60 



WILD FLOWERS 



125. Valerian, Valeriana officinalis, Valerian family. A 

 handsome plant of stream sides and other damp places: it is 

 readily picked out, even when not in flower, by the appearance 

 of the leaves : they are feather-compound, with lance-shaped 

 serrate leaflets, and in colour a curious greyish green, with a 

 tinge of pink : the pale purple flowers are produced in large 

 umbels at the end of the tall (2 to 4 ft.) stem, in summer : the 

 seeds have little hairy floats. 



126. Field Scabious, Scabiosa arvensis, Scabious family. A 

 tall (2 to 3 ft.) plant of the fields and hedges, flowering in late 



124. Stork's-bill. 



125. Valerian. 



summer : the leaves are lance-shaped and deeply notched, the 

 upper more so than the lower : the flowers are gathered in large, 

 pale purple composite heads. 



127. Marsh Violet, Viola palustris, Violet family. In 

 marshes, in spring, may be found the small, pale purple flowers 

 of this little plant : the petals are streaked with lines of darker 

 colour : the leaves are rounded heart-shaped. 



128. Willow Herb, Epilolium montanum, Willow herb family. 

 The stem is generally about 1 ft. high : it bears pairs of smooth, 

 broad, lance-shaped, serrate leaves, with quite short stalks : at the 

 apex is a spike of small pale purple flowers with 4 petals, and 

 apparently situated on long stalks, which are in reality the seed- 

 vessels : when ripe these open and set free dozens of tiny seeds, 

 each with a little hairy float, by means of which they may be 

 blown to a considerable distance by the wind : the plant is common 



