230 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
Agricultural operations have been guided in the past by the time 
when the tree is in leaf, as is illustrated by the following lines :— 
“When the Elmen leaf is as big as a mouse’s ear, 
Then to sow barley, never fear; 
When the Elmen leaf is as big as an ox’s eye, 
Then say I ‘ Hie! boys, hie!’” 
A variety with broad leaves in Cornwall is called Horse May. 
The Elm is a useful timber tree. Not only is the hard wood or 
brown heart used but also the sapwood. Water-pipes were once made 
of hollow Elm. The wood is durable and resists the action of water 
well, being employed for pumps, keels, bilge-boards on ships. It is 
also used for furniture and chairs. 
EssENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS :— 
277. Ulmus campestris, L.—Tree, erect, branches ascending, leaves 
ovate, dentate, asperous, flowers 4—5-fid, seed above middle of samara, 
near the notch. 
Nettle (Urtica dioica, L.) 
Ubiquitous and common, the Nettle is also ancient, being found in 
Interglacial beds at Hoxne, Suffolk, and in Late Glacial beds also at 
the same place. It is found in the N. Temperate and Arctic regions 
in Europe, S. Africa, and the Andes. This is a ubiquitous species 
throughout Great Britain, and ranges as far north as the Shetlands, 
up to 2500 ft. in the Highlands. 
The common Nettle is always to be found in a hedgerow, whether 
it be in fields and meadows or by the roadside. It is common in waste 
places, but it is erroneous to regard it as an indication of poor soil, for 
it requires simply an ordinary dry sandy loam, and where this sort of 
soil is exposed there it forms a clump, being a dominant species and 
excelling all other competitors. 
The yellow fibrous roots of the Nettle are familiar to gardeners, and 
remarkable because of their interlacing habit. The habit is prostrate, 
then erect. The rootstock is creeping, and the plant is stoloniferous, 
with yellow, long, root fibres. The stem is downy, simple or branched, 
dark-green, protected by stinging hairs, which point forwards, each 
hair on a cushion of delicate tissue with an acid fluid, with a round 
head, situated obliquely, with easily fractured siliceous tissue just below 
the head. The point is directed forwards, and if seized from below the 
plant does not sting. The protoplasm in the stinging hairs is repelled 
by red light and attracted by blue. The leaves are egg-shaped to 
