'02 



THE NATURE BOOK 



WHITE DEAD-NETTLE. 



this arrangement provides a hollow space 

 into which the pollen falls. When a bee 

 visits the flower, its head comes in con- 

 tact with the pistil, and moves it, so that 

 the pollen falls clown on to the bee's head, 

 and on its visit to the next flower is 

 brought on to the stigma. 



The Violet pollen is much drier than 

 that of most flowers, so that it readily 

 falls from the anthers into the hollow 

 space referred to. 



dog's mercury 

 The Dog's Mercury (Mercnrialis peren- 

 nis) is to be found abundantly every- 

 where. It flowers in the early spring, 

 and the blossoms appear before the leaves 

 are fully expanded. It is not a herb that 

 attracts very much attention or admira- 

 tion ; the whole plant, flowers and all, 

 is green, and grows about a foot high. 



The male and female 

 blooms are borne on dif- 

 ferent plants, thus entirely 

 preventing self-fertihsation, 

 and the male flowers are 

 arranged in little clusters, 

 but the females singly or, 

 at the most, two together. 

 One of the most interest- 

 ing points to be noticed 

 is the manner in which 

 the leaf bud is protected ; 

 the young stems are bent 

 over so that they can 

 readily push their way 

 through dead leaves, moss, 

 and other such obstacles, 

 and each leaf is rolled in- 

 wards in such a way that 

 the rough midrib is upper- 

 most and protects the deli- 

 cate green tissue. 



The name Mercury is 

 derived from the god of 

 that name and refers to 

 the poisonous properties of 

 the plant, whilst the prefix 

 " Dog's " is a term apphed 

 to worthlessness. 



THE GREATER CELAXDIN'E 



The Greater Celandine 

 {Chelidomitm majus) has 

 already been mentioned 

 (p. 17) as being quite dis- 

 tinct from the Lesser Celandine {Ranun- 

 culus ficaria). and if the two plants are put 

 side by side it will be readily seen that they 

 are very dissimilar except in name. The 

 Greater Celandine begins to flower about 

 ^lay and continues, more or less, through- 

 out the summer : the fact that it has two 

 sepals and four petals proclaim it to be 

 one of the Poppy family. The stem 

 grows sometimes as much as two feet in 

 height, and secretes a very acrid, poison- 

 ous, yellow juice, which, at one time, was 

 used for \-arious medical purposes ; the 

 leaves are light green on the upper sur- 

 face, and ])]uish green l)enealh. The 

 photograph shows clearly how the leaves 

 are divided up into segments. The flowers 

 are small and bright yellow, and from 

 three to six of them are arranged on short 

 stalks, which all spring from the same 

 point. 



