146 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



lilac colour. Both species flower in the autumn, and will 

 be found in very similar situations, though the devilVbk, 

 as far as our experience goes, will ordinarily be found in 

 the open meadow-ground, or on the breezy upland, while 

 the other species is more a plant of the hedgerows. 



The root of the species now illustrated is, when fully 

 grown, nearly the thickness of one's finger, and ends in so 

 abrupt a way as almost to suggest the idea that it had been 

 snapped or bitten off, a peculiarity that has given it a place 

 in monkish legend, as we shall presently see. From this 

 short and thick root-stock proceed many long white fibrous 

 roots. In the first year of the plant's existence, the root is 

 very like a diminutive carrot or radish in shape. It then 

 becomes woody and dies away, the upper part excepted ; 

 as it decays and falls away, the gnawed or broken look 

 results. The portion left throws out numerous lateral roots, 

 and these compensate for the portion that has perished. 

 The stalks are from a foot to a foot and a half high, nearly 

 or quite upright, and very slightly branching. They are 

 often more or less clothed with rough hairs, giving them a 

 somewhat downy surface. The leaves vary in form, 

 according to their position on the plant, but all are clothed 

 with eoarse hairs, and have a rough feeling to the touch. 

 The leaves at the base of the plant are oval or rounded, 

 running a little way down the short stems on which they 

 are borne. They are what is botanically termed entire- or, 

 in other words, their outline is a simple continuous line, 

 without any of the notching or toothing that is so familiar 

 a feature to us in many kinds of foliage. The upper leaves 

 are few in number, without stalks, much longer in propor- 

 tion to their breadth, and often sparingly toothed or lobed. 

 They grow in pairs on the stem, and have their bases 



