FLOWERS OF THE FIELD.
- 1. Rough Cock's-foot Grass.
- 2. Lucerne.
- 3. Crimson Clover.
- 4. Blue Bottle.
- 5. Common Vetch.
- 6. Meadow Clary.
[XIV]
MEADOWS, FIELDS AND PASTURES—SUMMER
In the present chapter we shall briefly describe a considerable number of flowers which are to be seen in fields and pastures during the summer months; but we must remind the reader that many of the species previously mentioned in [Chapter VIII] as flowering in similar situations in the spring, continue to bloom during the whole or a portion of the summer. A list of these is given below; and it should be noted that the flowers described in this chapter are those which do not generally commence to bloom till the month of June.
Spring Flowers of Meadows, Fields and Pastures which continue to bloom in the Summer.
- Creeping Buttercup.
- Bulbous Buttercup.
- Field Penny Cress.
- Wild Pansy.
- Ragged Robin.
- Spotted Medick.
- Netted Medick.
- White Clover.
- Purple Clover.
- Earthnut.
- Daisy.
- Dandelion.
- Yellow Rattle.
- Field Louse-wort.
- Henbit Dead Nettle.
- Common Sorrel.
- Sheep's Sorrel.
- Twayblade.
The Upright Buttercup or Meadow Crowfoot (Ranunculus acris) is often confused with the two similar species (R. repens and R. bulbosus) already described in [Chapter VIII], but it may be easily distinguished from the former by the absence of creeping stems, and from the latter by the spreading calyx and by the fibrous root without any bulbous swelling. The whole plant is covered with soft hairs more or less spreading; and it varies in height from six inches to three feet according to the nature of the soil in which it grows. Its leaves are all stalked with the exception of the few upper ones, and are very deeply divided into three, five, or seven radiating segments which are again cut into three lobes with acute divisions. The flowers are rather large, on long terminal stalks, with a calyx of five yellowish-green, concave sepals; and a very bright yellow corolla. The carpels are ovate, slightly flattened, smooth, arranged in a globular head; and the fruits are also smooth. The plant flowers during June and July.
Another 'Buttercup'—the Pale Hairy Crowfoot (R. hirsutus) is to be seen in our pastures; and though not so common as the three just mentioned, it is very generally distributed in England and the South of Scotland. It seldom exceeds a foot in height, and flowers from June to the end of the summer. Its stem is erect, hairy, and freely branched; and its leaves are much like those of the Bulbous Buttercup (p. [110]). The flowers, however, are smaller and more numerous than those of the latter, and are of a paler yellow colour; but the sepals are bent back on the flower-stalk as in this species. The fruits are rough when quite ripe, with little tubercles along the margins.