8 ENftLISH WILD FLOWERS. 



palmetto), is eaten in many parts of Ireland and Scot 

 land, and its purple ribbons are hawked about th 

 streets. The laver is a preparation of the common 

 Porphyra, and is sold in Ireland under the name of 

 sloiccaun ; but its taste and appearance is so peculiar 

 as to be an object of disgust to many, though consi- 

 dered a great delicacy by others. The green laver 

 ( Viva latissima) is not considered equal to the purple 

 variety. 



AVe find, too, along the sea-shore, as in our hedge- 

 rows, many an inmate of our gardens and well-known 

 vegetable. The Lilyworts furnish us the oldest and 

 most delicate of our culinary vegetables, Asparagus 

 officinalis, which grows plentifully in several places 

 near the sea. The isle of Portland, and JTynance 

 Cove, near the Lizard in Cornwall, are noted localities. 

 This vegetable was known to the Eomans, and is men- 

 tioned by Pliny. Another variety of lily wort is sold 

 at Bath, under the name of Prussian asparagus. This 

 plant (Ornitkoffalwn pyrenaicum) grows plentifully in 

 the neighbourhood of the city of Aquae Soils, but it is 

 doubtful if it is indigenous. The same doubt hangs 

 over Spinach (Spinacia oleracea), though it has been 

 cultivated for more than three hundred years in this 



