30 PURPLE SANDWORT. 



tion are seen on the scorched and arid 

 blocks. 



Very dissimilar is the habitat of the fine- 

 leaved sandwort. This plant, unlike its re- 

 lative, the vernal, seems unable to endure 

 the slightest atmospheric impurity. It grows 

 in sandy meadows and pasture-grounds, and 

 no where more profusely than in the corn- 

 fields that border Triplow Heath, where the 

 purest air of heaven blows fresh and free. 

 Malvern Chase is another of its favourite 

 haunts : there its delicate white flowers are 

 so numerous as to resemble a panicle ; it 

 is seen also among the stones and rubbish 

 of old quarries, and on rocks open to the 

 sun, where it frequently attains to the al- 

 titude of eight or nine inches. The moun- 

 tains of Fifeshire shelter, likewise, another 

 member of this unassuming family — the 

 level-topped sandwort. Beauties of no or- 

 dinary kind are obvious in this little jDlant. 



