BY THE RIVER SIDE 



315 



without, but much paler inside. This plant flowers from July to 

 September. 



On the banks of streams and ditches we may often meet with 

 tlie Comfrey {Symphytum offLcinale) — a coarse and rough but pretty 

 plant belonging to 

 the Boraginacece. It 

 has a stout, branch- 

 ing stem, two or 

 three feet high ; 

 and the stem -leaves 

 extend downward 

 on its surface form- 

 ing wing-like ridges. 

 The lower leaves 

 are stalked, broader 

 than the upper 

 ones, generally 

 from six to eight 

 inches long ; and 

 all the leaves are 

 rough with bristly 

 hairs. The flowers 

 are of a yellowish 

 white or, some- 

 times, of a purple 

 colour, and are 

 arranged in forked, 

 drooping, one- 

 sided racemes. The 

 calyx is deeply cleft 

 into five lobes ; and 

 the corolla consists 

 of a tubular por- 

 tion, the top of 

 which is closed by 



five narrow, fringed scales ; and, above this, a wider bell-shaped 

 part, of about the same length, with five small, reflexed teeth. 

 This plant blooms during May and June. 



The Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris), of the order 

 Primnlacece, is a beautiful river-side plant, common in most parts, 

 flowering during July and August. Its stem is stout, erect, branched, 



The Coiniox skull-cap. 



