Part 11

--LABIATEÆ.--

=Ivy-leaved Toadflax.=

Linaria cymbalaria.

--SCROPHULARINEÆ.--]

Geranium rotundifolium.

--GERANIACEÆ.--]

The Ivy-leaved Toad-flax (Linaria cymbalaria) will be found forming a beautiful tapestry on ruins and old walls. It is a Continental species, and those found naturalized here are believed to be the descendants of greenhouse escapes. The stems are very long and slender; the leaves lobed like certain forms of Ivy, often purple beneath, dark green above. The calyx is five-parted, and the corolla is like that of the familiar Snapdragon of our gardens. The two lips are so formed that they close the mouth of the corolla, which is hence said to be personate or masked; the tube is spurred, in which it differs from Snapdragon. When the seed-capsule is nearly ripe it turns about on its stalk and seeks a cranny in the wall, where it can disperse its seeds. Flowers July to September. The name Linaria is derived from the Latin Linum, from the resemblance of the leaves of the common Toad-flax (see page 105) to those of the Flax (see page 96).

=Round-leaved Crane’s-bill= (Geranium rotundifolium).

This neat member of a charming family is by no means a common plant; in fact, northward of South Wales and Norfolk it is unknown. Southward it may be found in hedges and waste places, flowering in June and July. The stems are slight, and greatly swollen at the joints. The leaf-stalks are long, and the leaves, though their general outline is kidney-shaped, are deeply cut into about seven lobes, which are in turn lobed or toothed. Owing to the close general resemblance of this species to its immediate congeners some rather minute differences should be noted. The sepals end each in a hard point--in botanists’ language they are mucronate--the margin of the narrow petals is entire, that is, not notched, and the narrow lower portion (claw) is not fringed with hairs. The carpels, or divisions of the seed-vessel, are keeled but not wrinkled, and the seeds are pitted. Its nearest allies are:--

I. The Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill (G. molle), with similar leaves to the last, but with notched petals, the claw bearded. Flowers more rosy than rotundifolium.

II. Small-flowered Crane’s-bill (G. pusillum). Leaves more deeply lobed, sepals as long as the notched petals, claw slightly hairy. Flowers, pale rose.

III. Long-stalked Crane’s-bill (G. columbinum). Lobes of leaves distant from each other, the segments into which they are again cut being very narrow; sepals large, acuminate and awned, as long as the entire rose-purple petals; claws less hairy than in last. All the leaf and flower-stalks long.

IV. Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill (G. dissectum). Similar to G. columbinum, but all stalks much shorter. Bright red petals, notched.

V. Herb-Robert (G. robertianum). Plant more or less red. Leaves divided into five leaflets, these again divided. Calyx angular, the sepals long-awned and hairy. Petals narrow and entire; purple streaked with red; claw smooth.

VI. Shining Crane’s-bill (G. lucidum). Plant more or less crimson in summer. Leaves divided into five segments, each bluntly lobed at the top. The calyx is a wrinkled pyramid, each sepal awned. The rosy petals are much longer than the sepals; claw smooth. There are two lines of hairs on the upper branches.

All the above are annual or biennial plants. The name of the genus is from the Greek geranos, a crane, from a fancied resemblance in the fruit to a Crane’s-bill.

The mechanism for the dispersal of seeds in the Crane’s-bills is worthy of attention. When the petals fall off the carpels enlarge, and the outer layer of the style separates from the axis, splitting into five portions, each attached to a carpel at the bottom and to the style at top. The axis of the style further elongates, but the tails of the carpels do not, and there is, in consequence, great tension, which ends in the carpel being detached from its base. The “tail” curls up, the carpel is reversed, and the seed drops out.

=The Hemlock Stork’s-bill= (Erodium cicutarium).

Closely related to the Crane’s-bills--and at one time included in the genus Geranium with them--are the Stork’s-bills, of which we have three British representatives. Only one of the three, however, is at all plentiful, and that is the one we have figured. It is a common species, but must be looked for on dry wastes and commons, especially near the coast. Quite apart from its umbels of pretty pink flowers it is a handsome plant. The leaves are cut up into a large number of leaflets, arranged in slightly irregular pairs on either side of the rib, and these leaflets are cut up into many irregular lobes. It is the arrangement so common in ferns: the leaf is pinnate, because it is furnished with pinnæ or wings, and as the pinnæ are themselves almost winged they are pinnatifid, or cut in a pinnate manner. The parts of the flower agree in number with Geranium, that is, sepals five, petals five, stamens ten (but five are aborted, and produce no anthers), stigmas five. The fruits agree pretty closely with those of the Crane’s-bills, but in Erodium the tails of the carpels are lined on their inner face with fine silky hairs, and instead of curling simply they twist spirally, and cause the hairs to stand out at right angles. The seed remains attached to the tail, which becomes detached from the axis of the style and is blown to the ground. There the twisted tail is alternately lengthened and shortened by moisture and dryness of the atmosphere, and with assistance of the hairs this automatic movement gradually forces the pointed hairy seed into the ground. It flowers from June to September.

Erodium cicutarium.

--GERANIACEÆ.--]

Achillea millefolium.

--COMPOSITÆ.--]

The Musky Stork’s-bill (E. moschatum) is much larger than the last mentioned. Easily identified by the strong smell of musk. Flowers June and July. Local.

The Sea Stork’s-bill (E. maritimum). Leaves narrow, heart-shaped, lobed and toothed. Petals minute, pale pink, sometimes absent. Sandy and gravelly coasts: rare. May to September. Name from Greek, Erodios, a heron.

=Yarrow or Milfoil= (Achillea millefolium).

One of the commonest weeds in pastures, or on commons, roadside wastes, and often on lawns, is the Yarrow. Its leaves, as its second popular name indicates, are cut up into a large number of segments; these are very slender and crowded, and are again cut up; so that the general aspect of the leaf is exceedingly light and feathery. This is especially the case with the leaves (radical) that spring directly from the creeping root; those given off by the flowering stem become more simple as they near the summit. Unlike as the flowers may at first sight appear to those of the Daisy and Dandelion, those of the Yarrow are also composites. The yellowish disc-florets are tubular, and contain both anthers and stigmas; the white or pink ray-florets are pistillate only. It abounds on all commons, pastures and wastes, flowering from June till the end of the year. There is one other British species,

The Sneezewort (A. ptarmica), which is almost as widely distributed. Its flower-heads are much fewer than in Yarrow, and its leaves are more simple in character, the edges being merely cut into teeth. The disc-florets are more green than yellow. It is about a month later than Yarrow in coming into flower, but thereafter the two species keep time together. The name Achillea was given to the genus in honour of Achilles, who is reputed to have used Yarrow for the purpose of staunching his wounds.