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gin's bower' and ' Traveller's joy.' It is the seed of the latter plant, 

 with its silky bunches (so well known to children by the name of • Old 

 man's beard '), which so conspicuously decorates our hedges in the 

 winter ; together with the scarlet berries of the holly, and the bright 

 pink of those of the Euonymus or spindle tree, with their curious tri- 

 partite markings. Our chalky banks are richly hung with the fra- 

 grant wild thyme, and studded with the frail yellow blossoms of the 

 cistus, and the crimson tassels of the burnet. Our fields abound with 

 the lovely scarlet pheasant's eye, the watchful pimpernel, closing her 

 flowers before rain and when the sun hides his face, the flaunting 

 poppy, the cheerful blue-bottle, and the henbit [Lamium amplexi- 

 catile), curious from the fact that the flowers it bears in spring are 

 very dissimilar from its summer and autumn blossoms. The buds of 

 this flower are of a beautiful carmine. The pure white blossoms and 

 red stems of the Saxifraga granulata ornament our dry pastures, and 

 the rarer species of golden saxifrage is found in a brook in one of the 

 Cornard lanes. A plant of it is now in bloom amongst some rock- 

 work in my garden. The lily of the valley also occurs in our woods. 

 Tts bells of rich perfume are embosomed in its broad, dark green leaf, 

 which contrasts finely with their snowy whiteness. From our youth 

 upwards, what pleasing associations have we connected with the name 

 of this sweet flower. It seems the embodiment of retiring loveliness, 

 and of gentle and modest worth. 



" This neighbourhood is rather rich in those beautiful orchises pe- 

 culiar to a chalky soil. We have the bee orchis, that treasure to a 

 young botanist ! the butterfly orchis, and the green-veined meadow 

 one. The fly orchis, which bears a singularly close resemblance to 

 the insect after which it is named, is also said to occur here. The 

 pyramidal orchis is sometimes found on the dry banks, and the broad- 

 leaved in the damp meadows near the town. We have also, I believe, 

 as a rarity, the rich clove-scented orchis in pastures near Buhner. 



" A relation of mine, anxious for a specimen of the first-mentioned 

 of these curious flowers, requested a friend of his, not a botanist, to 

 procure him a bee orchis from a spot where it was known to grow. 

 This gentleman searched well and long, and at last thought that be- 

 yond all question he had found one, and took out his knife to secure 

 the prize ; when lo ! away Jlew the bee. Of course he was not pre- 

 viously acquainted with the flower, or he would hardly have made 

 such a mistake. Still, at a little distance the lower lip of the flower 

 does resemble the body of a bee engaged in rifling the interior of the 

 blossom, where its head may be supposed to be concealed. 



