240 FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



narrow, and finely tootliod. The flowers are nearly an ineh in 

 diameter, of a deep rose colour, arranged in terminal, leafy racemes. 

 They have four l)road, notched, spreading petals ; eight erect 

 stamens ; and a foiir-lobed stigma. The plant is common in wet 

 places, and flowers during July and August. 



2. The Narrow-leaved or Marsh Willow-herb (E. jxdustre). — 

 A smaller plant, seldom exceeding eighteen inches in height, fre- 

 quent in bogs and marshes, flo^\ering during June and July. 

 Its stem is round, with two lines of downy hams on opposite sides ; 

 and its leaves are sessile, opj)osite, very narrow, tapering towards 

 the base, and sometimes slightly toothed. The flowers are small, 

 pink, nodding when in bud, arranged in a terminal raceme. Both 

 flowers and fruit resemble those of the last species except that the 

 stigmas of the former are not divided. 



3. The Square-stalked Willow-herb {E. teiragonvm or E. adna- 

 tum). — A similar plant, from one to two feet high, common in bogs 

 and ditches, and easily distinguished from other species of the genus 

 by the four angles of the stem formed by the downward continuation 

 of the margins of the leaves. The flowers are small, in terminal, 

 leafy racemes, and erect when in bud. The petals are of a rose- 

 pink colour, deeply notched ; and the stigma is not divided. This 

 species flowers in July and August. 



Our next flower is the beautiful Purple Loosestrife {Ly thrum 

 Salicaria — order Lylhracece), which is abundant in the marshes, 

 ditches, and wet places of most parts of Great Britain. It has a 

 creeping rootstock ; a stout, erect, shghtly-branched, four-angled 

 stem, from two to four feet high ; and sessile, narrow, clasping, 

 entire, acute leaves, two or three inches long, arranged in opposite 

 pairs or in whorls of three or four. The flowers are of a reddish 

 purple or pink colour, nearly an inch across, arranged in ^A horls 

 on a long, tapering, leafy spike. They have a toothed and ribbed, 

 tubular calyx, with broad inner, and narrow outer segments ; oblong, 

 wavy, wrinkled petals ; twelve stamens in two whorls of difi"erent 

 lengths ; and a superior ovary. The time of flowering of this 

 species is July to Seiitember. 



We have now to note several species of umbelliferous plants that 

 grow in bogs and other wet places. The geneial features of the order 

 [Umbelliferce) will be found on p. 167, and the reader should refer 

 to these, if necessary, before attempting to identify the following : — 



The Procumbent Marsh-wort [Helosciadium nodiflorum or 

 Apium nodiflorum) is a creeping plant, abundant in ditches and 



