290 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



of a coarse comb. The plant is erect, branched, from three to 

 twelve inches high ; and the general character of its leaves and 

 inflorescence may be gathered from our illustration. The flowers 

 are small, white, with larger outer petals ; and the carpels of the 

 fruit are cyhndrical, about a third of an inch long, with beaks 

 about an inch and a half. The plant flowers from June to 



September. 



Of the order Rubiaceoe we 

 shall include the commt)n 

 Field Madder {Sherardia 

 arvensis). a Uttle plant, vary- 

 ing from five to ten inches 

 high, the minute lilac flowers 

 of which may be seen from 

 April to October. Its branched 

 stems are often decumbent ; 

 and the Httle, narrow, sharply- 

 pointed leaves, rough on the 

 edges, are placed in whorls of 

 from four to six. The umbels 

 are very small, terminal, and 

 surrounded by a leafy in- 

 volucre that is divided into 

 several lobes longer than the 

 flowers. The corolla consists 

 of an exceedingly slender tube, 

 at the top of which are four 

 spreading lobes ; and the fruit 

 is crowned by the five or six 

 teeth of the calyx, which 

 enlarges as the former ripens. 

 The Field Knautia or Field Scabious {Knautia arvensis or 

 Scahiosa arvensis), shown on Plate VII, is very common on 

 cultivated ground, particularly in corn-growing districts. It 

 is a slightly-branched plant, from one to four feet high, 

 clothed with stift", bristly hairs. Its lower leaves are stalked, 

 simple, narrow, and usually but little cut ; and the upper 

 ones sessile, broader at the base, and either coarsely toothed 

 or deeply cut. The fiower-heads are large, lilac, on long 

 peduncles. The outer fiorets are much larger than the inner, 

 and all have four-lobed corollas. The fruit is angular, and is 



The Shepherd's Needle or Ventjs's Comb. 



