similar situations about Richmond; but we always procured them at the expense of a torn sleeve or wounded hand, on account of the brushwood amongst which they grow. On boggy ground near Kirklington and Richmond, also in Swaledale, we find the beautiful Bird's-eye Primrose (P. farinósa). The flowers are smaller than any of those in its family except the Scotch Primula, and of a beautiful lilac, arranged in full clusters, like a garden Verbena. The leaves are simple, and both they and the stem are covered with white powder. The Scotch Primrose (P. scótica) is a still smaller plant, and its blossoms are of a deep purple, with yellow centres. Its leaves are finely toothed and powdery, like those of the Bird's-eye Primrose. It grows on the sea-coast in the north of Scotland. Beautiful Yellow and Purple Auriculas were brought to us from the mountains when we were in Switzerland; they also belong to the Primrose order, and are the original of our beautiful garden Auriculas. The Polyanthus is a member of the same family. The Water Violet family has but one British member. It is most unfitly named, for there is not the very slightest resemblance to a Violet; it is much more like the Cuckooflower. Our Water Violet (Hottónia palústris) has thread-shaped, pinnate leaves, all under water. The pink flowers grow in whorls, and have yellow centres; there are five petals and five stamens. Until within the last few years there was a pond near the Bishop of Ripon's Palace which was covered with this plant, but the pond has been filled up. The Water Violet still grows in a pond near the North Bridge, at the back of a cottage called Noah's Ark, because during the frequent floods of the Ure it is often surrounded by water. My specimen came from that pond. The Cyclamen family are far better known in gardens and conservatories than as wild flowers. I have, however, one CYCLAMEN-PIMPERNEL. 245 native species. I had the good fortune to find it near Fowey, in Cornwall, and also in Kent. The Ivy-leaved Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederæfólium) has a thick root, which, in countries where it abounds, is the favourite food of the wild boar : hence the plant is called "Sow-bread." The leaves are dark green, with a paler stain upon each; they die away as summer advances, to make way for the blooms, which appear in September. The wheel-shaped corolla is split into five segments, which are turned back. I have seen specimens from Suffolk. The Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagállis arvénsis) is a well-known member of the Primrose order. This very pretty little plant, so familiar in corn-fields and waste places, is called "the Shepherd's Weather-glass." It always shuts before rain; but each day it closes at noon, so it must be early in the day when its state can be regarded as a criterion of the weather. It has five stamens, and its wheel-shaped corolla is divided into five segments. Its oval leaves are bright, and beautifully spotted with black underneath. This flower and the Red Poppy are the only examples that we have in Britain of true scarlet flowers. The Blue Pimpernel (A. cœrúlea), so common in our gardens, is occasionally found wild. I have it from corn-fields in Durham; it closely resembles the Scarlet Pimpernel, except in the colour of its flowers. The Bog Pimpernel (A. tenélla) is a contribution from Cornwall; it forms plots on Marazion Marsh covered with rosecoloured flowers. The petals are less expanded than in the other species, and this gives the blossom more the form of a bell than a star; the tiny leaves are roundish and pointed, and are placed on the short slender stems in pairs; the flower is terminal. When a plot of Bog Pimpernel is in full bloom it represents a rose-coloured cushion. This family of plants are well named Anagallis, or Laughter-causing, for their beauty does cause gladness. Every species is pleasing, whether it be the Scarlet Shepherd's Weather-glass or the deep blue stars of the Purple Pimpernel, or the rosy bells of the tiny Bog-plant-all are perfect in loveliness. The Loosestrife family come next. Here, as in the last family, the corolla is wheel-shaped, and both it and the calyx are five-cleft, enclosing five stamens. The Moneywort (Lysimachia nummulária) is a very gay plant; its stems prostrate, and creeping along the ground in every direction, thereby covering large spaces. Its leaves are ovate and pointed, of a light glossy green, and grow in pairs. The flower-stalks spring from the axils, and are rather longer than the leaves. The segments of the calyx are large, and those of the corolla not fully expanded, so that the flower partakes slightly of the bell shape; it is large, and when you meet with an entirely-open flower, it is as large as a sovereign. My specimens grew in a moist meadow near Kenilworth, and I am told that it grows in profusion in woods and on hedgebanks about Coalport and Ironbridge, in Shropshire. I have occasionally seen it wild in Yorkshire. The Wood Loosestrife, or Yellow Pimpernel (L. némorum), is a common ornament of moist woods in every county; it greatly resembles the Scarlet Pimpernel, but is rather larger. The Great Yellow Loosestrife (L. vulgáris) I am proud to introduce to you, for it is really a handsome plant. Disdaining the creeping habit of its fellows, it rears its head erect, reaching the height of two feet and upwards. It bears its flowers in terminal panicles, each blossom being nearly as large as those of the Moneywort, and of a full yellow. The leaves are opposite, or whorled, and of a broad lance-shape. It is found. growing by the moat at Bodiham Castle, a beautiful ruin not many miles from Hawkhurst. I have it also from the Spa Valley, near Aldfield, in Yorkshire. The rarest of the Loosestrifes is also a Yorkshire plant; it is called the Tufted Loosestrife (L. thyrsiflóra). Its flowers are smaller than those of the other species, and the segments into which the wheel-shaped corolla is divided are narrow. The WINTER GREEN—THRIFT. 247 leaves, too, are narrow and in pairs, and the numerous flowerclusters spring from their axils. Leckby Scar, near Topcliffe, is its habitat. My specimen came from thence. July is the flowering time for all this family, though the Wood species appears earlier. The Chaffweed (Centúnculus mínimus) is a humble sturdy. little plant with bright pairs of leaves, in the axils of which tiny red flowers are seated. The Chickweed Winter-green (Trientális Europea) is a scarce plant in England. It was found in the month of June by a Ripon botanist at Brimham, and is one of the plants belonging to the Northern Flora of Forbes; the stem is slender, the pointed leaves in a whorl, from whence the cluster of flower-stalks emerges. Each blossom resembles a small Wood Anemone, but it has seven stamens, and the corolla cloven into seven segments. It is the only British plant with seven stamens, and in Linnæus's arrangement forms a class by itself. I have the Sea Milkwort (Gláux marítima), which was found in the salt mud of the Looe River; it is a fleshy little plant with glaucous oval leaves, in the axils of which bright pink or whitish sessile flowers are placed. There are five stamens, and a corolla of five segments. It flowers in June. I got the Brookweed, too (Sámolus valerándi), from the banks of the Fowey River, near Lostwithiel; and I have a bundle of specimens from Brodick Bay, Arran. It has pale green glossy egg-shaped leaves, and its clusters of small white flowers terminate a stem of six or eight inches high. This is the last family in the Primrose tribe; it has five stamens, and the corolla in five segments. The THRIFT order comes next, and contains only one British family. The common Thrift (Státice arméria, Plate XII., fig. 1) is a familiar ornament of sea-cliffs, its narrow fleshy leaves forming close tufts, and its bright pink heads of flowers rising plentifully from them. It is frequently used as an edging for flower-beds; and I remember wondering, as a child, how any one could prefer the short uninteresting Box-edge to the line of gay Thrift. I have also specimens of this plant from the Wensleydale hills, where a sea breeze can hardly ever reach them. These plants have five stamens and five styles; the corolla is deeply cloven, the calyces are funnel-shaped. There is a Plantain-leaved Thrift (S. plantaginea), peculiar to Jersey, but I have not got a specimen. The Sea Lavender (S. limónium) grows in abundance on salt marshes near Clevedon, bending its panicles before the tide twice in the day. The leaves are broadly lance-shaped and fleshy, and the flowers resemble those of our garden Lavender. They partake of the nature of the everlasting, for you may keep the clusters many months without their materially changing either form or colour. The Upright-spiked and the Matted Sea Lavender were sent to me from the coast of Norfolk; their distinctive peculiarities are indicated in their names. The PLANTAIN tribe is next in succession. Its two families are the Plantain and the Shoreweed. The Plantain family has four stamens and one style, and the corolla is divided into four segments, which are turned back. The flowers are arranged in dense spikes. The Sea Plantain (Plantágo marítima, Plate XII., fig. 2) has thick thread-shaped simple leaves, and tall narrow spikes; it abounds on the cliffs about Looe. The Buck's-horn Plantain (P. corónopus) grows in similar situations; its leaf is toothed or pinnate, and downy. The Greater Plantain (P. májor) is common on roadsides and waste ground; its large, broad, ribbed leaves are familiar everywhere. Its chief use is for birdseed. The Hoary Plantain (P. média) has the most claim to beauty; its oval spike of pink flowers is both pretty and fragrant. Its leaves are ovate and downy. The Ribwort Plantain (P. lanceoláta), or Rib-grass, forms good food for sheep. Its leaves are narrow, and its stamens black. We used to call the spikes "Jack-straws," and many |