17i LETTER XIV. 



Among the commoner genera, allied to the Hare- 

 bell, should be distinguished Phyteuma, some very 

 pretty species of which are found on the Alps of 

 Europe, and two, even in hedges in the south of 

 England, although very rarely ; this genus is known 

 from the Hare-bell by its corolla not being bell-shaped, 

 but split into five very long and narrow segments. 

 Wahlenbergia also, with the corolla of a Hare-bell, but 

 with the fruit opening at the points, is found in the damp 

 groves of Cornwall and Devonshire, in the shape of a 

 charming little iv}-leaved plant, creeping among the 

 turf, above which it raises its blueish drooping bells 

 (Wahlenbergia hederacea) ; and finally in corn-fields, 

 often enamelling the stubble in harvest time, appears 

 the hybrid Looking-glass flower (Specularia hybrida), 

 the corolla of which spreads flat round the stamens, 

 forming little rays with its petals ; its fruit sheds its 

 seeds through three slits in its angles. 



The Hare-bell tribe is as harmless as it is beau- 

 tiful ; the roots of some species are eaten under the 

 name of Rampion, the leaves of others are used in 

 Salads, and the bells aff'ord an abundant supply of 

 honey to the bee. The stems and roots abound in a 

 milky juice, which although in this case innoxious, 

 is usually a sjniptom of poisonous properties, and 

 which, in a neighbouring tribe, indicates the pre- 

 sence of the most fearful venom. As the gardens 

 contain many species of the deleterious group, called 

 ^,y\jJ \ the Lobelia tribes I cannot do better than take this 

 opportunity of explaining to you how you may know 

 them. 



Imagine a Hare-bell with its corolla split into an 



