168 WILD FLOWEBS OF SUMMEE. 



and oblong hairy leaves. Its flowers are in button- 

 like heads of a purplish-blue colour on a nearly simple 

 stem. Its singular name was given it under the belief 

 that " the divell, for the envie that he beareth to man- 

 kind, bit it off, because it would be otherwise good for 

 many uses." Now, at all events, the flower is more 

 beautiful than useful. The Smaller Scabious (Scabiosa 

 columbaria) is not so common in the middle and 

 northern districts as the preceding. Its leaves are cut 

 into segments like the knapweeds, and grow on the 

 stem. Its five cleft flowers are of a purplish-lilac hue. 

 It is frequently mistaken for the field knautia, which 

 is a much larger plant, and whose outer florets form a 

 ray round the flower. In the small scabious the long 

 narrow leaves of the involucre extend beyond the 

 flower. 



Where the pasture is dry, or on the banks by the 

 meadow-side, the old English Clary or Sage (Salvia 

 verlenaca) grows. Its wrinkled ovate leaves have a 

 fragrant odour. Its purple flowers scarcely emerge 

 from the calyx, which grows in whorls round the square 

 stem. It has always occupied a prominent place in 

 English cookery. It is fried in pancakes, mixed with 

 curd and made into cheese, or eaten on bread and 



