82 WILD FLOWERS. 



it is one of the most delicate and tender plants 

 in its structure. It is very brittle, and often 

 said to have no root ; but the fact is, that the 

 stem is so frail, that on attempting to pull up 

 the root, it separates itself just above the fibre, 

 leaving that in the ground. The flower is 

 white as the driven snow, and not much smaller 

 than a primrose. Then the periwinkle (Vinca 

 major) lends its graces to the May hedge, 

 throwing its bright blue flowers on bush or 

 bramble, and its large glossy leaves, glistening in 

 the sun with so bright a green as to deserve its 

 name of little laurel, by which it was formerly 

 known. 



Springing from out the crevices of the wall, 

 and throwing its many leaves and blossoms 

 over the gray ruin, the ivy-leaved toad-flax, 

 (Linaria cpnbalaria,) is now very frequent. 

 It may easily be described. Its blossoms are 

 shaped like those of the snap-dragon, of a deli- 

 cate lilac, marked with a small portion of 

 yellow ; and the leaves are thick and fleshy, and 

 have their under surfaces coloured with a 

 purplish crimson hue. It is often hung up in 

 a flower-pot from the cottage ceiling, and the 

 long stems hang down all around it. It some- 

 times, too, mingles with the house -leek and 

 stone-crops which grow upon the cottage roof. 

 The wall-pellitory {Parietaria officinalis) is 

 now in blossom on old castles, churches, and 

 walls. It was formerly called perdiceum, be- 

 cause partridges are said to feed upon it ; and 

 the housewives of old times knew it by the 



