300 BOG PLANTS 



The first is sweet gale or bog myrtle (MyricaGale), which should 

 not be confused with our native bayberry or candleberry (Myrica 

 cerifera). "It is the only bush," said Mr. Amos Perry to me, 

 "that grows with feet under water all the time." It is never a 

 showy plant, as the flowers are minute and borne in short erect 

 catkins; but it is very pleasant to brush against the foliage. When 

 you grasp the leaves and crush them in the hand, there is a 

 feeling of stickiness owing to the aromatic oil glands on the under 

 surface of the leaves. 



In great contrast to this bush is the Corsican thyme, the small- 

 est flowering plant cultivated in gardens. I doubt if any plant 

 in the world has so powerful an odour in proportion to its size. 

 A full-grown plant is only about half an inch across, and consists 

 of a rosette of leaves. It also has minute purple flowers which I 

 have not seen. The fashion is to establish Corsican thyme in the 

 chinks of a wall or walk, on stepping stones or wherever the foot 

 may brush against it without crushing it. If you reach down to 

 the ground and draw your thumb across this midget it scents the 

 air for several yards in every direction. To raise such a plant 

 from seed must be quite a job, yet wherever I saw it at all it 

 seemed abundant, and I fancy it self-sows when established. The 

 plants are offered by a well-known dealer in alpines, in Geneva, 

 Switzerland, at ten cents each, and I should think a dime would 

 just about cover each plant. Corsican thyme is sometimes 

 described under the name of Thymus Corsicus, but the catalogues 

 offer it as Mentha Requiem, and, according to Bailey, the proper 

 name is Calamintha Requieni. 



GRASS AND FERN EFFECTS 



I have before me an English catalogue which offers fifty species 

 of grasses, sedges, rushes, and hardy bamboos, suitable for wet 



