GREATER STITCH WORT 139 



inwards, and the inner ones closely surround the stigma, and self- 

 pollinate it, but honey and pollen seekers cross-pollinate it. The 

 visitors are Hymenoptera (Apidae), Diptera (Syrphidae, Muscidse), 

 Coleoptera (Nitidulidae, Curculionidse). 



Jack-by-the-hedge is dispersed by its own agency. The dry pods 

 curl and burst open, and the seeds are dispersed to some distance. 



The plant is a sancl plant and a humus-loving plant, and flourishes 

 best upon a sand soil, in which there is a fair proportion of humus 

 soil. 



It thrives on sandstone formations, Keuper, and Liassic formations. 



There are no fungal pests. A Hemipterous insect, Siphonophora 

 alliarice, feeds on it. 



Alliaria was an old genus proposed by Fuchs, derived from 

 A I Hum, garlic, alluding to its smell. 



This species is called Beggarman's Oatmeal, Cardiacke, Caspere, 

 Eileber, English Treacle, Garlick-wort, Hedge-garlick, Jack-by-the- 

 hedge, Leek-cress, Garlick Mustard, Penny Hedge, Poor Man's 

 Mustard, Poor Man's Treacle, Sauce Alone, Swarms. 



Once it was used as a vegetable and boiled with meat, hence 

 the name Sauce Alone. It was fried in Wales with bacon and 

 herrings. The garlic smell is most noticeable when the plant is 

 rubbed between the fingers. It was employed as a sudorific, and for 

 cancers and gangrene. The seeds were used to promote sneezing. It 

 was reputed to be antiseptic. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



32. Sisymbrium Alliaria, Scop. Stem tall, erect, leafy, leaves 

 cordate, radical leaves reniform, dentate, sinuate, veined, strong- 

 smelling, flowers white, small, pods longer than pedicels, seeds striate. 



Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria Holostea, L.) 



This plant has been found in Interglacial beds in Great Britain. 

 It is distributed throughout the Temperate Zone in Europe and 

 Western Asia. The Greater Stitchwort is found in every English, 

 Scotch, and Welsh county except Mid Lanes, Stirling, N. Perth, 

 N. Ebudes, the Hebrides, and Shetlands. It is found at a height 

 of nearly 2000 ft. in the Highlands. 



The pretty starlike flowerets of the Greater Stitchwort are a 

 welcome sign in early spring of the return of the flowers, and this 

 reminder we meet with in every hedgerow or brake, where this 

 charming wild flower grows. It is perhaps commoner in narrow 



