BY THE HEDGEROWS AND WAYSIDE. 211 



cataria) is another common plant: its flowers are 

 white, tinged and spotted with rose-colour. Boys 

 seldom forget to tease cats with it, and the cats seem 

 to be amazingly fond of the plant ; but its strong smell 

 does not render it a favourite with posy gatherers. 



One of the gayest of the autumn hedgerow plants 

 is the " butter-and-eggs " of the country folk the 

 Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vutyaris) : its tall stem, 

 crowded with narrow slender leaves of a greyish- 

 green hue, is surmounted by a loose terminal spike 

 of handsome yellow flowers, each flower of which has 

 a large orange spot. The juice of the toadflax is 

 expressed, and when mixed with milk is sometimes 

 used as a cosmetic, and at others to attract flies : it 

 frequently occurs in the neighbourhood of old monas- 

 teries, and appears to have been cultivated by the old 

 monks as a garden flower. 



The Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a fre- 

 quent companion of the toadflax if the ground is 

 Bufliciently moist. It is a common plant, often culti- 

 vated in cottage gardens for the sake of its aromatic 

 feathery leaf, which is frequently used in cooking. 

 Its flowers are small yellow buttons, of no great 

 beauty. In Ireland the flavour of the tansy is much 



142 



