43 



CHAPTEE IV. 



EESEDACE^E CISTACE^E YIOLlCE^ DEOSEElCE^ 

 POLYGALiCE^; TAMABIClCE^ 

 CAEYOPHYLLiCE^J. 



" Now the heart is so full that a drop o'erfills it, 

 Now we are happy because God wills it. 

 We sit in the warm shade and see right well 

 How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell ; 

 We may shut our eyes, but we cannot help knowing 

 That skies are clear and grass is growing. 

 Everything is happy now, 

 Everything is upward striving ; 

 'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true 

 v As for grass to be green and skies to be blue, 

 'Tis the natural way of living." 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 



CERTAINLY the influence of fine spring weather and of the 

 beauty of spring flowers and foliage tends to produce cheerful- 

 ness and good humour ; and when to these genial influences 

 is added that which forms the mainspring of all the recog- 

 nition of the Creator in creation, and of His constant love and 

 care, then the heart overflows with gladness and the " trees of 

 the field" seem to " clap their hands." 



The DYER'S WEEDS come next in our arrangement of Thala- 

 miflorals. They are shrubby plants, with tough stems and long 

 spikes of small flowers. A many-parted calyx, torn petals, 

 and sessile stigmas are the distinctive features of the Socket, 

 or Dyer's Weed family. 



The Common Dyer's Weed, Eocket, or Weld (Eeseda luteola, 

 Plate IV., fig. 1), is found commonly on waste chalky or lime- 

 stone ground. Its leaves are bright glossy green and lance- 

 shaped, its flowers greenish, and its tall spikes very narrow. 

 This plant is much used for dyeing in France. The coloured 



