200 PtEli) AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



flowers, which bloom from July to September, are in distant whorls 

 of from six to ten, in the axils of the upper leaves, forming long 

 spikes. The calyx is bell-shaped, with ten ribs, and five spreading 

 teeth which are pointed, but not stiff ; and the corolla, the tube 

 of which is longer than the calyx, is of a dark, red-purple colour', 

 prettily variegated with white on the lower lip. This plant varies 

 from one to three feet in height and has a very unpleasant odour. 



We next take a few examples of the Borage family (order 

 Boraginacece), all of which are herbs more or less rough with coarse 

 hairs, having alternate, simple leaves, and flowers in one-sided 

 spikes or racemes which are rolled back while in bud. In all of them 

 the calyx has five divisions or teeth, and the corolla consists of five 

 united petals of equal or nearly equal size. There are five stamens 

 within the tube of the corolla, and the fruit consists of four nutlets 

 enclosed in the 23ersistent calyx. 



One of these — the Field Scorpion Grass {Myosotis arvensis) — is 

 often called the Forget-me-not, l)ut it usually grows in dry waste 

 places, while the true Forget-me-not is found in wet situations. 

 The flowers of this species are also very much smaller. The stem 

 of the plant is thin, and bears small, oval, hairy leaves. The small 

 blue corolla has short, spreading, concave segments, and is sur- 

 rounded by a calyx that is cleft to the middle, and covered \\dth 

 hooked hairs. The sepals spread while the flower is open, but 

 assume an erect position when in fruit. As a further means of 

 distinguishing between this and other similar species of the same 

 genus we should note that the peduncle is longer than the calyx, 

 and that the style is very short. The plant varies from six to 

 eighteen inches in height, and flowers throughout the summer. 



The Gromwell or Grey Millet {Lithosjpermum officinale) is a 

 stout plant with several erect, branched stems. The flowers are 

 small, of a pale yellow colour, in leafy racemes. The calyx is hairy 

 and very deeply cleft into five segments ; and the corolla, which is 

 about the same length as the calyx, is funnel-shaped, with smaU 

 scales in the throat of its tube. This plant derives its generic name 

 of Lithospermum from the nature of its fruit, which consists of 

 white, stony nutlets with a smooth and pohshed surface. Its 

 height is from twelve to eighteen inches ; and the flowers appear 

 during June and July. 



Our next species — the Borage {Borago officinalis) — is not 

 indigenous, but is found wild in many parts, frequently in great 

 abundance. It is a very bristly plant, from one to two feet high. 



