106 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



high. The minute green flowers, which have three sepals and no 

 petals, are in racemes or spikes that grow from the axils of the 

 upper leaves. They are unisexual ; the staminate flowers in 

 slender racemes, with several erect stamens ; and the pistillate 

 ones in short, few-flowered spikes, with a two-celled ovary, two 

 styles, and a few imperfectly formed stamens. 



The Black Bryony [Tamus communis) — order Dioscoriacece — 



is a pretty climbing 

 plant, the slender stem 

 of which twines for 

 several feet among the 

 hedgerow trees and 

 shrubs. Its leaves are 

 cordate and acute, and 

 change either to a bright 

 yellow or a beautiful 

 bronze colour in the 

 autumn. The flowers, 

 which appear in May 

 and June, are yellowish 

 green, in small clusters ; 

 and the fruits are oblong 

 l)erries, turning to a 

 Ijright scarlet as the 

 leaves assume their 

 autumn tints. 



Our next flower is 

 the peculiar and in- 

 teresting Wild Arum 

 {Arum maculatum), of 

 the order Aracece, also 

 known as Lords and Ladies, Cuckoo Pint, and Wake Robin. It is a 

 very common flower of shady waysides, blooming during April and 

 May. The plant is succulent, with a sliort, fleshy rhizome ; and large, 

 smooth, sagittate leaves tliat are often spotted with purple. The 

 floral stalk is thick and fleshy, and supports numerous unisexual 

 flowers which are clustered round a central axis or spadix tliat is 

 prolonged above into a club-shaped appendage. The whole of the 

 spadix is surrounded by a large bract or spathe which is contracted 

 a little distance above its base. The portion of the spathe below 

 the constriction encloses the flowers, and remains permanently 

 closed as long as they are in bloom ; but the upper part opens on 



The Wild Anrnu 



