The most decorative of all are the spikes of purple loose-strife. In
autumn when most of the flowers are dead the tip of the leaf at the heads
of the spikes turns as crimson as a flower. The other red flowers are the
valerian, in masses of squashed strawberry, and the fig-wort, tall,
square-stemmed, and set with small carmine knots of flower. In autumn
these become brown seed crockets, and are most decorative. The fourth tall
flower is the flea-bane, and the fifth the great willow-herb. The lesser
plants are the small willow-herbs, whose late blossoms are almost carmine,
the water-mints, with mauve-grey flowers, and the comfrey, both purple and
white. The dewberry, a blue-coloured more luscious bramble fruit, and tiny
wild roses, grow on the marl-face also. At its foot are the two most
beautiful flowers, though not the most effective, the small yellow
snapdragon, or toad-flax, and the forget-me-not. This blue of the
forget-me-nots is as peculiar as it is beautiful. It is not a common blue
by any means, any more than the azure of the chalk-blue butterflies is
common among other insects. Colour is a very constant feature in certain
groups of flowers. One of these includes the forget-me-nots, the borage,
the alkanet, and the viper's bugloss, which keep up this blue as a family
heirloom. Others of the tribe, like the comfrey, have it not, but those
which possess it keep it pure.

The willows at this time are ready to shed their leaves at the slightest
touch of frost. Yet these leaves are covered with the warts made by the
saw-flies to deposit their eggs in. The male saw-fly of this species and
some others is scarcely ever seen, though the female is so common. The
creature _stings_ the leaf, dropping into the wound a portion of
formic acid, and then lays its egg. The stung leaf swells, and makes the
protecting gall. It is difficult to say when "fly," in the fisherman's use
of the term as the adult insect food of fish, may not appear on the water.
Moths are out on snowy nights, as every collector knows, and on any mild