John Keble's Parishes Read online

  SMALL CELANDINE (R. Bcaria).-The real buttercup of childhood, with its crown of numerous shining petals, making stars along the banks at the first breath of spring. One of the most welcome of flowers.

  KING CUPS (Caltha palustris).-Large, gorgeous flowers, in every wet place, making a golden river in a dell at Cranbury.

  GREEN HELLEBORE (Helleborus viridis).-Under an oak-tree, in a hedgerow leading from King's Lane, Standon, and in Hursley.

  FUMITORY (Fumaria officinalis).-The pretty purple blossoms and graceful bluish foliage often spring up in gardens where they are treated as weeds.

  YELLOW F. (F. lutea).-An old wall at Hursley.

  CLIMBING F. (Corydalis claviculata).-Cuckoo bushes. Standon, and in Hursley.

  COLUMBINE (Aquilegia vulgaris).-This group of purple doves, or of Turkish slippers, does not here merit the term vulgaris, though, wherever it occurs, it is too far from a garden to be a stray. Ampfield Wood, Lincoln's Copse, King's Lane, and Crabwood have each furnished a specimen.

  BARBERRY (Berberis vulgaris).-This handsome shrub of yellow wood, delicate clusters of yellow flowers, and crimson fruit in long oval bunches has been sedulously banished from an idea that it poisons grass in its vicinity. There used to be a bush in Otterbourne House grounds, but it has disappeared, and only one now remains in the hedge of Pitt Downs.

  POPPY (Papaver Rhæas).-Making neglected fields glorious with a crimson mantle, visible for miles in the sun.

  GREATER CELANDINE (Chelidonium majus).-Yellow flowers, very frail, handsome pinnate leaf-lane at Brambridge, Standon, and in Hursley.

  CRUCIFERA

  ROCKET (Diplotaxis tenuifolia).-Seen at Brambridge.

  CHARLOCK (Sinapis arvensis).-Making fields golden.

  WHITE C. (S. alba).-Standon, Hursley.

  JACK-BY-THE-HEDGE (Sisymbrium alliaria).-Seen at Brambridge.

  LADY'S SMOCK (Cardamine pratensis).-No doubt named because the pearly flowers look on a moist meadow like linen bleaching. Sometimes double in rich ground.

  HAIRY CARDAMINE (C. hirsuta).-Hursley.

  YELLOW ROCKET (Barbarea vulgaris).-Road near Chandler's Ford. Near bridge over Itchen.

  WATERCRESS (Nasturtium officinale).-Everywhere in running water, and now Poolhole is made into a nursery for it.

  SHEPHERD'S PURSE (Thlaspi Bursa-pastoris).-Even the purses are to be seen before we well know the tiny white flowers to be in blossom.

  PENNYCRESS (T. arvense).-Larger, and uplifting a spike of rounded, fan-shaped capsules.

  WILD MIGNONETTE (Reseda lutea).-Mignonette all but the perfume-chalk-pits.

  DYER'S ROCKET (R. luteola).-Slenderer and more spiked; more common.

  ROCK ROSE (Helianthemum vulgare).-There is an elegance and delicacy of colour about this little cistus which renders it one of the most charming of the many stars of the wayside, as it grows on Compton Hill.

  SWEET VIOLET (Viola odorata).-The colour, purple or white or pink, seems to depend on the soil. White are the most common on the chalky side, blue on the gravel.

  MARSH V. (V. palustris).-Small and pale, with round leaves. Seen at a spring in Otterbourne Park. (V. permixta).-Pinky- Kiln-yard, Otterbourne.

  DOG V. (V. canina).-In every wood, rich and handsome.

  SNAKE V. (V. hirta).-More delicate and small, growing in turf-Pleasure Grounds, Cranbury.

  (V. Riviniana).-Hursley Park.

  (V. Reichenbachiana).-Dane Lane. The three last are very probably only sports of canina.

  CREAM-COLOURED V. (V. lactea).-More skim-milk coloured, but known by lanceolate leaves-cuckoo bushes.

  PANSY (V. tricolor).-Everywhere in fallow fields. In rich soil the upper petals become purple.

  SUNDEW-

  (Drosera rotundifolia) The curious, hairy, dewy leaves

  (D. intermedia) and flowers that never open in full day are to be found in the marshes near Hiltingbury.

  MILKWORT (Polygala vulgaris).-Small and blue on Otterbourne Hill, as a stitch in the embroidery of the turf; but larger, blue, pink, or white in the water-meadows beside the Itchen, deserving the American name of May-wings.

  CARYOPHYLLEÆ

  DEPTFORD PINK (Dianthus Armeria).-This used to grow in a field near Highbridge, but has been destroyed, either purposely or by fencing.

  BLADDER CAMPION (Silene inflata).-Showing its white flowers and swelling calyxes everywhere.

  COMMON CATCHFLY (S. anglica).-Small and insignificant among corn.

  RED CAMPION (Lychnis diurna).-Robins, as children call it, with the bright pink in every hedge and the undergrowth in every copse.

  WHITE C. (L. vespertina).-The white flowers make a feature in fallow fields.

  RAGGED ROBIN (L. Flos-cuculi).-The curiously slashed and divided pink flowers flourish in the water-meadows by the Itchen.

  CORN COCKLE (Agrostemma githago).-The beautiful purple blossoms, set in long graceful calyxes, adorn the paths through wheat and barley fields everywhere.

  LESSER STITCHWORT (Mænchia erecta).-

  CHICKWEED-

  (Cerastiurn vulgatum) Early plant. Uninteresting

  (C. arvense) tiny white flowers.

  STARWORT (Stellaria Holostea).-The bright stitches of white embroidery on our banks.

  CHICKWEED (S. media.)-The chickweed dear to bird-keepers.

  (S graminea).-Cobweb-like, almost invisible stems, and blossom with a fairy brightness over the heaths.

  (S. uliginosa).-The same adapted to marshes-Cuckoo Bushes, Helmsley.

  SANDWORT (Arenaria Rubra).-The little pink flowers crop up through the gravel paths.

  CORN SPURREY (Spergula arvensis).-Very long-spurred, with white small blossoms.

  (Alsine tenuifolia).-Roman road between Hursley and Sparsholt.

  KNAWEL (Scleranthus annuus).-Hursley.

  ST. JONN'S-WORT TRIBE

  TUTSAN (Hypericum Androsæmum).-Handsome flower, and seeds- Cranbury and Allbrook.

  ST. JOHN'S-WORT (H. perforatum).

  (H. dubium).

  (H. hirsutum).-All frequent in the hedges.

  (H. humifusum).

  (H. pulchrum).

  (H. Elodes).-Bogs near Cuckoo Bushes.

  (H. quadrangulum).

  MALLOW (Malva sylvestris).-Everywhere by roadsides, used to be esteemed by old women as a healing "yarb."

  MUSK M. (M. moschata).-A beautiful pink or white flower, grows all over the park at Cranbury.

  DWARF M. (M. rotundifolia).-Flower white, with purple streaks, almost stemless, grows under a wall in Otterbourne Street.

  SMALL-LEAVED LIME (Tilia parvifolia).-Hursley Park; avenue at Brambridge, where four rows form three magnificent aisles.

  CRANESBILL TRIBE

  DOVE'S-FOOT CRANE'S-BILL (Geranium Columbinum).-Roadsides.

  SHINING C. (G. lucidum).-Heap of stones, Hursley.

  (G. dissectum).-Everywhere.

  (G. Molle).-Otterbourne

  HERB ROBERT C. (G. Robertianum).-Very common, and the crimson leaves a great winter ornament.

  BLOODY C. (G. phæum).-Ladwell Hill, where it may be a remnant of a cottage garden.

  STORK'S-BILL (Erodium moschatum).-Otterbourne Hill.

  (E. cicutarium).-Farley Mount.

  WOOD-SORREL (Oxalis Acetosella).-This exquisite plant with delicate flower and trefoil leaves grows on many mossy banks, especially on one on the Ampfield Road.

  HOLLY (Ilex Aquifolium).-The glory of the peaty woods. The people distinguish the berried shrubs as holly, i.e. holy, those without berries being holm.

  SPINDLE-TREE (Euonymus europæus).-Also called skewer wood. "A tree that grows on purpose," as an old woman said of the material of her pegs. The charming berries with their crimson hearts are plentiful in King's Lane.

  BUCKTHORN (Rhamnus Frangula).-Otterbourne Hill.

  (R. catharticus) .-Hursley.

  SYCAMORE (Acer Pseudo-platanus).-Road by Oakwood.

  MAPLE (A. campestre).-Painting the hedges in autumn with its yellow leaves.

  LEGUMINOSE

&n
bsp; FURZE (Ulex europæus).-Brilliant on all the commons on gravel or peat.

  DWARF FURZE (U. nanus)-Rather less frequent.

  BROOM (Genista scoparia).-Exquisite golden spires on the peat.

  NEEDLE BROOM (G. anglica).-Cuckoo Bushes.

  DYER'S GREENWEED (G. tinctoria).-In a ditch in a meadow on the Ampfield Road.

  REST HARROW (Ononis arvensis).-Pretty pink and white blossoms like miniature lady-peas on a troublesome weed.

  KIDNEY VETCH (Anthyllis Vulneraria) .-Borders of down.

  BLACK MEDICK (Medicago lupulina).-Chalk-pit.

  (M. denticulata) .-Ampfield.

  MELILOT (Melilotus officinalis).-Kiln Lane, Otterbourne.

  BIRDSFOOT (Ornithopus perpusillus).-Otterbourne Hill.

  (Trigonella ornithopodioides).-Otterbourne.

  TREFOIL ( Trifulium subterraneum).

  (T. pratense).

  DUTCH CLOVER (T. repens).

  HOPDOWN (T. procumbens).

  (T. minus).

  (T. hybridum).

  STRAWBERRY TREFOIL (T. fragiferum).-Once on canal bank.

  MILK VETCH (Hippocrepis comosa).-Hursley.

  BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL (Lotus corniculatus).-This golden or ruddy part of the embroidery of the down is known to children as Ladies' Slippers or Ladies' Fingers.

  (L. major).-A taller variety.

  TARE (Ervum hirsutum).-Tiny grey flowers.

  (E. tetraspermum).

  PURPLE VETCH (Vicia Cracca).-Throwing royal purple garlands over every hedge in the lanes.

  COMMON V. (V. sativa).-Very common, varying from crimson to dark red.

  WOOD V. (V. sepium).-A brilliant little red flower.

  GRASS VETCHLING (Lathyrus Nissolia).-Found once in a bank near Chandler's Ford; once at Silkstede.

  WOOD V. (L. sylvestris).-Doubtful, but something like it grows in Sparrow Grove near the waterworks.

  YELLOW V. (L. pratensis).-Common, mixed with grass.

  HEATH PEA (Orobus tuberosus).-On the peat soil.

  ROSE TRIBE

  BLACKTHORN (Prunus spinosa).-It is believed that no hurt is so hard of healing as from a blackthorn. Also blackthorn winter is supposed to bring fresh cold in spring, when the bushes almost look as if clothed by hoar-frost.

  WILD CHERRY (P. Avium).-The fine, tall, shapely trees put on their bridal show in the woods of Cranbury and Ampfield.

  BIRD-CHERRY (P. Padus).-Not very common. There is one in the grounds at Otterbourne House, but it is not certainly wild.

  MEADOW-SWEET (Spiræa Ulmaria).-Raising its creamy cymes of blossoms in every ditch where there is a little moisture.

  DROPWORT (S. Filipendula).-On the borders of Pitt Down and Crab Wood.

  AGRIMONY (Agrimonia Eupatoria).-Long yellow spikes in all dry hedges.

  BURNET (Sanguisorba officinalis).-Chalk-pit by Sparrow Grove, also Dane Lane, where the green balls with tiny red blossoms may be found, and sometimes the green and crimson burnet moth.

  BARREN STRAWBERRY (Potentilla Fragariastrum).-How often has "mustn't pick the strawberry blossom" been quoted to this delusive little white cinquefoil in early spring, when it peeps out among leaves very like strawberry-leaves in the hedge.

  TORMENTIL (P. Tormentilla).-This is now ranged among the cinquefoils, though it has only four petals, owing perhaps to the very dry barren heathy soil it brightens with its stars.

  CINQUEFOIL (P. repens).-A smiling pentagon star by the wayside.

  SILVER-WEED or GOOSE-GRASS (P. anserina).-Why dedicated to geese, even in Latin, it is hard to say. Silver-weed is more appropriate to the silver-grey leaves that border road-sides, sometimes with golden flowers.

  MARSH CINQUEFOIL (Comarum palustre).-A prize in Baddesley bog, unless drains have banished its pure flower.

  WOOD STRAWBERRY (Fragaria vesca).-Profuse in Cranbury and on banks of railway at Sparrow Grove.

  WILD RASPBERRY (Rubus Idæus).-Cranbury, near the road.

  WILD BLACKBERRY (R. fruticosus).-Brambles, of course, everywhere, but it is impossible to pass them without a tribute to their beauty, in flower, in fruit, and, above all, in autumn foliage.

  DEWBERRY (R. cæsius).-What is probably dewberry grows by the roadway through Mallibar Copse.

  (R. leucostratus).-Roman Road and Cranbury Common.

  HERB BENNET (Geum urbanum).-Insignificant yellow flower.

  WATER AVENS (G. rivale).-Quaint little ruddy half-expanded blossoms, called by the villagers Granny's Night-caps.

  (G. intermedium).-Really intermediate-probably hybrid. Found once in a copse between Boyatt Lane and the Southampton Road.

  LADY'S MANTLE (Alchemilla arvensis).-Crabwood.

  SWEET-BRIAR (Rosa rubiginosa).-Copse by pond, Cranbury.

  DOG-ROSE (R. canina).-With handsomer hips.

  WHITE DOG-ROSE (R. arvensis).

  HAWTHORN (Cratægus monogyna).-Who does not love when the blossoms cover them like snow-drift? Well are they called May.

  MOUNTAIN ASH (Pyrus Aucuparia).-This rowan-tree of Scotland has no weird horrors here, but it is the ornament of the woods, with white cymes, red berries, and feathery leaves.

  CRAB-TREE (P. Malus).-Romsey Road, where the pinky blossoms show opposite Cranbury Gate.

  WHITEBEAM (P. Aria).-Grey or white leaves shine out in Ampfield Wood.

  PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE (Lythrum salicaria).-Ophelia's long purples adorn the water-courses in the Itchen mead.

  WILLOW-HERB TRIBE

  ROSEBAY WILLOW-HERB (Epilobium angustifolium).-This splendid flower, rose-coloured, white-pistilled and red-leaved, spreads in sheets in Cranbury Copse and on railway cuttings, at Cuckoo Bushes, and in Ampfield Wood.

  CODLINS-AND-CREAM (E. hirsutum).-Adorning wet places.

  SMALL WILLOW-HERB-

  (E. parvaeorurn) Troublesome though pretty weeds in the garden.

  (E. tetragonum)

  (E. roseum)

  (E. montanum).-Found at Ampfield.

  ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE (Circæa lutetiana).-A graceful, delicate-looking plant of universal occurrence.

  WATER STARWORT (Callitriche verna).-Ponds.

  MARESTAIL (Hippuris vulgaris).-Waves with the current of the stream in the Itchen.

  WHITE BRYONY (Bryonia dioica).-Vine-like leaves wreathe round in the hedges, and the pale, whitish flowers give place to graceful clusters of red berries.

  GOOSEBERRY (Ribes Grossularia).-Lane towards Brambridge.

  SAXIFRAGEA

  ORPINE (Sedum Telephium).-Also called Midsummer May; grows in Otterbourne Park, and a large bunch on the Romsey Road. An old woman described having tried the augury, having laid the plants in pairs on Midsummer Eve, naming them after pairs of sweethearts. Those that twisted away from each other showed inconstancy!

  STONECROP (S. anglicum).-Otterbourne Hill.

  (S. acre).-Hursley.

  HOUSELEEK (Sempervivum tectorum).-Also called Sin-green, or some word so sounding. It is not permitted to blow upon the roof on which it grows, for fear of ill-luck, which is strange, as it has been Jupiter's beard, Thor's beard, and St. George's beard, and in Germany is thought to preserve from thunder.

  SAXIFRAGE (Saxifraga tridactylites).-Hursley.

  GOLDEN S. (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium).-Wet places in Lincoln's Copse.

  MARSH PENNYWORT (Hydrocotyle vulgaris).-Bogs at Cuckoo Bushes.

  WOOD SANICLE (Sanicula vulgaris).-In all the copses.

  UMBELLIFERA

  GOUTWEED (Ægopodium Podagra).-Handsome leaves, but a troublesome weed.

  PIGNUT (Bunium flexuosum).-The delicate, lace-like, umbellate flowers in all the woods.

  WATER DROPWORT (nanthe fistulosa).-Banks of Itchen.

  WATER HEMLOCK (. crocata).-Itchen banks.

  WILD CARROT (Daucus Carota).

  BURNET SAXIFRAGE (Pimpinella Sax Jraga).-Hursley.

  COW PARSLEY (Chærophyllum sylvestre).-Boys may be seen bearing home bundles for their rabbits.

  SHEPHERD'S NEEDLE (Scandix Pecten Veneis).-In cornfields.

  HEDGE PARSLEY
(Torilis infesta).-Hursley.

  HEMLOCK (Conium maculatum).

  IVY (Hedera Helix).-Everywhere.

  DOGWOOD (Cornus sanguinea).-The red and purple of the fading leaves mixed with the yellow of the maples make every hedge a study.

  MISTLETOE (Viscum album).-Grows on hawthorns in Hursley Park, and on apple-trees at Otterbourne.

  MOSCATEL (Adoxa Moschatellina).-This dainty little green-headed plant is one of the harbingers of spring.

  ELDER (Sambucus nigra).-In most hedges, though its honours are gone as the staple of elder-wine, and still better of elder-flower water, which village sages used to brew, and which was really an excellent remedy for weak eyes.

  GUELDER-ROSE (Viburnum Opulus).-Equally handsome whether white-garlanded cymes of blossoms or scarlet berries, waxen when partly ripe.

  WAYFARING-TREE (V. Lantana).-Not quite so common, but handsome, with white flowers and woolly leaves.

  HONEYSUCKLE (Lonicera Periclymenum).-To be seen in full glory waving on the top of a holly-tree, and when the stem has become amalgamated with a bough, circling it like the staff of Esculapius, it is precious to boys.

  (L. Caprifolium).-Noted as once found, but not lately.

  MADDER TRIBE

  MADDER (Rubia peregrina).-Tiny flowers-Otterbourne Hill.

  CROSSWORT or MUGWORT (Galium Cruciatum).-Roadside, Allbrook.

  YELLOW LADY'S BEDSTRAW (G. verum).-Everywhere.

  MARSH B. (G. palustre).-Cuckoo Bushes.

  (G. uliginosum).-Gravel-pit, Otterbourne.

  WHITE BEDSTRAW (G. erectum).-Winchester Road.

  CLEAVERS or CLIDERS (G. Aparine).-Everywhere.

  ROUGH (G. Mollugo).-Cornfields.

  WOODRUFF (Asperula odorata).-Sparrow Grove.

  (A. cynanchica).-Chalk downs.

  FIELD MADDER (Sherardia arvensis).-Otterbourne Hill.

  VALERIAN (Valeriana dioica).-Itchen meadows.