6 1 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS. 



Through the Poppy we make acquaintance with another 

 Natural Order, the Papaveraceae, and its typical genus, 

 Papaver. The plants comprised in the genus are annual herbs, 

 with milky juice of a narcotic nature. The flowers are borne 

 on very long slender stalks, and consist of two concave sepals, 

 which are thrown off by the expanding of the four crumpled 

 petals. The pistil, which afterwards develops into the familiar 

 " poppy-head," is surmounted by the many stigmas which form 

 a rayed disk. 



I. The Common Poppy (P. rhceas), which is so unpleasantly abundant in corn- 

 fields south of the Tay, has branched bristly stems and pinnate leaves, the points of 

 the lobes directed upward and ending each in a bristle. The bristles on the flower- 

 stalks stand out at right angles, or nearly so. This is an important character. The 

 scarlet flowers are large (3 or 4 inches in diameter), the petals in two unequal pairs. 

 Rays of stigma eight to twelve. Capsule smooth and short, slightly stalked above 

 the receptacle. Flowers June to September. 



II. Round Rough-headed Poppy (P. hybriduni). Leaves only slightly bristly. 

 Flower small (i to 2 inches), scarlet, with a black patch at the base of each petal. 

 Stigmatic rays, four to eight. Capsule more globose than the preceding species. 

 Dry sandy and chalky fields south of Durham and Carnarvon. May to July. 



III. Long Prickly-headed Poppy (P. argemone). Similar to last, but smaller 

 and weaker in all respects in fact, our smallest species. Petals narrow and paler 

 in colour. Capsule bristly, club-shaped. Stigmatic rays, four to six. Cornfields. 

 May to August. 



IV. Long Smooth-headed Poppy (P. dubimii). Similar to P. rhceas, but the 

 bristles are pressed against the stalk upwards. Flowers large, petals broad, but in 

 unequal pairs, light scarlet. Stigmatic rays, six to twelve. Capsule slender, 

 smooth, tapering downwards, not stalked above receptacle. Cornfields. May to 

 August. 



The Greater Stitchwort (Stdlaria holostea) 



One of the prettiest and most characteristic sights of Spring 

 is the mass of brittle, grass-like stems and leaves of the Greater 

 Stitchwort, crowned by the numerous flowers of gleaming 

 white clear-cut stars. It starts life as an erect-growing plant, 

 but is soon fain to lean against the other constituents of the 

 hedgerow as its stems elongate but grow no stouter. It is a 

 perennial plant, and its four-angled stems make their appear- 



