FLOWERS OF THE HEATHS AND MOORS 



[llcath plants arc adapted to dry>soil conditions, and for this re. 

 habitats, such as dry pastures, which may formerly have been heath: 

 adapted to physiologically dry conditions, and may grow on moors, which 

 the plants included in this section may under certain conditions be found el: 

 they lorm a well-marked group or type ot formation, ch.ir.icterized by a dr 



>f them are common to utiier 

 . &c. Heath plants arc also 

 akin to bogs. Therefore 

 id vice versa. As .1 whole 

 il. with acid humus.] 



Order Violace^e 



Dog Violet (I'io/a canina, L. = 1'. erice/oruiii, 

 Schriid.). — The habitat of this plant is heathy 

 places, open commons, shady groves, hedgerows, 

 seashores, &c. The habit is ascending. The 

 plant is slender, branched, the flowering branches 

 axillary, not arising from a flowerlcss rosette o( 

 leaves. The rootstock is slender, herbaceous or 

 woody below. The stems are numerous, all pro- 

 ducing flowers from the axils. The stipules arc 

 moderately long and narrow-pointed. The leaves 

 are longer than broad, not long and narrow-pointed, 

 with short, scattered hairs above. The flowers 

 are scentless, blue, with a white eye. The sepals 

 are lance-shaped, not accrescent in fruit. The 

 petals are longer than broad. The spur is yellow. 

 The anther-spurs are short, thick, sickle-like. The 

 capsule is hairless, blunt, bluntly 3-sided. The 

 plant is 2-4 in. high, flowering from April till June, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



I'io/a lactcn, Sm. (= V. lancifolia, Thore). — The 

 habitat of this plant is dry heaths and downs. 

 The plant has the loose rosette habit. The root- 

 stock is woody, without soboles. The stems are 

 ascending, brown, smooth, wiry. The lowest 

 stipules are brown, small, lance-shaped, long- 

 fringed, the middle half as long as the leaf-stalks, 

 lance-shaped, long-fringed, the upper as long as 

 or longer than the leaf-stalks, opposite, egg-shaped 

 to lancc-shapcd, irregularly toothed, with teeth as 

 long as the stipule is broad. The leaves are dark- 

 green, smooth, coarsely-veined, sparingly hairy 

 above, the lowest small, roundish, fading, on long 

 stalks, the upper egg-shaped to lance-shaped, 

 round or wedge-shaped below, slightly running 

 down the stalk on the shorter stalk, not heart- 

 shaped, the uppermost on still shorter stalks. The 

 flowers are scentless, pale bluish-white, streaked, 

 on long slender stalks, with bracts near the curva- 

 ture of the stalk, entire, or with few teeth. The 

 sepals are narrow, lance-shaped, awl-like. The 

 petals are lance-shaped, pointed, 3-4 times longer 

 than broad, the lowest folded inward. The spurs 

 are greenish-yellow, blunt, twice or more longer 

 than the calyx appendages. The anther-spurs are 

 thick, curved, shorter than the anther, which has 



an acute apical scale. The capsule is smooth, 

 nearly roimd, at first long-pointed on opening. 

 The plant is 3-5 in. high, flowering in May and 

 June, and is .1 herbaceous perennial. 



Order PolygalacE/E 



Heath Milkwort (Polygala dcfiressa, Wender = 

 /'. serpytlacca, Weihe).— The habitat ol this plant 

 is dry pastures, heaths, heathy places. The liabit 

 is prostrate (hence depressa). The stem is wavy, 

 wiry, long, much branched, the upper part (like 

 the flower-stalk, sepals, petals, and capsule) some- 

 times downy. The upper leaves are chiefly oppo- 

 site, the lower oblong, spoon-shaped, and the 

 upper elliptic, scattered, in 2 rows, or crowded. 

 The bract is shorter than the flower-stalk. The 

 flowers are variable, few in a raceme, termin.il and 

 lateral. The calyx wings are as broad as the Iruit. 

 The plant is 1-10 in. long, flowering from June to 

 September, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Order CARVOPHVLLACE/qi 



Striate Corn Catchfly (Silenc conica, L.).— The 

 habitat of this plant is sandy fields, sandy places 

 near the coast, pastures, and sandy heaths. The 

 plant is erect in habit. It is hairy and glandular, 

 branching repeatedly into two. The stem is simple 

 or branched, erect. The leaves are linear, the 

 upper awl-like, downy, acute, ribbed. The flowers 

 are numerous, erect, rose-colour, terminal, and in 

 the forks. The calyx is tubular, conical in fruit, 

 and broad at the base (hence conica), rounded 

 below, with 30 furrows, the teeth awl-like, acute. 

 The petals are inversely heart-shaped, crowned, 

 cleft, with 2 scales at the base of the blade. The 

 gynophore is very short. The capsule is oblong 

 to egg-shaped. The plant is 3-18 in. high, flower- 

 ing from May to August, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Erect Chickweed (Moenchia erecia, Gaertn.). — 

 The habitat is sandy places, waste places near 

 the sea, heaths, &c. The stem is branched from 

 the base. The radical leaves are inversely ovate, 

 lance-shaped, the stem-leaves broader above. The 

 flowers are white, in a leafy cyme. The sepals 



