FIELD BUGLOSS 



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Field Bugloss (Lycopsis arvensis, L.) 



Conspicuous and common in the cornfields this plant is found to- 

 day (and not in any early deposits) in Europe, W. Siberia, W. Asia, 

 as far as N.W. India. It has been introduced into the United States. 

 Field Bugloss is found in every part of Great Britain, except Radnor, 

 Cardigan, Montgomery; and up to 1000 ft. in the Highlands. 



Field Bugloss does not ever, in spite of its name, occur anywhere 

 except upon cultivated land. It 

 is a familiar weed in the corn- 

 field, where it grows side by side 

 with the Poppy, Charlock, Corn 

 Marigold, Common Sow Thistle 

 It is also to be seen in the vicinity 

 of waste places and kindred spots 

 where cultivated weeds abound. 



The first Greek name is said 

 to refer to a fancied resemblance 

 between the flower of the plant 

 and a wolf's eye. It is a tall, 

 erect, slender, usually unbranchecl 

 plant, with a stem nearly angular, 

 and very hairy or prickly. The 

 leaves are narrowly elliptical, alter- 

 nate, stalkless, blunt, and hairy, 

 the hairs rising from a small wart- 

 like or tuberous base or tubercle, 

 wavy, pale underneath, turned 

 back and clasping the stem. 



The flowers are deep blue, and more or less turned to one side, 

 nearly stalkless, in turned -back drooping cymes. The sepals are 

 narrow, deeply cut, do not fall, and are erect. The corolla is funnel- 

 shaped with a crooked limb, with a closed mouth and white scales. 

 The nutlets are black, wrinkled, and netted. 



Field Bugloss is about 1-2 ft. high. The flowers bloom in May 

 right on until August. This plant is an annual, propagated from seed, 

 and quite worth placing in the garden. 



The flowers are similar to those of Anchusa, and they have similar 

 contrivances for secreting, holding, protecting, and indicating the 

 honey. The corolla is tubular, the mouth closed by five white hairy 



Photo. A. R. Horwood 



FIELD BUGLOSS (Lycopsis arvensis^ L.) 



