WASTE PLACES, ETC. 



135 



inversely ovate, sliiiiini^f. The sccd-stalk is nearly 

 kidney-shaped. The plant is 6-30 in. in heij^hl, 

 flowerinjf from July to October, and is a herb- 

 aceous annual. 



Euphorbia cvralloides, L. — The habitat of this 

 plant is plant.ttions, and the plant is rare. The 

 ph'int is naked below. The le.ives are lance- 

 shaped, with small teeth, woolly. The bracts are 

 oval to oblonij, the tertiary bracts ovate, hairy. 

 The rtowerheads are in an umbel of 5 rays, 3-lid, 

 and forked. The involucral glands are oval. The 

 capsule is nearly smooth, woolly. The seeds are 

 inversely ovate, minutely dotted, and with faint, 

 netted bands. The plant is 1-3 ft. hij^li, flowcrinif 

 in June and July, and is a herbaceous biennial. 



Petty Spurge (Euphorbia Peplus, L.). — The 

 habitat of this species is w.iste places, cultivated 

 Cfround. The habit is erect. The stem is simple, 

 or thrice forked below. The plant is smooth, 

 light-green. The leaves are round to inversely 

 broadly ovate, entire, stalked, thin, the lower 

 leaves more or less rounded. The le.if-slalks are 

 short and slender. The flowerheads are in umbels 

 of 3 repeatedly-forked rays. The bracts are ovate, 

 blunt, with .a short point. The involucral glands 

 are 4, moon-shaped, long-horned, slender. The 

 capsule is smooth, small, with keeled valves, 

 thickened, and rough. The seeds are ovoid, deeply 

 pitted, keeled on the dorsal side, whitish, 3angled, 

 with 2 furrows on the ventral side. The plant is 

 3-12 in. high, flowering from July to November, 

 and is a herbaceous annual. 



Annual Mercury (Mfrcurialis annua, L.). — Tlie 

 habitat of this plant is cultivated ground, waste 

 places, fields, gardens. The habit is erect. The 

 plant is bright-green, smooth. The root is fibrous. 

 The stem is branched. The leavesare membranous, 

 oblong, ovate, lance-shaped, smooth, short-stalked. 

 In the female plants the leaves are narrower, acute, 

 heart-shaped or rounded below, shining, scalloped 

 to coarsely toothed, fringed with hairs. The 

 plant is dioecious or monoecious. The lemale 

 flowers are in clusters, nearly stalkless, some- 

 times with a few male flowers. The styles are 

 spreading, with the stigmatic surfaces on the 

 front sides. The capsule is small, warlcd, roughly 

 hairv. The seeds are brown, netted. The plant 

 is 6-^18 in. high, flowering from July to November, 

 and is a herbaceous annual. 



Order L'rticace.'E 



Little Nettle (I'rlica urens, L.).— The habitat 

 of this plant is cultivated and waste ground and 

 fields. The habit is erect. The stem is branched, 

 with .stinging hairs. The leaves are opposite, 

 elliptic, ovate to oblong, stalked, coarsely toothed, 

 the teeth few and the terminal one oblong. The 

 flowers are few, arranged in axillary panicles 

 or spikes in pairs, which are simple, shorter than 

 the leaf-stalk. The plant is usually monoecious. 

 The flower-stalks are long or short. The seeds 

 are oblong. The plant is 9 in. to 2 ft. high, 

 flowering from June to September, and is a herb- 

 aceous annual. 



OrL>IvK IrIDACEvG 



Iris (Ucrmoiiaclylus /ubrrosus, Mill.). — This 

 plant is often cultivated, and has been lound in 

 old gardens, orchards, hedgebanks. The habit 

 is the flag habit. The root is tuberous. The 

 leaves are tetragonal. The plant is i-flowered, 

 the flowers bluish-brown. The perianth segments 

 are acute, velvety, purple. The plant is 1-2 ft. 

 high, flowering in June and July, and is a herb- 

 aceous pcrcnni.'il. 



Order UraminacE/E 



Glabrous Finger Grass (Panicum glabrum, 

 Ciaud.). — The habil.it of this species is sandy soil, 

 sandy heaths, and waste places in the south and 

 c.ist. It h,is the typical grass habit. The root is 

 fibrous. The stem is largely prostrate, the leaves 

 are flat, smooth, narrow, the sheaths also smooth, 

 with a hairy border. The ligulc is short. There 

 are 3- fingered, wavy, chaiuielled spikes with 

 spikelets, with one flower, in pairs, turned all one 

 side. The spikelets arc purplish, stalked, one 

 sl.ilk longer than the other. The empty glumes 

 are hairy, and the flowering glunte h.'is no awn. 

 The fruit is compressed or flattened at the border. 

 The plant is 6-19 in. high. Flowers are to be 

 found in July and Augu.st. It is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Cockspur Grass (Panicum crus-galli, L.). — 

 Cockspur Grass is found in fields and waste 

 places in S. England, on damp .ind waste culti- 

 vated ground. The plant has the grass habit. 

 The stems are stout and ascending. The leaves 

 are flat, smooth, the edges rough, wavy. There 

 is no ligulc. The flowers are in a panicle, with 

 the branches more or less all on one side. The 

 rachis is 3-angled, downy. The flower-stalk is 

 hairy. The spikes are i-flowered, alternate or 

 opposite, the spikelets close, dark-purplish. They 

 are plano-convex, greenish, the upper empty glume 

 is hairy, pointed, or with .1 rigid awn. The flower- 

 ing glume is polished. The plant is 9-24 in. high, 

 flowering from July to September, and is a herb- 

 aceous annual. 



Green Bristle Grass (Sclaria virtdis, Beauv.). — 

 In the British Isles this plant is only a casual, 

 found in waste places. The plant has the grass 

 habit. The stems are more or less erect, roughish 

 above. The leaves arc flat, smooth, rough at the 

 border. The sheaths are smooth, the margin 

 fringed with hairs, with a ring of hairs at the 

 mouth. The panicle is spikc-likc, green, with 

 branches in whorls, hairy, 3-sidcd. The bristles 

 are wavy, purplish, clustered, rough, the teeth 

 directed forwards. The spikelets are blunt, ellip- 

 tic. The empty glumes are membranous, the 

 flowering glumes shining, furrowed, dotted. The 

 plant is 9-18 in. high, flowering from June to 

 September, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Selaria glauca, Beauv. — This plant is a weed of 

 cultivated and waste ground. The panicles are 

 spike-like, the involucral bristles have ascending 

 teeth, and the paica is transversely rough. The 



