The Common St. John's Wort.
2. The Large-flowered St. John's-Wort or Rose of Sharon (H. calycinum).—A shrubby plant, from ten to eighteen inches high, with a creeping, woody stock, flowering from July to September. It is not indigenous, but has been largely introduced into parks and gardens, and now grows wild in many parts. This species may be distinguished from all other members of the genus by its large, yellow flowers, from one and a half to three inches in diameter.
3. The Common St. John's-Wort (H. perforatum).—A very common plant in woods and thickets, growing from one to two feet high, and flowering from July to September. It has short, underground stems, or barren shoots that lie on the ground and root at the nodes, in addition to the erect, flowering stems, which are either round or two-edged, and branched towards the top. The leaves are half an inch long, with opaque veins, many transparent dots, and sometimes a few black dots on the under side. The yellow flowers form a terminal corymb. Their sepals are narrow, about half the length of the petals. The stamens are in three sets, united at the base; and both petals and anthers are marked with black dots.
4. The Hairy St. John's-Wort (H. hirsutum).—A stiff, erect plant, from one to three feet high, common in the woods and thickets of most parts of Britain, flowering in July and August. The stem is round, and clothed with soft hairs. The leaves are ovate, oblong or elliptical, tapering at the base into a short stalk, about an inch long, with many transparent dots, and downy along the veins on the under side. The sepals are narrow, acute, about half the length of the yellow petals, and fringed with stalked glands. The stamens are in three sets.
The Dyer's Green-Weed.
The Wood Crane's-bill (Geranium sylvaticum—order Geraniaceæ), one of the most handsome of our Wild Geraniums, is not found in the South, but is moderately common in parts of North Britain, including North Ireland. Its stem is erect, from one to two feet high, and branched towards the top. In general form the leaves are heart-shaped or shield-shaped, but they are very deeply divided into five or seven radiating, cut, and toothed lobes. The lower ones are on long stalks; but the upper are shortly stalked or sessile, and less divided. The flowers are of a bluish-purple or rose colour, about an inch in diameter, arranged in a loose panicle with two flowers on each pedicel. The five sepals are about half the length of the petals, and terminate in a very fine point; and the petals are obovate and slightly notched. The plant flowers during June and July.
The Sweet Milk Vetch.
Passing now to the order Leguminosæ we note first the Dyer's Green-weed (Genista tinctoria)—a shrubby plant, common in the thickets and bushy places of South Britain, flowering from July to September. The stem is woody and stiff, but green; its base rests on the ground, but it sends up erect flowering branches from one to two feet high. The yellow flowers are arranged in terminal racemes, each flower having a lanceolate bract at the base of its short stalk, and very small bracts at the base of the calyx. The calyx has five teeth, the three lower ones much narrower than the other two, all terminating in a sharp point; the corolla is much longer than the calyx, with an oblong standard or upper petal; the stamens are all united by their filaments, forming a complete sheath round the ovary; and the pods are smooth, about an inch long, and compressed.