INTRODUCTION 13 



the daisy shows this type. If we examine the so-called flower of 

 the daisy, we find that it is made up of a great number of little 

 flowers those to the centre with a tubular, yellow corolla, 

 stamens, and a seed-vessel ; those to the margin with a white, 

 strap-shaped corolla, and a seed-vessel : while outside is a large 

 number of green scales; these serve to distinguish this type 

 from the simple head of a clover, which does not possess them. 

 The centre part of the daisy flower-head is spoken of as the 

 disc, the marginal part as the ray. 



IDENTIFICATION OP A WILD FLOWER 



Plants are grouped in families, in such a way as to bring 

 together those which show a natural relationship to each other. 

 As the characters on which this natural grouping rests are 

 frequently obscure, it has been thought best to employ in 

 this book an artificial arrangement, designed to enable the be- 

 ginner to identify a strange plant by means of its more obvious 

 characters. In the first place the plants dealt with are ar- 

 ranged in ten colour groups. As considerable variation occurs 

 in colour, and as the value placed by different people on a par- 

 ticular colour shade is not always the same, it would be well 

 if, for example, a purplish flower could not be found under 

 purple, to try under pate purple. 



As some of the groups are rather large, it has been found 

 necessary to subdivide them. The method of working the 

 classification employed may best be understood if we take a 

 concrete example. Suppose we have found a specimen of the 

 Greater Stitchwort. It is a white flower, so we turn to the 

 table at the beginning of " White Flowers," and find that these 

 are arranged in three groups. As the Stitchwort has neither 

 composite-heads nor umbels, it must belong to group III ; here 

 there are two sub-groups, in the second of which, B, it must 

 be placed, as its leaves are quite simple : we then count the 

 number of stamens, which we find to be ten, and so learn that 

 it is among plants 55-65. It only remains for us to read over 

 the descriptions of these, and to compare our plant with the 

 illustrations, to determine which fits it properly, and so find its 

 name to be Stellaria Holostea, the Greater Stitchwort. 



With the aid of this book it will be found possible to identify 

 a considerable number of our commoner or more striking wild 

 plants ; but only about one sixth of the total number of British 

 species is mentioned. If the interest of the reader carries him 

 beyond the limits of these pages, and is sufficient to nerve him 

 to face the difficulties of a more minute examination, and of a 

 more extended technical vocabulary, we may conclude by ad- 



