GREAT BURNET 41 



do not visit them. There is a yellow, fleshy ring on the inner wall of 

 the receptacular tube which surrounds the style (and later the ovary) 

 which secretes a thin layer of honey, giving a greenish-yellow colour to 

 the flower. 



The small amount of honey makes it unattractive to insects with a 

 long proboscis. It is not usually self-pollinated, but the partial separa- 

 tion of the sexes makes for cross-pollination. It is not often that male 

 and female organs are equally developed, but usually either the stamens 

 are fully developed and the pistil is short, barely projecting above the 

 honey-secreting ring, or the style is long and projects and the anthers 

 are completely useless. Sometimes flowers occur in which one or two 

 stamens are developed as well as the pistil. It is visited by Xantho- 

 graiunia, Flies, and Butterflies. The plant is becoming dioecious, 

 stamens and carpels being often found on different plants. 



The glandular achenes are enclosed in the membranous calyx and 

 are chiefly dispersed by the wind. 



Lady's Mantle is a sand-loving plant, addicted to a dry soil, in which 

 there may be some little lime. 



The leaves are checked in growth by a fungus, Uromyces alchemillce. 

 A beetle, Pliyllobius viridicollis, two moths, the Small Rivulet 

 (Emmelesia alchemillata], Lampronia prcelatella, and a Homopterous 

 insect, Trioza sciitipennis, live upon it. 



Alchemilla, Tragus, is from the same Arabic origin as alchemy, from 

 its supposed virtues, and the second Latin name from its universality. 



Lady's Mantle is called Bear's-foot, Dew cup, Duck's-foot, Great 

 Sanicle, Lady's Mantle, Lamb's Foot, Lion's Foot, Padelion, Pedelyon, 

 Syndaw. The name Dew cup is given to it because the moisture, 

 owing to the hairs on the surface, collects in a drop in the middle of 

 the leaf, which thus appears unwetted. It was also called Our Lady's 

 Mantle. It is the Maria Stakker of Iceland, which produces sleep if 

 placed under the pillow. It had a reputation for restoring feminine 

 beauty. It is astringent. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



101. Alckemilla vulgaris, L. Herbaceous, erect, leaves reniform, 

 plaited lobed, hairy, flowers yellowish-green, terminal, in racemes or 

 cymes. 



Great Burnet (Poterium officinale, A. Gray) 



This common plant is an ancient one, having been found in Pre- 



glacial, Early Glacial, Interglacial, Late Glacial, and Neolithic deposits. 



It is a Northern Temperate and Arctic Zone plant found in Arctic 



