which we have three British representatives. Only one of the three, however, is at all plentiful, and that is the one we have figured. It is a common species, but must be looked for on dry wastes and commons, especially near the coast. Quite apart from its umbels of pretty pink flowers it is a handsome plant. The leaves are cut up into a large number of leaflets, arranged in slightly irregular pairs on either side of the rib, and these leaflets are cut up into many irregular lobes. It is the arrangement so common in ferns: the leaf is pinnate, because it is furnished with pinnate or wings, and as the pinnate are themselves almost winged they are pinnatifid, or cut in a pinnate manner. The parts of the flower agree in number with Geranium, that is, sepals five, petals five, stamens ten (but five are aborted, and produce no anthers), stigmas five. The fruits agree pretty closely with those of the Crane’s-bills, but in Erodium the tails of the carpels are lined on their inner face with fine silky hairs, and instead of curling simply they twist spirally, and cause the hairs to stand out at right angles. The seed remains attached to the tail, which becomes detached from the axis of the style and is blown to the ground. There the twisted tail is alternately lengthened and shortened by moisture and dryness of the atmosphere, and with assistance of the hairs this automatic movement gradually forces the pointed hairy seed into the ground. It flowers from
June to September.
The Musky Stork’s-bill (E. moschatum) is much larger than the last mentioned. Easily identified by the strong smell of musk. Flowers June and July. Local.
The Sea Stork’s-bill (E. maritimum). Leaves narrow, heart-shaped, lobed and toothed. Petals minute, pale pink, sometimes absent. Sandy and gravelly coasts: rare. May to September. Name from Greek, Erodios, a heron.
Yarrow or Milfoil (Achillea millefolium).
One of the commonest weeds in pastures, or on commons, roadside wastes, and often on lawns, is the Yarrow. Its leaves, as its second popular name indicates, are cut up into a large
