Jkp:rli'^ Gi'ilTlaTafI 



^V 



Primroses, anemones, cowslips, oxlips, 

 lady's smock, wood sorrel, and many other 

 blossoms star copse and field ; little pink- 

 tipped daisies peep through the lengthening 

 grass ; in our gardens wallflowers, forget- 

 me-nots, pol}-anthus, jonquil, and many 

 others are greeting us day by day ; while 

 just look at that lovely old wall — simply 

 glowing with purple and white arabis, 

 London pride, stonecrop and a host of other 

 humble though beautiful flowers. 



Let us take this little bunch of sweet- 

 scented cowslips for our next drawing. I 

 would not try to make a completed picture 

 of them, for it is very difficult to mass such 

 small flowers with good effect ; but what a 

 delightful little sketch the}' will make, their 

 bright golden cups peering out each from 

 its sheltering sheath-like calyx of softest 

 pale grey green, a green unlike anything 

 else I know. Notice the stems and how 

 they differ from the more ethereal and 

 downy primrose stalks. On another page 

 in this book will be found a talk on 

 stems and twigs, giving the subject more 

 time and attention, as its importance 

 demands. In the meantime observe them 



carefully, and note the difference thej' show in different varieties of 

 plants. 



What a favourite the forget-me-not is with us all, with its hue of 

 heavenly blue, and its tender romantic name ! We must search the 

 realms of legend and fancy to trace the origin of this, for its original 

 popular designation was " Mouse-ear," simply a translation from the 

 Greek of its botanical name Myosotis, and supposedly derived from 

 the shape of its leaves. 



The legends regarding the naming of the little blue flower 

 with its present charming name are endless. We all know the story of 

 the knight in the old ballad who lost his life when, at the request of 

 the " ladye-fa}'re," he plunged in the stream and was drowned while try- 

 ing to obtain a bunch of its blossoms of " brilliant hue " to di/nl in her 

 " nut-browfi hair" \ But perhaps the prettiest of all is the story told 

 to the children, that when the flowers were given their names by the 

 Creator of the world, one little flower forgot hers, and when she went 

 back, in fear and trembling, to ask it, she was told '' Forget-me-not^ 



There are endless other stories and traditions of this same flower, 



The Buttercup is hkc a 

 The Marisjold is lik. 



The Daisy with a sSoldc 

 And golden spreads 



jioldcn cup 

 a golden f 

 \ eye looks 



beside the rill. 



31 



