MEADOWS, FIELDS AND PASTURES— SUMMER 213 



and Ireland during June and July. The plant has a simple or 



slightly branched stem, from one to three feet high ; and its leaves 



are all sessile, narrow, arrow-shaped, either entire or slightly toothed, 



with pointed lobes at the base. 



The flowers are small, yellow, 



arranged in a long, loose 



raceme ; and the fruits are 



oval siliquas, with convex 



valves, a distinct central vein, 



and edges flattened into a 



narrow wing. 



The order Caryophyllacece 

 is represented in pastures by 

 the Bladder Campion {Silene 

 inflata or >S^. cucubalis) — a 

 flower that is easily recognised 

 among the Campions and the 

 Catchflys by the globular 

 calyx. The stem of the plant 

 is semi-erect, branched below, 

 and from two to three feet 

 high. The leaves are sessile, 

 smooth, oblong, usually acute, 

 and placed in pairs on the 

 jointed stem. The flowers are 

 rather large, arranged in lax, 

 terminal panicles, and often 

 droop sUghtly. The calyx is 

 globular, veined, and about 

 half an inch or more in dia- 

 meter ; and the five petals, 

 which are deeply cleft into 

 two lobes, have each a scale 

 at the base of the spreading 

 limb. The plant is very widely 

 distributed over Britain, and 

 is very common in some districts, flowering during June and July. 



The same order contains the White Campion {Lychnis vespertina) 

 — a hairy plant, with a branched stem from one to two feet high, 

 and rather large white or very pale pink flowers that open in the 

 evening. It is abundant in most parts of Britain, and flowers 



The bladder CAi^n-ioir. 



