HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS 



167 



our own country- Tlie return of youthful 

 conditions makes them once more active 

 agents of destruction, and, given time 

 enough, the land will again be reduced 

 to a low, featureless plain. 



In these papers I have frequently spoken 

 of rivers in terms usually applied to living 

 things. No other terms but birth, youth, 

 maturity, old age, decay, and death 

 seem to apply when dealing with the 

 life-history of a stream. But the words 

 we have applied to an individual stream 

 seem to have a wider meaning. Biologists 



say that the life-history of an individual 

 outlines the history of a peoj)Ie ; so, 

 in rivers, the beginnings reproduce the 

 characteristics of a stream beginning life 

 on the first emergence of the land from 

 the sea ; the middle portion of a river 

 reminds one of the conditions we see in 

 streams well established ; and the sluggish 

 current of a river on nearing its end is seen 

 again in an old river which has done its 

 work in degrading the land and shows all 

 the signs of e.xtreme old age. 



J. LOMAS. 



HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS 



By the REV. H, PUREFOY FITZGERALD, F.L.S. 

 With Photographs by HENRY IRVING 



THE FLOWERS OF THE WATER-SIDE— I 



A RAMBLE which leads through moist 

 meadows, along the sides of a stream 

 or by the shores of a pond or lake, 

 will be sure to introduce us to a number of 

 plants which will not be met with else- 

 where. The very nature of the soil 

 in which they grow helps to give a wealth 

 of bloom, and a goodly display of foliage, 

 and tends to make these water-side wild 

 gardens haunts of great joy and pleasure 

 to the lover of flowers. 



M.\RSH MARIGOLD 



Looking like a giant Buttercup, the 

 Marsh Marigold {Call ha palnstris) is to 

 be found in bloom in moist spots from 

 March to June. Though belonging to 

 the same family, it differs from the Butter- 

 cups in possessing no petals ; the large, 

 golden cups are really composed of five 

 coloured sepals. The stems are some- 

 what .stout, and the leaves are heart- 

 shaped at the base, of a very deep, glossy 

 green, and more or less round, increasing 

 in size after the flowering season is over. 

 In the centre of the golden cup, surrounded 

 by many bright yellow stamens, is a head 

 of carpels, which develop after fertilis- 



ation, each one bearing several seeds. 

 The name Caltha is derived from the 

 Greek Kalathos, signifying a cup. There 

 are many local names for this plant ; 

 among them may be mentioned King- 

 cup, Drunkards, Marybud, Meadow Bouts 

 (from the French hoiiton d'or). May Blob. 



W.\TER RANUNXULUS 



The surface of ponds in the spring is 

 often to be seen covered with the blossoms 

 of the httle Water Crowfoot, which 

 in shape and form will be noticed to 

 be the same as the Buttercup flower, 

 but with white petals instead of yellow. 

 On examination, the leaves of several 

 plants will be observ'ed to dift'cr consider- 

 ably ; the floating leaves arc. for the most 

 part, round or kidney-shaped, while those 

 on the submerged portions of the j^Iant 

 are cut into very flne, hair-like segments. 

 In one plant {Ranunculus hcdcracc-us) 

 these cut leaves are not to be found, for 

 it grows only in shallow water and on 

 mud banks ; but there arc so many 

 varieties of the kind that bear both form;> 

 of leaves that they may, for the beginner, 

 be classed under one heading, Raniinadiis 



