30 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 



must be used with caution. Wood Sorrel was used as a salad. It has 

 been endowed with cooling, antiscorbutic (remedy for skin diseases), 

 and diuretic properties. An infusion was given in cases of fever. 



The leaves expand in wet weather and droop in dry weather, and 

 are sensitive also to the touch. They change their position in relation 

 to the light in four ways: the whole leaf may move, it may change its 

 angle, the chlorophyll granules in the cells may rearrange themselves, 

 as in Duckweed, or the grains may alter their form. The leaves close 

 and droop in the sun and at night. The short stalks effect these 

 two movements, absorption and transpiration enabling this sensitive- 

 ness to show itself in action. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



70. Oxalis Acetosella, L. Stem a rhizome, rhizome toothed, leaves 

 ternate, hairy, radical, leaflets obcordate, peduncles i -flowered, flower 

 white with purple veins, 2 bracts in middle of scape. 



Holly (Ilex Aquifolium, L.) 



Interglacial beds in Sussex, Neolithic beds in Essex have yielded 

 evidence of the antiquity of the Holly. It is found in the Northern 

 Temperate Zone in Europe from South Norway to Turkey and the 

 Caucasus and Western Asia. It is found in 105 vice-counties of Great 

 Britain, but in some districts is mainly planted, and ranges from 

 Caithness southward, ascending to 1000 ft. in the Highlands. It is 

 also common to Ireland and the Channel Islands. 



In some districts whole woods are filled with an undergrowth of 

 Holly, while in other districts there is little or none. In most hilly 

 tracts it occurs sporadically lining the hedgerows at intervals along the 

 roadside, and in the fields, whilst in these last a few may form a small 

 coppice by themselves, just as Hawthorns do when allowed to grow 

 up from seed. 



Holly is a tall tree or shrub, 10-40 feet high, with a single, upright, 

 main stem, branched above, or with several stems growing out together 

 from a common base. The young shoots are downy. The bark is 

 smooth, ashen-grey or black. The foliage is dense, dark, shiny, 

 smooth. The leaves are egg-shaped, acute, wavy, with prickly points 

 below, losing them higher up the tree. The borders are cartilaginous. 

 These spines are usually held to be a protection against browsing 

 cattle, but are probably adaptations (as in the Cactus) to dry -soil 

 conditions. The cuticle is thick, which is another feature of dry-soil 

 types, and a protection against cold. The smoothness of the leaf and 



