82 THE ARRANGEMENT OR CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. " Happy who walks with Him ! Whom what he finds In nature, from the broad majestic oak To the green blade that twinkles in the sun, Prompts with remembrance of a present God." COWPER. WHEN we reflect that somewhere about eighty thousand different kinds or species of flowering plants are now known to botanists, and that, in addition to this large number, there exists an im- mense variety of vegetable productions which bear no flowers, we may well believe hovr hopeless would be the task of acquiring any definite or useful knowledge of the vegetable kingdom as a whole, unless its various component parts were reduced to some kind of arrangement or classification. Indeed, when not above a tenth part of the plants now known had been discovered, the necessity for some order amongst them was manifest, and the natural affinities which so obviously gather certain plants into tolerably well-defined groups, began to engage the attention of the first cultivators of the science of botany. Certain families of plants, such as the umbel- bearers or hemlock-like tribes Fig. 98 the labiates ABBANGEMENT OF PLANTS. S3 or mint-like tribes Fig. 106 the grasses Fig. 113 'present so strong a family resemblance, one to the other, that they naturally, as it were, group themselves. But as very many plants, even though closely allied, are not so obviously linked together, the attempts at arrangement were found to be attended with great difficulty and confusion ; so that it has only been of late years that the Vegetable Kingdom has been mapped out into anything like order, after the laboured and long-continued exer- tions of the most illustrious botanists. Before botany was cultivated scientifically, the first attempts at classification arranged plants as trees, herbs, and shrubs, further dividing them ac- cording to their medicinal or economical, their poisonous or harmless properties. As the limits of the subject extended, such vague arrangements were of course found useless, and many attempts were made to introduce some more serviceable method. It would be unprofitable here to enume- rate all the plans of classification which have been propounded. The first, perhaps, of any account, was that of Tournefort, founded upon the form of the corolla ; but this, even in the early stage of the science, was found impracticable in application. Nothing, in short, was effected, until the celebrated Linnaeus appeared upon the stage, and brought for- ward his beautiful though artificial system, which, from the middle of the last century, until the last fifteen or twenty years, was principally used by G2 84 WILD FLOWEES. botanists. Being an artificial system, however, it has necessarily been superseded by that extended knowledge of science which has enabled botanists to construct the natural system of the vegetable kingdom, according to the natural affinities of plants. Linnaeus himself was well aware of the superiority of a natural classification over an arti- ficial one, and left behind him the plan of such a system ; but he saw, probably, that the state of botany as it was in his day, would not admit of the better method being advantageously carried out ; he therefore gave us an artificial system, which has never been rivalled. He reduced the immense chaos of botanical knowledge to something like order, and placed it in a condition to be modelled into better shape, as extended knowledge required different, and gave opportunity for more scientific arrangement. In. one respect, the Linnsean arti- ficial classification is attractive to a beginner, it is the easiest at first. By it a learner may perhaps very readily find out the (Linnaean) class and order, and the name of a plant ; but when he has done this, he has acquired comparatively little real know- ledge. By the study of the natural system, on the other hand, much true knowledge is gained when the place of any particular plant in the system has been ascertained : for that place is not a mere arbi- trary one assigned by man ; it is, we may say, the position fixed for it by the Creator in the system of nature, and that in which it is, as it were, sur- ABRANGEHENT OF PLANTS. 85 rounded by its family connexions, by other plants having with it many characters, and perhaps quali- ties, in common. Moreover, when the first few steps in the study of the natural system have been overcome, the subsequent ones are rendered all the more easy by the knowledge which has been already acquired. This is by no means the case in the classification of Linnaeus : we would, therefore, whilst counselling our readers not to neglect the latter, to devote themselves principally to the ac- quisition of a knowledge of the natural arrange- ment of vegetables to get a general outline of the great principles and leading divisions which mark out the symmetrical whole of this most im- portant section of material creation. Of these principles and divisions we shall endeavour to give a general idea ; but, previously, must devote a short space to the consideration of the Linnaean system of classification. Linnaeus founded his system upon characters afforded by the essential re-productive organs of plants, the stamens and the pistils ; forming twenty- three classes of plants which have flowers, or at least stamens and pistils ; and a twenty -fourth class, the Cryptogamia, including plants, such as the ferns, which are destitute of floral organs. The first eleven classes of the Linnsean system depend simply upon the number of the stamens ; the twelfth and thirteenth partly on the number of the stamens, and partly on their relative position, 86 WILD to other parts of the flower. The fourteenth and fifteenth classes are regulated by the relative lengths of the staminal organs ; the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth by the connexion of their filaments ; the nineteenth by that of their anthers ; and the twentieth by the relative position of the stamen and pistil. The next three classes depend upon the separation of the stamens and pistils in separate blossoms, or on different plants ; th'e twenty-fourth, as stated above, on the absence of these organs altogether. The above classes are subdivided into orders, in accordance with characters chiefly derived from the pistils. But, probably, the reader will obtain the clearest idea of the system at large, and of its divisions, from an inspection of the annexed synopsis, which is taken from the " British Flora" of Sir AVilliam Hooker and Dr. Arnott,* a work formerly arranged according to the system in question, but now adapted to the natural classi- fication. * Those who desire seriously to acquire a good knowledge of our British plants, will find this well known work their best assistant. 87 CLASSES AND OEDERS THE LINN^EAN SYSTEM OF BOTANY. C1.VS8. 1. Monandria . 2. Diandria . 3. Triandria 4. Tetrandria 5. Pentandria . 6. Hexandria 7. Heptandria . 8. Octandria 9. Enneandria . 10. Decandria 11. Dodecandria 12. Icosandria 13. Polyandria . 14. Didynamia 15. Tetradynamia 16. Monadelphia 1 stamen in each flower. 5 5> 6 ' j> 8 >? 55 10 12 to 19 in each flower. 20 or more stamens inserted on the calyx. 20 or more stamens inserted on the receptacle. 4 stamens 2 long and 2 short. 6 stamens 4 long and 2 short. Stamen filaments united into one set. 88 WILD FLOWEBS. 17. Diadelphia . 18. Polyadelphia 19. Syngenesia . 20. Gynandria 21. Monoecia 22. Dioecia . 23. Polygamia . 24. Cryptogamia Stamen filaments united into two sets. Stamen filaments united into three or more sets. Stamen anthers united flowers compound. Stamens inserted on the pistil. Stamens and pistils on sepa- rate flowers on the same plant. Stamens and pistils on sepa- rate flowers or different plants. Stamens and pistils separate in some flowers, united in others, either on the same plant, or on two or three distinct ones. Destitute of true flowering organs. THE OEDEES. The orders in the first thirteen classes are founded on the number of styles in each flower : Monogynia, 1 style ; Digynia, 2 ; Trigynia, 3 ; Tetragynia, 4 ; Pentagynia, 5 ; Hexagynia, 6 ; Heptagynia, 7 ; Octagynia, 8 ; Decagynia, 10 ; Polygynia many styles. CLASSES AND OEDEES. 89 The orders of the 14th class are two : 1. Grymnospermia... Seeds 4, apparently naked. 2. Angiospermia ...Seeds contained in a dis- tinct seed-vessel. The orders of the 15th class are two : 1, Siliculosa... Seeds in a short pod or pouch. 2. Siliquosa ...Seeds in a long pod. The orders 16, 17, 18, are founded upon the number of the stamens in each set Triandria Pentandria, &c. The orders of the 19th class are three, and are founded on the structure of the flower, which is compound : 1. -3qualis ... All the flowers perfect. 2. Superflua ... Florets of the disk perfect, of the ray with pistil only. 3. Frustranea. Florets of the disk perfect ; of the ray with neither stamen nor pistil. The orders of the 20th class are founded on the number of the stamens, Monandria, Diandria, &c. The orders of the 21st and 22nd classes are founded on the number, union, and situation of the stamens, Diandria, Monadelphia, &c. The orders of the 23rd class are three : Perfect flowers. Fertile pistil-bearing flowers. Barren stamen-bearing flowers. On one plant, Monoecia on two different plants, Dioecia on three different plants, Trioecia. The orders of the 24th class are founded on natural orders ferns, mosses, &c. 90 PART II. CLASSIFICATION OF PLAXTS ACCORDING TO THEIB NATURAL ORDERS. ALTHOUGH we may assume that there is actually but one perfect, natural arrangement of the vege- table kingdom, we may also perhaps assume that the recognition of its perfection can never come within compass of the human mind. A perfect arrangement must be devoid of classification alto- gether ; it can have no divisions, it must be the perfect whole, compacted of diverse parts : it can thus be viewed only by the Maker of all things. That man may be enabled with his finite intelli- gence to grasp the subject, he must introduce divisions, classifications, something of his own mind; and as men's minds vary, and each looks at things in its own way, we cannot wonder if classi- fications, even when founded upon the natural arrangement, but propounded by different autho- rities, have differed considerably in detail, although agreeing in general principles. The arrangement of Dr. Lindley, in his great work, " The Vegetable Kingdom," might well have been our guide here; but CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 91 the somewhat different system adopted in the " British Flora" of Hooker and Arnott, is perhaps more in accordance with the plan of our short exposition. Under the natural arrangement, the vegetable kingdom is first divided into three great classes. The first, Dicotyledonous or Exogenous plants the second, Monocotyledonous or Endogenous plants the third, Acotyledonous plants. The plants of the first and second classes bear flowers, those of the third do not. The plants of the first-class are most generally found in the temperate zones, those of the second and third in warm climates. DICOTYLEDONOUS OB EXOGENOUS PLANTS. The character of a dicotyledon most easily recog- nizable is the branched or reticulated veining of the leaf, and next to that the formation of the stem, which consists of central pith, of wood, and bark, and increases in size, by means of a layer of new sub- stance being every year deposited between the two latter. This mode of growth gives a section of the stem of an exogenous plant a ringed appearance, as any one may see who examines a newly-cut tree ; the number of the rings corresponding to the number of the years of growth. These rings, more- over, are crossed at intervals by straight lines the medullary rays which diverge from the central pith 92 WILD FLOWERS. and connect it with the bark. To the above cha- racters is added that derived from the seed, which, possessing two seed-lobes, or cotyledons, gives the name di-cotyledon. The two-lobed character is very conspicuous in such large seeds as those of the bean, lupin, &c., but in many minute seeds it is ascertainable only by careful examination. This, however, is of comparatively little import to the general observer, as the veining of the leaf, and the formation of the stem, are in most cases obvious, and for him at least sufficiently trustworthy guides. In the system we have adopted as our guide here, the dicotyledonous plants are subdivided into four main sections. The fourth section is characterized by the presence of only one floral envelope, which is called neither calyx nor corolla, but perianth. The three first sections derive their characters partly from the position of the stamens, and partly from the divisions of the corolla. The sections themselves are again divided into lesser sections, so as to facili- tate the arrangement of the natural families or orders which comprise the genera,* and species. By a species is meant an individual plant, or kind of plant which, possessing certain definite and sufficiently well-marked characters peculiar to itself, transmits these characters unaltered to succeeding genera- tions of plants which spring from it. Thus, if we take a seed of the common wall-flower, and sow it, we expect, and with certainty, that a plant will * Latin plural of genus. CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 93 spring up similar to that from which the seed was gathered similar, but we cannot say in every point exactly the same. There may be a different shade in the colouring of the flowers, or other minor differences ; but these are not sufficient to constitute a difference in species, they are too inconstant. By a genus is meant a collection of such species or kinds of plants, each possessing certain marked and permanent individual characters, but all agreeing in certain other general characters which link them together as one race or genus. No better example can we find than the genus Kanunculus, which com- prises twenty species, natives of Britain. Fig. 84, the Ranunculus auricomus, or wood crowfoot, affords an example of one of the prettiest of the collection from it and from the following figures we may derive some idea of the general characters of the genus, and perhaps something more. The chief characters of the ranunculus genus are, calyx of five sepals, not prolonged at the base Fig. 86 petals 5 Fig. 84 with a nectary at the base Fig. 85 achenes Figs. 84, 86 without awns.* All these characters we find in the wood crowfoot ; but we also find them in the nineteen other British mem- bers of the genus ranunculus ; consequently, if we are to distinguish the wood crowfoot as a species, we must find out some characters which it possesses distinct from all the rest. Let us see what cha- * Hair-like prolongations from the apex. ---3 84. Sanunculiuauricomu*, or wood Crowfoot, an examp'c of t:.e natural order Jlunun- lutacea. The five petals of the Uossom, 1 the numerous stamens, 2 the fruit, 3 consisting of m;.ny carpels or nchcnes, nml th divided haves, are all characteristics of the order. The flower (rives an example of the p ..lypetalous corolla, that is of one divided Into a number of distinct petals. The vciiieil leaves are distinctive of the great dicotyle- donous rt, vision of the vegetable kingdom. The radical or root leaves 4 are reniforni or kidney -shaped in their Rcneral outline, and are a (rood example of a three-parti< leaf ; the stem leave* 5 being much divided into linear segments. CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 95 85. Petal of a But- tercup showing nec- tary 1 at its base. 86. Section of blossom of common Buttercupr- 1 petals of which there are five 2 portion of calyx sepal 4 numerous pistils or carpels (achenes) 5 numerous stamens. racters it has of its own. Its leaves are divided, this at once distinguishes it from the five ranunculus spearworts ; its flowers are yellow, and the colour (a good distinction in this genus) separates seven species of white-flowered ranun- culus. We have now but eight species to distinguish among, but three of these have warted or prickled achenes or seeds, and annual roots, neither of which characters our wood crowfoot possesses. Of the five species we are now reduced to, but two have smooth leaves, the wood crowfoot, and the celery-leaved crowfoot ; but in the latter, besides other characters, the calyx is smooth, whereas in the wood crowfoot it is covered with down. Having now hunted down, as it were, our species, 87. Stamen of wood anemone. 2. The anther adnate with its two lobes. 96 WILD FLO WEBS. some persons may remark, " We could have told that this was different from any other ranunculus, without all this trouble." Possibly so : many per- sons can detect the general difference of aspect which distinguishes, in the majority of instances, one plant from another ; but none perhaps, without botanical training, could sit down and write a description of a plant which would convey to another individual any accurate idea of the plant, hence the vague and generally useless descriptions given, by non-botanical travellers, of the vegetation of newly traversed countries. On the other hand, when a botanist gathers a plant perfectly new to him, a glance tells him to which of the three leading divi- sions of the vegetable kingdom it belongs ; a more careful examination fixes its family or order, per- haps its genus ; a little further, and by reference to published descriptions of plants, he perhaps finds that the species has been already described and named by some prior discoverer ; but if not, and if the finder has reason to believe that a plant is perfectly new, and hitherto undescribed, his task must be to detect in the species some marked character or characters, which may distinguish it from every other of the eighty or ninety thousand species already known and described. "We may well imagine how, but for the classifications and divi- sions, this would be an impossibility. Now perhaps, the reader may understand, how from class to order, CLASSIFICATION OP PLANTS. 97 to section or alliance,* thence to family and genus, a botanist may carry a plant, till at last, as species, he separates the individual. We have examined the genus ranunculus as made up of various species, we must now look at it the whole genus as but one member of a larger com- munity, the natural order or family of the Bauun- culacese, which contains, besides the genus ranun- culus, thirteen other genera, natives of Britain. The anemones, the globe-flower, the columbine, the aco- nites, &c. are all examples of the natural order in question ; for, though by no means bearing the same general palpable resemblance that the species of a genus such as ranunculus do to one another, they have certain common points of character, which enable botanists to throw them into a group or family albeit, the eyes of the superficial or non- botanical observer will now afford him but little help ; the connecting links lie deeper than mere ex- ternal resemblances. The ranunculacea3 are remark- able, chiefly, for their acrid and poisonous qualities. In the case of some of the aconites and hellebores these are developed in an intense degree ; but many even of the common buttercup or crowfoot genus are remarkably acrid. In the Hebrides the lesser spearwort (Ranunculus flammulaj) and the celery- leaved crowfoot (Ranunculus sceleratus) are said to be employed as blisters, producing their effects very rapidly, but often too violently. The presence * Dr. Lindley makes certain divisions under the name of alliances. H 98 WILD FLOWEES. of the plants belonging to this family usually characterize a cold damp climate, and, indeed, the name is derived from the latin rana, which signifies a frog, from the nature of the localities in which the plants principally abound. But let us take another natural order, the Cruci- ferae Fig. 88 more important by far than the ranunculacese as regards useful products, and con- taining thirty-three British genera. Like the ranun- culacese, the cruciferous family, which includes such plants as the wall-flower, the cresses, the rockets, the wild mustards, &c., has the corolla divided into separate pieces ; but in this instance, the prevailing number is four Fig. 89 and the petals are placed in a cross-like or cruciform arrangement ; the calyx sepals also are four. The stamens are, as in the to. Blossom of common Wall flower, cross-like, or cruciform in shape 1, peduncle or flower-stem 2, calyr or flower-cup in four iiistinct parts or epals 3, 3, petals, four in number, composing the corolla 4, stamens 6, pistil. , 90. Essential re-productive organs of common Wall-flower (the cnlyx and corolla being removed). 1, l,thc stamens 2, the pistil. immon Water Cress (Nasturtium qfficinale),aua example of the natural order Cruciferse. The blossoms being first developed as corymbs 1 subsequently becoming racemes bv the growth of the peduncle. The fruit a pod or siliqua. The leaves placed alter- nately on the stem, and with branching veins. H2 100 WILD FLOWERS. ranunculaceae, inserted upon the receptacle at the base of the pistil, but instead of being numerous, are of the definite number of six Fig. 90 four being long and two short. Cruciferous plants have but one pistil Fig. 90 which ultimately developes into a seed pod, or pouch Fig. 88. The leaves are alternate, and the flowers are generally first in- floresced in the form of the corymb Fig. 88 but ultimately develope into racemes. The family of the crucifers yields us many plants which are so developed and ameliorated, by cultivation, as to take place among our most esteemed vegetables ; it is sufficient to name the turnip, the cabbage and all its tribe, the sea-kale, &c. ; also the various cresses, the radish, the mustards, &c., the water-cress, and the scurvy grass. The repute of the latter plants as anti-scorbutics is popular. The seeds of many cruciferse, such as rape or mustard, yield oil in large quantities. The geographical distribution of the order is chiefly in the temperate zones ; very sparingly indeed in hot climates. Few, if any natural orders, are more important than the next we examine the Leguminosae or pod- bearers, or pea tribe ; none have their general cha- racters more strikingly marked. The corolla, it is true, is still composed of a number of pieces, as in the case of the ranunculus, or of the cruciform ; but how differently are these pieces arranged Fig. 91 not in a circle around the essential re-productive organs, but in the elegaut form which we all recognise as 91. Portion of Wood Vetch ( Vlcia, fylvatica), an example of the natural order Leguminosse. The blossoms, composed of five petals 1 are papilionaceous. The fruit 2 is a legume or pod. The leaves are placed alternately on the stem, are compound and furnished with tendrils 3. At their junction with the stem are stipules 1. 102 WILD FLOWEKS. peculiar to the pea tribes, and which has so well been named papilionaceous, or butterfly like. Moreover, we find both corolla and stamens fixed, not upon the receptacle but upon the calyx ; the fila- ments of the stamens, which are generally ten in number, being either completely united into a tube Fig. 93 or nine of them joined into one piece, whilst one, the superior stamen, is left free. The pistil of the leguminous plants is single, con- stituting, when in fruit, a pod or legume Fig. 91 92. Wii.ged stem of Vck-h. 93. Stamens and pistil of common Gorse or Whin, the petals of the corolla being removed. The stamens 1 are united by their fila- ments into a tube through which passes the pistil -2. The leaves are alternate on the stem ; generally compound ; often furnished with tendrils, and have CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 103 stipules at the base. " The leguminous order is not only one of the most extensive known, but is also one of the most important to man, whether we consider the beauty of the numerous species, which are among the gayest coloured and most graceful plants of every region, or their applicability to a thousand useful purposes. The acacia is not less valued for its airy foliage and elegant blossoms, than for its hard and durable wood. The logwood and rose- woods of commerce ; the laburnum ; the furze and the broom, both the pride of the otherwise dreary heaths of Europe ; the bean, the pea, the vetch, the clover, the trefoil, the lucerne, all staple articles of culture by the farmer, are so many leguminous species. The gums arabic and tragacanth, the senna, and various other drugs, not to mention indigo, the most useful of all dyes, are products of other species."* Many species of leguminosse, however, are poisonous ; such is the case with the common laburnum. In some respects our fourth natural order, the Bosacese or rose tribes, appear to resemble the ra- nunculaceae. The divisions, both of calyx and corolla, are mostly the same ; the stamens are numerous, but their attachment to the calyx Pig. 96 instead of to the receptacle is a perfect distinction. In the rose tribes the carpels or seeds are numerous, but differ considerably in their arrangement. In the * Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom. 94. Common Wild Strawberry (Fragaria tetca), an example of the natural order Rosacese. The calyx 1 in this instance ten-cleft. The corolla consisting of five petals 2. The stamens numerous. The seed or carpels borne on a fleshy receptade 3. CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 105 rose itself they are contained in a cup, or ovary which is partly composed of the calyx ; in the straw- 95. Section of Rosebud, show- ing the calyx- 2 adhering to and forming part of the ovary and seed cup. 3. 96. Section of calyx of a roa- ceous plant, with the numerous stamens fixed upon it. berry, on the other hand, a true rosacean, the car- pels are borne on the receptacle Figs. 94, 97 which, when enlarged becomes what we call the fruit. The leaves of the rose tribe plants are alternate, and, like the pod- bearers, have stipules at the base of the leaf stalk. 97. Section of a Strawberry blossom. The receptacle 1 which enlarges and becomes the " uit. leat staiK. Almost is it unnecessary to refer to the floral 98. Rough Chervil {Cherophylium temulentum), an ex- ample of the natural order Umlv llif< r.v. The bloEsoms are borne on umbels 1 in this instance compound and with partial involucres 2. The leaves are alternate, compound, and sheathe the item at their bate 3. CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 107 beauty of many of the rose-tribe. The strawberry and raspberry likewise belong to it, also the apple, the pear, the peach, and many others. The latter, however, are scarcely considered to belong to the true roses, and are ranked in a sub-order. Many of the last named plants yield prussic acid largely from the leaves, flowers, or kernels of the fruit, whereas the prevailing principle of the true rosacese is astringency. Another tribe, the Umbelliferse or umbel-bearers Fig. 98 have we with five petals to the corolla, but in all respects very different from those tribes which have already engaged our atten- tion. These plants derive their name from the arrangement of their blossoms in the form of the umbel ; but, at the same time, other characters besides this are essential to constitute them true members of the order. The seed, or rather fruit Pig. 100 is peculiarly characteristic. It con- sists of two carpels, or achenes, combined, and at- tached, near the apex, to a central axis, from which 99. Blossom of an umbel- bearing plant, having five petals 1 each with an in- 100. 2, magnified view of the fruit of an um- flected point five stamens, belliferous plant 3 section of the same fruit, and a pistil with two styles. showing vittie. 108 WILD FLOWEBS. they usually separate when ripe. Thus each sepa- rate little " caraway seed" is one of these carpels; albeit it is not truly a seed, but a seed-vessel, for the real seed lies within. The fruit of the umbelliferous plants is usually strongly marked by longitudinal ribs and ridges Fig. 100 and in the interstices between these, in the substance of the carpel, lie minute channels named vittae, which contain the peculiar essential oil, so commonly met with in these seeds. Each blossom of an umbel-bearing plant contains two styles, which crown the young carpels, and also five stamens, placed alternately with the five petals Fig. 99. These petals have often what is called an "inflected point" as represented, and are sometimes very unequal in size. The umbels are often compound, and with involucres. Fig. 98. The leaves are compound, often ex- tremely so, and sheathe the stem at the base Fig. 98. The natural order of the umbel-bearers is a most extensive one, and includes species possessed of very different characteristics. Some, like the hemlock, the dropworts, &c., are virulent poisons ; whilst others, such as the well-known caraway, the dill, the anise, fec., afford us some of our most valued aromatics. "What are called gum-resins, such as assafoetida, gal- banum, &c., are also yielded by this family ; and from it, under the influence of cultivation, we derive the carrot and parsnip, celery, parsley, &c. The blos- soms of umbellifers vary from white their most general colour in this country to yellow, as in f 101. Michaelmas daisy (Aster tripolium), an example of the natural order Co; positce. The florets co..ected into a head or capitulumI surrounded by involucre;;. 110 WILD FLO WEES. the pepper, saxifrage, and parsnip ; to pink, as in the hedge parsley ; or to blue, as in the sea-holly. The Composite or compound headed plants con- stitute an order which yields to none, either in extent or importance. The generality of people are in the habit of confusing the flowers of this family with the double blossoms of cultivated plants ; from which, however, they are perfectly distinct. The head of a composite see Figs. 101 103 is made up of a number of small blossoms or florets, many or most of which are complete in themselves, possessing calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistil Fig. 102. The 102. Blossoms or florets of common Daisy. B, one of the yellow tubular florets of the central disk 1, its stamens and style 2, the seed. C, one of the white strap-shaped florets of the ray, without stamens 1, the style 2, the seed. 103. Composite blossom of Leopards'-bane. The capitu- lum or head 1, florets of the disk 3, florets of the ray 4, Liyulate or strap- shaped. green covering Fig. 101 which people so often confound with the flower-cup of other blossoms, is CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. Ill no calyx at all, but a general involucre or envelope to the flowers within. The corolla of the composite florets occurs in two forms, either tubular Fig. 102, B or ligulate, or strap-shaped Fig. 102, c. Many plants, such as the daisy, have two forms of the corolla to complete the flower-head. The dis- tribution of the stamens and pistils among these florets is subject to considerable variation. In some cases all are perfect, in others many of the florets are deficient as regards the essential organs of re-production. The fruit of the composites, like that of the umbel-bearers, looks like a seed, but is actually a seed-vessel or achene, within which the true seed is contained Fig. 104. It is generally beaked, and often crowned with a feathery appendage called the pappus Fig. 104. This is in fact the calyx, which surrounded the floret corolla in the stage of blossoming. The stamens of the composites are five, and are united into a tube Fig. 102, B through which the style passes, the style itself being bifid, or cleft. Moreover, the composite order, is the first we have come to with the corolla in one piece monopetalous. So extensive is the natural order of the composites, that it is con- veniently subdivided into tribes. In the first of these, the chicory com- 104. Seed of Dande- lion, v ith stalked pap- pus. 112 WILD FLOWEBS. posites, the florets of the flower-head are all strap- shaped, and in form resemble the white florets of the daisy Fig. 102. To this tribe belong the goats'- beards, the sow-thistles, the dandelion, and the let- tuces. In the next tribe, which includes the various thistles, the burdock, &c., the florets are all tubular Fig. 102. In the third tribe there is, in addition to other distinctions, an intermingling of tubular and strap-shaped florets, as we find in the daisy Fig. 102 or in the leopards' -bane Fig. 103. Although the composites yield us some vegetables used as food, such as the lettuce, and the Jerusalem artichoke the properties of the plants which con- stitute the order, adapt them for medicinal rather than for nutritive purposes. The lettuce, even when ameliorated by cultivation, is narcotic, and strongly so when growing wild. The well-known chamo- mile- yields a powerful bitter along with its aro- matic oil. The dandelion is a valuable remedy in derangements of the liver. Nor must we forget the well-known and powerfully bitter and aro- matic wormwoods. Moreover, from the compo- sites we derive some of the gayest ornaments of the garden. First comes the well-known dahlia, then have we the asters, the cinerarias, the chrysanthe- mums so beloved by the Chinese, and many others. Albeit, some of our native composites are by no means wanting in beauty. The purple goats'-beard, the leopards' -banes, the golden-rod, the corn blue- bottle, are well-favoured plants ; the thistles are CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 113 many of them handsome, so is the familiar burdock, with its large telling foliage. Even the dandelion would be more thought of were it less common ; though, common as it is, the daisy is always a "bonny gem" to all true flower lovers; and well may the composites, even the stateliest, be glad to claim it for their own. Our next order, the Scrophulariacesa, or figworts, although it contains such familiar plants as the veronicas or speedwells, the digitalis, the toadflax, &c., is less likely to attract notice by any outward marked family resemblance among its members, than the orders which have hitherto engaged us. Indeed, our naming the speedwells and the digitalis in the same order, would illustrate the remark, without adverting to a figwort itself, Scrophularia aquatica Fig. 105 a species of the genus which gives its name to the family. The figworts have the, generally irregular, corolla in one piece Figs. 50, 72 the calyx in four or five lobes Fig. 62 and persistent, that is, continuing along with the fruit. The stamens are seldom only two in number, as they are in the veronicas Fig. 50 more gene- rally they are four, two long and two short, or, as it is called botanically, didynamous. The style is one, with a two-lobed stigma ; the fruit is a capsule with two cells Figs. 105, 72. The leaves are opposite. The natural orders we have hitherto presented f 105. Water Figwort ( Scrophttliria tofuatica) an example of the natural order 5cro- phulariacese. The corolla 1 of one petal and irregular. The seed 2-a capsule, the IwtTOT bppodte. CLASSIFICATION Or PLANTS. 115 to our readers' notice, have all possessed so well marked a general family resemblance, that they may have been tempted to think this natural classifica- tion an easier business than they had been led to believe. The figwort family is only one among a vast number of others, in which it requires the educated botanical eye and mind to detect the deeper-seated links which bind its genera and species together, and it is sufficient illustration to cite the names of such different looking plants, as the foxglove, the speedwell, the eyebright, or the toadflax; the yellow rattle, the mulleins, and the figworts themselves, adding to them the well-known exotic calceolaria. The Labiatse, labiates, or lipped plants, form an order extensive as it is well marked, one, moreover, noted for the beauty and fragrance of many of its members. Lavender, thyme, marjoram, the mints, are all labiates, so are the sages and salvias. The large-flowered hemp-nettle (Galeopsis versicolor) Pig. 106 is the handsomest, perhaps, of our British species, and very characteristic. The monopetalous corolla Figs. 106, 107 is in one piece, and two lipped ; the calyx tubular ; the stamens are, as in the figworts, two long and two short. The fruit consists of four achenes, which are like four seeds lying at the bottom of the calyx, and indeed were formerly considered to be naked seeds ; the leaves are opposite, and the stems square. The cha- i 2 li>8. Large flowered Hemp-nettle (Ualeopsit versteolur) an example of the natural order Labiatse. The corolla 1 in one piece, mono- petalvui, irregular. The calyx 2 tubular. The leaves opposite ; the ittm square. CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 117 racters of labiate plants are too apparent to be easily mistaken, in many cases their very fragrance betrays them, as it arises from the numerous little cells somewhat like those in the rind of the orange which are filled with essential oil, and distributed over the plant. MONOCOTYLEDONS. At our next step in classification, we leave the net- veined foliage of the 107. Biosom of a dicotyledons for the parallel-veined labiate plant. 1 the * * , - th r e egu [yx c - r 3 Ila 7he leaves of the monocotyledons, well MflSE 01 *! represented by the well known and inclosing the four sta- - - _ . . - , . meu ,_s_of which handsome Orchidaceae, or orchis two are longer than family. In the small white butterfly orchis (Habenaria albida) Fig. 108 we have the straight-veined alternate leaves, the flowers arranged in a spiked raceme, the knobbed root. The orchis blossom, now called perianth, we see in six pieces Fig. 110 supported by the twisted ovary, and bearing in its centre the combined re-productive organs, the stamens contained in their little cells or pouches. Few, if any, families of plants can boast of as great a variety of beautiful, and, we may add, extraordinary form as the orchids. Some of our readers may have seen in conservatories the splendid orchis blossoms of tropical climates, few can be ignorant of the " king cups " of our meadows, the beautiful purple orchis of early summer, and others 108. Small white Butterfly Orchis Habenaria allidii an ixoxnplc of tb-.- Dutural order Urchldaica?. Tho blossom- niigid ID a s, ike. '1 he rout having 3.-Thc leiivn with pr CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 119 may have met with the curious bee-orchis or spider- orchis, either in its wild state or cultivated ; these last good examples of the curiosities of form which we find displayed among the members of this interesting family. Some of the orchids as the habenaria Fig. 108 are extremely fragrant. Beauty is the characteristic of the orchis family ; their known uses, economical or medicinal, are but small. The tubers of some of the species yield a peculiar nutritive gum, which forms, when properly prepared, a mucilaginous jelly, like arrow-root. 109. Eoot of the Spotted Orchis, with palmated tubers or knobs. 110. Blossom of an Orchis, the perianth in six pieces, the lowest bearing a spur 4. The pouches containing the pollen masses 1. A spot corresponding to the stigma 2. The twisted ovary 3 supporting the flower and having a bract 6 at its attach- ment to the stem 7. The pollen masses magnified 5. Another family of monocotyledons, the Cyperaceae or sedge order, devoid of gay colouring, differ 111. ryperui-like sedge Carex pseudo Cyi.rus-an example of the natural order Cyperactie. The flowers collected on spikes, 1 consisting of scales, 3 inclosing the pistil, or 3 inclosing the stameni. The Item triangular, the leaves with parallel veins Mid sheathing at the base. The bracts 41. ng nd folia, u m , r leaf-like. CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 121 greatly from the orchids, but, nevertheless, are in their own way sufficiently handsome. Our example Eig. Ill is by no means the plainest of the family. This tribe of plants, like the grasses, has the essential organs of re-production, the stamens and pistils, inclosed simply by scales, or as they are called glumes. In the sedge tribes, these glumes are imbricated, laid over one another, like the tiles 112. Sedge, or carex. The leaMike bracts-3 situated at the base of the flower sp;kei. The fertile or pistil or seed-bearing spikes, 2 the barren or stamen-bearing spike, 1. 122 WILD FLOWEBS. of a house, and are arranged upon or around a central axis Fig. Ill forming a spikelet, either of barren, stamen-bearing, flowers Fig. 112 or of fertile flowers Kg. 112 or of both on the same spike Fig, 111. The leaf-like bracts, the triangular stems, and the sheathing leaves, are all further characteristic of this distinct order. What- ever useful properties the cyperacese possess are of a mechanical kind ; they yield little in the way of medicine or of .bod, either to man or animals ; mats, ropes, &c., may be made from some of the species of the family. The ancient Egyptian papyrus, or paper, was the product of one of its members. In many respects similar to the sedge tribes, but in many different, the Graminese, or grasses, are a family at once, most distinct in their characters, most extensive in their number and distribution over the earth's surface, and most important to man. Like other monocotyledons, the grasses have the straight-veined leaf which sheaths the stem before leaving it Fig. 113 the stem itself being cylindrical, generally hollow, and in- terrupted at intervals by knots. The grass blossoms are arranged upon a central stem or rachis, and consist, generally, of three stamens, with versatile anthers, and two styles with feathery stigmas Fig. 114 inclosed within the glumes, scales, or, as they are sometimes called, valves, which answer to the floral envelopes of flowers generally. No order 113. Rushy Sea-wheat Grass (Triticum Juriceum), an example of the natural order Grarnine. The blossoms 1 consisting of scales arranged in spikelets, which are sup- ported by a common axis or rachis 2. The stem round, jointed; the leaves parallel- veined and sheathing at the base. 124 WILD FLOWEKS. or family of plants is more truly natural than that of the grasses, none perhaps is so important and necessary to man's comfort, and even existence. In every latitude are grasses found, from the shores of the Arctic Sea, to the tropics, where they often attain the height of trees. The study of the wild grasses is interesting, but that of "the distribution of culti- vated grasses is one 114. Spikelet of Grass. Th- (involucre, some- Q f ^he mOSt interest- times called the calyx 1, the scales or palese of the perianth, sometimes called ., corolla 2, the / _ii ,,!- -4.,, /eathrn stigmas-3, the vertatil. stamens-^ the lUg 01 all SUDjeCtS ; it is determined, not merely by climate, but depends on the civiliza- tion, industry, and traffic of the people, and often on historical events." ACOTYLEDONS. With the acotyledons we arrive at the third great division of the vegetable kingdom, of which the members do not possess true seeds, do not produce true flowers, and are for the most part destitute of the fibres and vessels which enter into the structure of the higher classes of plants. Among acotyledons, or cellular plants, the ferns, the club CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 125 mosses, and the horsetails* hold the highest place, the first, especially, approaching in many respects the flowering plants. The great mass, however, of the cellular division, is made tip of vegetable pro- ductions low in the scale. Such are the lichens, the fungi or mushroom tribes, the sea-weeds, and, lower still, those simplest forms of vegetable life, which are little more than simple cells or vesicles. Vast, indeed, are the domains of the kingdom of vegetables, and varied as vast. The arctic voyager beholds the snow reddened by the presence of a microscopic vegetable cell, which there finds a con- genial habitation ; scarcely a decaying substance is there, whether animal or vegetable, which does not form the site for a crop of the minute fungoid moulds; how soon does the lichen almost incor- porate itself with, and cover with bright warm colour, the " cold grey stone," and these are but the beginnings, which end in the magnificence of the forest oak, counting its age in centuries. Between the lichen and the oak, how many thou- sands of " Blessed form and dyes" are there ! How these thousands and ten thou- sands are classified, and constituted into orders and families, we have endeavoured to illustrate by a few, a very few, instances. To some readers, perhaps, our faint outline sketch will afford just such a * See supplementary chapter to floral months. 126 WILD FLOWERS. general view of this great and important, this most beautiful section of God's creation, as they desire : to others it may be but the guide-post pointing to explanations replete with the interest, to domains of knowledge ' Where every bush and tufted tree Warbles sweet philosophy " to pursuits which bring health to the body, pleasant thoughts to the mind, and pure affections to the heart. PART III. MONTHLY ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. A BOTANICAL EXCURSION. HITHERTO, our botanical lessons may have taken our readers no further than their reading table or easy chair ; but now we must beg them to change the slippers for walking shoes, and good stout ones withal, and go forth with us into the fields in search of our practical experiences. Many a pleasant ramble will they have, if their experience should be similar to the author's ; and, if they are in life's spring-time, many a pleasing reminiscence for its after-time will they lay up for themselves, many a green sunny spot in life's chequered landscape to look back upon. Few scenes in life will better bear retrospection than a happy botanical day spent in congenial company. But such recol- lections, perhaps, press more strongly upon those whose early botanical life was intermingled with that of many others, as in the case of fellow students at a university. The University of Edin- burgh has for many years been known as the 128 WILD FLOWEBS. " Alma Mater " of many enthusiastic botanists ; nor has it, under the rule of the present respected pro- fessor of the science, lost any of the prestige which it acquired when the manly, frank, Professor Robert Graham, so successfully stimulated his students to the cultivation of botany. The success of the Edinburgh system of botanical teaching, is perhaps greatly owing, first, to the circumstance, that whilst the lecture-room is not neglected, neither are the fields, and the Saturday excursions give force and interest to the lessons of the past week ; and second, to the almost unrivalled opportunities for botanical exploration which exist in the en- virons of the beautiful capital of the north. Let the first parts of our little work be to our readers as the lecture in the class-room, and our following " Monthly Illustrations," stand as the Saturday ramble the latter the practical exposition of the former, and, therefore, at times it may be involving some repetitions both of matter and of illustration. "We have said so much about these students' botanical excursions, that we must give a sketch of one of the best ; moreover, that this very excursion is pleasingly remembered by others than the author, he has evidence, from recently meeting with a notice of it in a Madras Journal, now edited by one of the merriest and most enthusiastic of those who took part in it. The rendezvous for one of the Saturdays of July, 1835, had been fixed at the village of Currie, six THE EXCURSION. 129 miles from Edinburgh, not then of course, as now, a railway station ; and, as botanists do not ride, it was walking distance. The trysting time at the inn eight o'clock, and breakfast ready ; six, there- fore, must be the time to start from town. As bright a July morning as ever dawned it was as the author with one friend, now the Madras editor, Dr. Alexander Hunter, started for the meet. Parties of twos, threes, and fours soon gathered, all tending towards the same destination, and before the quarter after eight had elapsed, upwards of fifty young men were gathered in the large room of the inn, eagerly looking for the advent of the rolls, the eggs, and all etceteras which were to satisfy appetites sharpened by a six-mile walk. Fearful would have been the consternation of our host, had this inroad come upon him unprepared ; but two days' notice, and a previous knowledge of botanical appetites by no means vegetarian, however had served to allow ample provision, testified by the clothes-baskets heaped full of rolls, the huge wickers of eggs, the beef and the hams. Almost we hear now the merry laughter of that breakfast table, almost see the air of bonhommie, with which our good professor, after himself diving to the kitchen, re-appeared with another basket of eggs, when all were thought to be exhausted ere appetites were satisfied. Almost can we see the grave humour beaming in the genuine Scottish face of " old Macnab," known far and wide in Europe 130 WILD FLOWERS. as the skilful manager of the Botanic Gardens, the professor's lieutenant, and whose walking powers of three-score could tire out many, if not most, of the younger limbs then present. Now and then would the laugh become doubly hearty as some laggard straggled in late, and looked ruefully around at the almost cleared board. But, breakfast over, then came the start for the hills and moorlands which were to be the scene of the day's explorations. Most of the band were really practical botanists, were well shod for the purpose, wore the light shooting-jacket and light cap, and carried boxes which would hold good store of plants ; not a few with good stout hand-spades slung to the waist or button-hole; some only evidenced their novitiate by appearing in white trousers and natty boots, of whom more hereafter. A short two miles, and the first exploring ground is reached, an extensive bog, where grew not only most of our common bog-plants, but a few rarer species ; one, more especially, of the orchis family, the spurless coral-root, found only in a very few situations in Scotland. No sportsman can feel more eager interest than the enthusiastic botanist in search of a rare plant the plant was soon found, but well was that bog searched over, and more than once did eagerness or ignorance lead some to venture on treacherous surfaces, to find themselves, without warning, sunk up to the middle in the black bog-water. To the men of strong shoes and rough THE EXCURSION. 131 trousers this was but a small calamity; but woe betide the well-cut boot and white inexpressibles, whose luckless owner had the laughs of the entire party to meet. By high noon, the bog having been exhausted, the hills had to be breasted, and more than one covey of grouse whirred off from among the patches of the mountain cloudberry (Rubus cham- mcemorus), to reach which formed the outside limit of the excursion. Then, along the dry open moor- lands, gathering on our way the small white butter- fly orchis, (the Hdbenaria albidcf) the curious little fern moonwort (jBotrychium Lunaria) and many others, till we come to, in a small hill bog, the thread-like stems of the cranberry (Vaccinium Oxy coccus) resting on the surface of the white sphagnum moss, and bearing its rose-coloured blos- soms and berries together. But the sun of this July day has shone fiercely, and by three o'clock, thirst oppresses many who have not had a sip from a pocket flask of cold tea or wine and water. There, on the side of " the black hill," a line of fresh green tells that a spring rises no far way up, and sure enough we find it, clear and pure as only these hill streams are cold too almost too cold for safety ; but many a thirsty one drinks from the " diamond of the desert" notwithstanding. Thirst quenched, e'er long something tells that the stomach has long since disposed of the ample supplies of the morning. Some had been careful enough to provide a biscuit, or to pocket a roll from the breakfast-table, and 132 WILD TLOAVEBS. some were happy enough to own such a provident friend willing to share with them ; but the supplies were sadly scanty. There is the professor his tall handsome form was ever distinguishable striding off to that hill farm steading or rather on Scottish ground " farm town," and soon his hearty call is heard. He has bought up the whole of the good wife's dairy store, and milk, food and drink together, is there for the whole party. "We wonder if the good woman ever had her milk pans so thoroughly cleared before they were then. Another stretch across the moorland, a search down the narrow glen of the bonny burn which makes its way through it, in alternate stream, cascade and pool, stream and cascade again, and seven o'clock in the evening finds most of the party some few had de- serted early in the day at the scene of the morning breakfast. But, alas ! our host had not calculated upon an evening foray as well as a morning raid, and the late furnishing of comestibles was but scant compared with the early actually there was not enough. One of the party we detected we almost think it was our friend of Madras laying violent hands on somerather musty beef bones in the pantry, which the host had been ashamed to bring out. Then came the dispersion. Some, unused to the exertion, must stop at the inn, some lagged on the road, some stopped at the half-way village ; and a few only, with the professor and his veteran lieu- THE EXCUESION. 133 tenant, marched into town at ten o'clock, well tired, but well satisfied, and one at least of the party to remember the day as one of the green spots in life's retrospect, which, like a thing of beauty "Is a joy for ever." But now the shade. Ere the next summer flowers were blossoming, some of the merry laughers of that excursion were laid low by fever caught in the study of their profession in the hospital wards ; another year or two and all were dispersed on their several roads of life. Short roads to some, very short. A "West Indian appointment with one led to yellow fever and an early grave ; one, at least, fell in the Khyber Pass under the knives of the Aflghans ; consumption and other diseases have claimed their victims, and Graham and Macnab fill respected graves ; yet many live engaged iii the successful exercise of their profession, and may sometimes lighten anxious thought by a recall of the botanical rambles of student days. Perhaps our readers will accept our narrative as a practical exposition of the uses and pleasures of botanical pursuits. True, those engaged in the expedition were most, if not all, destined for the medical profession ; but why should not a band of young clergymen do the same ? gather health and strength and pleasant thoughts, aye and good illus- trations, too, for their sermons, amid the glorious works, the beautiful material revelation of the 134 WILD FLOWERS. Creator, whose other revelation it will be the business of their lives to carry forth to men. Nay, if we must add to the argument, did not He who gave us that revelation illustrate his own sermon tlie Sermon by a reference to flowers ? " Flowers ! when the Saviour's calm benignant eye Fell on your gentle beauty ; when from you That heavenly lesson for all hearts he drew, Eternal, universal as the sky. Then in the bosom of your purity, A voice He set as iu. the temple shrine ; That life's quick travellers ne'er might pass you by, Unwarned of that sweet oracle divine. And though too oft its low celestial sound By the harsh notes of work-day care is drowned, And the loud steps of vain, unlistening haste ; Yet the great Ocean hath no tone of power, Mightier to reach the soul in thought's hush'd hour Than yours, meek lilies, chosen thus and graced." MRS. HEMANS. But we hear some reader remark, Why are these pleasures to be enjoyed only by young medical men, or young clergymen? Surely others may band together for the like purposes ? And surely they may. "We would see the school class, the natu- ralist's club, the association of any kind, pro- moting alike their health, their good fellowship, their knowledge of the useful and of the beautiful in God's created works, by practically searching them out not flowers only, not one department of the kingdoms of Nature, but all. The formation of the earth, its rocks and stones and shells, as well as its plants and trees, its birds and its insects. The THE EXCUESION. 135 study of these will give real improvement to the mind, quicken, as no other studies perhaps can, the powers of observation and of accurate perception. They will exercise the memory ; and they ought to call forth, not only the intellectual but the reflective faculties, ascending till they reach the highest veneration for the Supreme Being. Thus will the mind ascend from Nature to Nature's God. Like the angels in Jacob's vision, the thoughts first "ascending," will then "descend" laden with blessings. Most unaccountable has been the neglect hitherto of the natural sciences as a part of the system of education in this country. The cry has been, " cui bono ?" "What profit are these things?" The remark, " It is all very well for medical men to learn them as a part of their profession ; but the future clergyman must keep to his classics and mathematics, the intended merchant to his double and single entry." The time for such arguments has passed away never to return. Now it can be seen that the acquisition of a knowledge of classics and of natural science is not incompatible ; nay, it is pretty well acknowledged, that some of the long dreary years which it has been the custom to devote to Greek and Latin, may be allotted to the studies we advocate, with greater advantage to the general cultivation of the mind ; that the intellectual edu- cation is no loser, the heart education has great gain. Moreover, it is every now and then found out that a good knowledge of natural science may 136 WILD FLOWEBS. become a source of profit pecuniarily to the merchant, or to the traveller, whom it enables to take advan- tage of circumstances which are hid from the eyes of the ignorant. Enough, let us turn to our "Monthly Illustrations." As might be expected, the first months of the year offer but slight matter in the way of wild flower blossomings ; advantage, therefore, has been taken of this, to give a few requisite directions respecting the collecting and preserving of plants ; and, in like manner, in the concluding months of the year, when " The dead leaves strew the forest walk, And withered are the pale wild flowers." We have chosen the time to tell our readers some- what of the fruits and seeds, which are alike the harvest of the fowls of the air which sow not, reap not, nor gather into barns, and the great storehouse whence He, who made them, raises the " blooming wonders" of another summer. 137 MONTHLY ILLUSTRATIONS. JANUARY. " Lo ! when the buds expand, the leaves are green, Then the first opening of the flower is seen ; Then come the humid breath and rosy smile, That with their sweets the willing sense beguile ; But as we look, and love, and taste, and praise, And the fruit grows, the charming flower decays ; Till all is gathered, and the wintry blast Mourns o'er the place of love and pleasure past. " CRABBE. THE changes described by the poet are indeed full of interest and beauty, from the time when " the buds expand," and the "leaves are green," till the once bright foliage falls brown and withered before the " wintry blast." Few, perhaps, are so dull of mind as to be totally insensible to these changes in their general manifestations ; but few, too few, have their minds awakened to the succession of beautiful and varied form, which year by year adorns our fields and woods, our rocks and moorlands, nay, even our hedgesides and ditches ; too few of those who have ample opportunity and leisure, know, even by sight, much less by name, our commonest wild flowers, and yet there is not one of these, from the humblest weed that grows, that will not yield abundant scope for study, that does not exhibit perfection and beauty of structure that tell of its 13 S WILD I-LOWEES. Divine Creator. Nothing, perhaps, astonishes an individual more, when first commencing the search for and study of our uncultivated plants, than to find, even in the most common-place walk, what an immense variety of different kinds species, as they are called botanically he has, day by day, perhaps, trodden under foot, without an idea of their exist- ence. Interest succeeds astonishment ; he finds a new source of pleasure opened up, and one which gives not only pure and healthy thoughts to the mind, but health to the body, by affording induce- ments to exercise, and adding to the latter that excitement which gives it a tenfold value. Few pursuits in which the mind can engage, are purer, or have more tendency to afford innocent and happy thoughts, than the study of flowers generally, and though it may be some advantage to possess gardens and conservatories well stocked with the gorgeous natives of other climates, the mere con- templation of these can never bring half the plea- surable excitement which the search after the wild denizens of our own country affords to the zealous collector and student. The former are the privi- leges of the rich, the latter are open to the poorest in the land ; they are " A blessing given E'en to the poorest little one, That wanders 'neath the vault of heaven." And now the blessed facility of the railway, affords, even to the dweller in the heart of the JANUARY. 139 Great Metropolis itself, opportunity, if lie will, of practically studying one branch at least of natural history, which few who take up ever entirely abandon, and which many cultivate with the utmost zeal. Moreover, no other department of study requires such simple means for its prosecution, such trifling outlay in money. A magnifying glass, and a couple of long needles will open up much that is beautiful and wonderful, and if the observer desires to preserve the objects of his study, a few sheets of paper, a board, and a heavy stone, is all the appa- ratus required. As in the present month January any notice of flowers must necessarily be extremely short, advantage has been taken to make the above general remarks ; and as February is not much more prolific in subjects, we shall give under the head of that month along with the flower list a few plain directions on the mode of collecting, pre- serving and drying plants. As, however, the mere collecting and drying of wild flowers can only be considered an amusement yielding comparatively little profit to the mind, the botanical learner ought, as a first step to more extended knowledge, to acquire the power of dis- tinguishing plants from one another with accuracy and certainty, even though these plants have been previously unknown to him. To enable a person to do this, some knowledge of the organs of plants Botanical Organography as it is called and also of botanical terms Terminology is requisite ; but 140 WILD FLOWERS. sufficient for the purpose may quickly be acquired by a little attention. We do not, of course, recom- mend that any one should rest content with so superficial an accomplishment as the mere power of distinguishing one plant from another by name ; but it is a beginning, which, once made, will be the means of enticing many to a more extensive study of a most interesting science. The power of dis- tinguishing plants, of making out their names, and thus of learning more about them, is given by a book, usually called a " Flora," that is, a book con- taining a classified list of the wild plants of any country or district, described according to certain rules. Such a work, therefore, is indispensable to those who wish to prosecute their botanical studies properly. Various floras of Britain have been published ; the best, probably, is that of Hooker and Arnott, though there are others at less price. Some information respecting the classification of plants, and of the rules according to which it is conducted, our readers will derive by reference to Part ii. in the present volume. Again, it is repeated, the study of botany, and particularly of the wild flowers, is the branch of natural history most generally accessible to all. That it may be cultivated successfully even by those who apparently have no facility for it whatever, is evident from the well-known fact, that some of the most zealous botanical collectors in the kingdom are to be found among the working-men of Man- JANUARY. 141 chester. One word is here necessary to prevent misapprehension. In using the word flower, it is not meant to indicate those plants solely which attract and delight the eye, but all uncultivated plants, from what are classed as the meanest weeds upwards. There is not one which does not become to the careful examiner interesting and beautiful, which does not tell of Him who " Might have made enough, enough, For every want of ours, For medicine, luxury, and for toil, And yet have made no flowers." Wild flowers of January ! What shall we, what can we say of them ? The cold and ungenial month gives, indeed, but little encouragement to the intending and inexperienced collector and observer of wild flowers, although \o the confirmed botanist it yields many objects of interest amid the lower tribes of vegetable existence ; many of these, such as the lichens, being now gathered in perfection. Even in January, however, especially if the weather is open, a walk may be gladdened by the sight of one or two flowers which seem at home in every month of the twelve. Best and longest known of all, the "modest, crimson-tipped flower," the daisy, rears its blossoms in all seasons, and in almost every situation, on " hill and dale, and desert sod." Pluck it, and look at it ; it is not one flower, but many; it belongs to the composite flowers, that is, its head or blossom is composed of numerous 142 WILD FLO WEES. 115. Composite head of common Daisy 1, general involucre. florets inclosed in one green envelope, or, as it is called, involucre Fig. 115, 1 which resembles the calyx, or green cup of single flowers, but yet is not a true calyx. Do not, how- ever, confound the com- pound flower of the daisy with the double flowers of cultivation ; these, such as the rose, are not composed of florets, but of leaves, or rather, as they are called, petals, and their green cup is a true calyx. The bo- tanical name of the daisy, Bellis perennis, is derived from the Latin, expressive of prettiness, and its French name, >" Marguerite," like our Margaret, from the word for a pearl. The com- posite class of plants to which the daisy belongs is a very numerous one ; of it, the common dandelion is another most familiar example, likewise the hawk- weed, also the groundsel, familiar to bird-fanciers, which, like the daisy, may often be found in blossom in January. Get a head of groundsel, compare its structure with that of the daisy, and although you may not quite understand the science of the matter, you will at least see the resemblance, the relation- ship between the two, and thus begin, even in January, lessons in practical botany. Moreover, when you have got home from your winter's walk, JANUARY. 143 and doffed the thick botanical shoes we recom- mended a few pages back, take up our little volume, and refer to what is said of the natural family of the composites ; one of the greatest families is it, indeed, of the vegetable world ; for it is said to claim about one-tenth of the known flowering plants for its own. But we have not done with our January Mora ; the gay golden blossoms of the gorse will often attract the eye most pleasantly on the banks, gene- rally indeed few and far between, but now and then, in some sheltered sunny nook, in a thickly-clustered mass. The gorse flower is very different from the composite blossoms above-named; it belongs to the pea tribes, as the slightest examination will show. There is the form which has given the designation of papilionaceous, or butterfly-like, to these plants, and which is exhibited more fully developed in the common pea. These plants, too, are further dis- tinguished by bearing their seeds in pods, whence they are also named " leguminous " plants. The " order" of the Leguminosce yields to man some of the most valuable productions of the vegetable kingdom, which are used either for food or medicine, or in the arts. 144 WILD FLOWERS. EEBEUABY. ' ' Bring flowers ! " * " They speak of hope to the fainting heart, With a voice of promise they come and part, They sleep in dust through the winter hours, They break forth in glory bring flowers, bright flowers?" MRS. HEMA.N* The shortness of our floral calendar allows us space for preparatory remarks which will guide the botanical explorer, when the warmth of spring, and the showers of April, have " decked the earth with flowers," and given him practical field-work to learn and do. As we have said in the paper for January, in the term " wild flowers," is included what people generally call weeds ; for every one, even the low- liest, however apparently insignificant, will be found really and truly a flower of beauty. "With these, therefore, as being generally the most accessible, the collector will probably begin his labours. Not that we would confine him to the less ornamental and attractive ; but let him not wait the latter qualities in the objects of his care : he should seize on the first blossom, whether it be chick-weed, or daisy, or any other take lens, and dissecting-knife, and needle, in hand and he will quickly find, that in the close examination even of a weed, the compa- rative familiarity which perhaps has induced con- tempt, is soon lost in the new interests awakened. FEBEUAEY. 145 It is of course impossible, in the allotted space for these papers, to include mention of all the wild plants which grow and blossom within the shores of the United Kingdom ; sufficient if they fulfil their intention of furnishing general indications of the many flowers, which, month after month, bloom unseen where they ought to be seen, and noted and recorded in the minds of both young and old, as characteristic of locality and indicative of season. "We have just used the words " characteristic of the locality." They lead to a consideration as to how plants are distributed over the earth their geography. This, in its wide sense, is a most in- teresting department of botanical science ; but, even in the most confined limits, the young plant col- lector will quickly become alive to the effect of situation in altering the kinds of vegetation he meets with. The plants of the rich meadow, and of the river side, he will soon see are very different from those of the upland field, or of the moor-land ; those of the moist wood from those of the exposed rock or of the sea-shore. Of course, the extent to which these observations will be made, must vary with the district in which the observer resides, or with those which he visits ; but they are to be made most interestingly in all. Again, there are some plants so common that they are found nearly in every situation ; others very commonly in similar situations ; and others only in particular dis- tricts ; while some are known to grow only in one L 146 WILD FLOWEES. or two localities. These are the " rare plants " sought after by enthusiastic botanists. There are few districts in Britain in which some rare plants do not occur ; the search for them will always form a pleasing excitement when the collector has become familiarized with the commoner vegetation. Botanists speak of the place of growth of a plant as its "habitat." The habitats of many unusual plants have been known and regularly visited for many years. We will now suppose the observer for the first time preparing for his floral campaign. If he aspire to something of science, he may have attained some knowledge of botanical matters, and procured to himself one of the Floras mentioned in January, and added, perhaps, a lens, or small microscope : but let not those whose means, inclinations, or time, forbid this extent of preparation, be discouraged from collecting, for even in it they will find great bodily good, and no little mental pleasure and profit. Soon will they learn to see plants they never saw before, and to see differences they could never pre- viously detect. They will not call every umbelli- ferous plant hemlock, and every composite one dandelion ; but they will see that there are many varieties possessing a general family likeness, which are nevertheless essentially -different. This very seeing is a good exercise for the mind, and gives quickness and accuracy to the eye : it is most bene- ficial to the young especially, and in after-life makes FEBBUA.BY. 147 the distinction between " eyes and no eyes." Per- haps, had such pursuits been more attended to, many travellers would furnish less meagre accounts of foreign lands than they do. Again, the plants collected have to be brought home and preserved : here is another exercise requiring care and neatness. Being dried, they are to be mounted, and, if possible, named. If the collector cannot do this himself, he may, possibly, get some one to do it for him, and then, his dried garden of wildlings, his "hortus siccus," or "herbarium," will be, even though he is otherwise ignorant, a book of reference and comparison, and study ; and not only that, if he has noted places and dates of gathering, it will be a diary of the past, its review by the fireside of winter will carry the mind to the green fields and leafy woods of summer, to pleasant walks with plea- sant friends for plant-collecting is a sociable em- ployment and mayhap, in long after years, the sight of the dried wild flower will bring vividly back to the mind the faces and forms of those in whose company it was gathered, but who have long been parted from the gazer in the varied paths of life, or who are sleeping, it may be, beneath the daisy-sod of Britain, or haply under the shade of foreign trees. Few who have botanized in youth cannot moralize in maturer age over the dried forms of their favour- ites, and few, who have once engaged in collecting plants, ever lose the recollection of their study, or the interest it inspired. These may lie dormant L2 148 WILD FLOWEBS. under the load of business and worldly cares, espe- cially if the lot be cast in a large town ; but let the once botanical collector escape but for a day into the fields and woods, and he has an interest and a pleasure in renewing his old associations and acquaintances that others have not. We would say, therefore, observe, collect, arid preserve the wild flowers, scientifically if your means and time per- mit, if not, observe and collect them as beautiful and interesting objects of study, as an exercise for the eye and mind. Preserve them as an exercise for the hand ; and to the young, preserve them as a pleasing record of times, of scenes, of " old familiar faces," which they will recall when age " Looks All ways, and ponders on the past." We have made a digression, not, it is trusted, quite unprofitably ; but we must not forget that our incipient botanist is waiting to make his preparations. Now, as we suppose that he wishes to preserve the wild flowers, for which he may have searched many a bank and walked many a mile, there ought to be some preparation for doing so before the gathering. For this purpose there is required paper, one or more stout boards, according to the extent of the collector's intentions, and weights to press the plants. As to the paper, those who can afford it, and desire to have things of the best, should provide themselves with the grey absorbent paper FEBRUABY. 149 used by botanists ; but as a good deal is required, and thus it comes expensive, a very good substitute may be found in old newspapers, and in these many a good herbarium has been dried. Provide them as largely as possible. Next, as to the boards : properly, these should be about eighteen inches long by eleven broad, and half an inch thick, the ends being formed by cross pieces like a drawing- board, to prevent warping ; most, however, will be content with simple boards, which, if they are pro- cured new, should be of the dimensions above stated. Indeed, one board of the thickness mentioned will suffice for the uppermost, and intermediate thinner boards maybe employed. Paper and boards being pro- cured, the weight, such as one or more heavy stones or bricks, is an easy matter, indeed any weight is sufficient, and is much preferable to the screw press at times used. The home preserving apparatus being ready, the field accoutrements require atten- tion. Certainly, the hand, or handkerchief, or the hat, will do to carry a plant ; the latter, especially at a pinch, is not an unusual receptacle ; but those who really wish to preserve their plants, should get a ' botanical box ' Fig. 116 that is a box similar to what are called sandwich-boxes, only on a larger scale. These 116. Botanical box, made of japanned tin, for carrying plants. boX6S, made of japanned tin, are procurable in any large town. It is a mis- 150 WILD FLOWERS. take to get this box too small; botanists have it eighteen inches in length, and it is of little use if less than a foot, unless, indeed, it be a small pocket box for small plants. The width of the large box is from six to eight inches, and its depth four. It should be convex as represented, the door fastening by a sliding bolt of wire. In addition to the box, botanists carry a portfolio, or light boards contain- ing drying paper, for preserving some plants which easily shed their blossoms, this is useful. For getting plants up by the roots, a stout large knife at least should be used ; but where the equipment is complete, a short " digger," or hand " spud" of the form represented Fig. 117 is carried. Such are the few simple prepa- _ rations by means of which many a beautiful tenant of the wild may be gathered in perfection, carried safely home, and pre- served, a record and a re- ference for years. As the nature of the vegetation 137. Botanical digger, or hand- ,111,1 ?j i spade, for getting up plants by kept DaCK Dy the COldWlUdS of March will yet permit of space, in the article for that month the methods of collecting, preserving, &c., will then be gone into further. The flower list for February, although somewhat more extended than that for the previous month, is FEBETTAEY. 151 still necessarily scanty ; but even greater dearth of floral ornament might be atoned for by " The early herald of the infant year," the elegant snow drop. Well known and gladly welcomed by all as the earliest real spring flower of the garden ; it is also found growing wild in many places. Observe its pair of straight-veined, pale-green leaves, its true bulb, its bell-shaped flower composed of six pieces, three in each row, enclosing the six stamens, which bear the " pollen" or flower-dust. The snowdrop affords us a good specimen of the characteristics of one of the great divisions of the vegetable kingdom the Monocotyledons which includes the palm tribes, the grasses and grains, and many others most important to man. Of all these, one great external feature is the parallel veining of the leaves, in con- tradistinction to the branch and cross-veined leaves of such plants as the daisy, the ivy, &c., and of the trees generally of this climate. A garden flower like the snowdrop, and like it a doubtful wildling, the yellow winter aconite, a member of the ranun- culus tribe, appears this month, and the mezereon or Daphne mezereum makes the border gay with its thickly-covered flower branches and pink blossoms. It is said to occur in a wild state, but this is doubtful. Not so, however, with regard to the less brightly-coloured but more elegant Daphne lau- reola, or spurge laurel, which is not uncommon in woods, and flowers in this month. When most other shrubs and trees are leafless, this little shrub 152 WILD FLOWERS. presents a most pleasing contrast to their naked branches, with its deep green, palm-like tuft of leaves situated at the extremity of the few branching stems, and covering the pale-green pendent flowers. Count the stamens within, you will find them eight in number, thus placing the plant in the Linnsean class Octandria. If the spring be a mild one, perhaps some early "catkins" of the hazel, as the pendent blossoms of that well-known tree are named, may be found to afford us a specimen of flowers which do not bear fruit of barren, or, as they are also called, male flowers. A little examination will show that the cylindrical wavy catkin Fig. 1 1 8 which drops its yellow gold-dust all around, consists of stamens only, each set of eight being covered by its scale. The germs of the future nut must be sought elsewhere. Look a little along the branch, and you will see Fig. 118, 2 what might be mistaken for a bud, were it not that from its ex- tremity there protrude a num- ber of brilliant crimson fila- ments. At the base of these lie the future nut germs, which 118. Blossoms of common hazel. 1, the catkin, or pen- dent spike of barren blos- soms 2, the fertile blos- soms bearing the nut. FEBBUABY. 153 in due time will be ready for the hands of the gatherer. The hazel offers us an excellent example of a plant bearing barren and fertile, or as they are often called, male and female flowers, on the same plant, but different in situation, and most different in appearance. The common blue periwinkle, so common in our gardens, sometimes occurs in the woods, and presents its bright blue flowers even thus early in the year, and in some sheltered situa- tions we may find an adventurous sweet violet (Viola odor aid). The dingy hellebores, with their green purple-edged flowers, are seen in gardens, and occasionally on heaps of rubbish near houses. "With these we might conclude the list of February wild flowers. There however remains the common red or dead nettle. This plant, like the daisy, may be found blossoming in almost every month of the year. It should now be examined as a specimen of a large family of plants, the Labiate, or labiate plants, so called from the shape of the flower or corolla, which presents the appearance of an under lip. If one of the " irregular" flowers of the red nettle Fig. 119 be compared with those of the periwinkle, how different they are ; and yet the same essential parts appear in each. In the dead nettle the corolla (4), with its lip (1), is irregular, the stamens, four in number (3), rise to the top of the hood. Two of these organs in labiate flowers generally, are almost invariably longer than the other two, and hence is derived a valuable distinctive 154 WILD FLOWEES. mark of this " order" of plants. Eising into the open part of the flower, along with the stamens, may be found the " style" cleft at the top. Next examine the green "calyx," or flower-cup, of the dead-nettle (2) ; it will be found like the corolla, irregular, and enclosing the four- lobed seed-vessel which lies at its base. The above are instances of the distinctive marks selected by botanists to distinguish plants from one another, and, com- mon weed as the one chosen for description may be, it is a good example of the order of plants to which it belongs. It does not, however, display one very common property of labiate plants, the essential oil, which in the mints, lavender, &c. &c. renders them so useful to man. Our February wild flowers are not, it is true, numerous ; but, as we have just seen, much may be learned from them, it will be well for the novice in botanical matters to learn from them all he can, before he is overwhelmed with the profusion of the summer months, now fast coming on. 119. Blossoms of common Dead- nettle, showing the labiate corolla. 4, the calyx 2, the stamens, two long and two short. MONTHLY ILLUSTRATIONS. 155 MARCH. ' The bloom is in the bud, and the bud is on the bough, And earth has grown an emerald and heaven a sapphire now ; The snowdrop and the daisy wild are laughing everywhere, And the balmy breath of opening buds steals softly through the air." # * * * # * " What promise in the verdant plains what hope is on the wing, A blessing on thy balmy breath, thou merry month of Spring." " The merry month of Spring," is rather a time of promise to the expectant botanist, than of actual floral abundance. There are, it is true, days of bright and often of warm sunshine, when the fields are "emerald" with the fresh green of the newly- springing grass, when the clearness of the " sap- phire" sky tells of approaching summer days, and when " the busy hum of insect crowds, all full of life and joy," speaks of animated nature reviving from the torpidity of winter; but there are also many days when cold winds and sleety showers forbid the ramble, and check the incipient vegeta- tion. Nevertheless, the list of plants which now blossom has considerably increased since last month, and we must haste, ere we are overwhelmed with the bounties of Flora's cornucopia, to complete the remarks on COLLECTING AND PBESEEVING. It must here be impressed upon the mind of the reader, that to collect plants and to collect flowers, 1.56 WILD FLOWEBS. are two very different things. It is surprising, even in the collections of those who have made consider- able advance in botanical lore, to see how often miserable fragments of plants are presented as spe- cimens. There is, perhaps, a single flower, with one or at most two leaves attached, but guiltless of any- thing like stem, root, stem and root-leaves, seed- vessels, &c., which go to make up a perfect plant. Such specimens are nearly useless, and as it is almost waste of time preserving them at all, those who desire to have a really interesting collection, should, from the commencement, seek both to avoid the error pointed out, and to get the plants on which they bestow their trouble as perfect of their kind as possible. Thus, unless actually prevented by its size, the entire plant should be taken dug up from the roots. In the case of plants which are rarely met with, the botanist must ofben content himself with the specimen as he finds it ; but amid the commoner species, he ought to pick and choose, to select an example as perfect in every way as he can ; the leaves should be well grown and not marred by in- sects or other causes, and, if possible, the same plant should have buds, full-blown flowers, and formed seed-vessels. One of the greatest points of interest, and indeed of use to the mind, connected with the study of plants, is the detection and com- parison of those minute differences in which the distinction of species are founded ; and, obviously, this cannot be done by means of half-perfect speci- ilAECH. 157 mens. For instance, one species of ranunculus is specially characterized by possessing a bulbous root : how wanting in character must a specimen of the species be which has been simply pulled from the ground, the bulb being left behind. Such ex- amples might be greatly multiplied. Neither is it the root alone which is involved in the question ; for if it be not taken up, the root-leaves are almost necessarily left behind, and they are often eminently characteristic. One instance will suffice that of the common blue-bell, or hair-bell, which derives its specific botanical name of Botundifolia, from its root-leaves, which are round, whereas the stem- leaves are long or linear. Unless the round root - leaves are preserved, how inapplicable must the name " round-leaved hair-bell" appear! These root - leaves, however, must not be confounded with the seed-leaves, or first leaves of the young plant, which appear in Spring, and of which examples may every where be found this month. These 30. Seedling of common Goose-grass. Seed leaVBS, developed di- leaves 1 Regular leaves of plant 2. 158 WILD PLOWEBS. rectly from the seed lobes, are, as it were, the nursing mothers of the young plants, and the observation of their various forms will afford a pleasing diversification to the botanical walk. The annexed cut Fig. 120 which represents the seed leaves 1, 1 and incipient plant 2 of the com- mon goosegrass, offers a characteristic example. After a plant- specimen has been gathered, it is of course transferred to the box, in which it is kept fresh and cool. This effect of the close box is, perhaps, of less consequence in the early months, but in the heat of summer it is almost necessary, to keep the plants in anything like good order for drying. Indeed, during a long walk on a hot day, it is often well, if the box is not tolerably filled with fresh specimens, to line it with grass sprinkled with water. Moreover, specimens are not, after being gathered, to be consigned to safe keeping without some preparation ; withered leaves should be trimmed off, and the roots cleaned, and if gathered in muddy places they should be washed. When it is necessary to mingle plants of all sizes in one box, some arrangement should be made, so that the minuter species be not lost ; for these, however, it is better to have a smaller pocket-box. As already mentioned, those who desire to collect in the most perfect manner, ought to carry boards containing paper, into which plants of which the flowers, or as they are called botanically, the corollas, easily fall off, may be transferred at once. After plants have been collected, they ought, HABCH. 159 with as little delay as may be, to be submitted to the drying process. For this purpose, from three to six sheets according to the thickness and suc- culence of the plants of the drying paper described in the February article, are to be laid down first, and on the top sheet, the plant, or plants, if there is room for more than one, are to be arranged. The root being placed towards the operator, the various parts of the specimen are to be laid evenly down, while another sheet of paper is placed on the top. To do this well, practice is of course required, and the great art is, to display the plant the form of its leaves, flowers, &c. without artificial arrange- ment, apparent or actual. The specimen being laid down, another set of sheets of paper is to be placed, before a fresh plant is put, and so on until from four to ten layers of specimens, according to their thickness, are arranged. A board is then to be put on the top of all, and on that the weight. (See February.) In the course of twelve, twenty-four, or eight- and-forty hours, it will be necessary to change the sheets which have become damp with the moisture of the specimens, for dry paper. This is very simply done, and in the process, opportunity may be taken to correct any deficiencies in the arrange- ment of the specimens ; indeed, as these have now become limp and have lost the springiness of life, such may at this stage often be more easily effected than at first. This changing of the moist paper for 160 WILD FLOWEBS. dry, will require to be done at intervals, as above- named, until the specimens are thoroughly dried. In the case of some plants, such as grasses, which are long and slender, the stem may be bent and re-bent upon itself, in such a way as to bring it within the compass of the paper ; each bending being kept in place by insertion in a slit in a slip of paper. When the plants are thoroughly freed from moisture, they may be transferred to the collection, but if this be done too soon, the specimen shrivels, and becomes comparatively useless and unsightly. To know when a plant is quite dry requires some little experience ; but it may generally be judged to be so, if the leaves or other parts snap through when slightly bent. Of course, some plants require much longer time to dry than others ; indeed, some, such as the grasses, ferns, &c., scarcely require more than once changing ; others which are thick and succulent, take weeks to dry, and some, such as the stone- crops, will actually grow between the drying sheets, unless first killed by immersion for a few seconds in boiling water. In the case of thick woody or fleshy stems, or of bulbs, &c., it is advisable to slice off the back half, to facilitate drying. The paper which has become damp by the moisture of one set of plants, is of course to be dried for the next change. There is, perhaps, no better plan, than to hang it during the night on cords stretched across a kitchen or warm room. MAECH. 161 During the first two months of the year, few and far between are the flowering^plants which dare to show their blossoms, and to expose them in all their delicacy and beauty to the nipping frosts ; but now, in March, there are really flowers for the gathering : not many perhaps, but sufficient to interest and to instruct, and to exercise the powers, both of observation and of manipulation, of the incipient botanist. One of the most conspicuous of the March wild flowers, particularly where lime prevails, is the common coltsfoot ; no good sign of the land cer- tainly ; but its bright yellow blossoms, in some places almost carpeting the soil, are very pleasing to the eye. The plant is remarkable in so far that its blossoms precede the heart-shaped leaves, which do not show themselves until the former are dying off, and are replaced by the down-crowned seed. Examine the flower-head of the coltsfoot, and you will find it similar in composition to the daisy and dandelion ; that is, composed of a number of sepa- rate florets, each having at its base a seed, from which the feathery down extends upwards, forming to the floret the calyx, and to the ripe seed that feathery parachute so well known to every child, whose would-be time-piece to mark the fleeting of the summer's day is the ripe seed-head of the dandelion. Its seeds, like those of the coltsfoot, are dispersed by means of these downy or feathery appendages, called in botanical language, the M 162 WILD FLOWERS. pappus. The annexed cut Fig. 121 will perhaps bring the above parts more clearly before the mind. 1, 1 are a few of the ripe seeds of the common dandelion, which is now found commonly in blossom attached to the common seed-head or recep- tacle 4. This is marked by the depressions left by seeds which have become detached, and which have floated off in the atmosphere by the aid of their pappus. The divisions of the common invo- lucre or wrapper 3 of the flower-head, are reversed when the seed is ripe, having protected it closed over it during its progress to maturity. These are simple lessons from common plants, but they are within the reach of all, and not the most mag- nificent production of the vegetable kingdom can show more clearly the care and skill of the Almighty Artificer, than the seed of the humble dandelion or coltsfoot in its progress to mature perfection. The flowers of the coltsfoot are a favourite domestic medicine for coughs, and in many parts of the country a wine is made from their infusion. The under surface of the leaf is covered with a woolly down which may be used as tinder. Another of our March flowers, the common butter-bur, or Petasites vulgaris, is, like the colts- MARCH. 163 foot, characterized by the appearance of the flower- heads before the leaves. In wet meadows and by the river sides, the conical spike-like heads of flesh-coloured flowers sent up by this plant, are commonly-met with, but perhaps few connect them with the broad, large leaves which cover the ground in summer, supported on stalks about one or two feet high, and well known to children as " umbrellas." Few plants native to Britain bear leaves so large as the butter-bur, and its early blossoms afford wel- come food to the bees. The coltsfoot and butter- bur, the dandelion, groundsel, and daisy, are our list of composite flowers thus far in the year. Per- haps, early in March, the eye will be attracted by a bright blue flower almost hid amid the other plants, under the shelter of some hedge; the blossoms resemble in general form those of the common red or white dead nettles ; like them they spring at intervals from the stem, which in this case is trail- ing, and at the base of each set of flowers are a couple of scallop-edged leaves placed opposite each other. This pretty plant is the " ground ivy," or Nepeta glechoma. When well dried it makes a pretty specimen it should be compared with the red nettle described in the February paper. Another very wee blue flower may be found not far off", it is the ivy-leaved veronica its flowers are very small and delicate, and its stems lie close to the ground, so that it may easily escape observation ; we shall speak of veronicas again. Another, the blue flower M 2 164 WILD FLOWERS. of Spring, the sweet-scented violet, so characteristic of the grassy lane-sides of England, though asso- ciated in name with March, is much more an April flower, and next month we shall find it companioned with others of its family. On the earthen tops of walls, on thin-soiled rocks, on thatch, the little white-flowered whitlow-grass, the Draba verna, now shews itself in pleasing profusion, giving us an example of a cruciferous plant, so named from the cross-like arrangement of the petals flower-leaves of this numerous family. This arrangement will be better seen in the blossoms of the common wall- flower, now frequently to be met with. In this, as in other cruciferous plants, mark the calyx in four pieces, the petals in four pieces forming a cross-like corolla ; and then pulling these away note the six stamens Fig. 122, 1, 1 two short and four long, surrounding the centre pistil 2 which ultimately becomes developed into the seed-pod ; the mind will thus carry away a very good general idea of the leading characters of a most important section of the plant kingdom- that from whence we derive our mustard, rape, cabbage, radishes, &c. In March, flowers that singular plant the mistle- toe, too well known to those in whose neighbour- hood it grows to require description, and well known in town and country, when its transparent MABCH. 1G5 berries form a part of the Christmas decorations. The common Mercury this month puts forth its flowers, though many would not call them flowers, for they are green and not conspicuous. They are remarkable for their stamens and pistils, consti- tuting male and female blossoms, being developed on different plants. This plant grows about a foot in height, often among loose stones, and forms thick patches of deep green. In drying, the leaves almost always turn black, or nearly so. Like the Mercury, the willows also bear their barren and fertile flowers separate, and every boy knows the " pussy-cats" of the willow. These are the barren or male flowers, which, when fully developed, shed showers of pollen or flower-dust on all around. In some country places, the willows are called palms, from their having been used in former times in the religious ceremonies of Palm Sunday. The association of flowers with the religious fes- tivals of the church is not by any means uncommon. Thus, we have the guelder-rose at Whitsuntide, the hair-bell for St. George's day, and the St. John's wort, as its name implies, dedicated to St. John. The alder and poplar both flower in March, and in many respects will be found to resemble the hazel described last month. The yew and the elm may be added to the catalogue. The gay crocuses and narcissus, though occasionally found wild, rather belong to the garden border than to the field ; they are, however, good examples of the same form of plants the Monocotyledons as the snow-drop. 166 WILD FLOWEBS. The butcher's broom is a curious shrub ; it flowers in March, but its tiny blossoms are developed where few would look for them on the lack of its stiff pointed leaves. The broad-leaved wood-rush with its hairy leaves may now be gathered in woods, and the hare-tail cotton grass, which in summer ornaments the barren moor with its fleecy looking heads of cotton wool, also blossoms in March. These may not attract the eye at first sight, but they will repay an atten- tive examination, for Not a flower But shows some touch in freckle, streak, or stain, Of His unrivalled pencil. There is not one but " Seems as it issues from the shapeless mould , An emanation of the indwelling life A visible token of the upholding love That are the soul of this wide universe." APEIL. " The little brooks run on in light, As if they had a chase of mirth ; The skies are blue, the air is warm, Our very hearts have caught the charm That sheds a beauty over earth." MABY HOWITT. APEIL. Showery, sunshiny, "proud pied" April, is upon us. March yielded a few early blossoms spite of its cold winds ; but this month we have flowers in earnest, and the botanist and collector must begin in earnest, otherwise he will be overwhelmed APEIL. 167 with the rapid succession of "bells and flowerets of a thousand hues" that almost now force themselves upon his attention : mayhap, before that attention was awakened, he passed them by unheeded. A few short precepts must be added to the directions given last month for collecting and preserving. The first is from the golden rule Do as you would be done by. If you find a plant that you have reason to think is uncommon, take of it sufficient for specimens for yourself, and if need be for friends, but do not be greedy over it ; do not strip a habitat, but leave a few specimens for other collectors, and some for seed. Never, if possible, delay longer than twenty-four hours in putting your collected plants to dry. They will, certainly, if it is neces- sary as when Sunday intervenes keep longer than the above time fresh, either in the tin collecting box, or in water, but delay is better 'avoided when possible. Remember always to keep a fresh speci- men for examination, if the plant is a new one to you, and make a point, if you can, of ascertaining its name, and noting this down, along with the time and place of gathering. These are little points which, unattended to at the time, are apt to be neglected altogether, and, at some future time, to be regretted. After plants have been dried they require mount- ing and arranging. The way in which they are mounted, must of course depend partly upon the 168 WILD FLOWEBS. pecuniary means of the collector. To be so in the best manner, each species should be placed sepa- rately upon half a sheet of white paper, the same size as that recommended to be used for drying. It is usual to place one, or at most two specimens of the same species of plant, on the single half-sheet ; but to put different species together is better avoided, unless indeed the expense of paper is a great object. The plants are attached to the paper, either by light touches of strong gum mucilage on various parts of the stem and leaves, or by strips of paper gummed down over them. The latter plan is the more troublesome, but so far preferable that, if need be, it permits the specimen to be removed uninjured. The kind of paper used, of course, will depend upon what can be afforded, but the size ought not to be less than that mentioned above. During the botanical season that is, while plants are being gathered and preserved the collector may be content with transferring them when dry to their clean paper, along with their names, places of growth, &c., leaving the completion of the mounting, and the arrangement, to the time when " The pomp of groves and garniture of fields," has given place to the cold barrenness of winter. For the next six months at least, the wealth of summer flowers will amply occupy both our space and our readers' leisure, if they betake themselves APRIL. 169 to the pastime, or scientific pursuit, whichever they like to call or make it, of collecting and examining the wild flowers of their native soil. Primroses : how many a hedge-bank and burn- side is made gay with these " earliest nurslings of the spring !" " The rathe" (early) primrose, as Milton calls it. They have been blooming sparingly, on sheltered banks, perhaps for weeks, but now the thick tufts of their blossoms give real " evidence that spring is come" at last. The primrose is an excellent example of a plant with a regular mono- petalous corolla, or, in simple language, of a sym- metrical flower all in one piece, in contradistinction to those, like the wall-flower, in which the petals of the flower are separate ; or to those, like the dead nettle, fox-glove, &c.. in which, although in one piece, the flower is irregular. The blossoms of the primrose, apparently scattered among the leaves, all spring from one point in the centre of the tuft ; and if we can imagine the various flower-stalks or peduncles, uniting before reaching the base of the tuft, so that they should form a common foot-stalk, we should have a raised umbel of blossoms, like the cowslip or oxlip which last, indeed, may almost be considered as a cross between the former and the primrose. Moreover, the polyanthus of our gardens, which has its blossoms elevated on a common foot- stalk, is simply a variety of the primrose. The primrose makes a pretty dried specimen at first ; but in the course of time the flowers will turn per- WILD TLOWEES. fectly green ; and the same occurs with the cowslip, which is now coming forward in profusion in English pastures; in Scotland it is much less frequent. The primrose affords such an excellent example of a perfect flower, that we may take advantage of it to consider the arrangement of the various parts. At Fig. 123 is represented the section of a primrose blossom. 1. Is the ex- panded limb of the corolla, which in this case ends in - .^ a tube 2. This tube encloses the seed-vessel 6 from the top of which arises the style, capped by its globular stigma 4. Within the tube are the five stamens 5 the whole being surrounded by the calyx 3 and sup- ported on the flower-stalk or peduncle. 7. Pull to pieces the first primrose flower you meet with, and compare the parts ; do the same with the first cowslip. Companions of the primrose, " gleaming like amethysts in the dewy moss," the sweet-scented violets, the most welcome flowers, perhaps, of an English spring, are now, where they do occur, scattered in lavish profusion, not only gleaming blue like the amethysts, but in many places white. The Fig. 123. APB.IL. 171 Fig. 124. flower of the violet Fig. 124 contains the same parts, but differently arranged and not less beau- tiful, as the symmetrical primrose. The five divisions of the violet blossom are dis- tinct from one another, and differ in shape one from the other ; the lower one present- ing 1 what is called in botany, a spur. The stamens will be found connected to- gether, and two of them with curious spur-like appendages. On the flower-stem of the violet, we have an example 2 of what are called bracts. Although we have eight species of British violets, none are odorous but the one, the sweet-scented Viola odorata. The dog violet, or Viola canina, which rapidly succeeds the sweet-scented, has per- haps a handsomer flower ; it is larger, lighter blue, and more transparent-looking. It makes a very pretty specimen. The hairy violet resembles, in some degree, the sweet-scented, but its leaves are quite rough with hairs. The marsh violet is a very pretty, transparent-looking plant ; as its name indicates its habitat is in the bogs, of which, at this season, it is a great ornament, especially in Scotland, as, later in the year, the yellow violet Viola lutea is to the moorland heaths. The Viola tricolor, with its varied colour, the origin of our garden pansies, may be 172 WILD FLOWERS. gathered in bloom almost the whole year round, in waste corn-fields. Primroses and violets outside the wood, and at its margins, but anemones all through it, make a perfect spring picture. Who does not know the wood anemone, or wind- flower, with its pendent blossom rising from the triple circlet involucre of beautifully cut leaves ? It is beautiful when growing, beautiful when well- preserved. In getting it up, however, for a speci- men, be careful to get the characteristic root and root-leaves. The pasque-flower, purple anemone, is so comparatively rare, that few perhaps of our readers may meet with it ; those who are fortunate enough to do so, will secure a great ornament to the herbarium. The anemones belong to the ranun- culus tribe, and are good exemplifications of the leading characteristics of that important family. Compare the structure of their flowers with that of the common ranunculus, or buttercup, and the simi- larity will at once be evident. As we see it in Fig. 125 which exhibits one of the buttercup flowers with two of the petals and some of the stamens of the flower removed, to permit the parts to be seen, so in the centre of the ane- mone, as of the ra- nunculus, is a col- APEIL. 173 lection of seed-vessels 4 surrounded by numerous stamens 3 which have their attachments just below the seed-vessels ; external to these are the flower petals 1 in five distinct pieces ; the whole being enclosed by the five calyx pieces or sepals 2. These distinctions will again be referred to when the rose -tribes, which in some particulars resemble the Hanunculacece, are treated of. The distinction is one of practical value ; for whilst the Rosacece are known for the many articles of nutriment, and for the fruits which they yield, the Ranunculacece are for the most part acrid and irritating, and include such plants as the aconites, &c. Even the innocent- looking buttercup is powerfully acrid ; its flowers, if chewed, excite distressing vomiting, and the bruised leaves of this and others act on the skin like a mustard-plaster. In most places the Ranunculus Ficaria, or lesser celandine, or pilewort, is abundant this month, distinguishable by its smooth heart- shaped leaves, its one-flowered stem, and peculiar root, consisting of a bundle of elongated tubers. This must not be confounded with the bright golden, showy Caltha, or marsh-marigold, which is so ornamental to the sides of places where there is water. It cannot be overlooked. Examine, and you will find it has the ranunculus family likeness. As we are about the water, we may now find another member of this large family, the white water ranun- culus, with its leaves often so variously cut, and sometimes not cut at all ; and, almost certainly, in 174 WILD FLOWERS. the next moist meadow, must there be plenty of the pale, lilac, " wan-hued " lady's smock, or Cardamine pratensis ; it may happen that by the brook-side, the handsome Cardamine amara, with its white flowers and dark stamens,is to be gathered. Butwhat is this queer-looking thing in the shaded thicket a green, square head, topping a slender stalk ? Very likely an incipient botanist would consider it an odd production, not at all like his idea of a flower. It is the little moschatell, or Adoxa. Its square head is composed of four little green flowers placed back to back, with a fifth covering the four. The plant is so peculiar, it cannot be mistaken ; perhaps it is nestling under some wild gooseberry or currant bush, the blossoms of which our readers may find and examine for themselves. We must not leave the stream-side without a look for the broad-leaved garlic, Allium Ursinum, for its umbels of white flowers are really handsome, and so are its broad leaves, somewhat like those of the lily of the valley; but its odour ! one can scarce have the heart to put it in the same box with the violets, though it does belong to the lily tribes. We will contrast with the pure white of the garlic, the splendid purple of the early orchis, the Orchis mascula, having its broad leaves marked with dark brown spots; almost certainly must it grow in the meadow- grounds. Make sure, in taking your specimens of this plant, of the two-lobed root it is character- istic. Perhaps you may gather at the same time APRIL. 175 and place, the pasture lousewort, or Pedicularis sylvatica. It is a pretty, though common plant, with its rose-coloured flowers, something of the shape of the dead nettle, and with its deeply divided leaves. Those who live near the localities, may in such meadows come upon the graceful Fritillaria. If they do, they will get a plant worth preserving. Before exploring this well-wooded hill-side, we have work to do in the bank at the foot ; it is covered with the bright blue-bell hyacinth, with its graceful drooping bells and delicious perfume. Mind you do not spoil specimens for the trouble of digging deep down to find the bulbs. You will want your trowel also, to reach the tuber of the arum cuckoo-pint which is showing its handsome spathe amid its dark-green spotted leaves. What a mysterious-looking floral arrangement there is within that protecting hood Fig. 126. The beginner would puzzle some time ere he made out the parts of the flower answering to those of the primrose. In botanical language the covering 1 is a spathe ; the curious collection of bodies within constitute the spadir. At 2, are the stamens ; at 3 the pistils and seed-vessels, which late in the Fig. 126. 176 WILD FLOWEES. autumn assume a brilliant red, looking almost like a bunch of coral, as, amid the withering grass of some hedge bottom, they attract the gaze of even a careless passer-by. The bodies at 4 are considered abortive germens, or seed-vessels. The tuber of the arum in its natural state contains an acrid juice, along with a considerable amount of starchy flour ; the latter when freed from the acridity constitutes a nutritious article of diet. If the top of our bank is dry, there may blossom on it one of the mouse- ear chickweeds, with its hairy leaves and small white petalled flowers. Neither is it impossible that in the wood itself we may come upon the yellow- flowered "weasel snout." Belonging, like the dead nettle, to the labiate plants, its blossoms have the shape common to the order. A very odd-looking plant is not unfrequently encountered about this time of year, springing from the root of a tree such as the elm ; it has no leaves, but in their place fleshy-looking scales, and its flowers are of a purple hue. It is often passed by as it mingles with the dead leaves, which it resembles somewhat in colour. If found, you cannot fail to recognize it. Its name is the toothwort, or Lathrcsa, and it is a parasite like the mistletoe growing upon other plants instead of from the ground. Periwinkles, and lungwort, or pulmonaria, the latter with its purple flowers and spotted hairy leaves are almost better known as garden than as wild flowers ; but they may be gathered at times apparently wild. APEIL. 177 "We have been so long giving our attention to the floral treasures of field and hedge-row, our eyes have looked so constantly downward, that we almost forget that this month many of our statelier trees are offering their flowers for examination. Perhaps our botanist will scarcely consider them flowers, for many of them are but dull of hue. The oak, the ash, the birch, the chestnut, are all now in blossom. Of these all, except the ash, bear their blossoms like the hazel the fertile flowers on one part of the stem, and the barren ones in a drooping catkin on another. Nothing can be more beautiful than the pendent tassels, as we may call them, of the birch, when the tree is in full bloom. The combi- nation of slender drooping twigs, and of hanging blossoms, is the perfection of graceful beauty, and the place to see it is the side of a highland glen. Should any of my readers go there to look for it, they may as well go a little farther and higher, to look for the crow-berry's purple flowers, which give promise of abundant food in autumn to the moor game which feed on its dark purple berries. The very large family of willows contributes its show of catkins, barren and fertile. All these it is well for the young botanist to exercise himself in examining. In the case of those trees which blossom before the leaves appear, if the flower is preserved, the leaves should be added afterwards ; and in the case of the willows, care taken that the right leaves are placed beside their own blossoms. The box tree, which 178 WILD PLOWEBS. is now in blossom, offers another example of barren and fertile flowers ; not in this case, however, very different in appearance. The wild pear, and perhaps the crab (Pyrus mains), are somewhat gayer than the other trees. Our readers must know them, and we have perhaps introduced to them acquaintances enough for one month. Albeit, in the next we have a crowd of new friends coming on ; for that month is " The delicate footed May, With its slight fingers full of leaves and flowers." MAT. " The welcome flowers are blossoming, In joyous troops revealed ; They lift their dewy buds and bells In garden, mead and field They lurk in every sunless path Where forest children tread ; They dot like stars the sacred turf Which lies above the dead. They sport with every playful wind That stirs the blooming trees, And laugh on every fragrant bush All full of toiling bees ; From the green marge of lake and stream, Fresh vale and mountain sod, They look in gentle glory forth, The pure sweet flowers of God." LYONS. If March is " the merry month of spring," truly May is the merry month of the year. " Of every moneth in the year, To mirthful May there is no peer." MAT. 179 says one of the many poets who have celebrated the delights of May. Doubtless, the contrast between the previous months and this does increase the charms of the season, but there is a freshness in every thing which we meet with at no other time. Opening flowers and bursting buds are everywhere, and we must be up and doing. Here a few words on plant classification would, doubtless, be service- able to our incipient botanists, but for this we must refer them to our previous pages, and pass at once to our extended list ; for " bells and flowerets," not only of a " thousand hues," but of a thousand forms await us. Let us improve our practical acquaintance with the ranunculus family. Last month introduced us to some, and this we find others in store for us. Our first expedition shall be a field one, and we quickly encounter the upright, somewhat hairy Ranunculus bulbosus, with its calyx sepals folded back from its buttercup flower. Let us get the bulbous root and then we shall be sure, and can compare with the Ranunculus repens, or creeping crowfoot, which is sure not to be far off. "We can then see the likeness with a difference. In the next corn-fields, it is not impossible we may find the small pale-flowered corn crowfoot (Ranunculus arvenis), more conspicuous later in the summer, with its large prickly-looking seed-vessels. Its flowers resemble in size those of the celery-leafed crowfoot, which, with its divided leaves, shining like 130 "WILD FLOWERS. those of celery, grows in pools and ditches to the height of one or two feet. Two other species of upright water ranunculus must be sought for in blossom later in the summer; but their leaves, instead of being broad, cut and indented, are sharp and narrow : hence they get the English name of spearwort, instead of crowfoot. These latter species are the Ranunculus lingua, or greater, and the Ranunculus flammula, or lesser spearwort. The former is a very handsome flower; its blossoms being almost the size of those of the wild rose. The wood-crowfoot, or Ranunculus auricomus Fig. 84 is by no means an unhandsome flower. It is now found in woods, shady hedgesides, &c., and may be known by the great difference be- tween its kidney-shaped root-leaves, and its much- divided stem-leaves. One peculiarity of the petals of the ranunculus flowers, is the addition at the base of each of a little nectary. Fig. 127, 1. PuU off a petal from any one of them, and you will find it at once. As we may not refer to the ranunculus genus again, the tall Ranunculus acris, or upright meadow crowfoot, which flowers in July, must not be forgotten. It derives its specific name from possessing, in a marked manner, the acrid property common to the family. It has happened that an unwary botanist, misled perhaps by the innocent- looking name of buttercup, has given himself an MAT. 181 unintentional emetic, and spoiled his day, by care- lessly chewing the flower of some of the crowfoot species. Intense burning of the throat and mouth is the consequence. Not impossibly we may gather, at the edge of some corn-field, a little flower, the Myosurus, or mousetail, which, with its small green flowers, would not, perhaps, be recognised at first as a ranunculus connection, which it is. "When in fruit, the collected seed-vessels have no distant resemblance to the appendage from which it derives its name. Our morning call on the ranunculus family has already been long enough for our limits ; and their gay neighbours, the poppies, await us. Who does not know the bright common red poppy or Papaver rhceas ? The Papaver argemone having much smaller petals, is less conspicuous when in flower, but gets the advantage when it displays its long prickly- headed seed-vessels. The opium poppy, with when wild its whitish flowers, with their purple base, is scarcely a British native, having usually escaped from gardens. The seed-vessels of all the poppies offer, from their size, facility for examining this part of the plant. The projecting divisions or " dissepiments," afford attachment to numerous seeds, which it is worthy of remark, are so mild in their properties, that in some places, as in Persia, they are made into cakes and eaten, while the seed- vessels, or capsules, which contain them, abound with the narcotic poison known as opium. Our next 182 WILD FLOWERS. field friends belong to the cruciform order, of which, in our last, the wallflower was cited as a type. Among them, the bitter yellow rocket, or Barlarea vulgaris, is conspicuous with its smooth furrowed stem, its lyre-shaped leaves, and its corymbs * of yellow flowers, which become lengthened into racemes of square pods. This plant is about the same height from one to two feet as another of the cruciform order, popularly known as Jack-by- the-hedge, which bears white flowers the leaves heart-shaped. If these two are compared with the common water-cress (Nasturtium officinale^) the general family likeness will be detected, and at the same time many minor differences. Are these plants with such finely-divided leaves, and heads drooping before they blossom, dying ? Surely not : the plant is the earth-nut, (JBunium flexuosum) ; well named, for it is one of the most slender of our umbelliferae ; the few specimens which are now in full blossom hold their heads erect enough when they expand their flowers. If you pull up a speci- men, it comes up with a long white root, but without fibres ; evidently, this is not the root proper. You must take your trowel when Caliban, in the " Tempest " proffered his " long nails " * Probably, in the course of these papers, various botanical terms may be employed without explanations. These it will be impossible to give without interfering with space required for the notice of the flowers ; moreover, they are less necessary here, as most of them are explained in the first portions of the work. MAT. 183 to dig pit nuts for Trinculo, it was because some digging was required go deep enough, and you will reach the tuber, and get a complete specimen. The umbelliferous flowers of Britain are so nu- merous, especially later in the year, that they re- quire special attention. An umbel Kg. 128 is composed of flowers borne on footstalks, which all spring from one point as represent- ed ; it may be simple or compound. The hem- lock is a good example ; but when we say hem- lock, we mean hem- lock ; many people call all the umbelliferaB hem- lock, because the general family feature of the umbel is so apparent to the eye ; a little time and observa- tion will correct the mistake. We must recur to this family next month ; in the meanwhile, the com- mon Anthriscus, or beaked-parsley, will do for comparison ; it is now in full flower, growing in half-shaded situations. Like the earth-nut, it droops before flowering, but it is a much larger plant ; the leaves are much divided, but in broader segments than in the other, and the stem is rough with hairs. Taking leave of the umbel-bearers for the pre- Fig. 138. An umbel. 184 WILD FLOWEBS. sent, our next friend is really handsome, with its large white flowers of five petals, especially when grown to its grenadier height of twelve inches. The kidney-shaped, lobed leaves, and the root composed of a number of granules, or little tubers, in a bundle, proclaims the white meadow saxifrage, or Saxifraga granulata worthy representative of one of our most interesting British genera. The ten stamens of the saxifrages place them in theLinnaean class Decandria. It may chance that on some dry wall, in our walk, we may pick another, but much smaller, member of the family, the rue-leaved saxifrage, or Saxifraga tridac- tylites, so named from the resemblance of its tiny reddish-looking leaves, to three little fingers. The entire plant rarely reaches four inches in height. It is covered with sticky hairs. We may perchance, too, in its company for they love the same dry soil meet with one or more of the pearlworts, inconspicuous plants with narrow leaves, and with the small petals of the corolla quite overshadowed by the longer calycine sepals. These belong to the Caryophyllacece, a large and important order, of which, however, the stellarias, or stitchworts, afford us a more striking example, although that pretty little plant, the common chickweed, which is a stellaria, almost approaches the pearlworts in ap- pearance. We will choose a more brilliant repre- sentative, the greater stitchwort,or Stellaria tiolostea, the large, pure white, star-like blossoms of which are shining underneath the shadow of that hedge. MAT. 185 Mark its ten stamens, its three styles, the sharp lance-shaped leaves, its square, angular, and brittle stem, oftened lengthened among the grass, and you cannot mistake it. Should you find a plant some- what similar, but much smaller in every way, and with very much smaller but similar flowers, you may know it for the lesser stitchwort, or Stellaria graminea. The very pure white of the stellaria is a brilliant contrast to the bright, almost heavenly blue of the Germander speedwell, the Veronica cbamcedrys, which frequently grows in the same situations. This is truly a beautiful flower, and a simple one, with its bright blue flowers, which fall off so easily, each carrying with it its two stamens Fig. 129. Look for its heart-shaped leaves placed opposite to each other, and the lines of hairs on the stem, and you cannot err. Take it, too, as a type of one of the prettiest families in Flora's kingdom of beauties. The members are found in field and wood, on hill and in water, and they are all so like in their beauty, they will surely be re- cognised, even though some are pale in hue, and very small. One, however, the Veronicabeccabunga, or brook-lime, which ornaments our ditches and streams, rivals even the Germander veronica in the brilliant blue * The Germander speedwell ; considerably magnified. 186 WILD FLO WEBS. of its corollas. The veronicas have a sweet little rival in brightness of hue in the early field forget-me-not we prefer the name to that of scorpion-grass which may now be gathered abundantly on dry banks and walls. Another species, the yellow and blue myosotis, might perhaps be confounded with it, but its flowers are paler, and before they are fully expanded are yellow. The botanical name of these universal favourites is myosotis, derived from the Greek, signifying mouse-ear, which is applicable to the form of the leaves. Properly, the name forget-me- not belongs only to the large water myosotis, which, throughout Europe, is assumed and named as the emblem of friendship, but all the other species are known as forget-me-nots, and we may say, are used as such treasured as such. In Germany the forget-me-not is said to derive its name from a most romantic story. A minstrel of Mayence had wandered forth to seek his fortune in the world, leaving behind him a girl to whom he was attached and betrothed ; but in a few years, having gained both riches and reputation, he returned to seek his bride. On the eve of their wedding, as the lovers walked by the banks of the Rhine, a tuft of the bright blue myosotis attracted their attention, and in the attempt to gather them, the poor minstrel missed his footing and fell into the river. He rose, and rose again ; he felt the rapid current sweeping him along ; and knew that his fate was sealed ; with one last effort he cast some of the flowers to the MAT. 187 bank, and ere the waters closed over him, the words '-'forget me not" mingled with his last drowning cry. The story which thus tells us how the pretty little flower came hy its name, also tells us that the minstrel who gave it was not forgot, and that his widowed bride died unwedded. What a pity our next plant smells so disagreeably, for it is really a pretty one, and a great ornament to the heap of loose stones on which it grows. If you preserve it well, a pretty specimen will it look on paper, with its pink stem, beautifully cut leaves, and pink-veined corollas. It is the Geranium Robertianum, Herb Robert, or stinking cranes-bill ; but pretty as it is, it is less so than its relative, the Geranium lucidim, with stems clear and shining, almost like those of a balsam, with their swollen pink jointings, and with leaves at times nearly as pink as the small pretty flowers. Should you chance on some rocky bank or earth-topped wall to meet with a specimen, gather carefully, for it is very brittle. Some of our friends who have woods to search in their district, may meet with a third species of geranium, blossoming toward the end of the month, the Geranium pTicsum, or dusky cranes- bill, a sort of negro with geranium features, for its flowers are a purple-black. Nevertheless, it is a handsome plant ; and having led us into the woods in its search, we will look around. How sweetly at the base of the mossy stone, and under cover of 188 WILD FLOWERS. the adjoining bank, nestles that beautiful wood- sorrel, with its bright, very bright, green trefoil leaves, and its transparent, white-veined, and slightly-drooping bells. Truly it is one of our prettiest natives, the true shamrock of Ire- land ; and it is difficult to imagine why the Emerald Isle gave it up, with its emerald leaves, for the plain creeping clover now called the sham- rock. The wood-sorrel leaves contain a most agreeable acid, although it is the oxalic. Its seeds are each contained in a very elastic envelope, which, when they are ripe, bursts suddenly, and projects them to a considerable distance. Like the trefoil clovers, the wood-sorrel, or Oxalis acetosella, is a sleeper, and folds its leaves to rest at evening close. Another sweet flower, still more prized than the last " Our England's lily of the May, Our lily of the vale, " or "lily of the valley," loves the same shady wood- bank. Do not forget its creeping root in making prize of it. We lose its delicious perfume in drying, but our next wood friend, the Asperula odorata, or woodruff, rather gains by the process, and reminds one of the hay-field at all seasons. Every one knows the woodruff, with its whorled leaves and pure white but small flowers clustering at the extremity of the angular stems. "White blossoms MAT. 189 abound with us. Here, surely, is a wild strawberry ? That it is not, but it is so like one, as at one time to have been called the barren strawberry, or Fragaria sterilis. It is a late-flowering specimen of the Potentilla fragariastrum. Compare it with the specimen of the true strawberry, the Fragaria vesca, of which there are plenty at hand. When the fruit is ripe, you will see another difference still. Both belong to the Rosacece, an order already alluded to as bearing some resemblance to the Ranunculacece, which includes plants of very oppo- site character and properties from the former. Compare a strawberry, a rose, or cherry or apple blossom for they are all rosaceous with a butter- cup or anemone, you will find, along with other points of difference, an invariable one. In the ranunculus flower, the many stamens* are fixed just below the seed-vessels, and you may remove the calyx without disturbing them. In the rosaceous flower, the stamens are fixed on the calyx Pig. 130 and you cannot pull it away without taking the stamens also. Remember the distinction : a ranunculus plant may always be suspected of poisonous acridity ; a rosa- ceous one is frequently the bearer of nutritive fruit, spite of its prussic acid in its peach Fig. i3o. blossoms and kernels. We * See Fig. 125 April. 190 WILD I-LOWEBS. have here plenty of the rosacese to verify us ; for ' ' The hawthorn's budding in the glen ; And milk-white is the slae :" * and both belong to the order. Here, too, is the Pyrus aucuparia, mountain ash, or rowan tree, and the various species of Pyrus, crab apple, and wild service tree. Then we have the Prunus genus, capable of cultivation into plum and cherry. All these are rosaceous, and ornament our woods in May, with their white and pink blossoms often mingling in contrast with the elegant pendent racemes of the great maple, or with those of the common maple, which are not pendent a sort of shrub-tree, with deeply-wrinkled corky bark. Tou ought to find the berberry (Berberis vulgaris), dis- playing its drooping yellow flowers this month. You must examine it, if for no other reason than that its stamens exhibit vegetable irritability and movement quite as strikingly as the sensitive plant. Look for a blossom in which at least some of the stamens lie back against the petals, take any sharp- pointed instrument, and gently irritate the base of a stamen from above, it will, if the flower is fresh, at once move forward, upon the central stigma ! Does the plant feel ? We may add to our list of flowering trees this month, the beech (Fagus sylvatica), and the Scotch * The sloe, or blackthorn. MAT. 191 fir, (Pinus sylvestris), both of which bear bar- ren and fertile flowers separate, and should be examined when there is opportunity. The last- mentioned tree belongs to the ConifercB, or cone- bearing tribe, which also includes the juniper, now showing its diminutive catkins and berry-like cones mingled with the fruit, ripe and unripe, of former years. In hilly districts you will almost surely find it. None of our native plants present a more singular aspect than another denizen of many of the moist woods; the Paris quadrifolia, or herb Paris Fig. 131 having once seen the delineation, you cannot mistake the plant, and will find it in flower towards the end of May. It grows about one foot high. The pretty yel- low pimpernel, or loosestrife, (Lysimachia vulgarisj) cannot fail to meet your eye in the wood ; its stems procumbent, its leaves smooth, ovate, and opposite, with the flowers springing from their axils ; and our acquaintance with the grasses may well begin with the mountain or wood melic-grass, 131. Herb Paris, or Paris The blossom springing from a leaves. 192 WILD FLOWERS. (JMlelica nutans), one of the most elegant of an order of which we have yet much to learn. Before leaving the wood we may get a specimen of the holly-flower, (Ilex aquifolium^jSmd, if it grows near, of the spindle-tree's small white umbellated blossoms. And now we may look to the river-bank for the common comfrey (Symphytwm officinale), with its yellowish or purple, drooping, bell-like corollas, and its leaves continued wing-like down the stem. If our river is a Scottish stream, on its banks, too, we may find the tuberous-rooted com- frey. These are not gay, but they are plants which contrast in sober handsomeness with the bright pink, fluttering, ragged-robin (Lychnis flos cucult), which ornaments alike river-bank, meadow, and moss a pretty flower, but one you will find difficult to dry to please you. We cross the moss-ground to get to the hill. Our young botanist is attracted by an upright spike or raceme of white flowers for flowers they are truly they are tipped delicately with pink, and beautifully fringed. What a very handsome flower ! and it cannot be rare ; for here is a complete mass of its blossoms, and of its large clover-like leaves, springing from matted roots, that make the moss firm beneath the feet. What is it ? The common buck-bean (Menyantlies trifoliate?), a truly lovely flower, one of the gentian tribe, and possessing that tribe's bitter medicinal properties to a valuable extent. Unfortunately it does not dry very well. Gather a few specimens of the succulent MAT. 193 little Montia fontana, from that oozy grass, if you can find its wee little white flowers, and then make for the hill-side, taking the brook, or rather, as we seem to be now wandering north the Tweed, the burn, in our way, possibly we may get the opposite- leaved golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifo- lium) ; and if fortune favours, the rarer alternate- leaved one. Here at least is the first, with its deep-golden-looking flowers. Albeit the colour is in the calyx, as you will see if you examine ; for corolla there is none. The other species is like this, but distinguished by the shape and position of the leaves. Both plants are succulent, and of yellowish green ; they are saxifrages ; and, if our hill is really a hill, we shall probably find their relative the purple flowered opposite-leaved saxifrage higher up ; its tufts will soon meet the eye if they are there. Our wandering looks so much like the highlands, that we may fall in with the dark green, woody, trailing azalea, and add its glossy leaves and flesh-coloured blossoms to our collection. What hill or burn-side is complete without the broom the " lang yellow " golden broom which now, and in June, looks so gay. It is more elegant, though perhaps not so gorgeously rich as the compact mass of golden blossom presented by the whin, in England called furze or gorse ; by botanists, the Ulex Europcews. Probably, few plants, native or foreign, present a more splendid mass of bright colour than a well grown whinbush in blossom on o 194 WILD FLOWEBS. a Scottish moor, in a bright June day ; on Scotland's southern moors, however, for the true gorse grows but sparingly on the highland hills. Thus it was, perhaps, that the great Swedish botanist, Linnaeus, having never beheld the gorse blossom in its golden glory in his own northern land, was so struck with his first view of it on an English common in the month of May, it is related of him, that falling on his knees he thanked God for a sight so beautiful. Both the plants lately mentioned, the broom formerly Cytisus scoparius, now Sarotliamnus scopa- rius and the gorse, belong to the leguminous order : to be more particularly noticed next month. On heath grounds, especially in the north, you may find the sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle, a small shrubby plant, with an aromatic resinous odour, and on hill pastures generally, the Polygala vulgaris, or milk- wort, its winged flowers varying from deep lilac, to purple, pink, and pure white ; one of the prettiest of our native wildlings. Less widely diffused, but still common to hill grounds, the white blossoms and fine leaves of the Arenaria verna, or sandwort, in some places almost carpet the ground like turf. Nowhere does this little plant grow in greater perfection than on Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh. Almost have we overlooked the common bugle, or Ajuga reptans, one of the labiates, resembling, slightly, the ground-ivy, but with a much more erect and stouter square stem, which is conspicuous amid the grass of the moist pasture or wood, when MAT. 195 its purple labiated flowers, and purple upper leaves, shew themselves towards the end of May. Tour speciinen, however, will not be complete without one or more of the creeping scions which the plant sends out among the grass. Some of the rarer species of orchis blossom this month, but they are generally so conspicuous, that they are well known V $ to those in whose neighbourhood they occur, and our May catalogue has already extended to our utmost limits. Many of the plants we have noticed, . are as beautiful, nay, more so, than numbers which find a place in the gay flower-border; and when found, far more prized will they be, than the brightest blossom offered ready to the hand from $^ the bounds of cultivation. JUKE. " The grass is wet with shining dews, Their silver bells hang on each tree, While opening flower and bursting bud Breathe incense forth unceasingly." MOTHERWEIX. P SUMMER ! Full summer have we now in its beauty ; and in its freshness : some, perhaps, of our Spring friends have faded; the elongated leaves of the snowdrop and primrose, the seed-vessels of the violet, tell us that their reign of beauty is over for another season ; but the numbers of the " past and o2 196 WILD FLOWERS. beauteous sisterhood " are too few, their places are too abundantly filled, to let us mark the change : we can see only the overflowing vegetation of the young Summer, the full leaf on the tree, and such wealth of flowers, that not the longest of the " bonny days of June," will suffice for excursions. Last month we noticed one or two of the umbel- bearing plants, or Umbellifera, which might then be found in blossom ; now, in June we have many more examples of this most important family. In few districts can we go far "a-field," without meet- ing with the true hemlock, the Conium maculatum, or spotted conium ; so called from its stem being marked, maculated, with dark purple spots. Per- sons generally are in the habit of calling nearly all umbel-bearing plants hemlock: the true hemlock may be known at once, and with certainty, from its being the only British umbelliferous plant with a smooth spotted stem. Moreover, it is further re- cognisable by its deep green, large, beautifully cut leaves, and by the smell, resembling that of mice, which the plant exhales when bruised. The hem- lock is an excellent type of its family. Examine its flowers, or those of any other of the umbelliferse, which you can scarce now fail to recognise, and you will find them all more or less approaching in form and construction to the example Fig. 132. There is a small scarcely perceptible calyx five petals, often with an inflected point five stamens and two styles crowning the more or less ribbed and fur- JUNE. 197 rowed carpels or seed-vessels. What a non-botanical person would call the seed of an umbelliferous plant Fig. 132, is composed of two distinct carpels ; which, when ripe, sepa- rate down the central line. These carpels, if cut across Fig. 132, will be found to contain between each pair of ribs, little canals, or vittae, which are filled with essential oil. Such seeds as the caraway, the rig. 132. dill, &c. &c., all belong to umbelliferous plants, and their characteristic pro- perties depend upon the oil contained in their vittae. We will not attempt to enter into the distinctive features of the umbelliferous plants which we may encounter in our walks, for the reason that such descriptions would afford but little aid ; but never- theless, the botanist or collector should endeavour to collect and to discriminate, if possible, with the aid of a Elora, the different species he meets with ; when well preserved, the umbelliferae, with their beautiful divided leaves, make some of the prettiest specimens of the herbarium. As a general rule it is observed, that umbelliferous plants which grow in damp situations as their usual habitat, are poison- ous, and that those which are found in dry places 198 WILD FLOWEBS. are more generally useful aromatics. To the above, however, the aromatic Angelica, used as a candied sweetmeat, is an exception ; it grows in watery places. Taking leave of our umbelliferous friends, we encounter this month many members of another equally important, and extremely handsome family, the Leguminous tribe, often called the Papiliona- ceous from the fancied resemblance of its pea-blos- somed flowers to the form of the butterfly. "We all know the flower of the common pea Fig. 133 with its standard 1 " 2 its wings 2 and its keel 3 which last in- closes the stamens and Fig . 13a . style, that style forming the future legume or pod. Having selected our type of the family, we cannot go far without meeting with some of the other members; we shall find them all, in Britain at least, with the same conformation. Let us turn to the clovers, a goodly connexion in themselves. Here, at our feet, is the common Dutch or white clover (Trifolium repens) and not far off" the purple Trifolium arvense ; towards the dry roadside we may gather one or more of the bright yellow-blossomed species. This species too, with its zigzag stems and purple blos- soms, the Trifolium medium, you cannot mistake ; look at them, and you will find them all papiliona- JUNE. 199 ceous, or pea-like ; only the flowers are collected into heads, and the leaves trefoil. Close by the hedge the yellow meadow vetchling or everlasting pea, the Lathyrus pratensis, gives us yet another example of a leguminous papilionaceous flower, and here, climbing in the hedge itself, we find one of our handsomest vetches, the Vicia cracca,or tufted vetch, wi^h its crowded succession of bright lilac-purple blossoms, which are imbricated over one another, as if each sought to protect its fellow. "We have a good many British vetches and vetchlings; but these pea tribes, like our umbelliferous friends, have so strong a family likeness, that any but a scientific description would scarce enable our reader to dis- criminate them. Collect all you can, nevertheless, and get them named as and when you can. You are certain to gather in some corn-field, where its presence is often too abundant for the farmer, a tiny little vetch-like plant, very slender and delicate, with wee pale blue flowers. "You have the tare, or Vicia Jiirsuta, its little pods containing a couple of seeds; albeit, you will not distinguish this plant from its twin brother, whose chief distinction is a four-seeded pod. If you get on some dry gravelly or hill pasture, look for a leguminous plant, with its light purple flowers in a head like a trefoil, but larger individually and collectively, seeming as if much too large for the plant. It is the milk vetch, or Astragalus very different from another plant, the bird's-foot, or OrnitJiopus, which grows in similar 200 WILD FLOWERS. situations, bearing white, red-veined flowers, but more distinguishable when its scurved scymitar-like seed-pods are developed. The leaves of leguminous plants generally are compound, that is, are composed of separate leaflets, arranged on each side a central stalk, as we see in the acacias, vetches, &c. ; the central stalk terminating either in a leaflet, or, in the climbing species, in a tendril. Few natural families present us with more numerous or useful articles than the Leguminos FLOWEBS. men. Another sedum (Sedum TelepTtium) with purple flowers, and which grows better than a foot in height, you will not pass by if you corne near it, for it is conspicuous and grows in patches. The Sedum Rhodiola with thick fleshy root and yellow corollas, you must go to the hills for ; and for the bonniest of the family, the little Sedum villosum, or hairy stonecrop, you must visit the sides of the hill- burns, or rills, as our English readers would call them. You will know it if you find a pretty little plant about four inches high, with reddish stem and fleshy leaves, covered with somewhat sticky viscid hairs, and bearing pretty rose-coloured blossoms. We may not close our August chronicle without including the well-known St. John's worts genus Hypericum with their many stamens collected into separate sets or brotherhoods, giving us an example of the Linn^an class Polyadelphia. All know the yellow-flowered St. John's wort with the curious black dottings on petals, and on calycine sepals, and often on the leaves. Few of our native genera constitute a handsomer brotherhood, none have a higher reputation in domestic surgery. Truly our composite friends cannot complain if we have left them over till next month, for, with them, we have left a goodly company of our August flowers. We are loth to come down to the scant lists of Autumn, to realize the fact that " The primrose to the grave is gone ; The hawthorn flower is dead ; The violet by the mossed gray stone Hath laid her weary head." MONTHLY ILLTJSTBATIONS. 243 SEPTEMBEE. " The Autumn sheaves are on the hill, And solemn are the woods and still, With clustering fruits on every bough." SEPTEMBER. Our last month of flowers ! A month it may be of pleasant genial air, and of tempered sunshine, but a month which to the botanist and flower-seeker brings a shade of sadness. He feels, that however much of interest there may be left to him, the cheerful succession of bright blooming flowers is over for a season ; at every step he misses some vanished form of beauty, and, truly to him, the words of the poetess, " Ye are not miss'd fair flowers," apply not. He is conscious of many a blank, but ill-supplied by fruit and berry, by seed-vessel and seed ; for, beautiful and interesting and useful as these are in themselves, their presence tells too surely of the summer passed away foretells too plainly " Of wailing winds, and naked woods, And meadows brown and sere," which so shortly must take the place of the " sum- mer's sheen," and of the autumn's "rosy triumph." There are, perhaps, but few of our wild flowers which can truly be said to be September blossoms, but many which first opened their buds in August, continue to blow through the present month. 244 WILD FLOWERS. Some of these we have yet to notice ; moreover, we shall find more than one little floret, overlooked during the profusion of its gayer companions, to be gleaned after the summer's harvest. Last month we passed by a large section of our old familiar friends the Composites. Some, perhaps, may by this time have gone out of flower, but there still remain in bloom a sufficient number to excite the interest and exercise the patience of our less expe- rienced readers, who must endeavour to call to mind what we have said in former papers respecting the floral structure of this important, but, to a tyro in botanical lore, somewhat difficult natural order. "We need not go far from town to gather a goodly number of Autumn flowering Composites ; for many of them delight in waste places, rubbish heaps, &c. We at once get involved in a wild confusion of chamomile-looking plants, a confusion too, which we fear any general description will do but little to unravel. As umbelliferous plants generally are classed by the ignorant under the name of hemlock, so are these as wild chamomile. The true chamo- mile, however, so well known in our herb gardens, and as a medicine, is comparatively seldom found wild. The flowers of all the species we are now alluding to, have, like the daisy, a yellow disk, surrounded by a ray of white florets, and their stem- leaves are much cut and divided, with exception of those of the common feverfew, or Matricaria Par- thenium, which though much divided, are so in SEPTEMBER. considerably broader segments. "With flowers somewhat similar to the last, but with disk and ray- both white, the greenwort, or Achillcea ptarmica, has acute lance-shaped leaves, sharply serrated, or saw-toothed at the edges. It is not an uncom- mon plant, but another species of the genus, the common yarrow, or milfoil, (Achillaea millefolium), is more frequent, indeed is common everywhere. Its clustered umbels, of many small composite heads of flowers, are usually white, but not unfre- quently pink, and, under cultivation, often deep rose colour. The plant derives its name milfoil from the much divided leaves. It is a celebrated heal-all in domestic sur- gery. The above plants belong to the radiated or rayed sub-division of the Composites; in other words, their heads of flowers have a more or less distinct ray, formed by the ligulate or strap-shaped florets Eig. 146 which are arranged around the circumference. To this subdivision also belong the daisy, the com- mon ox-eye or horse-daisy, and the corn-marigold. It comprehends, too, the family of ragworts or flea- banes, botanically ranged under the genus Senecio, and represented familiarly to us all in the person of the common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) albeit 146. Section of Daisy 1, the disk 2, florets of disc 3, florets of raj . 246 WILD FLOWERS. perhaps the plainest of its connexion. Its ray flowers fire often absent, and when present, are certainly not conspicuous, but they are less obvious than they would otherwise be, in consequence of being rolled back, as you will find if you examine the plant. This is also the case in the Senecio viscosus, or stinking groundsel, which you may know by its family likeness, by its odour, and its covering of clammy sticky hairs, the latter character distinguishing it from another strong-scented rela- tive, the Senecio sylvaticus, or mountain groundsel. The common ragwort (Senecio Jacdbced) is so com- mon a plant, and its corymbs of bright yellow flowers contrast so oddly with its really ragged shabby looking leaves, that all must know it. With a far handsomer and larger flower, and with more appropriate looking foliage, the Senecio aquaticus, or water ragwort, is by no means one of the plainest of Flora's autumnal train. The flea-banes (Pulicaria) the leopards'-banes (Doronicum) handsome plants, but doubtful natives, flowering earlier in the year, the Elacampane (Inula helenium) with its hand- some solitary flowers, all belong to the rayed com- posites. The complete structure of these rayed flowers generally will be better understood by reference to Fig. 146, which represents a section of the familiar daisy-flower.* The receptacle 1 is conical, and supports the yellow florets of the disk, * In the papers for January and March, the reader will find reference to the more palpable characters of the composite flowers. SEPTEMBEE. 247 2 and the ligulate or strap-shaped florets of the ray 3 the whole head of florets, as pointed out in a former number, being enclosed in one common involucre. "We cannot have a better opportunity than now, of exercising our readers' powers of ob- servation, or of giving them a lesson in practical botany. Take up the dissecting needles and for- ceps, and the lens. You have cut your daisy- flower in two to compare with the figure. Now detach one of the yellow florets of the central disk. Look at it through the magnifying glass, you will find it a perfect little tubular corolla Fig. 147 containing stamens 1 and style, with its seed 2 (which is attached to the conical central recep- tacle) at its base. Again, in the same way, examine one of the white or crimson-tipped, strap-shaped florets of the ray Fig. 148 you will find that it too has a little seed 2 attached to its base, but that it is only at the lower end it is tubular; moreover, that the little tube contains a style 1 only, but no stamens. All the florets of the daisy-flower being style-bearers, are capable of bearing seeds; but those of the ray having no stamens of their own that is, being monoecious are dependent for their fertiliza- Fig. 147. Fig. 148. 248 WILD FLOWERS. tion upon the stamens which belong to the disk florets. Lastly, the florets and seeds of the daisy, have no pappus or feathery appendage such as we find in many of the rayed and of the other com- posites. From the above explanation, and from those given in January and March, and in Part II. the reader may derive a sufficient general idea of the flower construction of this most important family. He must, however, look for considerable diversity in detail, although the general characters remain the same. Thus, in the dandelion, the lettuce, the hawkweed, &c., which constitute the chicory-flowered section, the florets are all strap- shaped like those of the daisy-ray, and have both stamens and pistils, that is, are perfect flowers. In a third section of composites, which includes the thistles, bur-docks, &c., the florets are all tubular. The thistles (Carduus) and the plume-thistles (Cnicus) comprise some handsome species, and most of them flower late, that is, after July. The musk- thistle (Carduus nutans) is not one of the plainest, and you will not pass by its lai'ge, handsome, purple, and withal drooping heads, with their prickly spreading involucre. Neither is the Carduus Ma- rianus, or milk-thistle, with its handsome white- veined leaves, less conspicuous, but it is much less seldom met with. In a former page we took occasion to remark upon the frequent connection of the popular names of plants with the honour paid to the Virgin Mary. The name " Marianus," was SEPTEMBEE. 249 applied to this thistle, on account of the legend that the white veining of the leaves was imparted by her milk. The welted thistle, and the slender- flowered are both common. The plume-thistles genus Cnicus will scarcely be distinguished by our unscientific readers from the last, in general appearance, although the minute differences are well marked. The common thistle which is the real Scotch thistle, is the Cnicus lanceolatus, and is abundant everywhere. The Cnicus palustris, or marsh plume-thistle, you may gather in most damp situations ; and in similar situations northward, the Cnicus Tieterophyllus, or melancholy plume-thistle, its stems and its leaves underneath clothed with cottony down. The real cotton-thistle (Onopordum acanthium), white with its woolly covering, is known to most, for it is cultivated for its handsome appear- ance, and is often called and grown as the Scotch thistle. The centaurys, including the bright blue corn-flower, &c., have been alluded to in a former paper they also belong to the thistle section, and with them the familiar burdock, the scales of its involucre being specially distinguished by those little hooked extremities which cling so tenaciously to the clothes. Last month we paid some atten- tion to the form of leaves as attached to the stem ; the thistles furnish us with an instance of what is called a decurrent leaf, or one the limb of which is continued down the stem, as repre- sented Fig. 149. 250 WILD FLOWEBS. Of the chicory or lettuce flowered Composites, sufficient incidental no- tices have already been given to render special reference to them unne- cessary in this place. We must not, however, overlook the nominal chief of the sept, the Cichorium intybus, or chicory itself, which you may probably find in some stubble field, making the otherwise bare extent cheerful with its bright blue blossoms, and almost eclipsing some lowly little plants, which you will do well to look for now in the same situation. Here is one pro- cumbent, its branched stems, and stiff, sharp, whorled leaves lying near to the ground, and its pretty, though minute, crosier-shaped, lilac blossoms almost hid. It is the Slierardia arvensis, or field madder. Near it we almost surely find the dull looking bartsia, with its red, irregular corollas and conspicuous bracteas. It is a common and not very attractive looking plant, withering very quickly after being gathered. It has a much handsomer, but rarer relative, the yellow bartsia, found chiefly on the west side of our island. Doubtless, you have gathered ere this, for it is common in most pasture grounds, a plant somewhat resembling in form the SEPTEMBEE. 251 creeping bugle of earlier months, but of greater slenderness, and without runners ; its corollas, how- ever, are much more purple, rarely white. It is the Prunella vulgaris, or self-heal ; its dense heads of labiate flowers being enclosed by numerous broad bracteas. In a former paper, after describing the sheep' s-bit, allusion was made to " another bit." Here we have it with its heads of blue flowers, alongside the prunella ; you get it up and look at the root, but doubtfully, for you suspect a portion must be left in the earth, it ends so abruptly. It is all right, however; that root which seems to be " bitten" off is the natural appearance, and gives the name " succisa" to this scabious in botanical lan- guage, and in popular phraseology has given rise to the appellation " devil's bit scabious," the personage in question having the repute of being the biter. The plant, nevertheless, seems no way the worse. There is another but rarer species, the Scabiosa columbaria ; and a third plant, formerly ranked as a scabious, but now known as the Knautia arvensis, which you must have observed, for its rayed heads of many light coloured lilac flowers have been con- spicuous for some time. These last mentioned plants look most suspiciously like composites, but they are not of the class, only near relatives, and claiming kindred with the conspicuous teazel tribe or Dipsacece. The peculiar connate leaves of the teazels were alluded to last month. Their cone- shaped heads of flowers, prickly with the sharp 252 WILD FLO WEES. scales which, cover so thickly and regularly the cone-shaped receptacles, have a remarkable appear- ance. The light lilac-coloured corollas do not appear all over the flower head at once, but come out, as it were, in successive bands. Less like a composite plant than the last, but yet one of the tribe, the common golden-rod (Solidagomrgaurea) must not be passed over. You may meet with its straight stem clothed thickly with golden yellow blossoms, on some dry bank. The whole plant has a honey-like smell. Verily we shall never get clear of these yellow flowered Composites, for here is the bitter aromatic tanzy (Tanacetum vulgare) awaiting our notice with its much cut pinnated leaves. Again, there are the woolly, aromatic bitter, but not yellow flowered wormwoods, genus Artemisia, and the little silvery looking cudweeds, or Gnaphaliums, bid us not forget them, though we cannot now stop to describe their white looking flower heads, and downy white leaves and stems. The star-wort, or Michaelmas daisy, in its own special month we cannot pass over, even if its yellow disk and white or purple ray florets throw us now again upon the rayed composites, which Ave thought we were clear of. To find it however, we must off to its home in the salt marshes, where it is not uncommon, hoping at the same time to find some late rose-pink blossoms of the Convolvulus soldanella, among the adjacent sands. The sea-shore is pleasant in September, and we SEPTEMBEK. 253 might linger, but we may not, if we would seize the last opportunity of securing specimens of late blossoms that even now are fast passing away. Scarce can we hope to get specimens of the hand- some Lavatera arborea, or tree-mallow, which orna- ments a few of the "rocks of the ocean" around our coast, but we may hope for better success in our search in the salt marsh for the marsh mallow, or Althcea officinalis, with flowers rose-coloured like those of the last-named species, but lighter and bluer in hue. The blossoms are handsome, and will attract your notice ; but the entire plant, about two feet in height, is well marked by the thick covering of very soft down, or as it is called botanically, pubescence, with which it is clothed. Take your lens, and you will find the hairs stellate, that is, arranged in a star-like form. The genuine marsh- mallow is a medicinal plant, yielding abundance of starchy mucilage in hot water ; but another species, the common mallow, or Maha sylvestris, is often used under the name of marsh-mallow. This plant, the " cheeses " of children, we may gather in most waste places ; the dwarf mallow, with much smaller light-coloured pink flowers, is less common ; some- what rarer still, though perhaps not very uncommon, the handsome musk mallow, or Malva moschata, bears its large handsome "wild rose." coloured corollas, at the top of its very erect stems and much- divided leaves. Examine the flower structure of any of the mallows, and you will find the numerous 254 WILD FLOWEBS. stamens all united into one tube, which encloses the pistil. The staminal arrangement places the mallow tribe in the Linnsean class Monadelphia, of which it is an excellent example. In similar situations to the mallows, we ought, if we have not found it pre- viously, to meet with a late flowering specimen of the soapwort, or Saponaria officinalis, another pink flowering plant, its blossoms somewhat like those of a lychnis, its opposite leaves marked with prominent veins, and at their base, approaching the connate form of the teazels. Belonging to the same family, the Caryopltyllacece, the pretty maiden pink (Dianthus deltoides) shows its sweet little corollas even as late as this month, and may perchance be gathered by some of our readers ; others of this handsome genus Dianthus are generally more rare. Much we fear that one of our best known favourites, the odoriferous meadow sweet (Spiraea ulmaria) will scarce forgive us a September notice, for it has been decking our meadows and moist banks since June came in. But all know the meadow sweet, with its crowded cymes of cream yellow, rosaceous flowers. Doubtless our readers have forestalled us, and gathered the plant, and perhaps its pretty relative the dropwort, (Spiraea Jllipendula) . How is it, too, we have neglected this tall grower, Avhich looks like a gre- nadier migwionette, and proclaims itself the dyer's rocket, or Reseda Luteola, for it is a tolerably common, and not unhandsome plant. Taller still, handsomer too, and with yellow flowers, but very SEPTEMBEE. 255 different from the last, the great Mulleins, genus Verlascum, may speak for themselves ; the com- monest of the seven found in Britain, the Verlascum thapsus is well marked by its covering of long silky wool. Of all the "buds and bells that with changes mark the hours" none speak more plainly, to the botanist, of Autumn, than the mints, perhaps the most decidedly September plants Labiates all of them we have ; and a numerous family they are, too numerous, and often too alike to be distin- guished by general description ; gather them, how- ever, and make them out as you best can, with eyes and nose ; for well do the mints, peppermint, spearmint, and pennyroyal, support the character of their order for odorous essential oils. Odorous, but disagreeably so, the black horehound (Ballota nigra) is another labiate, still flowering on waste spots near inhabited places, and, in similar situa- tions the white horehound (M.arrubiwm vulgare) may also be found ; almost too well known is it to every old woman who prescribes for a cough, to require a descriptionof its rather clumsy-looking stems, much- wrinkled leaves, and thickly- whorled whitish flowers. Very different in appearance, though another lipped flower, is the beautiful large hemp nettle, ( Galeopsis versicolor') . If you found it among the growing corn, you would surely preserve it. Square-stemmed, jointed, upright, and distinct-looking, its handsome yellow corollas, with a large purple stain on the 256 WILD FLOWEBS. lower lip, stand boldly out. The smaller common hemp-nettle ( Galeopsis tetrahit) is very abundant, and has much smaller pink or white flowers. The common marjoram (Origanum vulgare) has its labiate purple flowers in crowded rounded heads, and even now specimens may be found about the hill pastures ; and on dry banks there is no doubt we may find the wood germander (Teucrium Scorodonia). Erect and stiff-looking, its yellowish flowers contrast with the purple anthers, and are borne on rather long, terminal, one-sided racemes. Its opposite leaves are strongly wrinkled. There are other but rarer British species of the genus Teucrium. Irregular, like the Labiates, but with its corolla personate, or mask-like, the great snapdragon or frog's-mouth (Antirrhinum majus) is found generally in suspicious neighbourhood to some garden ; and that pretty little creeper, the ivy- leaved toad-flax (Linaria cymbalaria) with a tiny corolla closely resembling the last in form, is equally open to the charge of straying from cultivated ground. Of the genus Linaria, or toad-flax, the large yellow Linaria vulgaris is the most common, and must be familiar to all. The creeping toad-flax, somewhat similar in form, but with pale, bluish veined flowers, is much rarer, and, indeed, like most of the other species, is not generally met with. MONTHLY ILLUSTEATIONS. 257 OCTOBER. " FAREWELL ! farewell ! bright children of the sun, Whose beauty rose around our path where'er We wandered forth since vernal days begun, The glory and the garland of the year. Ye came the children of the spring's bright promise ; Ye crowned the summer in her path of light, And now, when autumn's wealth is passing from us, We gaze upon your parting bloom." * ******* Sweet flowers, adieu ! FRANCES BROWNE. LOTH, indeed, are we to say to the flowers, " adieu !" so loth, that some few late blossoms have we kept for our readers, even to this tenth month of the year. They may have gathered them already, per- haps have made their intimate acquaintance ; if so, the notice of a well-known form should not be the less welcome. Here is one, a not unfrequent way- side plant. It has no gay blossom to recommend it ; but possibly its large, deep green, and very tri- angular leaves, may have attracted attention to its spikes of green inconspicuous flowers. Our friend bears the honest name of Good King Henry, or mercury goose-foot ; its botanical alias being Ghe- nopodium lonus Henricus. The goose-foot or Cheno- podium genus has already been alluded to, and mention made of the powdery meal-like substance which covers the leaves of some of its species. In the Good King Henry this is absent, the leaves s 258 WILD FLOWERS. somewhat resembling those of spinach in appear- ance, and being at times used as a substitute for that vegetable. How came we so long to have passed by a plant which has been reminding us of its presence many a time in the course of our flower gathering an unpleasant, but withal a useful plant the common nettle (Urtica dioica) for it deserves some notice. Famed is it for dietetic and medicinal virtues, and nettle broth and nettle juice are well esteemed by the wise women of the country side ; nor were the nettle fibres despised by the house- wives of old, who made from them their coarser household napery, and dyed their yarn with the roots. But enough of economics. Gather a nettle " grasp it like a man of mettle," and then it will not " sting you for your pains ;" but the exa- mination will repay you for them. Tinder the magnifying power of the lens, each little nettle flower, male or female, whichever it may be, is really pretty, and having examined these, you may transfer your attention to the numberless little stings which arm the whole surface of the plant. If the magnifying power is sufficient, you will observe that each sting is a very sharp, almost elegantly-shaped polished spine Fig. 150 which is hollow, and arises from a swollen base. In this base, which is composed of small cells, is contained the venom ; OCTOBER. 259 moreover, these cells are continuous with the hollow tubular sting; so that when, in consequence of pressure, the latter pierces the skin, the venom is at the same instant expressed. Its effect is too well known experimentally, to require descrip- tion : neither need we describe the plant. There are, however, two other species of nettle found in this country ; one, the Urtica pilulifera, or Roman nettle, is the most venomous of the British species ; it is not general, and even where found is a doubt- ful native ; the other species, Urtica urens, or small nettle, is very widely distributed. It is smaller in every way than the large common nettle, and its leaves are much more deeply cut in comparison with their size. These poisonous nettles have a harmless British relative in the common wall pellitory, (Parietaria officinalis] a plant which attracts the eye, partly on account of its usual place of growth being the crevices of old walls and such-like places, and partly from the reddish tinge which pervades it. It has been flowering since June ; but even now its hairy, red-looking stems may be found bearing its hair- clothed flowers, which are collected in the axils of its alternate, loosely hung leaves. Despised as our native nettles maybe, they have yet some most highly prized and aristocratic relations abroad ; among others, the fig and the mulberry, and many more we might enumerate did space permit. One British connection, moreover, yields to none either as re- s2 260 WILD PLOWERS. rig. isi. gards beautiful growth or useful properties. It is the common hop (Sumulus lupulus), which we have not yet mentioned, though we doubt not some of our readers have already secured its ele- gant stems and leaves and flower catkins upon the paper of their dried collections. The catkins of the hop Fig. 151 which are the parts collected for the sake of their well-known aromatic bitter, are the female blossoms. Even the most nettly of the human species seem to have some friend or other, and our acquaintance the common nettle has one which seems peculiarly to delight in siich society, for it chiefly shares its favours between it and the thistle. The plant is the parasitic dodder, a very curious but not uncom- mon vegetable production, which not only clings round, but grows upon its prickly supporters, by means of its very long, red, twine-like stems, and little bud-like attachments, repaying their protec- tion with the ornament of its pale orange-coloured blossoms. If any of our readers have found the plant it flowers chiefly in September they may have wondered at its strangeness ; but once having seen a description, they cannot fail to recognize at OCTOBEE. 261 least the dodders generally, from their mode of growth and parasitic situation. Of the other three species found in Britain, one which grows on flax, and another on clover, are doubtful natives ; the third, the lesser dodder (Cuscuta epithymum) is the commonest of all, growing on gorse or whin- bush, or heath, and, as its name Epithymum indi- cates, on the thyme. Lest some of our readers should not understand what is meant by a parasitic plant, we may explain that it is one which, instead of being fixed in the ground, and drawing suste- nance from the soil, is fixed upon some other plant from which it derives nourishment. The most remarkable instance noticed in these papers is the well-known mistletoe ; the dodders just alluded to furnish us with another example. The scaly tooth- wort noticed in April, is likewise parasitic, and nearly resembles another genus of similarly growing plants the broom rapes (Ordbanche). These, how- ever, as well as the toothwort, grow more generally upon the roots than upon the upper parts of the plants. The Orobanches are brown or purple-look- ing, scaly, leafless vegetables, more or less succulent. Although noticed thus late, they flower generally in August and September. They are most general on the roots of the pea-tribes, such as clover, broom, gorse, &c., but are also found on others. A queer- looking family are they, and so we dismiss them and turn to a more flower-looking friend, one that almost reminds us of spring, the pretty autumn 262 WILD FLOWERS. crocus, or meadow saffron (ColcMcum autumnale). This is a real autumn plant, not generally common, and therefore not accessible to many of our readers ; but its history is so interesting, so illustrative of the Divine care and wisdom, that it well deserves a notice here. The pale purple meadow-saffron Fig. 152 is just like a crocus in form, but its mode of growth is different. In September and October the solid bulb which lies embedded in the OCTOBEE. 263 earth sends up its unprotected blossom ; no leaf has it to guard it from the winds of the equinox, or from the night frosts which tell us of coming winter. And how is this late blossomer to ripen its seeds without warmth and sunshine, and with- out ? nay not without protection. True, the flower has risen and adorned the autumnal meadows, at this time so bare of other ornament, the anthers have ripened their pollen, the pollen has been shed upon the three-cleft stigma Fig. 153, 3 and the seeds Fig. 153, 5 have been thereby fertilized ; but they ripen not this side of Christmas ; they lie deep down in the earth, snugly covered up from the frost and snow, till the warmth of returning spring calls them forth ; then are they and the seed- vessel which holds them and their green straight- veined leaves withal, elevated from their winter sleep to meet the ripening sun-ray. Still we hear some reader exclaim, " All this is very pretty, but how is it ?" Look at the adjoining woodcut Fig. 153 which represents the section of our meadow- saffron flower as it appears in autumn. You see the petals 1 the stamens 2 the style 3. Trace that style down the long tube 4. Down, down it takes you far beneath the earth, the surface of which is marked at the point e at last it ends in the well-filled seed-cup 5 within the solid bulb. Through that long tube and style descend the fertilizing influences of the pollen of the autumn blossoms ; the flower withers, and the baby-seeds, 264 WILD FLOWERS. cradled in their well-protected cup, betake them- selves to rest, till "Winter's reign is over, till the glad time when " The bursting buds look up And greet the sunlight, while it lingers yet On the warm hill-side, and the violet Opens her azure cup Meekly, and countless wild flowers wake to fling Their earliest incense on the gales of Spring." then come up along with the gay corollas of Spring, the germs of Autumn, the buried seeds to be ripened, scattered, and in due time to furnish their blossoms, which deck the sober russet of the declining year with their purple broidery. Tell us, reader, know you a more striking illustration of the " tender mercies which are over all His works," than the history of the flowering and seeding of our little meadow-saffron ? Rambles not a few have we taken our readers, by moss and moor, by stream and lake, and in almost all have we encountered a tiny little plant, individually small enough, but conspicuous from its numbers, which extends in one surface of almost unbroken green over many a still water, which it protects from the heat of the sun, while it affords habitation to numberless insects. Moreover, in sects, habitation and all are apt to be gobbled up by the birds which skim the surface of the pools ; hence, the plant itself has the name of duckweed (Lemna). The common duckweed which covers the pools, must be familiar to all, a little oval floating OCTOBEE. 265 leaflet, with one solitary root depending from it in the water, and increasing chiefly by means of buds, which take the place of flowers and seeds on the side of the tiny leaf or frond. These buds expand- ing into little fronds resembling the parent one, to which they still remain attached, likewise bud out, and so there is a succession of leaf after leaf grow- ing from and still attached to each other, and form- ing one continuous sheet of green. Examine the little duckweed; it has no gay flower to offer you, but it is a curious little plant. Sometimes in place of the buds you will find two little stamens and a tiny seed-vessel. The species of duckweed alluded to in these remarks Lemna minor is common on almost every pool ; three other species are found in Britain, but are much less frequent. And now " Farewell to Flowers," for "Autumn's latest gold Hangs on the woods, and Summer's latest bloom Is fading fast, as Winter, stern and cold, Comes from the northern home of clouds and gloom." But not farewell to our readers, for we have somewhat to say to them of fruit as well as flowers, of bright berries, and of seed-vessels and seeds, that yet give interest to a botanical ramble even in November. 266 "WILD FLOWERS. NOVEMBER. " The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere. Heaped in the hollows of the grove the withered leaves lie dead ; They rustle to the eddying gust and to the rabbits' tread." " Where are the flowers ; the fair young flowers, that lately sprung and stood In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood ? Alas ! they all are in their graves ! the gentle race of flowers Are lying in their lowly beds with the fair and good of ours. The rain is falling where they lie ; but the cold November rain Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely ones again." TRULY, botanizing in November is cheerless work, if one look for flowers ; the " gentle race " have all passed away, and scarce a rain-beaten specimen of the never failing daisy remains to us. Nevertheless, we are not yet disposed to say "farewell." After flowers, come fruits, and we may still pass a few profitable hours amid the banks and hedgerows, examining the many coloured berries and curiously formed seed-vessels with which they now abound albeit, we shall not limit our attention to November fruits, and seeds, and seed-cups only; but may indulge in retrospective glances at some of the more interesting forms of fruitage which have come and gone during the months of Summer, while we have been giving our eyes and thoughts solely to the gay blossoms. Autumn, doubtless, is the time of fruits ; but all summer through, since the feathered seeds NOVEMBER. 267 of the early coltsfoot were wafted abroad by the breezes of May, has the flower-harvest been going on ; blossom after blossom has appeared and bloomed and withered, and has been succeeded by its seeds, and these have been scattered over the earth by the means of dispersion appointed to each by the Creator of all. All this has been going on, and only now we notice it, not because these processes of seed formation and spreading are less interest- ing than those of the budding and blossoming of the bright coloured corolla, but from the simple inability to compass all things in a limited space. Neither do we pretend here to give a detailed ac- count of seeds or their nature, sufficient if we offer a guide to their examination and investigation in summers yet to come. Fain would we hope, that our " Wild Flowers" have raised in some minds an interest that will not subside with the termination of our year, an interest that will look forward to the time of flowers, to the time when " Nature in Spring's best charms Shall rise revived from Winter's grave, Expand the bursting bud again, And bid the flower re-bloom." However, that interest, if it be real and true, will seek to extend its acquaintance beyond the buds and bells which attracted its first botanical gaze, and the recognition of these as old and familiar acquaintances, will afford leisure for the enlarge- ment of plant lore generally. 268 WILD FLOWERS. Here we may premise, that botanists do not use the term fruit in its simple conventional sense, but extend it in full meaning to the perfected seed ap- paratus generally. Do not therefore, we pray you, reader, let the word fruit conjure up in your mind ideas of the pulpy berry, or juice-filled flesh of pear or of peach, for many a dry little seed falls within the category of the botanist's "fruit." One thing, however, we will answer for there is not a seed, be it ever so dry or apparently insignificant, that will not repay your attentive examination, especially if made with the aid of the magnifying lens. The outer covering of some kinds of seeds presents us with the most exquisitely carved markings upon its surface, exquisite in the beauty of its very mi- nuteness. Some seeds, generally 1 so called, are not actually seeds, but are a combination of seed and seed-vessel in one ; of this nature are the seeds of our old friends the umbelliferous plants, such as caraway, and dill ; likewise the seeds of the ranun- culus tribes, and also those of the composite flowers Fig. 156. Enough of technicalities. Let us choose some bright November day, and there are at times bright days in November, and let our walk be one of those hedge-row lanes which in summer are so green, and then so gay with the blossoms of the hawthorn, wild rose and honeysuckle, but which are now bright with their brilliant coloured berries. There has been heavy dew in the morning, and NOVEMBER. 269 from each red-jewel fruit depends a diainond-like drop of liquid, which sparkles, in the sun-light for remember, though it is November, we have chosen a bright day. Surely, no array of blossoms ever looked handsomer or gayer, than those fruit-decked branchlets, bare though they be ; almost do their jewel-like ornaments realize the fairy tale of Alad- din's gem-bearing trees, though the hips of the rose, the haws of the thorn, or the crimson fruit of the bryony or honeysuckle, constitute all their wealth. To these will we return when we have examined this bright bunch of coral peeping out from amid the withered grass at the foot of the hedge. Ah ! these coral-like berries are the result of the curious floral arrangement of our April friend, the arum, or wake-robin. The stamens, the spathe, and other parts, have disappeared, and the little pistils have become true "berries, containing their little seeds. Mark, we say true berries, that is pulpy fruit containing seeds other fruits, such as the strawberry, which are often called berries by people generally, are not berries at all. This will be evident at once ; for thoughfew of our readers can have the advantage of a reference to Novem- Fi e- 1&J - ber strawberries, all may remember that queen of fruits, Fig. 154 bears AVILD FLOWEES. the little yellow seeds upon its surface ; they there- fore cannot be within its pulp. The fact is, these little seeds, "achenes" as they are called botanically, are the botanist's true fruit of the strawberry, and the fleshy pulp is but an enlarged condition of what is called the receptacle of that and other flowers, being in fact the enlarged extremity of the branch- let on which the blossom or seed is situated. Pig. 155 represents a section of the strawberry blos- som, with 1 the receptacle, on which the young seeds are as thickly set as pos- sible ; when that re- ceptacle enlarges, they will become se- Fig . ]55 parated from each other, as at Pig. 154. In others of the rosaceous class to which the strawberry belongs, the recep- tacle, instead of enlarging, remains dry and flat, as in the potentilla, consequently, the "achenes" re- main crowded together when ripe. Almost we fear, some reader may trip over this little word achene, without explanation. Seed-vessels generally are called carpels, or seed-holders ; the pod of the pea is one kind of carpel, the fleshy apple, the succulent pear, are both carpels, and so on. When, however, the carpel is dry, when it incloses a single seed, to which it is closely connected, as in the little straw- berry seed, in the seed of the dandelion Fig. 156 NOVEMBER. 271 or the seed of the ranunculus 'Fig. 157 it is further distinguished as an achene. Eemember then, generally, seed-inclosing fruits are carpels, though carpels are of many kinds. Here then, still remain- ing thus late in the year, is a well filled carpel, a Fig. 157. Fig. 156. Fig. 158. true seed-holder, and filled to the brim with its brownish-black seeds, which appear almost as if held up to the birds to appease their winter hunger. The vase-like capsule which contains them Fig. 158 is not unhandsome in shape, as it opens its teeth-like valves to disclose its trea- sured seeds, which claim parentage from the scarlet lychnis of May. You have not forgot its handsome companion the caltha, or marsh marigold, so like 272 WILD FLOWERS. a large handsome buttercup ; if we are near its place of growth, we may meet with another form of carpel, which it offers Fig. 159 called a follicle, or little pocket ; in this case a number of these seed follicles are together. However, we must get above the hedge bottom and look after some of the bright fruits we left when the coral-berries of the Fig. 15U. Fig. 160. arum attracted our gaze. Let us take the rose hep produced, like the strawberry, by a rosaceous plant, and yet how different the fruit. It, too, bears achenes, but, in place of being held up, as in the strawberry, on a projecting receptacle, they are buried within the tube of the calyx, as shown in the section of a rosebud Fig. 160 or as it may be said, are fixed to an inverted or NOVEMBEB. 273 hollow receptacle. Then we have in the companion haw, which is the produce of another rosaceous plant, the example of a drupe carpel, as all stone fruits, peaches, cherries, &c., are called. Scarcely will our reader be prepared to class with these drupe fruits, the blackberries, which yet remain to vary, with their brilliant black, the brighter hedge colours, and yet every blackberry is a collection of little drupes, each containing its one little stone in the midst of its pulp perhaps, never before have you thought that strawberries and blackberries were not really berries, nor observed how they differed from one another in construction, and from the structure of true berries, such as currants and gooseberries. These hips and haws are the coral of our jewel-bearing branches, but the bright trans- parent berries of the honeysuckle are our red cor- nelians, and right handsome they look in their crowded clusters. Equally bright, but more loosely congregated, we may find yet adhering to the withered trailing stems, the fruit of the red-berried bryony, competing in brilliancy with those of the Tamus communis, or black bryony, which we noticed when its glossy bright green leaves decked the hedgerows in July. Then we have to gather bunches of the wax-like transparent fruit of the guelder rose ; and, if the birds have left us any, of the graceful scarlet pomes of the mountain ash, the " Kowan berries" of Scotland. Nor must we pass the dark purple of the sloe, or the intense black of T 274 WILD FLOWERS. the privet fruit, which looks so handsome. We used the word pome a little above ; it is another form of carpel, well illustrated in the familiar apple or pear. We have it too in the rosy fruit which still hangs over-head on the branches of the wild crab, cut one across, the core which contains the seeds is tough and horny, it does not separate from the flesh of the fruit like the stone of the peach or cherry, but is closely connected to it, forming the pome (Auglice apple fruit) of the botanist. Apples and nuts are always companions. If the boys and the squirrels have left us a specimen of the latter, we see another form of fruit, the nut kind, and for once we get a designation less scientific than usual. Alas ! " November's sky is chill and drear." and November days are short we must not then linger too long with damp grass, and damp air, without warm sunshine. We might speak of the podded fruits, but must refer for them to the recollections of green peas and beans. The form of pod, moreover, well illustrates the connection traceable between the simple leaf of the plant and the after complex form of the fruit. Then we have what are often called pods, but are not true pods, the seed-vessels of the cruciferce, such as the wallflower, shepherd's purse, whitlow grass, &c. Call to mind that when you open a pea-pod, it splits both back and front, and discloses its one cavity DECEMBEB. 275 of pea-seeds ; when you attempt to open a ripe wallflower seed-vessel, it opens by two valves from below upwards, and you will find the little flat seeds are contained in two cavities, separated by a transparent central partition. The wallflower seed- vessel is a Siliqua. See December. DECEMBEE. " What cold December barrenness everywhere !" " The dead leaves strew the forest walk, And wither'd are the pale wild flowers ; The frost hangs blackening on the stalk, The dew-drops fall in frozen showers." BBAINARD. AFTEE the month of April, Flora's treasures came upon us so thick and fast, that we could no longer afford space for those directions in practical bota- nizing drying, collecting, &c. which commenced our papers of the earlier months. True, we had almost concluded our observations when the mode of mounting the dried plants was explained ; but there yet remains something to be said respecting the final arrangement and disposal of the specimens. We mentioned that one species of plant only should be placed on the same half-sheet of paper ; there is, however, no objection, particularly in the case of small plants, to more than one specimen of the same species being shewn, especially if the cha- T 2 276 WILD FLOWERS. racters of the plant are better illustrated by this being done. One specimen may exhibit the leaves and flowers to advantage, while another more ad- vanced presents us with the developed seed-vessels. In the case of large plants, you must use your discretion in selecting flowers, leaves, portions of stems, roots, &c., endeavouring to include as many of the characteristic features of the species as pos- sible in the compass of your half-sheet. If long and slender plants, like the grasses, &c., have been bent and re-bent upon themselves, as directed in the paper for March, you may be able to introduce the entire specimen, though many times longer than your paper ; in other cases you may effect the preservation of valuable characters, by bending the parts, as in the case of the runners of such plants as the strawberry or common bugle. Having fixed your specimens, the next step is to attach to each its name, both specific and generic that is to say, if your specimen be a ranunculus, you write that word on the upper right-hand corner of the half-sheet. That is the generic or genus name of the plant ; but as there are many other species of ranunculus, it is necessary to attach the specific or species name of the particular specimen, before our designation is complete. Thus, suppose our plant is the common water-crow-foot, we add to the first written name, " ranunculus," the specific name " aquatilis," which to a botanist distinguishes that species from every other plant in the vegetable DECEMBER. 277 kingdom. These are the botanical and scientific Latin designations ; beneath them it is usual to write the English name, and the place where, and date when, the particular specimen was gathered adding, if you have received the dried specimen from a friend, the friend's name also. Thus, then, we have in our right-hand upper corner the following : " Ranunculus aquatilis, Common water-crow-foot, River Trent May 2QtJi, 1853." These names may be written either on the paper itself, or on a label which can be gummed on the paper. Having thus mounted your species, the next step must be to arrange them under the heads of their respective genera ; in other words, to put the different species of the same genus together. This is best done by including the half-sheets to which the different species are attached, within the cover of one whole sheet which contains the genus, writing the name of the genus, whether it be ranun- culus, veronica, or any other, on the left-hand upper corner of the sheet, adding, if you think well, the name of the natural order to which the genus belongs, or, if you follow the Linnaean method, the class and order in that system. Thus, it would be Ranunculus. Nat. Ord. Ranunculacece. or Ranunculus. Class Polyandria Ord. Polygynia. 278 WILD FLOWEKS. Having done this, your specimens may be put away in some dry place. It is better to have them arranged on shelves if you can afford a little cabinet for them so much the better at all events, have them arranged and in order, even if your arrangement be no more than alphabetical. It ought, however, to be something more scientific than this. The Linnaean method of classification and arrangement you will find most easy for study and practice at first, but the natural classification of plants will give you the most clear and satis- factory view of the domains of the vegetable king- dom. These directions respecting the naming and arranging of plants are not unimportant. If the specimens are worth gathering and drying, they must be worth preserving, and if they are to afford any satisfactory use or amusement, they must be in order. Moreover, the position on the paper we have pointed out as proper for the names, will be found the most convenient for reference. Lastly, in looking over or showing your plants, be careful not, as many do, to turn over the sheets as you do the leaves of a book, otherwise you will certainly injure your specimens. Lift each specimen half- sheet carefully with both hands, and lay it smoothly down on the one which preceded it. Twice blessed, surely, is our botanical pursuit, for not only has it given us a new interest in the fields of summer, given us enlarged and deeper views of the wisdom, the power and the goodness of DECEMBER. 279 the Almighty, but it now offers pleasing and pro- fitable occupation for our leisure time in winter, when " There's not a flower upon the lea, The frost is on the pane ;" and in looking over or arranging the dried but still beautiful forms of our herbarium, we live over again, in thought, the pleasant rambles and companion- ships of summer ; it may be of summers long fled, of companions whose forms we shall no more see on earth. Well, arranging our herbarium is a most pleasant occupation for bad days, and for winter evenings ; but we must not neglect out of doors for all that. Last month we had our gay bright berries drop't as with diamond or crystal, when the November dew or rain which had gathered upon them sparkled in some chance ray of the watery sunshine. This month we have them set in the silver frost-work of the rime. How handsome look " The clustered berries bright Amid the holly's gay green leaves," when contrasted with the white crystalline hoar frost, on a clear winter morning. True berries are they withal, and contain four little seeds. Berries, too, are the dull black and brown fruit of the ivy, that seems to clothe so comfortably the leafless trees. Holly Ivy Mistletoe ! The last gives us a change of colour, and its white semi-transparent berries supply us with the pearls we wanted for 280 WILD FLOWEBS. Flora's jewelled winter crown. Let us have a list of her casket's contents. Her rose garland of summer has now furnished the heps of all shades of colour, from pink to brilliant red, and even to the deep black-purple fruit of the thorny burnet-rose, or Rosa spinossissima. Next, how varied are the bramble berries, which we have shown are not berries at all ; there is the deep black, telling of ripeness, of our common blackberry ; the red of the rock bramble (Rubus saxatilis), the orange red of the mountain cloudberry, a handsome wreath would they make. Next come our opaque coral-like fruits, the haws of the thorn, the scarlet rowan bunches of the mountain ash, and those of our friend the holly; after these, we have the waxen drupe-like fruit of the yew, and the wax-like berries of the guelder rose, followed by the transparent reds, sucli as the honeysuckle, or the woody nightshade more deeply tinged with orange, or the bryonies. And again come we to the mistletoe pearls. Should Flora mourn the vanished flowers, the fate of the " gentle sisterhood," many a funereal looking fruit have they left her for her adorning. The buckthorn and the elder, the spurge laurel, the privet, the sloe black berries all of them and many another, might well be used as emblems of mourning. Truly our winter crown almost equals in brilliancy the summer's floral tiara ; but we must not let it eclipse, nor let it cause us to forget, some of the more sober- hued seed products that await us. The dry seed- DECEHBEB. 281 bunches of the ash or of the maple or elm, popularly called " keys," offer us an example of what is called in botany a samara, that is a simple carpel or achene, one portion of which is extended into a wing-like appendage "Fig. 161. We have already spoken of Fig. 161. the nut of the hazel, which we find partially covered by the involucre or husk. Nuts, too, are the acorns, and their cups, so celebrated in the table arrange- ments of fairy -land, are simply the involucre of the nut consolidated. Very similar in character are these twin three-cornered beech nuts. Both beech tree and oak, as well as the hazel, belong to the Cwpu- liferce, or cup-bearing tribe, which also includes the Spanish chesnut a tree, moreover, which is claimed as a British native. In the chesnut the nuts, one or two together, are contained within the well-known prickly case formed by the enlarged involucre. How different from these well-protected nuts are the naked seeds of the cone tribes ; except for the partial covering of the cone scale at the base of which it lies, the cone seed is completely exposed. The cone, well known to all as yielded by the fir and pine trees, being made up of a number of these scale-covered seeds, comes under the class of what 282 WILD FLOWEES. are called collective fruits, like the mulberry. In a few species of the cone tribe, however, the scales, instead of being hard and dry, are succulent and fleshy. Such is the case of the juniper Fig. 162 its fruit, usually called the "juniper berry," is actually a little cone in construction. At one period another description of seeds were classed as naked seeds, by botanists. Those of our readers who have been using their eyes, must have rig. lea. observed in the flowers of the borage order, and more especially in the labiate plants, that what appeared to be the seeds were situated two or four together at the bottom of the calyx. So like are these to simple seeds, that they were formerly considered so ; but now they are known to be seed and seed-vessel combined. They are, in short, achenes, like those of the composite and umbel-bearing plants. Almost could we when at a little distance imagine that yonder tall reed grass by the pond still bore some handsome blossom, grass though it be ; but nearer examination shows us that the appearance is caused by the silky hairs attached to the flower heads, if we may so speak. The appearance is really ornamental, and the grass itself reminds us that we have yet to speak of the nature of those seeds, the most important of all perhaps, the cereals, or grains. Almost they come under the definition of an achene ; but in the grasses, the seed covering, or testa, which in wheat DECEMBER. 283 forms the bran, is very intimately connected with the true seed itself; to this combination of seed and seed-covering the name caryopsis has been given by botanists. Hitherto, we have regarded seeds as inclosed in and connected with the carpels, or seed- vessels, in which they have been grown and per- fected ; if we trace them beyond this, to the stage of their dispersion, we find the modes by which that dispersion is effected, and by which the germs are separated from their containing seed-cups, for depo- sition in the earth, as varied as the forms of the seed-cups themselves. No department of botanical investigation is more interesting than this. So numerous and so beautiful are the different con- trivances which aid these tiny rudiments of the future flower, or shrub, or forest tree, in spreading themselves over the earth. Some offer to us the feathery wing, like the dandelion, the willow herb, &c. ; others, like the gorse or broom, have their seeds projected to a distance from the parent plant, by the sudden bursting and spring-like twisting of the two valves or sides of the containing legume or pod. Many of our readers, indeed, must have remarked this fact for themselves, when, under the heat of a July sun, their wanderings have led them through some " Path with tangling furze o'er-run, When bursting seed-bells crackle in the sun ;" and they have wondered what could be the meaning 284 WILD FLOWEBS. of the incessant crack, crack, which seemed momentarily to occur on every side, as if some fairy folk were firing feux dejoie to celebrate the fine weather. Verily, too, the tiny soldiers, whoever they be, seem to have loaded with something more than powder; for, after each crack, the attentive ear might catch the sound as of dropping shot among the leaves. At last the eye detects one of the black pods of the broom or of the gorse in the very act of firing ; in one moment, each pod valve has twisted itself into a spiral, and sent its seed, the fairy pro- jectiles, scattering all around. And thus there is an explanation of the fairy fusillade; but we find out thai spring guns are in use in Flora's kingdom instead of Minie rifles. The little seed of the wood sorrel has its own special elastic envelope, to send it forth upon the world ; the hooks of the burdock cling to the pass- ing animal, and are carried, perhaps, miles away : while the screw-like appendages of the crane's-bill achenes assist to roll them to some chink in the earth, and then screw them into it. Again, some seeds never separate from their containing carpels. As we have before explained, what we call the seeds of the dandelion, of the caraway, carrot, or butter- cup, &c., are both seed and seed-cup combined; they fall to the ground however, or are sown as seed simply ; so also with the grains, with the nut tribes, &c. Again, many of the succulent fruits fall fruit and seed, or seeds, together. A large proportion. DECEMBER. 285 however, of seed-vessels have some peculiar mode by which they permit the escape of their enclosed treasures. The poppy has little pores at the summit of the seed-cup, the lychnis tribes open at the top by teeth or valves. See November, Fig. 159 the pimpernel splits off a little lid, and discloses its well- hoarded treasury Fig. 163 while the cruciforms, like the wall-flower, quietly lift up their sides Fig. 164 to let the seeds fall ; the willow herbs opening Fig. 163. Fig. 164. at top in elegant fashion, to permit their beautifully arranged and winged germs to take their flight. But truce to science and to long names, for Christmas is coming on, and all we have now to 286 WILD FLOWEBS. do with leaves, and berries and fruits, is to deck the home and to spread the board in remembrance of the time and mission of Him " That to the cottage as the crown Brought tidings of salvation down." What cheerfulness do the leaves and fruits of winter add to the Christmas decorations when festivities are abroad ; and when more serious thoughts engage the mind, and the retrospect of the past year is undertaken, fain would we hope that the hours spent beneath the leaves of the summer trees, and in search for the summer flowers, will not be found amid the least profitable, nor be amid the least pleasantly remembered. " Consider the lilies of the field," were the words of Him whose birth- time we now celebrate: consider their "array," and their "glory," for truly " There is a lesson in each flower, A story in each stream and bower ; In every herb on which you tread Are written words, which, rightly read, Will lead you from earth's fragrant sod To hope, to holiness, and God." * If such be the uses to the mind and heart of the study of the wild flowers, which He who made, and bade us " consider " them, has scattered without stint, in their beauty and fragrance, " o'er hill and dale and desert sod," cease not to care for them ; think not that the interest is exhausted in one * Davis. DECEMBEE. 287 short year or summer, for with each succeeding season it will revive, the old friends will be wel- comed, and scarcely can you fail to make new ones ; for even the quickest botanical eye overlooks, at times, some plant or other perhaps the very one sought after which another year it detects at once. Then, again, in every neighbourhood fresh plants will appear year by year, carried thither by some of the means proper of plant transport, or disclosed by some fresh-turned soil ; it may be some new rail- way embankment introduces quite a novel society in the vegetable world of your district. Nay, even if you should find no new plant, you cannot in any ordinary leisure exhaust the study of those which deck even the most scantily furnished flora. Dis- card not the most humble weed, the most neglected flower, for it is a mine of beauty " I'll teach thee miracles ! Walk on this heath And say to the neglected flower, ' Look up And be thou beautiful !' if thou hast faith It will obey thy word." * Aye, have faith that there exists not the work of God's hand without beauty; and truly, in confirma- tion, says another one of the sweetest of our poets, " There's beauty all around our paths, If but our watchful eyes Can trace it midst familiar things, And through their lowly guise." t * Barrington. t Remans. 288 WILD FLOWERS. But why should we try to persuade ? we know there is not one who has once imbibed the love of our wild flowers, and their gatherings, who will will- ingly drop the pursuit. Wild Flowers, we have yet a few plants un- noticed, which cannot be classed amid the flowers, for blossoms they have none, yet are they amongst the most ornamental of our native plants. One more paper do we propose on the fern tribes ere we say adieu. 289 THE FERN TRIBES OF PLANTS. " Where the dew drops glisten sheenest, Where the lady fern grows greenest." OUB Wild Flower papers hitherto have dealt with flowers only ; that is, with such plants as display whether in gay dresses or without them, it matters not the little organs, called stamens and pistils, all these being classed under the somewhat break-jaw name of Phanogamous plants, that is, plants provided with organs distinctly adapted to the formation of true seeds. In this class nearly all the higher forms of vegetable life are included ; but there yet remains that large department of vegetable existence arranged under the head of Cryptogamia, which, crowned as it were by the ferns of temperate climes, and by the fern trees of the tropics, descends to the utmost verge of vegetable life, till it is lost in plants of microscopic minuteness, consisting of little more than a simple cell or vesicle of vegetable matter. Do not fear, we are not going to plunge you into a maze of fungi, mosses and such-like ; but, be assured, the few higher cryptogamia to which we guide your attention will well repay the trouble of their investigation. Many of our readers must know the ferns, or brackens, at least the commoner species, all must remember their beautifully cut leaves and elegant 290 WILD FLOWEES. forms, which graced the banks and woods and rocks of June, in their greenest richness ; albeit, remember as they may, they will not be able to connect any flower with these beautiful leaves ; and therein lies the reason why these wild plants but not flowers came not among our "Wild Flower" notices, but are brought under consideration in a distinct paper. These fern plants have no flowers, they have no organs, such as the stamen, the pistil, &c. of the flower proper, and even their spores, by which they chiefly propagate, are not true seeds. Notwithstanding all this, the ferns are, at times, no mean plants ; witness some of the tropical and southern zone "tree-ferns," the perfec- tion of graceful beauty and stateliness ; nay, even our own royal fern, or "flowering fern," as it is sometimes called, the Osmunda regalis, is not an insignificant member of the family but more of this anon. Let us get a fern and examine it, and then shall we better appreciate the ins and outs of the family. Here is the common male fern (Aspidiwn Filix mas) so frequent and yet so beautiful an ornament of our moist shady banks and woods ; its green, very green, and much-cut fronds growing generally in a circle, and rising to the height of two, three, or even four feet. Observe in spring, when the young fronds are rising, how remarkably the springing leaf is folded, coiled as it were upon itself; this folding of young leaves generally is called their " vernation," and in the case of the fern, the peculiar form of vernation is named " gyrate " THE PEEK TRIBES. 291 or " circinate " Fig. 1691 it is well worth examination ; mark, too, how profusely scaly these young fronds are. This scaliness, so characteristic of the ferns, becomes proportionally less on the more matured frond ; but still you may observe it, especially on the "rachis " as the central rib of the fern leaf is called. You gather a mature frond, and find on the back a multitude of little roundish raised dots Figs. 165, 166 and here, if there are 165. Back view of a portion of ing tori 1 covered by a circular indutium or involucre. 166. Back view of a portion of the frond of the male-fern, show- ing tori 1 covered by a kidney- shaped indutium or involucre. no fern flowers, there is at least the " fern seed," so famed in superstition of yore, for its reputed power of rendering the possessor invisible, provided the seed had been gathered with all due ceremony upon the eve of St. John. However, " fern seed " is not seed in the botanical sense, but "spores;" moreover, these roundish dots, or sori, are not the seed spores, but only the coverings of the ves- sels or capsules Fig. 167. Magnified view of spore con- 167 which COntaiU the taining capsules of a fern, showing . T , -i their elastic jointed rings. miUUte SpOrCS. In the 292 WILD FLOWEKS. case of the male shield fern Fig. 166 which we are now examining, these spore spots have a cover- ing, involucre, or as it is often called " indusium," of a kidney shape ; in other species it is perfectly circular or shield-shaped Fig. 165 in others oblong, and we shall find that in others of the fifty species of British ferns it is either wanting or its place is supplied by the folding of the leaf margin Fig. 168 as already said, these involucres are neither the seeds, or rather spores, nor are they the seed-capsules or vessels. The latter lie beneath the involucre, many together; but they are so minute, that you will not be able to make out their structure without the aid of a good magnifier or small micro- scope. They are worth 168. Portion of frond of Maidens- * hair fern, the sori 1 covered by cnmo fr-miTVIo Ti rwe> vff nn the reflexed margin of the frond. BOUJe IFOUUie, IlOWeVtJI, Uil account of the beautiful little elastic jointed ring Fig. 167 by which each is surrounded, and which serves the purpose of a spring to tear the capsule membrane transversely asunder, when its spore contents are ripe. All these parts you will make out in the "male shield fern" we have chosen for examination ; only the root remains ; this you will find varying to a foot in length, bearing the knobby remains of the old leaf- THE KEEN TBIBES. 293 stalks, and very scaly. This root is famed, and justly so, as a remedy in cases of worms. Having once examined our common male fern, our readers will find little difficulty with others of this interesting and extremely beautiful tribe of plants, that is, as regards understanding their general structure, though we fear a general descrip- tion will afford small guide to the discrimination of many of the individual species. However, there is one we cannot fail to recognize, as it shoots up its young curled fronds in May and June, by the side of hedge or wood, or even the stony moor, or on the otherwise bare hill-side. "When full grown, a goodly thicket does this, the common bracken (Pteris aquilina) make, sending its branched fronds five or six feet high, and offering its " bracken curtain" to the deer for his evening couch; one, moreover, which will conceal even the well-antlered buck, and which has concealed many an armed High- lander in days of yore. The readers of Sir Walter's " Lady of the Lake " cannot fail to call to mind hoAv Roderick Dhu's men sprang from the "bracken" at the whistle of their chieftain. You must know the bracken fronds which rise from the long creep- ing root, or rhizome, and which, instead of bearing their spores like the male shield fern, in round " sori," arranged on the back of the frond, have them placed on the under margin, the revolute edge of the leaf forming their covering. Should you go fern-gathering in the North, you will find the same arrangement in the case of the common rock- 294 WILD FLOWEBS. bracken or brake, or "curled rock brake " (Crypto- gramma crispa), a much smaller plant than the last, generally growing among loose stones on the hills, and ornamenting the waste rock places. Almost we fear that ferns and cut leaves are so associated in our readers' minds, that they will scarce give our next friend, the common hart's-tongue (Scolopendrium vulgare) Fig. 169 credit for being a fern at all, until they turn the back of the frond, and find its spores disposed in long lateral sori which follow the veinings of the leaf. The hart's- tongue fern, grows in bunches of long plain leaves, somewhat crisped at the edges, and occasionally a little cut at the extremity. It is extremely ornamental, and its often drooping fronds, though generally shorter, not unfrequently attain a length of a couple of feet ; you will most likely fall in with it in a shady, somewhat damp, situation ; in deed, few ferns will you find that do not fix them- selves where moisture is abundant, often where they are continually wet by the spray of a waterfall. Some of the most elegant elegant is the word generally 169. Hart's-tongue fern. The young fronds 1 unfolding by a ffyrate or circinate vernation. THE FEBN TEIBES. 295 appropriate to ferns are found in these places, and often add much to the beauty of the scene. Look for the little green-stemmed Spleen-wort (Asyjilenium viride) in such situations ; you will know it by the tiny oval scarcely cut leaflets, which are arranged on either side of the green rachis, or central stem, form- ing one of the prettiest little fern fronds we know ; the prettiest, certainly of the numerous family of spleen-worts, now, at least, since the elegant no other word will do lady fern has been lost to them by its transference to the genus AtJiyrium. These spleenworts vary considerably in appearance, but all have oblong or linear sori. Some prefer the moist clefts of rocks for their root fixtures, and one the cliffs of the sea-shore. "We spoke of the "lady fern" (AtJiyrium Mlix foemin a), sometimes called the "Queen of Ferns," so graceful are its drooping much-cut leaves. In many a shaded glen or wood does her queenship hold her court, and much more abundant and universally distributed is she than her consort, the king of the tribe, the royal Osmunda regalis, or Osmund royal, often called the " flowering fern," from the fact of its bearing its fruit, or " fruc- tification," on a kind o flower-like prolongation of the summit of its stately frond, to the height of seven or eight, or at times even of eleven feet. A magnificent and right royal fern this is, and a real ornament, wherever, as on the banks of Killarney, in Ireland, it deigns to grow abundantly. Many another species of this interesting tribe of plants might we name, some, such as the common polypody 296 WILD FLOWERS. of frequent occurrence on wall-tops, banks, &c., presenting the capsules of sori without covering ; others less frequently met with, such as the bladder ferns, some of the spleenworts, &c., whilst others are of extreme rarity. We must not forget, how- ever, one species of fern not very commonly met with in this country, but one which, when found, cannot fail to attract the eye, from the delicate growth of its branched-looking fronds Fig. 168. It is the maiden's-hair fern (Adiantum Capillus Veneris), dwelling on moist rocks in sea-shore neigh- bourhoods. Scarcely is it. possible in a general description of the fern species, to afford to our readers appreciable distinctive marks for each ; may we hope that enough has been said to show that the members of this elegant and graceful tribe, though undecked by gay flowers, are no less interesting than those plants which are ; nay, we might add, no less beautiful. May we recommend them to your atten- tion in the coming summer's rambles ; they will then speedily recommend themselves, and become, we doubt not, some of the most prized and orna- mental specimens of the dried collection, or Herba- rium, or hortus siccus, by whichever name you may call your preserved, and we trust well-preserved and well-arranged, acquisitions. A few first cousins have our friends the ferns, in the shape of adder's-tongues, club mosses, horse-tails, &c., some of which cannot be passed by ; interest- ing, curious, and not unhandsome are they, and deserving of a few words at our hands. The adder's- 297 tongue Fig. 170. is by no means uncommon in shaded moist places, or even in meadows, though often overlooked notwithstanding its somewhat singular appearance ; its fructification springing in 170. Common addeiVtongue- The fructification 1 borne as a spike. 171. The common moon- wort. The fructification, Lome in clusters. a compact spike from the ovate frond ; still more remarkable looking, the moonwort Fig. 171 bears globe-like clusters of capsules elevated above the half-moon-shaped divisions of the frond. This little plant you may probably find in your wanderings 298 WILD FLOWERS. over the dry stony moor or upland pasture ground. In the same situations look for the handsome club- moss, Lycopodium. The common species, Lycopodium clavatum, or common club-moss, or, " wolf's claw, or " stag's- horn," for it is known by all these names can scarce escape you, for it is very general on the hills even of comparatively lowland districts. The stem of the club-moss runs along the ground, often for many feet, throwing up at intervals the spiked heads, which contain the spores or germs under the cover of the scale-like leaves. So ornamental Is this plant, that it has been used even to decorate a fancy dress for the ball-room, the long training stems and projecting spikes forming very graceful festoons. When the heads or spikes of this and of other species of club-moss are dry, they yield a fine yellow powder, which is almost as inflammable as gun- powder; and one of the species, the Lycopodium Alpinmn, or savin-leaved club-moss, is employed by Icelanders to dye clothes yellow. Scarcely less curious than the club-mosses, are the horse-tails or equisetums. In some of your spring walks, either you have met, or you may meet with, on some pasture ground, or even road side, a queer-looking plant, which seems quite inexplicable by your ordinary botanical lore. There is an erect, loose, very hollow, somewhat succulent, pink-looking, jointed stem, crowned by a blackish head, which you think may have something in connexion with the ordinary THE PEEK TEIBES. 299 form of flowers ; but you examine it, and find nothing to which you can give a name : the head appears divided into numerous scale-like divisions, and that seems all. And it is all : the head is the fructication or spore-bearing organ of the fertile spike of the common corn horse-tail, (JEquisetum arvense), the spores being formed on the under side of these scales. This, remember, is the fertile spike, very different in appearance from the much branched, rough and furrowed barren spike, which you will find occupying its place some weeks later. This marked distinction between the fertile and barren spikes exists in two other species of these plants, which are found in Britain ; one is a rare one, the other is the great water horse-tail, an inhabitant, and certainly an ornamental one, of pools and river sides generally, where it throws up its fronds, for they share this name with the ferns to the height of three or four feet. Other species of equi- setum are there', in which the difference between the barren and fertile frond is much less marked, the principal being the possession of the spore bear- ing spike or head. The whole tribe of the horse- tails have a rough harsh feel, owing partly to the large amount of siliceous* matter contained in their cuticle, and from this property are much employed for purposes of polishing both wood and metal. Much more might we say of these curious plants, of their spores furnished with peculiar hygrometric Flint earth. 300 WILD FLOWEBS. appendages, &c. ; indeed, much more might we say of these interesting forms of vegetable life which have been so lightly and slightly touched upon in the foregoing chapter, did such extended informa- tion come within the scope of our design. This it does not ; but we trust our readers who have gone with us the year through, will not fail to seek it from higher sources for themselves. We have but tried to offer them a few glimpses of Nature's most beautiful floral kaleidoscope, in the hope that having a few times turned it round before their eyes, they may be tempted to go on and turn it round for themselves. But we gave our exhortations, and said our adieus last month with the closing year, and this we may only wish them a " New Year" of many happy rambles, when bright skies, warm air, and springing flowers, once more bid the flower-gatherers, whether children or sages, be up and doing, and wooing Nature ; for " Nature never did betray The heart that loved her ; 'tis her privilege Through all the years of this our life, to lead From joy to joy ; for she can so inform The mind that is within us, so impress With quietness and beauty, and so feed With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all The dreary intercourse of daily life Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb Our clieerful faith tliat all that we behold Isfvll of blessings." WORDSWORTH. 301 A FEW WOEDS ECONOMIC PROPERTIES OF BRITISH WILD PLANTS. IT is often remarked, that we bring from abroad, both for medicinal and economical use, many vege- table productions in no way superior in the qualities for which they are prized, to numbers of those which are the spontaneous growth of our own soil ; and the fact of our doing so is thought to be explained by the sort of artificial value which many persons are said to attach to foreign articles, according to the old adage, that " far-fetched fowls have fine feathers." Perhaps there may be some foundation for the accusation of neglecting home produce : we suspect, however, that the principal reason why our native wild plants, which possess valuable qualities, are neglected, is, that labour is too valuable in this country to be profitably employed in their collection. Even if tea itself grew wild amongst us, we doubt whether, sup- posing it to be gathered and prepared according to the Chinese elaborate manipulation, it would 302 ECONOMIC PBOPEBTIES OF not be found cheaper still to depend upon the celestials for our supply, than to collect and manu- facture it for ourselves. It seems as if the only way in which a vegetable product, either native or originally foreign, can be produced successfully in this country, is to cultivate and gather it regularly in such a wholesale fashion as we do in the case of the hop, and some of the more largely used medi- cinal herbs, such as chamomile, &c. As, however, this method is inapplicable to the generality of our own wild plants, they are neglected, fall into disuse, or at least become the property of the country herbalist, or of the housewives in remote districts. ^Nevertheless, some acquaintance with their pro- perties is not only interesting, but may be useful. One group more especially claims our atten- tion, from being composed of plants which, under the ameliorating influence of cultivation, have be- come valuable and much-prized vegetables. It is singular how many of these are derived from the sea-shore. First, we have the well known celery (Apiuin graveolens) , so mild and succulent when well grown, but which is a disagreeably strong flavoured, and stringy plant in its native salt marshes. Following this comes its no less prized neighbour the sea-kale (Crdmbe maritimd) a grower in the sand ; and not far from it the origin of our garden- cabbages, the Brassica oleracea. The sugar-yield- ing beet too (Seta maritime?) comes from the muddy shores of our own islands, and to the list we must BEITISH WILD PLANTS. 303 add the delicate asparagus (Asparagus officinalis). So profusely does this latter plant grow on one island off the coast of Cornwall, that the name " Asparagus Island," has been given to the place.* In addition to these sea-side natives, we have the parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) the carrot (Daucus carota) and the ancestor of the turnip (Brassica campestris). Cultivation, to be sure, has made a wide difference between the wildling and the well raised vegetable, but still they are essentially the same, and, except for the unceasing care of the cultivator, the latter would inevitably degenerate to its original condition. Moreover, some of our wild plants are used as vegetables, even when un- cultivated. We were going to instance the nettle, so highly prized as a dietetic spring vegetable in some districts, but we remember that its cultiva- tion has been immortalized by Sir Walter, and that Andrew Fairservice, the old gardener of Loch- leven, did raise early nettles under hand glasses. However, though the nettle is not generally so highly honoured, its young spring shoots are said to be no bad substitute for spinach. For a similar purpose, the mercury goose-foot (Ghenopodium Sonus Henricus) is also used. Where the hop grows plentifully, its young shoots cooked-like asparagus are by no means a despisable vegetable. Next we have of our own, plants to which may * Hooker and Arnott's Brit. Flora. 304 ECONOMIC PROPERTIES OF be traced some of our most prized fruits. The common cherry and the morello both claim ancestry from wild trees (Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus) of our woods and hedgerows, likewise the pear must go back to the Pyrus communis, and the apple to the Pyrus mains, the well known crab- apple. The currants, black and red, and the goose- berry, are all to be found growing beyond the bounds of cultivation ; but it is doubtful whether they are truly wild. Not so the strawberry ( Fra- garia vescd) which nowhere carries a finer flavour than on the woodland bank. Next comes our rasp- berry, introducing us to all its kindred the brambles, with their fruit, black, orange or red, as the case may be ; and from these we pass to the pleasant flavoured bilberries of our woods and hills, and to the cranberry of excellent tart reputation. -Add to these our hazel nuts, and a very respectable dessert we make of our true British natives. Another set of native plants supplies us with con- diments. Mustard we have from the common black mustard (Sinapis nigra) horse-radish (Armoracia rusticana) parsley (Petroselinum sativum) water- cress (Nasturtium qfficinale) all British. The common lettuce is not a British native, but the dandelion, when cultivated as in France, is said to be palatable. The salad burnet (Poterium san- guisorla) resembling cucumber in flavour, is eaten as a salad. The " samphire of the rock," also affords us one of the best of pickles. A few roots BRITISH WILD PLANTS. 305 there are which are used sparingly or in particular districts. Some of the British orchidese yield the salep * of commerce, and the root-tubers of the arum or cuckoo-pint are collected and prepared for sale. The root of the Campanula rapunculoides was formerly cultivated under the name of ramps. In the highlands of Scotland the root of the bitter vetch (Ordbus tulerosus) is said at times to con- stitute an article of food, and the tuber of the common pig-nut (Sunium flexuosum) is eaten by children and pigs whenever they can get it. The uses of the seeds of the flax plant (Linum usitatissimu'ni) are too well known to require com- ment. The seeds of the yellow flag, or common iris have been substituted, when roasted, for coffee ; those of the common buck-wheat (Polygonum fago- pyrutn) are used as food. The mucilaginous pro- perties of the mallow tribe generally, and especially of the common mallow (Malva sylvestris) place them, perhaps, as much among the medicinal as among the economical plants. Pnom linseed and from mustard, oils, valuable as commercial commo- dities, are procurable in large quantity. In the way of arornatics our British wild plants supply us largely ; the greater proportion, however, being derived from the two extensive families of the umbel-bearing and of the labiate plants. In the urnbellifera, the aromatic properties are developed * Salep is used in the preparation of a mucilaginous jelly like arrow- root. X 306 ECONOMICAL PBOPERTIES OP chiefly either in the roots or in the seeds, but also in the steins, as in the case of the common Angelica, the stalks of which are used as a candied confection. The root of the gout-weed (JEgopo- dium), of the meum or spignel, and of the sea- holly (Erynffium), have all of them been held in esteem for their aromatic stimulant properties. In the list of aromatic seeds it is sufficient to enumerate the caraway, the coriander, and the fennel, although many more less known than used, but belonging to the tribe, might be cited. In all these the aromatic property is due to the presence of the essential oil which is contained in the little channels or vittae which are excavated as it were in the substance of the seeds. In the labiate family, the aromatic essential oil is much more generally distributed over the plant than in the umbel-bearers, being found in the leaves, stem, flowers, &c. Such we find to be the case in the various species of mint, including such well-known aromatics as pennyroyal, pepper- mint, spearmint, &c., also in thyme, marjoram, wild basil, sage, &c., all of which are true British labiates. To our list of aromatics we should add the juniper and the sweet-sedge (Acorus calamus). Other plants have we which combine with their aromatic a bitter principle, and thus become partly medicinal. Such is the hop, a pleasanter bitter medicine, more- over, than most others, and one which combines with it much aroma. The same we find in the common germander, a labiate, said to have been at times BRITISH WILD PLANTS. 307 substituted for the hop. In the family of the com- posites we have many such instances, but they belong rather to our medicinal section. As we might expect in former times, ere home- spun yarn and home-made clothing had been ren- dered obsolete by wholesale manufacture, the dyeing properties of our native plants were much more valued, and more generally known and employed, than they now are. Some, indeed, are named from their possession of such properties; such are the Genista tinctoria, or dyer's greenweed, a leguminous plant yielding a yellow, and the Isatis tinctoria, or dyer's woad, yielding a blue dye. Likewise the common dyer's rocket, or yellow weed (Reseda luteola) which also gives a yellow. The stems of the white water lily (Nymphcea alba) have a reputed agency for a grey, and other plants for a black dye. The lycopus, or gipsy-wort, is said to derive its English name from being employed by the wander- ing tribe to stain their skins of a dark colour ; the root of the yellow flag yields a black. The Poten- tilla tormentilla, or tonnentil, one of the commonest of our heath plants, is said by Sir "W. Hooker to be used in Lapland to stain leather red ; and, according to the same authority, the Icelanders form an improved yellow dye by mingling the leaves of the bog whortleberry (Vacciniumuliginosum) with those of the savin-leaved club-moss. Our native astrin- gents are chiefly claimed by the rosaceous tribes, some of these plants have been found specially x2 308 * ECONOMICAL PBOPEBTIES OF adapted for the tanning of leather. For this pur- pose the root of the Potentilla tormentilla, or com- mon tormentil, has been largely employed. The tanning process likewise, besides the well-known oak bark, derives aid from our two native trees the birch and the alder, and the root of the common bracken has been applied to a similar use. We must not forget among our chemicals, either, the saltwort (Salsola), and glasswort (Salicornia), of our sea-shores, which yield soda largely, and which may be made available in the manufacture of glass, of soap, &c. If we look among our native British plants for mechanical capabilities we find them numerous, even excluding the timber which some of our trees yield so largely and so well. From the flax (Linum usitatissimum) we have its fibre ; from the rushes the well-known materials for mats, chairs, lights, &c. ; the willow finds us baskets ; the teazel, the best agent for dressing our cloth ; the holly, wood for engraving and for the art of the turner. From the horse-tail genus (JEquisetvm) we have an admi- rable agent for polishing brass, &c., in the rough epidermis laden with flinty matter, which, it is said, the dairymaids in Northumberland use to scour their milk pails.* The lyme grass (Elymus) by binding the sands of our shores together with it roots, assists in the resistance to the encroachments of the sea, and the sea-reed (Ammophila arundinaced) not only does * Hooker's Flora. BRITISH WILD PLANTS. 309 the same, but gives its stems or culms for the formation of table mats and baskets. The purple molinia is said to be twisted into ropes for their nets by the fishermen of the Isle of Skye. The uses of the common reed, so handsome an ornament of our lakes and streams, are well known to thatchers, and to the layer of the plaster floors so commonly met with in some places. But if we are to go on enumerating the uses of our grasses we never shall have done. "We must not forget the sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle, of our bogs, the twigs of which are used to make beds, nor the hard useful wood of the hornbeam (Carpinus letulus) ; neither the elegant and fragrant birch, of which the sap will afford a wine like the palm-toddy of more southern climes, and the twigs our most useful brooms. And after all these, and many more we might enumerate, of the good and useful properties of our British vegetable products, we must call to mind the woods the heart of oak, unrivalled as our wooden bul- warks, the beech, the ash, the elm, and many more. Then come the holly and the thorn to fence our gardens and fields, and the box, the thrift, and even the heather to edge our garden plots. Pood for our cattle, yielded especially by our grasses and legu- minous plants, such as the clovers, vetches, &c., we must not enter into, lest we find ourselves in a subject requiring a volume instead of one which must be confined to the concluding lines of a last chapter. 310 OUR MEDICINAL NATIVE PLANTS. WEBB we to include in our list every plant which has had some medicinal virtue imputed to it, we must begin at the commencement of the Flora, and go straight on to the end ; for, from the chickweed and groundsel, which enter in the composition of the fomentations and poultices of the village nurse, up to the valuable but powerful foxglove and night- shade, which must be cautiously used, even by the medical man, we find nearly every weed and wild flower invested with some reputed properties. A certain number of our native plants are recog- nized by medical men, and included in what is called the Pharmacopoeia, or list of accredited medicinal agents. Many, however, even though thus noticed, are neglected, perhaps undeservedly so ; a few only are much employed and prized as powerful remedies in the treatment of disease. The order of the Eanunculacese, in addition to the Ranunculus acris, or upright meadow crowfoot, and Ranunculus flammula, or lesser spearwort, both of which are used as irritants or blistering agents to the skin, affords us the hellebores, at one time in much repute in mania and affections of the head and the dangerous aconite, which has of late years been used in rheumatic affections ; all these OUB, MEDICINAL NATIVE PLANTS. 311 plants well sustain the character of the family for violent and acrid properties. Next have we the poppy tribe, the common red poppy (Papaver rhcEos) yielding the colouring matter of its brilliant petals ; the opium poppy, (Papaver somniferum) its milky juice, which when dried is our opium, perhaps the most useful, most merciful medicine known to man. The opium poppy, however, cannot be claimed as a British native, although now it has become in some districts so thoroughly naturalized as to take rank with our wild plants. There is no doubt that this plant first came from the East Persia, or Asia Minor. It is chiefly cultivated in Britain for its capsules, or " poppy-heads," so much used in fomentations ; and excellent opium has even been made in this country, but not profitably. It is a curious circumstance connected with the poppy, that although the seed-vessels or capsules contain the opium juice so largely, the seeds within them are perfectly bland, and even agreeable in flavour, and are in some places used as food. The medicinal plants native to Britain, obtained from the cruciferous order, are not in high repute for their activity. The scurvy-grass (Cochlearia offici- nalis) has been esteemed chiefly as a counter-agent to a diet too exclusively composed of animal food; the horse-radish and black mustard, as stimulants ; the common cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) for its pungent bitterness. Leaving the crucial flowers, we find that from the blossoms of the sweet-scented 312 OUB MEDICINAL NATIVE PLANTS. violet, a syrup is made, which partakes of the odour and colour of the petals, and which is much used as a simple domestic remedy in the ailments, coughs, fee., of young children : moreover, the root of the violet possesses emetic properties. Next we have the linseed and the mallows, both valuable for their demulcent properties; and the pretty little wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) offering its trefoil leaves to make a pleasant acid drink for the parched lips of fever, its acid, the oxalic, being the same as that of the garden rhubarb. The common broom (Saro- tJiamnus Scoparius) stands high, and deservedly so, as a remedy in dropsy. It is remarkable as the only native medicinal plant we draw from the important order of the Leguminosa?, or pod-bearing tribe. Passing to the rose tribe, we find the plants it presents us, the common aveus, (Geum urlanum;) the tormentil (fotentilla Tormentilla ;) and the dog rose (Rosa canina /) of which the heps are used for a conserve ; all serviceable on account of the astringent principle so characteristic of the order to which they belong. For the same property, however, the tall handsome loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria ;) of our August water-sides, has found a place in the list. "We noticed the aromatic properties of the caraway, fennel, coriander, angelica, and other members of the umbel-bearers in our last chapter, and need not refer to them again ; but we must not omit mention of their relative, the hemlock (Conium maculatim,) a powerful poison, but a sooth- OTJB MEDICINAL NATIVE PLANTS. 313 ing medicine in proper hands. The common elder (Sambucus ebulus) has a reputation rather domestic than in the domains of legitimate medicine; its leaves, which are slightly astringent, being used in the composition of an ointment, and the distilled water of its flowers as an aromatic. Valuable and powerful, but by no means agreeable, the root of the common valerian (Valeriana offitinalis) is much employed as a stimulant in nervous derangements. Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis ;) wormwood (Arte- misia absinthium?) tansy (Tanacetum vulgare ;} and taraxacum, or dandelion (Leontodon taraxacum;} all give the bitter principle of the composite plants ; the three first, strongly, in combination with the aromatic, the last in a milder form, but the most valuable of the four, extremely valuable in liver, stomach, and dropsical affections. To the same family we are indebted for the strong scented lettuce (Lactuca virosa), of which the milky juice is often used as a substitute for opium. But the old ladies will not forgive us if we forget the coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), another composite, of such ancient repute in chest complaints, that its very name is derived from " tussis," the latin word for a cough. Of the essential oils of the labiates; the mints and the marjoram, we spoke in our last chapter; but, like the coltsfoot, the horehound (Marrubium vulgare) will surely get us into disgrace for its omission, for it, too, is widely celebrated as a pectoral. Both plants have this virtue that if they 314 OUR MEDICINAL NATIVE PLANTS. do not do good, they certainly do not much mis- chief. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), a member of the figworts, notwithstanding its handsome appear- ance, is badly thought of, popularly, as dangerous, and not without reason, and yet it may take its place beside the most valued medicines the wide world over. It has been used domestically, but it must have been improperly, in Ireland as a remedy in epilepsy. Our next order, the solanese, or night- shades, is a highly medicinal one ; the bitter-sweet (Solanum Dulcamara) ; the belladonna, or deadly nightshade (Atropa Belladonna) ; the thorn apple {Datura stramonium) ; and the henbane (Jlyoscya-