1. The Broad-leaved Dock (_Rumex obtusifolius_).--A stout plant, two or three feet high, and slightly branched. The lower leaves are ovate, cordate at the base, blunt, often eight or nine inches long; and the upper ones narrow and pointed. The flowers are perfect, reddish green, in distant whorls, forming a terminal raceme which is leafless above. The inner segment of the perianth is enlarged, ovate, distinctly toothed, with a long point. Time of flowering--July to September. 2. The Curled Dock (_R. crispus_).--Very similar to the Broad-leaved Dock in size and habit, but flowering somewhat earlier. The lower leaves are much narrower, six to eight inches long, lanceolate, pointed, and wavy at the edges. The upper leaves are small and narrower, passing gradually into still smaller bracts towards the lower flowers. The flowers are in crowded whorls, on slender pedicels which are longer than the perianths; and the inner segment of the perianth is enlarged, cordate, but not toothed. [Illustration: THE CURLED DOCK.] We have now to note two species of Spurge (_Euphorbia_) that grow by the wayside; but before doing so it will be well to make ourselves acquainted with the general characters of the interesting group to which they belong. The Spurges are herbs with a milky juice, and a stem which is usually unbranched below, bearing alternate leaves. The flowering branches, towards the top of the plant, generally radiate from one point, forming an umbel of from two to five or more rays that proceed from the axil of one or more leaves. Each ray is usually forked, and sometimes repeatedly so, with a pair of leaves at each angle, and a little head of yellowish-green flowers between the branches. Each flower-head is surrounded by a small cup of united bracts, inside which is a whorl of little yellow or brownish glands, placed horizontally. In the centre of the head is a single female flower, consisting of a three-celled ovary, with a three-cleft style, mounted on a stalk of such a length that the flower droops over the edge of the cup. Around this female flower are from ten to fifteen little male flowers, each consisting of a single stamen with a minute scale at its base. The fruit contains three seeds, one in each carpel. The Sun Spurge (_Euphorbia Helioscopia_) is a common species, varying from six to eighteen inches high, flowering from June to October. Its stem is generally simple, but sometimes branched at the base; and the leaves are obovate or broadly oblong, without stipules, serrate, and narrowed down at the base to a short stalk. The floral leaves are very broad--almost round--and edged with very small teeth. The umbel consists of five rays, each of which is forked, with very short branches; and the glands within the cup are nearly round. The fruits are quite smooth, and the seeds have a netted surface.