WAYSIDES AND WASTES IN SPRING 85 



oblong-lanceolate, toothed and downy. The fruits of this species 

 are erect, narrow, with four obscure angles, and about twice as 

 long as their stalks. 



The Rape or Cole-seed {Brassica napus) is a cruciferous weed 

 commonly occurring in cultivated ground, and often cultivated for 

 its seeds. It grows from one to two feet high, and bears corymbose 

 clusters of yellow flowers during May and June. Its root is fusiform 

 (spindle-shaped), and all its leaves are smooth and of a sea-green 

 colour. The lower leaves are lyrately pinnate, with toothed edges ; 

 and the stem leaves are ovate-lanceolate, acute, embracing the 

 stem. The pods spread as they ripen. 



The Wild Turnip {Brassica Rapa) is a very similar plant, pro- 

 ducing its yellow flowers from April to July. Its root is tuberous 

 and fleshy. The lower leaves are hairy and rough, and not of the 

 glaucous green characterising the last species, while the upper 

 leaves are glaucous and smooth. 



The Sweet Violet {Viola odorata) — the favourite flower of way- 

 side banks — is common in many parts, and is generally very easily 

 distinguished from other similar species of the order {Violaceoi) 

 by its pleasing fragrance. It has a short root-stock, and, usually, 

 long creeping runners. At the top of the stock is a cluster of long- 

 stalked leaves, broadly heart-shaped in form, blunt, with crenate 

 margins and a slightly downy surface. At the base of the leaf- 

 stalks are very narrow, entire stipules ; and from among these 

 arise the slender flower-stalks, of about the same length as those 

 bearing the leaves, with a pair of small bracts a httle above the 

 middle. The flowers are solitary, drooping, of a violet, hlac, or 

 white colour, with obtuse sepals ; a short, blunt, straight spur to 

 the lower petal ; and a hooked, pointed stigma. The conspicuous, 

 scented flowers with which we are so well acquainted, bloom from 

 March to April ; but all tlirough the summer the plant bears small 

 petalless flowers that produce the seeds. 



Of the order Caryophyllacece our first example is the Ciliated 

 Pearlwort {Sagina ciliata), a small, creeping plant, flowering in 

 May and June in dry places. The leaves are very small, narrow, 

 ciliated, terminating abruptly in a sharp point ; and the two of 

 each pair are united at their bases. The flowers are very small 

 and stalked ; and the petals are either very minute or absent. The 

 sepals, stamens, styles, and valves of the capsule, are each four ; 

 and the sepals He close against the capsule. 



The Procumbent Pearlwort (;S^. procumbens), also found in 



