Flowers Shown to the Children Part 14

1. COMMON MARE'S TAIL

This strange-looking plant grows in many parts of the country, and its spikes are found during summer in ponds and ditches. The flowers are so tiny that you may scarcely notice them. They grow in a circle close round the main stem where the leaves join it, and they are greenish in colour. These flowers have no petals, and all you can see is a small green ball with a yellow dot on the top of it.

The leaves of the Common Mare's Tail grow in circles up the stem at short distances apart. They are very narrow and pointed, exactly like short green straps, and you find from six to twelve of these strap-leaves in the same circle.

2. COMMON b.u.t.tERBUR

The Common b.u.t.terbur grows in wet places, especially beside streams. It is not found in the North of Scotland, but is common in the South country. The flowers appear very early in spring, before the leaves, and they are nearly withered by the time the leaves are at their best.

The flowers grow closely crowded together in cone-shaped heads, near the top of a thick fleshy stalk. These flowers are made up of tiny pink tubes with toothed edges, and there is a row of long-headed pink stamens clinging to the inside of each tiny tube. Outside the head of flowers there is a thick bundle of narrow green pointed leaves, and each little bundle of green leaves and pink tubes has a short stalk of its own.

You will notice the narrow green leaves which grow singly up this main stem. Sometimes these leaves become much broader at the tips, and when this is the case these leaf-tips are dark green and have toothed edges.

The root leaves of the b.u.t.terbur are very large. They are roughly heart-shaped with sharply cut teeth round the edge. Each leaf is dark green and smooth above, but underneath it is woolly, and the short stalk on which it grows is hollow.

3. GREATER BURDOCK

The Greater Burdock grows in waste places by the roadside and on the borders of fields. It is fairly common all over Britain and flowers in autumn.

The Burdock is a low-growing bushy plant with strong stems. Growing close to the ground it has large coa.r.s.e leaves not unlike rhubarb leaves. They are dark green, very wrinkled, and with slightly waved edges.

The leaves which grow on the flower-stems are much smaller, and are long and rather narrow.

The flowers are scarcely seen. They are made up of small rose-coloured and purple tubes, which are crowded close together at the end of stout round stalks. But these small flowers are completely surrounded by a ball of green bristles, so that you require to pull the bristles apart and look into the top of the green ball if you wish to find the flowers.

Each of the bristles on this green ball ends in a tiny hook, and with these hooks they cling to whatever they touch. You often see these p.r.i.c.kly b.a.l.l.s sticking to the wool on a sheep's back. If you throw one at a companion it will hang to his clothes by its sharp little hooks.

PLATE XXIX: 1. MOUSE TAIL. 2. RIBWORT PLANTAIN. 3. KNOTTY FIGWORT.

1. MOUSE-TAIL

This little plant grows plentifully in the East of England, but it is not found all over Britain. It flowers in summer.

You will easily recognise it by the curious way the seed-vessels grow.

You remember in the b.u.t.tercup (Plate I.) there was a little hard knot of seed-vessels like a green raspberry in the centre of the ring of stamens?

The Mouse-Tail is a cousin of the b.u.t.tercup, but the seed-vessels grow on a long pointed spike which shoots up in the middle of the flower, and is just like a mouse's tail.

Each flower has five yellowish-green petals, shaped like pale yellow tubes, with a lip at the top. There are five long, narrow, yellow-green sepals, with little spurs at the bottom. And there is also a ring of stamens with yellow heads which stand straight up round the foot of the Mouse's Tail.

The leaves are long and narrow, with a line down the centre. They are rather thick leaves, and they all grow in a tuft from the root.

2. RIBWORT PLANTAIN

Is there any child that has not played at 'Soldiers' or at 'Lords and Ladies,' with the flower-heads of the Ribwort Plantain? It is common everywhere, and flowers from spring to autumn.

The narrow pointed leaves grow in a circle straight from the root. They are dark green on one side, and silvery green on the other, and have long 'ribs' running from the bottom to the top. From these 'ribs' the plant gets its name of 'Ribwort.'

The flowers are closely crowded together in brown, cone-shaped heads.

Each flower consists of a narrow white tube, with four graceful yellow points folded back at the mouth.

The large yellow heads of the stamens stand up beyond the mouth of this tube, but you can scarcely see the tip of the seed-vessel which is hidden inside.

When the flowers are fully out, you do not notice the white tubes; all you see is a big cl.u.s.ter of fuzzy yellow-headed stamens.

There are four small green sepals at the bottom of the flower-tube, and these sepals are often stained with brown blotches.

The stems are ribbed all the way up and are covered with short hairs.

They are juicy and very easily broken.

3. KNOTTY FIGWORT

This uninteresting plant is abundant everywhere. It is found in damp, shady places by the side of ditches, and it is at its best in summer and autumn.

At first you scarcely notice the flowers. They are small, dull green bells stained with brown, and are not at all attractive. But when you examine them, you find that the mouth of each bell is prettily waved all round the edge, and inside there are two long stamens and two short ones, as well as a fat green seed-vessel, with a curly point standing up in the middle.

There is a green calyx-cup with five teeth at the mouth, and as the small green bell soon withers and falls off, you oftenest notice this calyx-cup with a green seed-vessel sitting in the centre.

The tiny flower-bells grow in loose cl.u.s.ters, which spring from between the leaf and the main stem.

The Knotty Figwort is a tall and stout plant, with a four-sided stem which is curiously twisted.

Be sure to pull up the root, and you will find it covered with small bulbs or knots. From these knots the plant gets its name.

The leaves near the foot of the Knotty Figwort stem are large and broadly oval, with short stalks. But those that grow further up the stem are narrower and more pointed, and they all have the edges cut like the teeth of a saw.

PLATE x.x.x: 1. LADY'S MANTLE 2. DOG'S MERCURY. 3. COMMON NETTLE.

1. LADY'S MANTLE

The Lady's Mantle is a curious little plant and is common everywhere in summer. The beautifully shaped green leaves at once attract you, but the flowers are so small that you scarcely notice them. They are crowded into cl.u.s.ters at the end of short stalks, which branch many times from the main stem. These flowers have no petals. If you look at them very closely, you find that they have eight green sepals, which lie flat open when the flower is in bloom. These sepals are all pointed, and vary in size. The four which are utmost are smaller than the sepals which form the inner circle.

In the middle of these green sepals there is a yellow ring, and in the centre of this ring sits the tiny seed-vessel, sunk almost out of sight.

There are four stamens, each of which stands out separately from this yellow ring.

The root-leaves of the Lady's Mantle are rounded, and they are covered with a fine network of veins. Each leaf looks as if it had been folded into five or seven folds, and each fold is divided round the edge into scollops. The edge of these scollops is cut into sharp teeth. Sometimes you find a big diamond dew-drop lying in the folds of the Lady's Mantle leaf.

You will also notice a frill of tiny pointed green leaves clasping the main stem wherever it forks.

2. DOG'S MERCURY