110 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



day not uncommon in the nurseries about the metropolis. 

 What the degree of variegation was he does not inform us, 

 or whether it consisted of a mottling of the leaves or a 

 change in the colour of the flowers ; but the whole habit of 

 the plant is so spare, and the flowers so minute in proportion 

 to the plant as a whole, that any possible modification could 

 scarcely hold its own amongst gayer plants, and the 

 necessity of planting it in a very moist soil would tell still 

 further against its general usefulness as a plant of the 

 flower-border. Even in a wild state the dull dark purple of 

 the flowers is sometimes changed into white, a modification 

 that almost all red or purple flowers are subject to, as we 

 may see in the bugle, hyacinth, meadow crane's-bill, and 

 many other plants. Cattle do not seem to care for the 

 plant, and its leaves have a decidedly disagreeable smell 

 when bruised ; but the bees are very partial to its sombre 

 flowers, and the larva? of some few species of moths feed on 

 its foliage a proceeding that tends possibly to its utility in 

 the grand scheme of Nature, but which certainly does not 

 add to its beauty. We almost invariably find the leaves 

 more or less eaten by these caterpillars. 



The root of the water fig-wort is perennial, and 

 throws out numerous large fibres. The plant varies 

 much in size, but a height of five feet would be a fairly 

 typical measurement, though at times we find the plants 

 more nearly approaching eight. The general character of the 

 stem is distinctly upright, though from the rigid straight 

 line of the main stem smaller lateral branches are thrown 

 out. In texture the stem is smooth, a feature observable 

 in most water plants, and when cut across the section, 

 is seen to be four-sided, the angles being strongly developed. 

 The stems are often more or less strongly reddish-purple in 



