FLOWERS AND GRASSES. 63 



Chickweed 1 that this notch is so deep that the flowers 

 seem to consist of twice as many petals as they really 

 possess. Country children call the flowers of the 

 stitchwort "Ladies' Thimbles." How these little 

 white flowers come to be associated with thimbles 

 and stitches those learned in folk-lore alone can tell. 



Saint John's Wort indicates the dedication of a 

 plant bearing that name to St. John. The true St. 

 John's Wort 2 is not a woodland species, but the 

 Tutsan 3 is not uncommon in the Kentish woods. 

 The flowers are of a golden yellow in all the species, 

 with a large number of radiating stamens in the 

 centre. In the days of witchcraft the St. John's wort 

 was a plant of importance, for it was considered a 

 sovereign remedy for all diseases resulting from 

 magical influences. That it had also other virtues 

 is intimated in the lines 



" Thou silver glow-worm, oil lend me thy light, 

 1 must gather the mystic St. John's wort to-night ; 

 The wonderful herb whose leaf will decide 

 If the coming year shall see me a bride." 



In Lower Saxony there is a superstition that if the 

 plant be gathered by maidens on Midsummer night 

 and hung up in their bedchambers, its fresh or withered 

 appearance in the morning will betoken whether they 

 are to become brides during the ensuing year. 



The Cranesbills (Geranium) are sometimes to be 

 found in woods, but chiefly on hedgebanks and in 



1 Stellaria nemorum. 3 Hypericiim androsamiun. 



2 Hypericum perforatiun. 



