8 



BRITISH FLORA 



The plant has the rosette habit. The aerial stems 

 are scapes. The leaves are radical, wrinkled, the 

 leaf-stalks winged, the leaves egg-shaped, nar- 

 rowed below. The flowers are pale-yellow, in 

 umbels on flower-stalks, the calyx tubular, softly 

 liairv, with lance-shaped teeth, and the flowers 

 are horizontal or drooping 1 . The limb of the 

 corolla is concave, broad, and flat, the tube is not 

 crowned or narrow at the mouth, the throat open 

 not folded. The cap.sule is oblong, linear, and 

 longer than the calyx. The plant is 4-12 in. high, 

 and flowers in April and May, being a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



ORDER GENTIANACE^ 



Gentian (Gen/tana germanica, Willd.). The 

 habitat of this plant is calcareous places. The 

 habit is erect. The stem is ascending, much- 

 branched, larger than the Autumnal Gentian 

 (q.v.), with opposite leaves. The flowers are 

 bluish-lilac, the tube of the corolla inversely conical, 

 longer than the calyx, with unequal segments. 

 The capsule is many-seeded. The plant is 2-12 in. 

 in height, and flowers in August and September, 

 being a herbaceous biennial. 



ORDER BORAGINACE^E 



Field Scorpion Grass (Myosofis arvensis, Hill). 

 The habitat of this plant is fields, hedge banks, 

 woods, shady places, waste places, cultivated 

 ground. The habit is erect. The stems are nu- 

 merous, the lower leaves stalked, oblong, blunt, 

 the upper acute. The flowers are blue, bell- 

 shaped, the corolla usually hollow, the calyx is in 

 5 segments divided to the middle, with spreading 

 hooked hairs. The limb of the corolla equals the 

 lube. The style is very short. The spreading 

 flower-stalks are longer than the calyx. The 

 small nutlets are flattened at the sides, brown, 

 bordered, keeled in front. The plant is 6-18 in. 

 in height, flowering in June up to August, and is 

 annual or biennial and herbaceous. 



Dwarf Forget-me-not (Myosolis rollina, Hoffm.). 

 The habitat of this plant is fields, dry sandy 

 places, banks, waste ground, walls. It has an 

 erect habit, with stems branched from the base, 

 slender or tufted with prostrate branches. The 

 leaves are oblong, linear, blunt, or with a point. 

 The flowers are bright-blue, with a short tube, the 

 calyx of the fruit open, and swollen below. The 

 style is half as long as the calyx. The hairs on 

 the latter are hooked and spreading. The calyx 

 is not so long as the flower-stalk. The plant is 

 3-12 in., usually 4-5, in height. It flowers between 

 May and July. The plant is an annual. 



ORDER PLANTAGINACEJE 



Lamb's Tongue (Plantago media, L.). The 

 habitat of this plant is fields, roadsides, waste 

 places, usually on dry soil. It is an erect plant, 

 with the rosette habit. The aerial stems are 

 scapes, the leaves radical, stalkless or nearly so, 

 oblong, toothed, downy. The scape is round and 



downy. The flowers are green, the anthers are 

 yellow, the filaments long, pink or purple. The 

 spike is oblong, dense. The sepals are not keeled. 

 The capsule is 2-seeded. The plant is 6-12 in. in 

 height, and flowers between June and October, 

 being- a herbaceous perennial. 



Ribwort (Plan/ago lanceolata, L.) The habitat 

 of this plant is pastures, grassy places, and waste 

 places, cornfields. The habit is erect, or of rosette 

 type with erect leaves. The aerial stems are 

 scapes, the leaves radical. The leaves are lance- 

 shaped, narrowed at both ends, with 5 ribs. The 

 flowers are green, the long scapes furrowed, the 

 spike short. The capsule is 2-celled, with seeds 

 hollow in front. The plant is 2-12 in. in height, 

 flowering in May up till October. It is a her- 

 baceous perennial. 



ORDER SCROPHULARIACE^E 



Thyme-leaved Speedwell ( Veronica serpyllifolia, 

 L.). The habitat of this plant is fields, moist 

 waste places, and waysides. The habit is ascend- 

 ing, the stem branched, downy, with glands, the 

 leaves smooth, broadly egg-shaped, stalkless, 

 scalloped, the lower rounded. The flowers are 

 small, pale-blue or white, many, in a long spike, 

 the flower-stalks short and erect, the styles as 

 long as the capsules. The latter are inversely 

 egg-shaped, not so long as broad, smooth, the 

 seeds small and plano-convex. The plant is 3-10 

 in. in height, and flowers from May to August or 

 later, being a herbaceous perennial. 



Common Speedwell (Veronica officinalis, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is heathy places, 

 heaths, moors, and hedgebanks and coppices in 

 S.E. England. The habit is prostrate, with as- 

 cending branches, the plant being hairy, the 

 leaves shortly stalked, coarsely toothed, elliptic. 

 The flowers are pale -blue, in erect racemes, 

 axillary spikes with many flowers, stalkless or 

 nearly so, the flower-stalks erect. The style is 

 very long. The capsule is inversely heart-shaped 

 and notched, blunt at the tip, and longer than the 

 oblong, linear sepals. The plant is 2-18 in. in 

 height, flowering between May and July, and is 

 a herbaceous perennial. 



Germander Speedwell ( Veronica Chamcedrys, 

 L.). The habitat of this plant is pastures, hedge- 

 banks, copses, &c. The habit is ascending, with 

 slender branches, the whole plant being hairy and 

 downy on opposite sides of the stem (not all round 

 as in V. montana\ the leaves nearly stalkless, 

 egg-shaped to heart-shaped, deeply and coarsely 

 toothed. The flowers are numerous, large, blue, 

 in opposite racemes, with linear bracts less than 

 the flower-stalks, with linear sepals. The capsule 

 is inversely heart-shaped, deeply notched. The 

 plant is 8-24 in. high, flowering in May and June, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Yellow Marsh Eyebright (Bartsia viscosa, 

 L.). The habitat of this plant is meadows and 

 grassy ground. The habit is erect, the plant being 

 a hemi-parasite on the roots of grasses, the 

 stem round, simple, the whole plant clammy, the 



