86 



WILD FLOWERS 



194. Cuckoo-Pint, Lords-and-Ladies, Arum maculatum, 

 Cuckoo-pint family. The plant at once attracts attention by its 

 large, glossy, arrow-shaped leaves, which rise from the ground 

 on longish stalks : among them appear in April or May the 

 curious inflorescences : these consist of a stalk, on which are 

 arranged first female flowers reduced to a single seed-vessel, then 

 male flowers reduced to a single stamen, ahove these a circle of 

 stout hairs, and finally a long, dark purple club, the whole being 

 enclosed by a long, pointed, pale green hood : in autumn the 



194. Cuckoo-Pint, Lords-and- 

 Ladies. 



195. Cotton-Grass. 



hood and the upper parts of the inflorescence die away, leaving 

 the stalk crowned by a little bunch of scarlet berries : not un- 

 common in woods and hedges. 



195. Cotton-Grass, Eriophorum polystachion, Sedge family. A 

 striking plant of boggy ground : the leaves are long, narrow, and 

 pointed : the stem is slender, about 1 ft. high, and bears several 

 heads of flowers on delicate drooping flower-stalks : in colour 

 they are greenish, tinged with yellow and brown : the plant is 

 most remarkable when in fruit, as the head then presents the 

 appearance of a flock of cotton-wool: Harems-tail Gotton-grass t 

 a related species, bears only a single, erect flower-head on each 

 stalk ; flowers in summer. 



