88 WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
opening when ripe along the inner edge. Stem 2-4 feet high, erect, furrowed, purplish ; leaves 
large, divided to the midrib into 5-9 pairs of unequal toothed leaflets and one very large terminal 
lobed leaflet (lyrately-imparipinnate), all usually white underneath ; stipules broad and toothed. 
Sweet-scented. [ Plate 42. 
Very common. Damp meadows, and by the side of water. June — August. Perennial. 
Drop wort. (Spiraea Filipendula, Linn.)— A similar plant to the last with larger and 
fewer flowers, often tipped with red; fruit of 6-12 downy, straight, dry follicles ; stem 1-2 feet 
high ; and leaves with many more and much smaller and narrower leaflets. Root with oblong 
tubers. 
Not uncommon. Dry pastures, especially on chalk. June — July. Perennial. 
LADY’S MANTLE. (ALCHEMILLA, LINN.) — Flowers minute, greenish, without petals, in 
terminal clusters. Sepals 4, united into a tube and separating into 4 broad teeth, with an outer row 
of 4 narrow bracts (epicalyx) ; petals o ; stamens 4 or fewer, inserted in the throat of the calyx- 
tube ; carpels 1-4, not united (free). Fruit of 1-4 achenes enclosed in the calyx-tube, small, dry, 
1 -seeded fruits which decay to free the seeds (indehiscent). Small herbs, with undivided (simple), 
round, more or less lobed, toothed leaves and leaf-like (foliaceous) stipules. 
Field Lady’s Mantle, Parsley-Piert. (Alchemilla arvensis, Seop.)— Flowers minute, 
green, in small, dense, stalkless clusters, opposite to and hidden by the leaves. Sepals 4 ; bracts 
4 ; petals o ; stamens generally only 1 or 2 with pollen. Fruit of 1 or 2 achenes enclosed in the 
calyx-tube. Stems generally only from 1-3 inches high, sometimes as much as 8 inches, prostrate ; 
the leaves on short stalks, small, round, lobed into 3 toothed segments ; the stipules leafy, and lobed. 
Very common. Cultivated fields, waste places. May — July. Annual. 
Common Lady’s Mantle. (Alchemilla vulgaris, Linn.)— Flowers £ inch across, 
stalked, greenish-yellow, in loose branching clusters (cymes). Sepals 4 ; bracts 4 ; petals o ; 
stamens generally 4, with pollen ; carpels 4 ; fruit of generally 4 achenes, enclosed in the calyx- 
tube. Stems 3-18 inches high, woody; leaves of the root large, roundly kidney-shaped (reniform), 
7- to 9-lobed, toothed (serrated), plaited, on long stalks ; leaves of the stem shortly stalked, and 
5- to 7-lobed ; the leafy stipules large, toothed, and green. \Plate 42. 
Common. Meadows and pastures. June — July. Perennial. 
Alpine Lady’s Mantle. (Alchemilla alpina, Linn.) — A very similar plant only 
3-9 inches high, with leaves lobed to the base, lustrously white and shiny. 
Rare. Scotch mountains. June — August. Perennial. 
Silver Lady’s Mantle. v Alchemilla argentea, Lam.)— A closely allied species, with 
leaves larger, nearly round, joined at the base, so that the stalk appears to be inserted under the 
leaf (peltate). 
Very rare. North of Scotland. June — July. Perennial. 
AGRIMONY. (AGRIMONIA, LINN.) — Flowers small, yellow, in terminal spike-like clusters 
(racemes). Sepals 5, uniting into a bell-shaped tube, and separating into 5 teeth, remaining with 
the fruit (persistent) and then being covered with hooked bristles ; petals 5, inserted in the throat 
of the calyx-tube; stamens 12-20, inserted with the petals; carpels usually 2, not united (free). 
Fruit of usually 2 achenes, small, dry, 1 -seeded fruits which decay to free the seed, enclosed 
within the spinous calyx-tube. Herbs with leaves divided to the midrib into several pairs of 
toothed leaflets, with one terminal leaflet (imparipinnate), and leaf-like (foliaceous) stipules. 
Common Agrimony. (Agrimonia Eupatoria, Linn.) — Flowers f inch across, bright 
lemon-yellow, shortly-stalked, in long, tapering, spike-like clusters (racemes). Sepals 5, hairy, and 
