ii 4 FLOWERS OF THE CORNFIELDS 



puce, calyx -lobes longer than the corolla, downy, petals entire, not 

 crowned, capsule with large hard seeds. 



Spurrey (Spergula arvensis, L,) 



Seeds of Spurrey have been found near Edinburgh in beds of 

 Neolithic age. It is found to-day in the Northern Temperate and 

 Arctic Zones, in Arctic Europe, North Africa. West Asia to N.W. 

 Asia, and has been introduced into North America. Spurrey is found 

 in every part of Great Britain, and ascends to a height of 1000 ft. 



It is one of the usual weeds of cultivation associated with crops, 

 and is seldom found far away from cornfields, where it is extremely 

 abundant. If a field is allowed to return to seed or to become fallow, 

 Spurrey may establish itself in the more open parts of such fields and 

 remain for some period. 



The plant is nearly erect, with branched stems, which are numerous, 

 smooth, clammy above, bent like a knee, with swollen joints. The 

 leaves are cylindrical, in whorls, in two rows, the inner shorter, or 

 in opposite pairs with short leaf- buds in the axils, grooved beneath, 

 with small semi-transparent stipules or leaves. A few plants grow 

 together. 



The flowers are white, arranged in a repeatedly dividing stalked 

 cyme, the ultimate stalks being turned down in fruit, and clammy. 

 The calyx is spreading, the petals are attached by a short claw, longer 

 than the sepals. There are 5 stamens, fewer, or none. The capsule 

 is nearly round, and protected by the permanent calyx. The seeds 

 are rough, angular, kidney-shaped, with club-shaped warts, black, and 

 bordered with a semi-transparent margin. 



The plant grows to a height of 6-10 in. It is in flower from 

 June to August. Being an annual it is reproduced by seeds only. 



The flowers are very small, and as with Corn Buttercup and Gold 

 of Pleasure not adapted specially for insect visits, having no scent. 

 There are numerous pistils, and styles to the number of 5. 



The seeds of Spurrey are dispersed by the plant's own mechanism. 

 When ripe the valved capsule or seed vessel breaks open, and the seeds 

 are dispersed around the parent plant. 



This species is a sand plant and addicted to a sand soil, being found 

 on a variety of formations, from the older arenaceous to the newer 

 Oolitic and chalky formations. 



It is infested by Cystopus lepigoni and Puccinia arenaria. A 

 beetle, Cassida nobilis, lives upon it. 



