1880. ] 
FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 
85 
named Brigg’s Red May, Early Beatrice, Early Louise, 
Early Rivers, River .s’ Early York, Early Silver, 
Magdala, Dr. Hogg, frc. 
We learn from tlie Garden tliat Mr. Bond, 
Walcot Gardens, Shropshire, has produced ex¬ 
cellent ripe fruit of two of these very early 
American Peaches, the Amsden and Alexander, 
by April 24th, the trees having been started 
in gentle heat about December 21st last.—M. 
FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS.* 
^gprDHIS is the title of a very elegant 
YviP'w'r volume, in which a selection of some 
forty-four of our wild flowers are 
prettily illustrated with pen and pencil. The 
plants thus pictured, as the author intimates, 
will present themselves to many readers as old 
familiar friends, linked in their minds with 
sunny memories, the very suggestion of 
which may serve to induce those who are un¬ 
familiar with the gratification derived from a 
knowledge of friends like these, to set about 
making their acquaintance, in order that even 
the vulgar wayside may not be without its plea¬ 
sant attractions, and by the aid of which, the 
fairy scenes of Nature will have acquired new 
and unthought-of charms. 
The work consists of forty plates, printed 
in colours, with four pages of interesting- 
popular descriptive matter to each. It forms 
a handy-sized volume, which, being nicely got 
up, and elegantly bound, will form a pretty 
ornament for the parlour-table. The plates 
represent small portions of the plants— 
sometimes rather too small, but, - for the 
most part, the subjects are faithfully pour- 
trayed, and really ornament the pages of 
the book, which are further adorned with a 
very ornamental initial letter and a pretty 
vignette, both serving as further illustrations 
of the plants. The Field Convolvulus and the 
Field Rose, the two first subjects figured, are 
very nicely rendered, as are the Corn Poppy 
and the Borage. The Primrose and Violet are 
less satisfactory ; but passing on, we come to 
the Wild Hyacinth or Blue-bell, the Yellow 
Flag, the Hair-bell, the Germander Speedwell 
or Angel’s Eyes, the Ox-eye Daisy, the Cow¬ 
slip, the Hawthorn, the Comfrey, the Ladies’ 
Smock, the Toadflax, and many others, all 
* Familiar Wild Flowers. Figured and Described by F. 
Edward Hulmr, F.L.iS., F.S.A. First Series. With Coloured 
Plates. (Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, London, Paris, and New 
York.) 
life-like and unmistakable representations of 
the respective plants, and together forming a 
most interesting posy of wild flowers. The 
descriptions, as we have said, are drawn upon 
a popular model, sketching the habitats in 
which the plants are found, and explaining 
their habits of growth and inflorescence, occa¬ 
sionally dipping into the mysteries of deriva¬ 
tions, and explaining to the unlearned the why 
and the wherefore of the application of some 
awkward-looking combination of Latin or 
Greek. The following passage from the notes 
on Cardamine pratensis well illustrates the 
character of the text:— 
“ The lady’s-smock is also less commonly known 
as the bitter cress or cuckoo flower. I ts commoner 
name is sometimes written laclies’-smock, at first 
sight a not very marked difference, but a difference 
sufficient to build up a second theory of the origin 
of the name upon. The plant, we are told by some 
of the older writers, is called lady’s-smock, because, 
like many other graceful and delicate plants, it was 
dedicated in mediaeval times to the Virgin Mary, to 
whom the title of ‘Our Lady ’ was largely given. 
This prefix is by no means uncommon ; thus, the 
parasitic dodder is known as ladv’s-lace ; the hare¬ 
bell as lady’s-thimble, in obvious allusion to the 
form of the flower; lady’s-finger, lady’s-mautle, and 
lady’s-slipper are other instances.Ladies’- 
smock, on the contrary, we are told by other authori¬ 
ties, has no religious significance involved in it, but 
is only given to tho plant because the meadows 
whitened over with its blossoms, recall their appear¬ 
ance when at another time they are covered with the 
bleaching linen of the household, made by the busy 
fingers of the fair members of the family, not spin¬ 
sters in name only, but in very deed and most actual 
fact. Cuckoo-flower would not be at all a bad name 
for the plant, if confined to it; but unfortunately, in 
popular parlance, two or three other plants that also 
flower about the time the cuckoo arrives, have had 
the same name bestowed on them, and a consider¬ 
able amount of difficulty in identifying the actual 
species intended has, therefore, from time to time 
arisen. The name given in many botanical works, 
bitter-cress, points at once to its relationship with 
the watercress and other members of the same 
family, and to the pungent flavour of the plant when 
employed, as it sometimes is, in salads, the plant 
having formerly had a great reputation as an anti¬ 
scorbutic. The plant is still, in many parts of the 
Continent, largely employed, and big bundles of it 
may be seen amongst the other vegetables in the 
public markets. In olden times it was considered a 
potent remedy in hysteria, epilepsy, and many other 
diseases ; hence the name bestowed on it, Cardamince, 
a name derived from two Greek words signifying 
‘ the heart ’ and ‘ to overpower.’ Jts near ally, the 
watercress, is, we need scarcely say, largely em¬ 
ployed as an article of diet, and authorities assure 
us that the chloride of potassium and iodine it con¬ 
tains render it distinctly valuable as a food sub¬ 
stance.” 
It will tlius be seen that Familiar Wild 
Flowers is an elegant table-book, decorated 
with choice coloured figures oi some of the 
more interesting of our native flowers, and 
