EPPING FOREST.
ITS FLOWERING PLANTS.
" Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art,
In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon,
Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain ;
Both where the morning sun first warmly smote
The open field, and where the unpierced shade
Imbrowned the noon-tide bowers."—Paradise Lost.
The flowers of the Forest, though for the most
part common enough, are not on that account less
attractive in the eyes of Londoners. Of the many
thousands who visit us on every sunny day in the
summer, few return without securing some floral
trophy, which it has given them infinite pleasure to
gather.
Owing to its variety of soil and aspect, and the
contrast of extremely dry positions with damp
hollows, the Forest is, for its extent, particularly
rich in its flora. Many of the flowers which re-
ward the diligent seeker are rare or structurally
remarkable. Among these may be mentioned
the sundew, which catches small insects with its
arrangement of gummy hairs, and nourishes itself
on their dead bodies ; the grass of parnassus, a
beautiful white flower to be found in boggy places;
the bog-bean; and the lily of the valley. The last