I lO 



BRITISH FLORA 



:ire In dense i-accmfs, or spikes, compact, ovate to 

 oblong-, cylindrical, terminal and axillary, the 

 lateral stalkless. The perianth-segments are red 

 or white, smooth (like the stalk), without j^laiids 

 as a rule. There are 5-8 stamens, 2-3 styles, 

 united half-way. The outer anthers open inwards, 

 the inner outwards. The fruit is plano-convex, 

 or a-anjiled, flattened, gibbous one side, hardly 

 covered by the perianth-segments. The plant is 

 1-2 ft. high, flowering from July to October, and 



Water Dock (Kumcx domcs/icus, Hartm. = 

 n(jualiais). — The habitat of this plant is damp 

 ground, mountain valleys, waste places, wet 

 meadows and ditches, or spots liable to be flooded. 

 The habit is erect, the stem very stout. The 

 leaves are very large, the lower oblong, lance- 

 shaped, heart-shaped, wavy. The flowers are in 

 crowded, leafless whorls. The sepals bear no 

 tubercles, are heart-shaped, enlarged, entire, 

 membranous. The nut is elliptical. The plant 

 is 1-3 ft. in height, flowering in July and August, 

 arid is a herbaceous perennial. 



Great Water Dock (Riimex Hydrolapathum, 

 Huds.).— The haljilat of this plant is ditches and 

 river-sides. The habit is erect. The stem is 

 branched. The leaves are very large, sometimes 

 a foot long, heart-shaped below, broadly ovate or 

 oblong to lance-shaped, acute, tapered below into 

 a stalk, with a flat, not winged, leaf-stalk, the 

 margin having small scallops. The flowers are 

 reddish-green in a nearly leafless panicle, which 

 is very large, with crowded whorls. The inner 

 perijinth -segments are enlarged, ovate to tri- 

 angular, more or less entire, or with small teeth, 

 tubercled, acute or blunt. The fruiting segments 

 are net-veined, with a blunt or wedge-shaped 

 base. The fruit is pale-chestnut, elliptic. The 

 plant is 3-6 ft. in height, flowering in July and 

 August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Rumcx maximus, Sclireb. = R. Hydrolapathum 

 V. lafifolius, Borrer. — The habitat of this species 

 is ditches and river-sides. The plant has very 

 long leaves, the radical leaves obliquely heart- 

 shaped below, oblong, acute, the leaf-stalks flat 

 or broadly channelled above, with raised edges. 

 The flowers are in crowded whorls, with few or 

 no leaves. The base of the inner fruiting perianth- 

 segments is blunt or heart-shaped, and they are 

 triangular, tubercled, toothed below. The plant 

 is 2-3 ft. high, flowering in July and August, and 

 is a herbiiceous perennial. 



Bay-leaved "WiWovi (Salix pentandra, L.). — The 

 habitat of this plant is river-banks, wet places, 

 especially in the north. The species has the willow- 

 habit. The plant is a shrub or tree, with brown 

 bark. The leaves are elliptic, ovate, lance-shaped, 

 with a long narrow point, glandular, coarsely- 

 toothed, shining, sticky, pale below', netted below, 

 and fragrant when bruised. The stipules are 

 ovate to oblong, or wanting. The male catkins, 

 at first erect, are later drooping, the stamens 5 

 (or 4-12). The female catkins are not so long. 

 The scales are oblong, and fall. The capsule 

 is smooth. There is a short style. The stigma 



is bifid, oval, oblong, straight. The hiiglit is 

 6-8 ft., or as a tree 20 (t. 'I'he tree is in llnwer 

 in May ;ind Jvuie, and is a decitluous pereruii;d 

 tree. 



Stih'x di'cipt'c/is, Hoffm. = S. /ragilis x triaudra. 

 — The habit.'tt of this plant is as in the last. It has 

 smaller leaves than in the case of S. fragilis, with 

 orange or crimson polished twigs, a longer style, 

 <intl the catkins cire closer. 



Violet Willow (Salix daphnoidcs, Vill. =S. aciiti- 

 fnlia, Wind.). —This has been found at Great 

 .\yton, North Yorkshire, by river-banks, and not 

 considered indigenous. The Violet Willow is a 

 small tree with violet twigs. The buds arc large. 

 The leaves are linear, lance-shaped, narrow to 

 oblong, with a long point, with acute, coarse 

 teeth, scalloped, shining above, bluish-green 

 below. The stipules are lance-shaped, half-heart- 

 shaped below, acute. The calkins are stout, 

 stalkless (the male one short, thick, hairy), and 

 appear before the leaves. Female catkins have 

 not been observed. The anthers are yellow. 

 The scales are black, pointed, acute, hairy. The 

 capsule has a short stalk or is stalkless, and 

 smooth, ovate to inversely conical. The stigma is 

 linear to oblong. The tree is 10-12 ft. high, 

 flowering in April and May, and is a deciduous 

 perennial tree. 



Order Ceratophvllace^ 



Hornwort {Ceratophylhtm dcmcrsum, L.). — The 

 habitat of this plant is ponds and ditches. The 

 stems are densely leafy. The leaves are in whorls, 

 several times forked, dark-green, with distant 

 coarse teeth. The segments are awl-like, spread- 

 ing, those of the upper leaves broader, more rigid. 

 The spines are wanting. Flowers are not often 

 to be found, and are very small. The calyx .seg- 

 ments are notched above. The fruit has a slender, 

 curved, awl-like style, and is armed with spines, 

 without wings. The plant is 1-3 ft. in height, 

 and flowers in June and July, being a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Ccrnfophyllum submersutn, L. — The habitat of 

 this plant is as in the last. From this it differs 

 mainly in the fruit, which bears no spines, but 

 cylindrical tubercles. The calyx-segments are 

 all entire. The leaves are light-green. The leaf- 

 segments are awl-like. When young the fruit is 

 smooth. The plant flowers in June and July. 



Order Hydrocharidace^ 



Water Soldier (Stratiotes aloides, L. ). — The 

 habitat of this plant is ponds, ditches, fen-ditches, 

 still water. The plant has the aquatic habit. The 

 stems are stolons. The leaves are numerous, 

 sword-like, tapering, triangular, spinous, fringed 

 with hairs or coarsely toothed, spreading, rigid, 

 brittle, deep-green, with many nerves. The 

 flowers are white, borne on flattened flow^er-stalks, 

 which are axillary, short, and stout. The flowers 

 rise to the surface and flower. The fruit is green, 

 bent down at right angles to the stalk, flagon- 



