196 rB:E ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 
elegant little ivy-leaved bell-flower. It grows in small 
tufts, its stems not so high as the common grass of the 
meadow, and the beautiful bell so small tha,t a fly could 
scarcely shelter itself from the rain beneath its dome. It 
well deserves culture in a garden. It is rare in most 
counties of England. 
One of our native species of bell-flower, the rampion, 
was formerly much cultivated in kitchen gardens for a 
table vegetable. Its roots are called ramps, and were 
eaten uncooked. The flow'er has putple bells, and grows 
about three feet high. It is peculiar to gravelly districts. 
Its leaves were eaten as salad ; and the plant is still culti- 
vated in the northern countries of Europe, as well as in 
France, for this purpose. 
The roots of any of these bell-flowers may be safely 
eaten; but the great attention which has been paid during 
late years to edible plants, and the introduction of many 
from foreign countries, have rendered the rampion of com- 
paratively little value in the present day. It is, however, 
but a fev/ centuries back when salad herbs were scarcely 
cultivated in England. Even when Henry VIII. wanted 
a salad for his queen Catherine, he was obliged to send 
to Flanders to get it. Like the rampion, many wild plants 
afford good culinary vegetables to those who cannot pro- 
cure the produce of the garden. Thus, the tops of the 
wdld hop and the stalks of the common burdock are ex- 
cellent substitutes for asparagus. The burdock is the 
plant which furnishes the burs that so amuse children ; and 
it may easily be known by its purple thistle-shaped flow-ers 
and its very large leaves. It is very common in hedges 
and waste-places. Those who live by the sea-side may 
use for the same purpose the stems of the sea-holly; and 
Linnajos considered it quite as good as the cultivated 
asparagus. In such situations, too, the sea-kale may be 
procured, which is one of the wild plants most recom- 
mended for cooking, and which makes an excellent dish. 
Even the ‘common chickweed and the nettle are very 
good and wholesome, when boiled; and we may, on any 
summer day, gather a good salad in the fields. The dan- 
delion leaves are much eaten on the Continent ; and the 
large leaves of the milk-thistle, when stripped of their 
prickles, are fit for any table. The latter plant may 
