WHERE TO FIND THEM. 385 



riety, which is a perfect gem of beauty; the double 

 blue is very common in England, and is very desirable ; 

 the double white is very rare in England, if, indeed, it 

 be not lost from cultivation. 



Next, as the spring advances, we find the dry hills 

 and pastures covered with the common Mouse-ear (Gna- 

 phalium plantagineuni). It is a plant of little beauty to 

 the naked eye (though it develops finely under the mi- 

 croscope), exhaling a rich spring fragrance. At seasons 

 when flowers are more plentiful it would be passed by 

 unnoticed, but in spring it is cherished as an added 

 promise of sunny days. 



The barren and fertile florets are on separate plants ; 

 the former are white, with revolute segments and brown 

 anthers ; the latter are cylindrical. 



The warm sun soon calls out, on the dry, rocky hills, 

 the early Saxifrage (Saxifraga vernalis). The flowers are 

 white, crowded, arranged- in corymbed panicles, and ex- 

 hale a pleasant fragrance. 



The leaves are radical, spreading upon the ground, 

 producing the flower-stalk or stalks from the centre. It 

 is a pretty flower, a favorite of children, and we always 

 welcome its advent. 

 33 



