BY THE WAYSIDE AND HEDGEBOWS. 113 



the bell and striking the upper part a favourite 

 pastime with schoolboys where the flower is plentiful. 

 The powerful medicine digitalis is made from this 

 plant, and occasionally villagers drink an infusion of 

 the leaves, but it is dangerous to do so. 



About midsummer, but frequently a little later, the 

 tall sturdy spikes of Aaron's Eod Mullein put 

 forth their pale yellow blossoms. The Great Mullein 

 (Ferlascum tJiapsus) is easily known. At the root the 

 large, woolly, flannelly leaves are something like those 

 of the foxglove, and the woolly material is frequently 

 used for tinder. The angular rough stem rises stiffly 

 to four or five feet high. Its flowers are yellow, and 

 the buds cling closely to the stem. The great mullein 

 frequently grows on recently cleared woodlands, and 

 sometimes makes its appearance on artificial rockwork. 

 The old name of high taper and hag taper was given to 

 this flower. The Bornans dipped the stems in tallow, 

 and burnt them at funerals ; hence its name. Probably 

 it received this name also from its use to hold the 

 taper to light the candles on the altar, for which its 

 lightness and peculiarity of structure would well fit 

 it. In the Midlands it is called Aaron's rod. Kent- 

 ish folk call the mullein flannel-flower, from its leaves, 



