WOODS AND THICKETS IN SUMMER 



147 



of the calyx. This plant is very common in moist copses and 

 thickets, and flowers from June to August. 



2. The Crested Cow Wheat {M. cristatum). — A widely-distributed 

 plant, found principally in the copses and thickets of the eastern 

 and southern counties. Its stem is from six to twenty inches in 

 height ; and the leaves are very narrow, and generally entire except 



Thz privet. 



in the case of a few of the upper ones, which are slightly toothed 

 at the base. The flowers are yellow, more or less variegated with 

 purple, about half an inch long, and they closely overlap one 

 another in a dense, four-sided spike over an inch in length. 

 Under each flower is a broad, heart-shaped, strongly-toothed, 

 rose-coloured bract. The plant blooms during July. 



3. The Wood or Yellow Cow ^^^leat {M. sylvaticum), sometimes 

 known as the Small-flowered Cow Wheat. This is a much rarer 

 plant, and seems to be found only in the hilly woods of Scotland 

 and North England. It is very much like the Common Cow Wheat, 



L 2 



