The flowers are closely crowded together in brown, cone-shaped heads. Each flower consists of a narrow white tube, with four graceful yellow points folded back at the mouth.
The large yellow heads of the stamens stand up beyond the mouth of this tube, but you can scarcely see the tip of the seed-vessel which is hidden inside.
When the flowers are fully out, you do not notice the white tubes; all you see is a big cluster of fuzzy yellow-headed stamens.
There are four small green sepals at the bottom of the flower-tube, and these sepals are often stained with brown blotches.
The stems are ribbed all the way up and are covered with short hairs. They are juicy and very easily broken.
3. KNOTTY FIGWORT
This uninteresting plant is abundant everywhere. It is found in damp, shady places by the side of ditches, and it is at its best in summer and autumn.
At first you scarcely notice the flowers. They are small, dull green bells stained with brown, and are not at all attractive. But when you examine them, you find that the mouth of each bell is prettily waved all round the edge, and inside there are two long stamens and two short ones, as well as a fat green seed-vessel, with a curly point standing up in the middle.
There is a green calyx-cup with five teeth at the mouth, and as the small green bell soon withers and falls off, you oftenest notice this calyx-cup with a green seed-vessel sitting in the centre.