164 COMMON WEEDS 



fragrant. Spircea Ulmaria is a favourite plant, and aptly 

 named Queen of the Meadow. 



The only plan of getting rid of an excessive quantity 

 of this tall, stout plant is to cut it regularly, and by 

 drainage, liming, and manurial treatment encourage 

 more useful herbage, when the weed would probably 

 be much reduced or entirely disappear. 



Blackberry, Bramble (Rubus frudicosus L.). This 

 rapidly growing plant is one of the most common and 

 well known ramblers of our hedges, commons, and 

 waste lands, and needs no description here. It is an 

 extremely variable plant, and different forms of it grow 

 freely on all soils ; these are troublesome in hedges, 

 extending out into the fields and occupying ground 

 which should be devoted to grass or a cultivated crop. 

 In some parts of Australasia the Blackberry is a 

 scheduled weed, and its destruction or restriction 

 within bounds is enforced. The Bramble can only 

 be kept down by means of grubbing it out by the roots 

 or by repeated cutting. 



Wood Avens or Herb Benet (Geum urhanum L.) is 

 a pretty plant, common in hedgerows, on sides of 

 ditches and borders of fields, and not usually much 

 trouble. It is a soft, hairy perennial, i to 3 feet high, 

 with bright yellow flowers which appear in June to 

 August. The leaves at the base of the stem are pinnate, 

 those above being small, oblong, and sessile. The heads 

 of fruits bear hooked awns which enable them to adhere 

 to passing animals, and so ensure distribution. This 

 weed is generally cut down and reduced when hedges 

 and ditches are trimmed. 



Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans L.) (see p. 79) 

 may also occur in meadows, in which position it can 

 only be combated by regular cutting and the encourage- 

 ment of better herbage. 



