xvn RIVERSIDE LETTERS 131 



picked our first winter aconite, to-day there 

 are quite a number out in the shrubbery. 

 The winter aconite, with us, is far earlier than 

 the snowdrop, and I always regard it as the 

 first flower of the new year ; its claim might, 

 however, be disputed by another plant, the 

 sweet-scented colt's-foot, or "winter helio- 

 trope " as it is sometimes called, which in 

 sheltered places puts forth pretty heart-shaped 

 leaves and a curious insignificant-looking 

 head * of bloom which has a strong and sweet 

 scent. 



The aconites, however, are far more showy 

 and spring-like in character than this colt's- 

 foot, which is somewhat of a weed in fact 

 a relation to the butter burr. Besides, the 

 colt's-foot gives in entirely at the first hard 

 frost, leaves and bloom shrivelling to a 

 blackened mass, from which it hardly ever 

 manages to get out another bloom during the 

 winter. The aconites, on the other hand, will 

 remain above the ground frozen for a week 



* Botanists call it " a racemose panicle." 



K 2 



