The leaves are oval, on short stalks, and they have wavy edges. Where they and the flower-stalk join the main stem you find a fringe of other green leaves, quite differently shaped. These leaves have a long name which you will learn later, but meantime you should notice how they are cut up into little green straps which stand out all round the stem. 3. COMMON MALLOW The Common Mallow is a handsome flower which grows by roadsides and in waste places. It is plentiful all summer and autumn. The five petals are a beautiful pale mauve streaked with purple. They are long and rather narrow, and each petal has a deep notch in the outer edge. These petals do not meet close together at the bottom; you can see part of the green calyx appearing between each petal. In the middle of the flower stands a small purple pillar. In this pillar all the slender stems of the stamens are joined together, and their heads cluster near the top like tiny beads, with the wavy points of the seed-vessel rising among them. This Mallow has two kinds of green sepals. Five of these are broad, with sharply-pointed tips and hairy edges. And besides these there are three long narrow sepals. The green leaves of the Mallow are very pretty. They are shaped like a hand with five blunt points, and the edges all round are cut into delicate teeth. Those leaves which grow close to the root have often a deep purple blotch near the centre. PLATE XXXIII: 1. SCOTCH THISTLE 2. MARSH PLUME THISTLE 3. FIELD SCABIOUS 1. SCOTCH THISTLE This Thistle is very well known, particularly in Scotland, where it is the national flower. It blooms in late summer and autumn. The stem of the Scotch Thistle is very stiff and straight, with 'wings' at each side. These wings are pale green flaps edged with very sharp points, and they run from top to bottom of the stem. The stem itself is white and woolly. The Thistle flowers are a dull purple colour, and grow in a dense head, forty or fifty of them closely packed together. If you pick to pieces one of these heads, you will find that it is made up of many purple tubes which are edged with five purple teeth. The foot of each tube is enclosed in a covering of dingy yellow down. When you have a great many of these flowers growing close together in a head, the under part looks like a bundle of woolly down. Below this down bundle you find a prickly green covering, in which there are dozens of narrow green leaves. Each leaf ends in a sharp point, and it is this prickly green covering which makes the Thistle such a difficult flower to gather. The leaves have very sharp points at the edges. They are dark green, and are thinly covered with beautiful grey down. The young leaves are entirely white and woolly until they open. 2. MARSH PLUME THISTLE The Plume Thistle is very common all over Britain. It grows during summer in bogs and in wet places by the roadside. This tall, thin plant is not nearly so attractive as the Scotch Thistle.