WOODS AND COPSES 



43 



follicles (3-5) cylindrical, beaked, and many-seeded, 

 the seeds black, triangular, wrinkled. The plant 

 is 1-2 ft. in height, flowering in June and July, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Baneberry (Act&a spicata^ L.). The habitat of 

 this species is woods, mountainous pastures, moun- 

 tainous limestone tracts, calcareous woods, copses 

 on limestone. The habit is erect. The stem is 

 simple or branched. The radical leaves are on 

 long stalks, 2-3 ternate, with lobes each side of 

 a common stalk, the leaflets smooth, egg-shaped, 

 3-lobed, with a long point, coarsely toothed. The 

 flowers are white, in a long simple raceme, the 

 sepals petaloid, blunt, falling, the petals small, 

 as long as the stamens. The flower-stalks are 

 downy. The anther-stalks are swollen above. 

 The berries are black, egg-shaped, many-seeded. 

 The plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering in May and 

 June, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER BERBERIDACE^: 



Barren Wort (Epimedhim alpinum, L.). This 

 plant is found in plantations, rock -works, old 

 castle gardens, and subalpine woods in which it 

 has been planted. The habit is prostrate or erect. 

 The stem produces rhizomes bearing stems and 

 leaves. The stem-leaves are twice-ternate, the 

 leaflets egg-shaped, heart-shaped, toothed. The 

 flowers are red, in a short panicle, less than the 

 leaves, as if growing from the leaf-stalk. The 

 4 sepals fall, and there are 4 petals. The 4 nec- 

 taries are cup-shaped. There are 4 stamens. 

 The capsule is a pod, with numerous seeds. The 

 plant is 6-18 in. in height, flowering in June and 

 July, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER FCMARIACE^E 



White Climbing Fumitory (Corydalis clavi- 

 culata, D.C.). The habitat of this plant is 

 thickets, heaths, copses, banks, thatched roofs, 

 stony places, trees, or damp and loose soil in 

 shady places. It has a climbing habit, inter- 

 mediate between a leaf- climber and a tendril- 

 climber, the leaves ending in branched tendrils. 

 The stem is slender and brittle. The leaves are 

 bluish-green, with lobes each side of a common 

 stalk, ternate, the leaflets entire, elliptic, 3-5- 

 lobed, with small egg-shaped segments. The 

 leaf-stalk bears tendrils. The bracts are oblong, 

 with a blunt point, longer than the flower-stalks. 

 The small flowers are white or cream-coloured, 

 with a very short spur. The pods are linear, 

 oblong, the seeds small, granulate, shining. The 

 plant is a climber, flowering between June and 

 September, and is either annual, biennial, or 

 perennial. 



ORDER CRUCIFER^E 



Mountain Bitter Cress (Cardamine impatiens, 

 L.) The habitat of this plant is woods, shady 

 copses, talus slopes, rocks, hilly districts, prefer- 

 ably on limestone. The habit is as in the last, 

 but the stem smooth, more leafy, and branched. 



The rootstock is spindle-shaped. The leaves have 

 lobes each side of a common stalk, the leaflets 

 stalked, lance-shaped, with narrow, sharp divi- 

 sions, the lower egg-shaped, 3-lobed, the upper 

 oblong, lance-shaped. The leaf-stalks have bent- 

 back, arrow-shaped lobes at the base, fringed 

 with hairs. The flowers are white (\ in.), in a 

 panicle, the petals erect, linear, egg-shaped. The 

 anthers are yellow, and the style is slender. The 

 pods are shortly stalked and erect, with many 

 seeds. The plant is 9-24 in. in height, flowering 

 between June and September, and is annual or 

 biennial, and herbaceous. 



Coral Root (Dentaria bulbifera, L.). The habi- 

 tat of this plant is woods, copses, and shady 

 places. The thick rootstock is white, hence the 

 English name, scaly, and creeping, the knobs 

 tooth-like. The stem is erect, simple, leafless below. 

 The lower leaves have lobes each side of a common 

 stalk, the leaflets lance-shaped ; the upper simple, 

 entire, alternate, with bulbils in the axils (hence 

 the Latin specific name), the margin sometimes 

 toothed, or fringed with hairs. The flowers are 

 large, rose-colour or purple, lilac or white. The 

 flower-stalk is slender. The pods are erect. 

 Seed is rarely matured. The plant is 1-2 ft. 

 high, and flowers in April and May, being a 

 herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER VIOLACE^E 



Dog Violet (Viola sylvestris, Kit. = reichen- 

 bachtana, Jord.). The habitat of this plant is 

 woods and shady places, hedgebanks, and thickets. 

 The habit is diffuse, the stem short without a true 

 sobole. The leaves are prolonged, heart-shaped, 

 dark-green. The flowers are small, pale-violet, 

 with a long spur flattened, slender, entire, darker 

 than the petals, not furrowed. The petals are 

 oblong, lilac, narrow, the lower with few parallel 

 nearly simple veins not reaching the margin. The 

 calyx segments are small, indistinct, and hardly 

 produced in fruit. The anther spurs are lance- 

 shaped, narrow. The flowering branches are in 

 the axils, with a central rosette of leaves. The 

 stigma is hooked with a horizontal beak. The 

 fruit-stalks are erect. The plant is 2-6 in. in 

 height. It is in flower between March and 

 August, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Wood Violet ( Viola Riviniana, Reichb. = 

 sylvalica, Fries). The habitat of this plant is 

 copses, woods, thickets, hedgebanks, and heaths. 

 The habit is similar to that of the last. The stem 

 is short, branched, smooth, with a very short 

 rootstock below. The leaves form a rosette. 

 They are heart-shaped, prolonged. The flowering 

 stems are in the axils. The flowers are violet- 

 blue, with broadly egg-shaped petals, handsome, 

 large, the spur broad and short, pale, flattened, 

 furrowed. The lower petal has many branched 

 veins reaching the margin. The sepals are pro- 

 duced at the base in fruit. The capsule is smooth, 

 3-angled. The plant is 2-6 in. in height, and 

 flowers in April up till September, and is a herba- 

 ceous perennial. 



