51 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



In shady woods grows the Sweet Woodruff (Asperula odorala — 

 order Ruhiacecr) — a small, erect and smooth plant, seldom exceeding 

 eight inches in height. The leaves are six to nine in each whorl, 

 lanceolate, with small prickles on the margins. The flowers are 

 white, in terminal panicles, and the fruit is rough with hooked 



hairs. The herb emits, 

 when dry, a pleasant odour 

 resembling that of new hay. 

 There are two Periwinkles 

 (order A'pocynacem), both of 

 which have been introduced 

 into Britain as garden 

 flowers, but have become 

 established as wild flowers 

 in several parts. One of 

 these — the Lesser Periwinkle 

 ( Vinca minor) — is moder- 

 ately common, especially in 

 the West, where it is often 

 seen in thickets and other 

 shady places, flowering during 

 April and May. It has a 

 trailing stem, from one to 

 two feet long, rooting at the 

 nodes ; and short, erect, leafy, 

 flowering branches. The 

 leaves arc oj)posite, narrow- 

 elliptical, entire, and quite 

 smooth ; and the blue or 

 violet flowers, which are 

 about an inch in diameter. 

 The calyx is free, and deeply 

 the corolla has a narrow tube, 



THE Sweet VVookuuff. 



are solitary on short, erect stalks. 



divided into five narrow segments 



and five broad, spreading parts ; there are five stamens, enclosed 



in the tube of the corolla ; and the carpels are distinct at the base, 



but connected at the top by the single style. 



The other species — the Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major) — is 

 a very similar plant, but its leaves are broader, w'lih. minute hairs 

 on the margin ; the calyx segments are also haiiy at the edges ; 

 and the corolla is larger, with a broad tube. 



The Tooth-wort (Lalhrad xqnamaria — order Orohanchacea;) is 



