FIELDS AND MEADOWS 



ORDER UMBELLIFER^E 



Caraway (Carum verticillalum, Koch). The 

 habitat of this plant is meadows and fields or 

 upland marshy places. The root is made up of 

 several rootlets in a bundle. The habit is erect, 

 the stems finely furrowed, branched, the leaves 

 linear, narrow, with lobes each side of a common 

 stalk, with stalkless leaflets, with hairlike seg- 

 ments in whorls. The florets are white or pink, 

 the general and partial involucres made up of 

 many leaves. The fruit is egg-shaped, with 

 prominent ridges. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, 

 flowering in July and August, and is perennial 

 and herbaceous. 



Great Earth Nut (Carum Bulbocastanum, 

 Koch). The habitat of this plant is chalky fields. 

 The Great Earth Nut has an erect habit, with a 

 much-branched stem arising from a large, black, 

 solitary tuber, with triangular 3-pinnate leaves, the 

 primary segments stalked, linear. The flowers are 

 white, the outer florets larger, there being many 

 bracts in the general and partial involucres. The 

 fruit is oblong, with a short fleshy disk above the 

 ovary, and the styles are bent back. It is 2 ft. in 

 height, the flowers opening in June, July, and it is 

 a herbaceous perennial. 



Earth Nut (Conopodium majus, Loret). The 

 habitat of this plant is fields and meadows, sandy 

 and gravelly pastures, and woods. The Earth Nut 

 has an erect habit, with a simple, slender, rounded, 

 wavy stem, arising from a tuber about the size of 

 a hazel nut. The radical leaves are on long stalks 

 with triternate leaves. The few stem-leaves are 

 deeply divided nearly to the base, with linear seg- 

 ments. There are no bracts or bracteoles. The 

 florets are white, and form a wide flowerhead; the 

 fruit is oval, with a long fleshy disk on the ovary, 

 and short erect styles. The fruit is narrowly egg- 

 shaped, the ridges not marked, with several vittae 

 or oil stripes. The plant is 2-3 ft., or usually 18 in. 

 in height. It flowers in May and June, and is a 

 herbaceous perennial. 



Tuberous Meadow Dropwort (GEnantJie pim- 

 pinelloides, L.). The habitat of this plant is 

 meadows, banks, and marshy places. The habit 

 is erect, the stem nearly solid, furrowed, arising 

 from tuberous root fibres (beyond the middle), with 

 radical leaves bipinnate, the lower leaves with 

 broad small segments, the upper linear and entire. 

 There are 6-12 rays in the compound umbel, which 

 is flat, with white florets, the partial umbels close, 

 involucre with many linear leaves; the fruit, 

 rounded above, is sub-cylindrical with an enlarged 

 corky base. The plant is 1-3 ft. high, and is in 

 flower from June to August, being a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Pepper Saxifrage (Silaus flavescens, Bernh.). 

 The habitat of this plant is meadows, pastures, 

 commons, and damp places. The habit is erect, 

 the stems being angular, solid, grooved, leafless 

 above, with principally radical leaves, once or 

 thrice pinnate, with opposite, linear leaflets, en- 

 tire, or divided into three lobes. The flowers are 

 pale-green, small, the involucre of 1-2 segments, 



the partial involucre of many, the fruit oblong, 

 nearly round, the carpels bluntly winged, and 

 ridged. The height of Pepper Saxifrage is 1-3 ft. 

 It flowers in July, up till September, and is a her- 

 baceous perennial. 



Master Wort (Peucedanum Ostruthium, Koch). 

 The habitat of this plant is moist meadows. The 

 habit is erect, with round, hollow, stout, furrowed 

 stems. The leaves are triangular, biternate, with 

 3 broad segments, divided into 3 lobes, 3 in. long. 

 The leaflets are coarsely toothed, egg-shaped. 

 The flowers are white, in large umbels witli many 

 rays. The fruit is oblong, with broad wings. 

 There is no general involucre or whorl of leaflike 

 organs, and no calyx teeth. The plant is 2-3 ft. 

 high, flowering in July and August, being a her- 

 baceous perennial. 



Bur Parsley (Caucalis daucoides, L.). The habi- 

 tat of this plant is chalky fields, near limekilns, 

 and it is introduced in ballast and cornfield weeds. 

 The habit is erect, the stem being grooved, with 

 angles, solid, and roughly hairy at the nodes. 

 The leaves are twice pinnate, with lobes each side 

 of a common stalk, the leaflets deeply divided, 

 linear, with small segments. The flowers are 

 pinkish-white, in terminal umbels, with 2-5 rays, 

 and linear bracteoles or minute leaflike organs. 

 The oblong fruit is 3-seeded, with long, smooth, 

 hooked prickles in one row, borne on the secon- 

 dary ridges. The plant is 6 in. to i^ ft. in height, 

 flowering in July, and is a herbaceous annual 



ORDER RUBIACE/E 



Erect Bedstraw(G"a//'w; erec/um, Huds.). The 

 habitat of this plant is pastures, downs, banks, 

 waste places, railway banks. The habit is erect, 

 or ascending, the stem being smooth or hairy, 

 sparingly branched, with linear lance -shaped 

 leaves, 6-8 in a whorl. The flowers are white, 

 borne in a pyramidal panicle, with slender erect 

 or ascending branches. The fruit is smooth. The 

 plant is 1-4 ft. in height, and flowers from June to 

 September, being a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER VALERIANACE^E 



Cat's Valerian (Valeriana officinalis, L. = mi- 

 kanii, Syme). This is a native plant found in 

 wet meadows, marshes, and wet places. The 

 habit is erect, and the plant is provided with 

 suckers, not stoles, with solitary, furrowed, smooth 

 stems, hairy below, fetid, with alternate leaves, 

 with lobes each side of a common stalk, the leaf- 

 lets in 6-10 pairs (in V. sambuci folia in 4-6 pairs), 

 lance-shaped, toothed on one side. The radical 

 leaves are borne on long stalks. The flowers are 

 white, or flesh-coloured. The small fruit is egg- 

 shaped. The plant is 2-4 ft. high, flowering in 

 June and July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER DIPSACEJE 



Purple Scabious (Scabiosa Columbaria* L.). 

 Dry pastures and banks are the habitat of Purple 



