9 o MARCH 



more surely and fondly remembered for the discovery of a 

 bee orchis among the antique stones. And I do not 

 know that the glorious charge of the two wings of 

 Miltiades* little army is less vividly realised because one 

 of the memories of the level shore where the Persians 

 beached and lost their ships is a little mauve and purple 

 stock. 



Now and again a flower or its discovery may be so 

 exciting that more essential things are quite forgotten. 

 What in the world is this strange plant ? Mosque or 

 battlement, siege or crusade, preacher or warrior must 

 wait for a while. A superior interest has arisen. The 

 plant s dark, coarse leaves spread horizontally over the 

 ground like white-leaved thistles. In the midst of the 

 circle are arranged as neatly as if a florist had been at 

 work, a bunch of lilac flowers, almost stalkless. The 

 thing is more queer perhaps than beautiful. It challenges 

 curiosity, and against all the treasured canons of the 

 Floral League is uprooted solely &quot; for edification.&quot; The 

 long root parted from the ground soil reluctantly, and, 

 perhaps, if we had listened, with a scream ; for the plant 

 after prolonged investigation in a text-book (carried by 

 a Scottish traveller of charming zeal) proved to be a 

 mandragora, about which hang as many queer and in 

 explicable superstitions as the Barnacle tree. Though its 

 leaves are a little coarse and its roots a little fleshy, it is 

 free from the ill-omened appearance of such a plant as 

 henbane, which expresses poison in every twist. Cer 

 tainly it makes a &quot; purple patch,&quot; a purpureus pannus on 

 the floor of the woods, but it in no way suggests 

 the purple spots on the stem of the hemlock. No, the 

 mandragora does not scream when you pull it up, and its 

 plate of flowers is a pretty addition to the innocence of 

 spring. 



