1 83 The Wild Garden. 



probability on their side, as it reaches nearly as 

 far north as the Arctic circle ; and why it should 

 avoid such a genial spot as the green isle, we are 

 not informed. Though comparatively common, 

 the lotus or bird's-foot trefoil is so thoroughly dis- 

 tinct and beautiful, that it must not be omitted in 

 " The Garden of British Wild Flowers," flowering 

 as it does nearly the whole summer, and keeping 

 so dwarf and neat in habit. There are several 

 forms. I know of no better plant for the front 

 edge of the mixed border. The lady's fingers, or 

 Anthyllis vulneraria, is rather a pretty thing found 

 in chalky pastures and dry stony places in England, 

 and often grown as a farm plant. 



The three British kinds of Astragalus are worthy 

 of cultivation, and still more so is the allied genus, 

 Oxytropis. Both O. campestris and O. uralensis 

 are neat dwarf plants, the foliage of the last being 

 quite silvery, and its habit one of the neatest. The 

 first is only found in one spot among the Clova 

 mountains in Scotland ; the second is rather 

 common on the Scotch hills. Hippocrepis comosa 

 is rather like the bird's-foot trefoil, both in habit 

 and flower, and is well worth a place among the 

 choice dwarfs. Not found in Scotland or Ireland, 

 but rather abundant in some parts of England. - 



