JUNE. 103 



The forget-me-not, or water scorpion-grass, 

 {Mi/osotis 2)alustris,) is m blossom iu June, and 

 continues flowering till August. Two or three 

 of our wild flowers arc occasionally honoured 

 TOth this sentimental name. In queen Eliza- 

 beth's time, it was often applied to the ground- 

 pine, a small yellow flower found on sandy banks, 

 or gravelly fields, with its blossoms so hidden 

 among a profusion of leaves, as somewhat to 

 resemble a pine. In our days the germander 

 speedwell is sometimes designated as the forget- 

 me-not ; but it is seldom, so called by persons 

 well acquainted with ftewers, and it probably 

 originates in its being mistaken for the myosotis. 

 ^Yhether the species of myosotis which grows 

 in the fields, {Myosotis 'arvensis,) the small 

 brilliant blossom of which looks like a cluster 

 of blue tvn-quoise, or the large kind, which 

 grows on the stream, be the true oldeu forget- 

 me-not, may be disputed. Botanists, however, 

 in France, Germany, and England, seem to 

 agree that it is the latter kind, 'j'he water 

 scorpion-grass grows plentifiillyin most country 

 streams. Its long cluster of pinkish-coloured 

 buds, bending nearly into a circular form, before 

 expanding, j)rocured for all the species, their 

 name of scorpion-grass. Our forefathers, acting 

 upon their usual jjvinciplcs of analogies, inferred, 

 from the sha])e of the young shoots, that it was 

 a remedy against the bites of scoipions ; mider 

 which name they seem to have included snakes, 

 adders, and various other reptiles. The old 

 legend ol the knight who was drowjicd, while 



