Wayside and Woodland Blossoms. Step Edward

does; but often when he sees a Hawkbit he believes it to be a Dandelion. We may not like to find the Dandelion taking possession of our lawn, but we should regret to miss it from the odd corners by the fence and the roadside. It is a flower of three seasons, for it blooms continuously from March to October, and it is no unusual thing to see its golden flower in winter.

This is a Composite flower, like the Daisy, but whereas the Daisy head was seen to be made up of a host of tubular flowers, with a single outer row of ligulate, or strap-shaped ones, those of the Dandelion are all ligulate. It therefore stands as a representative of the second series of Composite genera. The plant has no proper stem, the leaves springing directly from the long, thick root. From their midst arise the flower-heads on their hollow stalks. The floral envelope (involucre) consists of a double row of scales (bracts), the inner long, the outer shorter. The outer are turned back and clasp the stalk, the inner erect. Take off a single floret and examine with a lens. It will be seen that each is a perfect flower, containing both anthers and stigmas. The ovary is crowned by the corolla, which is invested by a pappus of soft white silky hairs. Within the corolla the five anthers unite to form a tube, in which is the style, which divides above into two stigmas. After fertilization the corollas wither, the inner bracts closing over them while the fruits grow. Then the bracts open again, each pappus spreads into a parachute, and the whole of them constitute the fluffy ball by which children feign to tell the time. A light wind detaches them, and they float off to disperse the seeds far and wide. The only British species.

      The name is believed to be derived from two Greek words, Taraxos, disorder, and akos, remedy: in allusion to its well-known medicinal qualities as an alterative.

The Bugle (Ajuga reptans), and The Forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris).

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      The Common Bugle meets one from April to July in wood and field, and on the waste places by the roadside. It is a creeping plant, runners being sent out from the short stout rootstock, and these rooting send up flowering stems from ½ to 1 foot in height. The leaves from the root are stalked; those from the stem are not. The flowers and the upper bract are dull purple in colour. The flowers are peculiarly fashioned in what is botanically termed a labiate manner: that is to say, the five petals of the corolla are united to form a somewhat bell-shaped flower, the mouth of which is divided into two unequal lips. The upper lip is two-lobed, the lower three-lobed. The upper usually acts as a roof to shelter the stamens and stigmas, the lower as a platform upon which insects may alight when they come to seek honey and to fertilize the flower. In the present species the anthers and stigmas project beyond the upper lip, which is very short; but they are protected by the overhanging lower bract of the flower above. There are interesting facts in connection with the fertilization of these labiate flowers, which, however, we must leave for a couple of pages. It is characteristic of the Labiatæ that the stems are square, the leaves opposite, the corolla bilabiate, the stamens less in number than the lobes of the corolla.

      Bugle. Ajuga reptans. —Labiatæ.— Forget-me-not. Myosotis palustris. —Boraginæ.—

      Ribwort Plantain. Plantago lanceolata. Greater Plantain. Plantago major.

      —Plantagineæ.—

      The Forget-me-not is so well known that with our limited space we will be content with noting that its flowers are similar in structure to those of the Lungwort (page 9), though the tube is shorter. Like Pulmonaria, it is a plant of the order Boragineæ, genus Myosotis. There are six British species. Name, from two Greek words signifying mouse-ear, in allusion to the shape of the leaves.

The Greater Plantain (Plantago major), and The Ribwort Plantain (P. lanceolata).

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These are among the despised of our wild-flowers, weeds among weeds. They are considered of interest only to the keeper of cage-birds, by whose pets the ripe fruit-stalks are much appreciated. But if we knew the plants better we should appreciate them more. There must be something worthy of respect in a plant that has contrived to get itself so taken throughout the world that it is known wherever Europeans have been, and is called the White-man’s Foot. The leaves of the genus are characterized by having strongly developed parallel ribs on the under surface. There is no stem, the leaves all springing from the stout rootstock. The flowers are borne on tall spikes which spring from the axils of the leaves. Each blossom consists of four persistent sepals, a salver-shaped corolla with four lobes, between which are fixed the four stamens surrounding the long, simple and hairy style. There are five British species, of which we figure two. The name Plantago is the classic Latin one, from which the English has been evolved.

      I. The Greater Plantain (P. major) has very broad leaves and broad, short leaf-stalks. Stamens short, anthers purple. Seeds black and rough. Pastures and roadsides, May to September.

      II. Hoary Plantain (P. media): leaves not so broad, flower-scape shorter. Stamens long, anthers whitish. Seeds brown, rough. Pastures and waste places in a dry soil, June to October. Plant more or less covered with short hairs.

      III. Ribwort Plantain (P. lanceolata): as the scientific name implies, the leaves are lance-shaped, long and narrow. The flower-scape is deeply furrowed, the flower-spike short. Stamens long, white. Seeds black, shining. Pastures and heaths, May to October.

      IV. Seaside Plantain (P. maritima). Rootstock branched, crown woolly. Leaves narrower than the last, margins more parallel, ribs weak. Stamens pale yellow. Seeds brown, slightly winged at end. Pastures, salt-marshes and rocks by the sea, June to September.

      V. Buck’s-horn Plantain (P. coronopus). Leaves narrow, linear, divided, or deeply-toothed, suggesting the popular name; ribbed, hairy. Stamens pale yellow. Seeds pale brown. Poor gravelly soils, chiefly near coast. June to August.

Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis).

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      In speaking of the Bugle on page 22 we promised to say more of Labiate flowers further on. Salvia is a labiate, and of similar construction to Ajuga. S. pratensis is a rare plant, found only in Cornwall, Kent, and Oxford, from June to August. The soft wrinkled leaves have the edges cut into convex teeth (crenate). The flowers are large and bright blue; they are borne in whorls, usually of four or five flowers, on a tall spike. There is a more frequent species, the Wild Sage or Clary (S. verbenaca), found in dry pastures all over the kingdom south of Ross-shire from June to September. It is similar in habit to S. pratensis, but smaller, with the flowers more inclined to purple. The Sage of the kitchen-garden is S. officinalis; not a native plant. The name Salvia is from the Latin Salvo, to save or heal, from its former great repute in medicine.

      Meadow Sage. Salvia pratensis. —Labiatæ.—

      Annual Meadow-Grass. Poa annua. Cock’s-foot-grass. Dactylis glomerata.

      —Gramineæ.—

      Most labiate flowers produce honey from