156 



THE NATURALIST. 



which distinguished the Sweet Woodruff, Asperula odorata, and that it con- 

 sequently belongs to the Madder tribe. Half way up the hedge the White 

 Briony, Bryonia dioica, depends its large rough, light green leaves, and 

 bunches of many star-shaped whitish flowers delicately veined with green. 

 Our forefathers knew it as " Our Lady's Seal," and though now accounted 

 too dangerous to be tampered with in ignorance, was then used medicinally 

 in many diseases. The delicate spirals of this plant are very elegant, and 

 deserve attention. In fair contrast with the grass and moss surrounding it, 

 the ^Bladder Campion, Silene infiata^ sets up its erect stems and panicles of 

 pure white drooping flowers, one of the Caryopliyllacece or chickweed tribe. 

 The calyx resembles a little inflated ball, of a silvery shade, delicately veined 

 with purple, and the foliage is smooth and covered with that peculiar pale 

 green bloom which is termed glaucous. Passing on we remark the handsome 

 Milk-Thistle, Silyhum Marianiim, or as it was anciently called, " Our Lady's 

 Thistle," spreading its wavy spinous leaves, with their deep green shining 

 surfaces, broadly marked with milk-white veins, at our feet. In the days of 

 religious superstition this appearance was considered miraculous, and the 

 whole plant, in consequence, to abound in remedial qualities ; at present it is 

 remarkable only for its appearance, wliich, to those who can find beauty in 

 the leafage as well as the inflorescence of a plant, is almost as worthy of 

 perpetuation in architectural embellishment as the Greek Acanthus. 



As we wnader on we reach a little burn, edged with blue Brooklime, 

 muffled with mosses, bent over by the drooping Comfrey, and here and there 

 filled up with tufts of Watercresses, Nasturtium officinale, the matted stems 

 and rootlets of which shine through the liquid stream of a diaphanous 

 whiteness. We have no need to describe- this familar vegetable representa- 

 tive of our streams and brooklets to our London readers, where it is more 

 popular and better known than any other member of its tribe, the Cruciferce. 

 Earlier in the season we should have found its pretty relative Cuckoo-flower, 

 or Common Bitter Cress, Cardamine pratensis, whitening the margin, as it 

 did that of the Avon in the days of Shakespeare ; and where the glazed cups 

 of the Lesser Spearwort, Ranuncidus Flammida, are shining now, the bright, 

 tender foliage of the common golden Saxifrage was then crowned with its 

 flat clusters of yellowish green flowers. 



The Comfrey, Symphytum officinale, with its large coarse hoary leaves 

 and campanulate flowers, in clusters white, pink, and blue, belongs to the 

 tribe of Figworts, ScrophuJaiiacece, and is allied to the Yellow -Eattle, 

 Bhinanthus Crista-GalU, the seeds of which we may hear rustling in their 



