SHEPHERD'S PURSE 173 



deeplv di\'iiied ncarlv to the base, or they ina\' be iiiuHviiled, lance- 

 shaped. The terminal lobe is often triano,ular. The upper leaves are 

 clasping, auricled. 



The riowers are white, or reddish-tinged in winter, Hke many other 

 plants, e.g. White Deadnettle. The flower-stalks are slender. The 

 sepals are spreading and equal. The pods are triangular, inversely 

 heart-shaped, wedge-shaped, or rounded. The stigma is not stalked. 

 The style is short. The valves are smootii. The seeds are numerous, 

 oblong, dotted, very small. The pod has no wings, as in T/i/aspi, in 

 which the plant was once placed. The radical leaves as well as the 

 pods are extremely variable. 



This [)lant is often 2 ft. high, usualK' i ft. It is in llower all the 

 year, and is a herbaceous annual, propagated by seeds. 



The anthers and stigma are mature at the same time. The llowers 

 are small and inconspicuous. Honey is secreted in 4 nectaries at the 

 side of the short stamens. The longer stamens are ot the same length 

 as the style. Hence, as would be expected, the plant is usually seli- 

 pollinated. Female flowers have been found as well as complete 

 flowers, both on the same and on different plants. In the earlier 

 flowers the stamens have been found to be incomplete, so that the 

 above unusual conditions may be due to the variation in the thermal 

 constant. 



The visitors are Diptera, Syrphidae, Eristalis ncvioniDi, Syi-phiis 

 balleatits, Svritta pipicns, Ascia podagTica, Mclithreptiis scriptits, 

 M. ta-niatiis, J/, pictiis, Muscicke, Aiithomyia. 



The plant is dispersed by its own agency. The pods are not 

 winged and contain many seeds, and open and allow them to fall out 

 around the parent plant. 



Shepherd's Purse requires a .sand soil, and is a sand-loving plant. 



The fungus, Cyslopits caudidiis, distorts the branches, and covers 

 them with a white crust, and Peronospora parasitica also infests it. 

 The Bath White Butterfly {Pieris daplidicc), Arctia caja (Tiger Moth), 

 Lepidoptera, and the Hemiptera .Ipliis hrassiccc, A. papavcris, Sipliono- 

 phoj'a pisi Are. amongst tho.se that {^vkI on it. 



Capsclla is Latin for a link- box or capsule, referring to the pods. 

 Bnrsa-pastoris is Latin for .Shepherd's Purse, also in allusion to the 

 pods. 



This ubiquitous plant is called Bad Man's Oatmeal, Blind- weed. 

 Case-weed, Clappede Pouch, Cocowort, Fat Hen, Lady's Purse, 

 Mother's Heart, Naughty Man's Plaything, Pepper-and-Salt, Pick 

 Pocket, Pick Purse, Pick-vour-.Moiher's-heart-out, Poor INLui's Parma- 



