ROUND-LEAVED MINT. 60 



VI. Pennyroyal (M. pulegiuni). Calyx two-lipped, downy or hairy, with hairy 

 throat. Leaves small, with short stalks, slightly toothed, recurved. Stem much- 

 branched. Odour powerful. 



Common Comfrey (Symphytum offitinale). 



Often in May and June, as we wander by the riverbank or 

 brookside, we shall happen upon this very coarse but striking 

 plant, though its flowers may not be of the hue depicted here ; 

 its colour varies from pale yellow to red and purple. It is one 

 of those plants whose individuality is so strong that, once seen, 

 it will not be forgotten or confused with any other species. It 

 has a branched rootstock, giving off stalked leaves, and an erect 

 angular stem. The stem-leaves are all but stalkless, their 

 bases running down the stem in such a manner as to give it a 

 winged character. The whole plant is rough with bristles. 

 The genus belongs to the order Boragineae, whose floral 

 structure has been already described (see pages 9 and 26 

 ante), but the present inflorescence may be noted as a capital 

 example of the "scorpioid cyme," so called from its curve 

 resembling the curl in a scorpion's tail ! 



There is another British species, the Tuberous Comfrey (S. tuberosum), which is 

 usually found in wet copses, but not south of Bedford. It is not nearly so rough as 

 its congener, although distinctly hairy. Rootstock thickened, radical leaves with 

 longer stalks than in ^S". officinale. The stem-leaves do not run far down the stem, 

 so that it is not so obviously winged, and the flowers are smaller. Pale yellow. 

 June and July. 



The name is derived from the Greek sumphuo, to unite, it having great reputation 

 formerly as a woundwort. 



Common Red Poppy (Papaver rhceas). 



The Poppy is another of those plants concerning which it 

 may be thought that neither illustration nor description is 

 necessary ; but there are poppies and poppies ; and though the 

 rambler may gather a bunch of flowers from various situations 

 and consider them all the same, a few words of description may 

 serve to point out considerable differences. 



