Clover-Seed and its Impurities. 
441 
This plant has a 
and spreading stem, 
elongated fruit-cap- 
Fig. 14. Spergula arvensis, Linn. 
Spurrey. 
This 
ff 
Fig. 15. ScUranthus 
annuus, Linn. 
Knawel. 
surrounded by a pale membranous border 
small, tapering root, and a much-branched 
It produces its small white" flowers and 
sules from June to August. Each 
capsule contains a large number of 
small seeds. The seeds of the Catch- 
fly (Silene iwflata, Sm.) are also some- 
times found ; they resemble those of the 
Mouse-eared Chickweed, but are longer, 
and elegantly marked with lines of 
elevated points. 
The seeds of Knawel (Scleranthus an- 
nuus, Linn., Fig. 15) are oval, compressed and smooth 
plant is a small annual, with a slender, tapering, 
branched root, a slender stem, bearing minute 
green flowers. It may be found in June and July 
in corn-fields and waste places. 
The ovate, smooth, and even seeds of a Crane's- 
bill (Geranium molle, Linn., or Geranium pusillum, 
Linn., Fig. 16), are sometimes mixed with clover. 
These plants are found in pastures and waste 
places, and are in flower during the summer months. They 
have tapering roots, spreading stems swollen 
at the joints, and round lobed leaves. 
Occasionally the spiny seeds, or rather 
fruits, of the wild Carrot (Daucus Carota, 
Linn.) occur in considerable numbers in 
clover. This umbelliferous weed is common 
in pastures ; it has a slender, tapering, yel- 
lowish root, and resembles the well-known cultivated plant. 
The black, shagreened fruits of the white Bed-straw (Galium 
Mollugo, Linn.) are also met with, 
(Fig. 17). This plant is a common 
perennial found in the hedges of 
fields and in copses. It has a stem 
two to four feet high, with whorls 
of six or eight leaves, and clusters 
of white flowers. 
Sometimes in considerable quantity may be found the seeds 
of a Corn-salad (Valerianella dentata, Poll.) — 
a common weed in corn-fields (Fig. 18). It 
is a small annual with an erect branching 
stem and flesh-coloured flowers, which appear 
between June and August. 
Of composite plants, one meets with the 
seeds, or rather fruits, of Knap- weed (Cen- 
Fig. 16. Geranium pusil- 
lum, Linn. Crane's-bill. 
17. Galium Mollugo, Linn. 
Bed-straw. 
White 
Fig. IS. Valerianella den- 
tata, Poll. Corn-salad. 
2 h 2 
