268 



FttlLb AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



to atmospheric conditions, spreading horizontally when the air 

 is dry, and closing over the florets in humid air ; and they respond 



so readily to the 

 changed conditions 

 that their movements 

 may be watched as 

 they are transferred 

 from warm, dry air 

 to a moist chamber, 

 or vice versa. This 

 plant is common on 

 the downs of England 

 and Ireland, and 

 flowers from July to 

 September. 



Our last Composite 

 flower is the Common 

 Chamomile [Anthemis 

 nobilis), which is 

 abundant on the 

 downs of the southern 

 counties of England, 

 flowering from July 

 to September. It is 

 an aromatic herb, 

 with a procumbent 

 stem, from six to 

 twelve inches long, 

 and ascending, leafy, 

 flowering branches. 

 The leaves are bi- 

 pinnate, slightly 

 downy, with very 

 fine, almost hairlike, 

 segments. The flower- 

 heads are terminal, 

 with a white ray and 

 yellow disc, surrounded by blunt bracts the inner of which have 

 membranous tips. On the receptacle are little broad scales, nearly 

 as long as the disc florets. 



On heaths almost everywhere we may see the pretty 



THE Common Chamomile. 



