152 THE ASSOCIATIOISS OF FLOWERS 
CHAPTER XV, 
Scarlet Fimpernel — Corn-field — Singing dttring Rural 
Labour — Closmg of Fimpernel — Natural Indications 
of Atmospheric Changes — Siberian Sow-thistle — Blue 
Fimpernel at Madeira — Bog Fimpernel — Garden Fim- 
pernel. 
Comfort have thou of thy merit, 
Kindly, unassuming spirit I 
Careless of thy neighbourhood 
Thou dost show thy pleasant face 
On the moor, and in the wood, 
In the lane — there's not a place, 
Howsoever mean it be. 
But 'tis good enough for thee. 
— Wordsmortk. 
These words were addressed by the poet of nature to his 
golden favourite, the celandine, one of the earliest bloom- 
ing flowers in the wreath of spring, and one, too, which is 
lavished plentifully over every part of our comitry. They 
may with equal propriety be referred to the scarlet pim- 
pernel (Anagallis arvensis), which is no less prodigal of 
its beauty, or more limited in its haunts. Its seeds are 
scattered over hill and plain ; and its brightly coloured 
little blossoms often appear in the gardens, gleaming espe- 
cially from among the broad leaves which cover the straw- 
berry-beds. 
But the scene of nature to which the pimpernel is the 
most constant is the corn-field, where it blooms, just as 
the wheat is getting ripe, until some w'eeks after it has 
been gathered in from the field. The old name of this 
flower was centunculus, from “cento,” a covering, be- 
cause it spread itself in such quantity over cultivv^ted 
