Part 27

It is a hairy annual belonging to the cabbage tribe, which is a branch of the Cruciferæ or Cross-worts, so-called from the four petals being arranged cross-wise. In this and the two following species the petals are bright yellow. To make the flower symmetrical there should be four or eight stamens; there are six, and it has been suggested that there were eight, but two have been suppressed. The fruit is an angular pod, with a straight beak, not persistent, and two hairy valves, but containing only one row of dark-brown seeds. Flowers from May to August.

There are many species of Brassica, two of which may be confounded with B. sinapis; they are:--

I. Black Mustard (B. nigrum). Stem bristly, upper leaves very narrow, lance-shaped, smooth, with entire or toothed margins. Pods awl-shaped, quadrangular. Beak short and slender, containing no seeds. Valves keeled. Seeds reddish-brown, oblong. Flowers June to September in hedges and wastes.

II. White Mustard (B. alba). Hairy, like B. sinapis, but the hairs pointing downwards. The upper leaves deeply lobed, lyre-shaped, the lobes being again cut and lobed. Stem marked with longitudinal incised lines. Pod short, no longer than the flat thin, or sword-shaped, ribbed beak. Seeds larger than the last, more globose, yellow. Flowers June and July in cultivated ground.

The genus bears the Latin name for the Cabbage, the wild form of which is B. oleracea, a wild plant on the sea-cliffs of South-west England and Wales, from which have arisen the cultivated varieties known as Scotch-kail, cow-cabbage, savoys, brussels sprouts, red cabbage, white cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.

=Common Cow-wheat= (Melampyrum pratense).

Quite a number of our common plants have been distinguished in popular nomenclature by the prefix “cow,” and as a general rule it would appear to have been applied in depreciation, as in the parallel cases of “dog,” “horse,” and “hog,” to signify coarseness or worthlessness. In the case of the Cow-wheat our forefathers had a notion that if its seeds were ground up with wheat the bread made from the flour would be black. One of the species (M. arvense) affects cornfields, and its seeds are like black grains of wheat, and from this fact the genus gets its scientific appellation from the Greek, melas, black, and puros, wheat. In addition the plants themselves turn black when dead and dry.

I. Common Yellow Cow-wheat (M. pratense) is an annual, partially parasitic upon roots, like Eyebright. The leaves are almost stalkless, very narrow, with even margins, and produced in pairs. The flower follows the general structure of the Scrophularineæ (see pp. 33 and 50 ante). The calyx is five-toothed, the corolla tubular, straight, dilated at the mouth and two-lipped, the upper with the edges turned back, the lower three-lobed. The four stamens will be found close under the upper lip, with the small stigma. It should be noticed that in this species, which is common in dry woods and on heaths, the pale yellow flowers assume a horizontal position, whilst the capsule is more deflexed. May to September.

II. Small-flowered Yellow Cow-wheat (M. sylvaticum) is a rare species, found in alpine woods from Yorkshire northwards. It has a small deep yellow corolla, which is borne more erectly than in pratense. Other points of difference will be found in the curved corolla-tube, and in the position of the capsule, which is not deflexed. Flowers July and August.

III. Purple Field Cow-wheat (M. arvense). This is a local species whose distribution in this country is restricted to Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Herts, and the Isle of Wight. Where it occurs it is a conspicuous item in the cornfield flora, by reason of its large spikes of flowers with their many colours. The bracts are reddish-purple, the corolla rosy, with yellow throat, and the lips a full pink. Flowers July and August.

IV. Crested Cow-wheat (M. cristatum). This also is a rare plant, confined to the Eastern counties of England, and affecting woods, copses, and cornfields. It has broad, heart-shaped, purple bracts, with long fine teeth. The flowers in a dense spike (not so large as in arvense); corolla-tube curved, yellow, the upper lip purple within. Flowers September and October.

Melampyrum pratense.

--SCROPHULARINEÆ.--]

Hippophae rhamnoides.

--ELÆAGNACEÆ.--]

=Sea Buckthorn= (Hippophæ rhamnoides).

Let us say at once that this plant is in no way related to the Buckthorns, properly so called. It is another example of the readiness with which our fathers seized upon a mere superficial resemblance as justification for the partial repetition of a name, and to save them the trouble of finding a new one.

Sea Buckthorn is the sole representative in this country of the Natural Order Elæagnaceæ, and is a low shrubby tree, growing on sand-hills and cliffs on the East and South-east coasts from York to Sussex. The branches commonly end in a spine, which has brought the plant its alternative name of Sallow-thorn. The alternate leaves are a dull leaden green above, but the underside is covered with silvery scales. At first they are egg-shaped, but lengthen after the plant has flowered. The flowers are of two kinds, borne on separate plants (diæcious), one kind containing stamens only, the other a pistil alone. The staminate flowers are produced in clusters from the axils, and consist of two sepals with four stamens. The pistillate flowers are produced singly. The ovary is enclosed in the calyx-tube, and develops into the globose orange-yellow fruits. Flowers from May to July.

The fruits do not appear to be used in this country; though in Tartary they are said to be made into a pleasant jelly, and in the Gulf of Bothnia they are used in the concoction of a fish-sauce. Their flavour is decidedly acid.

The name has been derived from the Greek hippos, a horse, and phao, to give light, from a supposed power of curing equine blindness; also from hippos, and phao, to destroy, from its fatal effects when eaten by horses; and from hypo, under, and phao, to shine, in allusion to the silvery underside of the leaf. The reader will kindly select that which seems the most reasonable--or reject them all.

=Meadow-sweet= (Spiræa ulmaria).

Our first encounter with the Queen of the Meadows, or Meadow-sweet, is an event to be remembered. It will probably be beside a shallow stream, and for a long distance we shall see the continuous line of thick clumps, with the handsome, much-divided radical leaves standing erect around the taller furrowed stems. Individually the creamy-white flowers are minute, but combined in large dense cymes they are very conspicuous. There is an airy grace about the plant that is particularly charming, quite apart from the attraction of its powerful fragrance.

Meadow-sweet has a short perennial rootstock, the leaves are interruptedly pinnate (see p. 63), the terminal leaflet three-lobed. The undersides are downy and white. The stem-leaves are provided with broad-toothed stipules. In spite of their fragrance the flowers produce no honey, but, attracted by the sweet odour, insects visit them in great numbers, and from the closeness of the flowers cannot help fertilizing them. The calyx has four or five lobes, turned back; the petals are four or five, the carpels vary from five to nine, curiously twisted, and surrounded by a large number of stamens. It flowers from June to August, and may be found beside watercourses and in wet meadows, as well as by the sides of streams and rivers.

There is one other British species:--

The Dropwort (Spiræa filipendula), which grows far away from the haunts of the Meadow-sweet, delighting in high dry pastures, chalk downs, and gravelly heaths. He that has seen ulmaria will not fail to identify filipendula as the sister of the meadow queen, for though much smaller it is in general appearance very similar. The unopened flowers are rosy, but the inside of the petals is of the same creamy-white as in Meadow-sweet. It is not fragrant. Flowers June and July.

A third species, the Willow-leaved Spiræa (S. salicifolia), may occasionally be met in plantations; but it is not a native.

Spiræa ulmaria.

--ROSACEÆ.--]