TREES AND FLOWERS 



131 



flat receptacles that encase the precious germ within, and, as I 

 brush past the dignified Parsnip, towering above its fellows, I 

 unconsciously dislodge many of the seeds, and thus aid in its 

 distribution. 



In some districts its cousin, the Yellow Parsnip the wild 

 ancestor of our Garden vegetable is a familiar feature of the 

 countryside, and, in some seasons, reaches an astounding height. 

 The pale yellow flowers give a 

 pleasant touch of refined colour 

 to the Summer haunts which I 

 frequent, and I have recently 

 discovered what appears to be 

 an undescribed variety of this 

 wildling, with deeply-cut leaves, 

 apt evidence of the work that 

 remains to be carried out by 

 those who are willing to co- 

 operate in the new field botany. 



Summer produces some wonder- 

 ful floral pictures. The fields of 

 ruddy Sainfoin are a sight never 

 to be forgotten, especially to- 

 wards evening, when the western 

 sky is flushed with gold, and the 

 dying rays slant across the 

 meadow. One must look towards 

 the sun to get the full effect of 

 the scene. If a visit be made 

 earlier in the day, busy Bees will 

 be discovered among the radiant 

 blossoms, and Painted Ladies 



coquet over, and around, the Sainfoin community in sheer 

 delight. 



But to-day the flaring red Poppies among the corn are a verit- 

 able feast of colour. There is probably no finer effect among our 

 wild flowers than the Scarlet Poppies in the corn, and a recent 

 tour through North Hertfordshire, and a part of the adjoining 

 county of Cambridgeshire, convinced me, and my companions 

 of the chase, that this was indeed a Poppy year. 



When one examines a seed case of the Poppy, that delicately- 

 fashioned urn-shaped vessel, which holds the fruit secure until 

 the time has arrived for it to be scattered, wonder is expressed 



FIG. 60. Cow PARSNIP. 



