28 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



t: There is in this couutrie two kinds of heathe, one of 

 which beareth his floures alongst the stemmes and is called 

 long heathe; the other bearing- his floures in tutteys, or 

 tuftes, at' the toppes of the branches, the whiche is called 

 smal heath/' Both Ray and Parkinson call the plant 

 the low Dutch heath ; why this should be we cannot at 

 all explain, as there have never been any doubts thrown on 

 the claim of the cross-leaved heath to be considered an 

 indigenous British plant. They also call it the broom, or 

 besom heath, a name very applicable to its sister species, 

 but not so appropriate to the present plant. We might 

 at first imagine that some error as to the particular kind 

 had crept in, but Parkinson's description of "the small 

 greene leaves somewhat having foure together/' and of the 

 flowers " five or sixe together at the toppes of the branches, 

 of a pale purplish coloure/' leaves us in no doubt that the 

 species referred to is identical with the one we here figure. 

 The cross-leaved heath is the badge of clan Macdonald, as 

 the ling is of the Macdonnells. The third common species, 

 the fine-leaved heath, the gayest and most attractive of 

 them all, is the badge of the MacAlisters. 



