ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY (zs tas) ve. ec SR VA of THE GIFT OF Isabel Zucker class '26 Cornell University The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924073984118 3 aN yh (AS Sl rR SEZ. Dia S&S IN. OSES WARREN, g co keke > GAS LorN - i FLORAL KINGDOM. Sts History, Sentiment and Poetry. THE -A DiIcTIONARY OF MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED PLANTS, WITH THE GENERA AND FAMILIES TO WHICH THEY BELONG, AND THE LANGUAGE OF EACH ILLUSTRATED WITH APPROPRIATE GEMS oF PoETrRy. BY MRS. CORDELIA HARRIS TURNER. With an Autograph Letter and Introductory Poem by William Cullen Bryant. AND A PRACTICAL TREATISE FOR AMATEURS ON THE CULTIVATION AND ANALYSIS OF PLANTS CHICAGO: Moses WarRREN, 103 STATE STREET, f i srr 4 oe? — “ae i eee (sR 780. T94 187 7 COPYRIGHT. “1846, By Moses WARREN. qf Net Hf — 5 y HE love of flowers having become so nearly universal, it seems almost superfluous for an author to attempt any explanation in placing a work at all pertaining to the subject before the public, as every work, either elaborate or simple, must awaken a response in some heart where nature has placed her shrine. To those endowed with keen perceptions, the magnifi- cent, intricate: and wonderful handiwork of the All-wise is daily mani- fested, and always new, in the infinite variety of the floral world. A number of years ago, the writer, being interested in the mytho- logical legends of the Greeks and Romans, was frequently struck with the number of fabled gods and goddesses, and the various rural nymphs who attended them, that were transformed into a tree, shrub or flower, either to mitigate some sorrow, gratify revenge, or as a punishment for some breach of the laws supposed to govern the deities of that time. Having made numerous memoranda of such legends, the love of flowers was sufficient to interest one in the general history of plants, their nativity, uses, the chief events in the history of each species, its cultivation and introduction into America. The “FLORAL KINGDOM” : iii = ——— os coo PREFACE. is the mature outgrowth of such notes. In order to make the book pleasing to the general reader, it has been the endeavor to exclude all technical terms pertaining to the science of botany, except the mere classification of plants into families to show the relation of one plant to another. This arrangement has been made according to what is called the Natural System, it being the one most in use in the various books on botany, as more philosophical than the Linnean System. The sentiment or language assigned to each flower has been the result of an extended search through various works both ancient and modern, the most ancient being the richest, however, in material and in poetic ideas. The sentiments attached to flowers originating in the imag- inative minds of the people, served as a means of communication at a time when the art of writing was known only to the few, these being mostly learned men and professional scribes. As the well known disa- greements of authors in attributing different languages to the same plant often make it difficult to determine which to choose, it is proper to state that the sentiments here given have been preferred because of the weight of authority in their favor. Having led the reader into the bowers of nature, what more natural .than that many paths should be found leading into the garden of the poets, where rich intellectual blossoms are scattered with an unsparing hand? The love of poetry elevates the soul and makes it more suscep- tible to those delicate, spiritual and subtle influences that’ are found in other souls; it gives it a more rare appreciation of those higher beau- ties that are daily seen both in nature and art; it awakens a depth of feeling that almost entirely obliterates selfishness, and opens the heart to generous sympathies and warm impulses. The selections made for this work are numerous, and are the result of a very prolonged and laborious quest, They have been culled from many sources and various authors, foreign and native, and comprehend many of the choicest gems ih ) from the works of the best poets of all ages. O. He OY: } — 1V