23 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS. 



There is no stem, the leaves all springing from the stout root- 

 stock. The flowers are borne on tall spikes which spring from 

 the axils of the leaves. Each blossom consists of four 

 persistent sepals, a salver-shaped corolla with four lobes, 

 between which are fixed the four stamens surrounding the 

 long, simple and hairy style. There are five British species, of 

 which we figure two. The name Plantago is the classic Latin 

 one, from which the English has been evolved. 



I. The Greater Plantain (P. major) has very broad leaves and broad, short leaf- 

 stalks. Stamens short, anthers purple. Seeds black and rough. Pastures and 

 roadsides, May to September. 



II. Hoary Plantain (P. media): leaves not so broad, flower-scape shorter. 

 Stamens long, anthers whitish. Seeds brown, rough. Pastures and waste places 

 in a dry soil, June to October. Plant more or less covered with short hairs. 



III. Ribwort Plantain (P. lanceolata): as the scientific name implies, the leaves 

 are lance-shaped, long and narrow. The flower-scape is deeply furrowed, the 

 flower-spike short. Stamens long, white. Seeds black, shining. Pastures and 

 heaths, May to October. 



IV. Seaside Plantain (P. maritime*). Rootstock branched, crown woolly. 

 Leaves narrower than the last, margins more parallel, ribs weak. Stamens pale 

 yellow. Seeds brown, slightly winged at end. Pastures, salt-marshes and rockb by 

 the sea, June to September. 



V. Buck's-horn Plantain (P. coronopus). Leaves narrow, linear, divided, or 

 deeply-toothed, suggesting the popular name ; ribbed, hairy. Stamens pale 

 yellow. Seeds pale brown. Poor gravelly soils, chiefly near coast. June to 

 August. 



Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis). 



In speaking of the Bugle on page 22 we promised to say 

 more of Labiate flowers further on. Salvia is a labiate, and of 

 similar construction to Ajuga. S. pratensis is a rare plant, 

 found only in Cornwall, Kent, and Oxford, from June to August. 

 The soft wrinkled leaves have the edges cut into convex teeth 

 (crenate). The flowers are large and bright blue ; they are 

 borne in whorls, usually of four or five flowers, on a tall spike. 

 There is a more frequent species, the Wild Sage or Clary (S. 

 verbenaca)) found in dry pastures all over the kingdom south 

 of Ross-shire from June to September. It is similar in habit to S. 



