WOODLAND FRIENDS 75 



poetically termed Goose Grass. It has 

 somewhat similar flowers, but the leaves 

 are covered on the under sides with silver- 

 white, silky hairs. The roots are tough. 

 The flowers appear in June or July. The 

 plant, soaked for nine days in buttermilk, 

 produces a wash for the complexion, which 

 once enjoyed some repute. Both these 

 cinquefoils are closely related to the straw- 

 berries. 



I shall next look at some of the woodland 

 flowers. One of the earliest and sweetest 

 is the Wood Anemone or Windflower (Anemone 

 nemorosa), Plate III., Fig. 7, which carpets 

 the space beneath the trees with tender, 

 white flowers delicately tinged with purple. 

 In suitable spots it grows in great sheets. 

 Along with it we generally find the Wood 

 Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), Plate III, Fig. 8. 

 This plant has nothing in common with the 

 sorrels already spoken of, except the sourness 

 of the leaves, which are strongly impregnated 

 with oxalic acid. It has a pleasant flavour, 

 like that of the lemon, and the juice yields 

 a salt, which is very efficacious in removing 

 ink-stains. Its threefold leaf is thought to 



