THE HEAT OF THE SUN 309 



sunny and thirsty year. On the other hand the seeds ripen 

 more lustily, and the garden seeds of a hot dry summer are 

 often noticeably more productive than those of a damper 

 year. Plantain leaves outspread upon the gravel in shady 

 places grow dry and curled as even the shade becomes 

 torrid, and bring a sense of dishevelment beneath the 

 boughs. Only those plants thrive which have deep roots 

 striking to moist layers of earth. The hottest summers 

 often stimulate the profusest tufts of yellow summer foliage 

 on the bronzed crowns of the oaks, and in the sere fields 

 suckers of elm rise thickly from the lateral roots. Nor do 

 those plants fail which, although of annual growth above the 

 soil, are fed by a perennial root-stock. Bryonies fling their 

 bines about the hedgerows with a sappy vigour that 

 contrasts pleasantly with the tired weeds and dead grass. 

 Riversides and sedgy pools in the meadows stand forth on 

 the faded landscape in stripes and patches of emerald ; the 

 fresh green of the bur-reed and the glaucous blades of the 

 flag never strike so cool a sense to eye and brain. Marsh 

 woundwort and gipsywort among the sedges flower on 

 through the summer heats with a soft luxuriance that the 

 season takes from the blossoms of arable land and pasture. 

 In a long droughty summer the weeds of the root-fields 

 estivate almost like the snails of hotter climates. After 

 the first blooming of the poppies and corn marigolds at the 

 end of June, seed-heads and scanty foliage predominate over 

 blossom until the coming of the autumn rains, when there is 

 an outbreak of long-suppressed vigour. 



Even in the hottest summer weather there is a surprising 

 amount of evaporation from the soil in depressions and 

 hollows which collect water in other seasons. Campers 

 know the chill that rises towards morning in such sites, and 

 that the drier the summer and the hotter the weather the 



