94 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 



apparently not fond of some sandy districts, but rather of a humus 

 subsoil, which it obtains in the dry woods and hedge-banks, which 

 are its natural habitat. In some districts such surface may be leached 

 out, causing it to disappear. 



The root-stock is creeping, and from it the stems issue more or less 

 in an erect manner, being simple, with many leaves, but leafless below, 

 rounded, with wings. The leaves vary and may be rough, smooth, or 

 hairy, oval, acute, stalked, with saw -like teeth, in pairs, with white 

 glands on the margin. At the base of the leaf- stalks are 2 small 

 acute stipules or leaflike organs. They form a cup to catch rain, and 

 a rounded ridge in it with a row of hairs occurs and absorbs moisture. 



The flowers are in loose spikes in the axils of the upper leaves, 

 greenish, with no corolla. The female flowers are hidden among the 

 leaves, more or less stalkless, the male on long flower-stalks very 

 slender, with acute sepals. Male flowers may occur on the female 

 rarely. The capsule is rounded, double, with 2 cavities with white 

 cuticle, and there are 2 carpels. 



Dog's Mercury is about i ft. in height. It flowers in April and 

 May, and is perennial, as the second name implies, and reproduced by 

 root-division. 



The plant is dioecious, the stamens and carpels being on different 

 plants, the males in axillary spikes, and the females clustered in a short 

 raceme of 3 flowers. The styles are long and bent back, stigmatic in 

 front. There is no corolla, and 2 carpels. The flowers are pollinated 

 by the wind. The pollen is dust-like. The stigmas are said to be ripe 

 at least two days before the anthers are ripe. On some female plants 

 there may be a few male flowers capable of pollination. 



When ripe the seeds fall out of the capsule around the parent plant. 



Dog's Mercury is more or less a humus plant, requiring a humus 

 soil. 



The fungus Cteoma mercurialis attacks it. 



Several beetles are found on Dog's Mercury, Hermceophaga mer- 

 curialis, Apion gcrmari, A. pallipes, Trophiphorits mercurialis, Meli- 

 gcthcs kunzci, and a moth, Phlogophora meticulosa. 



Mercurialis, Pliny, was so called after the god Mercury, who is 

 said to have discovered its virtues, and the second Latin name indicates 

 its perennial character. 



This plant is called Adder's-meat, Boggard-flower, Bristol-weed, 

 Cheadle, Dog's Mercury, Dog's Cole, Kentish Balsam, Maiden Mer- 

 cury, Wild Mercury, Leaf Mercury, Sapwort, Snake's Bit, Snake 

 Weed, Town-weed. Dog's Mercury is so called to distinguish it not 



