290 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



of a coarse comb. The plant is erect, branched, from three to 

 twelve inches high ; and the general character of its leaves and 

 inflorescence may be gathered from our illustration. The flowers 

 are small, white, with larger outer petals ; and the carpels of the 

 fruit are cylindiical, about a third of an inch long, with beaks 

 about an inch and a half. The plant flowers from June to 



September. 



Of the order Rubiacece we 

 shall include the common 

 Field Madder (Sherardia 

 arvensis), a little plant, vary- 

 ing from five to ten inches 

 high, the minute lilac flowers 

 of which may be seen from 

 April to October. Its branched 

 stems are often decumbent ; 

 and the little, narrow, sharply- 

 pointed leaves, rough on the 

 edges, are placed in whorls of 

 from four to six. The umbels 

 are very small, terminal, and 

 surrounded by a leafy in- 

 volucre that is divided into 

 several lobes longer than the 

 flowers. The corolla consists 

 of an exceedingly slender tube, 

 at the top of which are four 

 spreading lobes ; and the fruit 

 is crowned by the five or six 

 teeth of the calyx, which 

 enlarges as the former ripens. 

 The Field Knautia or Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis or 

 Scahiosa arvensis), shown on Plate VII, is very common on 

 cultivated ground, particularly in corn-growing districts. It 

 is a slightly-branched plant, from one to four feet high, 

 clothed with stiff, bristly hairs. Its lower leaves are stalked, 

 simple, narrow, and usually but little cut ; and the upper 

 ones sessile, broader at the base, and either coarsely toothed 

 or deeply cut. The flower-heads are large, Ulac, on long 

 peduncles. The outer florets are much larger than the inner, 

 and all have four-lobed corollas. The fruit is angular, and is 



The Shepherd's needle or Venus's comb. 



