British Wild Flowers and Trees 243 



the Marsh Andromeda (A. polifolia), found chiefly in 

 central and northern England, bears very pretty pink 

 flowers, and grows freely in peat. The very small 

 English Azalea (procumbens) is also a very interesting 

 native plant, forming a cushiony bush not more 

 than. a couple of inches high. In Britain it is found 

 only in the Scotch highlands. I have only once 

 seen this well established in a garden. Few people 

 who admire what are called peat shrubs can have 

 failed to notice from time to time the beautiful St. 

 Daboec's Heath (Menziesia polifolia), a plant found 

 abundantly on the heathy wastes of the Asturias and 

 in south-western France, and also in Connemara, in 

 Ireland. It is usually associated with 'American 

 plants' in our nurseries and gardens, liking peat soil, 

 and is a beautiful plant. The flowers are usually 

 pink, and there is a white variety even more beau- 

 tiful. The very rare blue Menziesia of the Sow of 

 Athol, in Perthshire, is also charming. The Pyrolas, 

 or Winter-greens, are very pretty native plants, some 

 of them fragrant. P. rotundifolia and P. uniflora are 

 among the best, and both are rare, flourishing in 

 moist sandy soils, as they do between the sand-hills on 

 the coast of Lancashire. The periwinkles, Vinca minor 

 and V. major, and their forms, are well known, and 

 they often garland banks and hedgerow bottoms. 



One of the most precious gems in the British flora 

 is the vernal Gentian (G. verna), which grows in 

 Teesdale and on the western shores of Ireland. The 



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