210 FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



inch in length. The heads of fruits arc about a thud of an inch 

 in diameter, thickly covered with stinging haus. This plant 

 flowers from June to Sejitember. It is not so abundant as the other 

 nettles, and is found principally in the neigh boiu-hood of villages, 

 especially in the eastern counties of England. 



Although the Hop {11 mnulus Lupulus) docs not sting, the whole 

 plant is rough with stiff hairs resembling those of the nettles, and it 

 is placed in the same order. It is a climber, and clings to the hedge- 

 row shrubs by twining its long stems, which always turn in the same 

 direction as the sun. Its leaves are opposite, stalked, broadly 

 heart-shaped in general form, but cut into tlu-ee or five sharply- 

 toothed lobes. The flowers, like those of the nettles, are imperfect, 

 and the male and female blossoms grow on separate plants. The 

 former are in lax panicles, in the axils of the upiJcr leaves : they 

 are small, of a yellowish green colour, each consisting of five stamens 

 surrounded bj' a perianth of five segments. The females are arranged 

 in rounded heads or sj^ikes on short stalks in the axils of the leaves. 

 The heads are made up of a number of closely-placed bracts, each 

 with two little flowers at its base ; and each flower consists of an 

 ovary, enclosed in a scale, with two long, narrow stigmas. After 

 fertilisation the scales of the head grow very large, forming very 

 conspicuous ' cones ' in which the little fruits he concealed. The 

 Hop flowers from July to September, and is common in hedgerows 

 and thickets. 



Of the several \\ayside Grasses we have space for the mention of 

 but one species — the interesting Canary Grass {Phalaris canariensis). 

 It is a native of South Europe, introduced into this country and 

 cultivated for its seed (canary seed), but is now often seen growing 

 wild in waste places. It is represented on p. 209. 



