Flowers, Shown to the Children

by C. E. Smith

The four sepals are very narrow green straps with sharp points.

The dark green hairy leaves are oval, with the edges cut all round like the teeth of a saw. They have no stalks, and they grow in pairs opposite each other. The slender stems, which bear the flowers in loose heads near the top, spring from between the leaf and the main stem.

2. BROOKLIME SPEEDWELL

The Brooklime Speedwell is quite as common as its cousin the blue Germander Speedwell, but it grows in damp places. You find it in ditches and beside slow-running streams, and the flowers are in bloom from spring to autumn.

The plant has a round juicy stem, which is hollow in the middle. It rises straight up from its muddy bed.

The flowers have four small petals which are a dull blue in colour, and are not very attractive.

In the centre of the flower there is a tiny blue ring, and to this ring are fastened the two red-headed stamens.

The seed-vessel is a small green dot with a spike at the top. It is so tiny that you can scarcely see it until the blue petals have fallen off.

Behind the flower there are four small green sepals.