LADY'S MANTIJ-: ;,9 



The llowLT is like lh.it of J'. I'crna, \\\ wliirh there is ;i riiiL^-hke 

 ridge on the inner wall ol the tuhe hornc- on the tup of the llower-stalk, 

 which surrDiMuls the base ot the stamens, and is marked hy its dark 

 reddish-yellow colour. The honty is not secreted in dmps, hut in a 

 very evident, smooth adherent layer. The anthers become covered 

 on both sides with pollen, and ripen at the same time as the stli'i'mas. 



Insects alight in the centre, or on the petals, and in the latter case 

 they dust themselves with pollen, hut do not touch tlie stigmas, ;is the 

 honey-ring lies farther out. It thev alight in the middle lo'i the next 

 rtower they cross-pollinate it. llui the llower is olten self-pollinated. 

 The flowers close up in part in dull weather, and completely at night, 

 and it is then that the anthers touch the stigmas. 



The visitors arc Prosopis arviillata, P. hyalinata, Ila/iitiis macu- 

 la t us, H. Iciic'ozoiiiis. II. scxsh-io^aius, Andrcna a/bicnis, , /. i/aiia, 

 Sphccodcs gibbns, Aomada xaiilhoslicta, N^. sitccincta, .liiDiiopln/a 

 sabulosa, Syrpltus airiialiis. 



The achenes or fruits are granulated or covered with little ])oinis. 

 and are dispersed, when dry, around the parent plant. 



A dry sand soil is the princij)al requirement ot Cincjueioil, which 

 is strictly a sand plant, growing lu.xuriantly on sand, deri\i-d trom 

 sedimentary rocks or even direcdy from older granitic del)ris. 



Xcs/ophaiies potcntilhc forms galls upon the stems and rhizomes, and 

 a moth, the Knotgrass [Aii'oiiychi nunicis), feeds on the Cinquefoil. 



The second Latin name refers to its creeping habit. It is called 

 Cinquefoil, FiHef Five-finger-blossom, Five-finger-grass, Five-finger.s, 

 Five-leaf, Five-leaved-grass, Golden-blossom, Herb Five-leaf, Sink- 

 field, Synkefoyle, Tormentil. Sinkfield is merely a corruption for 

 Cinquefoil, which alludes to the five leaflets. 



In the fourteenth century it was much used, and imagined to be 

 a cure, for stomach complaints. Like Tormentil it is astringent and 

 used in dysentery, being also used for tanning. Tea used for fe\'ers 

 was made with it. 



FssF.NTi.\L Specific Ch.\racters: — 



TOO. Poteiitilla reptans, L. — Stem slender, rooting, creeping, leaflets 

 obovate, leaves stalked, flowers large, yellow, petals five, obcordate, 

 carpels rough. 



Lady's Mantle (.Mchemilla vulgaris, L.) 



No trace of Lady's Mande is found in the rocks. It is an Arctic 

 plant found in the North Temperate and Arctic regions in Arctic 

 Europe, N. and W. Asia, Kashmir, Greenland, Labrador. In Great 



