Wayside and Woodland Blossoms. Step Edward

with pollen half-way down, and on visiting a short-styled flower some of this pollen would be sure to become detached by the sticky stigma at the same height; and vice versâ. The reader may prove this experimentally by selecting flowers of the two forms, and gently thrusting a grass stem into one after the other.

      The other native species of the genus Primula are:—

      The Primrose (P. vulgaris) with inflated calyx and large pale-yellow corollas on long pedicels. The thick stalk of the cowslip is not developed here, but hidden amid the leaf-stalks. Copses and hedge banks, April and May.

      The Oxlip (P. elatior). Calyx less inflated, corolla pale, like primrose; pedicels shorter; thick stalk developed and long like cowslip. Confined to counties of Bedford, Cambridge, Suffolk and Essex. Copses and meadows, April and May.

      The Bird’s-eye Primrose (P. farinosa). The three former species have wrinkled leaves; this and the next have not, but theirs are very mealy underneath. Flowers pale purple-lilac with a yellow eye. Bogs and meadows from York northwards. Very rare in Scotland. June and July. Dimorphic like the foregoing.

      The Scottish Primrose (P. scotica). Similar to Bird’s-eye, but not half the size, though stouter in proportion. Flowers purple-blue with yellow eye. Not dimorphic. Pastures in Orkney, Caithness and Sutherland, June to September.

      Name from Latin Primulus, first.

The Wood Anemone or Windflower (Anemone nemorosa).

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      One of the earliest of spring-flowers to greet us in the copse, by the woodside and in upland meadows is this bright-faced flower. Its firm, fleshy, almost woody rootstock creeps just below the surface of the mossy soil, and rapidly sends up its stems with folded leaves and drooping buds, after one or two genial days.

      The Anemones constitute the genus Anemone of the natural ordera Ranunculaceæ, and are characterized by having no corolla (petals). Instead, the six sepals (calyx) are coloured—in this case a very delicate pink-washed white inside, lightly tinged with purple outside. As a rule the stem bears three leaves, each split up into three leaflets, which are deeply toothed. Flowers from late March till early June. The name is derived from the Greek anemos—the wind—and was given because it was believed to open its buds only when the winds were blowing. Richard Jefferies, curiously ignoring the meaning of the word, entitled a chapter in one of his earlier works—“Wind Anemones.”

      Wood Anemone. Anemone nemorosa. —Ranunculaceæ.—

      Sweet Violet. Viola odorata. —Violaceæ.—

      There is one other native species:—

      The Pasque-flower (A. pulsatilla). Blossoms before the leaves mature. Flowers dull purple; exterior covered with silky hairs; leaves also silky. Fruit, little nutlets (achenes) provided with long feathered awns, with which they float on the wind when ripe. Flowers, May and June, on chalk downs and limestone pastures in Essex and Gloucestershire, and from York to Norfolk.

The Sweet Violet (Viola odorata).

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      One of the most valued flowers of spring in cities is the cultivated violet, and the rambler from town considers himself fortunate if he comes upon a sheltered bank whereon the wild Sweet Violets grow. We need not dwell at any length upon the special characters of this species, for its possession of sweet perfume is sufficient alone to separate it from the related species comprised in the genus Viola.

      It will be seen to have a short rootstock, and to give off runners. The leaves are broadly heart-shaped, and have a way of enlarging after the plant has flowered—a characteristic shared by the Marsh Violet and the Hairy Violet. The flowers vary in colour; they may be blue, reddish-purple, or white. The petals are unequal in size and shape, there being two pairs and an odd one. This is larger than the others, and is produced backwards as a short hollow spur. It is really the uppermost of the five petals, but, owing to the flower-stalk (peduncle) invariably bending over near the summit, it appears to us always as the lowest.

      A careful examination of the form and mechanism of the essential organs of this genus will be well repaid by the light thrown upon Nature’s methods to secure the continuity of species. The style on arising from the ovary is thin and bent, but gradually expands until the stigmatic surface is very broad in comparison. The stamens surround the style, the anthers so closely touching each other laterally that they enclose a space in which the ovary and style occupy the centre, and from which the stigma protrudes. The anthers shed their pollen, which is dry, into this space. Two of the stamens send out each a long tail into the hollow petal-spur, which secretes honey from its tip. The reason why the flower-stalk bends over is, that the stigma may hang down instead of being erect. A bee smells the honey and alights on the odd petal. The dark lines converging to the spur show where the honey lies, but the thick-headed stigma blocks the way. Thrusting in his tongue, the bee pushes the stigma aside with his head, which is the more easily accomplished owing to the thin base of the style. But this act also disarranges the anthers, and as a result the loose pollen drops out upon his hairy head, where it will come in contact with the viscid stigma of the next violet he visits. In this way an occasional cross is effected that the vigour of the race may be maintained, but for ordinary purposes of reproduction the violet has a more economical method. When the spring season is over the violet ceases to furnish flowers got up for show, and sets about producing buds which will never open (cleistogamous). These are without petals, and contain nothing but the essential organs; the anthers produce only enough pollen to fertilize the ovules in the ovary, which then develop into perfect seeds.

      Viola odorata is found truly wild only in the S. and E. of England, and possibly the E. of Ireland; but it is naturalized in many other parts of the kingdom. Flowers, March to May. The name Viola is Latin, and is that by which the ancients knew it. There are six other British species, which will be found enumerated on page 58.

The Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor).

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      The Lesser Periwinkle is perhaps more familiarly known as a garden plant than as a wild-flower, and the former would appear to be its true character. It is now truly wild, in the Southern English counties at least, having probably been introduced by man at an early date (Chaucer mentions “fresh pervinke rich of hew”), and taken care to keep the foothold thus obtained. Its favourite position is a woodland bank, which it thickly covers with its dark evergreen leaves. Hooker (“Students’ Flora,” p. 268) describes the flowering stems as short and erect, and the peduncles not so long as the diameter of the corolla. As a matter of fact, the long trailing and rooting stems also bear flowers, and the peduncles vary in length from ¼ to 2 inches.

      Lesser Periwinkle. Vinca minor. —Apocyneæ.—

      Lesser Celandine. Pilewort. Ranunculus ficaria. —Ranunculaceæ.—

      The petals are united for half their length to form a tube, and the five free lobes are oblique. The