The Small Fleabane (I. Pulicaria) is a similar plant, but smaller (from six to twelve inches high) and less woolly. Its flower-heads are yellow, much smaller, on terminal and axillary stalks; and the florets of the ray are only slightly longer than those of the disc. The hairs of the pappus are not surrounded at the base by a little cup, but by a few minute and distinct scales. This species grows in the south-eastern counties of England, and flowers during August and September.
The White Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum) is one of the largest and most conspicuous of our composite flowers, and is abundant in dry pastures all over Britain. The plant is generally smooth; and its erect stem, either simple or slightly branched, is from one to two feet high. The lower leaves are obovate, coarsely toothed, on long stalks; and the upper ones are narrow and sessile, with a few teeth. The flower-heads are large, and placed singly on long, terminal stalks. The bracts are closely overlapping, with narrow, brown margins; the ray florets white, strap-shaped, over half an inch long; and the disc florets numerous and tubular. The flowers bloom from June to August.
The Common Fleabane.
Our last composite flower is the Sneezewort (Achillea Ptarmica), which is common in the hilly pastures and meadows of most parts of Britain. It has an erect stem, one to two feet high. The leaves are sessile, narrow, with fine, regular teeth, and a smooth surface. The flower-heads are arranged in a loose, terminal, flat-topped corymb. Each is surrounded by an involucre of overlapping bracts; and consists of numerous little disc-florets, intermixed with small scales, and about twelve short, broad, white florets of the ray. The time of flowering is July and August.
The Common Centaury (Erythræa Centaurium), of the order Gentianaceæ, is a very common plant in dry pastures. Its stem is erect, simple below, freely branched towards the top, from six to eighteen inches high; and the leaves are ovate, spreading and closely placed below, narrow and more distant above. The flowers are rose-red or pink, in a dense corymb, with a calyx of five very narrow segments, and a corolla consisting of a narrow tube and five spreading lobes.
The Ox-Eye Daisy.
Of the order Convolvulaceæ we shall note one species—the Small Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), so well known as a troublesome weed in cultivated fields. It has a creeping rootstock, and a twining stem, from a few inches to two feet in length, that sometimes climbs, but more commonly trails along the ground and over low-growing plants. The leaves are stalked, arrow-shaped, about an inch and a half long, with sharp, spreading lobes at the base. The axillary peduncles are usually forked, with a single flower on each of the two branches; and there are two small bracts at the angle of the fork, and another one or a pair above these, but some distance below the flower, on each branch. The calyx is very small, but the salver-shaped corolla is usually over an inch in diameter, either pink or pinkish white. The plant flowers from June to August.
