The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of Answers

Part 34

Chapter 342,597 wordsPublic domain

_VI. WILD FLOWERS AND FLOWERLESS PLANTS_

The beauty and inspiration of wild flowers, which lovers of Nature constantly bring to our attention, should by no means, be passed by. There are few, indeed, whose joy in living is not more than a little deepened by contact with the woods and meadows, perfumed with the scent of wild-growing flowers and blossoms, and made beautiful to the eye by a riot of colors both soothing and delightful. They are to be found under forest trees, in bushes and hedges, amidst grasses in meadows, on highways and declivities, and on rubbish heaps and in water; they crowd together, as though unwilling to be hidden from view.

Among the leading representatives of these plants, grouped according to the localities in which they are found, are sure to be the following.

FLOWERS THAT GROW IN THE WOODS

A prime favorite among the flowers of spring is the TRAILING ARBUTUS (_Epigaea repens_), a trailing plant of the Heath family, with branches six to fifteen feet long and evergreen leaves, called Mayflower in New England and Ground Laurel in the Southern States. It grows in sandy or rocky soils, especially in the shade of evergreen trees, from Canada to Texas. It is prized for its early blooming, and delicate flowers, now gathered in considerable quantities for city flower markets. In the early spring also the LUNGWORT (_Pulmonaria officinalis_) delights us with its violet and blue flowers; as does also the LIVERWORT (_Hepatica triloba_), the three-lobed leaves of which live through the winter. That familiar little favorite, the sweet-scented LILY OF THE VALLEY (_Convallaria majalis_), raises its tender string of blooms surrounded by two large leaves in May. This is followed by the sweet-scented WOODRUFF (_Asperula odorata_). In some districts the fresh leaves of the woodruff are used for making May wine; when dried they emit an agreeable scent, and are therefore frequently laid in wardrobes. Its leaves are stellate, and its small blossoms are arranged in umbels. It grows from nine to twelve inches high. Other plants found in the woods are the FORGET-ME-NOT (_Myosotis silvatica_), and the CENTAURY (_Erythræa Centaurium_). The rose-red blossoms of the latter are arranged in clusters, and its leaves have medicinal properties. Late in the year towards autumn the common LING or heather (_Calluna vulgaris_) opens its red blooms. The leaves are small, and arranged in four rows along the stem. The young heather contains a rich honey, and is consequently much sought after by all kinds of insects.

WILD FLOWERS AMONG THE HEDGES AND BUSHES

In March and April, in concealed spots, the sweet-scented VIOLET blows (_Viola odorata_), filling the air with its sweet fragrance every morning. The ANEMONE (_Anemone nemerosa_) raises its white flower, tinged with red, from the midst of three large green leaves. The WOOD-SORREL (_Oxalis acetosella_), sends out from its root graceful trifoliate leaves and white blooms traversed by violet veins. In the hedges and bushes, also, we meet with the ARUM (_Arum maculatum_), the common wake-robin or lords and ladies. On closely observing this plant, we shall find rather deep in the earth a tuberous root as large as a walnut, from which spring three or four long-stalked, bright leaves. Between the leaves a smooth stem arises six to nine inches high, which bears at its upper end the blossoms, surrounded by a greenish sheath. The arum has acrid properties, but its corm yields Portland sago or arrowroot. In the vicinity of this plant we also find the VALERIAN (_Valeriana officinalis_), the root of which possesses healing properties. It contains an oil, which is used as a remedy for cramp.

THE FLOWERS OF THE OPEN MEADOWS

The uniform green which covers the meadows all the year round is agreeably relieved by a large number of plants with colored flowers. Here blooms the sky-blue GENTIAN (_Gentiana verna_), which delights both the eye and the heart. There the beautiful blue bells of the CAMPANULA (_Campanula Rapunculus_) raise their heads, together with the violet flowers of the SCABIOUS (_Scabiosa pratensis_), and the numerous bloom-whorls of the meadow SAGE (_Salvia pratensis_). Between these can be seen the red and white heads of the meadow and white CLOVER (_Trifolia pratensis_ and _T. repens_); and from a distance we can recognize the small DAISY (_Bellis perennis_), the similar but larger Dog Daisy (_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_), the yellow MEADOW SWEET (_Tragopogon pratensis_), and the DANDELION (_Taraxacum officinale_). In these the fructification is carried out by insects; but, as the single flowers are so small that they would be overlooked by the insects, Nature has arranged many of them in the form of a small chalice or cup, which can be seen from afar, especially in those cases where the radiating petals are different in color from the sepals, like those in the dog daisies. Many meadow plants grow with their stalks and blooms high over their neighbors, as though they were the lords of the meadows.

In these the flowers are very small; but as they are united in large numbers in flat umbals, they show up well. On the dry ridges blooms the PLANTAIN (_Plantago_), which has good healing properties; and the wild THYME (_Thymus Serpylum_), a graceful plant, which is sometimes made into tea, and is frequently placed in children’s baths. The shape of its blooms shows it to be a member of the family of the labiate flowers, to which belongs also the meadow sage.

FLOWERS OF THE WOODED PASTURES

Another large natural family of plants, the milkworts, have a pretty representative in the meadows in the CUCKOO-FLOWER (_Cardamine pratensis_). Its leaves are pennate, and the lilac-colored flowers contain four large and two short stamens; the fruit is a pod. Upon woody pastures we also often find the ORCHIS (_Orchis Morio_). From the two oval tubers a stem arises enclosed in sheath-like leaves. At the top of the stem are the curiously formed flowers, which are fructified by insects in a very peculiar and striking manner. The somewhat unattractive SOUR-SORREL (_Rumex Acetosa_), Fig. 13, is well known, and its soft stem and juicy leaves are sometimes eaten by children. The leaves are arrow-shaped; the small flowers are reddish in color.

WILD FLOWERS ON HIGHWAYS AND WASTE LAND

Here we meet, besides old acquaintances from the meadows, the GROUNDSEL (_Senecio vulgaris_) and the CHICKWEED (_Stellaria media_), both valued as birds’ food, and common everywhere; the SHEPARD’S POUCH (_Capsella Bursa pastoris_), easily recognized by its almost three-cornered little pods, and blooming, like the groundsel, nearly all the year round; the white, spotted, and purple BLIND-NETTLES (_Lamium album_, _L. maculatum_, and _L. purpureum_), and the ORIGANUM (_Origanum vulgare_), are labiate flowers, which are diligently visited by insects for their honey. Here, too, are the bristly, blue-flowered ADDER-WORT (_Echium vulgare_); the round-leaved MALLOW (_Malva rotundifolia_); the BURDOCK (_Lappa major_), the blossoms of which cling to the clothes so readily; the common NETTLES (_Urtica_); and the TANSY.

FLOWERS IN CULTIVATED FIELDS

Several plants grow amid the corn which are really ornamental with their bright flowers. A very pretty example is the larkspur (_Delphinium Consolida_), a small graceful little plant, with numerous blue spur-like flowers. Near the latter we also find the blue CORNFLOWER (_Centaurea Cyanus_), which is so frequently plucked by children and woven into wreaths.

The CAMOMILE (_Matricaria Chamomilla_), is recognized by its strong odor. It has a small chalice with white petals, and is an important medicinal plant. The CORN-COCKLE (_Agrostemma Githago_) and the red POPPY (_Papaver Rhœas_) are also seen; and at the time when the wind sweeps over the field of stubble the latter is adorned with the wild PANSY (_Viola tricolor_), the leaves and flowers of which have healing properties, and are collected for medicinal uses.

THE GREAT GROUPS OF CRYPTOGAMS OR FLOWERLESS PLANTS

The Cryptogams are plants without true, or without visible flowers; to these belong the shave grasses, the ferns, the mosses, the algæ, the lichens, and the fungi.

The HORSE-TAIL (_Equisetum arvense_), frequently grows in damp, sandy fields. The spring stem of the plant is simple and reddish in color, and bears fruit called spores in an upright ear.

The WALL RUE (_Asplenium Ruta muraria_), belongs to the family of ferns. It grows everywhere on walls, and has a short root, three-cornered leaves, and along both sides of the middle ribs of the leaves the fruit lies in rows.

The COMMON FERN (_Polypodium vulgare_), grows on walls and rocks. It has a creeping stem, and beautiful serrated leaves, bearing on their underside the somewhat large fruit glands which contain the spores. Other familiar ferns are the WORM FERN (_Aspidium Filix mas_), and the EAGLE FERN (_Pteris Aquilina_), from three to five feet high.

The COMMON HAIR MOSS (_Polytrichum commune_), grows in all the woods and in wet fields. The stem is upright; the small leaves are pointed and serrated at their edges. The spores develop in a quadrangular sheath, which is surrounded by a cell. The mosses play an important part in the economy of Nature; they retain in the woods a quantity of the water which falls as rain, and thus preserve the lands from being flooded, store up moisture for the plants, and also influence the climatic conditions of a country. The so-called PEAT-MOSS (_Sphagnum_) enters largely into the composition of peat.

The REINDEER MOSS (_Cladonia rangiferina_), is a much-branched little plant of a greyish color. The small fruit corpuscles are at the ends of the branches. The reindeer moss is common in the pine woods of northern Europe.

The TOAD’S-STOOL (_Agricus muscarius_), grows in the woods in autumn. The blood-red cap has numerous white excrescences on its surface. It is very poisonous and ill-smelling, and has a bitter taste. It is often used as a poison for flies, but is also dangerous to men and animals.

The MUSHROOM (_Agricus campestris_), is common from May to October in fields, gardens, and meadows. It has lately also been cultivated in cellars and greenhouses. It is a favorite article of food, and one of the most useful of the edible fungi.

_VII. TREES OF THE FOREST_

The forest trees are divided into two groups: Trees Bearing Foliage, and Trees with Aciculous Leaves. The former lose their leaves in autumn; the stiff linear leaves of the latter, on the contrary, live throughout the winter, with the exception of those of the larch tree.

=Alder= (_Alnus_), trees native to the North Temperate and Arctic zones and to the Andes into Chili. The Black Alder grows near the brooks. The male blossoms stand in long, cylindrical catkins; the female blossoms in small, roundish catkins. The fruit is found in small cones. The alder tree blossoms in April and May. It may reach seventy feet in height and nine in girth, but seldom exceeds forty in height. The bark of the shoots is used in tanning and dyeing leather red, brown, yellow, or, with copperas, black. The wood is durable under water, and is said by Virgil to have been the first wood used by man for boats. It was used for piles at Ravenna and for the Rialto at Venice, and is still so employed in Holland. Its chief use is for gunpowder-charcoal. For this purpose shoots five or six years old, or about four inches across, are employed.

=Ash= (_Fraxinus_), a valuable timber-tree belonging to the olive tribe. It has smooth, olive-grey bark, black buds, opposite pinnate leaves of from seven to fifteen leaflets, flowers without calyx or corolla, and an oblong-winged fruit. Its wood is more flexible than that of any other European tree, and is used for walking-sticks, spade-handles, the spokes and felloes of wheels, etc. There are about twelve species native to North America. The best known are: COMMON ASH, a large tree one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high, growing wild in southern Europe and northern Asia. WHITE ASH, a large tree forty-five to ninety feet high; Nova Scotia to Florida, westward to Minnesota and Texas. GREEN ASH, forty to fifty feet high, Vermont to Florida, intermittently to Utah and Arizona. RED ASH, a small tree, rarely more than forty feet high, growing in moist soil from New Brunswick to South Dakota, Florida, Alabama and Missouri. BLUE ASH, fifty to seventy-five feet high, Ontario, Minnesota, and Michigan to Alabama, west to Iowa and Arkansas. BLACK or HOOP ASH, a large tree, seventy to eighty feet high, Newfoundland to Manitoba, south to Virginia and Arkansas.

=Aspen or Trembling Poplar= (_Populus tremula_), has a greenish-grey bark. Its leaves have long stalks, and tremble at the slightest current of air. The AMERICAN ASPEN called QUAKING ASPEN or QUAKING ASP, is one of the most widely distributed trees of North America, growing from Alaska and Newfoundland to lower California. A slender tree with light green bark, maximum height 100 feet. Wood soft, light, and largely used for manufacture of wood pulp. The EUROPEAN ASPEN is a quick growing tree, fifty to eighty feet high. The wood is soft and porous, and is used in turnery and in interior finish for houses.