250 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



out the British Isles, though rarer in Scotland, 

 ascending to 1200 ft. in Yorkshire. It is found also 

 in the Channel Islands. 



Damp woods, hedge banks, and shady places arc 

 the habitats of this plant. It occurs in damp oak- 

 woods on clay and loam, on siliceous soil in woods 

 made up of the sessile oak, and in beechwoods on a 

 chalky soil. 



The habit is pyramidal, erect, from a creeping 

 root-stock. The stem is erect or rather prostrate, 

 rooting at the base, round in section, more or less 

 simple, glandular and downy, with short, white hairs. 

 The stem is swollen at the nodes. The leaves are 

 blunt, ovate, or heart-shaped, on long stalks, the 

 margin wavy, coarsely toothed, thin in texture, not 

 shining. The leaves are covered with translucent 

 dots. 



The flowers are white or pink, dimerous, with 

 two petals, two sepals, borne on slightly branched, 

 leafless, terminal racemes. The flower-stalks are 

 turned down in fruit, slender, jointed at the base, 

 spreading at first. The disc is swollen. There are 

 no bracteoles. The petals are deeply notched, the 

 lobes broadly inversely ovate, the calyx hairy, turned 

 back in flower, as long as the petals. There are 

 two stamens. The style is distinct, with a thick 

 stigma. The fruit is a capsule, pear-shaped, small, 

 covered with hooked bristles, which form a burr-fruit. 

 There are two seeds. 



The flowers bloom from June to August. The 



