OBSERVATIONS ON WILD FLOWEttS. 



the old tree to produce such extraordinary fine specimens of bloom 

 this season ; dry hot weather and plenty of water is what the tree 



delights in. 



June 6, 1842. 



ARTICLE V. 



OBSERVATIONS ON WILD FLOWERS. 



BX A FRIEND. 



Flowers, of all the works of the Almighty Creator, are the sweetest ; 

 they are all most beautiful. Cold and insensible indeed must be the 

 heart that loves them not. But it is the wild flowers of the hedge 

 and the field that I would make a few observations on. Those plants 

 indigenous to Great Britain are a most interesting race, a few species 

 of which have come under cultivation, and seldom have they failed 

 to produce new beauties for the admirers of Flora. There is the little 

 Bellis perennis, parent of many pretty varieties, and still capable of 

 further improvement. And the Viola tricolor, with its endless 

 attractive genus ; the Pansy alone has made many a florist rejoice 

 to see his little seedling expand and discover to him a variety distinct 

 from any others. And the parents of these are not more elegant than 

 many other species yet unknown ; for though the botanist may have 

 them recorded, and may possess specimens of them, yet until the 

 florist renders them domesticated, their real nature and quality are 

 virtually unknown. Search, then, the forest and the field, for I am 

 persuaded with the poet, that 



'< Many a Bower is born to blush unseen, 

 And waste its fragrance on the desert air"— 



for even entirely new species may be found ; but those already known 

 would suffice, and many of them, under attentive management, might 

 bid fair to rival even the Pansy in the floral world : and it is a matter 

 of great congratulation that many societies are endeavouring to pro- 

 mote the discovery of new species, by awarding premiums for collec- 

 tions, single specimens, &c. If they were likewise to encourage the 

 cultivation of known species merely for the production of new 

 varieties, or with a view of getting some given species in the highest 

 state of perfection, they would be serving equally the purpose for 

 which such societies are established. And even should an amateur 



