BY TIIE IUYEK AND STREAMLET. 97 



crowd round the stem. But these, though flowering 

 plants, and curious and useful in their way, are not 

 usually ranked as old English wildflowers. 



Not so the "White Eot (Hydrocotyle vulgaris), with 

 its roundish lobed leaves, for it sends its pinkish 

 flowers upwards in the month of May, while the leaves 

 loll on the water in shallow places, or even where 

 there is a slight pool on the marshy ground. As it 

 marks the place where the sheep are afflicted with 

 foot-rot, its name is obvious, though at one time the 

 plant was supposed to cause the rot in sheep. 



Under the old name of Passions, the common 

 Bistort (folygonum listorta), or Snakeweed, is yet 

 known in many country places. Its leaves were long 

 looked upon as the source of safety from infectious 

 fevers, for marvellous virtues were attributed to a 

 decoction made from them. The base leaves are 

 somewhat heart-shaped, but like most of the species 

 they become more egg-shaped as they rise up the 

 stem, which is about a foot high, and bears a long 

 spike of small pink-coloured flowers. Modern science 

 is silent as to the genuine virtue of the plant. Ere it 

 has ceased flowering the spring days are merging into 

 summer, and the river-sides are bursting into glory. 



7 



