192 BOTANICAL STROLLS. 



aptly and poetically said, of this charming flower, that my timid pen dares 

 not essay an additional word. Senecio sylvaticus; Epilohium Mrsutum; Juncus 

 lampocarpus; Sanunculus Flammula; StSUaria uliginosa; and 8. glauca. 

 The two last-mentioned plants escape the eye of the casual pedestrian, but 

 they are two of the most beautiful little gems that deck the coronet of Flora. 

 Galium palustre, remarkable for the pure whiteness of its flowers, which, 

 although minute, shine conspicuously forth amid the dank vegetation of bogs 

 and marshy ground, where it abounds; Lythrum salicaria, (Purple Loosestrife,) 

 in serried ranks of stalwart plants, one mass of gorgeous bloom, Verbascum 

 Thapsus, (Moth Mullein,) a solitary plant, rarely gregarious, (to borrow a 

 terra from zoology,) capricious in its habits — now flourishing in all luxuriance 

 in the crevices of some dry stone wall, now by the wayside, and anon in 

 some corn-field, or daring to intrude within the hallowed precincts of some 

 trim parterre, in which latter situation I have seen it, with its congeners, 

 V. virgatum and V. Blattaria, grow to the height of six or seven feet, and 

 to send out branches on iill sides, Sonchus arvensis; Gonium maculatum, 

 (Hemlock.) This is a handsome, tall-growing, umbelliferous plant, highly 

 poisonous, but easily distinguished from its allies by its foetid smell and 

 spotted stem — characters which should be pointed out to children, who are 

 so apt to taste the flowers which they gather. It is one of the ingredients 

 of the witches' "charmed pot," in ^^Macbeth:" — 



"Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark." 



In the second scene of the fifth act of ''Henry V.," where Burgundy is 

 bewailing the woes that have befallen France, in consequence of wars, this 

 infelicitous weed is mentioned by him as one of the "cumberers of the 

 ground," the cultivation of which had been neglected: — 



•'Her fallow leas 

 The darnel, hemlock, aud rank fumitory 

 Doth root upon." 



The next plant noticed was the Salvia Verhenaca, (Wild English Clary, 

 or Sage.) It is very frequent in our neighbourhood, especially near the 

 Bea, on dry stony banks; but, according to Hooker, it is rare in Scotland. 

 That pretty denizen of waste ground, Verbena officinalis, (Common Vervain,) 

 next arrested our attention. It is a charming thing, with ita long, slender 

 spikes of small and distant pale purple flowers; and possesses additional interest 

 from the tradition that it was revered by the Druids, and gathered by them 

 with religious ceremonies. It is a curious coincidence that the Greeks also 

 should attach extraordinary powers to this herb, especially in incantations. 

 It was held in high esteem by the Romans. Even so late as the last century, 

 (vide Penny Cyclopaedia,) scrophula was pretended to be cured by the root 

 of this plant being hung around the patient's neck. It is by no means 

 uncommon in this district. Hooker says it is "rare in Ireland;" while the 

 author of the article above alluded to states that "it is not found in Ireland." 



