34 FLOWERS OF THE HTT.T.S AND DRY PT.ACES 



the colours of llic tlowc-rs, especially in (ircai iJiinic-t. Sanguisorba 

 {sai/i;/(/s, blood, sorbcrc, to absorb) is Latin lor blood-slancliing. 

 This plant is called Burnet, Pimpernel. Pimpinell, Salad Burnet. 



" Of ]))-in|)iirnalle to s])cke thenk)- zet, 

 And luiglysch \-called is Bunict." 



It was formcrlv used in tankards, h was put in a jjreparation made 

 for festering wounds, and was one of the herbs used in "Save", of 

 Chaucer's time. It Is nutritious and very astringent. Sheep are said 

 to thrive on it. It has been sown with clover. The bruised leaves 

 smell like cucumber and taste like the skin. 



Essential SrHcuTc Characters: — 



I02. Poicriitiii Sanguisorba, L. — Stem erect, angular, lea\es pin- 

 nate, leaflets ovate serrate, flowers apetalous, in heads, crimson above, 

 calyx 4 -cleft, smooth, stamens below, with drooping filaments, fruit 

 (juadrangular, veined. 



Field Scabious (Scabiosa arvensis, L.) 



Though found at the present day in the Northern TemiK-ratc and 

 Arctic Zones, in Arctic luirope, Siberia, North Africa, there is no 

 earlier trace of this plant as there is in the case of Devil's Bit Scabious. 

 In Great Britain it is not found in Cardigan, Mid Perth, W'csterness, 

 Main Argyle, Cantire, the Ebudes, West Ross, E. Sutherland, Caith- 

 ness, Hebrides, Orkneys, or the .Shetlands. 



The Field Scabious is not so often found in the va.lleys and low- 

 lands generally as its near ally, Devil's Bit Scabious, being addicted to 

 a much drier habitat. It is a plant of the mountains and hills, growing 

 very often on dry banks in the open helds. but generally onl\- in upland 

 districts. It is occasionally to Ijc fouiul, however, in the cornfield, 

 where it grows gregariously. 



Field Scabious is taller than Devils Bit Scabious, but it has much 

 the same habit, though it grows in clumps, and is not scattered across 

 the meadows as the latter often is. The stem is simple or branched, 

 rough, leafless above, and hairy at the base. The lower leaves are 

 simple, entire, opposite, roughly hairy,' egg-shaped, coarsely toothed, 

 the upper stalklcss, clasping, with the lobes divided nearly to the base 

 into four. 



The; llowerheads are blue, terminal, and borne on stalks. The 



' Tlie liairs arc long and simple, long and dark glands, and numerous. 



