138 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 



baptisecula or blaptisecula because it hurteth sides, which were ones 

 called of old writers seculae". The name Loggerheads is given because 

 of the resemblance of its knobbed involucres to a weapon so called, 

 consisting of a ^ball of iron at the end of a stick. 



In Goethe's Faiist, Margaret selects it as the floral indication by 

 which she may learn the truth respecting Faust: 



" And that scarlet poppies around like a bower, 

 The maiden found her mystic flower. 

 ' Now gentle flower, I pray thee tell 

 If my love loves, and loves me well ; 

 So may the fall of the morning dew 

 Keep the sun from fading thy tender blue. 

 Now I remember the leaves for my lot 

 He loves me not he loves me he loves me not. 

 He loves me! yes, the last leaf yes; 

 I '11 pluck thee not for that last sweet guess. 

 He loves me!' ' Yes,' a dear voice sighed, 

 And her lover stands by Margaret's side." 



Bluebottle has been known as a garden flower for a long time, 

 and varies in colour under cultivation. Ink has been made from the 

 juice of the flowers, which stain linen blue. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



175. Centaurea Cyanus, L. Stem tall, branched, downy, leaves 

 lanceolate, lower dentate or pinnatifid, flowerheads blue, disk purple, 

 phyllaries decurrent, fringed, pectinate, anthers dark, involucre greenish- 

 yellow. 



Corn Sow-Thistle (Sonchus arvensis, L.) 



Though usually connected with corn-growing, and so modern, this 

 plant can claim some antiquity, having been found in Lacustrine 

 deposits of Neolithic age. To-day it is found in Arctic Europe, North 

 Africa, Temperate Asia, and India. In North America it is an intro- 

 duction. In Great Britain it is found in every part of the country 

 except N. Ebudes, as far north as the Shetlands. In Northumberland 

 it is found at 1000 ft. It occurs in Ireland and the Channel Islands. 



Common Sow -Thistle is a frequent cornfield plant, growing in 

 numbers amid the ripening grain, and as it is one of those plants that 

 are especially sensitive to light it turns its head to the sun, being 

 heliotropic in this respect, as are the leaves and flowers of many other 

 plants. This plant grows also on waste ground, and is essentially a 

 follower of man and the plough. 



The root is milky, spreading, and difficult to dislodge. The stem 



