22 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 



are not thrown. It is the seed which is netted that is thrown by the 

 same means as in G. Robertianum, by the tenseness of the rodlike 

 attachment of the capsule. 



This plant is fond of peat and requires a humus soil, such as that 

 afforded by loamy soil mixed with humus or a little peat peaty loam. 



The fungus Sph&rotheca kumuli infests Geranium generally, and 

 Uromyces Geranii grows upon this one. 



A beetle, Coeliodes geranii, lives on it. 



Geranium, Dioscorides, is from the Greek geras, crane, in 

 allusion to the beaked fruits, and pratense alludes to its habitat, in 

 meadows. The plant is called Crowfoot, Crane's-bill, Grace of God, 

 Gratia Dei, the first from the resemblance between its foliage and 

 that of some Buttercups. 



The Meadow Crane's Bill has been cultivated in the garden, and is 

 a beautiful, showy, and striking plant. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



67. Geranium pratense, L. Stem erect, leaves palmate, 7-lobed, 

 serrate, flowers large, blue, with ciliate claw, smooth stamens, tapered 

 from broad base, capsule hairy, hairs glandular, spreading, seeds netted, 

 fruit-stalks deflexed. 



Red Clover (Trifolium pratense, L.) 



No traces of this have been discovered where seeds have been 

 found in Glacial beds. It is spread over the Northern Temperate 

 Zone, in Arctic Europe, North Africa, North and West Asia, India, 

 and has been introduced into North America. In Great Britain it is 

 found in every part of the country northwards to the Shetland Isles. 

 It also ascends to 1900 ft. in the Highlands, and it occurs in Ireland 

 and the Channel Islands. 



The wild red or purple clover is essentially a meadow plant, asso- 

 ciated with Self-heal, Bugle, Bird's Foot, Milkwort, and a hundred 

 other meadow species. In some places, especially sandy districts, the 

 banks are luxuriantly clothed with this widespread Trefoil. It flourishes 

 on clay, gravel, or sand, and its honey-bearing heads attract attention 

 from their beauty and the fragrance they emit along the roadside and 

 on pastures. 



The Red Clover is more or less erect in habit. The stems are 

 either solid or hollow, and slender or stout, the whole plant more or 

 less downy. The leaves are trifoliate, with leaflets in threes. The 

 leaflets are oblong, blunt, with a white spot or crescentic band, finely 



