282 



THE NATURE BOOK 



reaching a height of three feet ; it begins 

 to flower early in the summer and con- 

 tinues till late in the autumn. Each petal 

 will be found to have a small j^ellow scale 

 at the base, and the leaves are much cut 



GERMANDER SPEEDWELL. 



into segments, but the general form of the 

 leaf is a rounded one, and the flowering 

 stems are quite smooth, not furrowecl 

 as in the Creeping Buttercu]). This plant 

 is the Crowfoot that is so liated by 

 dairy farmers ; its juice is very acrid 

 and is said to produce blisters, which may 

 account for the cattle disliking it so 

 much. It is found in very large numbers 

 growing in pastures, and it is very diffi- 

 cult to eradicate. The Buttercups are 

 visited by a great many different kinds of 

 insects, which, attracted by the bright, 

 golden blossoms, come to search for the 

 honey secreted at the base of the jK-tals ; 



the pollen from the ripe anthers dust their 

 abdomens, and in this manner it is con- 

 veyed from flower to flower. If a bud 

 of the Common Buttercup be examined, 

 it will be seen that insect visitors are kept 

 from intruding and steahng the 

 honey before the stamens are 

 ripe by a fringe of hairs on the 

 calyx. In wet weather the pollen 

 is protected from the rain by the 

 closing of the blossom and the 

 curling of the stem ; this latter 

 making the flower hang with its 

 head downwards. 



BUGLE 



A ])lant which is often to be 

 found in pastures, but which 

 grows also in moist woods and 

 hedgerows, is the Bugle {Ajiiga 

 reptans). The two-hpped corolla 

 will at once place it among the 

 Lahiatcc, in the same family as 

 the Dead-Netties, Wood-Sage and 

 Ground Ivy ; the upper lip, how- 

 ever, is very small, but the flower 

 is more or less protected from 

 the wet by being placed under 

 the leafy bract of the flower just 

 above it. The whole plant grows 

 from three to twelve inches high, 

 according to its position ; it is 

 almost free from hairs ; the leaves 

 are quite simple and arranged in 

 pairs, as is the case with all the 

 members of this big famil}'. The 

 rootstock creeps along, sending 

 forth here and there an erect 

 flowering stem ; the flowers are 

 borne in clusters round the stem 

 {i.e.. in a whorl), in the axils of 

 the leaves -the general colour is blue, 

 but sometimes they may be found pink 

 or white. The j^lant is in blossom from 

 early in April to the end of June, and 

 thri\-es best in damp spots. The name 

 Bugle is said to come from a Latin word 

 referring to a small glass pipe, which 

 was used in feminine head-gear in the 

 Middle Ages, and which the blossoms of 

 this ])lant more or less resemble. 



SPEED\VKLL 



Several sorts of Speedwell, or Bird's 

 Eye, will be found growing by the wayside, 

 in pastures, and in all kinds of waste 



