This is one of the handsomest of our wildflowers. It grows abundantly in woods, on banks and in fields, and it flowers all summer and autumn. The Foxglove is a tall plant with a very stiff stem, from one side of which hang beautiful rose-pink and purple bells. These fairy bells are daintily scolloped round the mouth, and the pale pink lining inside is dotted all over with purple spots. When you look down the mouth of a Foxglove bell you see that two long and two short stamens with large yellow-heads are clinging to its side, and rising from the centre of the bell there is a fat green seed-vessel which sends up a slender yellow thread. Those bells which are nearest the bottom of the stem come out first, and the buds are always found at the top. Behind each bell there are five green sepals with sharp points, and wherever the flower-stalk joins the main stem there is always a small green leaf. The Foxglove leaves are broad and long, and they are pointed at the end. Each leaf is covered with a network of fine veins. These leaves are grey-green in colour, and the underside is hoary with soft, white woolly down. PLATE XLII: 1. BROAD-LEAVED WILLOW HERB 2. CORN COCKLE 3. CROSS-LEAVED PINK HEATH 1. BROAD-LEAVED WILLOW HERB The Broad-leaved Willow Herb is common in most parts of Britain. You find it growing on old walls, in woods and under hedges, and it blooms all summer and autumn. It is a tall, thin plant, and has small pink flowers with four petals, each of which has a V-shaped notch cut in the outer edge. Behind these pink petals there are four narrow pointed green sepals, and within the flower grow eight stamens with tiny yellow heads. Amongst these stamens you can see the slender pillar which rises from the seed-vessel; it is divided at the top into four yellow rays. The flowers grow singly, each at the end of a long thin pod which is slightly red in colour. When the petals and the green calyx fall off, this pod grows larger, and as soon as the seeds inside are ripe, it splits open into four strips, and each strip is lined with a row of small brown hairy seeds. The leaves of this Willow Herb are oval, with pointed tips, and they are cut into sharp teeth all round the edge. These leaves are dark green, and usually they are smooth all over, but you sometimes find leaves which have hairs along the veins. The stem is quite smooth, and it is red on the side which gets most sunshine. 2. CORN COCKLE The Corn Cockle is common everywhere. It grows in the cornfields, and you find its pink flowers all summer. The flowers are large and handsome. In shape they are like a Primrose, but the petals are pale pink and each has a tiny notch in the outer edge. On these petals there are tiny lines of dark purple dots, like rays, which run from the centre of the flower almost to the edge of the petal. The heads of the stamens can only just be seen in the centre of the flower where the five petals meet.