174 TRE associations OF FLOWERS 
festooning it lightly with its large flowers; or it wanders 
over the green bank, or almost covers some little rill, so 
that the heedless traveller might plunge his foot unex- 
pectedly into the midst of the hidden waters. It is, like 
the other species of wild convolvulus, very tenacious of 
life; and if it gets into the hedge of a garden, it costs 
the gardener considerable trouble in its eradication. In- 
deed, in some places it seems almost impossible to get 
rid of it; and summer after summer it unfolds its unwel- 
come blossoms, which are not less beautiful, though less 
rare, than many of the plants that are carefully nurtured 
in the enclosure. The root of the large bindweed, or 
bearbindj as it is often called, is said to have the same 
medicinal virtues as the scammony, which is procured 
from another species, and at great expense, from abroad. 
How often do we admire flowers for their novelty rather 
than their beauty ! Many a florist will exult in the ac- 
quirement of a plant from a distant country, which is 
neither remarkable for a lovely appearance nor a sweet 
odour, while he will pass by the flovvers of his native 
meadow — the wild thyme, or the briar rose — and call them 
weeds, and scarcely bestow a thought on their loveliness. 
Some of our countrymen who have visited the Cape of 
Good Hope have recorded that upon their first arrival 
there they have trodden with caution, lest they should 
destroy the bright geraniums or the beautiful heaths which 
are so abundant in Southern Africa. And w^hen they 
w'andered into the country, and saw the new and bright 
flowers, how have they laden themselves and their com- 
panions with large branches covered with wild blossoms; 
and knowing that the lustre was unrivalled by those of 
European origin, they have wondered much that the set- 
tlers should wholly neglect them, while they cultivated 
with care the plants reared from seeds which had been 
brought from the different countries of Europe. Thus, 
the hollyhocks, the tulips, hyacinths, and other flowers, 
engage the whole attention ; w^hile not one of all the large 
tribe of magnificent heaths is admitted into a garden of 
the colonist, or has received so much of his notice as even 
to have acquired an individuM name — this whole family 
of plants being included in the general name of bushes. 
Yet even with our countrymen, after a 'while, the Cape 
