54 FLOWERS OF THE FIELDS AND MEADOWS 



Twenty florets develop towards the centre from the disk, 3 mm. 

 broad, and the five marginal florets have an external lobe 3 mm. long 

 and broad, so that the disk is 9-10 mm. across. The florets of each 

 marginal ray have a highly developed corolla at the expense of the 

 stamens, which are absent. The style has spreading lobes with stig- 

 matic papillae. 



The fruit is compressed and margined, and thus adapted for wind 

 dispersal. There is no pappus. 



Milfoil is especially at home on sand soils, and is a sand plant, 

 growing on many different rock soils. 



The fungi Puccinia millefolium and Sph&rotheca humuli are found 

 upon it. The minute leaflets are galled by Tylenchus Millefolii, and 

 by Hormomyia Millefolii. Many insects choose it for their food plant, 

 e.g. beetles, Cassida ferruginea, C. biber, C. subferruginea, C. sanguino- 

 lenta, Olibrus millefolii; a Hymenopterous insect, Prosopis Masoni; 

 several Lepidoptera, e.g. Beautiful Brocade (Hadena contigua}, Straw 

 Belle (Aspilates Gilvaria], Bordered Lime Speck (Eupithecia succentu- 

 riata}, Coleophora argentula, Belted Beauty {Nyssia zonaria), Small 

 Dusty Wave (Acidalia incanaria), Dicranorampha petiverella, Buccula- 

 trix cristatella, Pterophora ochrodactylus, Netted Carpet {Cidaria reti- 

 culata), Essex Emerald (Creometra smaragdaria], Lesser Cream Wave 

 (Acidalia immutata)\ two Homoptera, E2tpteryx tenella, Apkalara 

 nervosa\ two Heteroptera, C amp lotroc hits hitescens, Macrocoleus tana- 

 ceti; and the flies Hormomyia millefolii, Carpotricha gitttularis, Cnemo- 

 pogon apicalis. 



Achillea, Theophrastus, is named after Achilles, who is said to have 

 first discovered that it healed wounds, and Millefolium, Tragus, is from 

 the Latin mille, thousand, folium, leaf, the reference being to its much- 

 divided leaves. 



The following names show its universal use: Green Arrow, 

 Arrow-root, Bloodwort, Camil, Cammock, Carpenter-grass, Thousand- 

 leaved Clover, Devil's Nettle, Dog Daisy, Eerie, Garwe, Stanch or 

 Stench Girs, Hundred-leaved Grass, Melefowr, Milfoil, Nosebleed, 

 Old Man's Mustard, Old Man's Pepper, Wild Pepper, Sanguinary, 

 Sneezewort, Tansy, Thousand-leaf Yallow, Yarrow, Yarroway. 



Eerie is a corruption of Yarrow. " Lassies used to take it and put 

 in their breasts " as a charm, repeating this rhyme: 



Eerie, eerie, I do pluck, 



And in my bosom I do put, 



The first young lad that speaks to me 



The same shall my true lover be. 



