YELLOW FLOWERS 



47 



89. Yellow Pimpernel. 



fertilisation, as the part of an insect which touches the stamens 

 of the one kind of flower will touch the stigma of the other 

 kind only : Primula veris, the Cowslip, has a little bunch of smaller 

 and darker yellow stalked flowers at the tip of a common stem. 



88. Loosestrife, Lysimachia vulgarly Primrose family. A 

 tall plant, 2 to 3 ft. high, flowering on stream banks in July : 

 the leaves are large, ovate, and borne in groups of 2 to 3 to 4 : 

 the yello\v iluwers occur in a dense terminal pyramid. 



89. Yellow Pimpernel, Lysimachia nemorum. Primrose 

 family. A little creeping plant found in 



damp woods : the stem Dears pairs of glossy, 

 ovate leaves, from the axils of which spring 

 slender stalks, each with a single small, 

 starry, yellow flower, later on replaced by 

 a globular seed-vessel. L. Nummularia, 

 the Moneywort, grows in similar situations : 

 its leaves are broader, and its flowers, on 

 shorter stalks, are much larger ; altogether 

 a more striking species : both flower in 

 summer. 



90. Bog - Asphodel, Narthecium ossi- 

 fragum, Hyacinth family. A pretty little 

 plant about 6 ins. high, common in peat- 

 bogs, flowering in summer : the single stem bears a spike of 

 golden yellow flowers and a few short leaves : from the lower 



part of the stem spring groups of grass- 

 like sword-shaped leaves. 



91. Lesser Spearwort, Ranunculus 

 Flammula, Crowfoot family. Growing 

 in wet places along the margins of 

 streams and lakes, the Spearwort has an 

 upright stem, about 1 to 1J ft. high, 

 bearing leaves, the lower ovate, the upper 

 quite narrow; they are entire, and smooth: 

 the flowers are few in number, bright 

 yellow, and about \ in. across : the juice 

 of the plant acts as a strong irritant on 

 the skin : flowers in summer : the Greater 

 Spearwort is a rarer plant, with much 

 larger flowers. 



92. Lesser^ Celandine, Ranunculus 

 Ficaria, Crowfoot family. This beauti- 

 ful spring flower carpets the forest floor 



with golden flowers in March and April, and with glossy green 

 leaves in early summer: the leaves are roundish, heart-shaped, 

 stalked, and in a rosette, from which rise the flower-stalks, each 



90. Bog- Asphodel. 



