20 



BRITISH FLORA 



plant is 1-2 ft. ill lici^lit, and flowers late, like the 

 rest of the gfroup, from August to October, and is 

 a herbaceous perennial. 



Field Woundwort (Stachys arvcnsis, L.). — The 

 h.ibit.'it of this plant is cornfields, fields, and waste 

 places. The habit is prostrate, or may be as- 

 cending. The stem is weak, hairy at intervals, 

 branched from the base, rooting below. The radi- 

 cal leaves are shortly stalked, the upper leaves 

 stalkless, egg-shaped, heart-shaped, blunt, scal- 

 loped. The flowers are purple, in whorls of 4-6. 

 The bracts are stalkless, acute. The flower- 

 stalks are short. The small corolla is slightly 

 longer than or equal to the calyx. The nutlets 

 are covered with dots and warted. The plant is 

 6-18 in. in height, and flowers from April to 

 November, being a hcrb.'iceous annual. 



Red Hemp Nettle (Gulcopsis Ladanunt, L.). — 

 This plant is found in cornfields, cultivated ground, 

 and waste places. The habit is erect. The stem 

 is softly downy, with hairs bent down, not thickened 

 at the joints. Briquet says that the thickened 

 nodes are differentiated to cause movements, such 

 as geotropism and heliotropism, these swollen 

 nodes being marked in Galeopsis Jetrahit (\'oI. 

 III). The leaves are egg-shaped, lance-shaped, 

 toothed. The flowers are purple, the lower lip 

 mottled, with the tube of the corolla equal to 

 the cal)x, in separate whorls. The nutlets are 

 flattened, rounded. The plant is 10-12 in. in 

 height, and flowers from July to October, being 

 a herbaceous annual. 



Hemp Nettle (Galeopsis atigtisH/olia, Ehrh.). — 

 This plant grows in sandy and gravelly districts. 

 It is distinguished from G. Lndanum by the nar- 

 rower leaves united below, toothed at inter\als, or 

 nearly entire, the upper whorls close, the tube 

 exceeding the corolla and the slightly notched 

 upper lip of the corolla. It flowers in August and 

 September, and is an annual. 



Downy Hemp Nettle (Galeopsis dubia. Leers). 

 — The habitat of this plant is sandy cornfields and 

 cultivated ground. The habit is similar to that of 

 G. Ladanum. The stem is not thickened at the 

 nodes, down}', glandular, with hairs turned back. 

 The leaves are broad, egg-shaped, lance-shaped, 

 toothed, downy both sides, soft. The flowers are 

 pale-yellow, white or purple, the upper corolla lip 

 deeply notched, the calyx glandular, downy, the 

 teeth not longer than the tube. The whorls are 

 dense. The bracteoles are small. The plant is 

 from 10-12 in. in height. July and August are 

 the months in which it is in flower. It is a her- 

 baceous annu.al. 



Large-flowered Hemp Nettle (Galeopsis speci- 

 osa, Mil!.). — The habitat of this plant is cultivated 

 ground. The habit is as in the Common Hemp 

 Nettle. The stem is thickened at the nodes, with 

 stiff hairs. The leaves are oblong, egg-shaped, 

 with a long point, toothed. The flowers are Large, 

 yellow, and with a purple spot on the lower lip, 

 the corolla large and broad, the tube longer than 

 the bell-shaped calyx, the upper lip arched, as 

 broad as long. The teeth of the calyx are not so 

 long as the tube. The nutlets are convex above 



and dark-brown, the inner angle rounded down- 

 wards. The plant is 1-2 ft. in height, and is in 

 flower in July and August, being a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Order roLYGONACE.« 



Black Bindweed (Pvlygonuui Convolvulus, L.). 

 — The habitat of this ])lant is fields, waste places, 

 and cultivated land. The habit is trailing or 

 creeping, twining. The root is fibrous. The stem 

 is angular, downy on the angles, the leaves heart- 

 shaped, arrow-shaped, the leaf-stalk short, slender. 

 The flower-stalks are bent back, jointed above 

 the middle. The flowers arc in a raceme, the 

 perianth segments bluntly keeled, the sepals 

 green, blunt, with white margins. The nut is 

 3-angled, opaque, finely furrowed. The plant is 

 1-4 ft. in height, and flowers in July up till Sep- 

 tember, being a herbaceous annual. 



Order Eii'horhiace;e 



Dwarf Spurge (Euphorbia exigua, L.). — The 

 habitat of this plant is cornfields, fields, cultivated 

 ground. The habit is erect, branched from the 

 base. The stem secretes a milky juice, possibly 

 a protection to the plant. The plant is smooth. 

 The branches are erect and rigid, or prostrate. 

 The leaves are broader above the base, or below 

 the middle, linear, acute. The bracts are lance- 

 shaped, toothed at the base. The flowerheads 

 are forked, in rays of 3-5, the involucres small, 

 nearly stalkless, the lobes rounded, with 2 horns. 

 The small capsule has rough and warted angles, 

 smooth. The seeds are pale-grey, 3-angled, 

 keeled, wrinkled. The plant is 4-9 in. in height. 

 It flowers from July to October, and is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Order Gr.\min.\ce^ 



Foxtail Grass (Alopecurus agrestis, L.). — The 

 habitat of this plant is cornfields, fields, and road- 

 sides. The habit is erect, prostrate below. The 

 stem is rough. The leaves are flat, with rough 

 edges, the sheaths smooth or rough, the ligule 

 large and blunt. The wavy, slender panicle is 

 purple, tapered (hence myosuroides), with short 

 branches, hairy. The spikelets are two. The 

 empty glume is smooth, acute, united to the 

 middle, with a fringe of hairs on the back. The 

 flowering glume is slightly projecting. The awn 

 is twice as long as the palea. The styles are com- 

 bined. The fruit is enclosed in the palea. The 

 plant is 1-2 ft. in height, and flowers from May to 

 October, being a herbaceous annual. 



Black Bent-grass (Agros/ is nigra, With.). — The 

 habitat of this grass is cultivated fields or their 

 borders. It has been regarded as a variety of 

 A. vulgaris. The stem is erect, the plant being 

 taller and more robust than the latter. The ligule 

 is long, prominent, obliquelj- blunt. The sheaths 

 are rather rough. The panicle is rough, with 

 rigid branches, which are erect to spreading, 

 simple below. The glumes are nearly equal, 

 toothed above. The anthers are pale when ripe, 



