4 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



flowering stems, which were as many as nine in number, 

 bore but one bud each. This probably arises from a 

 starved condition of things, as in such a case the leaves 

 also are but small, and the whole plant seems in but a 

 feeble state of development. The flowers are of the form 

 known as campanulate, or bell-shaped, though they are 

 by no means so characteristically bell-like as the well- 

 known blossom of the hare-bell and several other equally 

 familiar species. The blossoms vary a great deal in 

 colour; in some plants they are almost entirely white, 

 while in others the normal delicate pink becomes inten- 

 sified almost to crimson. As these variations of colour 

 may readily be noticed as occurring in the plants covering 

 a very limited area of ground, it becomes difficult to 

 account at all satisfactorily for so great a difference in 

 plants that apparently are all under the same conditions 

 of growth. The plant is a perennial. It generally begins 

 flowering about the first week in June, after which date 

 it may be found in blossom throughout the summer and 

 autumn months. 



