Part 45

On almost all heaths and downs we may see the pretty little Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris)--the only British representative of its order (Polygalaceæ), unless we regard some varieties of this variable plant as distinct species, according to the opinions of some authorities. It is a smooth or slightly hairy plant, with a woody stem that gives off several spreading branches varying from two to nine inches in length. The nature of the leaves and the arrangement of the flowers are shown in our illustration. The latter are very variable in colour, ranging from a pure white to lilac and a deep, rich blue; and each has five sepals, of which the two inner ones are wing-shaped, persistent, and coloured like the corolla; and at its base are three bracts, the middle and largest of which is as long as the short pedicel. The petals, three to five in number, are united, smaller than the wing-sepals, and the lowest is keel-shaped. The plant blooms from June to August; and the drooping flowers, though small, are often so abundant as to distinctly modify the general colouring of patches of heath and moor.

Two small species of St. John's Wort (order Hypericaceæ) are moderately abundant on downs and commons, especially in South Britain. The flowers of this order are all yellow, and may be easily recognised by their stamens, three or five in number, which are so much branched that they give the appearance of a large number of stamens arranged in three or five clusters. In the two species we have to consider these stamens are three in number. One is the Trailing St. John's Wort (Hypericum humifusum), a little tufted, prostrate plant, with small oblong leaves marked by minute transparent spots, and by black dots under the margins; and flowers with unequal sepals. The other is the Small St. John's Wort (H. pulchrum) which is erect, from one to two feet high, with cordate leaves that embrace the stem, and panicled flowers which are tipped with red when in the bud. Both species flower during July and August.

Passing now to the Leguminosæ, we take first the Broom (Sarothamus scoparius or Cytisus scoparius)--a smooth or slightly hairy shrub, from two to six feet high, bearing large, yellow flowers during May and June. Its branches are long, erect, angular and green; and the leaves are small, ternate, with obovate, silky leaflets, or sometimes reduced to a single leaflet. The large flowers are either solitary or in pairs, shortly stalked, and arranged in the axils of the leaves of the previous summer. The fruits are black pods, usually more than an inch long, hairy round the edges of the valves, and surmounted at first by a spirally-curved style.

The Furze, Gorse, or Whin (Ulex europæus) is a bush of about the same size, with more or less erect branches that all terminate in a sharp, rigid point. Sometimes little lanceolate leaves may be seen near the bases of the short branches, but normally all the leaves are reduced to sharp, green spines, about half an inch long. The flowers, usually more than half an inch long, are placed singly in the axils of the thorny leaves of the previous season, and are often so abundant as to form dense, showy clusters. The Furze is abundant in all parts of Great Britain with the exception of North Scotland, and may be seen in flower from February (or even January if the weather is mild) to July.

The Dwarf Furze (Ulex nanus), also abundant on the heaths of most parts of Britain, commences to flower in July--just about the time that the last species ceases to produce its blossoms, and continues in bloom almost to the end of the year. It is a much smaller shrub, usually from one to two feet high, of a deeper green colour. Its stem is usually procumbent; its spines weaker, and generally turned downward; and its flowers smaller, and of a deeper, golden yellow.

On heaths and downs of most parts of England and Scotland we may meet with the Needle Green-weed, Needle Whin, or Petty Whin (Genista anglica)--a little spiny shrub, varying from a few inches to two feet in height, with erect stem and spreading branches. Its lower branches are simple, or are reduced to branched thorns, while the upper are compound, bearing small ovate or narrow leaves; and solitary, axillary, pale yellow flowers in short, leafy clusters. This species flowers during May and June.

In the same order (Leguminosæ) are two species of Rest Harrow, common on heaths and stony banks. One of these--the Common Rest Harrow (Ononis arvensis)--is a very variable plant, with pink or rose-coloured flowers that bloom from June to September. Its stem is sometimes procumbent and rooting at the base, sometimes ascending or nearly erect, and is thinly clothed on all sides by soft, spreading hairs. The leaves are usually trifoliate, with obovate or oblong, toothed leaflets, but the lateral leaflets are often very small or altogether wanting. The flowers are solitary, sessile or shortly-stalked, on short, lateral branches; and the standard (upper petal) is streaked with a darker colour.

The other species, shown on Plate VI, Fig. 3, is the Spiny Rest Harrow (O. spinosa), which, however, is sometimes regarded as a variety of the last. Its flowers are very similar in form and colour, and appear during the same time; but the stem is erect, spiny, without runners, seldom more than a foot high, and has two longitudinal rows of hairs.

Passing next to the order Rosaceæ, we first note the Dropwort (Spiræa Filipendula), of the same genus as the Meadow Sweet, frequently met with on the downs and dry pastures of England and Scotland. Its leaves are mostly radical, three or four inches long, interruptedly pinnate, with many oval or narrow segments which are themselves pinnately lobed or deeply toothed. At the base of each is a pair of stipules which are attached to the leaf-stalk throughout their length. The flowers, which appear during June and July, are white, and very much like those of the Meadow Sweet (p. 219), but are larger, without scent, and generally pink when in the bud. The height of the plant is usually from twelve to eighteen inches.

In the same order we have the Tormentil (Potentilla Tormentilla), which is very abundant on heaths, dry pastures and stony banks, flowering from June to August. This plant has a prostrate (rarely erect) stem, from six to ten inches long, repeatedly forked, and clothed with silky hairs. The leaves are compound, with three or five deeply-toothed leaflets; the lower ones sometimes shortly stalked, but the upper always sessile. The flowers are rather small, yellow, generally with four petals, on slender peduncles arising from the axils of the leaves or from the forks of the stem.

Our last example of the Rosaceæ is the Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus); but it should be mentioned at once that the popular name of Blackberry embraces quite a number of shrubs, often estimated at some scores of species and varieties. We cannot here, however, attempt to divide and classify the group; but we shall simply point out the features by which the shrubs in question may be distinguished, collectively, from allied shrubs that are not properly included under the same popular name. The stem of the Blackberry grows to from three to twelve feet long, and has stiff or downy hairs in addition to the prickles. It is sometimes quite prostrate, sometimes erect, but more commonly arched, and rooting at the tips as they bend to the ground. The leaves are very variable, but usually consist of three or five large, ovate leaflets, with toothed edges, more or less downy, having curved prickles along the midrib and stalks. The flowers are white or pink, in terminal panicles, with five free sepals, five distinct petals, and many stamens. The fruit is black, and consists of several one-seeded carpels which do not readily separate from the receptacle when ripe; and the persistent sepals are usually bent downward below it.

Coming now to the Rubiaceæ, we have to note four species, all characterised by whorled leaves; a corolla of four, united petals; stamens attached to the corolla; and an inferior ovary, of two carpels, that ripens to a dry fruit. Three of the four belong to the Bedstraw genus (Galium), in which the corolla is wheel-shaped. They are:--

1. The Yellow or Ladies' Bedstraw (G. verum), very abundant on downs and dry banks, flowering from June to September. It has a prostrate or semi-erect, smooth stem, from six inches to two feet in length; and small, narrow leaves, six to eight in a whorl, generally slightly rough on the edges. The flowers are pale yellow, golden yellow, or greenish, arranged in dense, terminal and axillary panicles. The fruit is small and smooth.

2. The Smooth Heath Bedstraw (G. saxatile).--Abundant on downs, flowering from June to August. Its stem is prostrate, smooth, from four to six inches long; and the leaves are generally in whorls of five or six. The flower-stalks are numerous, erect, weak, angled, smooth, each bearing a terminal panicle of many small, white flowers. The fruit is small, with a granulated surface.

3. The Upright Bedstraw (G. erectum).--Not so common as the preceding, but often found on downs and hilly pastures, flowering from June to August. It is sometimes regarded as a variety of the Great Hedge Bedstraw (G. Mollugo), described on p. 172. Its stem is erect, from one to two feet high; and the leaves, six to eight in a whorl, are very narrow, with marginal prickles pointing forwards. The flowers are white, in a panicle with slender, erect branches; and the fruit is smooth.

The remaining plant of this order is the Small Woodruff or Squinancy-wort (Asperula cynanchica), which is common in many parts of England and Ireland. Its stem is smooth, sometimes erect with scattered leaves, and sometimes prostrate, leafy and tufted. It varies in length from six to ten inches. The leaves are very narrow, usually four in a whorl, and very unequal. At the upper nodes two of each whorl are often reduced to mere scales, or are absent altogether. The flowers, which appear during June and July, are white or pinkish, and are clustered at the tips of the erect stems. The fruit is small, with a granulated surface.

The Small Scabious (Scabiosa Columbaria), of the order Dipsaceæ, is common on the dry heaths of England, and is readily distinguished from the Devil's-bit Scabious, which it somewhat resembles, by its deeply-divided leaves and pale purple or lilac flowers. Its stem is erect, from one to two feet high. The lower leaves are rather crowded, and usually have a large, oval or oblong, terminal segment, deeply toothed or lobed, and some smaller ones below it. The stem leaves are cut into very narrow segments which are either entire or pinnately lobed. The flowers are in dense, terminal heads, surrounded by a whorl of short bracts, and intermixed with the little, narrow scales of the receptacle, the outer flowers of each head being larger than the others, and very irregular. This plant flowers during July and August.

Of the Compositæ we shall first take the Hairy Hawkbit (Leontodon hirtus), which is very common on moors in most parts of Great Britain, flowering during July and August. Although known as the Hairy Hawkbit, this plant is sometimes quite smooth; more commonly, however, the leaves and peduncles are clothed with thinly-scattered, stiff, forked hairs. Its leaves are all radical, either oblong or very narrow, with coarsely-toothed or wavy margins. The flower-heads are solitary, on peduncles from three to eight inches long, and of a bright yellow colour. Each head is surrounded by a whorl of about a dozen green, smooth bracts, outside which are several shorter ones. All the florets are strap-shaped and perfect; and the fruits, which taper at the top, are mostly crowned by a pappus of feathery hairs as long as the achene itself, with a few shorter ones outside. This species appears on Plate VI, Fig. 4.

We have next to note a few thistles that are more or less common on downs and moors, the first being the Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans), common in the South of England, but much less frequent in the North. It is a stout plant, usually scantily covered with a loose, cottony down, with a furrowed stem from one to three feet high. The leaves are very deeply divided pinnately, very prickly, and extend down the stem in the form of narrow, prickly wings. The flower-heads are very large, of a purple or crimson colour, drooping, usually solitary, but sometimes in loose clusters of from two to four. Each head is surrounded by numerous very narrow, stiff bracts, more or less covered with cottony down. All of these terminate in a sharp prickle which is erect on the inner bracts, but spreading or turned backward in the case of the outer ones. This thistle may be seen in flower from May to October. It appears on Plate VI, Fig. 1.

The next species--the Dwarf Thistle (Carduus acaulis)--is found only in the southern and midland counties of England, but is very common on some of the elevated downs of the South-East, especially on chalky soils. It has a very thick and hard rootstock, but hardly any trace of a stem, so that its spreading tuft of radical leaves lie close on the ground, around the large, purple, stemless, and, usually, solitary flower-head. The plant flowers from July to September.

The Carline Thistle (Carlina vulgaris), as its name shows, does not belong to the same genus as the others, from which it differs principally in having its inner bracts coloured and spreading. It is an erect plant, with a stiff stem, usually branching, from six to eighteen inches high. Its leaves are very prickly, and do not form wings down the stem. The flower-heads are particularly interesting, having much the appearance of everlasting flowers. In fact, the whole plant is of such a stiff and dry nature that it undergoes but little change in appearance when cut and preserved. The outer bracts are leafy and spreading, with strong, prickly teeth or lobes; and the inner ones are very narrow, entire, white or pale yellow, of a chaffy nature and very glossy. The latter are very sensitive to atmospheric conditions, spreading horizontally when the air is dry, and closing over the florets in humid air; and they respond so readily to the changed conditions that their movements may be watched as they are transferred from warm, dry air to a moist chamber, or vice versa. This plant is common on the downs of England and Ireland, and flowers from July to September.

Our last Composite flower is the Common Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis), which is abundant on the downs of the southern counties of England, flowering from July to September. It is an aromatic herb, with a procumbent stem, from six to twelve inches long, and ascending, leafy, flowering branches. The leaves are bipinnate, slightly downy, with very fine, almost hairlike, segments. The flower-heads are terminal, with a white ray and yellow disc, surrounded by blunt bracts the inner of which have membranous tips. On the receptacle are little broad scales, nearly as long as the disc florets.

On heaths almost everywhere we may see the pretty Roundleaved Bell-flower or Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), which displays its gracefully drooping bells from July to September. It has a slender, smooth, erect or ascending stem, from six to twenty inches high, which is usually branched. Its popular and scientific names both appear to be inappropriate if we examine the plant during its flowering season, for the only leaves then usually observable are the very narrow ones, generally quite entire, attached to the stem; earlier in the year, however, it has a few round or heart-shaped leaves, with long stalks, close to the base of the stem; but these commonly die about the time that the flowers commence to appear. The flowers are sometimes solitary, but often form a loose raceme of several bells.

The Clustered Bell-flower (Campanula glomerata) is common on the downs of most parts of England, and often very abundant in the South. It has a stiff, hairy, erect, angular, unbranched stem, from three to eighteen inches high. On some of the dry, chalky downs of the South the plant is often very dwarfed, being scarcely noticeable among the rather closely-cropped grass. The leaves are oblong or lanceolate, with crenate margins, rough and hairy, the lower ones stalked, but the upper sessile and clasping the stem. The flowers are about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and form a dense cluster among the upper leaves. The corolla is blue, bell-shaped, with five spreading lobes; and the fruit is a short, broad capsule, surmounted by the teeth of the calyx, and opens, when ripe, by slits near the base. This species flowers during July and August. It may be identified by reference to Fig. 2 of Plate VI.

The same order includes the Sheep's-bit (Jasione montana), also known as the Sheep's Scabious. It certainly resembles a Scabious in general appearance (see Fig. 5 of Plate VI), with its dense clusters of blue or deep lilac flowers, but may be readily distinguished from it by the united anthers of its five stamens, and by the absence of the involucel that surrounds the individual flowers of the Scabious flower-head. The dense cluster of flowers, surrounded by a whorl of many ovate bracts, might also be mistaken for that of a Composite at first sight; but here again we find exclusive distinguishing features, for the flowers of the cluster are not sessile on a common receptacle; and the fruits, instead of being one-seeded achenes, are two-chambered capsules. The plant is from six to twelve inches high; and its leaves are oblong or very narrow, wavy, blunt, and hairy. The flower-heads are hemispherical, about half an inch in diameter. Both calyx and corolla have five narrow, spreading lobes. The plant is common on heaths, and flowers from June to September.

We now come to those interesting plants known collectively as Heaths, and which add so much beauty to our heaths and moors. They belong to the order Ericaceæ, and are all readily distinguished by their bushy appearance, hard woody stems, and small, simple leaves arranged in pairs or whorls. The flowers, too, are very characteristic, each one having an inferior calyx of four sepals; a bell-shaped or pitcher-shaped, persistent corolla, with five lobes; eight stamens free from the corolla; and a four-chambered ovary that ripens to a capsule.

The Cross-leaved Heath (Erica Tetralix) is common all over Britain, especially so in the West. It is a wiry little shrub, from a foot to eighteen inches high, much branched at the base. Its leaves are short, narrow, downy above, fringed with stiff hairs, and arranged in whorls of four, each whorl forming a cross. The drooping flowers, which appear during July and August, are usually rose-coloured, occasionally white, and are arranged in close, terminal, one-sided clusters.

The Ciliated Heath (Erica ciliaris), perhaps the most beautiful of the British species, is found only in the West of England, but is really abundant on some of the Devon and Cornwall moorlands. It is of a somewhat straggling nature, and its ovate leaves, which are downy above, and fringed with stiff hairs, are in whorls of three or four. The flowers are sometimes nearly half an inch long, of a bright rose or crimson colour, and are arranged in broken, one-sided racemes. The corolla is pitcher-shaped, with four lobes round the narrow mouth. The plant reaches a length of from twelve to eighteen inches, and flowers from June to September.