Slender False Brome.
In the dry woods of South Britain we occasionally meet with the Wood Scorpion-grass or Wood Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica), of the order Boraginaceæ. This plant is very much like the favourite Water Forget-me-not, and has equally large flowers, but it is much more hairy. Its stem is erect, without runners; and the blue flowers form a one-sided raceme without bracts. As the flowers expand the stalk lengthens considerably, with the result that the fruits are very distant. Among other features by which we may distinguish between the Wood Forget-me-not and the commoner Water Forget-me-not we may mention that the corolla of the former is flatter; and the calyx, cleft to its base into narrow segments, is very rounded below, and covered with stiff, hooked bristles. The plant flowers from June to August.
We conclude this chapter with the names of four species of Grasses that are partial to wooded districts, and which flower during the summer months. They are the Millet Grass (Milium effusum), the Bearded Wheat (Triticum caninum), the Slender False Brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum), and the Hairy Brome Grass (Bromus asper). The first three of these are represented on pages [148] and [149], and the fourth is shown on [Plate II].
Plate III.
FLOWERS OF THE WAYSIDE.
- 1. Round-leaved Crane's-bill.
- 2. Black Horehound.
- 3. Evergreen Alkanet.
- 4. Bristly Ox-tongue.
- 5. Red Bartsia.
- 6. Annual Meadow Grass.
- 7. Hemlock Stork's-bill.