10 



FLOWERS OF THE BOGS AND MARSHES 



is associated in spring with the early-flowering sedges, and sallows, and 

 osiers, and with it grow the marsh-loving Horse-tail, and the pale lilac- 

 tinted Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock. In such marshy tracts it forms 

 big clumps which cover the water-meadows as with intertwining chains 

 of gold. It prefers the damp hollows where it is half-rooted in spongy, 

 watery ground. It is found also by stream-sides and in swampy woods. 

 The Marsh Marigold has a prostrate or somewhat erect habit. The 

 plant is dark-green, rank, hairless, forming conspicuous clusters with 



MARIGOLD (Caltha palustris, L.) 



attractive blooms. The rootstock is horizontal, short, the stem not 

 rooting at the nodes. The stem may be erect or ascending. The 

 radical leaves are long -stalked, rounded, heart-shaped, with two deep 

 lobes at the base, and a narrow sinus, scalloped, toothed, glossy. The 

 stipules are membranous, entire in bud, and enclose the leaf. The 

 flowers are few, terminal, regular, large. Sepals of a bright yellow 

 colour take the place of the petals. They are overlapping and close, 

 unequal, round to egg-shaped. The follicles are spreading, with a very 

 short beak, and many-seeded. 



Marsh Marigold is i-i^, ft. high. Flowers may be found from 

 March to May, and this is a perennial plant. 



The flower is rendered conspicuous by the petaloid yellow sepals. 

 There is an abundance of honey, which is secreted in two shallow 



