Plants -- Identification; Wild flowers -- Great Britain
[Illustration: _Plate II._ FLOWERS OF THE WOODS.
1. Great Valerian. 2. Foxglove. 3. Succory-leaved Hawk's-beard. 4.
Nettle-leaved Bell-flower. 5. Broad-leaved Helleborine. 6. Hairy
Brome-grass.]
A small-leaved variety, sometimes regarded as a distinct species (_Tilia
parvifolia_), has a thin, angular fruit; and another, known as _Tilia
grandifolia_, has very large, broad leaves, downy on both sides, and a
downy fruit with from three to five prominent ribs.
[Illustration: THE LARGE-FLOWERED ST. JOHN'S WORT.]
Several species of St. John's-wort (order _Hypericaceæ_) grow in
thickets and other wooded spots. They vary considerably in size, as well
as in general appearance, but all agree in the following features: Their
leaves are opposite, entire, without stipules, and either sessile or
very shortly stalked. The flowers are regular, with five sepals; five
petals, often oblique at the tip; numerous stamens, united or clustered
into three or five sets; and a superior ovary that ripens to a capsule
with many seeds. No less than four species of the genus (_Hypericum_)
come within the province of the present chapter. They are:--
1. The Tutsan (_H. Androsæmum_).--An erect, shrubby plant, from one to
three feet high, flowering from June to August, common in the thickets
of most of the western and southern counties of Britain. It has several
erect, slightly-flattened stems; and large, blunt, ovate leaves, two or
three inches long, with very small, transparent dots that are easily
seen when the leaves are held up to the light. The flowers are yellow,
about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and form a compact,
terminal corymb. The sepals are broad, about a third of an inch long;
the petals a little longer, and oblique; and the stamens are in five
sets, connected at the base.
[Illustration: THE COMMON ST. JOHN'S WORT.]
2. The Large-flowered St. John's-Wort or Rose of Sharon (_H.
calycinum_).--A shrubby plant, from ten to eighteen inches high, with a
creeping, woody stock, flowering from July to September. It is not
indigenous, but has been largely introduced into parks and gardens, and
now grows wild in many parts. This species may be distinguished from all
other members of the genus by its large, yellow flowers, from one and a
half to three inches in diameter.
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