160 



FIELD AXD WOODLAND PLANTS 



partially uncoil, cau.sing the pointer to tui-n ; and as the carpel dries 

 again the pointer will resume its former position. 



Again, if the carpel be placed horizontall}' on a sheet of rough 

 paper (not fixed), and then alternately treated with moist and 

 diier air, the successive uncoiling and coiUng of the spual, together 

 with the aid of the bent tip and the hairs w liich give the carpel a hold, 

 will cause it to travel along. Thus, in its natural condition, and 

 influenced by the varying state of the atmosphere as regards 

 moisture, the carpels of the Stork's-bill \\ill not only travel some 

 distance from the parent jilant, but the seed end will even be thrust 

 between the particles of soil, and the seed thus naturally Ijuried. 



There are three British Stork's-bills, of 

 which only one may be described as common. 

 This is the Hemlock Stork's-bill (Erodium 

 cicutarium), a very variable plant as regards 

 the form of the leaves and the size and 

 number of flowers, often plentiful in waste 

 jilaces, especially near the sea. Its stems are 

 prostrate and hairy, groA\ing from six to 

 eighteen inches in length ; and the flowers, 

 which may be seen throughout the summer, 

 are rose-coloured, or, sometimes, white. The 

 petals are not divided or notched, and they 

 soon fall. 



Passing now to the order Leguminosce, we 

 deal first with the exceedingly pretty and common Bird's-foot TrefoU 

 {Lotus cornicukttus), that derives its popular name from the arrange- 

 ment of the cylincU'ical seed-pods, which spread in such a manner as 

 to resemble the toes of a bird. Its stems are partiallj^ i:)rostrate ; 

 and its compourid leaves are not composed of tlu-ee leaflets, as the 

 term trefoil suggests, but of five, two of wliich occupy such a position 

 that they might be mistaken for stipules. The flowers, which 

 bloom in July and August, are of a bright yellow or orange colom-, 

 often tinged with red. They are arranged in umbels of from 

 three to ten, with long peduncles and shoit pedicels. 



The genus Vicia, of the same order, includes the plants commonly 

 known as Tares. These arc climbing plants which cling by means of 

 tendrils at the tips of their pinnate leaves, and have their flowers 

 in axillaiy clusters. Thek styles are threadlike, wth a ring or a 

 tuft of downy haus near the extremity ; and the pods are flattened. 

 Two species may be included among our summer waj^side 



The fruit op tiik 

 Stork's-bill. 



