EPPING FOREST. 



ITS FLOWERING PLANTS. 



" Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art, 

 In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon, 

 Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain ; 

 Both where the morning sun first warmly smote 

 The open field, and where the unpierced shade 

 Imbrowned the noon-tide bowers." — Paradise Lost. 



The flowers of the Forest, though for the most 

 part common enough, are not on that account less 

 attractive in the eyes of Londoners. Of the many 

 thousands who visit us on every sunny day in the 

 summer, few return without securing some floral 

 trophy, which it has given them infinite pleasure to 

 gather. 



Owing to its variety of soil and aspect, and the 

 contrast of extremely dry positions with damp 

 hollows, the Forest is, for its extent, particularly 

 rich in its flora. Many of the flowers which re- 

 ward the diligent seeker are rare or structurally 

 remarkable. Among these may be mentioned 

 the sundew, which catches small insects with its 

 arrangement of gummy hairs, and nourishes itself 

 on their dead bodies ; the grass of parnassus, a 

 beautiful white flower to be found in boggy places; 

 the bog-bean; and the lily of the valley. The last 



