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THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 



again, the "White Dead Nettle, so common and abundant in the neighbourhood 

 of Edinburgh, scarcely exists in the vicinity of Glasgow. 



Nature seems to haye provided for the extensive diffusion of the common 

 plants which form the principal covering of the surface of our earth. Their 

 seeds are in general produced easily and profusely, and they are often furnished 

 with feathery appendages, by means of which they are scattered far and wide. 

 In many instances their roots descend a great depth, or run for a considerable 

 way under the surface of the ground, so that it is a matter of great difficulty to 

 eradicate them completely. Their powers of vitality are also very great. 

 Though trodden under foot and exposed to the smoke of the town, with 

 scarcely a gleam of sunshine to enliven them, they still tenaciously retain their 

 vital properties, and continue to grow and flourish luxuriantly. In some of 

 the closes in the High Street of Edinburgh the common Scurvy Grass used to 

 flourish, although excluded from all the benefits of sun and shower, which 

 are so essential to the existence of the more delicate plants of our island. 



The length of time during which the common plants retain their power of 

 germinating is remarkable. In this part of the country the seeds of the 

 common white Clover have been found buried under 6 or 7 feet of peat moss, 

 where they must in all probability have lain for centuries ; and yet, when 

 sown in the garden, they have vegetated easily and given rise to healthy 

 vigorous plants. It is a curious fact that when ground is for the first time 

 subjected to the plough in this country, a crop of white Clover very generally 

 springs up, although the plant may not have been noticed on the spot pre- 

 viously. When some new soil was turned lately in one of the farms in this 

 place, the Narrow-leaved Fumitory, a plant by no means common in Britain, 

 began to grow in great abundance. The seeds had probably lain dormant for 

 a long period, inasmuch as the plant had not been observed in that situation 

 before, although it had been often subjected to the scrutinising search of the 

 Edinburgh botanists. 



The commonest weed, when met with in unexpected situations, or when 

 cultivated in countries where it is not indigenous, often becomes an object of 

 great interest. It was the celebrated traveller Park, who, when wandering on 

 the African desert, worn out and fatigued and almost disposed to lie down in 

 despair, had his attention attracted by a little moss, one which he had probably 

 often before passed by unnoticed, growing in the wide waste without com- 

 panions of any species — it was then he reasoned that, if the Almighty supported 

 this insignificant plant in the desert, and caused it to put forth its leaves and 

 fruit, why should he despond or once give way to the sentiment that there 

 was not a Protecting Arm near ? From reflections such as these he was stimu- 

 lated to proceed, until he at length reached the oasis, where his strength was 

 recruited. 



The Daisy, when it accidentally springs up in Australia among some 

 English earth which had conveyed seeds to that country, is viewed with 

 different feelings from those with which I beheld it in this country. Dr. Carey 

 writes the following beautiful lines upon the same flower : — 



" Thxice welcome, little English, flower ! 

 My mother country's Avhite and red ; 

 In Bose or Lily till this hour, 



Never to me such beauty spred ; 

 Transplanted from thine island bed, 



A treasure in a grain of earth, 

 Strange as a spirit from the dead 

 Thine embryo sprang to birth." 

 The Whin, or Gorse, so called in this country and so common as to be 

 looked upon with indifference, was by the great Linneeus. in whose native 



