37 



pleasure and profit than a great deal of superficial knowledge of 

 mere names of species, which, with too many " botanists " seems 

 to be the be all and the end all of their ambition. There are, no 

 doubt, difficulties in the way of the beginner, which in a great 

 measure arise from not knowing where to begin, and how simple 

 beginning really is. The best way to begin is with the commoner 

 plants that we know, at least by sight, and a very good time is 

 to begin now, as the spring itself is beginning. One of the 

 earliest spring flowers is the Coltsfoot, which will soon be found 

 plentifully scattered in waste ground and by the banks of streams. 

 The Daisy also is one of the earliest spring flowers, and the 

 beginner who wishes for a first lesson in botany cannot do better 

 than try to find out in what the two flowers agree and in what 

 they differ. They both belong to the great tribe or family of 

 Compositae which comprises one-tenth of all known species. It 

 is so called because what appears to be a single flower is com- 

 posed of a great number of small, more or less perfect flowers, 

 or ' florets ' as botanists call them, arranged in a head. Another 

 flower which will soon begin to show itself in damp hedge bottoms 

 and ground is the Figwort Eanunculus, a species of Buttercup. 

 The Strawberry-leaved Potentilla or Barren Strawberry, flowers 

 in March, and is frequently found growing along with the last- 

 named plant. It is in habit very Hke the wild strawberry, but 

 has not so large a flower, and the fruit is dry, being without the 

 succulent receptacle of the latter. The Shepherd's Purse is 

 another very common weed to be found in flower nearly all the 

 year round. It belongs to the interesting and highly useful 

 Cruciferte, or Cabbage family. The Bower is small and unpre- 

 tending, but the pod is interesting and curious. When ripe it is 

 a very pretty object under the pocket lens, the. golden seeds 

 hanging upon each side of the partition walls of the cell Hke 

 grape clusters. The name is taken from the triangular shape of 

 the pod, which is itself sufficient to distinguish the plant from 

 all other Cruciferse. The common CJiickweed flowers early and 

 late, and may be studied at all times of the year. It belongs to 

 the Caryophyllaceas or Pink Family, and the botanist, who takes 

 a pleasure in tracing family likenesses between the " flaunting 

 flowers our gardens yield," and their "poor relations" by the 

 wayside, will be interested to observe the analogy between the 

 high-bred Carnation and the low-born Chickweed, so called, says 

 Duchesne, because it is used to feed birds. Another weed be- 

 longing to this family is the Common Cerastium or Mouse-ear 

 Chickweed, found on walls and waysides. It flowers through the 

 year. The structure of the seed-vessel of this and the last named 

 plant is very interesting, and a peep into the inside when the 

 gold yellow embossed seeds are ripe, is worth taking. We have 

 two varieties, the common narrow-leaved and the broad-leaved 



