The stem of the Yarrow is stiff and smooth and is slightly tinged with red. The leaves are long and narrow, and each leaf is made up of many tiny pairs of leaflets placed opposite each other on the stem. Each leaflet is cut up into many divisions, so that the whole leaf is light and feathery like a small fern.

PLATE XXII: 1. OX-EYE DAISY 2. DAISY 3. SCENTLESS MAYWEED

1. OX-EYE DAISY

The handsome Ox-eye Daisy is common all over Britain. You find it in flower from summer to the end of autumn.

It is a plant with a tall, stiff stem that has ridges running from top to bottom.

Notice how different its leaves are from those of the small Daisy, though both plants belong to the same family.

The flowers in the Ox-eye Daisy are very large. The yellow tube flowers in the centre are crowded together on a flat disc, and outside this disc there is a double ring of tiny white tubes, each of which has one broad white strap. These straps form the beautiful border to the flower.

At the top of the green flower-stalk there is a double ring of narrow green pointed leaves. When the flowers are in bud they look like thick green b.u.t.tons, with a yellow spot in the middle, as these green leaves are tightly folded in a circle round the flat yellow centre.

The leaves are straggling and very poor-looking for such a handsome plant. They are feather-shaped, with the edges deeply cut up into many blunt points. They have no stalks of their own, but spring from the main stem.

2. DAISY

This well-known plant is to be found all over Britain. It is in flower from spring to late autumn, and I think it is the first flower little children learn to recognise.

But it is often a long time before they get to know anything more about the Daisy than its name, and yet it is an interesting flower, as well as a pretty one.

If you gather a Daisy, and then gently pick it to pieces, you find that it is made up of a great many tiny little flowers crowded together on a pear-shaped centre. These tiny flowers are of two kinds; those in the centre are yellow and are shaped like little tubes, each of which is edged with five points. But in the outer row of flowers, one of the five points has grown into a long white strap, which is tinged with pink and red at the tip.

These pretty white straps are arranged in a double frill round the yellow centre.

At the end of the flower-stalk there is a thick ring of small green pointed leaves, and these, as well as the stalks, are slightly hairy.

The Daisy leaves grow in a rosette close to the ground. They are oval, and each leaf has hairs all over it and round the edges.

3. SCENTLESS MAYWEED

This daisy plant is very common too. It grows all over Britain, and is in flower from June till October.

It is not such a stiff, handsome plant as the Ox-eye Daisy, but much more branched and bushy, and it often grows close to the ground. The stalks are tougher, and they are quite smooth, with fine ridges running up them.

The flower-heads are made up in the same way as those of the other daisy plants. You find a ma.s.s of tiny yellow tubes in the centre, and forming a border round this yellow centre is an outer ring of flowers, each with one large white strap.

When the Mayweed begins to wither, these white straps droop towards the stalk, and the yellow centre, instead of remaining nearly flat, becomes the shape of a thimble. You will find many of these yellow thimbles on the plant, after all the white straps are gone.

The tips of the green leaves, which grow in a double ring behind the flowers, are often tinged with pink.

The leaves of the Scentless Mayweed are like many leaves that grow in running water. They are divided into a tangle of fine hair-like points, which spring directly from the main stem without any stalk.

PLATE XXIII: 1. SNOWDROP 2. COMMON STAR OF BETHLEHEM 3. RANSOMS

1. SNOWDROP

The modest Snowdrop, with its graceful, drooping head, grows abundantly all spring in meadows and pastures and orchards in England and Scotland.

It is not so common in Ireland.

The flower is enclosed in a grey sheath, edged with bright green lines.

After the flower bursts out of the sheath, it droops from the end of a slender flower-stalk. Each flower has six white petals; the three outer petals are boat-shaped towards the tips, and there are three shorter petals which are not curved. These straight petals have a notch cut in the upper edge, and there is a bright green wavy stain just below this notch.

Inside these dainty white petals are six yellow-headed stamens with scarcely any stalks. These stamens stand on the flat round top of the seed-vessel, and in the centre rises its short, pointed pillar.

Notice that the oval green seed-vessel is outside the circle of white petals, at the top of the slender flower-stalk.

A single pair of leaves rise from the Snowdrop root, with the flower-stalk between them. These leaves look like short straps with blunt points. They are bluey green in colour, and have deep grooves running from base to tip.

2. COMMON STAR OF BETHLEHEM

This beautiful starry plant is found in many places in England and in a few in Scotland, but not in Ireland. It grows in meadows and pastures and orchards in early summer.

The flowers grow singly on long stalks which branch near the top of the main stem. There is always a withered-looking brown leaf at the base of each flower-stalk.

The flowers have six large white petals, which are pointed at the tips.

The back of each petal is stained with bright green, except round the edge, where it remains white.

There are six yellow-headed stamens clinging to the base of the white petals. These stamens stand up in a circle round a fat green seed-vessel which sits in the centre of the white petals. This seed-vessel has a tiny pointed column in the middle.

The leaves of the Star of Bethlehem are very narrow. From the middle each leaf tapers to a long point. These leaves are deeply channelled, and they have a broad white stripe running down the centre.

3. RANSOMS

This unpleasant-smelling plant is common all over the country, except in the North of Scotland. It grows in woods and copses and on hedge-banks, and it blooms in early summer.

Each flower grows on a short stalk, in a loose cl.u.s.ter at the end of a stout juicy stem. When in bud these flowers are all enclosed in a brown sheath, which bursts open in two pieces as soon as the flowers are ready to expand.

Each flower has six narrow white pointed petals, opening flat out like a star. There is a short yellow-headed stamen clinging to each of these white petals. In the centre of the flower, among the white petals, is a green seed-vessel, which is divided into three small oval b.a.l.l.s. A slender pillar rises from amongst these small seed-b.a.l.l.s.

There are no sepals in this flower.

The leaves of the starry-white Ransoms are not unlike those of the Lily of the Valley. They have long lines running from base to tip, and are a delicate pale-green in colour.

PLATE XXIV: 1. MOSSY SAXIFRAGE. 2. MARSH PENNYWORT.

3. INTERMEDIATE WINTERGREEN.

1. MOSSY SAXIFRAGE

In all parts of the country this slender, graceful plant is abundant.