In the centre of the flower are bright yellow-headed stamens, and when the flower is withered, and the seeds begin to ripen, a short green stalk rises in the middle, and on this there appears what looks like a small green strawberry. From every seed on the strawberry there grows a long spike with a curl in the middle. This spiky seed-vessel is very curious. The leaves of the Water Avens are deep green, and sometimes they have red streaks round the edges as well as on the back. They grow in pairs on the leaf-stalk, a large pair and a small pair alternately, and they are slightly hairy, with edges which are nicked all round. Where the leaves join the main stem there is often a tiny scale. PLATE XXXII: 1. DOG VIOLET. 2. HEARTSEASE. 3. COMMON MALLOW. 1. DOG VIOLET The Dog Violet begins to flower early in summer. You find it growing on banks under the hedges, a tiny plant with flowers so small and stalks so short that the flowers are of no use after you pluck them. Every child knows what a violet is like, but you should pick one of the flowers to pieces and see how curiously each petal is shaped. There are five petals, and these petals are pale purple at the broad part, but at the narrow end they are almost pure white, and this narrow end is hidden among the green sepals. Four of these petals are nearly the same size, and on two of them there are patches of hair near the foot. The fifth petal is much larger, and the narrow end of this broad petal is shaped like a round tube. This tube, instead of being hidden among the sepals, stands out beyond them like a spur. Inside the tube are the stamens, and all the yellow heads of the stamens are joined edge to edge in a ring round the seed-vessel. The Dog Violet has five green sepals with very sharp points, and the lower part of each sepal is slightly swollen. The leaves are heart-shaped, with toothed edges, and they grow very close to the ground and have scarcely any stalks. This Violet has no scent. 2. HEARTSEASE The Heartsease is not quite so common as the Dog Violet, though in some parts of Britain it grows abundantly. It is in flower all summer. The flowers have five petals, but these are not all the same colour. There are two deep purple petals and three which are bright orange-yellow. In the Heartsease the broadest petal has a very small tube at the narrow end, the same as in the Dog Violet. There are five pointed green sepals, which do not fall off after the flower is withered. You will often see the seed-vessel sitting among these sepals, and when this seed-vessel is ripe it splits open into three small boat-shaped cases, each with a row of seeds inside. The stem of the Heartsease is round, with distinct lines running up the sides.