WASTE PLACES 



^55 



large number of al'K'ii plants that occur upon 

 the manure heaps. Uoublless these are partly 

 broug'ht there in excreta; but others are de- 

 rived from sweepings mixed with the manure, 

 with garden seeds, &c. And some plants may 

 also owe their occurrence to the fact that a 

 manure heap is used as a refuse heap, and 

 large numbers of plants may thus become 

 established which may be found in the village 

 or town of the district. 



On manure heaps such lovely llowers as 

 Glauciiim phceniceitm, Ka-meria hybrida occur; 

 also Raphnnus, Canary Grass, and the Little 

 Nettle. Kitchen middens or waste heaps often 

 found near houses or old ruins, where there is 

 frequently a black soil, due to the accumulation 

 of refuse in one spot, are characterized by 

 plants that have in the past been used for 

 herbal remedies or in medicine, as Hound's 

 Tongue, Henbane, Belladonna, Black Night- 

 shade, Tliorn-applc, &c. 



The Habits of Waste-ground Plants. — Various 

 factors enter into the characteristic habits of 

 waste-ground plants. The richness of the soil 

 may, as upon manure heaps, &c., cause the 

 plants to have a diffuse, much-branched habit. 

 The height is in this case greater than usual. 

 .Such plants as Common Mallow and Fat Hen 

 often attain a great size. The soil of a garden 

 has the same effect. The openness of the soil 

 is one cause of this. 



The hedge plants have the pyramidal or in- 

 versely pyramidal habit, as Greater Celandine, 

 Goutweed, Tansy, &c. 



The rosette habit is a common one where 

 many plants grow close together, and where 

 light is not well diffused. Such plants as 

 Shepherd's Purse, Musk Thistle, Chicory, 

 Mullein, &c., have this habit. This also is an 

 advantage where the soil is dry. Common 

 Mouse-ear Chickweed has a grass habit, with 

 the leaf margins recurved, and with a hairy 

 stem. 



.Man)- plants have the trailing or prostrate 

 habit, but these are not found in the habitats 

 in which many plants grow closely associated 

 as a rule. They occur on sandy wastes, as 

 Stork's Bill, or on banks, as Creeping Toad- 

 flax, or on gateways, as Knotgrass. The 

 succulent Dead Nettles have stems at first 

 prostrate, which helps to strengthen the stem. 

 Burdock, Milk Thistle, Belladonna, are bushy 

 in habit. 



The Height of Waste-ground Plants. — 

 Cirowing under vari.-ibli^ conditions as regards 

 the habitat, and the mode of association of the 

 components of each tlorula, waste-ground 

 plants vary a great deal in the height to which 

 they are capable of attaining. This is largely 

 dependent upon habit, and the relation of the 



latter lo light. For where plants vary in re- 

 spect of height, it is usually where the plants 

 grow' close together and have no elbow-room 

 that they grow tall and lank, whilst where 

 the ground is less occupied they .are bushy and 

 not so tall. 



From I in. to 3 or 4 in. is an unusual height, 

 but is the usual limit of the trailing plants, as 

 Stork's Bill, Knotgrass, Creeping Toadflax, 

 though they may sometimes reach a much 

 greater height. Six inches to a foot is the 

 normal height of the rosette plants and those 

 with a grass habit, as Shepherd's Purse, 

 Mouse-ear, Chickweed, Stinking Mayweed, 

 Groundsel, Hawksbeard, Henbane, Toadflax, 

 Purple Dead Nettle, White Dead Nettle, Good 

 King Henry, Wall Barley; but they may also, 

 under abnormal or especially favourable con- 

 ditions, become much taller. 



Greater Celandine, Goutweed, Tansy, Musk 

 Thistle (to 3 ft.). Hound's Tongue, Viper's 

 Bugloss, Fat Hen, Dairy Maid's Dock (to 3 

 ft.), range from 2 ft. upward, the habit being 

 pyramidal. Others are 3 ft. or more, as 

 Burdock, Spear Thistle, Chicory, Belladonna; 

 whilst .Mallow, Melilot, are 4 ft. or more. Milk 

 Thistle 5 ft.. Mullein 6 ft.. Bittersweet as much 

 as 20 ft., being a climber. 



Flowering Seasons of Wayside Plants. — The 

 waste pi. ice is, as a rule, ;i dry habitat. The 

 soil is sandy, seldom clayey. Everything in 

 the habitat tends to promote the early flower- 

 ing of the plants. But contrary to what we 

 should expect, the majority of the plants do 

 not bloom till fairly late. But there are two 

 features that are connected with waste-ground 

 plants and their flowering that to some extent 

 explain this. 



Few, except the larger woody plants, as 

 Mallow, are perennials. And in general it 

 may be stated that the plants that are peren- 

 nial flower earlv, annuals later, and biennials 

 still later. 



-Another feature is the almost perennial 

 flowering period of some plants, as Shepherd's 

 Purse, Groundsel, which may be found in 

 bloom almost any month, and much the same 

 may be said of Mouse-ear Chickweed, Hawks- 

 beard, Purple and White Dead Nettle, &c. 



Relatively few flower in April, as Stork's 

 Bill and White Dead Nettle generally, and 

 Knotgrass. In May, Greater Celandine, Mal- 

 low, Goutweed, Purple Dead Nettle, Good 

 King Henry, flower. In June the majority 

 come into bloom, as Mouse-ear Chickweed, 

 Melilot, .Stinking Mayweed, Spear Thistle, 

 Hawksbeard, Hound's Tongue, Bittersweet, 

 Belladonna, Henbane, Toadflax, Dairy Maid's 

 Dock, "Wall Barley. A number do not even 

 flower till July, such as Tansy, Burdock, 



