238 HALF-HOURS IN THE GREEN LANES. 



delicate green leaves. It is difficult to sec how such 

 a name could be given, although the term " earth- 

 smoke " is said to be applied to it in the north of 

 England. Formerly it was boiled, and used as a 

 cosmetic. In June and July, after the first species 

 of Stitch wort has departed, another and even more 

 delicately beautiful one takes its place (Stellaria 

 graminea), with smaller, star-like flowers supported 

 on stalks so slender that you can hardly see them. 

 The beautiful Granulated Saxifrage (Saxifraga granu- 

 lata) makes its appearance a little earlier ; and in 

 the eastern counties this exceedingly pretty plant 

 grows so abundantly that many of the meadows are 

 white with its blossoms. In the northern counties 

 it is much less common, being deemed almost a 

 rarity in some places by local botanists. The 

 leaves are at the base of the flower-stalk, are 

 roundish, with indented edges, and form a very 

 pretty rosette. The Bladder Campion (Silene inflata) 

 is another early summer plant, whose calyx is so 

 puffed out beneath the cleft white petals, that it 

 resembles a miniature bladder. It grows in tufts or 

 patches by the sides of the roads and lanes. The 

 striped pinkish bells of the Small Bindweed (Con- 

 volvulus arvensis) are now adorning the hedge- 

 backings, their leaves creeping down the banks in 

 graceful festoons. An elegant flower, and a pretty 

 one, with a faint perfume worthy of its connections, 

 ia this species ! 

 As the summer advances, the attention of the 



