Part 16

Round the outer edge of the disc there is a small circle of tube-flowers, each of which has a broad white strap, and these straps are nicked at the ends.

Underneath these small daisies stands a circle of tiny green pointed leaves; these form a cup which protects the plant when it is in bud.

The stem of the Sneezewort is very sturdy. The leaves are sword-shaped, with long veins running from the base to the tip. They clasp the stem, and all round the edge they are cut into very fine teeth, like a saw.

2. MOUNTAIN EVERLASTING

This woolly little plant is common over most of the north country, on heaths and sandy pastures and in upland districts; but you do not find it in the south of England. It is in flower all summer.

The root of the Mountain Everlasting is like a thin brown worm lying on the surface of the ground, and from this root, long, slender brown threads go down into the ground and keep the flower steady.

The flowers resemble small woolly daisies. They grow in clusters of four or more, at the end of the main stem, and each cluster has a short, stiff stalk of its own.

These woolly daisies are made up of a great many tiny pink flower-tubes, each with a ring of fine white hairs round it. These tubes are surrounded by a double row of woolly, downy leaves which stand out like the strap-shaped rays of the daisy.

Underneath these woolly rays is a green cup, made up of a double row of narrow strap-shaped brown or green leaves, pressed close together.

The main stem rises straight and firm from the creeping root. It is closely covered with white down, and at intervals it is clasped by narrow, pointed green leaves. These leaves are dark green on the upper side, but underneath they are covered with white woolly down.

PLATE XV: 1. TRAVELLER'S JOY 2. WOOD ANEMONE 3. WATER CROWFOOT

1. TRAVELLER'S JOY

You will have no difficulty in recognising this plant. It has masses of grey-green flowers, and big bunches of feathery tufts; and you will find it growing in summer right over the tops of the hedges.

There are some unusual things about this flower. It has really no petals. There are four pretty sepals of a grey-green colour, which are covered with soft white woolly down. These woolly sepals soon fall off, and within you find a big bunch of whitish green stamens. When the seeds which grow in the centre of the bunch of stamens begin to ripen, they each send out a long feathery tail. These tails wave in the air, and look like tufts of down clinging to the hedges.

The leaves are dark green above and paler green below. They grow opposite each other on the stem. Sometimes their edges are quite smooth, and sometimes they are cut like the teeth of a big saw.

The stem of the Traveller's Joy is very tough and woody. It is easily bent, and would not be able to rise from the ground were it not that there are little curly green threads called tendrils below the small leaves. These tendrils twist themselves round the stems of the hedges, and with this support the plant can climb as high as the top of the hedge.

2. WOOD ANEMONE

This is one of the daintiest of our wild plants. You find the woods carpeted with it in early spring.

The flower has six delicate white sepals. These are long and rather narrow, and on the outside they are often tinged with purple or pink. The buds are usually quite pink until they open. These pink sepals form the calyx. There are no petals.

Within the pink sepals are many stamens with little yellow heads set on stems as fine as a hair, and in the centre of these stamens there is a small green knot of seeds.

The Wood Anemone has two kinds of green leaves. The flower grows on a short, smooth stalk, which rises from the centre of three soft, dark green leaves. These leaves are each divided into three parts, which are deeply cut up round the edge, and their short stalks are covered with fine hairs.

The second leaves rise on slender stalks straight from the root. They are divided very much the same as the others. If you dig up the Wood Anemone root you find that it is like a rough brown bit of stick. It creeps along underneath the ground instead of going straight down into it, and you can see that the flower and the first set of three leaves rises at a different part from the stalk which bears the other leaves.

3. WATER CROWFOOT

The Water Crowfoot is really a white Buttercup, and it likes to grow in ponds or in rivers that run very slowly. The flowers are at their best in May and June.

These flowers have five glossy white petals, and each petal has a yellow patch at the foot. Behind these beautiful white petals there are five green sepals which fold back close round the flower-stalk.

Within the flower there are stamens with thick yellow heads, growing in a circle round a small green knot which holds the seed-vessels.

This Water Crowfoot has two kinds of leaves. Some grow underneath the water, and these leaves are divided into fine hairs, which are each forked at the end. The water runs very easily through these hairs.

But those leaves which are above the water are solid. They are dark green and glossy, and are nearly round. Each leaf is divided into three parts, and sometimes the edges are cut up, and often they are quite smooth.