102 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



and rough fields, flowering from April to September. Its flowers 

 are bright blue, about a quarter of an inch across, solitary, axillarj', 

 on stalks which are longer than the leaves. The sepals are broadly 

 oval and pointed, and the petals arc all of the same colour. The 

 leaves of this plant are stalked, cordate, and irregularly toothed. 



Our last example of the order is the Green Field Speedwell (V. 

 agrestis), also common in fields and by the roadside. It has spveral 



prostrate stems, from four 

 to eight inches long ; and 

 stalked, cordate leaves with 

 irregularly serrate margins. 

 The flowers are small, about a 

 fifth of an inch across, soli- 

 tary, axillary, on stalks 

 shorter than the leaves. The 

 sepals are narrow, oblong, 

 and blunt ; and the lower 

 petal is white. This species 

 flowers from April to the 

 end of the summer. 



The Dead Nettles (genus 

 Lamium, oit\\c order Lahiata') 

 may be readily distinguished 

 from the Stinging Nettles, 

 \\ith which they are often 

 confused, by their square 

 stems, and whorls of showy, 

 lipped flowers. Further, 

 these flowers may be 

 recognised from among the others of their own order by the ten- 

 ribbed, bell-shajjed calyx ; and by the one or two teeth on each 

 side of the lower lip of the corolla. 



Three of this group are very common wayside spring flowers. 

 One is the White Dead Nettle {Lamium album), with large, white 

 flowers forming whorls in the axils of the leaves. The leaves of 

 this plant are all stalked, cordate, with a very sharp point, deeply 

 serrate, and often marked with white blotches. The teeth of the 

 calyx are narrow, as long as the tube, with long slender points ; 

 and the tube of the corolla is curved, longer than the calyx, gradu- 

 ally widening from below upwards. The two lower stamens arc 

 longer than the upi)er pair, and the anthers are black. The plant 



The White Dead Nettle. 



