234 SYLVA FLOR1FERA. 



" It is," says this Elizabethian author, 

 " called commonly Viorna quasi vias ornans, 

 of decking and adorning waies and hedges, 

 where people trauell, and thereupon I have 

 named it the Traueiler's Joie." 



It is called Clematis, from *A^a, viticula, 

 sarmentum, because it climbs trees, by means 

 of its pliant twigs, like those of the vine, and 

 Virgin's bower, from its use in covering 

 arbours and forming natural bowers. It 

 abounds principally in the counties south 

 of London, and particularly in hilly situa- 

 tions, where the soil is of a chalky nature. 

 The hedges on the Surrey hills, as well as 

 those in Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, are 

 often covered with this singular vine, the 

 branches of which frequently extend to twenty 

 feet or more, climbing every bush and tree in 

 their neighbourhood by means of twisted 

 petioles, with which they make their hold so 

 secure that it appears almost like instinct to 

 see how firmly they grasp the support they 

 meet with, then falling in graceful festoons 

 from bough to bough, or throwing themselves 

 in all directions over the hedges, 



" recompensing well 



The strength they borrow with the grace they lend." 



