SPR/XC FLOWERS. 39 



the railway embankment 13 all yellow with the tall 

 j^aunt-looking scapes and tufted flowcr-hcads of the 

 coltsfoot, a yet more significant and interesting plant. 

 ']"hc coltsfoot is a sort of fluffy ragwort, which sends up 

 from its perennial starchy root a number of solitary, stiff, 

 straight, cottony stems at the first promise of spring, each 

 ending in a single golden head, but without an)- foliage 

 except some small brownish scales, much like those t)f 

 sprouting asparagus shoots. After the blossoms arc all 

 over, the large woolly leaves begin to appear, and occup)' 

 themselves during the summer in collecting starch over 

 again to fill the root for next spring's flower-heads. At 

 my feet, once more, I see a mass of bright glossy heart- 

 shaped leaves, interspersed with the brilliant yellow 

 blossoms of the smaller celandine — 'gilt-cups' the 

 village children call them : and the celandine also en- 

 forces the same principle. It is one of the earliest 

 flowers to appear in spring ; while most of its congeners, 

 the crowfoots and buttercups, do not show themselves 

 till July or August : and if you grub it up you will soon 

 sec the reason why. The buttercups have simple thread- 

 like roots ; but the lesser celadine has a lot of roundish 

 mealy tubes, which it renews from year to year, and 

 which form the reserve-fund on which it draws for its 

 early blossoms. These habits of storing starchy food- 

 stuffs are to certain plants just what the analogous 

 habits of laying by honey, hoarding nuts, or gathering 

 grain are to the bee, the squirrel, and the harvesting 

 ants, among animals. 



Turning from these little wayside blossoms to the 

 large and conspicuous spring flowers, such as the daffodil, 

 the narcissus, the snowdrop, the hyacinth, and the crocus. 



