VIPER'S BVGLOSS, —Fc/iium vulgare. 



Class Pentandria. Order Moxogtxia. Nat. Ord. Boragine^e. 

 Borage Tribe. 



AmOxXg the flowers which beautify our waste 

 places, this plant is not only one of the most 

 striking from its height, but one of the most 

 beautiful in shape and hue. We never find it 

 on the rich grassy meadow-land, or among the 

 lovely wild flowers which border our streams, 

 or rise beneath the shadow of the trees. But on 

 the heap of chalk, or sand, or gravel, accumu- 

 lated by the way-side ; on the sandy soil of the 

 neglected field; on the beach, where, among 

 the stones, a little earth can find room to 

 gather ; on the old wall, or the majestic cliff, 

 there it raises its rich spire of blossoms. Its 

 proper season of flowering is in June and 

 July; but the author has often gathered it 

 even in December, not rising to its usual 

 height, but with the rich purple of its 

 blossoms, and the bright red tint of their long 

 stamens, as beautiful as ever. The plant is 

 usually about two feet high; but in places 

 where it flourishes best, as in the sandy fields 

 of Cambridgeshire, and on the chalky cliffs of 

 Dover, it is sometimes more than three feet in 



