A Wild Flower Alphabet

A Wild Flower Alphabet :




A for the Aconite, first of the year,



B for the Buttercup, able to hold Dewdrop

and rain in its chalice of gold.



C for the Cowslip, sweet joy of the spring;

When cowslips are blooming the nightingales sing.



D for the Daisy, white star of the grass,

Lifting its bright eye to us as we pass.



E for the Eglantine, lovely wild rose,

Sheds fragrance of sweetbrair where - ever it grows.



F for the Foxglove, the sentinel tall,

Guarding the forest from summer to fall.



G for the Gorse of rich golden delight;

Linnaeus went down on his knees at the sight.



H for the Harebell, so fragile, yet strong,

The dear little Blue Bells of Scotland in song.



I for the Iris which grows by the stream,

The Flower of the Rainbow, how golden its gleam !



J for St John's Wort, of medical fame,

Balm of the Warrior's Wound was its name.



K for the Kingcup that loves marshy fields,

And glorious the harvest of gold that it yields!



L for the Ling, the dear flower of the heath,

How tender its colour, how fragrant its breath!



M for the Meadowsweet, pleasant and rare

Is the perfume with which it enchanteth the air!



N for the Nightshade, or Bittersweet, flower,

With its berries and blossoms of poisonous power.



O for the Oxlip, a flower that you'll find

When cowslips and orchids in posies you bind.



P for the Primrose, recalling to sight

Paths in the woodland a- shimmer with light.



Q for the Quaking grass, name that it takes

From the way it unceasingly shivers and shakes.



R for the Rest-harrow, staying the plough,

Food for the gentle-eyed, ruminant cow.



S for the Speedwell, tenderest blue;

From the skies it has taken its exquisite hue.



T for the traveller's Joy that you'll find

Where sweet sheltering hedgerows wander and wind.



U for the Upright Sea-lavender flower;

The sand-swallows claim it for sheltering bower.



V for the Violet, flower of the soul,

Heart's-ease of Paradise, making us whole.



W for windflower, so fair to the sight,

That throws o'er the woodlands her mantle of light.



X Forms a cross in the Passion- flower wild

In Southern America, balmy and mild.



Y for the Yarrow, all wayfarers know,

As it grows by the wayside where ever you go.



Z is the ribbon this posy to bind,

With the thoughts and the fragrance

it brings to your mind.



















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