200 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



Choice wild-flowers will be searched for in vain ; the 

 so-called improvements of town life will drain the last 

 patch of marshland where once the teal and widgeon 

 congregated in countless numbers, and the beautiful 

 beard-grass will be gone. The samphire will go with 

 it, and the adder's-tongue ; and Dianthus armeria, 

 the Deptford pink, will no longer open its beautiful 

 crimson petals on the rough stretch of marshy waste 

 which borders the vicar's glebe beside the ancient 

 mill. 





