126 



FIELD AND IVonniAXD PLANTS 



The Marsh Pennywort or ^\'hit(^ Rot {Uydrocotyle mdgaris) is a 

 pecuhar umbelliferous plant, common in marshes and bogs, with a 

 slender stem that creeps in tlie mud, rooting at every joint ; and 

 tufts of long-stalked leaves which rise above the surface of the 



water. The latter 

 are round, with 

 waved margins, 

 aliout an inch in 

 diameter, glossy, 

 and stalked in 

 the centre. The 

 minute white 

 flowers are col- 

 lected into little 

 five-flowered um- 

 bels, on stalks 

 m u c \\ s h o r t e r 

 tlian those of the 

 leaves, each in- 

 dividual flower 

 1 laving a very 

 short pedicel, and 

 f i V e s ji r e a d i n g 

 petals. This plant 

 flowers from May 

 to August. 



Intlie marshes 

 of South Britain 

 we may often 

 meet with the 

 ])ietty INlarsh 

 ValcM-ian {Vdleri- 

 (tna dioica) of the 

 Valerinnacecv. It 

 grows from six to 

 eight inches higli, and its flowers, wliich bloom during May and 

 June, are of a pale rose colour, in a terminal corymb. Thej' are 

 mostly unisexual, the male and female flowers growing on different 

 plants. All have a tubular corolla, jiouched at tlie base, with 

 five spreading lobes ; but the female blooms are more densely 

 crowded than tlie males, and are of a deeper colour. The former 



The ilARSii \"ALi-;itiAx. 



