184 LOBELIACEJB. 



Scabious, but its growth is weaker. Its anthers are united, 

 and all the florets are alike. The sepals are large. This plant 

 was gathered in the sandy lanes about Goosetery, in Cheshire. 

 The whole plant is very hairy, and flowers in July. 



The LOBELIA family comes next. They have biting qualities, 

 which in one species become poisonous. 



The Water Lobelia (Lobelia dortmanna), was sent to me 

 from the Cumberland lakes, where the roots, with their clusters 

 of leaves, grow far under water, while the delicate spikes of 

 pale blue flowers rise above the surface. 



The other species, the Acrid Lobelia (L. lirens), is peculiar 

 to this county, Devonshire. A kind friend has given me a 

 specimen from near Axminster. The flowers are sky blue, and 

 the leaves lance-shaped and serrated. This is the poisonous 

 plant ; it flowers in September. 



There are many foreign species of Lobelia of every shade of 

 blue and crimson. Many of these grow at the Cape, and some 

 are domesticated in our gardens. 



The poisonous Lobelias are succeeded by the wholesome 

 CBANBEEEY order, and my county is rich in these. They are 

 shrubby plants, with eight stamens and one style, the corolla 

 being either wheel or pitcher-shaped. How vividly the day 

 when I collected these specimens returns to my mind ! The 



weather was brilliant even for July, and we joined Mr. 's 



pupils and friends in an excursion to Brimham Rocks. These 

 wonderful masses of mountain limstone are scattered at random 

 over a high moor of great extent, some half dozen miles from 

 Harrogate. From the top of one of them York-Minster can 

 be clearly discerned, and every landmark within twenty miles 

 besides. It was a luxurious day for a botanist. The boys 

 were most obliging, their knives ready at any moment to take 

 up roots or sever branches, and any number of willing hands 

 eager to carry the basket of specimens. The older pupils were 

 even more useful, with their ready classical derivations, and 

 skilful rendering of quantities. 



