PLANTS GROWING IN WASTE SOIL. 315 



four; growing in pairs. Pistil : ont. Leaves: opposite; on petioles ; lanceo- 

 late pointed at both ends ; serrated ; rough ; conspicuously veined. Stem : 

 sometimes six feet high ; leafy ; angled ; rough. 



Rearing amid the summer foliage its tall steeple-like spikes 

 of intense colour, the blue vervain strikes joy to many a heart 

 beside that of the ancient simpler, who, of shaggy appearance, 

 armed with an old tin kettle and a great bag, bent his back 

 and thrust his two-edged knife into the soil that he might bear 

 the plant away and haggle with his friend, the chemist, for its 

 exchange in filthy lucre. For the herb doctors had no more 

 faithful ally than the blue vervain. 



Our plant is not identical with the " sacred herb " of the 

 Greeks and Romans ; a sprig of which was sent as an ambas- 

 sador on treaties of peace, and used to decorate altars at 

 sacrifices and incantations. In those days the name verbena 

 was rather generally applied to almost any branch that had a 

 part in religious rites. The plant has, however, been credited 

 with averting disaster and signifies enchantment in the lan- 

 guage of flowers. 



V. urticifblia^ white vervain, is also common along the 

 roadsides. It resembles the simpler's joy, although its flowers 

 are fewer and less attractive. 



Both of these vervains are country cousins of the large- 

 flowered, many-coloured verbenas of the gardens. 



CREEPING THYME. 



Thymus Serpyllum. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Mint. Bluish purple. Fragrant. General. Summer. 



Flowers : growing closely in whorls at the ends of the branches and pos- 

 sessed of a pair of floral leaves. Calyx and corolla : two-lipped. Stamens : 

 two. Pistil : one ; style, two-lobed. Leaves : small ; ovate ; veined ; smooth, 

 with a fringe of hairs at the base. Stem : creeping ; branched. 



The round moss-like hillocks of this fragrant wilding form 

 pleasant playing grounds for the rabbit to gambol amongst. 

 It comes to us from Europe, where it is surrounded with 

 many tender and classic associations. 



