Part 40

In the same order we have the Common Orache (Atriplex patula)--a very variable plant, from a few inches to three feet in height, with erect or prostrate stem, and more or less mealy in appearance. Lower leaves triangular, with spreading lobes at the base. Upper leaves narrower, and entire or slightly toothed. Flowers in simple spikes, forming leafy, terminal panicles. They are of two kinds--male and female, either mixed, or collected in separate clusters. Segments of the perianth united, pointed, sometimes toothed, and spotted above. The plant flowers from July to September, and is abundant in most parts, especially near the sea.

The order Polygonaceæ also includes several wayside plants which may be easily distinguished as a group by the following characters:--At the bases of the alternate leaves are membranous stipules that form a sheath round the stem. The flowers are small, arranged in clusters in the axils of the leaves, or in terminal spikes or racemes. The fruit is a small nut, enclosed more or less in the persistent perianth.

Three of the plants to which we refer belong to the genus Polygonum, in which the sheathing stipule is usually fringed at the edge; and the small flowers are either green or red, with a perianth of five segments, and stamens not exceeding eight in number. The little nuts, too, are either flattened or triangular. The three species may be identified by the following summary of their leading features:

1. The Spotted Persicaria (Polygonum Persicaria).--A very common wayside plant, and a weed of almost all cultivated soils, growing from one to two feet high, and flowering from July to October. The leaves have, usually, a dark-coloured patch in the centre; and the stipules are fringed at the top with fine, stiff hairs. The flowers are rose-coloured, with more or less green, arranged in short axillary or terminal spikes without any leaves; and the nuts are rather thick, but flattened, smooth, and glossy.

2. Pale-flowered Persicaria (P. lapathifolium).--Very similar to the Spotted Persicaria, and sometimes regarded as a variety of that species; but it differs in that its leaves are never spotted, and the lower stipules are not fringed with hairs. The peduncle and perianth, which are smooth in P. persicaria, are here rough, being dotted with small, projecting glands; and the styles, which are united to about half way up in the last species, are quite free in the present one. The flowers are pink, with more or less green, and do not usually bloom after August; and the plant often attains a length of three or four feet.

3. Knot-grass or Knot-weed (P. aviculare).--A very common procumbent weed, with wiry stems from one to two or three feet long. The leaves, seldom as much as an inch in length, are narrow, oblong, and flat; and the stipules are white, membranous, more or less cut at the edges, with a few veins. The flowers are small, very variable in colour, arranged in short-stalked clusters of about three or four in the axils of nearly all the leaves; and the fruit is a triangular nut, shorter than the segments of the perianth. This plant flowers from July to September. An erect variety, growing to a height of two feet or more, may be seen in cornfields.

The same order includes the well-known Docks (Rumex), which differ from Persicaria as follows:--The root is very thick, and grows to a great depth; the stems are erect and furrowed; and the thin membranous stipules, though never fringed with hairs, often become more or less torn. The flowers are small, green, in axillary clusters or terminal racemes, often turning red as the fruit ripens. The perianth is deeply divided into five segments, three of which become enlarged and close over the triangular nut. Two species of this genus are abundant on waysides. They are:--

1. The Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius).--A stout plant, two or three feet high, and slightly branched. The lower leaves are ovate, cordate at the base, blunt, often eight or nine inches long; and the upper ones narrow and pointed. The flowers are perfect, reddish green, in distant whorls, forming a terminal raceme which is leafless above. The inner segment of the perianth is enlarged, ovate, distinctly toothed, with a long point. Time of flowering--July to September.

2. The Curled Dock (R. crispus).--Very similar to the Broad-leaved Dock in size and habit, but flowering somewhat earlier. The lower leaves are much narrower, six to eight inches long, lanceolate, pointed, and wavy at the edges. The upper leaves are small and narrower, passing gradually into still smaller bracts towards the lower flowers. The flowers are in crowded whorls, on slender pedicels which are longer than the perianths; and the inner segment of the perianth is enlarged, cordate, but not toothed.

We have now to note two species of Spurge (Euphorbia) that grow by the wayside; but before doing so it will be well to make ourselves acquainted with the general characters of the interesting group to which they belong. The Spurges are herbs with a milky juice, and a stem which is usually unbranched below, bearing alternate leaves. The flowering branches, towards the top of the plant, generally radiate from one point, forming an umbel of from two to five or more rays that proceed from the axil of one or more leaves. Each ray is usually forked, and sometimes repeatedly so, with a pair of leaves at each angle, and a little head of yellowish-green flowers between the branches. Each flower-head is surrounded by a small cup of united bracts, inside which is a whorl of little yellow or brownish glands, placed horizontally. In the centre of the head is a single female flower, consisting of a three-celled ovary, with a three-cleft style, mounted on a stalk of such a length that the flower droops over the edge of the cup. Around this female flower are from ten to fifteen little male flowers, each consisting of a single stamen with a minute scale at its base. The fruit contains three seeds, one in each carpel.

The Sun Spurge (Euphorbia Helioscopia) is a common species, varying from six to eighteen inches high, flowering from June to October. Its stem is generally simple, but sometimes branched at the base; and the leaves are obovate or broadly oblong, without stipules, serrate, and narrowed down at the base to a short stalk. The floral leaves are very broad--almost round--and edged with very small teeth. The umbel consists of five rays, each of which is forked, with very short branches; and the glands within the cup are nearly round. The fruits are quite smooth, and the seeds have a netted surface.

The other species--the Petty Spurge (E. Peplus)--is a smaller plant, seldom exceeding a foot in length, with an erect or decumbent stem branching at the bottom. The stem-leaves are oval or obovate, entire, shortly-stalked and placed alternately; and the floral leaves are cordate or broadly ovate. The flower-heads are small, surrounded by crescent-shaped glands with long points; and the carpels of the fruit have rough keels or wings.

Passing to the Stinging Nettles (order Urticaceæ), we have to deal with three herbs that are remarkable for the stinging hairs which clothe both leaves and stem. The leaves of all are opposite, and the flowers imperfect. The male flowers have four stamens, and a small, green perianth of four segments; while the females consist of an ovary with a tufted stigma, surrounded by a perianth of four segments the two inner of which are larger, or of two segments only. The fruit is a small, flattened nut, enclosed in the persistent perianth. The distinguishing characters of the three species are as follows:

1. The Small Nettle (Urtica urens).--An erect herb, from one to two feet high, with leaves and stem smooth with the exception of the stiff, stinging hairs. The leaves are thin, elliptical, deeply and regularly toothed; and the flowers are in unbranched axillary spikes which are shorter than the petioles, the males and females being intermixed. This is a common species, flowering from June to September.

2. The Great Nettle (U. dioica).--A dark green herb, from one to four feet high, more or less clothed with soft downy hairs in addition to the stiff, stinging ones. The lower leaves are ovate or cordate, coarsely toothed; and the upper ones narrower. The spikes of flowers are branched, longer than the petioles, in the axils of the leaves. The flowers are very similar to those of the Small Nettle, but the males and females are usually on separate plants. This is a very common species, flowering from June to September.

3. The Roman Nettle (U. pilulifera).--A coarse, erect plant, from one to two feet high, with stinging hairs more powerful than those of the other species. The leaves are ovate or cordate, deeply and regularly toothed. The male flowers are in clusters along the peduncles, which are often as long as the leaves; and the females are in globular heads at the top of stalks from half an inch to an inch in length. The heads of fruits are about a third of an inch in diameter, thickly covered with stinging hairs. This plant flowers from June to September. It is not so abundant as the other nettles, and is found principally in the neighbourhood of villages, especially in the eastern counties of England.

Although the Hop (Humulus Lupulus) does not sting, the whole plant is rough with stiff hairs resembling those of the nettles, and it is placed in the same order. It is a climber, and clings to the hedgerow shrubs by twining its long stems, which always turn in the same direction as the sun. Its leaves are opposite, stalked, broadly heart-shaped in general form, but cut into three or five sharply-toothed lobes. The flowers, like those of the nettles, are imperfect, and the male and female blossoms grow on separate plants. The former are in lax panicles, in the axils of the upper leaves: they are small, of a yellowish green colour, each consisting of five stamens surrounded by a perianth of five segments. The females are arranged in rounded heads or spikes on short stalks in the axils of the leaves. The heads are made up of a number of closely-placed bracts, each with two little flowers at its base; and each flower consists of an ovary, enclosed in a scale, with two long, narrow stigmas. After fertilisation the scales of the head grow very large, forming very conspicuous 'cones' in which the little fruits lie concealed. The Hop flowers from July to September, and is common in hedgerows and thickets.

Of the several wayside Grasses we have space for the mention of but one species--the interesting Canary Grass (Phalaris canariensis). It is a native of South Europe, introduced into this country and cultivated for its seed (canary seed), but is now often seen growing wild in waste places. It is represented on p. 209.

XIV

MEADOWS, FIELDS AND PASTURES--SUMMER

In the present chapter we shall briefly describe a considerable number of flowers which are to be seen in fields and pastures during the summer months; but we must remind the reader that many of the species previously mentioned in Chapter VIII as flowering in similar situations in the spring, continue to bloom during the whole or a portion of the summer. A list of these is given below; and it should be noted that the flowers described in this chapter are those which do not generally commence to bloom till the month of June.

SPRING FLOWERS OF MEADOWS, FIELDS AND PASTURES WHICH CONTINUE TO BLOOM IN THE SUMMER.

Creeping Buttercup. Bulbous Buttercup. Field Penny Cress. Wild Pansy. Ragged Robin. Spotted Medick. Netted Medick. White Clover. Purple Clover. Earthnut. Daisy. Dandelion. Yellow Rattle. Field Louse-wort. Henbit Dead Nettle. Common Sorrel. Sheep's Sorrel. Twayblade.

The Upright Buttercup or Meadow Crowfoot (Ranunculus acris) is often confused with the two similar species (R. repens and R. bulbosus) already described in Chapter VIII, but it may be easily distinguished from the former by the absence of creeping stems, and from the latter by the spreading calyx and by the fibrous root without any bulbous swelling. The whole plant is covered with soft hairs more or less spreading; and it varies in height from six inches to three feet according to the nature of the soil in which it grows. Its leaves are all stalked with the exception of the few upper ones, and are very deeply divided into three, five, or seven radiating segments which are again cut into three lobes with acute divisions. The flowers are rather large, on long terminal stalks, with a calyx of five yellowish-green, concave sepals; and a very bright yellow corolla. The carpels are ovate, slightly flattened, smooth, arranged in a globular head; and the fruits are also smooth. The plant flowers during June and July.

Another 'Buttercup'--the Pale Hairy Crowfoot (R. hirsutus) is to be seen in our pastures; and though not so common as the three just mentioned, it is very generally distributed in England and the South of Scotland. It seldom exceeds a foot in height, and flowers from June to the end of the summer. Its stem is erect, hairy, and freely branched; and its leaves are much like those of the Bulbous Buttercup (p. 110). The flowers, however, are smaller and more numerous than those of the latter, and are of a paler yellow colour; but the sepals are bent back on the flower-stalk as in this species. The fruits are rough when quite ripe, with little tubercles along the margins.

Cruciferous flowers are not at all abundant in fields and meadows during the summer months, but one species--the Gold of Pleasure (Camelina sativa)--may be seen in the flax-fields of South Britain and Ireland during June and July. The plant has a simple or slightly branched stem, from one to three feet high; and its leaves are all sessile, narrow, arrow-shaped, either entire or slightly toothed, with pointed lobes at the base. The flowers are small, yellow, arranged in a long, loose raceme; and the fruits are oval siliquas, with convex valves, a distinct central vein, and edges flattened into a narrow wing.

The order Caryophyllaceæ is represented in pastures by the Bladder Campion (Silene inflata or S. cucubalis)--a flower that is easily recognised among the Campions and the Catchflys by the globular calyx. The stem of the plant is semi-erect, branched below, and from two to three feet high. The leaves are sessile, smooth, oblong, usually acute, and placed in pairs on the jointed stem. The flowers are rather large, arranged in lax, terminal panicles, and often droop slightly. The calyx is globular, veined, and about half an inch or more in diameter; and the five petals, which are deeply cleft into two lobes, have each a scale at the base of the spreading limb. The plant is very widely distributed over Britain, and is very common in some districts, flowering during June and July.

The same order contains the White Campion (Lychnis vespertina)--a hairy plant, with a branched stem from one to two feet high, and rather large white or very pale pink flowers that open in the evening. It is abundant in most parts of Britain, and flowers during June and July. Its leaves are oval or oblong, usually pointed, and tapering towards the base. The flowers are in loose cymes, and imperfect; the staminate and the pistillate ones being usually on different plants. The calyx is generally more than half an inch long, hairy, with ten ribs and five narrow teeth. It is tubular at first, but becomes broadly oval, with a contracted mouth, as the fruit ripens. The five limbs of the corolla are spreading and rather deeply cleft into two parts; and the fruit is a capsule that splits at the top by ten teeth which remain erect or curve only slightly outwards. The plant is found principally in fields and in open waste ground.