broad, short leaf-stalks. Stamens short, anthers purple. Seeds
black and rough. Pastures and roadsides, May to September.
II. Hoary Plantain (_P. media_): leaves not so broad, flower-scape
shorter. Stamens long, anthers whitish. Seeds brown, rough.
Pastures and waste places in a dry soil, June to October. Plant
more or less covered with short hairs.
III. Ribwort Plantain (_P. lanceolata_): as the scientific name
implies, the leaves are lance-shaped, long and narrow. The
flower-scape is deeply furrowed, the flower-spike short. Stamens
long, white. Seeds black, shining. Pastures and heaths, May to
October.
IV. Seaside Plantain (_P. maritima_). Rootstock branched, crown
woolly. Leaves narrower than the last, margins more parallel, ribs
weak. Stamens pale yellow. Seeds brown, slightly winged at end.
Pastures, salt-marshes and rocks by the sea, June to September.
V. Buck’s-horn Plantain (_P. coronopus_). Leaves narrow, linear,
divided, or deeply-toothed, suggesting the popular name; ribbed,
hairy. Stamens pale yellow. Seeds pale brown. Poor gravelly soils,
chiefly near coast. June to August.
=Meadow Sage= (_Salvia pratensis_).
In speaking of the Bugle on page 22 we promised to say more of Labiate
flowers further on. _Salvia_ is a labiate, and of similar construction
to _Ajuga_. _S. pratensis_ is a rare plant, found only in Cornwall,
Kent, and Oxford, from June to August. The soft wrinkled leaves have
the edges cut into convex teeth (_crenate_). The flowers are large
and bright blue; they are borne in whorls, usually of four or five
flowers, on a tall spike. There is a more frequent species, the Wild
Sage or Clary (_S. verbenaca_), found in dry pastures all over the
kingdom south of Ross-shire from June to September. It is similar in
habit to _S. pratensis_, but smaller, with the flowers more inclined
to purple. The Sage of the kitchen-garden is _S. officinalis_; not a
native plant. The name _Salvia_ is from the Latin _Salvo_, to save or
heal, from its former great repute in medicine.
[Illustration: =Meadow Sage.=
Salvia pratensis.
--LABIATÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Annual Meadow-Grass.=
Poa annua.
=Cock’s-foot-grass.=
Dactylis glomerata.
--GRAMINEÆ.--]
Most labiate flowers produce honey from the base of the ovary; and
this, of course, is a distinct bribe to insects to visit them. It would
not be an economical arrangement for a flower to provide honey for
all comers without the plant getting a _quid pro quo_; we therefore
find all sorts of “dodges” to ensure a service being done by the
honey-seeker. As we have shown in the Bugle, the anther and stigma
occupy the arch of the upper lip. As a rule the ripe anthers first
occupy the foremost position, so that if a bee alights on the lower lip
and pushes into the corolla for the honey his hairy back will brush
off the pollen from the anthers. After the honey is shed the stigmas
come forward and occupy the former position of the anthers. Should a
bee that has got dusted with pollen at an earlier flower now pay a
visit the stigmas will collect some pollen from his back and the ovules
become fertilized. This is the general plan in the order Labiatæ, but
there are modifications in each genus.
=Annual Meadow-grass= (_Poa annua_), and
=Cock’s-foot-grass= (_Dactylis glomerata_).
In describing the Wall Barley we gave a general idea of the structure
of grass flowers, and those of _Poa_ are very similar to those of
_Hordeum_; but the flower-cluster (_inflorescence_) is very different.
In _Hordeum_ (which see) this is a _spike_, bearing many three-flowered
spikelets on each side. In _Poa_ it is more branched and diffuse, and
is called a _panicle_. In _P. annua_ the branches grow two together,
and are branched again. The spikelets are not awned as in _Hordeum_.
There are eight British species of _Poa_, which, however, we have not
space to describe. The name is Greek, and signifies fodder. All the
species are perennial, with the exception of _P. annua_, which is an
annual, as the name indicates. It flowers from April to September, and
abounds in meadows, pastures and by roadsides.
The Cock’s-foot-grass (_Dactylis glomerata_) is an ingredient of most
pastures, and one of our most familiar grasses. Its long stout stem
creeps for a distance, then rises very erectly and gives off horizontal
flowering branches. The violet-tinted spikelets are gathered into dense
one-sided clusters. Each spikelet contains three or four flowers, which
are supposed to be arranged after the fashion of fingers on a hand,
whence the Greek name _Daktulos_, fingers. Each flowering glume ends
in a short awn-like point. This is the only British species. It is
generally distributed, and will be found in waste places as well as
pastures, flowering in June and July. The whole plant is rough to the
touch. The leaves are long, flat and keeled.
=Cat’s-tail, or Timothy-grass= (_Phleum pratense_), and
=Vernal-grass= (_Anthoxanthum odoratum_).
Timothy is one of the most valuable of our grasses, and forms an
important portion of the hay crop, from the fact that it is one of the
earliest and most abundant species. The inflorescence is a crowded
spike, reminding one somewhat of a miniature reproduction of the
Reed-mace (_Typha_). The spikelets are one-flowered. The outer glumes
are boat-shaped, with a stout green keel, fringed with stiff hairs. The
flowering glume is glassy, and entirely included within the outer ones,
from which, however, the long stamens and feathery stigmas protrude.
The anthers are yellow and purple. The plant is perennial, and flowers
from June to September. The name _Phleum_ is the classic Greek one for
the plant. The figure represents the spike after the anthers have
passed their prime; at an earlier period these stand out well from the
glumes, and give a very light appearance to the spike. There are three
other native species, but they are all more or less local.
[Illustration: =Timothy-grass.=
Phleum pratense.
=Vernal-grass.=
Anthoxanthum odoratum.
--GRAMINEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Viper’s Bugloss.=
Echium vulgare.
--BORAGINEÆ.--]
The Sweet Vernal-grass is singular among grasses in the fact that
it possesses but two stamens. The panicle is spike-like, with short
branches. The spikelets are one-flowered. The outer glumes are four in
number, one flowering glume, a pale, but no lodicules. In the Linnæan
system plants were classified according to the number of their stamens
and pistils, and the artificiality of it was strikingly shown when this
plant had to be widely separated from all other grasses, because it was
one stamen short, though agreeing with them in all other essentials.
The species is abundant in most meadows, and were it absent one of the
charms of the hay harvest would be gone also; for this is the grass
that gives the characteristic odour to ripe new-mown hay. It flowers
in May and June. The name is from two Greek words, signifying yellow
blossoms.
=Viper’s Bugloss= (_Echium vulgare_).
Our artist has chosen to delineate a specimen of this striking plant
that has passed its prime in a flowering sense. To our mind the
Viper’s Bugloss is prettiest when only one or two flowers are open on
each cyme. The recurved cymes are then very short, and the unopened
flowers packed closely together. As in Lungwort (p. 9), the unopened
corollas are purplish-red in colour, when opened bright blue. After
flowering, the cymes lengthen until they are as long as shown in our
illustration. The parts of the flower, it will be seen, are in fives:
calyx five-parted, tubular corolla with five-lobed “limb,” as the
free portion is called, stamens five, stigma two-lobed. The lobes of
the corolla are unequal, and one of the stamens is shorter than the
other four, which protrude from the corolla considerably; in fact,
they serve as a platform upon which insects alight. When the flower
opens the anthers are ripe and shed their pollen, so that bees or other
insects alighting are sure to get their under surface dusted with it.
At this period the pistil is short and immature, so that it cannot be
fertilized by its own pollen; but as the pollen disappears the pistil
lengthens, until its stigmas are in the position where they are bound
to receive pollen brought on the under surface of a visiting insect.
The leaves are strap-shaped, long, and rough with hairs.
Much fault is found with scientific names on account of their
uncouthness and obscurity. But they are mostly derived from Greek and
Latin roots, and reflect some peculiarity of the plant; whereas many
of the English or Folk-names are most arbitrary, and require much
explaining, which is sometimes not easily done. “Viper’s Bugloss” is a
puzzle, and authors have pretended to see likenesses to a viper in the
markings of the stem, the shape of the flower and of the seeds; others
have taken shelter behind Dioscorides, who said that a decoction of the
plant was a protection from the effects of a viper’s bite. If a man
knew he was going to be bitten by a viper and took a certain dose of
this plant beforehand he was all right! But the word bugloss seems a
worse puzzle than the plant’s connection with vipers. Most dictionaries
will help to the extent of telling that bugloss is the name of a plant,
and no more. The truth is, it is as Greek as any scientific name, being
compounded of the words _Bous_, an ox, and _glossa_, a tongue, from its
leaves being rough, like the tongue of an ox.
It is common on gravelly and chalky soils, flowering from June
to August. It is rich in honey, so that it is much frequented of
sweet-tongued insects. The name _Echium_ is from the Greek _Echis_, a
viper.
=Wild Strawberry= (_Fragaria vesca_).
Well known as the Wild Strawberry is, the Barren Strawberry
(_Potentilla fragariastrum_) when flowering is often mistaken
for it. The general resemblance is fairly close, but a botanist can
distinguish each at a glance. In each the leaves are divided into three
leaflets, the flowers are white and five-parted; but in _F. vesca_ the
upper side of the leaf is channelled with sunken nerve-lines, whilst
in _P. fragariastrum_ it is smooth. The real strawberry sends off
runners with young rooting plants; the false does not. When the fruit
is formed there is no longer danger of confounding the two species, for
the false plant entirely lacks the fleshiness of the true. The fruit
of the Strawberry is a compound one, consisting of a large number of
achenes scattered over the enlarged and succulent top (_receptacle_)
of the flower-stalk, beneath which are spread out the persistent green
calyx-lobes.
[Illustration: =Wild Strawberry.=
Fragaria vesca.
--ROSACEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Milkwort.=
Polygala vulgaris.
--POLYGALEÆ.--
=Germander Speedwell.=
Veronica chamædrys.
--SCROPHULARINEÆ.--]
It is a widely distributed species, flowering from April to June, and
found on shady banks, and in woods. The name _Fragaria_ is from the
Latin _fragrans_, fragrant, and has reference to the perfumed fruit.
=Milkwort= (_Polygala vulgaris_), and
=Germander Speedwell= (_Veronica chamædrys_).
Nestling closely among the grass of heaths and dry pastures, the
Milkwort, though commonly and profusely distributed, is not a
well-known plant. It is only a few inches in height, and scarcely
noticeable when not in flower. The narrow, tough leaves are scattered
alternately on the stem. The broad inner two of the five sepals are
coloured purple, and the corolla may be the same hue, or pink, blue,
white or lilac. The structure of the flower is very curious, and should
be carefully noted by aid of the pocket-lens. The stamens cohere, and
the corolla is attached to the sheath thus formed. The pistil has a
protecting hood over it, obviously with reference to the visits of
insects; but the flower is also self-fertile. When the fruit is formed
the sepals turn green. The name of the genus is derived from two Greek
words, _polus_ and _gala_, meaning much milk, from an ancient notion
that cows eating this plant were enabled to give a greatly increased
supply of milk.
There are two other British species:--
I. Proliferous Milkwort (_P. calcarea_), branches rooting, and giving
rise to new plants. Inner sepals broader and longer. Dry soils in south
and south-east of England.
II. Bitter Milkwort (_P. amara_), much smaller in all respects than the
others; the inner sepals are narrow, and the leaves form a rosette.
Very rare. Found only on the margins of rills in Teasdale, and Wye
Down, Kent. They all flower from June to August.
The Germander Speedwell (_Veronica chamædrys_) is the representative
of a genus which includes sixteen native species, most of them with
bright blue flowers of a particular form. The corolla is tubular for
half its length, the upper portion divided into four spreading lobes,
of which the upper and lower are usually broader than the lateral pair.
The two stamens are attached within the corolla-tube just below the
upper lobe, and the anthers and stigma protrude beyond the mouth of the
tube. _V. chamædrys_ grows to greatest advantage in a great mass on a
sloping bank, where, in May and June, its intensely bright blue flowers
are very attractive. It is a most disappointing flower to gather, for
the corollas readily drop off, and the beauty of the “button-hole” has
rapidly passed. A fine robust species, the Brooklime (_V. beccabunga_),
grows in bogs, ditches, and by the margins of streams, with stout stem
and thick leaves; flowering from May to September.
=The Spurge Family= (_Euphorbia_).
The whole of the British species of Spurge have a singular character,
which enables the tyro in botanical matters to determine the genus at a
glance, though he may not be so successful in distinguishing between
the twelve or thirteen native species. This singularity is chiefly due
to the colour and arrangement of their flowers. These possess neither
sepals nor petals; instead, a number of unisexual flowers are wrapped
in an _involucre_. An individual involucre of, say, the Sun Spurge,
should be detached and examined with the aid of the pocket-lens. It
will be seen to have four lobes, to each of which is attached an
orbicular yellow gland. Within the involucre are several flowers,
each consisting of a single stamen on a separate flower-stalk (note
joint), and from the midst of these arises a single pistillate flower
on a long, curved stalk. With slight variations this is the form of
inflorescence which characterizes the whole genus. The British species
may be briefly enumerated thus:--
[Illustration: =Sun Spurge.=
Euphorbia helioscopia.
=Cypress Spurge.=
Euphorbia cyparissias.
--EUPHORBIACEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Dewberry.=
Rubus cæsius.
--ROSACEÆ.--]
I. Sun Spurge (_E. helioscopia_). Annual herb with yellow green
obovate leaves, the margin of upper half toothed. Milky juice used
as a wart-cure. Waste places, June to October.
II. Broad-leaved Spurge (_E. platyphyllos_). Annual. Leaves broad,
lance-shaped, sharp-pointed, toothed above middle. Fruit (capsule)
warted. Fields and waste places from York southwards: rare. July to
October.
III. Irish Spurge (_E. hiberna_). Perennial. Leaves thin, ovate,
not toothed, tip blunt or notched; upper leaves heart-shaped.
Glands of involucre purple, kidney-shaped. Hedges and thickets,
rare; only in North Devon and South and West of Ireland. Flowers
May and June. Juice used by salmon-poachers for poisoning rivers.
IV. Wood Spurge (_E. amygdaloides_). Perennial, stout, red,
shrubby. Leaves obovate, thick, tough, reddish, 2 to 3 inches long,
hairy beneath, lower on short stalks. Involucral glands half-moon
shaped, yellow. Woods and copses, chiefly on clay soils. Flowers
March to May.
V. Petty Spurge (_E. peplus_). Annual. Leaves thin, broadly
obovate, on short stalks, ¾ inch long. Involucral glands half-moon
shaped (_lunate_), with long horns. Waste ground, market-gardens
and flower-beds. July to November.
VI. Dwarf Spurge (_E. exigua_). Annual. Much branched. Leaves very
narrow and stiff. Involucres small, almost stalkless. Involucral
glands, rounded with two blunt-pointed horns. Fields, especially on
light soil. July to October.
VII. Portland Spurge (_E. portlandica_). Perennial, tufted,
many-branched stems. Leaves tough, obovate acute, spreading.
Involucral glands, lunate, with two long horns. Sandy shores, on
South and West coasts, and in Ireland. May to August. Rare.
VIII. Sea Spurge (_E. paralias_). Perennial, bushy, many-stemmed,
stout, reddish, woody below. Leaves narrow, concave, very thick,
arranged in whorls. Points of involucral glands short. Sandy
shores, July to October.
IX. Leafy-branched Spurge (_E. esula_). Perennial. Rootstock
creeping. Stem slender. Leaves thin, narrow, sometimes toothed.
Involucres small, on long stalks, glands lunate, with short
straight horns. Woods and fields; Jersey, Forfar, Edinburgh, and
Alnwick. July.
X. Cypress Spurge (_E. cyparissias_). Perennial. Rootstock
creeping. Leaves _very narrow_, not toothed. Woods, England, June
and July.
XI. Caper Spurge (_E. lathyris_). Biennial. Stem short and stout,
3 to 4 feet second year. Leaves narrow, broader at base, opposite,
alternate pairs placed at right angles to each other (_decussate_).
Copses and woods, June and July. Fruit used as a condiment.
XII. Purple Spurge (_E. peplis_). Annual. Stems prostrate, purple,
glaucous. Leaves oblong, heart-shaped, thick, on short stalks, with
stipules, opposite. Glands oblong. Very rare. On sandy coasts,
South Wales, Cornwall to Hants, and Waterford. July to September.
All the species have milky sap. Poisonous.
=Dewberry= (_Rubus cæsius_). Plate 30.
A sub-species of the Blackberry; too well known to require description.
=Honeysuckle= (_Lonicera periclymenum_).
The Woodbine or Common Honeysuckle is one of the most familiar of our
wild flowers, and as great a favourite as any. It owes its popularity
not only to the beauty of its flowers, but also to its strong sweet
odour, and in some measure to its graceful twining habit. The tough
stem grows to a great length--ten to twenty feet in some cases--and
always twines from left to right. The egg-shaped leaves are attached in
pairs, the lower ones by short stalks, but the upper ones are stalkless
(_sessile_). The flowers are clustered, the calyces closely crowded,
five-toothed. The corolla-tube may be from one to two inches long, the
free end (_limb_) divided into five lobes, which split irregularly into
two opposite lips. It is rich in honey, the corolla being often half
filled with it, and consequently it is a great favourite with bees and
moths, who are bound to bring and fetch pollen from the outstanding
anthers of one plant and deposit it upon the equally obtrusive stigma
of another. The flowers are succeeded by a cluster of round crimson
berries. Widely distributed in hedges, copses, and on heaths.
[Illustration: =Perfoliate Honeysuckle.=
Lonicera caprifolium.
--CAPRIFOLIACEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Purple Dead-nettle.=
Lamium purpureum.
--LABIATÆ.--]
Perfoliate Honeysuckle (_L. caprifolium_) is similar to the last, but
the upper pairs of leaves are joined together by their broad bases. The
corolla-tubes are longer than in the common species, and it therefore
becomes impossible for even the longest-tongued bees to carry off much
of the honey. Moths with their long trunks can; and consequently they
swarm upon it at night, and carry the pollen from plant to plant. This
species may be found in copses in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, but
is believed to be only naturalized--not a true native. Flowers May and
June. The name Lonicera was bestowed by Linnæus in honour of a German
botanist named Adam Lonicer.
=Dead Nettles= (_Lamium_).
Our forefathers, when giving English names to plants, found it by no
means easy work, and the greater number of our native species they left
unnamed altogether. Many of the names they did invent were made to
serve many times by the simple expedient of prefixing adjectives. Thus,
having decided on Nettle as the distinctive name of certain stinging
herbs (_Urtica_), they made it available for the entirely unrelated
genus _Lamium_ by calling the species Dead (or stingless) nettles. In a
similar fashion they made Hemp-nettle, and Hedge-nettle.
Apart from the resemblance in form of the leaves in certain species,
there is little likeness between _Lamium_ and _Urtica_, the large
and graceful flowers of the former contrasting strongly with the
inconspicuous green blossoms of the stinging nettles (_see_ page 103).
In the absence of flowers the difference may be quickly seen by cutting
the stems across, when _Urtica_ will exhibit a round solid section,
whilst _Lamium_ is square and tubular. The flowers, like those of Bugle
(page 21) and Meadow-Sage (p. 23) are labiate, and are produced in
whorls. The calyx is tubular, with five teeth. The corolla tubular,
with dilated _throat_, whence the name from _Laimos_ (Gr.), throat. The
British species are five:--
I. Red Dead Nettle (_Lamium purpureum_). Leaves heart-shaped, with
rounded teeth, stalked. Bases of flower-bracts not overlapping.
Corolla purplish-red. Whole plant often purple. Hedge-banks and
waste places. April to October.
II. Intermediate Dead Nettle (_L. intermedium_). Intermediate
between the first and the next species, but more robust. Bracts
overlapping. Teeth much longer than calyx-tube, spreading.
Cultivated ground, not in S. of England. June to September.
III. Henbit Dead Nettle (_L. amplexicaule_). Calyx more hairy than
in I. and II.; teeth equal to tube in length, converging when in
fruit. Corolla slender, deep rose-colour, often deformed. Bracts
broad, overlapping. Waste places. April to August. Above three
species are annuals, the remainder perennials.
IV. White Dead Nettle (_L. album_). Corolla large, creamy white,
upper lip vaulted. Calyx teeth long. Waste places. March to
December.
V. Yellow Archangel (_L. galeobdolon_). Corolla yellow, the lower
lip orange, spotted with brown. Hedges and woods. May and June.
=Ground Ivy= (_Nepeta glechoma_), and
=Ivy-leaved Toad-flax= (_Linaria cymbalaria_).
Trailing among the grass of the copse and hedgebank the Ground Ivy is
one of the earliest of flowers to appear in spring. It has not the
remotest relationship to the real ivy (_Hedera helix_), but, like the
Dead Nettle, is a labiate plant. The slender square stem creeps along,
and wherever it puts forth a pair of leaves it sends down a tuft of
fibrous roots also. The leaves are roundish, kidney-shaped, deeply
round-toothed on the margin. The flowers are borne in the axils of
leaf-like bracts. The corolla-tube is long, slender at base, afterwards
dilating. Some of the purple-blue flowers are large and perfect, others
small and devoid of stamens. March to June. There is a closely allied,
but rare, species called the Catmint (_N. cataria_) which flowers
from July to September. This has an erect stem, with leaves approaching
more to heart-shape, the teeth sharper; both stem and leaves downy and
whitish. Flowers white, marked with rose-colour. The name _Nepeta_ is
the classical Latin one, and is said to have been given because the
plant was common round the town of Nepet in Tuscany.
[Illustration: =Ground Ivy.=
Nepeta glechoma.
--LABIATEÆ.--
=Ivy-leaved Toadflax.=
Linaria cymbalaria.
--SCROPHULARINEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Round-leaved Crane’s-bill.=
Geranium rotundifolium.
--GERANIACEÆ.--]