134 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



a little more observation and sense than many of the names 

 bestowed by country folk on the plants around them. 



The corn crowfoot is an annual ; it flowers during May, 

 June, and July, and its seeds ripen soon after. It is one 

 of those plants that, from the length of their flowering 

 duration, may be found in all stages simultaneously ; the 

 opening bud, the fully-expanded flower, and the ripened 

 seed may all be seen at the same time. The roots of the 

 corn crowfoot are simple and fibrous, so that the plant 

 could easily be eradicated ; but the shattered seed readily 

 vegetates, and the next season sees the plant in as full 

 possession of the ground as ever. The stems of the plant 

 are in general direction upright, a foot or so in height, 

 and rather freely branching or forking. Before flowering 

 the branches are somewhat nodding, but become rigid and 

 erect afterwards. The general colour of the stems is a 

 pale green, but near the joints they are often empurpled. 

 The whole plant is smooth in texture. The leaves are 

 mostly alternate in arrangement on the stems, though 

 some of the upper ones are opposite ; the upper leaves are 

 on short stalks, the lower ones on longer ones. The forms 

 of the leaves, too, vary according to their position on the 

 plant, for while all are deeply cut into narrow segments, the 

 upper ones show this in a still more marked degree than 

 those near the base of the plant. On a closer examination 

 of any of the leaves, they will be found to consist of three 

 plainly-marked divisions, and these again are each more or 

 less cut up into finer strap-like parts. Except for the 

 colour, the general effect of the foliage is not unlike some 

 of our common species of sea-weed. The leaves have not 

 the rich clear green tint we ordinarily associate with vege- 

 tation, but are dull in colour, " resembling/-' as Gerarde 



