20 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



and records plants seen in the quaintest places, such as 

 the water-radish, which he says grew " in the joints or 

 chincks amongst mortar of a stone wall that bordereth 

 upon the^river Thames by the Savoy in London, which 

 yee cannot finde but when the tide is much spent." 

 Pennyroyal " was found on the common near London 

 called Miles ende," " from whence poore women bring 

 plentie to sell in London markets." The rare adders- 

 tongue and great wild valerian grew in damp meadows, 

 the fields abounded with all the more common wild 

 flowers, and such choice things as the pretty little 

 *' ladies' tresses," grew on the common near Stepney, 

 while butcher's broom, cow wheat, golden rod, butterfly 

 orchis, lilies of the valley and royal fern, wortleberries and 

 bilberries covered the heaths and woods of Hampstead and 

 Highgate. Many another flower is recorded by Gerard, 

 who must have had a keen and observant eye which 

 could spot a rare water-plant in a ditch while attending 

 an execution at Tyburn ! yet he meekly excuses his want 

 of knowledge of where a particular hawkweed grew, 

 saying, " I meane, God willing, better to observe heerafter, 

 as oportunitie shall serve me." That power of observa- 

 tion is a gift to be fostered and encouraged, and were 

 that achieved by education in Council Schools, a great 

 success would have been scored, and probably it would 

 be more fruitful in the child's after life than the scattered 

 crumbs from countless subjects with which the brain is 

 bewildered. The wild flowers could still be enticed 

 within the County of London, and species, which used 

 to make their homes within its area, might be induced 

 at least to visit some corners of its parks. The more 

 dingy the homes of children are, the more necessary it 

 must be to bring what is simple, pure, and elevating to 



