60 FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



level, tlius giving the general appearance of an umbel. There is 

 a membranous bract at the base of each pedicel ; and each 

 flower has a jierianth of six free, spreading, persistent segments, 

 marked outside with a central, green line, and having a nectary at 

 the l)ase. 



The same order includes the well-known Blue-bell or Wild 

 Hyacinth (Hyacinthus nonscripius or Scilla festalis), which is 

 occasionally confused with the Harebell of the order Campaniilacew. 

 The leaves of this plant are linear and channelled, and the drooping 

 flowers form a raceme of from six to twelve blooms. The perianth 

 is bell-sliaped, composed of six united parts, usually blue, but 

 rarely pink or white. The anthers are yellow, and as with all the 

 plants of this order, the ovary is superior. (See Plate I, Fig. 5.) 



In damp woods we often meet with the Hairy Sedge {Carex 

 hirta), which grows from one to two feet high ; and in similar situa- 

 tions, the Pendulous Wood Sedge {C. sylvatica) — a tufted species, 

 witli a weak, leafy stem, from two to three feet high, and flaccid 

 leaves. The latter has a single terminal, male spikelet, of about 

 an inch long ; and slender, drooping female spikelets, of about 

 the same length, on long stalks. 



On Plate I, we also represent the Wood Melic Grass {Melica 

 iiniflora), a slender, graceful species which may be seen in woods, 

 often in bloom as early as the beginning of May. 



