108 WILD FLOWERS 



scarcely taller than the grass, but not hidden 

 bj' it. Every hedge is now white with the 

 flowers of the privet, {Lignstrum vulgare^ a 

 plant which is green all the year, and, in winter, 

 is covered with its numerous purple berries, 

 which the birds leave untouched on the trees, 

 and which are used by dyers. The honey- 

 suckle {Caprifolimn periclymenum) mingles 

 its sweet breath with that of the hay-field. 

 On calcareous and limestone soils, the flowervS 

 of the wayfaring tree (Fiburnum lantand) are 

 a very conspicuous feature of the hedgerow. 

 This plant is also called the mealy guelder 

 rose, and it is well named by INIrs. Howitt, the 

 wild hydrangea, for its general appearance is 

 very similar to that of the garden plant. Its 

 young shoots are covered with a cottony down, 

 and its stems and leaves are thick and heavy. 

 Its flat bunches of scarlet berries turn black in 

 drying, and are used for making ink. In the 

 Crimea, the young shoots are valued for the 

 tubes of tobacco-pipes ; and in Germany, baskets 

 are made of the pliable branches. This beau- 

 tiful shrub is called, in Kent, the cotton tree. 



The young shoots of the bladder campion 

 {Silene hiflata) peep up on the hedgebank, as 

 early as April, and, in this month, the flower is 

 blooming. The shoots are of a pale green, 

 and have a powerful odour of green peas ; and 

 they are sometimes gathered while young, and 

 eaten at table. There is, however, a bitter 

 flavour mingling with the sweet taste, which 

 renders them less palatable than the green pea j 



