SPRING FLOWERS 



To begin with, if one looks out for them in spring one is 

 sure to find a whole series of beautiful spring flowers. 

 There is the Primrose, with its bright, hardy, yellow flowers ; 

 the Violet, whose strong perfume much annoys the hunts- 

 man, for it spoils the " scent " and shows him that the end of 

 winter has come ; the delicate little Moschatel, the Lesser 

 Celandine, the Bluebell or Hyacinth, Dog's Mercury, the 

 Male and the Lady Fern, and many others. 



Most of these begin to grow and are in flower early in the 

 season. That is because they are living on the dead kaves 

 of the last year, or rather of two or three years ago. Their 

 roots are breaking up and devouring, with the help of 

 worms, beetles, and insects, the leaf-mould of past seasons. 



They are quite dependent on the trees ; they cannot exist 

 except where such leaf-mould is formed. 



But it is very difficult to tell whether these humble little 

 herbs which live on the scraps that fall from the tall trees 

 are either parasites or clients, which last do some good in 

 return for their share. 



Probably they are distinctly useful and good for the forest 

 if this is considered as a whole establishment. They use 

 light which would otherwise be wasted, and their own dead 

 leaves increase the annual deposit of leaf-mould. 



There are other plants, such as the Bird's-nest {Neottia) and 

 Coralroot^ Orchids, as well as Monotropa and others, which 

 also live on the rich, decaying leaf-mould of forests, but 

 these are generally pale in colour, for they possess but little 

 green chlorophyll. They are more directly dependent on 

 the mould and have ceased to do much work for themselves. 



^ In the first, the entangled underground stems and roots resemble 

 a bird's nest ; in the second, the peculiar red rhizomes are rather hke 

 coral. 



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