100 



ON THE CLIFFS AND BY THE SEA- SIDE. 



TN many a sheltered nook and cranny the spring 

 " wild flower will be found in bloom. Others will 

 be found braving the bold sea wind, where 



" the murmuring surge 

 On the unnumbered idle pebbles chafes," 



or flaunt their beauties on the dizzy cliffs. Many of 

 the types of our garden vegetables are natives of the 

 sea-shore, and amongst the earliest wild flowers in 

 bloom are the yellow cross-shaped flowers of the Wild 

 Cabbage (Brassica oleracea), which stud the cliffs with 

 their thick large lobed leaves, which though of a pale 

 glaucous green now, in autumn turn to a brimstone or 

 purple hue. As late as September some of the flowers 

 will be found lingering on the tall stem. The leaves, 

 though undoubtedly the parent of our garden variety, 

 are bitter. The cultivated cabbage was introduced by 

 the Eomans, and the plant is remarkable for the num- 

 ber of variations it assumes under cultivation ; and in 

 tins it almost stands alone in the vegetable kingdom. 



