32 FLOWERS OF THE HILLS AND DRY PLACES 



Salad Burnet ll'dtcrium San^uisorba, L.) 



Those ulu) have scarchetl tor this plant have lailcd as yet to 

 meet with seeds in (ilacial or oth(;r beds. The cHstribution to-day 

 shows that it is a plant of the .\. Temperate Zone found in Europe, 

 N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, and the Himalayas. it is widely dis- 

 persed, but local in Lireat Britain; thus it is found in the whole of 

 the Channel, Thames, Antjlia, and Severn provinces. It is only found 

 in N. Wales in Denl)iL;h, I'lint, and An^lesea, but throui^hout the 

 Trent, Mersey, Humber. and Tyne provinces, though not in the Isle 

 of Man; and in Scotland, not in Ayr in the W. Lowlands, Selkirk 

 and Berwick in E. Lowlands; in E. and W . Highlands it occLirs 

 generally except in Mid Ebudes; in the N. Hii^hlands, except in W. 

 Ross and W. Sutherland. It is not found in the Orkneys in the 

 Northern Isles. It ascends to 1600 ft. in ^'orks, and in !•".. Scotland 

 extends from Perth to Berwick. It is rare in Ireland and the Channel 

 Islands. 



Salad Burnet is a hill-side plant, fond especially of chalky districts, 

 but growing elsewhere where lime abounds with Dyer's Weed, Musk 

 Mallow, Dropwort, Field Scabious, Cotton Thistle, Wild Thyme, 

 Sheep's Sorrel, Box, Musk Orchis, &c. 



Suberect and branched, the stems are numerous, subangular, and 

 reddi.sh, with leaves, with leaflets each side of a common stalk, which 

 when bruised smell and taste like cucumber. The stipules or leallike 

 orcrans are toothed. 



O 



In the upper part ot the tlowerhead are female Horets, in the lower 

 male, and in the centre both, the upper pistils being crimson, the 

 stamens below pendulous, and red with )ellow anthc^rs. The calyx is 

 square with membraneous sepals. The florets are in small, green, 

 rounded heads. The fruit is an achene. 



The height of the plant is about 2 ft. F"lowers can be tound in 

 July. It is a perennial plant, and increased by root division. 



This is one of the anemophilous flowers whose pollen is wlnd- 

 dis]iersed. There are some male florets below, some female above, some 

 hermaphrodite in the centre. There is no honey. The stamens are 

 numerous. The numerous, long, thread-like stigmas and anthers ])roject 

 from the flower, the anthers on long, thin, white, yellow, or red pen- 

 dulous anther-stalks. Odviicnts parictnni and .some few flies settle 

 on it. 



The I -seeded achenes or fruits, 1-3, are enclosed in the hollow. 



