BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
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woods or thickets, or in hedge rows, and it generally grows on chalky soils. The following lines, by Bishop 
Mant, are very expressive of its habit of growth, and general appearance :— 
“ Within the moist and shady glade. 
What plant in suit of green array’d, 
All heedless of the wintry cold, 
Inhabits ?—Foremost to unfold, 
Tho’ half conceal’d, its bloom globose, 
Whose petals green, o’erlapp’d and close, 
Present each arch’d converging lip 
Embroidered with a purple tip; 
And green its floral leaves expand 
With fingers like a mermaid’s hand.”— Mant’s British Months. 
The smell of this plant is very offensive ; notwithstanding which bees are very partial to it, probably because 
it blooms in winter, or very early in spring, when few other flowers are to be found. This plant had 
formerly many names, some of them very singular ones. It is easy to guess the origin of Stinking Hellebore, 
as the plant is so unpleasant in its smell ; and Bear’s-foot no doubt alludes to the remarkable shape of the leaves 
on the flower stalks, which certainly bear some resemblance to a bear’s foot; but Setter-wort and Ox-heel 
require explanation. They allude to the use made of the plant by country cattle doctors to produce an issue by 
passing the root through the dewlap or through the heel of cattle ; an operation called by the old farriers 
settering, probably a corruption of setoning. The powder of the dried leaves is still occasionally given to 
children in the country, as a cure for worms. 
THE GREEN HELLEBORE. (Hei.leborus viridts, Lin.) 
This species is much handsomer than the preceding one. The flowers, though green, are large and fully 
expanded; and the seed vessels are very handsome when nearly ripe. Both the leaves and roots are used 
as medicine for cattle. This plant is very common in the chalky districts of England; but it is very rarely 
found in any other soil. 
GENUS X. 
THE COLUMBINE. (Aquilegia, Lin.) 
Lin.Syst. POLYANDRTA PENTAGYNIA. 
Description, &c. —The common Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris ) is found apparently wild in woods, 
thickets, and pastures, in many parts of England and Wales. Most probably, however, it is not a true native, 
but merely “ a garden flower grown wild,” as it is only found in situations where it may very possibly have 
grown from having been thrown out of a garden. The flowers are very curious in a botanical point of view. 
The sepals or divisions of the calyx, and the petals or divisions of the corolla, are both exceedingly irregular in 
form; and as, in the common Columbine, they are both of the same colour, it is extremely difficult to distinguish 
the one from the other. The stamens of the Columbine are very numerous, and their filaments completely 
enclose the carpels, their anthers forming a little tuft in the middle of the flower. Within the perfect stamens 
is a row of filaments without anthers, which having grown together, form a kind of membrane, which folds 
round the carpels like a little open bag. The leaves are roundish, and of the kind called biternate, that is, they 
are twice three lobed, each of the large lobes being cut into three smaller ones. The petiole sheathes the stem 
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