182 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



places. The two yellow clovers also come to us from 

 Europe. Very probably we will see at no great dis- 

 tance from these plants the purple blossoms of the 

 self-heal {Brunella milgaris), an omnipresent little 

 weed which decorates the roadside from June to 

 October. We can not fail to recognize it during the 

 summer, as it is the only low-growing, common pur- 

 ple wild flower which is in bloom for fully four 

 months of the year. 



Adorning the stone wall and crowning the crowd- 

 ed thicket in some moist spot beside the river brink 

 in late June, we will be sure to see the delicate pink- 

 ish flowers and arrowhead-shaped leaves of the hedge 



bindweed (Convolvulus sejii- 

 viii). This remarkable vine 

 twines and trails its wiry 

 stems over everything within 

 reach, and ties up all the 

 fag ends and frayed edges 

 of the roadside foliage in 

 spiral bunches of green and pink beauty. The 

 flowers are so much like morning-glories that we 

 can not fail to recognize them, and the fresh green 

 leaves are among the most beautiful and shining ones 

 of June. Somewhat later, in July, we may have the 

 good luck to find on this \\i\e a little opalescent, 

 golden beetle, called the Cassida aurichalcea, or 



