BOG MYRTLE 41 



lont^' as the petals, in dense whurls often rLinning together. The nut is 

 small, with elliptic sides and 3-sided. 



Golden Dock is 2 ft. high. Flowers may be looked for in luly and 

 August. The plant is perennial, and propagated by roots. 



The llowers are pollinated by wind. The stamens are six in number, 

 with anthers rtxed by their base, 3 thread-like styles, and large penicil- 

 late stigmas. The flowers are hermaphrodite. The stigmas and anthers 

 ripen together. The nuts are winged, and when they fall they are 

 carried to a distance by the wind. 



Golden Dock is a helophyte or marsh plant growing in saline soil, 

 and a sand-loving plant growing also in sand soil. 



Ruvif.v. Pliny, is Latin for sorrel, and the second Latin name 

 refers to its habitat, by the sea. 



Golden Dock is also called Small Water Dock. 



Es.sENTiAL Specific Characters: — 



269. Riancx iitaritiiiuis, L. — Stem erect, branched, leaves lan- 

 ceolate, narrow at the extremities, flowers perfect, petals rhomboidal, 

 in crowded whorls. 



Bog Myrtle (Myrica Gale, L.) 



Though unknown in a fossil state in England Bog Myrtle is found 

 in the Oak Zone in Gothland and elsewhere. In the N. Temperate 

 Zone it is found in W. and N.W. Europe, N. Asia, and N. America. 

 In Great Britain it is absent in the Peninsula province in Somerset; in 

 the Channel province in X. Wilts; in the Thames province in Essex, 

 Herts, Oxford, Anglia, but not in Northants; in S. Wales it is absent 

 in Brecon and Radnor; in N. Wales; in the Trent province not occur- 

 ring ill Leics, and Rutland, or Derby; in the Mersey province not in 

 Mid Lanes; in the- H umber province not in N.W. York; in the Tyne 

 province not in Durham; in the Lakes district; W. Lowlands; in the 

 PL. Lowlands only in lidinburgh; in the E. Highlands not in Stirling; 

 W. Highlands, N. Highlands; in the North Isles, except in Shetlands, 

 or from Caithness to Cornwall; elsewhere in the Highlands it is found 

 at 1800 ft. It is a native of Ireland. 



Bog Myrtle in name indicates its habitat, which is essentially paludal, 

 and the plant is a decided xerophyte, adapted to drought like other bog 

 plants; as with other bog species, too, it is frequent also on moors 

 where there is less moisture. 



The plant is shrubby, small though it be, usually smooth and erect, 

 with lance-shaped, inversely egg-shaped, smooth leaves, which are 



