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.
[Illustration: =Fennel.=
Fœniculum officinale.
--UMBELLIFERÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Round leaved Sundew.=
Drosera rotundifolia.
--DROSERACEÆ.--]
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.
[Illustration: =Barberry.=
Berberis vulgaris.
--BERBERIDEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Wild Pansy.=
Viola tricolor.
--VIOLACEÆ.--]
=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.
[Illustration: =Round leaved Mint.=
Mentha rotundifolia.
--LABIATÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Common Comfrey.=
Symphytum officinale.
--BORAGINEÆ.--]
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.
[Illustration: =Red Poppy.=
Papaver rhœas.
--PAPAVERACEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Greater Stitchwort.=
Stellaria holostea.
--CARYOPHYLLEÆ.--]
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_).
With the appearance of the delicately fragrant Bindweed in our fields
the season for summer flowers may be said to have fairly set in. Its
grace of form and colour makes it a general favourite, but it resents
being plucked, and closes its pink cups almost immediately. It has a
perennial rootstock, which creeps and branches underground, taking
possession of much soil, and sending up many slender twining stems
clothed with spear-shaped leaves. The sepals are five in number,
but the petals are entirely united to form a funnel-shaped corolla;
though the five folds and lobes indicate the origin of the funnel.
The flowers are honeyed, and are much frequented by long-tongued
insects, which have to push against the anthers in order to reach the
honey, carrying away pollen with which to fertilize another flower.
Like a careful, thrifty plant the Bindweed closes in wet weather, and
at night, that its honey may not be reduced in quality. It flowers from
June to September.
[Illustration: =Silverweed.=
Potentilla anserina.
--ROSACEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Small Bindweed.=
Convolvulus arvensis.
--CONVOLVULACEÆ.--]
The Hooded Bindweed (_C. sepium_) is one of the most distinguished
of our wild flowers, and it is almost impossible to see its
large, pure white flowers ornamenting the hedge without desiring
to acquire them. In general form it is like _C. arvensis_,
but very much larger. Instead of being content to twine among
low-growing herbs as that species, it climbs up the thickets to
a height of 6 or 7 feet. In addition to the calyx this species
has an enveloping pair of large inflated heart-shaped bracts--the
“hood” of its popular name. The rootstock is thick and tuberous.
Though it possesses honey it is not odorous, and appears to be,
in consequence, but little visited by insects; it is, therefore,
careless of the quality of its honey, and does not close its
flowers in the rain, nor on moonlight nights, though it does so
on dark nights. Sometimes the flowers are tinged or streaked with
pink. Flowers June to August.
There is a third native species, the Seaside Convolvulus (_C.
soldanella_), which does not twine, or but rarely. It has a long
creeping rhizome, slender stems, and fleshy, kidney-shaped leaves.
Its large rosy flowers are not numerous. There are two bracts, as
in _C. sepium_, but they are smaller than the unequal sepals. It
may frequently be found on sandy shores, and flowers from June to
August.
=The Greater Celandine= (_Chelidonium majus_).
We have already described (page 6 _ante_) a plant bearing the name
of Lesser Celandine, and we would at once warn the reader that the
Greater Celandine is not even distantly related to the Lesser. Here
is an illustration of the dangers that arise from dependence upon the
folk-names of plants and animals. The novice would reasonably assume
that the Lesser and the Greater Celandines differed only in point of
size, whereas the resemblance that struck our forefathers appears to
have consisted merely in both plants being in flower what time the
swallow (_Chelidon_) returns to our shores. _Chelidonium majus_ is
really a kind of poppy, whilst _Ranunculus ficaria_ is a buttercup.
There is only one British species of Chelidonium, a perennial plant,
with erect branching stems. The true poppies have a milky juice: this
plant, like the Welsh-poppy (_Meconopsis_), and the Horned-poppy
(_Glaucium_) has a yellow juice. The leaf is much divided, the leaflets
deeply lobed, with somewhat of a resemblance to an oak-leaf. The rather
small yellow flowers are combined in umbels, borne on a long stalk, to
be out of the way of the somewhat erect leaves. There are two sepals
and four petals, as in _Papaver_, but the fruit, instead of being an
urn-like capsule as in that genus, is a long pod with two valves, which
separate from the base upwards.
It is a plant of the hedgerow and waste ground, where it may be found
in flower from May to August. The yellow juice, which is very acrid
and poisonous, had formerly a reputation as an eye medicine, and as a
caustic for the burning away of warts.
=Ragged Robin= (_Lychnis flos-cuculi_).
Like the Celandines, this plant was known to our fathers as a
Cuckoo-flower; in fact, in many parts of the country its name is still
“Cuckoo-flower,” but as that title is also given to the Ladies’-smock
confusion is caused by its use. It is one of the Campions, a genus of
graceful plants that is included in the Natural Order of the Pinks
(Caryophylleæ).
The habit of the plant will suggest the Stitchwort, to which it is
not very distantly related. It is a perennial plant, delighting in
moist places, whether wet meadows, ditch banks or bogs. The leaves
that spring directly from the slender rootstock are stalked; those on
the reddish stem are not. The calyx is dark red, with purple veins;
the rosy petals cut into four eccentric narrow segments. The flowers
produce honey, and the stamens come to maturity before the stigmas,
thus favouring cross-fertilization. Flowers May to August.
[Illustration: =Celandine.=
Chelidonium majus.
--PAPAVERACEÆ.--]
[Illustration: =Rugged Robin.=
Lychnis flos-cuculi.
--CARYOPHYLLEÆ.--]
There is another common rosy-flowered Lychnis that occurs in somewhat
similar situations. This is:--