The Shepherd's Needle or Venus's Comb.
Of the order Rubiaceæ we shall include the common Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis), a little plant, varying from five to ten inches high, the minute lilac flowers of which may be seen from April to October. Its branched stems are often decumbent; and the little, narrow, sharply-pointed leaves, rough on the edges, are placed in whorls of from four to six. The umbels are very small, terminal, and surrounded by a leafy involucre that is divided into several lobes longer than the flowers. The corolla consists of an exceedingly slender tube, at the top of which are four spreading lobes; and the fruit is crowned by the five or six teeth of the calyx, which enlarges as the former ripens.
The Field Knautia or Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis or Scabiosa arvensis), shown on [Plate VII], is very common on cultivated ground, particularly in corn-growing districts. It is a slightly-branched plant, from one to four feet high, clothed with stiff, bristly hairs. Its lower leaves are stalked, simple, narrow, and usually but little cut; and the upper ones sessile, broader at the base, and either coarsely toothed or deeply cut. The flower-heads are large, lilac, on long peduncles. The outer florets are much larger than the inner, and all have four-lobed corollas. The fruit is angular, and is surmounted by the eight or ten bristles of the calyx. This plant flowers from June to August.
The Venus's Looking-Glass or Corn Bellflower.
Two of the Sow Thistles (order Compositæ) have already been noticed among the flowers of waste places (p. [179]), and a third, known as the Corn Sow-Thistle (Sonchus arvensis), falls within the range of the present chapter, being a very common corn-field weed. It is an erect plant, from one to four feet high, with a hollow, angular stem, branched only towards the top. Its lower leaves are large, stalked, more or less divided into triangular, sharply-toothed lobes that are curved downwards; and the upper ones are sessile, less divided, with broad lobes which clasp the stem. The flower-heads are bright yellow, large, and arranged in a loose, terminal corymb. Their stalks and bracts are rough with stiff brown or black hairs; and the pappus of the wrinkled fruits consists of a dense mass of white, silky hairs. The plant blooms during August and September.
The Bluebottle or Cornflower (Centaurea Cyanus) is a pretty cornfield Composite, not uncommon in many parts, blooming from June to August. The plant, represented on [Plate IV], is covered with loose, cottony hairs, and grows from one to two feet high. The heads of flowers are about an inch in diameter, solitary on long, terminal stalks, surrounded by an oval involucre of closely-overlapping bracts with sharp points and toothed, membranous margins. The receptacle is flat, with silvery bristles between the florets. All the florets are tubular; the central ones of a bluish-purple colour, with purple anthers; and the outer ones much larger, curved, irregular, and bright blue. The fruit is surmounted by a pappus of short, simple hairs.
One of the most beautiful of the corn-field flowers is the Corn Marigold or Yellow Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum segetum), easily distinguished by its rather large flower-heads, solitary on terminal peduncles, with bright golden-yellow ray and disc. It grows from twelve to eighteen inches high, and flowers from May to July. It may be identified by the aid of the coloured illustration on [Plate VII].
The Scarlet Pimpernel