THE FURZE IN ITS GLORY 297 



and other flowers, grown to supply the market ; the 

 sight pleases best at a distance of a mile or half a 

 mile ; and so in the case of a sheet of wild hyacinths, 

 it delights the eye because it is seen under trees with 

 a cloud of green foliage above to soften and bring the 

 vivid hue into harmony with the general colouring. 



Now in the furze, or the dark green prickly sprays, 

 the colour and roughness of which are never wholly 

 covered and extinguished by the blossoms, there is an 

 appearance which has probably never been described 

 and perhaps not observed. The plant, we see, 

 changes its colour somewhat with the seasons. It is 

 darkest in winter, when, seen at a distance on the pale 

 green or grey-green chalk downs, it looks almost 

 black. Again, in summer when the rusty appearance 

 which follows the flowering time is put off, the new 

 terminal sprays have a blue-green or glaucous hue 

 like the pine and juniper. But the most interesting 

 change, which contributes to the beauty of the furze 

 at its best, is in the spring, when the spines are tipped 

 with straw-yellow and minute lines of the same colour 

 appear along the spines and finer stems, and the effect 

 of these innumerable specks and lines which catch the 

 light is to give a bronzed appearance to the dark mass. 

 It is curious that that change of colour does not always 

 take place ; in many places you find the plants keep 

 the uniform deep green of winter through the blos- 

 soming season ; but the bronzed aspect is the loveliest, 

 and makes the most perfect setting for the bloom. 



There are few things in nature that more delight 

 the eye than a wild common or other incult place 



