FLOWERS OF THE HILLS AND DRY PLACES 



Salad Burnet (Poterium Sanguisorba, L.) 



Those who have searched for this plant have failed as yet to 

 meet with seeds in Glacial or other beds. The distribution to-day 

 shows that it is a plant of the N. Temperate Zone found in Europe, 

 N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, and the Himalayas. It is widely dis- 

 persed, but local in Great Britain; thus it is found in the whole of 

 the Channel, Thames, Anglia, and Severn provinces. It is only found 

 in N. Wales in Denbigh, Flint, and Anglesea, but throughout the 

 Trent, Mersey, Humber, and Tyne provinces, though not in the Isle 

 of Man; and in Scotland, not in Ayr in the W. Lowlands, Selkirk 

 and Berwick in E. Lowlands; in E. and W. Highlands it occurs 

 generally except in Mid Ebudes; in the N. Highlands, except in W. 

 Ross and W. Sutherland. It is not found in the Orkneys in the 

 Northern Isles. It ascends to 1600 ft. in Yorks, and in E. Scotland 

 extends from Perth to Berwick. It is rare in Ireland and the Channel 

 Islands. 



Salad Burnet is a hill-side plant, fond especially of chalky districts, 

 but growing elsewhere where lime abounds with Dyer's Weed, Musk 

 Mallow, Dropwort, Field Scabious, Cotton Thistle, Wild Thyme, 

 Sheep's Sorrel, Box, Musk Orchis, &c. 



Suberect and branched, the stems are numerous, subangular, and 

 reddish, with leaves, with leaflets each side of a common stalk, which 

 when bruised smell and taste like cucumber. The stipules or leaflike 

 organs are toothed. 



In the upper part of the flowerhead are female florets, in the lower 

 male, and in the centre both, the upper pistils being crimson, the 

 stamens below pendulous, and red with yellow anthers. The calyx is 

 square with membraneous sepals. The florets are in small, green, 

 rounded heads. The fruit is an achene. 



The height of the plant is about 2 ft. Flowers can be found in 

 July. It is a perennial plant, and increased by root division. 



This is one of the anemophilous flowers whose pollen is wind- 

 dispersed. There are some male florets below, some female above, some 

 hermaphrodite in the centre. There is no honey. The stamens are 

 numerous. The numerous, long, thread-like stigmas and anthers project 

 from the flower, the anthers on long, thin, white, yellow, or red pen- 

 dulous anther-stalks. Odynerus parietum and some few flies settle 

 on it. 



The i -seeded achenes or fruits, 1-3, are enclosed in the hollow, 



