8 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 



stony slopes of the valleys, and Marjoram gives a rich perfume to the 

 downs in the south and elsewhere. Wood Betony lingers by the sides 

 of the pathways or out on the open heaths. Under the deep shades of 

 the hazels in early May the yellow helmets spotted with crimson of the 

 Archangel make wide patches over which bees linger lovingly. Rich- 

 scented the Wood Sage covers the rubbly flanks of the hillsides. In 

 the south the Wood Spurge hides in the undergrowth or below the 

 hedge. 



Everywhere in the shade are beds of Dog's Mercury, so common 

 in woods. Tall monarchs of the forest rise here and there in the shape 

 of the Wych Elm, Oak, Birch, and now and again the shivering 

 Aspen. Under the ash-trees the Twayblade hides, and rarely the 

 Snowdrop, Bee Orchis, Lily-of-the-Valley, and Ramsoms are found 

 amid the sylvan depths. 



Wood Anemone or Wind Flower (Anemone nemorosa, L.) 



So far this has not been found in any deposit earlier than the 

 recent. It is a plant of the Arctic and Cold Temperate Zones, found 

 in Arctic Europe generally, W. Siberia, and in North America. It is 

 general in England and Wales, except S. Lines, Mid Lanes, where it 

 is absent. It does not occur in Scotland in Sutherland, Caithness, or 

 any of the Northern Isles, but ascends in the Highlands to the height 

 of 2800 ft., and is found in Ireland. 



In the spring every wood and copse is carpeted with the dainty 

 Wind Flower, which delights the poet, the swain, and the townsman 

 alike. It prefers the sheltered flat expanses which are protected over- 

 head from the sun's heat, and at the side by clustering shrubs or 

 undergrowth. It is perhaps more fond of a dry than a wet soil, and 

 some humus; but is found alike where the Lesser Celandine and 

 Bluebell grow. In some secluded spots the woods are as white with 

 Wood Anemones as a damask sheet, just as the same sylvan depths 

 are blue in spring with the Bluebell or yellow with the Lesser 

 Celandine. They are mesophytes, adapted to a moderate supply of 

 moisture. The Wood Anemone, unlike most other plants, can flourish 

 beneath the shade in a beech wood. 



The Wood Anemone is a tuberous-rooted plant, or plant with 

 subterranean fleshy shoots or creeping underground stem, which can 

 be propagated by division of the roots which grow deep in the soil. 

 It is a tender, fragile plant, which in the shade stands erect, with 

 flowers wide open, but in the open, under a strong sun, it closes its 



