162 THE FLORAL WOULD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



many parts of Ireland cultivated for that purpose. The moist places 

 the Conifrey inhabits are the homes of two of the Forget-me-nots, 

 which are also alliances of the Borage. The true Forget-me-not is 

 the Water Scorpion Grass, Myosotis palustris, a robust leafy plant 

 which fringes the sluggish river, and frequently chokes up the 

 smaller streams, for which it abundantly compensates by the beauty 

 and plentifulness of its pale blue llowers, which are as like tur- 

 quoises as any flowers can be. There are a few other species of 

 myosotis natives of Britain, not all of them water plants, for some 

 inhabit mountainous regions, and others haunt the woods and the 

 fields. The Creeping Scorpion Grass, M. repens, though ranked as 

 a species, is only a poor variety of the last, met with in sour bogs. 

 The Tufted Scorpion Grass, M. ccespitosa, is not tufted, but crowded 

 in its growth. It very closely resembles in leaves and flowers M. 

 repens, and, indeed, is but a variety of M. palustris. The Upright 

 Wood Scorpion Grass, M. sylvatica, is distinct and beautiful, most 

 beautiful, with obloug leaves and large handsome blue flowers. It 

 is scarce, but may be looked for in dry shady places. The Rock 

 Scorpion Grass, M. alpestris, is an Alpine form of the last, with 

 smaller flowers. The early Field Scorpion Grass, M. collina, is a 

 tiny thing, growing on walls and roofs. It has one distinguishing 

 quality, that the flower buds are never pink as in other kinds. The 

 Common Field Scorpion Grass, M. arvensis resembles sylvatica, 

 especially when growing in the shade, but is never quite its equal in 

 beauty. The Yellow and Blue Scorpion Grass, M. versicolor, 

 is the most distinct of all, for the simple reason [that its flowers 

 vary from bright yellow to bright pink and bright blue. It is a 

 sweet little thing, by no means rare, and to be looked for in dry as 

 well as in moist places. The Alkanets and the Bugloss, which also 

 belong to the Borage family, may be better studied in the garden 

 than in the field, and it will be a poor garden that does not contain 

 some of them. 



Having returned to water scenes we may expect to find the 

 Buckbean, Menyanthes trifoliata, a splendid aquatic, with noble 

 br ght green leaves and elegant pink flowers, which are charmingly 

 fringed. As for the Lilies, we have but three, one of which is 

 doubtful. The Great White Water Lily is Nymphcea alba of the 

 botanists ; the Yellow Water Lily is Nupliar lutea. If anywhere in 

 our watery wanderings we should light upon a bog, we might find 

 the two-flowered Linnsca, Linncea borealis, which Linnaeus adopted as 

 a crest for his coat of arms, and which, in his own fanciful way and 

 in remembrance of his early struggles, he considered as especially an 

 emblem of himself, " a little northern plant, flowering early, de- 

 pressed, abject, and long overlooked." 



It would be strange if in a June ramble we did not somewhere 

 meet with the Honeysuckle, and it would be fortunate to find the 

 two-flowered Linnasa on the same day, for they both belong to the 

 same natural order, and Woodbine tribe. In this order are grouped 

 the Elder and Guelde Rose, in addition to the Linnasa and the 

 Honeysuckle, plants that differ immensely in their habits and 

 attractions. In all of them the corolla is in one piece (monopeta- 



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