290 LILIACE.E. 



bourhood. The young buds were formerly sold as pot-herbs 

 in the Bath market ; it is very abundant in that district. The 

 plants sent to me were upwards of a foot high, and the flowers 

 were thickly set upon the stem for half its length. The petals 

 have a cream- coloured hue, and are tipped with green ; they 

 are narrower than in the other species, and the flowers smaller. 

 The general expression of the spike reminds one of a Butterfly 

 Orchis. It blooms in June and July. 



The Yellow Star of Bethlehem (O. liiteum), grows in fields 

 off Wicliffe Lane, near Bipon. It is a smaller plant than any 

 of its brethren, and has a pair of leaves set on with its flower- 

 cluster as well as from the root. But few flowers grow in each 

 cluster ; they are yellow within and green on the outside. This 

 species flowers earlier than its companions. We used to gather 

 it when seeking for Sweet Violets in April. 



Of the Garlic family we have very few species. 



The Great Hound-headed Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum), 

 grows on the Steep Holmes. The Sand and Mountain Garlics 

 (A. arenarium and A. carinatum), I have never seen ; these 

 three species have flat leaves. 



The Streaked Field Garlic, and the Crow Garlic (A. oleraceum 

 and A. vineale), have roundish leaves ; the latter I have found 

 both at Clevedon and near Warminster. It has a round head 

 often bearing bulbs as well as flowers ; and, in common with all 

 those species I have named, it has one or two long leaves upon 

 its tall stem (A. vineale, Plate XVI., jig. 10). 



The Broad-leaved Garlic (A. ursinum), is by far the prettiest 

 member of the family. Its flowers are white, very much resem- 

 bling a Star of Bethlehem, and they grow in an umbel. I have 

 seen people, unaccustomed to wild flowers, spring upon it with 

 great delight and gather a handful of its blooms, praising their 

 beauty all the while ; but then comes the recoil the Garlic 

 scent is overpowering, and everything that touches the plant 

 is strongly perfumed by it. A friend of mine who, though 

 delicate in health, is perfectly free from any affectation, and is 



