106 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



liigh. The minute green flowers, which liave three sepals and no 

 petals, are in racemes or spikes that grow from the axils of the 

 upper leaves. They are unisexual ; the staminate flowers in 

 slender racemes, with several erect stamens ; and the pistillate 

 ones in short, few-flowered spikes, with a two-celled ovary, two 

 styles, and a few imjierfectly formed stamens. 



The Black Bryony {Tamxs comrnunis) — order Dioscoriacece — 



is a pretty climbing 

 plant, the slender stem 

 of which twines for 

 several feet among the 

 hedgerow trees and 

 shrubs. Its leaves are 

 cordate and acute, and 

 change either to a bright 

 yellow or a beautiful 

 bronze colour in the 

 autumn. Tlie flowers, 

 which appear in May 

 and June, are yellowish 

 green, in small clusters ; 

 and the fruits are oblong 

 berries, turning to a 

 bright scarlet as the 

 leaves assume their 

 autumn tints. 



Our next flower is 

 the pecuHar and in- 

 teresting Wild Arum 

 {Arum maculatum), of 

 the order Araceo', also 

 known as Lords and Ladies, Cuckoo Pint, and Wake Robin. It is a 

 very common flower of sliady waysides, blooming during April and 

 May. Tlie plant is succulent, with a short, fleshy rliizome; and large, 

 smooth, sagittate leaves that are often spotted with purple. The 

 floral stalk is thick and fleshy, and supports numerous unisexual 

 flowers which are clustered round a central axis or spadix that is 

 prolonged above into a club-shaped appendage. The whole of the 

 spadix is surrounded by a large bract or spaihe wliicli is contracted 

 a little distance above its base. Tlie portion of the spathe below 

 tiic constriction encloses tlie flowers, and remains permanently 

 closed as long as they are in bloom ; but tlie upper part o])ens on 



The Wild Arum. 



