FIELDS AND MEADOWS 



spines liiriK'd back. The fruit is sniuoth, with 

 re.uluT}- pappus. Tlic plant is 35 It. in lieijjht, 

 and llowers in July and August, being a lier- 

 bacfOMs poierinial. 



Ground Thistle (Cniciis acaiilis, Willd.). — The 

 habitat of this plant is dry p:istures, usually cal- 

 careous. The plant has the rosette habit, with 

 radical leaves and a usually stemless flowcrhead, 

 which, however, sometimes elongates in moist 

 spots. The leaves are usually stalkless, lance- 

 shaped, smooth, and deeply divided nearly to the 

 base, white beneath, with sharp spines, forming a 

 protection ag.ainst cattle, the upper surface hairy 

 or smooth. The fiowerhead is solitary, smooth, 

 egg-shaped, the flowers purple or crimson. The 

 fruit is smooth, brown, the pappus dirty-white. 

 It is 8-18 in. in height (when producing stalked 

 he.ads). It flowers from July to September. The 

 Ground Thistle is a herbaceous perennial. 



Creeping Field Thistle (C«/rKj arvensis, HofTm.). 

 — The habitat of this plant is fields and waste 

 places, roads, &c. The habit is erect, from a 

 creeping root, and the stQm is not winged, grooved 

 and angular, cottony or smooth. The leaves are 

 lance-shaped, oblong, nearly stalkless, with lobes 

 deeply divided nearly to the base. The heads are 

 corymbose, smooth, egg-shaped with a short 

 flower-stalk, the phyllarics lance-shaped, closed, 

 associated, the flowers purple or white. The fruit 

 is smooth, shining, the pappus dirty-white. The 

 plant is 2-4 ft. high, and is in flower between July 

 and September. It is a herbaceous perennial, 

 increased by the creeping rootstock. 



Tuberous Thistle (Cnicus luberosus. Roth). — 

 The habitat of this plant is meadows, calcareous 

 downs, cliffs, and woods. The rootstock consists 

 of fibrous, spindle-shaped, fleshy tubers. Similar 

 in habit to Meadow Thistle it has no stolons, the 

 stem being erect, round, hairy, leafless above. 

 The leaves arc deeply divided nearly to the base, 

 the lobes distant, the stem-leaves stalkless, fringed 

 with hairs, lance-shaped, with coarse small teeth. 

 The flowers are rose-purple, the involucre flat- 

 tened below, egg-shaped, the bracts closely associ- 

 ated, and smooth. The pappus is feathery. This 

 plant is \-i'/i ft. in height. It flowers in July up till 

 September, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Spotted Cat's Ear (Hypochceris maciilala, L.). 

 — The habitat of this plant is meadows, waste 

 places, chalk and limestone hills, calcareous pas- 

 tures, sea cliff's, &c. The plant has the rosette 

 habit like the last. The flowering stem is simple 

 or forked, smooth, with few leaves, which are 

 frequently radical only, and spoon-shaped, oblong, 

 toothed, spotted, rough, stalkless, with soft hairs. 

 The flowers are deep yellow, in large heads, the 

 involucre bristly on the back with curled hairs, 

 with numerous slender bracts. The fruit is beaked, 

 the pappus in one row, white, outer absent. The 

 plant is 6 in. to 1 It. high, and flowers between 

 July and September, being a herbaceous perennial. 



Hairy-leaved Hawkbit U-eonlndon ntidicaule. 

 Ranks iV Solander).— The habitat of this plant is 

 dry, sandy places, gravelly pastures, fields, fen. 

 The plant has the rosette habit. The aerial stem 



is a single-flowered scape of which there may be 

 several. The leaves are radical and lance-shaped, 

 roughly hairy, wavy, with the lobes bent back 

 occasionally. The flowerheads are yellow, the 

 heads having the involucre smooth, keeled, the 

 edges fringed with hairs, and also down the 

 middle. The fruit has pappus of outside fruits 

 with scales, the inner feathery. The plant is 3-6 

 in. in height, and flowers in July and August, 

 being .a heibaeeous perennial. 



Rough Hawkbit (f.eonloilon liispidum, L.). — 

 The habitat of this plant is meadows on dry soil, 

 sandy pastures near the sea, mossy ground, way- 

 sides, hills, inland. The habit is of the rosette 

 type. The aerial stems are scapes. The leaves 

 are radical, lance-shaped, oblong, roughly hairy, 

 the hairs forked at the tip or stellate, with lobes 

 turned back, the erect scapes single, hairy. The 

 flowerheads are yellow, solitary, glandular at the 

 tip, large, the involucres hairy. The fruit is 

 slender, with brownish-white feathery pappus with 

 an outer row of bristles. The plant is 6-18 in. 

 high, flowering between June and September, 

 being .a herbaceous biennial or perennial. 



Autumnal ii.a,vi)s.hit.(Ij^o>ilorlon au/umnale, L.). 

 — This is a native plant, being found in pastures 

 and meadows, and waste places. The plant has 

 the rosette habit. The scapes or aerial stems are 

 forked above. The radical leaves are lance- 

 shaped, toothed, smooth, tapering at the base. 

 The flowerheads are yellow, large, few, with 

 smooth involucre, or if hairy sparsely so. The 

 fruit is slender, ribbed, with feathery pappus in 

 one row. The plant is 3-24 in. in height. It is in 

 flower from July to October, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Goatsbeard (Tmgopogon pratense, L.). — The 

 habitat of this plant is meadows, pastures, waste 

 places, waysides, railway banks, &c. The habit 

 is erect, more or less grass-like. The stem is 

 bluish-green, smooth, tall, with a milky juice, the 

 leaves wavy, clasping, with swollen sheaths, linear, 

 tapering to a long point, furrowed. The flower- 

 heads are yellow, on thickened flower-stalks, the 

 involucre equalling the florets, the florets enclosed 

 by 8-10 bracts. The fruit is rough, with a long 

 beak and pappus in many rows. The plant is 

 1-2 ft. in height, and flowers in June and July, 

 being a herbaceous biennial with a long yellow 

 tap-root forked below. 



Rough Sow Thistle (Sonchus asper, Hill). — 

 The habitat of this plant is fields and waste places, 

 and cultivated ground. The habit is erect. It is 

 a brittle, succulent plant, with hollow stems. The 

 leaves are entire or divided to the base, wavy, 

 crisped, with rounded auricles, bent down, and 

 bent back. The flowerheads are yellow, the fruit 

 ribbed lengthways, not wrinkled crossways. The 

 plant is 1-3 It. high, flowering in June to August, 

 and is a succulent herbaceous annual. 



Order Primilace^ 



Oxlip {Primula elali'or, Schreb.). — The habitat 

 of this plant is meadows, clayey woods and copses. 



