BELL-FLOWER TRIBE 203 



high, and bearing, in July and Augnst, large handsome blue flowers ; the 

 leaves gradually narrowing on the upper part of the stem. It might be 

 cultivated for the same purpose as the rampion, as its roots have a similar 

 flavour, and are equally Avholesome. It is a rare plant in woods and fields, 

 and occurs in many parts of the country where it has become naturalised — 

 for it is not indigenous. 



7. Nettle-leaved Bell-flower (C irachdlium). — Stem angular ; leaves 

 coarsely doubly serrated, lower ones heart-shaped, long-stalked, upper nearly 

 sessile and pointed ; flower-stalks axillary, few-flowered ; calyx segments 

 lanceolate and erect ; root perennial. This is a very common flower, easily 

 known from all the other species by its leaves, shaped like those of the 

 common nettle. It is a very rough plant, and has a stem about two feet high ; 

 bearing, from July to October, rather large flowers of a deep purple, or more 

 rarely, as in some parts of Hampshire, of a Avhite hue. It is a handsome 

 addition to the wild nosegay gathered from wood or copse or bushy hedge- 

 bank ; and we have, in Kent, seen its bells employed for the same rustic 

 purpose as that to which Clare refers, in Northamptonshire : — 



" When glow-worm found in lanes remote 

 Is murder'd for its shining coat, 

 And put in flowers that Nature weaves, 

 "With hollow shapes and silken leaves, 

 Such as the Canterbury-bell, 

 Serving for lamp or lantern well." 



This plant, as well as some other of the species, was formerly used in 

 complaints of the throat, and shared with other kinds the name of Throat- 

 wort. 



8. Clustered Bell-flower (C. glomerdta). — -Stem angular, simple, nearly 

 smooth ; leaves with very small serratures, lowermost stalked, egg-shaped, 

 somewhat lanceolate and heart-shaped at the base ; upper leaves sessile, half- 

 clasping, egg-shaped, acute ; flowers sessile in terminal and axillary clusters ; 

 root perennial. This handsome Bell-flower is readily known by the clusters 

 of erect, dark, downy, purple, funnel-shaped flowers, surrounded by bracts 

 about half their length. These appear in July and August. The height of 

 the stem varies from three or four inches to a foot ; and when the plant is 

 grown in the garden, it is sometimes a foot and a half high. It is not an 

 uncommon plant on dry hilly pastures in England, where the soil is of clay 

 or chalk, but in Scotland is chiefly confined to the eastern counties. In the 

 little village of Bartlow, in Cambridgeshire, there are four remarkable hills, 

 supposed to have been thrown up by the Danes, as monumental memorials 

 of the dreadful battle fought in 1016, between Canute and Edmund Iron- 

 side. The author, some years since, found this Clustered Bell-flower 

 largely scattered about these mounds, and on asking of some cottagers the 

 name of the flower, was told that it was the Dane's-blood, and so called 

 because it sprang up from the blood of the Danes. On fiu^ther inquiry of 

 people in the neighbourhood, she found it universally known there by this 

 name, which is doubtless a very old local one. Several slight vai-ieties of 

 this plant occur, which are by foreign botanists described as distinct species ; 

 thus, if the plant grows on a rich soil, or is transplanted to such, it loses the 



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