Part 41

Our fields and pastures are particularly rich in flowers of the Pea family (order Leguminosæ) during the summer months; and of these we shall first note the pretty Kidney Vetch or Lady's Fingers (Anthyllis Vulneraria), which is common in the dry pastures of most parts of Britain. The whole plant is covered with short silky hairs which lie close against the surface; and the stem, from six inches to over a foot in length, is either erect or spreading. The leaves are pinnately divided into several entire leaflets which are half an inch or more in length, the terminal leaflet of the lower leaves being generally much larger than the others. The flowers, which bloom from June to August, are usually clustered into two dense heads at the tip of each stalk, with a deeply-divided bract at the base of each head. The calyx is densely covered with silky hairs; and the small corolla varies in colour from pale yellow to red.

In the neighbourhood of cultivated fields we may frequently meet with the Lucerne or Purple Medick (Medicago sativa). This is not a British plant, but it has been introduced and largely cultivated, and is commonly found as an escape. It has an erect stem, from one to two feet high; and the flowers bloom during June and July, followed by smooth, spirally-twisted pods of two or three coils. This plant appears on Plate IV, Fig. 2.

In the genus Melilotus, of the same order, we have to note three species, all of which agree in the following particulars:--They have trifoliate leaves; and small, white or yellow flowers in long racemes on axillary peduncles. The calyx has five teeth, and the corolla falls after it fades. The stamens are ten in number, the upper one quite free, while the filaments of the other nine are united into a split tube that surrounds the ovary. The pod is only a little longer than the calyx, rather thick in proportion to its length, with only one or two seeds, and it does not split when ripe. The three species referred to may be identified by the following descriptions:--

The Common Melilot (Melilotus officinalis) is a smooth plant, with a branched stem from two to four feet high; and long-stalked leaves with roundish or oval leaflets, and narrow, pointed stipules. The flowers are very numerous, yellow, about a quarter of an inch long, in long racemes. The petals are equal; and the hairy pods are only about a sixth of an inch long.

The Field Melilot (M. arvensis) is very similar, but not so tall, and the flowers are less numerous. The 'keel' is shorter than the other petals; and the pods are ribbed and blunt. The third species--the White Melilot (M. alba)--is also very similar, but it has white flowers, in which the 'standard' or upper petal is the longest. All three species flower from June to August, but only the first may be described as common.

The genus Trifolium, containing the Clovers and Trefoils, resembles Melilotus in its trifoliate leaves, five-toothed calyx, and in the arrangement of the stamens; but it differs in that the stipules adhere to the leaf stalks, and the corolla often persists round the ripened fruit. Several species of this group are common in fields and pastures.

One of these is the Clustered Clover or Smooth Round-headed-Trefoil (Trifolium glomeratum)--a smooth plant, with purple or pink flowers, found principally in the dry pastures of South and East England, flowering during June and July. Its spreading stems are from six to twelve inches long; and the heads of flowers are small, sessile, globular, and either axillary or terminal. The calyx is ten-veined, shorter than the corolla, with five pointed teeth which bend outwards as the fruit ripens.

The Strawberry Trefoil (T. fragiferum) has long-stalked, axillary heads of rose-coloured flowers which become very compact and strawberry-like when fruiting, at which time they are half an inch or more in diameter. Its creeping stem roots at the nodes; and the leaves are long-stalked, with toothed leaflets. Each head is surrounded below by a whorl of lobed bracts about as long as the calyces which become swollen after flowering. This is common in England, and flowers during July and August.

The Hare's-foot Trefoil (T. arvense) is a slender, erect or sub-erect plant, covered with short, soft hairs, flowering from June to the end of the summer. Its stem is branched, from six inches to a foot in length; and the heads of flowers, on long, terminal or axillary stalks, are at first nearly globular, but afterwards cylindrical and about three quarters of an inch long. The flowers are small, pink, with corolla shorter than the calyx. The latter has five very long, feathery teeth, giving the whole head of flowers a soft and feathery appearance. The plant is abundant, especially in the southern counties of England.

The Crimson Clover (T. incarnatum) was introduced into England and cultivated as fodder, but it is often found wild as an escape from cultivation. The plant is erect, varying from six inches to two feet in height, and is covered with soft, silky hairs. It flowers in June and July. The corolla, which is much longer than the calyx, is sometimes almost white. This flower is shown on Plate IV.

One of the commonest flowers of this genus is the Hop Trefoil (T. procumbens)--a slender plant, with erect or sub-erect stem much branched below. Its leaflets are obovate or obcordate, and toothed; and the flower-heads are dense, globular, on long axillary stalks, each consisting of about forty bright yellow flowers. When fruiting the heads are turned downwards, and the pods are then covered by the persistent, brown corollas. This species flowers from June to August.

The Lesser Yellow Trefoil (T. minus) is very much like the last, and flowers at the same time, but is more slender and more procumbent; and its flower-heads, which consist of from ten to twenty pale yellow flowers, are on stiff peduncles.

Our last example of the Leguminosæ is the Meadow Pea or Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis), which is a very common flower of moist pastures. The plant is straggling, with a weak, angled stem that supports itself by interlacing with the surrounding herbage, aided by its branched tendrils. Its stipules are large, narrow-oval in form, with an arrow-shaped base. The compound leaf has only one pair of lanceolate leaflets, the remaining leaflets having been modified into tendrils for the support of the plant. The long axillary peduncles each bear a one-sided raceme of from six to ten yellow flowers, which are followed by rather large, smooth pods. The plant flowers from June to September.

The order Rosaceæ contains the Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis), the only British representative of its genus. It is very much like the Lesser Burnet (p. 301) in general appearance, but much taller and larger. It is a smooth plant, with an erect stem from one to two feet high, the upper part of which is almost leafless. The leaves are mostly radical or on the lower part of the stem, and are pinnate, with from seven to thirteen oval or oblong, toothed leaflets. The long peduncles each bear an oval head of crowded flowers of a dark purple colour. Each flower has a calyx of four coloured lobes, enclosed within bracts; and four stamens. There are no petals. The plant is moderately common in the damp meadows of England and South Scotland, and flowers from June to August.

The Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) is a common plant in the hilly pastures of North England, but is much less frequent in the South. It varies from six to eighteen inches in height, and bears loose, terminal clusters of small yellowish-green flowers from June to August. The little flowers have a free calyx of eight segments in two whorls of four, the outer ones smaller than the inner; no petals; a few stamens; and an ovary of one or two one-seeded carpels enclosed in the tube of the calyx.

In moist meadows and other damp places we commonly see the fragrant Meadow Sweet or Queen of the Meadows (Spiræa Ulmaria), of the same order. This is an erect plant, from two to four feet high, bearing densely-crowded cymes of small, creamy-white flowers from June to August. Its stem is rather thick, often reddish in colour; and the leaves are large, pinnate, with from five to nine ovate, irregularly-toothed leaflets, two or three inches long, and also several smaller leaflets at the base of the stalk or between the larger ones. Each of the little flowers has a five-lobed, free calyx; five petals; numerous stamens; and an ovary that ripens into from five to eight little twisted capsules.

The Burnet Saxifrage (Pimpinella Saxifraga), of the order Umbelliferæ, is a common plant in dry pastures, and is very generally distributed. Its stem is from one to two feet high, and but little branched; and the leaves are very variable in form--the radical ones usually pinnate, with from three to nine oval or round leaflets that are either lobed or deeply toothed; and the upper also pinnate, with the segments of the leaflets few and very narrow. The umbels are terminal, with from eight to sixteen slender rays, and no bracts. The flowers are small and white, and appear from July to September.

The Wild Carrot (Daucus Carota) of the same order is also common in pastures. It is an erect plant, with a tap root, and a branching stem from one to two feet high. The lower leaves are two or three times pinnate, with segments pinnately divided into narrow lobes. The upper leaves are much smaller, with narrower divisions. The umbels are large and terminal, on long stalks. The rays are numerous and crowded; the middle ones being shorter, with pale purple flowers; and the outer ones longer, with white flowers. After flowering the rays close together, forming a dense, globular mass, or an inverted cone, concave at the top, thus more or less covering the fruits, in which they are aided by the long, narrow lobes of both the primary and secondary bracts. The fruits are covered with little hooked prickles.

The Devil's-bit Scabious (Scabiosa succisa--order Dipsaceæ) is very common in the pastures of almost all parts of Britain, and much resembles the Field Scabious (p. 290) in general habit. Its stem is erect, branching, from one to two feet high. The radical leaves are stalked, ovate or oblong, and generally quite entire; and the stem-leaves, which are few, are of the same general form, but are sessile, and sometimes slightly toothed. The heads of purple-blue flowers are on long peduncles, and each one is surrounded at the base by about three whorls of bracts which decrease in length inwards, the outer and longest being about as long as the flowers. The flowers of the head are all nearly of the same size and form. Each one is enclosed in a tubular whorl of united bracts with small teeth. This whorl might easily be mistaken for a calyx by those who are not acquainted with the general features of the flowers of this order, but the calyx is really combined with the ovary, its four bristly teeth being very conspicuous round the top of the fruit. The corolla is tubular, deeply cleft into four lobes; and four stamens are inserted into its tube. The fruit is small and seedlike, and does not split. This plant flowers from July to September or October.

Coming now to the Compositæ, we have a considerable number of meadow flowers to describe; and we assume that the reader has already made himself acquainted with the nature of the flowers of this order as given on p. 175. If such is not the case, we advise him to refresh his memory with regard to them, in order that the terms used in the following descriptions may be thoroughly understood.

Our first species is the Rough Hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus), which is very abundant in all parts of Britain except the extreme north, its rather large, yellow flower-heads being often mistaken for those of the Dandelion that are frequently seen in company with them on pasture land. Its specific name is due to the short, stiff hairs, often more or less branched, that clothe all parts of the plant. The leaves are all radical, long and narrow, decreasing in width towards the base, and either coarsely toothed or deeply cut into pointed lobes. The flower-stalk widens immediately below its solitary head, which is surrounded by hairy bracts--two or three whorls of short ones without, and a whorl of long ones within. All the florets are ligulate or strap-shaped, and yellow. The fruits are long achenes, narrower towards the top; and the pappus consists of a few short, outer hairs, surrounding about twice the number of brown, feathered ones three or four times as long. The flower stalks vary from a few inches to a foot or more in height, and the flowers bloom from June to September.

Equally abundant is the Autumnal Hawkbit (Leontodon autumnalis), which is also found in pastures. It is a very similar plant in many respects, but may be easily distinguished by its smaller heads of flowers on branching stalks. The flowering stems are erect, from six to eighteen inches high, each with one or two branches bearing a few small scales and a single head of flowers. The involucre consists of several rows of smooth, closely-overlapping bracts, and is narrowed at the base into the enlarged upper part of the stalk. The florets are all ligulate, as in the last species; and the pappus consists of brown, feathery hairs, all of the same length. The flowers appear during August and September.

The Meadow Thistle (Carduus pratensis) is abundant in some of the southern counties of Britain and Ireland, but is rarely seen in the north. Nearly all the leaves of this plant are radical, and these are long, narrow, and covered with cottony hairs. The few leaves of the stem are narrow, with short teeth that are only slightly prickly. The stem itself grows from twelve to eighteen inches high, and is usually unbranched, with a single head of flowers; sometimes, however, it has one or two branches, each terminating in a flower-head. The involucre is globular in form, covered with cottony hairs, and composed of closely-placed bracts. The flowers are purple. The plant grows chiefly in moist pastures, and flowers from June to August.

The Black Knapweed or Hardhead (Centaurea nigra) is a very common flower of meadows and pastures, flowering from June to September. Its stem is erect, tough, branched, from a few inches to three feet in height. The leaves are long and narrow; the upper ones entire or nearly so, and clasping the stem; and the lower coarsely toothed or divided into lobes. The flower-head has somewhat the appearance of a purple thistle, but the involucre is not prickly. The latter consists of an almost globular mass of closely-overlapping bracts, the visible portions of which are dark brown or black fringes. The florets are generally all equal, but the outer ones are sometimes larger than the others, and sterile.

The Great Knapweed (Centaurea Scabiosa) is a somewhat similar plant, but usually larger, its stout, branched stem being generally two or three feet high. It may be easily distinguished by its larger flower-heads, the outer, neuter florets of which are considerably enlarged. As a rule the florets are all purple, but occasionally all are white, or the outer ones white and the others purple. The bracts of the involucre are broad, with a green centre and a dark, downy margin. The fruit is surmounted by a pappus of stiff, bristly hairs of about its own length. This plant is common in the south of Britain, and flowers during July and August.

Two species of Fleabane have to be noticed. They belong to the genus Inula, and are distinguished by a distinct division of the flower-head into disc and ray, and also by two minute 'tails' at the bottom of the anthers.

One of these is the Common Fleabane (I. dysenterica)--a woolly plant, abundant in the moist pastures of the southern counties, flowering from July to September. Its erect stem is loosely branched, from six inches to two feet high. The leaves are oblong and wavy--the lower ones stalked, and the upper clasping the stem with rounded lobes at the base. The flower-heads are yellow, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, arranged singly on the tips of the branches, or on stalks arising from the axils of the upper leaves. The florets of the ray are spreading, and much longer than those of the disc; and the fruits have a minute cup at the top, from the inside of which spring the hairs of the pappus. The smoke arising from the burning Fleabanes was supposed to kill fleas and other vermin; and the specific name dysenterica is due to the fact that this species has been used as a medicine in cases of dysentery.

The Small Fleabane (I. Pulicaria) is a similar plant, but smaller (from six to twelve inches high) and less woolly. Its flower-heads are yellow, much smaller, on terminal and axillary stalks; and the florets of the ray are only slightly longer than those of the disc. The hairs of the pappus are not surrounded at the base by a little cup, but by a few minute and distinct scales. This species grows in the south-eastern counties of England, and flowers during August and September.