120 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



flower. If there are no visitors self-pollination 

 may occur. Bees and flies are the chief visitors. 



The hooked persistent calyx assists in the dispersal 

 of the nutlets by animal agency. 



Britten and Holland cite Bird's-eye, Forget-me- 

 not, Blue Mouse-ear as vernacular names. 



Myosotis arvensis. — In Fig. 30 note the blunt, 

 oblong, lower leaves, the acute stem-leaves. The terminal 

 racemes are stalked. The flowers are small, and the 

 belt-shaped calyx is easily discernible. 



Hound's Tongue {Cynoglossum officinale). 



There appears to be some reason to believe that 

 the English name, a translation of the first scientific 

 name, is due to the lingulate lower leaves, or the 

 texture, like the tongue of a hound. It is, however, 

 not generally a common plant in this country, as the 

 second or specific Latin name would imply. Though 

 compared with the much rarer Green Hound's Tongue 

 this might be said of it. 



From Scotland (especially on the east side) south- 

 wards it is a not uncommon plant in certain habitats, 

 and occurs also in the south-east of Ireland. 



The habitat of the Hound's Tongue is fields, waste 

 places, roadsides, sand dunes by the sea, where it 

 grows in the Marram or Stargrass association. The 

 kitchen middens around old ruins are often colonised 

 by this plant with Deadly Nightshade and Henbane, 

 all foetid, noxious plants. 



