64 WILD FLOWERS 



opinion, is first to learn to know as many 

 flowers as possible, so as to recognize and 

 name them readily; then to acquire some 

 knowledge of their uses and properties, and 

 of the legends and stories connected with 

 them ; and lastly (if the precedent part of the 

 course has inspired a genuine taste for the 

 study), to enter upon the details of structure, 

 growth, and classification, which constitute 

 the subject of botany. It is my present 

 intention to run lightly over a list of about 

 fifty flowers, selected from various groups, 

 the names of which ought to be familiar to 

 every lover of Nature. 



Any reader who wishes to prosecute the 

 study further, will find ample guidance in the 

 books enumerated in the list at the end of the 

 chapter. In examining the flowers, I think 

 the best and most interesting mode will be to 

 take them in connection with the localities 

 where we most frequently see them. 



Of all places in which we may look for wild 

 flowers, the richest are fields and meadows. 

 Free exposure to sun and air is peculiarly 

 favourable to their growth. Accordingly, a 

 great number of our prettiest kinds, although 



