430 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 



Agricultural operations have been guided in the past by the time 

 when the tree is in leaf, as is illustrated by the following lines: 



" When the Elmen leaf is as big as a mouse's ear, 

 Then to sow barley, never fear; 

 When the Elmen leaf is as big as an ox's eye, 

 Then say I ' Hie! boys, hie!'" 



A variety with broad leaves in Cornwall is called Horse May. 



The Elm is a useful timber tree. Not only is the hard wood or 

 brown heart used but also the sapwood. Water-pipes were once made 

 of hollow Elm. The wood is durable and resists the action of water 

 well, being employed for pumps, keels, bilge-boards on ships. It is 

 also used for furniture and chairs. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



277. Ulmus campestris, L.- -Tree, erect, branches ascending, leaves 

 ovate, dentate, asperous, flowers 4-5-fid, seed above middle of samara, 

 near the notch. 



Nettle (Urtica dioica, L.) 



Ubiquitous and common, the Nettle is also ancient, being found in 

 Interglacial beds at Hoxne, Suffolk, and in Eate Glacial beds also at 

 the same place. It is found in the N. Temperate and Arctic regions 

 in Europe, S. Africa, and the Andes. This is a ubiquitous species 

 throughout Great Britain, and ranges as far north as the Shetlands, 

 up to 2500 ft. in the Highlands. 



The common Nettle is always to be found in a hedgerow, whether 

 it be in fields and meadows or by the roadside. It is common in waste 

 places, but it is erroneous to regard it as an indication of poor soil, for 

 it requires simply an ordinary dry sandy loam, and where this sort of 

 soil is exposed there it forms a clump, being a dominant species and 

 excelling all other competitors. 



The yellow fibrous roots of the Nettle are familiar to gardeners, and 

 remarkable because of their interlacing habit. The habit is prostrate, 

 then erect. The rootstock is creeping, and the plant is stoloniferous, 

 with yellow, long, root fibres. The stem is downy, simple or branched, 

 dark-green, protected by stinging hairs, which point forwards, each 

 hair on a cushion of delicate tissue with an acid fluid, with a round 

 head, situated obliquely, with easily fractured siliceous tissue just below 

 the head. The point is directed forwards, and if seized from below the 

 plant does not sting. The protoplasm in the stinging hairs is repelled 

 by red light and attracted by blue. The leaves are egg-shaped to 



