NIG H T INGALE ROAD se^a? 



reverse is the impression to those who frequent the 

 place. 



It is really a very short list, and as of course all 

 of these do not appear at once there really is rather 

 a scarcity of wild flowers, so far at least as variety 

 goes. Just in the spring there is a burst of colour, 

 and again in the autumn ; but for the rest, if we 

 set aside the roses in June, there seems quite an 

 absence of flowers during the summer. The way- 

 side is green, the ditches are green, the mounds 

 green ; if you enter and stroll round the meadows, 

 they are green too, or white in places with umbel- 

 liferous plants, principally parsley and cow-parsnip. 

 But these become monotonous. Therefore, I am 

 constrained to describe it as a district somewhat 

 lacking flowers, meaning, of course, in point of 

 variety. 



Compared with the hedges and fields of Wilt- 

 shire, Gloucestershire, Berkshire, and similar south- 

 western localities, it seems flowerless. On the 

 other hand, southern London can boast stretches 

 of heath which, when in full bloom, rival Scotch 

 hillsides. These remarks are written entirely from 

 a non-scientific point of view. Professional 

 botanists may produce lists of thrice the length, 

 and prove that all the flowers of England are to be 

 found near London. But it will not alter the fact 

 that to the ordinary eye the roads and lanes just 



