THE WOOD CROW-FOOT.

Ranunculus auricomus. Goldilock Ranunculus.

Fair Goldilocks are blooming here,
Where Glechoma strews the ground;
Their yellow cups, so bright and clear,
Receive the dew distilled around.

And here, perchance, at midnight hour,
Fays their frolic revel hold,
And find within the Crow-foot flower
Pearl drops set in leafy gold.

Watery pearls of purest flavour,

Which they quaff to absent friends;

By the elf-queen's kindly favour,
Who their moonlit sport attends.

And as they quaff, they dance to airs,
Sighing through the trembling chords,
Formed, by gentle Zephyr's cares,

Of tender twigs the wood affords ;
And as they dance, the nightingale,
Warbling forth her plaintive song,
Reminds them of her mournful tale-

Checks the gay and joyous throng.

Too soon they see the grey of dawn,
Rising o'er the eastern hills,
Which bids them, far from grassy lawn,
Fly to caves by bubbling rills.

While Phoebus courses through the air,
They on moss-beds peaceful lie;
But when the moon is shining fair,

To the copse with haste they hie.

MS.

In one of our rambles in the vicinity of Cambridge, we came near a spinet, consisting chiefly of lofty wellgrown ash-trees, and not doubting that within its

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shade we should meet with some of our favourite flowers, we stepped over the rustic stile, and were soon pursuing our way upon a carpet of nature's weaving, unlike anything we ever saw before. No loom of man's invention ever produced aught so beautiful as this. Upon simple procumbent stems were rich blue labiate flowers, growing in whorls, and almost resting on small kidney-shaped leaves, which were of a reddish purple, having short footstalks. The flower proved to be very beautiful when magnified, but was not of sufficient magnitude to be included in our group; though when seen in such abundance as literally to cover the whole surface of the spinet as far as the eye could reach, the effect was very pleasing. It is commonly found in dry groves, and about hedge banks, and is known as Ground Ivy, and by botanists is called Glechoma, being supposed to be identical with a species of thyme, which Theophrastus calls glecon (yλnxwv). It is extremely variable in size, and its flowers differ in colour, and are said to have been found quite white.

It was among this Ground Ivy that we observed the Wood Crow-foot, or Goldilocks, as it is more usually called, its pretty golden cups being elevated considerably above the Ivy, and its stem showing the upper leaves, which are cut to the base into linear segments, that is, they are nearly of one uniform breadth throughout. On examining it, we found the lowest leaves, which are called radical, somewhat kidney-shaped, divided into three lobes, deeply cut and notched. The roots are fibrous, and numerously branched.

The Wood Crow-foot is a native of dry woods and shady places, and may be frequently found in bloom from April to June. It is not so common as the butter

cup of our meadows and pastures, which it nearly resembles, and with which there is a great chance of its being confounded, as well as with other species to which it is allied. It is, however, free from that acrid taste which all others of its genus possess, and on that account has been called by some Sweet Wood Crow-foot.

There are several other species of Crow-foot, concerning which we shall have occasion to speak more fully elsewhere. We may here, however, mention one other, on account of its rarity, namely, the Alpine White Crow-foot (Ranunculus Alpestris), which has been gathered by Mr. George Don by the sides of rills on the Clova mountains, Augusshire, in the month of May. We have no authentic account of its having been found in England, but there can be no doubt that it exists amongst us in situations similar to those in which it is frequently met with. It is often found on the Austrian Alps, where it makes its appearance immediately after the melting of the snow.

We may also refer to the pretty Water Crow-foots, which are very ornamental in the rills and brooklets where they abound. They are frequent in many parts of Europe, and their white flowers are extremely conspicuous by reason of their contrast with the deep green hue of the leaves. On some parts of the banks of the river Avon, it is said they are so abundant as to yield food to cattle, which do not reject them as they do the common buttercup.

In the Linnæan system this flower is placed in the class Polyandria, and order Polygynia; and in the Natural system in the order Ranunculacea.

THE HYACINTH.

Hyacinthus. La jacinte; Fr.

Die Hyacinthe; Ger. Hyacinth;

Dutch. Il giacinto; Ital. Jacinto; Sp. Jacintho; Port. Hyacinth; Dan. and Swed.

"Shade-loving Hyacinth! thou comest again,

And thy rich odours seem to swell the flow

Of the lark's song, the redbreast's lonely strain;

And the stream's tune-best sung where wild flowers blow,
And ever sweetest where the sweetest grow."

ELLIOTT.

RIGHTLY does Elliott address the Hyacinth as a lover of the shade, for beneath the umbrageous branches of trees, in secluded groves, it always blooms richly, and if it should be planted near the flowing stream of a rivulet, murmuring in the stillness of its retreat, there it grows more vigorously. It was by the side of such a stream that we found the flower whose portrait accompanies our pages, breathing forth its soft fragrance, itself almost hid by the long grass growing around it. It far exceeded in height and strength all others that were more distant from the water, and measured, from the base of the bulb to the tip of the terminal flowerbud, full sixteen inches.

The flowers, which are long bell-shaped, having the outer edge curved back, are attached to the stem (or scape) by short footstalks near its extremity, which terminates in a solitary bud, and is forced into a drooping position by the weight of the cluster of flowers. The scape is round and fleshy, the leaves strap-shaped, slightly channelled, and keeled at the back. It belongs to the Linnæan class Hexandria and order Monogynia, and to the Natural order Asphodeleæ.