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Alma Russell Letters

Letters of British Columbia men on active service with Canadian and British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1918. Learn more.

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BC Archives MS-1901

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4

traced—with gaps here and there—for nearly two miles, a ribbon of white amid the yellow harvest fields and green clover patches. It is not entirely deserted. In the distances a squad of Highlanders march in single file carrying water to the firing line—the words of their song can be faintly heard as they appear and disappear on the rise—“Where the wind blows there we go”—until they are lost altogether in the hollow of the hills.

The heliotrope of the pretty field scabious is everywhere visible, and the toadflax is common, particularly amongst the stubble—a bright yellow. But by far the most conspicuous of all the wayside flowers is the chicory (also known to botanists as the succory). Its deep blue tint catches the eye at once, dotting the sides of the road, especially when the road descends into a gully and the banks are high; not even the cornflower has a deeper blue than this pretty and useful plant whose only title to fame is as a fraudulent and cheap substitute for coffee. In some parts of the Continent, indeed, chicory is grown as a crop, its roots on maturity being ground and used as coffee. The Campion, such a common flower on the Kentish Downs, is likewise numerous here. So is the corncockle, a purer white than the Campion and blending effectively with the rich autumn colours of the cornfield.

The rattle of machine guns breaks the sultry stillness of the afternoon—perhaps the water party has been spotted by the German gunners—sometimes a bullet will whistle by, making that weird sound peculiar to long range shots; but this is only a zest to the best of all hobbies. Here lies a piece of fallow land now overgrown with weeds, wild flowers and turnips run to seed! What a study for the Botanist! Conspicuous amongst the tangled growth of burdock, thistle, and nettle, stand the long stalks of the mullein plant to the height of six feet or more. This beautiful wildflower, which bears a strong resemblance to the foxglove, would grace any garden; its leaves are larger and more silky than the foxglove and its blossom is a bright yellow, instead of pink and white—they have nevertheless been often mistaken for foxgloves before the plant is in blossom; only to be relegated to the rubbish heap when the mistake is then discovered. For some unaccountable reason the prim suburban gardener has no use for this bright, handsome plant. Throughout Oregon and Northern California the yellow spikes of the mullein are one of the commonest of all wild flowers, illuming the sloping banks of the railroads in thousands. This plant was known in medieval times as the Roman Candle, the erect spires a blaze of yellow, bearing a certain resemblance to the lighted candles in some Catholic shrines. Weed or no weed, it is one of the favourite plants of our greatest living authority on British Wildflowers (F. Hulme, Esq.), and is grown as an ornament and delight in his own garden—untrammelled by the choice of a few select and respectable plants!

BC Archives, MS-1901 Box 1 File 5 / RUSSELL, Alma M., 1873 - 1964. Victoria; librarian. / Letters and associated items from Private Jack A. Gunn, 1915 - 1916.

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