CROSS-LEAVED HEATH. 27 



seems evident enough when stated in so many words, but 

 we have before now found that it has not occurred to 

 everybody. People sometimes think that if a certain 

 plant does well under the hard conditions of its natural 

 growth, springing from a barren soil on the dusty road- 

 side, amidst the chinks of an old wall, or swept on the 

 moorland by all the drenching rain and the strong gusts 

 and breezes that gather their force on the bare expanse, 

 that of necessity it will do still better if removed to their 

 snugly walled-in garden, and planted in a far richer soil. 

 Experience, however, to say nothing of common sense, 

 does not confirm their view. In our remarks on the ling, 

 we refer to the fact that much of the ground on which 

 heath grows so freely, and which seems so utterly waste, 

 is really well adapted to the purposes of the woodman. 



The cross-leaved heath is ordinarily a smaller plant 

 than either of the other two common species, and is often 

 rather overshadowed by them. The stalks are shrubby, and 

 from nine inches to a foot high. As the plant develops, the 

 lower leaves fall away a good deal, but the points to which 

 they were attached remain easily visible, and give a roughened 

 character to the stem. The leaves grow in fours on the stem, 

 a fact that is duly illustrated in its title, the cross-leaved 

 heath. The upper leaves are often gathered up so as nearly to 

 touch the stem, while the lower ones stand sharply out at 

 right angles from it. Each leaf has a fringing of soft, stiff 

 hairs ; these give a marked character to the foliage, though 

 they vary in degrees of development, and are sometimes, 

 though rarely, entirely absent. The flowers are ordinarily 

 somewhat larger than those of the fine-leaved heath, and 

 are always clustered together at the tops of the branches ; 

 all the flowers in one cluster turn in the same direction. 



