68 WILD FLOWERS 



dusk. I have seen the bank of a river so 

 thickly covered with rose campions that it 

 positively glowed with flame colour. 



The Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), Plate III. , 

 Fig. 4, with its great heads of yellow flowers 

 is a handsome plant, but unhappily has a 

 coarse, rank smell, which has ruined its 

 popularity. The Latin name suggests the 

 ' grey-beards,' which cover the plant after 

 the flowers wither. 



Many beautiful thoughts are associated 

 with the next flower, the Heartsease, or Field 

 Pansy (Viola tricolor), Plate III., Fig. 5. It 

 loves pasture land, and generally poor soil. 

 It is of various colours, blue, purple, or 

 cream, but ever modest and unassuming, a 

 fit emblem of a quality so beautiful as 

 serenity. 



The Rest-harrow (Ononis repens), Plate 

 III., Fig. 6, is also found on poor soil, 

 particularly in sandy places. Its pale rose, 

 pea-shaped flowers are profusely scattered 

 over a wide expanse of surface, and its long, 

 tough roots spread far underground, checking 

 the implements of the farmer, whence the 

 name ' arrest harrow.' Boys rejoice in its 



