So 



THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



Fumitory is characteristic of cornfields, and is easily recognised 

 by the very delicate leaves and irregular, curiously formed pink 



flowers, tipped with purple. The leaf- 

 stalks act the part of tendrils, and coil 

 round the stems of adjacent plants. 

 Each flower has two sepals, which soon 

 fall off. There are four petals, the 

 upper one being prolonged into a spur, 

 the two inner ones being joined to- 

 gether at the tip. The six stamens are 

 arranged in two bundles of three each. 

 Geranium molle has downy leaves and 

 small pink flowers with deeply notched 

 petals ; the flower-stalks are shorter 

 than the leaves, and each bears two 

 flowers. 



Many leguminous plants do not 

 grow well on sandy soils ; Lupins and 

 Gorse are exceptions. The barren 

 sandy heaths of East Prussia have 

 been reclaimed and rendered fit for 

 cultivation by growing Lupins and 

 ploughing in the green crop. At the Royal Agricultural 

 Society's farm at Woburn the experiments made with Gorse 

 on the coarse sandy soil seem to show that it might become a 

 valuable fodder crop. In ecological work, the presence of Gorse 

 may almost invariably be taken as indicative of a sandy layer 

 of soil, even where the underlying geological layer is of a different 

 character. Amongst crops, Potatoes and Carrots are best 

 adapted for sandy soils, provided sufficient manure is given. The 

 most common weeds of these soils are the Poppy, the Spurreys, 

 and the Cornflower. The bright scarlet blossoms of the Poppy, 

 the blue Cornflowers, and the pink Sand-Spurrey form a striking 

 contrast to the yellow Corn. There are two species of Poppy : 

 the Common Field Poppy (Papaver Rhceas} has flowers of a deeper 

 colour than those of the long-headed species (P. dubium) ; but 

 the chief difference is in the fruit, which is much shorter and 

 stouter than that of P. dubium. The unfolding of the petals, 



FIG. 34. Fumitory (Fumaria 

 officinalis). 



