22 WILD FLOWERS, 



seems scarcely propitious to the growth of 

 flowers, yet shows some Uttle token of coming 

 spring, by a small increase in their number. 

 The leaves on the gooseberry-bush unfold 

 themselves, and the purple-tinged leaves of the 

 honeysuckle may be seen. The ancients ac- 

 counted the mulberry as the wisest of trees, 

 because it never put forth its foliage till winter 

 snows, and spring blasts, were fairly over ; and 

 the oft-nipped young green leaves of the elder 

 tree, in this month, shows that an early leafing 

 tree is subject to a few injuries from the weather. 

 But He who " made everything beautiful in 

 his time," the God who "made summer and 

 winter," has given Nature such abundance, 

 that though a few young shoots may be nipped 

 by frosts, yet the leaves on the main branches 

 are uninjured, and the shoots which the early 

 winds had withered, are not missed in the 

 plentiful canopy of the summer tree. 



The banks which border the lanes and roads, 

 are now putting forth the leaves of many flowers 

 of spring. The foliage of the early speedwell 

 is daily growing larger. The deeply-crimsoned 

 stems and young shoots of the Robert-leaved 

 cranesbill, brighten the hedge ; and the five- 

 fingered leaves of the creeping cinquefoil, are 

 clothing their long trailing stems. The fragrant 

 leaves of the ground-ivy may be gathered now, 

 and are often collected by country people as a 

 cure for the coughs so common in this month 

 of alternate snow and thaw. 



The snow-drop (Galanthus nivalis) is the 



