Part 36

The first of these is the Round-leaved Crane's-bill (Geranium rotundifolium), which rather closely resembles the Dove's-foot Crane's-bill, but is not nearly so plentiful. It is a downy plant, growing from six to twelve inches high, and flowering in June and July. The flowers are usually nearly half an inch across, of a pink colour; and the petals are not notched. This species is represented on Plate III, Fig. 1.

In dry pastures and on stony wastes we may see the Bloody Crane's-bill (Geranium sanguineum), which, though not common, is very widely distributed in Britain. It has a thick, woody stock; numerous more or less decumbent stems, from one to two feet long, clothed with spreading hairs; and round leaves, divided quite to the base into five or seven deeply-cut segments. The flowers are solitary, dark crimson (occasionally pink) in colour, with hairy sepals terminating in fine points; slightly notched petals about twice as long as the sepals; and ten stamens, five of which are larger, and glandular at the base. This species flowers during July and August.

The Small-flowered Crane's-bill (G. pusillum) also resembles the Dove's-foot Crane's-bill, but its flowers are usually smaller--about a third of an inch in diameter--and of a pale lilac colour. The stems are prostrate and downy, from six to eighteen inches long; and the leaves roundish and deeply lobed. The sepals terminate in a sharp point, and the petals are notched. This is a very common species, which flowers throughout the summer.

British wild flowers of the Geranium family are divided into two groups, known popularly as the Crane's-bills and the Stork's-bills, the former constituting the genus Geranium, of which several flowers have been described; and the latter forming the genus Erodium. These two groups are sometimes confused by young botanists, but may be easily distinguished by the aid of the following notes:--The flowers of the Crane's-bills are symmetrical, while the petals of the Stork's-bills are rather unequal in size and sometimes deficient. In the former there are ten stamens, five of which are alternately larger, as previously mentioned; while the latter have five perfect stamens, glandular at their bases, and five alternating, abortive ones. Further, in the genus Geranium the persistent styles are straight, while in the Stork's-bills they are twisted spirally.

The manner in which the seeds of Stork's-bills are dispersed is particularly interesting:--When the fruit is ripe the carpels separate, and the twisted styles are gradually released from one another, from below upwards, till the fruit is finally set free and blown away by the wind. The carpels thus detached are each furnished with a long style, the lower portion of which is coiled like a corkscrew, while the upper part is straighter but bent to one side. Now, these styles are hygroscopic--that is, they are influenced by changes in the condition of the atmosphere as regards moisture. This may easily be shown by placing the fruit in an upright position on a piece of white card, and fixing it so with a little spot of glue or gum, so that the bent upper end of the style is free and serves as a little pointer. If now the open mouth be placed close over the carpel, and moist air be breathed upon it, the corkscrew will partially uncoil, causing the pointer to turn; and as the carpel dries again the pointer will resume its former position.

Again, if the carpel be placed horizontally on a sheet of rough paper (not fixed), and then alternately treated with moist and drier air, the successive uncoiling and coiling of the spiral, together with the aid of the bent tip and the hairs which give the carpel a hold, will cause it to travel along. Thus, in its natural condition, and influenced by the varying state of the atmosphere as regards moisture, the carpels of the Stork's-bill will not only travel some distance from the parent plant, but the seed end will even be thrust between the particles of soil, and the seed thus naturally buried.

There are three British Stork's-bills, of which only one may be described as common. This is the Hemlock Stork's-bill (Erodium cicutarium), a very variable plant as regards the form of the leaves and the size and number of flowers, often plentiful in waste places, especially near the sea. Its stems are prostrate and hairy, growing from six to eighteen inches in length; and the flowers, which may be seen throughout the summer, are rose-coloured, or, sometimes, white. The petals are not divided or notched, and they soon fall.

Passing now to the order Leguminosæ, we deal first with the exceedingly pretty and common Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), that derives its popular name from the arrangement of the cylindrical seed-pods, which spread in such a manner as to resemble the toes of a bird. Its stems are partially prostrate; and its compound leaves are not composed of three leaflets, as the term trefoil suggests, but of five, two of which occupy such a position that they might be mistaken for stipules. The flowers, which bloom in July and August, are of a bright yellow or orange colour, often tinged with red. They are arranged in umbels of from three to ten, with long peduncles and short pedicels.

The genus Vicia, of the same order, includes the plants commonly known as Tares. These are climbing plants which cling by means of tendrils at the tips of their pinnate leaves, and have their flowers in axillary clusters. Their styles are threadlike, with a ring or a tuft of downy hairs near the extremity; and the pods are flattened.

Two species may be included among our summer wayside flowers, one of which--the Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta)--is very common in fields and hedges, flowering from June to August. The stems of this plant are slender, hairy, and are so much branched that they form tangled masses, often mixed up in a confused manner with neighbouring plants. The leaves have from six to eight pairs of leaflets; and the minute, pale blue flowers, in clusters of from one to six, are on long peduncles. The pods have only two seeds, and are hairy and sessile.

The other Tare referred to is the Slender Tare (V. tetrasperma), found principally in the South of England. It owes its specific name to the fact that its pods usually contain four seeds. It is more slender and much less branched than the Hairy Tare, and its leaves have generally only from three to five pairs of leaflets. The flowers are pale blue, appearing from June to August, and are generally solitary or in pairs, on peduncles which are about as long as the leaves. The pods are smooth.

The same genus includes the Tufted Vetch (Vicia Cracca)--a very common plant on hedgerows and bushy waysides, where it climbs over the neighbouring plants and shrubs, covering them with its dense racemes of bluish-purple flowers from June to August. Its climbing stem is very weak, but it often grows to a length of six feet or more, supporting itself by means of the branched tendrils at the tips of its leaves. The leaves are pinnate, with about ten pairs of narrow, pointed, silky leaflets, usually from half an inch to three-quarters in length; and at the base of each leaf-stalk is a pair of narrow, half arrow-shaped stipules. The racemes are one-sided, on rather long stalks, with from ten to thirty flowers, each nearly half an inch long. The pods are smooth, flattened, about an inch long, containing from six to eight seeds.

Of the order Rosaceæ we have several summer wayside flowers, our first example being the Common Avens, also called the Wood Avens and the Herb Bennet (Geum urbanum), which is common on banks and hedgerows. This is an erect, hairy plant, from one to two feet high, with yellow flowers, from a half to three-quarters of an inch across, on erect stalks. The numerous carpels ripen into a head of one-seeded achenes, on each of which the persistent style forms a curved, hooked awn that readily clings to the hair or wool of animals, thus providing an effectual means by which the seeds are distributed. A variety of the Common Avens occurs with drooping flowers.

The Dog Rose (Rosa canina) is one of the prettiest and most abundant flowers of our hedgerows, and may be seen in bloom throughout June and July. The bush has a thick, woody stock; and weak, straggling stems, often reaching a height of six or eight feet, armed with equal, curved prickles. The flowers are pink or white, with a calyx consisting of a globular tube, contracted at the top, and five spreading segments; a corolla of five petals; numerous stamens; and an ovary of several one-seeded carpels with free styles. The carpels are very hairy, and are enclosed within the tube of the calyx, which becomes red and succulent as the fruit ripens; but the calyx segments usually fall before the ripening is complete.

The Silver Weed (Potentilla anserina), of the same order, is one of the commonest of our roadside flowers, rendered more conspicuous by its pretty, silvery leaves than by its solitary, yellow flowers. It has a creeping stem, from six to twelve inches long, which bears pinnate leaves. The leaflets are deeply serrated, and densely covered beneath (and sometimes also above) with soft, silky hairs.

Two of the Cinquefoils are very common by roadsides. These are the Hoary Cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea), and the Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans). The first of these is a partially prostrate plant, with stem from six to eighteen inches long; and digitate leaves with five, wedge-shaped leaflets. The leaflets are rendered white beneath by woolly hairs that lie close against the surface, and their edges are curled backwards. The flowers, which bloom in June and July, are yellow, small, and clustered.

The Creeping Cinquefoil has a slender stem that creeps on the ground and forms new roots at the nodes. Its leaves are digitate and long-stalked, with five obovate, serrate, hairy leaflets. The flowers are yellow, solitary, nearly an inch in diameter, with five sepals and five petals.

On banks we frequently meet with the Agrimony (Agrimonia Eupatoria), a slender plant, from one to two feet high, covered with soft hairs, and bearing long, tapering, spikelike racemes of small, scattered, yellow flowers during June and July. This plant may be readily identified by means of our illustration.

One of the Willow Herbs--the Broad Smooth-leaved Willow Herb (Epilobium montanum)--is common on roadside banks, flowering during June and July. Its stems are slender, downy, and generally unbranched; and the leaves are opposite, stalked (the lower ones almost stalkless), ovate, acute, with serrate edges, and smooth except along the margins and the principal veins, which are more or less downy. The plant grows to a height of one or two feet, and bears small, pale-purple flowers which droop when in the bud. It belongs to the order Onagraceæ; and, like the others of its genus, has four sepals, four petals, eight stamens, and a long inferior ovary which splits into four valves, setting free a large number of little, tufted seeds.

The order Crassulaceæ contains a number of low, succulent plants, with small, regular, star-like flowers. Some of them are well known as Stonecrops and House-leeks. Those of the Stonecrop group usually have cymes of flowers with perianth leaves in whorls of five, and stamens in two whorls.

One member of this group--the Orpine or Livelong (Sedum Telephium)--is not uncommonly found on shady wayside banks, especially near villages and on the outskirts of towns, where it is probably an escape from gardens. Its leaves are large, flat, oval or oblong, with serrate edges. The flowers have five sepals and five petals, are of a purple or crimson colour, and are clustered in close cymes.

We have now to consider several species of the order Umbelliferæ--a group of flowers which contains so many species, with often such close resemblances in general appearance, that it is always more or less puzzling to the beginner, especially as it is frequently necessary to note minute details of structure in order to determine a species.

The leading characteristic of the order is that denoted by its name; for the flowers, which are generally very small and white, are arranged in umbels. In a few instances these umbels are simple; but in most they are compound--that is, the stalks which radiate from the same point on the main peduncle, and thus form the primary umbel, give rise to the lesser stalks of the secondary umbels, which are similarly arranged and bear the flowers. There are often bracts at the base of the primary umbel, in which case they are termed the primary bracts; and there are frequently secondary bracts or involucels at the bases of the secondary umbels.

The flowers have a superior calyx; with five teeth; but this is often so inconspicuous that it appears like a mere rim round the top of the ovary. There are also five petals, which generally have their points turned inwards; and five stamens. The inferior ovary consists of two united carpels, surmounted by a fleshy disc that supports the petals and the stamens, and bears two styles.

Special attention must be given to the structure of the fruits of umbellifers, for a close examination of these is often necessary for purposes of identification. The two carpels are close together, with their adjacent surfaces flattened, and are fixed to a central axis called the carpophore. As the fruit ripens, the carpophore often divides, from above downwards, becoming Y-shaped; and the carpels, thus separated, are for a time suspended on its two arms. Each carpel is marked by vertical ridges, generally nine in number, five of them (primary ridges) being more prominent than the four intermediate or secondary ridges. The ridge on each side of the carpel, nearest to the fissure that divides the fruit into two parts, is often extended so as to form wings by means of which wind-distribution is greatly facilitated; and between the various ridges are the furrows of the fruit. In addition to these features, there are often narrow, light-coloured streaks running parallel with the ridges, in the walls of the fruit. There are usually six of these in each carpel, sometimes more than one in the same furrow, and they mark the positions of narrow oil-sacs or vittæ. Each carpel contains only one seed.

As to the general characters of the plants, it may also be noted that the stems of the Umbelliferæ are jointed, and frequently hollow; also that the leaves are pinnately divided, and often decompound (compound, with compound leaflets).

Our first example of this family is the common Hemlock (Conium maculatum) of hedges and waste ground--a very graceful plant, with a much-branched stem that grows from two to six or more feet in height. It is distinguished by a foetid odour and poisonous properties. Its stem is slender in proportion to the height, furrowed, smooth, and spotted with purple or red. The flowers are white, with hardly a trace of a calyx, and arranged in compound umbels, with three small bracts on one side of the secondary umbels. The fruit is short, swollen, and slightly flattened laterally; and the carpels, without vittæ, have each five thick, waved ridges. The Hemlock flowers during June and July.

Several of the common umbelliferous plants are called the Fool's Parsley by those who are unable to distinguish between species, but this name is correctly applied only to Æthusa cynapium, a smooth, leafy plant, with an unpleasant odour and poisonous properties. The plant grows from a foot to eighteen inches high, flowers during July and August, and is common in cultivated ground as well as in wastes and by waysides. It may be recognised at once by the help of our illustration; but we call special attention to the three, long, drooping bracts on the outer side of each secondary umbel.