THE CHEQUERED DAFFODIL 327 



on the Cornish coast, and found the turf at the 

 foot of the rocks jewelled with the first vernal 

 squills! And what a thrill of joy in Scotland one 

 June, when coming to a narrow green valley 

 between high rocks and woods I had my first 

 sight of the exquisite grass of Parnassus flowering 

 in profusion! 



One day, cycling from Salisbury to Winter- 

 bourne Gunner, I found a pretty red flower new to 

 me growing by the roadside in great abundance; 

 for a distance of three or four hundred yards the 

 hedge-side was thickly sprinkled with its lovely 

 little stars. It was a geranium, prettier than any 

 red geranium known to me, the delicate colour 

 resembling that of the red horse-chestnut. It was 

 the Geranium pyrenaicum, native of central and 

 eastern Europe, and by some botanists supposed to 

 be indigenous in this country. Probably the colour 

 varies, as some of the books describe it as purple or 

 pale purple. 



My delight was greater when I first came upon 

 the large blue geranium growing among the South 

 Wiltshire downs. The large loose plant with large 

 flowers and deep-cut leaves reminded me of the 

 geranium - leafed scented mallow, one of my 

 favourites, and these two plants became associated 

 in my mind, but the mallow is rosy pink and the 

 geranium a pure divine (or human) blue. 



One of the rarest, and to my mind one of the 

 most beautiful, flowers in England is the bastard 

 balm; I have never found it but once, and it was 



