174 WILD FLOWERS OF 



Iii rocky secluded woods half unbosomed by the 

 forester, where the wood-ants were swarming on 

 many a crumbly pile of broken twigs ; or on the en- 

 crusted ledge of some embowered brook, hoarsely 

 lashing the dark stones in its deep bed, have we oft 

 in devious progress noticed the green sullen Paris, 

 ere the lofty Ash had completed its leafy adornment, 

 and while the glades of the copsy grove were still 

 brilliant with the blue-bell, relieved at intervals by 

 the deep red of the Campion (Lychnis diurna), glow- 

 ing in the shade like a blazing ensign. 



In the cider counties the Apple orchards are now 

 the charni of the landscape wherever they occur. 

 Upon the precipitous slopes of the beauteous valley 

 of the Teme, in Worcestershire, backed by woods of 

 ancient growth upon the Silurian hills, they perhaps 

 appear in the highest possible perfection, and mixed 

 up with old timbered houses, wooden spires, and nu- 

 merous thatched cottages and little gardens with 

 their trim Yews and Hollies, all telling of cultiva- 

 tion and comfort, form a truly English and inspiring 

 picture in the noon of a bright and glowing day 

 towards the end of May. In a late spring the silver 

 blossoms of some pear orchards finely blend and 

 contrast with the red and not fully expanded petals 

 of the apples, which every succeeding day glow 

 with increasing beauty, giving a peculiar though 

 short-lived charin to the rural scene. The summer 

 approaches its highest beauty when, as an acute 

 naturalist has observed, " Pomona, dressed as it were 

 in her snow-white garment, celebrates her nuptials ; 

 while the Tulip, Narcissus, and Peony adorn the 

 garden, the fresh shoots of the Fir illuminate the 



