VERNAL WHITLOW GRASS 139 



" Up she got upon a wall, 

 Attempted down to slide withal; 

 She fell, and bruised, she died. 

 Love in pity to the deed, 

 And her loving luckless speed, 

 Turned her to this plant we call 

 Now the Flower of the Wall." 



The Wallllower is much cultivated, and many variLties of colour — 

 yellow, white, orange, blue, purple flowers — are produced, both double 

 and single. It has been grown in pastures with parsley, thyme, &c., 

 for its acrid properties as a remedy for sheep rot. 



Essential Specific Chakacteks: — 



23. Chciranthits Chciri, L. — Stem shrubby, leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 acute, with appressed hairs, flower yellow or red, calyx spreading, pod 

 tetrao'onal, stiijma 2-lobed. 



Vernal Whitlow Grass (Erophila verna, E. Meyer) 



There is no record of this in beds containing fossil remains of recent 

 plants. It is distributed throughout temperate Europe, Asia as far as 

 the Himalayas, North Africa. This little plant is known in every 

 district in Great Britain except Cardigan, Mid Lancashire, Stirling, 

 N. Hebrides, Orkneys, ranging from the west of England to the 

 Orkneys and throughout the south. It is found also in Ireland antl 

 the Channel Islands. 



Vernal Whitlow Grass, as the name implies, is a spring flower 

 which adorns our mud walls or stone walls and roofs in the majority of 

 English and Scottish counties. It is also found on mole-heaps and 

 other dry spots which are raised above the general level at a distance 

 from houses in the open fields. It is a xerophyte, and occurs also on 

 gravel-walks, cinder-paths, terraces, in the cracks of walls and similar 

 spots. 



The habitat of this j)lant is associated with its habit. Eor its 

 leaves, which are lance-shaped, acute, and are hairy and narrowed 

 below, are arranged in a regular rosette at the base of the plant, which 

 in its usually exposed position help to prevent it from being uprooted. 

 The short aerial stem is a scape, leafless, and bears few flowers. Many 

 of these little plants grow together like little mats scattered over the 

 surface. 



The petals of the flower are deeply cloven, white. The pods are 

 oblong, rounded, and the flower-stalks are longer, spreading, alternate. 



