WILD    IIYACIXTH. 


WILD   FLOWEKS. 


BY  ANNE  PRATT, 

AUTHOR   OF   COMMON   THINGS   OF  THE   SEA-SIDE,  ETC.   ETC. 


"  By  the  breath  of  flowers 
Thou  callest  us  from  city  throngs  and  cares, 
Back  to  the  woods,  the  birds,  the  mountain  strearos, 
That  sing  of  Thee  I   back  to  free  childhood  'a  heart. 
Fresh  with  the  dews  of  tenderness  I    Thou  tndd'st 
The  lilies  of  the  field  with  placid  smile 
Reprove  man's  feverish  strivings,  and  infuse 
Through  his  worn  soul  a  more  unworldly  life. 
With  their  soft  holy  breath.    Thou  hast  not  left 
His  purer  nature,  with  its  fine  desires, 
Uncared  for  in  this  universe  of  Thine." 


PUBLISHED  UNDER  THE  DIEECTIOI^   OF 

THE  COMMITTEE   OF  GEXEEAL  LITERATURE  AXD  EDUCATION, 

APPOINTED  BY  THE  SOCIETY  FOR  PROMOTING 

CHRISTIAN  KNOWLEDGE. 


VOL.  I. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED  FOR  TBI 

SOCIETY  FOR  PROMOTING  CHRISTIAN  KNOWLEDGE; 

SOLD   AT   THE   DEPOSITORIES, 

GREAT   QUEEN   STREET,    LINCOLN'S    INN    FIELDS; 

4,    ROYAL   EXCHANGE;    16,    HANOVER   STREET,    HANOVER    SQUARE; 

AND   BY    ALL    BOOKSELLER);. 

1857. 


LONDON  : 
PRINTER,  BREAD  STREET  HI 


stack 
Annex 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Agrimony 77 

BecOrchis^^.^^^^^^,^^.     81 

Bird's-FootTrefoil 7 

Biting  Stonecrop 35 

Black  Bryony 99 

Bladder  Campion 157 

Borage 89 

Bramble,  or  Blackberry  ....  171 

Broad-leaved  Garlic 113 

Broom 3 

Broom  Rape 187 

Bugle      .     .  ^   ./r-    •     •  w>f-  135 

Celandine,  or  Pilewort    ....     65 

Centaury 93 

Cistus,  or  Rock  Rose      .     .     .     .143 
Colt's-Foot  j^^^/,^^^;?,^  .    59 

Corn  Blue-bottle 47 

Feverfew . 51 

Marigold 71 

Crab  Apple 31 

Creeping  Cinquefoil 133 

Cuckoo  Flower 155 

Pint     .     .  .123 


PAGE 

Daisy 181 

Dead  Nettle 75 

Dog  Rose 33 

Dwarf  Red  Rattle 85 

Dyer's  Green-Weed 179 

Enchanter's  Nightshade  ....  145 

Everlasting  Pea     ......  131 

Eyebright    ........  149 

Feverfew 51 

Field  Convolvulus 17 

Fine-leaved  Heath 97 

Flea-Bane 55 

Fly  Orchis 97 

Forget-me-Not 87 

Fumitory 73 

Furze 29 

Germander  Speedwell     ....       5  ' 

Great  Nettle 163 

Ground  Ivy 63 

HarebelU^^^/^    ^3^^^,.     49 
Hedge  Woundwort     .     .     ..     .125 

Herb  Robert 13 

Honeysuckle 11 

Hound's  Tongue Ill 

Hyacinth 1 


2091199 


IV 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Ivy 117 

Ivj'-leaved  Toadflax 39 

Knotted  Fig  Wort 173 

Knot  Grass 107 

Ling,  or  Heather 83 

Long  Prickly-headed  Poppy     .     .    41 

Mallow 15 

Meadow  Saffron 119 

Vetchling 127 

Michaelmas  Daisy 121 

Milk  Vetch 147 

Milkwort 91 

Mouse-Ear  Hawkweed  ....  169 
Nettle-leaved  Bell-Flo wer  .  .  .137 
Pellitory  of  the  WaU  .  .  .  .189 
PerfoHate  Yellow  Wort  ....  175 
Perforated  St.  John's  Wort .     .     .109 

Purple  Trefoil 23 

Red  Bartsia 185 

Red-Berried  Bryony 69 

Red  Campion 151 

Rest  Harrow 37 

Ribwort  Plantain 103 


PAGE 

Saintfoin 115 

Salad  Burnet 165 

Scarlet  Pimpernel 9 

Shepherd's  Needle 167 

SmaU  Woodruff 191 

Soapwort 141 

Sorrel 153 

Star-Thistle 45 

Succory 101 

Thrift 159 

Thyme 177. 

Traveller's  Joy 105 

Vervain 183 

Violet 21 

Viper's  Bugloss 61 

White  Poppy 43 

Wood  Anemone 37 

Loosestrife 139 

Sorrel 53 

Strawberry 25 

Woody  Nightshade 57  " 

Yellow  Iris 129 


Hilir  |l0feers, 


WILD  HYACINTH.— ir^acmfkus  ?wn- 
scrijjftis. 

Class  Hexandria.     Order  Monogynia.     Nat.  Ord.  Liliace^. 
Lily  Tribe. 

Every  child  who  has  wandered  in  the  woods 
in  the  sweet  months  of  April  and  May  knows 
the  Blue-Bell,  or  AVild  Hyacinth.  Scarcely 
a  copse  can  be  found  throughout  our  land 
which  is  not  then  blue  with  its  flowers,  for  it 
is  to  the  woodland  and  the  green  lane,  in 
Spring,  what  the  buttercup  is  to  the  meadow. 
Growing  near  it  we  often  find  the  beautiful 
pinkish-white  blossoms  of  the  wood-anemone, 
and  before  it  fades  away  the  hedges  are  getting 
white,  and  becoming  fragrant  with  wreaths  of 
the  blooming  May ;  but  the  primroses  have 
almost  all  departed,  and  the  violets  are  daily 
more  rare.  The  root  of  the  Wild  Hyacinth  is 
round,  and  full  of  a  poisonous,  clammy  juice ; 
indeed  every  part  of  the  plant  gives  out  more 
No.  1. 


3  WILD    IIYACINTIT. 

or  less  of  this  juice  if  we  bruise  it.  Though 
the  root  is  unfit  for  food,  and  is  useless  to  us 
now,  yet  in  former  times  it  was  much  prized. 
In  days  when  very  stiff  ruffs  were  worn,  the 
juice  was  made  into  starch,  and  employed 
to  stiffen  linen.  It  served  the  bookbinder, 
too,  as  glue,  to  fasten  the  covers  of  books. 
The  flower  has  a  shght  scent,  but  the  chief 
charms  of  the  Blue-Bell  are  its  beauty  and 
its  early  appearance.  It  is  but  lately  that 
we  have  looked  upon  bare  trees,  and  ground 
strewed  with  Avithered  leaves,  and  when  no 
songs  of  joy  were  heard ;  and  now  the  early 
flowers  seem  to  say,  in  the  language  of  Scrip- 
ture, "  The  winter  is  past ;  the  rain  is  over 
and  gone ;  the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth ; 
the  time  for  the  singing  of  birds  is  come  ;  and 
the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  the  land." 
Our  Wild  Hyacinth  is  sometimes  found  w^ith 
white  or  flesh-coloured  flowers,  but  the  beauti- 
ful garden  hyacinths,  with  double  blossoms, 
are  brought  from  different  countries  of  the 
East. 


COMMON   BUOOM. 


COMMON  BnOO^l.—C?/tissifS  Scoparius. 

Class  DiADELPHiA.    Ovdcr  Decandria.    Nat.  Ord,  Leguminos-e. 
Pea  and  Bean  Tribe. 

As  the  wood  has  flowers  peculiar  to  it,  and 
the  meadow  and  the  cornfield  have  each  their 
own  blossoms,  so  there  are  some  plants  which 
flourish  especially  on  heaths  and  commons. 
Far  away,  over  many  a  heath-land,  we  may 
see  the  bright  golden  blossoms  of  the  ''  bonnie 
broom :"  and  if,  on  some  sunny  day  in  July, 
we  stray  among  them,  we  may  see  the  large 
dark-brown  Broom-pods  opening  to  let  out 
their  ripe  seeds.  The  blossoms  seem  to  invite 
the  buttei'flies  to  Hnger  about  them,  and  the 
bees  keep  a  perpetual  humming  near  them. 
The  Broom  is  useful  also  to  man.  Sometimes 
when  roads  are  cut  down  it  is  planted  on 
the  sides  of  the  banks,  that  its  roots  may  hold 
the  crumblins^  earth  toof ether.  The  bark  is 
steeped  in  water,  that  its  fibres  may  be  used  in- 
stead of  flax,  and  the  small  twigs  and  branches 
are  serviceable  in  tanning  leather.  The  young 
bouo-hs  are  made  into  brooms,  and  the  voun^ 
green  buds  are  pickled  in  vinegar,  and  eaten  as 
capers.     When  the  shrub  attains  a  good  size 


4  COMMON    BROOM. 

its  wood  is  hard,  and  is  valuable  to  the  cabinet- 
maker for  veneering.  The  plant  varies  much 
in  height,  according  to  the  soil  and  situation 
on  which  it  grows.  When  it  is  found  on 
exposed  heaths,  it  is  usually  a  low  shrub  ;  but 
when  it  springs  up  on  some  sunny  hill-side,  or 
is  sheltered  by  a  neighbouring  rock  or  thicket, 
it  is  sometimes  ten  or  twelve  feet  high.  It 
is  always  an  ornamental  plant,  for  when  its 
flowers  have  passed  away,  its  dark  green 
leaves  and  twigs  remain.  Wordsworth  well 
describes  it : — 

"  Am  I  not 

In  truth  a  favour'd  plant  1 
On  me  such  bounty  summer  showers, 
That  I  am  cover'd  o'er  with  flowers ; 

And  when  the  frost  is  in  the  sky, 
My  branches  are  so  fresh  and  gay, 
That  you  might  look  on  me  and  say — 

'  This  plant  can  never  die.'  " 


o. 


GERMAXDER    P^PFFOWFLL, 


GERMANDER  SFE^DWl^LL.—Feronlca 

Chamcedrys. 

Class  MONANDRiA.      Order  Monogynia.      Nat.  Ord.  Scrophu- 

LARINE^. — FiGWORT    TrIBE. 

This  flower  is  often,  by  persons  little 
acquainted  with  plants,  called  the  Forget-me- 
not.  In  some  places  it  is  called  Cat's  Eye ; 
but  it  is  one  of  the  numerous  family  of  the 
Speedwells.  These  plants,  whether  growing 
in  field  or  garden,  may  all  be  known  from  any 
others  by  this  peculiarity,  that  the  blossom, 
which  is  cleft  into  four  segments,  has  always 
the  lower  segment  narrower  than  the  rest. 
We  have  no  less  than  eighteen  wild  kinds. 
They  are  all  blue  or  flesh-coloured  flowers  ;  but 
the  Germander  is  the  largest  of  all  the  common 
species.  Among  our  spring  flowers  it  is  most 
conspicuous,  its  brilUant  blue  blossoms  lying 
hke  gems  among  the  bright  May  grass.  At 
that  time, 

^'  The  goi-se  is  yellow  on  the  heath, 
The  banks  with  Speedwell  flowers  are  gay, 
The  oak  is  budding,  and  beneath, 
The  hawthorn  soon  will  wear  the  wreath, 
The  silver  wreath  of  May." 

TlioLigh  an  early- blooming  flower, yet  some  of 


6  GERMANDER    SPEEDWELL. 

its  tribe  are  earlier  still.  Thus  the  Ivy-leaved 
Speedwell,  with  light  blue  blossoms,  and  leaves 
shaped  like  those  of  the  ivy,  is  very  common 
in  cultivated  lands,  and  among  hedges ;  and  if 
March  is  fine,  it  may  be  found  then,  while  it  is 
sure  to  be  abundant  in  April.  Country  people 
call  it  Winter- weed;  but  the  Procumbent 
Speedwell,  a  plant  with  very  small  blue  blos- 
soms, and  stems  which  lie  along  the  ground, 
is  the  first  of  all  the  Speedwells,  and  comes 
amidst  the  winds  and  rains  of  early  spring- 
time. The  Speedwells  are  not  now  considered 
to  possess  medicinal  properties  ;  but  they  were 
once  believed  to  yield  valuable  remedies,  and 
were  called  by  the  Dutch,  Honour  and  Praise. 
Several  of  the  species  grow  in  streams  and 
water-courses.  That  common  flower  of  the 
stream-side,  the  Brooklime  Speedwell,  with  its 
smooth  fleshy  leaves,  and  briUiant  blue  flowers, 
was  formerly  eaten  in  salads.  Its  pungent 
leaves  are  still  mingled  with  water-cresses, 
and  sold  in  Scotland.  This  plant  is  called  by 
botanists  Veronica  Beccabunga,  and  appears 
to  have  derived  its  name  from  the  Flemish 
Beck-pungen,  Mouth-smart. 


lrd'3-foot  trefoil. 


BIRD'S-FOOT  TREFOIL.— Zoto 

corniculatas. 

Class  DiADELPHiA,    OvcUr  Decandria,    Nat.  Ord.  Legumino3-;k. 
Pea  and  Bean  Tribe. 

The  rich  green  verdure  of  the  summer 
meadow  is  everywhere  brightened  by  this 
pretty  little  blossom,  which  country  children 
call  by  the  old  familiar  names  of  Lady's- 
slipper,  or  Pattens-and-clogs.  The  ancient 
Greek  authors  wTote  much  of  the  Lotus,  but 
it  appears  that  they  had  three  plants  which 
they  called  by  that  name.  This,  however,  was 
one.  Several  kinds  of  the  Bird's-foot  Trefoil 
grow  not  only  in  the  sunny  meads  of  the 
Greek  Isles,  but  are  abundant  in  most  parts  of 
Southern  Europe ;  and  the  pods  of  one  species, 
which  is  much  larger  than  our  common  plant, 
are  a  useful  article  of  diet  among  the  poorer 
inhabitants  of  Candia.  The  seeds  of  our  native 
species  furnish  food  for  birds  only.  This  plant, 
as  well  as  another  British  kind,  the  Narrow- 
leaved  Bird's-foot  Trefoil,  is  very  useful  for 
making  a  permanent  pasture  for  cattle,  and  is 
sometimes  sown  with  the  white  clover.     The 


8  BIRD  S-FOOT    TREFOIL. 

narrow -leaved  species  is  much  like  the  common 
kind,  but  is  larger :  it  grows  in  moist,  bushy 
places,  and  by  the  sides  of  streams  and  rivers, 
and  its  stems  are  more  straggling.  We  have 
altogether  four  wild  species  of  the  Bird's-foot 
Trefoil.  The  rare  plant,  called  the  Narrow- 
podded  Bird's-foot  Trefoil,  which  is  found  on 
a  few  rocky  places  by  the  sea-coast,  is,  in  one 
variety,  altogether  much  smaller  than  either 
of  the  others,  and  somewhat  different  in  its 
general  appearance.  There  is  a  very  pretty 
tiny  flower  on  our  sandy  and  gravelly  soils, 
called  the  Bird's-foot,  with  white,  pea-shaped 
blossoms,  marked  with  red  lines,  which  is  often 
mistaken  for  a  Lotus :  but  this  belongs  to  a 
different  genus  of  plants,  and  is  not  a  Trefoil, 
having  about  six  or  seven  pairs  of  leaflets  oh 
its  leaf- stalk.  Flowers  formed  like  these  are 
called  papilionaceous,  or  butterfly-shaped,  and 
plants  with  these  blossoms  have  their  seeds 
in  pods. 


SCARLET   PIMPEKNEU 


SCARLET  ?niFEKNEL.—Jy?a^ams 
arvensis. 

Class  Pentandria.  Order  Monogynia,  Nat.  Ch-d.  Primulace^. 
Primrose  Tribe, 

Every  one  knows  the  Scarlet  Pimpernel, 
oui'  only  wild  flower  of  that  colour,  except 
the  scarlet  poppy ;  though  there  are  one  or 
tw^o  of  a  crimson  tint,  like  the  pheasant's- 
eye  of  the  cornfield.  The  Pimpernel  grows 
everywhere ;  on  the  sandy  heath  among  the 
furze  and  broom,  on  the  bank  by  the  road, 
and  especially,  among-  the  ripening  corn,  it 
may  be  seen,  on  any  sunny  day,  during  July 
and  August.  It  has  some  pretty  English 
names,  as  the  Shepherd's  Barometer,  or  the 
Shepherd's  Warning,  and  the  Poor-man's 
AVeather-glass.  These  names  are  expressive 
of  the  influence  that  a  moist  atmosphere  has 
upon  the  blossom,  which  is  so  sensitive,  that 
long  before  we  can  be  aware  of  the  approach 
of  rain,  it  closes  up ;  and  it  does  not  open  at 
all  upon  a  wet  or  even  cloudy  day,  a  circum- 
stance Avhich  was  early  noticed  by  Sir  Erancis 
Bacon.     It  gives  us  no  warning,  however,  after 


10  SCARLET   PIMPERNEL. 

the  middle  of  the  day,  for  within  two  or  three 
minutes  of  two  o'clock  it  closes  its  petals, 
which  remain  folded  until  about  seven  the 
next  morning.  The  botanical  name  is  taken 
from  a  Greek  word,  signifying,  to  laugh ; 
because  the  ancient  Greek  writers  believed  it 
to  be  a  useful  medicine  in  liver  complaints, 
and  thus  favourable  to  good  and  cheerful 
spirits.  Though  it  is  not  found,  in  our  times, 
to  deserve  this  praise,  yet  its  pleasant  aspect 
and  love  of  sunshine  render  its  name  a  suit- 
able one.  A  large  number  of  seeds  are  in- 
closed in  little  capsules,  which,  when  ripe, 
bm'st  open  all  round  transversely,  and  the 
seeds  afford  a  valuable  supply  of  food  to  many 
of  our  song  birds.  There  is  a  blue  variety  of 
this  Pimpernel,  which,  though  rare  in  many 
places,  is  very  abundant  in  others,  especially 
in  Gloucestershire;  and  sometimes  we  may 
find  a  Pimpernel  quite  white,  with  a  distinct 
purplish-pink  eye  in  the  centre  of  the  blossom. 
There  is  also  another  species,  a  beautiful  rose- 
coloured  flower,  which  grows  on  moist  mossy 
places,  and  is  caUed  the  Bog  Pimpernel. 


vC 


IIONRVSaCKLE. 


HONEYSUCKLE.— Zo;?/cerr/  Periclymenuw. 

Class  Pentandria.  Orde7-  Monogtnia.  Nat.  Ord.  Caprifoliace^. 
Woodbine  Tribe. 

There  is  hardly  a  wild  flower  of  our  hedge- 
rows which  delights  us  more  by  its  fragrance 
than  does  the  Honeysuckle.  During  May 
and  June  its  blossoms  are  waving  about  the 
bushes,  or  creeping  over  the  old  ruin  or  rocky 
crag,  in  all  parts  of  our  island,  and  we  wonder 
not  that  poets,  both  ancient  and  modern, 
have  sung  of  their  sweetness.  It  had  the  old 
name  of  Woodbine,  but  both  Spenser  and 
Shakspeare  call  it  by  the  older  name  of  Capri- 
fole,  or  Goat-leaf,  which  was  given  because, 
like  the  goat,  it  climbs  over  craggy  and  almost 
inaccessible  places;  or,  as  some  writers  say, 
because  these  animals  relish  the  leaves.  It 
has  a  similar  name  in  other  countries,  for  the 
French  term  it  Chevre-feuille,  and  the  Italians 
Caprifoglio.  At  the  base  of  its  long  tubular 
flower  lies  the  honey,  which  though  the  bee 
may  not  reach  it,  is  extracted  by  the  long 
tongues  of  the  sphynxes  and  hawk-moths,  that 
may  often  be  seen  hovering  about  it.     After 


12  HONEYSUCKLE. 

the  blossom  has  withered,  in  the  months  of 
September  and  October,  clusters  of  dark  red 
berries  take  their  place.  They  are  very  insipid 
in  flavour,  and  are  eaten  only  by  children 
and  birds,  but  they  add  to  the  beauty  of  the 
autumn  woods  and  hedges.  Plants  which 
climb  around  others,  or  on  walls,  always  in 
the  same  species  take  the  same  direction  in 
twining.  Thus  some  plants,  like  the  Honey- 
suckle, and  indeed  the  greater  number  of  our 
British  climbers,  follow  the  apparent  course  of 
the  sun,  and  turn  from  left  to  right ;  while 
others  are  invariable  in  their  habit  of  tm'ning 
in  the  contrary  w^ay.  There  are  two  other 
species  of  wild  Honeysuckle,  but,  unlike  this, 
they  are  not  common.  One  is  the  pale  Per- 
foliate Honeysuckle,  which  has  been  found  in 
woods  in  Oxfordshire  and  Cambridgeshire ; 
and  the  other  the  still  more  rare  upright  Fly 
Honeysuckle. 


•;aB    ROBERT,    OR    POOR   ROBIN* 


HERB  ROBERT,  or  POOR  ROBIN. 

Geranium  Robertianum. 

Class  MoNADELPHiA.  Order  Decandria.  Nat  Ord.  Geraniace^. 
Geranium  Tribe. 

There  are  very  few  flowers  of  our  native 
land  which  are  more  frequent  than  this  pink 
Cranesbill.  A  very  beautiful  little  flower  it 
is,  too ;  growing  in  the  summer  months, 
under  the  bushes,  on  the  sunny  bank,  among 
the  cfrass  of  the  crao;  or  cliff',  and  smiHnor  on 
the  summit  of  the  ruined  wall,  or  beneath  the 
broad  deep  shadow  of  the  woodland  trees. 
AVhen  it  grows  on  exposed  situations,  the 
stems  and  leaves  have  a  rich  crimson  colour ; 
and  often  in  autumn,  when  they  linger  on  the 
bank  long  after  the  blossoms  have  passed 
away,  they  are  almost  as  beautiful  as  the 
flowers  themselves.  The  whole  of  this  plant 
is  very  hairy,  and  its  stems  are  brittle.  Its 
odour  cannot  be  praised,  and  after  the  flower 
has  been  long  gathered,  it  becomes  very 
disagreeable.  This  scent  is  caused  by  a 
peculiar  resinous  secretion,  which  exists  in 
this  and  several  other  species  of  Cranesbill. 
In  some  of  the  species  of  other  lands,  the 
resin  is  so  powerful,  that  if  a  light  be  applied 
to  the  stems,  they  will  bm*n  like  torches,  and 
will  yield,  during  the  process  of  combustion, 


14  HERB  ROBERT,  OR  POOR  ROBIN. 

a  very  powerful  and  pleasant  perfume  The 
Herb  Robert  is  sometimes  found  with  pure 
white  flowers.  Not  only  are  the  small  bright 
stars  of  this  species  scattered  by  our  path- 
ways, but  no  less  than  twelve  other  wild 
Cranesbills,  almost  all  of  them  common  plants, 
delight  the  lovers  of  wild  flowers :  they  have 
all  red  or  purplish  blossoms.  A  very  com- 
mon kind,  which  appears  early  in  April,  and 
blooms  on  till  August,  must  be  known  to  all 
accustomed  to  notice  wild  plants,  for  it  is 
frequent  on  every  bank  or  waste  place,  and  in 
every  pasture.  It  has  long  spreading  stems, 
and  broad  roundish  leaves,  deeply  cut  into 
segments.  These  leaves  are  of  a  pale  grey- 
green,  and  downy  as  velvet.  The  flowers  are 
very  smah,  and  of  a  purphsh-red  colour.  We 
call  it  Dove's-foot  Cranesbill,  and  the  French 
term  it  also  Pied  de  Pigeon.  A  great  num- 
ber of  Cranesbills  are  cultivated  in  our  gar- 
dens. One  of  these,  the  large  pm^ple-flowered 
Cranesbill,  is  common  in  many  woods  and 
thickets,  and  is  not  unfrequent  in  those  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  London.  It  is  a  tall  plant, 
with  handsome  dark-blue  flowers,  as  large  as 
a  shilHng  piece. 


COMMON  MkLLOW.—iMahYi  sylvestris. 

Class  MoNADELPHiA.  Or(hr  Polyandria.  Nat.  Ord,  Malvacejs. 
Mallow  Tribe. 

This  Mallow  is  very  common  throughout 
England,  though  it  is  rare  in  Scotland.  Chil- 
dren call  its  young  circular  fruits  cheeses ; 
hence,  in  some  country  places,  the  plant  is 
called  cheese-flower.  The  large  handsome 
blossoms  adorn  our  lanes  and  fields,  and 
cluster  in  beauty  on  our  waste  places,  from 
June  until  August.  The  leaves  are  cut  into 
seven  lobes,  and  are  roundish  in  form ;  but 
not  so  much  so  as  in  the  species  called  the 
Dwarf  or  Round-leaved  Mallow.  Both  our 
wild  and  cultivated  Mallows  are  useful  in 
medicine,  on  account  of  the  mucilage  which 
they  contain.  The  leaves  are  also  boiled,  and 
used  by  country-people  as  an  application  to 
wounds  and  bruises.  Mallow  tea  is  a  medi- 
cine nuich  taken  in  Paris,  not  only  for  coughs 
and  colds,  but  for  a  variety  of  maladies. 
Several  species  were  used  as  food  by  the 
Romans,  though  which  particular  kinds  they 
praise   so  highly  w^e  cannot  now  determine. 


16  COMMON    MALLOW. 

This  common  species  is  cultivated  in  gardens 
in  Rosetta,  and,  boiled  with  meat,  is  one 
of  the  most  common  dishes  of  Lower  Egypt. 
The  patriarch  Job  speaks  of  the  destitute 
persons  who  cut  up  jMallows  by  the  root ;  and 
though  w^e  know  not  exactly  the  plant  in- 
tended, yet  we  know  that  in  Arabia,  and  other 
Eastern  lands.  Mallows  are  much  eaten  by 
the  poor.  Our  common  Mallow  has  a  smaller 
quantity  of  mucilage  than  the  plant  of  our 
sea-shores,  called  the  Marsh  Mallow.  This, 
however,  belongs  to  the  genus  termed  by  the 
botanist  Althaea. 

Besides  the  common,  we  have  the  Dwarf 
and  Musk  ]\Iallows.  The  latter  is  a  tall 
flower,  with  large  handsome  rose-coloured 
blossoms,  which,  as  well  as  the  foliage,  are 
fragrant  in  the  evening.  It  is  very  abundant 
on  many  pasture-lands  of  our  country  :  but  in 
some  places  very  rare.  The  Dwarf  Mallow  is 
a  more  frequent  kind,  and  may  be  easily 
known  by  its  roundish  leaves,  and  small  pale 
lilac  flowers.  These  plants  bloom  from  June 
to  September. 


FIELD  CO^YOTjVUUJS.—Convolvulm 
arvensis, 

(7/as5 Pentaxdria.  Orr/erMoNOGYNiA.  Nat.Ord.  Convolvulaceje. 
Convolvulus  Tribe. 

One  of  the  prettiest,  though  certainly  one 
of  the  most  short -Uved  of  all  our  twining  wild 
flowers,  is  the  Field  Convolvulus,  or,  as  it  is 
often  called  in  country  places,  the  Bear-bind, 
Withy-wind,  or  Bindweed.  Its  botanic  name 
is  taken  from  Convolvo,  to  entwine  ;  and 
those  who  have  noticed  its  elegant  wreaths 
of  leaves  and  flowers,  Avill  acknowledge  that 
all  these  names  are  significant  of  its  habit. 
The  pink  delicate  bells  have  a  sweet  scent, 
much  like  that  of  almonds.  Pretty  as  this 
plant  is,  it  is  not  welcomed  by  the  farmer, 
for  it  intrudes  itself  into  all  cultivated  lands  ; 
winding  its  tough  and  curling  stems  around 
the  corn  stalks,  catching  fast  hold  of  peas  or 
beans,  or  any  plant  near  it,  and  sending  its 
perennial  and  creeping  root  far  into  the  soil. 
There  the  roots  grow  very  fast,  throwing  out 
numerous  shoots  from  all  parts  ;  and  no  care 
of  the  agriculturist  can  prevent  their  spreading 
extensively  over  the  field.     When  it  covers  a 

Xo.  2. 


18  FIELD    CONVOLVULUS. 

hedge-bank,  however,  as  it  often  does,  its  pink 
cups   opening  only  to  the   sunshine,  it  is   a 
beautiful  adornment  to  the  summer  landscape, 
and  bees  hover  and  hum  about  it  continually. 
Its  presence  is  considered  as  a  certain  indica- 
tion of  a  light  soil,  and  its  time  for  blooming 
is  in  the  months  of  June  and  July.     Besides 
this  pretty  pink  Convolvulus,  there  is  a  much 
larger  kind,  equally  common  in  our  woods  and 
hedges.     This  is  the  greater  Bindweed.     We 
often  see  it  hanging  its  large  snowy  bells  over 
the  trees  and  shrubs  of  the  garden,  and  it  is 
an  ornamental  plant,  though,  like  the  smaller 
species,  a  very  troublesome  weed  to  the  agri- 
culturist.    It  is  not  often  a  companion  of  the 
pink  flower,   as    it  flourishes    chiefly  in  the 
neighbourhood   of   streams    and  other    moist 
places.     It  is  called  by  country  people,  Old 
Man's  Nightcap.     There  is  also  a  wild  Con- 
volvulus   on    our    sea-shores,   called  the   Sea 
Bindweed,  with  large  rose  coloured  flowers 
and  succulent  leaves. 


% 


BVTTERCVI^.—Bammculus  hulhosus. 

Class  PoLYANDRiA.  Order  Poltgyxia.  Nat.  Orel.  Ranunculace^. 
Crowfoot  Tribe, 

This  gay  meadow  flower  gives  to  the  land- 
scape a  bright  and  cheerful  aspect,  when  May 
has  scattered  it  by  thousands  over  the  grassy 
meadow,  where  it  contrasts  with  the  multitude 
of  silver  daisies.  This  flower  has  an  acrid 
bulbous  root, which  is  emetic  in  its  properties. 
Rather  later  in  the  year,  two  other  species  of 
crowfoot  or  buttercup  glisten  in  the  grass  of 
the  meads,  and  by  every  way-side ;  these  are 
the  Creeping  Crowfoot,  and  theUpright  Meadow 
Crowfoot.  Both  are  very  similar  in  their 
appearance  to  this  flower,  but  the  small  leaves 
forming  the  flower  cup  are,  in  the  bulbous 
species,  always  turned  back  and  drooping. 
AH  the  Crowfoots  contain  much  acridity,  and 
they  are  mostly  disliked  by  cattle  on  this 
account.  The  June  or  Creeping  Buttercup  is 
a  very  noxious  plant  on  pasture-lands,  for  it 
has  creeping  roots  which  render  it  very  difficult 
of  extermination,  and  if  the  cattle  happen  to 
eat  it,  it  will  blister  their  mouths.  There  is  a 
little  yellow  Buttercup,  growing  on  tall  slender 


20  BUTTERCUP. 

stalks  in  the  corn-field,  during  June,  and  known 
as  the  Corn  Crowfoot,  which  is   eaten  with 
avidity  by  cattle,  but  which  is  a  highly  dan- 
gerous plant  for  their  food.  Some  sheep  which 
fed  upon  it,  in  meadows   near  Turin,  were 
killed  by  its  poison  ;  and  a  French  chemist 
ascertained  that  three  ounces  of  its  juice  proved 
fatal  to  a  dog  in  the  course  of  four  minutes 
after  swallowing  it.     It  may  be  known  by  the 
very  large  and  prickly  seed  vessels  which  suc- 
ceed the  flower.    There  is  another  species,  the 
Celery -leaved  Crowfoot,  with  stout  juicy  stems, 
bright  glossy  leaves,  and  very   small  yellow 
flowers,  common  at  the  sides  of  streams  and 
ditches.     If  this  flower  is  laid  on  the  skin,  it 
will  quickly  raise  a  blister ;  nor  is  it  even  safe 
to  carry  a  handful  of  the  plant  to  any  distance, 
as  the  hand  is  hkely  to  become  much  inflamed 
in  consequence.     We  have  fifteen  species  of 
wild  Crowfoot.     The  old  writers  called  them 
King-cups,  Gold-cups,  Cuckoo-buds,  and  Mary- 
buds.     The  juice  of  the  bulbous  Crowfoot,  if 
applied  to  the  nostrils,  causes  sneezing. 


SWEET  VIOLET. 


SWEET  \10LET.—Fwla  odorata. 

Class  Pentandria.  Orclei^  Moxogtnia.  Nat.  Orel.  Yiolacej:. 
Violet  Tribe. 

The  sweet  blue  and  white  Violets  are  among 
the  first  favourites  of  our  childhood.  We  find 
them  in  March  ;  hence  our  old  writers  called 
them  the  ^larch  Violet ;  but  they  are  still  more 
abundant  in  April  than  in  the  earlier  month. 
They  grow  on  way-sides,  and  many  a  copse- 
wood  in  Eno'land  mio'ht  remind  us  of  the 
poet's  description  : — 

"  There  purple  violets  lurk, 
With  all  the  lovely  children  of  the  shade." 

But  it  is  not  poets  only  wdio  have  praised 
the  Violet.  ^lahomet  said  of  it  that  it  excelled 
all  other  flowers  ;  and  in  Eastern  lands  it  is 
continually  referred  to  as  an  image  of  sweetness. 
The  modern  Arabians  compare  the  eyelids  to 
a  Violet  dropping  dew  ;  and  the  odour  of  its 
half-hidden  flower  makes  it  a  fit  emblem  of 
modesty.  The  sweet  Violet  is  a  native  of 
every  part  of  Europe.  Lane,  in  his  "Arabian 
Nights,"  says  sherbet  is  made  of  the  Violet 
by  pounding  the  flowers  and  boiling  them 


22  SWEET   VIOLET. 

with  susfar.  In  Palestine  it  blooms  with  the 
Narcissus  as  early  as  the  twentieth  of  January; 
and  it  is  in  full  flower  during  winter  in  the 
palm  groves  of  Barbary,  and  in  Japan  and 
China.  This  flower  was  formerly  cultivated, 
for  medicinal  uses,  in  great  quantities  at 
Stratford-upon-Avon,  and  the  syrup  of  Violets 
is  still  used  by  chemists  to  detect  the  presence 
of  an  acid  or  alkali.  The  scentless  species 
called  the  Dog  Violet  has  a  much  larger  and 
brighter  flower,  which  grows  on  longer  stalks, 
so  that,  instead  of  hiding  itself  among  the 
leaves,  it  often  renders  the  bank  of  a  lilac  tint 
by  its  blossoms.  It  begins  to  bloom  in  March 
or  April,  and  remains  in  flower  long  after  the 
sweet  species  has  disappeared.  There  are  six 
other  kinds  of  Avild  Violet,  including  the  little 
Pansy  or  Heartsease  of  our  fields  ;  and  so 
numerous  are  Violets  in  other  lands,  that  more 
than  a  hundred  species  have  been  recorded. 
Not  one  of  them,  however,  has  a  sweeter  scent 
than  the  fragrant  flower  of  our  woodlands. 
Besides  the  white  variety  of  this  Violet,  we  see 
it  of  pale  blue,  lilac,  or  even  red. 


COMMON    PURPLE   TREFOIL. 


COMMON  PURPLE  TREFOIL. 

Trifolium  pratense. 

Class  DiADELPHiA.  Order  Decandkia.  Nat.  Orel.  LiGUMiNOSiE. 
Pea  and  Bean  Tribe, 

The  sweet  purple  Clover,  how  pleasant  it 
makes  our  summer  walk  by  its  perfume !  and 
it  is  so  attractive  to  the  bees  that  one  always 
sees  these  insects  gathering  about  the  pastures 
where  it  abounds.  This  is  the  Clover  so  much 
cultivated  for  hay,  the  plant  which  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  called  doeferioort,  because  of  its  cleft 
leaves  ;  from  which  also  it  has  the  name  of 
Trefoil.  The  triple  leaf  was,  in  former  days, 
in  much  repute  as  a  charm  against  magic,  and 
our  Clover  was  said  by  old  writers  to  be  not 
only  •'  good  for  cattle,  but  noisome  to  witches.'' 
Happily,  we  of  later  generations  are  no  be- 
hevers  in  such  superstitions  ;  but  there  was  a 
day  when  not  only  the  simple  villager,  but 
the  knight,  wore  the  leaf  on  his  arm,  under 
the  notion  that  it  rendered  him  safe  from 
charms  an(f  spells.  The  poet  alludes  to  this 
old  practice  : — 

*' Woe,  woe  to  the  wight  who  meets  the  green  knight, 
Except,  on  his  faulchion  arm. 
Spell-proof  he  bear,  like  the  brave  St.  Clair, 
The  holy  Trefoil's  charm." 


24  COMMON    PURPLE    TREFOIL. 

We  have  seventeen  species  of  wild  Trefoil. 
Several  of  them  are  pnrple,  and  some  are 
bright  yellow,  or  of  a  pale  larimstone  colour,  or 
w^hite.  The  little  yelloAv  Trefoil  is  so  common 
that  every  one  knows  it.  It  is  shaped  like  the 
Clover,  but  the  heads  of  the  flowers  are  not 
larger  than  a  currant.  The  Common  White, 
or  Dutch  Clover,  is  to  be  found  in  every 
pasture  land,  and  is  also  cultivated  for  its 
useful  herbage.  Indeed,  this  White  Clover 
and  our  common  purple  species  are  two  of 
the  most  valuable  herbage  plants  used  in 
European  agriculture,  and  they  will  grow  on 
any  soils,  though  thriving  best  on  dry  chalky 
lands.  The  white  head  of  flowers  in  the 
Dutch  Clover  is  upright,  but  the  partial  flower- 
stalks  bend  down  when  the  blossom  withers, 
so  that  the  little  pods  which  hold  the  seeds 
hang  covered  with  the  petals  of  the  dead 
flowers.  This  plant  is,  by  many  writers,  con- 
sidered to  be  the  ancient  shamrog,  the  badge 
of  Ireland ;  but  others  believe  the  original 
plant  to  have  been  the  Wood-sorrel. 


WOOD    STltAUBfclUHV. 


WOOD  STRAWBERRY.— i^my^/vV^  vesca. 

Class  IcosANDRiA.  Oi'dcr  Polygynia.  Nat.  Ord.  Rosacea. 
Rose  Tribe. 

The  Strawberry  is  to  be  found  in  most  of 
the  woods  and  thickets  of  our  island,  and  its 
white  blossom  is  among  the  flowers  of  May 
and  the  two  following  months.  As  early  as 
March,  however,  we  may  gather  a  plant  so 
similar  to  it,  both  in  flower  and  leaf,  that  only 
a  botanist  would  mark  the  difiference  between 
them.  This  is  the  Barren  Straw^berry  {Pofeji- 
iilla  Fra^ariasirum),  Avhicli  grows  on  woods, 
banks,  and  dry  pastures.  Unlike  our  Avild 
Strawberry  flower,  however,  it  is  succeeded  by 
no  rich  fruit.  Our  native  fruits  are  few,  and 
the  Strawberry  is  the  best  and  sweetest  of 
them  all,  and  indeed  is  unrivalled,  for  its 
wholesome  qualities,  by  any  fruit  either  wild 
or  cultivated.  Country  children  well  know 
its  worth,  but  the  larger  Strawberries  reared 
in  gardens  are  so  much  more  in  use  for 
desserts,  that  the  wild  species  is  rarely  sold  in 
towns.  In  France,  Strawberries  are  used  not 
only,  as  with  us,  as  a  fruit  for  the  table  and 
for  preserves,  but  for  making  an  agreeable 


26  WOOD    STRAWBERRY". 

drink,  called  Bavaroise  a  la  Grecque,  which 
consists  of  the  juice  mingled  with  lemon, 
sngar,  and  water.  The  sweet  odour  of  the 
Strawberry  well  deserves  the  allusion  made  to 
it  in  its  botanical  name,  which  is  taken  from 
fragrans;  while  our  familiar  one  of  Strawberry- 
was  probably  given  to  it  from  the  old  practice 
of  threading  the  fruits  on  a  straw,  and  thus 
offering  them  for  sale,  a  practice  still  followed 
in  some  villages.  If  we  remove  our  wild 
Strawberry  from  the  shade  of  the  woodland 
boughs,  and  plant  it  in  a  garden  where  the 
sun  can  reach  it,  its  flavour  becomes  sweeter. 
It  was  probably  the  first  species  cultivated  in 
this  country,  and  the  Strawberry  was  reared 
in  the  English  garden  at  an  early  period. 
Lidgate's  song,  composed  at  a  date  previous 
to  the  year  1483,  shows  that  it  was  sold  in 
London  about  that  time. 

"  Then  unto  London  I  did  me  hye, 

Of  all  the  lands  it  beareth  the  prjse  ; 
Gode  pescode  owne  began  to  cry, 

Strabery  rype,  and  cherrys  in  the  ryse." 

The  Hautboy  is  sometimes  found  in  our 
woods,  but  is  probably  not  truly  wild. 


'^  I  n 


VOOD    ANEMONE. 


WOOD  x\NEMONE. — Anemone  nemorosa. 

CYasaPoLYANDRiA.  Or(?f /•  PoLTGYNiA.  Nat.Onl.  Raxunculacea:. 
Crowfoot  Tribe. 

How  pleasant  are  the  woodlands  during 
April  and  May,  with  the  gentle  Avaving  of  the 
young  leaves,  the  song  of  joyous  birds,  and 
the  sweet  odours  of  violets,  primroses,  and 
other  spring  flowers  !  Then  the  Blue-bell  waves 
to  every  breath  of  wind,  and  the  Celandine 
glistens  like  gold,  and  the  delicate  Stitchwort 
bends  so  low  as  the  wdnd  passes  over  it,  that 
we  can  hardly  believe  it  will  be  left  unharmed 
by  the  breeze. 

But  not  one  of  these  blossoms  is  more 
beautiful  than  that  of  our  Wood  Anemone, 
the  Wind-flower  of  the  older  writers,  and 
which  is  still  called  by  this  poetical  name  in 
some  parts  of  oiu*  country.  Whether  it  was 
named  thus  because  it  grows  in  the  moun- 
tainous woods  where  the  wildest  winds  blow, 
as  well  as  in  the  sheltered  valley  ;  or  whether 
because  its  petals  are  so  light  and  delicate 
that  the  wind  soon  ruffles  them,  we  know  not. 
In  many  woods  it  is  very  plentiful,  its  light 
seed  being  wafted  by  the  spring  winds,  and 


28  WOOD    ANEMOI^E. 

its  tough  roots  creeping  extensively  underneath 
the  surface  of  the  soil. 

AVe  have,  besides  this,  three  wild  species  of 
Anemone,  all  of  them  beautiful  to  look  upon, 
but  all  possessing  very  acrimonious,  and  several 
of  them  highly  poisonous  properties.  Some  of 
the  species  which  grow  on  American  pastui'es 
are  well  known  to  prove  fatal  to  cattle.  All 
our  wild  Anemones  are  in  bloom  dming  April 
and  May,  but  no  species  is  so  common  as  that 
represented  by  the  engraving.  The  beautiful 
Pasque-flower  Anemone  {Anemone  Pulsatilla) 
is  not,  however,  a  rare  flower  in  some  counties, 
where  chalky  soils  abound;  the  blossom,  which 
is  much  larger  than  that  of  theAVood  Anemone, 
is  of  a  delicate  lilac  colour.  It  is  very  silky, 
and  its  tint  is  so  elegant  that  it  is  a  favourite 
garden  flower  also. 

The  light  blue  Mountain  Anemone  {Anemone 
Apennind)  is  so  rare  a  wild  flower,  that  perhaps 
it  ought  rather  to  be  regarded  as  having  escaped 
from  some  garden  near  the  spot  where  it  may 
be  found  \  and  the  yellow  Wood  Anemone 
{Anemone  ranunculoides)  is  almost  equally  rare. 
It  has  a  bright  yellow  blossom. 


FURZE. —  TJlex  Euroimus. 

Class  DiADELPHiA.  Order  Decandria.  Nat.  Ord.  Leguminos.r. 
Pea  and  Bean  Tribe. 

We  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  our  common 
Gorse  or  Whin  as  one  of  the  hardiest  of  plants  ; 
and,  growing  upon  our  bleakest  commons,  and 
bearing  well  the  sea-breeze,  so  unfavourable  to 
plants  in  general,  it  might  really  seem  to  be  so. 
Yet  great  heat  or  cold  is  alike  unfavourable  to 
this  plant,  and  it  will  not  thrive  further  to  the 
south  of  Europe  than  Provence,  while  in  the 
regions  of  the  north  it  is  unknown  as  a  wild 
flower.  In  Russia  it  is  sometimes  reared  in  the 
greenhouse,  and  it  is  also  regarded  in  Sweden 
as  a  tender  plant.  What  wonder,  then,  that 
w^hen  the  great  Swedish  naturalist  saw  our 
heaths  covered  with  it,  it  filled  him  v^dth  joy ; 

"  For  Linnaeus 
Knelt  before  it  on  the  sod, 
For  its  beauty  thanking  God." 

The  common  Eurze  is  to  be  seen  on  almost 
every  heath,  and  gladdens  many  a  sunny  bank. 
Goldsmith  calls  it  ''  the  blossomed  Eurze,  un- 
profitably  gay;"  yet  it  is  useful  to  birds,  and 


30  FURZE. 

bees,  and  butterflies,  and  many  another  living 
creature.  But  besides  this,  tiie  young  shoots 
afford  a  good  pasture  for  cattle  ;  and  Knapp 
observes,  that  on  several  downs  in  Wales, 
Devon,  and  Cornwall,  the  Purze-bushes  assume 
commonly  the  appearance  of  large  green  dense 
balls  ;  every  tender  leaf  being  constantly  shorn 
'down  by  sheep  and  rabbits.  The  roots  of  the 
Furze  are  useful,  too,  in  binding  loose  soil, 
and  the  plant  is  often  grown  on  hill-sides  for 
this  purpose. 

Several  of  our  poets  refer  to  the  golden 
blossoms  of  the  Furze,  which  are  to  be  seen 
gleaming  in  beauty,  even  when  cold  winds  and 
snow  have  withered  almost  all  other  flowers. 
These  remain, 

"A  token  to  the  wintry  earth  that  beauty  Hveth  still." 

The  common  Gorse  begins  to  bloom  in  May, 
and  is  beautiful  even  late  in  autumn ;  while  the 
dwarf  species,  ( UkcV  naniis^  which  is  very  like 
this,  but  smaller,  blossoms  in  autumn  :  but  the 
flow^ers  of  both  species  may  sometimes  be 
gathered  throughout  the  winter. 


CRAB  AVFLK—F^rus  Malus. 

Class  IcosANDRiA.  Ordei'  Pentagynia.  Nat.  Ord.  Rosacea. 
Rose  Tribe. 

Few,  indeed,  are  the  wild  fruit-trees  of  our 

laud,  aud  fewer  still  are  those  which  can  claim 

to  be  true  natives  of  our  soil,  for  some  of  those 

now  growing  wild  were   introduced  by   the 

Romans.  The  Crab  Apple,  however,  is  a  truly 

British  plant,  and  its  richly  tinted  blossoms 

grace  our  spring  woodlands,  and  the  fruit  is 

ornamental  at  a  later  season  of  the  year.    Our 

wild  apple  is  of  little  use,  save  that  its  juice 

forms  the  verjuice  of  commerce  ;  yet  the  harsh 

austere  crab  of  the  wild  tree  is  the  origin  of 

all  the  valuable  apples,  the  blossoms  of  which 

render  the  orchard  grounds  of  some  counties 

so  beautiful. 

Besides  the  many  uses  which  Ave,  in  modern 
days,  make  of  the  Apple,  it  was  employed  for 
many  others  by  our  ancestors.  Thus,  a  cosmetic 
was  formerly  made  from  the  juice,  and  in  some 
diseases  physicians  prescribed,  as  a  remedy, 
that  the  patient  should  hold,  both  sleeping  and 


32  CRAB    APPLE. 

waking,  a  sweet  apple  in  liis  hand,  as  its  odour 
was  considered  healthful.  The  old  herbalist, 
Gerarde,  also  tells  us  of  a  valuable  ointment 
made  in  his  time  of  the  pulp  of  apples,  lard, 
and  rose  water,  which  was  called  pomatum, 
from  ponmm,  an  apple,  and  was  used  to  beau- 
tify the  skin.  Before  the  introduction  of  the 
hop  into  this  country,  cider  was  in  much  more 
general  use  than  it  is  now ;  and  old  writers 
complain  that  the  use  of  that  plant  had  "  trans- 
muted our  wholesome  baverage  into  beer." 
Cider  appears  to  have  been  a  drink  of  very  old 
use  in  this  country,  and  is  probably  the  Sieder 
of  the  ancient  Britons.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  Apple  was  cultivated  in  this  land  by 
the  Anglo-Saxons  ;  and  it  is  now  planted 
throughout  Europe  as  far  as  the  sixtieth  degree 
of  latitude,  and  in  the  temperate  parts  of  Asia, 
and  North  and  South  America.  It  has  been 
observed  that  the  Apple  will  flourish  in  the 
open  air  in  every  land  in  which  oaks  thrive. 
The  fruit  mentioned  in  Scripture  as  the  Apple 
is  probably  the  citron. 


m' 


DOG  ROSE. — Rosa  canina. 

Class  ICOSANDRIA.       OnUv  POLTGYNIA.      Nat.   Ord.  ROSACEJi. 

Rose  Teibe. 

In  the  rich  hedges,  which  in  many  parts  of 
our  island  form  so  beautiful  an  enclosure  to 
fields,  or  meadows,  there  is  not,  in  summer 
time,  a  lovelier  flow^er  than  the  Rose.  Though 
smaller  in  size,  and  inferior  in  fragrance,  to 
Roses  of  sunnier  climates,  yet  are  we  able,  even 
here,  to  recognise  it  as  the  Queen  of  small 
flow^ers.  We  have  eighteen  species  of  small  wdld 
Rose;  some  of  them  are  rare,  but  several  of 
them  are  common  flowers,  and  none  more  so 
than  the  Dog  Rose.  We  wonder,  when  look- 
ing on  its  beauty,  that  it  should  bear  a  name 
which  seems  to  imply  some  inferiority;  yet  the 
old  poets  called  it  by  the  still  less  merited  name 
of  Canker.  The  hips  w^bich  succeed  the  flowers 
form  a  valuable  store  of  food  for  birds, — the 
fleld-fare,  chaffinch,  and  redwing,  especially, 
feeding  chiefly  on  these  and  on  the  berries  of 
the  Whitethorn-tree. 

Among  the  other  summer  Roses,  which  are 
not  only  frequent,  but  may  be  easily  recognised 
even  by  those  who  are  not  botanists,  are  the 
Sweet    Brier    Rose,    {Rosa   ruhiginosa^    the 

No.  3. 


34  DOG    HOSE. 

Eglantine  of  tlie  older  writers,  which  may  at 
once  be  known  from  all  the  others  by  its  sweetly- 
scented  leaves  ;  and  that  pretty  wild  flower,  the 
Bnr net-leaved  Rose,  {Eosa  spijiosissima,)  which 
is  so  frequent  on  heathy  lands,  and  on  chalky 
or  sandy  soils.  The  flower  is  of  a  delicate 
cream-colour,  sometimes  tinged  with  red,  and 
the  shrub  seldom  more  than  three  feet  high, 
and  crowded  with  small  dark  green  leaves  and 
sharp  prickles.  The  blossoms  are  very  nu- 
merous, and  the  hips,  which  grow  in  autumn, 
are  very  large,  and  purple  or  dark  red  in  colour. 
Children  call  them  Cat-hips.  The  Rose  is  the 
favourite  flower  of  all  lands.  In  former  days, 
when  garlands  were  hung  in  churches,  in  order, 
as  an  old  writer  says,  to  "■  attemper  the  aire, 
coole  and  make  freshe  the  place,  to  the  delight 
and  comfort  of  such  as  are  therein,"  the  Rose 
was  a  flow^er  very  generally  chosen  for  the  pur- 
pose ;  and  one  of  the  old  books  of  the  church 
of  St.  Mary's  at  Hill,  London,  contains  the 
foll«wdng  record,  made  by  the  churchwardens 
during  the  reign  of  Edward  IV. : — 

"  For  Rose  garlandis,  and  woodrowe  gar- 
landis,  on  St.  Barnebes  day,  x  j  <://' 


BiriXG   STONECROP. 


BITING  STONECROP.— ^^^/^^;;^  acre, 

t7rt.s5  Dlcandria.    O/'tZe/- Pentagtnia.    Nat.  OrcZ.  Crassui  ace^. 
Stonecrop  Tribe. 

Any  one  who  should  leather  this  vellow  floAver 
from  the  old  wall,  or  the  rock  or  sandy 
ground  on  which  it  flourishes,  would  acknow- 
ledge, upon  tasting  it,  the  justice  of  its  com- 
mon name.  It  is  also,  besides,  called  Wall 
Pepper,  on  account  of  its  pungent  flavour  ;  and 
so  acrid  is  its  juice,  that  it  will  raise  a  blister 
on  the  skin  if  applied  to  it. 

This  Stonecrop,  as  well  as  some  others  of 
our  native  species,  is  very  ornamental  to  the 
stone  or  brick  wall,  where  it  often  accompanies 
the  snapdragon,  the  wallflower,  and  other  plants 
which  require  but  a  small  portion  of  soil  for 
their  nutriment.  The  power  of  adapting  them- 
selves to  barren  places  is  partaken  by  all  the 
genus,  of  which  w^e  have  eleven  British  species. 
Some  of  them  are  handsome  plants,  with  white 
or  purplish  flowers,  though  the  greater  number 
have  yellow  blossoms.  All  have  very  fleshy 
juicy  stems  and  foliage;  hence  they  are  enabled 
to  retain  a  quantity  of  moisture  during  drought, 


36  BITING    STONECROP. 

and  in  places  so  diy  that  little  is  yielded  to 
their  roots  by  the  soil.  Plants  of  this  kind  im- 
bibe moisture  readily  through  their  leaves,  and 
part  with  it  slowly,  and  are  thus  fitted  for 
sandy  deserts,  or  walls,  or  rocky  places.  The 
Rev.  R.  W.  Evans  has  drawn  a  good  lesson 
from  our  pretty  Avild  flower  : — • 

"  There  from  his  rocky  pulpit,  I  heard  cry 

The  Stonecrop  :   See  how  loose  to  earth  I  grow, 
And  draw  my  juicy  nurture  from  the  sky  : 

So  di'aw  not  thou,  fond  man,  thy  root  too  low, 
But  loosely  clingiug  here, 
From  God's  supernal  sphere 
Draw  life's  unearthly  food — catch  Heaven's  undying 
glow." 

None  of  the  Stonecrops  are  of  great  service 
to  man,  though  some  have  been  used  in  medi- 
cine ;  but  they  have  no  little  value  in  the  eyes 
of  those  who  reflect  that  they  clothe  the  most 
barren  soils  with  a  gay  mantle,  and  convert 
the  most  dreary  spot  into  a  cheerful  garden. 
]\Iost  of  the  species  bloom  during  the  months 
of  June  and  July.  The  Pm^ple  Orpine  {Sedain 
Tclephium)  flowers  two  months  later. 


ni'lST-HAUU  J-. 


REST-HARROW.—  Ononis  arvcnsis. 

CJoss  DiADELPHiA.     Order  Decandria.    Nat.  Ord.  LEGUMiNOSiP, 
Pea  and  Bean  Tribe. 

During  tlie  months  of  June,  July,  and 
August,  this  plant  is  profusely  covered  with 
butterfly-shaped  flowers.  It  grows  on  barren 
and  waste  soils,  and  is  often  very  plentiful  on 
the  green  patches  which  occur  on  chalky  cliffs 
near  the  sea,  as  well  as  on  the  borders  of  culti- 
vated lands.  When  it  intrudes  itself  on  corn- 
fields, it  becomes  a  very  troublesome  plant, 
for  its  long  and  tough  roots  retard  the  progress 
of  the  plough,  while  its  numerous  and  thorny 
branches  are  so  great  an  impediment  to  the 
action  of  the  harrow,  as  to  have  obtained 
for  the  plant  its  old  English  name.  Equally 
old  and  significant  is  that  by  which  it  is 
known  in  Erance,  where  it  is  commonly  called 
Arrete-boeuf.  Yet  this  plant  has  its  uses,  for 
although  when  in  its  most  thorny  state  no 
animal  but  the  donkey  feeds  upon  it,  yet  on 
])etter  soils  it  mingles  with  the  pasture,  and 
is  relished  by  cows,  sheep,  and  goats.  The 
roots  are  very  sweet,  and  when  young  have 


38  REST-HAKROW. 

the  flavour  of  liquorice.  The  writer  was  in- 
formed by  some  workmen  engaged  in  making 
excavations,  that  they  and  their  fellow-labourers 
were  accustomed  to  suck  the  juice  from  these 
roots,  in  order  to  assuage  the  thirst  induced  by 
hard  toil  under  a  summer  sun.  The  young 
shoots  are  also  sweet  and  succulent,  and  in 
some  country  places  they  are  boiled  and  eaten. 
An  old  Greek  writer  mentions,  that  when 
pickled,  they  form  an  agreeable  dish ;  and  in 
our  country  they  were,  during  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  sometimes  thus  prepared  for 
the  table.  They  were  also  formerly  used  me- 
dicinally, and  were  believed  to  cure  delirium. 
The  Rest-Harrow  is  very  variable  in  regard 
to  the  number  of  its  thorns.  In  the  most 
barren  soils,  where  it  is  even  more  abundant 
than  on  richer  lands,  the  thorns  are  very  nu- 
merous, and  become  woody  and  strong.  This 
is  the  case  with  some  other  plants,  as  the  Pear- 
tree  and  Sloe,  which  in  a  uild  state  bear 
numerous  thorns,  but  when  cultivated  are  un- 
armed. The  blossoms  of  this  plant  are  usually 
rose-coloured,  but  are  sometimes  so  pale  as  to 
be  almost  white. 


IVVr-LEAVED    TOADFLAX. 


IVY-LEAVED  TO ADYL AX.— Linaria 

Cijinhalaria. 

Class  DiDYNAMiA,     Order  Angiospermia.     N'at.  Orel.  Scrophu- 

LARINE^. FiGWORT  TrIBE. 

Among  the  many  species  of  Toadflax  which 
continually  meet  the  eye  hi  the  country  walk 
of  summer,  not  one  is  prettier  than  this. 
Creeping  over  the  grey  v/all  of  the  old  ruin, 
hanging  down  its  thread-hke  branches  from 
the  ancient  church-tower,  where  it  fixes  its 
roots  in  the  smallest  crevices,  its  rich,  thick 
green  leaves  and  numerous  blossoms  form  a 
handsome  tapestry  Avith  which  to  hide  the  de- 
cay of  the  buihling.  The  profusion  of  its  pale 
lilac  flowers  doubtless  suggested  the  name  of 
Mother  of  Thousands,  by  which  the  plant  is 
known  in  villages.  It  is  not  an  uncommon 
tlhng  to  see  it  traihng  downwards  from  a 
garden-pot,  suspended  to  the  cottage  ceiling, 
or  planted  in  gardens  among  stonecrops  and 
saxifrages,  to  cover  ornamental  rock-work. 
The  leaves  are  generally  more  or  less  tinged, 
on  their  under  surface,  with  reddish  purple, 
and  the  plant  has  a  warm  caper-like  flavour, 
and  is  considered  to  possess  anti-scorbutic 
properties. 


40  IVY-LEAVED    TOADFLAX. 

There  are  six  wild,  besides  many  culti- 
vated species  of  Toadflax.  Some  of  them 
have  flowers  no  larger  than  those  of  our  en- 
graving, and  one  kind,  the  Least  Toadflax, 
{Linaria  miiior)  a  rare  plant,  but  found  occa- 
sionally on  sandy  fields,  during  June  and  July, 
has  much  smaller  flowers,  of  a  purplish  colour 
tinged  with  yellow.  But  the  plant  of  this  genus 
best  known  to  those  who  notice  wild  flowers, 
is  the  common  yellow  Toadflax  {Linaria  vul- 
garis). It  has  blossoms  shaped  like  those  of 
the  ivy -leaved  species,  but  much  larger,  and 
forming  a  handsome  and  conspicuous  cluster 
on  the  upper  part  of  the  stem.  They  are  of 
a  brimstone  colour,  marked  at  one  part  with 
a  deeper  yellow  tint;  and  the  slender,  sea- 
green  leaves  are  so  like  those  of  flax,  that 
that  plant  might  easily,  in  an  early  stage  of 
its  growth,  be  mistaken  for  it.  It  is  abundant 
in  sandy  corn-fields,  and  on  hedge-banks, 
where  it  attains  a  height  of  one  or  two  feet, 
and  though  beautiful,  is  one  of  the  most 
troublesome  weeds  to  the  agriculturist.  Some 
of  the  garden  species  of  Toadflax  are  very 
ornamental  border  flowers. 


LONG    PRICKLT-HBADBD    POrfT. 


LONG  PRICKLY-HEADED  POPPY. 

Tapavcr  Argemone, 

Class  POLYANDRIA.     OrcZf /' MoNOGYNIA.     Nut.  Ovd.  Pap  AVERAGES. 

Poppy  Tribe. 

This  scarlet  Poppy,  though  not  an  nnfrequent 
flower  in  the  cornfield  durins^  the  month  of 
June,  is  not  the  most  common  of  onr  native 
species.  It  may  be  distinguished  from  the 
other  kinds  by  its  narrower  petals.  It  is,  how- 
ever, like  the  large  common  Scarlet  Poppy, 
Popaver  Phceas,)  slightly  narcotic  in  its  pro- 
perties, and  the  fohage  of  both  species  has 
been  used  as  a  culinary  vegetable.  In  England 
the  scarlet  flowers  of  our  wild  poppies  are  col- 
lected and  made  into  a  syrup,  ^vhicli  is  used  as 
an  ingredient  in  soups,  gruels,  and  porridge. 
The  blossoms  of  all  the  poppies  are  very  fragile, 
and  on  this  account  the  largest  of  our  wild 
kinds  received  the  specific  name  of  Rhaeas, 
from  the  Greek  word  "  to  flow,"  or  "  fall." 
The  whole  genus  is  termed  Papaver,  from  the 
Celtic  word  "  papa,"  which  signifies  the  pap 
or  soft  food  given  to  infants,  among  which  it 


42  LONG    PRICKLY-HEADED    POPPY. 

was  formerly  customary  to  boil  poppy  seeds, 
in  order  to  induce  sleep. 

We  have  six  wild  species  of  poppy,  all  grow- 
ing chiefly  in  the  cornfield,  though  found  too 
on  hedge-banks  and  road-sides.  The  common 
Red  Poppy  is  twice  as  large  as  that  in  the 
engraving.  In  some  country  places  it  is 
called  Corn  Rose.  Clare  also  alludes  to  it 
under  another  familiar  country  name  :  — 

•'*  Corn  Poppies,  that  in  crimson  dwell, 
Called  Head-aches,  from  their  sickly  smell." 

The  Long  Smooth-headed  Poppy  {Papaver 
dabium)  is  not  a  rare  flower  among  the  corn. 
It  has  a  large  blossom,  but  its  colour  is  of  a 
paler  scarlet  than  that  of  the  common  poppy. 
A  much  rarer  species  is  the  Round  Rough- 
headed  Poppy,  {Palaver  hj/briditm,)  which  is 
found  in  some  of  the  chalky  and  sandy  fields  of 
Enoiand. 

Besides  these,  we  have  a  yellow  poppy, 
{Meconopsis  Camhrica^  which  grows  on  rocky 
places  in  Devonshire,  Wales,  and  Ireland,  and 
a  white  poppy,  {Fapaver  somnifcriim,)  which 
grows  in  some  of  our  cornfields. 


WHITE    POPPT. 


AYHITE  VQ^^VX.'—Papaver  somnifcrum. 

Class  PoLYANDRiA.  OnUv  MoNOGYNiA.    Nat.  Ord.  Papaverace.e. 
Poppy  Tribe. 

This  elegant  Poppy,  though  less  common 
than  the  scarlet  species,  is  yet  not  unfrequent 
in  the  fields  of  Norfolk,  Cambridgeshire, 
Kent,  and  other  counties.  Some  botanists 
have  thou2:ht  that  it  s^rows  only  on  or  near 
lands  where  it  was  formerly  cultivated  ;  but  its 
abundance  in  some  fields  at  Sidmouth,  as  wtII 
as  in  some  other  places  where  this  was  not  the 
case,  seem  to  entitle  it  to  a  place  among  our 
wild  flowers.  Although  it  is  now  generally 
to  be  met  Avith,  growing  among  the  weeds  of 
the  fields  of  Southern  Europe,  it  is  not  impro- 
bable that  in  past  ages  it  was  introduced  into 
this  quarter  of  the  world  from  Asia.  It  was 
very  early  cultivated  in  Greece,  probably  for 
the  sake  of  its  seeds,  which  w^ere  used  as  food. 

This  poppy  is  very  extensively  planted  in 
the  present  day  in  most  European  countries, 
not  alone  for  the  opiiun  which  is  made  from 
its  juices,  but  also  for  its  large  round  seed- 
vessel,  and  for  the  seeds,  from  which  oil  is  ex- 


44  WHITE    POPPY. 

traded.  All  parts  of  the  plant,  except  the  seeds, 
contain  a  narcotic  juice,  which  exists  in  the 
greatest  quantity  in  the  seed-vessel,  and  the 
fields  of  white  poppies  that  we  see  on  some 
parts  of  our  landscape  are  sot\ti  for  the  sake 
of  the  capsules,  which  are  used  in  fomentations 
to  allay  pain.  They  are  gathered  as  they  ripen, 
and  as  some  are  matured  much  later  than 
others,  there  are  often  three  or  four  times  of 
gathering  during  one  season. 

The  White  Poppy  is  grown  in  Turkey, 
Persia,  and  India,  for  the  opium,  which  though 
so  valuable  a  remedy  for  disease,  is  a  most 
pernicious  drug,  when  taken  habitually,  or  in 
large  quantities.  It  is  the  thickened  milky 
juice  of  the  poppy,  which  in  warmer  climates 
is  more  highly  narcotic  than  when  grown  in 
ours.  The  drug  is  obtained  by  making  in- 
cisions in  the  capsule  at  sunset,  and  in  the 
morning  the  juice,  which  has  hardened  into  a 
kind  of  gum,  is  scraped  off  by  women  and 
children,  and  made  into  cakes  for  the  purposes 
of  commerce. 


STATl^TRlSTLl^.—Centaurea  Calcifrajja. 

I'fass  Syngenesia.    Order  Frustranea.     Nat.  Ord.  Composit.« 
Compound  Flowers. 

Although  tliis  flower  bears  the  name  of 
a  tliistle,  and  has  somewhat  the  appearance  of 
one,  yet  it  does  not  belong  to  the  thistle  tribe. 
The  true  thistles  have  their  leaves  more  or  less 
edged  with  spines,  often  with  spines  so  sharp 
that  we  fear  to  touch  them  ;  but  in  this  plant 
they  are  on  the  floAver-cup  only.  In  their  early 
stage  of  growth  they  are  green  and  tender ; 
but  as  they  advance  to  maturity  they  become 
hard  and  woody,  and  might  inflict  a  deep 
wound  on  the  hand  which  rashly  seized  them. 

The  name  by  which  this  flower  is  distin- 
guished from  the  other  species  of  Centaurea, 
has  an  allusion  to  the  spiny  calyx.  Calcitrapa 
is  the  Latin  word  for  the  Caltrop,  or  iron  ball 
covered  witli  thick  spines,  which  was  used  of 
old  times  in  the  wars,  in  order  to  check  the 
advance  of  cavalry.  Another  Star-Thistle, 
which  is  brought  from  the  fields  of  the  Levant^ 
to  adorn  our  gardens,  has  still  more  singular 
spines  about  its  purple  blossoms,  and  it  has 


46  STAR-THISTLE. 

received  the  specific  name  of  Crocodylium, 
because  these  are  thought  to  resemble  the 
jaws  of  a  crocodile ;  ^yllile  others  of  the  species 
bear  in  their  names  some  reference  to  various 
ancient  weapons  of  warfare. 

Our  Star-Tliistle,  tliough  a  common  flower 
in  many  places,  is  not  so  in  England.  It 
blooms  during  the  months  of  July  and  August, 
on  gravelly,  sandy,  and  chalky  soils,  and  may 
often  be  found  among  the  wild  flowers  of  the 
cliff,  by  the  sea,  or  on  the  green  patches  which 
lie  on  the  upper  part  of  the  beach.  It  is  very 
rare  in  Scotland,  and  more  fre(|uent  in  the 
middle  and  southern  counties  of  England  than 
elsewhere. 

The  Yellow  Star-Thistle,  called  also  St. 
Barnaby's  Thistle,  {Centaurea  sohfitialis,)  is  a 
more  rare  kind,  but  grows  on  some  fields  and 
waste  places  in  the  east  and  south  of  Eng- 
land;  and  the  Jersey  Star-Thistle  {Centaurea 
Isnardi)  is  an  ornamental  flower  on  the  pas- 
tures of  the  island  whence  it  takes  its  name. 


CORN    BLUE-BOTTLE. 


CORN  BLVE-BOTTLE.—Cenfa^nea  Cyanus. 

C/fisa  Stngexesia.     Ordrr  Frustranea.     Nat.  Orel.  Composit.t^. 
Compound  Flowers. 

Tins  flower,  the  Bluet  of  the  French,  and 
the  Korn-blume  of  the  Germans,  is  of  so  bril- 
liant a  blue  that  it  is  commonly  admitted  to  a 
place  among  the  border  flowers  of  the  garden. 
It  grows  wild  in  corn-fields  throughout  Europe, 
and  we  often  see  its  beautiful  tint  contrasting 
Avell  with  the  rich  brown  hue  of  the  ears  of 
corn,  during  the  months  of  July  and  August. 
It  is  sometimes  three  feet  high,  and  both  stems 
and  leaves,  especially  the  under  surface  of  the 
latter,  are  covered  with  a  thick  cottony  down. 
The  expressed  juice  of  the  ]jlant  furnishes  a 
beautiful  bhie  dye ;  but  the  tint  fades  so 
rapidly,  that  it  is  not  used  by  the  dyers. 

Every  one  who  is  accustomed  to  ramble 
among  the  fields  and  lanes  of  our  land,  has 
seen  a  flower  shaped  like  that  figured  in  our 
engraving,  but  of  a  brilliant  purple  hue.  It 
blossoms  during  August  and  September,  but 
is  so  hardy,  that  it  will  sometimes,  in  a  mild 


4S  CORN    BLUE-BOTTLE. 

season,  linger  on  until  November.  It  is  a 
plant  of  the  same  genus  as  the  Blue-Bottle, 
and  is  called  the  Brown  Radiant  Knapweed 
{Centaurea  jacea).  The  plants  of  the  whole 
genus  were  formerly  in  high  repute  for  their 
supposed  healing  properties ;  and  ancient  tra- 
dition records  that  some  one  of  these  flowers 
was  that  with  which  the  Centaur  Chiron  cured 
the  wound  in  his  foot,  which  had  been  inflicted 
by  the  arrow  of  Hercules.  Hence  the  name 
Centaurea  was  applied  to  the  whole  genus. 

One  species,  which  like  our  Star-Thistle  has 
spines  on  its  flower-cup,  was  called  the  Blessed 
Thistle,  {Centaurea  benedicta,)  from  the  healing 
properties  which  it  was  believed  to  possess. 
It  was  said  to  cure  not  only  fevers  and  wounds 
of  all  kinds,  but  to  be  of  great  eflicacy  in  that 
direst  of  diseases,  the  plague.  In  modern 
times,  however,  not  one  of  the  species  is  found 
to  possess  any  medicinal  virtue. 


HAREBELL. —  Campanula  rofimdifolia. 

C^aAs  P£XTA>^DRiA.  0/-(7f ?' MoNOGTNiA.  Nat.  Ovd.  Campanulace.1:. 
Bell-Flower  Tkibe. 

There  are  few  of  our  wild  flo^vers  more 
admired,  or  which  have  won  more  praises  from 
the  poets,  than  the  Harebell.  Bowing  down 
to  every  wind  which  sweeps  across  the  open 
and  bleak  })laces  which  are  its  native  hannts, 
and  having  its  azure  cup  sprinkled  with  the 
morning  dews,  as  with  pearls,  it  surpasses  most 
flowers  in  gracefulness  of  form,  and  many  in 
beauty  of  colour.  It  is,  too,  as  common  as  it 
is  lovely,  for  every  heath  and  sunny  bank  and 
hilly  pasture  has  its  little  knots  of  harebells, 
and  it  often  waves  on  the  very  summit  of  some 
tall  cliff  or  old  wall,  being  ever  most  plentiful 

"  On  the  swelling  downs,  where  sweet  air  stirs 
The  blue-bells  lightly,  and  where  prickly  furze 
Buds  lavish  gold." 

The  leaves  on  its  stem  are  slender,  hke  those 
of  grass,  but  at  its  base  there  are  a  number  of 
roundish  notched  leaves,  which  serve  to  dis- 

Ko.  4. 


50  HAREBELL. 

tinguish  this  species  from  one  somewhat 
similar.  When  the  plant  is  young,  the  leaves 
are  easily  detected ;  but  as  it  increases  in  size, 
they  are  often  quite  dried  up. 

We  have  no  less  than  ten  wild  species  of 
bell-flowers,  some  of  them  having  stout  stems 
and  large  leaves,  from  among  which  hang  con- 
spicuous purple  bells.  In  the  summer  months 
many  species  are  very  common  on  our  hedge- 
banks  and  in  woods.  There  is  one  wild  kind, 
which  is  very  small  and  delicate,  and  of  extreme 
beauty.  It  is  the  Ivy-leaved  Bell-flower,  {Cam- 
panula hederacea,)  with  light-blue  bells,  which 
have  scarcely  any  tendency  to  droop.  Tliis 
most  graceful  little  plant  grows  in  tufts,  and 
has  a  great  number  of  ivy-shaped  leaves ;  its 
stems  are  weak,  and  so  slender,  that  they  are 
seldom  much  larger  than  a  pack-thread.  It 
grows  in  moist  shady  woods,  and  is  plentiful 
in  Devonshire,  Cornwall,  and  Sussex,  as  well 
as  in  some  other  parts  of  our  island,  though  in 
most  districts  it  is  a  rare  flower. 


^-^ 


cony  PRVERPEw. 


CORN  ^^N'^^YWN .—Pt/rethrmn  inodorum. 

Class  Syngenesia.  Order  Superflua,  Nat.  Ord.  Composite. 
Compound  Flowers. 

There  are  so  many  flowers  scattered  by 
waysides,  fields,  and  meadows,  which  are  similar 
in  their  general  appearance  to  that  represented 
1)y  our  engraving,  that  they  often  perplex  the 
young  botanist.  Some  species  of  chamomile 
resemble  it;  the  Tall  Ox-eye  Daisy,  though 
having  very  different  leaves,  has  a  blossom  like 
it,  and  the  other  two  wild  species  of  Feverfew 
are  very  similar.  This  flower  has  little  claim 
to  its  familiar  name  of  Mayweed,  for  it  blossoms 
from  August  until  October,  on  fields  and  waste 
places,  and  is  among  the  few  flowers  which  we 
may  perchance  find  even  in  the  very  depth  of 
winter.  Its  stem  is  about  a  foot  high,  and  it 
has  a  sHghtly  aromatic  odour. 

The  other  two  kinds  of  Feverfew  are  also 
frequent  flowers.  The  Common  Feverfew 
{Fyrethrum  Pariheniuin)  may  be  known  by  its 
very  strong  and  unpleasant  odour,  and  it  has  a 
very  bitter  flavour.  It  is  used  in  medicine, 
and  lotions  for  external  applications  are  also 
made  from  it.  It  is  one  of  the  plants  which 
among  country  people  are  held  in  high  estima- 


52  CORN    FEVERFEW. 

tion  as  a  remedy  for  fever;  and,  doubtless, 
wlien  rightly  applied,  it  is  a  valuable  one,  for 
medical  practitioners  acknowledge  its  tonic 
properties,  and,  like  those  who  gave  it  its  old 
English  name,  consider  it  of  efficacy  in  reducing 
fever. 

The  white-rayed  flowers  of  the  Sea-side 
Feverfew  {P^re thrum  maritimuni)  are  very  often 
to  be  seen  growing  not  only  on  the  green 
patches  which  lie  among  the  cliffs,  but  also  on 
the  beach,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  waves. 
They  appear  in  July,  and  though  smaller  in 
size  than  those  of  the  Corn  Feverfew,  are  so 
like  them,  that  many  botanists  think  it  to  be 
the  same  plant,  and  that  its  dwarf  condition  is 
to  be  ascribed  to  its  situation ;  as  the  bleak 
winds  and  saline  atmosphere  of  the  sea-coast 
are  well  known  to  be  unfavourable  to  the 
growth  of  almost  all  plants,  save  those  which 
will  grow  there  only. 

Many  species  of  Feverfew  are  reared  in 
gardens,  and  some  of  the  double-flowered  kinds 
are  very  pretty.  They  have  almost  all,  like  our 
wild  flower,  white  rays  around  a  yellow  disk, 
but  the  Siberian  Feverfew,  and  some  others, 
are  bright  yellow  both  in  the  ray  and  disk. 


WOODSOUREL. 


WOOD-SORREL.— Oxalis  acefosella. 

Class  Decandria.     Order  Pentagyxia.    Nat.  Orel.  Oxalide.2. 
Wood-Sorrel  Tribe. 

No  native  plant  has  leaves  so  acid  as  those 
of  the  Wood-sorrel.  The  acid  resembles  that 
of  the  lemon  ;  hence  the  leaf  is  very  pleasant  in 
flavour,  and  is  not  only  relished  by  the  rambler 
in  the  woods,  but  is  used  in  salads.  A  useful 
medicinal  drink  is  also  made  of  its  juice ;  and 
a  poisonous  salt  procured  from  it  removes 
stains  from  linen.  The  plant  blooms  in  May, 
and  is  abundant  in  woods  and  shady  places. 
When  growing  on  high  mountains  it  continues 
in  flower  until  August.  Curtis  has  observed 
a  very  singular  cu'cumstance  respecthig  its 
seed-vessel.  He  says  that  it  continues,  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  summer,  to  produce 
seed-vessels  and  seeds,  without  any  appearance 
of  expanded  blossoms,  which  are  observable  at 
one  season  only  of  the  year.  When  the  blossom 
is  over,  the  flower-stalk  bends  down,  but  be- 
comes upright  again  as  soon  as  the  seed  has 
ripened.  When  the  seed-vessel  is  touched, 
the  seeds  are  thrown  to  a  great  distance,  not, 


54  WOOD-SORREL. 

as  in  some  plants,  by  the  elasticity  of  the  seed- 
vessel,  but  by  the  bursting  of  the  covering 
which  invests  the  seed  itself.  The  roots  are 
like  coral  beads  strung  together,  and  the  leaves 
are  more  sensitive  than  those  of  any  other  of 
our  wild  flowers,  closhig  during  darkness  or  at 
the  approach  of  a  storm.  They  are  said,  by 
some,  to  show  some  irritability  on  being  struck, 
but  this  statement  the  author  has  not  found  to 
be  true. 

The  triple  leaf  had,  in  former  days,  some 
superstitious  veneration  attached  to  it,  and  the 
plant  was  consequently  called  AUelujah.  Some 
of  the  early  religious  painters  of  Italy  in- 
troduced it  into  their  pictures  ;  and  the  author 
of  the  work  called  "  Modern  Painters,"  refers 
to  this  use.  He  remarks :  ''  Fra  AngeHco's 
use  of  the  Oxalis  acetosella  is  as  faithful  in 
representation  as  touching  in  feeling.  The 
triple  leaf  of  this  plant  and  white  flower, 
stained  purple,  probably  gave  it  strange  typical 
interest  among  the  Christian  painters."  Some 
persons  believe  that  this  w^as  the  Shamrock, 
the  plant  chosen  by  St.  Patrick  to  illustrate 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 


COMMON  TLBA'BANK—Ftilicaria 

dysenterica. 

C7as5STNGENESiA.   OrcZe;' SuPERFLUA.   A'af.  Orf?.  Composite. 
CoMPOU^'D  Flowers. 

Whenever  we  see  this  yellow  star  with  its 
pale  green  woolly  leaves  springing  up  in  pro- 
fusion among  the  grass  or  green  herbage,  we 
may  feel  assured  that  water  is  near.  The 
stream  may  be  wandering  on  silently,  or  the 
stagnant  pool  be  hidden  among  the  trees 
and  bushes  ;  but  this  plant  is  the  undoubted 
indication  of  moist  land,  and  by  its  side  we 
shall  find  the  blue  blossoms  of  the  Brooklime, 
or  the  waving  flower  of  the  Yellow  Iris,  or  the 
beautifully  fringed  bloom  of  the  Buck-bean,  or 
some  of  the  many  flowers  peculiar  to  the  well- 
watered  soil.  This  plant  received  its  name 
from  the  belief  that  its  smoke,  while  burning, 
drives  away  fleas,  gnats,  and  other  insects.  Its 
juice,  too,  is  considered  by  country  people  to 
possess  some  medicinal  virtues.  It  is  saltish, 
and  somewhat  pungent  in  flavour,  and  a  de- 
coction made  from  the  plant  is  acid  in  the 
throat,  and  astringent  in  its  property,  turning 
green  with  vitriol  of  iron ;  while  the  infusion 
becomes  black,  by  an  admixture  with  this 
vitriol. 


56  COMMON    FLEA-BANE. 

The  common  Elea-bane  flowers  in  August, 
and  is  usually  about  a  foot,  or  a  foot  and  a  half 
in  height;  but  in  the  month  of  September, 
another  species,  very  similar  to  this  in  appear- 
ance, is  found  in  moist  sandy  places  in  England, 
especially  where  water  has  stood.  It  is  the 
Small  Flea-bane  {FiiUcaria  vulgaris),  and  has 
narrower  leaves  than  those  represented  in  the 
enoTavino-.  This  latter  kind  is  unknown  in 
Scotland  or  Ireland,  and  the  Common  Flea- 
bane,  frequent  as  it  is  on  the  English  land- 
scape, is  a  rare  flower  in  Scotland.  Both 
kinds  are  believed  to  be  noxious  to  insects, 
and  they  were  formerly  very  generally  burnt, 
or  hung  up  in  country  cottages  to  exterminate 
these  intruders.  The  French  peasantry  com- 
monly use  for  a  similar  purpose  another  plant 
called  Herbe  aux  puces,  which  we  call  Plough- 
man's Spikenard  {Coni/za  squarrosa),  and  which 
is  frequent  in  autumn  on  our  chalky  or  clayey 
soils ;  while  a  plant  called  by  us  the  Canada 
Flea-bane  {Erigeron  Ccmadense)  has,  both  on 
the  Continent  and  in  England,  a  repute  for  the 
same  services. 


WOODY    NIGHTSHADE,    OR   BITTER   SWEET. 


WOODY  NIGHTSHADE,  oe  BITTER 
SWEET. — Solanum  dulcamara. 

Class  PENTA^•DRIA.        Ovdci'  MOXOGYNIA.        Ncit.  Ofd.    SOLANE^B. 

Nightshade  Tribe.      ^^^^J^^^  M^.t^T'-y^ 

The  lurid  purple  blossoms  of  tliis  plant  would 
lead  the  botanist  to  infer,  at  the  first  glance,  that 
poison  lurked  there.  The  scarlet  berries  which  in 
the  latter  paii:  of  summer  deck  the  branches,  and 
wliich  in  winter  hang  in  glistening  clusters  among 
withered  boughs  and  leaves,  are  vvxll  known  to  be 
noxious,  and  children  are  tempted  by  their  beauty  to 
taste  these  fruits.  In  cases  where  this  occurs,  warm 
water  should  be  given  in  great  quantities,  until 
medical  aid  arrives.  The  roots  of  this  Nightshade 
are  in  scent  like  the  potato,  and  its  familiar  name 
originates  in  their  flavour,  which  is  at  first  bitter 
in  the  mouth,  and  afterwards  sweet.  The  simi- 
larity in  their  blossoms  also  points  out  the  affinity 
between  this  plant  and  the  potato.  This  valu- 
able root  belongs  to  another  species  of  the  same 
genus  [Solanum  fuherosum),  audits  connexion  with 
the  poisonous  family  of  the  Nightshades  made  Lin- 
naeus long  mistnistful  of  its  wholesome  qualities. 
The  berries,  the  leaves,  and  even  the  uncooked 
tubers  of  the  potato,  possess  indeed,  in  a  milder 


58  WOODY    NIGHTSHADE. 

form,  the  narcotic  properties  of  this  tribe;  but 
the  heat  Avhich  prepares  the  vegetable  for  our 
table,  wholly  removes  any  unwholesome  principle. 

The  twigs  and  stalks  of  the  Bitter  Sweet  are 
used  by  the  Swedish  peasants  to  bind  around 
their  wooden  cans,  and  the  inhabitants  of  West- 
phalia make  a  decoction  of  the  whole  plant,  and 
use  it  as  a  remedy  for  rheumatism.  This  species 
is  common  throughout  Europe,  and  also  in  many 
parts  of  x\sia  and  North  America.  Most  cattle 
refuse  its  foliage,  but  the  goat  relishes  it. 

There  is  a  kind  of  Nightshade  very  frequent  as 
a  weed  in  our  gardens,  on  sea-beaches,  and  in 
other  waste  places,  with  white  flowers  shaped  like 
those  of  the  engraving,  which  are  succeeded  by 
black  berries.  This  is  the  garden  Nightshade 
[Solanum  nigrum).  The  berries  are,  by  us,  con- 
sidered a  virulent  poison  ;  but  Backhouse  mentions 
that  the  people  of  Norfolk  Island  eat  them, 
though  he  observes  that  the  climate  probably 
alters  their  properties.  The  Deadly  Nightshade 
is  a  dififerently  formed  flower  from  either  of  these, 
and  is  a  purple  bell.  It  is  the  Atropa  Belladonna 
of  the  botanist.     It  bears  black  berries. 


rS-FOOT. 


COLTS-YOOT. —Timila^o  Farfara, 

Class  Syngenesia.   Oi-der  Superflua.    Nat.  Ord.  CoMrosiT.E. 
Compound  Flowers. 

Those  who  are  in  the  habit  of  observing 
the  plants  of  our  moist  and  clayey  soils,  will 
recognise  this  as  very  abundant  there.  Next 
to  the  tassel-like  blossoms  of  the  hazel  and  the 
silver  ray  of  the  daisy,  this  is  the  earliest  of  the 
spring  Howers,  often  blooming  in  March,  before 
the  Violet  has  yet  put  forth  a  bud.  As  the 
yelloAv  blossom  appears  long  before  the  foliage, 
the  plant  is  less  ornamental  than  it  would  be, 
were  it  accompanied  by  the  large  and  hand- 
some leaves  which  spread,  all  the  summer- 
time, over  many  a  bank  by  our  wayside  walk. 
The  leaves  have  long  been  used  medicinally  as 
an  infusion  for  cough,  and  the  practice  of 
smoking  them  like  tobacco  is  still  very  general 
in  viUages.  This  custom  is  of  very  ancient 
date,  for  Phny  directs  that  the  foliage  sliould 
be  burned,  and  that  the  smoke  arising  from  it 
should  be  drawn  into  the  mouth  through  a 
reed  and  swallowed.  The  scientific  name  of 
the  genus  is  derived  from  tussis,  a  cough. 

The  under  surface  of  the  leaf  of  the  Colt's- 
foot   is   covered  with  a  thick  cottony  down. 


60  colt's-foot. 

which  was  often  used  for  tmcler,  when  that 
substance  was  more  in  request  than  it  now  is. 
The  Tartars  are  much  infested  by  gnats,  and 
they  frequently  burn  touchwood  in  order  to 
suffocate  these  insects,  and  use  the  roots  of 
this  Coh's-foot  for  the  purpose.  It  grows  on 
barren  steppes  and  plains  where  few  other 
plants  are  found,  and  it  blooms  from  the 
beginning  of  ]\Iarch  till  the  end  of  April,  often 
giving  quite  a  yellow  hue  to  the  lands  where 
it  abounds. 

Curtis  notices  one  peculiarity  in  this  blossom. 
As  soon  as  the  flower  is  oat  of  bloom,  and  the 
seeds,  with  the  pappus  or  down  as  yet  moist, 
are  enclosed  in  the  flower-cup,  the  heads  hang 
down ;  but  as  the  moisture  of  the  seeds  and 
down  evaporates  in  withering,  they  become 
lighter,  and  the  ball  of  feathery  seeds  expands, 
and  assumes  the  appearance  of  a  Dandelion 
puff. 

The  creeping  character  of  the  roots,  the 
great  abundance  of  the  seeds,  and  the  facility 
with  which  they  are  dispersed,  render  this 
plant  a  very  troublesome  weed  on  some  cul- 
tivated lands. 


^  'r 


VTPKUS   BUG  LOSS. 


VIPER'S  BVGLOSS, —Fc/iium  vulgare. 

Class  Pentandria.     Order  Moxogtxia.     Nat.  Ord.  Boragine^e. 
Borage  Tribe. 

AmOxXg  the  flowers  which  beautify  our  waste 
places,  this  plant  is  not  only  one  of  the  most 
striking  from  its  height,  but  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  in  shape  and  hue.  We  never  find  it 
on  the  rich  grassy  meadow-land,  or  among  the 
lovely  wild  flowers  which  border  our  streams, 
or  rise  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  trees.  But  on 
the  heap  of  chalk,  or  sand,  or  gravel,  accumu- 
lated by  the  way-side  ;  on  the  sandy  soil  of  the 
neglected  field;  on  the  beach,  where,  among 
the  stones,  a  little  earth  can  find  room  to 
gather ;  on  the  old  wall,  or  the  majestic  cliff, 
there  it  raises  its  rich  spire  of  blossoms.  Its 
proper  season  of  flowering  is  in  June  and 
July;  but  the  author  has  often  gathered  it 
even  in  December,  not  rising  to  its  usual 
height,  but  with  the  rich  purple  of  its 
blossoms,  and  the  bright  red  tint  of  their  long 
stamens,  as  beautiful  as  ever.  The  plant  is 
usually  about  two  feet  high;  but  in  places 
where  it  flourishes  best,  as  in  the  sandy  fields 
of  Cambridgeshire,  and  on  the  chalky  cliffs  of 
Dover,  it  is  sometimes  more  than  three  feet  in 


62  VIPER  S    BUGLOSS. 

height,  and  the  blossoms  extend  half  way  down 
the  stem.  The  colour  of  the  fully-expanded 
flowers  is  of  a  deep  blue,  but  the  young  buds 
are  of  a  full  rose  colour,  and  occasionally  the 
blossoms  are  found,  as  at  Cobham,  in  Kent, 
of  a  pure  white.  The  whole  plant  is  very 
rough  to  the  touch.  Its  scientific  and  English 
names  are  significant  of  the  long-cherished 
notion,  that  it  was  an  effectual  remedy  for  the 
bite  of  a  viper, — a  notion  derived  from  its 
spotted  stem,  and  its  seed,  which  somewhat 
resembles  the  head  of  that  animal,  and  was 
thus  deemed  to  have  some  mysterious  con- 
nexion with  it. 

Though  our  Viper's  Bugloss  is  an  herbaceous 
plant,  many  of  the  species  are  much  larger, 
and  several  found  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
are  shrubs.  The  various  kinds  grow  abundantly 
throughout  Europe,  from  the  cold  Siberia, 
where  they  enliven  the  dreary  lands,  to  the 
warm  latitudes  of  the  south,  where  flowers  are 
bright  and  numerous.  They  are,  however, 
less  frequent  in  the  equinoctial  parts  of  the 
world.  Some  very  handsome  species  are 
commonly  cultivated  in  om*  gardens. 


GROUND  lyX.—GIechoina  hederacea. 

Class  Did  YN  AMI  A.    Order  Gymnospermia.   Nat,  Orel.  LABiATiE, 
Labiate  Tribe. 

This  plant  lias  a  strong  aromatic  odour, 
especially  if  the  leaves  are  bruised,  and  both 
its  flower  and  foliage  are  very  pretty.  Bishop 
Mant  well  describes  the  former : — 

"  And  there  upon  the  sod  below, 
Ground  Ivy's  purple  blossoms  show, 
Like  helmet  of  Crusader  knight, 
Its  anther's  cross-like  form  of  white." 

These  flowers  grow  in  threes,  between  the 
stalk  and  leaf;  they  are  sometimes  of  a  pale 
lilac,  and,  though  more  rarely,  quite  white. 
They  appear  in  April  and  May;  but  long 
before  the  spring  has  put  forth  a  single  blos- 
som, the  leaves  may  be  found  clustering  on  the 
hedge-bank,  though  the  odour  which  charac- 
terises them  at  a  later  season,  is  then  scarcely 
perceptible.  Ornamental  as  this  plant  is,  yet 
it  is  very  injurious  to  pasture  lands,  its  long 
trailing  stems  occupying  much  room,  and 
gradually  exterminating  the  sweet  grasses  and 


64  GROUND    IVY. 

other  plants  which  form  the  food  of  cattle. 
Few  animals  will  touch  the  Ground  Ivy  unless 
compelled  by  hunger  to  do  so,  and  it  is  even 
said  to  be  injurious  to  horses.  The  leaves  are 
much  used  in  villages  to  make  an  infusion  for 
coughs,  and  the  plant  was  formerly  called  Ale- 
hoof  and  Tun-hoof,  because  their  bitter  pro- 
perties rendered  them  of  use  in  the  beer  made 
in  the  old  English  households,  before  hops  had 
become  the  common  growth  of  our  country. 
Even  in  recent  times  a  quantity  of  this  plant 
has  been  thrown  into  a  vat  of  ale  in  order  to 
clarify  it,  and  the  ale  thus  prepared  has  been 
taken  as  a  remedy  for  some  maladies  of  the 
skin. 

We  may  often  see,  during  autumn,  a  num- 
ber of  small  hairy  tumours  on  the  leaves  of 
the  Ground  Ivy,  which  are  occasioned  by  the 
puncture  of  the  insect  called  Cynips  Glechomse. 
These  galls  are  sometimes  eaten  by  the  pea- 
santry of  France;  but  Reaumur,  who  tasted 
them,  remarks  that  it  is  doubtful  if  tliey  will 
rank  with  good  fruits.  They  have,  as  might 
be  expected,  a  strong  flavour  of  the  plant  on 
which  they  are  formed. 


LESSER  CELANDINE,  or  PILEWORT. 

Hanu/iculus  ficaria. 

Class  PoLYANDRiA.     Order  Monogyxia.     Nat.  Orel.  Ra>-uncu- 
LACE.E.    Crowfoot  Tribe. 

Who  that  loves  summer  sniishine  and  open- 
ing flowers  does  not  welcome  this  "  herald  of 
the  gentlest  gales  ?  "  Little  children  rmi  into 
the  meadows  to  find  the  daisy,  and  before  the 
buttercup  has  yet  glittered  among  the  grass 
they  may  see 

"  The  vernal  Pilewort's  globe  unfold 
Its  star-like  disk  of  burnish'd  gold; 
Starlike  in  seeming  form,  from  far 
It  shines  too  like  a  glistening  star." 

AVith  the  exception  of  the  dandelion  it  is  the 
gayest  and  brightest  of  our  early  flowers,  and 
when  the  lark  and  the  thrush  are  welcoming 
the  spring,  and  summer  birds  have  come  across 
the  ocean  to  sino-  their  son^fs  in  our  woodland 
trees,  then  every  hedge-bank  is  studded  with 
the  Celandine  as  with  golden  stars,  and  from 
March  till  the  end  of  May  it  gleams  among  the 
grass  of  the  meadow,  flora's  garland  is  then 
Xo.  5.  .  .  ^     ^ 


66  LESSER    CELANDINE,  OR   PILEWORT. 

"  Wreath'd  of  the  sunny  Celandine — the  brief 
Courageous  Wind-flower,  loveliest  of  the  fi-ail — 
The  Hazel's  crimson  star — the  Woodbine's  leaf — 
The  Daisy  with  its  half-closed  eye  of  grief; 
Prophets  of  fragrance,  beauty,  joy  and  song." 

This  flower  is  a  true  lover  of  the  sunshine, 
opening  only  on  bright  days.  A  large  number 
of  the  blossoms  grow  from  one  root,  and  are 
surrounded  by  shining  green  leaves  spotted 
with  pale  green.  It  is  not  a  useful  plant, 
and  though  the  lover  of  wild  flowers  greets  it 
with  pleasure,  yet  the  farmer  Avould  gladly 
eradicate  it  from  his  pasture  lands.  It  belongs 
to  the  Ranunculus  tribe,  like  the  Buttercups, 
and  like  them  possesses  very  acrimonious  pro- 
perties. Its  flowers  are  left  untouched  by  the 
cattle,  and  its  roots  are  very  bitter  and  acrid, 
yet  they  are  used  for  medicinal  purposes.  It 
is  also  said  to  injure  the  plants  growing 
around  it. 

The  Celandine  closes  its  flowers  from  five 
o'clock  in  the  eveninsr  till  nine  on  the  fol- 
lowino;  morninof.  Professor  Martvn  observes, 
that  the  young  leaves  may  be  eaten  in  spring, 
but  they  are  rather  acrid. 


YKi.LOW    TOAUFI.AX. 


YELLOW  TO\T>¥LAX.—Zinaria  vulgaris. 

Class  DiDYNAMiA.     Order  Angiospermia.    Xat.  Ord.  ScRoruu- 

LARINE.E. — FiGWORT    TrIBE. 

This  showy  flower  is  a  very  frequent  one 
on  the  rural  landscape.  The  large  sulphur- 
coloured  blossoms,  raised  on  a  stem  one  or 
two  feet  in  height,  are  very  conspicuous  in 
hedo;es  and  on  the  borders  of  corn-fields.  On 
corn  lands,  as  well  as  on  pastures  wdiere  the 
soil  is  sandy,  it  is  often  very  troublesome  to 
the  cultivator,  its  two-celled  capsules  being 
very  numerous,  and  containing  many  seeds, 
which,  during  the  later  months  of  autumn, 
are  scattered  far  and  wide  by  wind  and  rain. 
Though  paler  in  hue  than  many  of  the  golden 
flowers  of  August  and  September,  yet  it  is 
bright  enough  to  give  a  yellow^  tint  to  the  field 
at  that  season. 

The  blossoms  are  shaped  like  those  of  the 
snapdragon  of  our  old  walh  and  ruins,  except 
that  they  are  spurred  at  the  base.  Country 
people  call  the  Toadflax  Butter  and  Eggs, 
because  of  the  deep  yellow  and  pale  sulphur 
colour  with  which  they  are  tingetl. 


68  YELLOW    TOADFLAX. 

The  foliage  of  this  plant  has  upon  it  that 
sea-green  bloom  which  the  botanist  calls  the 
glaucous  tint,  and,  like  some  others  of  the 
genus,  it  has  a  resemblance  to  the  leaves  of  the 
Flax ;  hence  the  name  from  Linimi,  Flax.  Both 
this  and  the  wild  species  called  the  sharp- 
pointed  Fluellin,  or  Toadflax,  which  is  frequent 
on  gravelly  or  chalky  corn-fields  in  England, 
were  formerly  used  as  a  lotion  to  improve  the 
beauty  of  the  skin,  and  a  decoction  is  still 
made  for  this  purpose  from  the  blossoms,  and 
has  been  recommended  by  some  good  authori- 
ties. The  juice  mingled  with  milk  is  used  to 
poison  flies,  but  probably,  like  many  other 
liquids  used  with  this  design,  it  attracts  to  the 
spot  a  much  larger  number  than  it  destroys. 

"  And  thou,  Linaria,  mingle  in  my  wreath 
Thy  golden  dragons,  for  though  perfumed  breath 
Escapes  not  from  thy  yellow  petals,  yet 
Glad  thoughts  bringest  thou  of  hedge-row  foliage,  wet 
With  tears  and  dew ;  lark  warblings,  and  green  ferns 
O'erspanning  crystal  runnels,  where  there  tui'ns 
And  twines  the  glossy  Ivy." 


^^%v 


HED-D-BHRIED    p-iT^rY 


RED-BERRIED  BRYONY.— 5ryo«e«  dioica. 

Class  MoN(EciA.    Order  Pentandria.    Nat,  Orel.  Cucurbitace^. 
Gourd  Tribe. 

In  the  latter  part  of  April,  when  young  leaves 
and  shoots  seem  daily  to  increase  in  number 
and  luxuriance,  many  of  them  are  almost  as 
beautiful  as  flowers.  But  no  gradually  ex- 
panding shoot  is  at  this  season  more  elegant 
than  that  of  the  White  Bryony.  In  later 
months,  the  foliage  is  thickly  beset,  both  on 
the  upper  and  under  surfaces,  with  stiff  hairs 
almost  like  prickles  ;  but  in  the  spring  these 
form  merely  a  beautiful  down  on  the  tender 
green  of  the  stem  and  leaves,  and  this  covering 
is  so  full,  and  the  hairs  so  clear  and  glittering, 
that  the  young  plant  looks  as  if  covered  with 
the  bright  hoar  frost  of  winter.  By  the  middle 
of  May,  however,  the  graceful  shoot  has  be- 
come a  long  trailing  stem,  and,  reaching  a 
distance  of  many  feet  among  the  hedges  and 
thickets,  its  deep  green,  vine-like  leaves,  curling 
tendrils,  and  greenish-white  flowers,  render 
it  one  of  our  most  beautiful  wild  climbers. 
Its  botanical  name  is  taken  from  a  Greek  word 


70  RED 'BERRIED    BRYONY. 

significant  of  its  rapid  growth ;  and  we  have 
scarcely  any  wild  plant  which  increases  so  fast 
as  this.  In  the  autumn  its  branches  are 
covered  with  clusters  of  deep  red  berries. 

The  root  of  this  is  very  large,  white,  and 
branched.  Gerarde  says  of  one  in  his  time, 
"  The  queen's  chief  chkurgeon.  Master  William 
Goodorous,  showed  me  a  root  hereof,  that  waied 
halfe  an  hundred  waighte,  and  of  the  bignesse 
of  a  childe  of  a  yeere  old."  It  is  very  acrid 
in  its  properties,  and  is  often  scraped  and 
applied  to  the  limb  affected  with  rheumatism, 
when  it  causes  a  stinging  sensation  in  the 
skin,  similar  to  that  produced  by  the  nettle. 
The  whole  plant  abounds  with  an  acrid  foetid 
juice.  Frequent  as  it  is  in  England,  it  is  not 
a  common  plant  in  Scotland ;  and  it  seems 
doubtful  whether  it  is  indigenous  to  that 
country.  It  is  said  that  the  goat  is  the  only 
quadruped  which  will  eat  this  plant.  It  is  the 
only  British  plant  belonging  to  the  Gourd 
Tribe. 


^■-  m- 


CORN  UAmGOLD. —r7rr?/.sm^i/iemm?i 
segetum. 

Class  Syngenesia.     Order  Superflua.     Nat.  Ord.  Composite. 
Compound  Flowers. 

The  bright  Corn  Marigold  is  one  of  the  largest 
and  gayest  of  the  starry  golden  blossoms  which 
are  so  nnmerous  durmg  July  and  August. 
It  is  often  called  Yellow  Ox-eye,  Golden  Corn- 
flower, and  Yellow  Corn,  and  is  the  Gold  or 
Goides  of  the  early  English  poets.  It  is  about 
a  foot  high,  and  is  frequent  enough  in  the 
corn-fields  of  our  native  land  to  prove,  in 
some  districts,  a  very  troublesome  weed  to  the 
agi'iculturist,  sometimes  almost  exterminating 
the  whole  crop,  on  which  much  labour  and  cost 
have  been  bestowed.  In  many  countries  of 
Europe,  as  in  France  and  Germany,  it  is,  how- 
ever, far  more  abundant  than  in  ours.  It  is 
a  very  handsome  plant,  and  would  doubtless 
have  become  a  favourite  garden-flower,  but 
that  cultivation  never  renders  it  double. 

We  have  but  one  other  wild  species  of  the 
Chrysanthemum  genus,  and  that  is  the  common 
flower  of  almost  every  dry  pasture,  the  Ox-eye 


7.2  CORN    MARIGOLD. 

daisy  {Chrysanthemum  leiicanthemum) .  Tliis  is 
also  called,  by  country  people,  Mooiivvort,  Bull- 
daisy,  and  a  variety  of  familiar  names.  It  has 
white  rays  around  a  yellow  disk,  and,  growing 
often  to  the  height  of  a  foot  and  a  half,  it 
gives  quite  a  Avhite  tint  to  the  meadows  during 
June  and  July. 

The  name  of  the  genus  is  derived  from  two 
Greek  words,  signifying  gold  and  flower ;  and 
the  Germans  term  these  plants  Gold-hlume, 
Avhile  the  Prencli  call  them  Clirysantheme,  and 
the  Italians  Crisantero.  The  species  so  orna- 
mental to  our  gardens  in  autumn  is  the 
Chinese  Chrysanthemum.  These  plants  are, 
in  the  esteem  of  the  Chinese,  second  only 
to  their  dwarf  trees.  "So  high,"  says  For- 
tune, "  do  they  stand  in  favour  with  the 
Chinese  gardener,  that  he  will  cultivate  them 
extensively,  even  against  the  wishes  of  his 
employer.  I  was  told  that  the  late  Mr.  Beale 
used  to  say,  that  he  grew  Chrysanthemums  in 
his  garden  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  please 
his  gardener,  not  having  any  taste  for  them 
himself." 


COMMON    FUMITORY. 


COMMON  'FmilTORY.—Fumaria 

officinalis. 

Class  DiADELpniA.  Order  Hexandria.   Nat.  Ord.  Fumariace^. 
Fumitory  Tribe. 

This  plant  is  the  Fume-de-terre  of  the  French 
rustic,  and  the  Earth-smoke  of  the  people  of 
our  northern  counties.  Both  its  English  name, 
and  the  Latin,  derived  from  fimius,  smoke, 
refer  to  the  same  idea.  The  name  is  said  to 
be  taken  from  the  odour  of  the  plant ;  yet  this, 
though  somewhat  unpleasant,  is  not  very 
similar  to  that  of  smoke.  The  author  has 
known  Kentish  children  call  the  plant  wax 
dolls,  and  the  rose-coloured  flowers,  with  their 
httle  dark  purple  heads,  are  not  unlike  the 
small  w^axen  toys  made  to  please  the  taste  of 
childhood.  The  plant  w^as  formerly  a  valuable 
medicine  in  cutaneous  disorders ;  its  young 
tops  are  still  prepared  as  a  tonic ;  and  Thun- 
berg  says,  that  the  people  of  Japan  make  much 
medicinal  use  of  it.  Clare,  one  of  our  most 
original  poets,  and  one  well  acquainted  with 
rural  practices,  alludes  to  its  use  as  a  cosmetic, 
when  describing  the  flowers  which  the  weeders 
eradicate. 

"  And  Fumitory  too,  a  name 
Which  Superstition  holds  to  Fame, 


74  COMMON    FUMITORY. 

"Whose  red  and  purple  mottled  flowers 
Are  cropp'd  by  maids  in  weeding  hours, 
To  boil  in  water,  milk,  and  whey. 
For  w^ashes  on  a  holiday, 
To  make  their  beauty  fair  and  sleek, 
And  scare  the  tan  from  summer's  cheek; 
And  oft  the  dame  will  feel  inclined, 
As  childhood's  memory  comes  to  mind, 
To  turn  her  hook  away,  and  spare 
The  blooms  it  loved  to  gather  there." 

This  plant  is  common  by  road-sides  and  in 
cultivated  fields  and  gardens,  and  is  sometimes 
so  abundant  in  the  corn-field  of  spring,  as  to 
give  a  red  hue  to  the  land.  It  flowers  during 
the  whole  summer. 

We  have,  besides,  two  wild  species  of  the 
genus,  the  Ramping  ^iimitov j  {Fa?n aria  capreo- 
lata),  which  blooms  from  May  to  August,  and 
is  frequent  in  gardens  and  corn-fields.  It 
is  much  like  the  common  species^  but  the 
flowers  are  larger  and  the  stems  generally  more 
clunbing.  The  small-flowered  Fumitory  {¥u- 
maria  joarviflora)  is  a  rare  species,  occasionally 
found  in  fields  during  August  and  September. 
The  flowers  are  rose-coloured,  and  the  leaves 
have,  instead  of  the  pale  green  tint  of  the 
other  kinds,  a  bright  verdant  hue. 

,^,^  ^^^  ^y^  v*  ^-  M.^7^^^ '  - 


WHITE    DEAD    i\£XrLl£ 


WHITE  DEAD  NETTLE.— Zf/««V««  all 


Class  DiDYNAMiA.     Order  Gymnospermia.    Kat.  Ord.  Labiat^e, 
Labiate  Tribe. 


The  foliage  of  this  plant  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  to  that  of  the  nettle.  For  this 
reason,  and  because  it  is  destitute  of  stinging 
properties,  it  is  named  Dead  or  Blind  Nettle. 
There  arc  four  other  species,  but  these  are  not 
much  like  nettles.  The  AMiite  Dead  Nettle  is 
among  the  earliest  of  spring  flowers,  and  may 
be  gathered  at  almost  any  time  during  the 
summer,  though  most  abundant  in  June  and 
Jidy.  The  number  of  its  flowers  varies  from 
ten  to  twenty  in  a  whorl ;  and  it  abounds  on 
field  borders,  hedges  and  waste  places,  its 
blossoms  being  occasionally  tinged  with  pink. 
At  the  base  of  th^  flower  lies  a  store  of  honey 
for  bee,  or  butterfly,  or  other  insect.  The  odour 
of  this  plant,  as  well  as  of  the  other  species, 
is  rather  unpleasant.  Bishop  Mant  has  de- 
scrilxjd  them  : — 

"  And  there,  with  whorls  encircHng  graced, 
Of  white,  and  purple-tinted  red,    . 
The  harmless  Nettle's  helmed  head ; 
Less  apt  with  fragrance  to  delight 
The  smell,  than  please  the  curious  sight." 


76 


WHITE    DEAD    NETTLE. 


The  white  species  is  the  Ortie  blanche  of  the 
French,  and  the  Ortlca  morta  of  the  Italians 
It  is  refused  bj  cattle,  but  in  Sweden  both 
this  and  the  Red  Dead  iXettle  are  boiled  for 
the  table. 

The  other  species  are  aU  of  a  reddish  purple 
hue.   One  kind,  the  Red  Dead  Nettle,  {Lamiim 
p/o-pia-e/wi,)  is  very  often  in  flower  as  early  as 
February  and  is  always  plentiful  m  March 
It  must  be  well  known  to  every  person  who 
notices  wild  flowers,  for  there  is  not  a  hed^e 
or  held  where  it  does  not  grow.    The  blossoms 
ai-e  in  shape  like  those  of  the  engraving  but 
much  smaller.     A  similar,  but  taOer  species 
grows  a  so  in  cultivated  lauds,  in  May  and 
June,  called  the  Cut-leaved  Dead  Nettle  (Za- 
mium  wcisum) ;  and  the  Henbit  Nettle  (Zamimu 
amjjlewtcaide),  with  flowers  of  a  much  brighter 
red  IS  common  in  March  and  April  in  sandy 
fields  and  gardens    The  only  remaining  species, 
the  Spotted  Dead  Nettle,  {Lamium  mamLum,) 
IS  a  rare  flower. 


!).MMON    AGHIM(;NV, 


COMMON  AGnniO^Y.—Jpi7noma 
eupatoria. 

Class  DoDECANDRiA.     Order  Digyxia.    Nat.  Orel.  Rosacea. 
Rose  Tribe. 

There  are  few  of  our  wild  plants  which  are 
in  more  esteem  with  the  village  herbalist  than 
the  Agrimony.  Every  gatherer  of  "  simples  '' 
knows  it  well,  and  the  author  has  often  seen 
the  dried  bundles  of  the  plant  hung  up  not  only 
by  the  cottage  fireplace,  but  in  shops,  in  several 
of  the  towns  of  France,  where  it  is  exposed  for 
sale.  It  is  still  retained  in  the  London  Materia 
Medica ;  but  though  once  esteemed  an  im- 
portant medicine,  it  is  seldom  or  never  pre- 
scribed by  our  modern  physicians.  The  leaves 
are  slightly  bitter  and  aromatic,  and  the  flowers 
have,  while  growing,  an  odour  commonly  said 
to  resemble  that  of  the  apricot,  but  Avhich  might 
rather  be  described  as  like  that  of  the  lemon. 
They  are  of  a  yellow  colour,  growing  in  a  long 
spike,  about  a  third  part  down  the  stem,  which 
is  usually  one  or  two  feet  high.  The  leaflets 
are  deeply  notched  at  the  edges,  and  have 
intermediate  small  ones,  cleft  into  three,  four, 
or  five  segments.  The  plant  imparts  a  greenish 
yellow  colour  to  water,  and  a  deep  green  tint 


78  COMMON    AGRIMONY. 

to  spirituous  liquors.  It  has  also  been  used 
for  dressing  leather,  and  when  just  coming 
into  flower,  it  will  dye  wool  of  a  fine  nankeen 
hue,  but  if  gathered  in  the  month  of  September, 
it  yields  a  deeper  yellow.  Most  cattle  refuse 
it,  but  the  sheep  and  goat  will  eat  its  foliage. 
It  grows  on  the  borders  of  fields,  on  waste 
places,  and  road-sides,  flowering  during  June 
and  July. 

The  Common  Agrimony  is  our  only  British 
species,  but  we  have  a  few  kinds  in  the  garden, 
w^hich  have  been  introduced  from  other  coun- 
tries. The  tall  Hemp  Agrimony,  which  is  so 
conspicuous  a  plant  on  moist  lands,  with  large 
clusters  of  flesh-coloured  flowers,  belongs  to 
another  family  of  plants.  The  name  of  this 
genus  is  a  corruption  of  Argemone,  which 
was  given  by  the  Greeks  to  a  plant  supposed 
to  be  eflicacious  in  curing  cataract  in  the  eye, 
which  they  termed  Argema. 


^.  >' 


.  'ii> : 


COMMON    TARRIW,    OR    MFLFOir, 


COMxAION  YARROW,  or  MILFOIL. 

AcJtillcra  millefolium. 

Ciass  Synqenesia.     Order  Superflua.    Nat,  Ord.  Composite. 
Compound  Flowers. 

All  the  summer  long  this  plant  is  to  be 
found  by  every  wayside,  and  on  almost  every 
pasture  of  our  land,  witli  its  clusters  of  white 
or  pinkish  flowers,  and  its  pretty  leaf  cut  into 
many  segments.  Its  foliage  is  slightly  pun- 
gent, and  hence  its  familiar  name  of  Old 
Man's  Pepper.  The  Icelandic  appellation  of 
this  plant,  Fall  himall,  Field  hop,  seems  to 
imply  that  it  has  been  used  instead  of  hops 
in  that  island,  as  it  still  is  in  some  parts  of 
Sweden.  In  these  days,  however,  the  Ice- 
landers only  use  it  as  the  Highlanders  do,  for 
an  ingredient  in  an  ointment  which  they  apply 
to  wounds ;  and  its  old  English  name  of 
Nose-bleed  marks  its  ancient  use  in  oiu- 
countr}'  as  a  vulnerary.  Professor  Burnett 
observes,  that  the  good  women  of  the  Orkney 
Islands  hold  iMilfoil  tea  in  high  repute  for  its 
power  of  dispelling  melancholy.  It  is  a 
favourite  flower  in  the  gardens  of  the  Isle  of 
Madeira,  while  the  hills  and  vales  of  that 
beautiful  land  are  bright  with  flowers  which 
om*  gardeners  prize  highly. 


80  COMMON    YARROW,    OR    MILFOIL. 

We  have  three  wild  species  of  Yarrow.  The 
Woolly  Milfoil  {AcMIlcea  tomentosa)  is  a  small 
plant,  with  bright  yellow  flowers ;  it  grows  on 
dry  hilly  pastures  in  Scotland.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  a  common  plant ;  but  the  Sneeze- 
wort  YarroAv  {AcJiillcsa  Ptarmicd)  is  very  fre- 
quent on  moist  meadows  and  pastures,  especi- 
ally in  mountain  districts.  It  flowers  during 
July  and  August,  and  is  about  two  or  three 
feet  high,  with  much  larger  blossoms  than 
those  of  the  species  figured  here.  They  have 
a  white  disk  as  well  as  wdiite  rays.  This  plant 
when  dried  and  pulverised  excites  sneezing. 
The  Laplanders  call  it  Goose-tongue,  and  its 
young  spring  shoots  are  sometimes  eaten  as 
salad.  The  mountaineers  of  the  Alps  make 
vinegar  of  a  dwarf  species  of  Yarrow,  common 
there,  and  its  flavour  is  so  good,  that  it  is  said 
to  be  equal  to  that  made  of  the  Tarragon, 
which  is  a  species  of  wormwood. 


BEE   ORCHI? 


BEE  OV.CRl^.  —  02jhri/sa2Afera. 

class  Gynandria.    Order  Mona>tiria.   Xat.  Ord.  Orchid E^. 
Orchis  Tribe. 

This  flower  belongs  to  a  tribe  in  wliich  blos- 
soms are  produced  that  seem  rather  to  bear  a 
resemblance  to  the  animal,  than  to  the  vege- 
table world.  Among  our  native  orchidaceous 
plants,  we  have  the  Fly,  the  Bee,  the  Lizard, 
the  Man,  the  Butterfly,  and  the  Spider  orchises, 
but  with  the  exception  of  the  first  two,  there 
does  not  exist  in  these  plants  a  very  great  simi- 
larity to  the  objects  whence  they  are  named. 
But  it  is  not  so  in  tropical  lands,  where 
orchidaceous  plants  wave  among  the  highest 
bouo^hs  of  the  loftv  trees,  and  as  the  wind 
sweeps  in  among  them,  display  the  glittering 

lom-s  of  the  most  beautiful  butterflies,  which 
-rem  perched  upon  the  bough.  There  too  the 
Froo-  Oncidium  reminds  the  traveller  of  the 
rneiTy  creatm'e  which  leaps  among  the  grass  of 
the  Enghsh  meadows ;  or  another  beautiful 
flower  recals  the  swan  of  the  streams ;  while 
one  orchis  so  wefl  represents  a  descending  dove, 

Xo.  6. 


82  BEE    ORCHIS. 

that  tlie  people  of  Panama  call  it  Spirito  Santo, 
or  Holy  Ghost  plant. 

Our  Bee  Orchis  blossoms  in  July.  It  is 
about  a  foot  high,  and  has  large  and  rather 
distant  floAvers.  Its  brown  velvety  lip,  varie- 
gated with  yellow,  is  much  like  the  body  of 
a  large  bee ;  and  the  pm'plish  petals  look  like 
the  expanded  wings  of  the  insect,  which  had 
just  settled  on  the  flower-stem.  It  is  the 
handsomest  of  our  native  orchis  plants,  and 
grows  on  chalky  soils  in  many  parts  of 
England,  but  will  not  long  survive  transplant- 
ing to  a  garden.  Langhorne  has  some  very 
descriptive  lines  on  this  flower. 

"  See  on  tlie  floweret's  velvet  breast, 
How  close  the  busy  vagi-aut  lies  ! 
His  thin-wrought  j^lume,  his  downy  breast, 
The  ambrosial  gold  that  swells  his  thighs. 

"  Perhaps  his  fragrant  load  may  bind 

His  limbs ; — we'll  set  the  captive  free. 
I  sought  the  living  Bee  to  find, 
And  found  the  picture  of  a  Bee." 


i-%T»«1k»(i-W     T  T'vn       C\n      TT  ! 


COMMON  LING;    or,  HEATH.    A^  /^$. 

Calluna  vidgaris. 

Class  OcTANDRiA.     Order  Monogynia.    Nat.  Ord.  Erice^. 
Heath  Tkibe. 

The  name  of  tliis  genus  is  taken  from  a 
Greek  word  signifying  to  cleanse,  on  account 
of  tlie  common  use  of  its  twigs  in  making 
brooms. 

No  one  avIio  lias  looked  upon  heath  lands 
during  summer,  will  deny  that  they  are  indeed 
rendered  attractive  by  this  plant.  The  gathered 
flowers  will  long  retain  their  brightness,  and 
when  placed  in  the  herbarium,  look,  after  a 
lapse  of  years,  almost  as  fresh  and  gay  as  when 
blooming  among  the  Purze  and  Broom  of  the 
wide  tract  whence  they  were  taken.  Clare 
alludes  to  the  permanent  beauty  both  of  flower 
and  foliage. 

"  How  oft,  tbougli  grass  and  moss  are  seen 
Taim'd  bright  for  want  of  flowers, 
Still  keeps  the  Ling  its  darksome  green, 
Thick  set  with  little  flowers."  ^ 


There  is  but  one  specif,  which  is  to  be 

found,  from^  June  to  August,    in    flower    on 

1  almost  every  heath,  forming  a  low  tufted  shrub, 


84  COMMON    LING;    OR,    HEATH. 

with  small  leaves  close  to  the  stems  and 
branches.  Many  of  the  feathered  tribe,  par- 
ticularly of  tlie  Grouse  kind,  find  shelter 
among  its  boughs,  and  food  in  its  seeds; 
and  intended  as  it  is  to  afford  a  large  supply 
to  our  wild  birds,  the  seed-vessel  is  so  formed 
and  protected  that  t^^^seed^a^l  ^^uring  a 
whole  year.  Many  injects -^re  nourished  by 
it,  and  its  foliage  supports  the  caterpillar  of 
the  Egger  moth  {PhcdcBna  qiiermis),  and  of 
several  other  beautiful  winged  creatures.  This 
plant  abounds  on  barren  wastes  in  every  part 
of  Europe,  especially  in  the  northern  countries. 
The  French  call  it  La  Bruyere ;  and  in  the 
bleak  and  barren  Highlands  of  Scotland,  it  is 
applied  to  a  variety  of  economical  purposes. 
It  serves  the  cottager  for  a  thatch  to  his  roof, 
or  it  is  burned  for  the  winter  fuel.  The  wall 
which  encloses  the  humble  farm  buildings,  is 
often  made  of  alternate  layers  oLhe^atJ^  and  of 
a  kind  of  cement  formed  of  bmcii  oartj^  and 
straw.  Sheep  and  goats  will  sometimes  eat 
the  young  and  tender  shoots,  but  cattle  in 
general  are  not  fond  of  this  shrub. 


DWARF   BED   RAlTLi 


DWARF  RED  RATTLE.— Fedicularis 

Sylvatica.     ^^'^(^'f^tfyyar-/- 
Class  DiDYNAMiA.    Order  Angiospermta.   Nat.  Ord.  Scrophula- 

RINE^. — FiGWORT   TRIBE. 

This  flower  is  called  also  by  the  unpleasing 
name  of  Lousewort,  and  both  that  and  its 
scientific  appellation  are  significant  of  its  sup- 
posed influence  in  causing  disease  to  the 
animals  which  feed  upon  it.  But  the  plant 
grows  most  abundantly  on  moist  heaths,  or  on 
wet  hilly  grounds,  and  such  pastures  are  not 
favourable  to  the  health  of  cattle.  Just  as 
the  wild  thyme  has  an  old  repute  for  its  bene- 
ficial effects  on  the  flock,  because  the  dry  hilly 
plain  which  is  fragrant  with  its  flowers  is  a 
spot  which  suits  them  weU ;  so  the  ills  of  the 
moist  soil  are  attributed  entirely  to  the  plants 
which  grow  upon  it.  This  flower  is  found 
sometimes  on  heaths,  and  its  large  rose-coloured 
blooms  and  prettily  shaped  foliage,  render  it 
very  ornamental  to  such  places  during  the 
month  of  July.  It  is  found  almost  throughout 
Europe,  and  is  as  plentiful  on  the  moist  lands 
of  Siberia,  as  on  those  of  our  own  country. 
The  expressed  juice  of  the  herb  was  formerly 
used  medicinally. 


86  DWARF   RED   RATTLt!. 

We  have  another  wild  species,  the  Tall  Red 
Rattle,  or  Marsh  Lousewort,  {Pedicidaris 
pahistris,)  which  blooms  during  June,  on  wet 
pastures  and  marshy  grounds.  It  has  a  soli- 
tary erect  stem,  about  a  foot  high  ;  the  flower 
is  large,  and  of  a  purphsh-crimson,  and  is  a 
handsomer  species  than  the  more  common  one. 
It  is  found  most  abundantly  in  the  counties 
at  the  North  of  England,  and  is  said  to  be 
disagreeable  and  injurious  to  cattle. 

To  this  genus  belongs  that  singular  and 
rare  flower,  which,  though  not  common  any- 
where, yet  graces  with  its  golden  blossoms 
many  a  plain  of  dreary  Lapland.  The  Sceptred 
Lousewort  {Pedicularis  Seep tr urn  Carolimim) 
was  so  admired  by  Rudbeck,  that  he  named 
it  in  honour  of  Charles  XII.  Dr.  Edward 
Clarke,  who  saw  it  growing  to  the  height  of 
four  or  five  feet  from  the  pebbled  beds  of  the 
water's  edge,  at  Tornea,  describes  it  in  glowing 
language,  and  sent  seeds  to  the  Cambridge 
Botanical  Gardens,  but  they  produced  no 
plants  there.  Even  when  found  in  Norway 
and  Sweden  growing  wild,  it  is  never  so  luxu- 
riant as  in  its  native  Lapland. 


FORGF.T-MENOT. 


^SH VORGlLTME-^OT.—3//yosotis  palifstris. 

Cla^s  Pentanduia.    Ordrr  Monooynia.    Nat.  Ord.  BoRAcjiNKit:. 
Borage  Tribe. 

The  various  traditions  which  gave  rise  to  the 
popidar  iiaiiic  of  this  Ijriglit  flower  throughout 
Europe,  are  tohl  by  poets  and  historians. 
Agnes  Strickland  says,  that  Henry  of  Lan- 
caster, when  in  exile,  gave  it  to  the  Duchess  of 
Bretagne,  and  by  placing  it  on  his  collar  of 
S.  S.  with  the  initial  letter  of  his  mot  or 
watchword,  "  Souveigne  vous  de  moy,"  ren- 
dered it  the  symbol  of  remendjrance.  Bishop 
Mant  gives  us  the  traditionary  creed  more 
generally  received,  though  certainly  less  en- 
titled to  belief.  A  lady  and  a  knight  were 
sitting  by  the  river  side,  when  the  former 
wished  for  the  bright  blue  l)loissoms  to  braid 
among  her  hair.  The  knight  dashed  into  the 
water  to  gratify  her  wishes,  and  gathered 
the  flowers,  but  was  overborne  by  the  strength 
of  the  current. 

"  Tlica  the  lilossoms  blue  to  the  bank  he  tlirew 
Ere  lie  sank  in  the  eddying  tide ; 
And  '  Lady,  I'm  gone,  thine  own  knight  true, 
Forget  me  not,'  he  cried. 

"  The  farewell  pledge  the  lady  caught. 
And  hence,  as  legends  say, 
The  flower  is  a  sign  to  awaken  thought 
Of  friends  wlio  are  far  away." 


88  FORGET-ME-NOT. 

Tims  say  the  poets,  but  the  philosophers 
believe  them  not;  and  so  one  of  our  great 
botanists  suggests,  that  after  all  the  flower 
owes  its  name  to  its  beautiful  blue  petals  and 
yellow  eye,  which  once  looked  upon  are  not 
likely  to  be  forgotten. 

This  plant  is  called  also  Great  Scorpion  grass, 
and  Mouse  ear,  and  is,  during  the  summer 
months,  very  common  in  our  humid  meadows, 
bogs,  banks  of  rivers,  rivulets,  and  ditches.  It 
grows  in  similar  places  throughout  Europe, 
and  also  in  many  parts  of  Asia  and  North 
America.  A  variety  has  been  found  with 
white  flowers. 

There  are  eight  native  species  of  the  genus, 
and  all  have  blue  blossoms.  The  little  brifliant 
blue  flower  found  in  fields  from  June  to  August, 
and  often  called  Forget-me-not,  is  the  field 
Scorpion  grass  {Myosotis  arvensis).  It  is  very 
abundant  on  cultivated  lands,  on  hedge  banks, 
and  in  groves,  &c.  The  name  of  the  genus  is 
derived  from  two  Greek  words,  signifying 
mouse  and  ear,  from  the  shape  of  the  leaves. 


COMMO^T   BORAGE. 


COMMON  BOH  AGE. —Boraj^o  officinalis. 

Class  Pentandria  .    Order  Monogtnia.   Nat.  Qrd.  Boragine^. 
Borage  Tribe. 

This  bri2:lit  azure  blossom  rears  itself  from 
the  Leap  of  rubbish  on  the  waste  places  of 
our  land,  but  is  not  a  very  common  plant 
there.  It  is  far  more  often  one  of  the  orna- 
ments of  the  cottage  garden  ;  and  rightly  is  it 
planted,  for  it  is  one  of  the  flowers  in  which 
bees  especially  delight,  and  they  are  said  to 
derive  more  nourishment  from  it  than  from 
any  flower  which  blows.  The  brilhant  blue 
petals  with  their  prominent  stamens,  open  to 
the  sun  in  June  and  July.  The  whole  plant 
is  covered  with  rough  stifi'  hairs,  and  the  young 
buds  are  enclosed  in  cups  of  a  reddish  tinge. 
The  Borage  has  rather  an  unpleasant  odour. 
The  Erencli  call  it  Borrago,  and  both  their 
name  and  ours  are  corruptions  of  the  old  word 
Corago,  which  was  taken  from  cor,  the  heart, 
because  of  its  cordial  qualities.  In  days  when 
old  proverbs  Avere  in  daily  use,  one  of  the 
common  adages  recorded  the  supposed  virtues 
of  this  plant:    "I   Borage  bring  courage;" 


90  COMMON    BORAGE. 

and  the  old  naturalists,  from  Pliny  downwards, 
affirm  very  confidently  that  it  is  efficacious  in 
dispelling  sadness.     Thus  Burton  says  : — 

"  Borage  and  Hellebore  fill  two  scenes, 
Sovereign  j^lants  to  purge  the  veins 
Of  melancholy,  and  clear  the  heart 
Of  those  black  fumes  which  make  it  smart." 

The  youno-  leaves  were  either  boiled,  or  used 
as  salads  for  this  purpose,  though  their  flavour 
is  anything  but  agreeable ;  and  the  flowers 
steeped  in  wine  were  found  to  be  very  in- 
vigorating. The  tissues  of  the  plant  contain 
gum,  and  it  may  therefore  be  used  as  a  de- 
mulcent. It  also  possesses  nitrate  of  potash, 
and  when  burnt,  will  emit  sparks  with  a  slight 
explosive  sound.  It  is  thought  to  be  a  native 
of  Aleppo,  but  it  has  become  naturalized  now 
in  most  European  countries.  The  garden 
species  are  very  easy  of  culture,  and  we  have 
one  kind  from  Persia,  another  from  Numidia, 
and  a  third  from  Corsica.  The  Persian  species 
has  pink  flowers,  but  the  others  have  brilliant 
blue  blossoms.  Borag^e  still  forms  an  ino;re- 
dient  in  the  drink  called  ''  cool  tankard." 


MILKWORT. 


MILKWORT.— Po%f//r^  vulgaris. 

Class  DiADELPHiA.    Order  Octaxdrta.   Nat.  Orel.  Polygalkb, 
Milkwort  Trebe. 

This  pretty  plant  is  one  which  is  very  fre- 
quent on  dry  hilly  pastures,  where,  in  ^lay, 
June,  and  July,  its  crested  blossoms  form 
patches  of  a  deep  blue,  purple,  pink  or  white 
tint.  Some  of  its  old  names  record  usages  of 
days  long  past,  for  it  is  the  Rogation  flower 
of  the  older  ^Titers,  and  is  still  called  Gang 
flower  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  northern 
counties  of  England.  In  the  early  periods  of 
our  country's  history,  the  Rogation  week  was 
called  also  Gang  week,  from  the  old  Saxon 
verb  gajfg,  signifying  to  go,  a  word  with  which 
many  an  old  Scottish  ballad  makes  us  familiar. 
It  was  an  ancient  custom  in  country  parishes 
for  the  clergyman,  accompanied  by  his  church- 
wardens and  parishioners,  to  walk  around  the 
boundaries  of  the  parish  at  this  season,  when 
the  children  of  the  charity  schools  carried  a 
long  pole  decked  with  a  profusion  of  flowers, 
among  which,  as  we  must  infer  from  its  old 
names,  our  ^lilkwort  was  one  especially  in 


92  MILKWORT. 

favour.  The  practice  continued  in  use  even 
as  late  as  the  commencement  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, at  Wolverhampton,  in  Staffordshire ;  and 
records  of  these  Rogation  processions  occur  as 
early  as  a.d.  550. 

The  !Milk^yort  is  also  in  some  places  called 
Hedge  Hyssop,  and  has  been  thought  to  possess 
some  of  the  valuable  remedial  virtues  of  the 
plant  termed  the  American  Rattlesnake  root, 
which  is  a  species  of  the  same  genus.  Sir 
J.  E.  Smith  was  advised  by  a  physician  at 
Montpelier  to  take  an  infusion  of  the  Milkwort 
for  a  cough,  and  did  so  with  great  success. 
Foreign  writers  celebrate  the  plant  as  a  grateful 
and  nutritious  food  for  cattle.  It  is  certainly 
very  ornamental  to  the  spots  on  which  it  growls, 
w^here  it  blooms  beside  the  Evebrio-ht,  the 
Wild  Thyme,  the  beautiful  Rock  Rose,  and  the 
other  wild  flowers  of  the  chalky  cliff  or  hill-side. 
We  have  some  very  pretty  species  of  Polygala 
in  our  gardens,  brought  chiefly  from  North 
America  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 


COMMON    CENTAUUr. 


COMMON  CENTAURY.— ^ry//^;-^^ 

CentaunvM. 

Class  Pentaxdria.    Ordei^  Monogtxia.    Nat.  Orel  Gentiane^. 
Gentian  Teibe. 

Those  who  have  ever  tasted  the  fohao^e  of 
this  plant,  will  not  be  surprised  to  find  that 
it  was  formerly  classed  with  the  Gentians,  and 
called  the  Gentian  Centaury.  The  Gentians 
possess  the  most  powerful  bitter  principle  of 
any  of  our  native  plants,  nor  is  the  Centaury 
scarcely  less  characterised  by  its  bitterness, 
and  its  flavour  is  more  disagreeable  than  that 
of  the  Gentian.  Baron  Haller  tells  us  that 
the  ancients  called  our  pretty  red  flower,  the 
Gall  of  the  earth.  The  name  of  the  genus  is 
taken  from  the  Greek  w^ord  Red,  which  is  the 
colour  of  the  flowers  of  most  of  the  species. 
The  common  kind  is  very  frequent  on  dry 
pastures,  in  woods,  and  on  rocks  or  chalk  chff's, 
flowerhig  during  July  and  August,  and  growing 
to  eight  or  ten  inches,  or  sometimes  a  foot  in 
height.  The  leaves  around  the  root  are  much 
broader  than  those  of  the  stem,  and  the  clus- 
ters open  only  in  fine  weather,  and  before 
twelve  o'clock,  after  which  time  they  gradually 


94  COMMON    CENTAURY. 

close ;  and  one  who  was  previously  unac- 
quainted with  the  plant,  would  suppose  that  it 
as  yet  had  but  its  unexpanded  buds.  It  is  so 
difficult  of  cultivation,  that  it  seems  almost 
impossible  to  rear  it  in  a  garden,  or  it  would 
make  a  pretty  border  flower.  This  is  the  case 
with  all  the  species. 

It  is  commonly  said  by  botanists,  that  we 
have  fom-  Avikl  species  of  Centaury ;  but  they 
differ  so  little  from  each  other,  that  some  have 
thought  they  should  all  be  included  in  one, 
and  that  the  slight  differences  may  all  be  ac- 
counted for  by  variety  of  soil  and  situation. 
In  all  are  found  the  same  rose-coloured  clus- 
ters of  flowers,  and  the  same  light  green,  bitter 
stems  and  leaves.  The  Dwarf  Centaury  {Ery- 
thrcea  pulchella)  rarely  exceeds  six  inches  in 
height,  and  grows  on  sandy  shores ;  and  the 
Dwarf  tufted  Centaury  {Eri/ thrcea  littoralis) 
is  found  in  similar  places.  The  Broad-leaved 
tufted  Centaury  [ErythrcBa  latifolid)  is  more 
unlike  the  common  species  than  either  of  the 
others,  having  its  cluster  of  blossoms  in  a 
dense  tuft. 


FLY  O'RCIUS.—  Ojjhys  musci/era. 

Class  Gynandria.    Order  Monandria.    Nat.  Ord.  Okchide^. 
Orchis  Tribe, 

We  have  five  British  species  of  the  genus 
Ophrys.  The  petals  of  the  Fly  Orchis  are  very 
narrow,  and  of  a  purplish-brown  hue,  having 
a  spot  in  the  centre,  of  a  bluish  tinge.  It  is 
a  slender  plant,  usually  about  a  foot  high,  and 
it  flowers  rather  earlier  in  the  season  than  the 
Bee  orchis.  It  is  not,  however,  like  that  plant, 
most  frequent  on  hilly  places  and  chalky  downs, 
for  though  sometimes  found  on  the  pasture 
of  chalk  or  clay  soil,  yet  it  seems  more  luxuri- 
ant in  our  moist  calcareous  thickets  than  else- 
where. In  many  parts  of  Kent,  Surrey,  Suffolk, 
and  Hampshire,  it  is  very  frequent,  and  no 
one  who  looked  on  it  would  fail  to  identify  the 
species  with  its  familiar  name. 

The  Bee  orchis  has  been  already  named. 
Then  we  have  a  Spider  orchis  {Ojj/nys  arani- 
fera),  and  a  late  Spider  orchis  {Oj)hri/s  arach- 
nites),  the  former  flowering  on  pasture  lands 
of  chalky  or  clayey  soil,  and  in  pits,  during 
April  and  May.     The  shape  of  its  lip  is  much 


96  FLY    ORCHIS. 

like  the  body  of  a  spicier,  and  it  has  pale 
lines  marked  on  it,  ^Yhicll  would  remind  one 
of  a  Greek  character.  The  later  Spider  orchis 
flowers  about  May  or  Jane,  and  is  a  rare 
plant :  while  still  more  rare  is  the  Drone 
orchis  {Oj^hri/s  fucifera),  Avhicli  has  been 
found  near  Folkestone  in  Kent. 

The  genus  Ophrys  received  its  name  from 
the  Greek  word  for  an  eyebrow,  which  Pliny 
says  these  plants  were  used  to  blacken.  Like 
most  of  the  Orchis  tribe,  the  roots  contain  a 
wholesome  farinaceous  substance,  of  which  is 
made  the  Salep  of  commerce.  The  warm  basin 
of  salep  is  not  now,  as  it  was  some  years  since, 
a  favourite  article  of  diet,  and  is  taken  by  few 
save  invalids.  It  was  chiefly  imported  from 
Southern  Europe,  but  may  be  made  equally 
well  from  our  native  orchises.  Salep,  prepared 
from  different  species  of  orchis,  is  much  used 
in  Eastern  countries,  and  in  Tui'kev  not  a  meal 
is  taken  mthout  it. 


FINE-LEAVED    UEATU. 


FINE-LEAVED  HEATH.— ^nm  cinerea.  j^y. 

Class  OcTANDRiA.     Order  Monogynia.    Nat.  Ord.  ERiCEiE. 
Heath  Tribe. 

There  are  five  species  of  Heath,  which,  . 
with  the  common  Ling  of  our  heathy  and 
moory  lands,  are  inchided  in  the  general  name 
of  Heather.  The  species  figured  on  our  page 
is,  with  the  exception  of  the  Ling,  the  most 
common  of  them  all,  though  the  delicate  rose- 
coloured  flowers  of  the  cross-leaved  Heath 
{Erica  tdralix)  are,  on  many  wide-spread 
lands,  as  abundant  as  this.  The  last-named 
flower  is  the  badge  of  the  Macdonalds,  while 
the  species  here  represented  is  that  of  the  Clan 
Macalister.  Then  there  is  a  heath  which  is 
rare,  but  which  has  been  found  on  the  boggy 
lands  of  Cunnemara  in  Ireland,  covering  a 
space  of  at  least  two  acres  of  land,  and  has 
been  called  Mediterranean  Heath.  The  two 
remaining  native  kinds  are  found  in  some  places 
in  Cornwall. 

The  Heaths,  whether  found  on  the  sandy 
wilds  of  Africa,  whence  we  have  most  of  our 
hothouse  species,  or  on  the  black  hills  of  the 
''  Land  of  brown  heath,"  alwavs  indicate  a 
barren  soil.     Linnaeus  observes,  in  his  Flora 

No.  7. 


98  FINE-LEAVED    HEATH. 

Lapponica,  that  in  some  of  the  districts  through 
which  he  passed,  scarcely  any  plant  could  be 
seen  but  heath,  which  covered  the  ground  so 
that  it  could  not  be  extirpated.  He  remarks, 
that  the  country  people  had  an  idea  that  there 
were  two  plants  which  would  finally  overspread 
and  destroy  the  whole  earth,  these  were  Heath 
and  Tobacco. 

The  Heather  is  valuable,  not  to  the  bee 
only,  which  gathers  stores  of  honey  from  its 
bells,  but  to  many  a  bright  winged  or  darker 
tinted  insect,  which  finds  food  and  shelter 
among  its  flowers  and  foliage.  No  cattle 
seem  fond  of  it,  but  the  fibres  of  the  stalks 
are  twisted  into  ropes,  cottages  are  thatched 
with  its  branches,  and  the  people  of  Jura  and 
Isla  brew  very  good  beer  by  mixing  the  young 
heath-tops  with  their  malt.  Large  quantities 
are  gathered  by  the  peasants  for  their  winter 
fuel,  and  this  plant  and  the  "  Bonnie  Broom" 
are  often  strewed  for  an  humble  coach.  In 
Rum,  Skye,  and  Long  Island,  leather  is  tanned 
with  a  preparation  of  its  branches,  and  in 
most  of  the  Western  Isles  it  is  used  for  dyeing 
yarn  of  a  yellow  colour. 


BLACK    BRYONY. 


BLACK  BRYOl^  Y.—lhMtw  communis. 

Class  DicECiA.      Order  Hexandria.     Nat.  Ord.  Dioscoreacejb. 
Yam  Tribe. 

During  the  mouths  of  May  and  June,  the 
old  trunks  of  many  of  our  woodhuid  trees  are 
made  green  and  beautiful  by  the  long  stems 
and  glossy  leaves  of  this  graceful  climber. 
Investing  the  trunks  and  boughs  of  the  tree 
with  a  brighter  mass  of  foliage  than  even  the 
Ivy,  and  extending  its  long  stems  in  a  twining 
rather  than  a  creeping  habit,  to  the  topmost 
twigs,  or  almost  weighing  down  the  more 
slender  branches  of  the  underwood,  it  is  yet 
far  less  injurious  to  the  plant  within  its  grasp, 
for  its  green  stems  are  but  slight,  and  have  not 
the  strength  and  lirmness  of  the  Ivy-band. 
Yet  this, 

"  Now  climbing  high  with  random  maze, 
O'er  elm,  and  ash,  and  alder  strays  j 
And  round  each  trunk  a  network  weaves 
Fantastic." 

The  flowers  are  too  small  and  not  showy 
enough  in  colour  to  be  ])articularly  ornamental, 
but  Nature  does  not  offer  to  the  wanderer  in 
the  woods  a  more  graceful  wreath  than  that  of 
the  Wild  Bryony.  During  sununer,  the  large 
green  berries  look  like  clusters  of  wild  grapes; 


100  BLACK    BRYONY. 

and  when  autumn  has  matured  them  into  red- 
ness, they  are  among  the  most  beautiful  of  all 
our  woodland  berries,  but  are  very  poisonous 
in  their  nature. 

The  roots  of  this  plant  are  large,  and  it  is  to 
their  black  coloiu'  that  it  owes  its  distinctive 
Enghsh  name.  The  root  is  a  black-coated 
tuber,  which  has  so  acrid  a  pulp  that  it  is 
sometimes  used  as  a  stimulating  plaister.  The 
large  roots  themselves  are  white  internally,  and 
full  of  starch.  This,  however,  is  mixed  with  a 
bitter  acrimonious  substance,  not  only  unplea- 
sant in  flavour,  but  doubtless  unwholesome  in 
its  nature.  Their  bitterness  and  acridity  may 
be  destroyed  by  repeated  washings,  and  by 
heat,  and  if  the  black  tumours  on  them  are 
previously  removed,  they  may  be  safely  eaten. 
The  young  spring  shoots  are  so  mild,  as  to 
possess,  when  dressed,  a  very  agreeable  flavour, 
and  are  said  to  form  a  good  substitute  for 
asparagus ;  though  the  experiment  is  a  dan- 
gerous one.  Many  of  the  trees  of  Morocco 
are  hung,  like  ours,  with  festoons  of  this  plant, 
and  the  young  shoots  are  commonly  boiled  by 
the  Moors,  and  eaten  with  oil  and  salt. 


BT.UE    PT7r"COR7. 


BLUE  SUCCORY.— Cic/iorimi  Intyh 


us. 


Class  Syngenesia.     Order  ^qualis.     Nat.  Ord.  Composite, 
Compound  Flowers. 

How  brilliant  is  the  blue  tint  of  this  hand- 
some flower,  which  grows  so  plentifully  on  the 
borders  of  fields  where  the  soil  is  of  chalk  or 
gravel !  Yet  attractive  as  it  is  to  the  lover  of 
nature,  the  farmer  denounces  it  as  a  noxious 
weed,  for  its  large  roots  are  not  easily  extir- 
pated from  his  corn  and  other  lands.  A 
variety  of  this  plant  affords  the  Chicory  root 
so  extensively  cultivated  in  France,  and  called 
Chicoree  a  cafe,  and  Avhich  is  now  so  gene- 
rally used  in  England  with  coffee  as  to  be 
well  known  to  us.  The  roots  are  taken  up  in 
the  winter  season,  cut  into  squares,  and  roasted. 
The  ancient  Egyptians  are  known  to  have  used 
Chicory  in  great  quantities,  and  Pliny  remarks 
on  its  importance  in  the  diet  of  that  people. 
Among  the  modern  Egyptians  this  and  similar 
plants  compose  half  the  food  of  the  poorer 
classes.  There  seems  no  doubt  that  the  specific 
terms  of  two  kinds,  Endivia  and  Intybus,  are 
both  derived  from  the  Arabic  name  of  Hendi- 
beh.  The  Cichorium  Endivia  is  the  plant  of 
our  gardens,  the  blanched  leaves  of  wliich  serve 


102  BLUE    SUCCORY. 

for  a  salad ;  and  the  Prench  blanch  the  leaves 
of  our  common  Blue  Succory  for  a  winter 
salad,  and  term  it  Barbe  du  Capucine.  Horace 
celebrates  some  kind  of  Chicory  as  among  the 
herbs  of  his  frugal  fare,  but  it  is  doubtful  to 
which  of  the  species  he  alludes.  0\u'  Blue 
Succory  blossoms  during  July  and  August,  and 
its  stem  is  often  three  feet  high.  The  flowers 
are  occasionally  white;  and  Curtis  remarks, 
that  the  fine  blue  colour  of  the  petals  is  con- 
vertible into  a  brilliant  red  by  the  acid  secretion 
emitted  by  the  ant.  He  says,  "  Mr.  Miller, 
the  engraver,  assured  me,  that  in  Germany  the 
boys  often  amuse  themselves  in  producing  this 
change  of  colour,  by  placing  tlie  blossoms  on 
an  ant-hill.'*  This  secretion,  which  is  ejected 
by  the  wood  ant  when  irritated,  and  called 
formic  acid,  is  very  powerful.  The  Blue  Suc- 
cory is  a  common  flower  of  many  European 
countries,  and  most  plentiful  in  France  and 
Germany,  though  it  is  there,  as  in  our  lands, 
rare  upon  the  sandy  soils. 


KJBWOKT    PLANTAIN, 


RIBAVORT  PLANTAIN.— P/r/;;/'^-7o 

lanceolala. 

Class  Tetrandria.     (h'der  Monogynia.     Nat.  Orel.  Planta- 
GiNE^.— Plantain  Tribe. 

Although  this  has  been  employed  in  agri- 
culture as  a  pasture  plant,  and  was  once  very 
generally  believed  to  be  a  favourite  food  of 
cattle,  yet  the  opinion  of  modern  scientific 
agricultiu'ists  is  so  much  against  it,  that  it  is 
now  seldom  sown.  Tt  is,  how^evcr,  frequent  on 
our  meadows  and  pastures,  flowering  during 
June  and  July,  and  where  it  abounds  naturally 
is  a  certain  indication  of  a  dry  soil.  When  it 
grows  among  grass,  its  leaves  rise  to  a  con- 
siderable height,  but  on  barren  soils  they  are 
shorter,  broader,  more  spread  over  the  ground, 
and  sometimes  assume  a  silvery  hue.  Baron 
Haller  attributed  the  richness  of  the  milk  in 
the  Ali)ine  dairies  to  the  frequency  of  the  Rib- 
wort and  the  Lady's  Mantle  on  the  pasture 
lands ;  but  Linnaeus  ascertained  that  cows 
refuse  it,  and  later  observations  have  confirmed 
the  fact.  Another  species  of  plantain  which  is 
common  on  our  sea-coasts,  {FUmtofjo  marltima^ 
has  also  an  old  repute  as  a  plant  nuich  relished 
by  cattle,  and  the  Welsh  call  it  the  Sheep's- 
favourite-morsel,  and  the  Suet-producing. 


104  RIBWORT    PLANTAIN. 

We  have  five  wild  species  of  plantain,  and 
one  of  the  most  common  of  them  all  is  that 
broad-leaved  kind,  the  Greater  Plantain,  {Plan- 
tago  majo7\)  the  seeds  of  which  are  so  often 
gathered  foi;  birds.  The  leaves  of  this  species 
are  astringent,  and  frequently  applied  to 
womids.  The  Highlanders  ascribe  to  it  such 
great  virtues,  that  they  call  it  by  the  name  of 
Slan-lus,  or  the  healing  plant.  Kalm  says 
that  in  America  they  term  it  the  Englishman's 
Foot,  for  they  say  that  wherever  a  European 
has  come,  this  plant  has  grown  in  his  footsteps. 
It  is  sometimes  called  Way-bred ;  but  this  is 
probably  a  corruption  of  its  old  Saxon  name 
of  Wabret,  by  which  it  is  yet  commonly 
known  in  Teviotdale.  This  name  occurs  in 
our  early  poets,  and  one  of  them,  humorously 
describing  a  Bee's  pilgrimage,  says — 

"  And  -with  a  wabret  leaf  he  made  a  wallet, 
With  scrip  to  beg  his  crumbs  and  pick  his  sallet." 

Another  species,  the  Buck's-horn  Plantain, 
[Plantafjo  coronojms,)  is  common  on  gravelly 
and  sterile  soils,  and  often  grows  on  sea- 
beaches. 


TRAVELLEU'S   JOY. 


TRAVELLER'S  ^OX.— Clematis  vitalha. 

Class  PoLTANDRiA.     OrJc)-  PoLYGYNiA.     Nat.  Order  Ranuncu- 
LAC^iE. — Crowfoot  Tribe. 

During  May  and  June  the  hedges  of  our 
chalky  pastures,  especially  in  the  southern 
counties  of  England,  are  decorated  with  white 
clusters  of  this  flower.  Nor,  when  its  blos- 
soms are  over,  does  it  cease  to  ornament  the 
wayside ;  for  long  after  green  leaves  in  general 
have  withered  into  brownness,  the  Clematis 
bough  presents  some  verdant  spray  C)n  which 
the  eye  may  love  to  rest.  So  too  on  barren 
soils,  and  in  spots  far  from  refreshing  streams, 
it  often  delights  us  with  its  greenness  amidst 
the  withered  aspects  of  the  vegetation  around 
it ;  and  wdien  winter,  with  its  frosts  and  keen 
blasts,  has  swept  away  both  leaves  and  flowers, 
this  climber  is  still  beautiful  with  its  large 
tufts  of  feathery  seeds.  It  must,  however, 
be  acknowledged,  that  our  graceful  plant  is 
often  injurious  to  the  hedges,  by  strangling 
the  trees  and  bushes  which  it  entwines.  It 
is,  too,  very  acrimonious  in  its  properties,  and 
will,  if  applied  to  the  skin,  raise  a  blister  upon 
it ;  the  green  stalks  are  used  by  farmers  to 
bind    their  gates   and    hurdles  together,  and 


106  traveller's  joy. 

country  boys  smoke  portions  of  them  in  imita- 
tion of  tobacco  pipes. 

The  Clematis  is  sometimes  called  Virgin's 
Bower,  and  Withywind,  and  Gerarde  gave  to 
it  the  well-merited  name  of  Traveller's  Joy. 
Nor  is  ours  the  only  land  whose  waysides  it 
enlivens.  Backhouse  saw  the  lofty  shrubs  of 
Table  Cape,  in  Van  Diemen's  Land,  overrun 
with  a  white  Clematis,  which  if  not  identical 
with  this,  much  resembled  it,  and  was  equally 
fitted  to  sfratifv  the  taste  of  the  flower-lovinsr 
wayfarer.  Burchell,  too,  when  on  the  shores 
of  the  Gariep  River,  could  with  difficulty  dis- 
entangle himself  from  a  very  similar  species, 
which  climbed  to  the  very  summit  of  the  trees, 
and  covered  them  with  its  flowers  and  foliage. 
He  remarks,  "The  English  Traveller's  Joy, 
in  Europe,  chiefly  indicates  a  chalky  substratum, 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  this  African  plant, 
which  much  resembles  it  in  habit  and  general 
appearance,  is  also  an  indication  of  a  calca- 
reous quality  in  the  soil." 


KyOT    GRASS. 


KNOT  GRk^'^.—Poh/(;onum  aviculare. 

Class  OoTANDRiA.     Order  Trigtnia.    Nat.  Orel.  Polygone^. 
Persicaria  Tribe. 

There  is  not  in  all  our  land  a  plant  more 
common  than  this ;  but  having  little  beauty  to 
recommend  it,  it  is  little  regarded ;  yet  as  the 
poet  says — 

"  By  the  lone  quiet  grave, 
In  the  Tvild  hedgerow  the  Knot-grass  is  seen, 
Down  in  the  rural  lane, 
Or  on  the  verdant  plain, 
Everywhere  humble,  and  everywhere  green." 

Its  small  pinkish-white  flowers  are  seated  closely 
on  its  stem  from  i\Iay  till  September,  but  are 
redder  and  brighter  during  the  height  of  sum- 
mer than  in  earlier  or  later  seasons.  It  is  a 
useful  little  plant,  for  thousands  of  birds  are 
nourished  by  its  seeds  and  young  shoots,  and 
the  caterpillar  of  the  Knot  Grass  moth  lives 
chiefly  upon  it.  Ancient  writers  attributed 
to  it  many  medicinal  properties,  and  the  well- 
known  fact  that  it  is  much  relished  by  cattle, 
won  for  it  the  praises  of  Milton  and  others 
of  our  earlier  poets.  Shakspeare,  however, 
alludino;  to  its  tano^lino:  stem,  which  lies  over 
the  ground,  calls  it  the  "  Hindering  Knot- 
Grass."     It   is  a  very  common  plant   in  the 


108  KNOT    GRASS. 

Swan  River  colony,  and  is  described  as  being 
there,  as  with  us,  a  pasture  w^hich  is  very 
agreeable  to  the  animals  feeding  on  it.  It 
received  its  English  name  from  the  knottiness 
of  its  stems,  and  hke  many  other  plants  which 
are  eaten  by  cattle,  it  is  called  grass,  though 
having  no  affinity  with  the  true  grasses.  All 
domestic  quadrupeds  are  said  to  eat  it,  and  it 
is  devoured  with  great  avidity  by  sw^ine.  The 
seeds,  though  much  smaller  than  those  of  the 
Buckwheat,  have  been  used  like  them  for  crum- 
pets, or  ground  for  bread  corn.  Thunberg 
says,  that  in  Japan  a  bhie  dye  is  procured 
from  it. 

We  have  nine  wild  species  of  this  genus ; 
almost  all  are  very  common  plants,  and  several 
raise  their  pink  spikes  of  flowers  on  moist  lands 
and  on  the  borders  of  streams.  The  root  of 
the  Common  Bistort  or  Snakeweed,  {Poh/gonum 
bistorta,)  Avhose  flesh-coloured  flowers  grow  on 
marshy  lands,  is  a  powerful  and  vahiable  astrin- 
gent. The  large  climbing  plant,  known  in 
VanDiemen's  Land  as  the  jMacquarie  Harbour 
Vine,  is  a  species  of  Polygonum,  and  its  trian- 
gular seeds  are  used  for  puddings. 


'I'C, >';>•;:•!')    ^T     .I^jUN's    WOlir 


PERFORATED  ST.  JOHN'S  WORT. 

Hypericum  perforatuni,. 

Class  PoLYADELPHiA.     Order  Polyanduia.     Nat.  Ord. 
HypERiciNEiE. — St.  John's  Wort  Tribe. 

The  English  name  of  this  bright  yellow 
flower  reminds  us  of  the  practices  with  which 
it  was  once  connected.  It  was  one  of  the 
flowers  gathered  by  our  forefathers  to  be  thrown 
into  the  bonfires  which  were  kindled  in  London 
on  the  Eve  of  St.  John  It  was  formerly  worn 
in  Scotland  to  preserve  the  wearer  against 
witches  and  enchantments ;  and  in  several 
continental  countries  the  superstition  lingers 
yet,  that  it  is  a  charm  against  thunder  and  light- 
ning, and  the  machinations  of  evil  spirits.  In 
many  parts  of  France  and  Germany,  the 
peasantry  still  gather  its  golden  blooms  with 
much  ceremony  on  St.  John's  Day,  and  hang 
them  up  in  their  windows  and  doorways  to 
avert  evil.  Alfred  Lear  Huxford  has  alluded 
to  a  somewhat  similar  practice — 

"  So  then  about  her  brow 
They  bound  Hypericum,  whose  potent  leaves 
Have  sovereign  power  o'er  all  the  sullen  fits 
And  cheerless  fancies  that  besiege  the  mind ; 
Banishing  ever,  to  their  native  night, 
Dark  thoughts,  and  causing  to  spring  up  within 
The  heart  distress'd,  a  glow  of  gladdening  hope, 
And  rainbow  visions  of  kind  destiny." 


110         PERFORATED    ST.  JOHn's    WORT. 

The  old  name  of  this  flower,  Bahu  of  the 
Warrior's  Wound,  is  now  ahnost  forgotten ; 
but  in  the  olden  time,  physicians  and  poets 
alike  celebrated  its  properties;  and  some  medical 
writers  deemed  it  so  efficacious  an  internal 
remedy  for  hypochondriacal  disorders,  that  they 
fancifully  termed  it  Fuga  Dcemonum.  From  a 
mistake  of  their  meaning,  probably,  arose  the 
popular  ideas  respecting  this  plant,  which,  in 
spite  of  the  advance  of  modern  science,  are  yet 
generally  diffused  throughout  Europe.  A  good 
ointment  is  still  made  of  the  rosin-scented  blos- 
soms ;  tliey  also  tinge  spirits  and  oil  of  a  fine 
purple  colour,  and  the  dried  plant,  boiled  with 
alum,  dyes  wool  of  a  rich  yellow  hue. 

The  Perforated  St.  John's  Wort  is  abmidant 
in  thickets  aiid  hedo;es,  and  flowers  in  Julv. 
The  blossom,  flower  cup,  and  leaves  are  often 
tipped  with  minute  black  dots  ;  and  the  latter 
are  remarkable  for  being  copiously  sprinkled 
with  small  pellucid  dots,  which  are  most  evi- 
dent when  the  plant  is  held  against  the  liglit. 
We  have  eleven  species  of  the  genus,  all  yellow, 
and  mucli  like  the  plant  here  represented. 


iiorNi 


HOUND'S-TONGUE.— (7^;/oy^.^5^^;;^ 

officinale. 

class  Pentaxdria.     Order  Moxogynia.     Nat.  Orel.  Bora- 
GixE^.— Borage  Tribe. 

Any  one  who  has  looked  upon  this  plant,  at 
once  distinguishes  it  from  all  others  by  the 
lurid  purplish  red  hue  of  the  blossom.  Several 
of  our  wild  tio-vvers  have  tints  ^yhich  might  be 
called  purplish-red,  but  not  one  is  of  the  same 
hue  as  this.  Though  not  among  our  com- 
monest flowers,  yet  it  is  abundant  on  some  of 
the  waste  places  and  road- sides  of  our  islands, 
blossoming  in  June  and  July.  The  whole  plant 
is  soft  and  downy,  of  a  dull  green,  and  disagree- 
able odour,  like  that  of  mice.  It  was  formerly 
used  in  medicine,  and  its  effects  are  said  to  be 
narcotic  An  instance  is  related  in  the  "Hist. 
Oxon./'  in  which  the  leaves  of  this  plant,  boiled 
by  mistake  for  Comfrey,  disturbed  the  health  of 
a  whole  household,  and  proved  fatal  to  some  of 
its  members.  Cattle  in  general  refuse  to  eat 
it,  but  the  goat,  which  can  with  impunity  feed 
upon  the  Deadly  Nightshade  and  the  Tobacco, 
is  said  sometimes  to  crop  its  foliage.  Nor  is 
the  plant  useless  to  the  insect  world,  some 
of  them  adopting  it   as   their  especial    food, 


112  iiound's-tongue. 

and  the  caterpillar  of  the  scarlet  tiger  moth 
{Phalcena  dommidd)  revelling  upon  it  during 
the  months  of  April  and  May.  The  lower 
leaves  have  long  footstalks,  and  the  plant 
usually  grows  to  the  height  of  two  feet.  The 
writer  has  always  found  it  more  common  on 
chalk  than  on  other  soils. 

We  have  besides  a  smaller  but  rarer  species, 
the  green-leaved  Hound's-tongue,  {Cynoglossum 
si/lvaticum,)  which,  though  bearing  somewhat 
similar  flowers,  is  easily  distinguished  from 
the  common  sort  by  its  shining  and  brighter 
green  leaves,  quite  free  from  down  or  hairiness. 
This  blossoms  during  June  and  July,  in  some 
shady  places,  and  by  road-sides  in  the  mid- 
land and  eastern  comities  of  England,  and  has 
been  gathered  too  in  the  Carse  of  Gowrie  in 
Scotland.  The  shape  and  texture  of  the  leaf 
originated  the  name  of  this  genus,  which  is 
formed  from  Greek  words,  signifying  dog  and 
tongue. 


BROAD-LEAVKU    CAHLIC,    OK    UANSijMS. 


BROAD-LEAVED    GARLIC;     or,     RA\- 
S O M  S .  — Allium  nrsin  urn . 

Class  Hexandria.     Order  Digynia.     Nat.  Orel.  Lii.iace.e. 
Lily  Tribe, 

It  is  not  wise  Avlicii  gatlieriiig  a  wild  nose- 
gay to  place  this  flower  among  the  otliers, 
though  its  clusters  of  Avhite  blossoms  and 
bright-green  leaves  would  render  it  ornamental. 
Few  of  our  wild  plants  have  a  more  powerful 
or  a  more  disagreeable  odour ;  and  so  long  is 
it  retained,  that  if  placed  in  an  herbarium,  the 
other  specimens  near  it  become  scented  with 
garlic.  The  stem  of  this  plant  is  triangular, 
and  the  leaves  are  so  like  those  of  the  Lily  of 
the  Valley,  that  in  the  early  part  of  May,  the 
rambler  in  the  moist  wood  might  1)elieve  it  to 
be  full  of  that  lovely  plant,  till  some  unwary 
footstep  crushed  a  leaf,  and  the  garlic  was 
betrayed  by  its  odour.  The  flower  is  not 
uncommon,  either  in  the  wood  or  on  the 
hedge-bank,  during  the  latter  ])art  of  ^lay, 
])ut  has  generally  withered  by  the  middle  of 
June.  In  the  Isle  of  Man  it  is  very  abundant, 
and  the  grave-yard  of  the  church  of  Kirk 
Braddon  is  so  full  of  it,  that  often  when  the 
No.  8. 


114  BROAD-LEAVED    GARLIC. 

Sabbath  bells  are  chiming,  its  odour  is  borne 
afar  upon  the  breeze,  as  the  feet  of  those  who 
are  going  up  to  the  house  of  God  have  trodden 
upon  it.  Gerarde  says,  ''  The  leaves  of  Ran- 
soms are  stamped  and  eaten  with  fish,  even  as 
we  do  eate  greene  sauce,  made  with  Sorrell." 
We  have  seven  other  wild  species  of  Garlic, 
most  of  which  have  purple  flowers.  No  other 
kind  is  so  frequent  as  this.  Gerarde  says 
of  one  of  the  species,  "  Those  that  worke 
in  the  mines  affirme  that  they  find  this  roote 
very  powerful  in  defending  them  from  the 
impm*e  spirits,  which  often,  in  such  places, 
are  troublesome  to  them."  Several  species 
have  bulbs  amons;  the  flowers.  One  of  the 
prettiest  kinds  is  the  Chive  Garlic  {Allium 
Schoetwprasum),  which,  though  a  rare  plant  in 
our  meadows,  is  frequently  cultivated  in  the 
cottage  garden.  The  name  of  the  genus  is 
said  to  be  taken  from  the  Celtic  word  all, 
which  signifies  hot,  or  burning. 


SAIN'TFOIN. 


SAUTFOlN.—0/iod?yc/ils,^afk'a, 

Cla^s  DiADELi'HiA,    Order  Decaxdria.     Nat.  Ord.  LEOUiUNOS.u. 
Pea  and  Bean  Tribe. 

Amid    the    glowing    hues    ^^hich  deck  the 
landscape  when  June  lavishes  upon  it  all  its 
wealth  of  leaves  and  flowers,  few  are  brighter 
than  the  tints  of  the  field  of  Saintfohi.     The 
wind  sweeps  over  the  flowers,  and  they  fall 
into    red    wave-like    motion,  rising    again    in 
glittering  beauty,  to  tremble'  like  banners  be- 
neath the  gentler  bi'eeze.     For  more  than  two 
centuries  these  flelds  have  given  their  tmt  to 
many  portions  of  our  rural  districts,  the  plant 
being  cultivated  for  the  food  Avhich  it  yields 
to  cattle,  either  while  green,  or  when  dried 
and  made  into  hay.      The  Saintfoin  flourishes 
on  warm  chalky  lands,  and  few  plants  more 
rapidly  than  this  increase  the  value  of   poor 
thin  calcareous  soils.     The  usual  duration  of 
the  plant  on  a  soil  well  adapted  to  it,  is  from 
eight  to  ten  years.     There  are  instances,  how- 
ever, of  fields  of  Saintfoin  wliieh,  lia\  ing  been 
neglected,  have  run  into  pastures,  and  on  which 
plants  have  been  found  upwards  of  fifty  years 
from  the  time  of  sowing.     For  more  than  a 


116  SAINTFOIN. 

century  it  lias  been  cultivated  on  the  Cotswold 
Hills,  and  there  its  roots  have  been  traced 
down  into  stone  quarries  from  ten  to  twenty 
feet  in  leno;th. 

But  the  Saintfoin  is  a  wild  flower  too,  grow- 
ing on  many  a  chalky  hill  and  plain,  as  on 
that  bleak  moorland  of  Eoyston  Heath,  as 
well  as  on  the  Dover  Cliffs,  or  some  of  the 
banks  which  skirt  the  inland  lanes  of  Kent  or 
other  counties.  Its  name,  Holy  Hay,  would 
tell  us  of  some  legend  which  time  has  swept 
away.  Doubtless  it  was  connected  with  some 
ancient  superstition,  and  we  might  ask  with 
Alfred  Lear  Huxford,— 

"  What  have  the  pilgi'ims  told 
About  this  flower? 
Said  they,  when  in  times  of  old 
The  Infant  in  the  manger  lay, 
Thou  thy  blossoms  didst  display 

And  changed  his  humble  birth-place 
to  a  bower." 

The  French  call  the  plant  also  L'Esparcet, ; 
the  Italians,  Esparzita,  and  Cedrangolo. 


:M^'-.-. 


W 


I 


\ 


\ 


CU.MMOX    IVY. 


COMMON  l\X.—Hedera  Helix. 

Cla^s  Pentandria.     Order  Monogynia.     Xat.  Ord.  Araliaceje. 
Ivy  Tribe, 

Few  besides  the  naturalist  consider  of  how 
much  value  this  plant  is  both  to  the  song- 
sters of  our  woodland,  and  to  the  insect 
world.  Among -its  boughs  the  blackbird  and 
the  thrush  can  find  shelter  for  their  nests 
ere  bush  or  tree  has  a  green  leaf  on  its  branch, 
and  many  a  shivering  bird  retreats  thither  from 
the  cold  blasts  of  spring  and  autunni.  It  is 
when  the  hips  and  haAvs  and  other  A\ild  fruits 
have  perished,  that  the  Ivy  berries  ripen ;  and 
as  no  frost  injures  them,  they  are,  dm'ing 
winter  and  the  early  months  of  spring,  the 
chief  food  of  the  Missel-thrush,  the  Wood- 
pigeons,  and  many  other  birds.  The  green 
flowers  are  useful  too  ;  for,  blooming  in  October 
and  November,  when  blossoms  are  scarce,  they 
furnish  a  ])rovision  to  millions  of  insects,  Avhicli 
else  must  perish ;  and  tlie  latest  of  our  brilhant 
winged  creatures,  the  Bed  Admiral  and  the 
Peacock  butterflies,  yet  hover  over  them  on 
sunny  days,  sipping  thence  the  nectar  by  which 
they  are  fed. 


lis  COMMON    IVY. 

There  are  different  opinions  as  to  whether 
the  ivy  injures  trees.  When  the  woody  stems 
are  hard  and  strong,  it  seems  most  probable 
that  they  must  do  so,  yet  some  botanists 
think  with  Calder  Campbell,  who  pleads  for 
the  beautiful  plant : — 

"  Oh,  falsely  they  accuse  me, 

Who  say  I  seek  to  check 
The  growing  sapling's  flourishing  ; — 

I  better  love  to  deck 
The  dead  or  dying  branches 

With  all  my  living  leaves. 
'Tis  for  the  old  and  Tvither'd  tree, 

The  Ivy  garlands  weaves." 

Sheep  are  fond  of  the  Ivy,  The  soft  wood 
of  its  stem  is  used  for  giving  a  smooth  edge 
to  knives,  and  the  Highlanders  make  an  oint- 
ment from  its  leaves.  Among  the  ancients 
they  formed  the  Poet's  crown  and  the  Baccha- 
nalian wreath,  and  w^ere  supposed  to  prevent 
intoxication.  In  the  Idylls  of  Theocritus  our 
Ivy  is  alluded  to,  but  Virgil  tells  of  the  Golden 
Ivy.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  plant  of 
the  poet  was  the  yellow-berried  species  now  so 
rare  {Hedera  chrpocarpum). 


■m 

i. 


M 


MEAJjO^V    iAi-TiLOK. 


MEADOW  SAWRO^.—Co/r/iiann 
autumnale, 

C7a55  Hexandria.     OfZ<?r  Trtgynia.    Nat.  Ore/.  Mri.anthack.r. 
Meadow  Saffron  Tribe. 

To  look  upon  this  handsome  flower  as  it  ex- 
pands among  the  meadow  grasses,  during  the 
months  of  September  and  October,  one  would 
deem  it  a  leafless  plant.  Yet  that  same  root 
will,  next  spring,  produce  both  leaves  and  fruit, 
though  the  blossom  opens  only  to  the  autunuinl 
season.  The  flowers  of  the  Meadow  SailVon 
are  of  a  pretty  delicate  lilac  hue,  from  two  to 
six  in  number,  emerging  from  a  sheath,  which 
issues  from  the  solid  bulb.  TJiey  are  exact I3 
like  those  of  the  Crocus,  except  that  they 
have  six,  instead  of  three  stamens.  Tliey 
rise  on  long  slender  tubes,  and  dying  away 
at  the  end  of  October,  exhibit  no  signs  of 
seed  vessels  or  seeds.  But  the  seeds  lie  buried 
in  the  bulb  during  winter,  and  when  s[)ring 
is  again  decking  mead  and  bough,  then  the 
broad  green  leaves  arise  from  the  bulb,  and  the 
seeds,  elevated  on  a  footstalk,  gradually  increjisc 
in  size  and  ripen  by  Midsummer.  As  has  been 
remarked,  this  is  a  beautiful  and  providential 


120  MEADOW    SAFFRON. 

arrangement  for  tlieir  protection  from  tlie  frosts 
and  cold  of  winter.  Most  flowers  have  ripened 
and  dispersed  their  seeds  before  the  cold  sea- 
son ;  but  as  this  flower  appears  so  late  in  the 
year  its  seeds  would  probably  not  have  time 
to  be  matured  before  winter ;  and  thus  they 
are  secured  within  the  bulb,  at  a  depth  from 
the  sm-face,  where  frost  cannot  harm  them, 
while  at  the  proper  season  they  rise  to  meet 
the  sun  which  shall  ripen,  and  the  wind  which 
shall  scatter  them. 

We  have  but  one  native  species  of  Colchi- 
cum,  nor  is  this  a  common  flower.  The 
genus  received  its  name  from  Colchis,  where 
the  plant  was  said  to  grow  in  great  abundance. 
The  French  call  it  Morte  aux  cJiiens,  and  it  is 
probably,  in  its  fresh  state,  injurious  to  most 
animals.  It  has  been  known  from  earliest 
ages  to  possess  very  powerful  medicinal  pro- 
perties, and  is  frequently  given  to  allay  the 
pains  of  gout  and  rheumatism.  It  has  been 
employed  as  a  substitute  for  the  celebrated  eau 
medicinale. 


.^\ 


\ 


MICHAEUIAS   DAISY.— ^6/6V'  Trlpolium. 

C^a^ij  Syngenesia.     OrcZer  Scperflua.     Nat,  Onl  Cqup^j^u x.  . 
Compound  Flowers. 

This  plant  is  called  also  Sea  Starwort,  and 
is  one  of  the  few  flowers  which  deck  the  saline 
soils  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  ocean.  It  is 
very  common  on  the  salt  marshes,  not  only  of 
the  sea,  but  of  tidal  rivers.  Its  blossom  appears 
in  August  and  September ;  the  stem  is  often 
three  feet  high,  audits  clusters  of  palelilac  flowers 
overtop  the  strongly-scented  and  grey-green 
Southernwood, and  the  little  fleshy-leaved  Sand- 
worts, and  the  tufts  of  Sea  Lavander  and  of  other 
smaller  plants  of  the  marsh.  Like  many  other 
natives  of  saline  soil,  the  stems  and  foliage  are 
very  succulent,  and  have  a  saltish  flavour,  and 
their  surfaces  are  free  from  all  down.  It  is 
not  an  uncommon  circumstance  to  find  a  cluster 
of  the  Michaelmas  Daisy,  in  Avhich  the  lilac 
rays  ai'e  quite  absent,  and  the  disk  only  is  to  be 
seen.  Many  of  the  plants  which  flourish  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  sea,  grow,  too,  on 
elevated  mountains  in  inland  countries.  The 
Thrift  and  Sea  Milkwort,  and  several  others,  are 
found  on  such  spots ;  but  our  Starwort  never 
grows  wild  but  on  salt  land.  It  is,  both  in 
flower  and  foliage,  of  too  pale  a  colour  to  be 


122  MICHAELMAS    DAISY. 

highly  ornamental,  yet  it  lends  a  charm  to  spots 
whose  aspect  is  dreary,  and  to  a  season  whose 
flowers  are  daily  becoming  fewer  in  number. 

"  The  marsh  is  bleak  and  lonely.     Scarce  a  flower 
Gleams  in  the  waving  grass.     The  rosy  Thrift 
Has  paler  grown  since  Summer  bless'd  the  scene, 
And  the  Sea  Lavander,  whose  lilac  blooms 
Drew  from  the  saline  soil  a  richer  hue 
Than  when  they  grew  on  yonder  towering  cliff, 
Quivers  in  flowerless  greenness  to  the  wind. 
No  sound  is  heard,  save  when  the  sea-bird  screams 
Its  lonely  presage  of  the  coming  storm  ; 
And  the  sole  blossom  which  can  glad  the  eye, 
Is  yon  pale  Starwort  nodding  to  the  wind." 

We  have  but  one  species  of  the  genus 
Aste7\  the  name  of  which  is  significant  of 
the  starry  form  of  all  its  flowers.  But  America 
is  the  native  land  of  Michaelmas  Daisies,  and 
the  multitudes  of  those  which  deck  our  gardens 
were  brought  thence.  Lyell,  speaking  of  the 
fir  woods  on  the  banks  of  the  Piscataqua, 
says,  "  I  have  seen  this  part  of  North  America 
laid  down  in  some  botanical  maps,  as  the 
region  of  Asters  and  Golden  Rods."  He 
adds,  that  both  are  there  very  numerous  and 
striking  flowers. 


CUCKOO    PFNT. 


CUCKOO  PINT.— ^;7/;;/  macidaUnn. 

Class  MoNCECiA.     Order  Polyandria.    Nat.  Ord.  Arace^. 
Cuckoo  Pint  Tuibe. 

This  plant  is  known  in  conntiy  places  hy 
the  name  of  Wake  Robin,  and  Lords  and 
Ladies.  It  is  very  common  in  our  English 
hedges,  hut  is  rare  in  Scotland,  and  in  most 
parts  of  Ireland.  It  is  in  flower  during  April 
and  May,  and  the  cluh-shapcd  column,  around 
which  the  pistils  and  stamens  are  situated, 
is  sometimes  of  a  deep  violet,  at  others  of  a 
buff  or  pale  green  tint.  The  large  shining 
leaves  are  often  spotted,  and  in  winter  a  thick 
cluster  of  rich  orange-coloured  berries  sur- 
rounds the  stem  of  the  plant,  until  they  are 
eaten  by  birds. 

The  root  of  the  Arum  is  a  tuber,  and 
affords  a  quantity  of  farinaceous  powder,  which 
forms  an  excellent  substitute  for  flour,  and 
is  sold  for  that  purpose  in  Weymouth  and 
Portland  Island.  The  writer  of  these  pages 
received  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  holding  an 
important  post  at  Gort,  in  Galway,  stating 
that  as  the  plant  grew  there  in  great  abundance, 
he  w^as  desirous  that  the  pooi-  Irish,  then  suf- 


124  CUCKOO    PINT. 

fering  from  all  the  ills  of  want,  should  find 
in  it  a  resoui'ce  from  starvation.  He  had 
tried  various  methods  of  preparing  it.  It 
had  been  boiled,  baked,  or  dried  in  the  sun ; 
but  though  the  acrid  principle  existing  so 
powerfully  in  the  uncooked  root  was  much 
dissipated  by  these  means,  yet  it  was  not 
wholly  destroyed.  He  was  recommended  to 
grate  it  into  water,  and  afterwards  to  pour  off 
the  liquid,  and  dry  the  sediment.  The  plan 
succeeded,  and  the  benevolent  inquirer  had 
the  satisfaction  of  procuring  a  tasteless  and 
nutritious  powder  from  the  Arum  root. 

The  root  was  much  used  in  Queen  Elizabeth's 
time  for  stiffening  lawn,  which  w^as  then  but 
just  introduced,  and  which,  being  so  thin, 
needed  strong  starch  to  stiffen  it.  But  the 
Dutch  woman  who  came  hither  to  teach  the 
English  ladies  how  to  starch  linen,  made 
them  so  great  proficients,  that  soon  the  ruffs 
were  worn  more  than  a  yard  deep.  The  starch 
made  from  the  Arum,  however,  irritated  the 
hands  of  those  who  used  it. 


HEDGE    WOUNDWORT. 


HEDGE  WOUNDWORT.-->S'/r/%s- 

sylvaiica» 

Class  DiDYNAMiA.     Ordej-  Gymnospermia.    Nat.  Ord.  Labiatjr. 
Labiate  Tribe. 

This  plant  is  very  frequent  in  woods  and 
shady  places  during  July  and  August,  rearing 
its  spike  of  purple  flowers  sometimes  to  the 
height  of  three  feet.  When  bruised  it  has  a 
disagreeable  odour,  and  no  animal  is  known 
to  eat  it,  save  the  snail,  which  often  leaves  its 
rainbow-tinted  trail  upon  its  foliage.  The 
flowers  grow  in  whorls  round  the  stem,  and 
are  usually  about  six  in  number.  This,  as 
well  as  all  the  other  species,  was  considered  to 
be  of  great  service  in  stopping  the  effusion 
of  blood.  Gerarde  says  of  the  water  species 
{Stacliys  pah'sfris),  that  by  binding  it  over 
the  wound,  he  cured  a  man  in  Kent,  who 
had  been  severely  cut  with  a  scythe;  and 
that  he  also  healed  a  wound  made  by  one  in 
Holborn,  who  had  attempted  self-destruction  ; 
"for  which,"  adds  the  pious  herbalist,  "the 
name  of  God  be  praised."  It  was  hence  called 
Clowne's  Woundwort  and  All-heal.  The  Hedge 
Woundwort  is  very  hairy,  though  less  so  than 
some  other  of  our  native  kinds.     The  hair  or 


126  HEDGE    WOUNDWORT. 

down  serves  to  protect  plants  from  lieat  and 
cold,  but  is  of  use  too  to  some  of  the  insect 
tribe.  One  species  of  wild  bee,  which  dwells 
in  the  cavities  of  trees,  is  skilled  in  using  it. 
Kirby  and  Spence  remark  of  this  little  crea- 
ture, that  it  knew  what  materials  would  slowly 
conduct  heat,  long  before  Count  Rumford's 
experiments  had  been  made ;  and  it  attacks 
the  leaves  of  the  Woolly  Woundwort  {Stach^s 
lanata),  the  Rose  Campion,  and  similar  plants, 
and  scraping  hence  the  down  with  its  fore- 
legs, rolls  it  into  a  little  ball,  and  sticking  it 
on  the  plaister  Avhich  covers  the  cells,  renders 
them  impervious  to  every  change  of  tempe- 
rature ;  so  that,  say  these  writers,  "  this  bee 
may  be  said  to  exercise  the  trade  of  a 
clothier.'' 

We  have  six  native  species  of  Woundwort, 
all  very  similar  to  that  represented  in  the 
engraving.  They  are  all  in  blossom  during 
July  and  August.  The  Downy  Woundwort 
[Stacltys  (/ermanicci),  a  plant  of  our  limestone 
soils,  is  often  cultivated  in  gardens  on  account 
of  the  silky  foliage. 


MEADOW    VETCH  LING. 


MEADOW  VETCIILING.— Zr/%;7/.s 
pratensis. 

CYas5  DiADELPHiA.     0;-c?er  Decandria.     Nat.  Ord.  LEavm- 
Nos^.— Pea  and  Bean  Tribe. 

During  July  and  August  this  plant  is  very 
frequent  in  moist   meadows,  sometimes  ren- 
dering the  grassy  bank  of  the  stream  quite 
bright    with   its   yellow   flowers.       It    grows 
also,  wdth  scarcely  less  luxuriance,  on  stiff  clay 
lands.     The    blossoms    are  in  loose  clusters, 
about  six  or  eight  together,  and  the  climbing 
stem  is  often  two  or  three  feet  long,  and  by  its 
clasping  tendrils  clings  to  some  stronger  object 
near  it.    Cattle  are  said  to  be  very  fondof  this 
plant,  and  the  author  of  Essays  relating  to 
Agriculture  and  Rural  Affairs,  recommends  its 
cultivation  on  various  accounts.     He  remarks, 
that  it  annually  yields  a  great  amount  of  forage 
of  the  ver}'  best  quality,  fit  for  pasture  or  hay. 
It  is  also  an  abiding  plant,  never  leaving  the 
ground  where  it  has  once  been  established, 
and  increasing  so  rapidly  by  its  running  roots, 
that  a  very  few  plants  at  first  put  into  a  field 
would  soon  spread  over  the  whole,  and  stuck 
it  sufficiently. 

We  have  eight  British  species  of  Lathyrus, 


128  MEADOW    VETCHLING. 

comprehending  the  Vetchlings,  and  the  three 
species  of  Everlasting  Pea.  They  are  of  the 
Leguminous  tribe,  having  butterfly-shaped 
blossoms,  and  bearing  their  seeds  in  pods ; 
and  some  of  them,  hke  the  Meadow  Vetchling, 
are  pretty  and  graceful  plants.  The  smaller 
Yellow  Vetchling  {Lathyrus  Aphaca)  has 
flowers  of  the  same  hue  as  those  of  the 
engraving,  but  the  appearance  of  the  plant  is 
very  different,  as  the  blossom  growls  singly  on 
the  floAver-stalk.  It  is  found  on  sandy  and 
gravelly  fields,  from  June  to  August,  but  is 
not  a  common  plant.  The  Crimson  Vetchling, 
or  Grass  Vetch  {Lcdhjriis  Nissolia),  is  much 
more  frequent,  growing  in  many  parts  of 
England,  on  the  borders  of  grassy  fields,  and 
bearing  in  j\Iay  a  pretty  crimson  flower  and 
long  grass-like  leaves,  without  tendrils.  There 
is  also  a  Bhie  Marsh  Vetchling  (Laihjnis 
palustris)  which  grows  in  moist  meadows  in 
several  parts  of  England,  while  the  rare 
Rough-podded  Vetchling  {Lathyrus  hirsutus) 
with  its  crimson  standard  is  found  only  in 
cultivated  fields. 


i 


.^^.^    '^;?' 


V 


YKLLOW    IRIS. 


YELLOW  IRIS. — /m  Pseud-acorus. 

Class  Teiandeia,     Order  Monogtnia.     Nat.  Ord.  iRiDACEiE. 
Iris  Tribe. 

This  handsome  flower  waves  its  bright  petals 
over  many  of  the  streamlets  which  wind  their 
way  among  our  rustic  landscape.  It  grows 
too  in  moist  meadows  and  woods.  It  is  also 
called  Corn-flag  and  Water  Sedge,  while  in 
Scotland  it  is  commonly  termed  Water  Skeggs. 
Charlotte  Smith  thus  alludes  to  it : — 

"  Retiring  May  to  lovely  June 

Her  latest  gai'land  now  resigns ; 
The  banks  with  cuckoo  flowers  are  strewn, 
The  wood-walks  blue  with  columbines ; 
And  with  its  reeds  the  wandering  stream 
Reflects  the  flag-flower's  golden  beam." 

The  root  of  the  Corn-flag  is  scentless,  and  of 
sweetish  flavour.  Either  infused  in  w^ater,  or 
powdered  and  taken  as  snuff",  it  produces  a 
sense  of  heat  in  the  mouth  and  throat,  wdiicli 
has  been  known,  in  some  individuals,  to  re- 
main for  twelve  hours.  The  root  is  somethnes 
used  medicinally,  but  is  so  powerful  that  it 
should  be  employed  with  great  caution.  An 
infusion,  like  that  of  galls,  and  other  vegetable 
astringents,  may  with  the  addition  of  iron  be 
made  into  ink,  or  it  forms  a  good  black  dye  ; 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Scotland  and  the  adja- 
cent isles  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of  using 
3^0.  9. 


130  YELLOW    IRIS. 

it  for  both  these  purposes.  This  root  is  also 
recommended  as  a  cure  for  tooth-ache.  Dr. 
Johnstoii  quotes  EttmlUler  as  saying,  "  But 
above  all  which  I  have  hitherto  known,  the 
juice  of  the  roots  of  the  Iris,  rubbed  upon  the 
tooth  that  is  painful,  or  the  root  itself  chewed 
in  the  mouth,  in  an  instant,  as  if  by  a  charm, 
draws  away  the  pain  of  the  teeth,  arising 
from  what  cause  soever.  He  that  communi- 
cated it  to  me  affirmed  that  he  had  tried  it  forty 
times,  at  least,  with  like  success.  I  myself  also 
have  tried  it ;  a  great  many  others  have  done 
the  same  by  my  persuasion,  and  I  hardly  ever 
knew  it  to  fail."  A  cosmetic  is  also  made 
from  this  plant,  and  the  roasted  seeds  are 
recommended  as  a  good  substitute  for  coffee. 

The  name  of  this  genus  was  given  on 
account  of  the  various  and  beautiful  colours 
exhibited  by  several  of  the  species.  According 
to  Plutarch,  the  word  Iris  signified  in  the 
ancient  Egyptian  tongue,  eye,  the  eye  of 
heaven.  We  have  one  other  Avild  kind,  the 
Stinking  Iris  {Iris  fcetldissima),  which  is  of 
unusual  occurrence,  except  in  the  West  of 
England,  where  it  inhabits  thickets.  The 
flowers  are  smaller  than  those  of  the  Corn- 
flag,  and  of  a  livid  purple  hue. 


>•  A  B.ROW- LEAVED 


NARROW-LEAVED  EVERLASTING 
PEA. — Latliyrus  syhestris. 

Class  DiADELPHiA.    Order  Decandeia.    Nat.  Orel.  Leguminos.e 
Pea  and  Bean  Tribe. 

This  pretty  wild  pea  is  not  a  very  common 
flower,  though  often  found  in  woods  and 
thickets  in  the  middle  and  south  of  England. 
The  specimen  from  which  the  drawing  for  the 
engraver  w^as  made,  was  gathered  at  Higham, 
near  Rochester,  in  Kent;  and  a  good  deal  of 
the  plant  grows  in  the  w^oods  and  lanes  around 
the  venerable  ruins  of  Lymne  Castle,  near 
Hythe,  a  spot  so  interesting  to  the  antiquary, 
from  its  Roman  remains.  It  creeps  among 
the  bushes  too  on  Salisbury  Crags,  and  on  the 
coast  of  Angusshire.  The  flowxrs  are  usually 
about  four  or  five  together,  and  the  stem  climbs 
to  the  height  of  four  or  five  feet,  clinging  to 
any  object  near  it.  The  blossoms  are  of 
greenish  pink  and  purple,  the  stem  is  broad 
and  expanded,  and  each  leafstaU^  bears  two 
leaflets  and  a  tendril.  It  blossoms  in  July 
and  August,  resembling  somewhat  the  Ever- 
lasting Pea  [Latliyrus  latifolius)  of  our  gardens, 
though  far  inferior  to  it  in  size  and  beauty 
of  colour.     This   Broad-leaved   Pea  is   often 


132       NARKOW-LEAVED  EVERLASTING  PEA. 

enumerated  among  our  wild  flowers,  though  it 
is  most  probably  the  outcast  of  the  garden. 

The  genus  Lathyrus,  if  we  inchide  the 
Broad-leaved  flower,  contains  eight  native 
species,  but  five  of  these  are  Vetchlings.  The 
only  other  wild  Pea  is  the  sea-side  species 
{Lathi/nis  pisiformis).  This  grows  on  several 
of  our  sea  beaches,  but  is  by  no  means  a  com- 
mon flower.  The  seeds  are  rather  bitter,  but 
in  1555,  when  great  famine  prevailed  in 
England,  they  were  used  as  food,  and  thou- 
sands of  poor  families  were,  by  their  means, 
preserved  from  starvation.  The  seeds  of  all 
this  tribe  are  more  numerous  in  dry  than  in 
moist  seasons,  and  doubtless  afford  a  valuable 
nutriment  to  birds ;  while  those  of  some  of 
our  native  species  of  Lathyrus  may  safely  be 
used  as  food  for  man.  Like  all  our  native 
Leguminous  plants,  the  seeds  are  contained  in 
pods,  and  the  flowers  are  papilionaceous,  or 
butterfly-shaped. 


COMMON   CREEPING   CINQUEFOTL. 


COMMON  CREEPING  CINQUEEOIL. 

Potentilla  reptans. 

Class  IcosANDRiA.     0)'der  Polygtnia.    Nat.  Ord.  Rosacea. 
Rose  Tribe. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  discover  the  remedial 
properties  once  believed  to  belong  to  the  pretty 
flowers  which  are  included  in  this  genus,  and 
which  procured  for  it  its  scientific  name.  Po- 
tential we  cannot  deem  them ;  for,  saving  some 
slight  power  in  stopping  the  effusion  of  blood 
from  a  wound,  which  a  few  possess,  no  service 
is  done  by  them  to  modern  generations.  Enough 
however  it  is  for  the  lover  of  wild  flowers,  that 
they  are  beautiful,  that  they  deck  the  waysides 
where  he  loves  to  wander,  and  have  power  to 
awaken  pleasant  thoughts  and  old  memories 
of  green  fields  and  clear  streams  and  waving 
boughs,  and  the  blue  sky  bending  over  all. 
Of  the  eleven  native  species  of  Cinquefoil, 
that  represented  here  is  the  most  frequent. 
Its  stems,  taking  root  at  the  joints,  creep 
over  meadows,  pastures,  and  hedge-banks, 
bearing  the  soft  velvety  yellow  flowers  and  a 
great  profusion  of  leaves  from  June  till 
August ;  and  long  before  the  flowers  appear, 
before  the  hedgebank  has  put  forth  a  single 
blossom,   save  the  daisy  and  the  chickweed, 


134  COMMON   CREEPING   CINQUEEOIL. 

graceful  sprays  of  its  foliage  are  lying  among 
the  grass. 

The  greater  number  of  our  Cinquefoils  are 
mountain  flowers,  gracing  the  banks  of  paths 
traversed  by  the  footsteps  of  few  travellers, 
and  where  their  yellow  or  white  blossoms  live 
and  die  ungathered  and  unseen.  Some  of 
them,  however,  like  the  Creeping  Cinquefoil, 
are  common  flowers.  Such  is  the  white- 
flowered  strawberry-leaved  Cinquefoil  {Foten- 
tilla  Fragariastrimi),  which,  in  March  and 
April,  has  leaves  and  flowers  so  like  the  straw- 
berry plants,  that  all  save  the  botanist  would 
deem  its  blossom  the  harbinger  of  the  ruddy 
fruit  of  summer.  The  Hoary  Cinquefoil 
{Potentilla  argentea),  with  its  flowers  smaller 
than  those  of  the  creeping  kind,  and  its 
leaves  downy  on  their  under  surface,  is  less 
frequent  in  meadows  and  by  road  sides  on  a 
gravelly  soil,  blooming  in  June ;  and  frequent 
as  any  of  the  species,  is  the  handsome  Silver- 
weed  {Potentilla  cmserina),  with  its  leaves  pale 
beneath,  with  a  profuse  quantity  of  silky  down, 
and  flowers  shaped  exactly  like  those  of  the 
eno;ravinoj. 


COMMON   BUGLE. 


COMMON  BUGLE.— 4V^^  re:ptam. 

Class  DiDYNAMiA.     Order  Gtmnospermia     Nat  Ord.  Labiat.e. 
Labiate  Teibe, 

When  wandering  during  May  or  June  on  the 
moist  meadows  or  pasture  lands,  we  rarely  fail 
to  find  the  Bugle  blooming  there.  Its  floAvers, 
though  commonly  of  a  purplish  blue  colour, 
vary  to  pale  lilac,  and  occasionally  to  a  pure 
w^hite.  The  stem  is  erect,  but  the  creeping 
shoots  proceeding  from  it  distinguish  the 
species.  It  is  too  pretty  and  frequent  a  wild 
flower  to  have  been  unnoticed  by  poets,  and 
we  find  it  enumerated  by  Clare,  among  the 
wild  ornaments  of  Cowper  Green : 

"  Thine's  full  many  a  pleasing  bloom 
Of  blossoms  lost  to  all  perfume  ; 
Thine,  the  Dandelion  flowers, 
Gilt  with  dew  like  suns  with  showers  ; 
Harebells  thine,  and  Bugles  blue, 
And  Cuckoo  flowers  all  sweet  to  view  : 
The  wild  Woad  on  each  road  we  see  ; 
And  medicinal  Betony 
By  thy  woodside  railing  reeves, 
With  Antique  Mullein's  flannel  leaves." 

The  Bugle  is  still  a  village  remedy  for  various 
diseases,  and  its  properties  are  astringent.  It 
is  rarely  now  used  for  wounds,  though  it  was 
once  much  relied  on  as  a  vulnerary.     Its  old 


136  COMMON    BUGLE. 

names  are  Brown  Bugle,  Middle  Comfrey, 
Sicklewort,  and  Carpenter's  Herb ;  the  last 
two  being  significant  of  its  uses  in  healing  the 
wounds  made  by  the  sharp  implements  of  the 
husbandman  or  mechanic. 

We  have  four  wild  species  of  this  genus,  but 
one  only  besides  the  Common  Bugle  is  at  all 
a  frequent  flower.  This  is  the  Ground  Pine 
or  Yellow  Bugle  {Ajuga  Chamcepitys),  which  is 
not  uncommon  on  sandy  or  gravelly  fields  in 
Kent  and  Surrey,  blossoming  during  April 
and  May.  Its  yellow  blooms  are  formed  like 
those  of  the  engraving,  but  the  whole  appear- 
ance of  the  plant  is  very  dissimilar,  as  the 
leaves  are  long  and  narrow,  resembhng  those 
of  a  Pine,  and  the  flowers,  which  are  yellow, 
spotted  Tvdth  red,  seem  to  hide  among  them. 
The  two  remaining  species,  the  Pyramidal 
Bugle  {Ajuga  pijramidalis),  and  the  Alpine 
Bugle  {Ajuga  alpinct),  have  blue  or  purple 
flowers.  The  former  grows  on  Highland  pas- 
tures ;  the  latter  on  mountains. 


NETTLE-LEAVED   BELL-FLOWER. 


NETTLE-LEAVED  BELL-FLOWER. 

Campanula  Traclielium. 

Class  Pentandria.  Order  Monogynia.     Nat.  Ord.  Campanu- 
LACE^. — Bell-flower  Tribe. 

Beautiful  as  the  woods  are  in  July  with 
their  well-clad  boughs  waving  in  the  breeze, 
yet  woodland  flowers  are  fewer  in  number  than 
in  the  spring.  Some  large  species  of  Bell- 
flower  are,  however,  conspicuous  among  the 
bushes  of  the  wood  or  hedge  bank,  and  that 
represented  in  the  engraving  is  very  common 
there.  It  is  a  hairy  plant,  with  an  angular 
stem,  and  large  purple  blossoms ;  while  the 
leaf  is  sufficiently  like  that  of  a  nettle  to  give 
to  the  species  its  distinctive  name.  Though 
so  frequent  in  the  green  lanes  and  woods 
of  some  parts  of  England,  it  is,  in  Scotland, 
a  rare  flower,  but  has  been  found  on  the  old 
walls  of  Mugdoch  Castle,  near  Glasgow,  and 
in  a  few  other  places.  It  has  been  described 
by  the  poet :— : 

"  And  there  with  hispid  leaf  and  blooms 
Of  darken'd  sapphire,  richly  swinging. 
The  Bell-flower  nettle-leaved  illumiis 

With  azure  light  the  woods  ;  while  bringing 
Around  it  troops  of  insect  things, 
With  merry  song  and  dancing  wings." 


138  NETTLE-LEAYED    BELL-FLOWER. 

This  plant,  though  often  more  than  two  feet 
high,  is  neither  the  largest  nor  the  handsomest 
of  our  wild  Campanulate  flowers.  The  giant 
Bell-flower  {Campanula  latifolia)  far  outrivals 
it,  not  only  in  the  beauty  of  its  brighter  blue 
blossoms,  but  in  the  size  of  the  w^hole  plant. 
Except  in  some  of  the  northern  counties,  it  is 
rare  in  England  ;  but  it  is  a  common  flower  in 
the  woody  glens  of  Scotland. 

The  genus  received  its  name  from  Campana, 
a  bell,  the  species  having  the  flowers  bell-shaped. 
We  have  ten  native  kinds.  Some  of  them,  like 
the  Harebell,  are  graceful  and  delicate ;  but 
several,  like  the  nettle-leaved  species,  are  showy 
plants.  One  of  this  family,  the  Rampion  Bell- 
flower  {Campanula  Bajjmiculus) ,  grows  wild  in 
some  of  the  gravelly  lands  of  our  midland 
counties,  flowering  in  July  and  August.  Its 
roots  are  much  cultivated  in  Erance  and  Italy, 
and  occasionally  in  our  own  country.  They 
are  called  Eamps,  and  are  eaten  boiled  with 
sauce,  or  cold  with  vinegar  and  pepper. 


^  ■  -   ^^^  ■ 


WOOD  LOOSESTRIFE.— Z?/smacMa 

nemorum. 

Class  Pentandria.     Order  Monogynia.     Nat.  Orel.  Pemu- 

LACE^. — PeIMROSE  TrIBE. 

This  flower,  whicli  is  called  also  Yellow  Pim- 
pernel, is  very  frequent  in  woods  and  copses, 
and  other  shady  places,  from  May  till  July. 
The  stems  are  weak,  and  trail  over  the  ground, 
and  the  foliage  is  of  a  remarkably  light  and 
delicate  green  hue.  It  belongs  to  a  genus  of 
plants  once  greatly  valued,  because  of  the 
absurd  notion  entertained  by  the  ancients, 
that,  when  put  upon  the  yokes  of  restive 
oxen,  they  rendered  them  Q-entle  and  sub  mis- 
sive.  Linnaeus  says,  that  the  genus  was  named 
from  Lysimachus,  King  of  Sicily,  who  first 
used  it  for  this  purpose ;  and  the  Enghsh 
word  Loosestrife  is  a  translation  of  its  old 
Greek  name.  The  Wood  species  was  called 
in  Gerarde's  time  Serpentaria ;  because,  as  he 
says,  "  If  serpents  be  wounded  they  do  heal 
themselves  with  this  herb."  The  Loosestrifes 
have,  however,  notwithstanding  their  reputa- 
tion, little  beyond  their  beauty  to  recommend 
them  to  our  regard ;  but  they  are  all  pretty 
yellow  flowers,  some  of  them  much  more  con- 
spicuous than  the  little  wood  species,  and  often 
very  ornamental  to  the  sides  of  streams  and 


140  WOOD    LOOSESTRIFE. 

rivers.  We  have  five  native  species.  The 
Great  Yellow  Loosestrife  {Lysimachia  vulgaris) 
is  by  no  means  an  uncommon  flower  during 
July,  by  the  river  side,  or  on  moist  meadows 
or  bogs  of  England,  though  in  Scotland  it  is 
rare.  It  is  sometimes  two  or  three  feet  high, 
with  large  clusters  of  golden  blossoms.  It  has 
scarcely  any  odour,  and  no  modern  botanist 
has  any  high  opinion  of  its  properties  or  uses ; 
but  of  old  times,  if  Ave  may  trust  to  poets,  it 
was  thought  to  possess  some  powers  which 
rendered  it  serviceable  to  man.  Some  lines  in 
the  Faithful  Shepherdess  allude  to  it : — 

"  Yellow  Lysimachus,  to  give  sweet  rest 
To  the  faint  shepherd  ;  killing,  where  it  comes, 
All  busy  gnats,  and  every  fly  that  hums." 

The  tall  Tufted  Loosestrife  {Lysimachm 
thyrsiflorct),  and  the  Four-leaved  Loosestrife 
{Lysimachia  punctata),  are  rare  flowers  ;  but 
the  Creeping  Loosestrife  {LysimacJiia  minimu- 
larid)  is,  like  our  yellow  Pimpernel,  common  in 
watery  places,  flowering  in  June.  It  is  called 
also  Moneywort  and  Herb  Twopence,  and 
has  creeping  stems.  It  is  a  hardy  plant,  and 
is  often  cultivated  in  gardens  upon  rock- work. 


COMMON   SOArWORT. 


COMMON  SOAPWORT.— /S'r/^o^^^m/ 

officinalis. 

Class  Decandkia,     Ch-der  Digynia.     Nat.  Orel.  Caryophylle^. 
Chickweed  Tribe. 

This  plant  is  one  of  those  which  seem  to 
follow  the  footsteps  of  man,  and  is  much  more 
frequently  found  near  villages  than  in  the  more 
secluded  spots  of  the  landscape.  It  is  in 
blossom  during  July  and  August,  on  road- 
sides, hedge-banks,  and  the  margins  of  woods, 
often  at  the  distance  of  two  or  three  minutes* 
walk  from  the  village.  It  usually  grows  to 
the  height  of  a  foot,  or  a  foot  and  a  half,  with 
a  rather  stout  cylindrical  stem,  and  the  cluster 
of  flowers  is  of  a  pale  rose  colour.  It  was 
formerly  called  Bruisewort,  and  considered 
heahng  in  its  nature.  A  double  variety  is 
cultivated  in  gardens,  and  Gerarde  says  of  it, 
*'  It  is  planted  in  gardens  for  the  flowers' 
sake,  to  the  decking  up  of  houses,  for  the 
which  ])urpose  it  chiefly  serveth." 

We  have  but  one  Avild  species  of  Saponaria, 
and  both  the  English  and  scientific  names 
allude  to  the  soapy  principle  which  exists  more 
or  less  in  all  the  plants  of  the  genus.  Our 
Soapwort  will  make  a  lather  with  hot  water, 


142  COMMON    SOAP  WORT. 

and  in  former  times  it  was  used  in  batlis  to 
cleanse  and  beautify  the  skin.  It  will  remove 
stains  or  grease  almost  as  well  as  soap. 

The  saponine  principle  of  plants  has  been 
thought  to  be  of  a  poisonous  nature.  M.  Mala- 
pert and  M.  Bonnet  made  several  experiments 
on  plants  containing  it,  and  they  stated  not 
only  its  deleterious  principle,  but  its  exist- 
ence in  plants  in  which  it  had  not  been 
suspected.  Though  most  plentiful  in  all  parts 
of  the  Soapwort,  it  is  contained  also  in  the 
Corn  Cockle  {A^rosfemma  Gitliago),  but  in 
this  instance  the  saponine  is  found  only  in  the 
roots  and  unripe  seeds.  As  much  saponine 
exists  in  the  Nottingham  Catchfly  {Silene 
nutans)  as  in  the  Soap  wort,  and  here  it  is 
diffused  throughout  all  parts  of  the  plant 
except  the  seed.  Other  chemists  have  dis- 
covered it  in  several  species  of  the  Pink  and 
Carnation  genus,  in  various  species  of  our 
wild  Lychnis,  and  even  in  the  Scarlet  Pim- 
pernel. It  has  long  been  known  that  the  nuts 
of  the  Horse  Chestnut -iree  contain  a  large 
quantity  of  saponine. 


'^iU^^- 


fi 


J 


COMMON  CISTUS:  or,  ROCK  ROSE. 

Helianthemimi  vidgare. 

Class  PoLTANDRiA.     Order  Monogtnia.     Nat.   Ord.  CiSTACEiE. 
Rock-Rose  Tribe. 

This  is  truly  a  flower  of  the  sun,  for  its  deli- 
cate petals  are  always  closed  when  clouds 
obscure  the  noon-day  sky,  or  when  evening 
and  its  twilight  and  deepening  shadow  warns 
blossoms  and  leaves  to  close  before  the  coming 
dews.  Large  clumps  of  Rock  Roses  may  be 
seen  adorning  our  barren  lands  ;  and  the  dry 
chalky  cliff,  or  open  dreary  down,  or  hilly 
pasture  where  the  soil  is  of  chalk  or  gravel, 
often  shows  a  gleam  of  beauty  from  their 
numerous  golden  flowers.  The  crumpled 
petals  are  very  fragile,  looking  as  if  a  rough 
wind  would  scatter  them ;  and  indeed  all  the 
Cistus  tribe  are  remarkably  ephemeral,  even 
among  the  flowers  of  the  field,  which  have 
from  oldest  times  been  symbols  of  quick 
decay.  Such  is  the  irritability  of  the  stamens 
of  the  flower,  that  if  touched  ever  so  gently, 
they  lie  down  upon  the  petals.  Calder  Camp- 
bell has  some  pleasing  lines  upon  it : — 

"  Midst  Alpine  clefts,  or  in  rare  grassy  spots 

Of  mountain-ridges,  where  the  wild  bee  dwells, 
The  Rock  Rose  with  her  yellow  blossoms  dots 
Its  dark  and  hoary  leaves  :   a  thousand  spells 


144       COMMON    CISTUS  ;    OH,  ROCK   ROSE. 

Of  delicate  grace  around  it  lingering,  bind 
The  poet-gatherer's  heart  to  Beauty — found 

Afar  fi'om  beaten  tracks,  for  Nature  kind 

Scatters  her  richest  gems  o'er  loneliest  ground." 

This  plant  blossoms  from  June  to  August, 
and  several  variously  coloured  species  are  cul- 
tivated in  gardens.  The  rose-coloured  variety 
of  this  species,  called  by  some  writers  Cistiis 
roseiis,  was  planted  in  the  Botanic  Garden  of 
Chelsea  more  than  a  century  since,  and  is 
thought  by  some  botanists  to  be  the  Rose  of 
Sharon.  Speaking  of  this  place,  "  I  observed 
nothing,"  says  Munro,  "  bearing  the  appear- 
ance of  what  we  call  a  rose,  and  unless  the 
Rose  of  Sharon  be  the  Cist  us  roseus,  which 
grows  there  abundantly,  I  know  not  what  it 
is."  Mr.  AVilde,  who  travelled  in  the  same 
region,  also  remarks  that  the  Vale  of  Sharon 
abounds  with  the  white  and  red  Cistus,  and 
expresses  his  opinion  that  this  is  the  flower 
intended  by  the  Scripture  writers. 

The  name  of  the  genus  is  derived  from  sun 
and  flower,  probably  because  the  plant  opens 
only  in  sunshine.  There  are  five  British 
species,  but  the  one  here  represented  is  the 
only  one  which  is  a  common  flower. 


■^ 


COMMON    ENCHANTEE'S    NIGHTSHADE. 


COMMON  ENCHANTER'S  NIGHT- 

S  H  AD  E . — CirccBa  Lutetian  a . 

Clans  DiANDRiA.     Order  Monogynia.     Nat.  Ord.  Onageaele. 
Willow-Herb  Tribe. 

From  the  botanical  and  familiar  name  of  this 
flower,  one  would  infer  that  it  was  among  the 
plants  renowned  in  the  annals  of  superstition 
for  magical  uses.  The  Henbane  and  various 
other  herbs  were  in  old  times  used  in  incanta- 
tions, and  doubtless,  their  use  consisted  in 
stupifying  or  exciting  by  their  fumes  the  mental 
powers  of  those  subjected  to  their  influence. 
In  any  narcotic  or  other  powerful  principle, 
however,  our  Enchanter's  Nightshade  is  cjuite 
deficient,  and  it  received  its  name  simply 
because  it  grows  in  those  dark,  damp  places 
to  which  the  magicians  resorted,  in  order  that 
their  gloom  might  afiect  the  imaginations  of 
their  victims.  Such  spots  were  deemed  fitted 
for  the  spells  of  the  enchantress  Circe.  Charlotte 
Smith  has  described  one  in  her  poems  : — 

"  Ke-echoed  by  the  walls  the  owl  obscene 
Hoots  to  the  night,  as  through  the  ivy  green, 
WTiose  matted  tods  the  arch  and  buttress  bind, 
Sobs,  in  low  gusts,  the  melancholy  wind  ; 
The  Conium  there,  her  stalks  bedropp'd  with  red, 
Rears,  with  Circsea,  neighbour  of  the  dead  ; 
No.  10. 


146  COMMON  enchanter's  nightshade, 

Atropa,  too,  that,  as  the  beldams  say, 

Shows  her  black  fruit  to  tempt  and  to  betray, 

Nods  by  the  mouldering  shrine  of  Monica." 

The  Conium  is  the  Hemlock,  the  Atropa  the 
Deadly  Nightshade. 

Notwithstanding  its  evil  associations,  our 
Enchanter's  Nightshade  is  a  pretty  little  flower, 
and  a  frequent  one  too  in  shady  places,  w^hile 
it  often  grows  wild  in  the  garden,  among  the 
bushes  and  trees.  The  blossoms,  which  are 
w^hite  or  rose-coloured,  appear  in  June  and 
July.  The  stem  is  about  a  foot,  or  a  foot  and 
a  half  high,  and  the  root  is  creeping.  It  is  as 
common  beneath  the  shadow  cast  by  the  tall  trees 
of  Canadian  Avoods,  as  in  the  recesses  of  ours. 

We  have  another  wild  species  of  the  genus 
growing  in  woods,  coppices,  and  stony  places, 
especially  by  the  sides  of  lakes  in  the  north  of 
England  and  in  Scotland ;  flowering  in  July  and 
August.  This  is  the  Alpine  Enchanter's  Night- 
shade [Circcea  alpind).  It  much  resembles  the 
common  kind,  the  flowers  being  exactly  like 
it,  and  the  leaves  differing  in  little  except 
their  longer  stalks.  It  is  usually,  however, 
altogether  a  smaller  plant  than  the  former 
species.     Neither  kind  has  anv  odour. 


c^^-^ 


SWEET    MTLK    VETCH. 


SWEET  MILK  VETCH.— Jsfra^alu6^ 
ghjcuijhjlliis. 

Class  DiADELPHiA.    Order  Decandria.    Nat.  Onl,  Leguminos^. 
Pea  and  Bean  Tribe. 

Should  a  person  unaccustomed  to  this  plant 
find  the  leaves  in  April,  when  as  yet  it  had  not 
blossomed,  he  Avould  probably  think  that  the 
green  spray  was  some  seedling  from  the  tree 
of  our  gardens,  called  the  False  Acacia,  for  it 
much  resembles  it.  The  foliage  is  larger  than 
that  of  any  of  our  wild  vetches.  The  plant 
grows  in  woods  and  thickets,  chiefly  on  a 
gravelly  or  calcareous  soil,  and  the  dingy  yellow 
butterfly-shaped  flowers  appear  in  May.  The 
stem  is  prostrate,  extending  two  or  three  feet 
over  the  ground,  and  the  pods  in  which  the 
seeds  are  enclosed  are  about  an  inch  long, 
and  curved  in  shape.  This  Milk  Vetch  is  rare 
in  Scotland,  and  found  more  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Edinburgh  than  elsewhere ;  nor  is  it 
a  very  frequent  English  flower,  for  though 
abundant  in  some  rural  districts,  it  is  quite 
unknown  in  many.  The  flavour  of  the  stems 
and  leaves  is  sweetish,  but  bitter.  The  plant 
is  apparently  disliked  by  cattle,  as  they  leave 


148  SWEET    MILK    VETCH, 

it  untouched,  otherwise  it  would  be  a  valuable 
plant. for  culture,  because  of  its  abundant 
foliage. 

We  have  another  native  species,  the  Purple 
Mountain  Milk  Vetch  [Astragalus  hypocjlottis), 
easily  distinguished  from  the  sweet  species,  not 
only  by  the  colour  of  its  flowers,  but  by  its 
much  smaher  size.  Its  stem  is  weak,  and  only 
a  few  inches  high,  with  small  sprays  of  leaflets, 
and  a  cluster  of  flowers  very  large  in  proportion 
to  the  foliage.  It  is  of  a  bluish-pm-ple  colour, 
and  sometimes  white.  It  grows  on  dry, 
gravelly,  or  chalky  pasture  lands,  chiefly  in 
the  south  of  England.  It  is  very  plentiful 
on  the  celebrated  Royston  jNIoor,  The  seed- 
vessels  are  erect  and  hairy,  and  it  flowers  during 

Botanists  enumerate  a  thud  species  of  Milk 
Vetch  {Astragalus  alpinus),  which  has  been 
found  only  in  the  Glen  of  the  Dole,  Clova,  and 
is  distinguished  by  its  spreading  branched  stem, 
and  spikes  of  w^hite  drooping  flowers  tipped 
with  purple ;  its  seed-vessels  hang  dowTi,  and 
are  covered  with  black  hairs. 


COMMON    EVEBRIUHT. 


COMI^ION  EYEBRIGUT. —mp/irasia 
officinalis. 

Class  DiDTNAMiA.     Order  Angiospermia.    Nat.  Ord.  Scrophu- 

LARINE^.      FlGWORT   TrIBE. 

Our  pretty  Euphrasy  received  its  name  from 
Euphrosyne,  and  is  thus  expressive  of  joy  or 
pleasure.  It  merits  the  distinction,  for  few  who 
love  flowers  would  look  on  it  without  gratifi- 
cation. Its  little  blossoms  are  sprinkled  over 
the  sides  of  chalky  cliffs,  or  they  stud  the  short 
grass  of  mountains  or  open  plains,  or  are  almost 
hidden  among  the  taller  herbage  of  the  pasture 
land.  The  plant  is  sometimes  only  an  inch  in 
height,  and  bears  but  a  single  flower ;  but  it 
varies  so  much,  that  on  situations  where  it 
thrives  well,  it  becomes  branched  and  taller, 
and  many  blossoms  are  scattered  among  its 
leaves.  The  foliage  is  of  bright  green,  and 
deeply  notched ;  and  the  blossoms  are  either 
white  or  pale  lilac,  streaked  with  purple.  The 
plant  is  very  frequent,  flowering  from  June  to 
August.  Beautiful  as  it  is,  its  name  probably 
refers  rather  to  its  properties  than  its  loveli- 
ness. It  was  supposed,  some  centuries  since, 
that  the  application  of  this  plant  Avould  "  make 
okl  eyes  young  again ;  "  and  our  old  herbaUst, 


150  COMMON    EYECRIGHT. 

Culpepper,  says,  "  If  the  herb  was  but  as  much 
used  as  it  is  neglected,  it  would  have  spoilt  the 
spectacle-maker's  trade,  and  a  man  would  think, 
that  reason  should  teach  people  to  prefer  the 
preservation  of  their  natural  sight  before  arti- 
ficial spectacles."  JMilton  apparently  held  the 
general  opinion  of  its  virtues,  and  represents 
the  Archangel  Michael  as  employing  it  to 
quicken  the  vision  of  our  first  parent,  when 
disobedience  to  his  Maker  had  dimmed  alike 
the  physical  and  mental  eye.  When  directing 
Adam  to  look  forward  into  coming  ages,  he 
first 

"  The  film  removed 
Which  that  false  fruit,  which  promised  clearer  sight, 
Had  bred  ;  then  purged  with  Euphrasy  and  Rue 
The  visual  nerve,  for  he  had  much  to  see." 

No  record  remains  to  tell  of  the  value  of 
Rue  to  the  dimmed  eyesight,  but  the  use  of 
Euphrasy  is  still  common  in  villages,  though 
some  oculists  consider  that  it  is  injurious  to 
the  eye.  Lightfoot  says,  that  the  Highlanders 
make  an  infusion  of  the  plant  with  milk,  and 
anoint  the  patient's  eye  with  a  feather  dipped 
into  the  liquid. 


RED    CAMPION. 


RED  CAUVlO]<i.—Z?/c/mis  dioica. 

Class  Decandria.      Order  Pentagtnia.      Nat.    Orel.    Caryo- 

PHYLLE^.— ChIOKWEED   TrIBE. 

The  attention  of  wanderers  in  green  meadows 
is  often  attracted  by  this  handsome  flower. 
Though  no  sweet  odoiir  reaches  us  as  the  mnd 
blows  over  the  hedge-bank  on  which  it 
flourishes,  yet  the  absence  of  fragrance  is 
compensated  by  its  beauty,  and  it  is  con- 
spicuous among  the  many  flo^vers  of  May  or 
of  the  still  richer  month  of  June.  Country 
people  call  this,  as  well  as  another  species, 
Bachelor's  Button.  It  is  frequently  one  or 
two  feet  in  height. 

There  is  a  white  variety  of  this  flower,  which 
may  easily  be  known  by  its  resemblance  to  it 
in  all  respects,  save  the  hue  of  its  blossoms.  It 
has  a  sweet  fragrance  in  the  evening,  and  is  on 
this  account  called  by  some  botanists  Lychnis 
vesperthia.  It  is  occasionally  cultivated  as  a 
border  flower ;  but  though  its  perfume  is 
agreeable,  yet  it  is  far  less  powerful  than  that 
of  some  night-flowxring  blossoms ;  such,  for 
example,  as  the  night-blowing  Stock  of  our 
gardens,  or  the   night-flowering   Catchfly    of 


152  RED    CAMPION. 

our  cornfields.  Both  the  Red  and  White 
Campions  are  frequent  flowers,  and  both  are 
dioecious ;  that  is,  they  have  stamens  in  one 
flower  and  pistils  in  another.  The  ovary  or 
seed-vessel  is  always  much  larger  in  the  white 
than  in  the  red  kind. 

The  genus  Lychnis  has,  like  that  of  Silene, 
the  English  name  of  Catchfly,  on  account  of  the 
clammy  secretion  on  its  stems  and  foliage ; 
though  this  is  not  quite  so  abundant  in  any 
of  our  native  Lychnises  as  in  some  species  of 
the  allied  genus.  The  flowers  and  other 
characteristics  of  the  two  genera  are  indeed 
so  similar,  that  only  a  practised  botanist  dis- 
covers the  difference.  The  name  of  Lychnis  is 
taken  fi^om  a  lamp,  because  the  cottony  down 
of  some  of  the  species  has  been  burnt  for 
wicks.  We  have,  besides  the  Red  or  White 
Campion,  three  other  species.  Two  of  them 
grow  on  mountains,  but  one  is  a  common 
flower.  This  is  the  Meadow  Lychnis  or  Ragged 
Robin  {Lijolmis  Flos  Cuculi),  w^ith  rose-coloured 
jagged  petals.  It  is  common  during  June  iu 
moist  meadows. 


COMMON    SORUEL. 


COMMON  SOR'REL.—Bmnecv  acetosa. 

Class  Hexandria.      Order  Digyxia,      Nat.  Ord.  Poltgone^. 
Persicaria  Tribe. 

Almost  all  whose  early  life  has  been  spent  in 
the  country,  are  famihar  with  this  plant.  Its 
stem,  often  two  feet  and  sometimes  three  in 
height,  looks  gay,  when  in  June  and  July  the 
large  bunches  of  small  red  flowers  give  their 
colour  to  the  meadow  or  other  grassy  spots. 
The  leaves  and  juicy  stems,  though  not  so 
powerfully  acid  as  those  of  the  Wood  Sorrel, 
have,  however,  a  very  agreeable  acid  flavour 
when  the  plant  is  in  full  season,  though  in  the 
early  months  of  spring  they  are  almost  taste- 
less. They  are  sometimes  boiled  as  spinach, 
or  are  used  to  flavour  salads  and  soups.  The 
plant,  by  cultivation,  increases  both  in  size  and 
acidity,  and  is  often  reared  in  gardens  for  the 
use  of  the  table.  The  Laplanders  use  the 
fohage  to  turn  their  milk  sour,  and  in  Iceland, 
as  well  as  in  France,  it  is  eaten  with  fish.  The 
flowers  are  red  tinged  with  green,  and  as  they 
increase  in  size  become  of  a  purphsh  colour ; 
and  the  root  is  very  astringent,  and  is  con- 
sidered to  possess  valuable  medicinal  proper- 
ties.    When  dried  and  boiled,  it  yields  a  good 


154  COMMON    SORREL. 

red  dye.  All  our  domestic  animals  are  fond 
of  this  and  the  other  species  of  sorrel. 

A  smaller  species,  called  Sheep's  Sorrel 
{Bumex  acetosella),  is  very  frequent  in  dry 
pastures,  and,  wherever  it  abounds,  may  be 
regarded  as  a  certain  indication  of  barren 
land.  Haller  observes  that  it  is  often  found 
growing  in  coal-yards ;  and  it  flourishes 
wherever  iron  prevails  in  the  soil.  It  is  very 
variable  in  size,  growing  to  the  height  of  from 
five  to  ten  inches,  and  becoming,  at  the  end 
of  summer,  of  a  rich  red  colour.  Besides  its 
smaller  size,  it  is  distinguishable  from  the 
common  species  by  the  form  of  its  leaves  ;  for 
though  the  shape  of  those  on  the  stem  varies 
very  much,  yet  the  root-leaves  taper  towards  the 
end,  and  are  at  the  base  arrow-shaped. 

These  Sorrels  are  both  included  in  the  Dock 
genus,  and  their  flowers  are  very  similar  to  the 
blossoms  of  those  plants,  but  the  leaves  of  the 
Docks  are  not  acid. 


■nrKoo  prowrn 


CUCKOO  FLOWER.—  Cardamine  pratensis. 

Class  Tetradtnamia.    Order  Siliquosa.  Nat.  Orel.  Ckucifer^. 
Ceuciferous  Tribe. 

Several  of  our  wild  flowers  have  a  name 
which  connects  them  with  the  bird  whose 
note  is  one  of  the  sweet  voices  of  the  spring. 
Thus  the  Wood  Sorrel  was  of  old  called 
Cuckoo's  Meat ;  and  Cuckoo  Mower  is  still 
the  name  of  a  species  of  Lychnis,  while  the 
Cuckoo  bU'ds  of  Shakspeare  were  our  Butter- 
cups. The  flower  of  the  engraving  is  the 
"  Lady's  Smock  all  silver  Avhite  "  of  our  great 
dramatist;  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  thus 
called  because  its  whitish  blossoms,  when 
thickly  scattered  among  the  grass,  might  re- 
mind one  of  linen  laid  there  to  bleach.  The 
plant  blooms  in  May,  and  before  the  sun  has 
fully  whitened  it,  is  of  a  delicate  lilac  colour. 
It  is  sometimes  found  double.  It  is  about 
a  foot  high,  and  the  root-leaves  are  differently 
formed  from  those  on  the  stem,  the  leaflets 
on  the  latter  being  roundish  and  slightly 
toothed,  while  those  of  the  former  are  slender 
and  uncut  at  the  edges.  The  foliage  is 
pungent,  and  has  been  used  for  salad,  but  it  has 
not   the   pleasant  flavour  of  the  water-cress^ 


156  CUCKOO    FLOWER. 

wliich  is  so  often  its  companion  on  the  borders 
of  the  stream.  The  Cuckoo  FloAver  is  very 
plentiful  in  moist  meadows,  and  the  double 
variety  is  remarkably  proliferous,  as  the  leaflets 
produce  new  plants  when  they  come  in  contact 
with  the  ground,  and  when  the  flowers  wither, 
a  stalked  flower-bud  rises  from  their  centres. 

This  genus  received  its  name  from  two 
Greek  words,  signifying  the  "heart,"  and  '^  to 
fortify ;  "  because  of  its  supposed  strengthening 
properties.  It  contains  five  native  species, 
and  one  other  is  as  abundant  in  the  moist 
meadow,  as  is  the  Cuckoo  Plower.  This  is 
the  Hairy  Bitter  Cress  {Cardamine  Jursida), 
Its  flowers  are  small  and  quite  white,  and  its 
height  varies  from  four  inches  to  a  foot.  In 
dry  situations  it  ripens  its  seeds  in  March 
or  April,  but  on  moist  shady  places  it  con- 
tinues in  flower  from  March  till  the  end  of  the 
summer.  The  leaves  and  young  flower-stems 
afford  a  pleasant  salad. 


BLADDER   CAlIPION,    OB   CATCKFLY, 


BLADDER  CAMPION;  or,  CATCHELY. 

Bilene  injiata. 

Cl<iS8  Decandria.    Order  Trigynia.     Nat.  Ord.  Caryophylle^. 
Chickweed  Tribe. 

Our  engraving  offers  the  representation  of 
a  flower  wliicli  is  very  familiar  to  most  English 
readers,  and  yet  there  are  some  districts,  as 
the  neighbourhood  of  Tonbridge  Wells,  where 
the  plant,  so  common  elsewhere,  is  regarded  as 
a  rarity.  It  grows  in  meadows,  but  is  more 
frequent  by  road-sides,  flowering  from  June 
to  August.  It  is  very  variable  both  in  the  size 
and  number  of  its  white  flowers,  and  the  shape 
of  its  leaves,  which  have,  however,  always 
a  sea-green  bloom  upon  their  surface ;  while 
the  flower-cup,  veined  as  if  with  a  network, 
and  inflated  like  a  bladder,  distinguishes  it  from 
the  other  species.  The  young  shoots  have  the 
odom'  and  flavour  of  green  peas,  and  are 
sometimes  boiled  as  asparagus ;  though  the 
writer  of  these  pages  has  found  them  too  bitter 
to  prove  agreeable.  They  are,  however,  per- 
fectly wholesome,  and  the  bitterness  might 
be  removed  by  blanching.  Bryant,  in  his 
Flora  Bietetica,  says  that  their  culture  would 
wefl  reward  the  gardener's  trouble.  This  flower 


158  BLADDER    CAMPION. 

was  formerly  called  Spatling.  The  botanical 
name  of  the  genus  is  formed  from  the  word 
Saliva,  and  the  English  name  refers  also  to 
the  viscid  secretion  of  several  of  the  species. 
In  the  Bladder  Campion  this  is  not  very  great, 
but  in  some  it  is  so  profuse  that  the  stems 
and  leaves  are  to  be  seen  covered  with  small 
black  insects,  which  they  have  attracted,  and 
then  held  prisoners.  We  have  ten  native 
species,  and  some  are  interesting  on  account 
of  their  beinoj  ni^ht-bloomino;  flowers.  The 
night-flowering  Catchfly  {Silene  7iodifiord), 
with  large  reddish- white  blossoms,  is  delici- 
ously  scented  in  the  evening.  No  less  fragrant 
are  the  flowers  of  one  variety  of  the  Nottingham 
Catchfly.  This  is  by  some  writers  called  Silene 
2oaradoxa,  It  grows  on  Dover  Clifis,  and 
hundreds  daily  pass  it  during  May,  and  see 
only  the  white  blossoms,  looking  as  if  the  sun 
had  withered  them.  Yet  by  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  grassy  spots  seem  whitened  by 
its  stars,  and  the  perfume  appears  to  the 
author  to  be  more  powerful  than  that  of  any 
other  wild  flower. 


'^ 


r/.(ON    THRIFT. 


COMMON  TimilT.—Siaiice  Armeria. 

Class  Pextandria.  Order  Pentagtxia.  Nat.  Ord.  PLUMBAGI^"E^, 
Thrift  Tribe. 

The  salt  marsli,  covered  with  its  short  grasses 
and  maritime  plants,  is  usually  a  treeless  dreary 
waste.  Yet  a  few  flowers  spring  up  there,  as 
if  to  remind  us  that  there  is  no  spot  on  this 
wide  world  on  which  the  Great  Creator  has  not 
scattered  some  object  of  interest  or  beauty; 
just  as  there  is  no  human  life  so  sad,  but  that 
some  joy  can  find  room  to  grow.  Large 
patches  of  the  Thrift  may  be  seen  from  afar  on 
the  marsh,  sometimes  brightening  it  into  a 
deep  rose-colour,  but  more  often  giving  it  a 
pale  pink  or  lilac  hue.  The  flowers  appear 
from  June  to  August,  forming  round  heads  of 
blossoms,  interspersed  with  chafly  scales,  and 
growing  on  downy  stalks  to  the  height  of  four 
or  five  inches.  The  summit  of  the  flower-stalk 
is  cased  in  a  brown  meiftbranous  sheath,  and 
the  slender  leaves  all  proceed  from  the  roots. 

This  plant  is  called  also  Sea  Gilhflower,  and 
our  old  writers  term  it  Ladies'  Cushions,  while 
it  is  known  in  France  as  the  Gazon  (T  Esjjagne, 
It  is  well  named  Thrift,  for  it  will  thrive  in 
spots  where  little  nutriment  is  aff'orded  by  the 


160  COMMON    THRIFT. 

soil;  and  far  up  the  cliff  on  the  sea-shore,  it 
blooms  among  the  crevices,  often  to  be  seen 
by  no  eye  save  that  of  the  wild  sea-bird,  whose 
nest  is  perched  in  some  cavity  near  it.  It 
flourishes,  too,  on  elevated  inland  mountains. 
When  it  is  a  plant  of  the  saline  soil,  it  pos- 
sesses iodine  and  salts  of  soda ;  but  when  it 
grows  inland,  it  loses  the  iodine,  and  exchanges 
soda  for  potash. 

The  genus  Statice  was  named  from  the 
Greek  word,  to  stop ;  either  because  the  tang- 
ling stems  would  arrest  the  footstep,  or  that 
some  of  the  plants  were  supposed  to  arrest 
disease.  It,  however,  appears  originally  to 
have  belonged  to  another  genus.  There  are 
besides  the  Thrift,  three  British  species,  which 
are  not  very  similar  to  it,  and  are  called  Sea 
Lavander,  from  their  lilac-tinted  flowers. 


CATPIARTTC  'FLkX.—Zinum  cat/iarticum. 

Class  Pentandria.    Ordeo^  Pentagynia.    Nat.  Orel.  Line^. 
Flax  Tribe. 

This  little  flower  is  very  plentiful  on  dry 
grassy  spots,  during  June  and  July,  but  is  so 
inconspicuous  as  to  be  often  overlooked,  its 
stem  being  seldom  more  than  five  or  six  inches 
high.  It  is  a  pretty  slender  plant,  and  small 
as  it  is,  is  not  without  its  uses.  In  country 
places  it  is  often  called  Mill  Mountain,  and 
an  infusion,  made  either  from  the  fresh  or 
dried  plant,  is  an  old  medicine  for  rheumatism, 
and  has  been  recommended  for  this  malady 
on  the  authority  of  some  eminent  botanists. 
The  small  w^hite  flowers  droop  gracefully  before 
expansion. 

The  genus  Linum  is  named  from  the  Celtic 
w^ord  Liii,  thread,  on  account  of  the  uses*  of 
some  of  the  plants.  We  have,  besides  our 
White  Flax,  two  wild  species  of  a  blue  colour, 
the  blossoms  of  wdiich  are  of  the  same  form  as 
this  little  vase-like  flower,  but  they  are  very 
much  larger.  The  Common  Tlax  {Linum 
iisitatissimum)  is  the  species  which  is  usually 

No.  11. 


162  CATHARTIC    TLAX. 

cultivated  for  commerce,  but  as  its  seeds  some- 
times spring  up  in  our  corn-fields,  it  is  by  some 
writers  enumerated  among  our  wild  flowers. 
It  lias  large  purplish-blue  blossoms,  and  affords, 
in  tlie  strong  fibres  of  its  stems,  the  valuable 
material  for  our  thread  and  linen,  while  the 
seed  is  serviceable  for  its  oil.  The  Perennial 
Flax  {Linum  perenne)  is  more  truly  wild. 
It  is  a  beautiful  blue  blossom,  so  fragile  that 
it  will  scarcely  bear  gathering,  as  its  petals  are 
scattered  to  the  winds  on  the  gentlest  touch. 
When  bowing  down  to  the  gale  which  sweeps 
across  the  chalky  hills,  it  is  a  most  graceful 
and  elegant  little  flower.  It  blooms  in  June 
and  July,  and  is  usually  about  a  foot  in  height. 
Its  fibres  aff'ord  as  good  a  substance  for  linen 
as  do  those  of  the  Common  Flax.  A  light- 
blue  species,  the  Narrow-leaved  Pale  Flax, 
{Linnm  angustifolium^  is  very  similar  to  it,  but 
the  flowers  are  paler  in  colour.  It  is  frequent, 
during  June  and  July,  on  the  sandy  pastures 
of  our  island,  especially  those  which  are  near 
the  sea.  Its  leaves  are  very  narrow,  tapering 
to  a  point. 


GkR.AT   njettle. 


GREAT  ^mTLK—Urtica  dioica. 

Class  MoNCECiA.     Order  Tetrandria.    Nat.  Orel.  Urtice^. 
_Nettle  Tribe. 

This  well-known  plant  of  our  every  wayside 
has,  at  some  period  or  other,  inflicted  a  wound 
on  almost  all  who  have  sought  for  wild  flowers. 
Its  green  blossoms,  tinged  sometimes  with  pur- 
]Dlish-red,  hang  in  clusters  upon  its  dark  fur- 
rowed stem  in  July  and  August.  The  leaves 
are  beset  with  numerous  hairs,  each  with  so 
fine  a  point  that  it  can  easily  penetrate  the 
skin,  and  being  in  itself  a  tube,  which  conveys 
poison  from  a  httle  gland  at  the  base.  This 
species  is,  however,  less  virulent  than  the  rare 
Roman  Nettle,  {Urtica pilidifera,)  which  grows 
about  walls,  especially  near  the  sea,  and  which 
leaves  a  much  greater  irritation  after  the  touch. 
The  sting  of  our  native  species  is,  ho^xver, 
far  outdone  by  those  of  hotter  climes.  Thus 
a  nettle  of  India,  {Urtica  crenidata^  though 
touched  ever  so  slightly,  causes  inflammation 
in  the  finger,  which  gradually  extends  itself 
to  all  the  limbs,  and  causes  intense  sufl'ering 
for  several  days  \  while  the  celebrated  nettle 
of  Timor,  called  by  the  natives  Daouusetan, 


164  GKZAT    SETTLE. 

or  Devil's  Leaf,  produces  effects  wliicli  are  said 
to  last  a  year,  and  sometimes  to  cause  death. 

Om*  common  nettle  grows  all  over  Europe,. 
as  well  as  in  1??:^  :'rr.  S:''-:iia.  and  .Tapan.  At 
least  thirty  d:-^:a:^  -;  [  -  <  f  ^/>-cts  hi  our 
native  land  d  _ a     \    d  -  ;.:  its  stems 

and    -'  "  :"--;,.:    -..     ^^    :  .      di   early 

spriL.,  .__....  :_a  :.  :..:_.  ^\^.:..:_...  and  a 
strong  decoction  ci  its  leaves  will  curdle  milk 
without  impartiug  a  disagreeable  flavour,  while 
the  libres  of  its  stalk  are,  like  those  of  hemp, 
capable  of  being  made  into  ropes,  cloth,  and 
paper.  The  juices  are  said  to  be  useful  in 
stopping  the  leaks  of  casks,  and  other  wooden 
vessels.  For  this  purpose  the  green  nettles  are 
rubbed  over  the  apertiu*es,  and  the  juice  enter- 
ing in,  coagulates  and  prevents  the  contents 
from  running  out.  This  result  is  obtained  bv 
the  apphcation  of  th^     '        "        'minutes. 

Besides  the  two  :  -^    _-    ..  vre  have  a 

much  smaller  kind,  winch  is  a  very  common 
plant.  The  Lesser  Xettie  ^Uriica  uren-s)  grows 
on  waste  and  cultivated  grounds.  It  is  of 
a  brighter  green  than  the  other,  and  blossoms 
fi'om  June  till  October. 


SAT-AD    BUHNET. 


SALAD    BJJKNET.—Poteriim  Sanguisorha, 

Class  MoxGECiA.     Order  Poltandria.     Nat.  Ord.  Eosace^. 
Rose  Tribe. 

This  plant  is  very  abundant  on  dry  pastures, 
especially  on  such  as  have  a  chalky  soil.  On 
chalk  cliffs,  both  those  which  tower  above  the 
shore,  and  which  skirt  the  green  lanes  of 
England,  the  Salad  Burnet  is  very  general, 
though  it  is  not  frequent  in  Scotland  or  Ire- 
land. The  sprays  of  dark  green  leaflets  are 
almost  as  ornamental  as  the  blossoms,  and 
they  have,  when  bruised,  a  slight  odour  of 
cucumber.  It  is  on  this  account  that  the  plant 
received  its  English  name,  for  the  foliage  was 
formerly  used  in  salads.  Its  use,  like  that  of 
other  of  our  wild  herbs,  is  now  almost  for- 
gotten, since  so  many  good  edible  vegetables 
are  reared  in  our  gardens  at  little  cost ;  and 
Lamb's  Lettuce,  and  Old  Man's  Pepper,  and 
Salad  Burnet  are  left  ungathered  in  the  field, 
save  when  the  rambler  there  takes  them  for  his 
nosegay  of  wild  flowers.  The  plant,  Avhile 
young  and  green,  was  also  sometimes  steeped 
in  wine,  which  was  with  this  addition  con- 
sidered very  exhilarating ;  and  a  kind  of 
medicinal  beverage  was  made  by  its  infusion. 


166  SALAD    BURNET. 

which  was  believed  to  be  a  vakiable  medicine 
in  many  complaints.  The  "  cool  tankard," 
too,  once  so  highly  enjoyed,  was  thought  to  be 
improved  either  by  Burnet  or  the  still  more 
renowned  Borage ;  and  hence  the  botanic  name 
of  the  genus,  from  poterion^  a  drinking-cup. 
It  was  formerly  sown  on  dry  soils,  with  Trefoil, 
as  an  herbage  plant ;  and  Shakspere  refers  to 

"  The  even  mead,  that  erst  brought  sweetly  forth 
The  freckled  Cowslip,  Burnet,  and  sweet  Clover ;  " 

but  it  is  not  cultivated  in  the  present  day. 
The  flowers  are  of  greenish  pm^ple,  and  the 
upper  blossoms  in  each  head  have  crimson 
tufted  pistils ;  while  from  the  lower  ones  hang 
numerous  delicate  thread-like  stamens,  which 
render  the  plant  very  beautiful. 

We  have  but  one  British  species  of  this 
genus.  The  plant  called  Common  Burnet 
{Sanpiisorha  officinalis)  is,  however,  very  nearly 
allied  to  it.  Both  the  folias^e  and  flower  are 
much  larger  than  those  represented  by  the  en- 
graving, and  the  heads  of  blossom  are  oblong 
in  form,  and  of  a  browner  hue.  It  grows,  too, 
on  a  very  different  soil,  and  is  not  uncommon, 
from  June  to  September,  in  moist  meadows. 


SHEPHERD'S  ^^^E'EDL'E.—Scandia:  Pecfen. 

Class  Pentandria.     Order  Digynia.     Nat  Ord.  IJMBELLiFERiE. 
Umbelliferous  Tribe. 

There  is  somethmg  very  pleasing  in  the  old 
English  names  of  many  of  our  wild  flowers. 
They  are  connected  with  rural  haunts  and 
habits,  and  bear  with  them  remembrances  of 
those  old  simplers  and  herbalists,  who,  though 
they  might  have  greatly  overrated  the  virtues 
of  plants,  yet  found  out  many  things  respect- 
ing them  which  have  proved  of  use  to  succeed- 
ing generations.  Very  often,  too,  they  are 
significant  of  some  obvious  feature  of  the 
plant,  or  some  property  which  distinguishes  it. 
Thus,  the  Shepherd's  Purse  has  'its  seeds  in 
little  heart-shaped  pouches,  formed  like  the 
purses  of  olden  times ;  and  the  Shepherd's 
Weather-glass  foretells  the  rain  by  closing  up 
its  petals ;  and  our  Shepherd's  Needle  has  very 
peculiar  seed-vessels,  growing  in  clusters  of  five 
or  six,  long,  and  tapering  to  a  point,  and  each 
as  large,  in  some  specimens,  as  a  packing- 
needle.     The  plant   has   in  an  earher   stage 


168  shepherd's  needle. 

small  clusters  of  tiny  white  flowers,  and  is  very 
abundant  in  corn-fields  during  June  and  July. 

Its  foliage  is  of  a  bright  green,  its  stems 
and  seed-vessels  are  rather  rough  on  the  sur- 
face, and  the  plant  varies  in  height  from  a  few 
inches  to  a  foot.  Its  botanic  name  is  taken 
from  the  Greek  word  to  prick,  because  of  its 
sharp-pointed  seed-vessels  ;  and  in  some  rural 
districts  it  has  also  the  familiar  names  of  Venus's 
Comb,  and  Needle  Chervil.  It  is  thought  to 
be  the  same  plant  named  by  the  Greeks,  and 
to  have  been  eaten  by  them  boiled  as  greens. 
We  have  but  one  British  species  of  the  genus. 

It  is  an  umbelliferous  plant,  and  belongs 
to  a  family  the  plants  of  v»diich  have  a  great 
resemblance  to  each  other.  They  have  all 
white  or  yellow  flowers,  growing  on  rays  around 
a  central  point,  like  the  spokes  of  an  umbrella. 
The  corolla  has  five  petals,  five  stamens,  and 
two  pistils.  Their  flowers  enliven  the  grassy 
spots  in  early  spring-time  and  through  the 
summer.  Several  of  our  table  vegetables,  as 
the  carrot,  are  umbelliferous  plants. 


^m^. 


^^^'ff^i^, 


COMMON    MOLSE-KAR    IIAWKWri-D. 


COMMON  MOUSE-EAR  HAWKWEED. 

Hieracium  Filosella. 

Class  Syxgenesia.     Order  ^qctalis,     Nat.  Ord.  CoLUPOSiTiE. 
CoMPOu>'D  Flowers. 

The  Hawkweed  family  is  one  of  the  most 
perplexing,  not  only  to  the  unpractised  botanist, 
but  also  to  those  who  have  studied  plants  long 
and  well.  Sir  W.  Hooker  calls  it  a  "  trouble- 
some genus/'  and  all  who  have  attempted  to 
identify  its  species  have  found  it  so.  A  great 
difference  of  opinion  exists  among  scientific 
men  as  to  the  number  of  species,  some  con- 
sidering certain  points  in  various  kinds  of  a 
permanent  nature,  others  as  only  occasional. 
All  the  Hawkweeds,  like  the  Mouse-Ear,  have 
yellow  flowers,  but  this  species  is  readily  dis- 
tinguished from  the  rest  by  its  creeping  shoots, 
wliicli  run  over  or  just  beneath  the  sm^face 
of  the  soil.  The  blossoms  are  of  a  bright 
lemon  colour,  and  in  most  of  them  the  outer 
florets  are  striped  with  red  beneath  ;  and  as  the 
young  unclosed  flovv'er-buds  often  exhibit  the 
same  bright  colour,  this  plant  in  its  different 
stages  of  growth  is  exceedingly  varied  and 


170         COMMON  MOUSE-EAR  HAWKWEED. 

beautiful.  Long  hairs  are  thinly  scattered 
over  the  leaves,  the  under  surfaces  of  which 
are  of  a  whitish-grey,  and  the  young  shoots 
are  of  the  same  colour.  This  plant  is  very 
abundant  everywhere  on  dry  sunny  banks, 
flowering  from  May  till  the  end  of  July. 

Among  the  strange  fancies  respecting 
flowers  which  the  ancients  entertained,  was 
that  which  ascribed  to  the  juices  of  this  family 
of  plants  the  power  to  strengthen  the  vision  of 
bkds  of  prey.  Hawks  were  supposed  to  resort 
with  their  young  ones  for  this  purpose  to  the 
Hawkweed.  Hence  the  scientific  name  of 
the  genus,  which  has  a  synonym  in  almost 
every  country  in  Europe.  Thus  we  have 
Hawkweed,  and  the  Germans  call  the  plant 
Habichtskraut,  and  the  French,  Eperviere. 
Several  of  the  Hawkweeds  are  very  pretty 
flowers,  and  we  have  many  brought  from  other 
lands  to  decorate  our  gardens.  One  native 
species  is  also  cultivated  as  a  border  flower. 
This  is  the  large  handsome  Orange  Hawk- 
weed, {Hieracium  aurantiacum,)  with  hairs  on 
its  stalk,  AAdiich  are  black  at  the  base ;  hence 
it  is  often  called  Grim  the  Collier. 


COMMON  BRAMBLE ;  or,  BLACK- 
BERRY. — Rubusfndicosiis. 

Class  IcosANDRiA.     OnUr  PoLTGYNiA.    Nat.  Ord.  Rosacea 
Rose  Tribe. 

Eew  are  unacquainted  with  a  plant  whose 
finiits  are  so  pleasing  to  the  simple  taste  of  child- 
hood and  whose  white  floAvers,  sometimes 
tinged  with  pink,  decorate  every  hedge  during 
July  and  August.     Elliott  has  said  of  it, 

"  Thour^h  woodbiDGS  flaunt  and  roses  f^row 

O'er  all  the  fragrant  bowers, 
Thou  need'st  not  be  ashamed  to  show 

Thy  satin- threaded  flowers  ; 
For  dull  the  eye,  the  heart  as  dull, 

That  cannot  feel  how  fair, 
Amid  all  beauty,  beautiful 

Thy  tender  blossoms  are." 

This,  as  well  as  some  others  of  the  genus,  is 
a  biennial  woody  plant,  producing  suckers  from 
the  root,  which  ripen  and  bear  leaves  one 
year,  and  flowers  and  fruits  the  next.  Phny 
said  that  the  propagation  of  trees  by  layers 
was  taught  the  ancients  by  the  bramble-bush. 
Knapp  has  observed  of  both  this  and  the 
Dewberry,  {Riibus  ccesius,)  that  they  may 
almost  be  considered  as  evergreens,  and  adds, 
that  we  have  perhaps  no  other  shrubl3y  plant 
naturally  deciduous  except  the  Privet.  These 
slu'ubs  may  be  often  seen  with  many  green  or 


172      COMMON  BRAMBLE  ;   OR,  BLACKBERRY. 

purplish  leaves  on  tlieir  boiiglis  when  all  others, 
save  the  Ivy  and  the  Hollj,  are  stripped  of 
then'  summer  honours. 

Tlie  ancients  held  the  notion  that  both  flower 
and  fruit  of  the  bramble  were  efficacious  against 
the  bite  of  serpents ;  and  that  the  young  shoots, 
eaten  as  salad,  served  to  fasten  the  loosened 
teeth,  was  an  old  fancy  in  our  own  country. 
The  green  twigs  have  been  used  for  dyeing ; 
the  stems  are  employed  for  thatching  cottages; 
and  the  fruits  are  preserved  or  eaten  in  pud- 
dings. In  Sweden  the  berries  of  the  Arctic 
Bramble,  {Buhiis  Arcficiis,)  as  w^ell  as  those  of 
the  Cloudberry,  {Bubus  Chamamorns,)  are 
highly  prized  for  various  domestic  uses.  The 
berries  of  both  these  species  are  larger  than 
our  Blackberry.  The  Cloudberry  is  found  on 
Alpine  moors  in  this  country,  and  has  an  agree- 
able flavour.  It  is  much  eaten  both  by  the 
Laplanders  and  Norwegians.  The  Arctic  Bram- 
ble is  found  in  Scotland,  but  rarely.  The  genus 
is  named  from  the  Celtic  word  Bub,  red,  from 
the  colour  of  some  of  the  fruits.  The  common 
Raspberry  is  included  in  it,  and  is  sometimes 
found  wild  in  the  north  of  our  island.  Gerarde 
calls  it  Basils,  or  Hindberry. 


KNorri:u  fig-wokt. 


KNOTTED  mGANOm^.—ScrofjImlaria 

nodosa. 

Class  DiDTNAMiA.     Order  Angiospermia.     Nat.  Orel.  Scrophu- 

LARINE^.— FiG-WOKT   TrIBE. 

This  is  a  frequent  plant  in  woods  and  moist 
grounds.  Tiie  dingy  greenish-purple  flowers 
appear  in  June  and  July,  and  the  leaves  are 
heart-shaped  at  the  base,  and  taper  to  a  point, 
being  notched  like  the  teeth  of  a  saw.  The 
upper  leaves  are  small,  but  loAver  down  the 
stem  they  are  two  or  three  inches  in  length. 
The  stem  is  square,  and  rises  to  the  height  of 
three  or  four  feet,  so  that  the  loose  cluster  of 
small  flowers  is  an  inconspicuous  part  of  this 
tall  plant.  This  species  is  named  from  its 
knotted  root ;  but  another  species  is  equally 
common,  and  generally  found  close  by  rivers 
and  streams.  This  is  the  Water  Fig-wort, 
or  Water  Betony  {Scrophidaria  aqicatica).  The 
flowers  resemble  those  of  the  engraving ;  but 
it  is  a  stouter,  more  compact  plant,  and  the 
notches  and  ends  of  the  leaves  are  rounder. 
There  is  one  feature,  too,  which  at  once  dis- 
tinguishes it :  the  stem  is  square,  like  that  of 
the  knotted  kind,  but  its  angles,  instead  of 
being  blunt,  have  on  them  a  thin  green 
expansion,  which  renders  it  what  the  botanist 


174  KNOTTED    PIG-WORT. 

would  call  winged.  It  has  a  disagreeable 
odour,  like  that  of  the  Elder-tree,  and  both 
species  are  usually  considered  unwholesome, 
and  are  dishked  by  cattle.  That  the  Water 
Fig-wort  may  be  used  as  food,  has,  however, 
been  proved ;  for  during  the  celebrated  siege 
of  Rochelle  by  Cardinal  Richelieu,  in  1628, 
the  soldiers,  when  in  great  distress,  resorted 
to  the  roots  of  various  plants,  and  were  in 
their  extremity  mainly  supported  by  those  of 
this  Fig-wort.  The  French  to  this  day  call  the 
plant  Herhe  die  Sle^e,  in  memory  of  the  event. 
The  Rev.  C.  A.  Johns,  in  his  ''  Flowers  of  the 
Field,"  remarks  that  the  stems  of  this  plant, 
though  hollow  and  succulent,  are  rigid  when 
dead,  and  prove  very  troublesome  to  anglers, 
owing  to  their  lines  becoming  entangled  in  the 
withered  capsules. 

The  flowers  of  the  Fig-wort  are  very  attrac- 
tive to  several  insects,  and  are  said  to  be 
especially  resorted  to  by  wasps.  There  are 
two  other  species  besides  those  named  :  the 
Balm-leaved  Fig-wort  {Scrop/udmia  scoro- 
donia),  and  the  Yellow  Fig-wort  {Scrophdaria 
vernalis),  but  they  are  not  common  flowers. 


PEUFOUATE    YELLOW    WOUi 


PERFOLIATE  YELLOW  AVORT.— 67^/om 
perfoliata. 

Class  OcTA>'DRiA.     Order  Monogynia.    NaX.  Ord.  Gextia>-e^. 
Gentian  Tribe. 

This  plant  is  very  ornamental  to  the  grassy- 
parts  of  the  chalky  clifFs,  or  to  the  verdure 
wiiich  clothes  our  hill  sides.  It  is  \^•ell  named 
Yellow  Wort,  for  not  only  are  the  blossoms 
of  a  full  bright  yellow  colour,  but  the  whole 
plant  affords  a  good  dye  of  that  hue.  It 
flowers  from  July  till  September,  at  which 
season  yellow  blossoms  are  so  prevalent,  that 
they  colour  the  scene  almost  as  much  as  the 
Buttercups  of  spring  tint  the  places  where  they 
abound.  Hawkweeds,  from  a  delicate  lemon 
to  a  full  orange  colour,  are  everywhere  abund- 
ant; Ragworts,  bright  as  the  golden  sunbeam, 
and  Hawks'-beards,  and  Sow-thistles,  and 
Goats'-beards,  which  open  only  to  the  cloud- 
less sky,  rival  the  bright  tints  of  the  Dande- 
lions, which  glitter  like  stars  among  the  grasses. 
The  leaves  of  the  Yellow  Wort  are  joined  at 
the  base,  so  that  the  stalk  goes  through  them, 
and  hence  its  specific  name.    Both  foliage  and 


176  PERFOLIATE    YELLOW    WOUT. 

stems  are  thickly  covered  with  that  pale  sea- 
green  bloom,  which,  like  the  grey  powder  on 
the  plum,  may  be  rubbed  off  by  the  finger ; 
the  plant  too  is  remarkably  subject  to  attacks 
of  mildew.  It  is  about  a  foot  high,  and  is 
a  common  flower  on  chalky  hilly  places  in 
the  middle  and  south  of  England,  and  grows 
well  near  the  sea,  as  on  the  cliffs  at  Dover, 
where  it  is  remarkably  abundant  and  luxu- 
riant. It  is  not  common  in  Scotland,  though 
found  on  the  chalky  lands  of  almost  all  the 
countries  of  Europe. 

The  genus  Chlora  was  thus  named  from  the 
Greek  word  yeJloio,  from  the  colour  of  its 
flowers.  It  is  intensely  bitter,  and  belongs  to 
the  same  natural  order  as  the  Gentians.  The 
bitter  prhiciple  exists  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
in  all  these  Gentianese,  and  is  tonic  in  its  nature; 
that  of  the  Chlora,  though  not  so  powerful  as 
in  the  Gentian,  may  be  used  medicinally  in  the 
same  cases  as  those  in  which  the  latter  plant 
would  be  employed. 


WILD   THTM: 


WILD  TRYlTE.—npnus  Serpyllum. 

Class  DiDTNAMiA.     Order  Gymxosperiiia,     Nat.  Ord.  Labiate. 
The  Labiate  Tribe. 

It  is  pleasant  to  wander  over  the  "  bank 
wliereon  the  AVilcl  Thyme  blows/'  and  to 
breathe  the  ah^  which,  in  July  and  August, 
is  fragrant  with  the  odour  of  its  purple  flowers 
and  aromatic  leaves.  It  is  very  abundant  on 
dry  hilly  pastures,  and  Dr.  Armstrong,  in  his 
celebrated  poem  on  the  Art  of  Preserving 
Health,  recommends  such  spots  as  peculiarly 
salubrious. 

"  Mark  ■where  the  dry  champaign 
Swells  into  cheerful  hills  ;  where  Marjoram 
And  Thyme,  the  love  of  bees,  perfume  the  air, 
There  bid  thy  roofs,  high  on  the  basking  steep, 
Ascend  ;  there  light  thy  hospitable  fires." 

Doubtless  the  pure  air  of  such  places 
strengthens  the  human  frame,  and  we  know 
well  that  sheep  flourish  where  Thyme  is 
plentiful.  It  was  long  thought  that  the  value 
of  the  animal  was  increased  by  feeding  on 
Thyme,  but  this  is  generally  known  to  be  an 
error.  Mr.  Bowles,  the  author  of  the  "  Sheep- 
walks  in  Spain,"  says  that  sheep  are  not  fond 

^^o.  12. 


178  WILD    THYME. 

of  aromatic  plants,  and  that  they  will  carefully 
push  aside  the  Thyme  to  get  at  the  grass 
growing  beneath.  He  adds  that  they  never 
touch  it,  except  when  walking  upon  it,  when 
they  will  catch  at  anything. 

The  odour  of  the  Wild  Thyme  is  increased 
when  we  tread  upon  it,  and  its  flavour  is  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  kind  cultivated  in  the 
kitchen-garden ;  like  that  plant,  too,  it  yields 
a  strong  essential  oil.  It  was  OTvdng  to  its 
grateful  aroma  that  the  genus  derived  its  name 
from  the  Greek  word  signifying  mental  vigour, 
its  balsamic  odour  being  supposed  to  strengthen 
the  animal  spirits.  Country  people  make  the 
Thyme  into  tea  for  curing  head -ache,  and  also 
consider  it  a  certain  cure  for  nightmare.  Few 
wild  plants  vary  more  than  this  in  size.  When 
grooving  on  dry  exposed  downs  it  is  small  and 
close  to  the  ground,  but  when  springing  up 
among  the  Furze  and  Broom  and  Ling,  and 
other  plants  of  the  Heath  land,  its  stalk  is 
often  a  foot  high,  and  its  cluster  of  flowers 
much  larger.  The  leaves,  too,  are  in  some 
plants  hairy,  and  in  others  quite  smooth.  It 
is  the  only  British  species  of  the  genus. 


OYEIl  S   GREEN    WEjlD 


DYER'S  GREEN- WEED. —  6'^;2e'5^a 

Tinctoria, 

Class  DiADELPHiA.    Order  Decandria.    Nat.  Ord.  LEQUMlNOSiS. 
Pea  and  Bean  Teibe. 

Another  familiar  name  for  this  plant  is, 
Woad- waxen.  It  is  frequent  in  England,  on 
pastm-es,  field-borders  and  thickets,  and  is 
common,  too,  in  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland. 
Its  pale  yellow  butterfly-shaped  flowers  open 
in  July  and  August.  The  stem  of  the  plant 
is  about  one  or  two  feet  high,  and  in  some 
specimens  the  blossoms  become  double,  as  in 
those  which  grow  on  the  rocks  near  Ilkley,  in 
Yorkshire.  The  plant  yields  a  good  yellow 
colom%  and  is  used  by  dyers.  The  author  of 
the  ''  Journal  of  a  Naturalist"  says,  "  Our 
poorer  people,  a  few  years  ago,  used  to  collect 
it  by  cart-loads,  about  the  month  of  July,  and 
the  season  of  Woad-waxen  was  a  little  harvest 
to  them;  but  it  interfered  greatly  with  our  hay- 
making. Women  could  gain  about  two  shil- 
lings a-day  clear  of  expenses  by  gathering  it.'' 
The  collecting  the  Dyer's-weed  is  a  very 
laborious  employment,  as  the  roots  extend  a 
good  way  into  the  soil.     The  writer  referred 


180  DYERS    GREEN-WEED. 

to  adds  that  the  trade  is  not  so  common  now, 
and  is  discom^aged  by  the  farmers.  This  plant 
is  seldom  eaten  by  cattle.  It  grows  in  most 
countries  of  Europe,  and  is,  by  people  in 
villages,  used  as  a  medicine  for  various  mala- 
dies. 

We  have  three  wild  species  of  Genista.  The 
Needle  Green-weed,  or  Petty  Whin  {Genista 
Aiiglica),  is  not  unfrequent  on  moist  heaths 
and  moory  grounds.  It  is  a  low  shrub ;  its 
stems  are  tough,  about  a  foot  high,  and 
studded  at  intervals  with  sharp  thorns.  The 
flowers  are  very  similar  to  those  of  the 
engraving.  The  Hairy  Green-weed  {Genista 
pilosa)  is  a  more  rare  plant.  It  has  no  thorns, 
and  its  yellow  flowers  are  smaller  than  those 
of  the  other  species.  They  bloom  in  May, 
and  again  in  Autuma.  The  stems  are  much 
gnarled  and  branched,  and  the  leaves  are  often 
covered  on  the  under  surface  with  silky  hairs. 

The  genus  received  its  name  from  the  Celtic 
Gen,  a  small  bush,  whence  also  is  derived  the 
French  name  of  the  plant,  Ge7iet.  From  the 
same  origin  is  the  name  of  the  Plantagenet 
family. 


3i 


COMMOy    DAISY. 


COMMON  DkWl.—Bems  peremiis. 

Class  Syxgenesia.     Order  Superflua.     Nat.  Ord.  Composit^e. 
Compound  Flowers. 

There  is  no  flower  wliicli  seems  so  peculiarly 
to  belong  to  our  native  land  as  the  Daisy. 
Springing  up  in  every  meadow,  in  "  times 
unkind/'  as  well  as  on  the  summer  day,  the 
delight  of  childhood,  how  often  does  it  seem 
to  recal 

"  Some  brief  delight, 
Some  memory  that  had  taken  flight, 
Some  chime  of  fancy,  wrong  or  right. 
Or  stray  invention," 

English  and  Scottish  poets  have  sung  its 
praises,  from  Chaucer  downwards,  who  called 
it  Day's  Eye,  because  its  flowers  are  shut  at 
night,  and  Avho  says  it  is  "  of  all  flouris  the 
floure."  It  is  indeed  what  Wordsworth  de- 
scribes it,  "the  poet's  darling;"  and  not  the 
less  so,  that,  like  the  wind,  it  comes  to  every 
field.  In  the  north  it  is  called  Bairnwort, 
because  it  is  loved  by  children.  And  when  the 
traveller  sees  its  rosy-tipped  flowers  among 
the  grass  of  other  lands,  as  at  Madeira,  AA*kere 
it  is  natm^alized,  or  beholds  it  cherished  in  a 
garden-pot  in  India,  it  brings  back  a  thought 
of  his  early  days.  "  Many  little  flowers,"  says 
Backhouse,  when  in  Auslraha,  *'  begin  to 
enamel  the  ground,  one  of  which  is  too  much 


182  COMMON    DAISY. 

like  an  English  Daisy  not  to  excite  pleasing 
recollections,  associated  with  that  little  flower, 
though  others  bespeak  the  antipodes  of 
England."  Leyden,  when  in  India,  wrote  of 
his  longings  to  look  on  the  Daisy  flower; 
Pringie,  in  his  day-dream  in  the  African  desert, 
saw  the  meadows  "  gemmed  with  the  primrose 
and  goAYan ;"  and  om'  late  lamented  botanist 
Gardner  had,  in  the  interior  of  Brazil,  a  thought 
of  the  Daisy — 

"  I  wander  alone,  and  often  look 
For  the  primrose  bank  by  the  rippling  brook ; 
"Which,  waken'd  to  life  by  vernal  beams, 
An  emblem  of  youth  and  beauty  seems ; 
And  I  ask  wliere  the  violet  and  daisy  grow, 
But  a  breeze-born  voice,  in  whisperings  low. 
Swept  from  the  North  o'er  Southern  seas. 
Tells  me  I'm  far  from  the  land  of  these," 

The  Daisy  is  not  relished  by  cattle,  and  is 
disliked  even  by  geese.  Its  leaves,  though 
acrid,  are  sometimes  boiled  and  eaten,  and  they 
were,  in  former  times,  considered  a  valuable 
application  to  recent  wounds.  The  Italians 
call  the  flower  Pratolina,  Meadow  Elower ;  or 
Fiore  de  Primavera,  Flower  of  Spring;  and 
the  French  term  it  La  petite  Margmrite,  It 
is  the  only  British  species. 


COMMON  YERY Am. —Feriem  officinalis. 

Class  DiDTNAiiiA.     Order  Axgiospermia.     ]Vat.  Ord.  Verbe- 
NACEJE. — Vervain  Tribe. 

So  small  are  the  lilac  blossoms  of  this  plant, 
that  it  Avins  little  regard  from  any  but"  the 
botanist.  Yet  the  Vervain  was  once  a  plant 
of  great  repute, — the  holy  herb  of  om-  fore- 
fathers, and  full  of  symbolic  meanings  in  yet 
older  times.  The  ancients  gathered  it  with 
many  ceremonies,  and  employed  it  when 
making  treaties  w^ith  ambassadors,  in  sacri- 
ficial rites  and  incantations.  They  had  their 
Verbenalia,  at  which  time  temples  wxre  strewed 
and  sanctified  with  Vervain,  the  beasts  for 
sacrifice  were  filleted  with  its  garlands,  and  its 
flowery  sprays  were  laid  on  the  altar.  Pliny, 
as  translated  by  Holland,  says,  ''  It  is  used 
in  casting  lots,  telhng  fortunes,  and  fore- 
shewing  future  events  by  way  of  prophesie. 
They  add,  moreover,  that  if  the  halle  or 
dining-ch amber  be  sprinkled  with  the  water 
wherein  Vervain  lay  steeped,  all  that  be  at  the 
table  shall  be  very  pleasant,  and  make  merrie 
more  jocundhe.  Of  all  hearbes  there  is  none 
more  honoured  among  the  Romans  than 
Hierobotane,  the  sacred  })lant  Vervaine.  It  is 
that  hearbe  which  our  ambassadors  use  to  carry 


184  COMMON    VERVAIN. 

with  them  when  they  declare  war,  and  to  give 
defiance  unto  our  enemies.  With  this  hearbe 
the  festivall  table  of  Jupiter  is  wont  to  be 
swept  and  cleansed  with  great  solemnitie ;  with 
it  our  houses  also  be  rubbed  and  hallowed  for 
to  drive  away  ill  spirits." 

Many  persons  noAv  living  can  remember  how 
general  a  practice  it  was,  some  years  since,  to 
hang  a  piece  of  Vervain  around  the  neck  of  a 
child  to  avert  infection ;  some  believing  it  to 
be  an  amulet  or  charm,  others  thinking  it  a 
herb  of  powerful  properties.  Besides  this,  it 
was  taken  medicinally,  or  worn  to  cure  existing 
disease,  and  was  deemed  efficacious  in  thirty 
different  complaints,  in  some  of  which  it  was 
particularly  recommended  that  it  should  be 
tied  round  the  neck  with  white  ribbon. 

The  Vervain  is  a  slender  plant,  often  two 
feet  high,  with  few  leaves.  These  are  rather 
rough,  and  cut  at  the  edges,  and  the  flowers 
are  somewhat  distant  from  each  other.  It 
grows  on  waste  places,  especially  near  houses, 
and  blooms  in  July  and  August.  It  is  the 
only  British  species,  and  is  not  now  believed 
to  possess  any  valuable  medicinal  properties. 


TiED    BAUTSIA.. 


RED  BAKTSIA.—Bartsia  Odontites. 

Class  DiDTNAMiA.     Order  Angiospermta.    Nat.  Ord.  Scrophu- 
LARiNE^. — Fig-wort  Tribe. 

Those  who  are  not  very  observant  of  plants, 
would  be  likely  to  leave  this  unnoticed,  as  the 
dull  purplish  colour  of  its  upper  leaves  and 
flower-cups  renders  it  unattractive.  Yet  it  is, 
upon  examination,  a  pretty  flower,  though 
scentless.  That  Linnaeus  admired  some  species 
of  Bartsia  seems  probable,  from  the  fact  that 
he  named  the  genus  after  his  beloved  friend 
John  Bartsch,  of  whom  he  gives  an  interesting 
though  somewhat  sad  account  in  his  Flora 
Biiecica.  The  reddish-purple  blooms  of  this 
plant  appear  in  July  and  August.  It  is  very 
common  in  corn-fields,  and  on  field  borders 
and  other  waste  places,  and  is  usually  about 
eight  or  ten  inches  in  height. 

We  have  two  other  native  species,  which 
are  readily  distinguished  from  the  Red  kind  by 
their  differently  coloured  blossoms.  The  Yel- 
low Viscid  Bartsia  [Bartsia  viscosa)  is  by  no 
means  a  common  plant,  though  it  grows  very 
plentifully  in  pastures,  in  many  parts  of  the 
West  of  England,  and  more  rarely  in  the 
South-west  of  Scotland  and  the  South  of 
Ireland.     It  is  much  more  showv  than  our 


186  RED    BARTSIA. 

common  species,  and  has  large  yellow  hand- 
some flowers,  which  have  the  odour  of  musk. 
The  plant  would  remind  one  of  the  common 
Yellow  Rattle  of  the  meadows,  but  that  the 
blossoms  grow  imbedded  among  the  leaves. 

A  still  rarer  species  is  the  Alpine  Bartsia 
{Bartsia  aljmia),  which  is  found  on  some  rocky- 
alpine  pastures  in  Yorkshire,  Westmoreland, 
and  other  northern  counties  of  England,  as  well 
as  on  Scottish  mountains.  It  flowers  in  June 
and  July.  Like  alpine  plants  in  general,  its 
stem  is  but  little  raised  above  the  ground,  and 
its  flowers  large.  The  low  mode  of  growth,  the 
strong  and  often  crooked  or  procumbent  stem, 
the  crowded  appearance  of  leaves  and  blossoms, 
as  well  as  an  excessive  development  of  roots,  are 
so  characteristic  of  alpine  plants,  that  a  botanist 
can  at  a  glance  distinguish  them  amid  a  large 
collection  of  diied  flowers. 

The  flowers  of  the  Alpine  Bartsia  are  of  a 
deep  purplish-blue  colour,  very  downy,  and  the 
upper  leaves  are  often  tinged  with  purple. 
Some  species  of  the  genus  from  North  America 
and  Siberia  are  found  in  gardens,  but  they  are 
not  easy  of  cultivation. 


BROOM    l{.\] 


LESSER  BROOM  ^k^Y..—  Orohanclie 
minor. 

Class  DiDYNAMiA.     Order  Angiospermia.     Nat.  Ord.  Oroban- 
CHE^. — Broom-rape  Tribe. 

There  is  something  so  peculiar  in  the  general 
aspect  of  parasitic  plants,  that  they  may  usually 
be  at  once  recognised  as  such,  by  any  one 
familiar  Avith  flowers.  The  true  parasite  fixes 
on  the  root  or  trunk  of  another  vegetable, 
deriving  its  nourishment  from  its  juices,  and 
is  therefore  not  like  the  moss  or  lichen,  which 
hangs  on  the  tree,  but  draws  no  nutriment 
from  it.  We  have  few  native  parasitic  plants ; 
and  the  greater  number  of  them  have  that 
brownish  dull  tinge  which  at  first  sight 
would  lead  us  to  suppose  them  to  be  half 
withered.  They  are  distinguished,  too,  by  the 
absence  of  leaves. 

In  many  cases  parasites  gro»w  only  on  certain 
plants,  in  others  they  infest  various  vegetables. 
Of  the  Lesser  Broom  Rape  there  are  several 
varieties,  which  grow^  on  the  roots  of  clover, 
ivy,  sea  carrot,  and  other  plants.  It  is  not  an 
unfrequent  flower  in  the  clover-field,  during  the 
months  of  July  and  August.  It  varies  from 
half  a  foot  to  more  than  a  foot  and  a  half  in 
height,  and  its  blossoms  are,  in  its  varieties, 
more  or  less  tinged  with  a  dingy  purple  and  yel- 


188  LESSER   BROOM    RAPE. 

low  colour,  while  tlie  stem  and  scales  are  in  this, 
as  in  ail  the  species,  of  a  dull  reddish  brown. 
All  the  Broom  Rapes  are  of  a  very  acrid  nature, 
and  are  rejected  by  almost  all  animals. 

The  literal  translation  of  the  generic  name, 
Strangle-Vetch,  is  very  apphcable,  for  they 
peculiarly  infest  plants  of  the  Leguminous 
tribe,  such  as  have,  like  the  Vetches,  their  seeds 
in  legumes  or  pods,  and  they  are  sadly  destruc- 
tive to  them.  It  is  said  that  the  seeds  of  these 
parasites  will  often  lie  dormant  in  the  soil  for 
many  years,  till  some  young  plant,  suitable  for 
their  nourishment,  vegetates  near  them,  when 
they,  too,  sprout  and  take  possession  of  the 
points  of  its  roots,  which  enlarge  and  serve  as 
their  base. 

Difierent  botajiists  enumerate  various  num- 
bers of  species,  some  considering  that  slight 
peculiarities  of  structure  form  specific  distinc- 
tions, others  regarding  these  marks  as  only 
accidental,  and  forming  varieties  merely.  The 
Greater  Broom  Rape  is  much  like  the  plant  of 
our  engraving,  but  a  great  deal  larger,  and 
often  above  two  feet  hisfh.  It  is  common  on 
Furze  and  Broom,  and  its  succulent  stem  is  as 
thick  as  a  finoier. 


fc:<JilMON    PELLITOFT    OF   THK   "WALI* 


COMMON  PELLITORY  OF  THE  WALL. 

Parietaria  officinalis. 

Class  Tetraxdeia.     Order  jNIonogyxia,     Nat.  Ord.  Urtice^. 
Nettle  Tribe. 

Our  old  walls  are  often  made  verdant  by  the 
Pellitory.  As  Knapp  has  observed,  it  may  be 
seen  in  such  places  seeking  the  calcareous  nitrate 
found  there,  this  salt  appearing  essential  to  its 
vigom'  and  health.  Large  masses  of  the  plant 
may  be  found  on  rocky  places  near  the  sea,  in 
some  spots  almost  lying  over  the  surface  on 
which  it  grows,  in  others  rising  erect  and 
branched,  a  foot  and  a  half  in  height,  and 
losing  much  of  the  downy  covering  which 
invests  both  the  flower  and  foliage  of  the 
smaller  specimens.  The  little  reddish-purple 
blossoms  crowd  closely  between  the  stem  and 
leaf,  and  appear  on  the  plant  from  June  to 
September.  The  manner  in  which  the  sta- 
mens shed  their  pollen,  or  yellow  powder,  is 
very  singular.  These  minute  threads,  on  their 
first  appearance,  all  bend  inwards ;  but  no 
sooner  is  the  pollen  matured  and  fit  to  be 
discharged,  than  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  the 
hght  tread  of  an  insect,  or  the  smallest  touch 
with  the  point  of  a  pin,  makes  them  fly  back 
and  throw  out  a  little  cloud  of  dust-  This 
elasticity  is  owing  to  the  jointed  structure  of 


190         COMMON  PELLITORY  OF  THE  WALL. 

these  tiny  threads,  and  it  may  be  observed  on 
any  warm  sunny  morning,  when  thousands  of 
these  small  stamens  are  exploding,  and  dis- 
persing the  pollen. 

The  leaves  of  this  plant,  when  strewed  in 
granaries,  are  said  to  destroy  the  Corn- weevil; 
and  it  contains  so  large  a  quantity  of  nitre, 
that  in  making  an  extract  from  it,  the  whole 
mass  has  been  found  to  take  fire.  Curtis 
remarks,  that  the  same  degree  of  cold,  thirty- 
one  of  Fahrenheit,  which  strips  the  mulberry- 
tree  of  its  leaves,  will  destroy  the  herbage  of 
the  Pellitory.  Pellitory  tea  is  a  favourite 
medicine  in  country  places  for  a  large  number 
of  disorders. 

The  name  of  the  genus  is  derived  from 
2)aries,  a  wall.  AVe  have  but  one  British 
species,  but  several  have  been  introduced  into 
gardens  from  other  countries  ;  their  native  soil 
being  generally  that  of  the  old  wall  or  waste 
place  by  the  wayside.  They  have  all  greenish 
or  purplish  flowers,  and  are  not  very  ornamental 
to  the  garden.  The  celebrated  Pellitory  of 
Spain,  sold  by  druggists  as  a  remedy  for 
tooth-ache,  is  a  species  of  chamomile,  brought 
from  the  South  of  Europe. 


SMALL   TV'OODrvUVT. 


SMALL  WOODmJYY.—AsperuIa 

Cyncmchica, 

Class  Tetrandeia.     Order  Monogynia.     Nat.  Orel.  Rubiaceje. 
Madder  Tribe. 

This  lovely  little  flower  can  scarcely  be  called 
common,  because  we  might  often  wander  for 
miles  in  tlie  country  without  seeing  it.  Yet 
in  several  of  our  counties,  where  chalk  prevails 
in  the  soil,  it  grows  in  great  abundance  on 
warm  sunny  banks ;  and  small  as  it  is,  its 
numerous  clusters  form  no  inconsiderable 
ornament  to  such  places.  During  the  months 
of  June  and  July,  large  patches  of  the  white 
or  lilac  little  blossoms  look  like  remnants  of 
a  snow-storm,  left  among  the  grassy  hills  of 
Cambridgeshire.  So  too,  upon  the  cliffs  of 
Dover,  the  plant  may  be  seen  from  beneath, 
far  beyond  our  reach,  adorning  their  steep 
sides  and  short  green  verdure.  A  familiar 
name  of  the  flower,  Squinancy-wort,  origin- 
ates in  its  having  been  formerly  considered 
as  a  specific  for  the  squinancy,  or  as  it  is  now 
called,  the  quinsey :  and  its  botanical  name, 
from  the  Greek  word  to  choke,  aUudes  also  to 
its  supposed  virtues.  It  is  not  found  in  Wales 
or  Scotland. 


192  SMALL    WOODRUFF. 

The  other  native  species  of  the  genus,  the 
SAveet  Woodruff,  {Asperula  odorata,)  is  far 
better  known  than  this.  The  flowers  are 
white,  in  clusters,  and,  like  those  of  our 
engraving,  in  the  form  of  the  jessamine,  and 
the  leaves  grow  in  whorls  around  the  stem, 
and  resemble  those  of  the  common  Cleavers. 
This  plant  has  no  odour  when  fresh,  but  is 
deliciously  fragrant  Avhen  dried.  Dr.  Wallich 
says  that  its  flowers,  infused  in  water,  make  a 
tea  far  superior  to  the  Chinese  teas.  The 
Germans  use  the  plant  to  flavour  vinous 
liquors.  The  leaves  will  preserve  their  odour 
for  years,  and  if  laid  among  clothes,  are  an 
excellent  preservative  from  moths.  Old 
records  found  in  the  books  of  London 
churches,  show  that  they  were  once  hung  up 
in  garlands  within  their  walls,  and  few  of  our 
native  plants  would  be  more  suitable  for  the 
purpose.  The  scent  is  like  that  of  newly 
made  hay. 

The  genus  received  its  name  from  the 
Latin  asjjer,  rough,  some  of  the  species 
having,  like  the  Sweet  Woodruff,  rough  leaves 
and  stems.  , 


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