MORE OF THE SMALLER BOG-PLANTS 241 



the dullest speckled slate-colour imaginable. The type 

 of their whole race is the common Swertia perennis ; all 

 the others are hardly distinguishable, and the sole recom- 

 mendation of the family is the absolute ease with which 

 any and all of them will prosper in even the wettest parts 

 of the bog. 



I know no Erythraea for the bog ; those bright heads 

 of clear pink Gentians are specially adapted for em- 

 bellishing the bare, dry downs of southern England ; 

 culture, as a rule, they resent. Cicendia, or Genticma, 

 pusilla I have collected in Swiss bogs, and vainly sought 

 on Dorset moors, following that ominous trail of Mrs. 

 Yeobright and ill-starred, tragic Eustacia. This Cicendia, 

 very delicate and frail, is hardly a plant for the garden, 

 if ever it could be induced to grow there. Nor are the 

 Campanulas of any great note for the choice, high-Alpine 

 bog. The moraine is their pet nursery; Scheuchzeri, 

 however, thrives in wet marsh, pusilla is tolerant, and our 

 own dainty little hederacea is the sweetest of bog-trailers, 

 with wee bells of pale blue on invisible, thread-like stems. 

 This, however, is hard to establish, and must, I think, 

 have tough, coarse grasses to ramble through and seek 

 cover in before it can be made truly and permanently 

 happy. Few things can be lovelier than the mixture of 

 this delicate, gentle azure, with the delicate, gentle flesh- 

 pink of Anagallis tenella, another wee native marsh-plant, 

 which by a happy touch of nature is often found with 

 the Campanula in wet places of the West. The Bog- 

 pimpernel, near cousin of the Primulas, is an absolutely 

 prostrate thing, creeping about with branches of glossy 

 little round green leaves arranged in pairs. In due time, 

 in summer, these are hidden from sight by a profusion of 

 stemless flowers, large, starry, of an exquisite shade of 

 pale rose. I have seen the Anagallis on Surrey heaths ; 

 I have seen it on a wet rock in the Lakes, where Ruskin 



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