210 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



stems are slender, somewhat angular, ascending, 

 much branched, downy at the base. 



The leaves are pinnate, radical, the leaflets stalk- 

 less or nearly so, ovate, coarsely toothed, smooth or 

 downy below, fifteen to twenty in each leaf. The 

 leafstalk is downy at the base. 



The florets are light green, with a reddish-brown 

 or purplish tinge, in heads borne on long stalks, 

 shortly oblong, globular. The lower flowers are all 

 male, with numerous, twenty to thirty, projecting 

 stamens in pendulous tufts. The upper florets are 

 female with a long style, ending in a purple, tufted 

 stigma. There are, however, complete florets in the 

 centre. The ripe calyx is square in section, hardened 

 in fruit, irregularly wrinkled and pitted. The veins 

 are netted. The lobes are oblong, the four wings 

 are thin and entire. The bracteoles are fringed with 

 hairs. The achene is dark and ribbed, enclosed in 

 the winged calyx. 



The flowers may be found in June up till August. 

 The Salad Burnet is a herbaceous perennial. It is 

 6 to i8 in. in height. 



There is no honey in the florets as in Great Burnet. 

 The flower-heads are small. The stamens are 

 numerous and the flowers are wind-pollinated, this 

 plant being an example of an anemophilous flower. 

 The anthers project on long stalks, which are slender 

 and drooping, and white, yellow, or red, the anthers 

 yellow or red. 



The stigmas are numerous also and long, so that 



