338 Wild Flowers in the Vicmity of Penicuik. [Sess. 



since, about the beginning of May, I have watched and 

 rejoiced to see the bog-bean expand its lovely fleecy-fringed 

 blossoms. After becoming thus acquainted with such " a 

 thing of beauty," which has proved indeed " a joy for ever," I 

 soon began to take an interest in the rest of the wildlings that 

 adorn our field-margins and waysides — an interest which has 

 grown and continued to this day. I think it is to be 

 regretted that so many of the dwellers in our country districts 

 give little or no attention to the wild-flowers that constantly 

 meet their gaze. 



The different species of Orchis that grow on the moor are 

 conspicuous objects, and their various contrivances for cross- 

 fertilisation make them always an interesting study for the 

 botanist. And here he will be sure to find the green-winged 

 orchis (0. Morio), the early purple (0. mascula) and the 

 spotted palmate orchis (0. maculata), which last seems to be 

 the most abundant. The white sweet-scented butterfly orchis 

 (Habenaria bifolia) is also to be got, and it appears to be 

 much more plentiful in some seasons than in others. In ex- 

 perimenting in my garden with this plant, I find it thrives 

 as well in a stiff clayey soil as when grown amongst peat. 



The bog-asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum), with its narrow 

 linear leaves and stellate yellow blossoms, is quite at home in 

 the dank moss-hag, dotting it all over with scintillations of 

 light ; while Sedum villosum, with its soft rosy tint, makes the 

 wettest and most unsightly spots of the moor pleasant to look 

 upon. Another marsh-lover, and a general favourite with the 

 botanist, is the Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris), which, 

 at the latter end of July or the beginning of August, is here 

 so plentiful that one, however careful, can scarcely avoid 

 trampling down its lovely blossoms. The common butterwort 

 (Pinguicula vulgaris) is fairly common in the boggy ground ; 

 but the round -leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) is less 

 widely distributed, though, when its settlement can be located, 

 it is generally found in great quantity. I have noticed that 

 many other bog-loving plants are rarely to be got in the 

 situation where the sundew chooses to thrive. The only 

 plants in proximity to it that I have observed, exclusive of 

 mosses, are the common ling (Calluna vulgaris), the hair- 

 grass (Aira flexuosa), and the cotton-grass (Eriophorum vagin- 



