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many riny flowers curving Ir om a slalk in the cenlre. This is on!y one cxample of an unlikely pressing tlnwer which consisls oltiny florets or corollas grouped tightly together, each one forming an ideał piece of miniaturę materiał when used indieidually.

On a rcgular routine walk through a built-up district ii i? easy for us tooveriook lite plant Ufo which dwells in brick and stone creeices. Yel near to gutter pipes and gargoyles there aru often clusters of ferns and moss mounds and often, slighdy above eye-level, there are trails of Ivy and dumpsof Ivy-IeavedToadflax with coil-i:ig Stems and pale vio!et flowers. At ground level Ked Deadnettles sprouł between paving cracks; and if you pick one of these stree: weeds and ex=mine it, you will find soft pink trumpet flowers conceuleu between downy, heart-shaped leaves.

Weaeing through raiłings and fences are many strąg-gling strands of Cleavers or Goosegrass which divide into di5tinctive dark stars and the variely of grasses which form elegant sprays when bieached by the sun. By looking with a fresh, enquiring eye at planrs or weeds which are usually dismissed as commonplace, the miniaturist will discover a wealth of unusuai materia! to be collected and. in return for a smali amount of rinie taken in evploring an alternaiive route or walking through an unfamiliar area, there is the prospect of being repaid with the occasional rarity.

While modern development i; responsible for levell-ing large areas of urban land which were once occupied by tenants who took pride in their smali back gardens and courtyard flower beds, traces of these buried gardens often survive and can be seen fordng their way through the surface of car parks regardless of the heavv trampling and traffic. In compensation, the motorist often contributes to collections by carrying seeds -caught in clorhes. hair, and soies of shoes and the stri-ationsoftyres over considerable distanees. Eventualiy shnken free, these seeds can take root in distriots far removed from their original habitat. In dockside and railway areas in tac:, it is possible to find plants which have travelled from foreign iands.

From my personal point of view, it is this fascinaiing

Sćarch for natural materiał that thrives amidst indif-ferenceand neglect, and theeontinual promise o: unex-pected diseoeeries, which turns the miniaturę inlo the most rewarding form of flora! art.

Bccausc of the smali scalę, the collecfnr will find a wide selection of materia) morę useful than Jarge quan tities, and this can be gathered d u ring the year whenever circumstances are suitable. For the arranger with limited leisure, the miniaturę will prove to be a parlicuiarly convenient form of presentation because Only a few picccs are required to assemble s simple arrangement and this can be completed within a corh-parativeiy short space of time.

This book is designed to introduce the beginner to plant pressing and its potential uses, but I hope it will also persuade any disheartened student to return to an absorbing uceupation with a renewed enthusiasm. For the expert, who already has a sound knowledge of pressed materiał, miniaturę work might well prove to be a refreslung change from the usual presentations, while some of the small-scale suggestions can be auapted to suit other scales and make use of materiał which is already in storę.

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