52 PLANTS GROWING IN MUD. 



odd-pinnate ; of three to nine serrated leaflets, unequal in size ; pale un- 

 derneath. Stem : erect ; smooth, with recurved prickles ; reddish. 



" If Jove would give the fragrant bowers 

 A queen for all their world of flowers, 

 A rose would be the choice of Jove 

 And blush the queen of every grove.''— Moore. 



Pliny tells us that the many species of wild roses may be 

 distinguished from each other by their colour, scent, roughness, 

 smoothness, and the greater or smaller number of their floral 

 leaves. The swamp rose, however, is one that is most readily 

 recognised. It has a somewhat ragged appearance owing to 

 its often unequal number of petals ; and it grows in great 

 masses in the swamps. With the approach of autumn it 

 changes the character of, rather than loses, its beauty. The 

 leaves become a brilliant orange-red and the bushes glow 

 with the graceful crimson fruit. 



To walk by a swamp spread with these roses, makes us reflect 

 longingly on the days of the ancients ; when the warriors, dur- 

 ing their repasts, sat crowned with them and when, as Pliny 

 tells us, their choice meats were covered with the petals, or 

 sprinkled with their fragrant oil. The descriptions of the roses 

 at the feast that Cleopatra gave to Antony make us cease to 

 wonder that Venus herself has a rival in the rose. 



WATER AVENS. PURPLE AVENS. 



Geiim rivale. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Rose. Purple. Scentless. North and west. May-July. 



Flozuers : large ; nodding ; terminal ; growing sparingly on the flower stems. 

 Calyx : top-shaped, with five spreading lobes. Corolla : of five obcordate 

 petals. Stamens and Pistils : numerous. Styles : long ; curved. ^ Fruit : a 

 head of dry akenes. Leaves : pinnately-parted, the upper ones having usually 

 three lobes. Stem : simple. 



This is a pretty flower of the swamps and low grounds. Its 

 purple colour is of a peculiar shade ; as though it had been 

 mixed on a palette from which the chrome yellow had not been 

 scraped. 



