leaf. The custom of strewing floors on festival days is still retained at Norwich; and the old cathedral is, on certain days, scented with the perfume of the sweet flag, profusely strewn over its floors. This plant is abundant in the fenny districts of England. The root is--especially when dried-so powerfully aromatic, as that it might be used instead of spice, for dishes. The Turks make a sweetmeat of this root, and think it valuable as a preservative against the plague. The sweet flag root, which is sold by druggists, is imported from the Levant; but our native species is quite as aromatic as that which is brought from afar. It is one of the oldest medicines known, and is much used in the present day. Linnæus says, that it is the only native aromatic plant of northern climates; the hot spices of foreign lands being invariably the product of the plants grown in the hot regions of the world.

The lovely flowering rush, (Butomus umbellatus,) often called water-gladiole, is now in bloom. The old writers termed it " grassie rush;" and one of them says, "It is of all others the fairest and most pleasant to behold, and serveth very well for the decking and trimming-up of houses, because of the beautie and braverie thereof." Its flowers grow in a cluster at the summit of its stem, and are of a delicate rose-colour, tinged with purple. The sharp edges of the leaves cut like a razor, and often wound the mouths of cattle.

That beautiful aquatic flower, the water

violet, or feather-foil, (Hottonia palustris,) is a great ornament to streams, but it is, in some counties, very rare. Its white thread-like roots sink deep into the soil, at the bottom of the pond, and its leaves are all under water. The flowers rise above the stream, and seem to rest on its surface; and their handsome clusters are either of a pale lilac or white colour. It affords a covert to several small shell-fish; among others, to the fresh-water periwinkle. It is to be regretted that it is not more general, as it is easily cultivated; for if the seeds be thrown one summer into the stream, the flowers will appear in the ensuing season.

On the marshy sides of the river, grows that very pretty flower, the buck-bean, or bog-bean,

(Menyanthes trifoliata.) It may easily be

known by its triple-leaf, resembling in colour and shape that of the field bean. Its flowers grow in bunches, and are white, tipped with red, and most beautifully bordered with a delicate fringe. Its roots are so numerous, and so matted, that on bogs on which this plant grows in plenty, the ground is rendered firm by their interstices. It contains a bitter principle, and is used by the Swedes instead of hops. The roots, when ground to flour, are eaten by the Laplanders, but form a poor food.

But quitting the river side for the green lanes and fields, we find nature equally profuse. The bird's-foot trefoil, (Lotus corniculatus,) with its pretty yellow papilionaceous blossoms, is scattered all over the mead,

scarcely taller than the grass, but not hidden by it. Every hedge is now white with the flowers of the privet, (Ligustrum vulgare,) a plant which is green all the year, and, in winter, is covered with its numerous purple berries, which the birds leave untouched on the trees, and which are used by dyers. The honeysuckle (Caprifolium periclymenum) mingles its sweet breath with that of the hay-field. On calcareous and limestone soils, the flowers of the wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana) are a very conspicuous feature of the hedgerow. This plant is also called the mealy guelder rose, and it is well named by Mrs. Howitt, the wild hydrangea, for its general appearance is very similar to that of the garden plant. Its young shoots are covered with a cottony down, and its stems and leaves are thick and heavy. Its flat bunches of scarlet berries turn black in drying, and are used for making ink. In the Crimea, the young shoots are valued for the tubes of tobacco-pipes; and in Germany, baskets are made of the pliable branches. This beautiful shrub is called, in Kent, the cotton tree.

The young shoots of the bladder campion (Silene inflata) peep up on the hedgebank, as early as April, and, in this month, the flower is blooming. The shoots are of a pale green, and have a powerful odour of green peas; and they are sometimes gathered while young, and eaten at table. There is, however, a bitter flavour mingling with the sweet taste, which renders them less palatable than the green pea;

but this flavour is quite removed by blanching. The plant is a common dish in several of the Mediterranean islands, and in Zante it is very general on the table in spring. In the year 1685, the injuries done by the swarms of locusts to the vegetation of the island of Minorca was so great, that the inhabitants were in a melancholy state of destitution, and were saved from starvation, entirely by means of this common wild flower.

The sweet-scented convolvulus (Convolvolus arvensis) hangs its delicate pink bells on the wheat-stalk, and the large white flowers of the larger bind-weed (Calystegia sepium) are winding among the bushes; and, by their side, sometimes springs the enchanter's nightshade, a plant with small pink flowers and heartshaped leaves, found chiefly in damp and shady places.

The yellow agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria) blows both in June and July. The most frequent places of its growth are field-borders and road-sides. The flower has a sweet scent like that of an apricot, which is stronger when the plant is bruised; and, in early spring, before the appearance of the blossom, the root is also aromatic. Country people make much use of this plant both as an external application and a medicine. It was formerly extensively prescribed by physicians as a tonic, and considered by Dr. Hunter a valuable remedy in disorders of the skin. It is thought by some writers to be the flower called by the

ancients, argemon; and Pliny says, it takes its name from Eupator, the "finder of it out, and hath a royal and princelie authoritie."

The yellow avens, (Geum urbanem,) though rare in Scotland, is so frequent in rural places in England as to have obtained many familiar names. It is called herb Bennet, star of the earth, goldy flower, and its oldest name was, blessed herb. It probably received this because it was once much used by physicians as a febrifuge : Dr. Thornton thought highly of its virtue. It is a pretty flower, growing on a branched stem, and has large leaves at the root. Its root is prized on account of its sweet odour, and, in several parts of England, is collected and laid in drawers and chests, to give its scent to linen. It is also put into wine or ale, to impart to it a spicy flavour, and a water is distilled from it. It is remarkable that when this flower grows in damp places, the root does not possess this peculiar aroma. The water avens (Geum rivale) is the only other wild species, and is a much larger and thicker plant than this, with its flowers each about the size of a shilling, and of a deep purplish orange colour.

In the northern counties of England, and in Scotland, especially in the neighbourhood of mountains, the large round yellow blossoms of the globe flower (Trollius Europaus) are a very handsome ornament to the green lands. In the south, they deck our garden borders, but in Scotland, they are very general as wild flowers, and are called lucker-gowans, and cabbage