454 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



The flowers, which are white before they are 

 fully expanded, turn to a lavender-blue colour 

 when matured, this transition being attributed 

 to the action of the acid contained in the plant. 

 The succory (supposed by some writers to be the 

 horehound referred to in the Bible) is said to 

 have been one of the five different herbs which 

 the Jews were permitted to eat at the Pass- 

 over. 



The speedwell or common veronica is one of 

 the most frequent of our garden weeds ; it is often 

 found growing side by side and entwined with 

 the pimpernel. Unobtrusive as is its small blue 

 flower, it is none the less not without its share of 

 comeliness. It may be said that, although the 

 removal of these two lowly little plants from our 

 gardens is urgently necessary, the necessity is 

 nevertheless somewhat grudgingly admitted, by 

 reason of the beauty of their flowers. The speed- 

 well was at one time used as a substitute for tea, 

 and was believed to possess tonic properties. It 

 may be said to flourish in every locality, and in 

 any description of soil. 



The snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus] is also 

 known in various districts by various names, such 

 as toad's-mouth, rabbit's-mouth, etc. It is a plant 

 which flourishes nearly everywhere, where there 

 are old or ruined walls, to which it frequently 

 attaches itself. Thrusting its coots into the 

 crevices, or bravely flaunting itself on the very 

 topmost ridge amid the crumbling mortar of the 



