Clover-Seed and its Impurities. 
443 
Fig. 23. Mi/osutis 
ariensis, ilufl'm. 
Scorpion grass. 
Fig. 21. Prunella vul- 
garis, Linn. 
Self-heal. 
are not 
common 
25) 
its 
Fig. 25. Anagallis arven- 
sis, Linn. Pimpernel. 
runners, by which it is multiplied as well as by the seed. The 
purplish, sometimes white, flowers are produced in dense 
terminal heads, surrounded by 
leaves. The flowers appear in 
summer and autumn, and the 
plant is common in pastures and 
waste places. 
The small angular seeds of 
the Pimpernel, or Poor -man's 
Weather-glass (Anagallis arvensis, Linn., Fig. 
uncommon. This is a familiar plant, deriving 
name from its closing its flowers on the ap- 
proach of rain. It has a branched and 
spreading stem, with a small root of branched 
fibres. Its small red flowers are produced 
all through the summer, as well as the small 
pea-shaped capsule, which bursts transversely into two hemi- 
spheres and exposes a large number of small peltate seeds 
arranged round a central knob. 
The seeds, or rather fruits, of the two Sorrels are often 
abundant in clover, and especially those of the Sheep's Sorrel 
(Rumex Acetosella, Linn.). The fruits are small and acutely 
triangled, and of a dark,, shining, brown colour (Fig. 26). 
The plant is perennial, with a slender, fibrous, 
creeping root-stock. The stem is from three to 
twenty inches high ; it flowers in summer, and 
after flowering the whole plant changes its colour 
into a deep red or crimson. The seeds of the 
Common Sorrel (Rumex Acetosa, Linn.) resemble 
those of the Sheep's Sorrel, except that they are 
more acutely pointed at the ends (Fig. 27). 
The small, roundish, somewhat kidney-shaped seeds of the 
white Goose-foot (Chenopodium album, Linn.) 
(Fig. 28) are also found in clover. They 
are almost black, smooth, shining, and very 
finely dotted ; they are generally enclosed 
in a pale thin membrane. This is a very 
variable annual weed, with a branched 
fibrous root, and a stem from one to three 
feet high. The whole plant is covered with a white mealiness 
which gives to it a soft unctuous feel. It 
flowers in July, August, and September, 
and is common on cultivated grounds. 
The seeds now figured and described 
are all small. They require some care and 
experience in separating them. But an 
Fig. 26. Rumex Aceto- 
sella, Linn. 
Sheep's SorreL 
Rumex Acetosa, 
Common Sorrel. 
Fig. 28. Chcnopodium album, 
Linn. Goose-foot. 
