188 WILD FLOWERS OF 



his feet are the round shining leaves of the Marsh 

 Penny-wort (Jlydrocotyle vulgaris), among which the 

 Plea Carex, and brown-spiked Blystnus appear ; here 

 the blue Pinguicula or Butterwort, with its oily leaves 

 covered with the spoils of minute flies, enjoys the 

 moisture of the bog; the red Sundew (Drosera rotundi- 

 folia), spreads out its rosy hairs in such congenial 

 localities, each tipped with a pellucid gummy drop ; 

 and the Hose Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella), mingles 

 its hosts of pale pink blossoms with the gray bog-moss 

 that spreads far around ; while occasionally, the still 

 more delicate and beautiful ivy-leaved Bell-flower 

 (WaJilenbergia hederacea), presents its exquisite azure 

 petals. 



In still wetter spots the singular rigid looking 

 Mare's-tail (Ilippuris vulgaris), abounds; and with 

 its beautiful spike of roseate-coloured flowers rising 

 upwards, while its multified leaves are concealed be- 

 neath the water, appears the Water- Violet (Hottonia 

 palustris), though by no means of common occurrence. 

 Where sequestered pools with boggy and sedgy mar- 

 gins adorn the wide-spread waste, many of the rarer 

 Carices flourish, or the Hare's-tail Cotton-grass (Erio- 

 pliorum vaginatum}, whitens the plain ; and in such 

 places the great Spearwort (Ranunculus Lingua) lifts 

 its tall stem and golden flowers, the lovely but less 

 aspiring Jblenyantlies cradled in the water at its feet, 

 half hidden amidst moss and sedgy foliage. On neg- 

 lected commons, like Sutton Park, near Birmingham, 

 a favourite resort of Warwickshire botanists, such 

 plants may still be seen even in proximity to cultiva- 

 tion, and there we have gathered, with joyous friends, 

 the exquisitely lovely Cranberry (Vaccinnium Oxycoc- 



