BRITISH PLANTS. 159 



rosy rays of the rising sun. Insects sliine above the stream, dew-drops 

 glitter in the herbage, and the soft flower-scented zephyr steals among 

 the leaves of the little alpine flowers, and turns up their clear shining 

 silvery sides to dazzle tlie eye of the beholder. Scenes of this kind, 

 wooers of nature ivuow, and can fully admire. The Alchemilla is 

 one of tiie best suited plants for rock-works that we have, and we 

 would warmly recommend it for the ornamenting of such. 



PoTKXTiLLA VERNA, Or Spring Chiquefoil. Tiiis is an exceedinly 

 beautiful and showy little plant for its size, and has the additional 

 recommendations to the florist's attention of being of neat habit, a free 

 bloomer, and of veiy easy cultivation. It is a very dwarf creeping 

 plant, with large and beautiful yellow blossoms, which appear in May, 

 and continue througiiout the greater part of the summer. It grows in 

 old dry pastures, and chooses a warm sunny spot wherein to pitch its 

 tent. It will grow well enough in any garden soil, and in any situa- 

 tion ; but it should have a dry sunny border, and poor soil, for if 

 planted in rich soil, and in the shade, it grows too luxuriant for flower- 

 ing profusely. A year or two ago an anonymous correspondent of the 

 " Gardener's Chronicle " recommended this Potentilla as a good plant 

 for edging to flower-garden borders and figures. As seen growing 

 wild it might seem to be well suited for tiiis purpose ; but when culti- 

 vated it grows much more luxuriant, and spreads too fast by its 

 creeping scions to be available as an edging. However in very poor 

 sandy soils with a warm sunny exposure it may do well enough, if re- 

 newed every year, and kept cut well in at the edges by the spade 

 throughout the season. As a rock-plant it is everything that could be 

 wished. It may be removed at any season if carefully treated. AVhere 

 the soil of the garden is not sandy nor gravelly, abundance of sand 

 should be given at the roots of the plants when planted. 



Potentilla anserina. Silver-weed, or Sweet Cinquefoil. The 

 flower of this species resembles the last ; but it is a very different plant 

 in habit and general appearance. The leaves are very sickly and large, 

 and tiie stems are creeping, and creep very extensively, like the straw- 

 berry. It is a common plant, growing by waysides abundantly, and in 

 the summer the shoots may sometimes be seen stretching wholly across 

 hard beaten footpaths. It begins to flower in May, and continues 

 tiiroughout the summer; its flowers are large, of a bright yellow, and 

 scent like the Hawtiiorn. It will grow well in any soil or situation ; 

 we find it growing wild and flowering profusely in all sorts of soils and 

 situations ; by the dry and hard beaten footpath, along the sunny bank, 

 and in the shaded ditch, where it is associated with the Horse-tails 

 and other marsh-loving plants. However it is always most beautiful 

 in a dry, sunny situation ; its leaves are neater and more silvery, and 

 its flowers more numerous. 



EriLOBiuM HIKSUT0M, OF Great Hairy fVUloto Herb. This is a 

 tall growing showy plant, having large rose-coloured blossoms, which 

 appear in July and August. It is a perennial creeping- rooted plant, 

 and grows by the margins of streams, lakes, and ditches, and is frequent 

 throughout Great Britain and Ireland. This plant should be located 

 iti a shady situation, and, if possible, in a wet soil. It loves moisture, 

 and may do well at the bottom of a north wall, or behind bushy trees. 



