164. Milkwort, Polygala vulgaris. Milkwort family. A little plant of pastures and heaths, remarkable for the colour variations of its flowers: the most common colour is deep blue, but pink, white, and sky-blue are very frequent: the stem is branched at the base; each branch is about 4 ins. high, with small lance-shaped leaves, and a spike of flat flowers: flowers in summer.

165. Devil's-bit Scabious, Scabiosa Succisa, Scabious family. The stem is usually unbranched and about 2 ft. high: there is a tuft of leaves at the base, and a few pairs on the stem, oblong-elliptical, and sometimes slightly notched: the flowers are gathered in small, round heads, blue with a slight tinge of purple, occasionally white: the name refers to the character of the underground stock, which ends abruptly, as if bitten off: a common plant of dry pastures, flowering in late summer and autumn.

164. Milkwort.

166. Devil's-bit Scabious.

166. Sea Starwort, Aster Tripolium, Daisy family. A plant of salt-marshes near the sea: the stem is 1 to 2 ft. high, with long, elliptical leaves, which are usually somewhat fleshy: the flowers are in large handsome heads, with a bright blue ray and yellow disc: flowers in autumn.

167. Corn-flower, Bluebottle, Centaurea Cyanus, Daisy family. One of the most beautiful plants of our corn-fields, flowering in late summer: the stem is tall and slender, with many narrow leaves: the flowers are in heads, those at the margin of the head being large and bright blue, those at the centre smaller and more purple.

166. Sea Starwort.

167. Corn-flower, Bluebottle.

168. Chicory, Succory, Cichorium Intybus, Daisy family.

168. Chicory, Succory.

169. Giant Bell-flower.

The stem is about 2 ft. high: the lower leaves are oblong in shape, with broad toothed segments: the upper leaves are smaller, toothed, lance-shaped, and clasp the stem: the flower-heads are large and of a fine blue colour; usually only a few are open at one time, and these are then surmounted by spikes of buds: not uncommon on waste ground, flowering in late summer and autumn.

169. Giant Bell-flower, Campanula latifolia, Hairbell family. A tall, handsome plant of shady places, flowering in late summer and autumn: the leaves are stalked, narrowly ovate in shape, and with serrate margins: the flowers, which are gathered in a long terminal spike, are large, bell-shaped, erect, and of a fine blue colour.

170. Hairbell, Campanula rotundifolia, Hairbell family. The Bluebell of Scotland is one of the most familiar flowers of dry pastures and banks: the slender stem is about 1 ft. high, with many narrow leaves: the round leaves of the Latin name are found at the base of the stem, hidden by the grass in which the plant grows: the flowers, which occur in graceful spikes, are bright blue, or sometimes white, bell-shaped, and pendant: the English name is also written Harebell.

170. Hairbell.

171. Bugloss.

171. Bugloss, Lycopsis arvensis, Forget-me-not family. An inconspicuous inhabitant of fields and waste ground: the stem is about 1 ft. high and slightly branched: the leaves are bluntly lance-shaped: both stem and leaves are very rough, with short stiff hairs: the small blue flowers are gathered in terminal spikes: flowers in summer.

172. Forget-me-not, Myosotis scorpioides, Forget-me-not family. Several closely-related species of Myosotis are common in this country, but the most beautiful is M. scorpioides, which is found in ditches: the leaves are elliptical, and bright green: the flowers, which are larger than those of any other common native species, have a salver-shaped, bright blue corolla, with a yellow-eye: they occur in spikes at the apex of the stem: flowers in summer and autumn.

173. Variegated Forget-me-not, Myosotis versicolor, Forget-me-not family. A common plant of fields and waste places: the stem is slender, slightly branched, about ½ to 1 ½ ft. high: the leaves, which are mostly gathered at the base, are elliptical: the flowers occur in slender spikes, are quite small, and when nearly open are yellow, changing to pink, and finally to blue: flowers in early summer.

174. Viper's Bugloss, Echium vulgare, Forget-me-not family. The stem is very rough with stiff hairs, and reaches a height of 1 to 2 ft.: the leaves, which are also rough, are lance-shaped and fairly large: the flowers are massed in a handsome terminal spike: the corolla is tubular and twisted, at first dull purple, but, when fully open, changing to a deep blue: not uncommon on dry banks, flowering in summer.

172. Forget-me-not.

173. Variegated Forget-me-not.

175. Germander Speedwell, Veronica Chamoedrys, Foxglove family. A very pretty woodland flower: the stem is more or less prostrate, with pairs of sessile, ovate, serrate leaves; from the axils of the upper leaves arise slender stalks, each with a spike of large blue flowers: the corolla has 4 petals, very unequal in size, the lower one being much smaller than the others. A very different-looking plant is the Brooklime, V. Beccabunga, which is common in ditches: the stem is thick, with pairs of smooth, fleshy leaves: the little spikes of flowers resemble those of the Speedwell, though the flowers are smaller.

176. Bugle, Ajuga reptans. Dead-nettle family. A common early summer plant of damp meadows and stream sides • from the base of the stem arise several prostrate runners, which, like it, bear pairs of smooth, oval leaves: the flowering stem is erect, about 6 ins. high, with little groups of flowers in the axils of the upper leaves: the corolla is tubular, with a large, lobed lower lip; the upper lip, which is present in most members of this family, is wanting: flowers blue, occasionally white. 177. Wood Hyacinth, English Bluebell, Scilla non-scripta, Hyacinth family. The plant rests in the form of a bulb throughout the winter, and in spring sends up several long, narrow, fleshy leaves: in early summer appears the flower stalk, about 9 ins. high, with a terminal spike of drooping, bell-shaped flowers, bright blue in colour: a flower of shady woods.

174. Viper's Bugloss.

175. Germander Speedwell.

17G. Bugle.

177. Wood Hyacinth, English Bluebell.