"Paul's betony," and "fluellin :" but, in former times, all the species of speedwell were so highly admired by the Dutch for their real, or supposed virtues, that they called them "honour and praise." The germander is of a most brilliant blue; so bright that it cannot fail to attract the notice of those, who, in early spring, walk in the country; and its notched leaves, in shape not unlike the leaves of a rose, but growing opposite to each other on the stem, sufficiently mark the species. We have in our fields, woods, and hedges, thirteen species of them, but only three other kinds are to be found now in bloom. The ivy-leaved speedwell, (Veronica heredefolia,) which has thick green leaves, shaped like the ivy-leaf, is now a very common weed in gardens, and runs profusely over some corn-fields among the early blade; its long slender stems entangling in each other, or in those of the plants near it. Its flower is very small, but most brightly blue, and the seed-vessel which succeeds the blossom, is formed of two lobes. Similar in colour is the blossom of the speedwell now to be found commonly on walls, (Veronica arvensis,) but the whole appearance of the plant is different as it grows upright; and the grey field speedwell (Veronica agrestis) has a small blossom not quite so bright as those of the other species, while its notched leaves and stems lie along the cultured field, or cover over the waste bank. All these are smaller than the germander speedwell, and they all bloom from spring to autumn.

As summer progresses, the remaining speedwells come into blossom. One species, the common speedwell, (Veronica officinalis,) is in flower in May, and is very frequent in dry woods and pastures. It grows upright, and has a pale blue spike of flowers. The leaves are bitter and astringent, and are often made into tea, especially on the continent. Indeed the French call this flower, Thé de l'Europe. An old Danish writer once contended very warmly, that this plant was the identical tea of China; and before the Chinese tea had acquired a settled reputation for its superior flavour and stimulating qualities, this, as well as several other plants, were recommended by herbalists as a more safe and pleasant beverage. The Swedish and German writers of the present day, have a very high opinion of the speedwell tea.

A small flower, the lamb's lettuce, (Valerianella olitoria,) is now very abundant on banks and in corn-fields, especially on a light soil. As this flower blooms when flowers are few, it is more likely to be observed than if a blossom of the summer. It has very thick compact clusters of tiny lilac flowers, its stem is about half a foot high, and the branches spread out over a good space of ground. The leaves are of a pale green, and they are considered by many people to have, if eaten when young, the flavour of lettuce. The plant was formerly cultivated for salad, and is still called by the French, monk's salad, (salade de chanoine.) Its English name suggests the idea of its growing at

the season when these beautiful spring animals, lambs, are seeking their food on the mead. Our forefathers called it white pot-herb; and Gerarde, the old botanist of queen Elizabeth's time, says of it, "In winter and the first months of spring, it serves for a salade herbe, and is with pleasure eaten with vinegar, salt and oile, as other salades be, among which it is none of the worst."

One would scarcely suppose that a plant so insignificant as to be overlooked by many who must often pass it, could have been at all important as food; but vegetables, either for cooking, or salad, were, in those days, little cultivated in our country, and brought to so little perfection, that the lamb's lettuce would be a less contemptible dish then than now.

The fragrant leaves of the ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) are winding now on their long stems by every wayside, and, if bruised, diffusing their sweet odour, while their whorls of purplish lilac flowers are daily becoming more abundant. This is another plant which was more highly valued some centuries since, than in modern days, though it is still used in making a tea for the cure of coughs. The "herbe women of Cheapside," who, in queen Elizabeth's time, were very numerous on that spot, walking up and down the street with their baskets of "simples" on their heads, had, at all seasons, either the newly-gathered, or dried ground-ivy, and regularly cried it for sale about this and other streets of London. They called

it by the now almost-forgotten names of alehoof, tun-hoof, cat's-hoof, hay-maids, and gillby-the-ground; and the latter name is still used for it in some counties. Ray mentions several cures wrought by the ground-ivy, and warmly recommends its use.

One can now hardly walk into the corn-field, without finding the spray of fumitory, (Fumaria officinalis.) The flower is of a deep purplish rose-colour, with a small black spot upon it, and a number of these small tubular blossoms grow on the upper portion of the stem, forming a spike of flowers about an inch long. The leaves are divided into slender segments, and are so like those of the bright yellow garden escholtzia, that the gardener scarcely distinguishes the young leaves of the weed from those of the flower. They are of a pale seagreen colour. In summer the neglected cornfield is often quite red with the blossoms of this plant. This plant retains all its properties when dried. It has a very strong saline flavour, and is particularly wholesome for cattle. It is called in the northern counties earth-smoke.

The dark red stems and leaves of the herb Robert, or Robert-leaved cranesbill, (Geranium Robertianum,) are gay with its pretty pink flowers, which mingle on the hedgebank with the blue germander speedwell. The cranesbills received their name from the Greeks, because the seed-vessel is long and pointed like the bill of a crane. The different species are now becoming numerous; and a less conspicuous

kind than the Robert-leaved, is quite as common as that flower. It has round deeply jagged leaves, and its blossom is a small pink bell. This is the Geranium dissectum. One of the cranesbills, found wild in North America, (Geranium maculatum,) has so astringent a root, that it is called alum-root, and used in that country, instead of that mineral, to fix the dye of the manufacturer.

Every day now adds to the charms of the meadow land. "Blessed be the Lord for the beauty of summer and spring, for the air, the water, the verdure, and the song of birds." This was the exclamation of Linnæus ; and who, in looking on the April mead, is not ready to respond, Blessed be God for the green earth?

Every one knows the pretty and sweet-scented meadow clover, (Trifolium pratense,) and most of us have gathered it from the summer meadow, or the purple field, on which it is sown, and sucked the honey from its petals, while hundreds of bees were humming over the clover-field, intent on sucking it too.

The farmer has not, on his land, a more valuable herbage plant than this and the white Dutch clover, (Trifolium repens.) He has commonly two crops of it, the one in spring and the other in autumn. The name of trefoil has been given to it for its triple leaflets, and the French term it tréfle. The plant was called "clofer-wort" by the Saxons, from cloefer, to cleave-probablyon account of its divided leaves. The Dutch term it “klafer ;" and in our country