44 



WILD FLOWERS 



are small, and pale yellow, and are borne on a long slender ter- 

 minal spike : the plant grows on dry sunny banks and fields, 

 and flowers in summer : formerly used for medicinal purposes. 

 A. odorata, a similar plant with a fragrant odour, is much rarer. 



81. Crosswort, Galium cruciata, Bed-straw family. The stem 

 is 1 to 2 ft. long, and is somewhat weak, so that the plant tends 

 to trail in the coarse grass or bushes amongst which it grows : 

 the leaves are numerous, and are arranged in whorls of 4 ; they 

 are oval and hairy : in the axils of the upper whorls are groups 

 of flowers : the flower is small, pale yellow, and shaped like a 

 four-rayed star : flowers in spring and early summer 



82. Yellow Bed-straw, Galium verum, Bed-straw family. 

 The stem is erect, about 1 to 1| ft. high : the leaves are 



80. Agrimony. 



81. Crosswort. 



numerous, and occur in whorls of about 8 : they are very 

 narrow, needle-shaped, and dark, glossy green : the flowers are 

 like those of the Crosswort, but are bright yellow, and occur in 

 a conspicuous, crowded brush at the end of the stem, giving 

 the plant a striking appearance on the dry banks and turfy 

 places, where it flowers in summer. 



83. Yellow Toad-flax, Linaria vulgaris, Foxglove family. 

 The stem is 1 to 2 ft. high, clad with dark, smooth, narrow 

 leaves, and ending in a handsome spike of flowers : the flowers 

 are large and yellow with an orange spot : the corolla is in one 

 piece, with 2 lips, the lower lip being pursed up so as to close the 

 opening : it is provided with a honey-containing spur behind : 

 found on gravelly soil, flowering in summer. 



84. Musk, Mimulus Langsdorfii, Foxglove family. This plant 

 is found commonly on the margins of ponds and ditches : it 



