GREAT REED MACE. 52 



The stamens and pistils are produced in separate flowers, but 

 upon the same plant. The flowers have no perianth other 

 than a few slender hairs. The staminate flowers occupy the 

 upper portion of the well-known spike or " mace," and con- 

 sist simply of several stamens joined together, the anthers 

 opening along their sides. The pistillate flowers consist of a 

 stalked ovary with a slender style and a one-sided narrow 

 stigma. The specific differences are as follows : 



I. Great Reed Mace (T. latifolia). Leaves as much as an inch and a half broad, 

 in two rows, bluish-green. Flowering stem naked, 6 or 7 feet high. Staminate 

 and pistillate spikes continuous, or but slightly interrupted. Growing in lakes and 

 on the banks of rivers. Flowering in July and August. 



II. .Lesser Reed Mace (JF. angusti folia). Whole plant smaller. Leaves half the 

 width, dark green, grooved at lower end. Staminate and pistillate spikes separated 

 by an interval. Stigmas broader. Ditches and pools. Less common than latifolia. 

 Flowering July. 



Name from Greek, Tiphos, a fen or marsh, from the habitat. 



Kidney Yetch (Anthyllis vulneraria). 



The Kidney-vetch or Lady's fingers was celebrated from 

 early times as a plant that was efficacious in the cure of 

 wounds, and hence its specific name vulneraria. There is no 

 doubt that this reputation was well-founded, for its bluish 

 leaves are covered with silky hairs and its calyces downy. It 

 is a perennial herb that affects dry pastures and rocky banks. 

 From a woody rootstock arise several stems and a large 

 number of radical leaves j these consist of a long terminal 

 leaflet and two disproportionately small lateral leaflets. The 

 leaves from the stems (caudal leaves) have a larger number 

 of leaflets in pairs, as well as a terminal one. The 

 flowers are borne in heads, with an involucre of leaflets, 

 and the heads are chiefly in pairs. The calyx is mem- 

 branous, and therefore permanent, the mouth oblique, 

 with fine teeth. The petals are nearly equal in length, and 

 typically yellow, but subject to considerable variation. After 

 flowering the straw-coloured calyx becomes inflated, and the 



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