IN THE WOODLANDS. 



** And now the wood engirds me, and the tall stem* 

 Of birch and beech tree hemming me around 

 Like pillars of some natural temple vast." 



A S we pass along the embosomed lane, and turn 

 into the woodland, we shall hear the redbreast 

 and the blackbird singing their welcome to spring, and 

 find here and there an early fiower in March. First 

 on some sheltered spot the flower of the wind, Vherle 

 au vent, as the French still call the Wood Anemone 

 (Anemone nemorosa), with its three-lobed elegant 

 leaves stained with crimson on its slender stem. The 



" Dew-cup of the frail anemone " 



ia white, and frequently has a tinge of purple beneath 

 its golden stamens. Cattle will not eat its poisonous 

 but seductive flowers ; which, when bruised, will raise 

 a blister on the skin. It has been used for similar 

 purposes as the Spanish fly is now applied to. The 

 Pasque Flower (Anemone pulsatilla) has large flowers 

 of a dull blue colour, but is not so common. Its name 

 shows its season of bloom. 



