across the Swaledale Moors to visit one of the numerous lead mines with which those hills abound, we came on a subalpine pasture covered with the Globe-Flower as thickly as we constantly see the Buttercup spreading its golden blooms. Knives and pocket-handkerchiefs were quickly produced, and we had soon procured a bundle of roots to plant in our shrubberies. How proud we have felt ever since in the knowledge that our neighbourhood boasted such a profusion of the treasured plant! In this manner it is frequently found in the hilly districts of the north of England.

The Marsh Marigold (Cáltha palústris, Plate I., fig. 1) is a still more showy plant, its large golden blossoms and bright green, glossy, heart-shaped leaves forming a familiar and muchvalued ornament of marshy land. In olden time it was called Mary's Gold, after the Blessed Virgin, and Jean Ingelow, in his "Songs of Seven," alludes to this

"Oh brave marsh Mary buds, rich and yellow,
Give me your money to hold."

Like the Globe-Flower, the Marsh Marigold is without calyx. Some years ago I was much delighted with the many garlands carried about for show by the poor children in a village in Kent in honour of the Vicar's Feast, and the one to which he gave the preference was formed entirely of Marsh Marigolds and purple Orchises.

The Hellebores also belong to this order; and although their green flowers suggest no relationship to their golden companions, yet the form of the blossom and its many carpels, and the dark glossy hand-shaped leaves carry out a fair amount of resemblance as soon as the attention is directed to them.

The Green Hellebore (Helléborus viridis) grows in woods about Bedale, in Yorkshire, where I have found it frequently. Like its brethren the Stinking Hellebore and Christmas Rose, it has no petals, and the petal-like calyx becomes leafy, and remains till the seed is ripe. The plant grows to a foot in height. I have specimens gathered at Hill Deverill, in Wiltshire.

CHRISTMAS ROSE-COLUMBINE.

27

The Stinking Hellebore I have found near Shaftesbury, in Wiltshire. It has a disagreeable smell, and the pale green flowers are tinged with purple (H. fœtidus). Both of these plants flower early in the spring.

The pretty white Christmas Rose, so called because of its flowering at that season, is also a Hellebore, and its calyx is a brilliant white. Its beauty and purity, as well as the season when it blooms, insure it being a favourite in every garden.

The little Winter Aconite, which blooms so very early in the spring, its large green sepals giving it the appearance of a little boy of the olden time with an ample frill under his chin, and the bright blue and pink and white Hepaticas, so charming in our gardens and in the Swiss woods at the same season, also belong to this order.

The Poisonous Baneberry (Acta spicáta), one of the rare ornaments of the hilly districts of the north, with its spike of pink-tinted flowers, more nearly resembling a Spiræa than a Ranunculus, represents another family of this order. Herb Christopher is another name for it. Its leaves are frequently divided, and its fruit consists of a poisonous berry. It has been sent to me from woods in Wensleydale.

The Columbine forms an agreeable contrast to the golden Ranunculuses; it is generally purple, though sometimes pink or white. Growing to the height of two feet, its stem slightly branched, and bearing drooping blossoms at the end of the branches, its appearance is very elegant. The sepals are purple as well as the petals, and these last are in the form of a pendant cornucopia. A fancied resemblance in the cluster of spurred petals to a nest of young pigeons procured it the name of Columbine. The upper leaves are three-parted, the lower ones twice three-parted. Familiar as this plant is in the shrubbery and garden, it is rare in a wild state. We were much delighted some years ago when informed by an eminent botanist that the Columbine was to be found beyond the Wickliffe woods. We started on a hot day in June, leaving Richmond very early, and searching every field after the aforesaid woods.

were passed. My companion found it while I was examining another field, and we considered our fatigue well expended in procuring wild specimens (Aquilégia vulgáris). Twamly calls this "Folly's Flower," likening its cluster of spurred petals to a fool's cap rather than to a nest of young doves.

says

It also has a

"Exultation :"

"Then gather Roses for the bride,
Twine them in her bright hair;
But ere the wreath be done-oh let
The Columbine be there.

For rest ye sure that follies dwell
In many a heart that loveth well.

"Gather ye Laurels for the brow
Of every prince of song!
For all to whom philosophy
And wisdom do belong;

But ne'er forget to intertwine

A flower or two of Columbine.

"Weave ye an armful of the plant,

Choosing the darkest flowers,

With that a wreath blood-dipp'd bring

The devastating powers,

Of warrior, conqueror, or chief;
Oh twine that full of Folly's leaf!

"And do ye ask me why this flower
So fit for every brow?

Tell me but one where folly ne'er
Hath dwelt, nor dwelleth now,
And I will then the Laurel twine
Unmingled with the Columbine."

He

place in Jean Ingelow's "Songs of Seven" of

"Oh Columbine, open your folded wapp,

Where two twin turtle-doves dwell."

The Monkshood and wild Larkspur are nearly allied to the Columbine. Like it they have purple flowers, though the blue predominates more in them and the violet in the Columbine.

The Monkshood has no calyx; its upper petal is hooded, hence its English name: and its two side petals are hairy on the outside. My specimen was found in an old quarry near Gravesend, and I saw it frequently in groves in Switzerland; but it can hardly be accounted a wild plant. It is very poisonous, especially the roots, which sufficiently resemble Horseradish for some fatal mistakes between them to have occurred. A habit of one part of the root dying off and a new part forming and throwing up branches causes the plant to change its position perceptibly, so that in a few years it has moved several inches. The seeds are accounted very dangerous to the eyesight, and many parents will not suffer it in their gardens for fear of the small seeds being blown into the eyes of the children. A medicine is formed from the Aconite poison; but it is chiefly used externally. Its beneficent effects are best understood by the homoeopathists: in their hands it allays fever, procures sleep, and thus alleviates much human suffering (Aconitum napéllus).

The Larkspur (Delphínium consólida) is occasionally found in corn fields. It is also without a calyx, and has five petals, and a nectary containing poisonous honey. Its form is light and graceful, and its leaves narrow and much divided. There are many handsome species of Larkspur cultivated in gardens -one with a single crowded spike and double blossoms, the colour of which was purple ; pink, grey, or white used to be much in vogue, and, planted in lines, always reminded me of Lombardy Poplars. The rich blue species now in fashion for ribbon-borders, &c., are perennial, and far exceed in beauty those prized in years past.

But the king of the order is the wild Peony (Pæónia corállina), the stately ornament of the island called the Steep Holmes, in the mouth of the Severn. A friend of mine would have got a specimen if it had been possible, and to that intent she was eager to join an excursion from Clevedon to the island in question, the only known habitat of this noble plant; but great was her disappointment when she found that the owner

strictly forbade the gathering of a single flower! So I fear the crimson beauty must continue absent from our collection. Our gorgeous garden Pæonies are most of them mere double varieties of this hero of the Steep Holmes, and the tree Peony is another species of the same family. In the Crimea, Hooker states that the seed of the Peony is surrounded by a red pulp, the juice of which affords a beautiful purple dye.

This family completes the Ranunculaceæ order.