FLOWERS OF WASTE PLACES, ETC. 



[The number of truly native plants is not as great as that of the aliens, casuals, colonists, denizens, &c. 

 that have found a place in the British Flora. Natives of other countries have become established, or have 

 existed for a longer or shorter time in the British Isles, and in the same manner British plants have found their 

 way into other countries where at one time they were unknown. The exact status of many plants is uncertain, 

 and there are some species that may be truly native. There are nearly two thousand alien plants that have 

 been recorded from the British Isles by Mr. G. C. Druce. Hardly a tithe of these can be enumerated and briefly 

 described here, as the others are of very uncertain occurrence. By reference to Mr. Druce's valuable list, 

 however, those who wish to know the extent of the alien flora can ascertain the species that have been found. 

 Mr. Dunn's alien flora gives some particulars also as to a large number. A new alien flora by Mr. Druce will 

 constitute a comprehensive guide to these plants.] 



ORDER RANUNCULACE^E 



Hairy Crowfoot {Ranunculus hirsutns, Curt.). 

 The habitat of this plant is roadsides in places 

 where water lies stagnant, wet meadows, culti- 

 vated fields, waste land, and cornfields. The 

 plant is erect, with more or less the rosette habit. 

 The root is fibrous. The stem is erect, many- 

 flowered. The radical leaves have 3 stalked, cut 

 seg-ments divided into 3 lobes nearly to the base, 

 the upper with narrow, acute segments. The 

 flowers are pale yellow, the sepals turned back, 

 hairy, the petals with a scale over the gland. The 

 receptacle is hairy. The flower-stalks are fur- 

 rowed, with spreading or turned-back hairs. The 

 achenes are tubercled along the border, broad, 

 flattened, round, with a short, curved beak. The 

 plant is 6-15 in. high, flowering from June to 

 October, and is a herbaceous annual. 



ORDER CRUCIFER.S 



Barbarea intermedia, Bor. The habitat of this 

 plant is cultivated fields and other similar ground. 

 The plant has the rosette habit. It is intermediate 

 between B. slricla and B. preecox. The stem is 

 tall, with 2 or 3 angles. The lower leaves are ly- 

 rate, the upper pair of lobes equalling the breadth 

 of the heart-shaped to egg-shaped terminal lobe. 

 The upper leaves are divided nearly to the base, 

 with many lobes. The flowers are in a dense 

 raceme. The petals are longer by twice than the 

 sepals. The pods are erect, with a short, conical 

 point, thick, short, angular, 4-6 times as long as 

 the pedicels. The seeds are nearly as long as 

 broad. The plant is 9-18 in. long, flowering from 

 May to August, and is a herbaceous biennial. 



Wall Rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia, D.C.). 

 The habitat of this plant is waste places, walls. 

 The rootstock is woody. The plant is bushy. 

 The stem is branched, leafy, smooth or hairy, 

 bluish-green, foetid. The leaves are more or less 



smooth, bluish -green, linear to lance - shaped, 

 acute, wavy, toothed, or deeply divided nearly to 

 the base, the lobes narrow, unequal, linear, with 

 distant teeth. The flowers are large, yellow, with 

 inversely ovate, blunt, long-pointed petals, with a 

 short claw. The pods arc narrowed both ends, 

 linear, distant, more or less erect, on long stalks, 

 the valves flat. The style is stout, straight, and 

 cylindrical. The seeds are in 2 rows. The plant 

 is 1-2 ft. high, flowering between June and 

 September, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Alyssum calycinum,L.(= A.alyssoides,L.). The 

 habitat of this plant is cultivated fields in the east 

 counties on ploughed land, grassy commons in the 

 south counties. The plant is herbaceous. The 

 habit is prostrate, then ascending. The stem is 

 branched below, stellately hoary or downy, rigid, 

 ascending. The leaves are inversely ovate, oblong, 

 lance-shaped, spoon-shaped, narrow below, few, 

 scattered, blunt. The flowers are white or pale- 

 yellow, then white, small, in racemes, lengthening 

 in fruit. The sepals do not fall. The anther-stalks 

 have no teeth. Theshorter ones arise from bet ween 

 two bristle-like processes. The pods are numerous, 

 downy, round, borne on short, stiff, spreading 

 stalks, and are swollen, the margins broad, thin, 

 and flat, notched above. There is a short style. 

 The seeds are narrowly winged, there being 1-2 

 in each cell. The plant is 3-8 in. high, flower- 

 ing from June to August, and is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Alyssum maritimum, Lam. The habitat of this 

 plant is waste places near the sea. The habit is 

 prostrate, then ascending. The plant is downy, 

 with appressed hairs, 2-partite. The stem is woody 

 below, stiff, leafy. The leaves are linear to lance- 

 shaped, acute. The flowers are white, small, sweet- 

 smelling, the calyx falling, the petals inversely 

 ovate. The anther-stalks are all simple. The 

 style is slender. The pods are oval, inversely 

 ovate, round, pointed, smooth, not bordered, on 

 slender stalks, spreading. The valves are con- 



