274 WILD FLOWERS OF 



umbels of white petals, marks the same event, and 

 next the Mallow (Malva rotundifolia) offers its invi- 

 ting blue flowers by every road-side to unnumbered 

 bees, while the yellow Vetchling (Latliyrus pratensis) , 

 sparkles amidst the yet uncut grass, and the tufted 

 Vetch (Vicia cracca) lifts up its violet clusters high 

 on the hedge amidst masses of scented honeysuckle. 

 It is not till the height of summer that the numerous 

 prickly race of Thistles (Cnicus et Carduus^) lift high 

 their bright but guarded flowers, the scented Musk 

 Thistle (Carduus nutans), and the lofty Cotton Thistle* 

 (Onopordium acantkiuiri), meriting especial attention 

 amidst the group the Meadow Plume Thistle (Cnicus 

 pratensis), in wet alpine pastures, offers also a spec- 

 tacle far from inelegant. In marshy spots the various 

 species of Ragworts (Senecio) now begin to present a 

 specious aspect with their yellow disks and radiant 

 florets, and the common and greater Knapweeds (Cen- 

 taur ea) lift their purple "hard-heads." The rosy- 

 tinted Drop wort (Spiraea filipendula), abundant on 

 downs near the coast, and, like the " temple-haunting 

 Martlet," always scenting the purest air, now delights 



* It is stated by Sir W. J. HOOKER that the great Cotton Thistle, which 

 when in flower is a truly magnificent plant, from six to eight feet high, is 

 cultivated in Scotland as the Scotch Thistle ; but GARDINER, in his Flora 

 of Forfarshire, says that the common Spear-Thistle (Cnicus lanceolalus), 

 is the real Scottish Thistle. 



" When roam'd the rude Celt through our island of yore, 

 And the old Druid worshipped beneath the oak tree, 

 And bleak was the aspect of Caledon's shore, 

 With no flow'ret's soft beauty adorning her lea, 

 What plant was it then, 

 That as stern as her men, 



While it braved the wild blast pricked the foot of the foe ; 

 And bloomed in her dells, 

 On her steep rocky fells, 



Where burns wimple clearly and dark rivers flow ? 

 'Twas the THISTLE, that ne'er but 'mong freemen did grow !" 



