Field and Woodland Plants

by William S. Furneaux

In similar situations we may find the Field Louse-wort (Pedicularis sylvatica) of the same order, also a parasitic species, extracting nourishment from the roots of grasses. It has spreading branches from three to ten inches long, more or less recumbent. Its leaves are alternately arranged, and pinnately cut into small, toothed segments. The flowers are sessile in the axils of the upper leaves, and vary in colour from rose to white. The calyx is broadly oblong, with five unequal lobes. The tube of the corolla is considerably longer than the calyx; and its upper lip has a very small tooth on each side, just under the tip. The plant flowers from April to July.

The Henbit Dead Nettle.

The only common spring labiate flower (order Labiatæ) of fields is the Henbit Dead Nettle (Lamium amplexicaule), which is frequently met with on sandy soils, flowering from April to the end of the summer. It is a low plant, seldom reaching a foot in height, with a branching stem that is too weak to stand erect. The upper leaves are sessile, round, much wrinkled, and deeply crenate; while the lower ones, of the same form, are on long petioles. The flowers are arranged in a few compact whorls, in the axils of the upper leaves. The calyx is much shorter than the tube of the corolla; and its five, pointed teeth, which are as long as the tube, bend together as the fruit ripens. The lipped corolla is of a rose or purple-red colour, about half an inch long, with a comparatively long, straight tube.

In damp meadows we frequently see the changing Scorpion-Grass (Myosotis versicolor), also known as the Yellow and Blue Scorpion Grass, deriving its name from the fact that the corolla is yellow at first, and afterwards changes to a dull blue. It is a hairy plant, with an erect stem, from four to ten inches high, slightly branched. The leaves are oval or ovate, narrow, and sessile; the lower ones forming a spreading tuft at the base, while the others, few in number, are erect on the stem. The flowers are very small, almost sessile, and arranged in a one-sided, curved raceme. The calyx is deeply cleft into five parts which close quite over the ripening fruit; and the small corolla has a comparatively long tube and five spreading lobes. The plant flowers from April to June. It belongs to the order Boraginaceæ.

The Cowslip (Primula veris—order Primulaceæ) is common in pastures in many parts of Britain. It usually grows from six to ten inches high, and flowers during May and June. The whole plant is clothed with soft, downy hairs; and its leaves are all radical, obovate, narrowed towards the base, and much wrinkled like those of the Primrose. The flowers are arranged in a drooping umbel, on a long stalk. The calyx is tubular, with five broad, blunt teeth; and the corolla has a long, narrow tube, with five spreading lobes that form a shallow cup.

The Cowslip.

Two species of Sorrel are very common in meadows and pastures during the spring. They are plants very much resembling the docks; in fact, they belong to the same genus (Rumex) of the order Polygonaceæ. Both have erect, leafy stems, with sheathing stipules; and numerous, small, green flowers which soon turn red. The latter are imperfect, with a deeply-cleft perianth of six lobes. The male flowers have six stamens; and the females have three styles. The fruits are little triangular nuts, more or less enclosed in the segments of the perianth.

One of these—the Common Sorrel (Rumex Acetosa)—is very abundant in damp meadows and pastures all over Britain. It varies from one to two feet in height, with a stem that is usually unbranched, and flowers from May to July. The leaves have a very acid juice, and are often used as a salad. The radical ones are oblong, arrow-shaped at the base, with pointed lobes, and have rather long stalks; the stem-leaves are smaller, few in number, with shorter stalks. Sometimes both male and female flowers grow on the same plant, but often the plant produces the one kind only. They are arranged in long, leafless panicles; and the outer lobes of the perianth of the female flowers are turned back on the peduncle, while the inner are enlarged and swollen, and close over the fruit.