106 April — The Draba Verna. 



That it renueth what was old and dede 

 In winter time ; and out of every sede 

 Springeth the hearbe, so that every wight 

 Of this season waxeth glad and light.' 



If from the ? small floures* of Chaucer we descend 

 to particulars, and ask of what ' small floures ' the verse 

 at once reminds us, I think we can hardly fail to re- 

 member the common Draba, or Draba verna, which is 

 both small and early, and as pretty in its elegant humility 

 as many little plants that happen to be more popularly 

 known. Tiny as it is, with stalks just strong enough to 

 carry its little pods and flowers, and not burdened by 

 any leaves, for they lie on the ground about its root, it 

 still has an appreciable effect on the color of an April 

 foreground, which it powders with white like a hail- 

 shower, and even at a distance it will make the green of 

 a pasture grayer. The power of small plants in the 

 coloring of landscape is often forced upon the attention 

 of artists, and there are many remarkable examples of it 

 in different parts of the world. The Draba does not 

 strike the eye as it would if the flower were scarlet or 

 bright blue, but it has its influence nevertheless as a 

 moderator of crude greens. 



A much more important spring flower in size and 

 splendor is the Figwort Ranunculus, which, happily 

 for its reputation, possessed a much prettier and more 

 musical name ; probably the great motive that induced 

 Wordsworth to write about it. The rose might smell as 

 sweetly by another name, and yet not occur so favor- 

 ably to the euphony of verse. Wordsworth, in a foot- 



