622 



THE NATURE BOOK 



right in the picture. This view was 

 taken by me at Sanclown, Isle ot Wight, 

 in August, 1906, the camera being pointed 

 eastward, and the storm moving from 

 north to south. 



The o\-erhanging nature of tlie front 

 of the storm-cloud is clearly discernible, 

 but the main lower part of the cloud 



was outside the field of view. In the 

 upper right-hand portion of the illustra- 

 tion, up to the edge of the overhanging 

 storm-cloud, light cirrus cloud and blue 

 sky were visible, but the former was too 

 delicate to be photographed with the 

 apparatus at my disposal. 



W. J. S. LOCKYER. 



HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS 



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

 With Photographs by HENRY IRVING 



THE FLOWERS OF THE CHALK DOWNS 



AND PASTURES 



A WALK on the downs will bring us into 

 touch with many flowers that will 

 invariably be found in such places ; 

 some of these will also be seen growing 

 elsewhere, but generally the down-land is 

 so poor, and has such a small depth of 

 soil, that the plants are frequently dwarfed 

 and half starved, and consequently may 

 not be recognised. This is not the case 

 everywhere, for some downs have greater 

 depth of soil and more moisture for the 

 plants to feed on, and under these con- 

 ditions they will then grow to the ordinary 

 size. 



For instance, I frequently come across 

 many specimens of the Field Scabious — 

 which generally grows between one and 

 three feet in height— certainly not more 

 than two inches high and with the 

 blossoms only half the usual size. In 

 the jmstures we do not find this dwarfing 

 to the same extent, and many of these are 

 rich hunting grounds, and produce several 

 interesting, and not very common, plants. 



THE DWARF PLUME THISTLE 



In finding a resting place on the downs 

 one has to be very careful sometimes in 

 selecting a spot whereon to sit, for the 

 Dwarf Plume Thistle {Carduus acanlis) 

 has a habit of spreading its very prickly 

 leaves so that it covers a great deal of 



ground. This thistle is easily dis- 

 tinguished by the lack of stem, its spread- 

 ing rosette of very prickly, pinnate leaves, 

 in the middle of which appears a rather 

 large, purple flower head. All the Thistles 

 belong to the family of Composite plants 

 {Compositce) ; the flower heads are a 

 collection of florets, all of which are 

 tubular in shape. These are succeeded 

 in the late summer and early autumn 

 by masses of white, feathery down. This 

 l')lant is not found in the north of Eng- 

 land ; it flowers from July to September. 



THE CARLINE THISTLE 



The Carline Thistle (Carlina vulgaris) 

 is not by any means confined to the chalk 

 downs, although it is generally to be 

 found growing thereon, and for this 

 reason it is included in this section. All 

 the Thistles bear ])urple florets, but this 

 one possesses so many yellow bristles 

 that the purple colour is not so noticeable ; 

 this characteristic will make it easy for 

 anyone to recognise it. The whole plant 

 is generally about six or eight inches 

 high, but, on the downs, it is very often 

 quite dwarfed, and not more than one or 

 two inches in height. The lower leaves 

 are narrow, spread flat on the ground, and 

 covered on tiie under sides with white, 

 cottony wool ; the upper ones are broader 



