The Garden of British Wild Flowers. 169 



fresh stream, " hither, thither, idly playing," or in 

 the lake or ornamental water, and therefore they 

 hardly come among garden plants. I have tried to 

 grow all the kinds I could get in a small pond ; 

 but the Canadian weed, or the common R. aqua- 

 tilis, soon exterminated my rarities, and I was 

 compelled to give it up, and look for the varied 

 beauty of the water crowfoots in any passing 

 stream. R. Ficaria is the pretty little shining-leaved 

 yellow-flowered species which abounds in moist and 

 shady land in spring, one of the earliest spring 

 flowers that appears, and very common throughout 

 Britain and many parts of Europe ; but it is none 

 the less beautiful because common, and although 

 not fit for the garden, is very pretty in a woody 

 waste in early spring. The roots are, to a great 

 extent, masses of little cylindrical tubers, by which 

 it is easily known. 



R. Flammula (the spearwort) is a native of wet 

 marshes and river-sides in all parts of Britain, and 

 is well suited for planting by the side of a pond, 

 brook, or ornamental water, though not so fine as 

 the greater spearwort, R. Lingua, which is a noble, 

 strong-growing kind, often growing two or three 

 feet high, and bearing large, showy, yellow flowers. 

 It is very fine near the margins of water, and is 



