PALE PURPLE FLOWERS 



PALE PURPLE FLOWERS, 122-138 



A. Leaves compound, deeply cut, or lobed . . 122126 



B. Leaves quite simple, at most toothed . . . 127-138 



122. Cuckoo-Flower, Lady's Smock, Cardamine pratensis, 

 Cress family. A conspicuous spring flower, of moist meadows : 

 the stem is 1 to 1^ ft. high, and is crowned by a loose bunch of 

 large lilac flowers : the leaves are feather-compound : the leaflets 

 of the lower leaves are roundish, of the upper, lance-shaped : as 

 the English name would indicate, it flowers when the call of the 

 cuckoo is heard. 



123. Sea-Rocket, Cakile maritima, Cress family. A curious 

 little plant found on sandy sea-shores quite close to the high- 



122. Cuckoo-Flower, Lady's 

 Smock. 



123. Sea-Rocket. 



water mark : the stem, which is usually less than 1 ft. high, is 

 branched, and at the apex of each branch is a spike of fairly 

 large, pale purple flowers : the leaves are cut deeply into lobes, 

 and, as is often the case in seaside plants, are fat and fleshy : 

 the fruit is a little pod, jointed in the middle ; when it is ripe 

 the top joint falls off : flowers in summer. 



124. Stork's-bill, Erodium cicutarium, Crane's-bill family. 

 The stem lies along the sandy ground, on which the plant 

 usually grows, and produces pairs of feather- compound leaves : 

 the leaflets are in turn deeply cut into notched segments : the 

 flower-stalks bear little umbels of pale purple flowers: the 

 beaks of the ripe fruits show peculiar twisting movements 

 when drying up, and help to scatter the seeds: flowers in 

 summer and autumn. 



