probam monetum, probos amicos ; timber, ground, where they were secure all through
good money, and sincere friends : How far the winter ; the plants are now in a position
we see this prediction already
verify 'd, let others judge."

This wood is one of hundreds
where the proper custodian, the
woodman, has been ousted by
the gamekeeper. But the flower-
lover, as such and not as citizen,
has no reason to find fault with
the arrangement, for the open
character of the wood allows
sufficient light for an abundant
and varied ground vegetation, and
the undergrowth is left undis-
turbed in order to provide shelter
and harbours of insect food for
" the birds." At no time of the
year is the wood so rich in
brilliant flowers as in spring,
when the leaf- buds are expanding
and the light rays are not seriously
impeded in reaching the ground.

Before the spring really begins,
the pliant rods of hazel (Corylus
avellana) that have been hung all
through the winter with clusters
of hard grey cylinders, suddenly
lengthen and soften these, and
colour them yellow with the
liberated stamens and pollen ; for
the catkins consist of male flowers

only. Next, usually amid the **<*<> . -Henry irving.

blustering of the wild March Before the spring really begins, the Hazel Catkins

winds the stiletto armed and that have hun a11 the winter> as har>d ^ pe Y cylinders

suddenly lengthen and soften and become yellow

awkward branches of the black- with the liberated stamens and pollen ; they consist
thorn (Prunus spinosd) burst into a of male flowers only.

85




THE PAGEAffT OF NATURE



to indulge in a gala without counting the
cost. Our moralists have missed this point,
though they have worked a few nature facts
threadbare sometimes laying hold of them
by the wrong ear.

If one digs carefully around one of these
lesser celandines and raises it from the






Photo: E. Mep, F.L.S.

The Lesser Celandine is a thrifty plant. At the end
of its flowering period it stores up reserves of
nourishment in club-shaped tubers at its roots. Next
spring this hoard is drawn upon to defray the cost
of its golden display.

ground one will see partly how its thrift is
practised. During, and a little after, the later
period of its flowering the leaves enlarge and
work vigorously to make new material, which
is carried down through the leaf-stalks to the
base, where it is packed into club-shaped
bags, suggesting the long stockings of the
hoarders of gold. At this moment these
wealth bags are being emptied to defray
the cost of this golden display. All the
other perennials have treasuries of similar



purpose, though they do not all take the
same shape ; and it is well to add to our know-
ledge of flower and leaf the characters of
these hibernating portions of the plant, for
it helps us greatly to an insight into what
is called the bionomics of the plant which
we may call in plain language its manner of

^ getting a living.

Near the end of March, from
under the matted dead leaves,
suddenly appeared the wood
anemone {Anemone nemorosd).
The slender scapes each ended in
a flower-bud, at first hidden within
a three-parted leaf-like wrapper.
As the wrapper fell apart the
footstalk of the drooping bud
lengthened and the bud was seen
to be prettily tinted pink or purple.
When it opened the inner surface
was white ; also there were no
petals, the sepals being enlarged
and coloured to serve instead.
The true leaf is divided into three
leaflets, which are cut into lobes
much like the green bud wrapper ;
it springs direct from the under-
ground rootstock, but at a little
distance from the flower-scape.
There are no distinct nectar glands,
but a sweet fluid is said to be
secreted by the base of the flower.
A faint perfume attracts various
spring insects, and some of these
are able to feast upon pollen and
carry much of it away to cross-
pollinate neighbouring anemones.
If one of the leaf-stalks or flower-
stems be traced downwards, there
will be found running horizontally,
a little below the surface of the
soil, the anemone's perennial
portion a hard blackish rootstock.
Into that receptacle all that is
worth saving from the green stems
and leaves will be withdrawn when the
anemone's activity is stopped by the rapid
growth of taller herbs or the leafing of the
copse- wood cutting off the supply of light.

The gem of the oakwood is the wood
sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), a delicate little
plant consisting of scaly crimson threads
that run among and over the leaf-mould and
hide themselves by sending up long-stalked
tender trefoils like clover-leaves, but more



86



WILD FLOWERS AND THEIR WAYS



or less hairy. In spring they are yellowish-
green above and purplish beneath. The
last is a trick to arrest the outward passage
of heat rays that have entered the leaf from
above, and whose retention is desirable.
The thin white flowers, whose petals are
marked with fine purple hair-lines, spring
directly from the procumbent stem and have
stalks even longer than those of the leaves.
Before the buds open fully they droop by



few insects have been noted as patronizing
it. To overcome the consequences of this
neglect the plant later on produces a
fresh crop of flower-buds hidden at the base
of the leaf-stalks. These have no proper
petals, and they remain closed. Their seed-
eggs are fertilized by the pollen of the same
flower. The capsule remains concealed until
the seeds are ripe, when it is elevated on its
long stalk well above the leaves. The cap-




Photo: E Step. F.L.S.

In spring the delicate little Wood Sorrel, with its yellowish-green trefoils and thin
white flowers displaying purple hair-lined petals, is the gem of the Oakwood.



the curving of their stalks, and in this stage
present a close resemblance to the flowers
of the snowdrop. When open they face
the horizon like the anemone, so that in the
case of wind they swing round and turn
their backs to it. In wet weather, and at
night, they droop and close partially, and
the leaflets also fold down against the stalk.
The wood sorrel has two kinds of flowers,
but in spring only these graceful white ones,
which are evidently intended to secure
occasional cross-fertilization by attracting
insects, for the pollen is shed before the
stigmas are ready to receive it. It remains
open for visitors from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.,
but as a matter of fact, in this country very



sule is divided into five compartments, each
division holds two or three seeds separately
wrapped in a white elastic coat, and has a
slit in its outer wall. If, when the seeds
are ripe, the fruit-stalk is touched, the seeds
will be shot out violently in succession, some
of them striking the face of the searcher
after knowledge. The white jacket has
turned inside out suddenly, ejecting the
ribbed red seed. Some of the seeds may
be found resting on the leaves, but most have
been thrown to a greater distance.

An earlier flower that is still in evidence
is the so-called barren strawberry (Poten-
tilla sterilis), whose flowers and leaves
present a similarity to those of the wild



THE PAGEAffT OF NATURE



strawberry (Fragaria vesca), though the more or less throughout the summer, and
likeness fails on a close comparison of the occasionally prompts the writing of letters
two plants. The " barren " plant is no to the press recording the " phenomenal "
less fertile than the other, though its fruit appearance of violets in autumn.
is not juicy and edible ; its white petals are When the sun is shining, our attention is
narrowed and show the green sepals in distracted from the ground vegetation at
between ; and it has no runners. There are intervals by the loud musical hum proceeding

from a sallow bush (Salix capred),
which attracts all the bees that
are awake ; there is nectar to suck
and abundant pollen to fill the
store baskets. The unopened
silky, silver-grey " palm " does
not move them, but the green
female catkins all spiky with their
numerous pistils do ; also the
males when the released stamens
have invested them with golden
haloes. At night many moths in
hibernation are tempted to partake
of the abundant nectar.

A hollow slope on the south of
the wood acts as a surface drain
of super-abundant moisture, and
becomes a languid tributary to
the brook in the valley below.
The water is hidden by a blaze
of shining gold the large and
crowded king-cups of the marsh
marigold (Caltha palustris}. All
the winter the thick, creeping
rootstocks have lain hidden, but
the spring impulse roused them
into early activity, and they have
already made new growth, spread
out their bold, kidney-shaped
leaves, and are holding up their
brilliant king-cups or " Mary-
buds." This is another case of
a flower without petals, the sepals




Photo: E. Step, F.L.S.

Flowers and leaves of the so-called Barren Straw-
berry only superficially resemble those of the Wild
Strawberry. The "barren" plant is no less fertile
than the other, though its fruit is not juicy and
edible.



being enlarged and coloured to
serve instead. It is of interest
to compare the marsh marigold
with the related lesser celandine,
which has somewhat similar
other differences, but those mentioned will though much smaller leaves. There the
serve for discrimination at a glance. sepals are green, the petals present, but

There are plenty of the wood violets with owing to their narrowness failing to produce
their abundant blossoms ; but two species are the cup-shape of the other buttercups and
confused under this popular name : the pale of this king-cup.

wood violet (Viola sylvestris) with smaller, About the bases of young hazel stems,
more decidedly lilac-coloured flowers, and and where they can get early support from
the dark wood violet (Viola riviniand) with the grass or dog's mercury, the brittle-
larger slaty-blue flowers. The latter is a little jointed stems of the greater stitchwort
later in its first appearance, but continues (Stellaria holostea) are climbing, brightening

88




Photo: Henry Irving.

BLUEBELLS.

The Bluebell shares the social instinct of the Primrose and Anemone, and is notable for
the bread effects of its colouring, massed continuously over acres of woodland.



THE PAGEANT OF NATURE




The Pale Wood Violet is sometimes
confused with the dark species, but
it can always be distinguished by
its smaller and more decidedly lilac-
coloured flowers.

the spaces with their loosely
clustered, beautiful white flowers.
There is none of the usual
machinery of the climbing plant,
neither tendrils nor the power of
twining, yet it climbs. It accom-
plishes its ambition by supporting
its pairs of stiff, grass-like leaves
on anything that comes handy,
and holds up its newest section
of stem until this has been able
to arrange its pair of leaves in
a similar fashion, and then pushes
up a further length. This stitch-
wort or satin-flower, though as
plentiful as it is beautiful, does
not appear to be much sought
for by the cullers of wild nosegays.
The probable reason for its escape
is that in its season there are more
showy flowers to be had, for it is
the time of the primrose and
bluebell profusion in the wood and
of cowslips in the fields.

Along the banks and rides the
primrose (Primula vulgaris) for the
time bein<y covers all the available



Photo: E. Step, F.L.S.



space, its shuttle-cock shaped leaf
baskets overflowing with the
delicately perfumed pale yellow
flowers on long, hairy, pink stalks.
As everybody knows, there are
two forms of flowers, " pin-eyed "
and " thrum-eyed/' in other
words, with long or short pistils,
whose object is to secure cross-
pollination. This is a fact that
has been long familiar to the
general public ; but what are the
agents by which the interchange
of pollen is mainly effected is
a question that still awaits a
precise answer. A few butterflies,
bees, beetles and a long-tongued
fly have been observed sucking
the flowers, but their visits do
not account sufficiently for the
vast numbers of seeds produced.
The pale tint of the flowers
leaves little doubt that their




Photo: K. Step, F.L.S.

Climbing without tendrils or the power of twining,

the Greater Stitchwort supports its stiff leaves

fortuitously, and advantageously displays its loosely

clustered white flowers.

90



WILD FLOWERS AttD THEIR WAYS



more important visitors are night-flying
moths ; but the matter yet remains open
for investigation.

The bluebell (Scilla non-scripta) shares
the social instinct of the primrose and ane-
mone. Individually beautiful, it is chiefly
notable for the broad effects of its colouring,
massed continuously over acres of wood-
land. For a great part of the year it lives
out of sight as a little bulb, hidden deeply
in the ground below the layer of humus.
Its production of strap-shaped leaves a foot
and a half long, a tall stem of purple-blue
flowers, and fat capsules of ripe black seeds
is all compressed into the period before
the light is shut out by thick foliage or the
canopy of broad bracken fronds. The
flowers are produced at the expense of the
bulb, for when the buds appear little more
than the tips of the leaves are visible, but
these lengthen rapidly and work for the



perfecting of the seeds and the replenishing
of the bulb.

Before the bluebells are half through
their blooming, the crooked boughs of the
crab-apple (Pyrus malus) break out into
delightful clusters of pink and white frag-
rant flowers. There are many other spring
flowers in our oakwood that we have not
mentioned ; we have named only such as
from their abundance are most certain to
catch the eye. In some favoured woods
may still be found hosts of the nodding
trumpets of the wild daffodil (Narcissus
pseudo-narcissus] ; in many south of the
Scottish border there is the wood spurge
(Euphorbia amygdalotdes), with its red
stems and the bronzed leaves of last year,
and its new leaves almost as yellow as its
flowers ; in most districts the wild straw-
berry (Fragaria vesca), with its neat white
flowers, and a host of others




Photo: . Seef, F.L.S.

The large and crowded king-cups or "Mary-buds" of the Marsh Marigold hide the
water by their blaze of shining gold.



How the Reptiles Live




Photo : S. Crook.



Young male Adders which have just cast their skin show the characteristic Adder
pattern most conspicuously, and are very splendid objects.



l.-THE ONLY BRITISH POISONOUS
SNAKE: THE ADDER OR VIPER

By P. CHALMERS MITCHELL, D.Sc., F.R.S,, etc.



THE adder or viper is the only poison-
ous reptile native to Great Britain. It
is very easy to tell how to distinguish
an adder after it has been killed, when the
teeth and scales and markings can be
examined closely. But even those who
wish to be field naturalists dislike taking
chances with living snakes, and everyone
wants to know of danger in time. Let
us begin with the worst. If you are bitten
by a creature looking like a snake, it is
almost certainly an adder. It is possible
that a harmless grass snake, if you were
actually handling it, might bite, although
I have handled many, sometimes even
feeding them forcibly, but have never seen
any attempt to bite. They will hiss,
make a great demonstration, and even
strike at you with their heads when you are
trying to handle them or have cornered



them in the grass. But they do not bite
human beings. If you do get a sharp and
painful bite from a British reptile that
you have disturbed you may be sure that
the enemy was an adder, with a possible
exception, presently to be described. The
bite is usually on the ankle or hand ; if
you see two little bleeding punctures from
about two -fifths to half an inch apart,
there is no doubt. You have been bitten
by an adder.

A bad job ! But fortunately deaths,
even after severe adder bites, are extremely
rare in this country, although the venom
from the adders in France is more potent.
The results, however, are quite often
serious, and all precautions should be taken.
Suck the wound vigorously, or get someone
to suck it for you (the venom does no harm,
even though it may be swallowed) ; open



92



THE PAGEKNT OF NATURE



up the punctures with a sharp knife and
let the wound bleed freely, holding
your arm down if the wound is on the
hand, so as to let the blood run ; have
a strap or handkerchief tied as tightly as
possible round the arm or leg above the
wound, so as to stop the circulation in



Wales. When full-grown it is from ten
to fifteen inches long, but the smooth
metallic sheen of the body, looking as if
it were clad in polished silver or copper,
according to its shade of colour, makes it
really quite different from any of the
snakes. It differs from adders and other




I'hoto : i'. Crook.

The Slow-worm OP Blind-worm, found all over Great Britain, is really a lizard without
visible legs. The smooth metallic sheen of its body is sufficient in itself to distinguish

it from the snakes.



the veins as much as possible. If there
is permanganate of potash available, rub
the purple crystals deep into the wounds.
Lie down, keep warm, and wait for the
doctor. You will probably have much
pain and sickness, and may even become
unconscious, and you may be kept in
bed for a few days and feel the effects
for a week or two.

And so it is useful to be able to dis-
tinguish living adders from creatures
which are harmless. In Ireland there is
no difficulty, because there are neither
adders nor creatures in any way like them.
In Great Britain and Wales there are three
reptiles which are mistaken for adders,
two common and one rare. First there
is the slow- worm or blind- worm, really a
lizard without visible legs, and therefore
snakelike. It is found all over the country,
but it is especially common in the western
counties of Scotland and England, and in



snakes, moreover, in having the eyes ex-
tremely bright, although small, and pro-
tected by upper and lower eyelids ; in the
tongue being only cleft at the end instead
of divided into two lortg quivering branches ;
and in the tail, the region behind the
vent, being nearly as long as the body.
If you approach a slow-worm with fair
caution, it usually remains quite motion-
less (that is why it is called " slow- worm ")
and will allow you to pick it up without
difficulty, whereas any snake tries to bolt
at the slighest sound or quick movement,
and if you corner it, will protest by violent
hissing and trying to strike at you. Finally,
if you do pick up a slow- worm, it will struggle
violently, holding its tail stiffly and often
breaking it off.

There is some excuse for taking the
smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) for an
adder, but only in one part of the country,
because this snake is extremely rare except



94



HOW THE REPTILES LIVE



in Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and Berks.
If you have the luck to find one, and
the slight misfortune to be bitten (there
is no venom), you need be in no doubt.
An adder strikes sharply and lets go,
leaving the pair of punctures as if they
had been made by large needles ; and the
smooth snake bites more slowly and hangs on,
so that you have to shake it off, leaving
a little row, or two little rows, of punctures
or bruises very close together. The
" viper " which came out of the firewood
and fastened on to the hand of shipwrecked
St. Paul was probably a smooth snake.

Both the smooth snake and the grass
or ring snake will be dealt with at length
in another article. The latter is perhaps
most often taken for the adder. But
here, too, locality is a guide, for it is
absent from Scotland, except that it has
been very rarely found in one or two of
the southern counties ; it is rare in the
north of England, but common west of
a line drawn roughly from the south of
Cumberland down towards Middlesex.



tected from bleak winds, with opportunities
of basking in the sun and of quickly finding
shelter, dry and warm, but not out of
range of water. In such places a snake
in Scotland, except in the western counties,
is almost certainly an adder ; in all the
eastern counties of England it is more
probably an adder ; in the west of Scotland,
in Wales, and in south-west England it
is possible to confuse it with the smooth
and lustrous blind -worm ; in Wales and
in central southern and south-western
England there is also the grass snake,
and in a very small area (Dorset, Hampshire,
Surrey and Berks) there is the additional
and only pardonable source of error
the smooth snake.

Adders hibernate under cut heaps of
brushwood, in hollows under fallen wood,
in the depths of hedgerows, in masses of
withered bracken anywhere that protec-
tion from frost and wet and a soft warm
bed can be found, often single, sometimes
huddled together. They emerge on sunny
days early in the year in the south and




A full-grown Adder averages from eighteen to twenty-five inches in length. The head
is broad behind and sharply separated from the neck : the tail is short some three

inches in the male.



Now let us come to adders. They
are the most widely distributed British
snakes, being found in suitable localities
all over Scotland, except in the extreme
north but including some of the western
islands, in Wales and throughout England.
The suitable localities are places pro-



west, later in colder regions. I have seen
one in a Dorset wood in the end of February,
and in the New Forest late in March, but
there are earlier records. In such early
days they are to be seen quite in the open,
in full exposure to the sun, and all through
the summer the most likely places to



95



THE PAGEKttT OF NATURE



find them are in the open, but near shelter white above, showing off the dark markings ;
on a flat shelf of stone in an old quarry, below it varies from deep grey-blue to
on the edge of a path cut through bracken, pale grey. But sometimes the whole
on the high bank of a dry dit*h. At ground colour is so dull that the pattern
night they roam more widely and are of the markings is hardly visible. Young
attracted by fire ; those who camp out males just after they have cast their skin

show the characteristic adder pattern most
conspicuously, and are very splendid objects.
On the flattened back of the head there
is a black " V " with the point forwardly
directed. From this along the middle
line of the back is a single row of black
lozenges arranged so as to form the well-
known zigzag pattern. Towards the
tail, the lozenges no longer touch and
become narrow transverse bands. Running
parallef with this dorsal stripe on each side
is a row of round black spots usually placed
opposite the angles between the lozenges.
It is to be remembered, however, that
the pattern is very variable in detail, and
in some adders, especially those which

are very dark,
is hardly
visible except
on very close
examinati on .
Females are
less con-
spicuous than
males ; the
ground
colour in
them is
frequently
brownish
green to red,
with brown
marks. There
are rather
small reddish
adders which
are some-
times only




may often find that adders
have crept up close to a
bonfire. They are able to
swim, and require water for
drinking, but their favourite
haunts are warm and dry,
whereas both slow -worms and
grass snakes seem to prefer
damp surroundings.

Adders are heavily built
reptiles, weighing more in
proportion to their length
than slow-worms or grass
snakes. The head is broad
behind, so that it is sharply
separated from the neck ; the
tail, the region behind the
vent, is short, in full-grown
snakes being generally about
3 inches in the male and
2,\ in the female, although




Photos: E. Step.

The details of the well-known zigzag
pattern of the Adder show to greater
advantage on the " white " variety. These
two photographs were taken immediately
after death.



young fe-
males. But

the total length of adult females is greater they are often specially numerous in a
than that of adult males. The average particular locality, and more than one
length of British adders when full grown observer has been disposed to believe
is from 18 to 25 inches. these small red adders to be a distinct

In coloration and pattern, adders are variety.

usually very conspicuous, except when Adders are very quick and lively, and
the skin is dull and in process of sloughing, although they are commonly called deaf, their
But both colour and pattern vary much, sense of hearing or of vibration is really very
The ground colour is often yellow to acute. When one is seen sunning itself in