86 



BRITISH FLORA 



downy above, half-clasping', narrow to lance- 

 shaped, acute, veined, roughly hairy, the bristles 

 closely pressed and bulbous above. The nearly 

 stalkless flowers are greenish, yellowish-white, in 

 a small cyme, the throat of the corolla having 

 small scales. The bracts are longer than the 

 calyx, which is as long as the corolla. The 1-2 

 nutlets are white, hard, stony, smooth, shining, 

 narrowed above. The plant is 1-3 ft. high, 

 flowering from July to September, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



ORDER SCROPHULARIACE^ 



Cornish Moneywort (Sibthorpia eurojxea, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is damp, shady places, 

 and banks in the S. and S.W. The habit is trail- 

 ing, prostrate. The stem is creeping, thread-like, 

 slender, the hairs limp and jointed. The leaves 

 are alternate, round to kidney-shaped, j-g-lobed, 

 the lobes broad, rounded, notched, long-stalked, 

 scalloped. The flowers are small, pink, solitary, 

 in the axils, on short stalks. The calyx and co- 

 rolla are 5-lobed, the sepals lance-shaped, 2 of the 

 petals yellowish. There are 4 stamens. The cap- 

 sule is very small. The plant is 6-12 in. long, 

 flowering from June to September, and is a herb- 

 aceous perennial. 



ORDER LABIAT* 



Black Horehound (Ballota nigra, L.). The 

 habitat of this plant is hedgebanks, roadsides, 

 and waste places. The habit is erect. The plant 

 is coarsely hairy, hoary or woolly-felted, dull-green, 

 foetid, with a pungent odour. The stem is stout, 

 branched, with bent-back hairs. The upper leaves 

 are egg-shaped, stalked, the lower heart-shaped, 

 scalloped, lobed. The bracts are leaflike, linear, 

 awl-like. The bracteoles are small. The flowers 

 are pale reddish-purple, 3-6, stalkless, in many- 

 whorled, stalked cymes. The calyx is funnel- 

 shaped, the teeth broadly egg-shaped, short, 

 spreading or bent back, with a long, narrow point, 

 enlarged in fruit. The tube is cylindrical, ribbed, 

 the limb is short, expanded, with 5 teeth, nerved, 

 spiny. The upper lip of the corolla is hairy inside 

 and out. The middle lobe of the inner lip is in- 

 versely heart-shaped. The nutlets are bluntly 3- 

 anglecl, brown, smooth, shining. The plant is 1-3 

 ft. high, flowering from June to October, and is a 

 herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER POLYGONACE^E 



Climbing Bush Knotweed (Polygonum dume- 

 torum, L.). The habitat of this plant is hedges, 

 thickets in the S. The habit is climbing, twining. 

 The stem is wiry, furrowed, round or angled. 

 The leaves are heart-shaped, arrow-shaped. The 

 outer perianth - segments are broadly winged. 

 The flower-stalks are hair-like, slender, jointed 

 below the middle. The nut is small, smooth, highly 

 polished. The plant is 2-3 ft. high, flowering 

 between July and September, and is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Rumex acutus, L.( = R. firatensis, Mert. et Koch). 

 The habitat of this species is roadsides, marshy 

 places. It is similar in habit to R. obtusifolius, 

 with narrower leaves. The stem is tinged with 

 red. The radical leaves are linear, oblong to 

 lance-shaped, wavy, heart-shaped below, acute. 

 The panicle is leafy below, the whorls close, not 

 crowded. The inner fruiting sepals or perianth- 

 segments are unequal, heart-shaped, triangular, 

 shortly toothed below, with a small, entire, tri- 

 angular point, the upper tubercled, the tubercle 

 egg-shaped or lance-shaped. The anthers are 

 white before they open. The nutlets are numerous, 

 elliptic. The plant is 2-3 ft. high, flowering in 

 July and August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Blood Dock (Rumex sanguineus, L.). The 

 habitat of this species is roadsides, hedges, wooded 

 places, waste places. The habit is as in the last. 

 The stem is slender, ascending, simple or little 

 branched. The leaves are egg-shaped, lance- 

 shaped, the lower heart-shaped, fiddle-shaped, a 

 little wavy, with red nerves. The leaf-stalk is 

 black, short. The panicle is leafy below, loose, 

 with distant, many-flowered whorls. The flower- 

 stalks equal the perianth-segments, and are jointed 

 below. The inner fruiting sepals are oblong, 

 blunt, with a round base, entire, one, the outer, 

 larger, with a large bright-red, smooth, nearly 

 round tubercle, broadest above the middle. The 

 nut is brown, drooping, egg-shaped to elliptic, 

 shining. The plant is 1-3 ft. high, flowering 

 between July and October, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Monk's Rhubarb (Rumex alpinus, L.). The 

 habitat of this plant is roadsides, near cottages. 

 The habit is as in the last. The rootstock is stout. 

 The plant is downy, with cellular hairs. The stem 

 is stout. The leaves are broadly egg-shaped or 

 rounded to heart-shaped, blunt, with wavy borders, 

 the upper egg-shaped. The leaf-stalk is long, 

 stout, channelled. The panicle is leafy below, 

 with numerous, erect branches, the whorls 

 crowded, numerous. The inner fruiting sepals are 

 triangular to egg-shaped, net-veined, membranous, 

 entire or toothed, with no tubercles. The flower- 

 stalks are twice as long, jointed below the middle. 

 The nut is elliptic, grey. The plant is 2-4 ft. high, 

 flowering in July, and is a herbaceous perennial or 

 biennial. 



ORDER URTICACE.E 



Hop (Humulus Lupitlus, L.). The habitat of 

 this plant is hedges and copses. The habit is twin- 

 ing, climbing, and the plant is rough. The root- 

 stock is stout, branched. The stem is tall, almost 

 prickly, tough. The branchlets are hairless. The 

 leaves are stalked, heart-shaped, opposite, smooth 

 above, rough below, 3~5-lobed, the lobes acutely 

 toothed, egg-shaped, toothed, the uppermost egg- 

 shaped. The male flowers are loosely panicled, 

 the female on curved flower-stalks, in fruit yellow, 

 egg-shaped, globular, with egg-shaped scales, the 

 scales rounded, glandular, resinous, like the fruit 

 and bracteoles. The fruit is dry, with pendulous 

 seeds. The plant is climbing, revolving to the 



