48 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 
rally it grows in hollows, well-rooted in peaty soil, in 
which some lime is present. 
Generally speaking, it has the habit of the Lesser 
Celandine, though more erect than the last, but it 
resembles it in being glossy and smooth all over, the 
leaves dark-green, the stalks lighter and more yellow 
in colour. The stem leaves are sessile. 
The leaves are orbicular with a crenate margin, 
growing on long stalks in a dense mass. They are 
cordate below or reniform. The corolla is golden 
yellow, the five sepals are yellow, growing as the 
petals, and are oval. The fruit is a follicle which is 
spreading with a recurved beak. 
In general the Marsh Marigold is a foot to eighteen 
inches in height. It flowers in March up to May. 
There are two pits at the base of the carpels con- 
taining honey, with a fold which helps to retain it, in 
drops. The anthers shed their pollen when the 
stigma is ready to receive it, and open outwards, the 
outer ones first, the inner later, so that the flower 
may be self- or cross-pollinated. Flies, bees and 
wasps Visit it. 
The wind assists in scattering the seed from the 
ripe follicles to a short distance from the plant. 
It is called Marigold because it was dedicated in 
medizval times to the Virgin Mary. 
Several local names are applied to it in different 
parts, such as Blob, Bull-flower (bull meaning strong, 
vigorous), Marsh Mallow, May-flower, and Publicans 
and Sinners, in Oxfordshire. 
