COMMON BUGLE.— 4V^^ re:ptam. 



Class DiDYNAMiA. Order Gtmnospermia Nat Ord. Labiat.e. 

 Labiate Teibe, 



When wandering during May or June on the 

 moist meadows or pasture lands, we rarely fail 

 to find the Bugle blooming there. Its floAvers, 

 though commonly of a purplish blue colour, 

 vary to pale lilac, and occasionally to a pure 

 w^hite. The stem is erect, but the creeping 

 shoots proceeding from it distinguish the 

 species. It is too pretty and frequent a wild 

 flower to have been unnoticed by poets, and 

 we find it enumerated by Clare, among the 

 wild ornaments of Cowper Green : 



" Thine's full many a pleasing bloom 

 Of blossoms lost to all perfume ; 

 Thine, the Dandelion flowers, 

 Gilt with dew like suns with showers ; 

 Harebells thine, and Bugles blue, 

 And Cuckoo flowers all sweet to view : 

 The wild Woad on each road we see ; 

 And medicinal Betony 

 By thy woodside railing reeves, 

 With Antique Mullein's flannel leaves." 



The Bugle is still a village remedy for various 

 diseases, and its properties are astringent. It 

 is rarely now used for wounds, though it was 

 once much relied on as a vulnerary. Its old 



