Even more common, in most places, is the Corn Feverfew or Scentless Mayweed (M. inodora), which flowers from June to the end of the summer. Its stem is erect, with spreading branches; and the sessile leaves are two or three times divided into narrow, almost hair-like segments. The flower-heads are much larger than those of the last species, sometimes reaching a diameter of about two inches, and are solitary. The involucre is brown, with a membranous edge; the ray white, and the disc yellow. It is sometimes confused with the Wild Chamomile, but may be distinguished by the shape of the receptacle, which is hemispherical, and not so conical as in Chamomilla.
The Scentless Mayweed.
The Yarrow or Milfoil.
Our last example of the Composites of the wayside is the Yarrow or Milfoil (Achillea millefolium)—a plant that might be mistaken by the beginner for one of the Umbellifers when seen at a distance; but a closer examination will show not only that the level-topped inflorescence is a dense, terminal corymb, but also that the flowers are collected into little heads, each of which consists of a few white or pink, pistillate ray-florets, surrounding a little cluster of tubular, perfect, yellow florets of the disc. The leaves are narrow oblong, and very finely cut into many hair-like, branching segments. The whole plant has a strong and rather pleasant odour. It grows from six to eighteen inches high, and flowers from June to September.
[XIII]
WASTES AND WAYSIDES IN SUMMER (Continued)
Continuing our list of the numerous wayside flowers of the summer months, we take first the Rampion Bellflower or Ramps (Campanula Rapunculus), of the order Campanulaceæ. The flowers of this order are usually easily distinguished by their bell-shaped corolla, mounted on an inferior ovary, and by their general resemblance to the Canterbury Bells so familiar to us as favourite garden flowers. The Rampion is to be seen on some of the sandy or gravelly wastes of the South of England during July and August, but is rather local in its distribution. It has an angled, erect stem, from two to three feet high, rough with stiff, white hairs. The stem leaves are narrow, pointed, and usually entire; but the lower leaves are broader, with slightly-scalloped edges, on long stalks. The blue flowers are arranged in erect terminal racemes, either simple or branched, each flower having a short stalk. In order to distinguish between this and other species of the same genus we should note that the segments of its calyx are narrow and entire; and that the corolla is divided deeply into five narrow, pointed segments.