A ugust Horsemint. 227 



opposite of brilliancy may be the reason why a judicious 

 artist would care for it. There is horsemint, whose pale 

 cottony leaves are very valuable as a cool gray green. 

 I* makes great masses in some places, and has much the 

 same qualities as the mullein, except as to the flowers ; 

 for whilst those of the mullein are of a fine lemon- 

 yellow, the tiny flowers of horsemint merely make a sort 

 of pale purplish gray. The flowers of common mint 

 are much more visible, and have some effect in quantity. 

 The large white umbel of the wild carrot is extremely 

 common at this season, but cannot be said to add much 

 to the beauty of foregrounds, except perhaps by giv- 

 ing a certain lightness. We must not omit that sacred 

 plant, the vervein, which the Romans used in their re- 

 ligious ceremonies, and which in war-time was carried 

 by heralds as the white flag of truce is now. The 

 Druids had a great respect for it also, and only culled 

 it after a sacrifice. This plant appears to make a great 

 fuss at starting near the ground with very big leaves, to 

 end meagrely at the top, where the twigs and flowers 

 are so thin and small. The tiny pale violet flowers are, 

 however, effective in the same way, though not to the 

 same degree, as those of the forget-me-not. Sometimes 

 they fill a ditch, for hundreds of yards, with their in- 

 numerable constellations. 



One of the most beautiful and important of all 

 aquatic plants is the amphibious polygonum. Its rosy 

 flowers stand up boldly above the surface of the water, 

 whilst its long green leaves float upon it. This is a 

 good plant to study for pictures that have a pond or a 



