THE PURPLE AND YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE 443 



the flowers of the willow-herb being further apart. 

 In former days a decoction prepared from the 

 purple loosestrife was esteemed valuable as an 

 eyewash. 



If the purple loosestrife and the willow-herb are 

 unlike each other, a still wider difference exists 

 between the former and the yellow loosestrife, 

 though both plants are- to be found frequenting 

 similar situations. A far greater similarity exists 

 between the yellow loosestrife and the smaller 

 variety of the St. John's wort. 



Though a less imposing and smaller plant than 

 the purple loosestrife, the yellow loosestrife is 

 perhaps the more graceful and beautiful flower of 

 the two. It is, however, by no means as common 

 as the former ; it may, indeed, be regarded as one 

 of the less common of our wild-flowers. I have, 

 nevertheless, seen it growing in great profusion 

 on the banks of the river Test in Hampshire, and 

 was very regretfully forced to trample much of it 

 under foot on one occasion, the demands of a 

 fresh-run salmon admitting of no alternative. A 

 peculiarity of this plant, which may suffice for its 

 identification, is that the leaves grow amongst the 

 flowers. It blooms during July and August, and is 

 never found elsewhere but by the side of a stream. 



The lily of the valley is, unhappily, now so rarely 

 to be found in its wild state that it can hardly be 

 included in the list of ordinary British wild-flowers. 

 It is, however, still to be found growing wild in 

 some parts of the country, and some few years 



