170 COMMON MOUSE-EAR HAWKWEED. 



beautiful. Long hairs are thinly scattered 

 over the leaves, the under surfaces of which 

 are of a whitish-grey, and the young shoots 

 are of the same colour. This plant is very 

 abundant everywhere on dry sunny banks, 

 flowering from May till the end of July. 



Among the strange fancies respecting 

 flowers which the ancients entertained, was 

 that which ascribed to the juices of this family 

 of plants the power to strengthen the vision of 

 bkds of prey. Hawks were supposed to resort 

 with their young ones for this purpose to the 

 Hawkweed. Hence the scientific name of 

 the genus, which has a synonym in almost 

 every country in Europe. Thus we have 

 Hawkweed, and the Germans call the plant 

 Habichtskraut, and the French, Eperviere. 

 Several of the Hawkweeds are very pretty 

 flowers, and we have many brought from other 

 lands to decorate our gardens. One native 

 species is also cultivated as a border flower. 

 This is the large handsome Orange Hawk- 

 weed, {Hieracium aurantiacum,) with hairs on 

 its stalk, AAdiich are black at the base ; hence 

 it is often called Grim the Collier. 



