The Lady's Mantle is a curious little plant and is common everywhere in
summer. The beautifully shaped green leaves at once attract you, but the
flowers are so small that you scarcely notice them. They are crowded
into clusters at the end of short stalks, which branch many times from
the main stem. These flowers have no petals. If you look at them very
closely, you find that they have eight green sepals, which lie flat open
when the flower is in bloom. These sepals are all pointed, and vary in
size. The four which are utmost are smaller than the sepals which form
the inner circle.
In the middle of these green sepals there is a yellow ring, and in the
centre of this ring sits the tiny seed-vessel, sunk almost out of sight.
There are four stamens, each of which stands out separately from this
yellow ring.
The root-leaves of the Lady's Mantle are rounded, and they are covered
with a fine network of veins. Each leaf looks as if it had been folded
into five or seven folds, and each fold is divided round the edge into
scollops. The edge of these scollops is cut into sharp teeth. Sometimes
you find a big diamond dew-drop lying in the folds of the Lady's Mantle
leaf.
You will also notice a frill of tiny pointed green leaves clasping the
main stem wherever it forks.