122 



BRITISH FLORA 



are spoon-shaped, rhomboidal, the upper stem- 

 leaves united below into a more or less rounded 

 blade. The flowers are in a raceme, more or less 

 whorled, white, with a few flowers at the base, 

 small. The petals are nearly or quite entire, a 

 little longer than the calyx. The capsule is round, 

 3-seeded. The seeds are black and round. The 

 plant is 4-12 in. high, flowering from April to 

 June, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Claytonia alsinoides, Sims ( = C. sibirica, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is stream-sides, waste 

 places, and the plant is local. The habit is as in 

 the last. The radical leaves are ovate with a 

 narrow point, the upper leaves are opposite, stalk- 

 less, rounded. The flowers are in a raceme, white 

 or rose, and usually solitary, more numerous and 

 larger than in the last. The petals are chiefly 

 divided into two nearly to the base. The plant is 

 6-15 in. in height, flowering between May and 

 August, and is a herbaceous annual or perennial. 



ORDER MALVACEAE 



Lavatcra sylvestris, Brot. ( = Z. cre/tra,L.). This 

 plant is found in waste places. The plant has an 

 erect or ascending habit. The stem is herbaceous, 

 hairy, rarely prostrate, and is like the Common 

 Mallow, but possesses a 3-lobed epicalyx or in- 

 volucre. The lower leaves are rounded to heart- 

 shaped, the upper 5-lobed, blunt below, the lobes 

 triangular, acute. The flower-stalks are axillary, 

 shorter than the leaf- stalks, i-flowered. The 

 flowers are rose-purple. The fruit is smooth on 

 a conical axis, with convex sides. The plant is 

 2-4 ft. high, flowering from June to August, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



Round-leaved Mallow (Malva rotundifolia, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is waste places. The 

 plant is prostrate in habit, downy. The stems are 

 numerous. The leaves are round (hence rotundi- 

 folia), kidney-shaped or heart-shaped, toothed, 

 with 5-7 obscure lobes, scalloped, long-stalked. 

 The stipules are ovate, acute. The flowers are 

 lilac or pale-rose colour, in groups, axillary, the 

 outer sepals linear to lance-shaped, shorter than 

 the inner, which are stellately hairy, and ovate to 

 narrow-pointed. The petals are 2 or 3 times as 

 long as the calyx. The flower-stalks are bent- 

 down. The fruit is downy. The carpels are 

 downy, with smooth, rounded margins, the "con- 

 tiguous sides straight. The plant is 6-18 in. in 

 height, flowering from June to September, and is 

 a herbaceous perennial. 



Malva -verticillata, L. This is an escape from 

 gardens, and a weed of cultivation or of waste 

 ground. It has very short flower-stalks. The 

 inner sepals are ovate to acute, accrescent. The 

 petals are little longer than the calyx. The carpels 

 are smooth, without hairs, the edges square. 



Small Mallow (Malva pusilla, W\th. = Jlf. bore- 

 alis, Wallm.). The habitat of this plant is waste 

 places. The stem is prostrate. The outer sepals 

 are as long as the inner, which are smooth but 

 fringed with hairs. The petals are scarcely longer 

 than the calyx. The adjacent carpels meet with 



a toothed edge, and are margined, netted, rugose, 

 with short hairs. The axis of the fruit is half as 

 long as in M. rotundifolia. The plant is 6-18 in. 

 in height, flowering from June to September, and 

 is a herbaceous annual. 



Malva parviftora, L. This is a weed of cultiva- 

 tion introduced with grain into this country. The 

 plant has short flower-stalks, and broadly ovate 

 to blunt-pointed, accrescent, inner sepals. The 

 petals are little longer than the calyx. The carpels 

 are hairy, transversely rugose, with distinctly 

 winged edges. 



ORDER LINAGES 



Common Flax (Linum usitatissimum, L.). 

 Flax is an escape from flax fields, and found in 

 waste places. The stem is branched above, 

 forming a corymb. The rootstock is i -stemmed. 

 The leaves are linear, lance -shaped, alternate. 

 The flowers are in broad cymes or corymbs, 

 numerous, blue. The sepals are ovate, pointed, 

 fringed with hairs, 3 -veined. The petals are 

 scalloped. The capsule is smooth within. The 

 plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering between July and 

 September, and is a herbaceous annual. 



ORDER GERANIACE^E 



Geranium striatum, L. (= G. versicolor, L.). 

 This is a colonist and a garden escape in shrub- 

 beries, or found on roadsides, &c., being rare. 

 The stem is hairy, erect. The petals are white 

 with purple veins, and the flower -stalks are 

 2 -flowered. It resembles G. nodosum, L. The 

 plant is 1-2 ft. high, flowering in July and August, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Musky Stork's Bill (Erodium moschatum, 

 L'Her.). The habitat of this plant is waste places. 

 The habit is prostrate. The stem is stout, hairy, 

 with spreading hairs. The leaves are pinnate, with 

 ovate, coarsely unequally toothed, nearly stalkless 

 segments, with deep, sharp, irregular teeth. The 

 stipules are broadly ovate, blunt. The flowers 

 are bluish-purple or pale rose, numerous on each 

 stalk. The perfect stamens are toothed below, 

 without hairs. The carpels are hairy, with a 

 glandular depression and a concentric furrow be- 

 low it. The beak is downy. The plant is 4 in. 

 to 2 ft. high, flowering between June and August, 

 and is a herbaceous annual. 



ORDER OXALIDACE/E 



Oxalis stricta, L. This is an alien found at 

 Penzance and Ilsington, in gardens and waste 

 places. The habit is like that of the last, but 

 erect, with numerous runners, and nearly smooth. 

 The leaves are imperfectly whorled. There are 

 small stipules, or they may be absent. The 

 flowers are yellow, in close terminal cymes, the 

 flower-stalks bearing 2-8 flowers, longer than the 

 leaves, the fruiting stalks spreading or erect. 

 The capsules are smooth. The plant is 6-18 in. 



