206 



THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



THE VEGETATION OF COMMONS 



To turn now to our commons. Lists made of plants growing 

 on commons in Gloucestershire show that the most abundant 

 are : Thistles, Colt's-Foot, Ragwort, Bird's-Foot Trefoil, Scabious 



Cinquefoil, Tormentilla, Harebell. 

 The Colt's-Foot is one of the first to 

 flower; it may be seen in waste 

 places, on railway banks, on stony 

 bits of commons as early as February. 

 Its yellow ray florets make it con- 

 spicuous, and attract any insects that 

 are about. The nectary of the inner 

 florets can be seen through the corolla 

 tube by holding up a floret against 

 the light ; it is at the base of the 

 style, and looks a darker yellow than 

 the rest. In this plant there is a 

 division of labour: the ray florets 

 attract insects, the inner ones pro- 

 vide the nectar. The leaves of the 

 Coifs-Foot come out long after the 

 flowers and are very large, some- 

 times -five or six inches across. They 

 are very downy underneath and rather 

 prickly at the edges ; their hairiness 

 adapts them to dry situations. There 

 are many species of Thistles. One of 

 the most abundant on commons is the 

 Dwarf Thistle, which has hardly any 

 stem. The Spear Thistle may also 

 be easily recognised by the terminal 

 lobe of the leaf, which is longer 

 than the other lobes and shaped 

 like a spear. Amongst rosaceous plants may be mentioned the 

 Salad Burnet and the Potentillas. The former has its flowers 

 crowded together in a head ; the staminate ones are distinct from 

 the pistillate. Neither has petals. In the staminate the anthers 



FIG. 66. Tormentilla (Potentilla 

 Tormentilla). 



