164 THE OPEN BOOK OF NATURE 
Greater Gelandine belongs to the Poppy tribe. It 
has a nasty, poisonous juice, which, however, is 
said to remove warts. The flowers of this plant 
are yellow, and very small when compared with 
those of other members of the Poppy tribe. The 
juice is orange-coloured. I am sorry there are no 
specimens of this plant at hand, but I thought I 
would give you some idea of the difference between 
the two Celandines. 
On the hedge-bank, pushing its way through the 
grass and thrusting its snow-white flowers to the 
fore, is the Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria Holostea). 
It has narrow, tapering leaves of a delicate green 
hue. Its five petals are each deeply cleft, making 
them appear to be ten in number. It is as lovely 
a flower as one could desire to see. It belongs to 
the Natural Order Caryophyllacez, is a cousin of the 
Campions, and a member of the Pink tribe. The 
Lesser Stitchwort (Stellaria graminea) is not nearly 
so conspicuous as its big brother, and it flowers 
later. I have seen it in excellent bloom at the end 
of September, although it begins to flower about 
June. Its petals are hardly longer than the sepals, 
and each petal is very deeply cleft. 
Now, I wonder if either of you can point out the 
third flower I have in view? Yes, that is it: the 
little bright blue flower that is always pleasing to 
the eye. What do you call it, Victor? “ Cat’s- 
eye.” What’s your name for it, Howard? You 
have heard it called Bird’s-eye or Speedwell ? 
Well, you have pretty nearly hit the mark. It is the 
Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamedrys). The 
racemes of charming blue flowers rise from the axils 
