8 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 
stony slopes of the valleys, and Marjoram gives a rich perfume to the 
downs in the south and elsewhere. Wood Betony lingers by the sides 
of the pathways or out on the open heaths. Under the deep shades of 
the hazels in early May the yellow helmets spotted with crimson of the 
Archangel make wide patches over which bees linger lovingly. — Rich- 
scented the Wood Sage covers the rubbly flanks of the hillsides. In 
the south the Wood Spurge hides in the undergrowth or below the 
hedge. 
Everywhere in the shade are beds of Dog's Mercury, so common 
in woods. ‘Tall monarchs of the forest rise here and there in the shape 
of the Wych Elm, Oak, Birch, and now and again the shivering 
Aspen. Under the ash-trees the Twayblade hides, and rarely the 
Snowdrop, Bee Orchis, Lily-of-the-Valley, and Ramsoms are found 
amid the sylvan depths. 
Wood Anemone or Wind Flower (Anemone nemorosa, L.) 
So far this has not been found in any deposit earlier than the 
recent. It is a. plant of the Arctic and Cold Temperate Zones, found 
in Arctic Europe generally, W. Siberia, and in North America. It is 
general in England and Wales, except S. Lincs, Mid Lancs, where it 
is absent. It does not occur in Scotland in Sutherland, Caithness, or 
any of the Northern Isles, but ascends in the Highlands to the height 
of 2800 ft., and is found in Ireland. 
In the spring every wood and copse is carpeted with the dainty 
Wind Flower, which delights the poet, the swain, and the townsman 
alike. It prefers the sheltered flat expanses which are protected over- 
head from the sun’s heat, and at the side by clustering shrubs or 
undergrowth. It is perhaps more fond of a dry than a wet soil, and 
some humus; but is found alike where the Lesser Celandine and 
Bluebell grow. In some secluded spots the woods are as white with 
Wood Anemones as a damask sheet, just as the same sylvan depths 
are blue in spring with the Bluebell or yellow with the Lesser 
Celandine. They are mesophytes, adapted to a moderate supply of 
moisture. The Wood Anemone, unlike most other plants, can flourish 
beneath the shade in a beech wood. 
The Wood Anemone is a tuberous-rooted plant, or plant with 
subterranean fleshy shoots or creeping underground stem, which can 
be propagated by division of the roots which grow deep. in the soil. 
It is a tender, fragile plant, which in the shade stands erect, with 
flowers wide open, but in the open, under a strong sun, it closes its 
