THE STORY OF THE WILD FLOWEBS. 5 



the ruins of our old abbeys, where they were once 

 loved and cultured by the old monks, who were not 

 only the first " cullers of simples," but were our first 

 gardeners and admirers of floral beauty. The sheltered 

 dingle and the bleak hill-side are equally frequented 

 by special flowers, which are found nowhere else. On 

 the other hand, some plants, like the common groundsel 

 and plantain, are nearly universal, and follow man in 

 all his wanderings. I would clear the pathway which 

 leads to the intimate knowledge of these wild children 

 of Nature from thorny technicalities, and as the stu- 

 dent's guide and friend point out some of their hidden 

 beauties. As we journey along, the way will be found 

 increasingly interesting. "We shall unveil many a 

 mystery, and bring to light not only much of the old 

 life of the people who named and loved these flowers 

 to whom their uses were indeed " household woius,"" 

 but we shall find the plant itself, from the moment it 

 thrusts forth its tender rootlet through the seed-shell 

 into the earth, until it casts its matured seed forth 

 again, to go wherever "the wind listeth," full of 

 wonder and delight. 



" Such delight I found 

 To note in shrub and tree, in stone and flower, 



