called the "umbel."

Each blossom has five yellow petals joined together to form a corolla.
In the centre of the blossom, where these petals meet, each is marked
with a spot of deep orange-red colour. The yellow petals are
comparatively small, and peep out of a long pale green sheath called
the "calyx."

Surely we have seen a flower like this before--the Primrose in the
little coppice. Yes; the Primrose had five pale yellow petals, rather
larger than those of the Cowslip, and joined together to form a corolla;
they grew out of a long green calyx. Also each petal had a spot of
darker yellow in the centre of the blossom. The leaves of both the
Primrose and the Cowslip are much wrinkled, and they grow from a short
underground stem.

But, you say, each Primrose blossom grew alone on the top of a long
stem. Yes, but if we had dug up a Primrose plant, we should have found
that several flower stems grew from the same point--the top of a very
short stem which hardly appeared above the ground. They grew from an
umbel, and the Primrose is closely related to the Cowslip. The
difference is that the blossoms of the Primrose grow on _long_ stems
from a _short_-stemmed umbel. Those of the Cowslip grow on _short_ stems
from a _long_-stemmed umbel.

CHAPTER VII

IN THE HAY-FIELD

Here we are in the hay-field at the end of June. It is not really the
hay-field yet, but it will be so as soon as the grass is cut for hay.
This will be done in a few days, so we must lose no time if we wish to
look at some of the flowers before they are cut down.

We must not stroll all over this field as we did in Ashmead, for the
long grass should not be trampled down, or it will be difficult for the
machine to cut. Quite near the gate, however, are plenty of flowers, and
we shall find others if we step carefully along the side of the hedge.

We will look first at those flowers which are most important to the
farmer, the flowers of the grass. We saw, you remember, that the grass
has flowers just as the Rose and the Wallflower have. If you had thought
that the flowers of all grass would be alike, you see now that you were
quite mistaken; there are many different grass flowers here.

[Illustration: SECTION OF GRASS STEM.]

Not only are the flowers different, but so are the stems, and also the
leaves or blades. Mr. Hammond could come into the field in early spring
or autumn, when the grass is not in flower, and could tell you to which
kind