Part 31

The Germander Speedwell (Veronica Chamædrys) is one of our most beautiful and most abundant spring flowers. It is very common on banks and by roadsides, flowering during May and June. Its stem is weak, decumbent, rooting at the base, often considerably more than a foot in length, and remarkable for the line of hairs that changes to alternate sides at each node. A raceme of flowers, much longer than the leaves, arises from several of the nodes. The flowers are bright blue, about half an inch in diameter, with a four-cleft calyx; a deeply four-cleft corolla, the lower lobe of which is narrowest; and two prominent stamens. The fruit is a very broad, flat capsule, notched at the top, narrowed towards the base, splitting into two valves when ripe.

A fourth species, the Wall Speedwell (V. arvensis), is abundant on walls and dry roadsides. It is a prostrate, downy plant, generally more or less thickly covered with dust, flowering from April to about the end of summer. The stem is from four inches to a foot in length, and two lines of hairs run along the branches. The leaves are oval-cordate, crenate, and slightly stalked. The flowers are very small and inconspicuous, and are frequently almost completely hidden by the crowded upper leaves. They have very short corolla-tubes, and are arranged in loose, terminal, spikelike racemes.

The Grey Field Speedwell (V. polita) is common in waste places and rough fields, flowering from April to September. Its flowers are bright blue, about a quarter of an inch across, solitary, axillary, on stalks which are longer than the leaves. The sepals are broadly oval and pointed, and the petals are all of the same colour. The leaves of this plant are stalked, cordate, and irregularly toothed.

Our last example of the order is the Green Field Speedwell (V. agrestis), also common in fields and by the roadside. It has several prostrate stems, from four to eight inches long; and stalked, cordate leaves with irregularly serrate margins. The flowers are small, about a fifth of an inch across, solitary, axillary, on stalks shorter than the leaves. The sepals are narrow, oblong, and blunt; and the lower petal is white. This species flowers from April to the end of the summer.

The Dead Nettles (genus Lamium, of the order Labiatæ) may be readily distinguished from the Stinging Nettles, with which they are often confused, by their square stems, and whorls of showy, lipped flowers. Further, these flowers may be recognised from among the others of their own order by the ten-ribbed, bell-shaped calyx; and by the one or two teeth on each side of the lower lip of the corolla.

Three of this group are very common wayside spring flowers. One is the White Dead Nettle (Lamium album), with large, white flowers forming whorls in the axils of the leaves. The leaves of this plant are all stalked, cordate, with a very sharp point, deeply serrate, and often marked with white blotches. The teeth of the calyx are narrow, as long as the tube, with long slender points; and the tube of the corolla is curved, longer than the calyx, gradually widening from below upwards. The two lower stamens are longer than the upper pair, and the anthers are black. The plant varies from six to eighteen inches in height, and flowers from April to September.

The Red Dead Nettle (L. purpureum) grows to the same height, but has much smaller cordate or kidney-shaped leaves, with blunt apices and crenate edges. The upper ones are very crowded, and often tinged with red; and all the leaves are stalked. The flowers are small, of a red-purple colour (rarely white), in crowded whorls in the axils of the upper leaves. The tube of the corolla is straight, longer than the calyx; and the calyx teeth are spreading.

The third species--the Cut-leaved Dead Nettle (L. incisum or L. hybridum)--is not so abundant as the other two, but moderately common on waste land. Its leaves, which are all stalked, are very deeply cut in a serrate manner; the lower ones being cordate, while the upper are more triangular. The flowers are of a rose-red colour, in crowded whorls near the top of the stem. The tube of the corolla is shorter than the calyx, and straight; and the teeth of the calyx are about as long as its tube. The plant grows from six to eighteen inches in height, and flowers throughout the whole of spring and summer.

Another common Labiate--the Ground Ivy (Nepeta Glechoma)--may be seen almost everywhere in the spring, in bloom from March to May. It has a procumbent, creeping stem, and deeply-crenate, kidney-shaped leaves. The flowers are of a blue-purple colour, arranged in whorls of three or four in the axils of the leaves. The calyx has five teeth and fifteen ribs; and the two front stamens are shorter.

The Early Field Scorpion Grass (Myosotis collina) belongs to the order Boraginaceæ--a family of (usually) hairy herbs with alternate leaves and one-sided spikes or racemes of showy flowers. The flowers have a five-lobed calyx and corolla, five stamens, and a fruit of four nutlets. It is in the same genus as the familiar Forget-me-not, and, in fact, somewhat closely resembles that plant, which is often confused with certain species of Scorpion Grass. It is a slender, more or less prostrate herb, with blunt oblong leaves; and minute, bright blue flowers which are at first hidden among the leaves, but afterwards exposed by the lengthening of the stem. The flowers have very short pedicels; and are in long, slender, leafless, spikelike racemes, with a single flower some distance down, in the axil of the highest leaf. The popular name of Scorpion Grass has been given on account of the characteristic arrangement of the flowers when in the bud, these being then tightly coiled in a scorpoid fashion. In order that the present species might be distinguished from allied plants, we should note that the pedicels are shorter than the calyx; that the calyx is furnished with hooked bristles, and is open and swollen when the fruits are formed; also that the tube of the corolla is very short. The Early Field Scorpion Grass is very common on dry banks. Its stems vary from about four to ten inches long, and the flowers appear during April and May.

The Wood Loosestrife or Yellow Pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum) of shady waysides and woods is a member of the Primulaceæ or Primrose family. It is altogether a pretty little plant, much like the Scarlet Pimpernel in general appearance, but somewhat larger and more glossy. It has a prostrate, spreading stem, often tinged with red; and opposite, oval, acute leaves with short stalks. The flowers are yellow, usually a little more than half an inch in diameter, with a spreading corolla. They are axillary, placed singly on very slender peduncles, and have very narrow sepals. This species flowers from May to August.

The Perennial or Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis), of the Euphorbiaceæ or Spurge family, is one of our earliest spring flowers, and may be seen in abundance on almost all shady waysides, in bloom from March to May, and growing from six to eighteen inches high. The minute green flowers, which have three sepals and no petals, are in racemes or spikes that grow from the axils of the upper leaves. They are unisexual; the staminate flowers in slender racemes, with several erect stamens; and the pistillate ones in short, few-flowered spikes, with a two-celled ovary, two styles, and a few imperfectly formed stamens.

The Black Bryony (Tamus communis)--order Dioscoriaceæ--is a pretty climbing plant, the slender stem of which twines for several feet among the hedgerow trees and shrubs. Its leaves are cordate and acute, and change either to a bright yellow or a beautiful bronze colour in the autumn. The flowers, which appear in May and June, are yellowish green, in small clusters; and the fruits are oblong berries, turning to a bright scarlet as the leaves assume their autumn tints.

Our next flower is the peculiar and interesting Wild Arum (Arum maculatum), of the order Araceæ, also known as Lords and Ladies, Cuckoo Pint, and Wake Robin. It is a very common flower of shady waysides, blooming during April and May. The plant is succulent, with a short, fleshy rhizome; and large, smooth, sagittate leaves that are often spotted with purple. The floral stalk is thick and fleshy, and supports numerous unisexual flowers which are clustered round a central axis or spadix that is prolonged above into a club-shaped appendage. The whole of the spadix is surrounded by a large bract or spathe which is contracted a little distance above its base. The portion of the spathe below the constriction encloses the flowers, and remains permanently closed as long as they are in bloom; but the upper part opens on one side, just before the flowers begin to mature, exposing the club of the spathe. The club is thick and fleshy, and coloured either dull purple, bright red, pink, or yellow. The pistillate flowers are clustered round the bottom of the spadix, and consist of a number of sessile ovaries. Above them is a ring of imperfect flowers consisting of styles only, and above these again is the cluster of staminate flowers, with some aborted stamens at the top. After fertilisation has taken place the spathe and the spadix soon wither away, and the ovaries develop into a cluster of large berry-like fruits, each containing a few seeds. These fruits, mounted on the summit of the lengthened, fleshy peduncle, are very conspicuous objects in the autumn hedgerows.

The contrivance by which cross-fertilisation is secured in these flowers is particularly interesting:--Numbers of little insects (midges) are attracted by the brightly coloured club, and, possibly, also by the foetid odour of the flowers. These creep down the spadix, passing through the narrow neck into the closed compartment below. The neck is more or less obstructed by the upper, abortive, staminate flowers, which consist merely of a few whorls of bristles. Since, however, many of these bristles point downwards, they offer but little obstruction to insects as they enter; but prevent their escape. Thus, on cutting open the lower part of the spathe, we may frequently find quite a number of midges that have been imprisoned, their bodies covered with pollen that has probably been carried from another Arum previously visited. The pistillate flowers are mature first, and thus the imprisoned insects, creeping about in their cell during this early stage of the flower, are sure to bring pollen cells in contact with some of the ripened stigmas.

After the work of fertilisation has been accomplished, the anthers ripen, setting free abundance of pollen which now covers the bodies of the insects in the place of that which has been rubbed on to the stigmas. Then the abortive stamens, which prevented the escape of the insects, wither; and, at the same time, the neck of the spathe relaxes. Thus the prisoners are again set free, and possibly a large proportion of them enter another flower and repeat the process of cross-pollination.

The commonest of the early-flowering Grasses of the wayside is the Annual Meadow Grass (Poa annua)--a small tufted species, varying from a few inches to nearly a foot in height. It commences to flower in March, and remains in bloom till the end of the summer. It is represented on Plate III.

VIII

MEADOWS, FIELDS AND PASTURES--SPRING

It is, of course, impossible to draw a hard and fast line between the flowers of spring and those of summer, for not only does each individual species vary in the time of its first appearance, according to the nature of the season, but many of the spring and summer flowers overlap in such a manner that it is difficult to decide which season has the greater claim to each one. In the present chapter, however, we shall include those flowers of our fields and meadows which usually commence to bloom before the beginning of June, even though they may continue to produce blossoms well into the summer.

One of the most conspicuous features of the meadows in spring is certainly the abundance of those bright yellow flowers known collectively as the Buttercups. But the name of Buttercup, standing alone, has no definite, scientific meaning, the name being applied to quite a number of flowers of the Ranunculus genus of the order Ranunculaceæ.

The earliest of these is undoubtedly the Pilewort or Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus Ficaria), which appears early in April, and often in such abundance as to cover the ground with its leaves and flowers. This flower is not confined to fields and meadows, but often covers large patches of bank and hedgerow, where, together with the Greater Stitchwort, it produces a most brilliant show of white and yellow stars.

The plant has a small rootstock, with a number of little oblong tubers which are renewed every year, and sometimes a branched, creeping stem. Its leaves usually all grow direct from the rootstock, and are stalked, heart-shaped, glossy, with crenate or angled margins. The flower-stalks bear a few small leaves, and a single flower with three sepals, and about eight glossy, oblong, yellow petals. The cluster of carpels in the middle of the flower form a large, globular head.

A little later in the season our pastures are bountifully bedecked by two of the most familiar Buttercups--the Creeping Buttercup (R. repens) and the Bulbous Buttercup (R. bulbosus), both of which appear early in May.

The former grows from six inches to a foot in height, and may be easily distinguished by its creeping stems, which give off root fibres and produce new plants at every node. The flowering stems of this species are clothed with long hairs, and the leaves are divided into three stalked segments which are lobed and toothed, the middle segment projecting much beyond the other two. The flowers are in loose panicles, on long, furrowed stalks, with five yellowish-green, concave, spreading sepals that are shorter than the petals. The carpels are ovate in form, somewhat flattened, arranged in a globular head; and the fruits are smooth. This plant is abundant almost everywhere, and continues to flower till the end of the summer.

The Bulbous Buttercup is very similar to the last species, but may be known at once by its swollen, bulbous root. Its leaves are divided into three segments which are more or less toothed and lobed, and the sepals bend backwards on the peduncle as soon as the flower opens. Its carpels are smooth, and form a globular head; and the ripened achenes are also smooth. The plant is very abundant. It flowers from May to August.

Coming now to the Crucifers, we have first to note the Field Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense), which may be recognised at once by reference to our illustration. It is an erect, smooth, plant, from six to twenty inches in height, a common weed in cultivated ground, flowering from May to July. Its radical leaves are stalked, and wither early; and the small white flowers are soon followed by round siliquas, about half an inch in diameter, with a broad wing notched at the top.

The same order includes the Cuckoo Flower, Lady's Smock, or Meadow Bittercress (Cardamine pratensis), which is certainly one of our prettiest spring flowers, growing in abundance in most moist meadows, and flowering from April to June. It has a short rootstock, with small, fleshy scales, often so much swollen as to resemble tubers; and the stem is erect, either simple or branched, and a foot or more in height. The leaves are pinnately divided, the leaflets of the lower ones being ovate or round, and those of the upper ones very narrow. The flowers are rather large, white or lilac in colour, with stamens about half as long as the petals, and yellow anthers. The fruits are usually more than an inch in length.