FLORA HISTORICA.

FLOllA HISTOllICA:

THREE SEASONS^, c^ ,-

THE BRITISH PARTERRE

HISTORICALLY AND BOTAMCALLY TREATED:
\vn n

OBSERVATIONS ON PLANTING,

TO StCUKE

A REGULAR SUCCESSION OF FLOWERS FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF SmiXCr
TO THE END OF AUTUMN.

By henry PHILLIPS, F.H.S.

Al IHOR OF " rOMARIUM BRITANNICUM," " HISTORV OF CliLTlV.VTLD
VEGETABLES," AND " SVLVA FLORIFERA."

Florida quisquam

Hie sibi scrta leget nitidis nectenda caiiillii

THE SECOND EDITION, REVISED.

IN TWO rOLUMES.
Vol. II.

LONDON : '

E. LLOYD AND SON, 11 ARLE Y-STU K KT.

MDCCCXXIX.

LONDON :

Printed by W. Clowes,

Stamford-street.

CONTENTS

OF

THE SECOND VOLUME.

Page
3

11

14

19

28

SUMMER.

Lily. Lilium ....

The Orange Lily. Lilium Bulbiferum

Mart agon, or Turk's Cap Lily
Stock or Gillyflower. Mathiola
Pink. Dianthus

Sweet William, or Bearded Pink. Dianthus
Barbatus . . . . 41

The China or Indian Pink. Dianthus Chinensis 45

Clove and Carnation. Dianthus Caryophyllus 48
Peony. Pcsonia . . . , .70

Chinese Tree Peony. Pcsonia Moutan . 75

Thrift or Sea Pink. Statice Armeria . .81

Sweet-Pea, or Vetchling. Lathy rus Odoratus . 85

Everlasting Pea. Lathy rus Latifolius . .91

Tangier Pea. Lathyrus Tingitanus . . 93

Lupine. Lupinus . . . . .94

Larkspur. Delphinium . . . .100

Large-flowered St. John's-Wort. Hypericum Caly-

cinum . . . . . .105

Crimson Monarda. Monarda Fistulosa . . 108

CONTENTS.

Paare

Bell-flower. Campanula . . . .111

The Peach-Leaved Bell-Flower. Campanula

Persicifolia . . . • .112

Canterbury-Bell. Campanula Medium . 113

Pyramidal Bell-Flower. Campanula Pyramidalis 114

Venus's Lookhig-Glass. Campanula Speculum . 116

Columbine. Aquilegia . . • .118

Monk's-Hood or Wolf s-Bane. Aconitum . . 122

Convolvulus or Bindweed . . . .129

Convolvulus iSIajor. Putpureus . . 132

The Small Bindweed. Convolvulus Arvensis 134

Love in a Puzzle, Love in a Mist, Devil in a Bush, or

Garden Fennel-Flower. Nigella Damascena . 1 3S

Miirnonette. Ppseda Odorata . . . 141

Valerian. Valeriana . . • • .151

Vervain. Verbena . . • .155

Snap-Dragon. Antirrhinum . . .161

Lychnis. Lychnis . . . • .165

Evening or Tree Primrose. CEnothera Biennis . 1 70
Balsam. Impatiens , . . .174

Fox-Glove. Digitalis . . • .179

Poppy. Papaver . . . • .188

The Eastern Poppy. Papaver Orie?itale . 193

The Papaver Bracteatum . ... 194

The Naked- Stalked or Norway Poppy, Papaver
Nudicaule . . . • .195

Yellow Day Lily. Heiyierocallis Flava . . 198

Adonis. Adonis . . . , • 202

Centaury. Centaur ea . . . .206

Sweet Sultan or Purple Sweet Centaury. Cen-
taur ea Moschata . . .209

CONTENTS.

VU

Rosebay Willow Herb or French Willow. EjjUo-

bium Angustijolium ....
French Honeysuckle. Hedysarum Coronariiun
Cislus or Rock-Rose. Cistus
Everlasting or Cud-Weed. Gnaphalium
Amaranth. Amarcmthus

Globe Amaranth. Gomphreiia Globosa .

Crested Amaranth or Cock's- Comb. Celosia
Cristata . ...

Xeranthemum or Immortal Flower. Xeranthemum
Marvel of Peru. Mirabilis . . . .

Forget-me-not, or Mouse-Ear Scorpion-Grass. Myo-

sotis Pahistris ....

Scarlet Fuchsia. Fuchsia Coccmea
Hydrangea or Chinese Guelder-Rose. Hydrangcc

Hortensis .....
Persicaria. Polygonum Orientate .
Speedwell. Feronica . . . .

Phlox. Phlox ....

Pimpernel. Anagallis ....
Thorn- Apple. Datura Stramonium
Mallow. Malra ....

Bugloss. Anchusa . . . .

Scabious. , Scabiosa ....
Throat-Wort. Trachelium
Swallow-Wort. Asclepias
Lobelia. Lobelia . . . ,

Hawkweed. Hieracium

AUTUMN.

Hollyhock. Alcea Rosea
Sun-Flower. HcUanthm

Page

211
216
219
224
229
2.34

235

239
242

248
2,54

257
264

268

2ri

275
281
287
291
296
300
305
311
3J6

328
333

viii CONTENTS.

Page

China Aster or Chinese Stanvort. Aster Chineyisis 347

Dahlia. Dahlia ..... 353

African Marygold. Tagetes Erecta . . 362

French Marygold. Tagetes Patula . . 362

Golden-Rod. SoHdago . . . 368
Meadow Saffron. Colchicum Autumnale . .372

Michaelmas Daisy. Aster Tradescanti . 383

Winter Cherry. Physalis Alkekengi . . 386

Yellow Amaryllis. Amaryllis Lutea . . 389
Bearded Crepis, or Pm'ple-E) ed Succory-Hawkweed.

Crepis Barbata . . . .392

Rudbeckia. Rudheckia . . . 394

Chinese Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum Indicum 397

s u ar M E R.

In all the liveries deck'd of Summers pride.

MlLTOX.

AVlien g'olden morn's refulgent rays

Give lustre to the dewy vale,
Whilst June its rosy bloom displays,

And Eglantine perfumes the gale ;
"N^'ith shepherds on the thymy down

I love to pass the Summer's day,
Or trace (and mark the Privet blo\^'n)

The shady thicket's winding way.

AViLLIAMS.

Child of the Sun, refulgent Summer, comes
In pride of youth, and felt thro' Nature's depth :
He comes attended by the sultry Hours,
And ever-fanning breezes, on his way ;
"While from his ardent look the turning Spring
Averts her blushing face, and earth and skies,
All-smiling, to his hot dominion leaves.

Thomson'.

Vegetation now throws off her delicate morning
veil, and dresses in all the magnificence of the
noontide season, that Flora may present her splen-
did court in its fullest attractions to the bridit
God of Day. The timid children of the early year
now give way to the more majestic flowers of the

VOL. II. B

FLORA HISTORICA.

full season, who come clad in all the various hues
ivhich mighty Sol has bestowed upon them by his
paternal smile, to offer him their odorous homage.
We shall therefore speak

of plants, divine and strange,

That ev'ry day their blossoms change,

Ten thousand lovely hues !
With budding, fading, faded flowers,
They stand, the Avonder of the bowers.

From morn to evening dews.

We would also at this season, without offence to
our friends, join Scott of Amwell, and say,

Come, Cynthia, come ! in town no longer stay.
From crowds, and noise, and folly, haste away !
The fields, the meads, the trees are all in bloom.
The vernal showers awake a rich perfume.

Now by these cooling shades.

The beauty of these plants.

By these delightful meadows.

These variegated flow'rs.

By the soft music of the rills and birds.

Let us sit down in joy !

Mil Toy,

In this delightful garden

This Paradise of flow'rs.

The gay dehght of man,

The treasure of the earth.

The wonder of the world, the work of God.

Andreini.
How I rejoice in viewing not alone
These flow'rs, these herbs, these high and gi-aceful plants.

MiLTOX.

LILV.

LILY. LUium,

Natural Order CoroncnifT. Lilia, Juss. A Genus of
the Hexandria Moiiogyiiia Class.

Ye loftier Lilies, bathed in morning's dew,
Of purity and innocence renew
Each lovely thought.

Barton.

The Lily's height bespake command,

A fair imperial flower ;
She seem'd design' d for Floi'a's hand,

The sceptre of her power.

The beauty and delicacy of the Lily has been cele-
brated by the writers of all ages, from the time of
Solomon to the present day. It was regarded by
Christ himself as being more splendid than the
great King of Jerusalem in all his gorgeous apparel .
and on this account we cannot behold the Lily
without feeling a kind of reverence for the flower,
mixed with our admiration for its elegance of form
and purity of colour.

Observe the rising Lily's snowy grace,

Observe the various vegetable race ;

They neither toil nor spin, but careless grow,

Yet see how warm they blush ! how briglit they glow !

What regal vestments can with tliem comj)are !

Ariiat king so shining, or what queen so fair.

Tiio3iso>r.

B 2

4 FLORA HISTORICA.

The common White Lily, Lilium Candidum, is
undisputedly a native of the Holy Land ; and that
a flower of such magnificence of deportment and
sweetness of odour should have early attracted the
notice of the Greek and Roman naturalists arises
from a natural cause, since we find them as anxious
to make additions to the plants of their country as
the botanist of modern days. The easy propaga-
tion of this bulb in those countries soon increased its
numbers almost equal to the native plants of those
delightful climates.

The heathen nations held this flower in such high
recfard as to consecrate it to Juno, from whose milk
their fable pretends that it originally sprang. And
in order that this celebrated flower should lose none
of its celestial dignity in the dim eyes of the mor-
tals of our age, who cannot see through the clouds
that now obscure Mount Olympus, we shall relate
the secret cause from which the Lily blessed the
earth.

Jupiter, wishing to render Hercules immortal,
that he might rank him amongst the divinities, pre-
vailed on Juno to take a deep draught of nectar,
prepared, as we presume, by Somnus, as it is related
that the Queen of the Gods fell immediately into a
profound slumber, and that Jupiter then placed the
infant Hercules to her breast, in order that the
divine milk miojht enter his frame, and so cause his

LILY. 5

immortality. The infant, enjoying the delights of
the celestial breast, drew the milk faster than he
could swallow, some drops of which therefore fell
to the earth, from which this flower immediately
sprang up ; and from this fable it was called Rosa
Junonio, Juno's Rose.

Alciat tells us, in his celebrated and elegant em
blems, that celestial Beauty is represented sur-
rounded by a glory, half of the head hidden in the
clouds, and holding a Lily in one hand, and a com-
pass and a ball in the other. The same author
says, that Beauty is represented with a garland of
Lilies and Violets.

As all nations agree in making the Lily the sym-
bol-of purity and modesty, it is the fit attribute of
beauty ; and perhaps no inhabitants of the earth
blend it so happily with the Rose as the fair
daughters of Britain. In the Hebrew language,
the name Susannah signifies a Lily.

St. Dominic is always represented as holding a
Lily, but we do not think that the establishing of
the Inquisition in Languedoc justifies the painter
in placing so fair an emblem in the hand of one
^vho made converts by the aid of fire and sword,
■which is so directly in opposition to the mild pre-
cepts of Him on whose authority our blessed re-
ligion is founded.

We make these remarks, and notice the super-

6 FLORA HISTURILA.

stitions of former ages, with a perfect assurance
that such of our friends as are members of the Ro-
man Catholic church are too liberal to suppose for
one moment that we would turn their religion to
ridicule sooner than we would offend the Protestant
establishment to which we belong. Our duty is to
relate ancient anecdotes, by which means the super-
stitions of old times are exposed, as far as they
relate to the vegetable world, without regard to
country or sects ; at the same time we are sure that
all good Christians must feel regret when they find
the heads of any religious sect imposing upon the
credulity of the ignorant by pretended miracles.

The continental order of the Blessed Lady of the
Lily was instituted by Garcias, the fourth King of
Navarre, on account of an image of the Holy Vir-
gin being miraculously found, as it was believed,
in a Lily, which, it is said, cured this Prince of a
dangerous disorder.

It is related by Baylc, that Charles the Fifth,
in his religious retirement, planted a Lily at the
end of August, in the year 1558. The monarch
died on the twenty-first of the following month, and
it is pretended that, at the moment of his death,
the bulb of this Lily shot out on a sudden a stem
with two joints, supporting flowers as full blown
and as odoriferous as these flowers are in Spain in
their ordinary season. This beautiful flower was

LILY. jr

cut, we are told, and placed upon the great
altar of the church of St. Juste on the borders of
Castile.

By whom, and at what period this beautiful Lily
was brought to this country, is beyond our re-
search ; but we may presume that it was amongst
the earliest exotics that graced the gardens of
England, and probably was one of the plants which
we gained from Palestine, by means of the early
Crusaders, as Chaucer notices it in armorial
bearings.

Upon his crest he bare a tour,
And therein stiked a Lily flour.

It was in the reign of Edward the Third that
the Heralds' College was first instituted in Eng-
land, and in eighteen years afterwards this mo-
narch ordered the arms of France to be quartered
with those of England, which continued to em-
blazon the British arms for four hundred and
forty-four years, being most graciously dispensed
with in the year 1802, as we have already no-.
ticed under the history of the Iris, or Fleur de
Luce,

That a clear distinction was made between the
Lily and the Fleur de Luce by the Pursuivants at
Arms, as early as the time of Edward the Third, is
shown by the armorial bearings of the college of
Winchester, which is three Lilies on a field sable.

8 FLORA HISTORICA.

The arms of the city of Winchester are also, sable,
three Lilies proper. This college was founded by
William of Wickham, a celebrated architect of that
reign, who was also Bishop of Winton, and of whom
the following anecdote is told. This great man
having finished the building of Windsor Castle
for his royal master, caused to be inscribed on the
wall of the round tower, *^ This made IVichhamy^
which gave those who envied him the favour of the
King an opportunity to hint to the monarch that
Wickham arroo;ated all the honour of that cncQSit
w^ork to himself; but on being interrogated by
Edward, he replied with great pleasantry, that he
had not written '' Wickham made this,'^ but
'' This made Wichham,'''' because by his service in
this work he had gained his sovereign's princely
favour.

The Lily appears to have been a favourite
flower with the ancient Greeks ; and in the wed-
ding ceremonies of the modern Greeks the priest is
supplied with two chaplets of Lilies and ears of
corn, which he places on the heads of the bride and
bridegroom, as emblems of purity and abundance.
All the wedding-party are then crowned with
flowers, and as they pass by the houses of their
acquaintance, flowers, nuts, and cakes are strewed
from the windows.

The Homans seem to have regarded the Lily with

LILY

equal admiration, as we learn from Columella that
it was preserved or planted in baskets. In his
tenth book he says,

Then plant the various llow'rs, these earthly stars,

And Lilies, which in baskets long preserve
Their verdure.

Pliny mentions the Lily as next to the Rose in
point of beauty, and tells us that the root when
dry was frequently steeped in purple wine, in order
that it might produce a purple flower. How far
this would cause a change in the colour of the
blossom we have not tried, but leave the experi-
ment to the curious.

The common White Lily was So familiar in the
time of Queen Elizabeth, that Gerard speaks of it
as a native plant; he says, '' Our English Wliite
Lillie groweth in most gardens of England. " He
further tells us, that he received roots of White
Lilies from Constantinople, under the Turkish
title of Sultan Zambach, which means Sultan's
great White Flowers ; but these appear to have
been only a stronger variety of the same plant.

The Greeks named this flower Asipiov and K^zvoy.
The English name is derived from the Latin, as is
also the French Lis; the Spanish Lirio, the German
Lilie, the Italian GitjUo, and the Dutch Gihjen,
seem also to be corruptions of the same word.

The White Lily is of so easy a cultivation, that

B 5

10 FLORA HISTORICA.

it will prosper in almost any soil and situation ;
and as it increases readily by oiFsets from the
parent-bulb, it is become a common inmate in
most cottage-gardens, and held in less esteem than
many inferior flowers, which the difliculty of pro-
pagation renders rare, and consequently valuable.

The offsets should be removed from the old bulb
every third year, and the month of August is the
proper season for transplanting them. They should
be covered with about five inches of earth, but on
no account should they be removed in the spi'ing
of the year, as this is found to check their flower-
ing for several years.

As this species of Lily sends up a stem of from
three to four feet in height, it is better calculated to
plant amongst shrubs than in the small quarters of
the flower-garclpn • nnfl wlicn uiixcd with clumps
of Roses, the effect is as agreeable to the eye as
appropriate to the emblematical couibiiiatioii of
Purity and Beauty. It gives a great relief and
cheerfulness to heavy clumps of Evergreens, and is
a charming embelhshment to the borders of woods,
or wilderness scenery. The Lily continues in
flower from about the middle of June to the
middle of August ; and as its fragrance is of an
agreeable kind in the open air, no garden should be
without this noble and highly ornamental flower.
The loyal subjects of France evince their at-

LILY. 11

tachment to the Bourbons by a display of these
flowers ill the saloons of the noblesse, and on the
counters of the pe tiles marchandes.

We have eiirhteen varieties of the Lilium Can-
didum, and sixteen distinct species of this genus of
plants, all of which deserve the attention of the
curious florist from their grandeur and beauty.

The orange LILY. Lilium Bulbifenim.

This flower, although less elegant in shape, and
entirely destitute of fragrance, is a great ornament
to the garden, both on account of its stately height,
and rich orange-coloured petals. We have many-
varieties of this species of Lily, some of which are
of so great antiquity in our gardens, that Ge-
rard considered them as natives of the British
soil. It is found wild in Austria, Italy, and other
southern parts of Europe ; as also m Siberia and
Japan.

The Orange Lily has been known to produce
double flowers, but this variety is not permanent.
Some years back a bulb of this Lily produced
double flowers, in a garden near Ghent, but the
succeeding year it returned to its natural shape, and

12 FLORA HISTORICA.

then again blossomed with double corollas, after
Avhich it was entirely lost.

The mythological writers of antiquity have not
informed us by what metamorphosis we gained this
Golden-petaled Lily, nor do we find it in the floral
vocabulary of the East : we must therefore content
ourselves with relating a tale of modern times con-
nected with this gay flower : both ruler and rabble
may learn a lesson from the experience of the
Dutch government of our own day. The disturb-
ances of that country began, prior to the era of the
French Revolution, by violent personal attacks on
the House of Orange ; and the people, not satis-
fied with their success in expelling their lawful
Prince, carried the spirit of rancour to such a
heio-ht, that even grave burgomasters, to show their
hostility to anything which reminded them of the
Stadtholder's family, rendered themselves so ridi-
culous as not only to eradicate the Orange Lily
and the Marigold from their gardens, but even pro-
hibit the sale of oranges and carrots in their mar-
kets, on account of their being of the aristocratical
colour. ^Ve have lived to see their banished
Stadtholdcr return to this same people, as a King,
greeted with exulting shouts of Oranje boven. In
our sister island, also, many a shillelah and many
a head have been broken in endeavouring to defend,
or banish the Orange Lily from the bonnet of party.

LILY. 13

But to return to the sober delights of the parterre
of Flora, and leave

All which rank Ambition breeds,
"Which seem such beauteous llow'rs, and are such pois'nous weeds !

Cowley.

The trivial name of Bulbiferum is given to this Lily
from a singular gift of nature, which some of the
varieties of this flower possess, that is, of having
three distinct modes of propagating its species : first
by its oviparous power of producing seeds, or vege-
table eggs ; secondly, by its viviparous nature in
throwing off young bulbs, or perfect bodies, from
the side of the parent bulb ; and thirdly by a bul-
bous bud, which is formed in the angle between
each leaf and the stem, and which, at maturity,
drops off, and taking root in the earth, swells out
into the scaly bulb peculiar to Lilies only.

This kind of Lily will prosper in situations that
are partially shaded, which makes it particularly
desirable for planting amongst flowering shrubs, so
as to fill lip the vacancies occasioned by the fall of
the blossoms of the Lilac and Laburnum. The
Orange Lily is not delicate as to soil, but it flowers
strongest in a soft, gentle loam not too moist. The
bulbs should be planted in clumps of about five in
each clump, separated at about two feet distance
each way, and covered with about five inches of
mould.

14 FLORA HISTORICA.

MARTAGON, or TURKS-CAP LILY.

Of this elegant kind of Lily we have now several
different species, and of each many varieties, all of
which are entitled to conspicuous situations in the
flower-garden, as well as to embellish the fore-
ground of ornamental shrubberies. This fine flower
was first obtained from the Turks under the Turk-
ish title of Zufiniare, and the Venetian name of
Marocali. Dioscorides mentions that these kinds
of Lihes grew wild near Laodicea, a city of Asia,
now called Ladik, and also near the celebrated city
of Antioch in Syria.

Gerard, who wrote in 1596, says, " This plant
groweth in the fieldes and mountaines, many dales
iourneis beyonde Constantinopole, whither it is
brought by the poore pesants to be solde for the
decking vp of gardens. From thence it was sent
among many other bulbs of rare and daintie flowers,
by jNIaster Harbran, ambassador there, vnto my
honourable good lord and master, the Lord Trea-
surer of England, who bestowed them vpon me for
my garden." Gerard therefore calls them Liliiim
Bizanlinum^ '^ The Red Lillie of Constantinople."

This excellent author tells us that he had two
other and smaller kinds of these Lilies growing in

LILY. 15

his garden, the largest of which was given him by
^* James Garret, apothecarie, in London, and which
at tliat time bore the name of Martagon, which
seems to have been given to these kinds of LiUes
by INIatthiolus." Amongst other old names for
this flower, we frequently find it called the Lily of
Nazareth, which seems to indicate that it came
originally from the east to Constantinople,

In the time of Charles I., we appear to have
had. a great variety of these flowers, as Parkinson,
the herbarist and apothecary of that iuifortunate
monarch, describes no less than a dozen different
kinds, which were inmates in our gardens as early
as 1629, amongst which he notices the White, the
White Spotted, the Blush, the Spotted Canada,
the Imperial, the Red Constantinople, the Red
Spotted, the Hungarian Bright Red, the Yellow,
and the Yellow Spotted ; and from the remarks of
this writer, we may conclude that its cultivation
was then most perfectly understood and more at-
tended to than at the present day, since we have
never seen them of such magnificence as this writer
describes, who says, they grow three feet high,
*' where stand many flowers, according to the age
of the plant, and thriving in the place where it
groweth ; in those that are young but a few, and
more sparsedly, and in others that are old many
more, and thicker set, for I have reckoned three-

16 FLORA HISTORICA.

score flowers and more growing thick together on
one plant with me, and an hundred flowers on
another." This he calls the "Martagon Pompony,
and adds that it is of a yellowish red colour. The
Dutch florists carried the cultivation of this bulb to
great extent in the time of Parkinson ; and at the
present day it is not an uncommon sight to see in
Ghent a thousand plants of the Lilium Svperhum
in flower at one time, forming the most brilliant
effect of Lilies that can be conceived.

The Superb Martagon, Lilium Superbum, is a
native of North America, and was first introduced
(according to Marty n) from Pennsylvania, by Peter
Collinson, Esq., in the year 1738, but Aiton makes
its introduction as early as 1727. As this and
some other of the JNIartagons are more tender than
the common Lilies^ it is advisable to cover the
bulbs with old tanner's bark or coal-ashes during
the winter, which may be removed after the frost is
over, and before the plants appear above ground.
Where these plants grow naturally, the roots are
frequently eaten as food, being first roasted under
the embers.

The Tiger-spotted Lily, Tigrinum, is a native
of China : it was first brought to this country in
1804, and is found equally hardy with the otiier
Lilies of our garden. The Chinese call this flower
Keun Tan, and it is a plant on which they bestow

LILY. 17

much pains and care, in order to make it produce
large and handsome flowers.

The root of the common White Lily was formerly
esteemed valuable in medicine, but at the present
time we believe it is entirely disregarded by the
faculty, though it still holds a place in the good
housewife's receipts for many cures. Godorus,
Serjeant- surgeon to Queen Elizabeth, is said to have
cured many persons of the dropsy, with the juice of
the root mixed with barley-flower, baked in cakes,
and eaten with meat, instead of other bread, for
the space of a month. The same surgeon relates,
that he found by experience that the expressed
juice of the bruised root, given for two or three
days together in wine, expelled the poison of the
pestilence, and caused it to break out in bhsters on
the skin. Dr. James says, " the flowers and roots
are used, and that chiefly in external applications;
they are emollient, suppling, and anodyne, good
to dissolve and ripen hard tumors and swellings,
and to break imposthumations." The root is
frequently used for removing corns on the feet.
Waller tells us in his Domestic Herbal, 1822, it
has been applied externally in that species of ab-
scess in the throat called a quinsy. He recom-
mends three or four of these bulbs to be roasted in
the embers till they become soft, then apply them
to the part as hot as they can be borne ; and he

IS FLORA HISTORICA.

assures us that he has witnessed a most excruciat-
ing pain in the ear instantly reUeved by the appU-
cation of one of these roots.

The ladies on the continent have long held in
the highest esteem a cosmetic for the skin, which is
prepared from these flowers by means of a vapour
bath. It is said to improve and preserve the
freshness of the complexion, and to remove pimples
and freckles.

STOCK OR GILLYFLOWER. 19

STOCK, OR GILLYFLOWER. Mathiola.

Natural Order Siliquosce, or Cniciferce. A Genus of the
Tetr adynamia Siliquosa Class.

Fair is the Gillyflower of gardens sweet.

Gay.

And lavish Stock, that scents the garden round.

Thomson.

Bring hether the Pincke and Purple Cullambine,

With Gelliflowers.

Spexser.

This flower, which is now become the pride of
every British parterre, from the gay palace to the
humble cottage, has been made the emblem of last-
ing beauty ; for, although it is less graceful than
the Rose, and not so superb as the Lily, its splen-
dour is more durable, and its fragrance of longer
continuance. It was one of the earliest inmates of
our gardens that was planted by the Dames of
baronial castles, and from hence it was formerly
called Castle Gilloflower, and Dame's Violet ; for
Violet was added to the name of many flowers that
possessed either a purple tint, or an agreeable per-
fume. The name of Gillyflower was also common
to several plants, as the Wall Gillyflower and the

20 FLORA HISTORICA.

Clove Gillyflower, kc. Our great lexicographer
concludes that the word is corrupted from Jiihj
Flower, because Lord Bacon says, " in July come
Gillyflowers of all varieties ;" and Mortimer is also
quoted, who writes, '^ Gillyflowers, or rather July
Flowers, is called from the month they blow in ;"
or, says Johnson, " from Giroflee, of the French.'*
It is evidently not derived from /ii?y, since Chaucer,
who frequently uses French words, spells it Gilofre.
The learned Dr. Turner, in his History of Plants
of 1568, calls it Gelouer, to which he adds the
word Stock, as we would say, Gelouers that grow
on a stem or stock, to distinguish them from the
Clove Gelouers and the AVall Gelouers. Gerard,
■who succeeded Turner, and after him Parkinson,
call it Gilloflower ; and thus it travelled from its
original orthography, until it was called July Flower
by those who knew not whence it was derived.
The name of Gillyflower is now but little used, and
the appellation of these pretty flowers at present
rests upon the Stock.

Few flowering plants have been so much and
so rapidly improved by cultivation as the Stock,
that has within these last two centuries had its
nature so completely changed by the art of the
florist, that what was, in the time of Queen Eliza-
beth, but one degree removed from a small moun-
tain or sea- side flower, may now be compared to a

STOCK OR GILLYFLOWKR. 21

shrub in point of size, whose branches are covered
with blossoms but httle inferior to the Rose in size,
whilst they are as thick set as the flowers on the
Mazereon branch, forming, on the whole, a mass of
briUiant beauty, that is not exceeded by any of the
exotics which Asia, Africa, and America have
poured into our gardens of pleasure.

We have seen branches of the Carmine Stock
exhibited at meetings of the London Horticultural
Society, that had the appearance of ropes of Roses ;
and we have had them growing in our own garden
of extraordinary size and beauty : but the largest
we have yet met with was in the garden of Mr.
Stockdale, at Notting-hill, near Bays water, which
measured eleven feet nine inches in circumference,
w^hen in flower in the month of May, 1822.

At wliat exact period we first obtained double
flowers from the Stock Gillyflower is uncertain ;
but neither Turner nor Gerard appear to have
heard of such a thing in their time, although the
latter both speaks and gives us a good figure of the
Wall Gillyflower in its double state. In the year
1829, both Johnson and Parkinson write on the
Stock with double flowers ; so that this improve-
ment seems to have taken place between the reigns
of EHzabeth and Charles I., consequently, at the
beginning of the seventeenth century ; but it is only
within the present century that its high state of

22 FLORA HTSTORICA.

perfection has been achieved. We have two species
of Stock indigenous to our soil ; but we are of opi-
nion that the Garden Stock has been raised from
the seeds of the more fragrant Stock of the Greek
Islands, or of Italy, of which Plutarch speaks, in
his book De Amove Fraterno, It is a plant that
delights in the atmosphere of the sea, and, conse-
quently, thrives in Britain, where its culture has
been so successful.

The garden yields

A soft amusement, an humane delight.
To raise th' insipid nature of the ground
Or tame its savage genius to the grace
Of careless, sweet rusticity, that seems
The amiable result of happy chance.
Is to create and give a god-like joy,
Which every year improves.

Armstrong.

Gerard only speaks of the purple or violet, and
the white Stocks ; but Parkinson speaks of the
crimson, and the Stock of a fair red colour, as
also of the variegated Stock. At the commence-
ment of the eighteenth century, Loudon and|Wise,
"who -were the celebrated nurserymen and florists of
that age, gave long directions for the management
of these flowers, which they then saidjproved one
of the principal ornaments of our garden, from the
variety and number of its flowers.

The bright red, or carmine Stock, Cheiranthus
Incanus, or Queen's Stock, must ever remain the

STOCK OR GlLLVrLOWER. 23

favourite variety, notwithstanding the love we have
for novelty ; and we presume that this flower was
brouglit to its high state of beauty in the neigh-
bourhood of Brompton, as well as the large purple
Stock, since Miller speaks of them, in 1724, as the
Brompton Stock, by which name also the variety
Coccineus is now known in most parts of the
world. We cannot forbear relating the laughable
and beneficial effect the sight and name of this
flower had on the spirits of an acquaintance, with
whom we were making a tour in Normandy, in the
first summer after the return of the Bourbon family
to the throne of France. He had been induced to
join a small party, and to leave his home, for the
first time, to visit the opposite coast ; but so truly
British were his habits, that nothing could please or
satisfy him. The soup was meagre, the pottage
was acid, the peas were sweet, the wine was sour,
the coffee was bitter^ the girls were brown, their
eyes too black, their caps too high, their petticoats
too short, their language an unintelligible jargon,
their houses old, their inns dirty, the country too
open, the roads too straight ; in short, he saw
every thing with such discontented eyes as to ren-
der the party uncomfortable, until good fortune
led us to a rustic inn, where in a small garden were
growing several fine Stocks, which he affirmed were
the first good things he had seen since he left Sus-

24 FLORA HISTORICA.

sex ; and on hearing THotesse acknowledge them
as Giroflier de Bro?npton, he insisted on halting at
her house^ where he treated the party with un de-
jeune a la fourchette, and left the village with a
sprig of the Brompton Stock in his button-hole,
his eyes sparkling with champagne and good hu-
mour, which lasted for the remainder of the journey,
during which time he often said, " Thanks to the
Brompton Stock."

We shall now proceed to lay down rules for
obtaining the Stock in its highest perfection. The
first and material point is the choice of seed, which
should be saved from those plants that have their
petals increased to five or six, as the full flowers
never produce seed — yet it is the opinion of most
gardeners that they assist in causing other plants
to become double; and it will be observed that
there is frequently a straggling anther to be found
in the double blossoms, which may assist this
change by the impregnation of the neighbouring
plant : it is therefore a general rule to suffer as
many single-flov^-ercd plants to remain in the beds
as are sufficient to furnish the required quantity of
seed.

The beginning of May is the best time for sow-
ing the Biennial Stocks ; and it is recommended to
sow them in fresh, undunged earth, when they are
intended to remain exposed during the winter ; for

STOCK OR GILLYFLOWER. 25

if the earth is too rich they become full of juice,
and generally perish by the frost ; but this may be
prevented by covering them with frames during the
severe season. The amateur florist will find the
Stock well repay his trouble by the beauty of its
flowers, if he attend to the following simple direc-
tions— namely, to sow the seeds in a border of rich
earth, and when the plants are of sufficient size to
remove, to plant them in middle-sized pots, filled
with an equal quantity of rotten cow-dung and
fresh loam, well mixed. The pots should then be
removed to a north-east aspect, where they will
receive only about three hours of the morning sun,
which is sufficient for them until October, at which
time they should be removed, so as to enjoy the
full south sun, until the frost is about to set in,
when they should be housed ; hut they should at
all times have as much air and sun as possible, and
only just water sufficient to keep them from becom-
ing over dry. To procure the petals and flowers
of a great size, all lateral shoots should be taken
off, which will cause the principal stem to become
strong and tall, frequently from two to three feet,
and terminated by a spike of flowers ten or fifteen
inches in length, adorned with flowers full and
round, like roses, frequently measuring between
two and three inches in diameter. The Stock,
thus treated, is one of the finest flowers that can be

VOL. II. c

S6 FLORA HISTORICA.

cultivated ; and it may be removed either into the
saloon, or sunk into such parts of the flower-border
as may offer a vacant space.

These flowers may also be propagated by cut-
tings after the time of flowering. The cuttings
should have the bark turned up about an inch in
depth, which will facilitate their taking root ; but
these seldom make so fine plants as those raised
from seed, though by this means the variety is
secured perfect.

We have frequently kept them alive for several
years in the open garden by cutting off all the
branches that had flowered just as they withered.
We should remark, that the Double- White Stock,
Albus, is of longer duration than either of the
others; and after being so treated for a year or
two, the stem becomes woody and firm, so as to
resist a moderate frost. Stocks should be planted
about five in a clump, which will have a fine bold
effect, even when the flowers are single; and the
colours should be kept separate, not mixing the
■white with the purple or the red, or these last to-
gether. We have lately had introduced a pale
rose-coloured Stock, which is a delicate and pretty
flower. The cinnamon-coloured Stock is also of
late importation, but its chief merit is novelty.

The Annual or Ten-week Stock, Animus, is a
most valuable variety, since by its aid we can

STOCK OR GILLYFLOWER. 27

replace tliose that may have been lost in severe
seasons ; and if sown at three different times, at
intervals of about four weeks from each other, a
succession of these fragrant flowers may be obtained
during several months.

The earliest sowing should be made about the
middle of February, upon a very moderately hot
bed, so as just to force the plants, which must be
guarded against the frost : when of a size to
remove^ they should be transplanted into a bed
with a south aspect, at about four inches' distance,
observing to water and shade them till they have
taken root ; and in about five or six weeks, they
may be transplanted into the borders of the flower-
garden, or in clumps in the foreground of the
shrubbery. It is from these earliest plants that
the finest seeds are generally obtained.

The plants of the May sowing frequently con-
tinue in flower until near Christmas ; but if the
weather be wet in autumn, they frequently flower
with variegated petals, either striped or spotted with
red, or purple with white.

C2

28 FLORA HISTORICA.

PINK. Dianthus,

Natural Order Caryophyllei. A Genus of the Decan-
dria Di^ynia Class.

Each Pink sends forth its choicest sweet,
Aurora's warm embrace to meet

Mrs. Mary Robinson.

Aimable ceillet, c'est ton haleine
Qui charme et penetre mes sens ;
C'est toi qui verses dans la plaine
Ces parfums doux et ravissans.
Les esprits embaumes qu'exhale
La rose fraiche et matinale
Pour moi sont delicieux ;
Et ton odeur suave et pure
Est un encens que la nature
Eleve en tribut %-ers les cieux.

M. Constant Dubos.

The Pink, which is now made the emblem of lively
and pure affection, may be considered as a child of
Art ; for in no instance has the skill of the florist
been more successful, than in transforming an in-
siirnificant weed into one of the most deliMitful
plants which the lap of Flora contains. This
flower was entirely unknown to the Greeks, and
was also a stranger to the Romans until the time of
Augustus Csesar, when it was discovered in that

PINK. 2^

part of Spain which is now named Biscay, then in-
liabited by a ferocious and warlike people called
Cantabri. These people, having rebelled against
the then masters of the world, were conquered by
Augustus ; and during these struggles the plant was
discovered and conveyed to Rome, where it was.
called Cantabrica, after the country from whence
it was procured. (Pliny, lib. xxv. c. 8.) Our
readers will not be surprised that a people whose
principal profession was the art of war, should have
attended to so simple a flower as the Pink then was
in its natural state, when they reflect, that flowers
were esteemed one of the luxuries of those people,
who seldom sat at their meals without wearing
chaplets of fragrant blossoms ; and as novelty has
ever had its charms, a new flower possessing a
spicy fragrance would naturally excite considerable
attention.

Dr. Turner, one of our earliest writers on
plants, calls it Cantabrica Gelouer, and from him
we learn that it was then cultivated in our gardens,
since he says — '^ The gardin Gelouers are made so
pleasant and swete with the labours and witt of
man, and not by nature."

Monsieur Pirolle seems of opinion that it was
originally brought from Africa, since he says it
anciently bore the name of Tunica, and Herbe

30 FLORA HISTORICA.

tunique^ which seems to uidicate that it was a plant
from Tunis.

Shaw considered it a native of Italy when he
wrote —

In fair Italia's bosom born,

Diauthus spreads his fringed ray ;
And glowing 'mid the purpled mom,

Adds fragrance to the new -bom day.

Oft by some mould' ring time-worn tower,

Or classic stream, he loves to rove.
Where dancing nymphs, and satyrs blithe.

Once listen'd to the notes of love.

Sweet flower, beneath thy natal sky
No fav'ring smiles thy scents invite ;

To Briton's worthier regions fly,

And paint her meadows with deUght*.

The modern generic name of Dlanthus^ which
has been bestowed upon this fragrant flower, is
derived from the two Greek words, A<of and avQor,
which signifies Jove^s flower.

I'ike that sweet flower that yields great Jove delight;
Had he majestic bulk, he'd now be styled
Jove's flower ; and, if my skill is not beguiled,
He was Jo%'e's flower when Jove was but a child.
Take him with many flowers in one conferr'd,
He's worthy Jove, e'en now he has a beard.

COWLET.

The French name of OEillet signifies a httle eye,
and our name of Pink seems to have been derived
from the Dutch name of piwA*, for an eye, and be-
stowed upon it on the same account.

* The modern Italians hold perfumes in aversion.

PINK. 31

Shakespeare uses the term of pink-eyed, to ex-
press a small or sparkling eye :

Come, thou monarch of the vine,
Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne.

He also uses the word pink as an expression of
superior excellence, — as

I am the very pink of coui'tesy.

But to proceed in the history of this Pink of
flowers, we go back to the days of Queen Elizabeth,
from whose vegetable historian, Gerard, we learn
that it was then cultivated in its improved double
state ; and he is the first writer who calls them
«' Pinks, or Wild Gilloflowers," from their being
smaller than the '' Clove Gilloflower, or the Car-
nation,"" which were also known at that time in
English gardens.

England, Spain, France, Germany, and most
other temperate and warm climates, possess a na-
tive Pink ; but to state how many of them have
been changed by cultivation, and from which each
peculiar variety first sprang, would be as arduous a
task as to attempt to define the parentage of each
peculiar apple, which, like the Pink, owes its ex-
cellence and variety to the labours of the cultivator.
And the Pink, like the apple, continues to demand
the attention of man to preserve it from degenerat-
ing into its original insignificance ; for although the

32 FLORA HISTORICA.

hand of the gardener can double and triple the
petals of the Pink, he cannot render their beauties
permanent. Nature seems to liave allowed her
^vorks to bear a temporary improvement only, in
order to create industrious habits in man, her most
noble and finished work.

The primitive Pink is simple red or white, and
scented : by floriculture its petals have been en-
larged and multiplied, and its colours infinitely
varied, until it has obtained all the colours, from
the darkest purple to the purest white, with all the
hues of red, from the rich crimson to the pale rose,
with which also the yellow is frequently blended.
In some of these flowers we see the eye of the phea-
sant painted; others are beautifully marbled,
striped, or figured. In some varieties we see two
opposite colours abruptly diversified ; whilst in
others they seem not only to meet in happy contrast,
but to mingle and soften off' in shades. Thomson
speaks of it as the "gay-spotted Pink ;" but under
all its diversities it preserves its delicious spicy
fragrance, which never leaves it, however incessantly
H inclines to quit its artificial adornment to take its
own simple attire. Maddock lays down as the cri-
terion of a fine double Pink, that *' the stem should
be strong, elastic, and erect, and not less than
twelve inches high ; the calyx rather smaller and
shorter, but nearly similar in form and proportion

PINK. 33

to that of a Carnation, as well as the formation of
the flower, which should not be less than two inches
and a half in diameter ; the petals should be large,
broad, and substantial, and have very fine fringed
or serrated edges, free from large, coarse, deep
notches or indentures : in short, they approach
nearest to perfection when the fringe on the edge is
so fine as scarcely to be discernible ; but it would
be considered a very desirable object to obtain them
perfectly rose-leaved, i. e., without any fringe at
all ; the broadest part of the lamina, or broad end
of the petals, should be perfectly white and distinct
from the eye, unless it be a laced Pink^ that is,
ornamented by a continuation of the colour of the
eye round it, bold, clean, and distinct, leaving a
considerable proportion of white in the centre, per-
fectly free from any tinge or spot : the eye should
consist of a bright or dark rich crimson, or purple,
resembling velvet ; but the nearer it approaches to
black, the more it is esteemed : its proportion should
be about equal to that of the white, that it may
neither appear too large nor too small."

Although our forefathers might not have car-
ried refinement so far as to have laid down rules
for the government of our admiration towards
flowers, yet we find Professor Martyn wrong when
he states that the Pink had not attracted any no-

c 5

34 FLORA HISTORICA.

tice amongst our ancestors; and that it is only
within the last half of the eighteenth century, that
Pinks were much improved and varied, so as to be
greatly valued amongst florists. We have already
shown that they were cultivated in the reign of
Ehzabeth; and Parkinson enumerates many fine
varieties that were favourites in the time of his
unhappy master Charles the First.

The White Pink is one of the flowers which
Milton calls for in his monody on Lycidas ; and
Loudon and Wise, so celebrated for having laid
out the gardens of Blenheim, and improving those
of Kensington, give more pages on the cultivation
of the Pink than on that of any other Plant con-
tained in their " Retired Gardener" of 1706.

Madame de Genhs tells us that it was the good
King Rene of Anjou, the Henry the Fourth of
Provence, who first enriched the gardens of France
with the Pink ; and to this day it remains a fa-
vourite flower in the neighbourhood of Toulouse,
although it is much less frequent in the vicinity of
Paris than formerly.

It is a flower that has attracted the particular
notice of Princes. The Great Conde, whilst a
prisoner in the Bastile, amused himself in the
cultivation of Pinks, which induced Madame de
Scuderi to make the following verses on the sub-
ject—

PINK. 3i

En voyant ces oeillets, qu'uu illustre ^uerrier
Cultive (rune main 4111 gagna ties Initailles,
Souviens-toi tpi' Apollon a bati ties nuirailles,
Et ne t'etoune plus que Mars soit jardiuier.

There is au anecdote connected with the Pink,
which shows how far the mind may be led away
and debased by the arts of flattery.

The young Duke of Burgundy, grandson of
Louis the Fifteenth, being fond of cultivating these
flowers, a flatterer persuaded him, by substituting
other pots of Pinks for those which the Prince had
reared, that the Pinks which he planted came up
and flourished in one night. Thus persuaded, the
youthful Prince believed that Nature obeyed his
will. One night, not being able to sleep, he ex-
pressed a wish to get up, but was told that it was
then the middle of the night : " Well," repHed he,
" I will have it be day."

It has been observed that the Pink has lost its
powerful attractions for the nobility of this country,
and is degenerated into a mechanic's flower, because
its cultivation is so carefully and successfully at-
tended to in manufacturing districts, and more
particularly at Paisley. But this is erroneous as
far as relates to good taste, as we have frequently
noticed with what delight these flowers have been
regarded by the most refined classes of society,
when they have met with them in village gardens ;
for their own florists having of late years been so

36 FLORA HISTORICA.

much engaged in the culture of rare plants, known
ones have too frequently been neglected.

How forcibly does the sight of the Pink carry
our imagination back to the well-known cottages
of our infant days, and how often does the picture
present itself, showing where

A path, with Pinks and Daisies trimm'd,
Led from the homely entrance-gate ;

The door, worm-eaten and decay'd,
Bespoke the tenant's low estate.

It is in such situations that flowers have the
power of delighting the English traveller, because
in most other parts of the world he finds his fellow-
creatures too often debarred from these innocent
luxuries, that endear his home to the English cot-
tager, and render his limited bounds a sufficient
substitute for a proud domain. "With what pride
and satisfaction do we see him regard his plants on
the morning of a fine sabbath-day, surrounded by
his neatly-clad family, or collecting a nosegay for
the charitable wife of his employer. These are
scenes that are tlie particular boast of England,
but, like the Pink, they require careful attention
to prevent their degeneration. Give the cottager
a garden, and you bar up the ale-house ; for the
mind of the most illiterate man will occupy itself in
leisure, and when domestic employ is not found to
amuse, idle politics arc sure to attract to the che-
quered post.

PINK. 37

But to return from these digressions to the cuhi-
vation of the Pink: — we must first observe that
new varieties can only be raised from seed, and
tliat when favourite kinds are so procured they
may be increased by pipings ; and althougli we
may have a sufficient number of these plants, this
practice must not be neglected, as old woody plants
frequently degenerate or perish during the winter.
During the winter of 1821-2, which was unfavour-
able to Pinks, more than half of those flowers in
the country lost their character ; so that the sum-
mer of 1822 produced only White Pinks, except-
ing the old lied Pink, which has given name to a
kind of rose-colour, and this variety we observed
retained its natural colour in all situations.

Mr. Hoirs:, a successful cultivator of this and
some other flowers, says that Pinks should never
be suffered to remain longer than two years without
either change of soil or situation; and that when
they are moved or transplanted in the spring they
never do well, or show half the beauty which those
do that are planted in September; the laced Pinks,
in particular, appear almost plain, and without
their distinguishing character.

The soil recommended by Maddock for Pinks is
'' a good fresh loamy soil, dug and comminuted
about two feet deep, and manured with a stratum
of cow-dung, two years old, mixed with an equal

38 FLORA HISTORICA.

proportion of earth : this stratum to be about six
inches thick, and placed five or six inches below
the surface, is all the preparation or compost that
appears necessary for this flower ;" but Emmerton
says that " Pink beds should be top-dressed in the
spring, if you have a desire to excel in blooms,
with some old night-soil, or sugar-baker's scum,
finely sifted and sown over it ;" and he adds, that
the strong-blowing plants should not be allowed
to bloom more than eight or ten blooms, and those
that are weaker, and of a less size, not more than
four.

It will be observed that large strong plants will
send up a great number of flower-stems, all the
weakest of which should be thinned out a month or
six weeks before bloom, as by this means the strong
and leading stems, which proceed from the heart or
centre of the plant, will receive more nourishment,
and consequently produce finer flowers — to assist
which, also, all the small lateral pods should be cut
off with a pair of scissors.

As we decidedly object to square beds for any
description of flowers that are placed in ornamental
gardens, we recommend that circular holes should
be dug out, and filled with the proper earth, or
compost, raised somewhat above the level of the
border ; and that from five to seven plants should
be placed in a star shape, at about six or nine

PINK. 39

inches apart, which will eventually appear as one
large plant, and give a much finer eftect than a large
strao-o-linir plant. It should be remembered, that
the largest and most bushy plants do not produce
the finest flowers, for they naturally put forth
numerous but small stems, which one root is not
able to support so as to produce a number of fine
large flowers : besides which , when young plants
are placed singly on the borders, there is not suffi-
cient show of blossoms to render them attractive,
or to afford sufficient fragrance ; and it is also less
troublesome to make a few holes to receive the
proper compost, than to give it separately to each
plant. The blue colour of the grass leaves of the
Pink is likewise very ornamental in the winter
months by its contrast with the colour of the grass
lawn, or the foliage of those plants which retain
their leaves ; it is therefore desirable to form the
clumps of sufficient size to give eff'ect, always bear-
ing in mind that the Pink loves an open situation
and a pure air, with a south-east aspect.

Clumps of Pinks would appear to great advan-
tage if formed immediately on grass lawns : in this
case they must be planted sufficiently thick to hide
the earth ; but until their growth is formed, moss
of any kind may be strewed over the vacant space,
which can be removed as the Pinks increase in size.
The mode of raising these plants from seed will

40 FLORA HISTORICA.

be found under the head of Carnation. The most
rare varieties are propagated by layers, but they are
more generally increased by pipings, which should
be taken off the plants immediately previous to, or
during the time of flowering ; about midsummer is
the general season for this operation, which is the
same as that of piping Carnations.

When roots of Pinks become old and woody, they
should be taken up either in the autumn or early in
the spring, and divided into slips, which will become
good plants if set tolerably deep, and kept moist
until they have made new roots. The grass leaves
should also be cut short when the slips are planted*
and all withered leaves carefully removed.

The Pink is one of the most desirable flowers we
possess as an ornament for apartments, since its
odour is rather of a refreshing than a faint nature,
and it retains its beauty longer without fading, when
placed in water or sand, than almost any other
blossom : and as it is less affected by the steam of
hot dishes than flowers in general, it is well calcu-
lated for the epcrgne of the dinner table. Its deli-
cate long stalks also enable the hand of taste to dis-
tribute the Pink into more graceful groups than
can be formed of heavier blossoms.

The plain White Pink is made to represent
purity of sentiment ; and the Red Pink is the em-
blem of talent, in floral language.

PINK. 41

SWEET-WILLIAM, on BEARDED PINK.

Dianthua Barhatus.

Sweet-William small has form and aspect bright,
Like that sweet flower that yields great Jove delight.

Cowley.

The Sweet-William is a species of Pink indigenous
to Germany, from whence it has been scattered over
all parts of Europe ; for what it wants in fragrance
it supphes by masses of flowers and splendour of
colours, so as to ensure it a welcome receptiou in
all classes of gardens. Its large and compact
umbel of variegated flowers may be considered as
Flora's colour-palette, on which she has frolicked,
varying her favourite dyes to display all her gay-
est tints of reds and purples, mingled with pure
white and jetty black, disposed in &tars, as thickly
set, and as bright as the eyes of Argus ; so that one
stem supports a large and brilliant bouquet : on
which account the Dutch gardeners formerly gave
it the name of Keykens, which is their familiar
term for a nosegay or large bunch of flowers. The
French also distinguish it by the name of (JEillet
bouquet, Nosegay of Pinks, and Bouquet parf ait,
perfect Nosegay ; it is also called (Billet de Foete,
Poet's Pink.

The Sweet-William seems to have escaped the

^ FLORA HISTORIC A.

attention of the ancients, since we do not find it
described by any of their writers. D. Rembertus
Dodoneus, who was physician to the emperor
Charles the Fifth, is the first author who seems to
have noticed this plant ; he tells us, in the second
part of his History of Plants, chap. 7, that it grows
in sunny situations on rough hilly places in Ger-
many. This author calls it Amerius flos and Colme-
nier; he tells us also that this plant had been found
growing wild, but with very small flowers, in some
parts of Flanders. We met with it also in the
wild state on the hills in Normandy, some distance
west of Dieppe, but the flowers were scarce larger
than those of the London Pride, Saxifraga urn-
brosa, but possessing all the true chai'acter and
fine pencilling of colour of the Sweet- WilUam.
The plants were about three inches in height,
and growing in an uncultivated spot, at such a
distance from any dweUing or garden, as to justify
the opinion of its being a native of that part of
France, rather than a degenerated plant escaped
from the garden.

Dr. Turner has not noticed the Sweet-William
in his work of 1568 ; but in twenty-nine years
after, it is mentioned by Gerard, as a common
flower in the gardens of that age, and where we
may presume it had long held a situation, since,
amongst other names, it was called " London

PINK. 43

Tuftes." Gerard calls them Sweet-Williams, but
on what account they were so named we are left to
surmise, unless we could persuade ourselves that
they were so called after the greatest man of that
age, William Shakspeare. Gerard notices many
varieties, both with double and single flowers ; he
says, " We have in our London gardens a kinde
hereof, bearing most fine and pleasant white flowers,
spotted very confusedly with reddish spots, which
setteth foorth the beautie thereof, and hath beene
taken of some to be the plant called of the later
writers Superha ylustriaca, or the pride of Austrich/'
This author quaintly observes, ^' These plants are
kept and maintained in gardens, more for to please
the eie, than either the nose or belly,""

In the floral vocabulary, the Sweet- William is
made the hieroglyphic of finesse.

In the inimitable imitation of the bard of Mar-
mion, the flames of Drury are represented as giving
to every object the hue of this flower :

To distant fields the blaze was borne ;
And Daisy white and hoary Thorn
In borrow'd lustre seem'd to sham
The Rose or Red Sweet Wil-H-ara.

Rejected Addresses,

This species of Dianthus has been named Bar^

batiis, from the hairy or pointed scales of the calyx.

The easy culture of this plant, and its hardy

44 FLORA HISTORICA.

nature, which reconciles itself to almost every soil
and situation, has rendered it common to every
cottage-garden, without lessening its charms ; for
its varieties are so infinite, that we scarcely ever
met with the same in any two gardens ; and when
large clumps of them are in full flower, their gaiety
in mass is such as not to be ecHpsed by the proudest
plant of the parterre — whilst their individual beauty
exhibits such lovely dyes, and finished pencilhng,
as to defy imitation : the colours of the corollas are
also frequently found to vary considerably on the
same branch.

The seeds of these plants should be saved from
the finest varieties, both dark and light-coloured ;
and these should be sown annually, for although
they are perennial plants, they are subject to
straggle and decay. The seed should be sown
about the beginning of April, on a border of light
earth, and in June they will be fit to transplant
out, which should be done in clumps as we have
directed for Pinks, excepting that they may form
larger clumps, and those may be placed more in
the back ground than Pinks, and to fill vacant
spaces amongst shrubs, that require a gay contrast,
as their brilhancy of colour gives a great cheerful-
ness to such scenes.

The choice varieties of this plant may be in-
creased and preserved by slips, layers, or cuttings.

PINK. 45

which should be planted about Michaelmas, in a
soil neither too light nor too heavy or stiff: dunged
ground should also be avoided for this plant, as it
occasions it to rot.

The Sweet- William is too formal a flower to
grace the alabaster or china vase, and its want of
perfume also unfits it for the saloon ; yet it is a
favourite in country bough-pots, from the long
duration of its flowers, which continue to give
fresh blossoms in the water, and which being gene-
rally of a paler colour than those which had ex-
panded in the open air, the umbel becomes a mot-
tled mass of variegated petals.

THE CHINA, oil INDIAN PINK. Dianthus
Chinensis.

With hues on hues expression cannot paint,
The breath of nature and her endless bloom.

Thomson-.

This gaily-painted flower, which we have borrowed
from the fertile soil of China to decorate the ^ar-

o

dens of Europe, seems to form a link between the
Sweet- William and the fragrant Pink, partaking
in some measure, of the character of each : in rich-
ness of colour it excels the former flower, and its

46 FLORA HTSTORICA.

time of flowering is of much longer duration, since
it generally commences to expand its corollas in
July, which follow each other in succession until
the frost forbids our hardiest flowers to shine : but
as the flowers are placed singly on branching stems,
like those of the common Pink, they never present
that fine mass of colour which the large umbel of
the Sweet- William exhibits, and they are entirely
deficient of the fragrance for which the Pink is so
much admired : yet we must acknowledge them an
acquisition to the parterre, from the glowing and
vivid red colours they display.

The seeds of this species of Dianthus were first
sent from China to Paris by the French missiona-
ries, about the year 1705, but the double varieties
of these flowers had not been seen before the year
1719, when they were frequent in some of the Pa-
risian gardens. Aiton notices the introduction of
the China Pink in England as early as 1713 ; but
Miller was certainly unacquainted with it in 1724,
as he describes the Indian Pink as bearing yellow
flowers only, and tells us that he takes the descrip-
tion from the written account of Monsieur Liger ;
but as that author's work, Le Jardinier, Fleuriste,
et Historiocjraphe, was published in 1703, two
years before the seeds had arrived from China, it is
clear that the India Pink of Monsieur Liger was a
different plant.

PIXK. 47

There is no doubt tliat tliis flower has been
gi-eatly improved by the cultivation of European
gardeners since its first arrival from China.

The JDianthiis Cldncnsis is generally treated as
an annual plant, because when raised from seed it
produces flowers and ripens its seed in the same
year : but the plants may be preserved for several
years if planted in a dry soil, or in loamy earth
mixed with a portion of old lime rubbish ; and
those that are preserved over the winter produce
their flowers both earlier in the season and in greater
numbers. Those plants intended to be treated as
bi-annuals should have their flower-stalks cut down
before the seeds are ripe.

It is recommended to sow the seeds upon a gentle
hotbed about the beginning of April, observing to
give them free air when the plants appear above the
earth. They are generally of a size to transplant
in about a month, and they should be planted in
clumps of considerable size, as they make but little
show when planted singly.

AVe prefer the China Pink in its single state,
because the beautiful marks of colouring on the
petals are then seen distinctly, which are obscured
when the petals are multiplied ; but as florists in
general prefer these plants with double flowers, we
shall notice the best mode of procuring them in that
state, which is, to draw out all the plants with single

48 FLORA HISTORICA.

flowers so soon as they can be ascertained, in order
that their farina may not be suffered to impregnate
the stigmas of the double flowers, and thus affect
the seed of the favourite kinds. Fine varieties of
these plants may be preserved by raising them
from slips, which should be kept moist and shaded
until they have taken root; and if planted in pots,
they can be secured from frost by removing them
into a green-house, where they should have as much
air and hght as possible, but little water.

In the Dictionary of Floral Hieroglyphics, the
China Pink is made the representative of Aversion.

CLOVE AND CARNATION. Dianthus
Caryopliyllus.

Let yon admired Carnation own,

Not all was meant for raiment, or for food.

Not all for needful use alone ;

There while the seeds of future blossoms dwell,

'Tis colour'd for the sight, perfumed to please the smell.

SlIENSTOXE.

These delightful flowers, w^hich, next to the Rose,
are now become favourites with all the florists of Eu-
rope, are children of art, having been raised from
a small kind of Red Clove Pink, which is thought
to be a native of our climate, since it has frequently
been found growing in the wild state on rocks and

riNK. 49

old walls, and in other situations where the soil
was dry. We have already noticed liow little the
ancients knew of the Pink ; and that the Clove and
Carnation were altogether unknown to them is per-
fectly clear, for they are neither of them men-
tioned by their natural historians, or celebrated by
any of their bards, who would not have failed to
have sung the praises of such aromatic flowers,
since the Clove-spice was known to them and much
admired.

We learn from Chaucer, the father of the English
poets, that the Clove Gillyflower was cultivated in
this country as early as the reign of Edward the
Third, and that it was used to give a spicy flavour
to ale and wine ; and from hence it was called Sop
in wine :

Ther spi-ingen lierbes grete and smale,
The licoris and the setewale,
And many a clove gilofre,

to put in ale,

Whether it be moist ox' stale.

Chaucer.

It seems to have been a flower of high estimation
in Queen Elizabeth's time, for we find it often cele-
brated by the poets of her day. Spenser, who was
remarked for his care in retaining the old manner
of spelling, calls them Coronations, probably be-
cause they were used on those festive occasions, and
from hence the name of Carnation seems a coirup-

VOL. II. D

50 FLORA HISTORICA.

tion. Some writers are of opinion that they were
called Carnation after a flesh-colour so distinguished,
whilst others suppose that the colour was so named
from the tint of the Carnation flower.

Carnation'd like a sleeping infant's clieek.

Lord Byron.

Spenser says, in his Shepherd's Calendar,

Bring hether the Pincke and Purple CuUambine,

^Vith Gelliflowres ;
Bring Coronations, and Sops in wine,

Worn of paramours.

Drayton also speaks of them under the name of
Sops in wine,

Sweet-Williams, Campions, Sops in wine,
One by anotlier neatly.

Shakspeare says, by the mouth of Perdita,

The fairest flowers o' the season

Are our Carnations, and streak' d Gillyflowers,
Which some call Nature's bastards : of that kind
Our rustic garden 's barren ; and I care not
To get slips of them.

PoLiXEXEs. Wherefore, gentle maiden,
Do you neglect thera ?

Perdita. For I have heard it said,
There is an art, which, in their piedness, shares
"With great creating nature.

The name of Clove, as well as that of Cary-
ophyllus, was given to this species of Dlanthus,
from the perfume being similar to that of the spice
so called ; and the flower was, on that account, fre-
quently used to flavour dainty dishes as well as

riNK. 51

liquors, and it was also thouglit to possess medicinal
properties. Gerard says, " The conserue made of
the flowers of the Clone Gilloflower and sugar is
exceeding cordiall, and woonderfully aboue measure
doth comfort the heart, being eaten now and then/'
It was also thought good against pestilential fevers.
Gerard tells us also that he had a Carnation with
yellow flowers, ^' The which (he says) a worshipfuU
merchant of London, Master Nicholas Lete, pro-
cured from Poland, and gaue me thereof for my
garden, which before that time was neuer scene
nor heard of in these countries." From this ac-
count we not only learn that it was a flower then
cultivated in diff'erent parts of Europe, but we find
with what care they were procured from distant
countries. The Yellow Carnation is still scarce in
this country ; and although it is more frequently
seen in the vicinity of Paris than in the neighbour-
hood of London, yet is it not so common in France
as other varieties, though Parkinson speaks of the
Yellow or Orange- tawny Carnation as producing
seed in this country much freer than any other kind
of Carnation, and from which, he says, numerous
varieties were raised.

This author enumerates by name forty-nine kinds
of Carnations that were cultivated in the time of
Charles the First, whose Queen was excessively
fond of flowers ; but although it appears that varie-

D 2

52 FLORA HISTORICA.

ties -were then procured from France and other
parts of the continent, yet the largest and principal
kind of Carnation was tlien distinguished by the
name of the Old English Carnation.

During the civil commotions of the latter part of
the reign of Charles the First and of the common-
wealth, this flower seems to have been nearly lost in
England, as iNIr. John Ray remarks, in the Flora
which he published in 1665, that we had formerly
many good kinds, but that few of them were then
to be found in any of our gardens. The Dutch had
then taken up the cultivation of the Carnation, and
we renewed our gardens with these flowers from
Holland during the reign of Charles the Second, as
Kay observes, '' Of these Dutch flowers I have
known more than a hundred distinct varieties, by
several names, all of them fair, large, and double
flowers." He also remarks, that these plants were
not so hardy as those that had been formerly culti-
vated in England. In a later edition of Mr. Ray's
Flora, three hundred and sixty good sorts of Car-
nations are enumerated ; and to show how high this
flower was in the estimation of that author, we give
his own words :

For various colours Tulips most excel,

And some Anemonies do please as well ;

Ranunculus in richest scarlets shine,

And Bear's Ears may -with these in beautie joyn :

JBut yet if ask and have were in my power,

Kext to the Rose, give me the Gilliflower.

PINK. 53

As the Carnation possesses some advantages
even over the queen of flowers, we regret to see its
cultivation so little attended to in this country, for
at the present time it is confined to a very small
number of cultivators ; and although it is generally
admired as the pride of Summer flowers, we do
not meet with a collection in one garden out of
fifty : yet in the vicinity of Paris it is cultivated to
so great an extent, and the flowers frequently
brought to market in such quantities, that we have
known a whole side of the large Marclw de Halle
perfumed with the fragrance of the Carnation bou-
quets, which les dames de Halle were off*ering to
each passenger for a few sous; whilst the agreeable
Marche aux Fleurs was at the same time covered
with these plants in pots, for the purpose of deco^
rating the courts of the hotels.

The advantage of the Carnation over the Rose^
when cut as an ornament for apartments, is
the long continuance of its beauty, when placed
in vases of water, or wet sand. When placed
in water, a small piece of nitre should be added ;
and the water should be changed every day, and
a small piece of the flower stalks cut off each
time of giving fresh water, which will prolong their
freshness for a considerable length of time. It is
as common to see large vases filled with these
flowers in the retail shops of Paris during the

ga' FLORA HISTORICA.

summer season, as it is to find fires in the London
warehouses during the winter months. The Red
Clove Pink is worn in France to distinguish the
liberal party.

With a hope of seeing these flowers increased in.
our country gardens, so as to furnish our markets
more plentifully, we give what is now esteemed the
criterion of a fine Carnation, and then notice the
most approved manner of its cultivation.

Modern florists divide these flowers into three
classes, Flakes, Bizarres, and Picotees. The Flakes
are so called from having two colours only, and
their flaky stripes going quite through the petals.
Bizarres are so named from the French word, which
signifies odd or fantastical. These kinds have not
less than three colours, and are variegated in irre-
gular stripes or spots. Picotee is a corruption of
the French Piquettee, pricked or spotted. These
flowers are distinguished by having a white ground,
pounced or spotted with purple, rose, red, or other
colours. These classes are again subdivided, as
Pink, Flakes, Scarlet Flakes, Purple Flakes, Yel-
low Flakes, &c., and the Picotees and Bizarres run
through the same changes almost to an endless
amount. Mr. Hogg, who published a treatise on
the Carnation in 1820, gives a catalogue of about
three hundred and fifty sorts, so arranged and
named after some great personages, all of which

PINK. 55

were in his possession when he published his work ;
and we hope to hear that both Mr. Hogg's treatise
and collection of plants may induce, not only ama-
teur florists, but market-gardeners, to bestow more
attention on the propagation of these delightful
flowers, as they will be sure to find not only praise,
but a price in the market. And let them not be
deterred, althougli they be not quite perfect, ac-
cording to the rules laid down to guide our admi-
ration, which say, of a perfect Carnation, " The
stem should be strong, tall, and straight, not less
than thirty, not more than forty -five inches high ;
the foot-stalks supporting each separate flower
should be strong, elastic, and of a proportionate
lencjth. The flower should be at least three inches
in diameter, consisting of a great number of large
well-formed petals ; but neither so many as to give
it too full and crowded an appearance, nor so few
as to make it appear too thin and empty. The
petals should be long, broad, and substantial, par-
ticularly those of the lower or outer circle, com-
monly called the guard-leaves ; these should rise
perpendicularly about half an inch above the calyx,
and then turn off" gracefully in a horizontal direc-
tion, supporting the interior petals, and altogether
forming a convex, and nearly hemispherical, corolla.
The interior petals should rather decrease in size,
as they approach the centre of the flower, which

56 FLORA HISTORICA.

should be well filled with them. The petals
should be regularly disposed alike on every side,
imbricating each other in such a manner as that
both their respective and united beauties may cap-
tivate the eye at the same instant : they should be
nearly flat, however, a small degree of concavity
or inflection at the lamina, or broad end, is allow-
able ; but their edges should be perfectly entire,
that is to say, free from notches, fringe, or inden-
ture. The calyx should be at least one inch in
length, terminating with broad points, sufficiently
strong to hold the narrow bases of the petals in a
close circular body. Whatever colours the flower
may be possessed of, they should be perfectly dis-
tinct, and disposed in long narrow stripes, broadest
at the edge of the laminae, and gradually becoming
narrower as they approach the unguis, or base of
the petal, there terminating in a fine point. Each
petal should have a due proportion of white, i. e,,
one-half, or nearly so, which should be perfectly
clear and free from spots. Bizarres, or such as
contain two colours upon a white ground, are
esteemed rather preferable to Flakes, which have
but one, especially when their colours are remark-
ably rich, and very regularly distributed. Scarlet,
purple, and pink, are the three colours most predo-
dominant in the Carnation ; the two first are seldom
to be met with in the same flower, but the two

PINK. 57

last very frequently. When the scarlet predomi-
nates, and is united with a paler colour, or, as it
sometimes happens, with a very deep purple upon
a white ground, it constitutes a Scarlet Bizarre, of
which there are many shades and varieties, some
richer, and others paler in their colours, as is the
case with all the rest. Pink Blzarres are so called
when the pink abounds, Purple Bizarres when the
purple abounds : Crimson Bizarres consist of a
deep purple and rich pink. When the Pink Flake
is very high in colour, it is distinguished by
the appellation of Hose Flake ; but some there
are so nearly in the medium betwixt a pink and a
scarlet, that it can scarcely be defined to which
class they belong. In addition to the foregoing
varieties, there is a sort held in great esteem by
cultivators called Picotee, many of which kind are
very beautiful, and being hardier than the other
sorts, are in considerable request. The colours are
principally yellow, and white spotted ; their pro-
perties are the same as the other kinds, except that
the edges of the petals are serrated or jagged, and
the colour is disposed in spots where the others are
striped."

The propagation of these plants is by layers and
pipings for continuing approved sorts^ and by seed
for procuring new varieties.

The soil which Maddock recommends is formed

D 5

53 FLORA HISTORICA

into a compost, by adding '^ one-half rotten horse-
dung, one year old, or that has been used as a
hotbed for cucumbers, melons, &c., one-third fresh
sound loamy earth, one-sixth coarse sea or river
sand. These ingredients are to be mixed together
in autumn, laid in a heap about two feet thick, in
an open exposure, and turned three or four times
during winter; or, otherwise, the dung alone, after
being used as a hotbed, may be thrown together
in a heap, in a conical form, in order to rot more
perfectly ; and, as its surface freezes in winter, it
should be pared off, and laid on one side, till the
whole mass has been thoroughly frozen through-
out : this may be repeated as often as the season
permits, and it will be completely fit for use the
following spring. The earth and sand may be
added to it in IVIarch, when wanted to fresh pot
the plants for bloom ; the whole should then be
well mixed and incorporated together, and passed
through a coarse screen or sieve, to reduce its parts
and take out stones, or any other extraneous sub-
stances which it may contain. In country places
where the air is more pure, experience has pointed
out the propriety of using less dung and more
loam ; the proportions of which, for such situa-
tions, may be reserved, viz., one-half loamy earth
and one-third dung, with the sand as before spe-
cified : the preparation of the compost, in other

PINK. 59

respects, is to be exactly the same in all situa-
tions."

Mr. Hogg recommends the following compost :
" Three barrows full of loam, one and a half ditto
of garden mould, ten ditto of horse-dung, one
ditto of coarse sand, to be mixed and thrown to-
gether in a heap or ridge, and turned two or three
times in the winter, particularly in frosty weather,
that it may be well incorporated. On a dry day
towards the end of November, take a barrow full of
fresh lime, which, as soon as it is slacked, strew it
over while hot in turning the heap ; this accelerates
the rotting of the fibrous particles in the loam,
lightens the soil, and destroys the grubs, worms,
and slugs.

" If there has been much rain during the winter,
so that the strength of the compost is reduced, and
the salts washed from it, I take (says Mr. Hogg)
about seven pounds of damaged salt, and add them
to it, either dissolved in water, or strewed over with
the hand. This, from an experience of three
years, I have found to be attended with the most
beneficial effect upon the future health and vigour
of the plants. During very heavy rains many
florists cover their compost with tarpaulin, or
double mats, to prevent the nutritious particles
from being washed out : this is also an excellent
precaution.

60 FLORA HISTORICA.

'' If any objection be started that the quantity of
dung is too great in proportion to that of the loam,
I answer, that such an objection might be well
founded, if the compost were to be used immedi-
ately on its being mixed together ; but, as it has to
lie six months before it is used, I am decidedly of
opinion that the quantity is not more than is neces-
sary, in order to ensure a luxuriant growth and a
generous bloom."

Mr. Hogg lowers the compost for the yellow Pi-
cotees and such flowers as are apt to sport in colour,
as Humphrey's Duke of Clarence, Plummer's Lord
Manners, &c. : for these he recommends three
barrows of sound staple loam, two ditto of old
rotten cow-dung, one ditto horse-dung, a half ditto
sand, a half ditto lime rubbish, or old plaster, to be
well prepared, and incorporated as before.

Mr. James Justice, a celebrated Scotch florist of
the middle of the last century, observes, that Car-
nations must never be planted in earth where Hya-
cinths have grown, those flowers, from certain
experience, being a sure poison to the Carnation,
and vice versa.

The Carnation does not readily ripen its seed in
this country, owing to the late time of its flowering,
which is overtaken by the moist and cold months
before it has time to come to maturity. In the
summer of 1818, however, from the warmth of that

riNK. 61'

season, a considerable portion of seed was ripened.
Tlic seed is generally procured from Vienna, and dif-
ferent towns in Switzerland ; and when put in phials,
and well corked, will keep good for several years.

The seed should be sown about the middle of
May, in pots filled with the compost, on which the
seeds should be scattered, and then a liglit mould
sifted over them, just sufficient to cover them ; the
pots should then be placed in an airy part of the
garden, and kept shaded from the heat of the sun,
and moderately moist, but never very wet. As
soon as the young plants appear with six leaves,
and become about three inches high, they should
be planted out on a bed of good rich garden mould,
at about ten or twelve inches distance, and be de-
fended from excess of rain and severe frosts, by
mats on hoops, placed over the bed in the usual
manner: they Avill, in general, blow the following
summer, but not more than one plant out of a
hundred seedlings may be expected to produce
flowers of a fine quality. Hogg says, if a florist
raises six new Carnations in his lifetime, he may be
considered fortunate.

When increased by layers, the time for perform-
ing this operation is when the plants are in full
bloom. The plant should be placed in the sun, so
that it may become dry and pliable before the layers
are bent down, as when they are too full of moisture

62 FLORA HISTORICA.

the branches frequently snap off at the joints :
the layers are prepared by cutting off thek lower
leaves, and an incision is made by entering a quarter
of an inch below the joint, and passing the knife up
through the centre of it : it is then placed on the
earth of the pot, which should be first stirred up;
and after it is properly pegged down, the branch
should be covered with a good light but rich earth,
about half an inch in depth.

AVhen the layers are properly rooted, which will
be the case with most sorts in about three weeks
or a month after laying down, provided due care
be taken to keep them regularly moist, and to shade
them from the heat of the meridian sun, they are
then to be cut off from the old plant, with about
half of an inch of the stalk which connects them
with it, and be immediately planted in small pots,
three or four plants in each, placed round the sides.
The pots are to be placed under an arch of hoops,
where they can be covered with mats, in case of ex-
cessive rains, till the severity of the weather renders
it necessary to remove them into their winter repo-
sitory.

The propagation of Carnations by pipings is
very precarious. INIaddock says, *' Five thousand
plants were piped one season, of which not more
than one hundred perished, whereas more than two
thousand were lost of the same number the year

PINK. 63

following, with but very little variation in the
management ; nevertheless, some sorts succeed
much better by piping than laying, and make
healthier plants : it requires attention and expe-
rience to distinguish such sorts from the rest."*'
Where shoots are too short for laying, or where
they become broken by accident, it is necessary to
have recourse to piping ; and for this purpose it is
essential to have a slight hotbed, and cover it four
or five inches deep with fine light mould, laid very
regular and even. '* The cuttings intended to be
piped are to have two complete joints, that is to
say, they are to be cut off horizontally close under
the second joint : the extremities or points of the
leaves are likewise to be shortened, as for laying,
which will leave the whole length of the piping
from one inch and a half to two inches, according
to its strength : as soon as thus pi-epared, it may
be thrown into a basin of soft water for a few mi-
nutes, to plump it up. The earth on the bed where
the pipings are to be placed should be moderately
moistened, and rendered rather compact than
otherwise ; then take a small hand-glass, and with
it make an impression neatly on the surface of the
soil, in order to know where to stick in the pipings,
so as to lose no room, or endanger their being dis-
turbed when the glass is placed over them. The
pipings are then to be taken out of the bason singly.

64 FLORA HISTORTCA.

and forced into the earth, in their wet state, with a
steady hand, but not more than half an inch deep.
When a sufficient number for the glass are thus
placed regularly at equal distances from each other,
and rather more than an inch within the mark de-
scribed by the glass, on every side, they are to be
very gently watered, in order that the earth may
adhere more closely to them, and thereby keep out
the air; after this watering, they are to remain
open, but not exposed to a hot sun till their leaves
become perfectly dry, after which the glass is to be
placed over them carefully on the same mark that
"was made by it upon the surface of the soil. The
bottom edges of the glass are to be forced a little
into the earth to prevent the admission of too much
air. The soil should be kept regularly moist till
they have formed their fibres : but too much mois-
ture is as prejudicial as too httle ; and whenever
they are watered, the glasses are never to be re-
placed over them till their leaves are perfectly dry.
The pipings should have a little of the morning
sun, but must be shaded from it when die heat
becomes considerable ; this will be easily effected
by placing mats upon a slight frame of hoops or
laths erected over the bed about two feet above it.

'* The glasses should be occasionally taken off
to admit fresh air ; if this material point is neg-
lected, the consequence will be a green mossy ap-

PINK. G3

pearance on the surface of tlie cartli, and a universal
mouldiness amongst the plants, which will destroy
them. It requires more skill to know when and
how long the pipings should be exposed to the air,
while forming root, than for almost any other part
of the management ; on this single point, in great
measure, depends the good or ill success of the
whole undertakinfj.

'* There is no great danger in taking off the
glasses for a few minutes or half an hour, when it
is cloudy, and the air rather warm and moist ; but
if no opportunity of this kind occur in due time it
should be done early in the morning, and rather than
omit doing it entirely, it will be better to take the
glasses off, if it is only for five minutes, turning
them upside down upon the path, in order to air
them, and replacing them again over the plants :
even this will be of great service, though not equal
to a more effectual airing at favourable times, which,
indeed, becomes more frequently necessary in pro-
portion to the length of time the pipings have been
upon the bed ; but when once they begin to strike
fibre, they will soon spindle up and become ex-
tremely weak, if not carefully attended to agree-
ably to the following directions : when their fibres
are formed, which the additional verdure and
growth of the plants will demonstrate, the glasses
should be placed over them very lightly, in order

6^ FLORA HISTORICA.

that more air may be admitted, and when they
become tolerably well rooted, the glasses being no
longer necessary, should be entirely taken away ;
but it seldom happens that all the plants, under
the same glass, strike root together : some are
generally a few days or a week forwarder than the
rest, as will be apparent by their superior growth
and verdure; such ought to be carefully taken up
and planted in a small pot, for winter preservation,
or they may be planted round the sides of large
Carnation pots, filled with the compost, where they
will soon make rapid progress : the remaining
plants which are not sufficiently rooted for removal,
must be continued under the glasses, as before
directed, till they become so." — Flo. Direct,

Mr. Hogg considers that piping should com-
mence sooner than laying, before the shoots get
hard and woody ; he begins about the first of July.
Plants raised from pipings he considers as sounder,
and more likely to encounter the rigours of a sharp
winter, than layers.

The pots recommended by Maddock for flower-
ing plants, should be at least twelve inches wide at
the top, six inches at the bottom, and ten inches
deep in the inside. Hogg uses pots of twelve or
sixteen to the cast, being smaller than those recom-
mended by Maddock.

According to the advice of Maddock, ^' the pot-

PIxNK. 6T

ting should commence about the middle of March,
if the weather is not extremely unfavourable ; but
it should not, on any account, be deferred later
than the end of that month. The pot is, in the
first place, to be half filled with compost, having
an oyster-shell, with its hollow side downwards,
placed over the hole in the centre of the bottom :
this compost is to be higher at the sides than in
the centre of the pot ; and the plants intended for it,
which are supposed to have been wintered in small
pots, containing four plants each, are to be care-
fully turned out of their pots, with all the earth
adhering to them, in a ball ; and after rubbing off
about half an inch of the surface of the old mould,
round about the plants, above their fibres, cleaning
them and cutting off the decayed points of their
leaves, the ball is to be carefully placed in the cen-
tre of the pot, and the space between it and the
sides filled up with the prepared compost.

" It is very necessary to be attentive in placing
the plants, that they be neither planted deeper nor
shallower than they were before ; the compost
should therefore be high enough to replace the old
earth that was rubbed off on potting, exactly to the
same height as before, i. e., half an inch higher
than the ball of old earth and fibres, and the whole
surface of the earth in the pot, when the operation
is finished, should be nearly level or flat ; but by

68 FLORA HISTORICA.

no means higher in the centre than the sides, be-
cause the plants would thereby be kept too dry ;
nor should the compost come nearer than within an
inch of the top or rim of the pot, after it has been
gently shaken, or struck against the ground on
finishing, as an inconvenience will attend its being
too full^ when the operation of laying comes to be
performed, which requires some additional mould
on the surface, for the layers to strike into.'*

When the plants are thus potted off for bloom,
the pots should be placed in an open airy part of
the garden, under a frame of small iron rods or
hoops, that they may be covered with mats in case
of frosty nights or heavy rains, but at all other
times they should be kept open to the air, and fre-
quently watered with soft water from a fine-rosed
watering-pot, giving them more frequent waterings
just as they begin to flower, paying at the same time
attention to the flower-stems as they advance,
which must be supported with small sticks, to pre-
vent their being broken by the Mind.

The pots of Carnations should not be housed too
early, as the first frosts of the autumn are not so
dangerous to them as those of the spring, after they
have become tender by housing ; and during the
winter the waterings should be very moderate.
Those who have spare frames may protect them as
recommended for the Auriculas.

PINK. 69

Tlie Clove Pink and the Picotee Carnalion,

being of a hardier nature than other Carnations,
are able to stand the frost of moderate winters, and
are therefore desirable for the open garden ; but
even these we should recomnnend to be planted in
clumps of eight or ten plants each, as, in case of
excessive rains or very severe frosts, they may be
easily protected by a shght frame formed of poles,
and covered with mats.

Carnations when in flower are generally displayed
on stages; but as our object is more to embellish
the flower-garden than the stage, we recommend
that when the plants are in flower the pots should
be disposed in clumps in such parts of the borders
as may shew them to the best advantage, and at
the same time where other plants will hide the sight
of the pots. By this means many spots may be en-
livened where the earlier flowers have altogether
disappeared, and more particularly in situations
near the windows of the dwelling, or contiguous to
the walks of the principal entrance, as their fra-
grance is of too agreeable a nature to be wasted in
solitary parts of the garden but seldom visited, —
for the Carnation seems a flower

Not to delight thine eye alone designed,
Eut toucli, and calm, and elevate the mind.

70 FLORA HTSTORICA.

PEONY. Pceonia.

Natural Order Multisiliquce. RanunculacecE, Jnss.,
(but now removed to the family Hdlehorus by the
French Botanists.) A Genus of the Polyandria Di-
gynia Class.

Tliere might ye see tlie Piony spread wide.

COWPER.

The glowing grandeur of this flower, which is so
attractive in our rustic gardens, seems to make it
reign empress over the floral tribe of humble par-
terres, and to possess a kind of dignity which almost
forbids the youthful hand to pluck it ; yet how few
of the young admirers of nature's gayest works have
not desired to possess a full-blown Peony to em-
bellish their juvenile garden.

Scenes of my youth ! ye stand array'd
In thought before my longing eye-
In all the change of sun and shade
I see the visional landscape lie ;

The verdure of the ancient grove —

The quiet old paternal hall —
The hoary oak? that stood above

The dim secluded waterfall.

The Re Ir aspect.

In the emblematical language of flowers, the

PEONY. 71

Peony is given as a representative of bashful
shame.

Antiquity celebrates the virtues of this plant,
and places it amongst the wonders of the vegetable
creation. Fable gives us its origin, iEsculapius its
properties, and superstition ranks it amongst mira-
culous plants, assuring us that demons will fly the
spot where it is planted, and that even a small piece
of the root worn round the neck is sufficient to pro-
tect the wearer from all kinds of enchantment.

It owes its name to Paeon, a famous physician of
antiquity, who is said to have cured the wounds
which the gods received during the Trojan war,
with the aid of this plant ; and from him skilful
physicians are sometimes called Pceoniij and, on the
same account, those herbs which are serviceable in
medicine, PcBonicE herbcB.

The ancient writers, who transformed simple facts
into fabulous histories, for the purpose of deifying
favourite mortals, relate that Paeon, who was a pupil
of the great JEsculapius, first received the Peony
on Mount Olympus, from the hands of the mother
of Apollo, with which he cured Pluto of a wound
he had received from Hercules ; but this cure cre-
ated so much jealousy in the breast of ^sculapius,
that he secretly caused the death of Paeon. Pluto,
however, retaining a grateful sense of his service,
changed him into this flower, which ever after bore

72 FLORA HISTORICA.

his name, — except amongst the Italians and Spani-
ards of modern days, who, in defiance of antiquity,
have presumed to name it Mountain-Rose, because
it grows naturally in the mountainous parts of their
countries, the Itahan name being Rosa cW monti,
and the Spanish, Rosa del monfe.

The Hortus Kewensis notices ten distinct species
of Peonies, besides varieties ; and the Dutch cata-
logues of the present day enumerate no less than
twenty-three different species and varieties of this
grand flower.

England claims one species, coraUina, entire-
leaved, as a native of her soil ; and Gerard tells us
that it grew wild in his day on a rabbit warren, in the
parish of Southfleet, in Kent. This was called the
male Peony, and is the kind of which the root has
been so highly extolled in medical works.

The superb Double Crimson Peony of our gar-
dens, officinalis, is a native of the mountains of
Switzerland, as also of the Alps, from whence it
has long been brought to decorate our parterres, as
it is mentioned by our oldest writers on plants.

Gerard observes, in his time, that we had not
obtained the Double White Peony, but he adds,
*^ We do expect it from the lowe countries of
Flaunders."

The same species of Peony is found to vary much
in different countries, that of Portugal having an
agreeable sweet scent.

PEONY. 73

The Whitc-ilowcrcd Peony, alhijloraj has also
an agreeable fragrance, like that of the Narcissus.
This species is a native of Siberia, and is well
known to the Daurians and Mongols, who boil the
root in their soup, and grind the seeds to put into
their tea ; these people call it Dochina, and the
Russians, Marjui horcn hjelye : this species was
first introduced in 1784.

The common Peony of the garden will grow in
almost any soil and situation, and will thrive under
the shades of trees, which renders it a most valuable
plant for ornamental shrubberies; and it is ob-
served that the duration of the flowers is consider-
ably longer when thus shaded than when exposed to
the full meridian sun : we therefore recommend
them to be planted in situations open to the east,
but sheltered by trees or shrubs from the south and
western sun. These plants should not be often
removed, as it injures their flowering; but when it
becomes necessary to transplant or divide the roots,
it should be done about the end of August or the
beginning of September : for if they are removed
after their roots have shot out new fibres, it checks
the plant, and prevents its giving fine flowers for the
succeeding summer. The double varieties are in-
creased by parting the roots, observing to preserve a
bud upon the crown of each offset, or they will come
to nothing ; and the roots should not be separated
VOL. ir. E

74 FLORA HISTORICA.

too small, for when the offsets are weak they fre-
quently do not produce flowers for several years,
or, at best, but a single flower of diminutive size :
now the beauty of this plant consists in the splendid
size of the flowers ; and its effect, in congregating a
considerable number in one spot.

It frequently happens that these blossoms are
injured by the rain, which renders the flowers so
heavy, that they fall to the ground, and become
dirty and unsightly.

As full-blown Poppies, overcharged with rain,
Decline the head, and drooping kiss the plain.

Pope's Homer.

To prevent this, little stakes should be provided
with a fork at the end, in which the stalk should
rest just beneath the corolla, and the other end of
the stake be forced into the ground to the proper
height; the foliage will hide the stick, and the
plant will retain its natural elegant appearance,
which it loses when tied to a support.

The single sorts are easily propagated by seed,
which should be sown in the autumn, upon a bed
of light fresh earth, covering them over with the
same soil about half an inch in depth. In this bed
they should remain two years before they are trans-
planted, observing to cover them with an additional
inch of mould in the autumn. These were for-
merly much cultivated for medicinal purposes, and

PEONV. 75

even in modern practice there have been advocate
for this root in some cases, particularly in that for-
midable disease the epilepsy, in the night-mare,
vertigoes, and lethargy. It has been commended
by some as a most efficacious remedy in obstructions
of the liver ; and many extraordinary cases of this
description have been recorded by respectable phy-
sicians, without alluding to curious accounts handed
down from Galen and other ancient medical sources.

CHINESE TREE PEONY. Paonia Moufruu

The Chinese have ever been celebrated for their
love of flowers, and attention to the cultivation of
plants; and it appears to have been the only
country in the globe where this profitable and de-
lightful employ has not met with serious interrup-
tion, since the gardens of China are, in all proba-
bility, older than those of Babylon, and other
eastern parts of the world, which are passed av.ay

Like the baseless fabiio of a vision.

That we did not sooner possess the superb Tree
Peony of China in the gardens of Europe, may be
in a great measure owing to the vulgar prejudice
which formerly existed, of treating all singular re-

E 2

76 FLORA mSTORlCA.

Jations as '• travellers' stones," and believing only
•what one's own eyes had seen : otherwise, how are
we to account for the lons^ ne^Tjlect in obtainlno^ this
and many other rare plants, which were made known
and fully described to us as long back as the year
1656, when the first embassy which the Dutch
East India Company made to China returned to
Eui'ope ? The attendants of this embassy appear
to have had freer access to that country than has
been granted to any subsequent embassies that have
been sent out ; for we find they not only passed
from Canton to Pekin, but visited and faithfully
described every thing worthy of notice, and were
jeven allowed to visit the gardens of the Emperor of
China : yet this excellent work, which first made
"known that delightful fruit the Ananas, or Pine-
Apple, the refreshing leaf of the Tea, and the mag-
nificent flower of the Moutan, or Tree Peony, was
so much neglected as a volume of *' travellers'
stories," that little account appears to have been
made of its description of the vegetable kingdom,
although it was translated into English, and pub-
lished in London as long back as 1669 ; and from
which we shall extract Nievhoff 's account of the
Tree Peony, to show not only how faithfully it is
described, but that inquiry must have been made
as to what part of China it was indigenous.

This author says, under the head of flowers,

PEONY. 77

*' Tliere are several rare and well scented flowers
which grow in these parts, that arc unknown to
those of Europe.

*' In the province of Suchue (Suchew), near to
Chungking (Chongking,) grow certain flowers called
Meufamj (Moutan), in high esteem amongst them,
and therefore called the Kinc: of Flowers. It differs
very little in fashion from the European Rose, but
is much larger, and spreads its leaves further abroad :
it far surpasses the Rose in beauty, but falls short
in richness of scent : it has no thorns or prickles,
is generally of a white colour, mingled with a little
purple ; yet there are some that are yellow and
red. This flower grows upon a bush, and is care-
fully cherished and planted in all gardens belonging
to the grandees, for one of the most choice flowers.'*
—Page 250.

Even after this description of the plant it re-
mained unknown to Europe, until the late Sir
Joseph Banks, whose mind had expanded itself
beyond that of men in general, by travel and the
study of nature, ever alive to benefiting the world
by scattering its blessings and its beauties over the
remotest quarters of the globe, gave instructions to
several merchants trading to Canton, to inquire for
the Moutan, the name by which the Peony is
known in China : in consequence of these applica-
tions, numerous specimens were sent to this country

78 FLORA HISTORICA,

about the year 1789, but most of these plants pe-
rished in the voyage. About the year 179-^, other
plants were imported, and since that time the Tree
Peony has frequently been brought from China in
a growing state.

This favourite flower of the jMandarins is said to
have been cultivated in China upwards of fourteen
hundred years, yet the singular inhabitants of that
ancient empire think so little of that period, as to
consider it rather a plant of modern than of ancient
introduction. The Chinese writers differ in their
accounts with regard to the origin of this shrub,
some attributing it to a particular process of culture,
by which the common herbaceous Peony has been
converted into this magnificent shrub, which is said
to reach the height of eight or ten feet in the pro-
vince of Loyang, where the soil and climate seem
particularly favourable to the growth of this plant.

Some of the Chinese authors tell us, and perhaps
with more correctness, that the Moutan was first
discovered m-owino: amonc: the mountains in North-
ern China, whence it was brought into the southern
provinces, and there cultivated with the same mania
as Tulips have been in Europe, since we are told
that some choice varieties of the Moutan have been
sold in China for a hundred ounces of gold. It is
propagated in China principally by seed, by which
process such numerous kinds have been raised, that

PEONY. ft

tlicy now enumerate no less than two liundred and
forty species, as tliey call them, some of which are
said to be of delig^htful fram-ance.

The Tree Peony sold for high prices when first
it got into the hands of the nurserymen in the vici-
nity of London, but it is already become moderate
in price, since it has proved of easy cultivation, and
a much hardier nature than was at first expected.

When these plants were first known in France,
Monsieur Noisette, a nurseryman in Paris, sold
them at from one thousand five hundred francs, to
one hundred louis each.

The Tree Peony is now found to be sufficiently
hardy to bear the cold of our climate ; but to have
it in all the splendour which it is capable of dis-
playing, the plant should be simply secured by a
glazed building, the aid of artificial heat being
unnecessary to its full development.

When the different varieties of these magnificent
flowers are inoculated on the branches of a single
plant, it is hardly possible to conceive a more splen-
did effect than it presents, in its fine lobed foliage
and superb-sized flowers, whose colour varies from
the finest carmine to the most delicate blush of the
rose. The large petals, which are finely shaded
off from the centre to the edges, are placed with
the most graceful irregularity, and yet the whole
forms a group of perfect symmetry and beauty.

80 FLORA HISTORICA.

This plant is already sufficiently inured to our
climate to perfect its seed ; and we may therefore
reasonably expect that we shall, in a few years, be
able to raise varieties surpassing those of its native
land, — as its early time of flowering, being from
i\Iay to the end of June, gives tlie whole summer
to ripen the fruit.

It is easily increased by layers and cuttings, as
well as by parting the roots ; and may be treated
in a similar manner to the Hydrangea, protecting
it from the excessive heat of the mid-day sun,
allowing it ample watering when in flower, and re-
moving all superfluous buds before the principal
flowers are expanded.

THRIFT. 81

THRIFT oil SEA PINK. Statlce Armeria.

Natural Order Aggregatce. Phnnbagi/ics, Juss. A
Genus of the Pentaiidria Peniagynia Class.

Thrift ! Thrift ! Horatio.

JIamlct,

Doth a garden, trimm'd and tortured by

Hands tliat can dext'rous wield the lopping knife,
Show lovelier than nature's free, wild grounds ?

G. Burgess-

In the days of our ancestors, when the flower par-
terre was divided into hearts and diamonds, and
the garden was made to display octagons, hexa-
gons, circles, and semi-circles, without number, tlie
Thrift formed an important part in the necessary
plants for this geometrical style of gardening.

It still figures away as a bordering to cottage-
gardens, where we love to sec this fast-expiring
fashion preserved, since it brings to mind the early
recollections of our juvenile horticultural pursuits,
when to possess a few roots of Thrift, to divide
and subdivide our little plot of ground, was a hap-
piness that we refer to with pleasure in our riper
years.

Even so the mind's inquiring eye

Looks backward through the mist of years,

Where, in its vast variety.

The chequer'd map of life appears ;

E 5

82 FLORA HISTORICA.

And even where Hope's declining rays
Have ceased to paint the path before her,

Tlie sunshine of her youthful days

Still casts a cheering influence o'er her.

The Retrospect.

This plant is slightly mentioned by Pliny under
the name Statlce, which seems derived from the
Greek (2rxrix.n) making to stop, as this plant, by
its growing in sandy situations, is found to retain
and stop the movement of the sands.

The English name of Thrift was most probably
given to it from the rapid manner in which it pro-
pagates itself in the garden by its roots; but in this
situation it is never known to increase by seed,
although it springs so readily from seed in many
situations on the coast : for although it is fre-
quently found on the highest mountains of this
island, its favourite soil seems to be a marine mud
or ooze mixed with the shingles of the sea beach;
and on this account, as well as from its grassy
leaves, it is generally called Sea Pink. We have
frequently seen it so abundantly on a little com-
mon between Lancing and Worthing, in Sussex,
as to form a complete turf of green leaves in the
winter, and enamelling the ground by a mass of
pink flowers from the month of May until August,
which formed a charming contrast with the blue
ocean .

These plants improve in the size and often in

THRIFT. $$

the colour of their flowers by cultivation ; and in
such situations as require an edging plant to the
borders are certainly preferable to the uniform
appearance of the box edgings ; bat the Thrift
is still better calculated to form irregular masses
on banks or in wilderness scenery, where its pink
flowers create a charming effect wlien in large
quantities.

In undulating lawns it may be employed with
happy effect to cover the tops of some of the
highest eminences, which will give an appearance
of distance, whilst it adds to the beauty of the
turf without injury to its neatness. These masses
should be of an irregular shape, and carried over
the risings, so that their extent may not be visible
from the spot where they are principally to be
viewed from.

In the time of Queen Elizabeth this plant was
called Ladies' Cushion and Sea Gilloflower, as well
as Thrift ; and was then much used for the borders
and banks of gardens, for which purpose, says
Gerard, " it serveth very fitly.'*

These plants are increased by parting the roots
in the month of September or October, which
requires to be done annually when planted in rich
garden mould, as they are subject to rot and
decay in such soil if permitted to stand long unre-
moved.

84 FLORA HISTORICA.

Tliis flower should be viewed through a micro-
scope to have its individual beauties duly appre-
ciated. As it does not appear in the hieroglyphics
of floral language, w^e have presumed, from its.
hardiness, and its resistance to the threatening
storms and cutting blasts from the ocean, and the
boisterous winds of the mountains, to make it the
emblem of dauntlessness.

SWEET PEA, S5

SWEET PEA, OR VETCHLING. Lathyrus
Oduralus.

Natural Order PapUioiiacel, or Leguminoscc. A Genus
of the Diaddphia Deca/idria Class.

Here are Sweet Peas on tiptoe for a flight,
With wings of gentle flnsh o'er delicate white,
And taper lingers catching at all things,
To bind them all about Avith tiny rings.

Keats.

The Sweet Pea, the emblem of delicate pleasures,
was unknown in the British gardens until the first
year of the eighteenth century, when it blossomed
in the garden of Dr. Uvedale, at Enfield in Essex,
who is supposed to have been the first cultivator of
this favourite flower in England : it has since spread
itself over the whole of Europe, entering every gar-
den where the florist is disposed to

lend a staff to the still gadding Pea.

Linnaeus tells us that the common dark variety is a
native of Sicily, and that the more delicate-coloured
kind, which is distinguished by the name of the
Painted Lady, is an indigenous plant of Ceylon.
These two kinds have lately been blended by the

85 FLORA. HISTORICA.

art of the florist, or by accidental impregnation,
and have produced a variety with striped petals.

The Sweet Pea is so universally admired, and
so easily cultivated, that we now meet with it in
ever\^ oarden, from the palace of the monarch to
the cottage of the peasant, where it equally dis-
penses its fragrant odours, without regarding the
rank of its possessor. It is also one of the prin-
cipal annual flowers that the market florists culti-
vate to decorate the balconies of the mansions of
the metropolis, where it is frequently seen in blos-
som, through the art of forcing, several weeks earlier
than we meet with it in the open garden. The
perfume of this elegant flower, although delightful
in the open air, is found rather oppressive than
reviving when confined to close apartments, and we
therefore caution ladies from admitting it into their
chambers. The fragrance of the Sweet Pea is
similar to that of the orange flowers with a mixture
of the rose. The formation of these beautiful
blossoms has been compared to that of the butterfly,
and hence they are called PapiUonaceous flowers.
These blossoms are remarkable for their elegant
negligence of shape, and delicacy and richness of
colouring. Nature seems to have dressed them as
a model for the harmonizing of colours ; for when
we find the standards of a rich claret-colour that
bears a velvet-like appearance, the wings are gene-

SWEET PEA. gf

rally of bluish-lilac, and the keel of faint rose tinted
with azure, which slightly opens to show the yellow
anthers. In other varieties we find the standards
or pelisse of the flower of a full rose-colour, which
flies open to shew the soft blue or flesh-coloured
second garment, which opening discloses the clear
white of the keel or inner tunic. Others burst in a
full robe of pure white, like a virgin on her bridal
morning, who heightens the splendour of her at-
tendants by the modest simplicity of her own cos-
tume.

If our attention is attracted by the beautiful
manner in which Flora has decorated this favourite
child, how much must our admiration be excited
by the wise ordinances of Nature, in the singular
provisions she has made to enable this feeble plant
to rear its slender stem, so as to propagate its spe-
cies with as much security and regularity as the
sturdy oak of the valley, or the tall pine of the
mountain. So admirably are they all adapted to
their various stations in the vegetable economy,
that it would be presumption to ask which is formed
with superior wisdom.

The Pea, which enjoys but a summer's hfe,
sends its fibres deep into the earth, to draw the ne-
cessary moisture which is to force up its tall and
straggling stem, which being too weak to support
itself, has a kind of hand bestowed iijx>n it as it

88 FLORA HISTORICA.

advances in height, ^vhich curls its tendril fingers
around whatever it can meet with to support it from
the earth, where, were it suffered to fall, the flower
could scarcely perform the act of impregnation,
from the want of sun and air ; and its leguminous
fruit, could it be formed, would be devoured by
insects before it could mature its seed, and what
escaped their ravages would, were it to rest on the
ground, be consumed by the birds, who cannot so
easily open the pods whilst they are dangling in
the air. Thus, under cultivation, we observe the
common Peas of the field, which have no aid lent
them, supporting each other in friendly embrace.
Each plant clings to its neighbour whilst it offers
its own arm in return for the support it borrows,
until we find the whole field linked in that happy
union which rears each individual plant from the
cold ground, and supports their pods out of the
reach of reptiles.

The Pea in its ripened state is also the food of
numerous species of the larger kinds of animals,
from the mouse of the fields to the noble horse of
the plain ; and Nature seems to have guarded the
parts of fructification with a precaution not less
wonderful than the means she has given it to climb.
In opening a pod of Peas, we sometimes find a small
withered skin of a Pea or two, mixed with the per-
fect Peas, but more generally at the end of the pod.

SWEET TEA. 89

These arc mere empty shells that have not received
a portion of the fecuntlathig properties of the farina
from the anthers, ^vhich is conveyed from the stigma
by means of a sinewy tube on which each Pea is
regularly placed ; for should any accident destroy
the anthers or blow away the farina from them, the
pods would then contain only empty shells which
would wither away : but we see, with wondering
admiration, that Nature has taken precautions ade-
quate to the wants of the plant ; for, on dissecting
the flower, the young pod with the stigma will be
seen surrounded by the anther, the whole being en-
closed by a beautiful folding of the lower petals,
which is called the keel, from its form resembling
the keel of a boat, and which opens just sufficiently
to admit a necessary portion of air : this keel is
protected by two other petals, which hang over it
like a penthouse, by which name they are frequently
called : the upper petal or standard shades the
whole from the scorching rays of the sun, and at
the same time acts as a vane to turn the flower with
its back to the wind, so that the storms cannot reach
the opening of the keel and injure the anthers.
Thus in a fine day you may see a whole field of
blossoms veer round to avoid the winds, with as
much exactness as an artificial vane on a tower
points out the quarter from whence the wind blows.
Sw eet Peas have the best effect in the pleasure-

90 FLORA HISTORICA.

garden when planted so that they may climb to
some tree or shrub which has flowered in the
spring ; they convey the idea of their natural li-
berty, when so disposed that they

catch the neighbouring shrub

^Vith clasping tendrils, and invest his branch,

Else unadorn'd, with many a gay festoon,

And fragi-ant chaplet, recompensing well

The strength they borrow with the grace they lend.

COWPER.

When thus disposed, the seeds should be planted
in a circle round the stem, but at some considerable
distance, as they may be guided to the trunk by
means of sticks placed in a sloping direction from
the plants to the tree ; for when planted too near
the tree they will seldom thrive, from want of suffi-
cient nourishment. Where this mode is objection-
able, they may be sown in circular trenches, and at
the proper season branching stakes may be placed
in the centre for them to fix their tendrils on ; and
thus trained, they will form a kind of Pea-tree,
and exhibit a far more beautiful appearance than
when planted in straight rows like pottage-peas in
a kitchen-garden.

The time of sowing the Sweet Pea must, in some
measure, be regulated by the weather, as well as
by the nature of the soil, as where the earth is wet
and cold it must, of necessity, be deferred longer
than when growing in situations where it is light
and warm.

EVERLASTING PEA. 9l

We have generally observed that those wliich
have been sown in February have been the most
productive of flowers, althougli it is desirable to
make a second sowing in March, and a third in
April, so as to have a succession of these fragrant
blossoms.

When sown in pots, the earth should be rather
of a retentive nature than too light, and the pots
should be of the deepest kind. October is a good
time for this sowing ; and when they are removed
to the house, or placed mider frames, to protect
them from the frost, they will require more fre-
quent waterings than most other housed plants.

EVERLASTING PEA. Lathyrus LatifoUus.

This handsome native plant, having no place in the
dictionary of floral language, we presume to place
it there as the emblem of lasting pleasure, since we
find it a perennial whose beautiful clusters of flowers
are renewed every year, to give pleasure to the
admirers of Flora's gifts.

Gerard calls it the *' Tare Everlasting," and
** Pease Everlasting, and Chickling." In the pre-
sent day, when so few spots are left uncultivated in

92 FLORA IIISTORTCA.

this country, and those few so frequently deprived
of their singular productions, that many indigenous
plants are seldom met Avith, except under cultiva-
tion in the garden, we are induced to make frequent
extracts from the old writers who have particularized
the spots on which they formerly grew ; and of
these authors none have been so faithful as Gerard,
who is better entitled to the name of the English
Pliny than any author from his time to the present
day. This vegetable historian, speaking of the
Everlasting Pea, says, *• This plant doth grow in
shadowie woods, and among bushes ; there groweth
great store thereof in Swanescombe-woode, a mile
and a halfe from Green-hithe, in Kent, as you go to
a village thereby called Betsome, and in divers
other places." Mr. Ray observed it about the
middle of the last century, in the Cambridgeshire
woods ; and Martyn tells us that it has also been
found at Rocks, near Red Neese, by Whitehaven,
Severn Stoke Copse, Worcestershire, &c. It is also
found in various parts of the South of France.

This plant is too large and rambling for the
flower border, but it forms a splendid ornament in
the shrubbery or wilderness walks, where, by co-
vering the bare trunks of trees with its clusters of
rose-coloured flowers, it adds greatly to the cheer-
fulness of these scenes from the middle of June to
the end of July. Where walls or other fences are

TANGIER TEA.

covered with ivy, this pea mixes wltli its gloomy
leaves with a happy effect. AVe are not aware
whether it has ever been cultivated by the agri-
culturist, but as it is perennial, and yields a great
quantity of green fodder^ the experiment may be
worth the trial. We will venture to promise that
the seeds will be acceptable to the farmer's pigeons
and the landlord's game, whilst its flowers will ma-
terially assist to fill the comb of the cottager's
hives, even if it be no further cultivated than for
decorating the common hedge-rows, where its
bunches of papilionaceous flowers could not fail to
delight the passenger by their gay tints. These
Peas may be sown either in the autumn or the
spring, and the plants will bear removing.

TANGIER PEA. Lathjrus T'mgitanus.

This plant, whose name pronounces it a native of
Barbary, is an annual flower that has been an in -
mate in our gardens since the year 1680 ; but as it
is greatly inferior to the Sweet Pea in point of
beauty, we shall merely notice it on account of the
velvet-like petals of its small but richly-coloured
corolla.

34 FLORA HISTORICA.

LUPINE. Liip'mus.

Natural Order Papilioiiace^e, or Lcgianinosce.. A Genus
of the Diadelphia Decandria Class.

Tristlsquc Liipini

Sustuleris fragiles calamos.

Virgil.
. 'Where stalks of Lupines grew,

Th' ensuing season, in return, may bear
The bearded product of the golden year,

Drydex.

The Lupine, which we cherish in our gardens as
an ornament to the parterre, formed an important
article in the husbandry of the Romans, who culti-
vated it not only as a subsistence for their cattle,
but as a food for themselves also. Pliny says, he
could not recommend any diet that is more whole-
some and lighter of digestion, than the White Lu-
pines, when eaten dry. Their bitterness was taken
off by soaking them in hot water, or covering them
with hot ashes. The same author says, that this
food gave those who ate it generally with their
meals, a fresh colour and a cheerful countenance.

We learn from Columella, that Lupines were
sometimes flavoured with a Syrian root, and so
eaten to provoke drinking, or perhaps to give a

LUPINE.

relish to the Egyptian beer, as our country people
introduce cheese.

That root

^Vhich comes of Syrian seed, which sliced is giveu
With moist'ned Lupines join'd, that it may
Provoke fresh bumpers of Pehisian beer.

Lib. 10.

The eating of Lupines was also thought io
brighten the mind, and quicken the imagination.
It is related of Protogenes, a celebrated painter of
Rhodes, who flourished about three hundred and
twenty-eight years before Christ, that, during the
seven years he was employed in painting the hunt-
ing-piece of Jalysus, who was supposed to be the
founder of the state of Rhodes, he lived entirely
upon Lupines and water, with an idea that this
aliment would give him greater flights of fancy.
It was in this picture that he wished to introduce a
dog panting, with foam at his mouth ; but not suc-
ceeding to his satisfaction, he threw his sponge upon
the painting in a fit of anger, when chance brought
to perfection what the utmost of his art could not
accomplish, for the sponge falling on the wet paint
that was intended to represent the foam, gave it so
much the appearance of reality, that the piece was
universally admired.

We shall relate another anecdote of this Lupine-
eating painter, to show in what reverence the artists
were held in those early days.

FLORA HISTORICA.

"When Demetrius besieged Rhodes, he refused
to set fire to a part of the city, which might have
made him master of the whole, because lie knew
that Protogenes was then working in that quarter.
When the town was taken, the painter was found
closely employed in a garden, finishing a picture ;
and upon being asked by the conqueror why he
showed not more concern at the general calamity,
he replied, that Demetrius made war against the
Rhodians, and not against the fine arts.

The Lupine is a plant that loves a poor light
sandy soil, and it was much employed by the Ro-
mans as a manure for such situations, being
ploughed or dug into the ground just as it began
to blossom. It formed the principal manure for
many vineyards and orchards where animal dung
could not be procured. Cato recommends the
haulm of Lupines, amongst other vegetable sub-
stances, to form a compost for vines that were
decaying. It is remarked by Pliny, that the Lu-
pine was sowed with less expense to the husband-
man than any other seed, since it was merely scat-
tered on the ground amongst the bushes or briers
without cither ploughing or digging, and that the
seed readily took root without being covered with
earth.

Mr. Swinburn observes, that Lupines are still
sown in the neighbourhood of Naples to manure

LUPINE. 97

llio Jand, wliicli arc lioed up before tlicy fruc-
tify. This is also practised in the south of France
in poor dry soils, as a meliorating crop to be
ploughed in, where no manure is to be had, and
the ground is too poor for clover and other better
crops.

The ancients named this plant Lvpiniis, from
Lupus, a wolf, on account of its voracious nature.
When this pulse was eaten without preparation to
destroy the bitter, it was apt to contract the
muscles, and give a sorrowful appearance to the
countenance — hence Virgil calls it Tristes Lujnnus,

The name of Lupinus is of great antiquity ;
and the seeds are said to have been used by the
ancients, in their plays and comedies, instead of
pieces of money : hence the proverb, Nummus Lu-
pinus, a piece of money of no value ; as also that
of Horace —

Nee tamen ignorat, quid distent JEra Lupinis.

The French call this plant Le Lujyin, the Ita-
lians Lupino, the Spaniards Entramocos, and the
Germans Felgbonen, Fig-bean.

Lupines have long possessed a place in our
gardens, since they appear to have been common
in the time of Gerard ; but they scarcely deserve
a situation amongst choice flowers, and we should
therefore recommend them to the shrubbery, where
the Yellow Lupine, Lufeus, is acceptable, on ac-

VOL. II. Y

98 FLORA HISTORICA.

count of its fragrance, which is similar to that of
Cowshps. This species is a native of Sicily and
Silesia. The small blue Lupine, Varius, is a na-
tive of the south of Europe, and the large blue-
flowered Hirsutus, which is first noticed by Par-
kinson, in 1629, is also thought to be a native of
the same parts, although Linnaeus mentions it as
indigenous to Arabia, and the islands of the Archi-
pelago, whilst Miller considered it an aboriginal of
India ; and Parkinson reports that it was said to
have come from beyond Persia.

The Rose Lupine, Pllosiis, which produces a
flesh-coloured flower, is also a native of the south
of Europe, from whence it was introduced in 1710.

We have procured four different species of this
plant from America, one of which is perennial:
this Avas brought from Virginia in 1658.

To procure a succession of these flowers, they
should be sown at three different seasons, that is,
in April, i\Iay, and June. The best mode of sow-
ing them is by forming small clumps of them ;
but they should not be sown too thick, and they
seldom succeed when transplanted. The Lupine
has a leaf that is termed digitate, which, at night,
has the sides contracted, and hang down, bending
back to the petiole.

The Lupine appears not to have been familiar
to the inhabitants of eastern countries, and hence it

LITINE.

99

\vc

is not ))lacccl in tlicir language of flowers :
liave, therefore, agreeable to its name, and with due
submission to the learned students of hieroglyphics,
made it the emblem of voraciousness.

r 2

100 FLORA HISTORICA.

LARKSPUR. Delphinium

jSTatiiral Order MiiUisiliquce. Ranunculacece^ Juss. A
Genus of the Volyandria Trigynia Class.

That a flower of so much celebrity for its elegance
of sliape and beautiful variety of colouring should
be suffered to pass unnoticed by English bards
cannot escape '^ our special wonder." Let no poet
henceforth complain of the want of a subject until
we are able to present our readers with a head to
the history of a plant whose pyramidal bouquets
rank in the parterre amongst the most brilliant fa-
vourites of Flora.

The lively and delicate dyes of these blossoms
give a prismatic effect to the garden by their spiral
branches of azure, rose, white, violet, lilac, and car-
nation hues.

In floral language the Larkspur is made the
emblem of lightness^ an appellation which the
graceful airiness with which these flowers are placed
on the branches truly justifies. The generic name
of the plant is derived from the Greek AsX^pivjov,
signifying a dolphin, because the flower-buds, be-
fore they are expanded, are thought to resemble that

LARKSPUR, 101

fish. In tlie natural single state of this flower^ the
outer petals form a kind of horn-shaped nectary
at the back of the corolla, which is similar to the
spur of the Lark's-foot, hence the name of Lark-
spur and Lark's-heel in English ; and PiecU
(Talouette in French : in the latter language it is
also called Eperon de chevalier, Knight's-spur,
"vvhich corresponds with the Italian name of Sperone
di cavaliere. The Italians also honour it by the
name of Fioi- regio, King-flower.

Gerard mentions the Larkspur amongst the
flowers which were cultivated in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, but he does not seem to have been ac-
quainted with this flower in its double state, for it
was not until about the beginning of the seven-
teenth century that double flowers were so eagerly
sought after ; and it appears to have been abou^.
that period, when the florimania raged to such an
excess among the Dutch, that the Larkspur had
its petals multiplied to the exclusion of its spur, as
we find it noticed by Parkinson, in 1629, who
speaks of the great varieties of colours in these
double flowers, and notices the loss of the spur
when the petals become double. On this account
the double varieties should be called after the
generic name only, as Lark's-spur is nnappropriate
Avhen the spur is not retained. The Delphinium,
although it loses its spur by the increase of its.

1.02 FLORA HI3T0RICA.

petals, yet retains an advantage over the Double
Stock, and many other flowers which lose their
parts of fructification when their petals are multi-
plied, for the Delphinium retains its anthers and
stigmaS; and consequently produces seed; but if
this seed be suffered to sow itself in the autumn, it
generally returns to its natural single state, whilst
the seed that is kept dry, and sown later in the
season or in the spring, produces double flowers.
This species of Upright Larkspur, Delphinium
Jjacis, is a native of Switzerland, but in late times
it has been found growing spontaneously in seve-
ral parts of the south of Europe ; it is generally
thought to have escaped from neighbouring gar-
dens.

The seeds of the different -coloured varieties
should be kept distinct, as tliis affords an opportu-
nity of raising clumps of separate colours, which
give a pleasing effect ; yet we recommend some
patches to be sown with all the colours mixed. We
have frequently admired them in the Royal gardens
of France when thus mixed ; and this flower is more
attended to in that country than with us. These
plants send down long fibres, and therefore will not
bear transplanting ; but they may be suffered to
stand thicker on the ground than the Branching
Larkspur, Delphinium Consolida, which spreads
its branches to some distance, so that four or five

LARKSPt'R. 103

of these latter plants arc suflicient to form a group.
These must never be mixed with the former species,
as the character of the plants, and their duration of
flowering, are so different ; the latter, although less
ornamental, continuing in flower for a longer period.
This last species grows ^vild in most parts of Europe,
as wl41 as in England. Gerard observes that it
grows in fields where corn has grown. It appears
to have been principally found in Cambridgeshire.

The Great-flowered Larkspur, Delphinium
Grandiflorum, is a Siberian perennial plant, the
seeds of which were first sent to this country by
Dr. Ammann, of Petersburg, to Mr. JMiller, who
cultivated it at Chelsea, in the year 1758. This
plant is now propagated in a double state, and forms
one of the most splendid ornaments of the garden
by the brilliancy of its azure colour.

IMr. Miller had two years previously received,
from the same gentleman, seeds of the Palmated
Bee Larkspur, Delphinium Intermedium ; also a
perennial plant of great beauty, growing from five
to six feet in height, and producing flowers of a
most resplendent blue. This species proves to be
a native of Silesia, although some botanists have
considered it only a variety of the Siberian common
Bee Larkspur, Elatum, which also grows to the
height of six feet, flowering from June to Septem-
ber, with fine deep-blue corollas. This last kind

104 FLORA IIISTORICA.

is a much older plant in our gardens. Siberia has
also furnished us with the Scarlet-flowered Lark-
spur, Puniceum, and we have procured three
species of DelpJiinium from America.

The Siberian and the Silesian Larkspurs have a
fine effect in the vase of the saloon^ where they re-
tain their beauty longer in water than flowers in
general. We shall therefore recommend them to
the notice of the fair, as being deserving of both
the pen of the poet and the pencil of the painter.
Van Ost has been most happy in displaying the
vivid tints of these flowers on canvass, and they
contribute greatly to the beauty of his brilliant
groups.

LARGE-FIOWERED ST. JOHN'S-WORT. 105

LARGE-FLOWERED ST. JOHNS-WORT.

Hypericum Calycinum,

Natural Order Rotacece. Hyperica, Juss. A Genus^
of the Polyadelphia Polyandria Class.

Hypericum all bloom.

CowrER.

I hold you as a thing enskied and sainted.

Shakspeare.

We possess no fewer than tliirty-nine species and
several varieties of the Hypericum, which modern
bigotry has named St. John**s-Wort, and which
ancient superstition called Fiiga DcBmonum, be-
lieving that this plant would defend persons from
phantoms and spectres, and drive away devils. Foi
the same reason others called it Sol Terrestrisy.
Terrestrial Sun, because they say that all the
spirits of darkness vanish at the approach of the
sun. We are disposed to adopt the latter name
to distinguish this flower from its thirty-eight rela-
tives, as thirty-nine AVorts are too many, to dedi-
cate to any one saint ; and the Hypericum Calyci-
num, growing close to the earth, with a large yellow
flower, whose hundreds of chives form so many

F 5

106 FLORA HISTORICA.

rays, certainly gives a better picture of the sun
than it does of Aaron's beard, by which name it is
frequently called.

The leaves of some of the species of this plant,
■when held against the light, seem perforated by a
thousand small holes ; and hence it has been called
Perforata, or Porosa, from which the French name
for this genus of plants of Mille-pertuis, Thousand
holes, is derived.

This Terrestrial Sun, which now shines so
happily under the shade of the trees and shrubs
of our pleasure-grounds, from the month of June
to September, is a native of the countr}^ near
Constantinople, from whence it was introduced to
illuminate the banks of our shrubberies by Sir
George Wheeler, in the year 1676. We are not
told Avhat use the fair Sultanas make of this flower
in their emblematical language, and rather than
it should remain a cypher amongst floral hiero-
glyphics, we place it in the Dictionary to represent
superstition.

The Hypericum Calycinum has many qualities
to recommend it to the notice of modern gardeners.
Its being an evergreen creeper with large foliage
renders it a desirable plant to cover banks and
bare patches beneath trees, since, like the Peri-
winkle, it prospers in the shade, where its fine
yellow petals and beautiful chives, headed by spark-

LARGE-FLOWERED ST. JOHN'S-WORT. 107

like anthers, remind us of small wheel-fireworks, and
form a happy contrast to the azure flowers of the
Vinca. It is easily increased by its creeping roots,
and is sufficiently hardy to bear the rigour of our
severest winters.

108 FLORA HISTORICA,

CRIMSON MONARDA. Monarda Flshdosa.

Natural Order Verticillatce. Lahiatce, Juss. A Genus
of the Diandria Moiiogynia Class.

We are indebted to the New World for all the
species of this genus of plants, of which we now
possess seven. It is named IMonarda from Nic.
Monarda, or Monardes, a physician of Seville, who
flourished in the sixteenth century.

We are not able to ascertain whether this plant
was known in Spain so early as tlie sixteenth cen-
tury ; but the Fistulosa, with purple flowers, was
the first species known in England, and was intro-
duced in the vera* 1656, by ]\Ir. John Tradescant,
jun. ; whether he obtained it direct from Canada,
where it is a native, we are uncertain. The
Crimson-flowered jMonarda is a variety of the
Fistidosa, and was first obtained from the Dutch
florists by Messrs. Grimwood and Co., of Ken-
sington, about the year 1790. This beautiful
plant recommends itself to our notice by the fra-
grance of its foliage^ as well as by its tufts of beau-
tiful crimson flowers, which crown every branch,
from tlie month of June to the .end of AujTust.

CRIMSON MONARDA. 109

The stalks and foliage of this plant resemble that
of mint, excepting that the centre rib of the leaves
is of a fine crimson, and the circle of leaves wliicli
supports the flowers are beautifully shaded with
a colour between that of the amethyst stone and the
garnet.

This plant, which we particularly recommend
to be placed in the foreground of the shrubbery,
on account of the beautiful contrast which its rich
dyes make with the green foliage of the laurel and
other shrubs, loves a soft loamy soil, not too much
exposed to the meridian sun. It is easily propa-
gated by seed, which should be sown in the au-
tumn, and it is also increased by parting the roots
like mint or balm; if the branches are pegged
down in the manner of layers, it will also take root.
It is desirable not to let young plants flower tlie
first year, as by cutting down the flowering stalks
the roots become greatly strengthened for succeed-
ing seasons.

The Crimson Monarda will keep fresh for a
great length of time in water, ornamenting the
vase and perfuming the apartment by a refreshing
odour ; we therefore give it as the emblem of steady
virtue.

The Scarlet Monarda, or Oswego Tea, Monarda
Didyma, was introduced from North America by
Mr. Peter Collinson, in the year 1744. This^

110 FLORA HISTORICA.

plant has a most refreshing fragrance, and many
persons prefer the infusion of the leaves to the tea
of China. It is the common beverage of many
families of Oswego, a town in New York; and
hence it is called the Osweojo Tea.

BELL-FLOWER. Ill

BELL-FLOWER. Campanula,

Natural Order Campanacecc. Campamdacece, Juss. A
Genus of the Pentandria Moiwgynia Class.

The humming bees, that hunt the golden dew,

In summer's heat on tops oijioicers feed,

And creep within their Bells to suck the balmy seed.

DllYDEN-.

The name of Campanula, which signifies a little
Bell, has been given to this numerous family of
plants, from the resemblance which the corollas bear
to that instrument ; and were we to describe all the
species, sub-species, varieties, and sub-varieties of
the Campanula, we should have to ring nearly as
many changes as are performed on the celebrated
bells of Saint Martin's tower. But as these
changes might not be so agreeable to our readers
as the sound of the merry bells were to the ears
of Nell Gwynn, we shall merely touch upon those
Campanulas that accord best with the harmony of
the garden, regretting at the same time that the
poets have not chimed either on the Coventry or the
Canterburry bells, so as to have enlivened our pas-
sages in the history of these flowers. Milton slightly
touches on the Bell-flower in his poem " On the

112 FLORA HISTORICA.

Death of Damon;" and as every touch of our
subUme poet sounds harmoniously to the ear, we
shall give the lines which he puts into the mouth of
Thyrsis :

How often have T said, (but tliou liadst found
Ere then thy dark cold lodgment under ground.)

There thou shalt cull me Simples, and shalt teach
Thy friend the name and healing pow'rs of each,
From the tall Blue-Bell to the dwarfish weed,
What the dry land, and what the marshes breed ;
For all their kinds alike to thee are known,
And the whole art of Galen is thy own.
Ah, perish Galen's art, and wither'd be
The useless herbs that gave not health to thee !

To resume our history, according to the rules of
rino-ino\ we must commence with the minor Cam-
panula, — an elegant little plant, which suspends its
graceful Bells on such slender supports that they
bend with the slightest touch of a fly, and shake
with the zephyr's gentlest breath.

The PEACH-LEAVED BELL-FLOWER,

Campanula PersicifoUa,

Which is frequently called the Paper-Elower, from
the delicate yet stiff texture of the corollas, ranks
amongst the most ancient ornaments of our par-
terres. Gerard says, in 1597, 'Mt is planted in

BELL-FLOWER. 113

our gardens, but does not grow wild in England.'*
Le Bon Jardin'ier mentions it as a native of France.
About the middle of the last century this flower was
first cultivated in its double state, and since that
time it has deservedly attracted the attention of all
good florists ; for, although we lose the graceful
bell-shape of the flower in its double state, its cy-
lindrical stalks of snowy or azure rosette flowers
form most beautiful bouquets, from the end of June
to the beginning of September. This plant loves a
hght and fresh loamy soil, and a sunny exposure.
It is propagated by dividing the roots in autumn.
The French call this plant Campanule cles Jar dins.
and Campanule a feulUcs de Pecker, the Italians
Campanella,

CANTERBURY-BELL. Campanula Medium.

This plant is no longer ranked amongst the ab-
originals of our soil, although Gerard tells us that
** It do growe very plentifully in the lowe woods
and hedgerowes of Kent, about Canterburie, Sit-
tingborne, Southfleete, and Greenehyth," and many
other places which he mentions. In his age it bore,
in addition to the name of Canterbury-Bell, those
of ** Haskewoort, Throtewoort, and VuulaY^ ooxiy"^

114 FLORA HISTORICA.

from the virtues it was thought to possess in curing
swellings and inflammations of the throat. Of this
species there are varieties with blue, purple, white^
and striped flowers, both single and double. It is
biennial, and decays after having matured its seed.

The Canterbury-Bell is raised by sowing the
seed on a common border, in the spring of the
year; and it should be transplanted when of a
proper size into other beds, and in the autumn it
may be removed to the spots where it is intended
to flower the following year. These flowers are
larore and branchinc::, and therefore better calculated
to embellish the shrubbery than to mix in the
borders of choice flowers.

The French distinguish this species by the name
of La Cloche, Bell, La Clochette, Little Bell, and
Les Gants de Notre Dame, Our Lady's Gloves.

PYRAMIDAL BELL-FLOWER, Campanula
Pyramidalis.

This plant, as its name intimates, bears its bells on
tall pyramidal branches, rising from the flower
border like a Chinese pagoda amongst more humble
buildings. It is a magnificent plant when in full
flower, and is frequently employed by country

BELL-FLOWER. 115

people to decorate their windows, as it is sufficiently
pliable to accommodate itself to any shape ; some-
times bending its branches round a hoop, forming
a complete circle ; at otliers, taking a fan shape,
so as to serve as a blind either to the window, or
to the rustic grate of a country parlour.

So dill tlie maidens, witli their various flowers
Decke up their windows, and make neat their bowers.

We have sometimes seen its branches trained
over hoops so as to form a complete globe, which
is an ingenious device ; but nature has formed
this rustic plant so peculiarly graceful, that to at-
tempt to mend it is only to add deformity. This
species is biannual, and grows naturally in some
parts of France, Savoy, and Carniola.

It was cultivated in our gardens in the time of
Gerard, who calls it " Steeple Milkie Bell-Flower,"
on account of the milky nature of the juice of the
branches and roots, and not from the colour of its
bells, which are generally blue, although a variety
sometimes occurs with white flowers. This plant
is usually increased by offsets, but those raised
from seed produce the tallest plants, and give the
greatest number of flowers. The seed should be
sov.'n in the autumn in pots or boxes filled with
light undunged earth, and placed in the open air
until the frost or hard rains come on, when they
should be removed under cover of a frame, always

116 FLORA HISTORICA.

o-ivino- them free air ^vhen the weather will admit.
The young plants will appear in the spring, when
the pots should be placed in a warm situation until
the summer, at which time they should be situated
so as to receive only the morning sun. About
September they may be transplanted into a border
of light sandy soil, without a mixture of dung,
which is fatal to these plants, as is too much mois-
ture. These plants will require the protection of
hoops, covered with oiled paper or matting, to
screen them from severe frosts. In this bed they
are to remain two years before being planted for
flowering.

The Campanula is made the emblem of gra-
titude.

VENUS'S LOOKING-GLASS. Campanula
Speculum.

The brilliant corollas of this little plant, which
seem to reflect the rays of the sun, have gained it
the name of Venus's Looking-glass, although some
think this title was bestowed on it on account of
the glossy nature of its seed.

It is made the emblem of reflection as well as of
flattery. The flower varies, in colour, from a fine
violet to a blue, and sometimes a white. Towards

BELL-FLOWER. 117

the evening the corollas fold up into a pentagonal
figure, enclosing the parts of fructification, and
securing them from damp air until they are again
opened by the rays of Aurora. From the shape
of the flowers when thus folded, it has sometimes
borne the name of Viola Pentagonia,

This plant grows naturally amongst the corn in
most of the southern countries of Europe ; and
Gerard tells us, '^ I found it in a field among the
corne by Greenehithe, as I went from thence to-
ward Dartford in Kent, and in many other places
thereabout, but not elsewhere : from whence I
brought of the seedes for my garden, where they
come vp of themselves from yeere to yeere by
falling of the seede."

This annual plant is a great ornament to the
parterre, particularly when sown in large patches
on sloping banks. It seldom raises itself higher
than from six to twelve inches ; but, as its spread-
ing branches completely cover the earth, it presents
a mass of beauty by its mirrors, not exceeded by
any of the humble plants which expand their
petals to the sun of summer.

The shining seed should be sown in the autumn
on a dry soil to produce early flowers, and the
spring sowing will succeed them, so as to prolono-
the enjoyment of these agreeable little flatterers.

118 PLORA HISTORICA.

COLUMBINE. Aqiiilefjia.

Natural Order MuUislliqum or Corniculatce. Raiimi'
culacefe, Juss. A Genus of the Polyandria Penta<
gynia Class.

Bring hether the PIncke and Purple Cullamblne.

Spexser.

And intwine

The White, the Blewe, the Flesh-like Columbine.

W. Browne.

This gracefully rustic flower, which forms a prin-
cipal ornament to most of our village gardens^ is a
native of our sylvan scenes, being principally found
in the open spaces of our forests or large woods.

It has been made the emblem of folly, but
whether on account of the part3^-colour which it
frequently takes in the garden, or in allusion to
the shape of the nectary, which turns over hke the
caps of the old jesters, and those which the painters
give to Folly, "we are left to surmise.

This is Folly, Childhood's guide,
This is Childhood at her side.

Hawkesworth.

]Mr. W. Browne says —

Tlie Columbine, in tawny ten taken,
Is then ascribed to such as are forsaken.

COLUMBINE, 119

The Englisli name of Columbine i.s derived from
Columha, the Latin name of tlie pigeon, as the
nectaries of this flower are tliought to resemble
the head and neck of these birds. The generic
name comes from Aquila, an eagle, from the fan-
cied resemblance which the same parts of the flowers
have to the claws of this king of birds. Some ety-
mologists are of opinion that the name of Aquilegia
is given to this plant, because the leaves, when not
fully expanded, collect and gather a great deal of
rain-water.

Gerard tells us that it was formerly called Herba
Leonis by some persons, from a supposition that it
•was the favourite plant of the lion.

The French call it AncoUe, the Italians Aq uilegia
the Dutch Agley and Akeleyen, the Germans Akeley
and Acjlcy.

The common Columbine, Vulgaris, has long
held a situation in our gardens, since it is men-
tioned by Dr. Turner in that part of his work
which bears date 1564 : he observes, that he liad
not seen it growing wild in England, but that
he had found it in that state in Germany, and of
difierent colours. Gerard tells us that it was cul-
tivated both in the double and single state in his
time.

It is a curious character in the natural history
of this plant that it should take three distinct

120 FLORA IIISTORICA.

modes of doubling its flowers. It is sometimes
seen doubled by the multiplication of the petals,
to the exclusion of the nectaries ; at others, by the
increase of the nectaries, to the exclusion of the
petals ; and frequently by the multiplication of
the nectaries, while the proper petals remain. It
also sports exceedingly in its dyes, as the seeds
from one plant frequently produce great varieties
of colour, from a white to a rich claret, or from
white to blue, even to purple, and in the same
rotation from white to rose-colour, frequently
blotched with two or three hues, and sometimes
with the nectaries of various colours, which adds to
the airiness of its appearance. On the whole, it
seems to have been formed by Flora in her most
fantastic humour ; and displays a graceful though
rustic negligence, not exceeded by any flower on the
parterre.

The Columbine sends up stems three feet in
heio-ht, therefore care should be taken not to plant
it before dwarf flowers. It may be planted in the
slirubbery with good effect to succeed the blossoms
of such shrubs as flower early. The Columbine
continues in flower from the end of May to the end
of July. Curious varieties may be increased by
parting the roots, but the best manner of propa-
gating these plants in general is by seed, which
should be sown in August or September, and in

coLUMinxi:. 121

ihc following IMay the young plants may be placed
out in a bed at about nine inches apart, where they
nill obtain strength by the autumn sufficient for
transplanting into the spots where they are intended
to flower in the following summer. It is, however,
more desirable that they should be suffered to blos-
som in the nursery-bed, as by this means the bLSt
varieties may be selected and clumps formed of dif-
ferent colours, agreeable to the taste of the planter,
or as may best harmonize with the neighbouring
flowers.

The virtues of this plant for many malignant dis-
orders have been highly extolled by old medical
writers — every part of the plant from theroot to the
seed was thought efficacious for some particular
complaint ; but as Linnams tells us that he has
known children lose their lives by an overdose of
it, we shall forbear giving medical extracts, that
might mislead the ignorant : and as to the Faculty
of the present day, they need not our hints as to the
authors who have written on the properties of this
plant ; and were we to tell them that it was con-
sidered a cure for the plague, it might induce them
to reply, ** No wonder it is become the emblem of
folly!"

VOL. II.

122 FLORA HISTORICA.

MONirS-HOOD OR WOLFFS-BANE.

Aeon I turn.

Natural Order MuUisiliquce. Ranunculacefe, Juss. A
Genus of the Polyandria Trigynia Class.

L'Aconit, au sue malfaisant,
Comme s'il s'armait pour la guerre,
Eleve un casque menacant.

We could never find sufficient beauties in these
plants to justify their common cultivation in our
pleasure grounds, and we shall be glad to see them
entirely expelled from the gardens of the cottagers,
where they are generally found in greatest abun-
dance. In our history of the Aconitum we shall
have to relate such terrible effects of its virulent
nature as must make us rejoice that it is not an in-
digenous plant of our soil.

The lines of Virgil may be happily used on this
occasion :

Our land is from tlie rage of tigers freed,

Nor nourishes the lion's angry seed,

Nor pois'nous Aconite is here produced,

Or grows unknown, or is, when known, refused.

Dryden',

The ancients, who were unacquainted with

MO.NKS-HOOD. 123

chemical poisons, regarded the Aconite as the most

violent of all poisons, and accordingly they fable it

to be the invention of Ilecate, who caused the

plant to spring from the foam of Cerberus, when

Hercules dragged him from the gloomy regions of

Pluto.

This from th' Ediidnean dog dire essence draws.

Tliere is a blind steej) cave, with fos-gy jaws,

Through which the hokl Tyrinthiau hero strain'd,

Dragg'd Cerberus, witli adamant enchain'd ;

"Who backward hung, and scowhng, look."d askew

On gk)rious day, witli anger rabid grew ;

Thrice howls, thrice barks at once with his three heads.

And on the grass his foamy poison sheds.

This sprung; attracting from the fruitful soil

Dire nourishment, and power of deathful soil.

The rural swains, because it takes delight

In barren rocks, surnamed it Aconite.

Sandys' Odd.

In the iron age of Ovid, the poet pictures the
stepdame as preparing a deadly potion of Aconite.

Licrida terribiles miscent AconHcB Novercce.
It was with this venomous plant that the ancients
poisoned their arrows when in pursuit of ferocious
animals, as also when following their more brutal
trade of slaughtering their fellow-creatures. Thco-
phrastus observes that the Aconitum yields a poison
which at some times causes instant death, whilst at
others its effects are lingering, but certain. Fatal
experience has so sufficiently established its virulent
nature in modern times, that it should be admitted

G 2

r24 FLORA HISTORICA.

\\ith the greatest caution into the garden, since we
find that some persons, only by taking in the effluvia
•of the herb in full flower by the nostrils, have been
seized with swooning fits, and have lost their sight
for two or three days.

The root of plants in general is the most power-
ful part, and as some of the species of Aconitum
l^ave roots which resemble those of the horse-radish,
accidents of a terrible nature have occurred from
mistaking the one for the other, for a small por-
tion is sufficient to cause instant death. Matthiolus
relates that a criminal was put to death by taking
only one drachm of this root. Dodonaeus gives us
an instance which occured in his time, of five per-
sons at Antwerp, who ate of this root by mistake,
and all died. Dr. Turner also mentions that some
Trench men at the same place, eating the shoots of
this plant for jMasterwort, all died in the course of
two days, except two players, who were saved by
emetics. Gerard tells us of a surgeon named
Matthews, of Boston in Lincolnshire, who, hav-
ing found a root that had been grubbed up before
the leaves appeared, was induced to bite it, so as to
ascertain what it was, and it took such an instant
effect upon him as to deprive him of speech, even
before he could get a remedy, and that his life was
only saved by immediate apj)lication to powerful
medicines. We read in the Philosophical Trans-

MONK'S-HOOD. }2J

actions, Vol. 38, anno 1732, of a man who wa?
poisoned in that year, by eating some of this ])lant
in a salad, instead of Celery. Dr. Willis also, in hi>
■work Deyinimd Bnitorum, gwes an instance of a
man who died in a few hours, by eating the tender
leaves of this plant, also in a salad. He was seized
■with all the symptoms of mani:-\. The Aconitinu
is equally pernicious to animals. Wepfer inftjnns,
us that a wolf, which had taken a dose of two
drachms, would, in all probability, have died
through it, had he not been dissected, living as lie
■was, in order to observe the effects of the poison.

Mr. Waller observes, in his Domestic Herbal j
that the principal thing to be done in the case of
this and other vegetable poisons is, to procurc^
vomiting by any means ; the most speedy and effec-
tual method is to force the finger or a feather down
the throat, and keep up a titillation of the fauces.
This will generally succeed, when the strongest
emetics fail, and ought not to be delayed a moment!
after it is once ascertained that Aconite has beei"v
swallowed, as- the danger is always in proportion to
the quantity swallowed, and the length of time it
remains in the stomach. After the poison has been
evacuated, some cordial or a little wine may be
given with advantage.

This plant is particularly dangerous to children,
boys especially, whoso frequently have their finger^^

126 FLORA HISTORICA.

cut or scratched by some accident. If the juice of
this plant, in gathering a branch, should by chance
reach the part scratched, it wiil produce the most
alarming symptoms, such as excessive pain, not
only in that particular part, but extending over the
whole limb, heartburn, dread of suffocation, faint-
ing, and, at last, mortification.

The Aconite, however, Mith all its formidable
terrors, was found by Dr. Storch, a German phy-
sician, to possess properties that relieve some of the
mcst distressing disorders incident to the human
frame ; but as it is a medicine of too dangerous a
nature for any but the skilful practitioner to meddle
with, we forbear naming the complaints for which
it has been found serviceable. As the dried plant
loses, in a great measure, its efficacy in medicine,
we recommend the young student to make himself
perfectly acquainted with every species of the Aco-
nitum, so as to know its flower, leaf, and root; and
we further intreat them, when they see this plant
growing in the gardens of cottagers, that they would
make its dangerous properties known.

We have already observed, by a translation,
these lines from Ovid,

Quae quia nascuiitur dura vivacia caute,
Agrestes Aconita vocant, —

that the Aconitum was supposed to derive its name
from growing on rocks almost destitute of soil.

MONK'S-IIOOD. 127

Thcophrastus derives it, and with more apparent
reason, from Axovjr, Acone^ a city of Jjitliynia, near
wliich place it Is stated to have grown in great abun-
dance. Some etymologists derive the name from
Akc'c^v, Wy.7), Dart, because the barbarians used the
plant to poison their darts ; others think it is from
'Axov/^o/txai, to accelerate, because it hastens death.

The English name of Wolf's-bane is of great
antiquity, being the same as that of the Anglo-
Saxon. It is called ]\Ionk's-hood, from the upper
petal of the flower, which bends over the parts of
fructification in the shape of the hood worn by
monks. The Germans call it Munch Cappen,
Monk's cap or hood. It is also called Helmet-
flower by some, who consider it to resemble a hel-
met. The French name of this dangerous plant is
Aconiff and the Italian Aconito, and most of the
other European languages also derive it from the
Latin.

We make it the emblem of knight-errantry,
because it rears its threatening and gloomy helmet
as if to protect the gay favourites of Flora.

The common Monk's-hood, Aconifnm Napellus,
■which elevates its dingy blue helmet flowers on such
exalted spikes from the month of May to the end
of July, is a native of Germany, and some other
parts of Europe. The white-flowered, Aconitum
Album, is from the Levant, and the yellow species.

128 FLORA HISTORICA.

Lycoctonum, is indigenous to the Alps, and other
continental mountains. This latter species, as welt
as the Blue Monk's-hood, has been cultivated in
our gardens for many ages, since it is mentioned
by our earliest writers on plants.

We shall not dwell upon the propagation of these
plants, since neither poison, Mcnk's-hood, nor Hel-
mets, stand high in favour with the peaceable
florist.

CONVOLVL'Ll'S. 12^

CONVOLVULUS, or BLNDWEED.

Natural Order CcanpanacefC. Convolculi, Juss. A
Gemis oH\\e Pcntandria Mono'^ynia Class.

Convolvolus, expand thy cup-like flower,
Graceful in form, and beautiful in hue.

Bartok-
Regardez : ce beau Liseroa

Uessine sa legcre cloche
A travers cet epais bui^son

Dont I'epine defend Tapproche'.

This beautiful genus of plants is sufficiently nii-^-
merous to fill an entire volume with their descrip-
tion alone. INIartyn described no less than one
hundred and ten kinds, as long back as ISOT^ sincr?
which time several species have been added, as tlie
Hortus Kewensis then contained only thirty- three
species, which are now increased to forty-nine.
Europe claims only fourteen species, but three of
•which are natives of the British Islands, the rc-
mainder being indigenous to the Indies and Ame-
rica.

The species most familiar to our gardens,. aL*e
the Trailing, Convolvulus Minor, or Trlcolav^ aiifl
the Convolvulus ivlajor, Purpureus. Both of thes2

G S

130 FLORA mSTORICA.

kinds were known in our gardens as long back as
the time of Charles I., as Parkinson tells us, in
1629, that he received the seeds of the Convolvulus
Minor '' out of Spain and Portugal, from Guil-
launie Boel." He speaks of this flower with de-
hght, and tells us, ''• it is of a most excellent fair
skie-coloured blew, so pleasant to behold, that often
it amazeth the spectator." Tiiis species is now
ascertained to be a native of Barbary, from whence
it travelled first to Spain, and has since been scat-
tered over the whole of Europe. It is now so com-
mon in Spain, Portugal, and Sicily, as to be con-
sidered one of their native weeds. It is called
Tricolor, from the three colours of its beautiful
corolla, which are yellow at the base, with rays of
white that divide it from the fine ultramarine blue
of the edge of the flower, which, as it expands to
the sun, forms a most gracefully-shaped cup or
chalice, like the end of a French-horn, and which,
in the reversed state, resembles the elegant roofs of
the Chinese pagodas. The Convolvulus opens and
closes its monopetalous flower with folds similar to
those of a parasol, which are never expanded at
night, or in wet weather, in order that the anthers
and stigma may be guarded from the humidity of
the air, and on this account it is named by the
French Belle-de-Joiir, Day Beauty. This is not a
dimbing plant, but carries its branches in a hori-

CONVOLVULUS. 131

zontal position, so tliat a few seeds are enough to
form a clump of sufficient size to give effect in the
garden^ from tlie month of June to the end of
August ; and as^ during tliis season, the prevaihng
colours of the parterre arc reds and yellows, the fine
blue of this flower is particularly desirable to form
a contrast.

The seeds of this annual plant are generally sown
in the spring, but it is desirable to sow some in the
autumn also, as they will flower a month earlier
than those sown in the other season, which prolongs
the enjoyment of their flowers. The seed should
not be covered with more than about half an inch
of earth in depth, and from three to five seeds are
sufficient for each clump, unless where it is desir-
able to cover large sunny banks with these beauti-
ful blue corollas.

As we are not in the confidence of the Moorish
dames, we are ignorant of the use they make of
this flower in emblematical language ; but being
unwilling to suffer it to remain useless to the ladies,
we give it as significant of the word extinguish,
that when they have made their happy choice, they
may have something appropriate to bestow on their
hopeless suitors.

13:2 FLORA KISTCEICA,

CONVOLVULUS MAJOR. Purjmreus.

This elegant climbing plant is a native Bindweed
of America, from whence the seeds appear to have
been first received in Italy, and from thence they
were procured to beautify our parterres prior to
1629, as they are recorded by Parkinson amongst
the flowers which embellished our gardens in that
age. This is a more delicate species than the former,
and requires the aid of a hotbed to bring the young
plants forward, which may be planted out in warm
situations about the end of May. It is usually
employed to cover the trellis work of arbours, por-
ticoes, and virandaSj for which it is well adapted,
on account of its climbing and binding nature,
whilst its graceful-shaped corollas display the most
beautiful shades of violet, reddish purple, and lilac,
which are sometimes delicately shaded, and at others
striped, so as to form a star ; others are of a pure
white, or slightly tinged with purple —

as stands the rainbow in the storm,

Changing its hues -with bright variety.

Lord Byrok,

These plants will frequently climb to tlie height
of ten or twelve feet ; and when planted so as to
receive the support of young trees, they have a
more agreeable effect than when upheld by a stake.

CONVOLVULUS Oil BIND\VErD. 133

In Jamaica this species of Convolvulus climbs the
liigliest trees, suspending its china-looking cups
from the branches in a most delighftul manner,
sometimes dangling in the air, and at others form-
ins {graceful festoons.

It is from this twining nature of the plant that
the name of Convolvulus has been bestowed on it ;
and perhaps we have not a native weed that dis-
plays a more beautiful corolla than the Great Bind-
weed or Convolvulus Sepium, which entwines itself
so firmly amongst the shrubs of our hedgerows until
it reaches the top, where it expands its monopetalous
flowers in a dress that challenges the spotless snow
for purity, and would demand more general admi-
ration were it less common.

'V^'itness tlie neglect
Of all familiar prospects, though beheld

"With ti'ansport once.

Akenside.

However we may admire this species of Bind-
weed in our hedgerows, v,e must be cautious to keep
it out of shrubberies, in which, if it once enter, it
cannot be easily eradicated, as the smallest piece of
its rambling roots is sufficient to spread over a gar-
den, where it frequently entwines its roots amongst
those of Roses or other shrubs, so as to make it ex-
ceedingly difficult to prevent its overpowering the
plants which support it, and next to impossible to
destroy it altogether. We are told that swine are

134 FLORA HISTORICA.

excessively fond of ihis root, and we have frequently
observed them grubbing for and devouring it with
great eagerness ; but as these animals are bad gar-
deners, we cannot avail ourselves of their assistance
in the extirpation of the Convolvulus Sepium with-
out incurring a greater evil.

Our readers probably recollect La Fontaine*s
fable, '* Le Jardinier et son Seigneur." We might,
in such case, quote the following lines :

on mit en piteux equipage

Le pauvre potager : adieu planches, carreaux :
Adieu cliicoree et poireaux :
Adieu de quoi mettre au potage.

We add this flower and its entwining branch to
the hieroglyphical language of flowers, as the em-
blem of a dangerous insinuator.

The small BINDWEED. Convolvulus
Arvcnsis.

This plant, although more humble in its growth,
is more formidable to the husbandman than the
Great Bindweed, which principally confines itself
to the hedgerow, whereas the Arvensis travels over
the whole field, entwining itself around the stalks
of corn for support, or upholding itself by the

CONVOLVrLUS. 135

blades of grass, or whatever conies in its way, not
even refusino: to embrace the nettle for the sake of
a prop to display its beauties on, which are but
little inferior, in point of colouring, to the beautiful
cups of the Convolvulus Major, whilst it possesses
an agreeable fragrance which the other cannot
boast of.

Nature has endowed this native flower of our
fields with the means of protecting its parts of fruc-
tification from the humidity of the night air by the
help of folds in the cup, which regularly open with
the rising of the sun, and close as the day decreases,
or at the approach of rain. The nectary of this
little flower also displays the wise provision which
Nature has made to secure this saccharine juice, so
essential to the formation of the seed. The stigma
of this flower is supported on arches over the bot-
tom of the cup of the corolla, leaving only such
small openings between the piers that form the
arches as to bid defiance to the plunder of the bee
or insects of any considerable size : yet it seems to
support an animal peculiar to this plant, for w^e
seldom look into the blossom of this field Convolvu-
lus without seeing several minute insects busily
employed in their ingress to and egress from this
cavern of sweets. These insects are of the same
lilac colour as the anthers of the flowers, and, we
presume, are mere children of the day, whose exis-

136 FLORA HISTORICA.

tence is necessary to the plant, and who perish with-
the flower that supports them. This species of
Bindweed has a perennial root, of a white milky
substance, which penetrates in a serpentine direction
so deeply into the earth, and is so firm in its tena-
city, as to render it next to impossible to destroy
it : for every atom of it left in the ground, at what-
ever depth, will reach the surface as a perfect plant.
In trenching of lands we have frequently seen it at
the depth of three feet, being the pest of the garden
and arable lands where it abounds. jMiller says it
is generally a sign of gravel lying under the sur-
face, and he adds that, from the depth it penetrates
into the ground, it is by some country people named
DeviFs-guts. It also bears the names of Cornbind^
Withbind, Bindweed, Barebind, and Hedge-bells.

" This plant represents to us," says Lucot, '' aa
obstinate person who persists in his opinion, and
prefers being torn in a thousand pieces sooner than
yield benevolently to what is required of him ;*"
hence we pronounce it the emblem of obstinacy.

We cannot close our history of the Convolvulus
without reminding our medical friends that it is to
this genus of plants that they are indebted for two
of their most pov/erfid drugs. Jalap is obtained
from the Convolvulus Jalapa of South America,
which takes its name from Xalapa, a province lying
between INIexico and La Vera Cruz.

CONVOLVL'LUS. 137

The Scammony of the shops is obtained from tlic
Convolvulus Scammonia of the Levant, but our
great Bindweed is thought to possess the same me-
dical properties. Dr. Witherington remarks that
*' it is unnecessary to import Scammony from
Aleppo, when a medicine with the very same pro-
perties grows spontaneously in many of our hedges."

This genus of plants also affords the inhabitants
of tropical climates a valuable species of food, as it
is the Convolvulus Batatas which produces the tu-
berous roots called Batatas or Spanish potatoes.

133 FLORA HISTORICA.

LOVE IN A PUZZLE, LOVE IN A MIST,
DEVIL IN A BUSH, or GAKDEN FEN-
NEL FLOWER. Nigella Damascena.

Natural Order MuUisiliquce. Rmuniadacecu, Juss.
A Genus of the Polyandria Pentagynia Class.

The neglect of the poets with regard to this sin-
gular flower has been amply compensated by the
attention of the nomenclators of plants, as in addi-
tion to the names, which head the history of this
floral curiosity, we find it sometimes called Gith,
Bishop's-wort, and Saint Catherine's flower.

We meet with the same success in our re-
searches in the French language, which offers a
long list of names but not a single couplet. It is
frequently called Cheveiix cle Venus, Venus's Hair,
Patte d'aralfjnee, Spider's Claw, Barhe jB^<?«e, Blue-
beard, &c.

The name of Nigella is given to this plant from
the blackness of the seeds. That of fennel-flower
is now nearly obsolete, although it gives a better
idea of the plant than any other English name,
since the blue petals of this flower are surrounded
by linear leaflets similar to the foliage of the Fen-

LOVE IX A PUZZLE. 139

ncl plant. We presume it was called Devil in a
Bush from the crooked horn-shaped capsules being
enconi})assed by the branching leaves described ;
and Love in a Puzzle, from this pretty flower
being seated in a chcveux de frise of linear fo-
liage: we therefore make it the emblem of embar-
rassment.

The Nigella is a native of the south of Europe,
where it grows amongst the corn in the same man-
ner as the blue corn bottle-flower grows with us.
It was cultivated in our gardens as long back as
1570, and Gerard speaks of it with double flowers
in 1597 : thus Love in a Puzzle seems to have
been as common in the reign of our virgin queen
as it has been in later times, and as it was of old
amongst the gods themselves, if we may believe
Anacreon.

One day, the IMiises twined the hands
Of bab}' Love with flow'ry bands ;
And to celestial Beauty gave
The captive infant as her slave.
His mother comes with many a toy,
To ransom her beloved boy ;
His mother sues— but all in vain —
He ne'er will leave his chains again.
Nay, should they take his chains away,
The little captive still would stay :
" If this," he cries, " a bondage be,
Who could wish for liberty !"

INI gore's Translation.

Love in a Puzzle is easily propagated, as many

besides the gardener can tell us. It flourishes

140 FLORA HISTORICA.

equally in the garden of the courtier and the cot-
tao-er, for wherever the seeds are thrown this en-
tanghng plant is sure to spring up.

Miller recommends the seed of the Nigella to
be sown in March ; and observes that, Mliere
the soil is dry and the situation sheltered, some
seeds may be sown in August as soon as ripe, as
these plants not only blossom earlier, but produce
finer flowers.

MIGNONETTE. 141

IMIGNONETTE. Reseda Odorata.

Natural Order Miscellanece. Capparidcs and Reae-
dacece, Juss. A Genus of the Dodecandria Trigynia
Class.

The fragrant Aveed,

The Frenchman's darling.

COWPEII.

Vos qualites surpassent vos charmes.

It is not yet an age since this fragrant weed of
Egypt first perfumed the European gardens^ yet it
lias so far naturalized itself to our climate as to
spring from seeds of its own scattering, and thus
convey its delightful odour from the parterre of
the prince to the most humble garden of the cot-
tager.

In less than another age, we predict (without
the aid of Egyptian art) that the children of our
peasants will gather this luxurious little plant
amongst the wild flowers of our hedge-rows.

The Reseda Odorata first found its way to the
South of France, where it was welcomed ^by the
name of Mignonette, Litde-darling, which was
found too appropriate for this sweet little flower to
be exchanged for any other. By a manuscript note

142 FLORA HISTORICA.

in the library of the late Sir Joseph Banks, it
appears that the seed of the INIignonette was sent
in 1742, by Lord Bateman, from the Royal Gar-
den at Pari?, to ]Mr. Richard Bateman, at Old
Windsor ; but we should presume that this seed
was not dispersed, and perhaps not cultivated,
beyond Mr. Bateman's garden, as we find that
Mr. Miller received the seed from Dr. Adrian van
Royen, of Leyden, and cultivated it in the Botanic
Garden at Chelsea, in the year 1752. From Chel-
sea it soon got into the gardens of the London
florists, so as to enable them to supply the metro-
polis with plants to furnish out the balconies, which
is noticed by Cowper, who attained the age of
twenty-one in the year that this flower first per-
fumed the British atmosphere by its fragrance.
The author of the Task soon afterwards celebrates
it as a favourite plant in London ; —

the sashes fronted with a range

Of orange, myrtle, or the fragrant weed.

The odour which this little flower exhales is
thought by some, whose olfactories are delicate, to
be too powerful for the house -, but even those per-
sons, we presume, must be delighted with the fra-
grance which it throws from the balconies into the
streets of London, giving something like a breath
of garden air to the " close-pent man," whose avo-
cations will not permit a ramble beyond the squares

MIGNONETTE. 143

of the fashionable part of the town. To siicli per-
sons it must be a luxurious treat to eatch a few
ambrosial gales on a summer's evening from the
heated pavement, where offensive odours are but
too frequently met with, notwithstanding the ex-
cellent regulations for cleansing the streets, and the
natural cleanliness of the inhabitants in general.
We have frequently found the perfume of the Mig-
nonette so powerful in some of the better streets of
London, that we have considered it sufficient to
protect the inhabitants from those effluvias which
bring disorders with them in the air. The perfume
of ]\Iignonette in the streets of our metropolis re-
minds us of the fragrance from the roasting of
coffee in many parts of Paris, without which some
of their streets of business in that city would
scarcely be endurable in the rainy season of the
year.

The Sweet Reseda, or IMignonette, is now said
to grow naturally in some parts of Barbary, as well
as in Egypt. Monsieur Desfontaines observed it
growing in the sands near ]\Iascar in the former
country, but it might have been accidentally scat-
tered there, or have escaped from the gardens of
the Moors.

This genus of plants, of which we have twelve
species, was named Reseda by the ancients, from
resedaref to assuage, because some of the species

144 FLOR.V HISTOniCA.

were esteemed good for mitigating pains ; and we
learn from Pliny, that the Reseda was considered
to possess even the power of charming away many
disorders. He tells us that it grew near the city of
Ariminum, now Rimini, in Italy ; and that when it
was used to resolve swelhngs, or to assuage inflam-
mations, it was the custom to repeat the following
words, thrice spitting on the ground at each repeti-
tion :

Reseda, morhos Reseda ; scisne, scisne, qitis hie pullos egerit ?
Radices nee caput nee pedes haheant.

Reseda, cause these maladies to cease : knowest thou, knowest
thou, who hath driven these pullets here ? Let the roots have
neither head nor foot.

We notice these absurd superstitions of the

ancients, which are scarcely yet extinct in many

country villages of this and other countries, to show

how much the minds of the ignorant have always

been prone towards the marvellous, and not that

we

Hold each strange tale devoutly true.

Althousrh it is so short a time since the Sweet
Reseda has been known in Europe, we find that it
has crept into the armorial bearings of an illustrious
family of Saxony ; and, as Cupid does not so fre-
quently bestow heraldic honours as his father Mars,
we cannot avoid relating the romantic tale which
introduced this fragrant and modest little flower to
the Pursuivant-at-Arms.

MlGNONKTrE. 14.>

The Count of Walstliim was tlic declared lover
^ud intended spouse of Amelia de Nordbourg, a
young lady possessing all the charms necessary for
the heroine of a modern novel, excepting that she
took delight in creating little jealousies in the breast
of her destined husband. As the beautiful Amelia
was an only child of a widowed mother, a female
cousin, possessing but few personal charms, and
still less fortune, had been brought up with her
from infancy as a companion, and as a stimulus to
her education. The amiable and humble Charlotte
was too insignificant to attract much attention in
the circles in which her gay cousin shone with so
much splendour, which gave her frequent oppor-
tunities of dispensing a part of that instruction she
had received on the more humble class of her own
sex. Returning from one of these charitable visits,
and entering the gay saloon of her aunt, where her
entry or exit was now scarcely noticed, she found
the party amused in selecting flowers, whilst the
Count and the other beaux were to make verses on
the choice of each of the ladies. Charlotte was
desired to make her selection of a flower; the
sprightly Amelia had taken a Hose ; others a Car-
nation, a Lily, or the flowers most likely to call
forth compliment ; and the delicate idea of Char-
lotte in selecting the most humble flower, by placing
a sprig of Mignonette in her bosom, would proba-

VOL. II. H

146 FLORA HISTORICA.

bly have passed unnoticed, had not the flirtation of
her gay cousin with a dashing colonel, who was
more celebrated for his conquests in the drawing-
room than in the field of battle, attracted the notice
of the Count so as to make his uneasiness visible,
which the amiable Charlotte, ever studious of
Amelia's real happiness, wished to amuse, and to
call back the mind of her cousin, demanded the
verse for the Rose. The Count saw this affectionate
trait in Charlotte's conduct, took out his pencil, and
wrote for the Rose,

Ellc ne vit qu' itn joitr, et ne plait qiCxin moment,

which he gave to the lovely daughter, at the same
time presenting the humble cousin with this line on
the Mignonette :

Ses qualites surpassent ses charmes.

Amelia's pride was roused, and she retaliated by
her attention to the colonel and neglect of the Count,
which she carried so far as to throw herself into
the power of a profligate, w'ho brought her to ruin.
The Count transferred his affections from beauty
to amiability ; and rejoicing in the exchange, and
to commemorate the event which had brought about
his happiness, and delivered him from a coquette,
he added a branch of the Sweet Reseda to the
ancient arms of his family, with the motto,

Voui- qualities surpass your charms.

MIGNONETTE. 147

The jNlignonettc is one of the plants whose un-
assuming little flowers never weary our sight : it is
therefore made the image of those interesting per-
sons whom time cannot change, and who, althouo-li
deficient in dazzling beauty, attach us for life,
when once they have succeeded in pleasing without
its aid. Hence it is but a natural desire that we
should wish to give an annual plant a perennial
existence, which has, in a great measure, been ac-
complished, since the odorous Tree Mignonette is
now frequently to be met with. This was at first
supposed to have been a different variety, when
Lady Whitshcd introduced it from Liege about
the year 1816, that lady having received it from
M. L'Abbe L'Arbaleste of that city, — a spot made
familiar to many readers, by the scenes which the
popular author of Quentin Durward has recited as
passing in that ancient commercial town.

The Mignonette is transformed into a perennial
shrub, which dispenses its odours at all seasons of
the year, by the following simple treatment: a
healthy young plant should be placed in a garden-
pot, with a stick of about two feet in height in-
serted by its side to tie up its branches to, as it
advances in height, the leaves and young branches
being kept stripped off from the lower part, so as
to form a stem to the height required. This stem
will become sufficiently hard and woody to endure

H2

148 FLORA HISTORICA.

the winter, by being placed in a green house, or the
window of a common sitting-room, and may be pre-
served for several years, if air is given to it when-
ever the weather will allow, so that the young
branches do not become too delicate. As soon as
the seed-vessels begin to form they should be cut
off, which will cause the plant to throw out a fresh
supply of blossoms : but these plants should never
be suffered to perfect their seed, as it would greatly
weaken them, and generally cause their entire decay ;
for the Sweet Reseda is an annual in its proper
climate, and therefore naturally decays when it has
ripened its seed. AVe have made the same experi-
ment on other annual plants which have survived
through the winter, and produced blossom on the
following year, when their flower-stalks have been
cut off before the formation of seed has taken place.
By this means, also. Stocks and Wall-flowers,
-which blossom in the spring, will be found to flower
a second time in the summer, if their branches are
cut off. We have frequently made the experiment
on early-flowering Honeysuckles, and obtained a
fine display of corollas in the autumn ; for it ap-
pears almost like instinct in plants to endeavour to
perform their office to nature in rendering up their
various seeds. The philosophical reason of this
apparent phenomenon is, that the roots have drawn
up and furnished the trunk with the due proportion

MIGNONETTE. 145

of nourishment required to perfect tlic seed-vessels
and the seeds, and the vital principle of the germ also
rests in the trunk and branches until it is drawn
forth by the various parts of fructification, which is
prevented, by separating these parts from the
branches ; consequently, the juices are forced inta
other directions, and form a second attempt to ex~
pand themselves, agreeabl}? to their various nature.

Some florists, who considered the Tree Migno-
nette as a distinct species of the Reseda, obtained
seeds of the Tree Mignonette from their seedsmen,,
who, considering it was the tall-growing Reseda,
Lutea, sent such, which, after having been nursed
up with care and potted with attention, proved to
be only the common Reseda, or Dyer's Weed of
our fields.

It is frequently observed that the seeds of the
Sweet Reseda, which scatter themselves in the
autumn, produce finer plants than those that are
sown in the spring, which should teach us to sow a
part of our seed at that season of the year, when, if
not successful, it may be repeated in the spring,
and we have generally found those self-sown plants
most productive of seed.

To procure early-flowering plants of Migno-
nette, the seeds should be sown in pots or boxes
in the autumn, and kept in frames through the
winter ; but when this is omitted, the plants may

IjO flora historica.

be forwarded by sowing the seed on a gentle hot-
bed in the spring. A small border of Sweet
Reseda will produce seed sufficient to scatter over
a large portion of hedgerow-banks, and if one seed
out of ten germinate amongst the bushes, it will be
sufficient to fill whole vales with fragrance, '^like a
stream of rich-distilled perfumes."

VALERIAN. ISl

VALERIAN. Valeriana.

Natural Order Aggregates. Dipsacece and ValarianeeHy
Juss. A Genus of tlie Triandria Mo/iogynia Class.

Gay Loosetrife tliere and pale Valerian spring.

Scott.

It seems a matter of doubt M'ith some writers
whether the Red Valerian of our gardens, Valeri-
ana Rubra, be an aboriginal of our soil. The
British Botanist and the Hortus Kewensis claim it
as a native plant, although it is not acknowledged
as such by Gerard, Parkinson, Ray, and other old
writers. We are disposed to consider it an exotic
of early introduction, principally on account of the
situations w^here it is found growing, which are
generally on the old walls of colleges, or on the
ruins of monastic buildings. Such in former days
were the only places where medicine was studied or
medicinal plants cultivated. The Red Valerian
was observed by Dr. Sibthorp on the walls of Mer-
ton College, Oxford. Mr. Martyn found it growing
abundantly on Merton Abbey walls, in Surry.
Mr. Relham notices it at Coton and Babraham,
as well as on Ely Minster and the walls adjoining.

152 FLORA HISTORICA.

We have likewise seen it growing most abundantly
on the ancient boundary walls of the gardens be-
longing to the episcopal palace of Chichester, in
Sussex.

The old English name of Setewale, for this plant,
is derived from the Saxon. Chaucer writes of it
under this appellation as long back as the time of
Edward the Third.

Ther springen herbes grete and smale,
The Licoris and the Setewale.

Dr. Turner^ who compiled his Herbal during
the reign of Queen Mary, calls it Setwall, and he
observes that it is the plant which is named Vale-
riana Major by the common herbarists.

Gerard, who wrote in the succeeding reign, tells
us that it was called '' Holie Herbe, Juno''s Teares,
Mercurie's IMoist Bloude, and Pigeon's Grasse, or
Columbine, bicause Pigeons are delighted to be
amongst it, as also to eate thereof."

The Latins are thought to have called this plant
Valeriana, from its powers in medicine, or as some
suppose after Vectius Valens, a favourite physician
of the empress Messalina, wife to Claudius Ca?sar,
as it appears to have been called Phu previous to
his time.

The Red Valerian grows naturally on the rocks
of the Alps, and from the facility with which it

VALERIAN. 153

propagates itself in the garden or on old walls, it is
made the emblem of an accommodating disposition.

The Valerian should be planted amongst the
shrubs of the pleasure-ground, where its branching
corymbs of deep rose-coloured flowers produce a
good effect, from the month of June until the end
of October. The variety with white blossoms 15
also very ornamental when disposed amongst shrubs
or trees, but it is too large and scrambling a plant
to hold a place in the parterre of choice flowers :
added to which, cats are so fond of the perfume of
these flowers, as to be attracted to it, and by rolling
over the plant, destroy not only its beauty, but also
that of all contiguous flowers, unless thorns are
placed over them. The effects of this root upon
cats are very peculiar : they will roll on it with
ecstatic delight, and gnawing it to pieces, its actioi:i
upon their nervous system appears to produce i»
them a kind of pleasing intoxication : it should,
however, be remarked, that all cats are not equally
affected by its effluvia. The Red Valerian, the
Yellow Wall-flower, and the Blue Throat-wort,
form a gay assemblage on rocky banks or old ruins.

The Valerian may be increased by parting the
roots in autumn, as well as from seed.

It is the root of the wild Valerian, officinalis^
which is principally used in medicine. *' It is warm
and aromatic, of a rather fetid smell. The proper-

H 5

154 FLORA HlbTORlCA.

ties of Valerian are more energetic when gathered
before the plant rises into stalk. It acts as a sudo-
rific, diuretic, and, in some measure, a deobstruent,
exerting a peculiar influence on the nervous system.
It appears, however, from experience, that all per-
sons are not equally susceptible of its impression,
as no sensible effect could be perceived in many,
whilst others have been cured of epilepsies, and
other desperate disorders of the nervous system,
by the sole use of it. In the present practice, it
is prescribed for hysteric and nervous affections.""
■ — Waller.

Ettmuller highly extols its virtues in strengthen-
ing the eyesight, where it is weakened, especially
by a want of energy of the optic nerves. In many
parts of the continent the veterinary surgeons make
great use of it for that purpose, especially to pre-
serve and restore the sight of horses.

VKRVAIN. l§Bf

VERVAIN. Ferbena.

Natural Order Pcrsonatce. Viiices and Verbenaceee^
Juss. A Genus of the Didynamia Gymnospermia
Class.

The Night-shade strews to work him ill,
Therewith the Vervain, and her Dill,
That hind'reth witches of their will.

Drayton-.

Vervelne, chasse-mal que les dieux out cheri,
Montre-moi ta puissance, et d'amour me gueri.

Passerat.

Ti^E very name of tliis plant seems to carry our
thoughts back to the darkest ages of superstition,
and we cannot look upon the Vervain with that
indifference with which we regard most other hum-
ble herbs ; for however ridiculous or absurd the
religious customs of the ancient heathens may ap-
pear in modern times, still they will obtain a share
of our respect, both on account of their antiquity
and their national unanimity. Although we now
see the Vervain stripped of all its reverential re-
gard, it still attracts our notice, as it should our
gratitude, that we are permitted to live in days
when the terror of ignorant superstition has been
banished by the mild rays of christianit}-.

2 5G FLORA HISTORICA.

The Vervain played a considerable part in the
impositions which were practised upon the cre-
dulous in ancient times, and hence it is so fre-
quently mentioned in profane history. The Magi
of the ancient Elamites or Persians made great use
of this plant in their worship or adoration of the
sun, always carrying branches of it in their hands
when they approached the altar. The magicians
also employed the Vervain in their pretended divi-
nations, and affirmed that by smearing the body
over with the juice of this plant, the person would
obtain whatever he set his heart upon, and be
enabled to reconcile the most inveterate enemies,
make friends with whom he pleased, gain the
affections, and cure the diseases of whom he listed.
AVhen they cut this plant it was always done when
neither the sun or moon was visible, and they
poured honey and honeycomb on the earth as an
atonement for robbing it of so precious an herb.

The Greeks called it Is^aCorsiv/;, the Sacred
Herb, and it was with this plant only that they
cleansed the festival table of Jupiter before any
great solemnity took place ; and hence, according
to Pliny, the name of Verbena is derived. It was
also one of the plants which was dedicated to the
Goddess of Beauty. Venus the Victorious wore a
crown of Myrtle interwoven with Vervain.

The Romans continued the use of this plant in

VERVAIN. 15 7

their sacred rites, sweeping their temples and
cleansing their altars with it, and sprinkling holy
water with the branches. They also hallowed or
purified their houses with it, to keep off evil spirits.
Their ambassadors, or heralds at arms, wore crowns
of Vervain when they went to denounce war or
give defiance to their enemies ; which is thus no-
ticed by Drayton,

A wreath of Vervain heralds wear,

Amongst our garlands named,
Being sent that dreadful news to bear.

Offensive war proclaimed.

The Druids, both in Gaul and in Britain, re-
garded the Vervain with the same veneration which
they bestowed on the Misletoe, and like the magi
of the east, they offered sacrifices to the earth be-
fore they cut this plant in the spring, which was a
ceremony of great pomp. Pliny tells us that the
Druids made use of it in casting lots, and in draw-
ing omens, and in other pretended magical arts.

Dark superstition's whisper dread

Debarr'd the spot to vulgar tread ;

" For there," she said, " did fays resort,

And satyrs h(dd their sylvan court,

By moonlight tread their mystic maze,

And blast the rash beholder's gaze."

Walter Scott.
The Druids held their power through the super-
stition of the people, and as they were great pre-
tenders to magic and divination, they excited the
admiration, and took advan-tage of the ignorance

158 FLORA HISTORICA.

and credulity of mankind, for by these arts they
pretended to work miracles and to exhibit astonish-
ing appearances in nature, as well as to penetrate
into the counsels of heaven.

Divested of these pretended powers, there is no
doubt but that the Druids were better acquainted
with the medicinal properties of herbs than any
other class of men in their day ; since their resi-
dences being in the recesses of mountains, groves,
and woods, where vegetable productions were con-
stantly courting their attention, it is natural to
suppose that they would in some measure become
acquainted widi the qualities of plants in general.
That the Druids of Gaul and Britain applied them-
selves to this study, and made great use of herbs
for medical purposes, we have sufficient evidence,
since we learn from scattered hints in Pliny's
Natural History, that they sometimes extracted the
juice of herbs and plants, by bruising and steeping
them in cold water, and sometimes by infusion in
wine ; that they made potions and decoctions by
boiling them in water ; and we learn also that they
frequently dried certain herbs before infusing them,
and that they administered some plants by fumiga-
tions, and practised the art of making salves and
ointments of vegetables, for which they had great
renown even at Rome, to which city they exported
the Vervain, and hence it was called Britannica,

VKRVAIX. 1^9

Altlioiigh so many ages have passed away since
the Druids and their pretended spells have been
aboHshed, yet we frequently meet with hngering
sparks of their imagined hght amongst the vulgar,
who upon every occasion chng to superstition as
eagerly as the intimidated infant clings to the breast
of a fond mother.

Madame de Latour tells us that the shepherds
in the northern provinces of France still continue
to gather the Vervain under different phases of the
moon, using certain mysterious ejaculations known
only to themselves, whilst in the act of collecting
this herb, by whose assistance they attempt to cure
not only their fellow-servants, but their masters also,
of various complaints, and they profess to charm
both the flocks and the rural belles with this plant.

The Germans to this day present a hat of Ver-
vain to the new-married bride, as if to put her
under the protection of Venus Victorious, which is
evidently the remains of ancient customs.

Vervain is now very properly made the emblem
of superstition.

The common Vervain ojficinalis , is a native of
our soil, and is principally found by road sides, in
dry sunny pastures and waste places about villages.
Mr. Miller remarks, that although Vervain is very
common, yet it is never found above a quarter of a
mile from a house, which has occasioned its being

IGO FLORA HISTORTCA.

called Sim pier's Joy. However it appears not to
be entirely cofincd to such situations, since Dr.
Withering observes that it is very plentiful at the
foot of St. Vincent's rocks, all along the course of
the river. This species grows also in most parts of
Europe, Barbary, China, Cochin-China, and Japan,
Its flowers form spikes of a pale lilac colour, which
continue in blossom during the whole of summer.

The Verbena Supina is also an European species
of this genera of plants, and is indigenous to the
South of Europe. We liave fourteen other species
of Vervain, collected principally from America and
the Indies; but as these have no connexion with
ancient anecdote, we pass them, to observe that the
Vervain, which held so high a rank amongst herbs
in antique days, has passed almost into total neg-
lect among the modern practitioners of medicine,
although all writers seem to agree in attributing
to it the property of relieving the most violent
chronic head-aches, whether externally applied or
internally taken. For this purpose it seems, how-
ever, to have been more frequently employed exter-
nally, the bruised leaves and stalks being used as a
cataplasm. It was also much used for wounds.

Black melancholy rusts, that fed despair
Through wounds long rage, with sprinkled Verrain cleared.

Davexaxt.

SNAr-DRAGON. ICI

SNAP-DRAGON. Antirrhinum.

Natural Order Pcrsonatce. A Genus o^ihe DidyJiamia
Aiigiospennia Class.

Of colours, clianging from the sjtlendid Rose
To the pale Violet's dejected hue.

Akexside.

The stern aud furious lion's gaping mouth.

Columella.

This singular flower is made the emblem of pre-
sumption, from its monopetalous corolla forming a
mask, which resembles the face of an animal ; and it
has from hence received various names, as Dog's
Mouth, Lion's Snap, Toad's Mouth, and Snap-
Dragon. On pressing the sides of this flower it
opens like a gaping mouth, the stigma appearing to
represent the tongue ; on removing the pressure,
the lips of the corolla snap together, and hence it
has been named Snap-Dragon. It is frequently
called Calf's Snout, from the form of its seed ves-
sel, and the French name it Mufle de Veau on the
same account.

The Snap-Dragon belongs to the family of the
Toad-Flax, and is a flower which we cannot exa-
mine without admiring how wonderfully it is adapted

162 FLORA HISTORICA.

for the bleak situations in which it grows naturally,
as on the highest rocks, or out of the crevices of the
most exposed cliffs, or the chinks of the loftiest
towers: in all of these situations its parts of fructifi-
cation are guarded against the tempest by the sin-
gularly-shaped corolla, which defies either wind or
rain to enter the flower until impregnation has taken
place, when the mask falls off to allow a free access
of air to the seed vessel. We have frequently re-
marked that the bees, and more particularly the
humble-bees, have entered this flower by pressing
open the lips, as if they were conscious that such an
opening existed, although it shuts so close as to de-
ceive the nicest eye, and snaps to the moment the
insect has gained admittance, leaving it to revel
unobserved within the mask, from which it makes
its exit with the same ease as it entered. This
species of instinct approaches near to reason, since
the bee cannot have been trained or instructed to
this habit.

Linnseus placed this plant in the fourteenth class
of his sexual system, which he named Didynamia,
fron the Greek ol^^ twice, and ^uvccixi^, power, be-
cause the flower is furnished with four stamens, two
f which are always considerably longer than the
t her two, and converging close to the upper lip of
the corolla, each pair of anthers approaching, which
renders the distinction of this class very striking.

SN-Vr- DRAGON. 103

This plant produces its flowers on a spike, but
tlie whole of them fronting one way, which is ge-
nerally to the sun ; and as it gives out numerous
branches from two to three feet in height, it be-
comes highly ornamental, particularly amongst
dwarf shrubs. The colours of these flowers are
numerous, consisting of all the shades of a rich
orange and yellow down to white, with the same
varieties in reds and purple, and an endless change
of party colours, the most esteemed of which is that
with a gold-coloured throat, and a dark crimson
mouth and lips.

The Snap-Dragon grows naturally in the South
of Europe ; and as it is frequently found on the
cliff's of Dover, is now classed as one of the na-
tive plants of England, although it is generally
, supposed not to have been originally belonging to
our soil.

These plants love a light soil and an open sunny
situation, but when transplanted into a rich and
moist earth they produce larger flowers, though the
plant generally dies in the winter, whilst those that
grow on a dry or rocky soil continue for several
years. They are easily raised from seed, which
should be sown in April, and it may be increased
also by cuttings if planted during the summer
months. When intended to ornament rock-work,
the seeds should be scattered both in the autumn

164 FLORA HISTORICA,

and in the spring, which will ensure a supply of
plants without further trouble ; and they are ob-
served to endure the winter better in such situations
than when growing in the borders of the garden.

The Antirrhinum may be considered rather a
rustic than an elegant plant, and it should therefore
not occupy a place in the parterre amongst choice
flowers, but should be mixed with the shrubs in the
back-ground, or placed on the banks or most ele-
vated parts of the grounds, where, w^hen in large
clumps, it produces a showy effect from the end of
spring to the autumn.

The use of eating oil in this country being so
confined to the wealthy and higher orders of society,
that the middle and lower classes have rather an an-
tipathy than a desire for it in their food, this checks
the cultivating of those plants that Avoukl afford us
a substitute for olive-oil. Most of the continental
countries consume a great deal of oil, which they
consider indispensable in their diet, and hence they
seek plants whose seeds yield the best oil. In
Russia the Antirrhinum is sown for the sake of the
seed, which produces by expression an oil little in«
ferior to that obtained from olives.

LYCHNIS. 105

LYCHNIS. Lychnis.

Katural Order CaryojjhyUei. A Genus oftlie Dccan-
dria Pcntagynia Class.

The decorated fields

AVith all their flowery tribe, cannot efjual
Those loveher flowers, that with delight I view
In the fair garden .

MlLTOK.

The Lychnis Chalcedonica may justly be ranked
amongst the most ornamental of our hardy flower-
ing plants, carrying its large tufts of brilliant scarlet
flowers on stems of from two to four feet in height,
as if to illuminate the parterre by the glow of its
■vivid colour. The double-flowering white variety
is regarded by the Dutch as one of their finest
flowers ; and we cannot withhold our regret that this
variety, as well as the pale-red, or rosy-petaled,
should remain so great a rarity in our gardens,
which their presence would so much contribute to
beautify.

Phny tells us that this flower was surnamed Flam-
mea, on account of its flaming colour, which is fre-
quently nearer the colour of fire than of scarlet.
The Latin name of Lychnis being the same as the
Greek for this plant, which both 1 heophrastus and

ICG FLORA HISTORICA.

Dioscorides write Aux^^^, induces us to tliink that
it was originally a plant of more eastern nations ;
and Pliny speaks of it as an Asiatic plant.

It appears to have been brought to this country
from Constantinople, since Gerard, who tells us
that it was common in English gardens in 1596,
calls it " Flower of Constantinople, and Campion
of Constantinople/* He also calls it Lychnis
Chalcedonica, which seems to affirm it to be a na-
tive of Asia Minor; yet in some of our most
esteemed botanical works it is placed as a Russian
plant, which so ill accords with its specific name.
Ulyssus Aldrovandus, an Italian, who visited many
countries in search of plants, and who wrote on na-
tural history prior to Gerard, calls it Flos CreticuSy
Flower of Candia.

Some etymologists conjecture, that the name of
Lychnis is derived from Xvyjo^, lucerna, a lamp,
either on account of the flame-colour of the petals,
or because the down of the leaves was sometimes
used to make wicks for lamps.

It is more than probable that this species of
Lychnis was introduced into Europe during the
crusades, since we find so many of the Continental
languages agree in calling it the Cross of Jerusa-
lem, the French Croix de Jerusalem, the Spaniards
Cruces de Jerusalem, the Italians Croce di Cava-
lieriy the Germans Hierosolymoruin fios, but the

LYCHNIS. 167

Portuguese name it CV»r de Malta, from the shape
of the flower, as we suppose, wliich resembles the
Maltese cross.

This flower does not appear to have been used
in emblematical language, and we, therefore, place
it to represent religious enthusiasm.

The Scarlet Lychnis is a perennial plant, that
continues in blossom from the end of June to the
beginning of August, and is particularly well
adapted to mix with flowering shrubs, both on
account of its height and the splendour of its flowers.
It is easily propagated from seed, which should be
sown in IMarch, on a border exposed to an eastern
aspect ; about the beginning of June the plants
should be removed to a bed, where they may be
placed about four inches apart, giving them water
and a temporary shade until they have made fresh
roots. In this bed they may remain until the
autumn, when they may be planted into the spots
"where they are intended to flower ; and we recom-
mend them to be placed not less than five or seven
plants in a cluster, so as to give a mass of flowers
in each situation. When the flowers are faded,
the stems should be cut down, which strenffthens
the plant for succeeding years, as a single flower-
stem will produce a sufficient quantity of seed for
a large garden.

The double varieties are increased by slips taken

163 FLORA HISTORICA.

from the roots in autumn, or by cutting off the
flower-stalks in June, before the blossom appears
These stalks should be cut into lengths, having
three or four joints to each, and planted in a border
of soft loamy earth, with an eastern aspect ; the
stalks to be planted so as to leave but one eye above
the earth : they should have moderate watering,
and then be covered with a hand-glass, so as to
exclude the outward air, and shaded with mat^
when the sun falls hot upon them. These stalks
take root in about six weeks, when they may be
exposed by degrees to the open air ; and in the
autumn they may be removed to the parterre
where they are to flower the following summer. If
too much water is given to these plants, or if
planted in too damp a soil, they are liable to rot
and decay ; and it should ^be observed to give the
double varieties a warmer and more sheltered situa-
tion than the single kinds, since they are more liable
to be injured by the frost.

The Ragged Robin, Cuckoo Flower, or jVIea-
dow Pink, Floscucidi^ is a native species of Lych-
nis, which has been taken from our meadows into
the garden, and, by the art of doubling the petals,
has become an ornamental plant amongst shrubs,
or in the background of flower-borders.

This pretty plant is called Ragged Robin, from
the finely-cut or ragged appearance of its petals,

LYCHNIS. !(}§

and Cuckoo Flower, in connnon with several other
plants that blossom about the time this welcome
and merry messenger of Spring begins its monoto-
nous song, when

The schoolboy wanderini^ in the wood

To pull the flowers so gay,
Starts — its curious voice to hear.

And imitates its lay.

The Lychnis Dioica, Bachelor's Buttons, is also
a native plant, whose petals have been multipHed
by the ingenuity of the florists to embellish the
parterre.

VOL

lf(y FLORA HISTORICA.

EVENING, OR TREE PRIMROSE. (Enothcra
Biennis,

Natural Order Calycanthemce. Onagrce, Juss. A
Genus of the Odandria Monogynia Class.

You, Evening Primroses, when day has fled,

Open your palHd flowers, by dews and moonlight fed.

Baktox.

This North American flower was first sent from
Yirginia to Paclua_, in the year 1619, but at what
exact period it reached England is uncertain, since
Parkinson is the earliest author who notices it ; but
it must have been some time previous to 16^29, as
in his " Garden of Pleasant Flowers," which was
published in tliat year, he speaks of it in a more
familiar style than he would have done had it been
of late introduction. This author calls it Tree
Primrose of Virginia. This plant bears its primrose-
coloured flowers on branches of three or four feet
in height ; and hence it was called Tree Primrose,
and Evening Primrose, or Evening Star, because
the flowers burst open and expand in the evening,
generally between six and seven o'clock, which is
thus noticed by Dr. Langhorne : —

EVKNING, Oil TR1;e PRniROSE. 17J

The Evening' Primrose slums the day,
I'hjssoms only to the western star,
And loves its solitary ray.

AVc liavc frequently stood over tliis plant to
watch the expansion of its flowers, the petals of
which are confined together by means of the calyx,
the ends of which meet over the corolla, and clasp
each other by a hook. As the corolla swells in its
confinement the segments of the calyx separate at
bottom, and discover the primrose corolla, which
appears to be gradually inflating with a gaseous
fluid, until it acquires sufficient expansive force to
burst the hooks of the calyx. When its petals are
thus freed, they expand instantaneously to a cup
shape, and in about half an hour after they pro-
gressively spread until they become quite flat : by
the morning the flowers become flaccid, so that the
impregnation must take place after sunset.

The Great-flowered Evening Primrose, CEno-
thera Grandlflora, is also a native of North Ame-
rica, and was introduced to our gardens in the year
1778, by John Fothergill, M.D. This species pos-
sesses an agreeable fragrance, and hence it is more
esteemed than the Biennis.

The Evening Primrose is made the emblem of
inconstancy, and is therefore seldom worn by the
fair, excepting by those gay belles who love to co-
quet with and teaze their smitten swains.

12

172 FLORA HISTORICA.

These biennial plants are raised by sowing the
seeds in autumn, on a border, where the plants
should remain until the following autumn, when
they may be removed to the situations where they
are intended to flower the following summer. In
removing them care is required to avoid breaking
the roots, Mhich run deep into the ground. The
common kind will grow in almost any soil and situa-
tion, but the Grandiflora, being more delicate, re-
quires a south aspect and a free light earth.

The Sweet-scented or Curl-leaved Evening
Primrose, (Enothera Odorafa, is a plant of late
introduction, which, from its delightful fragrance
and hardy nature, is likely to supersede the other
species, so as to banish them from the best gar-
dens. We are indebted to the late Sir Joseph
Banks for this species of (Enothera, he having pur-
chased the seeds amongst others, which had been
collected by the surgeon of a merchant-ship, at Port
Desire, on the coast of Patagonia. The plants
-were first raised in Europe in 1790 : their native
place is now said to be on the banks of Champion
river.

This proves to be a tolerably hardy perennial
plant, growing freely in most situations, and pro-
ducing plants wherever the seed scatters itself.
The stem does not die completely down, even in
the open air, and when protected in a conservatory,

EVENING, OR TREE PRIMROSE. 1/3

it becomes an evergreen shrub, singular by its
waved foliage, beautiful by its yellow blossoms,
delightful for its perfume, and curious because its
flowers only open

"When weary peasants at the close of day
Walk to their cots, and part upon the way ;
When cattle slowly cross the shallow brook,
And shepherds pen their folds, and rest upon their crook.

Crabbe.

174 FLORA HISTORICA.

BALSA]\I. Impatlens.

Natural Order Corydales. Geranice, Juss. A Genus
of the Pcntandria Monogynia Class.

Balsam, with its shaft of amber.

This delicate and beautiful plant is a native of the
East Indies, China, Cochin China, and Japan, and
it may be ranked amongst the most elegant annual
fiowers which the warmer climates have afforded us ;
yet it is greatly neglected by the English florists of
the present day, who have, in great measure, laid it
aside for plants that are more precarious in rear-
ing, and less beautiful when raised.

The love of novelty even in plants often leads us
from old estabhshed favourites to less interesting
objects ; and where Fashion points tlie way, we as
naturally follow, as if this supreme directress were
incapable of error. We shall therefore entreat the
gay nymph to renew her smiles on this eastern plant,
whose wax-like flowers contributed as essentially to
embellish the British parterres of the last age as
they do those of the continent at presen^ The
Balsam has the peculiar advantage of retaining all
its splendour and freshness during the drought of

BALSAM. 17$

the hottest months, wlicn many other plants are
withered before tliey have flowered, wliich renders
it a vakiable ornament for the summer months.

When properly treated, these succulent plants
reach the size of a moderate flowering shrub. Mar-
tyn says — '* I have seen the stem seven inches in
circuit, and all the parts large in proportion,
branched from top to bottom, loaded with its party-
coloured flowers, and thus forming a most beautiful
bush.'' Mr. Fairweather speaks of others four feet
in lieight and fifteen feet in circumference, with
strong thick stems, furnished with side branches
from bottom to top, and these covered with large
double flowers. {Hort, Trans, 3. 406.)

We have frequently observed the Balsam in the
gardens of Paris having more the appearance of a
brilliant-flowering shrub than an annual plant, or-
namenting the quarters of the royal gardens of the
Tuillerics and tlie Luxembourg by its petals of
gcarlet, crimson, brick red, purple, white, varie-
gated, party-coloured or delicate blush ; this last
variety frequently being as double, and nearly as
large, as a moderate Hose, and the whole plant
covered with flowers, resembling by their transpa-
rent nature a shrub formed of the most delicate
porcelain.

The Balsam demands our attention by two sin-
gularities in its nature exclusive of its beauty. The

176 FLORA HISTORICA.

first is the elasticity of the capsule when ripe, which
darts out its seed the moment it is touched, and
hence the generic name of Impatiens has been
o"iven it ; and it has, on the same account, been
made the emblem of Impatience, but the Turks
represent Ardent Love by this flower.

The foliage of this plant is of a fine green
colour, shaped like that of the almond or peach-
tree, but contrary to the nature of plants in general
it droops in the cool of the night, whilst it erects
itself in the heat of day, which causes most other
plants to fade. From this singularity of the Bal-
sam, it has been ingeniously compared to the way
of a coquette, who, when deprived of beauty, spends
the whole of the day in preparing embellishments,
by which she may shine for a few hours in the
evening circles of the gay and thoughtless.

By whom and at what time the Balsam was first
introduced to this country is uncertain ; but it was
evidently an inmate of our gardens at a much ear-
lier period than is noticed by ]\Iartyn, in Miller,
or by Aiton in the Hortus Kewensis, who mention
its cultivation by Gerard in 1596. Dr. Turner
tells us, in 1564, that it " groweth much in Italy,
and some places of England in gardlnes." This
old author has fortunately pictured the plant in
his work, and he observes, that " it is called in
barbarous Latin Balsamina,'' Gerard distinguishes

BALSAM, 177

it as the Female Balsam Apple ; but he appears to
have been ignorant of its native country, though
he observes, " These plants do prosper best in hot
regions : they are strangers in England, and do
with great labour and industrie grovve in these
colde countries." To which he adds, ** they must
be sowen in the beginning of Aprill in a bed of hot
horse-dung, even as muske-melons, cucumbers, and
such like colde fruites are."**

As late as 16*56, when the corrected edition of
Parkinson's ** Garden of Pleasant Flowers " was
published, it is stated that " we have alwayes had
the seed of this plant sent us out of Italie, noC
knowing his original place." He adds, '« the seed
doth seldome ripen with us, especially if the sum-
mer be backward, so that we are oftentimes to seek
for new and good seede from our friends again."

It has been observed by some of our best florists
that the new seed of the Balsam seldom produces
double flowers, and it is recommended to sow seed
that has been kept from three to nine years. Fair-
weather recommends for these plants a rich loamy
soil, rather lighter than that used for growinf>-
melons; but the flnest plants we have seen in
England were grown in the rotten dung of an old
cucumber-bed, without any other mixture of earth.
The seeds should be sown very thin in pots filled
with either of these earths, at any time between the

178 FLORA HISTORICA.

first of March and tlie end of April, when rhey should
be placed in a hot-bed, and as near the glass as pos-
sible. When the plants are about five inches high,
they should be transplanted into pots of the size
forty-eigh% one plant in the centre of each pot. As
soon as the roots have filled the pots, move them
into pots a size larger, and repeat this operation
three or four times, till, at last, they arc in pots
of eight inches diameter or upwards, keeping the
plants all the while in a hot-bed or pit, and near
the glass.

When they are to be transplanted into the gar-
den, they may occupy spots where the roots of
Hyacinths, Tulips, or other early-flowering bulbs
have been taken up ; but some fresh loam or well-
rotted dung should be added, so as to force their
orowth and ensure large flowers. In watering
these plants care should be taken not to sprinkle or
wet the foliage ; and it is recommended to save the
seeds from the principal stem only, and not from
the collateral branches.

FOX-GLOVE. 179

FOX-GLOVE. Dlcjltalis.

Natural Order Lvridre. Perso?ie(c, Juss. A Genus of
the Didynamia Angiospermia Class.

Explore tlie Fox-Glove's freckled bell.

Charlotte Smith.

This beautiful but deleterious plant, which so
highly ornaments the banks of our hedge-rows and
the borders of our woods, has been admitted into
the pleasure-grounds to embellish the shrubbery by
its noble spikes of pendant flowers, which hang
with such peculiar grace from the spiral branches
that they may be compared to a tower of Chinese
bells, balanced for the pleasure of the zephyrs.
When these flowers advance from the calyx, they
are securely closed at the end by the four clefts of
the corolla, which meet so exactly as to prevent the
admission of air until the parts of fructification have
arrived at their maturity, at which period the lips
of the flower bui*st open in a bell or trumpet shape,
displaying the beautiful leopard spots of the inte-
rior of the flower. In this state the corolla remains
for some days until the anthers have discharged
their farina, when the mask drops ofl', that the sun

180 FLORA HISTORICA.

may more readily ripen the seed vessels ; but, as
fresli flowers continue to open in a regular succes-
sion upwards from the month of June to September,
the beauty of the plant is continued for a longer
period than that of most other towering flowers.

The variety of Fox-Glove with white flowers is
perhaps one of the greatest enliveners to plantations
of evergreen shrubs that can be placed amongst
them ; and when planted amongst the common
laurel, the effect reminds us of a magnified border
of Lilies of the Valley.

The white-blossomed variety of the Digitalis is
not permanent, and we presume it was first obtained
through the means of cultivation, or an accidental
change of soil, M'hich would be analogous to it,
since we have observed that the seeds of this variety,
which we sowed some years back, produced numer-
ous plants, all of which blossomed with white
flowers. From the seed that these plants scattered
numerous young plants sprung up, all of which
bore flowers of the common red purple colour ; but
the seeds that had been saved from the white-blos-
somed plants, and sowed the following year, gave
plants with white corollas. Thus it is clear that
some seeds, by being kept out of the ground be-
yond the course allotted by Nature, lose a part of
their natural properties, as we shall notice more
fully under the head of the Carnation Poppy.

FOX-GLOVE. 181

The Great Yellow Fox-Glove, DujitaUs Amhi-
fjua, is a native of the southern parts of Europe,
espeeially of Germany, chiefly affecting mountain-
ous situations. It is found in considerable quanti-
ties on the Alps of Switzerland. Although this is
a hardy and ornamental species, which has been
cultivated in our gardens since the time of Queen
Elizabeth, yet it is but seldom seen at present even
in the plantations of the curious.

The Small Yellow Fox- Glove, Dig I falls Lutea,
is indigenous to the shady situations of the stony
mountainous places of France, Italy, and also of
Transylvania. This species was cultivated in Eng-
land by Parkinson in 1629.

The Canary Shrubby Fox-Glove, Digitalis Ca-
7iariensis, with gold-coloured corollas, was culti-
vated in this country by the Duchess of Beaufort
in 1698 3 and the Small-flowered Fox-Glove, Digi-
talis parviflora, was first introduced by Sir Joseph
Banks in 1798, who obtained the seed from the
botanic garden at Vienna, but from whence it was
originally procured is not known to us. This
species has the smallest flowers of any of the Fox-
Gloves yet discovered, and it has an appearance
resembling some of the American heaths when in
flower. It is a tolerable hardy perennial plant, that
will thrive in any sheltered part of the open garden.

The Madeira Fox-Glove, Sceptruin, is a beauti-

182 FLORA- HI3T0RICA.

ful plant, which frequently grows to the height of
ten feet under the cultivation of the florist, in the
neighbourhood of Ghent. This species was first
discovered in the woods of Madeira by Masson, who
introduced it to this country in 1777; but, as it
requires the shelter of a green-house for the winter
months, it continues rare in our flower-gardens.
Our botanical gardens now possess thirteen dis-
tinct species of the DigitaUs, besides varieties.

The Digitalis, which, at present, performs so
essential a part in the Materia Medica, appears to
have been entirely unknown to the ancient sons of
^sculapius; and it is to the English students of
medicine that Europe is indebted for the discovery
of the powerful properties of this plant, so justly
celebrated for reheving many dangerous complaints :
for, although it has fallen short of entirely crushing
the gigantic and terrible progress of consumptions,
as at one time hopes were entertained that it would
have done, yet it has been found a valuable remedy
in that disease, as well as in dropsy, fevers, inflam-
matory afPections of the chest, scrofula, Sec. But
the most remarkable effect which this medicine pro-
duces on die human frame, is the diminution of the
frequency of the pulsations of the heart, and conse-
quently of the arteries.

The Fox-Glove is decidedly poisonous, and
dierefore totally unfit for domestic use ; and, hke

FOX-GLOVE. 183

most otlicr powerful medicines, only safe in the
hands of a regular practitioner of considerable ex-
perience, since death itself has sometimes been the
result of the indiscreet use of this deleterious plant.
Mr. Waller tells us, '' that an increased dose, or
too long persisting in a small one, gives rise to the
following alarming symptoms — excessive nausea,
vomiting, purging, giddiness, and head-aches, with
considerable diminution in the frequency of the
pulse, sometimes delirium, and at all times great
confusion in the functions of the brain." Having
noticed these effects, to caution the ifjnorant ao:ainst

' or?

ihe use of this dangerous plant, we shall now en-
deavour to amuse our medical readers by the first
observations which their brethren made on the Di-
gitalis purpurea.

Fuchsius, in his Planiarum Omnium Nomencla-
.tur<£j 1541, appears to have been the first writer
■who distinguished this family of plants by the name
of Difjitalis^ from the flowers resembling finger-
stalls ; and from hence the French called it Gautelee,
Gloved, and Gant de Notre Dame, Our Lady's
Glove.

Dr. Turner, who compiled his work on plants
during the reign of Queen Mary, and who is the
first English writer that mentions this plant, says,
" There is an herbc that groweth very much in
Englande, and specially in Norfolke^ about y^ cony

284 FLORA HISTORICA.

holes in sandy ground, and in diuers woddes, which
is called in English Foxe-gloue, and in Dutch
Fingerkraut. It is named of some in Latin Digi-
talis, that is to say Thimble-wurt. It hath a longe
stalke, and in the toppe manye floures hanginge
doune like belles or thumbles."

Of the properties of this plant, the learned Doc-
tor says, " I haue heard one that sayd that he
proued that the whole herbe, stalkes, leues, and
floures, brused a litle, and put betwene the horse
sadle and his back, is an excellent remedy e against
the farcy e or farsones."

In the succeeding reign the properties of the Di-
gitalis seem to have been in some degree discovered,
as Gerard, a physician of London, tells us in 1597,
that '^ Foxe-gloue boiled in water or wine, and
drunken, doth cut and consume the thicke tough-
nesse of grosse and slimie flegme and naughtie hu-
mours 5 it openeth also the stopping of the liuer,
spleene, and milt, and of other inward parts.

" The same taken in like maner, or boiled with
honied water or sugar, doth scoure and dense the
breast, ripeneth and bringeth foorth tough and
clammie flegme."

Lobelius, a Flemish physician, who settled in
England during the reign of James the Fiist, re-
marks that the country people of Somersetshire, in
his time, were in the habit of employing a decoction

FOX-GLOVE. 185

of tliis plant for the cure of fever; and that its
operation was exceedingly violent.

Parkinson, an apothecary of London, and hcr-
barist to King Charles the First, tells us, in 1640,
that notwithstanding the Fox-glove was found to
possess the properties noticed by Gerard, yet there
were but few physicians that used it, so that it was
generally neglected. This author adds, " And it
hath beene of later experience found also to be ef-
fectual! against the falling sicknesse, that divers
have been cured thereby ;" and he relates some ex«
traordinary instances of this disease being entirely
cured by the aid of this plant. To this remark,
Waller observes in his New Herbal, " It is singu-
lar, that since the plant has been so much in vogue,
and employed in such a variety of diseases, no ex-
periment should have been made to ascertain its
effects in so formidable a disease as epilepsy, which
has long been considered the opprobriinn medi-
co rum.''

The Itahans of the seventeenth century used
it familiarly to heal fresh wounds as well as to
cleanse old sores, and hence their proverb, Aralda^
fiitle piaghe salda. Aralda (Fox-glove) salveth all
sores.

Dr. Withering, who has the credit of bringing
the attention of our medical practitioners to the
notice of this plants observes that in dropsical cases

186 FLOR.V HISTORICA.

it seldom succeeds in men of great natural strength,
tense fil^re, warm skin, and florid complexion ; or
in a tight cordy pulse. If the belly in ascites be
tense, hard, and circumscribed, or the limbs in
anasarca be solid and resisting, we have but little
hope. On the contrary, if the pulse be feeble, or
intermitting, the countenance pale, the lips Uvid,
the skin cold, the swollen belly soft and fluctuating,
the anasarcous limbs readily pitting under pressure
of the finger, we may expect the diuretic effects to
follow in a kindly manner.

It is only within the present age that the conti-
nental physicians have used the Digitalis as an in-
ternal medicine. But within these last few years
it has come into such high repute with the Parisian
apothecaries, that they frequently ornament the.
outside of their houses with paintings of this flower
on their door-posts, or on the piers between their
windows.

As the Digitalcs w^hich are natives of this country
are either of a purphsh red colour or perfectly white,
we are at a loss to account for the origin of the
name of Fox-glove, unless it were from its growing
abundantly in situations and soils where foxes ge-
nerally earth. Our early poets notice it under this
name only. Cowley says :

The Fox-glove on fair Flora's hand is worn,
Lest while she gathers flowers she meet a thorn.

FOX-GLOVK. 187

The light down wliidi covers tlie stalks of the
Fox -glove induced the jwets to make this plant the
emblem of youth; but others, in allusion to its
flowers, which offer some resemblance both to the
cap and the bells, have made it the emblem of
folly.

188 FLORA HISTORTCA,

POPPY. Fapaver,

Natural Order Rhoeadem. Papaveracea, Juss. A
Genus of the Polyandria Mojiogyiiia Class.

And Poppies, Avhich bind fast escapinij sleep.

Columella.
From the Poppy I have ta'en
Mortal's balm, and mortal's bane !
Jnice, that creeping through the heart,
Deadens ev'ry sense of smart ;
Doom'd to heal, or doom'd to kill,
Fraught with good, or fraught with ill.

Mary RoBiNsoy.

Havixg already published a history of this som-
niferous plant at considerable length in the History
of Cultivated Vegetables, we have now only to
notice those different species and varieties which
are employed to embellish the parterre of Flora ;
first observing, that as these plants are made to
ease the pains and to procure sleep to the restless
invalid, the Poppy in floral language is made the
symbol of consolation.

To show that Poppies were cultivated to orna-
ment the royal gardens of Rome in the early days
of that city, we have only to call the attention of
our readers to the interview which took place

POPPY. 189

between Tarquiii the Proud and the messenger
who was sent by liis son from the city of Gabii.

The Carnation Poppy, "which adds so consider-
ably to the gaiety of the garden during the months
of July and August, and which is so much cultivated
in France, and so greatly neglected in England,
is a variety of the common Poppy of our corn-
fields, Papaver Rhooas. In its double state it is a
flower of great beauty, both en account of its
crumpled and delicate texture, elegance of shape,
and variety in colouring, some being perfectly white,
others plain rose, blush, scarlet, or crimson, and on
others the pencil of nature seems to have blended
the dyes in the most finished style of colouring, with
petals thin as gossamer and double as the rose.
This flower bursts out of its confinement at maturity
with considerable force, throwing off the two-leaved
caducous calyx to some distance, and astonishing
the beholder who sees so large and so beautiful a
corolla escape from so small a dwelling. The
petals are frequently white, with a delicate edging
of scarlet or rose-colour, or red petals with white
edges, so variously diversified that two plants are
seldom alike in their flowers.

With what delight and amazement do we fre-
quently regard the ingenuity of tlie mechanic when
he displays the movements of a watch, or a musical
box encompassed in a case of diminutive size ; but

190 FLORA HISTORICA.

the most complete and costly of these baubles are as
inferior to the works which nature has employed
on the Poppy, as the clumsiest wheel of a country
wheelwright is to the finished mechanism of the
most celebrated watch-maker.

The calyx of the Poppy not only shuts in the
numerous and large petals of the flower with its
innumerable chives bearing their anthers on jDoints
as fine as hairs, each anther containing an incal-
culable number of fertilizing particles, but it also
contains the capsule, which in itself cannot be ex-
amined without exciting our utmost admiration of
the wisdom with which it has been formed by the
Universal Creator. The capsule is covered by a
shield-formed stigma thickly perforated, so as to
admit the fecundating particles of the farina to the
channels which are so disposed around the eleven
cells or chambers of the capsule, that each seed
receives its regular portion of this matter by means
of an umbilical cord, notwithstanding that there
are frequently six thousand of these vegetable eggs
contained in one capsule. When we reflect that
each of these small seeds is so admirably perfect
in its minute dimensions as to contain all the es-
sentials necessary to form a plant on the following
year, which is destined to produce at least twenty
capsules, we must exclaim with Pope,

How wondrous are tliy ways !

How far above our kuowledge and our praise !

POPPY. lOJ

Wc were so niiicli attracted by the beauty of the
Carnation Pop])y in the gardens of the Tuilleries,
at Paris, during the summer of 1813, that we pro-
cured some of the seed and brought it to England,
which on sowing in the following spring produced
the gay variety of double flowers that had so much
pleased us in the royal gardens of France. From
these plants we obtained a good supply of seed ; but
perceivmg abundance of young plants springing
up from the self-sown seed, we omitted to sow
seeds, excepting in a small spot at a distant part
of the garden, which again produced the same
beautiful double flowers, whilst all the plants from
the self-sown seed blossomed with sinfjle flowers,
except a few plants with semi-double^ but the beau-
tiful edging and varieties in colour were the same.
These plants were again permitted to scatter their
seed, and the plants were on the succeeding summer
so far returned to their natural state as not to be
distinguishable from the common Red Poppy of
the corn-fields, from which it may be inferred that
some kinds of seeds being kept out of the earth
beyond the time allotted by nature, become weak-
ened so as to lose a part of their natural properties,
and thus produce flowers which the botanist rejects
as monsters, from their being out of nature, whilst
the florist exults over the change which his art has

192 FLOR.V IIISTORICA.

assisted to produce. AVe have before noticed that
to secure the Balsam in a double state, the seed
should be kept for some years before it is sown.

The common Corn Poppy, where it abounds,
denotes a light and shallow soil, and it is singular
that when such land is broken or ploughed up in
the spring, when there can be no Poppies to scatter
their seed, and although it be where none have ever
been seen, yet it is a great chance that such land
shall not be covered with these plants during the
summer. We have frequently observed this phe-
nomenon on the South Downs of Sussex, when
lands have been first broken up ; and even in situa-
tions distant from other corn-lands, we have seen
the plains glow with the red petals of the Wild
Poppy.

The ancients thought the Rhooas, Corn-Rose, so
necessary for the prosperity of their corn, that the
seeds of this Poppy were offered up in the sacred
rites of Ceres, whose garland was formed with
barley or bearded wheat interwoven with Poppies.
An antique statue of this goddess, at the Louvre,
at Paris, (No. 235,) represents Ceres as holding
Poppies in her hand mixed with corn, as well as
having them braided in her hair. And in the same
collection, (No. 593,) Sabina holds a cornucopia
filled with Pomegranates, Grapes, and Poppy-

POPPV. 193

hcatls. Poppy seeds were frcqiieiuly mlxeJ in tlie
food of the ancients, strewed over their bread, and
also sent to table mixed with honey.

The Persians still continue to sprinkle the seeds
of Poppies on their rice and wheaten cakes, which
is also frequently practised in Germany, where the
seeds are given as a cooling diet to singino'-birds.

The Carnation Poppy will thrive in any soil or
situation ; but M. Pirolle tells us that the seeds
should only be gathered from the most double
kinds, and that the capsules should be taken from
the centre stalk of the plant only.

This kind of Poppy is well adapted to ornament
newly-planted shrubberies, or the foreground of
larger flowering shrubs, as also to give a gaiety to
those parts of the parterre where the early flowers
have decayed.

The eastern POPPY. Papaver Orientale.

This splendid Poppy was discovered by Tourne-
fort, in Armenia, from whence he sent the seed to
the royal garden of plants at Paris, from which
place it was distributed to other parts of Europe,
and was cultivated in this country prior to ITU,
by Mr. George Loudon.

VOL. II, ^

194 FLORA HISTORICA.

This is a perennial plant which is easily propa-
gated by dividing its creeping roots in the autumn ;
and although it is a native of the East, it bears the
severity of our winters without injury, particularly
when planted in a dry soil. The seeds of this
species of Poppy should be sown as soon as ripe, in
pots filled with a rich and fresh loam. These pots
require the protection of a greenhouse or frame for
the winter months ; and in the following spring the
young plants may be transplanted into a bed or
other pots, and removed again in the autumn. This
Poppy rather belongs to the spring than the sum-
mer, since it generally flowers in IMay. From its
magnificence both in size and colour, it belongs
rather to the foreground of the shrubbery than to
the borders of choice flowers. The petals are
generally of a bright red, with black rays at the
base, but they sometimes vary to a reddish orange-
colour. It is no small recommendation to this
plant that it flowers freely under the shade of trees,
as we have but few plants that blossom in the
shade with a red flower.

The Papaver Bracteatum,

Which first flowered in this country in the Bota
nical garden at Chelsea, in 1820, is one of the most

I'oppv. 195

ornamental Poj^pies tliat we have seen ; and as it is
a hardy perennial, it cannot fail of becoming a
favourite plant in the pleasure garden, where its
large and brilliant coloured flowers are scarcely less
conspicuous than the Peony.

The naked-stalked or NORWAY
POPPY, Papavcr Nudicaide,

Which produces a yellow flower, with a fragrance
similar to that of the Jonquil, especially in the
morning and evening, is a hardy perennial plant,
raised from seed sown either in the autumn or the
spring. This species was first cultivated in Eng-
land in 1T30. The seed was procured from the
eastern confines of the Russian empire, from the
province of Argunsky, in Siberia, in lat. 51, from
whence they were sent by Heidenreich, and for-
warded to the Eltham garden by J. H. de Heiden-
reich. The flowers of this species continue in
succession from June to August, and they some-
times vary to a pure white.

To our History of the White Poppy *, Papaver
Somniforumy and the dangerous drug which is
produced from it, we have but little to add, unless

* History of Cult. Veff., Vol, ii.

K 2

106 FLOR\ HISTORICA.

we quote Drayton as an additional caution to
those we have already given :

Here Henbane, Poppy, Hemlock here,
Procuring deadly sleeping :
Which I do minister with fear ;
Not fit for each man's keeping.

Tlie quantity of opium consumed in this country
annually is about fifty thousand pounds, and it is
now made in this country quite equal in all its
deadening and dangerous qualities to the best which
can be procured from Turkey.

Messrs. Cowley and Staines, of Winslow, Bucks,
procured, in the year 1821, sixty pounds of solid
opium from rather less than four acres and a half
of land. The seed was sown in February, and the
gathering commenced in the latter end of July,
when the Poppies had lost their petals, and were
covered with a bluish- white bloom.

0])ium having found its way into China, is be-
come almost a necessary of life with the Chinese,
yet its importation is strictly confined to Canton.
We most earnestly hope that its use will never get
out of the hands of the medical practitioners in this
country ; for where it does not kill, it enervates the
constitution, and deadens all lively energies by its
malignant influence, until it changes the character
of a whole country.

In the time of Gesner, the village Damons and

roppv. l'J7

riiillises proved the sincerity of their lovers by
placing a petal of the Poppy in the hollow of the
palm of the left hand, which, on being struck by
the other hand, gave a sound that denoted true
attachment, or faithlessness when it failed to snap.

By a prophetic Poppy-leaf I found
Your changed affection, for it gave no sound,
Though in my hand struck hollow as it lay.
But quickly wither'd like your love away.

198 FLORA HISTORICA.

YELLOW DAY LILY. HeinerocalUs Flam,

Natural Order Liliacece and Corojiarice. Narcissi and
Asphodelete, Juss. A Genus of the Hexandria Mo-
no^ynia Class.

Aux feux dont I'air etincelle
S'ouvre la belle de jour ;
Zephyr la flatte de Taile :
La friponne encore appelle
Les papillons d'aleiitour.

Coquettes, c'est votre embleme :
Le grand jour, le bruit vous plait,
Briller est votre art supreme ;
Sans eclat, le plaisir meme
Devient pour vous sans attrait.

Philippox de la Madeleine.

This fragile beauty is made the emblem of co-
quetry, because its flower seldom lasts a second
day. The generic name is derived from the
Greek 'H/xe'/ja, a day, and Ka?.Xo5-5 beauty, and
hence the French name it Belle d'un jour. Tour-
nefort called it Lis-Asphode.lc, because the plant
has the root of an Asphodel, and the flower of a
Lily.

This species of Hemcrocallis is a native of

YELLO^Y DAY I.ILV. 19§

Hungary, Si])eria, and the northern parts of China.
]M. Pirolle tells us that it is also indigenous to
tlie damp forests of Piedmont. Both the Yellow
and the Copper-coloured Day Lilies are old in-
habitants of our gardens, since Gerard says in
1596, that '' these Lilies do growe in my garden,
and also in the gardens of herbarists and louers
of fine and rare plants."" This excellent old
M-riter distinguishes these Lilies by the title of
Lilium no)i bidbosinn, the root being partly fibrous
and partly tuberous, and not bulbous like other
Lilies. Parkinson writes on the Yellow Day Lily,
under the name of Liliasphodelus, from its root
resembling that of the Asphodel ; and he tells us
that it grows naturally in many moist places in
Germany.

The Yellow Day Lily flowers in June, and
although the blossoms are not durable, they are
followed by others in succession, so that the plant
continues to display its beauty, and to give out its
agreeable fragrance for a considerable length of
time, and more particularly so when planted in a
moist soil and a situation somewhat shady. It is
an admirable flower for the vase of the saloon, as
its graceful corollas, being supported on an erect
stem, show to peculiar advantage when towering
above roses or lilacs.

209 FLORA HISTORICA.

This plant is of a liardy nature, and of easy
propagation, being increased by numerous off- sets
from the roots, which should be removed about
every third year in the autumn, observing to keep
them out of the earth as short a time as pos-
sible. The Yellow Day Lily is also raised from
seed, which, when sown in the autumn on an open
bed, sends up young plants in the spring, which
generally flower the second year. These plants re-
quire considerable room for their roots to spread,
and they make a fine appearance when in large
clumps amongst flowering shrubs.

The Copper-coloured Day Lily, Hemcrocallis
fulva. — This plant frequently grows to the height
of four feet, and is therefore better calculated to
ornament the shrubbery than tlie parterre. It
flowers in July and August ; and although the
corollas wither at tlie close of the same day on
which they expand, yet the plant continues gay for
nearly three weeks, from the succession of flowers
that follow each other daily. This species is a
native of the Levant, and is found also in some
parts of the south of France. Gerard called it
Lilium non hulbosum Phoonlceiim. It^ requires
the same treatment as the Yellow Day Lily, but
never ripens its seed in this country.

The AVhite flowered Day Lily, HemerocaUis

YELLOW DAY LILY. 201

Japonica, and tlie Blue-flowered, H. coerulca, arc
natives of Japan, and were introduced to our
gardens in the year 1790. The latter may be
seen pictured in the Botanical Magazine, 894, and
the former at page 1433 of the same valuable

work,

202 FLORA HISTORICA.

ADONIS. Adonis.

Natural Order MiiltisiUquce. RanvnculacecE, Juss. A
Genus of the Polyandria Polygyjiia Class.

Je n'ai jamais chante que I'ombrage des bois,
Flore, Echo, les Zephyrs et leurs molles haleines,
Le vert tapis des pres et I'argent des fontaines.
C'est parmi les forets qu'a vecu mon heros ;
C'est dans les bois qu'amour a trouble son repos.
]Ma muse en sa faveur de myrte s'est pares ;
J'ai voulu celebrer I'amant de Cytheree,
Adonis, dont la vie eut termes si courts.
Qui fut pleure des Ris, qui fut plaint des Amours.

La Fontaine.

" Adoxis stained with his blood the flower that
bears his name,'' and hence in floral language it is
made the emblem of sorrowful remembrances, al-
though some poets make it symbolical of the chase,
in allusion to his love of hunting. This idea in-
spired a modern Venus, whose swain was passion-
ately fond of the chase, to deplore his absence in
the following pretty lines : —

O fleur, si chere a Cytberee,
Ta corolle fut, en naissant,
Du sang d'Adonis coloree.
He'las ! a ta vue, egare'e,
Je fremis pour mon jeune amant.

That this flower owes its name to the favourite

ADONIS. MS

of Venus is not to be disputed, but whether the
goddess of beauty changed her lover into this
plant or the Anemone would be difficult to decide,
since the Linnsean system of dividing plants into
families did not exist when the gods and goddesses
made love upon earth, and previous to the time of
the Swedish botanist the Adonis was considered
to be one of the Anemonies, which it greatly re-
sembles.

The Pheasant' s-eye, Adonis autumnalis, is evi-
dently a native flower of our corn-fields, since Ge-
rard observes, as long back as 1596, that ** the red
flower of Adonis groweth wilde in the west parts of
Englande, among their corne, euen as Maie-weede
doth in other parts, and is likewise an enimie to
corne as Maie-weed is, from thence I brought the
seede, and haue sowen it in my garden for the
beautie of the flower's sake." Both Ray and Mar-
ty n seem to have overlooked this account, as they
say it is a native of most of the southern parts of
Europe. Though now common in corn-fields
with us near London, yet not being mentioned as
indigenous by any of our old writers, it is probably
of no very long standing, and was originally con-
veyed from gardens by the intervention of the
dung-heap.

'' It grows in Kent, particularly by the side of

204 FLORA HISTORICA.

the river IMedway, between Rocliester and Maid-
stone, where it is found in great plenty, in the
fields, sown with wheat. Among spring corn there
is rarely a plant of it to be found ; which shows
the propriety of sowing the seeds in gardens in
autumn ; for those fields of spring corn, if suffered
to remain undisturbed after the harvest, will
abound with this plant the following year. Great
quantities of the flowers are annually brought to
London, and sold by the name of Red Morocco." —
(Martyn.) Gerard tells us that in his day the
country people called it " Red Camomill, and the
London women do call it Rosearubie.'" It is now
generally termed Pheasant's-eye, from the resem-
blance the flower bears to the beautiful eye of that
bird.

The seed of this hardy annual plant should be
sown in the autumn, for when sown in the spring
the plants seldom appear until the second year,
but the plants that spring from the self-scattered
seeds are generally the finest, which should teach
us not to bury the seed too deep in the eartli»
They should also be sown in patches of some size,
and when the plants are a few inches high they
may be thinned out, leaving several in each patch,
but they will not succeed when transplanted, urdess-
taken up with the earth when very small.

ADONIS. 205

The Red Adonis flower thrives best in a light
soil, but by sowing some seeds amongst shrubs in a
shady situation, the flowers will be so far retarded
as to succeed those in more sunny situations, and
thus the duration of those little ruby roses will be
prolonged.

206 FLORA HISTORICA.

CENTAURY. Centaurea.

Natural Order Compound Flowers. Cinarocephal^,
Juss. A Genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Frus-
tranea Class.

To cure the bees, dried Roses, Acorn juice,
Athenian Thyme and Centauiy conduce,

Virgil.

Our botanical gardens possess no less than seventy-
two distinct species of this genus of plants, besides
varieties, all of which are natives of the Old
World, not one having, to our knowledge, been
discovered in either of the Indies or America.
Like the Common Poppy, the Centaury is the
corn-flower of all the European countries, as well
as that of Persia, Egypt, Siberia, Tartary, and
Barbary ; and although the species of this very
extensive genus vary considerably in character, yet
they all seem to harmonize with the Red Poppy
and the yellow corn as happily as the Bluebottle of
our British fields mixes with the gay Poppy in the
fields of Ceres.

The generic name of these plants is derived from
Ks'vTai/§os-, a centaur ; and fabulous history adds,
that it was so called after Chiron, a centaur, who

CENTAURY. 207

taught mankind tlic use of plants and medicinal
herbs. It is also related that he cured a wound,
which was inflicted by a poisoned arrow of Her-
cules', by the aid of one of the species of these
plants, from which circumstance it was called Cen-
taury.

Ancient fable informs us, that the Bluebottle of
our corn-fields was called Cyanus, after a youth so
named, who was so devoted to corn-flowers, that
his chief employment was that of making garlands
of them : and he seldom left the fields so long as
his favourite flower was to be found, always dress-
ino^ himself in the same fine blue colour of the
flower he so much admired. Flora was his god-
dess, and of all her gifts this was the one he most
admired. At length, he was found dead in a corn-
field, surrounded with the Bluebottles he had ga-
thered ; soon after ^^■hich Flora changed his body
into this flower, out of gratitude for the veneration
he had for her divinity.

The Bluebottle, Centaurea Cyanus, has been
taken from the fields to the garden, where the art
of the florist has multiplied its florets, and varied
its colour so much, that it is now become one of the
summer favourites of the parterre, flowering from
the middle of June to the end of September. In
its natural wild state the flowers are of a fine ultra-
marine blue, and hence it was, we presume, ori-

208 FLORA HISTORICA.

ginally called Blueblow. Dr. Turner calls it
Blewblawe in 1564, as well as Blewbottle ; and the
latter appears a corruption from the former, since
there is nothing in the shape of the flower that caii
possibly remind us of a bottle. Dr. Turner ob-
serves, that '' some herbaries call it Baptisecula^ or
JBlaptisecula, because it hurteth sides, which were
once called of olde writers SeculcE,''''

Gerard observes, that it is called " Blewebottle,
Bleweblow, Corneflower, and Hurtsickle." He
adds, " it is sowen in gardens, which, by cunning
looking to, doth oftentimes become of other co-
lours, and some also double." In Scotland it is
called Blue Bonnets ; in German, Dutch, Swedish,
and Danish, Kornhlume ; in French, Bluet ; in
Italian and Portuguese, Ciano ; in Spanish, Aciano
Azuleio.

A beautiful blue, almost equal to ultramarine,
may be obtained from the Cyanus. After collect-
ing a quantity of these flowers, pick out the petals
or florets from the centre of the flower, which are
of a darker blue than those of the outside, and
pound them whilst quite fresh in a glass or marble
mortar so as to obtain the juice, to which add a
small quantity of alum, and then put it into clean
shells for use. The outer florets give a blue of a
paler colour.

The Cyanus is a hardy annual plant, that will

CENTAURY. 209

grow in almost any soil, but it succeeds best when
sown in the autumn, for those sown in the spring
seldom produce so many flowers, and it is a plant
that will not bear transplanting. The only care
required is to keep the plants free from weeds, and
to thin them to a proper distance from each other,
as they branch to a considerable distance.

SWEET SULTAN, or PURPLE SWEET
CENTAURY. Centaurea Moschata.

This honey-scented species of Centaurea is indige-
nous to the soil of Persia, and Avas first introduced
to this country during the reign of Charles T.
Parkinson thus speaks of it in 1629 : '^ As a kinde
of these corne-flowers, I must needs adjoyn ano-
ther stranger, of much beauty, and but lately ob-
tained from Constantinople, where, because, as it
is said, the great Turk, as we call him, saw it
abroad, liked it, and wore it himself, all his vassals
have had it in great regard, and it hath been ob-
tained from them by some that have sent it into
these parts.''

Parkinson adds, *« this flower hath been sent by
the name of Amhreboi, which, whether it be a
Turkic or Arabian name^ I know not. I have

210 FLOR.V HISTORICA.

called it from the place from whence we had it,
Turcicus. The Turks themselves, as I under-
stand, do call it the Sultan's Flower, and I have
done so likewise, that it may be distinguished from
all the other kindes."

It is frequently called Blackamoor'*s Beauty and
Honey-flower; and although a native of warmer
climates, it is sufiiciently hardy to stand this cli-
mate, and produces the strongest plants when the
seed is sown in the autumn, yet we recommend
that some of the seed should be always sown in the
spring, so as to obtain the flowers to the end of
summer.

The Yellow Sweet Sultan is a tender variety of
this species of Centaury ; therefore it is necessary
to raise the plants by sowing the seed upon a hot-
bed in the spring, from which they should be re-
moved into separate pots when of a proper size, and
forwarded by plunging them into other hotbeds
until they have taken good root, after which time
they should be gradually accustomed to the air, so
as to harden them for the parterre of the open gar-
den, where they will continue in beauty for a great
length of time.

Both the Sweet Sultan of the Turks and the
Bluebottle of Britain are made the emblem of feli-
city, in floral language.

ROSEBAY WILLOW IIKRB. 211

ROSEBAY WILLOW HERB, oe FRENCH
AVILLOAV. Epilohium Amjustlfolium.

Natural Order Calycanthema;. Onagrce, Juss. A Ge-
nus of the Odandria Mojiogynia Class.

This beautiful rustic plant, so ornamental in land-
scape-gardens by its tall spikes of showy flowers, is
admirably adapted to embellish the banks of our
streams, the foreground of our woods, and wilder-
ness scenery in general, since its amaranth-coloured
calyx and its amethyst-tinted corolla contrast as
happily with the blue waters of the lake, as agree-
ably with the green foliage of the forest. There is
an elegance in the rusticity of this plant, and a
liveliness in its flower, that are seldom surpassed by
the choicest gifts of Flora ; yet it has been too gene-
rally rooted out of the parterre, without being ad-
mitted into more suitable situations. Its rapid in-
crease by its creeping root, renders it unfit for the
quarters of choice plants, as well as its height, which
is usually from four to six feet ; but these objec-
tionable qualities in the flower-garden are admir-
able properties in other situations, which should be
made subservient to the pleasure-grounds ; and we

212 FLORA mSTORTCA.

must here observe, tliat the beautifying of cur
landscapes by floral assistance has been hitherto but
too little rec-arded.

The generic name of this plant is derived from
the Greek sTrt Xopoy nv, ^vhich expresses a violet
upon a pod, for the reddish violet-coloured flower
is seated in a singular manner on the extremity of
a long pod of the same colour ; and it is regarded as
a rare instance of the name expressing an essential
character of the plant.

It is called Willow Herb, from the resemblance
which its leaves bear to those of the Scdix, or Wil-
low, and French Willow, we presume, from its
being originally brought from that country ; for
although it is now generally considered to be indi-
genous to this island, we have considerable doubts
about claiming it as an aboriginal of our soil.

Parkinson describes this plant, in the year 1629,
under the title of Chamcpnerium Flore Delphinii,
the Willow-flower ; and he observes, " We have
not known where this Willow-flower groweth na-
turally, but we have it standing in an out corner of
our gardens to fill up the number of delightful
flowers."

It was very natural to consider this flower to
have belonged to the family of Delphinium^ since
the flower-buds so much resemble those of the
Single Larkspur.

ROSEBAV WILLOW IIEHIJ. 213

Gerard describes this plant as long back as 1596,
calling it a " goodly and stately plant, having
leaves like the greatest willow, or ozier. The
branches come out of the ground in great number,
growing to the height of sixe foote, garnished with
brauc flowers of greate beautie, consisting of fower
leaues a-peece, of an orient purple colour." He
adds, ** it groweth in Yorkshire, in a place called
the Hooke, neere vnto a close called the Cow-
pasture, from whence I had these plants, which
do grow in my garden very goodly to behold, for
the decking vp of houses and gardens;" but he
does not mention its having been found in any other
part of this island.

As it is upon jNIr. Miller's authority principally
that later botanical writers have considered this
plant to be indigenous to England, we shall notice
what he has said upon the subject, which we
think rather contradicts the idea than supports it.
In his first edition of '* The Gardener's and Flo-
rist's Dictionary," which was published in 1724, lie
writes of this plant under the title of the French
Willow only, and does not insinuate that it grew
naturally in this country ; but observes, " If these
plants be set in wilderness works, they will soon
overspread the ground, but if they are designed to
adorn parterres, the roots must be confined in pots."
In his sixth edition (1162) he observes, This

214 FLORA HISTORICA.

plant Avas formerly planted in gardens for the
beauty of its flowers ; but^ as it usually spreads far
by the creeping roots, whereby it overi'un all the
neighbouring plants, it has been cast out of most
gardens ; but in some low moist places, or in great
shade, if there was a place assigned for this plant,
it will make a good appearance when it is in flower,
and these flowers are very proper to cut for basins
to adorn chimnies in the summer season.'"' He
adds, " This plant is found wild in divers parts of
England : but several botanists have supposed it
was only found in such places where the plants had
been cast out of gardens : however, I think it must
be allowed to be a native of this country, since it is
found in great plenty in woods at a great distance
from any habitation, particularly in Charlton-
Forest, and several other woods, in Sussex. It is
a great creeper at the root — so may be easily pro-
pagated."'

To us it seems most probable, that when it was
expelled from the garden, it was carried into the
woods by some accidental circumstance ; for, had a
plant of such a rapid propagation been originally a
native of our woods, it could not have escaped our
observation, and we have never found it in any situ-
ation where it seemed to be indigenous. It is a
native of most parts of the continent, from Italy to
Lapland, but is found more abundantly in Switzer»

ROSEBAY WILLOW HERH. 215

land and France than in any otlicr country. In
France it is called Epilohe a cjn, Osier Fleurl, and
Lauricr Saint Anfoinc ; and as St. Anthony was
the founder of monastic institutions, we have made
his favourite plant the emblem of celibacy.

The French Willow prospers best in a moist soil,
and it will succeed in shady situations. It is so
easily propagated from the runners that it is unne-
cessary to raise it from seed ; the only art required
in its cultivation is to keep the roots within due
bounds. This plant would be a great ornament to
our hedgerows, where we hope to see it flourishing,
in order that it may more frequently fall under the
notice of modern poets, for it appears to have
been hitherto entirely neglected by the bards of our
country.

216 FLO.RA HISTORICA.

FRENCH HONEYSUCKLE. Hedysarum

Coronarium.

Natural Order Papilionacece ovLeginninosce. A Genus
of the Diadelphia Decandiia Class.

Pales, the pasture's queen, where'er ye stray
Pursues your steps delighted, and the path
V»'ith living verdure clothes. Around your haunts
The laughing Chloris with profusest hand
Throws wide her blooms.

Akenside.

This species of Hedysarum, which we have so im-
properly named after a country that it does not
belong to, and after a flower to which it has no
resemblance, is a native of Spain, and also of some
parts of Italy. It is the Saint-foin of the Spanish
fields, affording nourishment to their cattle in the
same manner as the Saint-foin and Clover of our
pastures assist to support our herds.

The French call this plant Sainfoin a bouquet
and Sainfoin d'Espagne, But this Holy-Hay of
the Spaniards does not appear to have been made
an object of agricultural experiments in other coun-
tries, although its hardy nature and luxr.rious
growth is sufficient to have induced the trial.

In Calabria it grows wild in great luxuriance,

FRENCH HONEYSrCKLE. 217

near four feet higli, aflbrding excellent nourishment
to horses and mules, both green and when made
into hay ; and we earnestly recommend a trial of its
use in husbandry in this countr}^ particularly to
those farmers whose lands are situated on chalky
downs or hills where there is frequently a want of
green fodder for cows, as it is well known that since
the introduction of Saint-foin and Lucerne, many
dairies have been set up, where these were formerly-
thought impracticable. The cows which are fed
on the French Honeysuckle in Italy and Spain
produce abundance of milk, and the butter made
from it is good flavoured.

It has long flourished in the British parterre,
having been known in this country previous to the
year 1596.

Parkinson calls it '« The Red-flowered Fitch-
ling, and the Red Satin-flower/' and observes,
*' some foolishly call it the Red or French Honey-
suckle."

The generic name of this plant is derived from
the Greek, 'H^Cafxoc, sweetness, and aoov, ointment.
It is considered a biennial plant, but it grows
stronger and becomes perennial if cut down before
it seeds. It flowers in June and July, in spikes of
papilionaceous flowers of a rich red colour and satin-
like appearance ; but the large straggling nature of
the plant makes it more calculated to ornament the

VOL. II. L

218 FLORA HISTORTCA.

shrubbery than to embellish the flower borders.
Miller recommends the seed of the French Honey-
suckle to be sown in the month of April, in a bed
of light fresh earth, and when the plants come up,
they should be transplanted into other beds of the
like earth, and in an open situation, at about six or
eight inches' distance from each other. In these beds
they may remain until Michaelmas, when they may be
removed into the situations where they are intended
to flower, observing that each plant will require a
space of three feet each way from other plants.

In the language of flowers, the French Honey-
suckle is made the emblem of rustic beauty.

CISTIS. 219

CISTUS OR ROCK-ROSE. Cistus.

Natural Order RotaceeB. Cisti, Juss. A Genius of the
Polyaiidria Monogy?iia Class.

With what enchantment Nature's goodly scene
Attracts the sense of mortals !

Akenside.

Under the title of Cistus is comprised an exten-
sive genus of plants, all equally celebrated for their
beauty and their fragility. These favourites of
Flora are of so transient a nature as always to end
their existence with the same sun that gives them
birth ; but as they have a great profusion of flower-
buds, this imperfection is the less regarded, since as
some wither others expand, so as to keep up a suc-
cession of gaiety for a considerable length of time,
embellishing this spray to-day and that to-morrow.

In floral language w-e have placed the Cistus as
the emblem of popular favour, since the duration of
the one cannot be relied on more than the continu-
ance of the other.

Aiton enumerates forty-three distinct species of
Cistus in the Hortus Kewensis, seven of which are
claimed as native plants by the British botanist.

L 2

$20 FLORA HISTORIC^.

The Dwarf Cistus, or Little Sunflower, Cisfus
Jlelianthemumt is one of the most beautiful flowers
that graces our chalky hills and gravelly banks
during the months of July and August. In cal-
careous soils these flowers are generally of a bright
yellow or lemon colour, but in sandy grounds we
have frequently found them of a fine rose-colour,
and sometimes of a dingy reddish yellow. The
variety with white petals is usually found on
gravelly banks, and we have observed that this
species of Cistus is generally found flourishing on
banks or hills that have an eastern aspect ; a re-
markable instance of which may be seen at the
Devil's Dyke, near Brighton, where, on the bank
of the dyke which faces the east, thousands of these
beautiful little flowers may be seen spangling the
turf with their yellow petals, whilst on the opposite
bank, which has a western aspect, not a single
plant of the Cistus is to be found. All the species
seem to love a dry soil and a clear and pure air.
The Cistus HeliantJiemum is a perennial plant that
sends out long trailing branches, and when planted
on poor dry soil, will continue for several years,
but when planted in rich or moist ground, seldom
survives a second year. Few plants are better cal-
culated to ornament rockwork or gravelly banks
than this native, particularly when all the varieties

CISTUS. 221

of colours arc collected on one spot ; for, as Akcn-
side observes,

In colours mingled with a random blaze,
Doth beauty dwell.

The corolla of the Cistus consists of five round-
ish petals, that are large in comparison to the size
of the plant, and which burst from the confinement
of the small calyx with such velocity, that although
they instantly expand to a horizontal position, their
crumpled petals never become smooth, which cir-
cumstance forms a general character in nearly all
the species. This and their numerous stamens
add greatly to the delicacy and beauty of the
flower, as there are generally from ninety to a
hundred anthers surrounding each style. These
plants may be raised from seed sown on the spot
where they are to remain, and they can also be pro-
pagated by cuttings or layers, which is the most
desirable mode of propagating the white and rose-
coloured varieties, as they are not always permanent
when obtained from seed.

The greater number of the Cistus tribe are
natives of the south and warm parts of Europa,
and are always found in dry sheltered situations,
but never in the shade. We have hitherto seen
no species of the Cistus from China or the Indies,
and but one from America, and two from the Ca-
nary Islands. The oblong-leaved Cistus, Vagi-

222 FLORA HISTORICA.

natus, whicli was procured from Teneriffe, where
it is indigenous, is the most beautiful species yet
discovered, and forms one of the most elegant of
all the hardy green-house plants 'known, growing
from four to five feet in heiglit, and producing in
the months of May and June numerous branches
of rose-coloured flowers about the size of tlie com-
mon field Poppy. The foliage of this species has
an agreeable balsamic smell. It is easily propa-
gated by seeds, layers, and cuttings ; and as we do
not despair of its becoming, when more accustomed
to our climate, sufficiently hardy to endure our
winters, we recommend it particularly to the notice
of the British florists. The Hortus Kewensis
gives Mr. Mason the honour of first introducing
this plant in the year 1779; but in Lamarck's
Encyclopaedia, it is mentioned as having been sent
to the Royal Botanic Garden at Paris, by our cele-
brated countryman Sherard, which would make its
introduction nearly fifty years earlier than the time
stated by Mr. Aiton.

The Hoary, or Rose Cistus, Incanus, is also a
most beautiful species ; but being a native of Spain
and the South of France, it has hitherto been found
to require some protection during the winter months,
excepting when planted in warm and sheltered
situations.

The history of the Gum Cistus, Ladaniferus

CISTUS. 223

will be found in the Sylva Florifera; and for a
knowledge of the remainder of these beautiful plants
we must recommend the inspection of the botanical
works with coloured plates, since nothing short of
coloured drawings can give a just idea of their
numerous varieties and varied beauties.

The Cistus appears to have been a favourite
flower even in the infancy of British gardening,
since Gerard has left us representations and descrip-
tions of no less than thirty-eight kinds that were
cultivated in the time of Queen Elizabeth.

The generic name of these plants is of great
antiquity, since the fables of the Greeks inform us
that it was called Kt^ror, after a youth named
Cistus ; but naturalists suppose it to have been so
named from the seed being enclosed in a cisfa, or
capsule. Gesner, and several writers of his age,
classed the larger kinds amongst the roses, calling
them Rosa Alpina and Rosa Montana, Parkinson
writes of them under the title of Cistus, The Holly-
Rose.

224 FLORA IIISTORICA.

EVERLASTING, or CUD-WEED.

Gnaphalium.

N-.tural Order Compositce Discoidece. CorymhifercB
Juss. ^ A Genus of the SyngencsiaFolygaDiia Sitper-
Jiua Class.

As gather'd flowers, wliile their wounds are new,
Look gay and fresh as on the stalk they grew,
Torn from the root that nourish'd them awhile,
(Not taking notice of their fate) they smile.
And in the hand that rudely pluck'd them show
Fairer than those that to their autumn grow.

Waller.

We present this lasting flower as the emblem of
jiever-ceasing remembrance, from its being so fre-
quently used on the continent to decorate the
monuments and graves of departed friends. Since
the hill of Pere la Chaise has been converted into
a cemttery for the city of Paris, the demand for
these flowers in the French capital has been so
considerable, as not only to employ many hands in
tlie cultivation of them, but numerous families are
regularly occupied and entirely supported by form-
ino- these flowers into ^^arlands and crosses, which
are offered for sale by the cottagers near the entrance

EVERLASTING. ^21^

of this celebrated burial ground ; and but few per-
3ons can visit the romantic and hallowed spot with-
out having some name called to their remembrance
which draws from them this slight token of remem-
brance : for here we find a mingled mass of monu-
ments, recalling to our recollection the sweet lines
of the poet, the ready wit of the critic, the piety
of the priest, the heroic deeds of the soldier, the
bravery of the sailor, the labours of the naturahst,
the beauties of the artist, the mimickry of the actor,
and the loves of Abelard and Heloise : here we
meet fond parents with wreaths of Immortelles to
drop on the sod of their blighted hopes, and affec-
tionate children placing crosses of Everlasting
flowers on the head of their parents' graves.

Affliction and sorrow come here to indulge in
sadness and meditation, for the cheerful inhabitants
of the gay city below Pere la Chaise are not less
susceptible of the feelings of paternal affection, bro-
therly love, and friendly regard, than those dwelling
in less sprightly towns.

The Everlasting flower, which the French call
Immortelle, is not consigned alone to the use of the
grave, since we frequently meet with it ornament-
ing the vase of the saloon, for which purpose it is
frequently dyed of various colours, and sometimes
variegated in so skilful a manner as to deceive the
purchaser into the belief of its being so coloured

L 5

226 FLORA HISTORICA.

by nature. Great quantities of these dried and
stained flowers have of late years been imported
into this country, for the purpose of decorating
the head-dresses of our belles, as well as orna-
menting our chimney-pieces; for although it is a
plant of long standing in our gardens, its cultiva-
tion has never been attempted on a large scale for
the market.

The ancients crowned the images of their gods
with garlands made of these flowers, and from
hence they were frequently called God's Flowers.
In Spain and Portugal they are still used to deco-
rate the altars and the images of the Saints.

The generic name of this genus of plants is
derived from the Greek 7va(paXov ; and the Latins
also called them Gnaphalium, from the downy or
cottony nature of the leaves or stalks, which they
collected to fill their couches and mattresses, instead
of wool or flocks Pliny tells us that it was also
called Chamcczelon^ which signifies low or ground
cotton; and it was sometimes named Albinum, from
the whiteness of the leaves and stalks.

We possess five native species of these plants,
which Dr. Turner observes was called Cud-weed
in Yorkshire, whilst in Northumberland it was
named Chafe- weed, because it was used to cure
chafed flesh. In addition to these names, Gerard
adds that of Cotton-weed; and S2-)eaking of the

EVERLASTING. tit

GnaphaUum Alpinum, he says, '^ the flower being
gathered when it is yong, may be kept in such
manner as it was gathered ; I meane in such fresh-
nesse and well liking, by the space of a whole
yeere ; wherefore our English women haue called
it Liue-long, or Liue-for-euer, which name doth
aptly answer his effects ;" and from hence the name
Everlasting has originated.

At what exact period the Eastern Everlasting,
GnaphaUum Orienfale, was first cultivated in this
country cannot be ascertained, but we may fairly
conclude that it was soon after the year 1597, as
we learn from Gerard's Herbal, which was pub-
lished in that year, that the plant in its dried
state had then been sent to this country, and from
the earnestness shown in that age for the collect-
ing of exotic plants, there can be no doubt but
that it was soon afterwards obtained for the par-
terres of London ; but we have no author who
speaks of its cultivation before Parkinson, from
whom we learn that it was an inmate of our gar-
dens prior to 1628. Gerard speaks of this species
under the name of " Golden Mother- woort, or
Cud- weed ;"" and he describes the flowers as stand-
ing " on the top of the stalkes ioined togither
in tuftes of a yellow colour, glittering like golde,
in forme resembling the scalie flowers of Tansie,
which being gathered before they be ripe or

228 FLORA HISTORICA,

ivitliered, remain beautiful long time after, as my-
selfe did see in the liandes of Master Wade, one of
the clerks of hir Maiestie's Counsel!, which was
sent him among other things from Padua, in Italic."
This species seems to be improperly called Orientale,
since it is stated to be a native plant of Africa. It
has been long cultivated in Portugal, where it is
principally used to ornament the churches in the
ivinter season ; but it is of too tender a nature to
stand the severity of our winters without the pro-
tection of eitlier a frame or a green-house. When
planted in the open garden it should be placed in a
•warm sunny situation, and have a light soil. It is
raised from seed, which should be sown in pots in
the spring, and placed under a frame to forward
them ; and it may also be propagated by sHps, or
cuttings, taken off at a joint, during the summer
months. These should be covered with a hand
glass, and kept shaded from the sun, and moderately
moist until they have taken root, when they may
be gradually accustomed to the air, and kept as
much as possible in a dry atmosphere. The time
of flowering is from May to the end of August.

AVe have obtained nineteen species of Gnapha-
lium from the Cape of Good Hope, all of which re-
quire the protection of the conservatory during the
winter months, and to be planted in peat or sandy
loam : several of these exotic species are of sufficient
beauty to repay this attention.

AMARANTH. 22J

AMARANTH. Amaranthus,

Natural Order Misctllance, Lin. Ainaranthi, Juss, A
Genus of the Mojwecia Pentandria Class.

Sad Amaranthus, in whose purple gore
Meseems I see Amintas' Avretched fate,
To whom sweet poets' verse hath given endlesse date.

Spexser.

The Amaranth flower is made the emblem of im-
mortality ; and the bards have placed it in the list
of funereal flowers, because the father of poetry has
described the Thessalians as wearing crowns of
Amaranths at the funeral of Achilles.

Milton mentions this flower as forming the diadem
of angels, and the plant itself seems immortalized
by the power of his majestic pen ;

With solemn adoration down they cast

Their crowns inwove with Amaranth and gold ;

Immortal Amaranth, a flower which once

In Paradise, fast by the tree of life.

Began to bloom, but soon for man's offence

To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows

And flowers aloft, shading the font of life,

And Avhere the river of bliss through midst of heaven

Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream,

With these that never fade.

230 FLORA HISTORICA.

Malherbe, a French poet of the sixteenth cen-
tury, in an ode to Henry the Fourth, says- —

Ta louange, dans mes vers,
D'amaranthe couronnee,
N'aura sa fin temiinee
Qu'en celle de I'univers.

In Sweden they have Knights of the Amaranth.
This order was first instituted in the year 1653^ by
Christiana, Queen of Sweden, who, upon this occa-
sion, appeared at a fete in a dress completely covered
Avilh diamonds, and attended by a suite of sixteen
nobles of her court, accompanied by the same num-
ber of ladies. At the conclusion of the ball, the
Queen stripped herself of the diamonds and dis-
tributed them to the company, at the same time
presenting the new order of knighthood, consisting
of a ribbon and a medal, with an Amaranth in ena-
mel, surrounded with this motto :

Dolce nella memoria.

Love and friendship are also adorned with Ama-
ranth. In the garland of Julie are these four lines :

Je suis la fleur d'amour qu'amarante on appelle,
Et qui vient de Julie adorer les beaux yeux.
Roses, retirez-vous, j'ai le nom d'immortelle,
II n'appartient qu'a moi de couronner les dieux.

The name of this plant is derived from Ajw-a^avror,
incorruptible, because the flowers of several of the
species do not wither when gathered ; and hence the

AMARANTH. 231

poets have frequently named it, and we sometimes
find itj^s in Milton, an imaginary flower, supposed,
according to its name, never to fade. Pope men-
tions it in his Ode for St. CeciHa's day :

By tlie streams that ever flow.
By the fragrant winds that blow

O'er the Elysian flow'rs ;
By those happy souls that dwell
In yellow meads of Asphodel,

Or Amaranthine bow'rs.

M. Constant Dubos, in a charming idyl, has sung
of this flower, the sight of which consoles us for the
rigours of winter. After having regretted the
rapid flight of flowers and the spring, he says ;

Je t'aperc^ois, belle et noble amarante !

Tu ^aens m'offrir, pour charmer mes douleurs,

De ton velours la richesse eclatante ;

Ainsi la main de Tamitie constante,

Quand tout nous fuit, vient essu^'er nos pleurs.

Ton doux aspect de ma lyre ])laintive

A ranime les accords languissans ;

Dernier tribut de Flore fugitive,

Elle nous legue, avec la fleur tardive,

Le souvenir de ses premiers presens.

Amongst the most familiar of this genus of plants
is Amaranthus Caudatiis, known by the melan-
choly name of Love-lies-bleeding, and which the
French call Discipline de Religieuse, and Queue de
JRenard, Fox's Tail. This species, which is a na-
tive of the East Indies, was cultivated by Gerard,
under the name of Branched Flower Gentle, as long

23Z FLORA HISTORICA.

back as the time of Queen Elizabeth. He tells us
the seed was given him by Lord Edward Zouche;
and he describes the flower, saying, *' I can compare
the shape thereof to nothing so fitly as to the velvet
head of a stagge, compact of such soft matter as is
the same, but of a deepe purple colour."

The Three-coloured Amaranth, Tricolor, is also
a native of the East Indies, which we can trace
back in our gardens to the year 1596, under the
name of Floramor and Passeuelours ; and as this
species has always been cultivated more on accounj^
of its three-coloured foliage than for its flowers, we
cannot forbear extracting the description which
Gerard gives of this plant, since he was the first
who cultivated it in this country. ** It farre ex-
ceedeth my skil to describe the beautie and excel-
lencie of this rare plant, called Floramore ; and I
thinke the pensill of the most curious painter will
be at a stale when he shall come to set him downe
in his liuely colours : but to colour it after my best
manner, this I saie. In his leaues doth consist his
beautie ; for in fewe words, euery leafe doth resem-
ble in colours the most faire and beautifull feather
of a Parrat, especially those feathers that are mixed
with most sundrie colours, as a stripe of red, and a
line of yellow, a dashe of white, and a ribbe of
greene colour, which I cannot with words set
foorth, such is the sundrie mixtures of colours that

AMARANTH. 233

Nature hatli bestowed in hir greatest iollitie vpon
tliis flower."

This plant, whose variegated leaves remind us of
Joseph's coat, is extremely ornamental amongst
evergreen shrubs, with which it forms a most agree-
able contrast, particularly when planted in clumps
of a sufficient size to give effect. This species grows
naturally in Persia, China, and Japan, as well as at
Ceylon, the Society Isles, &c.

Prince's Feather, Amaranthus Hijpochondrlacm,
is a native of Virginia : it has been in this country
since the year 1684, and has so far naturalized
itself to our climate as to become a weed. This is
also an ornamental plant amongst dwarf shrubs and
in open spaces of the shrubbery.

We learn from Dr. Turner, that one species of
Amaranth was cultivated in our gardens previous
to 1564, which he calls Amaranthus Purjnireus,
and says it is called in Enghsh *' Purple Veluet
Floure, or Flour Amour."

The leaves of most of these species of Amaranth
are used as culinary plants in hot countries, and
the seeds of several of them were sent to this coun-
try for the same purpose ; but as they are neither
so hardy as spinach, nor so agreeable to the palate
when cooked, they have long since given place to
that esculent vegetable.

The greater number of the Amaranths being

234 FLORA HISTORICA.

annual plants of hot countries, require the assistance
of the hotbed to forward the young plants. The
seed should be sown in February, on a hotbed
covered with good rich light earth, and when of a
proper size to remove, they should be planted out
into a second hotbed, and treated in the same
manner as Balsams and other tender annual plants,
until the time of removing them into the open
garden.

GLOBE AMARANTH. Gomphrena Glohosa.

Natural Order same as the foregoing, but of the Class
Peiandria, and Order Digynia, of the Linnaean
System.

Amaranths such as crown the maids
That wander through Zamara's shades.

Moore.

This plant grows naturally in Sumatra, or Zamara,
an island in the Indian Ocean, and the flowers are
much worn by the inhabitants in their hair. These
people when not engaged in war lead an indolent
life, passing great part of their time in playing on a
kind of flute, crowned with garlands of flowers,
among which the Globe Amaranth is the greatest
favourite, and the most prevailing flower. These
flowers, which are of a fine shining purple, will re-

AMARANTH. 235

tain their beauty and freshness for several years if
gathered before they are too far advanced ; and on
this account they are mucli cultivated in Portugal
and otlier warm Catholic countries, for the purpose
of adorning the churches in the winter. It is also
one of the flowers that form the garlands and crosses
which are sold at the gates of Pere la Chaise, and
is likewise deemed one of the principal ornaments of
the dried bouquets of this country.

The French call this plant Immortelle Vlolette,
and Toide and Tolide. It appears to have been
cultivated in Holland about tlie year 1670, from
whence it was obtained by the Duchess of Beaufort
in 1714. The variety with white flowers was also
procured from Holland, and cultivated by Mr.
Miller in 1722. This annual plant is raised by
sowing the seeds in a hotbed, as directed for the
other kinds of Amaranth.

CRESTED AMARANTH, or COCK^S
COMB. Celosia Cristata.

A Genus of the Pejifandria Monogynia Class.

The generic name of this singular plant is derived
from the Greek x^Xeor, brilliant, or xriXico, to entice

236- FLORA HISTORICA.

6y enchant. The English name of Cock's Comb,
and tlie French Crete de Coq, is given on account
of the resemblance wliicli the crested head, or mass
of flowers, has to the crest or comb of a cock.

The flowers of this plant are so numerous and
small, and so closely set together on an irregular
flattish surface, that it frequently looks more like
a piece of rich velvet than a vegetable substance.
AVe do not find it placed in floral language, and
have therefore given it as the emblem of singula-
rity. It is a native of several parts of Asia, and is
common in Persia, China, and Japan, where we are
informed it is cultivated to such perfection, that the
crests or heads of the flowers are frequently a foot
in length and breadth.

This species of Celosia appears to have been
known in this country as long back as 1570 ; but
from the imperfect manner of forcing plants at that
early period of British gardening, we may conclude
that the plants were frequently lost without afford-
ing seed. The most perfect plant of this kind that
has been raised in England, and we presume we
may say in Europe, was grown by Thomas Andrew
Knight, Esq., and sent by him to the Horticul-
tural Society of London in October, 1820, a draw-
ing of which is now to be seen in the library of that
institution. The flower of this extraordinary plant
measured seven inches in height and eighteen inches

AMARANTH. 237

in wicUh ; it was thick and full, and of a most
intense purplish red colour.

In producing this singular plant, the first object
was to retard the protrusion of the flower-stalk, so
as to give it as much strength as possible. " The
compost emjiloyed was of the most nutritive and
stimulating kind, consisting of one part of unfer-
mented horse-dung, fresh from the stable, and with-
out Utter, one part of burnt turf, one part of de-
cayed leaves, and two parts of green turf, the latter
being in lumps of about an inch in diameter, in
order to keep the mass so hollow, that the water
might have free liberty to escape, and the air to
enter."

The seeds were sown in spring, rather late, and
the plants put first into pots of four inches diameter,
and then transplanted to others a foot in diameter,
the object being not to compress the roots, as that
has a tendency to accelerate the flowering of all
vegetables. The plants were placed within a few
inches of the glass, in a heat of from 70^ to 100'' ;
they were watered with pigeon-dung water, and
due attention paid to remove the side branches
when very young, so as to produce one strong head
or flower. — Hort. Trans, iv. 322.

There are varieties of the Cock''s C omb with heads
of an orange-yellow, bright-red, purple, and white;

238 FLORA HISTORICA.

and the form of the crests are so variable as seldom
to give two of the same shape.

In the floral games at Toulouse, the prize for the
finest lyric poem is an Amaranth of gold.

XERANTHEMUM. 239

XERANTHEMUM, or IMMORTAL
FLOWER. Xeranthemum.

Natural Order Compositae DlscoideeB CoryrnhifercB, Jiiss.
A Genus of the Synge?iesia Polygamia Superjlua
Class.

This plant derives its name from the Greek ^r^p-)^^
dry, and ocv^os, a flower, because the petals of the
corolla are of a dry chaffy nature, and the flower
therefore does not wither when gathered, but is, on
this account, admitted into the number of immortal
flowers. It forms one of the principal ornaments
of the dried bouquets, as the colours vary from
white to a bright glossy yellow ; whilst others are of
a fine lilac or purple, resembling flowers formed of
foil and floss silk.

In their natural state these flowers are sino-le.
but the art of the florist has doubled the petals from
a single row to eight or ten rows of irregular- sized
petals^ falling over each other like the scales of
fish. The seeds are feathered similar to those of
the Dandelion, but are set on a flat, instead of a
globular receptacle. When these flowers are in-
tended to be kept in a dried state, they should be

240 FLORA HISTORICA.

gathered before the seed is matured ; for it fre-
quently happens that when the seeds have arrived at
maturity they fly off when dry, and this sometimes
happens in the most beautiful manner. The seeds,
releasing themselves from the receptacle, are only
kept together by the feathery nature of their plu-
mage, which, as it becomes agitated by the air,
escapes by sweUing first into a kind of dome, the
feathers being attached to [each other in the most
delicate manner imaginable, with tlie seeds down-
wards ; after which, as they loosen themselves, the
effect is still more delicate and singular, as it re-
sembles, in miniature, a number of stars being
thrown out of a circular piece of fire- work.

The annual Xeranthemum is a native of the
South of Europe ; and the first notice we have of
its being cultivated in this country was in 1658,
when it was growing in the botanic garden at Ox-
ford, under the management of Jacob Robart, a
German, who was the original gardener of that
establishment. This plant sends up a stalk of
about two feet in height, on which the purple or
white flowers are supported. These, when gatliered
just before the seeds are ripe, retain their beauty
for a great length of time, and the brilliancy of the
purple colour may be restored at the end of several
years, by holding them in the vapour of any acid.

This plaat is best raised by sowing the seeds in

XERANTHEMUM. 241

the autumn, soon after they are ripe, for, when
omitted until the spring, the plants seldom grow to
their natural size, or produce either fine flowers or
seeds.

The seed should be sown on beds of free lioJit
earth, in a dry and warm situation. When the
plants are a])out two inches high, they may be
transplanted into odier beds, or into the quarters of
the parterre where they are intended to flower.

'Ihe Great Yellow-flowered Xeranthemum, FiiU
fjidum, is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and
was introduced by Mr. Masson, in 1774.

VOL. II,

M

242 FLORA HISTORICA.

MARVEL OF PERU. Mirahilh.

Katiiral Order Nydagines, Juss. A Genus of the
Pcntandria Monosynia Class.

Of colours, changing from the splendid Rose
To the pale Violet's dejected hue.

Akenside.

On this marvellous plant of the New World, whose
flowers seem too timid to expand their variously
coloured corollas even to an European meridian
sun, and on whicli account the French have named
it Belle de Nuit, M. Constant Dubos has given us
the following beautiful lines : —

Solitaire amante des nnits,

Pourqnoi ces timides alarmes,
Quand ma muse au jour que tu fuis

S'apprete a reveler tes charmes ?
Si, par pudeur, aux indiscrets

Tu caches ta fleur purpurine,
En nous dcrobant tes attraits,

Permets du moins qu'on les devine.

Lorsque Tauhe vient eveiller

Les hrillantes filles de Flore,
Seule tu sembles sommeiller

Et craindre Teclat de Paurore.
Quand I'ombre efface leur couleurs,

Tu reprends alors ta"pan.ire ;
Et de I'absence de tes fleurs

Tu vieus consoler la nature.

JIAIIVEL or PERI". 213

Sons le voile niysterieiix

De la craiiitive modt'stie,
Tu veux echapper a iios yeiix,

Et til n'ou es que pins jolie.
On clierche, on aime h dccouvrir

Le (lonx tresor que tu rtcCles ;
Ah ! pour encor les embellir,

Donne ton secret a nos belles.

In emblematical language this flower is made
the symbol of timidity.

The generic name of Mirahilis was given to this
plant from the wonderful diversity of colours in
the flowers. This beautiful plant was originally
brought into Spain from Peru, where it was called
Hacked, and for some short time it retained the
name of Hacfial Ind'i. It was first named Mira-
hilia Peruviana by Carolas Clusius, and we may
therefore naturally conclude that it was first intro-
duced into Europe from the middle to the end of
the sixteenth century, that being the period of his
botanical labours. From the form of the flowers
being somewhat similar to those of the Jasmine,
several old writers named it Jasminum Mexicanum,

It was first cultivated in this country in the time
of Gerard, who tells us, in his work of 1597, that
he had then planted it many years in his garden,
and that in temperate years he had procured ripe
seed. He writes at considerable length on the
beauty of the flowers, and says, it ought to be

u 2

244 FLORA HISTORICA.

called '' rather the Marvel of the World than of
Peru alone."

Jacobus Antonius Cortusus, a professor of bo-
tany at Padua, who died in the year 1593, first
discovered the cathartic qualities of the root of this
plant ; and it was shortly afterwards supposed to
be the true Gelapo, or Jalap of the shops, and the
plant was accordingly named Mirahilis Jalapa.
Dr. James observes, in his History of Drugs, 1745,
that the Jalap *^ was a root unknown to the an-
cients, and also in Europe till the discovery of
America." He adds, *' It usually comes from the
Spanish West Indies in transverse slices, about an
inch thick, being rugged, and of a dark brown
colour on the outside, and whitish within, full of
black shining resin." This has been believed, by
most authors, to be the root of a Convolvulus, Mr.
Ray noticing it as Convolvulus Americanus, Jala-
piujn Dictus ; but, if w^e may rely on the account
which Father Plumier gives of it, it is a species of
Mirahilis Peruviana^ or Marvel of Peru.

Boerhaave, Dale, and most other medical wri-
ters of that day, were of opinion that the Jalap
root was the same as the Marvel of Peru ; and the
same idea prevailed in the French School of Medi-
cine, as we find Tournefort, Pomet, Lemery, and
others have, from the authority of Plumier, stated

MARVEL OF PERU. 245

tlie Jalap to be the root of the Bdle de Nuit. This
error has been since discovered, and it is now
clearly ascertained that the true Jalap is the root
of an American species of Convolvulus, distin-
guished by the title of Jalapa, consequently, the
Mirabilis is now frequently called False Jalap.
We are indebted to Dr. Houston for this discovery,
he having ascertained the fact in the Spanish West
Indies, from whence lie brought over a drawing of
the plant, made by a Spaniard at Xalapa or Ha-
lapa. Seeds of the Convolvulus Jalapa appear to
have been introduced by Cliarles Du Bois, Esq.,
about the year 1728; and Mr. Miller informs us
that he received three seeds of this plant from the
Spanish West Indies in the year 1736, one of
Avhich he reared in the botanic garden at Chelsea,
where it became a large plant, having a tuberous
root as large as that of the Jalap commonly im-
ported. This plant perished in the severe winter
of 1739-40, without having flowered.

The Marvel of Peru has a fusiform root, whicli
should be taken up in the autumn and kept under
cover in dry sand until the spring, when it may be
planted where it is to flower ; but as the seeds
which are sown in the spring produce plants that
flower in the summer, this mode of preserving the
roots is not usually attended to.

The seed should be sown in March on a mode-

«4€ FLORA HlSTOrdCA.

rate hotbed. AYhen the plants are come up they
should have plenty of air admitted as often as the
■weather is mild, and when they are about two
inches in height they may be transplanted into a
second very moderate hotbed ; or each plant be
put into a small pot filled with light rich earth, and
plunged into a hotbed, from whence they may be
taken out into the borders with more security than
tliose that are planted in the bed.

As soon as the plants have taken root in the
second hotbed, they should be gradually inured
to the open air, which will prepare them for the
open garden about the beginning of June. The
seeds may be sown in a warm open border in
April, which will give plants for the autumn flow-
ering.

From the size of these plants, being branchy,
and from three to five feet in height, they are
better calculated for the foreground of the shrub-
bery than for the smaller borders of the par-
terre. They retain their beauty for a great length
of time, being frequently covered with blossoms
from the beginning of July to the end of October,
and the flowers are so numerous that the plants
have a most cheerful appearance, particularly to-
wards the evening, as they seldom expand in warm
weather before four o'clock in the afternoon, on
which account it is sometimes called Four o'Clock

M RVEL OF PERT. 2-i7

Flower." But -wlien tlic sun is obscured, and tlie
weather is moderately cool, these timid blossoms
remain open during the whole day.

It is necessary to preserve seeds from different
plants, since those of the white or purple varieties,
however they may sport in these two colours, never
produce plants that give out red or yellow flowers,
and one great beauty in the effect of these plants is
to give a mass of varying colours.

The Marvel of Peru is particularly well adapted
for public gardens that are frequented in the even-
ing, since these flowers appear a\vake and gay when
most other blossoms sleep ; and when the light of
lamps is thrown on their numerous and richly dyed
corollas their appearance becomes enchanting, and
deserving of the title of Belle de Nuif.

These plants, when forced and cultivated in large
pots, are well calculated to decorate the saloons of
the gay ; for however timid the flowers may appear
in meeting the smiles of the God of Day, they
stand the blaze of the strons^est artificial lioht as
cheerfully as other belles who delight to shine at
the same hour with the emblem of timidity.

248 FLORA HISTORICA.

FORGET-ME-NOT, or MOUSE-EAR SCOR-
PION-GRASS. Myosotis Palustrls.

Natural Order AqjerifoUce. Borrac^ine.ce^ Juss. A
Genus of the Pe?itandria Monosynia Class.

Pour exprimer ramour, ces fleurs semblent eclore ;
Leur langage est iin mot — mais il est plein d'appas !
Dans la main des amans elles disent encore :
Aimez-moi, ne m'oubliez pas.

Lett res a Sophie.

This beautiful little flower, which enamels the
banks of our rivers with its corollas of celestial
blue, has become celebrated by a German tale, so
full of melancholy romance as to affect all the Da- .
mons and Phillises of Europe that haunt the purl-
ing streams.

It is related that a young couple, who were on
the eve of being united, whilst walking along the
delightful banks of the Danube, saw one of these
lovely flowers floating on the waves, which seemed
ready to carry it away. The aflianced bride ad-
mired the beauty of the flower, and regretted its
fatal destiny, which induced the lover to precipitate
himself into the water, where he had no sooner
seized the flower than he sank into the flood, but
making a last effort, he threw the flower upon the

FOFtGET-ME-NOT. 249

shore, and at the moment of disappearing for ever,
he exclaimed, '* VenjUs mich nlchf,'" since which
time this flower has been made emblematical of,
and taken the name of *' Forget-me-not."

It has become a favourite flower with the Ger-
man poets, as some lines of Lord Francis Leveson
Gower's translation of Goethe's " Lay of the Im-
prisoned Knight" will evince: —

Ah ! well I know the loveliest flower,

The fairest of the fair,
Of all that deck my lady's bower,

Or bind her floating hair.

Not on the mountain's shelving side,

Nor in the cultivated ground.
Nor in the garden's painted pride.

The flower I seek is found.

Where time on sorrow's page of gloom

Has fix'd its envious lot,
Or swept the record from the tomb,

It says Forget-me-not.

And this is still the loveliest flower,

The fairest of the fair ;
Of all that deck my lady's bower.

Or bind her floating hair.

This flower has been figured as a device on the
seals of lovers, and had its praises sung in their
verses : —

To flourish in my favourite bower.

To blossom round my cot,
I cultivate the little flower

They call Forget-me-not.

M 5

^0 FLORA HISTORICA.

It springs where Avon gently flows,

In wild simplicity,
And 'neath my cottage-window grows,

Sacred to love and thee.

This pretty little flow'ret's dye,

Of soft cerulean blue,
Appears as if from Ellen's eye

It had received its hue.

Though oceans now betwixt us roar.

Though distant be our lot,
Ellen ! though we should meet no more.
Sweet maid, Forget me not !

Tlie Myosotis Palustris is seen no where in
greater perfection and abundance than on the banks
of a stream in the environs of Luxembourg, which
is knovvn by the name of the Fairies' Bath, or the
Cascade of the Enchanted Oak. The romantic
banks of this stream are covered with these pretty
blue flowers from the beginning of July until the
end of August, and being reflected in the pure
waters, appear more numerous than they really
are.

To this favourite spot the young girls often de-
scend from the ramparts of the town to spend the
leisure hours of their Saints' days, in dancing on
the borders of tliis stream, where they are seen
crowned with the flowers which the waters afford
them, like so many nymphs celebrating games in
honour of the Naiad of the Enchanted Oak.

These scenes forcibly call to our recollection

FORGET-ME-NOT. 251

some beautiful lines of an anonymous poet, who
says,—

I see thee yet, fair France, thou fuvour'd land
Of art and nature — tliou art still before me ;
Thy sons, to whom tlieir laboxir is a sj)ort,
So well thy grateful soil returns its tribute ;
Thy sun-burnt daughters, with their laughing eyes
And glossy raveii locks. But, favour'd France,
Thou hast had many a tale of woe to tell,
In ancient times as now.

The stream which we have just alluded to is called
the Cascade of the Enchanted Oak, from the circum-
stance of the spring's escaping with a murmuring
noise from the root of an oak of great antiquity.

For some years past this little flower has been
cultivated in France with the greatest care, and
when sent to the Parisian markets it finds a more
ready sale than any exotic plant. The pots being
filled with young cuttings that readily take roo^
and blossom, present such a mass of these delicate
Httle flowers, as must surprise those w^ho have not
seen them thus treated.

The generic name of this plant is derived from
that given it by the ancients, who called it Mvo^
uTiov, Mouse-ear, from the form of the leaves ; and
the French on the same account call it Oreille de
rat, Rat's-ear. It frequently flowers in May, and
continues to give out a succession of blossoms until
the end of August. It is increased by separating
the roots, and planting them in a moist but free

252 FLORA HISTORICA.

earth ; and when planted thickly on the banks or
borders of streams or ornamental lakes, it is seen ta
peculiar advantage. When cultivated in pots, it
should l)e shaded until the slips have taken fresh
root ; after which the pots should be placed in an
open and free air, giving them water when the
weather is dry. When in blossom, they may b^
taken into the house, where these elegant little blue
flowers, with their bright yellow eye, cannot fail to
attract all the admirers of Nature's charms. This
plant is sometimes seen growing naturally in dry
grounds, but in such situations both the plant and
the flowers are very diminutive in comparison to
those ^rowinn; in or near the water.

We earnestly recommend the cultivation of this

rustic little beauty, and particularly so to those

cottagers who live near towns, as by transplanting

the trailino; branches from their borders into small

pots, they would find it a profitable employ to send

them to market, for few people would withstand

the temptation of purchasing these alluring flowers,

that carry in their eye the tale of '' Forget-me-not."

We have lately found the Myosofis Versicolor

growing in considerable quantities on the graves in

the church-yard of Hoove, near Brighthelmstone.

This beautiful but miniature flower exhibits a rare

instance of plants producing flowers on the same

stem of such opposite colours as blue and yellow.

FORGET-ME-NOT. 253

We observed several plants of this species of Myos-
ofis, with some flowers perfectly yellow, some
crimson, and others blue, all blossoming at one time
on the same stem.

We are informed that the decoction, or the juice,
of the Myosotis PaJusfris has the peculiar property
of hardening steel, and that if edged tools of that
metal be made red-hot, and then quenched in the
juice or decoction, and this be repeated several
times, that the steel will become so hard as to cut
iron, or even stone, without turning the edge.

In the Netherlands, it is common to make a syrup
of the juice of the Myosotis, which is given as a
remedy against consumptive coughs.

254 FLORA HISTORICA.

SCARLET FUCHSIA. Fuchsia Coccinea,

Natural Order Myrioidece. A Genus of the Octandria
Monogynia Class.

From the Uooming store

Of these auspicious fields, may I unblamed

Transplant some living blossoms, to adorn

My native clime.

Akenside.

This beautiful exotic plant is a native of Chili,
and although it has now become familiar to most
parts of Europe, it was unknown to the old world
until the year 1788, when it was presented by Cap-
tain Firth to the Royal Garden at Kew, from
whence it was soon afterwards distributed as a
stove plant. From the stove it was removed to the
greenhouse, and it is now found to be sufficiently
hardy to stand the open garden, if planted in warm
situations, where it is sheltered from the north by a
wall or buildings ; and, like the China Roses,
which were for some years treated as a tender
plant, the Fuchsia is found to grow with greater
luxuriance in the open air, than when nursed as a
house plant.

Mr. Lee, of Hammersmith, was the first of our
nurserymen who had this plant for sale, which,

SCARLET FUCHSIA. 255

from its great beauty, brought a high price foi?
several years, until its easy propagation became
generally known.

This plant was named Fuchsia, in honour of
Leonard Fuch, a famous German botanist of the
sixteenth century ; and we do not find that it bears
any other name in Europe, nor have we been able
to ascertain its orifjinal South American name.

We have placed the Fuchsia, in the language
of flowers, as the emblem of taste ; for with its
richly-coloured blossoms, there is a peculiar har-
mony and beauty in the unassuming appearance of
the flowers, which hang with so much gracefulness
from amongst the elegant-shaped foliage of this
plant. The length of the stamens also adds greatly
to the beauty of these pendent blossoms, having
the appearance of so many gems suspended from a
small roll of the richest violet-coloured ribbon,
over which the beautiful carmine calyx hangs like a
half-expanded parachute, allowing only a glimpse
of the purple petals to be seen between the open-
ings, the whole being headed by an emerald-co-
loured receptacle for the seed. The calyx-buds,
before they are expanded, have the appearance of
ripe barberries ; and the young branches and the
leaves of the plant have the veins tinged with the
same fine crimson colour, which contributes greatly
to the beauty of the plant.

255 FLORA HISTORICA.

The Fuchsia grows from four to six feet in
height^ but wlien protected from the frost it fre-
quently attains a much greater height. AVe have
seen it in conservatories from ten to fifteen feet,
having all the lower branches pruned off, and thus
forming a tree of the most enchanting appearance,
the least breath of air setting all the pendent
flowers in a graceful motion, an effect which can-
not be given to the plant when kept as a shrub, or
trained to a wall. The Fuchsia loves a rich light
earth. It is easily increased by cuttings planted
under a bell-glass, in the same manner as myrtles
are raised, observing to give air, so as to prevent
damping off. AYhere a number of plants are re-
quired, it is more desirable to raise them from seed,
■which should be sown in pots of rich earth placed
in a hotbed.

HYDRANGEA. 257

HYDRANGEA, or CHINESE GUELDER-
ROSE. Hydrangea Hortemis,

Natural Order Succulent(E. Saxifrage, Juss. A
Genus of the Decandria Digynia Class.

"Witness the sprightly joy, when aught unknown
Strikes the quick sense, and wakes each active pow'r
To brisker measures.

Akenside.

Few flowers ever excited greater interest than the
Hydrangea produced on its first introduction into
Europe ; nor do we remember an instance of any
tender plant having become common in so short a
period. The extraordinary size of the cymes of
the flowers which this plant produces, even when
confined in a small pot of earth, was a novelty alone
sufficient to recommend it to every collector of
exotic flowers. When it first became known in
Paris, it was so eagerly sought after, and bore so
high a price, as to make the fortune of the florist
■who had procured the first plants from England.

In this country we have followed the Hydran-
gea from the stove to the green-house, and from
the green-house to the balconies of the wealthy and
the casements of the cottagers, with a rapidity that

25S FLORA HISTORICA.

seems almost incredible in a plant that produces
only abortive flowers. It is now found to be suffi-
ciently hardy to stand the open air during the win-
ter, and consequently it is seen as an undershrub in
every pleasure-ground, and is become as common
in the cottager's court as it was famiHar a few years
back in the village windows.

The native place of this plant is not yet ascer-
tained, but it is, in all probabihty, an accidental
variety of a Chinese plant, since it is commonly cul-
tivated in the gardens of China and Japan, from
whence it was procured by the late Sir Joseph
Banks, Avho presented it to the Royal Gardens at
Xew, in the year 1 T90.

In the garden the Hydrangea is likely to retain a
favourable attention, for when planted in the fore-
ground of taller shrubs, its profusion of monstrous
flowers, which continue in beauty for a great length
of time, must ever make it a desirable ornament.
"Wc have sometimes seen it planted on lawns, and
gi-owing to an incredible size, producing a fine fo-
liage, intermixed with cymes of flowers of extraor-
dinary beauty.

The colour of these flowers is g^een when young,
but turns to a beautiful rose-colour when in per-
fection, after whicli they again become green as they
decay.

Soon after the introduction of tlie Hydrangea,

IIYDRANfiEA. 259

it was observed tliat some of tlic plants produced
flowers of a line blue colour, but the cause of this
chano-e could not be easily accounted for, since the
cuttings had been taken from plants with rose-
coloured flowers. Some supposed that it was caused
by oxide of iron, whilst others concluded that it
originated from salt or saltpetre being accidentally
mixed in the earth. AVe remember seeing: a fine
plant of this description M-ith beautiful blue flowers
at a cottage situated on a dreary common in Ilamp-
shire, where no one could at that time have ex-
pected to have found a common-coloured Hy-
drangea. The owner of the plant refused ten
guineas for this flower, as it was the only one that
had then been seen in the country, and the circum-
stance of a poor cottager having refused so large
a sum for a plant excited great curiositv, and
brought all the neighbouring inhabitants to see it.
The poor woman, although she did not like to part
v.ith the plant that had been reared by a child
Avliom she had lost, gladly sold cuttings to all
■who required them, every one of which when
they blossomed produced flowers of the original
rose-colour. %

We have since learnt that the poor woman's plant
had been reared from a cutting of the common rose-
coloured variety, and that the change was owing to
its being planted in the soil of the heathy common

260 FLORA HISTORICA.

on which she resided, mixed with a portion of turf
ashes, whilst those who obtained cuttings planted
them in ffood <jarden soil.

During the last year w^e saw exhibited at the
London Horticultural Society a very beautiful plant
of the Hydrangea, covered with cymes of flowers
of a fine blue colour. This plant was grown in a
pot of earth taken from Wimbledon- common, with-
out any other mixture, which proves that the change
of colour is produced by the nature of the soil ; and
it is now pretty generally known that some sorts of
peat earth, as well as the yellow loam of heathy
grounds, will produce this effect.

]\Ir. William Hedges, who has paid great atten-
tion to the propagation of the Hydrangea, gives
the following directions for the treatment of this
plant : — ''As a succession of young plants is neces-
sary, I raise some each year, by taking, in the be-
ginning or middle of July, young shoots with three
or four joints, cutting them off close to the joint
which is at the bottom of the shoot 3 these are
placed in rich earth, in a warm border, and covered
with a hand-glass ; they are shaded during the mid-
dle of the day, and sprinkled witl water from a fine
rose watering pot, two or three times a w^eek, in the
evenings, so as to keep them moist ; the glass beingr.
kept close over them at all times. They will also
grow by layers made in July, in the same way as is

HYDRANGEA. 2GI

usual with Carnations. Tlie cuttings will bo well
rooted by the end of August, at which time, or
early in September, they must be put singly into
small pots, and placed under a frame, which at first
must be shut up close ; if they can be assisted by a
temperate dung-heat at this time it will be better
for them. In the frame they must be shaded and
watered as before. About the middle or end of
October, they are to be taken into the green-house,
or other shelter, where they can be protected from
wet and frost ; during the winter, they must be
watered once a week or fortnight^ as they require.
In the latter end of May or early in June follow-
ing, they must be turned out into a bed of rich
mould, in the open ground, to remain there till
September, when they must be taken up and pot-
ted, and kept protected from damp and cold, as in
the preceding winter. Instead of turning them
out, as stated, in the spring, they may be retained
in pots ; but they must be shifted twice during the
summer. By either method fine strong plants will
be formed, fit for forcing or turning out in the suc-
ceeding spring. If w^anted for the borders, let them
be put out when 111 danger of their sustaining injury
by frost is over ; they will stand the winter in the
borders, and m\\ also bear flowers, though not so
well as when protected by a house. Those which

262 FLORA HISTORTCA.

are to flower in pots, are taken as soon as their buds
begin to swell in the spring ; all the old mould
being removed from their roots, they are planted
in fresh earth, in pots of about eight inches in dia-
meter at top, and placed in front of the green-house
or peach-house ; if the plants are not over large,
pots of smaller dimensions should be used ; these
will come into flower in June. Care must be taken
to supply them plentifully with water whilst they
are coming into bloom, and it is best to place water
pans under the pots, to secure a continual supply of
moisture. If it is desirable to have plants in flower
early in the spring, they must be shifted into their
new pots in January, and brought forward with
forcing heat. The mould I generally give to my
Hydrangeas is a compost of loam and bog-earth,
or leaf-mould, with a little sand, well incorporated
together ; in this they will produce red flowers ; if
they are expected to blow blue, they must be planted
in pure yellow loam."

This genus of plants was named Hydrangea by
Gronovius, a Dutch writer, who derived the appel-
lation from the Greek v^m^, water, and ayfor, a
vessel, in allusion to the quantiiy of water that
these plants require.

As the Hydrangea is a plant so lately made
known in Europe, it has not appeared in the Ian-

HYDRANGEA. 263

guage of flowers, and as it gives out such magnifi-
cent blossoms without ever producing fruit, we have
made it emblematical of a boaster, whose vaunting
•words resemble the abortive flov/ers of the Hy-
drangea, large and showy, without being followed
by suitable results.

264 FLORA HISTORICA.

PERSICAKIA. Pohjcjoniim Orientate.

Natural Order Holeracece. PoIygo?i(e, Juss. A Genus
of the Odandria Trigynia Class.

——————— Their rise tliey boast.

From India's deserts or Columbia's coast.

Europe is indebted to M. Tournefort for this
eastern plant, that celebrated botanist having first
noticed it growing in the Prince of Teflis's garden
in Georgia, and he afterwards procured the seed
from the garden of the monks of the three churches
near jMount Ararat, the spot on which the ark is
supposed to have rested : we have therefore made
it the emblem of restoration.

The Duchess of Beaufort appears to have been
the earliest cultivator of the Oriental Persicaria in
this country, it having been introduced by her
Grace in the year 1707 ; and, although it is pro-
nounced to be a native of the East Indies, it has so
far become a denizen of our soil, that the plants
wliich spring spontaneously from the self-sown
seeds are generally finer than those raised by art ;
from which we may learn that the autumn is the
Droper time of sowing this seed, and that it should

PERSIC ARIA. 2G5

be but thinly covered with earth. The plants raised
from seed sown in the spring seldom grow so strong,
or produce so fine flowers.

AVhcn the plants, which are raised from the
autumn sowing, are transplanted in the spring into
a rich moist soil, they frequently grow to the
height of eight or ten feet, displaying their cluster-
ing branches of brilliant carmine flower-buds to
great advantage from July to the end of autumn.
To assist the Persicaria in attaining: this i^reat
height, all the lower branches should be regularly
pruned off in the growing season, which gives
strength to those of the upper part of the plant,
and causes it to take a most eleo^ant and o-raceful
shape, the delicate lightness of which contrasts
most agreeably with the stiff and heavy Sun-flower.
The Persicaria, from its height and size, is only
calculated for the largest parterre, or to intermix in
the shrubbery.

Mr. Martyn enumerates thirty-six species of the
Polygonum, ten of which appear in " British
Botany" as native plants, one of which, Fckjo-
jjyrum, however, it is doubtful whether it be even
an European plant; but its cultivation under the
name of Buck-wheat, is of great antiquity in
England, as well as most European countries.

The generic name of these plants is derived
from the Greek, IloXuyojov, from zjoXv, many, and

VOL. II. N

266 FLORA HISTORICA.

70VOV5 knee, and it was so called in allusion to the
numerous knots in the stalks. The British species
of this genus of plants was formerly called Knot-
grass on the same account. The name of Persi-
caria, by which several of the species are dis-
tinguished, is of modern origin, and was given to
these plants on account of the foliage of the kind
principally used in medicine being similar to that
of the Peach-tree, which is called Persica in the
Latin language. The leaves of the Oriental Per-
sicaria are, however, quite of a different shape,
being large, and of a broad oval shape inclined to
a point, whilst the Persicaria Urens, Polygonum
Hydropiper, has leaves of a narrow oblong shape
like those of the Peach. Medical writers dis-
tinguish this species by the name of Hydropiper,
water and pepper, from its hot, acrid taste, and
because it grows in wet situations, and most abun-
dantly in places that are under water in the winter.
M. Tournefort tells us that the Eastern Persicaria
was cultivated in Asia, principally on account of
its medicinal properties, which are similar to those
of the Hydropiper or Water-pepper, which was
formerly held in high reputation in this country on
account of its efficacy in medicine ; but its pungency
is so great as to be scarcely tolerable, for which
reason alone, probably, it is but little used in
modern practice. As an external application, in

PERSICARIA. 267

form of a poultice, tlic biting taste can be of no
objection; and it is stated, that the fresh leaves
pounded and applied are of great efficacy in cleans-
ing and altering the ill condition of long standing
ulcers. It is also valuably applied in this manner
to contusions and blows, for the purpose of speedily
removing the blackness, by promoting the absorp-
tion of extravasated blood.

Country people chew the leaves as a cure for the
tooth-ach, and they are said to have relieved the
pains of the gout when applied to the parts affected-
Linnaeus tells us, that all domestic quadrupeds
reject this biting Persicaria. When gathered
whilst in full blossom and preserved, it effectually
keeps insects from wardrobes and other places;
and on this account it is used by the Germans, to
keep their chambers free from fleas.

N 2

268 FLORA HISTORICA.

SPEEDWELL. Veronica,

Natural Order Personatcc. A Genus of the Biaiidria
Monogyjiia Class.

No flower in field, that dainty odour throws,
And decks his branch with blossoms over all,
But there was planted, or grew natural.

Spexser.

We have no less than seventeen species of the Ve-
ronica that are indigenous to our country, varying
so much in their nature that some display their
azure flowers only in the stream, whilst others
exhibit their blue corollas on the chalky hills and
sandy fields, some fix themselves in marshy ground,
some seek the shade of woodlands, and one species
attaches itself to old walls.

To this family of plants we have added forty-one
exotic species, making, in the whole, fifty-eight,
several of which are greatly celebrated by old medi-
cal writers, as being efficacious against so many
disorders to which the human frame is subject,
that the author of *' Hist. Plant, adscript. Boer-
haavey says he has cured a hundred different dis-
orders with the Veronica Orientalis ; and Francus
wrote an entire work on the virtues of this single

SPEEDWELL. 20*

plant, which is said to have cured a King of France
of the leprosy, saved the nose of a Welsh gentle-
man, and given children to a barren wife.
Milton very justly observes —

Dwelt in herbs and drugs a pow'r
To avert man's destined hour,
liearn'd JMachaon should have' known
Doubtless to avert his own.

Hoffman says^ the generic name of this family of
plants was derived from (pepovjxy/v, meaning (pspco, to
bring, and vixt^, victory, because it was said to bear
the bell among plants.

Without going into the extreme infatuation of
our medical ancestors, it may perhajDs be egually
bad to neglect these celebrated plants in modern
practice. AVe shall not, however, presume to give
more than this hint, because it is generally acknow-
ledged that medicine is now advanced to a greater
degree of perfection than it ever reached in ancient
times. We shall, however, recommend the Brook-
lime, Veronica Beccabiinga, to be eaten as water-
cresses by those who have a tendency to scorbutic
habits. It is even milder and more succulent than
the water-cress, and only slightly bitterish in taste.
It is generally found growing in rivulets with water-
cresses ; the leaves are set on short petioles, blunt,
slightly serrate, of a bright green, and somewhat
fleshy. The flower-buds are of a reddish tint, but
when they arc expanded they arc of a fine blue

270 FLORA HISTORICA.

colour, greatly resembling those of the Myosotis
Palustris, or Forget-me-not. In Scotland, the
sprigs of Brook-lime are brought to market under
the name of Water-pur pie.

The Spiked Speedwell, Veronica Spicata, whose
bright blue flowers so agreeably enliven the barren
spots where it principally flourishes, is one of the
plants whose leaves afford a substitute for tea, and
its taste is somewhat astringent, like the green tea
of China. This plant becomes greatly improved
by culture, sending up stalks of flowering spikes
from twelve to eighteen inches in height.

The long-leaved Speedwell, Longifolia, is a
native of Germany, Austria, and Russia ; but it
has been one of the plants of our parterres for
several ages, having been cultivated in London pre-
vious to the year 1596. Of this species there are
three varieties, one of which produces spikes of blue
flowers, one with flesh-coloured, and one with white
corollas.

The perennial sorts of Speedwell are increased
by parting the roots in the autumn ; and the seed
of the annual kinds should be sown at the same
season of the year, observing to place those with
trailing branches on the slopes of banks in shady
situations, whilst the tall-growing kinds may be
intermixed with flowering shrubs.

The Speedwell is made the symbol of resem-
blance, in floral language.

PHLOX. 271

PHLOX, Phlox.

Natural Order Jlotacece. Polemonia, Juss. A Genus
of the Pentandria Mo?iogy?iia Class.

Come fortli

In purple lights, till ev'ry hillock glows
As with the blushes of an evening sky.

Akenside.

These brilliant flowers are all peculiar to the New
World, excepting one species, which is indigenous
to the northern part of Asia; and whether this
one is the actual plant which the Greeks named
^Xo^, Phlox, flame, on account of its bright ap-
pearance, cannot be proved, since Theophrastus has
not given a description to justify the assertion, and
Pliny only observes that the Greeks used a flower
in their garlands which they called Phlox. North
America has yielded us no less than fifteen different
species of these flaming plants, to which modern
nomenclators have given the name of Phlox, and
which we have presumed to place in symbolical
language as the emblem of unanimity, in allusion
to the united form of these flowers, whose clus-
tered corymbs form an umbel, and from the country
from whence we procured them.

272 FLORA HISTORICA.

Few plants present us v.ith a more agreeable
bouquet than is displayed on the stalks of some
kinds of Phlox, some of which have their corollas
of a beautiful lilac, lightly tinged with rose, some
of an ardent red, some of a pure white, and others
of a bright purple like a flame, from whence the
idea of the name of Flamma^ or Phlox.

The Smooth Phlox, Glabcrrima, was the first
kind cultivated in this country, which Miller seems
to have grown in the botanic garden at Chelsea, as
long back as the year 119.5 ; and, although it is
now a century since this plant was first introduced _,
yet it remains rather a rare than a common plant,
in comparison to many others of less beauty, and
later introduction. This kind sends up a stalk
near twenty inches in height, dividing into three
or four small branches towards the top, each ter-
minated by a corymb of flowers, that usually ap-
pear in June.

The Shining-leaved Phlox, Suffrutkosa, which
was brought to this country in the year 1813, is a
beautiful species, throwing up stalks about two feet"
in height, from which are displayed corymbs of
flowers of a most brilliant violet purple colour,
somewhat resembling a fine cluster of Polyanthuses,
excepting that the eye of the flower seems placed
in a star. This ornamental plant, which is a native
of South Carolina, flowers from the end of July to

PHLOX. 273

the end of October. At present it is rather rare,
and is therefore generally planted in pots, for the
sake of bringing it into a house, or placing it under
a frame during the winter, although it is sufficiently
hardy to stand the open garden, if placed in a warm
sheltered situation.

The Panicled Phlox, Paniculata, is a very fine
species, growing to the height of from three to four
feet, and embellishing its stalks with numerous
flowers of a delicate lilac from the beginning of
August to the end of September. This North
American plant was first introduced to our gardens
by James Sherard, M. D., who first cultivated it
in the year 1732.

The White-flowered, or Odorous Phlox, Sua-
veolens, was first introduced to this country by
Peter Collinson, Esq. This species is admired for
its delicate white corollas, and its agreeable perfume.
This is also a native of North America : it flowers
in July and August.

We recommend these plants to a more general
notice than florists have yet bestowed on them.
Their cultivation is very simple, they being usually
propagated by cuttings, or by parting the roots
either in the spring or the autumn : but it should
be observed not to part their roots into too small
heads ; nor should they be parted oftener than

N 5

274 FLORA HTSTORICA.

every second or third year, as it weakens the plant,
and prevents its producing fine blossoms.

All these plants thrive best in a rich and moist
loamy soil ; for, when planted in a poor dry soil,
their flowers are never large, and the plants fre-
quently perish in the summer for want of moisture.

PIMPERNEL. 275

POIPERNEL. AnajalUs.

Natural Order Rotacpce. Primulacees, Juss. A Genus
of the Pcntandria Monogynia Class.

The hollow winds begin to blow,

The clouds look black, the glass is low ;

Closed is the pink-ey'd Pimpernell,

'Twill surely rain ; I see, with sorrow,
Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow.

Dr. Jenxer.

This beautiful little plant, whose sensitive flowers
form the peasant's barometer, is frequently called
the Shepherd's Weather-glass, because the corollas
never expand in rainy weather, or when the air is
moist ; but, on the contrary, when the atmosphere is
dry and the sun shining, they display their scarlet
and purple with happy effect, bespangling the
earth with their bright eyes in the most agreeable
manner, but which are regularly and firmly closed
when Phoebus retires to the west. This is one of
the wonderful instincts of inanimate nature : were
it otherwise, the damps of the night air would
prevent the discharge of the farina from the
anthers, and this species of plants would be conse-

276 FLORA HISTORICA.

quently lost to the link of Nature's perfect chain ;
for although the Pimpernel is too lowly to excite
the oreat interest of man, its seed is the food of
insects, who liave their office to perform towards
the completion of the general harmony of the globe.
The smaller kind of birds seek this seed with great
avidity, and as it is a plant which follows cultiva-
tion, it may considerably save much of the seed of
the husbandman from the ravages of the feathered
tribe.

Like the Poppy, the Pimpernel is generally
found in ploughed grounds and in gardens, parti-
cularly where the air is pure, and the soil light or
sandy.

The Common Pimpernel, AnagalUs Arvensis,
continues to give out a succession of blossoms from
the month of June to the end of September, and
is, although a native weed, deserving of a situation
on the parterre, its flowers being of a fine yellow
scarlet, having a purple circle at the eye, which adds
considerably to the beauty of this miniature flower.

The Blue-flowered Pimpernel, AnagalUs Coe-
rulea, is far less common in this country than the
Scarlet. It grows abundantly in Switzerland, Ger-
many, and Sweden, and has been found in this
country in the neighbourhood of Mitcham, in
Surrey, near Histon, in Cambridgeshire, and Bre-
don-hill, in Worcestershire. It is more frequent

riMri:RNEL. 277

in Devonshire than in any other part of England ;
but we have occasionally found it growing on the
corn lands of the South Downs near Brighton, in
Sussex.

The petals of the Blue-flowered Pimpernel have
a spot of carmine colour at the base of each, in the
same manner as the scarlet kind is marked by purple.
Old writers, after the ancient authors, distinguish
these two kinds of Anagallis, by calling the blue-
flowered the female, and the red the male Imperial.

Pliny remarks that sheep avoid the Blue Pim-
pernel, but eat the scarlet kind, which he considers
as extraordinary, since the difference of the plants
can only be perceived by the colour of the flowers.
He adds, that when a sheep has by accident eaten
of the Blue Pimpernel, the animal goes by instinct
to a plant, which he calls Ferns ocidus. Schreber
says, that the sheep eat Pimpernel readily ; by the
experiments in Amoen. acad., it appears, that kine
and goats feed on it, but that sheep refuse it. If
Phny is correct in his observation, both these op-
posite statements may be also accurate, since neither
of them mention whether the experiments were
made with the blue or the scarlet kinds.

Etymologists differ materially respecting the
derivation of the name of this plant. Dr. Martyn
says the generic name is from AvayaXXts-, of Dios-
xorides, from avayeXaw, to laugh ; because by cur-

278 FLORA HISTORICA .

ing the spleen, it disposes persons to be cheerful.
Coles thinks the name of Anagallis was given it
from its growing abundantly by the river Gallus ;
but the most rational idea seems that it was derived
from avayw, anacjo, to extract or draw out, since we
find that the branches and leaves of the plant being
pounded were used by the ancients, not only to
draw forth thorns and splinters, but it was also
considered of sufficient efficacy to extract the points
of arrows and spears that were broken in the flesh.

The French call this plant Mouron, and the
English name of Pimpernel, by which the earliest
of our herbarists distinguish the plant, seems de-
rived from Primprenelle, the French name for
Burnet.

In floral language this little flower is made the
symbol of assignation.

The Pimpernel is propagated by the curious in
British plants, by sowing the seeds soon after they
are ripe on a border of light earth. The Blue-
flowered Pimpernel, being more uncommon in the
field, is naturally the more desired in the garden ;
and as it is a delicate pretty flower, that we love to
see in the small parterre, or on the banks or borders
of the larger pleasure garden, we shall observe
that it may be increased by cuttings ; and when
planted in a pot of light earth, and placed in a hot-
bed, it will produce flowers in about six weeks.

PIMPERNEL. 279

This little plant, uhosc numerous branches
spread themselves on the ground, being too weak
to erect their flower-stems, but which catch our
attention by the vivid scarlet of the corolla, was
formerly in so great repute with medical practi-
tioners, that, although it is now neglected in our
practice, we shall notice the various uses that it was
most celebrated for; and should it be found to
possess but one of the qnalities attributed to it by
many eminent men, we shall regret that it ever was
banished from modern medicine.

The Greeks and Romans, according to Pliny,
used the juice of this plant, mixed with honey, for
complaints of the eyes. Ettmuller, and many other
writers of equal note, extol it as a remedy for mad-
ness. Quercetanus, who was celebrated for the
cure of this disease, gave decoctions of Pimpernel
after antimonial vomits and laxative medicine. In
malignant fevers, with low muttering delirium, or
wherever the functions of the brain are disturbed,
the Pimpernel is said to be an efficacious medicine.
Tragus pronounced it a remedy for the plague ;
others recommend it in all convulsive disorders,
hysteria, hypochondriasis, St. Yitus's dance, &c.
In the early stage of consumption, the decoction of
Pimpernel is said to be a most invaluable remedy.
Externally, the juice or decoction, is employed for
cleansing foul ulcers ; and Geoffroy commends it

280 FLORA. HISTORICA.

against the bite of the viper, or a mad dog, in
■which cases he says they should be copiously drunk
at the same time. Simon PaulU mentions a cata-
plasm of Pimperpnel, as a remedy for the gout.

Most writers agree in the opinion that this plant
is very detersive, and having a heating and drawing
quality, is good to draw out thorns and splinters
from the flesh ; and, upon the whole, has the
virtue of drying without mordacity.

TUORN-ArPLE. 281

THORN-APPLE. Datura Stramoniwn,

Natural Order Luridce. Solanece, Jiiss. A Genus of
the Pentandria Monogynia Class.

Their powers mysterious let thy knowledge shift,
Their useful poison, and their healing gift.

De Lille.

In symbolical language the Datura is made the em-
blem of deceitful charms, and the common Stramo-
nium is given to represent disguisement.

This dangerous narcotic plant clothes itself with
such an elegant indented foliage, and garnishes its
branches with corollas of so graceful and negli-
gent a shape, and of so pure a white, that all sus-
picion of its deleterious nature seems lulled to rest,
whilst, like the Lamias of old, its charms only allure
that its powers may destroy. Children are no
longer in danger of being devoured by Lamise ; but
they are not free from danger where the Stramo-
nium flourishes, as we have known several instances
of its baneful effects to young persons who have en-
deavoured to chew this plant. It is only within
a few years that a child, who amused itself with
this poisonous plant in a garden at Worthing, was
so affected as to have been in the greatest danger.

182 FLORA HISTORICA.

from which it was only relieved by the prompt
assistance of a skilful medical practitioner. And it
is not long since, that some of the thorn-apples
beinc thrown from a crarden into a street in the
city of Chester, a child, who ate of the seeds, be-
came blind and mad, biting, scratching, shrieking,
laughing, and crying, in a frightful manner.

AVe feel it more necessary to caution the un-
wary against the dangers of this powerful plant,
since it has had its medical virtues so much ex-
tolled as to induce the ignorant into a behef that
it must natunilly be an innocent and harmless
vegetable ; but it should be impressed on the
minds of persons in general that those plants which
afford the most efficacious medicine in the hands of
the skilful practitioner, are the most dangerous in
those of the ignorant, and should therefore never
be used as a domestic remedy.

The Stramonium is employed occasionally as an
anodyne, on account of its narcotic properties not
inducing constipation like opium. Its effects, how-
ever, are frequently formidable, and even fatal,
when administered by the incautious.

Swaine mentions a case wherein a decoction of
three of the capsules of the Stramonium in milk,
produced a paralysis of the whole body, so that the
patient became mad. He continued seven hours
in this situation, then came to himself, and slept

TUORX-APPLE. 283

quietly the remainder of tlie night. Mr. J. A.
Waller observes " that a temporary madness seems
uniformly the result of this poison." Vicat records
a case of a man who drank a decoction of the fruit,
and became melancholy, lost his voice, his pulse
disappeared, and the limbs became paralyzed ;
after which madness came on. Another, after
drinking milk boiled with the same fruit, experi-
enced vertigoes, became insensible, talked in a
raving manner, had at first a small weak pulse,
which afterwards became hardly perceptible. His
legs were paralyzed, and he ultimately became
mad. The smell alone of this plant causes ebriety,
and it has been used for the most dreadful purposes
in eastern countries. Garcias tells us that thieves
mix it in the food of those whom they intend to
rob ; and Acosta mentions that abandoned females
frequently give it to their incautious gallants. In
Java these unfortunate women take it themselves
as a stimulus. Some of these women are so expe-
rienced in administering this medicine, and know
how to temper it in such a manner, that its effects
shall last for a certain time, or for as many hours
as they please.

Indian princes have been known to make use of
it to render their rivals stupid, and then to expose
them to the people, to show how incapable they are
to govern.

284' FLORA HISTORICA.

Waller observes, in his Domestic Herbal, that
the fumes of this plant, received like those of to-
bacco, have, in no instance that he had heard of,
been productive of any ill effects ; whilst at the
same time, he says he has often witnessed the most
beneficial results from its use in this manner, in
asthmas, and old inveterate coughs. Some per-
sons smoke the Stramonium alone, others mix it
witlr tobacco ; " the best method, however, in my
estimation," says Mr. Waller, " is a mixture of one
third part of the stalks, fruit, leaves, and seeds of
the Stramonium, properly dried, cut, and bruised,
mixed with two thirds of herb tobacco."''

An ointment, prepared from the leaves of the
Stramonium, gives ease in external inflammations
and haemorrhoids.

This plant is unquestionably a native of Ame-
rica ; Kalm says that in many parts of that exten-
sive country it is one of the most troublesome
weeds that grow about the villages, where the land
is cultivated ; and it has been frequently observed
that in the earth brought with plants from various
parts of the new world, the Thorn-apple often
springs up. The earliest English writers on plants
who have mentioned the Datura, call it Thorny-
apple of Peru. It appears to have travelled through
the East Indies and Persia to Europe, as we find
the seed was first brought to this country from

THORN-APPLE. 285

Constantinople, by Lord Edward Zoucli, who gave
it to Gerard, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
Gerard observes that he made great use of the
plant in his profession as a surgeon, not only for
burns and scalds, but also for " virulent and
nialigne vlcer, apostemes, and such hke." This
author tells us that he dispersed the seeds of this
plant through this land. Thus we have a positive
proof of the time of its introduction, and that it is
not a native plant of this island, as it is frequently
set down in many catalogues of British plants. It
has, however, so far naturalized itself in our soil
that it is frequently found in waste places and on
dung heaps, and is often found a troublesome
intruder on the parterre, for the seeds being dug
into the earth, will remain for several years, and
vegetate when again turned up to the air. When
sown on a rich soil, the plants grow to a great size,
which renders them unsuitable for the flower bor-
ders, but amongst flowering shrubs it has a good
effect, both by its large fohage and its long tubular
flowers, which appear from July to September.
In the natural history of the Stramonium, this
singular provision of nature is observed, that at
night the leaves nearest the flowers rise up and
enclose them, so as to form a shelter from the
humidity of the air.

The generic name of Datura, by which this

286 FLORA HISTORICA.

plant is known throughout Europe, is the original
name by which it was received from the Turks.
It is called Thorn-apple from the nature of its
fruit.

Nicolaus Monardes, a Spanish physician, tells
us in his work published in 1564, that he received
the first seeds of this plant from Peru, under the
Indian name of Cachos, and that it came strongly
recommended to him as a medicinal plant, which
the Indians, as well as the Spaniards, in Peru, held
in high estimation.

The Purple Thorn-apple, Datura Fastuosa, of
which there is a variety with double flowers, is
much more desirable for the garden than the com-
mon Stramonium. The flowers of this species are
of a fine purple on their outside, and of a glossy
white within. These have an agreeable odour for
the moment, but if long smelt to it becomes less
pleasing. This species is a native of the East
Indies and Egypt, and was first cultivated in this
country by Mr. Miller, in the year 1731.

MALLOW. Mf

MALLOW. Malva.

Natural Order Columniferce. Malvace/e, Juss. A
Genus of the Monadelphia Polyandria Class.

"Who cut up Mallows by the bushes, and Juniper roots for
their meat.

Job, XXX. 4.

From the above ejaculation of Job, we learn
that the mallow afforded food in early times to
those wandering tribes that have ever preferred
to pitch their tent in the wilderness, and depend
upon the spontaneous productions of the earth for
their subsistence, rather than to dwell in settled
habitations, where they would be expected to
assist in the labour of multiplying the gifts of
nature.

The name of this plant is thought to be de-
rived from the Hebrew, in which language it is
called Malluach, from its saltness, Malach being
the Hebrew word for salt. Gerard says, "I am
persuaded that the Latin word Malva comes from
the Chaldee name Malluach, the ch being left out
for the good sound's sake." Some are of opinion
that the Greeks called it MaX*x^, and the Latins

2S8 FLORA HISTORICA.

Malva, from its softening and laxative properties ;
and that this plant was used in the food of the
Romans on account of this quality, appears by a
line from Horace,

Shards or Mallows for ttie pot,
That keep the loosened body sound.

Dryden.
Martial also makes a similar remark:

Exoneraturas ventrem mihi vi/lica Malvas
Astulit. et varias, qiias habet hortus, opes.

Lib. 10.

The Greeks, as well as the Romans, ate this

plant both boiled, and raw in salads, with lettuce

and other vegetables.

The Chinese and the Fgyptians still use a spe-
cies of the Mallow in their diet.

The IMallow formed one of the funeral flowers of
the ancients, it being customary to plant it around
the graves and tombs of departed friends.

In floral language, the Mallow is made the em-
blem of a sweet or mild disposition.

Pliny speaks of two kinds of Mallows that were
cultivated in the gardens of the Romans, which,
he says, were distinguished from the wild Mal-
lows by the size of the leaves. This author tells
us that the leaves of the Marsh Mallow were
used as a counter poison against the sting or bite
of all venomous reptiles, from the wasp to the
serpent ; and that the juice of Mallows given

MALLOW. 289

warm, was a celebrated medicine for such as were
gone nielanclioly, or were deranged in mind. AVe
learn also from this natural historian, that Mallows
were sown in the fields for the purpose of enrlchino-
the ground.

The common Mallow, Malva Syhestris, is a
plant which we see bordering the road sides in
most parts of Europe ; and although it so fre-
quently meets the eye, from its flowers succeedino-
each other from the month of May to the end of
October, yet its blossoms never tire the sight,
their petals being of dehcate reddish-purple, some-
times varying to a white, or inclining to a bluish
cast, with three or four darker streaks running
from the base. It is fortunate for the husband-
men that nature should allot this plant for the
banks and borders of fields, rather than to scatter
it over the meadows, since its spreading branches
would, in a great measure, destroy the turf; and
cattle in general refuse to eat this plant, so that
it would soon overrun and smother other vegetation.

The Dwarf Mallow, Malva RotundifoUa, and
the Musk Mallow, Malva Moschata, are also indi-
genous species of the Mallow.

Amongst the exotic Mallows, we shall notice
the Curl-leaved, Malva Crispa, which was origin-
ally brought out of Syria, but most probably
came to us through France, since Gerard calls it

VOL. II. o

290 FLORA HISTORICA.

the French jNIallow, and he adds, *^it is an excel-
lent pot herbe^ for which cause it is sown in gardens;"
and to recommend it still further to us, this old
medical writer commends its properties in verse :

If that of health you haiie any speciall care,

Vse French IMiillowes, that to the body holsome are.

Notwithstanding the strong recommendation of
Gerard, this hardy annual plant is entirely banished
from the kitchen-garden, but it is frequently to
be seen amongst flowering shrubs, where its
curiously curled and plaited leaves have a good
effect, both by their singularity and agreeable
pale green colour. The Hortus Kewensis notices
thirty-four other exotic species of Mallow, that
have been brought from various parts of the
world to this country, where we have now more
than sixty species, some of w'hich are only humble
herbs, w^hilst others are tall shrubs ; and some
of the tribe reach the size of large trees, the
trunks measuring from twenty to thirty feet in
diameter. Several beautiful species of the Mallow
have lately been brought from the Cape of Good
Hope, but these at present are confined to the
green-house.

The medical properties of the IMallow being con-
sidered the same as the AlthcBa, or Marsh-Mallow,
•will be noticed under the head of that article.

BUGLOSS. 29l

BUGLOSS. Anchma.

Natural Order AsperifoUce. Borrag'uiccc, Juss. A
Genus of the Peiitandria Mo/iogynia Class.

The Bugloss has been made the emblem of false-
hood, because its roots are used in making rouge
for the face. And why not ? says tlie faded fair
one.

Les mines d'uiie maison

Se pouvent reparer ; que n'est cet avantage'
Pour les ruines clu visage ?

La Fontaine.

The good taste displayed by the British ladies
of the present day in throwing aside the barbarous
practice of disfiguring the contour of the counte-
nance by a composition mask, or an unnatural stain,
must be acknowledged by every one whose memory
is a quarter of a century old.

Nothing more decidedly indicates an approach
to the most refined state of civilization in any
country or people than that of throwing off the
disguise of art, and following the beauties of nature,
whose works none can correct or make more per-
fect. For notwithstanding that the painting of
the face has been sanctioned by all the courts of
Europe, its origin was derived from the most un-

O 2

292 FLORA IIISTORICA.

civilized part of mankind. In some mode or other
this art has been employed in all quarters of the
globe, and as each nation considers the customs of
those who differ from themselves in the manner of
disguising their persons as ridiculous, it proves the
absurdity of the practice.

]Madame de Latour observes, that from north to
south, from the east to the west, amongst savage
people, and in civilized nations, the taste for paint-
ing is universal. The wandering Arab, the seden-
tary Turk, the beautiful Persian, the small-footed
Chinese, the blooming Russian, the phlegmatic Eng-
lish, the indolent Creole, and the lively trifling French
women, all wish to please, and all like to do so by
painting themselves. In the deserts of America the
savages paint their bodies red with the root of a spe-
cies of Bugloss, that is indigenous to their country.
The ancient Britons painted their bodies of a blue
colour. Duperron tells us that a young savage
girl, who wished to attract his attention, took slily
a piece of coal, and, retiring to a corner, pounded
it, and blacked her cheeks Avith the powder, then
returned wdth a triumphant air, as if this ornament
had rendered the eff*ects of her charms more secure.
Galen notices the use of the Bugloss root as a
cosmetic in his time, and the rouge made from the
roots of this plant is said to be the most ancient as
well as the most innocent of all the paints that are

BUGLOSS. 293

prepared for the face; and it is also said to possess
considerable advantages over other kinds of rouge,
as it lasts some days without rubbing off, and water
renews it in a similar manner as it refreshes the na-
tural colour. We are further assured that it does
not wither the skin so much as other kinds of rouge ;
but we w^ould add, that all kinds of paint for the
face are dangerous, for, however delicately it may
be used in the first instance, it is sure to increase,
although imperceptibly to the wearer, until it be-
comes a perfect mask. We have remembered se-
veral ladies^ who, from having been accustomed to
the use of rouge from an early age, increased the
colour from year to year, until their cheeks were
but a few degrees behind those of Grimaldi in a
Christmas pantomime. Some years back we wished
to pay our respects to a lady of rank on the day of
her arrival at a sea-side hotel, where, on inquiring

for Lady Sarah C , we were asked if it w as the

lady with a striped face. The question would
have been an enigma, had not a door opened at that
moment, which presented Lady Sarah with her
cheeks as regularly striped as the flanks of a zebra
hide, which had originated from her ladyship's
having rode the last stage in an open carriage, with
the rain beating in her face. This story will not
appear exaggerated, when we relate, that habit has
induced some people to take lavender-water as a

294 FLORA HISTORICA.

substitute for spirits, and others to use coloured
tootli-powder for want of rouge. But these mis-
fortunes are nearly at an end, and the youthful fair
begin to know that

Rieti nest beau que le vrai, le vrai seul est aimahle.

The generic name of this plant is derived from
" Ary/ouacx., zjxpai to ccyx^iVy from its supposed con-
stringent quality, or because it was said to strangle
serpents. Dioscorides states, that both the roots
and the leaves are good against the bite of venom-
ous beasts, and especially of vipers, for which pur-
pose it was eaten, or the infusion drank.

The Latin word of Bugloss is also derived from
the Greek, and was given to this plant to express
the extreme roughness of its leaves. The Dyer's
Bugloss, Anchusa Tindoria, is indigenous to Italy,
Spain, and the South of France ; it is cultivated
in the latter place to some extent for the sake of
the roots, which impart a fine deep red to oils, wax,
and all unctuous substances, as well as to spirits of
wine. The spirituous tincture, on being inspissated,
changes to a dark brown. Its chief use is for co-
louring plasters, lip-salves, &c. This species was
cultivated in England previous to the year 159G.

Anchusa and Cinnabar were used by the ancients
to give an agreeable colour to their ointments ; and
Pliny tells us tliat, where the Anchusa was used,
they added salt to prevent the oil in those compo-

BuGLoss. 2or>

sitions from f^rowino; rancid. This root was also
in request by the Romans for colouring wood and
wax, as well as to stain wool that was to bo after-
wards dyed, of their expensive purple, and for this
purpose they were taken up about {he time of wheat
harvest^ when the roots were full of a red juice.
This author adds, that if a person who has chewed
this plant, should spit in the mouth of a venomous
creature, he will kill it.

Our apothecaries are principally supplied with
these roots from Languedoc and Provence. It
was formerly used as an astringent, and is proper
in haemorrhages of all kinds.

These plants flower from the end of May to the
end of September, but they have no great beauty
to recommend them to a situation in the parterre.
They prosper best in a sandy soil, and in a warm
situation. We possess ten different species of
Bugloss, most of which have a reddish, or blue
corolla. Tlie Virginian Bugloss, Anchusa Virgi-
nica, is the most ornamental species for the garden;
it blossoms with yellow flowers, and the root has
been used by the native Americans to stain their
flesh from time immemorial.

296 FLORA HISTORICA.

SCABIOUS. Scahiosa.

Natural Order Aggregate Dtpsacece. A Genus of the
Tetrandria Monogynia Class.

Tins plant derives its name from Scabies^ because
the common sort is said to cure this and other cuta-
neous complaints 3 and on this account it is fabled
that the devil having found the plant in Paradise,
and envying the good this herb might do to the
human race, bit away a part of the root in order to
destroy the plant, but which still continues to
flourish with a stumped root, and hence one of the
species is called Devil's Bit.

The Indian, or Sweet Scabious, Scabiiis Afro-
piirpurea, is called by tlie Italians Fior della Ve-
dova, and by the French Fleur de Veuve, both of
which means the Widow's Flower, and from hence
it is made to express, in floral language, " I have
lost all."

We learn from Parkinson, that this species of
Scabious was common in our gardens previous to
ieS9; and this author mentions his doubts about
its Indian origin, as he tells us, that it was then
growing spontaneously in Spain and Italy : and

SCABIOUS. 297

ve find Mr. Alton has left its native country un-
decided in the Ilortus Knwcnsis ; but Messrs.
Pirolle and Noisette state it to be indigenous to
India, in the late editions of Le Bon Jardinier, and
Clusius relates that he received the seeds of this
plant from Italy, in the year 1590, under the name
of Indian Scabious.

The Sweet Scabious is a biennial plant, which
grows about two feet in height, and in favourable
seasons continues to flower from June to Octo-
ber, presenting us with corollas of so dark a pur-
ple, that they nearly match tha sable hue of the
widow's weeds : these being contrasted with an-
thers of pure white, gives the idea of its being an
appropriate bouquet for those who mourn for their
deceased husbands ; and this, we presume, gave rise
to the Italian and French name of Widow's Flower.
But this plant frequently varies in the colour of its
flowers, sometimes producing blossoms of a pale
purple at others red, or pleasingly variegated. It
also occasionally becomes a proliferous flower, send-
ing out small flowers from the calyx in the same
manner as the Proliferous or Hen and Chicken
Daisy. The scent of the Sweet Scabious is similar
to that of musk, but not powerful enough to be
offensive to the most delicate person.

These plants love a light fresh earth, and flourish
best in warm situations. Miller directs the seed to

O 5

298 FLORA HISTORICA.

be sown at the end of I\Iay or beginning of June
upon a shady border of fresh earth ; for he observes,
that if they are too much exposed to the sun, and
the season should prove dry, few of them will
grow. And if they are sown early in the spring
they will flower in the autumn, and the winter com-
ing on will prevent the seeds from ripening, besides
which the flowers will be few and weak ; w hereas,
if they are left to form a strong root and leaves in
the autumn, they wdll send up their flower-stems
early in the next summer, branching out on every
{side, producing a great number of flowers, continu-
ing in succession from June to September, and
yielding good seeds in plenty.

<' When the plants sown in May come up, trans-
plant them into a bed or border of fresh earth,
watering and shading them till they have taken
root; and, having kept them clean from weeds,
transplant them at Michaelmas into the middle of
the borders in the pleasure-garden.'' These plants
are seldom injured by cold, unless they send up
flower-stems before winter.

The French florists recommend the seeds to be
sown in the autumn, to prevent the plants from an
inclination to flower the year they are sown.

Mr. Alton notices thirty-three species of Sca-
bious that have been cultivated in the royal gardens
at Kew, and Marty n enumerates no less than forty.

SCABIOUS. 299

three species in his excellent edition of Miller.
Tlireeof these varieties are indigenous to our fields,
one of which, Scabiosa Arvensis, chooses to mix its
lilac flowers amongst the corn, but in this situation
its beauty cannot defend it from the umbrageous
name of a weed, whilst the Columbaria and Succisa
plant themselves in pasture-grounds, where theiu
foliage becomes food for cattle.

All these native species were formerly held in
estimation on account of their medical properties ;
and we find some of the most learned and respecta-
ble of the iEsculapian writers have highly extolled
the virtues of these plants for all diseases of the
lungs, and strongly recommend it as a soporific that
may be usefully employed in fevers. Ettmuller
commends its use, especially in all catarrhal fevers.
He very highly extols a decoction of this plant in
cutaneous eruptions and tinea, or scald-head, &c.

300 FLORA HISTORICA.

THROAT-WORT. Trachelium.

Natural Order CampanacecB. Campamilacecc, Juss.
A Genus of the Fentandria Monogynia Class.

That a plant of such a graceful elegance as the
Trachelium CcBruleum, whose aerial umbles are so
beautifully loaded with its pretty tubular flowers, that
seem dyed with the finest tint of its native Italian
sky, should not have had its praises sung either by
the classic poets of old or nature's bards of later
days, has induced us to make it the emblenfi of
neglected beauty.

Nature permits her various gifts to fall

On various climes, nor smiles alike on all ;

The Latian vales eternal verdui-e wear.

And flow'rs spontaneous crown the smiling year.

Fentcn.

In vain we have turned over the leaves of the
Latin authors, with the hope of finding that this
Italian plant had been made sacred to some fair
goddess, or that it had formerly beautified the brow
of the Graces themselves. JEsculapius seems also
to have so completely overlooked this plant as to
have left us no account of its virtues; and the flower
v/e presume was found too beautiful for the ugly

TIIROAT-WORT. 301

hand of superstition to toucli : so that wc can nei-
ther embellish our liistory of this plant by tlie re-
marks of the poets nor the wonders of the credulous.
We shall therefore make a present of this neglected
plant to the artist who may be disposed to paint a
bower for Ariel ; for had it been known in this
country in the time of our great dramatic bard, we
feel satisfied that his fine imagination would have
seated this aerial being on a bank beneath the um-
belliferous branches of these azure flowers.

The Blue Throat-wort has been so much neg-
lected by the British florists that it is rarely to be
found on the English parterre, although we learn
from Parkinson that it was introduced to this coun-
try previous to the year 1640, and it is a perennial
plant sufficiently hardy to endure our winters, par-
ticularly when planted in a dry soil. It grows na-
turally in stony situations in Italy, and in some
shady places in the Levant. IMonsieur Desfon-
taines found it in Barbary, where it grew in the
rocky fissures of Mount Atlas.

Miller observed, as long back as 1752, that
" these plants thrive better on old walls, when by
accident they have arisen from seeds ; so their
seeds, when ripe, may be scattered on such walls
as are old, or where there is earth lodged sufficient
to receive the seeds ; where the plants will come up
and resist the cold much better^ and continue longer

302 FLORA HISTORTCA.

than when sown in the full ground ; and when a
few of the plants are established on the walls, they
will shed their seeds, so that they will maintain them-
selves without any further care. I have observed
some plants of this kind, which have grown from the
joints of a wall, where there has not been the least
earth to support them, which have resisted the cold,
though they have been greatly exposed to the winds,
when most of those in the full ground were killed ;
so that these plants are very proper to cover the walls
of ruins, where they will have a very good effect."

From this remark we were induced to scatter the
seeds of the Blue Neck-wort with those of the Wall-
flower on a broken wall, and on the second year
we had as happy a combination of flowers as could
be conceived from a mixture of blue and gold.
But we must observe that those plants which sprung
up just beneath the wall produced much larger
cymes of flowers than such as grew out of the cre-
vices of the stones ; therefore we recommend some
of these plants to be set in a good moist soil, so that
if they should decay after flowering, their beauty
would be seen to greater advantage during the sum-
mer, and other plants might replace them the fol-
lowing year.

When seeds of the Trachelium cannot be pro-
cured, the plants may be increased by off*-se^s or
cuttings, which may be taken off almost at any

THRO AT- WORT. 308

season of the year. These should be planted in
pots filled with fresh undungcd earth, and then
placed in a shady situation until they have taken
root, when they may be turned out into the most
sheltered situations of the garden, where they
should be planted in clumps of four or six plants,
at about eighteen inches' distance from each other —
so that when they grow up they appear as one
large plant ; and their flowers, although small, are
so numerous as to form a mass of blue corollas,
each sending forth a style considerably longer than
the corolla, which, being headed by a small globu-
lar stigma, adds greatly to the beauty of the flowers.
Where seeds can be procured, they should be
sown in autumn, soon after they are ripe, for when
they are kept out of the ground till spring, they
frequently fail, or if they do grow, it is not before
the following spring. When the plants come up,
they should be kept clean from weeds ; and as soon
as they are big enough to be removed, they should
be transplanted on an east-aspected border of light,
imdunged earth. In the autumn they may be
transplanted into the quarters of the parterre, where

they will flower the following summer, from July

to September.

Both scientific and vernacular appellations have

been suggested, by the long tube or neck of the

corolla ; TracJielium being derived from T§ax'y>>^^^>

304 FLORA HISTORICA.

the neck. The French call this plant Trachelie ;
and if our poets are debarred from mentioning this
pretty flower in their songs, on account of the un-
harmonious name of Neck-wort, let them adopt
that of Trachelium, or even sing its praises under
a new title, rather than continue to overlook this
emblem of neglected beauty.

SWALLOW-WORT. 305

SWALLOW- WORT. Asclcpias,

Natural Order Coniortfu. Jponiccce, Juss. A Genus
of the Penlandria D/gynia Class.

With us ther was a Doctour of Pliisike ;
In all this world ne was ther iion him like,
To speke of phisike and of surgerie ;

He knew the cause of every maladie,
Were it of cold, or hote, or moist, or drie.
And wher engendred, and of what humour :
He was a very parfite practisour.

Chaucer.

These plants are named Asclepias, from iEscu-
lapius, the God of Medicine, who is said to have
discovered its virtues, and to whom one of the spe-
cies was anciently consecrated ; and it has therefore
been made the emblem of medicine.

It has also had the compound name of Vince-
toxicum, Tame-poison, or Master- poison, bestowed
on it, on account of its being esteemed as an alexi-
pharmic.

The English name of Swallow-wort is from the
Dutch Swahiw-worlel ; and that is a translation
of the old appellation Hlrundinaria, under which
it is found in the works of Otho Brunfelsius, and

306 FLORA HISTORICA.

some other botanical authors, who wrote about the
end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth
centuries. The idea of this name originated from
a fancied resemblance of the folUcles or seeds to a
swallow flying.

Of the thirty-four species of Swallow-wort de-
scribed in Marty n's edition of Miller, only two are
European plants, the remainder having been col-
lected from the East Indies, Africa, and America.

The Officinal Swallow-wort, Asclepias Vince-
toxicum, is a native of most parts of the continent
of Europe, and it is remarked by Linnseus as being
singular that it should not be found wild in Great
Britain. Dr. Turner describes this plant, and
writes at some length on its medicinal properties,
in 1564, but says he had not seen it in England ;
therefore its introduction to this country appears
to have been between that time and the year
1596, when Gerard tells us that it was growing
in his garden, together with the Black Swallow-
wort, Asclepias Nigra, which is indigenous to the
South of France, the mountains about Nice, and
Spain. This author says " our London gentle-
women haue named it Silken Cislie," from the
seeds being surrounded with a white substance
resembhng silk.

These plants flower from June to September ;
they have no great beauty to recommend them to

SWALLOW-WORT. 307

the parterre, but it is curious to observe the irrita-
bility of tliese flowers, which is such, tliat when a
fly enters the calyx to search for honey in the nec-
tary, the petals are immediately contracted, and
the insect remains imprisoned for life. At other
times they may be seen caught by the leg in such
a manner as not to be able to extricate themselves
without paying the loss of a limb as a price for
their ransom.

The Variegated Swallow-wort, Asclepias Varie-
gat a, was one of the earliest American plants
brought to this country -, and as Gerard wrote his
Herbal at the interesting period when colonies
were first sent out to the new world, we cannot
refrain from giving extracts from his History of
Plants, to show what interest was then taken by
the English in forming these settlements, and the
general idea entertained of the native Americans
and their country. Gerard says the savages call
this plant IVinsanck. '* It groweth in the coun-
tries of Norembega, and now called Virginia, by
the H. Sir Walter Raleigh, who hath bestowed
great summes of monie in the discouerie thereof,
where are dwelling at this present Englishmen, if
neither vntimely death by murdering, or pestilence,
corrupt aire, bloodie fluxes, or some other mortall
sicknes hath not destroied them." In the descrip-
tipn of this plant he says, ^' the flowers come foorth

308 FLORA HISTORICA.

at the top of the stalks, whicli as yet are not ob-
serued, by reason the man that brought the seeds
and plants heereof did not regard them : after
which, there came in place two pods, sharpe pointed,
like those of our Swallow-woort, but greater, stuffed
full of most pure silk, of a shining white colour;
among which silke appeereth a small long toong,
(which is the seede) resembling the toong of a
birde, or that of the herbe called Adder's-toong.
The pods are not onely full of silke, but euery
nerue or sinewe wherewith the leaues be ribbed,
are likewise most pure silke ; and also the pilling of
the stems^ euen as flaxe is torne from the stalks.
This considered, behold the iustice of God, that
as he hath shut vp those people and nations in
infidelitie and nakednes, so hath he not as yet giuen
them vnderstanding to couer their nakednes, nor
matter wherewith to do the same ; notwithstanding
the earth is couered ouer with this silke, which
daily they tread vnder their feete, which were suffi-
cient to apparell many kingdomes if they were
carefully manured and cherished." The flowers
of this species of Swallow-wort are of a pale dusky
flesh-colour, and of an agreeable scent.

The seeds of the Virginian Swallow- wort, Ascle-
pias Syrlaca, were sent from Virginia to Parkin-
son, previous to the year 1629. This author calls
the plant Virginian silk, on account of the silkiness

SWALLOW-WORT. 309

of the cotton. Tliis cotton is collected by the settlers
in North America to fill beds and mattresses, and
the tender shoots of this species are eaten in the
spring as we eat asparagus. The flowers are so
odoriferous as to make it very agreeable to travel
in the woods, especially in the evening, when the
odour is more powerfully exhaled.

In Canada, these flowers are gathered in the
morning while covered with dew, for the purpose
of making a sugar from them.

Kalm tells us that the stalks of this plant dye a
crood olive colour.

The Tuberous-rooted Swallow- wort, or Orange
Apocynum Asclepias Tuberosa, is a very orna-
mental plant, on account of the bright orange
colour of its flowers, that shine with a fiery bril-
liancy during the months of July, August and
September. This species of Swallow-wort is com-
mon in most of the states of America, where it goes
by many denominations ; such as *' Butterfly-
weed," from beino; a favourite resort of the insects of
that tribe ; it is also called '' Pleurisy, or Ache-in-
the-side plant," from its medicinal virtues, said to
be of considerable activity.

AVith us this plant sends up a stem about a foot
in height, but Mr. Pursh tells us that he found it
growing on mounds of sand, which had been gra-
dually accumulated by the winds to a considerable

310 FLORA HISTORICA.

lieio'ht, havinir a root which descended to near two
fathoms in depth ; and in sucli spots the stems were
from two to three feet high, or more.

These large tuberous roots require to be planted
in a warm, dry, and sheltered situation, where the
mould is light or of a sandy nature, and when the
roots have become large they should not be trans-
planted. It is generally raised from imported seed,
but in favourable seasons it sometimes perfects its
seed in this country. This species was cultivated
in the Royal Garden at Hampton Court as long
back as the year 1690.

Those whose grounds are more of a swampy than
a dry nature, may cultivate the Rose-coloured Swal-
low-wort, or Water Silk weed, Asdepias Incarnata,
which grows naturally in swampy places, and on
the banks of rivers in North America, and flowers
in July and August. It was first cultivated in this
country in the year 1710, and is an ornamental
plant for the borders of lakes or ponds.

LOBELIA. 311

LOBELIA. Lobelia,

Natural Order Campanacece. Lohdiaceee, Juss. A
Genus of the Pentaiidria Monogynia Class.

MoNsiEuu Charles Plumier, an eminent French
botanist of the time of Louis the Fourteenth, gave
the name of Lobelia to this family of plants, in
honour of Matthias Lobel, of Lisle, who was ap-
pointed botanist and physician to James the First
of England ; and who had also the superintendence
of Lord Zouch's botanical garden at Hackney,
during the latter part of the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth.

jMr. Aiton enumerates thirty -four species of
Lobelia, in the Hortus Kewensis, eighteen of which
are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and seven
belong to America, three of which are ranked
amongst the most favourite flowers of the curious
florists.

The CardinaFs Flower, Lobelia Cardinalis^ was
introduced to the British parterre in the unhappy
reign of Charles the First, whose herbalist (Par-
kinson) mentions it as a ^* brave plant," in his

312 FLORA HISTORICA.

'* Garden of Pleasant Flowers," which he dedicated
to Henrietta, the queen of that monarch. We
presume it was called the Cardinal's Flower on ac-
count of the bright red colour of the corollas. This
beautiful plant grows naturally by the side of rivers
and ditches in most parts of North America, as well
as in Virginia.

Justice was so delighted with this plant in the
year 1754, that he recommends it as ** a flower of
most handsome appearance, which should not be
wanting in curious gardens, as it excels all other
flowers I ever knew in the richness of its colour."
Had this Scotch gentleman lived to have seen the
two beautiful species that have been since introduced,
his rapture would have been increased, as the Re-
fulgent Lobelia, Fulgens^ and the Shining Lobelia,
Splendens^ are still more brilliant than the Cardi-
nalis. The European florists are indebted to those
illustrious travellers Humboldt and Bonpland for
both of these magnificent species of Lobelia, as the
seeds were found in the specimens which they
brought home with them from Mexico. The for-
mer species reached this country in 1810, and the
latter was first brought from Paris in the year 1814.
The splendid colours of these plants soon ensured
them a situation in almost every conservatory, from
whence they liave been procured to grace the more
humble window of the cottage florist, but they have

LOBELIA. 313

not yet very rrencrally found their way into the
parterre, aUhough they arc sufficiently hardy to
stand the open garden, where they would contri-
bute much to the gaiety of Flora's garland by their
tall spikes of crimson flowers, which continue in
blossom from July to the end of September ; and
when they are cultivated with care, they assume a
degree of magnificence that is scarcely surpassed by
any other plant.

Mr. W. Hedges has brought them to the higliest
state of perfection, having grown them from five to
six feet in height, with a stem six inches in circum-
ference, and each plant sending up sixteen or seven-
teen of these grand spikes of beautiful flowers. J.
Sabine, Esq., relates the manner of Mr. Hedges'*
successful mode of cultivating these plants, as fol-
lows : — " In October he takes off the suckers which
are thrown up from the roots of the old plants,
and puts them into small pots, one in each pot, ancj
keeps them in a cold frame till the middle of
January : he then removes them into a cucumbei;
frame, where the heat is kept up to sixty-five de-
grees of Fahrenheit's scale, by linings of hot duno*;
a pine succession stove of the same temperature
will equally suit them. In the middle of February,
they are shifted into pots a size larger ; and at the
end of March, or in the beginning of April, they
are again moved into larger pots, and in the middle

VOL. II. i>

S14 FLORA HISTORICA.

of !May tliG}^ are a third time shifted ; the pots to
be used for this last shifting are twelves. As soon
as the plants are well rooted, after the last removal,
they are carried into a peach -house or green-house,
in "which they continue till they flower, and are
hardy enough to bear the open air. "When they
are preparing to throw up their flowering stems,
and during their growth, it is necessary that they
should be kept very moist, M'hich is effected by
putting pans under the pots, and keeping the pans
constantly filled with water. The plants thus
managed, begin to flower early in July, and the
spikes continue to blow, and are covered with
flowers through the autumn."

The compost used in the pots is formed of equal
parts of brown or yellow loam, and of leaf or bog
mould, to which is added sand, equal to one-fourth
of the previous composition, the whole being well
mixed together.

The French florists tell us that when these plants
are raised from seed, it should be sown as soon after
it is ripe as possible, in earthern pans ; the earth to
be thoroughly moistened, and after it has imbibed
the water, the seed is to be spread over it without
being covered. These pans must be sheltered from
the frost, and about the month of April or May the
plants may be transplanted, and they may be ex-
pected to flower the second year.

LOBELTA. 815

These plants arc readily increased by suckers or
cuttings, if kept moist and in a shady situation until
they have taken root.

There are varieties of these plants with a pale
rose-colour flower.

The foliage of the Splendid or Shining Lobelia
is beautifully marked with dashes of a rich puce
colour, which, together with the claret-coloured
flower-stalks, adds greatly to the beauty of the
plant.

As the Lobelia or Cardinal's Flower has not yet
been used in the emblematical language of flowers,
we have placed it in our Dictionary as the symbol
of distinction.

In the wind and tempest of fortune's frown,
Distinction, with a broad and powerful fan
Puffing at all, winnows the light away.

Shakspeare.

P2

816 FLORA HISTORICA.

HAWK WEED. Hieracium.

Natural Order Compoaitce. ScmifloscuhscB. Cickoracea*^
Juss. A Genus of the Syfigoiesia Polygamia JEqua-
lis Class.

Dost tliou love hawking ? Tliou hast hawks will soar
Above the morning lark. Shakspeare.

We present the Hawkweed as the emblem of quick-
sightedness, because the Greeks gave it the name
of l£^xy.iov, Accipitrina, from a belief that hawks
sharpened their sight with the juice of these plants,
from which cause it is also called Hawkweed in
English, and Epervi^re and Herbe a VEpervier in
French.

Coles, in his History of Plants, dated 1657,
says, " I shall treat of this plant as appropriated to
the eyes ; and Dale tells us that, taken inwardly,
the Hawkweed sharpens the sight, and expels black
bile."

L'Estrange says, " Nothing so fierce but love
will soften, nothing so sharp-sighted in other mat-
ters, but it throws a mist before the eyes on't."

May we not, therefore, recommend this plant as a
remedy for those whom Cupid has rendered blind !

IIWVKWKED. 317

The Hawkweed was held in liigh estimation by
our ancestors who hved before the art of falconry
was banislicd by the invention of gunpowder ; for,
in those early days the care of the falcons was consi-
dered as a place of great trust, and noblemen did not
in those times consider it a degradation to prepare
the meat for their falcons, as we learn from Peacham,
who says, *' It can be no more disgrace to a great
lord to draw a fair picture than to cut his hawk's
meat." The Duke of St. Albans is hereditary
grand falconer of England, which post has been
attached to that noble title as long back as the year
1250.

At what period the art of falconry was first
practised in this country is not known. Mr. Pen-
nant says, *' I cannot trace the certainty of falconry
in our country till the reign of King Ethelbert, the
Saxon monarch, in the year 760, when he wrote to
Germany for a brace of falcons which would fly at
cranes, and bring them to the ground, as there were
very few such in Kent." This was one of the field
sports which the dames of high rank were allowed
to partake of. Prior observes,

A falc'ner Henry is when Emma hawks ;
With her of tarsels and of lures he talks.

And Shakspeare says,

Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk.

318 FLORA HISTORICA.

The laws which have been made in modern times
for the preservation of game are not more severe
than those instituted by our forefathers for the
security of their hawks. In tlie 34th of Edward
the Third it was made felony to steal a hawk ; and
to take its eggs, even in a person's own ground,
ivas punishable with imprisonment for a year and a
day, besides a fine at the king'^s pleasure: in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth the imprisonment was re-
duced to three months, but the offender was to find
security for his good behaviour for seven years^ or
to remain in prison till he could find a friend who
Tvould be answerable for his conduct.

Falconry appears to have been of great antiquity
in the eastern parts of the globe, since our earliest
accounts of China notice the practice of this art in
that country. Marco Polo, who visited China in
the year 1269? tells us, that he witnessed the em-
peror enjoying this diversion attended by his grand
falconer, and a thousand subordinate persons in his
train ; and that the emperor often carried a hawk
on his hand to let fly at any game which might
present itself, which were usually pheasants, par-
tridges, cranes, or quails.

It is generally supposed that this mode of hunt-
ing originated in Scythia, and that it passed from
thence to the northern parts of Europe. Tartary
is even at present celebrated for its fine breed of

IIAWKWEED, 319

falcons; and the sport is in such general esteem,
that, according to Olearius, there was no hut but
what had its eagle or falcon ; for even the king of
birds may be trained to hunt, and they have fre-
quently been used for the chase of the roebuck, the
antelope, the wolf, the fox, and other animals that
are fleet of foot. Such is the swiftness of the
stronger kinds of the feathered race, that it is re-
corded of a falcon belonging to a Duke of Cleve,
that it flew out of Westphalia into Prussia in one
day ; and in the county of Norfolk a hawk has
made a flight at a woodcock near thirty miles in an
hour.

Scahger asserts, that he saw a falcon belonging to
Henry, King of Navarre, strike down a buzzard, two
Avild geese, divers kites, a crane, and a swan. Thus
we cannot be surprised that men in early days should
avail themselves of the assistance of these birds of
prey in procuring food for themselves ; and that it
w^as a practice of great antiquity there can be no
doubt — for, although it does not appear to have
been practised by the early Greeks or Romans, on
account of the first devoting themselves to the arts
of agriculture, and the latter to that of war, yet
their authors mention it as the custom of other
countries. Pliny tells us, in his Natural History,
that in a part of Thrace beyond Amphipolis the
inhabitants used hawks to catch birds ; and this

320 FLORA HISTORICA.

appears to have been more a practice of necessity
than amusement. He mentions that the men beat
the woods, bushes, and reeds, to spring the game,
Nvhen the liawks flew over them, and beat them to
the ground, so that they were easily taken by the
hand. And that the hawks were properly trained in
those days, we learn from his stating, that, during
the season for hawking, these birds would give the
falconers signs, by their manner of cry and flying
together, that there was good game abroad, and
thus draw them to the field.

Falconry seems to have continued in high repute
in England, till about the time of the Usurpation,
after which it gradually declined ; but so late as
the reign of James I. it was pursued with such
ardour, that Sir James Monson is said to have given
a thousand pounds for a cast of hawks, which was
an amazing sum, when we take into consideration
the value of money in that day.

We have been led into this digression by having
lately witnessed the revival of this ancient recrea-
tion. But to return to the plant that has, by its
name, called forth these brief remarks on the sports
of our ancestors.

We have no less than eighteen native species of
this genera of plants, and Martyn mentions thirty-
seven exotic species, most of which are regarded
as weeds. M. Pirolle mentions another specie?.

HA\VK\VEED. 321

under the title of Hieraclum Eriophonim, which,
he says, grows in the sands, on the borders of the
sea near Bourdeaux and Bayonne, and is a very
beautiful flower, although it has not yet found its
way into the gardens of either the amateur or pro-
fessional florists. The species generally cultivated in
the English parterre, is \\\q Auranticumy or Orange-
flowered Hawkwecd, frequently called Golden
Mouse-ear, and Grim the Collier, when it varies
with a dark-coloured flower ; for this species sports
considerably in colour, some plants producing red,
and others a bright orange, or pale yellow, flowers.
This creeping perennial plant grows from one to
two feet in height, and has an agreeable rustic ap-
pearance when in flower, which continues from
Midsummer to the end of Autumn. It grows na-
turally in Scotland, and is also a native of France,
Switzerland, Austria, and Silesia.

It is propagated by parting the roots in the spring,
or by seed, which should be sown in March, on a
border with an eastern aspect. The young plant
will be ready for transplanting in June: they
prosper best in a substantial soil, free from dung ;
for when the earth is either richly manured, or too
moist, the plants are apt to perish in the winter.

This species of Hawkweed may be planted in
clumps to divide China Asters, or other flowers,

P 5

322 FLORA HISTORICA.

Tvliose height and colour is calculated to create har-
mony with these orange-coloured blossoms ; but,
from its rusticity, it seems better calculated for the
foreground of the shrubbery than the parterre.

AUTUMN.

AUTUMN,

Autumn, nodding o'er the yellow plain,
Comes jovial ou.

TiioMSoy.

And you— in gay variety that grace,

In later months, with heauty the parterre,

Making a sunshine in the shady place.

As Una and her milk-white lamb were there.

Batiton.

Ik the baronial days of our ancestors, Flora seldom
leno-thened her reign in these realms beyond the
end of the summer months ; but since floriculture
has been so justly appreciated as one of the most
refined and rational amusements for the leisure
hours of peace and tranquillity, the fair goddess has
been pleased to continue her smiles on this happy
island throughout the year.

In the history of the plants which we have to
describe under this season, it will appear that nearly-
all the flowers which grace the autumnal parterre
have been borrowed from warmer climes, and,
through the art of our florists, have been naturalized
and made to flourish in this northern part of the
globe, so as to lengthen the appearance of summer

326 FLORA HISTORICA.

by the gaiety they give to the pleasure-grounds,
and thus detain Flora in the open garden, until

The radiant ruler of the year

At length his wint'ry goal attains,
Soon to reverse the long career,

And northward bend his steady reins.

The Floral Queen then holds her court under the
crystal temples that her numerous votaries have
erected for her security against the attacks of
Boreas.

'Tis a bower of Arcadian sweets,

Where Flora is still in her prime,
A fortress to which she retreats,

From the cruel assaults of the clime.

AVhile earth wears a mantle of snow.
There Pinks are as fresh and as gay

As the fairest and sweetest that blow
On the beautiful bosom of May.

The beauties of autumn formerly consisted of
the change which then takes place in the tints of
the foliage of trees and plants. Akenside says-
Autumn tinges ev'ry fertile branch
With blooming gold and blushes like the mom.

To these beauties is added the glowing colours
of ripened fruits, which have called forth the lively
effusions of the poets of all ages. Horace observes,
in the Fifth Ode of his Second Book,

Aiitumn soon, of various dyes.

Shall with kinder warmth arise,

Bid the livid clusters glow, ,

And a riper purple show.

AUTUMN. 327

Donne tells us, in poetical numbers,

No spring or summer's beauty hath such grace,
As I have seen in one autumnal face.

Pope seems equally to have regarded these grand
•changes of nature ;

Not the fair fruit that on yon branches glows
With that ripe red th' autumnal sun bestows.

And since to these numerous autumnal dyes
which nature throws over the plants of our country,
we have added the brilHant colours which the sun
bestows on the plants of China's flowery vales, and
the more gaudy beauties of African shores, toge-
ther with the vivid tints of the flowers of Columba''s
land, we may safely exclaim, in the words of
AValler,

No, not the bow, which so adorns the skies.
So glorious is, or boasts so many dyes I

328 FLORA HISTORICA,

HOLLYHOCK. Alcea Rosea.

Natural Order Columniferce. Malvacece, Juss. A
Genus of the Monaddphia Polyandria Class.

From the nectaries of Hollyhocks

The humble bee, e'en till he faints, will sip.

H. S^IITH.

The cultivation of this magnificent Eastern plant is
of great antiquity in this country. Its noble size,
majestic height, and splendid flovvers, could not fail
to attract the attention of our earliest collectors of
exotic plants ; and although we cannot state the
time when the Hollyhock was first brought to this
country, it was certainly much earlier than the date
mentioned in the Hortus Kewensis, or any other
modern work on plants that we have been able to
consult. Dr. Turner speaks of it as a familiar
plant in his w^ork, dated 2kh June, 1564; -, and
Gerard, in 1597, observes that it was then sown in
gardens almost everywhere.

The derivation of the English name of this
flower may be traced to the Saxon language, the
old name of Holy oak being the same as Holihec.

Mortimer retains the old name of Holyocks for

HOLLYHOCK. 329

these plants, in his work on husbandry, as late as
the year 1707, wherehi he says, " Ilolyocks far
exceed Poppies for their durableness, and are very
ornamental.'"' Turner spells it Holyhock ; and
Gerard, and after him Parkinson, call it Ilolli
hocke.

The French, who consider this plant as a native
of Syria, call it by several different names, as Rose
tremiere, Rose cVoutre-mer, Rose de mer, Rose de
Damas,

Botanists have named it Alcea, from the Greek
word A>.xr/, on account of its supposed medicinal
strength in curing the dysentery, &c., for which it
was formerly held in great repute.

In floral language the Hollyhock is figured as
the symbol of Fecundity, and its extreme fruitful-
iiess seems to justify the device.

These plants grow naturally in various eastern
parts of the globe. It is common in China, from
whence the seeds of the tall, as well as the dwarf,
Hollyhock have been frequently received. Phny
speaks of this flower in the fourth chapter of his
twenty-first book, where he describes it as a rose
growing on stalks like the Mallow; and Miller
says he received seeds of these plants from Istria,
where it was gathered in the fields; but these
seeds produced single red flowers only, whereas
from the seeds procured from Madras he raised

330 FLORA HISTORICA.

plants with double flowers of many different co-
lours.

A late traveller in Africa says, the Hollyhock is
also a native of the Marootzee country, where he
found it oTowino: wild amontr the rocks around
Kurrecchane ; but these appear to have been only
of a yellow colour.

Linnaeus ascribes the Hollyhock to Siberia ; and
as we have at different times received seeds from
all the various places where it grows naturally,
we have not only procured all the varieties which
these countries produce, but by bringing them
together into one spot, so that the several kinds
have been impregnated by each other, we have
procured a greater variety in their colours than is
to be found in any one country where it grows
spontaneously. ]\Iany of the colours of these
flowers have been changed by accidental circum-
stances ; and that the corollas have become doubled
by the art of cultivation, there can be doubt in the
mind of the florist who has regarded the formation
of the flower. Miller says, although the varieties
of the double Hollyhocks are not constant, yet
where the seeds are carefully saved from the most
double flowers, the greatest number of the plants
will arise nearly the same as the plants from which
they were taken, both as to their colour and the
fulness of their flowers, provided no plants with

HOLLYHOCK. 331

single or bad colours are permitted to grow near
them. Therefore, so soon as any such appear,
they should be removed from the good ones, that
their farina may not spread into the other flowers,
which would cause them to degenerate.

We have but few flowers that contribute more
to the embelhshment of large gardens than the
Hollyhock, although their hardy nature and easy
propagation have rendered them so common that
they are much less regarded by the generality of
florists than they deserve, since it yields to no
flower for the grandeur and beauty of its appear-
ance, as well as the great variety of its colours,
which embraces all the shades of the Rose, from
the palest blush to the deepest carmine : and from
a pure white the yellows are equally numerous,
until they reach to the richest orange, from which
the colour is carried on to a dark chesnut. Others
are dyed of a pale reddish purple, running up to a
black.

The noble stalks which these plants send up,
like so many floral banners garnished with roses,
render the Hollyhock particularly desirable for
ornamenting the borders of plantations, and for
giving gaiety to the shrubbery in the later season
of the year, since it generally contuiues its suc-
cession of flowers until the frost warns the floral
goddess to depart.

332 FLORA HISTORICA.

The florist who is possessed of taste will not reject
the Hollyhock because it so familiarly flourishes
in the rustic gardens of the cottagers, as it will be
found^ equally appropriate for the decoration of
the most princely grounds, if properly dispersed
and grouped, so as to give cff'ect, and receive
assistance from other plants ; for it readily dis-
plays its eastern splendour, whilst many of the
exotic plants, that are so eagerly sought after, show
that they are

Borne from their native genial airs away,
That scarce can their tender bud display.

The tall Hollyhock is not adapted for the small
parterre, — its aspiring height befits it for a nobler
situation, and it rises with a degree of dignity
from amongst clumps of flowering shrubs that is
not excelled by any plant whatever. But to give
full effect to this flower, they should be planted
in clumps of from five to ten plants, according to
the size of the grounds ; and each of these clumps
should be formed of one colour, contriving to have
a clump of the darkest-coloured flowers between
two plantations of the paler colours. Where the
grounds are very extensive, clumps of mixed va-
rieties may be admitted, but these never tell so
well in the perspective as a mass of a single colour.
It considerably adds to the beauty of these plants
when they are so placed as to appear emerging

HOLLYHOCK. 333

from among dwarf shrubs, where the lower part of
the stalks are obscured. They must not be planted
too near each other, as every stem of flowers
should be seen distinct ; and when they require
support, they should each have a separate stake —
for when several are pressed together, the flowers
have not room to display their beauty, and they
take a stiff* and unnatural appearance, instead of
that careless freedom which constitutes the beauty
of all plants.

Yet in this wild disorder art presides,
Designs, corrects, and regulates the whole,
Herself the while unseen.

Masox.

The vulgar planter, who has no idea of the
beauty of perspective gardening, frequently plants
his Hollyhocks in rows ; this is one of the errors
never seen in nature, and has as bad an effect in
the garden as a straight line of Lombardy Pop-
lars in a plantation, or a long rank of soldiers
painted in a landscape picture.

The Hollyhock may be planted so as to orna-
ment the bounds of gardens, by forming clumps
at the angles and at irregular distances near the
fence, so that they do not form a straight line, for
such an arrangement would only make the limits of
the ground more conspicuous. For small gardens,
or where the situation is much exposed to the

334 FLORA HISTORICA.

winds, the dwarf Hollyhock is the most desirable ;
and when some of these are planted in front of the
taller kind, it adds considerably to the beauty of
the group. AVhen the children of the lower classes
of society have become more civilized, and their
parents sufficiently enlightened to instruct them in
their duty, so that their amusement may not con-
sist in idly destroying what cannot benefit them,
but materially injures their more polished neigh-
bours, the Hollyhock will be planted in the hedges
of our fields, and the whole appearance of the coun-
try be much improved by relieving the uniformity
of the generality of fences. Considerable benefit
would, at the same time, be received by those
cottagers who have the prudence to give attention
to the hive, — since the late season at which the
Hollyhock flowers, gives the bees an opportunity
to make a second season for collecting their sweets ;
and when a wet or cold summer has impoverished
the hive, or brought sickness into the swarming
community, these autumnal flowers will afford
them relief, and give them strength to endure the
winter, which is also considerably shortened by
these flowers enabling them to subsist without fall-
ing on their store at too early a season .

The ancients attended their bees with so much
care, that the hives were conveyed in the night to

HOLLYHOCK. 335

distant spots abounding with such plants as afforded
the most honey * ; and surely it is easier to plant
flowers for the bees than to take the bees to the
flowers. These industrious insects have peculiar
claims on the care of the peasantry, since they stray
into the grounds of the wealthy, where, without
committing devastation or fraud, they obtain trea-
sure for their master ; and are therefore a kind of
licenced flock, which feed at freedom, without the
fear of giving offence or receiving imprisonment,
for they neither break down fences nor transgress
against the laws.

It may be stated that the demand for honey is
much less than in ancient times ; but we would ask
if both the honey and the wax do not bring as
good a price as formerly ; and bees, therefore, as
well deserving the attention of the poor now, as
they w^ere at any former period ? We have fre-
quently remarked that where the hive has been
seen ^in the cottage -garden, the inhabitants seem
possessed of more domestic comforts than those
who neglect to secure a swarm of bees ; and we have
known several industrious families entirely clothed
by the profits which they obtained from the sale of
their honey and wax.

The Hollyhock is also likely to hold a higher

* See Sylva Florifcra, vol. i. p. 157; and Cultivated Vege-
tables, vol. ii. p. 330.

336 FLORA HISTORTCA.

rank in rural economy than that of feeding bees.
For some years past it has been known that a good
strong cloth may be made from the fibrous bark of
the flower-stalks of this plant and in the year 1821 ;
about two hundred and eighty acres of land, near
Fhnt, in Wales, were planted with the common
Hollyhock, with the view of converting the fibres
of this plant into thread similar to that of hemp or
flax. In the process of manufacture, it was dis-
covered that the plant yields a fine blue dye, equal
in beauty and permanence to the best indigo. This
important discovery cannot fail of producing bene-
ficial consequences, both in a commercial and agri-
cultural point of view.

The receptacles containing the seed of these
plants should be collected when ripe in dry w-eather,
and placed in situations where they will receive no
damp during the winter : these may be sown about
the middle of April, in beds of light earth, from
■which the young plants may be removed when they
have six or eight leaves each, into nursery beds,
placing them about tw^elve inches from each other,
observing to water them, should the season be dry,
until the plants have taken root : they should be
then kept free from weeds until October, when they
may be planted out where they are to remain. AVe
have sometimes been successful in sowing the seeds
as soon as they are ripe in the autumn ; and by

HDLLYIIOCK. 337

planting them out early in tlie spring, liavc obtained
flowers a year sooner than could be })rocured horn
the spring sowing.

The flower-stalks of the choicest varieties of
Hollyhocks should be cut down to the earth when
the beauty of the flowers is decayed, for if suffered
to mature the seed, it frequently impoverishes the
plants so much that they decay during the winter;
and a single stalk of these emblems of fecundity
will yield sufficient seed for a larrre oarden.

VOL II.

538 FLORA KISTORICA.

SUN-FLOWER. Helianth

LUS.

Katural Order Compoutce. Oppositlfolice, Conjmhiferce^
Juss. A Genus of the Sy?igenesia Polygamia Frus-
tranea Class.

Uplift, proud Sun-flower, to thy favourite orb
That disk whereon his brightness loves to dwell ;
And as thou seem'st his radiance to absorb,
Proclaim thyself the garden's sentinel.

Bartox.

This Peruvian plant has been named Helianthiis,
from HXior, the sun, and avQor, a flower, because
its magnificent corolla bears a resemblance to the
great luminary of day ; and on this account it was
used in the religious ceremonies of the ancient
Peruvians who worshipped the god of day, — the
virgins, who officiated in the Temple of the Sun,
being crowned with the Helianthus, made of purfe
gold, and wearing them also on their breast, and
carrying others in their hands, which, reflecting the
rays of their deity by the brilliancy of the metal,
formed an effect of the most imposing grandeur.

The Spaniards, mIio were amazed at this display
of gold, were still more astonished when, in IVIay,
they saw the fields covered with these flowers,

SUN-FLOWER. 339

which had been so closely imitated by tlie artificers
of the New AVorld, that the precious ore appeared
less admirable than the workmanship in the eyes of
these rapacious conquerors.

The Sun-flower is made the emblem of false
riches, because gold of itself, ho\\iever abundant,
cannot render a person truly ricli. It is related of
Pytlieus of Lydia, that, possessing valuable mines
of gold, he entirely neglected the cultivation of his
lands, which naturally became so unproductive as
not to afford the common necessaries of life. His
wife, who showed herself possessed of as much
good sense as wit, at a banquet supper which
Pytheus had ordered to be prepared, directed
that all the dishes should be filled with gold in
different shapes and states instead of viands. On
the removal of the covers this ingenious woman ex-
claimed to the guests, " I set before you what we
have in greatest abundance, for we cannot reap
what we do not sow." This lesson made a proper
impression on the mind of Pytheus, who acknow-
ledged that Providence distributes her various
riches like a tender mother, who has love for all
her offspring, however numerous.

The gaudy Sun-flower naturally brings to mind
the enormities which the treacherous Spaniards
committed on the plains where this plant springs
spontaneously, led on by the most ravenous appe-

Q2

340 FLORA HISTORICA.

tite for plunder, and commanded by that blind
bigotry and superstition which darkened the Old
World in those days. Those infatuated pillagers
attempted to enlighten the unfortunate heathens,
>vho, in the simplicity of their hearts, poured out
their adorations to the sun as the grandest object
which their imagination could conceive. And their
glaring and favourite flower will ever remain as a
memento of the folly of those who attempt to in-
spire the ignorant v.ith an idea of pure religion
through the assistance of craft and cruelty.

Had the Spaniards returned to Europe loaded
with plants and seeds^ which would have been an
excitement to industry, instead of gold and precious
stones, which naturally lead kingdoms as well as
individuals, to voluptuous idleness, the Spanish
nation might at this period have been one of the
most w^ealthy and happy kingdoms in Europe^ in-
stead of being impoverished by pride and depopu-
lated by dissension.

The first mention we have of the annual Sun-
flower in this country is by Gerard, who notices it
in the year 1596, under the name of *' The Flower
of the Sunne, or the Marigolde of Peru." He tells
us, that it had grown to the lieight of fourteen feet
in his garden at Holborn, producing flowers that
measured sixteen inches over ; and he adds, that in
Spain this plant has been known to reach the height
of twenty-four feet.

SUN-FLOWER. 341

The French call this Hower Sole II and Tourncsol,
from a vulgar error that the blossoms turn to the
sun, whereas the flowers branch out on all sides of
the plant, and those which face the east at the open-
ing of day never turn to the west at the close of it,
although our poet of the Seasons evidently was ot*
the popular opinion that the Helianthus flower re-
gularly turned to the sun.

"Who can unpitying- see the flowery race,

Shed by the morn, their new-flush'd bloom resign

Before the parching beam ? So fade the fair,

"Wlien fevers revel through their azure veins.

But one, the lofty follower of the sun.

Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves

Drooping all night, and, when he warm returns,

Points her enamour'd bosom to his ray.

Moore introduces the same allusion in his Irish
Melodies : —

As the Sun-flower turns to her god when lie sets
The same look which she turn'd when he rose.

These poetical ideas seem borrowed from Ovid's
transformation of Clytia : —

But angry Phoibus hears, unmoved, her sighs.

And scornful from her loath'd embraces flies.

All day, all night, in tractless wilds alone

She pined, and taught the listening rocks her moan.

On the bare earth slie lies, her bosom bare.

Loose her attire, dishevell'd is her hair.

Nine times the morn unbarr'd the gates of light,

As oft were spread the alternate shades of night, —

So long no sustenance the mourner knew.

Unless she drank her tears, or suck'd the dew :

3.42 FLORA HISTORICA.

She turn'd about, but rose not from the ground,
Turn'd to the sun still as he rolPd liis round ;
On his ))right face hung her desiring eyes.
Till fix'd to earth she strove in vain to rise.
Her looks their paleness in a flower retain'd.

From hence it has been surmised that '' the jealouse
Clytia gave her yellowness and attitude to the Sun^
flower."

The annual Sun-flower is unfit for the small par-
terre, but when planted amongst shrubs or young
trees, or on the borders of woods, its imitative suns
shine to advantage. It is a flower we recommend
to the notice of the young students in botany, since
its great size will enable them to understand the
class and order in which it is placed better than any-
other plant of the same class.

Linnaeus adopted the term Syngenesia for this
class of plants, from aw^ together, and yevEcriV, a
generating, meaning to generate together ; and as
it includes all the compound flowers, from the mo-
dest Daisy to the gay Dahlia, it forms one of the
most interesting classes. It contains a natural order
of plants perfectly distinct from any others which
the vegetable creation presents to our view ; con-
sequently, their arrangement in the artificial system
of the illustrious Swede is peculiar to themselves.
This class could not be defined by the number of
stamens and pistils, since all the numerous genera
contain the same, which made it necessary to find

SUN-FLOWER. 348

other cliaractcrs in the flowers so as to form tlie
bases of subdivision. For this purpose Linna?us
adopted the polygamy, or intermixture of the sexes
in the florets.

The characters of the class Syngenesia being of
a decidedly different nature from other flowers may
be easily known. It consists, first, in the congene-
ration of the anthers, which is uniform through all
its numerous genera ; and, secondly, that more than
one floret is always contained in each calyx ; this is
sufficient to determine any plant to belong to the
19th class, Syngenesia.

The Sun-flower, more particularly the single one,
presents you with a clear idea of the class and order
to which it belongs, since you see the parts on a
large scale. The common receptacle supporting
all the numerous florets on its surface, each of these
florets are^ in fact, a separate monopctalous flower,
having within itself the parts necessary for the for-
mation of seed.

These numerous florets arc surrounded by a ray
of petals, whose office is to protect the whole of the
interior assemblage of flowers, as the houses of a
city are surrounded by a wall. This flower is
placed in the third order or division of the class
Syngenesia, and which order is named Polygamia
Frustranea, because the florets of the margin next
the petals are neuter, that is, containing neither

344 FLORA lilSTORICA.

Stigma nor anthers — which is expressed by the
term Trustranea, from fnistra, to no purpose. The
florets of tlie disk or centre of the flower are bisexual,
containing a pistil headed by a divided stigma,
termed bipartic, which is surrounded by five
anthers. Each of these florets is succeeded by a
seed ; and so numerous arc the florets in a large
sino'le Sun-flower, that Barchin tells us he has
known them contain 2362 seeds in one flower.
The more double this flower becomes the less seed
it produces, as it becomes double by the change of
the tubular into ligular florets, like the petals in
the ray, only smaller.

The seeds of the Sun-flower when peeled have a
taste similar to sweet almonds, and from their oily
nature they are excellent food for fattening domes-
tic poultry ; but it is with difficulty they can be
preserved from the ravages of the sparrovr, who
cats them with the greatest avidity, leaving the re-
ceptacle like an empty honeycomb.

In the United States of America the Sun-flower
is cultivated on a large scale, for the purpose of
preparing oil from the seeds, which is good-tasted,
and fit for salads, and all the purposes for vvhieh
olive-oil is used. The whole plant, and particularly
the flower, exudes a thin, pellucid, odorous resin,
resembling Venice turpentine.

For ornamental purposes the seed should be

SUN-I'LOWliR 345

saved from the? largest and most double flower?,
-which will be found on the top of the principal
stem, those on the side branches being smaller, and
frequently having abortive seeds. When the seeds
are ripe, the heads should be cut off with a part of
the stem, and hung up in a dry airy place for a
few weeks, when they may be rubbed out and put
into bags or boxes until the time of sowing, which
is durinc: the month of March.

The seed should be sown on a bed of common
earth, and when the plants are about six inches
high they may be removed, with a ball of earth to
their roots, and planted where they are to flower ;
but we prefer setting the seeds where they are to
remain, as the plants are generally finer than thos2
that have been removed.

This showy flower is a general favourite with
rustic gardeners, which is thus noticed by Clare
in his '' Village Minstrel:" —

And Sun-flower planting for their gilded show,
That scale the window's lattice ere they blow ;
Then, sweet to habitants within the sheds,
Peep through the diamond panes their golden heads.

The Perennial Sun-flower, Helianthus Multl-
forus, is a native plant of Virginia, and is of long
standing in our gardens, since it is both described
and figured in Gerard's Herbal, who observes that
lie had never seen the seed. The Perennial S un-
ci o

34G FLORA HISTORICA.

flower rarely produces seeds in England, but it is
easily increased by parting the roots, and is by
far the most desirable kind for ornamenting the
shrubbery, since it continues to give out a multi-
tude of flowers from the inonth of July to the end
of October. This plant is remarkable for not being
affected by the smoky atmosphere of London, and
is one amongst the small number of plants that will
flourish in our overgrown capital.

The tuberous-rooted Helianthus, or Jerusalem
Artichoke, has already been noticed at some length
in the first volume of the History of Cultivated
Vegetables. America has afforded us eleven other
species of the Helianthus, which are seldom culti-
vated excepting in botanical gardens.

CHINA ASTER. 847

CHINA ASTER, or CHINESE STAR-
AVORT. Aster Chinensis.

Natural Order Compositi Radiati. Corymbifcrce airJ
Radiati, Juss. A Genus of the Syngaiesia Poly-
gamia Siiperjlua Class.

As from a cloud his fulgent head
And shape star, bright appeared.

The numerous family of radiated flowers were
named Aster, from the Greek 'Ao-t-^^, a star. The
French call this autumnal flower Reine Marguerite^
Queen Daisy, and not Queen Margaret, as it is
generally translated, Marguerite being their name
for ^' the Star-like Daisy." The Chinese generic
term for this flower is Keang nam fa.

The European parterres are indebted to the
missionary. Father dTncarville, for the gay robe
which this various coloured flower throws over
them, during the latter months of Flora's reign, — •
he having sent the seeds from China to the Royal
Garden of Paris about the year 1730, where the
plants produced only simple flowers of one uniform
colour, but which, through cultivation and change
of soil, soon became both so doubled in petals, and

318 FLORA HISTORICA.

various in colours, that it now forms one of the prin-
cipal ornaments of the flower-garden from July to
November.

Mr. Miller tells us that he first received the seeds
from Paris in the year 1731, from which he raised
some plants with red and others with white flovrers :
in the year 1736 he procured seeds of the blue va-
riety, but these were all single flowers. In 1752,
lie received seeds of the double flowers, both red
and blue ; and in the following year Dr. Job Baster,
of Zirkee, sent him seeds of the double white sort :
since which time the varieties have been infinitely
increased by means of some kinds being impreg-
nated by the farina of others ; and thus we are pre-
sented svith party-coloured flowers in red and white,
blue and white, purple and white, pink and purple,
two reds, two blues, and all the changes that
these colours are capable of producing, — on which
account the China Aster is made the emblem of
variety.

The Cliinese display a taste in their arrangement
cf these star-formed flowers, that leaves the British
florist far in the background. Even our most curi-
ous amateurs have yet to learn what effect these
plants will produce by their gay corollas when care-
fully distributed by the hand of taste.

Let the imagination picture a bank sloping to a
piece of water, covered with these gay flowers, so

CHINA ASTER. 349

disposed ibat they I'ival the riehest patterns of the
carpets of Persia, or the most curious figures tliat
the artist in tillaaree can devise — see these reflected
in the liquid niiri-or below, and some idea of the en-
chanting ajipcarancc which these brilliant stars are
thus made to produce in the gardens of China may
be conceived.

In no part of the globe is the culture of plants so
generally understood as in Great Britain, but we
pay too little attention to the manner of disposing
flowers in orcneral. After havlno^ raised them with
the greatest care, they are frequently planted in the
most careless manner, and without the least attention
to general harmony or design of any kind. A vacant
spot is to be filled, and no thought is given how the
colour of one flower may be made to assist or di-
minish the lustre of the neighbouring plants. This
is a matter of chance ; and as well might we expect
to see a beautiful picture produced by throwing a
quantity of gay colours promiscuously on a pannel,
as expect a good arrangement of flowers without
trouble or attention in their planting.

When the seed of the China Aster cannot be de-
pended on as to what coloured flower it may pro-
duce, the plants should be kept in a nursery-bed
until the first flower is expanded sufliciently to as-
certain its hue; and then with a transplanting spade
they may be removed to such parts of the parterre

350 FLORA HISTORICA.

as Ave wish to embellish by cany particular hue, or
to sites where we intend to display the art of group-
ing colours. These plants should be allowed suffi-
cient room to extend their branches, but at the same
time be planted so near to each other as to hide the
earthy and form but one mass of flowers ; and they
may generally be planted on

The spot where spring its earliest visit paid :

for by the time these annuals require transplanting,
most of the early flowering bulbs will have been
taken out of the ground.

It is recommended to preserve the seeds from
the flowers of the centre or principal stem only, as
the flowers on the lateral branches are never so
large or so double, and consequently produce in-
ferior plants. This seed should be sown in the
spring, en a warm border, or upon a gentle hotbed ;
and when the plants are about three inches high,
they should be removed to a bed of rich earth,
where they may be transplanted at six inches' dis-
tance from each other every way, and kept shaded
from the sun and properly watered until they have
taken root. In about five weeks they may be again
removed to the parterre where they are to flower :
but in this last removal, it is necessary to take them
up with a good ball of earth about their roots ; and
it is desirable that this last removal should be per-

CHINA ASTER. 351

formed in rainy wcatlier, wliicli will prevent their
being checked by transplanting. The French gar-
deners remove the China Asters with a transplanter,
sucli as is used to remove Tulips in flower. The
Chinese frequently keep them in pots until they
begin to flower, and by this means are able to place
them out so as to form an elegant distribution of
these floral stars.

The bow of Iris ma}^ be imitated by planting
these flowers in regular shades, but this must be
on a large scale and on a sloping ground, or the
effect will be trifling. It may be performed in plant-
ations of young shrubs, before they have acquired
a size to cover the ground, as the crescent being in-
terrupted or broken in its progress by the shrubs
will rather contribute to than lessen the effect. The
upper side of the bow should be finished by a line
of yellow jMarigolds.

We particularly recommend an abundance of the
China Aster to be planted in the shrubbery, since
no flower forms so good a contrast with the autum-
nal tints of trees and shrubs as these emblems of
variety.

The young botanist w^ill observe, by comparing
this flower with the Helianthus, that it agrees in
having the florets of the disk bisexual, but differs
in those of the radius or margin, which are fur-
nished with a stigma only, but which are made

352 FLOEA HISTORICA.

fertile by die pollen of the centre florets ; and hence
it is placed in the order called Pohjgamia Super-
flua. The marginal florets of the China Aster are
usually ligulate; but we have lately had a beautiful
variety introduced, consisting entirely of f[uilled
florets.

DAIII.TA. 3J.?

DAHLIA. Dahlia.

Natural Order Corymhiferes. A Genus of the Syngc-
ncsia Polygamia Supcrjlua Class.

This splendid addition to our autumnal parterres
was unknown to the Old World until the year
1789? when it was first sent to Spain from Mexico,
where it grows wild in sandy meadows. It was
introduced to this country by the late Lady Bute,
who procured it from INIadrid in the same year
that it arrived from America ; but either through
a want of care or judgment in the cultivation, these
plants were entirely lost to our gardens until seeds
were re-introduced by Lady Holland, in the year
1804. It is singular that this distinguished flower
should have been twice introduced to this country
through the ladies of two of our distinguished
statesmen ; and that the first introduction should
mark the year when France became revolutionized,
and the second that wliich saw Napoleon made
Emperor of the French nation. From these inci-
dents we present the Dahlia as the emblem of in-
stability.

The Dahha was but little known in England

354 FLORA HISTORICA,

until after the year 1814, when the peace enabled
our nurserymen to obtain an additional supply both
of roots and seed from France, where the cultiva-
tion of these plants had been more attended to than
in this country. The Count Lebeur, at Paris, and
M. Otto, at Berlin, were the principal foreign
amateurs who cultivated the Dahlia previous to
1809. In that year M. Smetz, of Antwerp, pro-
cured a few tubers of these plants from Paris,
which were the first seen in that neighbourhood;
yet, by the superior mode of treatment, the Ant-
werp Dahlias were those most eagerly sought after
in the French capital, in less than eight years after
they had been known in the Nettherlands. But it
was left to English capital and perseverance to
illuminate the northern part of the globe by the
full brilliancy of these floral luminaries, which now
shine as conspicuously in our groves as gas in our
towns; and the Dahlia-mania of the nineteenth
century, although less dangerous in its effects, has
not been less general than the Tulipomania by which
our ancestors of the seventeenth century were so
much affected.

The ingenuity of the florist has never appeared
more conspicuous than in the treatment of this
Mexican plant, as through their art these flowers
have had their petals doubled and quadrupled, until
they have become as full as the China Aster or the

DAHLIA. 355

Rose Ccntifolia ; whilst their colours have even
been more increased than their petals, and display
a richness which rivals that of the gaudy Tulip, or
the finest tints which the silk-dyer is able to give
to the glossy velvet.

The most beautiful varieties of this flower have
been raised from the seeds of the single purple
Dahlia ; and so numerous are the kinds already
become, that some of our nurserymen offer more
than two hundred varieties for sale.

The more curious kinds are increased by two
different modes; first, by cuttings, which should be
taken from the root shoots in the spring, or from
young shoots in the early part of the summer : these
-when cut smoothly off in the middle of a joint are
to be planted in hght sandy earth on a moderately
hot bed, and covered with glasses. The top leaves
of the cuttings should not be removed when planted.
These cuttings form tubers and produce flowers
during the autumn.

The second mode of increasing choice Dahlias is,
by grafting the shoots of valuable plants on the
tubers of the roots of more common kinds. Florists
are indebted to Mr. Thomas Blake, gardener to
James Vere, Esq. of Kensington-Gore, for this
ingenious discovery, which he made known to the
public through the Transactions of the Horticul-
tural Society of London, in August, 1821. Mr,

356 FLORA HISTORICA.

Blake says, " not being able to procure plants of
double Dahlias, but having opportunities of obtain-
ing cuttings from my brother gardeners, I was
induced to try the experiment of grafting them, in
preference to striking the cuttings, which is a tedi-
ous process. I first attempted it last year, but
began too late to succeed well ; for unless the nev/
plant form eyes for the succeeding year, it is nothing
more than annual; and the work must be done
early, to effect this object. In the present season,
I have succeeded beyond my most sanguine expec-
tations.

'' The cutting intended for the graft should be
strong, and short-jointed, having on it two or more
joints, or buds ; it must be also procured as soon
in the season as possible : when obtained, select a
good tuber of a single sort, taking especial care
that it has no eyes : with a sharp knife (for a dull
edge would mangle the fleshy root, make it jagged,
and so prevent a complete adhesion) cut off a slice
from the upper part of the root, making at the
bottom of the part so cut a ledge whereon to rest
the graft. This is recommended, because you cannot
tongue the graft as you would do a wood shoot ;
and the ledge is useful in keeping the cutting fixed
in its place while you tie it. Next cut the scion
sloping, to fit, and cut it so that a joint may be at
the bottom of it, to rest on the aforesaid ledge : an

DAHLIA. 35t

union may be effected without tlie ledge, provided
the graft can be well fixed to the tuber, but the
work will not then be so neat. It is of advantage,
though not absolutely necessary, that a joint should
be at the end of the scion, for the scion will occa-
sionally put forth new roots from the lower joint :
the stem is formed from the upper joint ; I there-
fore procure the cuttings with the two lower joints
as near together as possible. After the graft has
been tied, a piece of fine clay, such as is used for
common grafting, must be placed round it: then
pot the root in fine mould, in a pot of such a size
as will bury the graft half way in the mould : place
the pot on a little heat in the front of a cucumber
or melon frame, if you chance to have one in work
at the time ; I prefer the front, for the greater con-
venience of shading and watering which are re-
quired. A striking glass may be put over the
graft, or not, as you please. In about three weeks
the root should be shifted into a larger pot, if it be
too soon to plant it in the border, which will pro-
bably be the case; for supposing the work was
began in March, the plant cannot go out till the
end of May, so that the shifting will be very essen-
tial, to promote its growth till the proper season of
planting out shall arrive."

J. Sabine, Esq., recommends that the seeds of
the Dahlia *' should be collected in September

358 FLOR\ HISTORICA.

from the dwarf plants, where no preference exists
on other accounts, and from semi-double flowers
when double varieties are chiefly desired. Per-
haps seeds obtained from those particular florets of
the disk which have altered their form, may have
a o-reater tendency than others to produce plants
with double flowers. Sow in INIarch, or earher,
on a heat of 55" or 56" ; the young plants to be
pricked out, if necessary, in pots, and kept in a
moderate temperature, say 50° or 55'', till the end
of April. Now plant out where they are to re-
main, covering each plant at night with an empty
pot for some weeks, to avoid injury from frost. If
in a compartment by tliemselves, plant in rows
three feet wide, and at two feet distance in the row^
Seedlings thus treated will blow in July, and con-
tinue in perfection till the autumn; but the first
frost takes the same effect on the Dahha as it -does
on the potato and kidney-bean. A blow may be
prolonged by planting in large pots, and removing
early in autumn to the green-house."

Dahhas should be planted in open situations,
and in a rich loamy soil, or in a mixture of vege-
table mould and white sand, as a dry soil suits
these plants better than a retentive or wet earth.

The full grown roots of Dahlias should be
planted early in April, on the spots where they
arc to flower ; and when the season is cold or frosty,

DAHLIA. 359

a little litter or an empty fiowcr-pot should be
j)laced over the roots. To procure au early flow-
ering of these plants, they should be planted in
large pots, and kept in frames or a green-house
until May, when they may be turned out into the
quarters of the garden. The roots of the Dahlia
should be taken out of the ground when the frost
has affected the foliage and branches ; and they are
best preserved by placing them in casks or boxes,
and then covering them with sand, so that they
may not become so dry as to injure the vegetating
principle; but they must by no means be kept
moist : these boxes or casks may be placed in any
out-house or building that will protect them se-
curely from frost.

When the roots are not taken out of the earth,
the stalks should be cut off when the frost has ren-
dered them unsightly, and a quantity of litter
placed over them for protection.

The Dahlias most admired are those which
throw out their branches like a shrub, and are
prolific of flowers having short peduncles : the
blossoms should be clear and distinct in colour
and fully expanded. They are unfit for the small
parterre, from the height and size which they gene-
rally acquire ; and they have the best appearance
when planted on lawns forming clumps distinct
from any other plant. These clumps may consist

360 FLORA lilSTORlCA.

of from five to twenty plants each, according to the
size of the grounds ; and M'hen the roots are taken
up, the spot may be re-turfed or filled with early-
flowering bulbs.

The Dahlia is better calculated to ornament
laro-e grounds than to embellish small gardens,
since its bold and brilhant corollas fit it for the
former situation, whilst its great size and want of
perfume are objections to its admission into the
small garden ; and notwithstanding the vivid co-
lours which these flowers present, and the high
estimation they are now held in, we do not consider
it a flower that is likely to hold a long reign in the
realms of fashion.

The roots of these plants are used as an aliment
by the Mexicans, but they are not yet become
agreeable to European palates.

The name of Dahlia was bestowed on this plant
in honour of Andrew Dahl, a Swedish botanist.

Only two species of these plants are yet known
to us, and doubts are entertained whether these
may be considered sufiiciently distinct to be so
divided, since they are separated by wavering
marks. The Frustranea, or Barren-rayed, appears
however to be a more slender plant, and has nar •
rower foliage and smaller flowers than the Super-
fiua, or Fertile-rayed Dahlia.

In examining the florets of the latter kind of

DAHLIA. 361

Dahlia, it will be seen that the filaments of the
stamens are elastic, which, by extension, admit of
the anther being protruded above the floret by
the impulse of the stigmas from within ; as, charged
with pollen, they advance to their station through
its five-valved membrane, w^hich opposes their
outlet at the summit, withdrawing the same to its
place when these hare passed. Thus, in flowers of
the same class and order, we find novelty in the
action of their minute parts that cannot fail to
inspire the inspector with delight and admiration.

VOL. II.

3^2 FLORA HISTORICA.

AFRICAN MARYGOLD. Tagetes Ereda.
FRENCH MARYGOLD. Tagetes Patula.

Katural Order Compositce Oppositifolia. Corymhiferm,
Jiiss. A Genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Su-
perjiua Class.

As wands of divination downward draw,

And point to beds where sov'reign gold doth grow.

Dryden.

The generic name of these Mexican flowers is
said to have been derived from Tages^ a grandson
of Jupiter, who first taught the science of augury
and divination, to the twelve nations of the Etru-
rians, who from hence became so celebrated for
their pretended knowledge of omens and incanta-
tions. But as Tages could not have taught the
use of plants peculiar to lands which the gods
themselves had not visited, we think the name
badly adapted, unless the Spaniards pretend that
they were instructed through the arts of Tages to
seek for the precious metal in fields covered with
these golden flowers ; and this will be as readily
believed as that the species call French Marygolds
became first stained and marked with a dark red

AFRICAN MARYGOLD. 3C3

by the blood of the unhappy Mexicans whom the
insatiable Spaniards slew in their own peaceful
fields.

M. Pirolle tells us, and with a greater degree
of probability, that these flowers were called Ta-
getes, from the Greek tacjc', meaning principality,
which shows the rank these plants held in the par-
terre.

The Tagetes appear to have been introduced
into this country as long back as the year 1573,
and we conclude that they were called French
Marygolds from our having first received the seed
from France. Gerard says, the African Marygold
was first obtained " when Charles, the first Empe-
rour of Rome, made a famous conquest of Tunis ;
whereupon it was called Flos Aphricanus, or Flos
Tiuiefensis.''' But as these plants do not grow
naturally in Africa, we may conclude that they
were first received in Spain from South America
about the time Charles returned from the coast of
Africa ; and in compliment to that monarch for
having given liberty to twenty-two thousand
Christian slaves^ they were called African Mary-
golds.

The French call the larger kind Grand (Fillet
cVInde, Great Pink of India, and Rose d''Lide, In-
dian Rose ; and Tagetes Patula they name Petit
(Fillet d'Inde, the Little Pink of India.

E 2

364 FLORA HISTORICA.

Thunberg, who visited Japan about the year
1775, for the purpose of making discoveries in
botany, tells us that these plants are cultivated by
those jealous and cautious islanders ; and Loureiro
notices that the Tagetcs is also cultivated in China,
Cochin- China, and many parts of India ; but he
remarks that it is not indigenous in those countries.
Hernandez mentions it as a native of Mexico, in
his history of that country ; and the plants of the
Tagetes, which flowered in the Eltham garden as
long back as 1727, were raised from seeds sent
direct from Mexico.

The students of botany will find these plants
placed in the Second Order of the Nineteenth Class
of Linnaeus''s Sexual System, on account of the
flowerets of the disk being bisexual, and those of the
radius containing only female organs ; whereas those
of the Mary gold, Calendula, stand in the fourth
order of the same class, the flowrets of the disk in
the latter containing only anthers, and those of the
margin only stigmas. The Mexican flower also
differs fj'om the European Mary gold in not closing
its petals at night, a gift of nature so frequently
noticed by our poets : —

The Mary-budde that shutteth with the lif^ht.

CllATTERTOy.

Tlie Marygold, that goes to bed with tlie sun,
And with him rises weeping.

Shakspeare.

AFRICAN MARYGOLD. 365

See the day is waxen oltle,

And 'gius to shut in with the Marygold.

W. Brown.

It is remarked by Linnaeus, that the Marygold
usually opens its petals about nine in the morning,
and closes them again at three in the afternoon ;
but we observe that it depends more upon the state
of the atmosphere than on the hour of the day.

Keats says —

Open afresh your round of stan-y folds,
Ye ardent ]Marigolds !
Dry up the moisture of your golden lids.
For great Apollo bids.

The African and French IMarygolds usually
begin to flower in July, and continue to give out a
succession of blossoms until the branches are de-
stroyed by frost ; on which account they are con-
sidered rather an autumnal than a summer flower.
When judiciously planted, they add consider-
ably to the gaiety of the parterre during the later
months of the year, the tall African Marygold
forming a brilliant background to clumps of China
Asters, or displaying its golden corollas amongst
the evergreens of the shrubbery 3 whilst tlie more
richly painted petals of the Tacjetcs Patula, or
French Marygold, is well calculated to contrast
with the blue or purple stars of the Aster, since no
plant displays a richer colouring of carmine and
gold.

3G6 FLORA HISTORICA.

The French Marygold sports considerably in
varying its corolla, some being single, semi-double,
quadruple, or full, as the Rose Centifolia; whilst
Flora seems to have given the petals as many
changes as can be wrought in two gay colours, — one
flower displaying petals of a rich carmine, slightly
edged with gold ; others exhibiting yellow flowers,
so fancifully striped or dashed with crimson, that it
is difficult to find two plants with flowers alike.

These flowers have only their gaiety to recom-
mend them, since their odour is more offensive than
agreeable, and may be compared to those persons
who depend more ^on their wardrobe than their
conduct for making themselves agreeable : w
therefore present them as emblematical of vulgar
minds.

These showy annual flowers may be raised by
sowing the seeds on a warm border in the open
garden ; but the more certain method of procuring
fine plants is to sow the seed in the beginning of April
upon a moderately hot bed, and when the plants
are come up they should have sufficient air, to pre-
vent their being drawn up weakly. When they are
about three inches high they should be transplanted
on a second bed, very moderately heated, covering
them over with mats, to screen them from the sun
and the winds, until they have acquired strength,
observing to give them water in dry seasons. In

AFRICAN MARYGOLD. 3G7

May they will be ready for removal into the par-
terre ; and in doing this they should be taken up
with a ball of earth about the roots, so as to check
the growth as little as possible. Should the earth be
dry at this time, it would be desirable to water the
bed about an hour before the young plants are
removed, so as to make the soil adhere.

It is desirable to have a considerable number of
these plants, as well as China Asters, in pots, as a
reserve, to be plunged into any part of the grounds
that may be deficient of autumnal flowers.

The seed of the Tagetes should be collected, not
only from the finest plants, but from the centre
flowers of the principal stems only. The varieties of
the African Mary gold are very subject to change ;
so that unless the seeds are procured from the finest
flowers, they are more apt to degenerate than the
French INIarygold ; and Miller recommends that
the seed should have a change of soil every second
year, so as to keep the varieties in perfection.

368 FLORA HISTORICA.

GOLDEN ROD. SoUdago.

Natural Order Composltce Discoidece. Corymhiferce^
Juss. A Genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Su-
perflua Class.

In golden armour, glorious to behold.

Nor shines the silver moon one half so bright
Through the transparent bosom of the deep.

The generic name of this plant is derived from
solidare, soUdando vulncra, or in solidum ago, *'I
consolidate," from its supposed efficacy in healing
■wounds ; and so highly did our ancestors esteem it
for this and other medicinal properties, about the
middle of the sixteenth century, that it ranked
amongst the most expensive drugs. Gerard ob-
serves, at the end of that century, *' It is extolled
aboue all other herbes for the stopping of blood in
sanguinolent vlcers and bleeding wounds, and hath
in times past been had in greater estimation and
rcgarde than in these daies 3 for, within my remem-
brance, I haue knowne the drie herbe which came
from beyond the seas solde in Bucklersburie, in
London, for halfc a crownc an ounce. But since
(says the same author) it was founde in Hampsteed

GOLDEN ROD. 363

wood, cucn as it were at our towncs end, no man
will giue halfc a crowne for an hundred weiglit of
it ; wliicli plainly settcth foorth our inconstancie
and sudden mutabilitie, esteemino; no lonocr of
any thing (how precious soever it be) than whilst it
is strange and rare.'*

The use of this plant has been much commended
by ancient medical writers, as a remedy against
the disorders of the stone and gravel, &c.

A case is related in the Gentleman's Magazine,
for February, 1788, of the efficacy of a decoction
made with this plant in the stone. A boy, ten
or eleven years of age, after taking a decoction or
infusion of the Golden Rod for some months, voided
great quantities of gravel, with many small stones,
and after that fifteen larger stones, from three-
fourths of an ounce to an ounce and a quarter,
besides fifty or more not smaller than a large pea.
It is frequently called Woundwort, from its vul-
nerary character.

It is not, however, used in modern practice,
either in this country or on the continent; and we
will therefore drop its generic title, and speak of it
as the Golden Rod of the garden, which name it
obtained from the colour of its diminutive and nu-
merous flowers, which form spikes at the end of
each spray of the plant. It is also called Aaron's

11 o

370 FLORA HISTORICA.

Rod. The Hortus Kewensis enumerates thirty dif-
ferent species of this plant, one of which is indige-
nous to England, one a native of Wales, and one
has been found on the Pyrenees; the remainder
all belong to North America.

The Canadian Golden Rod, Solidago Canaden-
sis, was first introduced to our gardens in the year
1648 ; but as this species seldom exceeds more
than two feet in height, it is not so much sought
after as the taller kinds, which give a rustic gaiety
to the shrubbery during the autumnal months,
and is, therefore, well adapted as an ornament to
cottage-gardens and rural grounds, where its spikes
of multitudinous yellow flowers produce an agree-
able effect interspersed with dark evergreens, or
forming a background to banks of China Asters :
it also contrasts well with the lilac colour of the
Michaelmas Daisy.

These plants are increased by parting their
roots, which should be done in the autumn, as soon
as their flowers are past, or early in the spring,
before they begin to send up shoots. It is one
of the plants we recommend to ornament the
banks of lakes and rivulets, where its pliant golden
rods appear to great advantage when reflected in
the water.

AVe do not find this plant noticed in the hiero-

GOLDEN ROD. 871

glyphics of floral language, and have therefore
placed it as the emblem of precaution, since nature
seems to have guarded the nectar contained in
these little flowrets by enveloping them in a silky
down, by which they are shielded from the ravages
of the bee.

372 FLORA HISTORICA.

JNIEADOW SAFFRON. Colchicum Autumnale.

Katural Order Spaihacece. CoUhicacece, Juss. A
Genus of the Hexandria Trigyjiia Class.

Shakspeare says, in his play of Cymbeline,

One that's sick o' th' gout, had rather
Groan so in perplexity, than be cured
By th' sure physician Death.

To such sufferers we therefore address our history
of the singular plant which has been named Col-
chicum, from its growing so abundantly in the vi-
cinity of Colchis, a city of Armenia, celebrated for
its numerous poisonous plants, and as the birth-
place of Medea.

It is thus noticed by Horace in the thirteenth
ode of his second book,

Or temper- d every baleful juice

AVhich poisonous Colchian glebes produce.

Fabulous history informs us that this autumnal
flower owes its origin to some drops being spilt, in
the fields, of the magic liquor which Medea had
prepared to restore the aged iEson to the bloom
and vigour of youth ; and on this account the Col-
chicum was anciently regarded as a preservative
against all sorts of maladies.

MEADOW SAFFRON. 373

Could wc divest the tales of anti(|uity of their
fabulous dress, we should find them all explanatory
of real events, and not the mere ideas of poetical
imaginations : perhaps we should then discover
that ]\Iedea having relieved JEsou from a fit of the
gout, his subjects celebrated her praise as having
restored this monarch to youth and sprightliness.
As Medea is sometimes called Colchis, we will sur-
mise, for the consolation of our gouty friends, that
it was the Colchicura that relieved yEson from his
infirmities ; and we will also hope tliat they may
derive similar benefit through the aid of their me-
dical friend, assisted by the virtues of this powerful
plant. Most of our superstitious notions, how -
ever ridiculous they now appear, originated, in the
first instance, from some reasonable opinion ; and
thus, because the Colchicum was a remedy against
one complaint, credulity magnified its powers as a
sovereign antidote. The Swiss peasants tie the
flower of this plant around the necks of their
children, with a firm belief that it will render them
invulnerable to all diseases.

The Colchicum is thought to be the same root
as the Hermodactylus of the ancient physicians,
which, after having been entirely diregarded for
many generations, is now again become an important
article in the Materia Medica. It was for some
time employed in the form of a concealed medicine

374 FLORA HISTORICA.

under the name of Eau Medicinale, which attracted
great attention by its success in relieving the gout
and rheumatic affections of the joints, but which has
also frequently taken an injurious effect upon the
constitutions of some persons : it appears, therefore,
to be a medicine that should be only applied by
the most cautious practitioners ; for the Colchicum
is unquestionably a poisonous root, and its delete-
rious effects are to be dreaded until the precise
dose is more accurately ascertained than it seems
generally to be at this time. ]\Ir. Waller observes,
in his account of this plant, that one great cause of
this difficulty is the extreme affectation of simplicity
in the modern practice of pharmacy, and the dis-
like of practitioners for what they consider compli-
cated prescriptions. It is, however, a fact, that ve-
getable juices brought in contact with each other do
undergo a chemical change ; and a compound is
produced very different to what might be expected
from a mere mixture of the two. This fact has
been long known to the wine and cider makers, who
are well aware that there is a very considerable dif-
ference between the mixture of two different wines
or ciders, and that which results from the mixture of
two juices previous to fermentation. In the former
case, the mixed liquor will partake of the proper-
ties of each ; but in the latter a distinct vanety
will be formed, in which neither can be recognised.

MEADOW SAFFRON. 375

The specific gravity of the juices is also changed,
which proves that a chemical action has taken
place.

We would particularly recommend young medi-
cal students to make themselves acquainted with
the nature of these chemical changes as it regards
the properties of vegetables ; for^ as the most
powerful medicine becomes modified by being com-
bined with other articles, whose action upon the
body is different, the result of certain combinations
cannot be even conjectured without previous expe-
rience. Every medical practitioner knows that the
combination of opium and ipecacuanha produces a
result widely different from either the narcotic pro-
perties of the one, or the emetic qualities of the
other ; and we therefore trust that they will not let
the fashionable rage for simplicity in medicine pre-
vent their studying a preparation of Colchicum,
that may be relied on for a more certain uniformity
of action than any that has hitherto been discovered,
and that may at the same time be more free from
the disagreeable and dangerous effects which too
frequently attend the Ban Medicinale.

The most eminent practitioners of modern times
have acknowledged the extraordinary effects of the
Colchicum in relieving that complicated form of
disease called rheumatic gout ; but they have at the
same time regretted the untractable nature of the

376 FLORA HISTOmCA.

medicine, which is so uncertain in its effects. Mr.
Waller is of opinion that much of this variety and
uncertainty depends upon the season in which the
roots are dug up ; and he recommends the latter
end of April or the beginning of May as the most
desirable time.

By late experiments made on this plant, a pecu-
liar, and hitherto unknown, alkali has been dis-
covered, and in this its principal virtues is thought
to reside, and this, we presume, acts upon the gout
acid, if we may be allowed to give the disease that
appellation, for modern experiments seem to de-
monstrate that the cause of gout in the system is a
peculiar acid.

It now appears that the medicinal virtues of the
Colchicum are not confined to the gout and the
rheumatic affections of the joints only, as Mr.
Haden has lately published a treatise on the pro-
perties of this root as a remedy against the most
decidedly inflammatory cases, such as pleurisy,
pneumonia, and other equally well-ascertained cases
of increased action. This medical author considers
the effect of the Colchicum to be the same as that
which results from the employment of the lancet,
or any other of the mxcans commonly adopted for
lessening' increased action.

o

Mr. Haden generally recommends the root pow-
dered, whilst Mr. Waller thinks the tincture to be

MEADOW SAFFRON. 377

more uniform and certain in its effects ; and some
physicians now give the preference to the flowers,
and others to the seeds : so that every part of the
plant seems possessed of powerfid properties, and
on this account all experiments should be left in tlie
hands of able physicians. Dr. Stork of Vienna
seems to have the credit of havino; restored this
plant to the modern list of Materia IVIedica.

The poisonous properties of this plant seem known
to all animals^ as it were by instinct, since no cattle
will touch it ; the very Iambs fly at its aspect, and
the young shepherdesses of the mountains become
sorrowful when it appears amongst the grass, lest
their playful flock should inadvertently swallow it.
It is no uncommon thing to see these plants stand-
ing alone in pastures, where every other kind of
herbage has been eaten down without a leaf of this
plant being touched. The French give this plant
the appalling name of Tuer Chien, Kill Dog, and
Mart au Chien, which also signifies Dog's Death.

In floral language this flower expresses " ]\Iy
best days are past ;" for, far from inspiring us, like
the Crocus, with joy and hope, it appears to an*
nounce to all nature the loss of the fine days, and
the approach of a cheerless atmosphere. It appears
naked like a sprite amongst flowers, to warn them
of their destiny ; and nature seems to have reversed
its order in some of the characters of this curious

378 FLORA HISTORICA.

plant, which cannot fail to interest the students of
natural history and botany ; and the closer they in-
vestigate the apparent phenomena of the Colchicum,
the more will they be struck with the wonderful ar-
rangements that the all-wise Creator has adapted in
the formation of vegetables, which appear, on a
superficial inspection, to act by contrarieties, whilst
their actions are governed by the most consummate
wisdom. Let us regard the Colchicum as a native
of our moist pastures, and we shall find that its
corolla is sent out of the earth with its parts of
fructification at a season when they have only time
to mature the anthers, that the stigmas may receive
and convey the fecundating particles of vegetable
nature to the numerous empty seed-shells that are
prepared to receive it in the three-iobed capsule.
As the season of the year would not allow the
fruit of this late-flowering plant to ripen so as to
multiply its kind, Providence has so contrived its
structure, that it may be performed at a depth
within the earth out of the reach of the usual effects
of the frost ; and as seeds buried at such a depth
are known not to vegetate, a no less admirable pro-
vision is made to raise them above the surface when
they are perfect, and to sow them at a proper sea-
son. For this purpose the seed-vessels are lodged
in the bosom of the embryo leaves, and are conse-
quently thrust forth with the fohage about the

MEADOW SAFFRON. 379

month of April. By the end of jVIay they are
generally ripe, and the leaves then wither and the
root decays, having finished its duties not only by
its oviparous nature, but by having at the same
time given birth and nourishment to a new bulb in
the earth by its viviparous powers. The new bulbs
take their rise from the caudex at the base of the
flower-tube, and are united by communicating ves-
sels to the old bulb, from the juices of which the
new bulbs extract their nutriment, until the parent-
bulb decays, as is the case in the Tulip. The
Colchicum has generally perfected its new bulb by
the middle of May ; and as no exhaustion has then
taken place in forming either flowers or foliage, it
is natural to suppose that the bulb must be then
possessed of the most powerful medicinal properties.

It was formerly supposed that this plant pro-
duced its seed before its flowers, and for want of
investigation this error gained general belief 3 but
as a knowledge of botany became more generally
known, the impossibility of such a circumstance was
seen, and the natural history of the Colchicum was
then developed.

The bulb sends up a flower in September similar
in appearance to the Purple Crocus, excepting
that it is quite destitute of foliage ; and hence our
peasantry name it the Naked Lady. The flower
is monopetalous, the six deeply-divided segments

380 FLORA HISTORICA.

beinff united to the neck of the corolla, which forms
a lonor tube reachinoj the bulb in which the seed-
vessel is seated, and from whence the three long
styles proceed through the neck of the corolla,
carrying their stigmas to a sufficient height out of
the ground to be matured and impregnated by the
farina of the six anthers, which are also carried up
to the air by being united to the corolla. When the
necessary properties of the farina have been received
by the stigmas, and conveyed to the seed-vessel by
means of the long styles, the flower decays, and
the fruit continues to grow until the spring, when
it is sent out of the ground under the guard of the
four leaves, which afterwards separate, and the seed
soon becomes ripe. Thus this plant, reversing the
accustomed order of the seasons, mingles its fruit
with the flowers of the spring, and its flowers with
the fruits of the autumn.

This poisonous plant is distinguished from the
Autumnal Saff"ron Crocus, by having six anthers
and three stigmas supported on three separate
thread-like styles, whereas the Crocus has only
three anthers, and one style bearing a divided stigm.a ;
both of these plants may be made ornamental to
the parterre in the later months of the year.

The common Colchicum is indigenous to our
moist meadows in many parts of the country, par-
ticularly in Essex and Suffolk. Gerard speaks of

MEADOW SAFFROX. 381

it as being plentiful in his day in the neighbourhoods
of Bath, Shepton Mallet, Northampton, and seve-
ral other places.

For cultivation, the Colchicum bulbs should be
taken out of the ground in May when the leaves
are decayed, and they may be preserved out of the
ground as Tulips and other flowering bulbs ; but
in the early part of August they should be com-
mitted to the earth at about three inches in depth,
forming them into clumps wherever it may appear
desirable to add dwarf flowers. They have the
best effect when springing out of the turf, as the
naked appearance of the flower is not then so con-
spicuous, and the purple or the white corollas shine
to more advantage on the green sward than on the
bare earth. There are several varieties of these
flowers, some being perfectly white, others of a light
or a dark purple, and some that have the petals
striped with white and purple. These varieties
are further increased by the flowers being doubled.
The Broad-leaved Colchicum Byzantinum is a
distinct species that grows naturally in the Levant,
and which appears to have been first introduced
into this country in the early part of the reign of
King Charles the First.

The Chequer-flowered Colchicum Variegatum
was also amongst the flowers that were cultivated
in the parterre of the unfortunate Queen Henrietta

382 FLORA HISTORIOA.

Maria, at her gardens at Edgecombe in Surrey.
This latter species was originally brought from the
Greek Isles; and as it is more tender than the
other kinds it is generally treated as a green-house
plant, and frequently blossoms as late as November,
displaying its beautifully spotted corolla amongst
the latest of Flora's gifts.

The common Meadow Saffron, Colchiciun Au-
tumnale, may be increased by seeds, and treated
in the manner already directed for the raising of
Hyacinths.

MICHAELMAS DA.ISY. 383

MICHAELMAS DAISY. Asfer TradescantL

Natural Order Compositi Radlati. Corymhiferce, Juss.
A Genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Superflua
Class.

This North American Star-wort first assisted to
illuminate the British parterre about the year 1633 :
it having been brought direct from Virginia by
JohnTradescant, jun., who visited the New World
for the express purpose of collecting plants, his
father having founded a garden of the first con-
sequence in those days at Lambeth, and being also
appointed gardener to King Charles the First. Mr.
Tradescant collected the first considerable museum
of Natural History ever formed in this country, and
we find that it was much frequented by the people
of fashion and consequence of his day. Botanists
have named this species Aster Tradescanti, in com-
pliment to his memory; but it has obtained the
more familiar name of Michaelmas Daisy, from
its flowering about that season of the year, and the
corollas being radiated and nearly of the size of the
common Daisy.

384 FLORA IlISTORICA.

This rustic flower adds considerably to the em-
bellishment of the autumnal garden, for its hardy
nature suits it to every soil and situation, and when
left undisturbed for a few years, it sends up such
numerous branches that it bears more the appear-
ance of a large shrub than a flowering herb: on this
account it is admirably adapted to mix in planta-
tions of evergreen shrubs, where its lilac flowers
add as much gaiety in the months of October and
November, as the early-flowering shrubs contribute
towards the beautifying of the spring assemblage.

Of the utility of this American Aster we as yet
know nothing further than that it affbrds the bees a
late and almost a last resource ; and we may con-
clude that these flowers contain a considerable quan-
tity of honey, since we have frequently seen the
corollas so thickly covered with these emblems of
industry, that the flowers seemed to have wings
attached to their petals. Thus the bees have their
season for collecting of sweets considerably length-
ened by the introduction of this and other plants of
the Columbian fields ; whilst we, by retaining the
smiles of Flora on our parterres, lessen the dreari-
ness of the winter months — for previous to the in-
troduction of exotic plants, our floral season ended
much earher than at present : October and Novem-
ber now present us with a variety of gay flowers,
formerly

MICHAKLMAS DAISY. 3S5

All t,'rcon was vaiiishM, save of Pine and Yew,
That still dis{)lay'<l their melancholy hue;
Save the green Holly, with its herries red,
And the green Moss, that o'er the gravel spread.

The gloom of heavy masses of dark evergreens
may be lessened by clumps of the Michaelmas
Daisies ; and they are not the less desirable from
their requiring no further care than that of once
planting them, and one large root may be divided
into so many plants, that the expense of embellish-
ing a large plantation with these flowers is not
more than the price of a single root of some plants
of less beauty, but later introduction.

The Common IMichaelmas Daisy grows from
three to five feet in height, and is therefore not cal-
culated for the small flower-garden, excepting to
form a shelter and background to more tender au-
tumnal flowers. The dwarf variety of this plant
produces smaller flowers, which are of a darker pur-
ple ; this latter kind contrasts well with the Golden
Rod, and may be planted amongst shrubs with a
variegated foliage.

We present these flowers as the happy emblem
of cheerfulness in old age, since like that blessino- it
contributes towards the enlivening of all who com-
pose its circle.

VOL. II.

386 FLORA HISTORICA.

WINTER CHERRY. Physalis Alkekengi.

Natural Order Luridce. Solanece, Juss. A Genus of
the Fentandria Monogynia Class.

The common Winter Cherry > which we occasion-
ally meet with in some obscure part of our gardens^
was formerly held in great repute for its medicinal
properties, but in modern practice it is totally dis-
regarded, and is only allowed the honour of associ-
ating with cultivated plants, from its producing an
ornamental berry similar to the cherry in its ap-
pearance, and from whence the familiar name is
derived. It is the ^uaaXis, Physalis, of Diosco-
rides, from <^v(toc, a bladder, on account of the calyx
being curiously inflated.

This exotic plant has been of long standing in
our gardens ; the Kew Catalogue states as early as
1548, and Dr. Turner mentions it as being com-
mon in 1564. This author writes on it under the
Arabian name of Alkakinge, from whence the spe-
cific title of Alkekengi; he also calls it Halicacahiim
vulgare, and Phissalis. Pliny calls it Halicacahiim,
and Vesicatorium, in allusion to the bladder-shape
of the calyx ; or as some old medical writers ima-

WINTER CHERRY. 387

gined from its supposed virtues against the diseases
of the bladder, for which purpose it was hglily
extolled by the Arabian physicians.

The Winter Cherry appears to have been much
more common in the time of Gerard than at pre-
sent, as he observes, " The Redde Winter Cherrie
growcth vpon olde broken wals, about the borders
of fieldes, and in moist shadowie places, and in most
gardens, where some conserue it for the beautie of
the berries, and others for the great and woorthy
vertues thereof."

This plant grows naturally in many parts of the
South of Europe, Germany, China, and Cochin-
China. The German peasants eat the berries by
handfuls, and they are frequently brought to table
in Spain and Switzerland ; they have an acidulous
and not unpleasant taste, followed by a slight bit-
terness. They are esteemed detergent and aperient,
but are principally recommended as a diuretic,
which is thought to remove obstructions occasioned
by gravel or mucus.

At present the berries are seldom used with
us, excepting to mingle in bouquets of dried
flowers to ornament the chimney-pieces of cottage
parlours.

This species of Physalis is easily propagated
by parting the roots after the stalks are decayed.

S 2

388 FLORA HISTORTCA.

They thrive best in shady situations, but contribute
little towards ornamenting the garden, until the
berry is ripe in autumn, when it assumes all the
beauty of the Cherry in gloss and colouring ; and
hence we make it the emblem of deception.

YELLOW AMARYLLIS. 399

YELLOW AMARYLLIS. AmanjUis Liitea.

Natural Order Lilia or Liliacece. A Genus of the
Hexandria Monogynia Class.

Pride was not made for men ; a conscious sense
Of gnilt, and folly, and their consequence,
Destroys the claim, and to beholders tells,
Here nothing hut the shape of manhood dwells.

M'aller.

In floral language the Amaryllis is made the em-
blem of pride, and the beauty of this splendid
genus of plants makes the name of Amaryllis very
appropriate, as it appears to be derived from the
Greek a/xapypta, or aiAocpvyn, signifying splendour.
Monsieur Pirolle translates it Je brille, I shine^
and perhaps we have no family of flowering plants
more beautifully gay than that of the Amaryllis ;
but unfortunately they all require a temperature a
few degrees warmer than our natural climate, to
enable them to flourish in the open parterre, ex^
cepting the Yellow Amaryllis, which is frequently
called the Autumnal Narcissus, or the Star Lily,
and which grows naturally in the South of France^
Spain, Italy, and Thrace.

390 FLORA HTSTORICA,

This species was brought to this country as long
back as the time of Queen Ehzabeth, as Gerard
teJls us he cultivated it in his garden ; yet it still
continues rare in our parterres, although it is so
desirable a flower to contrast with the Purple Col-
chicum, or Saffron Crocus of the autumn, as it
usually continues in flower from the beginning of
September to the middle of November, provided it
is not planted under the drip of trees or shrubs.
It loves an open situation, and thrives best in a
fresh, light, and dry soil. The Yellow Autumnal
Amaryllis is perfectly hardy, and increases very
fast by its viviparous nature. The season for trans-
planting the offset bulbs is from the end of May to
the end of July, but not later, as they then begin
to send out new fibres, and to disturb theni after
this time will prevent their sending up flowers.
We recommend that the bulbs should not be taken
out of the ground oftener than once in four years?
as they will be found to produce stronger and more
numerous flowers. This is also one of the flowers
that may be planted so as to spring out of the turf
in many situations, and will give a good eflfect to
banks that surround pieces of water.

Although we principally confine these volumes to
the history of such hardy plants as will flourish in
the open garden, we cannot pass over this splendid
genus of flowers without recommending all the

YELLOW AMARYLLIS. 391

more hardy kinds, which only require the assistance
of a frame, to be planted in pots, in order that they
may be sunk in the earth when in blossom, or that
their pride may be displayed amongst the clumps
of green-house plants that are set out of doors dur-
ing the summer months.

For this purpose we mention the Atamasco, the
Jacobea, and Belladonna Lily, as well as the Wave-
flowered Amaryllis, undulata.

392 FLORA HISTORICA.

BEARDED CREPIS, or TURPLE-EYED
SUCCORY-HAWKWEED. Crejns Barbata.

Natural Order Compositce Semijiosculosce. Chichoracece^
Juss. A Genus of the Syngenesia Po!yga?7iia ^qua-
Us Class.

This annual plant, whose flowers so familiarly
spangle our parterres with their purple eyes and
yellow petals, from the month of July to the end
of autumn, grows spontaneously as a ^veed about
Montpelier in France, also in Spain, Italy, Sicily,
and other southern parts of Europe.

It appears to have been first introduced to this
country by Mr. William Boel, in the year 1620;
and it is of so hardy a nature that the finest plants
are generally those which spring from self- scattered
seed, although the usual time of sowing the seed is
not before the spring.

The generic name of this plant is thought to be
derived from Kpr,7rif, the Greek name for sandal,
and probably was so given it by the ancients on
account of the linear leaves which surround the
flower-bud, like the tliongs of a sandal.

We liave given it the specific title of Bearded-

BEARDED CREPIS. 393

Crcpis from the same cause, and the French also
call it Crepidc Barhuc.

In emblematical language we present it as the
symbol of protection, because the flower-buds are
protected by the linear leaves that form the beard.

s 5

,394 FLORA HISTORICA.

RUDBECKIA. Rudbeckia,

Natural Order Compositce Oppositifolice. Corymhl-
ferce, Juss. A Genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia
Frustranea Class.

This genera of plants, of which we have nine
species, are all indigenous to North America ; but
IMiller tells us that he received seeds of one of
the species from Siberia, as well as from North
America: and this justifies what we have fre-
quently noticed in regard to plants, that some
of the genera are generally to be found in the
same latitude of the Old World, excepting in
instances where the altitude of situation differs
materially.

This family of plants was named Rudbeckia,
in honour of Olaus Rudbeck, a Swedish physi-
cian, who founded the botanical garden of Upsal.
His son succeeded him as professor of botany
and anatomy, and afterwards joined Berzelius in
bounding the Swedish academy. The father died
in 1702, and the son in 1740; and as Linnaeus
gave his first lectures on botany in 1730, when

RUDBECKIA. 395

he was only in his twenty-fourth year, it is more
than probable that this great man received a taste
for the science of botany from the foundation that
had been previously laid by his worthy country-
men, after whom this plant is now called in every
part of the world, where the European languages
are known. We have therefore placed it as the
emblem of justice in the Dictionary of Floral
Symbols.

These flowers are placed in the third order of
the nineteenth class of the sexual system, because
the florets of the disk are bisexual, and those of
the margin neuter^ which is conspicuous in the
Rudbeckla Purpurea. This species is a native of
Carohna and Virginia, from whence it was intro-
duced by the Rev. John Banister previous to
the year 1699; and although it is indigenous to
warmer climes, it flourishes in the open parterres
of the British gardens. It rarely, however, ripens
its seed with us, and is therefore propagated by part-
ing the roots either in the autumn or in the montli
of March ; it loves an open exposure, and a light
free earth. The petals of this flower are of a
singular shape, being pendulous and curling in-
wards, having the appearance of so many pieces of
narrow ribbon notched at the end ; the colour is
nearer to a light crimson than to purple. This

396 FLORA HISTORICA.

is t])e second flower which Curtis figured in his
Botanical Magazine. The Rudbeckia Pinnata,
Avhich is a fragrant species, was introduced in 1803,
^nd may be seen figured in the Exotic Botany, plate
thirty-eight. These plants are in flower from Au-
gust to October.

CHINJ'SE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 39

CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. Chrysan-
themum Indicum.

Natural Order Compositce Dioscoide^e. Corymhifercpy
Juss. A Genus of the Syngenesla Polygamia Su-
perfiua Class.

SixcE the Flora of China has poured her autumnal
gifts so abundantly over our parterres, the winter
of our gardens is considerably shortened ; and of
all the flowering plants which that fertile country
has afforded us, none has so much contributed
towards enlivening the dreary months as this fa-
vourite flower of the Mandarins.

In the Chinese language the generic term of
this plant is Kuh fa or Kok fa, and those of the
largest flowers are distinguished by the name of
So ee kok, and the white varieties generally are
called Yok qui lung kok fa. We have given be-
low as many of the Chinese names of the varieties
as we have been able to collect, and which are

398

FLORA HISTORICA.

expressive of some circumstance in the flower or
plant "*.

These singular people have ever been celebrated
for their love of floriculture, and it is sa-id that
they cultivate as many as fifty varieties of this
species of Chrysanthemum, many of which we see
pictured in the representations of their saloons and
trellised virandas ; and, as they are usually painted
as growing in ornamental vases, we naturally con-
clude that the Chinese hold this flower in high
estimation. It is also cultivated with no less
care through the whole empire of Japan ; and the

* Clu-ysantliemuin Indicum.
AVhiie velvet do.

"White silver-needle do.
Yellow do.
Sliining yellow do.
Golden -fringed do.
Golden-feathered do.
Horse's ear yellow do.
Tiger's claw do.
New tiger's claw do.
Dark hrown do.
Tall dark hrown do.
Carnation do.
Cochineal do.
Shining red do.
Red embroidered do.
Tall strong-scented do.
Imperial do.

Pak tseen yong hole fa : this
is agreeable to the pronunciation
of Canton, hut in the dialect of
Pekin we understand the final Jc
is softened in i.

Ngun chuJi pak kok fa.

Wong tot tso kok fa.

Yung shan wong, k. f.

Kum peen^ k.f.

Knmfung moic^ k.f.

Ma yee tvong, k.f.

Fii choiv 2vong, k.f.

Sin too chin, k.f.

Tsoo ling., k. f.

Tsoofung koiv, k.f.

Kgoiv sik keen, k.f.

Ngalaxi'., k.f.
Yung shan hong, k.f.

Hong sou hae, k.f.
Chun hoang kotv, k.f

Yu ee u'ong, k. f.

CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 399

beauty of these flowers is frequently displayed on
the lackered ware for which they are so eminent.

The name of Chrysanthemum is derived from
the Greek j^^i^aoj-, gold, and a)^Qoff a flowcj*, which
was given to this genera of plants, because the
species most familiar to the Greeks produces flowers
of a gold colour. This shows the error of form-
ing the generic name of plants from the colour,
since in one species of Chrysanthemum we have
all the colours of the rainbow ; and thus the white,
the pink, the Hlac, the purple, and the yellow, are
all indiscriminately styled golden flowers.

The Indian or Chinese Chrysanthemum was
introduced into this country as long back as the
year 1764, Miller having received it from Nimpu,
and cultivated it in the botanic garden at Chelsea,
-where it was probably lost through some accident,
as it is not mentioned in the first edition of the
Hortus Kewensis.

It was a second time introduced into Europe by
Monsieur Blanchard, a merchant of Marseilles,
who brought the well-known purple variety from
China to France in 1789, from whence it reached
England in 1795, and being then considered a new-
plant, it was sold at a high price by the nursery-
men in the neighbourhood of our metropolis, until
its easy propagation became known. It is only
within these last few years that its cultivation

400 FLORA HISTORICA.

has attracted the notice of florists in general, Avho
now amply compensate for their former neglect by
present industry in procuring varieties, and skill
in growing them, which is such as promises to
rival even the Chinese themselves. We already
possess about thirty varieties of this ornamental
plant, and we may calculate that in a few years
from this time we shall obtain all the kinds known
in China and Japan. Like the roses of China, the
Chrysanthemums soon escaped from the confine-
ment of the conservatories of the curious, and as
rapidly spread themselves over every part of the
island, filhng the casements of the cottagers, and
the parterres of the opulent with their autumnal
beauties, that now vie with the Asters of their native
land in splendour and variety of colour.

These beautiful vivacious plants have their
branches clothed with a foliage deeply cut, which
is covered with a vegetable wool or flock-like
substance. The general colour is of an ashy
green, similar to that of the foliage of the arti-
choke, although the shades differ considerably in
the varieties, some being much lighter than others :
on the whole, we should pronounce the most fre-
quent colour to be a pale dull green, although when
planted in the open garden the hue becomes of a
more cheerful tint, particularly in the spring, when
it assumes a yellower cast. The varieties differ in

CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 4 01

the shape of their leaves, sonic liaving tlieir scrra-
tures much deeper cut than others, whilst the ends
of the serratures are sharp and pointed, and in
other kinds bluntly rounded. In some of the va-
rieties the foliage is strongly aromatic ; in others,
slightly so, or quite scentless : the flowers vary
equally in this respect, the old Purple or Ruby-
coloured Chrysanthemum being strongly and agree-
ably aromatic. Some of the kinds have a perfume
similar to that of honey, but the odour of the
greater number is like that of the Chamomile flower.
Nature, as if not satisfied in diversifying the
colours of these flowers, has also varied the forma-
tion of the florets, by which the changes are con-
siderably augmented, and the varieties so perfectly
distinct, that the quilled flowers have not at all the
same character and appearance as those with florets
half tubular and half ligulate ; whilst others, that
expand with petals perfectly ligulate or flat, bear a
resemblance to the shape of a China Aster ; and
others, with tubular florets in the centre, and rays
of plain ones in the circumference, give the seducing
form of a beautiful Ranunculus. Some of the
kinds have their florets so disposed in the calyx as
to form a kind of tassel when half expanded ; and
when fully open they remind us of a French pow-
der-puff*, such as was used by the beaux of the last
century.

402 FLORA HISTORICA,

Tlie principal varieties of the White Chrysan-
themum are the silver white, the changeable white,
the quilled white, the tasselled white, and the su-
perb white. In yellows we have the sulphur colour,
the golden yellow, the bufF, the orange, the flame
yellow, the copper colour, and the Spanish brown ;
these also vary in the formation of their florets.
The same varieties take place in the lilac colour ;
and in reds we have them from a pale rose to a rich
crimson : but in the darker dyes we have only seen
the old purple, ruby, or claret colour. A rich
blue would be a most desirable variety, and we re-
commend cuttings of the hlac kinds to be planted
in a soil with a considerable portion of bog or heath
earth, with a hope that it may effect such a change.

The Chinese Chrysanthemum may now be con-
sidered a hardy perennial plant, since it stands the
severity of our winters in' the open garden, unless
it be planted in a wet and cold soil. We shall
therefore first notice it as a contributor to the
beauties of the parterre, and recommend it to be
planted in ample quantities to give effect to the
pleasure-gardens when Flora has withdrawn most
of her other embeUishments. For this purpose it
should be planted in those parts of the grounds that
are sheltered from the north by shrubs, trees, or
buildings, so as to protect the flowers from the
effects of the cutting winds, and it is also desirable

CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 403

that a similar shelter should be given against the
south-west winds. As the winds are less frequent
from the eastern point at the season when the
Chrysanthemum flowers, we have found them re-
tain their beauty longest in spots that have been
open to the south or south-east aspect, although in
mild autumns these plants will flourish in almost
any situation, nor are they particular as to soil, ex-
cepting it be too wet ; but they thrive best in a
light free earth, and are observed to preserve the
colours well in such soil. To increase the size of
the flowers, the earth should be mixed with about a
third part of rotten dung that has been taken from
a melon or cucumber bed ; and if a top dressing of
the same rich manure be given to the plants when
the flower-buds appear, it will greatly contribute
towards enlarging the corollas, particularly if rain
or watering follow.

The Chrysanthemum sends out a great quantity
of fibrous roots, in order to supply the numerous
flowering stems with nourishment — consequently the
earth within its reach soon becomes exhausted :
therefore the plants should not be suffered to flower
more than two years without being removed to
other spots, or having the soil changed, as without
this precaution the blossoms will become small and
poor ; and rather than sufl"er the plants to become
too large, it is best to separate them every year,

404 FLORA HISTORICA.

planting several so near to each other that they
may appear like one clump, without being so
crowded as to affect the roots in their research for
nourishment. The mixing of the different varieties
of colours on one spot is objectionable, since it gives
the effect of some of the flowers being faded ;
therefore, when the clumps are not separated at
some considerable distance from each other, the
colours should be divided by plants of the white
varieties, but the larger the masses of each sepa-
rate colour are, the better will be the general effect.
But to have these plants in the height of their
floral beauties they should be cultivated in pots,
which gives the advantage of our placing them in
the open garden in favourable weather, or dispers-
ing them amongst the plants in the conservatory in
blusterous seasons. The Chrysanthemum is also
well calculated to decorate halls and such parts of
the house where more delicate plants would not
stand in flower ; and when so sheltered it may fre-
quently be kept in blossom until Christmas : —
for this purpose we recommend large plants that
send up several tall stems, and appear like flowering
shrubs ; these necessarily require pots of a propor-
tionable size, and rather broad than deep.

Those who wish to excel in the size of the flow-
ers, cannot do better than follow the plan whicli
the Chinese adopt in their mode of cultivating this
charming flower.

CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 405

During tlic early part of May tliey take cuttings
of the plants about five inches in length, which they
plant in a shady situation, covering them with a
hand-glass until they have taken root, when air is
admitted to strengthen the plants ; and as soon as
they are well rooted they are planted separately
into small pots, and the pots plunged into a border
of earth in an open situation: here they require
frequent watering unless the weather is showery.
About the end of August or the beginning of Sep-
tember, the plants are shifted into larger pots, and
a rich mould given them. They arc continued in
the open air, but not plunged in the earth, and
have frequent nourishment given them by means of
a rich liquid manure, sueh as may be taken from
the drainage of a sewer, stable, or cow-house,
mixed soap-suds, and similar matters; and when
the frost or bad weather comes on, the pots arc
removed into the house, and placed where they
have light and free air, thinning the flower-buds
occasionally, in order to ensure large blossoms. This
mode of cultivating the Chinese Chrysanthemum
has been followed for several years with the greatest
success by Mr. Joseph Wells, gardener to William
Wells, Esq., of Redleaf, near Tonbridge.

Mr. Wells says, " the plants, when treated in
this manner, are very different in their appearance
from the Chinese Chrysanthemums, as usually

406 FLORA HISTORICA.

grown : they have no shoots from the roots, which
allows the strength of the plants to go to the blossoms ;
a single stem rises from the pot, and at the height of
four or five inches branches off into two, three, or
more flowering stems, from one to two feet long,
terminated by large flowers, and covered in their
whole length by vigorous foliage."

The Count de Vaude has had these plants culti-
vated in the highest perfection at his garden at
Bayswater, where they have always been flowered
in pots No. 38, which size seems best suited to the
Chinese manner of growing them. Mr. Loudon
says, in his Encyclopaedia of Gardening, '^ The
true mode of displaying the beauties of this charm-
ing flower is to keep it in pots, and train only one
or three stems erect, and branching regularly on
all sides. All suckers should be removed, and the
side branches, and top or head so arranged and
adjusted by a nice application of black thread or
wires, attached to the main prop, as to render the
figure of the entire plant perfectly symmetrical. If
three stems are not trained, one is better than three,
because it grows stronger; but three are better
than two, which do not compose a whole; and
better than a greater number than three, because,
unity departed from, there is no hmit to irregula-
rity. One and three are unity ; because one is
complete^ and three has a beginning, middle, and

CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 407

end. All possible numbers besides, either fall
short of or exceed unity ; they are therefore irre-
gularities, and irregularities are redundant, infinite,
and unsatisfactory to contemplate, unless there
appears a sufficient reason for departing from
unity.''

In cultivating the Chrysanthemums for the
house, I have found it desirable to grow some of
the strongest plants in large pots, so as to procure
them of the greatest height and size possible, at
the same time pruning off all superfluous shoots :
by this means I procured plants resembling large
flowering shrubs, which proved a great ornament
by the mass of flowers, when either standing in the
house, or when placed occasionally amongst the
shrubs of the open garden. This mode may be
objected to on account of its frequently causing the
lower part of the branches to become bare of fo-
liage ; but this deficiency is not seen when the
pots are placed behind dwarf evergreens ; and
when they are placed on a lawn, or in either the
saloon or conservatory, the large pots containing
the tall plants should be surrounded by the more
dwarf plants, and thus a conical mass of flowers
will be given that cannot be so happily obtained by
any other means. I should therefore particularly
recommend, that some of the tallest-growing varie-
ties should always be planted in suitable-sized pots^

40S FLORA HISTORICA.

SO as to procure the largest plants possible, at the
same time not neglecting the modes recommended
both by Mr. Wells and Mr. Loudon, as this will
give the means of decorating small apartments
during the winter months ; or, if required, produce
an unusual floral effect in the conservatory or festive
galleries.

We do not find that the Chrysanthemum has
been figured in the emblems of floral language,
and we therefore present it as the symbol of cheer-
fulness under adversity ; a blessing which but few
persons possess, yet it is as desirable as it is to find
plants that reserve their beauties to cnhven the
months so adverse to the reign of Flora.

With a hope of being allowed to meet our
friends again, we close the Flora Historica with
the lines of Waller : —

Fade, flowers ! fade ; nature will have it so ;
'Tis but Avliat we must in our autumn do !
And as your leaves lie quiet on the ground,
The loss alone by those that loved them found.
So in the grave shall we as quiet lie,
Miss'd by some few that loved our company :
But some so like to thorns and nettles live,
That none for them can, when they perish, grieve.

INDEX.

Accommodating disposition, the emblem of an
Aconitum ....

its dangerous properties

Adonis ....

African Marigold

Alcea Rosea ....

Amarantlnis ....

•■• Tricolor ....

Candatns

Hypochondriacus

Amaranth, the order of
Amaryllis Lutea

Anibiish, the emblem of .

Anagalli.s ....

Anagrams of the ancients
Anchusa ....

Anemone ....

used l)y the ancients

native species

its cultivation

criterion of a fine

anecdote respecting

Antirrhinum ....
Aquilegia ....
Architecture, the emblem of
Architectural enrichments derived from floorers
Ardour, the emblem of . . .
Arum .....
Dracimculus

Masculatum

\ise of the roots

• ■ ■ medicinal properties ,

VOL. II.

Vol. Page
ii. 153
ii. 122

ii.

123

ii.

202

ii.

362

ii.

328

ii.

229

ii.

2.32

ii.

231

ii.

233

ii.

230

ii.

389

i.

208

ii.

275

i.

64

ii.

291

i.

103

i.

105

i.

100

i.

110

i.

112

i.

114

ii.

161

ii.

118

i.

286

i.

XXI

i.

306

i.

298

i.

301

i.

303

i.

304

i.

306

410 INDEX.

Asclepias

Assignation, the emblem of

Aster Chinensis

Tratlescanti

Astrologer, anecdote of an
Atropa JMandragora

its properties

Auricula ....

the criterion of a fine one

where cultivate! in perfection

its cultivation

Autumn ....

Aversion, the emblem of

Balsam ....

great size of

cultivation of

Bashful shame, the emblem of

Bachelor's-lnitton

Bearded Crepis

Bees, profitable to cottagers

Bell-flowei* . . . .

Bellis ....

Bertram, John, anecdote of

Bindweed ....

Blessed Lady of the Lily, the Order of

Bluebottle ....

Boaster, the emblem of

Botanist, his pleasure in discovering plants

Brooklime recommended as salad

Bugloss ....

Bulbs ....

Calla ....

. its cultivation

Campanula , . . ,

• Persicifolia

IMedium

Pyramidalis

Speculum

Vol.

Page

ii.

305

ii.

278

ii.

.347

ii.

383

i.

278

i.

324

i.

325

i.

203

i.

205

i.

207

i.

208

ii.

325

ii.

48

. ii.

174

ii.

175

ii.

177

ii.

71

ii.

160

ii.

392

ii.

335

ii.

111

i.

34

i.

C7

- ii.

129

. ii.

6

ii.

207

ii.

2C3

i.

253

ii.

269

ii.

291

i.

7

1.

298

i.

300

ii.

in

ii.

11

ii.

113

ii.

114

ii.

110

INDEX.

411

Vol. V

Candy Tuft
Canterbury Uell
Cardamine
Cardinal's flower
Carnation

criterion of a line one

■ ■' ■ cultivation of
Cats, their love of \''alerian
Celibacy, the emblem of
Celosia Cristata

of great size

Centaury

Cyanus

I\Ioschata

Chase, the emblem of the
Cheiranthus

Cheerfulness in old age, the emblem of

under adversity, the emblem of

China Aster

how planted by the Chinese

Chrysanthemum

how cultivated in China

where to be planted

Cistus ....
Vaginatus

Incanus

Clairon, jMademoiselle, anecdote of

Cleopatra, anecdote of

Clove ....

Cock's Comb

Colchicum . . .

its natural history

Columbine . . .

singularities of the flower

. cultivation of

Conjuring-cap, o.rigin of the
Consolation, the emblem of
Convallaria Majalis

- Japonica . , ,
Convolvulus . , ,

i.

-84

ii.

113

i.

:^08

ii.

315

ii.

48

ii.

54

ii.

57

ii.

153

ii.

215

ii.

235

ii.

23f;

ii.

200-

ii.

207

ii.

209

ii.

202

i.

77

ii.

385

ii.

408

ii.

347

ii.

348

ii.

307

ii.

405

i.

xliii

ii.

210

ii.

221

ii.

222

i.

68

i.

XV

ii.

48

ii.

235

ii.

372

ii.

377

ii.

J 18

ii.

111)

ii.

120

i.

277

i.

3

i.

153

T 2

i. 1G2
ii. ]2y

412

INDEX.

Convohnilus Major
, Sepiiiin

Arvensis

Jalapa

, Scammonia

Batatas

Coquetry, tlie emblem of
Cottage-gardens, their advantage to society
Cowslip

wine

medicinal properties

Crepis Barbata

Crocus

»___— flowers in water

. its mode of increase .

Crown Imperial. See Fritillary.

Cuckoo pint

used for starch

flower

Cudweed
Cyclamen

Daffodil

Dahlia

Spanish

where to be planted

how increased

Daisy ....

fabulous history of

ancient use of

why so called

double, proper soil for

where to be planted

Dangerous insinuators, emblem of
Datura Stramonium
Dauntlessness, emblem of
Day Lily

Deception, emblem of
Deceitful charms, emblem of

Vol.
ii.

Page
132

ii.

133

ii.

134

ii.

136

ii.

137

ii.

137

ii.

198

ii.

41

i.

84

1.

87

i.

88

ii.

392

i.

29

i.

31

i.

32

i.

303

i.

304

lii.

308

168

ii.

224

i.

294

i.

90

i.

92

i. 94

,101

ii.

353

ii.

354

i.

34

i.

42

i.

43

i.

43

i.

46

i.

46

ii.

134

ii.

281

ii.

84

ii.

198

ii.

388

ii.

281

NDEX.

413

Declaration of love, emblem of

Delicate pleasure, emblem of

Deljthiniiim

Delphinium Grandiflorum

Desire, emblem of

Devil-in-a-busli

Dianthus

. Barbatus

. Chinensis

« Caryophyllus

Digitalis

— — .^ Ambigua . .

Canai'iensis

Lutea

— — — Sceptrum

a modern IMedicine

Disguisement, emblem of

Distinction, emblem of

Dodecatheon

Dog's-tooth Violet

I why so named .

its cultivation

Doronicum

Dudaim, what plant

Dutch artist, anecdote of

Druids, their knowledge of medicinal plants

Early youth, emblem of
Egotism, emblem of
Eloquence, emblem of
Embarrassment, emblem of
(Enothera Biennis

Grandiflora

. Odorata

Epilobium Angustifolium
Erythronium

Americanura

Evening Primrose
Everlasting
Pea

Vol.

Page

i.

135

ii.

85

ii.

100

ii.

103

i.

100

ii.

1.^9

ii.

28

ii.

41

ii.

45

ii.

48

ii.

170

ii.

181

ii.

181

ii.

181

ii.

181

ii.

182

ii.

281

ii.

315

i.

252

i.

257

i.

259

i.

259

i.

311

i.

325

i.

291

ii.

158

i.

48

i.

94

i.

188

ii.

139

ii.

170

ii.

171

ii. 172

ii. 211

i. 257

i. 2G1

ii. 170

ii. 224

ii. 91

T3

414

INDEX.

Everlasting Pea, recommended in agriculture
Extinguish, to, emblematically represented
Extraordinary, emblem of any thing

Faithfulness, emblem of

Falconry

Falsehood, emblem of

False riches, emblem of

Fecundity, emblem of

Felicity, emblem of

Fidelity, emblem of

Finesse, emblem of

Flora, worship of

Floral symbols of the ancients

Flowers, ancient iise of

Avhy they dispose to melancholy

high price of

Folly, emblem of
Forget-me-not

properties of

Fox-glove

its medicinal properties

France, heraldic arms of
French Honeysuckle

3Iarigold

Willow

Fritillary

Persian

common

its cultivation

Fuchsia Coccinea

Vol.

Page

ii.

93

ii.

131

. i.

324

i.

61

ii.

317

ii.

291

ii.

339

ii.

329

ii.

210

i.

77

ii.

43

i.

viii

i.

73

i.

xii

i.

50

i.

142

ii.ll£

,107

ii.

248

ii.

252

ii.

17a

ii.

182

i.

189

ii.

21«

ii.

302

ii.

211

i.

230

i.

240

i.

241

i. 244
ii. 254

GalaTitluis nivalis
Gaming, emblem of
Gardening, love of

, advantages of

Garland of Julia
Gentian
Gillyflower
Globe Amaranth

i. 3

i. IIG

i. XXV
i. xxvii

i. XX

i. 240

ii. 19

ii. 234

INDEX. 415

(Juajuialium

Golden Rod

Goraplireua Globosa •

Gratitude, emblem of

Harebell

roots used for starch

Hawk weed
Heart's-ease

how to be disposed

Hedysarum Coronarium
Heliauthus

Multillorus

Hellebore

ancient use of

superstition respecting

dangerous qualities of

medicinal ditto

Hemerocallis flava
Ilepatica

colour of, changed by soil

how raised by seed

Hesperis

Matronalis

Inodora

Hieracium ...

Hollyhock .

its use in rural economy

Honesty

emblem of . .

Hyacinth

garden

extensively cultivated by the Dutch

criterion of a fine one

nature of its bulb

cultivation of

compost for

loves the sea air

how cultivated in glasses

Hyacinthia, festival of

V.,l.

PaK.

ii.

22 i

ii.

•SOU

ii.

11 :u

ii.

IIG

i

119

i.

121

ii.

31{i

i.

72

. i.

75

ii.

21«

ii.

338

ii.

345

i.

1.3

i.

IG

, i.

la

i.

20

i.

22

ii.

193

i.

24

i.

27

i.

27

i.

315

i.

313

i.

320

ii.

31G

ii.

328

ii.

33f>

i.

273

i.

283

i.

IIG

i.

122

i.

12.3

i.

12G

i.

127

i.

128

i.

130

i.

132

i.

133

i.

117

416 INDEX.

Hydrangea

blue, how produced

how changed in colour

H\'pericum

Iberis

I have lost all, emblematically expressed

Immortal, the

Immortality, emblem of

Impatience, emblem of

Impatiens

Inconstancy, emblem of

Indian Pink . ,

its cultivation

Innocence, emblem of
Instability, emblem of
Iris

used on the escutcheon of France

.- why called Fleur de Luce

-why used on thp mariner's compass

when added to the arms of England

when to be planted

Dwarf

Chalcedonian

Bulbous-rooted

— Florentine

' Afternoon

Pseudo-Acorus

Germanica

Vol.

Page

11.

257

i.

27

i.

27

n.

105

1.

284

ii.

296

ii.

239

ii.

229

ii.

174

ii.

114

. ii.

171

11.

45

ii.

47

i. 34, 61

ii.

353

i.

187

i.

189

i.

189

. i.

190

i.

191

i.

193

i.

196

i.

197

. i.

198

. i.

200

i.

200

i.

201

i.

201

Jalap, from what plant obtained . . ii. 245

Jonquil . . . . . i. 100

. when to be planted . . . i. 101

Justice, emblem of .... ii. 395

Justice shall be rendered you, emblematically expressed i. 290

Knights of the Amaranth, when instituted . . ii. 230

Knight-errantry, emblem of . . . A. 127

Lady's Smock, what flower . . . i. 308

INDEX

Larkspur

liBsting Beauty, emblem of
liastiiifi; Pleasure, emhlem of
Lathyrus Odoratus
Leaves, office of
Leopard's Bane

dangerous properties of .

lieucojum Vernuin

yEstiviim

Autumn ale

Lightness, emblem of
Lily

, Lilium Candidum

, fabulous history of

, use of in heraldry

, used in the wedding ceremonies of the

, where to be planted

, Lilium Bulbiferum

Superbum

Tigrium

, properties of common white

of the Valley

, where to be planted

, medicinal properties of

Lively aiFection, emblem of

Lobelia

London Pride .

Love in a Puzzle

Love lies Bleeding

Lunaria

Lupine

.1 used in agriculture

Lychnis

, double, how cultivated

Magic supposed to be assisted by plants
. prevalent in ancient times

, anecdote respecting
Majesty, the emblem of
Mallow

417

Greeks

Vol

Page

ii.

100

ii.

19

ii.

91

ii.

85

i.

32

i.

311

i.

312

i.

12

i.

13

i.

13

ii.

100

ii.

3,0

ii.

4

ii.

4

ii.

7

ii.

8

ii.

10

ii.

11

ii.

16

ii.

\6

ii.

17

i.

153

i.

157

i.

IGO

ii.

28

ii.

311

i.

206

ii.

138

ii.

231

i.

273

ii.

94

ii.

06

ii.

\6o

ii.

1C7

i.

273

i.

270

i.

278

i.

232

ii.

287

413

INDEX.

IMandrake ...

, superstition respecting

I\Iartagon

Marvel of Peru

JMathiolu ...

May-day, the festival of

Meadow Saffron

I\Iedicine, by whom first taught

, the emblem of

IMichaelmas Daisy
]\Iignonette

, how made perennial

, anecdote respecting

Mild disposition, the emblem of
Blirabilis

IModesty, the emblem of

Monarda . . . •

Monk's Hood

, poisonous qualities

TSl y best days are past, the emblem of
Myosotis ....

Narcissus ....

Minor

Pseudo

Poet's

Polyanthos

fabulous history of

cultivation of .

where to be planted

Nectaries of flowers, obsei-vations on
Neglected Beauty, the emblem of
Never-ceasing Remembrance, the emblem of
Nigella ....
Night-odorous Stock

, its cultivation

Noble Liverwort . . .

None so Pretty

Nyctalopia cured by Hellebore .

Vol.

Page

1.

324

i.

326

ii.

14

ii.

242

ii.

19

i.

X

ii.

372

i.

312

ii.

305

ii.

383

ii.

141

ii.

47

ii.

45

ii.

242

ii.

242

('■

CO

\ ii.

5

ii.

108

ii.

122

ii.

125

ii.

377

ii. 248

i. 90, 94

i.

92

i.

92

i.

96

i.

97

i.

94

i.

99

i.

100

i.

234

ii.

300

ii.

224

ii.

138

i.

315

i.

316

i.

24

1.

266

i.

22

INDEX

419

01«.>tinacy, the emblem of
Opl.iys ' . . .

, wliy so called

Opium, the quantity consumed
Orange Ivily

, singular mode of increase

, anecdote respecting

Orchis

fabulous account of

Ornithogalum

, Luteum

Oswego Tea
Oxlip

Pansy. See IlearCs-Ease.

Paper flower

Paternal Error, the emblem of

Pea, how protected by nature

Periwinkle

, its medicinal properties

, where to be planted

Persicaria ....

Pheasant's Eye

Phlox ....

Physalis Alkekengi

Physicians held sacred

Pim])ernel . . . .

Pink ....

, criterion of a fine one

, cultivation of

Plants, the cause of their change of colour
Pleasures of ^Memory, the emblem of
Peony ....

, fabulous account of

, Moutan

Polygonum

Polyanthos . . . .

, criterion of a fine one

, its cultivation

, how injured . •

'o!.

Page

11.

136

i.

221

i.

225

ii.

19G

ii.

11

ii.

13

ii.

12

i.

215

i.

218

i.

200

i.

271

ii.

110

i.

89

11.

112

i. 309

ii.

87

1.

105

i.

lOG

i.

1G9

ii.

2G4

ii.

203

ii.

271

ii.

386

i.

17

11.

275

u.

28

ii.

32

ii.

37

i.

27

i.

1G8

ii.

70

ii.

71

ii.

75

ii.

2G4

i.

53

i.

55

i.

57

i.

58

420 INDEX.

Poppy

, the seed used In food

, Oriental

, Bracteatum

, Niidicaule

Vol.

Page

. ii.

188

ii.

193

ii.

193

ii.

194

ii.

195

ii.

219

i.

232

ii.

371

ii.

161

ii.

389

i.

48

i.

49

1.

48

i.

84

i.

89

ii.

233

ii.

393

ii.

95

ii.

5

ii.

339

Popular favour, the emblem of

Power, the emblem of . . .

Precaution, the emblem of

Presumption, the emblem of

Pride, the emblem of . . •

Primrose .....

, fabulous history of

Primula .....

, Veris ....

, Elatior ....

Prince's Feather

Protection, the emblem of

Protogenes, aueedote of . • •

Purity, the emblem of * . •

Pytheus, anecdote of . . .

Quick-sightedness, the emblem of . . ii. 310

Ragged Robin ....

Ranunculus ....

, criterion of a perfect one

its cultivation

Reflection, the emblem of

Religious enthusiasm, the emblem of

Reseda Odorata ....

Resemldance, the emblem of

Restoration, the emblem of

Return of happiness, the emblem of

Rocket .....

Rosebay "Willow-herb

Rouge, observations on the use of

Rudbeckia ....

Rustic beautv, the emblem of

ii.

168

i.

173

i.

179

i.

179

ii.

116

ii.

1C7

ii.

141

ii.

270

ii.

264

i.

153

i.

315

ii.

211

ii.

291

ii.

394

ii.

218

INDEX. 421

Salop, of what composed
Saxifrage

Oppositifolia

Umbrosa

Scabious

Sea-pink . . . •

Sessile Trillium

Sickness, the emblem of

Singularity, the emblem of

Snake's Beard

Snowdrop

, how cultivated

Snowflake

Solidago ....

Solomon's Seal

Sop in wine, what flower

Sorrowful Remembrance, the emblem of

Sow-bread. See Cyclamen.

Speedwell

Spring ....

Star of Bethlehem

its cultivation

Statice Armeria

St. John's Wort

St. Catherine's flower

Steel Medicine, antiquity of

Stock ....

— of great size

its cultivation

Stramonium

dangerous qualities of

Summer

Sun-flower

. great size of,

botanical character of

Superstition, the emblem of

Swallow-wort

Sweet-Pea

cultivation of

Sweet-Sultan

Vol.

PaRc

i.

218

i.

2fi4

i.

2fi5

i.

200

ii.

2fjC

ii.

81

i.

2G2

i.

103

ii.

23G

i.

Hj-2

i.

3

i.

11

i.

12

. ii.

3G8

i.

162

ii.

49

ii.

202

ii.

268

i.

1

i.

269

i.

270

ii.

81

ii.

105

ii.

138

i.

17

ii.

19

ii.

21

ii.

24

ii.

281

ii.

281

ii.

1

ii.

338

ii.

340

. ii.

342

ii. lOfi, 159

ii.

305

ii.

85

ii.

90

ii.

209

422 INDEX.

Sweet-scented Tussilago
Sweet-Williani
its cultivation

Tagetes ...

Talent, the emblem of

Tangier-Pea

Taste, the emblem of

Thorn-Apple

Thrift

Thoughts, the emblem of

Throat-wort

Timidity, the emblem of

Trachelium

Tree-Primrose

Tulip ....

■ feast of . . .

why so called

when introduced

for breeders

criterion of a perfect one

soil proper for

season and situation for planting

Tulipomania, when at its height
Turk's- cap Lily
Tussilago Fragrans

Unanimity, the emblem of,
Valerian

its effects on cats

Variety, the emblem of
Vegetation, singular instance of
Venus's Looking-glass
Virginian Cowslip
-■ its cultivation

Veronica . . .

Beccabunga

Spicata

Veronica Longifolia

Vervain

Violet ....

ol.

Page

i.

289

il.

41

ii.

44

ii.

362

ii.

40

ii.

93

ii.

255

ii.

281

ii.

81

i.

73

ii.

300

ii.

243

ii.

300

ii.

170

i.

135

i.

135

i.

137

i.

140

i.

145

i.

14f>

i.

150

i.

151

i.

144

ii.

14

i.

289

ii.

274

ii.

151

ii.

153

ii.

348

i.

223

ii.

116

i.

252

i.

255

ii.

2G8

ii.

269

ii.

270

ii.

270

ii.

155

i.

60

INDKX,

423

Vol.

Violet, falmloiis liistory of

curious iu its nectary

use of iu Turkey

its chemical properties

syrup of, how niade

Dog's Violet

Voraciousness, the emblem of
Vulgar minds, the eml)lem of

AVall-flower

Chameleon

its cultivation

Wake llobiu
Widow's-flower
"Winter.Cherry
Wolfs-bane

Xeranthemum
Youth, the emblem of

1.

Page

i.

«3

i.

OG

i.

69

i.

71

i.

72

i.

an

ii.

!)9

ii.

mo

i.

77

i.

81

1.

82

i.

303

ii.

29«

ii.

38G

ii.

122

ii.

230

ii.

187

LONDON :

Printed by W. Clowes

Stamford-street.

Phillips^ Henr^/Flora historica : or Th

|lllll|ll|IIMl|lllll|

3 5185 00088 6174