This little plant grows plentifully in the East of England, but it is
not found all over Britain. It flowers in summer.
You will easily recognise it by the curious way the seed-vessels grow.
You remember in the Buttercup (Plate I.) there was a little hard knot of
seed-vessels like a green raspberry in the centre of the ring of
stamens?
The Mouse-Tail is a cousin of the Buttercup, but the seed-vessels grow
on a long pointed spike which shoots up in the middle of the flower, and
is just like a mouse's tail.
Each flower has five yellowish-green petals, shaped like pale yellow
tubes, with a lip at the top. There are five long, narrow, yellow-green
sepals, with little spurs at the bottom. And there is also a ring of
stamens with yellow heads which stand straight up round the foot of the
Mouse's Tail.
The leaves are long and narrow, with a line down the centre. They are
rather thick leaves, and they all grow in a tuft from the root.