hip is not scarlet, but of a brown, or purplish black colour, and full of a sweet purple juice. The tall Scotch rose of the garden is very similar to this flower, and probably only a cultivated variety of it.

The trailing dog rose (Rosa arvensis) is also very common in the southern counties of England. The bush is seldom more than three feet high, but its long winding stems extend to the distance of several feet. The flowers grow in large bunches, and are quite white. The prickles are not numerous on the branches, and the little round buds which cluster upon them are almost destitute of them. This flower is very common in Yorkshire, and has the repute of being the white rose of the Yorkists, at the time when civil wars desolated our land.

The broom, "the bonnie broom," (Genista scoparia,) with its myriads of golden flowers, is glittering on the dry hill, or heath-land. The farmer eyes it with complacency, for when the broom flowers freely it is generally regarded as a promise of a good harvest. It is an exceedingly beautiful flower, and one over which the bees hover incessantly, and beside which the wanderer on the heath is glad to make his couch, that its odour may sweeten his sleep. The French term it le genét à balai, for, like us, they make brooms of its branches. It is said that the house of Plantagenet derived its name from this flower, and various traditions record the circumstance. The one most commonly believed is, that the name was assumed

by Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, the husband of Matilda, the haughty empress of Germany; who, having placed a sprig of the broom in his helmet on the day of battle, acquired the surname, and bequeathed it to his descendants. Perchance, before engaging in the contest, he had lain down among the fragrant broom, and had been struck by its beauty. Yet flowers seem ill suited to accompany the horrors of war. "Bring flowers," says Mrs. Hemans," to deck the bride, and to crown the feast;" but bring them "to die in the conqueror's path."

The dyer's weed, or woad-waxen, (Genista tinctoria,) has blossoms very much like those of the broom, but they are not in flower till a month later. It is common on pastures and field-borders, and is used by dyers in giving a yellow colour to yarn. It is much valued in Russia as a cure for hydrophobia.

JULY.

"In the breeze

That wafts the thistle's plumed seed along,
Blue bells wave tremulous. The mountain thyme
Purp'es the hassock of the heaving mole,
And the short turf is gay with tormentils,
And bird's foot trefoil, and the lesser tribes

Of hawkweeds; spangling it with fringed stars."

How often do a few lines, like those which are placed at the head of this chapter, bring before us the pleasant scenes of the country! The wide-spread open down; the upland moor; the flowers which are springing in the fresh grass or on the brown summer turf of the heath;

how are they present to the eye of the mind, even while the bodily eye is gazing on the brick wall, or the city houses! The love of the country-the love of nature, affords, next to religion, the surest means of enjoyment; and may so well be connected with pious thought, that it is often the means of raising us above the world and its cares to the contemplation of God. It is very desirable that the young should cherish it; for he who has been taught to mark the beauties of the starry heavens, and the waving tree, and the wayside flower, has learned a better lesson than if he had been taught to gather gold.

The heath-lands are so beautiful in July, with their gorgeous array of flowers, that one can hardly imagine that the purple bells indicate that the soil is barren and poor. As the bleak winds chase over them in winter, they do, indeed, seem drear; but the seasons come round, and the Almighty causeth "it to rain on the earth. . . . to satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth,"* and then the heath becomes a spot of beauty, fitted to invite the footstep and to charm the spirit.

Our five native species of heath (Erica) are very lovely flowers, either of a dark purplish red, or of a rose colour, and are so little like our other wild plants that few would mistake them. The Highlanders thatch their cottages and make their beds of its sprays, and an old historian relates, that the Picts, who drank a great

*Job xxxvii. 26, 27.

quantity of ale, made it of the young heathshoots. Carrington has some lines on this flower

"How many a vagrant wing light waves around
Thy purple bells, Erica! 'Tis from thee
The hermit birds, that love the desert, find
Shelter and food. Nor these alone delight
In the fresh heath. Thy gallant mountaineers,
Auld Scotia, smile to see it spread immense
O'er their uncultured hills; and at the close
Of the keen boreal day, the undaunted race
Contented on the rude Erica sink

To healing sleep."

The ling (Calluna vulgaris) is included among the plants which compose the heather; it is more like a small shrub, and has lighter coloured and smaller flowers than the heaths.

The strong sweet scent of the wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum) comes up now to the wanderer over the moor, and it is one of the sweetest of wild odours. Among the Greeks, this flower was an emblem of activity. The highest flavoured venison is furnished by the deer which feed on thymy lands, and sheep, too, thrive well on these places.

The bluebell, or harebell, (Campanula rotundifolia,) bends its azure drooping blossoms to the winds, on the chalky cliff or barren hill of England, or Scotland, and graces the solitary ridges. Professor Lindley remarks :-" On the mountains of Switzerland there are species of harebell, with corollas of a pale yellow, spotted with black. On the Alps of India are others of the deepest purple that can be conceived. On the rocks of Madeira lives one which was, formerly, not uncommon in our gardens, (Mus

chia aurea,) whose corollas are of a rich golden yellow; and, finally, on the pastures of the Cape of Good Hope, are Roellas, the flowers of which are elegantly banded with streaks of violet or rose, passing into white."

A little white harebell, sometimes cultivated in pots, is very common in the meadows of France; and from its modest and pure appearance is called the nun of the fields, la religieuse des champs.

On the moist bog, or heath, we should now search for the bog-pimpernel, (Anagallis tenella,) with very tiny leaves and comparatively large rose-coloured blossoms; and we may also find the bog or Lancashire asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) growing near it. The latter plant bears a spike of pretty yellow flowers, and is very similar to the true asphodel, (Asphodelus,) renowned as the asphodel of the Greek poets, and as the flower with which the ancients planted their graves, and which they used in funeral ceremonies. This plant covers large tracts of land in Apulia.

That singular and interesting flower, the sundew, (Drosera rotundifolia,) grows commonly on moist heathy grounds, and its white blossoms may be gathered in July. The curious

structure of the leaf is well worth observation. It is covered with minute hairs, on the points of which lie globules of clear water, like dew, which glisten in the sunshine, and by their sweet taste are very attractive to insects. These hairs are not only thick on the surface, but