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.