104 



Ft ELD A XT) WOODLAND PL A XT S 



dc'cpU' cut in a serrate manner ; the lower ones being cordate, 

 while the upper are more triangular. The flowers are of a rose- 

 red colour, in crowded wliorls near the top of the stem. The 

 tube of the corolla is shorter than tlie calyx, and straight ; and the 

 teeth of the calyx are about as long as its tube. TIio jilant grows 

 from six to eighteen inclies in height, and flowers throughout tlie 

 whole of spring and summer. 



Another common Labiate — the Ground Ivy [Nepela Glechoma) 



— may be seen almost 

 everywhere in the 

 s]:)ring, in bloom from 

 ]\Iareh to May. It has 

 a ])rocuml)ont, crecj)- 

 ing stem, and deej)ly- 

 cronate, kidney-shaped 

 leaves. The flowers 

 are of a blue-jiurple 

 colour, arranged in 

 wliorls of tliree or four 

 in the axils of the 

 loaves. The calyx has 

 five teeth and fifteen 

 ribs ; and the two front 

 stamens are shorter. 



The Early Field 

 Scorpion Grass {Mi/o- 

 sotis collinn) belongs to 

 tlie order Boraqinacea' 

 — a family of (usually) 

 hairy herbs with alternate leaves and one-sided sjiikes or j-acemes of 

 sho\\y flowers. The floweis have a five-Io])ed calyx and corolla, five 

 stamens, and a fruit of four nutlets. It is in the same genus as the 

 familiar Forget-me-not, and, in fact, somewhat closely reseml)les that 

 plant, which is often confused with certain species of Scor])ion Grass. 

 It is a slender, more or less prostrate herb, with l)hmt oblong leaves; 

 and minute, bright blue flowers whieli aic at first hidden among 

 the leaves, but afterwards exjiosed by the lengthening of the stem. 

 The flowers have very shoi't pedicels ; and arc in long, slendei\ 

 leafless, spikelikc racemes, with a single flower some distance 

 down, in the axil of the highest leaf. The pojnilar name of Scorpion 

 Grass has been given on account of the characteristic arrangement 



THE Dog's ^[ercuuy. 



