In the thickets of most parts of Britain, but more especially those of the eastern counties, we may often meet with the Sweet Milk Vetch (Astragalus glycyphyllos) of the same order. It is a prostrate plant, with pale yellow or cream-coloured flowers that bloom from June to August. The flowers are about half an inch long, in short, dense, shortly-stalked racemes. The calyx has five teeth; the upper stamen is free from the other nine, which form a divided sheath round the ovary; and the pod is smooth, round, curved, over an inch long, and divided by a double membrane into two cells, each of which contains about seven seeds.
The Wild Raspberry
In the same order are two species of Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus), both of which grow in thickets and other bushy places. One is the Tuberous Everlasting Pea or Tuberous Bitter Vetch (L. macrorrhizus), an erect plant, from six inches to a foot in height, flowering from May to July. Its rootstock has small tubers, and the stem is winged. The leaves are pinnate, with from two to four pairs of narrow leaflets and half arrow-shaped stipules; they have no tendrils, but the leafstalk terminates in a fine point. The flowers are of a red-purple colour, changing to greenish blue as they fade; and are in loose racemes of from two to four.
The other is the Narrow-leaved Everlasting Pea (L. sylvestris), a straggling plant, from two to six feet long, flowering from June to August. It is not so common as the last, but may be found in similar situations. Its stem has very narrow wings; and the leaves have very narrow leaflets, flattened stalks, branched tendrils, and half arrow-shaped stipules. The flowers are rather large, of a pale purple colour, with a greenish keel, and a green spot on the large upper petal. They are arranged in loose racemes.
The Rose Bay Willow Herb.
The Wild Raspberry (Rubus Idæus—order Rosaceæ) is to be found in the woods and thickets of most parts of Britain. It may be easily distinguished from other species of its genus by the following description:—Rootstock creeping, with many suckers. Stems round, erect, with a soft down and numerous weak prickles. Leaves pinnate, with three or five ovate, pointed, toothed leaflets, pale green above, and white and hoary beneath. Stipules small, very narrow and pointed, usually attached part way up to the leafstalk. Flowers white, in long, terminal, drooping panicles. Calyx five-lobed; petals five, short and narrow; stamens numerous; and fruit consisting of a globular cluster of red or yellow, hoary, one-seeded, succulent carpels which usually separate from the conical receptacle when ripe. The bush grows from three to five feet high, and flowers from June to August.
Two species of Willow Herb (order Onagraceæ) grow in copses and thickets, and are easily recognised by their rose-coloured flowers with very long, inferior ovaries. One is the beautiful French Willow or Rose Bay Willow Herb (Epilobium angustifolium), an erect plant, varying from two to six feet in height, widely distributed, though not very common, flowering during July and August. Its leaves are alternate, narrow-elliptical, entire or with very small teeth, and very shortly stalked. The flowers are about an inch in diameter, numerous, forming a very long, loose, terminal, tapering raceme, with a narrow bract at the base of each pedicel. The calyx is tubular, four-cleft, attached to the top of the long ovary; the corolla consists of four entire, nearly equal, spreading petals; the stamens, eight in number, all bend downwards; and the stigma is deeply divided into four lobes, on a long style which also bends downward. The fruit is a four-celled capsule, two or three inches long, which splits when ripe, its valves curling downwards and exposing numerous minute seeds, each of which has a silky tuft of fine hairs that enables it to be dispersed by the wind. The plant is most frequently seen in damp copses, and among the undergrowth of damp woods.