APRIL 1ST. ENGLISH SCURVY GRASS.-(Cochlearia Anglica.) 66 April greets the earth again With its sunshine and its rain; Fill the void by slow degrees.-BRAILSFORD. ALONG the muddy banks of the river Avon up to Rownham, we now meet with a profusion of English Scurvy Grass-the stem angular, branched, smooth, and shining; often rising to the height of 12 or 14 inches, clothed with narrow green leaves, each branch terminating in thick clusters of pure white flowers. The root and leaves are somewhat spoon-shaped, hence the name cochlearia, from cochleare, a spoon. The Scurvy Grass is a common but most valuable plant. In scurvy and scorbutic complaints it has been found of the greatest possible advantage, the most ample testimony to its value having been given by eminent navigators and physicians, especially in sea scurvy; and by a beneficent arrangement it usually grows most abundantly where scurvy is most obnoxious -as along the shores of the islands of the South Sea, which are lined with this medicinal plant. The great scourge of long sea voyages was formerly scurvy, and as recently as the time of Lord Anson scurvy was so fatal that in the first two years of his voyage it appears that he lost more than four-fifths of his original crew by this disease. The better provisioning of ships and the free use of lemon juice on extended voyages have, in recent years, all but banished the dreaded scourge of scurvy from our navy. The plant has a somewhat peculiar smell, and a warm, bitter taste. The leaves, eaten as a salad in early spring, or with bread and butter, like water cress, will be found of essential service to those suffering from scorbutical affections. It has long been considered one of the most effectual of all our antiscorbutic plants. It was formerly much cultivated in gardens for domestic use, but since the days of the famous herbalist, Gerard, who, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, kept a large "physic garden behind his house in Holborne, in the suburbs of London," medical botany has gradually lost ground. Full faith, however, in herbs and simples lingers yet in retired hamlets; but in our towns and cities we look for sharper, if not surer, remedies in mineral and other poisons, and in quack compounds. APRIL 2ND. THE LARCH. (Abies Larix.) NOTWITHSTANDING the cutting blasts of "The stormy North, The larch has hung all his tassels forth.-HEMANS. and put on a mantle of the brightest green-vividly contrasting with the nakedness of our forest trees. The branches of the elm, beech, and.oak are knotted with thickened buds ready to start into life, but unable to burst from the grasp of "chilly-fingered Spring," which effectually controls the progress of vegetation. In growth the Larch is one of our most graceful trees, the trunk gradually tapering from the base to the summit, sending out at short intervals on either side tapering branches that first bend toward the earth and then rise in elegant curves. The sprays are exceedingly light, and dappled with specks of a most pleasing but peculiar tint of green. The landscape, viewed from behind a belt of Larches, puts on a spring mantle of living green, the gauzy verdant veil giving a tint of freshness to every object-more appropriate to the advanced season than the wintry aspect we have been so long accustomed to. The Larch often attains a height of near 100 feet; it is of rapid growth, hardy, and well adapted to exposed situations. The Scottish mountains are covered with millions of Larches which yield a most profitable return. The small soft purple cones scattered over the branches are the fertilizing blossoms; the foliage is of peculiar shape, spreading like the hairs of a brush. The tree yields the resin known as "Venice turpentine ;" the bark is much used in tanning; occasionally during the summer months a sweetish gum exudes from the leaves, known as "Briançon manna." It is said that the hunters of Siberia, when the leaven has been destroyed by intense frost, boil the inner bark of the Larch, and mixing it with a little rye flour, bury it in the snow, by which leaven is again produced. Unlike the coniferous tribe, the Larch sheds its leaves in autumn. The tree is now at its greatest beauty. APRIL 3RD. THE BOX TREE.-(Buxus sempervirens.) THIS cheerful-looking, but ill-smelling, evergreen shrub is common enough in the garden and shrubbery; occasionally it is met with on dry, chalky hills, apparently wild. Our earliest botanists mention the tree as common. Box Hill, near Dorking, in Surrey, derives its name from the fact that it was formerly covered with an immense number of fine, wellgrown Box Trees; a few trees may yet be found there, but the Hill was nearly bared of these old and valuable tenants in 1815. It is said that the fall then made realised nearly £10,000. Our native supply of Boxwood is altogether inadequate to our wants, and we import largely from Turkey. The wood is very close in the grain, hard, and of a yellowish tinge; most valuable for the manufacture of mathematical instruments, and for turning and engraving. Loudon states that the tree was undoubtedly found on our island at the time of the Roman occupation, twigs and leaves of Box having been discovered in Roman barrows in Essex; still some doubt may be entertained whether it is truly native, as it but rarely ripens its seed in our climate, even in favourable localities and seasons. The Romans appear to have regarded the shrub as highly ornamental when clipped into the forms of monstrous beasts and birds. Pliny describes his Tusculan villa as ornamented with figures of animals and birds, cut in Box. The leaves are of shining, cheerful-looking green, and have been in use for many a century as a tonic-they partake of the quality of Peruvian bark. The vegetable alkali, "Buxina," is obtained from the Box Tree. The regularity with which the tree blooms has been noticed by more than one observer; showing its pale yellow flowers with undeviating regularity on the 3rd of April. The hedging Box of our gardens is a dwarf Dutch variety. It was customary of old to use the branches of the evergreen Box for the decking of houses; our forefathers appear to have delighted to have something of Nature ever about them; and when flowers could not be obtained they took the best substitute left, the evergreens, and adorned their homesteads therewith. Holly, Yew, and Box for the winter months ; Birch and Oak for spring; and flowers all summer longevery month having its appropriate emblem. "When yew is out the birch comes in, And many flowers beside; Both of a fresh and fragrant kin To honour Whitsuntide. "Green rushes then, and scented bents, With cooler oaken boughs, Come in for comely ornaments To re-adorn the house."-HERRICK. APRIL 4TH. GROUND IVY, OR GILL, ALEHOOF.-(Glechoma, Hederacea.) "Now Earth, exulting from her wintry tomb, THE mornings are clear, bright, and sunny; and although the air is keen and cold in the shade, in the full flood of sunshine it is warm and genial. The observer of the progress of vegetation may now conveniently note the curious and truly wonderful provisions made for the safety of the leaf-buds and blossoms of the various trees, some of which begin to show fresh leaves. The hawthorn buds in the warm hedgerows have burst through their casings, and the chestnut has commenced to throw off its gummy waterproof protection, and to hang down its fanlike leaves. We may not, however, stop to catalogue the "Levis new That sprongen out agen the sonne shine, CHAUCER. Holding a prominent place in the greenery of the hedgebank is the well-known plant, Ground Ivy, Gill, or Alehoof; its roots branch in every direction over the sunny banks, which are covered with a robe of green scolloped aromatic leaves, and a multitude of light blue blossoms. The plant was formerly held in very high esteem. Ray, the eminent naturalist of the seventeenth century, notes its medicinal power, and quotes instances of its efficacy; though abandoned by the medical authorities of the present day, the plant is still held in great favour in many a village household, where Gill tea is believed in as a sovereign remedy for coughs, affections of the lungs, headache, &c. One peculiarity of the plant deserves notice-its uniform period of bloom; let the season be early or late, it appears to make no difference. The warm, sunny days of March woo it in vain; the cold, bleak winds of April cannot restrain it. Punctually on the third or fourth of April it puts forth its violet-coloured flowers. The Rev. L. Jenyns, an accurate observer of the periodic phenomena of nature, says, "I find that the Ground Ivy invariably blooms punctually on the 3rd of April, and the same date is also given by other observers." APRIL 5TH. THE ADDER'S TONGUE.-(Ophioglossum vulgatum.) THE Swollen leaf buds of the trees appear to have waited the first soft spring shower before bursting forth; a few days ago the hedgerows were comparatively bare-now, as we look |