50 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



unique and very striking effect was produced. The 

 dropwort is found all over the chalk hills, everywhere 

 a smaller, neater plant than its great tall rank cousin 

 of the moist meads, the fragrant meadow-sweet. On 

 the close-cropped turf of the downs the dropwort may 

 be seen flowering with no more than a couple of inches 

 of stem, but when it grows among furze or heather it 

 sends up a stem from a foot to eighteen inches high. 

 At the spot I have spoken of, the fiery blossoms of the 

 heather covered an area of about three-quarters of an 

 acre, on the slope of a furzy down, and over the whole 

 of the ground the dropwort grew, sprinkled so evenly 

 and abundantly that almost every square yard of 

 ground had its one slim stem crowned with its loose 

 cream-coloured cluster. Not a leaf does this plant 

 show — nothing but the slim tall stem with its flower- 

 cluster rising several inches above the level of the 

 rough heather ; the intense purple-red glow of the 

 myriads of small heath bells, massed, or thickly 

 sprinkled over the dusky green of the ground ; above, 

 the slender stems waving their small creamy-white 

 flags and rags of blossoms in the wind ; — the effect of 

 the whole, the contrast in form and colour, the airy 

 motions of one and immobility of the other, was most 

 fascinating. 



One of the latest summer flowers of the downs, 

 which is so abundant as to give a colour to the scene 

 in some spots, is the harebell. It is a dainty flower, 

 airy and delicate in shape, waving or trembling to 



