276 BOTANICAL NOTES FOR MALVERN. [September, 



investiture of the Jungermannia covers the base of rocks Tvith a 

 regal robe^ the tinting that prevails is and must be very difl'erent 

 to that where the bare syenite is merely studded with circles 

 of the white " Crab's-eye " lichen, or the irregular green patches 

 of the Lecidea geographica. So also Flowering Plants, when in 

 sufficient abundance^ present artistic features that vary according 

 to the season of the year, so that a drawing or painting ought 

 really to denote at what period the view is taken ; and when 

 photograph}'- gives colour as well as form, a view will correctly 

 denote this. As remarked in the ' Botany of the Malvern Hills,' 

 by E. Lees, F.L.S., to which in our Notes we must of necessity 

 refer as a text-book of the plants of the district, it is thus re- 

 marked : — " In summer the immense quantities of Foxglove 

 {Digitalis) give a rich pink hue to the rocky slopes they cover, 

 often mixed with the tall golden torches of the great Mullein, 

 Verbascum Thaptsus ; while in other spots a bright purple mantle 

 is created by the flowering of the wild Thyme. As autumn slowly 

 approaches, the gorsy patches sparkle most refulgently, though 

 their golden splendour is somewhat chastened by the burnt-umber 

 of the withered brakes extending far and wide, and scorched by 

 the blaze of August. In May, the Hawthorns and Mountain Ashes 

 wave on the sides of many of the ravines in milk-white purity, 

 while in autumn their pendent coral berries give another phase 

 of beauty to the inspiring and diversified scene." Much more 

 might be said on plants and flowers thus considered pictorially, 

 and the subject is so interesting and suggestive that I may pos- 

 sibly recur to it again. The latest improvements in the laying 

 out of flower-gardens and ornamental grounds have now re- 

 ference to colour, and thus whole parterres of the same flower 

 placed together are now brought to display spreads of crimson, 

 lilac, azure, or gold, contrasting or combining in the most al- 

 luring manner. For a natural display of this kind we again 

 commend a sight of the beds of wild lemon-tiuted Daffodils in 

 Eastnor Park, which, once seen, will long live in the memory. 



I must now advance to the Vernal Flora, which is beginning to 

 unfold in all its varied lustre, notwithstanding that cold winds 

 will blow, and that what country people call "blackthorn 

 weather" is sure to annoy the explorer about the time that the 

 Sloe or Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, comes into flower, and 

 " that is now," as the song testifies. 



