AMONG THE FYLDE FLOWERS. 205 



The margins of woods are generally fringed with an astonishing 

 array of plants, and must be visited time after time if every species 

 is to be noted. In the Fylde it is no uncommon sight to find the 

 fences crowded with the Woody Nightshade (Solaniim dulcamara)^ 

 while just behind tall Umbellifers are set off by the deep shades 

 behind. Here, too, may be found the Common Valerian 

 ( Valeriana officinalis) ; the showy masses of the Great Hairy 

 Willow Herb [Epilobiiuii hirsiitum), whose flow^ers make the ditch 

 so attractive in July and August ; here, also, an occasional speci- 

 men of the Common Meadow Rue {Thaiictrum flaviwi) may be 

 seen, which has struggled through briar, thorn, and bramble, and 

 now proudly rears its pale yellow, pollen -lad en inflorescence high 

 above all obstacles. 



Many woods are flanked by wide moats over knee-deep in 

 water, as a short jump only too surely proves. In these the 

 yellow water-lily holds its own, sheltered by banks thronged with 

 vetches and trefoils. Here flourishes the reed, intermingled with 

 the smooth horsetail, screening from the passer-by the deftly-woven 

 ark of the water hen, on which she sits alert to the slightest 

 approach of danger. Here may be found that handsome member 

 of the primrose family, the so-called water violet {Hotfonia 

 pahistris), a welcome find to any flower-lover. Within two miles 

 of Lytham station, ditches may be visited which are apparently 

 monopolised by this lovely plant, the surface of the water being 

 entirely concealed, as with a huge sheet, by the yellow-eyed lilac 

 blossoms, so thickly do the plants grow together. The leaves, 

 which are submerged and much divided, form a dense tangle, in 

 which many species of fresh water molluscs domicile themselves. 

 This lovely plant is seen in its maximum of splendour about the 

 end of May. It is often associated with a great deal of the 

 cuckoo flower {Cardaumie pratensis), and as the petal-colours in 

 both plants are almost identical, at a distance of a few yards it is 

 almost impossible to distinguish either species from the other. 



And here may be found the celery-leaved Buttercup {R. 

 sceleratus) ; the spiked Water Milfoil {Myriophylhini verticillatum, 

 Gr., viyrias, myriad, and phyllon, leaf), so called because of its 

 many leaves ; the vernal Water Star-wort {Callitriche ver/ia, Gr., 

 Kailos, beautiful, and iriche^ hair), with its long and slender hair-like 



