50 HAREBELL. 



tinguish this species from one somewhat 

 similar. When the plant is young, the leaves 

 are easily detected ; but as it increases in size, 

 they are often quite dried up. 



We have no less than ten wild species of 

 bell-flowers, some of them having stout stems 

 and large leaves, from among which hang con- 

 spicuous purple bells. In the summer months 

 many species are very common on our hedge- 

 banks and in woods. There is one wild kind, 

 which is very small and delicate, and of extreme 

 beauty. It is the Ivy-leaved Bell-flower, {Cam- 

 panula hederacea,) with light-blue bells, which 

 have scarcely any tendency to droop. Tliis 

 most graceful little plant grows in tufts, and 

 has a great number of ivy-shaped leaves ; its 

 stems are weak, and so slender, that they are 

 seldom much larger than a pack-thread. It 

 grows in moist shady woods, and is plentiful 

 in Devonshire, Cornwall, and Sussex, as well 

 as in some other parts of our island, though in 

 most districts it is a rare flower. 



