BRITISH PLANTS. 165 



blue flowers, " greeting us at an early season of tlie year, and hence 

 rendering the plant a general favourite." It is a perennial, and 

 flowers tlirougliout May and June, and grows abundantlj^ on hedge- 

 banks and by waysides. Little clumps of this in the herbaceous border 

 Avill look beautiful. Plant it in pretty strong, not sandy soil. Beds 

 of it have been recommended as very ornamental, and no doubt they 

 would be so. It is of very easy cultivation, requiring no peculiar 

 treatment. 



P'uPHKASiA OFFICINALIS, or Commoii Eye-brigJit. A lovely annual, 

 abundant in moory and heathy places, and producing a profusion of 

 showy blossoms, white, streaked with purple. It flowers in July, and 

 should be sown in early spring in peaty soil, Milton celebrates this 

 plant as that employed by tlie archangel Michael to remove the film 

 from the eyes of our first parent, which was caused by his eating of the 

 forbidden fruit. These are Milton's words : — 



" Then purged with Euphrasy and Rue 

 The visual nerve, for he haa much to see." 



It is, even in the present day, much used by country people in diseases 

 of the eye. 



RiiiNANTHUS CRiSTA-GALLi, or Common Yelloio Rattle. A very 

 showy tall growing plant, abundant in pastures, by road-sides, old 

 ■walls, and other situations. It is an annual, and flowers in June. The 

 seeds should be sown early in spring, and perhaps would be better if 

 sown in the autumn. Indifferent soil will suit tliis plant ; but give it a 

 somewhat dry situation. 



Melampyrum arvense, or Purjile Cow-wheat. This is a very 

 handsome plant, the flowers being of bright and varied colours ; yellow, 

 purple, rose colour, and green, all in the same flower. It is an annual, 

 flowering in July, and really deserves cultivation. Sow the seeds 

 towards tlie end of April. Give it a dry sandy border, with a warm 

 exposure. It is not a common plant in Britain, and grows principally 

 in corn-fields, and dry gravelly places in Norfolk and about Norwich. 



Digitalis purpurea, or Purple Foxglove, is a very handsome 

 flower ; indeed, " the most stately and beautiful of our herbaceous 

 plants." Throughout the months of June and July it produces its 

 long and stately spikes of dropping purple (more rarely white) flowers. 

 The white variety is not of unusual occurrence in gardens, and the 

 purple one is beginning to be cultivated a good deal. It is common in 

 dry hilly places, but '-almost unknown in the more eastern parts of 

 England, such as Norfolk and Suffolk." 



Linaria cymbalaria, or Ivy-leaved Toad Flax. This is com- 

 monly cultivated in gardens ; but is more suitable for rockworks than 

 for the herbaceous border. It is of very easy cultivation, and is in 

 some gardens a troublesome weed. The fine spikes of yellow flowers 

 are very handsome, 



Verbascum tiiapsus, or Great Mtdlein. A very tall-growing 

 handsome biennial, flowering in July and August. It is frequent on 

 dry gravelly banks and old walls, «fec. Tlie flowers are produced in a 

 long spike, four or five, sometimes six feet higii, and are of a golden 

 yellow colour. This plant should be treated in every way similar to 



