Juniper.
Juniperus communis.
—Coniferæ.—
Juniper (Juniperus communis).
Hitherto we have been considering plants that have stigmas and ovaries, whether they had or had not a calyx or a corolla; but we must now introduce our patient readers to a cohort of plants which contrive to make an important figure in the world without either calyx, corolla, stigma, or ovary. These plants are generally forest trees, most important as timber producers, but their flowers consist solely of anthers and open carpels containing the ovules, which are fertilized by actual contact with the pollen-grains, instead of through the medium of a stigma and style which have to be pierced by the pollen-tube. This cohort contains the pines and firs; also the Juniper and the Yew.
Juniper is a dark foliaged evergreen shrub or small tree, usually four or five feet in height, but occasionally attaining a stature of ten, fifteen, or even twenty feet. It occurs on heaths and open hillsides, sometimes in great profusion, as on parts of the North Downs in Surrey and Kent. Its leaves are very narrow, pointed, and borne in threes. Their midribs and margins are thicker than the intermediate portions, and they have a pungent resinous odour. Each anther is borne on a scale, a number of which are formed into a cone, and is four-celled. The female flower consists of five or six scales united at their bases to form a kind of involucre, within which are three naked ovules. The pale yellow pollen is blown into this by the wind, and falls directly upon the ovules. Having become fertile the seeds mature, and the scales develop into a fleshy cone, outwardly resembling a berry, of a blue-black hue with a glaucous bloom upon it. The pollen is shed in May and June, but the fruit is not ripe until the following spring. This is the only British species; its essential oil has long been used as a diuretic and flavouring substance, notably for giving its distinctive flavour to Gin, whose name is derived from Genevrier, the French for Juniper.
Stinging Nettles (Urtica).
Surely, the reader says, we know a nettle when we see it, and certainly know it when we touch it, without needing description or figure. Perhaps so, but the average rambler, for whom this book is primarily intended, would certainly pass Campanula trachelium as a nettle if he encountered it before it flowered; and though he may know a nettle by being stung, he cannot in that simple manner determine the species, for there are three kinds occurring in England. We will, however, meet the objection so far that we will not waste many words in a general description, but deal more with the points of difference between the species. All have a liberal supply of the stinging hairs, and green flowers of two kinds. The staminate flowers consist of a four-parted perianth enclosing four stamens with kidney-shaped anthers. Pistillate flowers consist of a perianth and a single carpel, surmounted by a brush-like stigma. The name of the genus is from the Latin uro, to burn, in reference to the sensation produced by the stings.
I. The Great Nettle (Urtica dioica), is the species figured. It is our largest native nettle, and attains the height of 4 or 5 feet, the stem rising from a branching perennial rootstock which throws out runners. The large leaves are saw-edged, and apart from the stinging hairs are downy. Flower spikes given off in pairs, each spike consisting of either staminate or pistillate flowers only; the pistillate more dense than the others. Hedgebanks chiefly. Flowering from June to September.
II. Roman Nettle (U. pilulifera). Not so large. An annual; leaves smooth but for the stinging hairs, margin entire or toothed. Male flowers in panicles, female gathered in heads. Flowers larger than in dioica. Under walls and among rubbish, near habitations, chiefly in the Eastern counties, and near the sea. June to August.
III. Small Nettle (U. urens). The familiar annual plant of fields and wastes. Leaves coarsely toothed, smooth but for stinging hairs. Panicles containing flowers of both sexes; few flowered. Flowers June to September.
