NATURE NEAR LONDON X= 



I observed is hellebore a not very common wild 

 herb perhaps, but found in places, and a tradition- 

 ary use of which is still talked of in the country, 

 a use which I must forbear to mention. What 

 would the sturdy mowers whom I once watched 

 cutting their way steadily through the tall grass in 

 June say, could they see here the black knapweed 

 cultivated as a garden treasure ? Its hard woody 

 head with purple florets lifted high above the 

 ground, was greatly disliked by them, as, too, the 

 blue scabious, and indeed most other flowers. 

 The stalks of such plants were so much harder to 

 mow than the grass. 



Feathery yarrow sprays, which spring up by the 

 wayside and wherever the foot of man passes, as 

 at the gateway, are here. White and lilac-tinted 

 yarrow flowers grow so thickly along the roads 

 round London as often to form a border between 

 the footpath and the bushes of the hedge. Dan- 

 delions lift their yellow heads, classified and culti- 

 vated the same dandelions whose brilliant colour 

 is admired and imitated by artists, and whose pre- 

 pared roots are still in use in country places to 

 improve the flavour of coffee. 



Groundsel, despised groundsel the weed which 

 cumbers the garden patch, and is hastily destroyed 

 is here fully recognised. These harebells they 

 have flowered a little earlier than in their wild 



