134 MY DEVON YEAR 



petals, pink or white, the round-leaved mallow and 

 the wild mignonette all love to be within sound of the 

 sea. Here, too, blue salvia shall be met with, and a 

 rare plant in Devon, that I have seen but once at such 

 a place, is the autumn gentian. Aloft, the bine of the 

 hop decks the thorn with flowers and fruit, and, be- 

 side him, the everlasting pea may clamber and hang 

 out great clusters of blossoms, pale green and pink. 

 The purple-tufted vetch likewise adorns this region, 

 with the common vetch and the two tiny tares ; while 

 the wood vetch — fairest and most delicately hued and 

 veined of all the pea-blossomed family — shall also 

 here be found by the fortunate. 



As the banks grow open to sea, wind, and sun, 

 certain plants — stragglers from the downs and cliffs 

 — may be counted upon. The hound's-tongue, the 

 gromwell and the teasel, the little golden carline 

 thistle, the Mary thistle with milk-white veins, and 

 the great nodding thistle all adorn the end of the 

 lane where it vanishes in a "goyle" or upon a pre- 

 cipice's crown of turf. And where such a lane breaks 

 to the edge of the cornfield on the cliff, or dips along 

 ploughed earth, the sky-blue chicory's stars cling stalk- 

 less to their parent stem ; the pimpernel and poppy 

 shine scarlet ; the tiny heart's-ease prospers with the 

 corn-mint and golden chrysanthemum ; the chickweed 

 and fumitory, the hen's-foot, the sea carrot and shep- 

 herd's-needle touch your feet. 



In October my lanes, whither I return to make an 

 end after these devious windings, are aflame and 



