66 THE MUSIC OF WILD FLOWERS 



bushes, with a few thorns and elders. How the cotone- 

 aster shrubs came to be present is unknown, and they 

 look strangely out of place on the top of the chalk down. 

 Numbers of wild flowers star the short turf in spring 

 and summer-time, and several choice and interesting 

 species may be met with. The month of June is the 

 best time to see the hill in its full glory. The milkwort 

 is then in bloom, with its dense masses of ultramarine 

 and purple and white flowers. But the yellow blossoms 

 of the Leguminosce predominate. The little bird's-foot 

 trefoil, with golden flowers passing into orange and even 

 red, is abundant, and the paler yellow blossoms of the 

 lady's-fingers. The much rarer tufted horseshoe vetch, 

 so called from the shape of the seed-vessels, which 

 resemble clusters of twisted talons or bunches of little 

 corkscrews, is also plentiful, and lends distinction to the 

 flora of the hill. Another choice plant is the spircea, or 

 dropwort, a near relation of the meadow-sweet, with its 

 elegantly cut foliage and pink-and- white petals, which 

 is not uncommon on the western slope of the down ; 

 while here and there a rare Senecio (S. campestris), or 

 ragwort, will be seen, looking, unlike most of its tribe, 

 dignified and even striking with its simple stem and 

 umbel of yellow flowers. Several species of orchis 

 grace the hill by their presence. Early in the season the 

 dwarf or green-winged orchis is in flower ; in June the 

 beautiful bee-orchis is plentiful, and has even spread to 

 the railway embankment below the hill ; with July the 

 curious frog-orchis will put forth its spike of green 

 flowers striped with dull red ; and later on the lady's- 

 tresses, with its fragrant white blossoms, will in some 

 seasons be abundant. 

 For hundreds of years these plants have flourished 



