THE JULY FIELDS 115 



last vanished from the shadier nooks where, in 

 fond persistency, it has been continuing the cult 

 of spring. But these two precious field-flowers 

 form, possibly, the sum of June's distinguished 

 absentees. 



" Why fret about them if to-day be sweet ! " 



And, surely, to-day is as sweet as ever yesterday 

 was ! The glory of the Bistort is not yet on the 

 wane, and to it the tall Buttercup has wedded its 

 lustre, and Ranunculus aconitifolim, the Fair Maid 

 of France ; consequently, the moister meadows are 

 a knee-deep wealth of pink, yellow, and white. 

 On the drier fields, too, the rich blue and mauve 

 expanses of Salvia and Geranium are now re- 

 inforced by the crowded blue bells of Campanula 

 rhoviboidaUs, and hosts of the mauve-blossomed 

 Scabious ; while upon the slopes the now declin- 

 ing Biscutella and Strawberry-flowered Potentilla 

 have for new companions Hieracium alpinum, 

 Hypochoeris viaculata, Crepis aurea, Campanula 

 ba7'bata, and C. Scheuchzeri, the tall lemon-yeUow 

 Hypochoeris umflo7xi, and the lilac Gentiana cam- 

 pestris. The tall blue and tall white Phyteuma 

 betonicoefolium, and the blue, round-headed P. 

 orbiculare are everywhere, and have been joined 



