186 A GLANCE AT BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 



Scotch call it, with its multitude of rich yellow, pea- 

 like blossoms exhaling a perfume that reminded me of 

 mingled cocoanut and peaches. It is a prickly, disa- 

 greeable shrub to the touch, like our ground juniper. 

 It seems to mark everywhere the line of cultivation ; 

 where the furze begins the plow stops. It covers 

 heaths and commons, and, with the heather, gives 

 that dark hue to the Scotch and English uplands. 

 The heather I did not see in all its glory. It was 

 just coming into bloom when I left, the last of July ; 

 but the glimpses I had of it in North Wales, and 

 again in Northern Ireland, were most pleasing. It 

 gave a purple border or fringe to the dark rocks (the 

 rocks are never so lightly tinted in this island as ours 

 are) that was very rich and striking. The heather 

 vies with the grass in its extent and uniformity. 

 Until midsummer it covers the moors and uplands as 

 with a dark-brown coat. When it blooms, this coat 

 becomes a royal robe. The flower yields honey to 

 the bee, and the plant shelter to the birds and game, 

 and is used by the cottagers for thatching, and for 

 twisting into ropes, and for various other purposes. 



Several troublesome weeds I noticed in England 

 that have not yet made their appearance in this coun- 

 try. Colt's-foot infests the plowed lands there, send- 

 ing up its broad fuzzy leaves as soon as the grain is 

 up, and covering large areas. It is found in this 

 country, but, so far as I have observed, only in out- 

 of-the-way places. 



Sheep sorrel has come to us from over seas, and 



