OUR LADY'S BEDSTRAW 73 



smooth or downy. The hips which cover 

 the roses in autumn form a staple food of 

 birds, and their abundance or scarcity is 

 accepted by country folks as an indication of 

 a severe, or a mild, winter. ^ - 



On rough banks the Herb Kobert ( Geranium I 

 Robertianum), Plate IV., Fig. 9, is not un- 

 common. Its flowers are pink or white. \ 



In masses of yellow or white, Our Lady's 

 Bedstraw (Galiwn verum), Plate IV., Fig. 11, 

 adorns the roadside in the height of summer. 

 It is one of the last flowers to appear before 

 the tall grasses, scabious and harebells take 

 the places of the bird's-foot trefoil and small 

 flowering plants. There is a pretty legend 

 to the effect that this plant was used to 

 make the bed of the Virgin Mary, and as 

 its numerous flowerets are cross-shaped, her 

 bed was thus one of crosses. The Scottish 

 Highlanders make a red dye with the roots 

 boiled in alum, and curdle milk with its 

 leaves mixed with those of the nettle and 

 a little salt. 



The Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)J 

 Plate V., Fig. 1, which I have just mentioned/ 

 is plentiful at the sides of roads, as well as 



