On Gardeners' Flowers 



effect would be destroyed. And how- 

 should we like the meadow grass itself 

 to have fuller ears, and to grow as stout 

 as corn ? Yet if such plants were in a 

 garden, their defects would be real ones, 

 through having lost their meaning, and 

 we should thank cultivation for removing 

 them. Now, to speak more practically, be 

 all this as it may, the effects of cultivation 

 seem often greatly beneficial, without pro- 

 ducing any material loss. They add fresh 

 beauty to the flower, whilst detracting 

 but little from its native stores. And 

 yet, in making a fair estimate, we should 

 remember that it is often difficult to be 

 sure that what we know as the wild plant 

 is the genuine thing, and not some stunted 

 variety. For instance, that wretched little 

 Pansy of our corn-fields, in which the 

 petals are almost abortive, is botanically 

 identical with the real Wild Pansy, which 

 in favourable situations is a very pretty 

 flower. And I had long been in the 

 habit of setting down Lamium amplexi- 

 caule as remarkably unattractive, apart 

 from its botanical interest. But I was 

 surprised to find that Anne Pratt con- 

 sidered it the prettiest of the genus, and 

 I see what she means from the figure 

 she gives. Again, we must never be too 

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