WEEDS OF ARABLE LAND 



81 



small fan-like leaves which appear to clasp the stem 

 like an inverted mantle, while the dense clusters of 

 minute green flowers, appearing from May to August, 

 are crowded in the axils. 

 Where this weed occurs 

 in quantity it should be 

 hoed out ; the growth of 

 a root crop reduces it. 



UMBELLIFER^: 



Shepherd's Needle 



(Scandix Pecten-Veneris L.), 

 also known as Needles, 

 Venus' Comb, and Crow's 

 Needles, is an annual weed 

 of cornfields, especially on 

 light and chalky soils, and 

 is sometimes very trouble- 

 some. In North Lincoln- 

 shire, for example, it 

 appears to grow, like 

 Ranunculus arvensis (p. 52), 

 exclusively on the Chalk 

 formation, and not on the 

 Oolite. " Needles seem to 

 favour the thinner soils on 

 chalk, and come in any 



Corn Crop, autumn Or FIG. _i 9 .-S_hepherd's Needle (Scandix 



spring sown. Not trouble- 

 some on the strong land, 

 which runs in some places in valleys or on the edge, of 

 the chalk " (W. C. B.). Hooker describes the Shepherd's 

 Needle as " a cornfield weed from Ross southwards." 

 The Shepherd's Needle (Fig. 19) is a small plant of 



F 



Pecten- Veneris L. ), x , with enlarged 

 flower. 



