83. Yellow Toad-flax, Linaria vulgaris. Foxglove family. The stem is 1 to 2 ft. high, clad with dark, smooth, narrow leaves, and ending in a handsome spike of flowers: the flowers are large and yellow with an orange spot: the corolla is in one piece, with 2 lips, the lower lip being pursed up so as to close the opening: it is provided with a honey-containing spur behind: found on gravelly soil, flowering in summer.

84. Musk, Mimulus Langsdorfii, Foxglove family. This plant is found commonly on the margins of ponds and ditches: it has a thick stem 1 to 2 ft. high, which bears large, smooth, ovate leaves with serrate edges: the flowers are large, bright yellow, and occur at the tip of the stem: the plant is a native of America, but is now quite acclimatised and widely spread in this country; it flowers throughout summer. 85. Yellow Rattle, Rhinanthus Crista-galli, Foxglove family.

82. Yellow Bed-straw.

83. Yellow Toad-flax.

84. Musk.

85. Yellow Rattle.

The stem is 1 to 2 ft. high, and bears many pairs of lance-shaped, sharply serrate leaves: the flowers are in a loose terminal spike: the yellow corolla protrudes only slightly from the bladder-like calyx: the plant is common in pastures, flowering in summer, and is interesting because it attaches its roots to those of grasses, and draws nourishment from these.

86. Spotted Hemp-nettle, Galeopsis versicolor, Dead-nettle family. This is one of the most striking weeds of cultivated ground, being specially abundant in potato and turnip fields: it is at once distinguished by its tall (2 to 3 ft. high), square, branched stem, and its large yellow, purple-spotted flowers, with their 2-lipped corollas: the leaves are ovate, with a narrow point and serrate margin, and are borne in pairs: flowers in autumn.

86. Spotted Hemp-nettle.

87. Primrose.

87. Primrose, Primula vulgaris. Primrose family. The primrose is one of our most typical spring flowers: it is to be found in all sorts of positions, from dry sunny banks to damp woods, flowering as early as March: the oblong, wrinkled leaves form a rosette on the ground, from which rise the flower-stalks, each with a single flower: the flowers are of two kinds: in one, called thrum-eyed, the little bunch of 5 stamens appears in the opening of the salver-shaped corolla: in the other, the pin-eyed, found on a different plant, the opening is closed by the pinhead-like stigma: this is an adaptation to secure crossfertilisation, as the part of an insect which touches the stamens of the one kind of flower will touch the stigma of the other kind only: Primula veris, the Cowslip, has a little bunch of smaller and darker yellow stalked flowers at the tip of a common stem. 83. Loosestrife, Lysimachia vulgaris, Primrose family. A tall plant, 2 to 3 ft. high, flowering on stream banks in July: the leaves are large, ovate, and borne in groups of 2 to 3 to 4: the yellow flowers occur in a dense terminal pyramid.

88. Loosestrife.

89. Yellow Pimpernel, Lysimachia nemorum, Primrose family. A little creeping plant found in damp woods: the stem Dears pairs of glossy, ovate leaves, from the axils of which spring slender stalks, each with a single small, starry, yellow flower, later on replaced by a globular seed-vessel. L. Nummularia, the Moneywort, grows in similar situations: its leaves are broader, and its flowers, on shorter stalks, are much larger; altogether a more striking species: both flower in summer.

90. Bog - Asphodel, Narthecium ossi-fragum, Hyacinth family. A pretty little plant about 6 ins. high, common in peatbogs, flowering in summer: the single stem bears a spike of golden yellow flowers and a few short leaves: from the lower part of the stem spring groups of grass-like sword-shaped leaves.

91. Lesser Spearwort, Ranunculus Flammula, Crowfoot family. Growing in wet places along the margins of streams and lakes, the Spearwort has an upright stem, about 1 to 1½ ft. high, bearing leaves, the lower ovate, the upper quite narrow; they are entire, and smooth: the flowers are few in number, bright yellow, and about ½ in. across: the juice of the plant acts as a strong irritant on the skin: flowers in summer: the Greater Spearwort is a rarer plant, with much larger flowers.

92. Lesser Celandine, Ranunculus Ficaria, Crowfoot family. This beautiful spring flower carpets the forest floor with golden flowers in March and April, and with glossy green leaves in early summer: the leaves are roundish, heart-shaped, stalked, and in a rosette, from which rise the flower-stalks, each with a single bright yellow flower: the roots, which persist during winter, are tuberous, and carry a store of food, thus enabling the plant to produce flowers and leaves early in the year.

89. Yellow Pimpernel.

90. Bog-Asphodel.

93. Marsh-Marigold, Caltha palustris, Crowfoot family. The large yellow flowers of this handsome plant appear in spring, borne at the tip of the hollow stem: the plant is frequent in marshes and ditches: the leaves are rounded heart-shaped and dark glossy green: there is no corolla, the calyx taking its place.

91. Lesser Spearwort.

92. Lesser Celandine.

93. Marsh-Marigold.

94. Yellow Water-Lily, Brandy-Bottle.

94. Yellow Water-Lily, Brandy-Bottle, Nymphoea lutea, Water-lily family. The leaves are elongated, heart-shaped: they are unwettable, and float on the surface of the water, while the plant roots in the mud below: the flowers appear in July, and are large, with a smell like brandy: the seed-vessel is urn-shaped.

95. Rock-Rose, Helianthemum Chamoecisius, Rock-rose family. This is a common plant on dry banks and pastures: it is small, low-growing,and somewhat shrubby: the stems bear pairs of small, oval, slightly hairy leaves, with stipules, and a few large, bright yellow flowers, with fragile petals: flowers in summer and autumn.

96. St.'John's Wort, Hypericum pul-chrum, St. John's Wort family. The loose spikes of the small yellow flowers, with reddish buds and stamens, are a common feature of our heaths and hedges in summer: the slender stem may be slightly branched, and has pairs of small, sessile, heart-shaped leaves: the small black dots on the petals and sepals are glands: several other species, all with spikes of yellow flowers, but differing in various respects, are common.

95. Rock-Rose.

96. St. John's Wort.

97. Petty Whin.

97. Petty Whin, Genista anglica, Vetch family. On heather moors, in moist but not boggy positions, the Petty Whin is frequently found: it is a little plant with a trailing, slightly branched stem: the leaves are small and ovate, and, besides these, D the stem bears slender compound thorns, which are modified branches: the flowers are fairly large, occurring in loose clusters in early summer: the pods are much swollen when ripe. G. tinctoria, a less common species, without thorns and with elliptic leaves, goes by the name of Dyefs-weed, as it yields a yellow dye.

98. Furze, Gorse, Whin, Ulex europoeus, Vetch family. The Whin is very common on heaths, pastures, and waste places, and lends a note of colour to the countryside in the early months of the year, when it begins to flower: the leaves and many of the branches are reduced to the characteristic spines - this at the same time preventing loss of much water, and protecting the shrub from browsing animals, the large yellow flowers and their peculiar fragrance are familiar to all.

98. Furze, Gorse, Whin.

99. Wall-Pepper, Biting Stouecrop.

99. Wall-Pepper, Biting Stonecrop, Sedum acre, Stone-crop family. This little plant is common in dry rocky places: in such situations it is exposed to great drought, but its little, cylindrical, fleshy leaves act as water-stores, and only dry up with great difficulty: if chewed they have a flavour of pepper: the flowers are star-like and yellow, appearing in summer.