14 HERB ROBERT, OR POOR ROBIN. 



a very powerful and pleasant perfume The 

 Herb Robert is sometimes found with pure 

 white flowers. Not only are the small bright 

 stars of this species scattered by our path- 

 ways, but no less than twelve other wild 

 Cranesbills, almost all of them common plants, 

 delight the lovers of wild flowers : they have 

 all red or purplish blossoms. A very com- 

 mon kind, which appears early in April, and 

 blooms on till August, must be known to all 

 accustomed to notice wild plants, for it is 

 frequent on every bank or waste place, and in 

 every pasture. It has long spreading stems, 

 and broad roundish leaves, deeply cut into 

 segments. These leaves are of a pale grey- 

 green, and downy as velvet. The flowers are 

 very smah, and of a purphsh-red colour. We 

 call it Dove's-foot Cranesbill, and the French 

 term it also Pied de Pigeon. A great num- 

 ber of Cranesbills are cultivated in our gar- 

 dens. One of these, the large pm^ple-flowered 

 Cranesbill, is common in many woods and 

 thickets, and is not unfrequent in those in the 

 neighbourhood of London. It is a tall plant, 

 with handsome dark-blue flowers, as large as 

 a shilHng piece. 



