May — Sta rwort. 127 



XXV. 



Starwort — Stalk of Starwort — Composed and Simple Flowers — The 

 Water Ranunculus — The Gardener's hatred of it — Its Beauty — 

 Minute Study of Vegetation for Landscape-painters — The Sheep- 

 sorrel Dock — Its hot Color in May — Important in Landscape — 

 Warm rich Color of Oak Leaves in May — May Landscape more 

 harmonious than that of April — Brooms and Bugles — The chief 

 Colors of May — Chaucer's White and Green — The Lily of the Val- 

 ley — Perfection of the Lily of the Valley — The Golden Water — 

 Fabled Remedies — The Potentilla — Lung-wort — Unscientific Rea- 

 soning. 



SHELLEY'S allusion to constellations reminds one 

 of a flower, or family of flowers, to be seen in the 

 very greatest profusion in the beginning of May, and 

 which have certainly much more the effect of stars upon 

 the earth than daisies ever have. Everybody seems to 

 have been struck by this, as the name implies, stellaria, 

 starwort, stellaire. It seems almost a crime to compare 

 any thing with the daisy to its disadvantage, and yet so 

 far as mere appearance goes the starworts are greatly 

 superior. In quantity they may often be found, like the 

 stars in a clear sky, by myriads, their brilliant white- 

 ness illuminating the shadiest places ; and if you come 

 near enough to see the individual plants, if you lean on 

 your elbow and your side, as Chaucer did when he 

 studied daisies, then are you rewarded by the beauty 

 of one of the most graceful amongst the lighter vege- 

 table forms. The light green stems are elegant beyond 

 the common grace of Nature, and there is much delicate 

 curving in the slender pedicels. The whole stalk is but 



