PIMPERNEL. 990 



damps of the night air would prevent the dis- 

 charge of the farina from the anthers, and this 

 species of plants would be consequently lost to 

 the link of nature's perfect chain, for although the 

 Pimpernel is too lowly to excite the great in- 

 terest of man, its seed is the food of insects who 

 have their office to perform towards the comple- 

 tion of the general harmony of the globe. The 

 smaller kind of birds seek this seed with great 

 avidity, and as it is a plant which follows culti- 

 vation, it may considerably save much of the 

 seed of the husbandman from the ravages of the 

 feathered tribe. 



Like the Poppy, the Pimpernel is generally 

 found in ploughed grounds and in gardens, par- 

 ticularly where the air is pure and the soil light 

 or sandy. 



The Common Pimpernel, Amgallis Arvensis, 

 continues to give out a succession of blossoms 

 from the month of June to the end of September, 

 and is, although a native weed, deserving of a 

 situation on the parterre, its flowers being of a 

 fine yellow scarlet, having a purple circle at the 

 eye, which adds considerably to the beauty of this 

 miniature flower. 



The Blue-flow^ered Pimpernel, Anagallis Cceru- 

 lea, is far less common in this country than the 

 Scarlet. It grows abundantly in Switzerland, 



