we cannot fail to notice that upon the wide expanse of vegetation, some plants stand forth more conspicuous and attractive than others. And it is to this class of our wild flowers that we are now going to direct the attention of our young readers. Amongst conspicuous plants, the singular orchises first demand our notice. By the end of the present month several species of this tribe are in flower, and the early purple orchis may be found at the middle of May in our woods. It is a frequent plant, and has a very succulent stem, about a foot high. Around this stem some leaves are clasped, and the remainder grow at the root, where they are very conspicuous by their dark purple spots. This plant is strongly scented, and during the evening the odour proceeding from it is so disagreeable that few can bear the flower in a room. The blossoms are of different shades of purple, spotted with a darker tint. There are ten species of these peculiar orchises, the largest of which is called the lady orchis. This sometimes grows to the height of two feet, and has a close spike of flowers as large as a bunch of grapes. The smallest species we have is the pretty dwarf orchis, which is not above four inches in height. Amongst those flowers which beautify our waste places, standing forth conspicuous by their tallness, the viper's bugloss is particularly striking, and it is one of the most beautiful in shape and hue. We never shall find it on the rich, grassy meadow-land, or amongst that lovely host of blossoms that clusters along the streams or rises from beneath the shadow of the trees. But on the heap of chalk, sand, or gravel, or on the beach, where amongst the stones a little earth has gathered, there it raises its rich spire of blossoms. Its season for flowering is June and July, and its usual height is about two feet, although specimens have been taken that were more than three feet in height, thus rendering it particularly striking to the rambler. The whole of the plant is very rough to the touch. Its name is significant of the long-cherished notion that it was an effectual remedy for the bite of a vipera notion derived from its spotted stem and its seed, which somewhat resembles the head of that animal. The advances of science have, in a great measure, dissipated this and the like groundless superstitions. The showy yellow toadflax is a most conspicuous wild flower in the summer season. Its large, sulphur-coloured blossoms, raised on a stem one or two feet in height, are very striking in hedges and the borders of corn-fields. Though paler in hue than many of the flowers of its time, it is yet bright enough to give quite a yellow tint to the landscape, when it occurs in abundance. The blossoms of this plant are shaped similarly with those of the favourite snap-dragon of walls and ruins, except that they are spurred at the base. The foliage of this wild flower has upon it a sea-green bloom, and, like many of its relatives, it has a resemblance to the leaves of the flax. This species was formerly used as a lotion to improve the beauty of the skin, and a decoction is still made for this purpose from the blossoms, and has been recommended by some good authorities. Let us In the months of July and August, if we walk among lands through which the stream winds with a pleasant gurgle, we can scarcely fail to notice the conspicuous great willow herb, for it is a common plant, and one too large to be overlooked. It would seem at a distance almost like a small shrub, for the stem is sometimes a good height, and has many branches, well clad with soft, downy leaves and rich purple bloom. The flowers have a mixture of red and dark blue in their tint. There is, in addition to the willow herb, a handsome flower, which waves its bright petals over many of the streamlets which meander along the rustic landscape. It grows in moist meadows also, and is called the yellow iris, or corn-flag. The root of the plant is scentless, and of a sweetish flavour. A cosmetic is made from this plant, and the roasted seeds are recommended as a good substitute for coffee. According to the historian Plutarch, the word "iris" signified in the Egyptian tongue the eye of heaven. We have another wild kind of iris, called the stinking iris, which occurs principally in the west of England, where it inhabits thickets. The flowers of this latter species are smaller than those of the corn-flag, and of a purple hue. The thistles as a tribe, are very conspicuous plants. notice one or two of them. On dry, sandy, or chalky places, the carline thistle is common throughout Europe; it is said to be a sure indication of a barren soil. The inner scales of its flower-cup are of a pale straw colour, and so glossy and firm is their texture, that the thistle resembles the flowers of our gardens that we term "everlasting." Within these is a circle of purple florets. The plant blossoms in the month of June. We may remark in connection with the thistles, that those who are botanists can always discern these plants from amongst others that nearly resemble them, by the prickly stem and leaves which are their peculiar characteristics. Another beautiful species is the musk-thistle, which may be distinguished by its drooping flowers, and it has besides a musky odour, which is stronger towards evening. The colour of the blossom is a reddish purple, which rises from a stem two or three feet high during July and August. The milk-thistle is as handsome and striking as any of this beautiful family; but it is rare. It may be known from the others by the milky white veins which run through its dark-green spiny leaf. This thistle, however, has not, except on the cups, points so strong and sharp as those of the true Scotch thistle. As we have a flower that is called the Queen of the Meadows, so the corn-land has its regal ornament from flower-land. Several of our most showy and striking wild flowers grow among the corn, and the corn-cockle is not the least conspicuous of them. handsome, glossy seeds of this plant are large and heavy, and the husks break up so fine as to elude the miller's care, and fill the corn The CONSPICUOUS PLANTS. 127 with black specks. Thus the corn-cockle is a plant very distasteful to land-owners, who do their utmost to eradicate it whenever it occurs; the only means of doing which is to pull it up by hand before it comes to flower. This is the only British flower of its genus. THE TEAZLE. It is in blossom in June and July. The stems are downy, and it is most frequent on dry and gravelly soils. Another conspicuous flower of the corn-fields is the field knautia; but we must not stay to remark upon it in full. It has large lilac flowers, which grow on a stem two or three feet high, and these may be seen from afar, overtopping the brown corn that waves with them in the summer's breeze. the country fields. It is a beautiful and conspicuous ornament of Lastly, we would allude to the subject of our engraving, which displays one of the teazle tribe. This, all will believe, is a conspicuous family of our native plants, containing species which are amongst the tallest of wild flowers, frequented in the glad summer time by bees and butterflies, which find a congenial resting-place on their elevated flower-heads. Often when wandering along the roadside we come to patches of waste ground where these tall plants are growing, and their blossoms are rendered of a gorgeous tint by the wings of some of our fairest butterflies who are perched thereon. As the wild breeze stirs and sways them, they lock amongst the grandest of vegetable productions, and they have, in addition to their beauty, a great use in our manufactures, being used to raise the nap on woollen cloths, for which purpose no artificial substitute can be found that so well effects the end in view. TREES THAT GROW SHIRTS. E. CLIFFORD. "TREES that grow shirts, do you say?" Yes. "But how? I suppose you mean to say cotton grows on a tree, and is afterwards woven into cotton cloth ?" Not quite that, for linen is derived from a vegetable also, being made of flax; and the broadcloth of which our coats are made grows on the bodies of sheep, so that we may say that all our clothes grow in some way. But there is yet a more simple way in which the Indians of South America derive their shirts. Humboldt, the great traveller, says: "We saw, on the slope of the Cerra Duida, shirt trees fifty feet high. The Indians cut off cylindrical pieces two feet in diameter, from which they peel the red and fibrous bark, without making any longitudinal incision. This bark affords them a sort of garment which resembles a sack of very coarse texture, and without a seam. upper opening serves for the head, and two lateral holes are cut to admit the arms. The natives wear the shirts of marina in the rainy season; they have the form of the ponchos and manos of cotton which are so common in New Grenada, at Quito, and at Peru. As in this climate the riches and beneficence of nature are regarded as the primary causes of the indolence of the inhabitants, the missionaries do not fail to say, in showing the shirts of marina, in the forests of Oronoko, garments are found ready made upon the trees." The OLIVER CROMWELL'S HEAD. A CORRESPONDENT of the New York Express, who some time ago was travelling in England, states that he has seen the head of the Great Protector, of which he gives the following description :— OLIVER CROMWELL'S HEAD. 129 Before leaving England, I had an opportunity of seeing a great curiosity, a relic of antiquity which few Englishmen had seen. You will be surprised, and perhaps incredulous, when I say I have seen the head of Oliver Cromwell-not the mere skull, but the head entire, and in a state of remarkable preservation. Its history is authentic, and there is verbal and historical evidence to place the thing beyond cavil. Cromwell died at Hampton Court in 1658, giving the strongest evidence of his earnest religious convictions, and of his sincerity as a Christian. After an imposing funeral pageant, the body having been embalmed, he was buried in Westminster. On the restoration of the Stuarts, he was taken up and hung in Tyburn. Afterwards his head was cut off, a pike driven up through the neck and skull, and exposed on Westminster Hall. It remained there a long while, until by some violence the pike was broken and the head thrown down. It was picked up by a soldier and concealed, and afterwards conveyed to some friend, who kept it carefully for years. Through a succession of families, which can easily be traced, it has come into the possession of the daughter of the Hon. Mr. Wilkinson, ex-member of Parliament for Buckingham and Bromley. It was at the residence of this gentleman that I saw the head; and his daughter, a lady of fine manners and great culture, exhibited it to the Rev. Mr. Verrell, the Pastor of the Bromley Dissenting Chapel, and myself. This head of Cromwell is almost entire. The flesh is black and sunken, but the features are nearly perfect, the hair still remaining, and even the large wart over one of the eyes-such being a distinctive mark on his face is yet perfectly visible. The pike which was thrust through the neck still remains, the upper part of iron, nearly rusted off, and the lower wooden portion in splinters, showing that it was broken by some act of violence. It is known historically that Cromwell was embalmed, and no person thus cared for was ever publicly gibbeted except this illustrious man. In addition to the most authentic records concerning the head possessed by the family, and which I have found sustained by historical works, and even an old manuscript in the British Museum, Mr. Flaxman, the distinguished sculptor, once gave it as his opinion that this was none other than the head of Oliver Cromwell. Yet its existence seems almost unknown in England, and only a few years ago a discussion in some of the public journals, which I have seen, alternately denied and advocated it. Such a rumour was in circulation, and as no one had then seen the head, it having been kept concealed, none could speak by authority. Recently the motive for concealment has passed away, and permission to see it was cheerfully granted. It is a curious keepsake for a lady; but it is carefully preserved under lock and key in a box of great antiquity, wrapped in a number of costly envelopes, and when it is raised from its hiding-place and held in one's hand, what a world of thought is suggested! |