BY THE BIVER AND THE STREAMLET. 187 



with cream-colour, at other times with the most 

 delicate pink, and at others they are like the snow. 

 Poets have sung the praise of its " chalice of silver 

 bright," and it is a favourite flower with both gentle 

 and simple. 



The fragile-looking, white, three-petalled flowers of 

 the Frogbit (Hydrochams morsus ranee) peep up from 

 amidst their kidney-shaped and somewhat bronzed 

 leaves, which elbow the bigger leaves of the water lily 

 so unceremoniously, and sometimes cover a pond al- 

 most entirely. This plant is common in the Midlands, 

 but is by no means evenly distributed. Another three- 

 petalled flower, which rises out of a two-leaved sheath 

 on a thick stalk, is the aloe-looking Water Soldier 

 (Stratiotes aloides). This handsome plant is, however, 

 rare, and is almost confined to the fens. Neither 

 ought we to overlook the more common but hand- 

 some Flowering Hush (JButomus umlellatus). Its 

 clusters of piuk three-petalled flowers stand out like 

 a lady's bouquet, each flower on a separate stem far 

 above the surface of the water. Its sharp, irregular 

 foliage is the source of many a cut finger and lace- 

 rated wound. 



Surrounding the flowering rush is the singular- 



