132 



BRITISH FLORA 



minal, oblique space. The plant is in flower 

 from May to September, and is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Lamium hybridum, Vill. ( = L. tncisum, VVilld. = 

 L. dissectum, With.). The habitat of this species is 

 cultivated and waste ground. This plant has been 

 considered a sub-species of L. purpureum, from 

 which it differs in the more deeply scalloped leaves, 

 and bracts wedge-shaped below, and erect calyx- 

 teeth, shorter corolla-tube with a scarcely percep- 

 tible ring of hairs. The leaves are stalked, heart- 

 shaped, cut to toothed, the upper broadly ovate, 

 crowded, the upper wedge-shaped below. The 

 flowers are reddish, the whorls touching. The 

 calyx-teeth are as long as, or longer than the tube, 

 spreading. The corolla-tube is straight, naked 

 within, equal, cylindrical, with a faint ring of hairs. 

 The nutlets are smooth. The plant is 4-18 in. 

 high, flowering from April to October, and is a 

 herbaceous annual. 



Henbit Dead-nettle (Lamium amplexicaule, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is waste sandy places. 

 It is a weed of cultivated and waste ground. 

 Dry places, sandy and chalky fields are also the 

 habitat of this species. The habit is erect. The 

 stems are branched from the base. The plant is 

 hairy or smooth. The leaves are small, stalked, 

 rounded, cut, scalloped, in distant whorls, the 

 lower ones long-stalked, lobed, the base rounded 

 or heart-shaped, wrinkled, the upper stalkless, 

 clasping (hence amplexicaule). The flowers are 

 purplish-red, the lower in distant whorls. The 

 bracts are stalkless, broader than long, the bases 

 overlapping. The calyx-teeth meet in fruit, and 

 are as long as the tube, or longer, green. The 

 corolla is long, slender, sometimes imperfect, 

 straight, downy, very slender, with no hairs within. 

 The nutlets are small, smooth, three times as long 

 as broad. The plant is 4-12 in. high, flowering 

 from May to August, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Variegated Dead-nettle (Lamium maculatum, 

 L. = L. IcEvigatum, Sm.). This species is found in 

 waste places near gardens, in which it is much 

 cultivated. The plant is allied to L. album, but 

 differs in the calyx and corolla, and has fewer 

 rarely white flowers. The stem is hairy or smooth. 

 The leaves are heart-shaped to ovate, narrow- 

 pointed, deeply toothed, scalloped, all stalked, 

 marked with white or green, triangular to heart- 

 shaped, wrinkled, hairy or downy. The flowers 

 are purple, with transverse hairs in the curved 

 equal corolla-tube, narrowed below, enlarged in 

 the throat. The calyx-teeth are broad, bent-back 

 as long as the tube, which is oblique, or longer. 

 The corolla exceeds the calyx. The anthers are 

 hairy. The plant is 6-18 in. high, flowering from 

 May to September, and is a herbaceous peren- 

 nial. 



Ballota ruderalis, Sm. The habitat of this 

 species is waste places. The plant has an agree- 

 able scent. The calyx - teeth are lance - shaped, 

 gradually acuminate, erect. The plant is softly 

 hairy. In other respects it resembles the last. It 

 is 2-3 ft. high, flowering in July and August, and 

 is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER PLANTAGINACE/E 



Plantain Ribgrass (Plantago major, L.). The 

 habitat of this plant is pastures, waste places. 

 The plant has the rosette habit. The rootstock is 

 stout, blunt. The plant is smooth or hairy. The 

 leaves are radical, stalked, oblong, ovate, toothed, 

 3-7 ribbed, the stalks broad, short, channelled, 

 long, ascending. The scape is as long as the 

 leaves, short, not furrowed. The flowers are in 

 a slender, long spike, longer than the scape, which 

 is round, with ovate bracts, keeled, as long as the 

 calyx. The sepals are free, and have a blunt, 

 well-marked dorsal rib, and have membranous 

 borders. The corolla-tube is smooth. The anthers 

 are purple, on short stalks. The capsule is 2- 

 celled, with 8-16 seeds. The seeds are flat in 

 front, black, rough, mucilaginous externally. The 

 plant is 2-9 in. high, or more, flowering from May 

 to September, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER AMARANTHACE^: 



Amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus, L.). The 

 habitat of this plant is waste ground. The habit 

 is erect. The stem is stout, hairy, downy. The 

 leaves are oval, stalked. The flowers are in 

 terminal, large, dense, compound or axillary spikes, 

 the upper grouped in large, dense, terminal spikes. 

 The bracts are awl-like, longer than the calyx. 

 The flowers are 5-lobed. There are 5 stamens. 

 The plant is 1-2 ft. in height, flowering from July 

 to September, and is a herbaceous annual. 



Amaranthus Blitum, L. The habitat of this 

 plant is waste places near towns. The habit is 

 prostrate. The stem is smooth, spreading. The 

 leaves are oblong, ovate, long -stalked. The 

 flowers are 3-fid, very small, in small, axillary, 

 lateral clusters, the upper in a small, naked spike. 

 There are 3 stamens. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, 

 flowering from July to September, and is a herb- 

 aceous annual. 



ORDER CHENOPODIACE^ 



Stinking Goosefoot (Chenopodium Vul-varia, L. 

 = C. olidum, Curt.). The habitat of this plant is 

 roadsides, and dry waste places near houses. It 

 is possibly native on shores and pebbly beaches 

 in the S. of England and Guernsey. The habit is 

 erect or ascending. The plant is mealy, covered 

 with a greasy powder, and foetid, spreading. The 

 branches are opposite, spreading. The leaves are 

 rhombic, ovate, triangular, mealy, entire, stalked, 

 acute, greyish-green. The leaf-stalk is as long as 

 the leaves, or less. The flowers are in small, dense, 

 leafless spikes, which are terminal and axillary. 

 The outer perianth-segments are not keeled, and 

 cover the utricle. The parts of the flower are in 

 fives. The seeds are black, shining, rough, with 

 small dots. The plant is 6-18 in. high, flowering 

 from July to September, and is a herbaceous 

 annual. 



Allseed Goosefoot (Chenopodium polyspermum, 

 L.). The habitat of this plant is cultivated ground 



