The leaves of the Wood Sorrel are very pretty. Each leaf has a slender pink stalk which springs straight from the root, and every leaf is divided into three delicate leaflets, which are pale green above, and a delicate pale pink below. These leaflets are heart-shaped, and before they have fully opened, they droop close to the stem.
If you taste one of the Wood Sorrel leaves, you will find it is bitter but not unpleasant.
1. GOOSEGRASS OR CLEAVERS 2. WOODRUFF
3. YARROW OR MILLFOIL
1. GOOSEGRASS OR CLEAVERS
This clinging plant is common everywhere. It grows abundantly on every hedge-bank, and it is in bloom all summer and autumn.
The flowers are so small that you scarcely notice them. Each flower has four tiny white petals, and four yellow-headed stamens. Behind the flower there is a ring of narrow pointed pale green leaves.
When the white petals fall off, you see two pale olive or dull purple seeds, shaped like little balls. These balls always grow in pairs, and they are covered with sharp, prickly hooks, which cling to everything they touch. You find them clinging to your clothes, and they get caught in the hair of a dog's back, and you see them sticking to the wool of the sheep who nibble at the hedge-banks.