VI. Dwarf Spurge (_E. exigua_). Annual. Much branched. Leaves very narrow and stiff. Involucres small, almost stalkless. Involucral glands, rounded with two blunt-pointed horns. Fields, especially on light soil. July to October.
VII. Portland Spurge (_E. portlandica_). Perennial, tufted, many-branched stems. Leaves tough, obovate acute, spreading. Involucral glands, lunate, with two long horns. Sandy shores, on South and West coasts, and in Ireland. May to August. Rare.
VIII. Sea Spurge (_E. paralias_). Perennial, bushy, many-stemmed, stout, reddish, woody below. Leaves narrow, concave, very thick, arranged in whorls. Points of involucral glands short. Sandy shores, July to October.
IX. Leafy-branched Spurge (_E. esula_). Perennial. Rootstock creeping. Stem slender. Leaves thin, narrow, sometimes toothed. Involucres small, on long stalks, glands lunate, with short straight horns. Woods and fields; Jersey, Forfar, Edinburgh, and Alnwick. July.
X. Cypress Spurge (_E. cyparissias_). Perennial. Rootstock creeping. Leaves _very narrow_, not toothed. Woods, England, June and July.
XI. Caper Spurge (_E. lathyris_). Biennial. Stem short and stout, 3 to 4 feet second year. Leaves narrow, broader at base, opposite, alternate pairs placed at right angles to each other (_decussate_). Copses and woods, June and July. Fruit used as a condiment.
XII. Purple Spurge (_E. peplis_). Annual. Stems prostrate, purple, glaucous. Leaves oblong, heart-shaped, thick, on short stalks, with stipules, opposite. Glands oblong. Very rare. On sandy coasts, South Wales, Cornwall to Hants, and Waterford. July to September.
All the species have milky sap. Poisonous.
A sub-species of the Blackberry; too well known to require description.
The Woodbine or Common Honeysuckle is one of the most familiar of our wild flowers, and as great a favourite as any. It owes its popularity not only to the beauty of its flowers, but also to its strong sweet odour, and in some measure to its graceful twining habit. The tough stem grows to a great length--ten to twenty feet in some cases--and always twines from left to right. The egg-shaped leaves are attached in pairs, the lower ones by short stalks, but the upper ones are stalkless (_sessile_). The flowers are clustered, the calyces closely crowded, five-toothed. The corolla-tube may be from one to two inches long, the free end (_limb_) divided into five lobes, which split irregularly into two opposite lips. It is rich in honey, the corolla being often half filled with it, and consequently it is a great favourite with bees and moths, who are bound to bring and fetch pollen from the outstanding anthers of one plant and deposit it upon the equally obtrusive stigma of another. The flowers are succeeded by a cluster of round crimson berries. Widely distributed in hedges, copses, and on heaths.