at once arrest the attention of the most careless observer of Nature. We are almost driven to the conclusion that Shakespeare could not have had much real acquaintance with the Broom, or he would not have sent his "dismissed bachelor" to "Broom-groves."[42:1] I should very much doubt that the Broom could ever attain to the dimensions of a grove, though Steevens has a note on the passage that "near Gamlingay, in Cambridgeshire, it grows high enough to conceal the tallest cattle as they pass through it; and in places where it is cultivated still higher." Chaucer speaks of the Broom, but does not make it so much of a tree-- "Amid the Broom he basked in the sun." And other poets have spoken of the Broom in the same way--thus Collins-- "When Dan Sol to slope his wheels began Amid the Broom he basked him on the ground." _Castle of Indolence_, canto i. And a Russian poet speaks of the Broom as a tree-- "See there upon the Broom tree's bough The young grey eagle flapping now." _Flora Domestica_, p. 68. As a garden plant it is perhaps seen to best advantage when mixed with other shrubs, as when grown quite by itself it often has an untidy look. There is a pure white variety which is very beautiful, but it is very liable to flower so abundantly as to flower itself to death. There are a few other sorts, but none more beautiful than the British. FOOTNOTES: [42:1] Yet Bromsgrove must be a corruption of Broom-grove, and there are other places in England named from the Broom. BULRUSH. _Wooer._ Her careless tresses A wreake of Bulrush rounded. _Two Noble Kinsmen_, act iv, sc. 1 (104). _See_ RUSH, p. 262. BURDOCK AND BURS. (1) _Celia._ They are but Burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery; if we walk not in the trodden paths our very petticoats will catch them. _Rosalind._ I could shake them off my coat; these Burs are in my heart. _As You Like It_, act i, sc. 3 (13). (2) _Lucio._ Nay, friar, I am a kind of Bur; I shall stick. _Measure for Measure_, act iv, sc. 3 (149). (3) _Lysander._ Hang oft, thou cat, thou Burr. _Midsummer Night's Dream_, act iii, sc. 2 (260). (4) _Pandarus._ They are Burs, I can tell you; they'll stick where they are thrown. _Troilus and Cressida_, act iii, sc. 2 (118). (5) _Burgundy._ And nothing teems But hateful Docks, rough Thistles, Kecksies, Burs. _Henry V_, act v, sc. 2 (51). (6) _Cordelia._ Crown'd with rank Fumiter and Furrow-weeds, With Burdocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo-flowers. _King Lear_, act iv, sc. 4 (3).