262 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 



brown fibres of roots. And yet, think of it well, and judge whether, of 

 all the gorgeous flowers that beam in summer, and of all strong and 

 goodly trees, pleasant to the eyes, or good for food stately Palm and 

 Pine, strong Ash and Oak, scented Citron, burdened Vine there be any 

 by man so deeply loved, by God so highly graced, as that narrow point 

 of feeble green." The specimen we have gathered is the Sweet-scented 



Vernal-grass (Anthoxanthum odora- 

 twni), a grass to which our summer 

 hayfields owe much of their frag- 

 rance. The scent is a volatile oil 

 contained in minute glands in the 

 husk-like valves or glumes of the 

 flowers (fig. 321). 



But we are now at the end of 

 the lane, and fields, farm, and stream 

 are all in view. On pushing open 

 the crazy swing-gate, the first weed 

 to greet our gaze is the rare Yellow 

 Star-thistle (Gentaurea solstitialis), 

 whose flower-head, surrounded by a 

 collar of needle-like spines, is just 

 preparing to open. Mark the ab- 

 sence of petioles on its leaves, 

 which are therefore called sessile. 

 In another week the yellow florets 

 will be open, and you will find 

 in their delicate structures much 

 that will repay attention. Yonder, 

 not five paces off', is a cluster of the 

 Common Buttercup (Ranunculus), 

 with its golden cup the " winking 

 Mary-buds " of Shakespeare. Here, 

 instead of the absence of leaf-stalks, 

 you have petioles of an unusual 

 length. Observe how they clasp 

 the stems with their expanded bases. 

 We name such leaves amplexicaul, or 

 stem-clasping. Other familiar plants which may be cited as furnishing 

 examples of amplexicaul leaves are the Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris} and the 

 Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), in each of which the base of the 

 leaf clasps the stem ; and almost any species of the great Umbelliferous 

 family, in which the clasping is done by the swollen base of the leaf-stalk. 



Now step a little nearer to the stream that skirts the meadow, and 

 regard carefully the tall plant which lifts its purple crest by the water's 



FIG. 319. MONKSHOOD AND TREFOIL. 



The Monkshood (upper) is a good example of the palmatifid 



leaf. Below it is the Subterranean Clover with ternate 



leaves or trefoils. 



