Part 6

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

There are two other British species:--

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

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

=Pimpernel= (_Anagallis arvensis_).

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

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

=Chickweed= (_Stellaria media_). Plate 54.

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

=Fennel= (_Fœniculum officinale_).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

=Barberry= (_Berberis vulgaris_).

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

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

=Wild Pansy= (_Viola tricolor_).

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

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

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

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

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

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

=Round-leaved Mint= (_Mentha rotundifolia_).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

=Common Comfrey= (_Symphytum officinale_).

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

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

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

=Common Red Poppy= (_Papaver rhœas_).

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

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

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

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

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

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

=The Greater Stitchwort= (_Stellaria holostea_)

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

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

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

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

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

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

=Silverweed= (_Potentilla anserina_).

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

Among its more immediate congeners may be noted:--

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

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

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

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

=Small Bindweed= (_Convolvulus arvensis_).