72 KI.OWKRS Ol' THK FIl'.I.DS AND MEADOWS 



the town-imimired lassie when she searches for and ;_,falhers it herself 

 in the early sprinjjf morning". 



This plant was called ( )ur Lady's Hunch of Keys and St. Peter- 

 wort from its resemblance to a bLinch of keys. It was supposed to 

 induce sleep. Another legend has ii iliat the nii^htiuLrale is only to 

 be heard when Cow.slips are in prolusion, but the nij^htinsijale's ran^e 

 is not so extensive as that of the Cowslip. li was used as a drug 

 in the time of Chaucer. .\l the ])rcsent day it is used in country 

 districts for makint^ Cowslip wine, which is very like the sweet wines 

 of .S. I'Vance. 



Cowslip smells of anise. The leaves have been used as potherbs 

 and in .salads. .Silkworms are fed upon them. Liqueurs and .syrups 

 are flavoured with the leaves. 



it is not variable under culti\ation, thoui^h it is remarkable that 

 Parkinson and Gerarde speak ot a double variety. Milton speaks of 

 "the yellow Cow^slip and the pale Primrose". 



The Cowslip has been used as a corroborant and antispasmodic. 

 and as an anodyne. 



Essential Specific Cii.vk.^ctkrs: — 



200. Primula veris, L. — Flowerin^^ stem a scape, leaves o\ate, 

 contracted below, flowers pale yellow, in drooping" umbels, caly.x cam- 

 panulate, teeth ovate, corolla limb cup-shaped, capsule oval. 



Yellow Rattle (Rliinanthus Crista-Calli, L.) 



Though one of the Arctic plants, \'ello\v Rattle is not represented 

 at present in ancient deposits. It ranges throughout the Arctic and 

 Temperate N. zones in Arctic Europe, N. Asia, and N. America. It 

 is found, moreover, throughout Great Britain as far north as the Shet- 

 lands, and ascends to 2500 ft. in the Highlands. It is found in Ireland 

 and the Channel Islands. 



Xo plant is more typical of low-lying meadow land than Yellow 

 Rattle, for when grass is laid to hay in spring and early summer it is 

 one of the commonest of flowers. To the farmer, as with Rest Harrow, 

 it is a sign of rough and [)oor pasture. It grows mainly on wet cla)-ey 

 ground, along with Plantains, Cat's Ear, Dog Daisy, Early Purple 

 Orchis, and other i)lants of the valleys. 



This is an erect plant, (;ither simple or branched, with a square 

 stem, spotted with black or brown, and smooth. 



The leaves are opposite, distant, stalkless, narrowly elliptical, heart- 

 shaped, blunt-veined, smooth, net-veined, toothed, the notches nearly 



