WASTES AND WAYSIDES IN SUMMEU 



177 



visit the flowers. The upper part of the style now divides into 

 two parts, and the branches diverge, exposing the stigmatic sur- 

 faces which form the inner sides of the fork. It will thus be 

 seen that the florets are not self-polHnated, since the stigma is 

 generally mature after the pollen 

 has aU been removed from the 

 same flower. 



Our first example of this order 

 is the YeUow Goat's-beard {Trago- 

 pogon pratensis), also known as 

 Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon. This is a 

 common wayside plant, of a 

 glaucous green colour, with a milky 

 sap. Its stem is erect, from one 

 to two feet high, and the whole 

 plant is smooth. The flower-heads 

 are sohtary, large, yellow, and 

 surrounded by a single row of 

 narrow bracts that are united 

 below ; and the peduncle is thick- 

 ened at the top. The bracts 

 are generally as long as the 

 florets, and the latter usually close 

 about the middle of the day. 

 The fruit is long and narrow, 

 with longitudinal ridges ; and 

 the pappus consists of rows of 

 feathery hairs which interlock and 

 form a very shallow cup. The 

 flowers bloom during June and 

 July. 



The Bristly Ox-tongue {Helmin- 

 thia echioicles or Picris echioides), 



also a common plant, is more or less covered with rigid, hooked 

 bristles, each of which arises from a swollen, white base ; and it 

 has a milky sap. The stem is stout, branched, very bristly, and 

 grows from two to three feet high. The leaves are simple and 

 toothed, the upper ones cordate and embracing the stem, and the 

 lower ones aurided or eared. The heads are terminal, consisting of 

 yellow, ligulate florets, surrounded by five large cordate bracts. 

 The fruit is brown, curved, with transverse ridges and a stalked 



N 



THE Yellow Goat's-beard. 



