FLORA HISTORICA.

FLORA HISTORICA:

OR THE

THREE SEASO

THE BRITISH PARTERRE

HISTORICALLY ASD BOTAXICALLY TREATED:
WITH

OBSERVATIONS ON PLANTING,

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

By HENRY PHILLIPS, F.H.S.

AUTHOR OF U POMARU'M BRITANNICUM," " HISTORY OF CULTIVATED
VEGETABLES," AND " SYLVA FLORIFERA."

Florida quisquam

Hie sibi serta leget nitidis nectenda capillis.

THE SECOND EDITION, REVISED.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
Vol. I.

LONDON :

E. LLOYD AND SON, H ARLEY-STREET.

MDCCCXXIW

+ QK23
v.l

LONDON :

Printed by W. CLOWES,

Stamford Street.

INTRODUCTION.

Bring, Flora, bring thy treasures here,
The pride of all the blooming year ;
And let me thence a garland frame.

SlIEN-STONE.

The interest which flowers have excited in
the breast of man, from the earliest ages to
the present day, has never been confined to
any particular class of society, or quarter of
the globe. Nature seems to have scattered
them over the world as a medicine to the
mind, to give cheerfulness to the earth, and
furnish agreeable sensations to its inhabitants.

The savage of the forests, in the joy of his
heart, binds his brow with the native flowers
of his woods, whilst their cultivation increases
in every country in proportion as the bless-
ings of civilization extend.

From the most humble cottage-garden to
the proudest parterre of the palace, nothing

Vi INTRODUCTION'.

more conspicuously bespeaks the good taste
of the possessor than a well-cultivated flower-
garden; and it may generally be remarked,
that when we see a neat cottage-court well
stocked with plants, the inhabitant is respect-
able, and possesses domestic comfort ; whilst,
on the contrary, a neglected garden but too
frequently marks the indolence, and bespeaks
the unhappy state of the owner.

Of all luxurious indulgences, that of flowers
is the most innocent — they are of all embel-
lishments the most beautiful : and of all
created beings, man alone seems capable of
deriving enjoyment from them, which com-
mences with his infancy, remains the delight
of his youth, increases with his years, and
becomes the quiet amusement of his age.
Every rank of people seem equally to enjoy
flowers as a gratification to the organs of
sight and smell : but to the botanist and the
close observer of Nature, beauties are un-
folded and wonders displayed that cannot be
conceived by the careless attention of the mul-
titude, who regard these ornaments of nature
as wild or savage persons would do a watch ;

INTRODUCTION* vii

they arc dazzled with the splendour of the ca
and the beauty of the appendages, but look
no further, because they know not where to
look. The artist, while he enjoys the exter-
nal covering-, looks into the interior, and as
he regards the movements and learns their
various uses, he is struck with admiration at
the ingenuity of the mechanism. The bota-
nist has the same delight when he looks into
the blossoms of flowers ; for he there beholds
the wonderful works of the Almighty with
amazement — there he sees movements and
regulations, with which all the combined
ingenuity of man cannot compare.

We may learn even from profane history
how much the study of vegetable nature in-
duces the mind to its proper sense of grati-
tude, and how much it created in the breasts
of the heathens themselves a veneration and
religious awe for the Author of all things :
for although they were not blessed with a
knowledge of pure religion, they had too
much good sense to suppose that vegetation
was a matter of chance; and they there-
fore attributed each gift of nature to some

Viii INTRODUCTION.

peculiar god, their minds not being suffi-
ciently expanded to conceive a just idea of
the Deity,, except, indeed, those master
Minds who traced, in the regularity and
uniformity displayed in all organised nature,
the hand of one supreme Creator, and who
adored him under the name of Pan, the
universal spirit.

The worship of Flora amongst the heathen
nations may be traced up to very early days.
She was an object of religious veneration
among the Phocians and the Sabines, long
before the foundation of Rome ; and the early
Greeks worshipped her under the name of
Chloris. The Romans instituted a festival in
honour of Flora as early as the time of Ro-
mulus, as a kind of rejoicing at the appear-
ance of the blossoms, which they welcomed
as the harbingers of fruits. The festival
games of Floralia were not, however, regu-
larly instituted until five hundred and sixteen
years after the foundation of Rome, when, on
consulting the celebrated books of the Sibyl,
it^ was ordained that the feast should be
annually kept on the 28th day of April, that

INTRODUCTION. IX

is, four days before the calends of May.
These prophetic books had a college of priests
appointed to undertake the charge of them,
and were held in such reverence that they
were never consulted but when the state
seemed in danger, and then it was done with
the greatest solemnity.

From the writings of Pliny the Elder, we
learn that the worship of this goddess had
been greatly neglected, and that it was not
until after some unfruitful seasons that the
Sibylline books were consulted, which or-
dained that the feast of Flora should be ce-
lebrated with regularity so as to ensure the
well flowering and kindly shedding of the
blossoms of all species of plants.

Let one great day

To celebrate sports and floral play

Be set aside. Prior.

This festival was introduced into Britain by
the Romans, as we have already noticed in
the Sylva Florifera ; to which we shall add,
that as late as the time of Henry VIII. it
was so much the fashion for the citizens of
London to keep up this ancient custom, by

b 5

INTRODUCTION.

diverting' themselves in the neighbouring
woods and meadows on May-day, that in the
year 1515 it engaged the attention of this
bluff monarch, who, accompanied by his
Queen, and attended by the court, rode a-
maying from Greenwich to Shooter's-hill.

When merry May first early calls the morn,
With merry maids a-maying they do go.

Sidney.

In this morning's excursion, their Majesties
were designedly met by two hundred yeomen,
clad in green, with green hoods, and fur-
nished with bows and arrows, the whole being
under the direction of a captain, named Robin
Hood, who invited his Majesty to stop and
see his men shoot, which they performed with
great dexterity at the sound of their captain's
whistle. Their arrows were so contrived at
the head, that, when flying through the air,
they made a loud whistling noise, that greatly
delighted the royal party, who were after-
wards conducted to the greenwood, and en-
tertained plentifully with wine and venison,
under arbours formed of boughs, and deco-
rated with flowers. — Halts Chronicle.

INTRODUCTION. \j

Shakspeare notices with what eagerness
the pleasures of May -day morning- were en-
tered into in his time :

— ' ■ Tis as much impossible,

Unless we swept them from the door with cannons,
To scatter 'em, as 'tis to make 'em sleep
On May-day morning.

Pope refers to the May-pole in London —

Amid the area wide she took her stand,

Where the tall May-pole once o'erlook'd the Strand.

Of these festivities we have so nearly lost
all remains, that even the dance around the
May-pole is now rarely seen in our villages ;
and were it not for the garlands which the
cottager's children bear from door to door, in
modern dulness, we might outlive the memory
of this ancient festival, whilst in the metropolis
it is totally disregarded, excepting by the
chimney-sweepers, who now usurp this holi-
day as their exclusive right *.

Poets of all ages have sung the joys of this
flowery month. Milton exclaims,

* It is related of the famous wit George Selwyn, that
walking one May-day through the streets of London, and
observing the chimney-sweepers bedizened in all their sooty
finery, he observed to a friend, that M he had often heard
talk of the Majesty of the people, and supposed these were
some of the young princes."

Xii INTRODUCTION.

Hail! bounteous May, that doth inspire
Mirth and youth, and warm desire ;
Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.

In eastern nations flowers and perfumes
have been considered as one of the indispen-
sable enjoyments of the higher classes of
society, from the remotest antiquity. From
those nations the Romans appear to have
borrowed this delicate refinement, and to
have carried it to the utmost excess in their
costly entertainments. They soon began to
consider flowers as forming- a very essential
article in their festal preparations ; and it is
the opinion of Baccius, that at their desserts
the number of their flowers far exceeded that
of their fruits. The odour of flowers was
thought to arouse the fainting appetite, and
they certainly must have added an ethereal
enjoyment to the grosser pleasures of their
banqueting boards.

Flowers were not only used as a stimulus
to the palate, or that two senses might be
gratified at one time, but it was thought that
certain plants and flowers facilitated the
functions of the brain, and assisted mate-

INTRODUCTION. xiii

(tally to neutralise the inebriating- qualities of
wine. Even the warriors did not hesitate to
crown themselves with flowers during* their
principal repast.

Horace, it seems, could not sit down to his
bachelor's glass of wine without his garland.
His lively little ode at the end of his first
book is thus well translated by Francis —

I tell thee, boy, that I detest

The grandeur of a Persian feast ;

Nor for me the Linden's rind

Shall the flowery chaplet bind.

Then search not where the curious Rose

Beyond his season loitering grows ;

But beneath the mantling vine,

While I quaff the flowing wine,

The Myrtle's wreath shall crown our brows,

While you shall wait and I carouse.

The allusion to Persia in this Ode confirms
our idea that the taste for flowers came to
Rome from the East ; and garlands were sus-
pended at the gates or in the temples where
feasts or solemn rejoicings were held, and at
all places where public joy and gaiety were
desired. It was also the custom to place
garlands and festoons of flowers on the heads
of victims, in the ancient sacrifices, at which

XIV INTRODUCTION.

the priests also appeared crowned with
flowers.

Cato, in his treatise on gardens, directs
that they should be planted and enriched
with such flowers as are proper for chaplets
and garlands.

The most celebrated Parisian milliner is
not more eagerly sought after in modern
times than the plaiter of garlands was in the
days of antiquity, if we may judge from the
account which Pliny has handed down to us.
He tells us that the Sicyonians were consi-
dered to surpass all other people in the art
of arranging the colours of their garlands,
and giving them the most agreeable mixture
of perfumes. These people, he informs us,
derived their taste from Glycera, a woman of
such great ingenuity in the art of composing
garlands, as to win the affections of Pausias,
the most eminent painter of his day, who
took delight in copying the wreaths of flowers
which his mistress had formed, whilst Glv-
cera took equal pains to vary her garlands,
so as to put the skill of her lover to the test.
Pliny tells us that some of these paintings

INTRODUCTION. XV

were in existence in his time, particularly
one of high estimation, which was a picture
known by the name of Stephanoplocos,
wherein the artist had painted the fair Gly-
cera braiding chaplets. This picture must
then have been about 460 years old, from
which we may infer that the art of painting-
was in considerable advancement as long
back as 2300 years.

The same author tells us that Mnestheus
and Callimachus, two renowned Greek phy-
sicians, compiled several books on the vir-
tues of chaplets, enumerating such as were
hurtful to the brain, and others that refreshed
the spirits.

We also learn from an anecdote related
by Pliny, that it was a frequent custom
amono; the ancients to mix the flowers of
their chaplets in their wine, when they
pledged the health of their friends.

Notwithstanding the great pains which
Cleopatra took to please and amuse Antony,
it was a considerable time before she could
gain his entire confidence, as it appears he
would never eat or drink at her table without

XVI INTRODUCTION".

causing- his taster first to partake of every
viand, in order to discover if treachery lurked
disguised in the midst of the luxuries of this
subtle Queen. The jealousy of the Roman
General seems to have increased about the
time he was preparing- his expedition against
Augustus, when the artful beauty who had
so captivated the warrior, took the following
device to satisfy him of her true attachment,
and at the same time to ridicule his mistrust
and timid fears. The Queen had a chaplet
of flowers prepared for Antony, the edges of
which were dipped in the most deadly poison,
whilst that which was formed for her own
head, was as usual mixed with aromatic
spices. At the banquet the General received
his coronet of flowers, and when they had be-
come cheerful through the aid of Bacchus,
Cleopatra pledged him in wine, and taking
off the garland of flowers from her head, and
rubbing them into her goblet, drank off the
contents. Antony was following her exam-
ple, but just as he had got the fatal cup to
his lip, the Queen seized his arm, exclaiming,
" Cure your jealous fears, and learn that I

INTRODUCTION. XVU

have not to seek the means of your destruc-
tion,, could I live without you;'' on which
she ordered a prisoner to be brought before
them,, who, on drinking the wine from the
General's goblet, instantly expired in their
presence.

The fondness which the ancients evinced
for flowers was carried to such an excess as
to become almost a vice. When Antony
supped with the far-famed Queen of Egypt,
the floors of the apartments were generally
covered with fragrant flowers ; and when
Nero sat at banquet in his golden house, a
shower of flowers and odorous essences fell
upon him : but Heliogabalus turned these
vegetable beauties into curses, for it was one
of the pleasures of this monster to smother
his courtiers with flowers.

The Italians, who still retain some of the

customs of the Romans, have artificers called
Festaroli, whose office it is to make gar-
lands or festoons of flowers, and other deco-
rations for feasts. The Catholic church still
continues the use of flowers in its religious

ceremonies, as was particularly observed in

XVlil INTRODUCTION.

Rome on the 17th of January, 1798, when
the Pope appointed a solemn procession of
the three most celebrated relics in Rome, to
appease the French government for an as-
sault committed on their ambassador. These
relics consisted of " the portrait of the most.
Holy Saviour, the miraculous picture of the
Santa Maria in Portico, and the sacred chains
wherewith the Prince of the Apostles was
fettered." Previous to the procession, the
streets were strewed with myrtles, and such
flowers as could be obtained at that season
of the year.

The Chinese hold some particular kinds
of flowers in great veneration, especially the
Eukianthus, which they call Too Chong Fa :
its flowers are deemed grateful to the gods ;
and, accordingly, at the commencement of
the Chinese new year, when the plant is
generally in blossom, large branches with
flowers are placed in all the temples as an
acceptable new year's offering.

We find that the admiration of these vege-
table beauties was not confined to the inhabit-
ants of the old world alone, for the Mexicans,

lNTROnrcTlON. xix

says the Abbe* Clavigcro, have, from time
immemorial, studied the cultivation of flowers
and odoriferous plants, which they employed
in the worship of the gods. And flowers
have ever been the favourite embellishment
of the fair in all ages and countries ; and
that they have also afforded popular subjects
to the poets, our copious extracts will prove.

In all countries flowers have been made the
happy accompaniment of bridal parties, as we
have stated in the body of this work : they
have likewise been made the representatives
of regard to deceased friends — thus ornament-
ing alike the joyous altar and the silent tomb.
The Brahma women, who burn themselves
on their husbands' funeral piles, adorn their
persons with chaplets and garlands of sweet*
scented flowers ; and it is also the custom for
them to present garlands of flowers to the
young women who attend them at this terrible
sacrifice.

Flowers formed a principal feature in sym-
bolical language, which is the most ancient as
well as the most natural of all written lan-
guages. We have therefore given their em-

XX INTRODUCTION.

blematical uses; and, as a matter of amuse-
ment to our fair readers, we have devised
emblems for such flowers as were unknown in
the eastern nations, or of which the allegori-
cal relations have hitherto escaped our re-
search.

Having frequent occasion in this history
of flowers to allude to the garland of Julia, it
may not be improper to notice that this cele-
brated manuscript was a piece of ingenious
gallantry of the Duke de Montausier toward
the beautiful Julia de Rambouillet. After he
had gained the promise of his mistress's hand,
he was, according to an ancient custom,
(which in France is still observed,) to send
every morning to his future bride, till the wed-
ding day, a nosegay of the finest flowers of the
season. But he did not stop here : he had
painted on vellum by the best artists, in a
folio volume magnificently bound, the finest
cultivated flowers ; and all the most distin-
guished poets of the day divided amongst
themselves the task of making verses upon
the flowers. The great Corneille wrote for
the Orange Flower and the Everlasting. Julia,

INTRODUCTION. X\i

on the day of her marriage, found this pre-
cious book on her toilet-table. The misfor-
tunes of the French Revolution transported
this interesting- monument of the gallantry of
the seventeenth century to Hamburgh, where
it was put up to sale in the year 1795; but the
purchaser of this combination of poetry and
painting" is not known.

The decorative parts of architecture were
originally derived from flowers and plants.
The Lotus flower presents us with a model of
the principal embellishment of Indian build-
ings, and the palm-tree seems to have given
the first idea of columns to the ancients.
Hiram ornamented the capitals of the cele-
brated pillars which he wrought for Solomon
with Lilies and Pomegranates. The Corin-
thian capital is stated to have been first in-
vented by Callimachus, a famous architect,
who, being engaged to make some pillars at
Corinth, took the form of his enrichment from
the following accidental circumstance : — Pass-
ing a basket, covered with a large tile, that
had been placed on the ground over a root
of Acanthus, the stalks and leaves of which

XX INTRODUCTION.

blematical uses ; and, as a matter of amuse-
ment to our fair readers, we have devised
emblems for such flowers as were unknown in
the eastern nations, or of which the allegori-
cal relations have hitherto escaped our re-
search.

Having frequent occasion in this history
of flowers to allude to the garland of Julia, it
may not be improper to notice that this cele-
brated manuscript was a piece of ingenious
gallantry of the Duke cle Montausier toward
the beautiful Julia de Rambouillet. After he
had gained the promise of his mistress's hand,
he was, according to an ancient custom,
(which in France is still observed,) to send
every morning to his future bride, till the wed-
ding day, a nosegay of the finest flowers of the
season. But he did not stop here : he had
painted on vellum by the best artists, in a
folio volume magnificently bound, the finest
cultivated flowers ; and all the most distin-
guished poets of the day divided amongst
themselves the task of making verses upon
the flowers. The great Corneille wrote for
the Orange Flower and the Everlasting. Julia,

INTRODUCTION. X\i

on the day of her marriage, found this pre-
cious book on her toilet-table. The misfor-
tunes of the French Revolution transported
this interesting' monument of the gallantry of
the seventeenth century to Hamburgh, where
it was put up to sale in the year 1795; but the
purchaser of this combination of poetry and
painting is not known.

The decorative parts of architecture were
originally derived from flowers and plants.
The Lotus flower presents us with a model of
the principal embellishment of Indian build-
ings, and the palm-tree seems to have given
the first idea of columns to the ancients.
Hiram ornamented the capitals of the cele-
brated pillars which he wrought for Solomon
with Lilies and Pomegranates. The Corin-
thian capital is stated to have been first in-
vented by Callimachus, a famous architect,
who, being engaged to make some pillars at
Corinth, took the form of his enrichment from
the following accidental circumstance : — Pass-
ing a basket, covered with a large tile, that
had been placed on the ground over a root
of Acanthus, the stalks and leaves of which

XX11 INTRODUCTION.

had burst forth, and spreading themselves on
the outside of the basket, were bent back
again at the top by the corners of the tile, the
beautiful appearance of this combination so
delighted Callimachus by its elegance and
novelty, that he immediately adopted the
form of the basket surrounded with the
Acanthus, as a capital for his pillars.

Repton observes, that the general forms of
enrichments may be thus classed : — <e The
Gothic are derived from the bud or germ, the
Grecian from the leaf, and the Indian from the
flower; a singular coincidence," says this
British architect, u which seems to mark, that
these three styles are and ought to be kept
perfectly distinct.''

The pagodas of the Chinese seem to us to
have been modelled after the form of some
species of pine-trees.

Of the antiquity of pleasure-gardens we
have already written in the Sylva Florifera ;
but we must now observe, that the luxury of
having- them attached to our dwellings origi-
nated with Epicurus, who first gave the idea
to the Athenians, about two hundred and sixty
years before the birth of Christ.

INTRODUCTION. Will

Plautus assigned the custody of gardens to
Venus ; and Pliny observes that the labours
of the garden formed one of the occupations
of females in his time ; and that it was a com-
mon observation in those days, when a gar-
den was out of order, and not well kept, that
the mistress was a bad housewife. Horti-
cultural pursuits were deemed so honourable
amongst the Romans, that many of their dis-
tinguished families derived their surnames
from some species of fruit or vegetable which
they were celebrated for cultivating. In mo-
dern days we have reversed this order, and
bestowed the surnames of our eminent bota-
nists, or persons who have zealously occu-
pied themselves in the introduction and cul-
tivation of new plants, on the plants them-
selves. Thus, with the unanimous consent
of all Europe, the Banksia, a genus of plants
procured from New Holland, will carry down
the name of Banks to the end of time ; as
Aitonia will that of the worthy author of the
Hortus Kewensis. Indeed, were we to enu-
merate all the plants which have been so
named in gratitude, or through respect to

XXIV INTRODUCTION.

such persons, it would form one of the most
interesting nomenclatures that has ever ap-
peared. We have, under the respective ar-
ticles in the present work, named the earliest
British cultivators of each separate species of
flowers, as far as could be collected.

The fondness for plants is natural to all
men who possess the least sensibility ; and
however their attention may be engaged by
other pursuits, it generally happens that this
predilection shows itself during some period
of their lives. Nature seems to have de-
signed men for the culture of her works, and
to have ordained that we should be born
gardeners, since our earliest inclinations
lead us to the cultivation of flowers. The
infant can no sooner walk, than its first em-
ployment is to plant a flower in the earth,
removing it ten times in an hour to wherever
the sun seems to shine more favourably. The
school-boy, in the care of his little plot of
ground, lessens the anxious thoughts of the
home he has left. In manhood our attention
is generally demanded by more active and
imperious duties ; but, as age obliges us to

INTRODUCTION. XXV

retire from public business, the love of gar-
dening returns to soothe our declining- years.
The truth of this is daily made manifest to us,
by the fact, that those persons devote them-
selves to gardening, whose busy occupations
in other pursuits we should have thought
must have given a distate for this quiet em-
ployment. We have lately seen a Kemble
retire from the stage to amuse himself in a
garden ; and it also formed a great part of
the occupation of the banished Napoleon. Of
the love of gardening, Cowley says,,

Methinks, I see great Dioclesian walk
In the Salonian garden's noble shade,
Which by his own imperial hands was made :
I see him smile, methinks, as he does talk
With the ambassadors, who come in vain
To entice him to a throne again.
" If I, my friends," said he, " should to you show
All the delights which in these gardens grow,
Tis likelier much that you should with me stay,
Than 'tis that you should carry me away.
And trust me not, my friends ! if, every day,
I walk not here with more delight
Than ever, after the most happy sight,
In triumph to the capitol I rode,
To thank the gods, and to be thought myself almost a
God."

When the eastern nations were at the

height of their glory, the art of gardening was

VOL. I. c

XXVi INTRODUCTION.

by them carried to great perfection ; and
Cyrus the younger was as celebrated for the
pleasure-gardens which he had himself planted
and cultivated in Lydia, as the elder Cyrus
was for the famous palace which he con-
structed at Persepolis. According to Chardin,
the gardens in the vicinity of Babylon abound-
ed with plants and flowers glowing with the
most lovely dyes, and conspicuous for their
dazzling brilliancy.

Of the gardens of the ancient Israelites we
have fewer accounts than of those of other
eastern nations,, and for the same reason that
we have but few, if any, specimens of their
sculpture handed down to us. The Hebrew
nation being surrounded by idolaters on all
sides, it was necessary to prohibit not only all
familiar intercourse with the heathens, but to
guard particularly against the introduction of
their customs and habits, which must naturally
have been very alluring and seductive to the
idle and more profligate part of the Jewish
community ; and, as the gardens or sacred
groves of the heathen nations were generally
the scenes of their obscene revellings, such

INTRODUCTION. \\\ii

public plantations, together witli the erection
of statues or images, were forbidden by the
laws of the country.

The Mahometan faith teaches the followers
of the Prophet to believe that the blessings of
a future state consist in dwelling- in delightful*,
gardens. The Koran expressly says, " Who-
soever doth good works, either man or woman,
and believeth, shall enter into Paradise. They
shall enter gardens of pleasure, together with
those of their fathers or wives that have done
good."— Surat XL v. 43, XIV. v. 95.

The situation of Damascus, with its gar-
dens and groves, is esteemed particularly de-
lightful ; and Mahomet looking down from an
elevated spot upon that beautiful city, is said
to have declared that it was the lot of no man
to enjoy two Paradises, and that he should
abstain from entering the terrestrial lest he
should lose the celestial.

Before we proceed to speak on the forma-
tion and planting of flower-gardens in ge-
neral, we shall notice some of the advantages
which are derived from a fondness for this
pursuit. First, it attaches men to their homes,

C 2

XXV111 INTRODUCTION

and on this account every encouragement
should be given to increase a taste for gar-
dening, in general, in country towns and vil-
lages. It is a recreation which conduces
materially to health, considerably promotes
civilization, and softens the manners and
tempers of men : it creates a love of the study
of nature, which leads to a contemplation of
the mysterious wonders that are displayed in
the vegetable world around us ; and these
cannot be investigated without bending the
mind towards a just sense of religion, and a
due acknowledgment of the narrow limits of
our intelligence compared with the incompre-
hensible power and wisdom of God. Addi-
son observes, that Ci it gives us a great in-
sight into the contrivance and wisdom of
Providence, and suggests innumerable sub-
jects for meditation. I cannot," says he,
€i but think the very complacency and satis-
faction which a man takes in these works of
nature, to be a laudable, if not a virtuous,
habit of mind."

In the flower-garden, the student in che-
mistry will find how imperfect is his art in

INTRODUCTION*,

XXIX

comparison with natural chemistry, which

distils from the earth, and conveys by distinct
channels in the smallest stem all that is ne-
cessary to produce foliage, flowers, and fruit,
tog-ether with colour, smell, and taste, the
most opposite fluids and liquids being sepa-
rated only by divisions so delicate as scarcely
to be deemed a substance. The research
into the wonders displayed in vegetation may
be entered into, without hurting the sensibi-
lity of the most tender feelings, as plants and
roots may be dissected without those dis-
agreeable sensations which follow the dissec-
tion of animals.

Amongst the delights of the garden, the
pleasure of presenting flowers to our friends
is not the least. Bouquets of flowers may be
safely presented to acknowledge obligations,
or to shew respect, where, in many instances,
any other return for favours received would
appear impertinent, or look like a desire to be
discharged of the obligation conferred on us.
They are a kind of present that may be made
between equals and mutual friends to shew
regard, and that may also be made by the

XXX INTRODUCTION.

poorest peasant girl to the richest peeress of
the realm without fear of offence.

To those who are confined to the metro-
polis, or other large cities or towns, where
they are debarred from the enjoyment of a
garden, a basket of flowers of the season is
received as one of the most agreeable pre-
sents ; and when these are known to be the
produce of the parterres over which we gam-
bolled in our childhood, or presided in our
youth, the gift becomes doubly acceptable :
they picture to the imagination happy scenes
of our younger days, and throw present cares
aside, to recall to our u mind's eye" the mi-
nutise of the garden : each border seems to
arise fresh to our ideas ; each clump of Pinks,
each bower of Woodbines, and each bank of
Violets are instantly portrayed to our memory,

Which brings to mind her childhood's innocent day,
And the dear fields and friendships far away.

Moore.

These are frequently accompanied by other
recollections, which seem to present us with a
momentary sight of some kind and benevolent
friend, the good nurse of our infancy, or some

iNTRonrrnox. xxxi

favourite domestic of our youth ; our fancj
pictures them between the borders of their
little plots. The well-known Lilac tree and
the old Cabbage Rose-bush start up in the
picture ; whilst the Quince-tree, or the wide-
spreading- Medlar, presents itself to the
memory as half hiding the well-repaired sty,
which we ever wish to regard as forming the
pride of the industrious cottager.

These momentary visions bring the har-
mony of the Poets to our recollection, and we
are almost ready to exclaim,

That hut is mine ; that cottage half-embower d
With modest Jessamine, and that sweet spot
Of garden ground, where, ranged in neat array,
Grew countless sweets, the Wallflower and the Pink,
And the thick Thyme-bush— even that is mine :
And the old Mulberry that shades the court
Has been my joy from very childhood up !

Kirke White.

On this subject we may justly use the lines
of Miss Mitford, who says —

'Twere hard to sing thy varying charm,
Thou cottage, mansion, village, farm,

Thou beautiful epitome
Of all that useful is and rare,
Where comfort sits with smiling air,

And laughing hospitality.

INTRODUCTION*,

The institution of the National Horticul-
tural Society, which has been established in
London under the gracious patronage of his
present Majesty, cannot fail in its object of
enriching- and beautifying the whole of the
British empire.

Plants are procured through the exertions
of the members from every quarter of the
globe, and distributed to all parts of the king-
dom, together with directions for their suc-
cessful cultivation. This must conduce very
materially towards increasing a taste for
plants in general ; but still a large proportion
of intelligent persons, fond of Horticulture,
remain unconnected with the Society, many
of them residing at too considerable a dis-
tance to attend the meetings in the metro-
polis, and some wishing to avoid the annual
expense. On this account we should wish
to see local societies more generally esta-
blished in country towns, for the purpose of
exhibiting fruits and flowers, where the im-
provements in the art of their cultivation,
and the transactions of the National Society,

INTRODUCTION. \\\,:i

would naturally form subjects of conversation,,
to the advantage of the country at large.

At Ghent a Botanical Society was esta-
blished in the year 1809, which continues to
hold annually two Floral festivals called the
Salon d'Ete and the Salon d'Hiver. At these
Salons, or Floral exhibitions, the amateur
and professional cultivators of flowers assem-
ble from all the towns and villages for a con-
siderable distance round, almost every one
contributing" something towards the general
show. The meetings are sanctioned and
attended by the public authorities, who not
only countenance but endeavour to support
these rational assemblies.

The plants exhibited are generally placed
in boxes or pots, so that they arrive at the
Salon in a fresh and growing state, where,
by a little attention, their beauty is preserved
during the three or four days which the ex-
hibition lasts. At each of these meetings an
honorary medal is awarded, and by an inge-
nious fiction the flowers themselves and not
the cultivators are regarded as the competi-
tors, and the successful plant is said to be

c 5

xxxiy INTRODUCTION.

crowned, by having a wreath hung over it.
The crown is awarded to the plant that is
pronounced the finest production of the Salon,
which sometimes depends on its rarity or
novelty, and sometimes on the size and
splendour of a well-known flower, whose
appearance indicates superior culture and
treatment.

These meetings have contributed mate-
rially towards the perfection to which the
Dutch florists have brought several genera
of plants. The bouquets offered for sale at
Ghent are both numerous and beautiful, it
being a common practice there to carry a
flower, not only on the promenade, but also
to the church.

As the world leads we follow.

Fashion does not at present sanction any
but coachmen in wearing nosegays in this
country, yet it has not influence sufficient to
banish flowers from the garden, since we
notice that those who have only a small piece
of land attached to their dwellings generally
devote it to the service of Flora ; whilst others,
who have larger plots, set some portion aside

INTRODUCTION'. XXXV

for the same purpose, and such as have ample
domains may be said to vie with each other
in their devotions to the flowery goddess. So
strongly is this love of natural beauties im-
planted in the breast of man, that the greater
part of those persons who have no allotment
in this terrestrial globe, except what is con-
fined in an earthen vase of some few inches in
diameter, contrive to raise a plant, and thus
peep at nature even within their brick-wall
bounds.

There the picture stands

A fragment, and the spoutless tea-pot there ;
Sad witnesses how close-pent man regrets
The country, with what ardour he contrives
A peep at nature, when he can no more.

Cowper.

Our observations on the formation of flower-
gardens can only be general, so much depend-
ing on extent and situation, that the best pos-
sible directions for one spot would be absurd
when put into practice in other sites.

When we are too much confined for want of
land to delight by the appearance of extent,
we should endeavour to please by beauty ;
and where the bounds are too limited to dis-

XXXvi INTRODUCTION.

play taste on a large scale, elegance should
be associated with neatness.

Addison says there are as many kinds of
gardening as of poetry ; the makers of par-
terres and flower-gardens he styles the epi-
grammatists and sonnetteers in the art ; con-
trivers of bowers and grottos, treillages and
cascades, he compares to romance writers ;
whilst those who lay out extensive grounds,
he honours by the title of heroic poets. Thus,
to imitate the serpentine windings of large
plantations in small gardens, is scarcely less
ridiculous than it would be to use heroic strains
in writing an epitaph on a cock robin ; and it
discovers an equal want of judgment and good
taste when we see large grounds frittered into
the trifling minutiae of a parterre, displaying
hearts and diamonds, where nature ought to
appear as if at liberty to sport in all her gay,
luxuriant frolics.

Even in the choice of our plants we should
take into consideration the extent of our
grounds, for large plants in small gardens are
like the use of hie-h-flown language when im-
properly selected for familiar subjects.

INTRODUCTION. \\\ . 1

The all- wise Creator who raised the cedar,
formed also the smallest moss ; but the former
he planted on the mountains of Lebanon,
whilst the latter was placed on a pebble. From
this wise ordinance of nature, we should learn
to select Flora's miniature beauties for the
small parterre, leaving the towering and
wide-spreading plants to ornament extensive
grounds.

Flow7ers never appear to so great advantage
as when forming a foreground in the shrub-
bery or to the borders of woods. In such
situations they seem to have planted them-
selves as if for the sake of shelter, whilst the
boldness of the trees and shrubs add as much
to the delicacy of their blossoms as the mass
of foliage contributes to the brilliancy of their
colours. The bolder flowers should be half-
obscured by shrubs, for by being but partially
seen their effect is materially heightened.

The smaller flowers must occupy the slop-
ing sides of banks, because they are then
brought near to the eye, and they will gene-
rally be found growing naturally in such si-
tuations. A greater part of the earliest flower-

XXXVlil INTRODUCTION.

ing plants may be set under the branches of
shrubs and trees, as they thus fill up spaces
that would otherwise appear naked in the
spring, and their decaying state is veiled over
in the later season by the foliage of the boughs.
The same arrangement should be made in
small gardens, by covering the ground under
Rose bushes and other shrubs which blossom
in the summer, with the earliest flowers of
the year, such as Snowdrops and Crocuses,
&c., which are rather benefited than injured
by the partial shelter ; and the space of ground
which they would otherwise require in the
parterre may be allotted to those plants that
will not flourish in such situations.

The error most frequently committed in
planting the parterre, is the inattention shown
to the succession of the flowering of plants ;
but without a perfect knowledge and due re-
gard to this material part of the art of gar-
dening, the parterre will frequently become
destitute of flowers at different seasons of
the year ; whereas the desirable object of
continuing an uninterrupted succession of
gaiety in the flower-garden, may be attained

INTRODl'CTTON. X\\i.K

by attention in the selection and planting

of flower- roots.

Our first step in this ease should be to col-
lect a sufficient quantity of those that blossom
earliest in the spring, as at this time the
number of species is not large, and each
sort should therefore be planted in greater
abundance, so as to give effect by a mass of
colour, A want of attention to render the
parterre gay at this period is the great defect
of most gardeners. No flowers are more
delicately beautiful than those which blossom
at this season of the year, when they are
received with a double welcome, because their
appearance seems, in some degree, to banish
the dreary months, and thus to prolong the
duration of Flora's cheerful reign.

A very essential part to be attended to is,
to observe that the plants of the spring, such
as the hardy and early kinds of Narcissus,
Anemonies, Snowdrops, Crocuses, Double
Daisies, &c, should be planted in consider-
able quantities on one spot ; for when they
are divided into little clumps they make no
striking appearance, as we have noticed in

Xl INTRODUCTION.

the body of this work, under their respective
histories.

At this season also the ground under such
as are not evergreen should be completely
covered with Primroses, Harebells, and such
other flowers as will flourish in these situa-
tions, observing to contrast the colours as
much as possible, but not to mix them indis-
crimately.

When this is accomplished, we may justly
exclaim in the words of Cowley —

But with no sense the garden does comply,
None courts or flatters, — as it does— the eye.

Who would not chuse to be awake,

"While he's encompass'd round with such delight

To tlV ear, the nose, the touch, the taste, and sight ?

Who, that hath reason and his smell,
Would not among Roses and Jasmine dwell, -
Rather than all his spirits choke
With exhalations of dirt and smoke.

We shall not be very minute in giving
directions for the summer arrangements, that
season being generally well and amply pro-
vided for by Flora herself; but we have to
speak of a very material part of the duties of
those who, at a later period, undertake to

INTRODUCTION. \]'l

furnish the parterre with its beauties. For-
merly,, Flora took her departure from this
island as soon as Ceres and Pomona made
their appearance, as if the country was not
sufficiently spacious to contain the three god-
desses at one time ; but since we have natu-
ralised the plants of China and Florida to
our climate, we have the delight of seeing
these three deities in perfect reconciliation,
walking hand in hand, and continuing their
embraces until driven by Boreas into tem-
porary shelter. By this happy union, which
has been brought to such perfection by the
exertions of our indefatigable countrymen, the
time of the flower season is so considerably
lengthened, that what formed the dreary sea-
son of our ancestors is now half expired be-
fore we perceive its approach. The Vine is
now seen suspending its purple clusters over
the blushing petals of the China Rose ; the
Barberry Bush hangs its crimson fruit over
the variously-coloured Asters of China ; the
Mountain Ash droops its clusters of coral ber-
ries over the richly-painted Dahlias of the
new world ; the Juniper mixes its blue-pow

Xlii INTRODUCTION.

dered berries as a contrast to the Golden
Marigolds of Africa; the purple, and the
sweet-scented white Clematis entwine their
branches with the native Bramble, interweav-
ing- the happy gifts of Flora and Pomona on
the same festoon; the Indian Chrysanthe-
mum waits to decorate its branches in all the
hues of Iris, so as to rival and succeed the
mellow fruits of the orchard. Thus we now
see the well-dressed parterre clothed in the
various robes of distant climes, cheering the
month of November, and daring the rigours
of December, until its beauties are overtaken
and hidden by the falling snow.

Lo ! winter desolates the year ;
The fields resign their latest bloom,
No more their breezes waft perfume,
No more the streams in music roll,
But snows fall dark or rains resound,
And while great Nature mourns around,
Her griefs infect the human soul.

Akenside.

The flowers of the autumn are generally of
a larger size and richer colour than those of
the spring or summer, consequently they are
less delicate and more showy in appearance ;
and as many of them, such as the Hollyhock,

INTRODUCTION. xliii

the Sunflower, and the Dahlia, (Sec., grow to
a considerable height and size, their proper

place is amongst shrubs ; for since there are
but few trees or large shrubs that make a
show at that time of the year, the plantation
will be greatly enlivened by this arrange-
ment.

The Chrysanthemums are also better
adapted to beautify the foreground of the
shrubbery than to ornament the parterre ; and
in planting them in such situations, it should
be observed to place them so that the shrubs
may form a screen from the north, which will
add considerably to their time of duration.
It is also desirable to give as good a con-
trast as possible to the colour of the blos-
soms by the shade of the foliage before which
they are planted, observing to place purple
flowers before shrubs whose foliage is of a
yellowish cast, as the common Laurel, &c,
and those with white petals in front of the
darkest foliage, giving the yellow or copper-
coloured blossoms to the blue greens. Again,
in planting the China Asters, where the co-
lours are not ascertained, they should not be

Xliv INTRODUCTION.

planted too near the Chrysanthemums, ex-
cepting in front of the white variety, as the
sreneral colours of these two kinds of flowers
are too similar to harmonize agreeably ; but
where the Purple Aster can be planted near
the Yellow Chrysanthemum, and vice versa,
the effect of both colours is heightened.

In planting flowers, an indiscriminate mix-
ture of colours is generally bad, although fit
may be admitted in some instances. Nature
seldom confuses her colours, and we should,
in arranging them, endeavour to imitate her
operations, and let the dyes

in bright suffusion flow,

That now with gold empyreal seem to glow,
Now in pellucid sapphires meet the view,
And emulate the soft celestial hue :
Now beam a flaming crimson to the eye,
And now assume the purple's deeper dye ;
But here description clouds each shining ray, —
What terms of art can nature's power display ?

Falconer.

CONTENTS

ov

THE FIRST VOLUME.

SPRING.

Page

Snowdrop. Gahmihus nivalis ... 3

Hellebore. HelJeborus . . . -15

Hepatica, or Noble Liverwort. Anemone Hepatica 24
Crocus. Crocus ..... 29

Daisy. Bellis ..... 34

Primrose. Primula .... 43

Polyanthos ..... 53

Violet. Viola odorata . .* . • 60

Dog's Violet. Viola Canina . . .69

Pansy, or Heart's Ease. Viola tricolor . . 72

Wall-flower. Cheiranthus Cheiri . . .77

Cowslip. Primula veris . . . .84

Oxlip. Primula elatior ... .89

Narcissus. Narcissus . . . .90

Daffodil . . • • . ib.

Narcissus. Narcissus . . . .9-1

Jonquil. Jonquilla . . • .101

Anemone. Anemone . • • .103

The Garden Anemones . . • 103

Xliv INTRODUCTION.

planted too near the Chrysanthemums, ex-
cepting in front of the white variety, as the
2-eneral colours of these two kinds of flowers
are too similar to harmonize agreeably ; but
where the Purple Aster can be planted near
the Yellow Chrysanthemum, and vice versa,
the effect of both colours is heightened.

In planting flowers, an indiscriminate mix-
ture of colours is generally bad, although fit
may be admitted in some instances. Nature
seldom confuses her colours, and we should,
in arranging them, endeavour to imitate her
operations, and let the dyes

in bright suffusion flow,

That now with gold empyreal seem to glow,
Now in pellucid sapphires meet the view,
And emulate the soft celestial hue:
Now beam a flaming crimson to the eye,
And now assume the purple's deeper dye ;
But here description clouds each shining ray, —
What terms of art can nature's power display ?

Falconer.

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

SPRING.

Tags
Snowdrop. Galanihus nivalis ... 3

Hellebore. Helleborus . . . .15

Hepatica, or Noble Liverwort. Anemone Hepatica 24
Crocus. Crocus ..... 29

Daisy. Bellis ..... 34

Primrose. Primula . . . . 43

Polyanthos . . . . .53

Violet. Viola odorata . .' . • 60

Dog's Violet. Viola Canina . . .69

Pansy, or Heart's Ease. Viola tricolor . . 72

Wall-flower. Cheiranthus Cheiri . . .77

Cowslip. Primula veris . . . .84

Oxlip. Primula elatior ... .89

Narcissus. Narcissus . . . .90

Daffodil #•

Narcissus. Narcissus . . • .94

Jonquil. Jonquilla . . • .101

Anemone. Anemone . . • .103

The Garden Anemones . . • 103

Xlvi CONTENTS.

Page
Hyacinth. Hyaci?ithus . . . .116

Garden Hyacinth. Orientalis % . 122

Tulip. Tidipa . . . 135

Lily of the Valley. Convallaria Majalis . . 153
Periwinkle. Vinca . . . . 165

Ranunculus . . . .173
Iris ." 187

Dwarf Iris. Pumila . . . .196

The Caledonian Iris. Susiana . . 197

Auricula. Primula Auricula . . .203

Orchis. Orchis, or Satyrion . . . 215

Fritillary. Fritillaria . . . .230

Persian Fritillary, or 'Persian Lily. Fritillaria

Persica . . . .240

Common Fritillary, or Chequered Lily. Fritil-
laria Meleagris . . 241
Gentian. Gentiana . . . .246
Virginian Cowslip. Dodecatheon Meadia . 252
Dogs Tooth Violet. Erythronium . . 257
Sessile Trillium. Trillium Sessile . . 262
Saxifrage. Saxifraga t . . . 265.

London Pride, or None-so-pretty. Saxifraga
umbrosa . , 266

Star of Bethlehem. Ornithogalum . . 269

Yellow Star of Bethlehem. Ornithogalum Lu-

teum . . . .271

Honesty. Lunar ia . . . .273

Candy-Tuft. Jberis ... 284

Sweet-scented Tussilage. Tussilago Fragrans . 289

Cyclamen, or Sow-Bread. Cyclamen . . 294

Arum and C alia. Arum . . . 298

Cuckoo Pint, or Wake Robin. Arum Maculatum 303

CONTENTS. xlvii

Page
Cardamine. Nasturtium Pratense . , 3yg

Leopard's Banc. Doronicum Pardalianchet . 31 1

Rocket. Hesperis . . . .315

The Garden Rocket, or Dame's Violet. Hesperis

Matronalis . . . .318

Mandrake. Atropa Mandragora . . . 324

SPRING.

Here Spring appears, with flowery chaplets bound.

Pride of the year, purpureal Spring ! attend,
And in the cheek of these sweet innocents
Behold your beauties pictured.

Mas ox.

Fresh Spring, the herald of love's mighty king,
In whose cote-armour richly are display'd

All sorts of flowres the which on earth do spring,
In goodly colours gloriously array'd.

Spexsek.

When Spring begins the dewy scene,
How sweet to walk the velvet green ;
And hear the zephyr's languid sighs,
As o'er the scented mead he flies !

Moore's Anacreon, Ode xli.

VOL. I.

SNOWDROP. OalanthuB nivalis.

Natural Order SpathacetB. Narcissi, Juse. A Genus
of the Hexandria Monogynia Class.

Fair-handed Spring unbosoms every grace,
Throws out the Snowdrop and the Crocus first.

Thomson-.

As the dove was sent forth from the ark to learn
■whether the waters were abated, so does the Snow-
drop seem selected by Flora to find whether the
frost be mitigated, and as a herald to announce the
arrival of her garland. It is the first flower that
awakes from the repose of winter, and cheers us
with the assurance of the re-animation of nature ;
and hence it has been made the emblem of con-
solation.

This delicate blossom was formerly held sacred
to virgins ; and this may account for its being so
generally found in the orchards and gardens at-
tached to old monastic buildings.

A flow'r that first in this sweet garden smiled,
To virgins sacred, and the Snowdrop styled.

TlCKELL.

The Snowdrop stands in most of our late bo-
tanical works as a native plant, but it appears to

B 2

4 FLORA HISTORICA.

us not to have been originally indigenous to the
British soil, from its being so rarely found except-
ing in spots that are known to have been the site
of ancient gardens. It is unnoticed in the works
of our oldest herbalists, and no allusions are made
to it by our early poets.

Gerard says, " These plants do grow wilde in,
Italie and the places adjacent, notwithstanding our
London gardens haue taken possession of them all,
many yeeres past." This old author calls it Leu-
cohnn Bulbosum prcecox, Timely-flowering Bulbous
Violet. In a Dutch work on bulbous flowers,
published in 1614, it is called Leucoium Bulbosum
Triphyllon ; and it is there mentioned as growing
common in Italy, whilst in Holland it was at that
time very seldom found, excepting in the gardens
of the curious.

i( In Italia frequens est, hie nisi in hortis curi-
osorum minime invenitur."

The writer of the same work has pictured a
second species of Snowdrop, with broader leaves
and of a larger size, which is named Leucoium
bulbosum Byzantinum jircecox, and which is stated
to be odorous. This, we presume, is the viola alba
ct viola bulbosa of Theophrastus ; the Lcucojum
vernum of modern times, which Mr. Curtis named
Snowflakc, to distinguish it from the Snowdrop.

The name of Galanthus, which is given tc the

SNOWDROP. 5

Snowdrop, is from yocXx and otvQos (milk and flower)
on account of the milky whiteness of the corolla.
The Italians call it Pianterella ; the Germans
Schneegloechcrn, snowbell; and the French have
named it Perce Neige, because it often pierces
through the snow. Their poet, Benserade, makes
this flower say —

Sous un voile d'argent, la terre ensevelie,

Me produit ; malgre sa fraieheur,
La Neige conserve ma vie,

Et me dormant son nom, me donne sa blancheur.

The English name of Snowdrop is no less appro-
priate for this delicate flower, which Mrs. Barbauld
thus elegantly notices : —

!STow the glad earth her frozen zone unbinds,
And o'er her bosom breathe the western winds ;
Already now the Snowdrop dares appear,
The first pale blossom of th' unripen'd year ;
As Flora's breath, by some transforming power,
Had changed an icicle into a flower :
Its name and hue the scentless plant retains,
And winter lingers in its icy veins.

This early blossom demands our particular
attention to its formation, which is so admirably
adapted to the days of north winds and the nights
of hoar frost, that it is impossible to observe it
without acknowledging with what infinite wisdom
nature has formed her lowest works. The delicacy
with which the corolla is attached to the flower-
stalk enables it to move with the winds in every

G FLORA HISTOR1CA.

direction, without fear of snapping or suffering the
air to defraud the stigma of its necessary part of
the farina, whilst its modest and pendent position
is calculated to throw off all superfluous moisture
in order that the parts of fructification may be so
secured as to replenish the earth with its seed.
The pure white that is given to the petals of this
flower, contributes, in a no less happy degree, to
the perfecting of the pollen, as it causes them to
act as reflectors to throw all the light and warmth
on the anthers, which, at the chilling season of the
year, when the Snowdrop flowers, is particularly
necessary. The verses of our fair countrywomen
will prove how attractive this early plant has been
to their poetical imaginations.

The Snowdrop, winters timid child,

Awakes to life, hedew'd with tears,
And flings around its fragrance mild ;
And where no rival flow'rets hloom,
Amidst the hare and chilling gloom

A heauteous gem appears !

All weak and wan, with head inclined,

Its parent hreast the drifted snow,
It trembles, while the ruthless wind
Bends its slim form ; the tempest lowers,
Its emerald eye drops crystal showers

On its cold bed below.

Poor flow'r ! on thee the sunny beam
No touch of genial warmth bestows !

Except to thaw the icy stream

Whose little current purls along,

Keeping a quiet undersong,
And whelms thee as it flows.

SNOWDROP. 7

The night breeze tears thy silky dress,
Which deck'd with silv'ry lustre shone ;

The moon returns, not thee to Mess —

The gaudy Crocus flaunts its pride,

And triumphs, where its rival died
Unshelter'd and unknown !

Where'er I find thee, gentle flow'r,

Thou still art sweet and dear to me!
For I have known the cheerless hour,
Have seen the sunbeams cold and pale,
Have felt the chilling wintry gale,

And wept and shrunk like thee !

Mary Robinson".

Less melancholy, but not less plaintive, are the
lines of Mrs. Charlotte Smith, on this pale flower,
which her pen thus pictures : —

Like pendent flakes of vegetating snow,

The early herald of the infant year,
Ere yet th' adventurous Crocus dares to blow,

Beneath the orchard boughs thy buds appear.

While still the cold north-east ungenial lowers,
And scarce the hazel in the leafless copse,

Or sallows show their downy powdered flowers,
The grass is spangled with thy silver drops.

Yet when those pallid blossoms shall give place
To countless tribes, of richer hue and scent,

Summer's gay blooms, and Autumn's yellow race,
I shall thy pale, inodorous bells lament.

So journeying onward in life's varying track,
Even while warm youth its bright illusion lends,

Fond memory often with regret looks back
To childhood's pleasures, and to infant friends.

Of this early flowering bulb, Cordelia Skeeles
says, —

FLORA HISTORICA.

Poets still, in graceful numbers,
May the glowing Roses choose,

But the Snowdrop's simple beauty
Better suits an humble muse.

Earliest bud that decks the garden,

Fairest of the fragrant race,
First-born child of vernal Flora,

Seeking mild thy lowly place ;

Though no warm or murmuring zephyr

Fan thy leaves with balmy wing,
Pleased we hail thee, spotless blossom,

Herald of the infant spring.
Through the cold and cheerless season,

Soft thy tender form expands,
Safe in unaspiring graces,

Foremost of the bloomy bands.

White-robed flow'r, in lonely beauty,

Rising from a wintry bed :
Chilling winds, and blasts ungenial,

Rudely threat'ning round thy head.

Silv'ry bud, thy pensile foliage,
Seems the angry blast to fear ;

Yet secure, thy tender texture
Ornaments the rising year.

No warm tints or vivid colouring
Paints thy bells with gaudy pride ;

Mildly charm'd, we seek thy fragrance,
Where no thorns insidious hide.

'Tis not thine with flaunting beauty
To attract the roving sight, —

Nature, from her varied wardrobe,
Chose thy vest of purest white.

White as falls the fleecy show'r,
Thy soft form in sweetness grows ;

Not more fair the valley's treasure,
Nor more sweet her Lily blows.

SNOWDROF. 9

Drooping harbinger of Flora,

Simply arc thy blossoms dress'd;
Artless, as the gentle virtues

Mansion'd in the blameless breast.

In the natural history of plants, none deserve the
attention of the curious more than those with bul-
bous flowers, particularly such as the Snowdrop,
and others that have a viviparous as well as ovipa-
rous power of producing their species ; and we are
in general less acquainted with the viviparous
nature of plants than with their oviparous manner
of increasing, although they do not vary more in
the latter method of propagation than they do in
the former. The phenomena in each case are
equally wonderful, and deserving more attention
than is in general bestowed on them. We know of
no animal either of the earth or of the waters that
has a double mode of increasing its species as the
Snowdrop has ; of which, whilst its seeds are
ripening in the air to multiply its kind after the
manner of eggs, the parent bulb is throwing off
perfect plants from its side into the earth.

It is the nature of bulbs in general to die when
they have once completely blossomed and produced
seed ; but this does not appear to be exactly the
case in respect to the Snowdrop, which, like the
bulb of the Hyacinth, seems to have the power of
forming a new germ in a different coat of the same
bulb. In the month of August, 182-1, we took from

10 FLORA HISTORICA.

the earth some bulbs of the Snowdrop that had
flowered in the spring, and on dissecting them care-
fully we generally discovered two inner bulbs
enclosed in several envelopes of coats, one of which
was uniformly deficient in a germ, but which
appeared as active in accumulating strength for a
future germ, as the forward one was in sending
forth its flower-stalk. The coats of the bulb are
easily separated from the stool to which the germ
is firmly attached, and from which the fibrous roots
spring. Some of these fibres appear to enter be-
tween the different coats of the bulb, and there form
other bulbs, which as they become matured, sepa-
rate themselves from the old bulb, when the fibres
that enter the earth decay, which takes place as
soon as the plant has completely perfected its seed.
At this time the bulb is full and rich in glutinous
moisture that nourishes the future flower for the
plant : it does not lay in the dormant state that is
generally imagined, but nature works so secretly
and constantly in the bulb, and with such wonder-
ful exactness, that we have frequently discovered a
perfectly formed plant and flower within the small
germ of this little root.

If we could open and inliend our eye,
We all, like Moses, should espy,
Ev'n in a bush, the radiant Deity.

Cowley.

The common Snowdrop grows wild in some parts

SNOWDROP. 11

of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Silesia. It
has been known to flower in this country as early
as the middle of January, when the season has been
mild, but generally it does not appear before the
beginning of February. Frequently it may be
seen so immediately after the melting of the snow,
that it gives the idea of some straggling flakes
hanging undissolved on the blades of grass.

The Snowdrop appears to greatest advantage
-when it is seen springing from the grassy banks of
an orchard, or on the undisturbed turfy rising
grounds of the garden ; for as it seldom flowers
well if removed oftener than every third year, it is
not calculated for borders that are annually turned
over ; but in small gardens it may be planted under
shrubs and trees, where it has a good effect, if
planted in large irregular clumps, for when planted
out singly, it makes no better appearance than a
spot of chalk would do on the earth. In lawns
and shrubberies, care should be taken to place these
flowers plentifully in the most favourable spots that
are seen from the windows of the breakfast-room.
When planted in the grass lawn they should have
the appearance of growing wild, and therefore all
formal clumps must be avoided, and they should
be scattered as it were by chance, thick in some
places, and thinly sprinkled in others, so as to con-
nect the more important clumps into one irregular

12 FLORA HISTORICA.

mass. As grass plots seldom require mowing until
the time of the Snowdrop's flowering is over, it may
in many instances be planted in such sites to great
advantage.

August is the proper month to plant these bulbs.
They should be covered with about two inches of
earth, and placed at from one to two inches apart.
After the second year they increase rapidly ; when
they become too thick, they should be taken out of
the ground about Midsummer, and placed in a dry
room, for a space not exceeding two months.

The variety of Snowdrop with a double flower
is now nearly as common in our gardens as that
with single petals, whilst its more noble relative,
the Spring Snowflake, Leucojum vermim, continues
scarce even in the gardens of our best florists.
This flower differs from the Snowdrop, in having
a delightful fragrance, and a much larger corolla ;
but the most marked difference is the want of the
three-leaved nectary in the Leucojum, which forms
a great beauty in the Galanthus or Snowdrop.

The Snowflake grows wild in moist woods and
shady places, in many parts of Italy and Ger-
many. It loves a north-east aspect, and a soil
composed of bog-earth and loam. In such situa-
tions it is propagated tolerably fast by offsets.
It blossoms about a month later than the Snow-
drop ; and this may account, in a great measure>

SNOWDROP. |0

for its being more rarely cultivated at the pre-
sent time than it appears to have been in the
days of Queen Elizabeth, when Gerard wrote his
Herbal.

We have two other species of Lcucojum, viz.,
JEstivum, Summer Snowflake ; and the An turn nale,
Autumnal Snowflake. The latter is a native of
Portugal, and flowers in the month of September.
The former is an indigenous plant, that blossoms
in May, but as it loves a moister soil than gardens
in general afford, it is but seldom cultivated. It
has been found wild in the Isle of Dogs, opposite
Greenwich; and Mr. Curtis also observed it oTOw-
ing naturally, close by the Thames, on the south
side between Woolwich and Greenwich. Mr.
Gough found it in a small island in the river,
about three miles south of Kendal, on the dam of
the gunpowder mill. It grows in similar situa-
tions in Austria, Hungary, Tuscany, Carniola, and
Silesia.

We shall conclude our history of the Snowdrop
with the following contemplative lines : —

Haste, lovely stranger, venture forth,

Fear not the wintry blast ;
The keen and unrelenting North,

With all his train, is past.

Child of the spring, sweet Snowdrop, haste

Thy bosom to unfold ;
Ah ! dread the vernal hours to waste,

For soon returns the cold.

14 FLORA HISTORICA.

Go bid Eliza contemplate,

Fair moralist, thy doom ;
How soon, alas ! thy cruel fate

Condemns thee to the tomb.

Though clothed thou art in lilied vest,
And delicate 's thy charm ;

Though of a thousand sweets possest,
Thou canst not Fate disarm.

Then, Snowdrop, catch the fleeting gale,
While zephyr gently woos ;

And bid Eliza now bewail
Her vernal prime to lose.

Ah ! let her dread that season past,
While youthful hours beguile ;

Too soon, alas ! the winter's blast
Will steal her dimpled smile.

HELLEBORE.

HELLEBORE. Helleborus.

Natural Order Multisiliquce. — Ranuiiculacece, J uss. A
Genus of the Polyandria Polygyria Class.

L'Ellebore est la fleur des fous,
On la dedie a maint poete.

Few plants have been more celebrated by the phy-
sicians of antiquity than the Hellebore, and hence
it made a conspicuous figure in the poetical fables
of early writers ; but it seems to have been so en-
tirely neglected by the bards of our own country
as to leave this chapter without an English verse at
the head..

The Black Hellebore, Helleborus niger, demands
our admiration, both from the early season of its
flowering, and the beauty of its blossom. It is ge-
nerally called the Christmas Rose, because it fre-
quently expands its petals at that season, which,
having a resemblance to the common Dog Rose of
our hedges, has gained it this name. Our caution
is equally demanded against the whole of the Hel-
lebore family of plants, on account of the dangerous
properties of their roots and leaves, which are
known to possess a most virulent poison.

]G FLORA HISTORICA.

The name of this plant is derived from two
Greek words, helein, to destroy, and bora, pasture,
which indicate its pernicious qualities in such situa-
tions.

The species of this plant called Christmas Rose
has been named Black Hellebore, from the black
colour of its roots ; and Melampodium, in honour of
Melampus, a celebrated physician, who flourished
at Pylos, in Peloponnesus, about a hundred years
after the time of Moses, or 1530 years, or there-
abouts, before the birth of Christ. Melampus tra-
velled into Egypt, which was the seat of science at
that period, to study medicine. He afterwards
cured the daughters of Proetus, king of Argos, of
mental derangement with Hellebore, and from this
circumstance it became so celebrated a medicine for
mad people, that navic/a ad Anticyram was a com-
mon proverb used to hypochondriacal persons,
•which meant " Sail to Anticyra," an island in the
Gulf of Corinth, where the Hellebore flourished in
great abundance.

Melampus, it is said, became acquainted with the
cathartic qualities of the Hellebore, by observing
the effects it took upon his goats, which had eaten
of this vegetable. Pliny mentions that the daugh-
ters of Prcetus were restored to their senses by
drinking the milk of goats which had fed upon
Hellebore; but the earlier writers state that these

HELLEBORE. 17

princesses were ordered to bathe in a cold fountain
after taking the Hellebore, and this is the first
instance upon record of the use of cathartics and
bathing with a medicinal view. Melampus gained
still greater honour by correcting the defects of
Iphiclus's constitution, prescribing to him to take
the rust of iron in his wine for ten days succes-
sively. Thus we find that the celebrated steel me-
dicine of the present day was in use as long back
as 3350 years. At that early period, the physicians
were held as a sacred order of men, and Diodorus
Siculus states that none durst profess physic in
Egypt, without being admitted as a member of the
College of Priests. They were also considered as
soothsayers and prophets, from their pretending to
be assisted by incantations and charms, the origin
of which arts seems almost coeval with the inven-
tion of physic itself; and these solemn mysteries
were no doubt resorted to in order to create a ve-
neration and faith in the minds of the patients for
their physicians, which, however ridiculous it may
appear to us, might have had great effect on the
minds of the vulgar, as it is an established opinion
that the body is often influenced by the affections
of the mind.

We have made this digression to show the
origin of many of the superstitious customs of the
Greeks and Romans respecting plants. That these

18 FLORA HISTORICA.

latter people should bring their superstitions to
this country is natural, and, in many instances, we
may still perceive the impression these customs
made on the minds of the ignorant part of the po-
pulation of our island.

The Black Hellebore was used by the ancients
to purify their houses, and to hallow their dwell-
ings ; and they had a belief that by strewing or
perfuming their apartments with this plant, they
drove away evil spirits. This ceremony was
performed with great devotion, and accompanied
with the singing of solemn hymns. In the same
manner they blessed their cattle with the Hellebore,
to keep them free from the spells of the wicked.

What magic has bewitched the woolly dams, *
And what ill eyes beheld the tender lambs.

Virgil, Pastoral III.

For these purposes it was dug up with many
religious ceremonies, as that of first drawing a
circle round the plant with a sword, and then, turn-
ing to the east, an humble prayer was made by the
devotee to Apollo and ^Esculapius, for leave to
dig up the root ; and the flight of the eagle was
particularly attended to during the ceremony, for
when this bird approached near the spot during
the celebration of the rites, it was considered so
ominous as to predict the certain death of the per-
son who took up the plant, in the course of the

HELLEBORE. 19

year. In digging up the roots of some species of
Hellebore it was thought necessary to eat garlic
previously, to counteract the poisonous effluvia of
the plant; yet we find that the root was afterwards
dried and pounded to dust, and sniffed up the
nostrils in the manner of snuff; as it is related that
when Carneades, the Cyrenaic philosopher, under-
took to answer the books of Zeno, he sharpened his
wit and quickened his spirit, by purging his head
with powdered Hellebore*.

In the year 1676, the author of Ci The Anatomy
of Melancholy" adds the Hellebore to the other
emblematical figures of his frontispiece, with the
following lines : —

Borage and Hellebor fill two scenes,
Soveraign plants to purge the veins
Of melancholy, and cheer the heart
Of those black fumes which make it smart ;
To clear the brain of misty fogs,
Which dull our senses, and soul clogs ;
Tbe best medicine that e'er God made
For this malady, if well assaid.

To these lines we add a cautionary verse from
Drayton : —

Here Henbane, Poppy, Hemlock here,

Procuring deadly sleeping;
Which I do minister with fear —

Not fit for each man's keeping.

* Dioscorides, lib. 4, cap. 151. Pliny, lib. 25, cap. 5.

20 FLORA HISTORICA.

Notwithstanding the great reverence with which
the ancients regarded this plant, it was considered
by most of their writers as a rough medicine"; and
as many country people are in the habit of giving
the powder of Hellebore to their children for the
■worms, we shall show how dangerous an herb it is,
by extracting an anecdote out of Martyn's Tour-
nefort.

i( Some years ago, when the ground was covered
"with a very deep snow, a flock of sheep, in Ox-
mead, near Fulborn, in Cambridgeshire, finding
nothing but this herb above the snow, ate plentifully
of it. They soon appeared terribly out of order,
and most of them died, a few being saved, by timely
giving them some oil, which made them cast up
this herb. Some of those which died, being opened,
"were found to have their stomachs greatly inflamed.
This account I had from the man who attended
them. He went with me to the very spot, and as
he pointed out the herb which poisoned them, I
found it to be the species of Hellebore called Niger
foctidiis."

Formerly the Gauls never went to the chase
without rubbing the points of their arrows with this
herb, believing that it rendered all the game killed
with them the more tender.

This reputed specific for the cure of melancholy
and madness, was an inmate of our gardens prior

HELLEBORE. 21

to 1597, as Gerard tells us it was then growing in
his garden. Like the Snowdrop, the Black Helle-
bore should be planted in considerable quantities
to give effect ; it loves a pure air, and will not
therefore flourish within the precincts of London.

The Winter Hellebore, Helleborus hy emails 9
blossoms with a yellow flower in February, and is,
therefore, a proper plant to give contrast to the
snowdrop, either in wilderness walks or under trees
in the shrubbery. It grows wild in mountainous
situations in Lombardy, Italy, Austria, Silesia,
and Switzerland. Our early writers call it Winter
Wolf's-bane, Small Yellow Wolf's-bane, Yellow
Aconite, and Winter Aconite. It should never be
allowed a place in the kitchen-garden, since fatal
accidents have arisen from mistaking this root for
that of horseradish. No longer back than the 3d of
January, 1822, an inquest was held at Frodsham,
Cheshire, on the body of Mrs, Gorst, who died in
consequence of eating this root, it having been
brought to table for horseradish. Her brother-in-
law was near falling a sacrifice at the same time.

These early embellishers of the garden are propa-
gated by parting the roots any time between the
months of June and October.

In the neighbourhood of Paris it is common to
cultivate Hellebore in pots, as an ornament for the
house.

22 FLORA HISTORICA.

The Great Three-leaved, or Green Hellebore,
Viridis, is a native of our woods, and produces a
green flower in the month of April. The Bear's-
foot, or Stinking Hellebore, is indigenous to our
chalky pastures. We have also introduced one
species from North America, called Trifolius, or
small three-leaved Hellebore.

With every desire to caution the ignorant against
the use of these dangerous plants, we cannot avoid
recommending the faculty to turn their serious
attention to this medicinal herb, so celebrated by
the Egyptian and Greek physicians of old as the
most effectual remedy for the diseases of mania,
apoplexy, epilepsy, dropsy, and gout. Mr. Waller
tells us in his Domestic Herbal, that Ci he remem-
bers, in the depot for French prisoners of war at
Norman-cross, in the year 1806, that a peculiar
disease, called Nyctalopia, was very prevalent
among them. The symptoms which distinguish
this disease are, that the patient becomes by degrees
perfectly blind from the moment of sunset till the
re-appearance of the sun next morning. This
disease affected a great number of the prisoners,
who were obliged to be led about by their comrades
immediately after sunset, and all of them, at the
same time, were labouring under symptoms of ex-
treme dyspepsia. After a variety of treatment
ineffectually applied, the powder of Black Helle-

HELLEBORE. 23

bore was given them as snuff". As they were most
of them attached to the use of snuff, and had been
for a long time deprived of it, they took the Helle-
bore with avidity, and generally recovered from
their nyctalopia in the course of a very few days,
and the dyspeptic symptoms were at the same time
greatly relieved. There is no doubt (says the same
author) that in many other affections of the head
the same treatment would be found extremely effi-
cacious, and is well worthy of trial in many chronic
diseases of the eyes, particularly in the early stage
of gutta serena."

Of this plant Juvenal sarcastically observes —

Danda est ellebori multo pars maxima avaris.
Misers need a double dose of Hellebore.

24 FLORA HISTORICA.

HEPATICA, or NOBLE LIVERWORT.

Anemone Hepatica.

Natural Order Multisiliquce. Ranunculacete, Juss.
A Genus of the Polyandria Polygyria Class.

Here blushing Flora paints th' enamell'd ground,
"Where frosts have whiten' d all the naked groves.

Pope.

This charming little plant, which the florist has
brought from the woods and shady mountains of
Italy, Germany, and Sweden, to embellish our ver-
nal parterres, offers its blossoms, with those of the
Snowdrop, to form our earliest garland. Although
it is of humble growth, the Hepatica shines as one
of the greatest beauties of the spring, and induces
us to exclaim with Mason,

Stay, pitying Time ! prolong their vernal bliss.

As no flower-garden ought to be without this
hardy and early species of Anemone, and few pos-
sess it so plentifully as to shew it to full advan-
tage, we shall strongly recommend the careful in-
crease of this favourite flower of February and
March. It loves a strong loamy soil and an eastern
aspect, but will flourish in almost any earth and

HEPATIC A. 25

situation where it can receive ft pure air. The

Hepatica should be planted in clumps of at least a

dozen plants each, about six inches apart, and

these should never be taken up or transplanted,

except to form fresh clumps, as they frequently die

after being removed, and never flower well until

about the third year after they are planted. The

double varieties are increased by parting the roots

when in blossom, which is contrary to the general

mode of planting flowers ; March is therefore the

best time for forming clumps of these plants,

which, like their relatives, seem to delight in the

wind .

And coy Anemone, that ne'er uncloses

Her lips until they're blown on by the wind.

H. Smith's Amarynthus.

We have found these flowers to have the most
agreeable effect when "the different varieties have
been kept in distinct clumps ; the Single Blue He-
patica being divided by other early flowers from
the red or white varieties ; and as the Double
Hepaticas blossom about a fortnight later, they
should never be mixed with the single sorts, but
in some situations they may form a mass, inter-
mingled with the Yellow Hellebore and the White
Snowdrop, giving the shrubbery the appearance of
being

fringed in Nature's native taste,

The hillocks dropt in Nature's careless haste.

Burxs.
VOL. I. C

26 FLORA HISTORICA.

The name of Hepatica for this plant is from the
Greek word hepatikos, which signifies belonging to
the liver, as the form of the leaf is supposed to
resemble that of the liver.

It was formerly called Trinity Herb. We con-
clude this name was given to the plant on account
of its leaf, which has the appearance of three leaves
united into one.

The Single Hepatica was cultivated in our
gardens previous to the time of Gerard, who also
notices the double varieties, but states that they
are strangers to England, and it does not appear
that the Dutch florists were in possession of the
Double Hepaticas so late as 1614. In 1629, Par-
kinson tells us from Clusius, that Alphonsus Pon-
tius first sent them out of Italy, and Clusius further
states that the Hepatica with double flowers was
also found in the woods near the castle of Starnbey,
in Austria.

When flowers become double in their natural
situation, which is but rarely the case5 it is owing
to some accidental circumstance analogous to
cultivation,— such as keeping the seed out of the
earth beyond its due time, or its falling in situa-
tions where it has not the power of perfecting its
blossoms ; for a flower becomes more imperfect as
it is more doubled, the stamens often becoming
wholly converted into petals, as in the Double

HEPATICA. 27

Hepatica, which is, therefore, not able to produce
seed. Such plants necessarily require the hand of
cultivation to prevent their becoming extinct.

The change of colour in plants is principally
owing to soil, and of this Mr. Bradley relates a
remarkable circumstance. u Some roots of the
Double Blue Hepatica were sent to Mr. Harrison,
of Henley-upon-Thames, from Mr. Keys'* s garden,
in Tothill-fields, whose soil was so different from
the ground they were planted in at Henley, that
when they came to blossom there, they produced
white flowers, and were, therefore, returned back
to their first station, where they retook the blue
colour they had at first."

A few seasons ago, a remarkable fine Hy-
drangea was exhibited at a meeting of the London
Horticultural Society, which had entirely changed
its pink tints to a perfect blue colour on being
planted in peat earth. We also recollect having
seen a Blue Hydrangea some years back, at a cot-
tage in Hampshire, cuttings from which we planted
in common garden mould ; the consequence was a
return to its natural pink hue.

The Single Hepaticas produce seeds every year ;
and by sowing them, new varieties may be obtained
as in other plants. The time recommended for
sowing the seed is the beginning of August. They
should be sown in pots or boxes filled with light

C 2

23 FLORA HISTORICA.

earth ; these should be placed so as to receive only
the morning sun until October, when they may be
removed into a more general sunny situation. The
young plants will appear about March, and it is
desirable at that period to place them in a spot
shaded from all but the morning sun. The young
plants require watering in dry seasons, and may be
transplanted to their proper situations in the fol-
lowing August, observing to press the earth close
to their roots, to prevent their being drawn out of
the ground by worms.

CROCUS. 29

CROCUS. Crocus.

Natural Order Ensutce. Irides, Juss. A Genus of
the Triandria Monogynia Class.

Crocus and Smilax may be turn'd to flow'rs,
And the Curetes spring from bounteous show'rs ;
I pass a hundred legends stale as these,
And with sweet novelty your taste will please.

Ovid, Book 4, Met. 4.

Fabulous history derives the name of this flower
from a beautiful youth named Crocus, who was
consumed by the ardency of his love for Smilax ;
and afterwards metamorphosed into the plant which
still bears his name. Others suppose it to be taken
from Coriscus, a city and mountain of Cilicia. I
is one of the flowers of which Homer has composed
the genial couch of Jove and Juno.

And sudden Hyacinths the turf bestrow,
And flow'ry Crocus made the mountain glow.

Iliad, Book 4.
Say, what impels, amidst surrounding snow
Congeal'd, the Crocus' yellow bud to blow?
Say, what retards, amidst the summer blaze,
Th' autumnal bulb, till pale, declining days ?
The God of Seasons — whose pervading power
Controls the sun, or sheds the fleecy shower ;
He bids each flower his quick'ning word obey,
Or to each ling'ring bloom enjoins delay.

White.

30 FLORA HISTORICA.

The Spring Crocus is one of the greatest enliveners
of the flower-garden from February to April, and
when its bulbs are planted in sufficient quantities
to give effect, their gaiety is scarcely surpassed by
any plant on the parterre ; but like the Snowdrop,
it is generally too sparingly planted, or placed in
rows on each side the walk, reminding us of street-
lamps by night. Like the Hepatica, the different
varieties should be kept in distinct clumps, but not
in beds, like a nurseryman's garden, whose primary
object is to increase his plants.

In the borders of Flora, the hand of taste should
be displayed, but not in forming fanciful stars or
formal squares. Nature should be copied, who
sprinkles her plants with that beautiful irregularity
which the happiest art cannot surpass. Much must
defend, in planting flowers, on the size and form of
the garden j but it will always be found that one rich
cluster of Crocuses, like a large brilliant, has a more
imposing effect than a hundred small diamonds.

The Crocus bulbs should not be removed oftener
than every third or fourth year, which is an addi-
tional reason for planting them in large patches.
They should be placed about two inches from each
other ; but where banks arc to be covered with
them, they should be scattered much thinner at the
edges. If the earth is of a cold or damp nature, the
bulbs should not be covered more than about one

CROCUS. 31

inch ; but where it is dry, light, or sandy, at least
two inches should be given them.

Crocuses will flower in water like Hyacinths and
other bulbs; but when intended for the house, it is
preferable to plant them in pots of earth, which
should be kept moderately moist, and in a sunny
•window ; but when in blossom, a more shady situa-
tion will lengthen the duration of their flowers.

The catalogues of modern florists mention nu-
merous varieties of the Spring Crocus. The yellow
is the most showy for the garden, and the purple
the most beautiful ; the white the least conspicuous,
and the striped the most curious, particularly the
blue striped, and the yellow striped with black.
Like the Tulip, new varieties with fanciful names,
are annually imported from Holland, but they are
seldom raised from seed in this country.

The Spring Crocus is a native of Italy and Spain.
In Switzerland it is found wild with white petals,
having a little purple at the base; and Gesner
found it with a yellow flower on the Glarus moun-
tains.

Botli the purple and the white have been dis-
covered as natives of Austria.

The Crocus appears to have been first cultivated
in our gardens during the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
as Gerard observes that M That pleasant plant that
bringeth forth yellow flowers, was sent unto me
from Robinus of Paris."

32 FLORA HISTORICA.

As it may greatly assist the cultivator of flowers
to understand the physiology of plants, and more
particularly of such bulbs as increase in the earth
bv their viviparous powers, we notice those of the
most singular habits, which, we trust, will not be
found uninteresting to the general reader ; as by
want of attention to the time and mode of the in-
crease of bulbs, many plants are naturally lost by
the ignorant gardener, who frequently cuts off the
leaves of Crocuses when past flowering, for the sake
of neatness. This is a fatal error, as it weakens
their power of perfecting the new bulb, and conse-
quently of flowering the following year ; for whilst
the fibrous roots assist by suction the nourishment
of the future plant, the leaves contribute to it in a
no less degree, by their means of absorption and
exhalation — for that gas forms a most vital principle
in the vegetable kingdom, is clearly ascertained by
the known quantity of carbonic acid which green
leaves take in during the day, and the portion of
oxygen they give out in a state of gas during the
night. Thus the leaves of plants are to vegetables
what the lungs are to the animal creation. The
bulb is merely a body that protects the heart, or
germ, from outward injury, whilst it receives and
contains the necessary nourishment to form a new
plant; and when it has filled its stores, the fibrous
roots and the foliage have their communication

CROCUS. 33

stopped and wither at the same time, and until this
has taken place bulbs should never be removed.

The Crocus bulb differs from that of the Snow-
drop already described, by being a solid, instead of
a coated body; consequently, the germ of the Cro-
cus is situated at the top instead of the bottom of
the bulb, and hence it is that the new bulbs are
thrown out at the top, instead of being separated at
the bottom, as in the instance of the Galanthus.

The Crocus frequently produces from three to
five new bulbs, but the parent is quite exhausted in
the nourishment it affords to its offspring and its
flower, leaving no part of the original bulb but a
dry outer skin or husk. Of the Autumna, or
Saffron Crocus, we have written at large in the
History of cultivated Vegetables

C5

34 FLORA HISTORICA.

DAISY. Bettis.

Natural Order Cmpositee Discoidcce. Corymbifercc,
Juss. A Genus of the Syngencsia Polygcnnia Super-
flua Class.

By dimpled brook and fountain brim,

The wood-nymphs, deck'd with Daisies trim,

Tbeir merry wakes and pastimes keep.

31 il ton's Comus.

The Daisy has been made the emblem of Innocence,
because it contributes more than any other flower
to infantine amusement and the joys of childhood :

in the spring and play-time of the year,

That calls the unwonted villager abroad
With all her little ones, a sportive train,
To gather kingcups in the yellow mead,
And prank their hair with Daisies.

Cowper.

Those who have passed their early days amongst
Daisy-spangled meadows will forcibly feel the many
sweet allusions made to this favourite plaything of
infancy by the poet in manhood. The very name
of this star of the fields seems to renovate the ima-
gination, and carry us back to our earliest pleasures ;
and to shew that we are not the only people who
sport in our youth with this pretty flower, we shall

DAISY. 35

notice a French verse, and a game of their playful
children, who, forming a circle, strip off a petal
each from the single Daisy, repeating, // viaimc
un peu, jxissionement, pan du tout, and so on to
the last, fearing all the time to pronounce the word
in which the circle should finish.

La blanche et simple Paquerette,
Que ton coeur consulte but tout,
Dit : ton amant, tendre fillette,
T'aime, un peu, beaucoup, point du tout.

The French name this flower Marguerite as well
as Paquerette. Thence St. Louis took for a device
on his ring a Daisy and a Lily, in allusion to the
name of the Queen, his wife, and to the arms of
France, to which he added a sapphire, on which a
crucifix was engraved, surrounded with this motto :
— " Hors cct annuel, pourrions-nous trouvcr
amour P" because, as this prince said, it was the
emblem of all he held most dear — religion, France,
and his spouse. Lady Margaret, Countess of
Richmond, bore three white Daisies (Marguerites)
on a green turf.

How much this little flower was regarded in the
fourteenth century, by the father of English poetry,
the frequent mention and high commendation of
Chaucer will prove.

of all the floures in the raede,

Then love I most these floures white and rede,

36 FLORA HTSTORICA.

Such that men callen Daisies in our town :
To them I have so great affectioun,
As I sayd erst, when comen is the Maie,
That in my hedde there dawneth me no daie,
That I nam up, and walking- in the mede
To seen this floure ayenst the sunne sprede.
"When it upriseth early by the morrow,
That blissful sight softeneth my sorrow,
So glad am I, when that I have presence
Of it, to done it all reverence,
As she that is of all floures the floure,
Fulfilled of all vertue and honoure,
And every ylike faire, and fresh of hewe,
And ever I love it, and ever ylike newe,
And ever shall, until mine herte die,
All sweare I not, of this I woll not lie.
There loved no wight hotter in his life,
And when that it is eve I renne hlithe,
As soon as ever the sunne ginneth west,
To seen this floure, how it woll go to rest,
For fear of night, so hateth she darknesse ;
Her chere is plainly spred in the hrightnesse
Of the sunne, for there it woll unclose.

Sliakspcare celebrates this flower in his favourite
song to Spring.

"When Daisies pied, and violets hlue,

And lady-smocks all silver white,
And cuckoo huds of yellow hue,

Do paint the meadows with delight.

Love's Labour s Lost.

The lines of Montgomery, as well as those of
Burns, are too beautiful to have a verse omitted, as
our " Meadows trim, with Daisies pied/' are seen
with additional interest when these poems are re-
called to our memory. The former says —

DAISY. 37

There is a flower, a little flower

With silver crest and golden eve,
That welcomes every changing hour,

And weathers every sky.

The prouder beauties of the field

Iu gay but quick succession shine;
Race after race their honours yield,

They flourish and decline.

Eut this small flower, to nature dear,
While moon and stars their courses run,

"Wreaths the whole circle of the year,
Companion of the sun.

It smiles upon the lap of May ;

To sultry August spreads its charms ;
Lights pale October on his way,
And twines December's arms.

The purple heath, and golden broom,

On moory mountains catch the gale ;
O'er lawns the lily sheds perfume,

The violet in the vale.

Cut this bold floweret climbs the hill,

Hides in the forest, haunts the glen,
Plays on the margin of the rill,

Peeps round the fox's den.

Within the garden's cultured round

It shares the sweet carnation's bed ;
And blooms on consecrated ground,

In honour of the dead.

The lambkin crops its crimson gem,

The wild bee murmurs on its breast,
The blue fly bends its pensile stem,

That decks the skylark's nest.

rTis Flora's page : in every place,

In every season, fresh and fair,
It opens with perennial grace,

And blossoms every where.

38 FLORA HISTORICA.

On waste and woodland, rock and plain,

Its humble buds unheeded rise ;
The rose has but a summer reign,

The Daisy never dies.

The Ayrshire ploughman thus regrets the death
his ploughshare is giving to the Mountain Daisy.

Small, modest, crimson-tipped flower,
Thou'st met me in an evil hour,
For I must crush among the stour

Thy slender stem :
To spare thee now is past my power,

Thou bonny gem.

Alas ! 'tis no' thy neighbour sweet,
The bonny lark, companion meet,
Bending thee 'mong the dewy weet,

With speckled breast :
When upward springing, blithe to greet

The purpling east.

Cold blew the bitter-biting North

Upon thy humble birth,

Yet cheerfully thou venturest forth

Amid the storm,
Scarce rear'd above the parent-earth

Thy tender form.

The flaunting flowers our gardens yield,
High-sheltering woods and walks must shield ;
But thou between the random, bield

Of clod or stone,
Adorn' st the rugged stubble-field,

Unseen, alone.

There in thy scanty mantle clad,
Thy snowy bosom sunward spread,
Thou lift'st thy unassuming head

In humble guise ;
But now the share uptears thy bed,

And low thou lies !

Burns.

DAISY. 39

Wordsworth and W. Browne seem to regard this
native plant with no less affection than the foregoing

poets ; and as it is a flower that we have so fre-
quently gambled over in the sports of our infancy,
reclined among in the idle moments of our youth,
and trodden down in the days of our reflection, we
therefore cull this poetical garland of Daisies with a
view of reviving agreeable remembrances.

The Daisy scattered on each meatle and downe,
A golden tufte within a silver croune ;
Fayre fall that dainty liowre ! and may there be
No shepherd graced that doth not honour thee !

In youth from rock to rock I went,
From hill to hill, in discontent,
Of pleasure high and turbulent,

Most pleased when most uneasy ;
But now my own delights I make,
My thirst at every rill can slake,
And gladly Nature's love partake

Of thee, sweet Daisy !

When soothed awhile by milder airs,
Thee Winter in the garland wears,
That thinly shades his few gray hairs,

Spring cannot shun thee ;
Whole summer fields are thine by right,
And Autumn, melancholy wight,
Doth in thy crimson head delight

When rains are on thee.

In shoals and bands, a morrice train,
Thou greet'st the traveller in the lane ;
If welcomed once thou count'st it gain,

40 FLORA HISTORICA.

Thou art not daunted ;
Nor carest if thou be set at nought ;
And oft alone in nooks remote,
"We meet thee, like a pleasant thought,

"When such are wanted.

Be Violets, in their secret mews,

The flowers the wanton Zephyrs choose ;

Proud be the Rose, with rains and dews

Her head impearling :
Thou liv'st with less ambitious aim,
Yet hast not gone without thy fame ;
Thou art indeed, by many a claim,

The poet's darling.

If to a rock from rains he fly,
Or some bright day of April sky,
Imprison'd by hot sunshine lie

Near the green holly ;
And wearily at length should fare,
He need but look about, and there
Thou art ! a friend at hand, to scare

His melancholy.

A hundred times, by rock or bower,
Ere thus I have lain couclrd an hour,
Have I derived from thy sweet power

Some apprehension;
Some steady love, some brief delight,
Some memory that had taken flight,
Some chime of fancy, wrong or right,

Or stray invention.

If stately passions in me burn,

And one chance look to thee should turn,

I drink out of an humbler urn

A lowlier pleasure ;
The homely sympathy that heeds
The common life our nature breeds,
A wisdom fitted to the needs

Of hearts at leisure.

DAISY. 41

When, smitten by the morning ray,
I see thee rise alert and gay,
Then, cheerful flower ! my spirits play
With kindred gladness ;

And when, at dusk, hy dews opprest
Thou sink'st, the image of thy rest
Hath often eased my pensive breast
Of careful sadness.

And all day long I number yet,
All seasons through, another debt,
Which I, wherever thou art met,

To thee am owing ;
An instinct call it, a blind sense,
A happy genial influence,
Coming one knows not how, nor whence,

Nor whither going.

Child of the year ! that round dost run
Thy course, bold lover of the sun,
And cheerful when the day's begun

As morning leveret, —
Thy long-lost praise thou shalt regain,
Dear shalt thou be to future men
As in old time ; — thou, not in vain,

Art Nature's favourite.

Wordsworth.

This flowering weed of temperate climes cannot
be made to flourish between the tropics, although
it propagates itself on every patch of turf both in
these islands, and on the northern parts of the con-
tinent— but, if we are correctly informed, % it fails
to spangle the fields of the south-east of Europe,
where the arts were anciently so happily nurtured ;
and hence it happens that we have no Greek name
for this plant, which the Latins named Bellis, as

42 FLORA HISTORICA.

some suppose from the adjective Bellus, pretty:
whilst others are of opinion that it was called Bellis
a bello, from its being found useful in the field of
battle, to heal the wounds of the soldiers, on
which account it has also been called Consolida.
It was formerly esteemed an excellent traumatic
plant ; the leaves and roots were used in wound
drinks, and were accounted good to dissolve con-
gealed and coagulated blood. Pliny tells us that
in his time it was used, in conjunction with mug-
wort, as a cataplasm to dissolve scrofulous tumours.

The roots of Daisies boiled in milk were fre-
quently given to little puppies to keep them of a
diminutive size : but what effect this food would
have on the growth of the canine species, we must
leave to those who are curious in little dogs to
discover.

Fabulous history informs us that this plant is
called Bellis because it owes its origin to Belides, a
grand- daughter to Danaus, and one of the nymphs
called Dryads, that presided over the meadows
and pastures in ancient times. Belides is said to
have encouraged the suit of Ephigeus, but whilst
dancing on the grass with this rural Deity she
attracted the admiration of Vertumnus, who just
as he was about to seize her in his embrace, saw
her transformed into the humble plant that now
bears her name.

DAISY. 43

All old astrological writer tells us that this
plant is under the sign Cancer, and under the do-
minion of Venus, and therefore good to cure all
the pains caused by the fair goddess, particularly
those of the breast ; we therefore recommend all
the lack-a-daisy swains to hasten to the meadows,
and there give thanks to nature for having scat-
tered this plant so bountifully : — it is a crop for
which the farmer never prays, it being consi-
dered a troublesome weed in pasture lands, where
it occupies a large portion of ground to the exclu-
sion of grass and other profitable herbs : its acrid
taste is ungrateful to cattle, and it is even rejected
on the common by the close-biting geese.

The French name of Paquerctte is given to this
flower because it blossoms most at the approach of
Pdques (Easter). The English name of Daisy is
derived from a Saxon word, meaning Day's eye, in
which way it is written by Ben Jonson ; and
Chaucer calls it the u eie of the daie.5' Shakspeare
writes daisies, and Howel calls them days-eyes, —
6i the woods put forth their blossoms, the earth her
primroses and days-eyes." We presume that this
flower was called days-eye, from the nature of its
blossom, which expands at the opening of day and
closes at sunset.

The little daizie, that at evening closes.

Spenser.

44 FLORA HISTORICA.

The most careless observer of plants must have
noticed that the daisy not only closes its petals at
night, but that they are also carefully folded over
the yellow disk in rainy weather. It must likewise
have struck the attention of the curious, that not
only this flower, but most others which are natives
of moist climates, have the power, we may almost
say instinct, of securing their parts of fructification
from the rains of the day or the dews of the night,
whilst those of regular dry climates are quite desti-
tute of this wise provision of Nature.

The botanist would understand the nature of
the Daisy by the class and order in which it is
placed by Linnaeus, although he might not have
seen it ; but as many of our readers may not pos-
sess the same advantage, we shall describe the
nature of the Daisy, and other plants in this class
and order, in a familiar style, however it may offend
botanical critics.

The Daisy has been placed in the class Syn-
genesia (which is so called from two Greek words
which imply to generate together), because it is a
compound flower, or rather it is composed of a
number of small yellow florets placed on one com-
mon receptacle, as so many small cups might be
placed on one tray or salver ; for if the thumb or
yellow disk of the common daisy is closely ex-
amined, it will be found to be composed of about

DAISY. 45

one hundred and fifty little florets, those in the
centre being of a tubular shape and containing the
anthers, whilst those near the margin are ligulate
or of a flat shape, and to each of them is attached
a stigma. The use of the petals which form a ray
round these little yellow florets is to secure them
from the effects of inclement weather, until the
pollen of the anthers is discharged on the stigmas
so as to prepare seed for future plants ; and when
this part of the economy of Nature is performed,
the ray of the daisy remains expanded, and does not

Shut when Titan goes to bed,
but remains open until the petals decay.

The single daisy, which was seized in the mea-
dows and brought into the garden by Vertumnus,
being placed out of its natural situation, has taken
new habits, which prevent its propagating itself by
seed, as the effect of transplanting and cultivation
in richer soils has been that of transforming the
yellow florets into petals, until the flower has be-
come so completely doubled as to lose all appear-
ance of the disk ; but, like the Double Hepatica,
it is easily propagated by parting the roots almost
at any season of the year, though the most favour-
able time is from the middle of September to the
middle of October, as they will then flower stronger
in the spring than those plants which are divided
in February. It is recommended to divide the

46 FLORA HISTORIC.!.

roots every year, and transplant them, to prevent
their degenerating, or rather returning, to their
natural state. We have never observed this cir-
cumstance take place, but have frequently known
the plants decay altogether if left undisturbed for
three or four years. The Double Daisy thrives
best in a moist loam, that has no mixture of dung ;
and the plants should have the advantage of the
morning sun, and a shelter from the mid-day heat,
by placing them on the south-east side of shrubs or
trees, as in such situations the flowers are not only
larger, but continue much longer in blossom than
those that are exposed to the full sun. The mode
of placing them depends much on the size and
nature of the garden. In the gardens of the cot-
tagers, the Double Daisy is generally employed as
an edging to borders, and we infinitely prefer it to
that of box for such situations ; but an edging of
any description to the parterre of Flora shows a
want of taste in the planter; and if these flowers
are placed in patches of twenty or forty plants on
a spot, about three inches apart, they give a most
delightful effect either in the foreground of the
shrubbery or the flower-garden.

The varieties should be kept in distinct situations,
and their colours so contrived as to be made sub-
servient to other flowers, as by planting the red or
scarlet variety near clumps of the Snowdrop or

DAISY. 4 7

other white blossoms. The White Daisy in the
neighbourhood of Yellow Crocuses or blue flowers,
and the striped and variegated kinds, are seen to
most advantage when surrounded only by the green
foliage of flowers that blossom at a later season.
The varieties of the Double Daisy are not confined
to its different colours, as some of them, instead of
being composed of flat petals, are entirely formed
of a mass of fistular florets, or little pipes ; these are
distinguished as Quilled Daisies. The most sin-
gular variety is the Proliferous Daisy, commonly
called the Childing or Hen and Chicken Daisy,
because the flower is surrounded by a number of
smaller flowers, which are produced from the sides
of the principal flower, but out of one and the same
calyx. These little secondary Daisies appear like
satellites revolving round a nobler star ; and we,
therefore, submit the name of Saturnia for this
luxuriant variety, in preference to that of Hen and
Chicken Daisy.

43 FLORA HISTORICA.

rRIMROSE. Primala.

Natural Order Prccice. Lysimachlcc, Juss. A Genus
of the Pentandria Monogynia Class.

■And here's the meek

And soft-eyed Primrose.

Hurdis.

Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.

Milton.

Peinte des feux de l'Orient,
Ca Primevere offre, en modele,
La coupe qu' Hebe souriant,
Prtsente a la troupe immortelle.

This delicately-perfumed, and modestly-coloured
early blossom is considered the emblem of early
youth, and represents the age between child and
womanhood.

Pale Primroses,

That die unmarried, ere they can behold
Bright Phoebus in his strength.

Winter 's Tale.

The generic name of this flower is derived from
primus, it being one of the earliest flowers of the
spring, and from thence the English name of Prim-
rose, the French Primevere, and the Italian Prima-

PRIMROSE. 49

vera. The German name Friihlings blume lias a
similar signification.

As we enumerate twenty distinct species of
Primula, we shall notice them under various heads,
first confining ourselves to the Primula vulgaris,
or common Sulphur-coloured Primrose, which has
lent its name to distinguish a delicate pale yellow
colour slightly tinted with green.

In tracing back the nativity of flowers, we are
greatly assisted by the mythological writings of the
ancients^ for without these records we should have
pronounced them all as being the children of Nature ;
and the relationship which this favourite flower
bears to the gods would have remained unknown,
as well as the history of its origin.

The Primrose was anciently called Paralisos,
after the name of a beautiful youth who was the
son of Priapus and Flora, and who died of grief
for the loss of his betrothed Melicerta, but was
preserved by his parents by being metamorphosed
into this flower, which has since divided the favours
of the poets with the Violet and the Rose. Clare
says —

O, who can speak his joj's when Spring's young morn
From wood and pasture opened to his view ;

When tender green huds blush upon the thorn,
And the first primrose dips its leaves in dew.

VOL. I. D

50 FLORA HISTORICA.

And while he pluck'd the Primrose in its pride,
He pondered o'er its bloom 'tween joy and pain ;

And a rude sonnet in its praise he tried,

"Where nature's simple way the aid of art supplied.

I did the same in April time,
And spoilt the Daisy's earliest prime ;
Kobb'd each Primrose-root I met,
And ofttimes got the root to set ;
And joyful home each nosegay bore,
And felt — as I shall feel no more.

Village Minstrel.

To crop the Primrose of the plains !
Does she not sweets in each fair valley find,
Lost to the sons of pow'r, unknown to half mankind !

Shenstone.

Sur le gazon la tendre Primevere

S'ouvre et jaunit, des le premier beau jour.

And lanes in which the Primrose ere her time

Peeps through the moss that clothes the hawthorn root,

Deceive no student. "Wisdom there and truth,

Not shy, as in the world, and to be won

By slow solicitation, sei ze at once

The roving thought, and fix it on themselves.

Cowpek.

As some wayfaring man passing a wood

Goes jogging on, and in his minde nought hath,

But how the Primrose finely strow the path.

W. Browne.

There are some flowers that contribute to dispose
us to a pensive or melancholy strain wherever we
meet with them ; whilst others seem equally to
exhilarate the spirits and enliven the ideas. The
colour and character of the flower may, in some
degree, assist to make this impression ; but it must

PRIMROSE. 51

principally be attributed to the remarks of the
poets, as

Bring the rathe Primrose that forsaken dies.

Lycidas.
Sweet as the Primrose peeps beneath the thorn.

She is the rose, the glory of the day,

And mine the Primrose in the lowly shade :

Mine, oh ! not mine ; amisse I mine did say :

Not mine, but his, which mine awhile her made ;

Mine to be his, with him to be for aye.

O that so fair a flowre so soon should fade,

And through untimely tempest fall away !

She fell away in her first age's spring,

"Whilst yet her leafe was greene, and fresh her rinde,

And whilst her branch fair blossomes foorth did bring,

For age to dye is right, but youth is wrong ;

She fell away like fruit blown with winde,

Weep, Shepheard ! weep, to make my undersong.

Spenser.
Shakspeare makes it a funeral flower for youth

"With fairest flowers,
"Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
I'll sweeten thy sad grave : Thou shalt not lack
The flower that's like thy face, pale Primrose.

CymleUnc.

Although every lover of Nature hails with plea-
sure the first appearance of the pale Primrose,
seated on the hazel bank, surrounded by its puck-
ered leaves, yet it fails to give those joyous sensa-
tions which arise at the first sight of the meadow
" gay with gaudy Cowslips drest." The latter
flower as forcibly brings to mind the frolics of our

D 2

52 FLORA HISTORIC.*.

childhood, as the former reminds us of past friends
and rural walks ; for the soft tints of the Primrose,
like the mild beams of the moon, seem to invite us
on to moral reflections and quiet contemplation.

The Primrose is a native of most parts of Eu-
rope, always seeking the partial shade of hedge-
rows, the banks of sheltered lanes, and the borders
of woods or coppices, and is but seldom found
spangling the open meadow like its relative the
Cowslip. From this we should learn to place it on
the banks of our wilderness walks, and to scatter
it thickly beneath the trees of the shrubbery. It
will grow in almost any soil, but thrives most on a
clayey bank. When transplanted in the Spring,
it receives a check to its flowering, which often
causes it to blossom freely in the autumn.

The variety of the common Primrose, with
double flowers of a lilac colour, forms a most
agreeable contrast with the pale Primrose of the
woods.

The common Sulphur-coloured Primrose fre-
quently changes its colour into a pale dingy red
by cultivation ; and we have sometimes met with
it growing naturally of this colour, occasioned by
some accidental circumstance analogous to culti-
vation, as either by the seed falling on strong
manure, or rich earth being scattered over the
plant.

PRIMROSE. 53

The medicinal properties of the Primrose being
the same as that of the Cowslip, but of a weaker
quality, Ave shall notice them under the head of
the latter plant, and proceed to that beautiful and
varied kind of Primrose so much esteemed in the
gardens of florists under the name of

POLYANTHOS.

Polyanthos of unnumber'd dyes.

Thomson.

This beautiful variety of Primula derives its name
from the Greek words ttoXus, many or much, and
txvQos, a flower, as the Polyanthos, like the Auricula,
produces an umbel of many flowers on one common
scape or stem, and on this account we consider it
to be rather a variety of the Primula elatior,
Oxlip, than that of the common Primrose, although
Linnaeus asserts that the peduncles in the common
Primrose spring from a scape, which being so
short is concealed among the leaves. Amongst a
number of wild Primroses that were planted in Dr.
Buxton's garden, at Maize Hill, near Greenwich,
some of them produced flowers with a scape, and
were thus transformed into Polyanthoses, retaining
the colour of the Field Primrose.

The author has been a frequent planter of this

54

FLORA HISTORICA.

flower, but never observed this change, although
the change of colour from the common sulphur to
a red tint was frequent. It is probable that the
Polyanthos may have sprung from both the Prim-
rose and the Oxlip. Experience proves it to be a
permanent variety ; for however nature sports with
its tints, we have not known it return to either the
common Primrose or the Oxlip.

The Polyanthos, which has been so much im-
proved by cultivation during the last century, may
justly dispute the prize of beauty with any Euro-
pean flower, when we take into account the variety
and richness of its colouring, the grace and elegance
of its form, its mild and agreeable odour that has
never been known to offend : its easy propagation,
hardy nature, and early time of flowering, make it
a welcome inmate in every flower-garden, and in
no part of the world is it so successfully cultivated
as in England, particularly by the zealous florists
of Lancashire and Cheshire, who have, in the in-
stance of this flower, left the Dutch bloemist con-
siderably in the background. The neighbourhood
of Manchester and Macclesfield is justly celebrated
for producing the finest specimens of this flower,
and in these manufacturing districts the criterion
of a fine Polyanthos is ascertained with as narrow
a scrutiny as the sportsman regards his pointer or
setter dog.

PRIMROSE. 55

The stem of a perfect flower must be strong,
erect, .and elastic, and of sufficient height to sup-
port the umbel or bunch of flowers above the puck-
ered foliage of the plant. The footstalks of each
separate flower should also be strong and elastic,
and of a length proportioned to the size and quan-
tity of the pipes ; which should not be less than
seven in number, that the bunch may be round,
close, and compact. Maddox says, " the tube of
the corolla above the calyx should be short, well
filled with the anthers or summits of the stamens,
and terminate fluted, rather above the eye. The
eye should be round, of a bright clear yellow, and
distinct from the ground colour ; the proportions
of a fine flower are, that the diameter of the tube
be one part, the eye three, and the whole pip six,
or nearly so. The ground colour is most admired
when shaded with a light and dark rich crimson,
resembling velvet, with one mark or stripe in the
centre of each division of the limb, bold and dis-
tinct, from the edging down to the eye, where it
should terminate in a fine point. The pips should
be large, quite flat, and as round as may be con-
sistent with their peculiar beautiful figure, which
is circular, excepting those small indentures between
each division of the limb, which divide it into five
heart-like segments. The edging should resemble
a bright gold hue, bold, clear, and distinct, and so

56 FLORA HISTORICA.

nearly of the same colour with the eye and stripes as
scarcely to be distinguished ; in short, the Polyan-
thos should possess a graceful elegance of form, a
richness of colouring, and symmetry of parts, not
to be found united in any other flower ."

A connoisseur in Polyanthoses scarce deigns a
look of approbation on a pin-eyed flower, however
brilliant its corolla. We think this distinction too
refined, having frequently met with these outcasts
of the garden that ought to have filled conspicuous
situations from the gaiety of their colours. The
difference of the Rose and the pin-eyed flower con-
sists in the anthers of the former being fixed near
the top of the tube, and the pistil being shorter
than the tube, is therefore not seen ; whereas in the
pin-eyed, the pistil is so long as to reach the top of
the tube, and the anthers are attached to the mid-
dle of the pipe, which swells out where the anthers
are fixed.

Polyanthoses are increased by dividing the roots,
or by slips, which should be taken off in the autumn.
Indeed at this season all the roots should be taken
up, divided, and planted into fresh earth ; for, if
suffered to remain over one or two years, they will
degenerate and lose the greater part of their beauty.
These favourite flowers of the Spring should be
planted about six inches apart, and if about ten or
twelve plants, all of the same variety, be placed in

PRIMROSE. 57

each clump, the effect will be more agreeable than
when they are either planted singly or in regular
beds. The Polyanthos, from its hardy nature, will
grow in almost any soil or situation ; but to in-
crease the size of the flowers, which forms one of
the great beauties of the plant, care should be
taken to give them such a mixture of earth as is
most adapted to force them. Mr. Hogg, who has
grown these flowers in great perfection, says the
Polyanthos requires a much greater portion of
sandy loam than the Auricula, a very small quan-
tity of rotten dung, and a little leaf mould, peat or
heath-earth mixed with the loam. Justice recom-
mends the following proportions : four parts of fine
hazelly loam from a pasture, three parts of well-
rotted cow-dun£ or two of leaves that have turned
to mould, and one part of fine white sand, well
mixed together.

Maddock and Emmerton recommend the same
compost for the Polyanthos as will be noticed under
the Auricula, but with more loam.

We recommend a border or situation in the gar-
den for the Polyanthos that is shaded by shrubs
from the afternoon sun : there let holes be dug
about five inches deep, and of the size intended
for the clumps, which should be filled up with the
compost, and watered well the day before the
roots are planted, so that it may not sink below

d 5

58 FLORA. HISTORICA.

the level of the borders after the plants are put
into the earth.

It is observed that plants which are raised from
seed, flower much better than those taken from old
roots ; therefore it is desirable to save the seeds
annually from the finest plants and as it will be
observed that some of the capsules ripen the seed
much earlier than others, it is advisable to cut those
off and preserve the seed in the capsule, in a shallow
drawer, placed in a dry and sunny situation, until
the whole is ripe, which is usually found to be
about the end of June. This seed should be sown
under a wall or hedge, in a north aspect, taking
care not to cover it too deep with earth, and the
young plants may be transplanted about the same
time in the following year, giving them gentle wa-
terings in dry seasons. Some florists prefer keep-
ing the seed out of the ground until December, and
then sowing it in boxes, which are placed in situa-
tions to receive the morning sun only, and particu-
larly when the young plants appear, as one whole
day's sun would entirely destroy them.

Snails and slugs commit great depredations on
the Polyanthos plants during the spring months;
they should therefore be carefully examined early
in the morning, at the time these depredators make
havock. But a more dangerous enemy often attacks
this plant during the summer months, and from its

PRIMROSE. 5'J

minuteness often destroys a whole plantation before
the cause is ascertained. This is the little red
spider Acarus, which forms its web on the under
side of the leaves, where it multiplies with such
rapidity as soon to devour and poison the whole
plant, although the insect itself is scarcely visible
without a magnifying glass. The first effect of its
attack is observed by the leaves becoming yellow
and spotted. When this is observed, the plants af-
fected should be taken up, and soaked for two or
three hours in a strong infusion of tobacco-water,
and then replanted in a fresh soil, or compost, but
by no means in the same situation, as there would
be danger of there being many of these little spiders
left on the ground, which would immediately return
to the plants. Maddock observes that u the red
spider seldom attacks such plants as are in a state
of vigour, or when the weather is cold and wet ', it
generally commences its depredations in the early
part of summer, and continues them as long as the
heat and dryness of the weather favour its existence:
the juices also of the plants being then more viscous
and saccharine, afford it more suitable nourishment
than at any other season."

60 FLORA HISTORICA.

VIOLET. Viola odorata.

Natural Order Campanacea. Cisti et Violea, Juss. A
Genus of the Pentandria Monogynia Class.

Now gentle gales,

Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole
These balmy spoils.

Milton.

Let the beauteous Violet

Be planted, which, with purple and with gold

Richly adorned,

And that which creeps pale-coloured on the ground.

Columella.

The Violet that so beautifully embroiders the banks
of our hedge-rows, and so sweetly perfumes the
morning air of the Spring, is scarcely less a favour-
ite than the Rose, wrhich has, by universal consents
been made the emblem of Beauty, leaving the no
less admirable quality of Modesty to be represented
by the Violet, which is thus made to speak by the
pen of Desmartes, in the garland of Julia de Ram-
bouillet —

Franche d'ambition, je me cache sous l'herbe,
Modeste en ma couleur, modeste en mon sejour ;
Mais si sur votre front je puis me voir un jour,
La plus humble des fleurs sera la plus superbe.

VIOLET. Gl

M. Boisjolin also notices this flower as the emblem
of modesty —

L'obscure Violette, amante des gazons,
Aux pleurs de leur rosee entremelant ses dons,
Semble vouloir caclier, sons leurs voiles propices,
D'un prodigue parfum les discretes delices :
C'est l'embleme d'un coeur qui lvpand en secret
Sur le nialhenr timide on modeste bienfait.

The Violet seems too humble a flower to have
found a place in displays of Heraldry, yet it has
been ingeniously given as a device to an amiable
and witty lady, of a timid and reserved character,
surrounded with the motto, 77 faut me chercher,
" I must be sought after.0

The White Violet is also made the emblem of
Innocence; and by some lines of a sonnet of the
sixteenth century, the Violet appears to have been
considered an emblem of faithfulness —

Violet is for faithfulnesse,

Which in me shall abide ;
Hoping likewise that from your heart

You will not let it slide.

The poets have coupled the most agreeable ideas
with the fragrant flower. Milton makes Echo dwell
amongst Violets —

Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen
By slow Meander's margent green,
And in the Violet-embroider' d vale.

62 FLORA. HISTORICA.

Shakspeare compares the soft strains of plaintive
music to the perfume of Violets —

That strain again ; it had a dying fall :
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
That hreathes upon a bank of Violets,
Stealing, and giving odour.

Twelfth Night.

In the soliloquy which the same bard gives us
through Belisarius, in Cymbeline, he is scarce less
happy—

O, thou goddess,

Thou divine Nature, how thyself thou blazon' st

In these two princely boys ! They are as gentle

As zephyrs, blowing below the Violet,

Not wagging his sweet head.

That the Violet was a favourite with Shakspeare
is most evident, by the beautiful simile he makes
Perdita deliver in the Winter's Tale —

Violets dim,

But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes,
Or Cytherea's breath.

Mr. Barry Cornwall places the Violet even before
the Rose, and we agree with him, in a moral point
of view, that modesty is more desirable than beauty,
but as florists we must always acknowledge the
Rose as the Queen of flowers. Of the Violet, he
says —

VIOLET. 63

It has a scent as though Love, for its dower,

Had on it all his odorous arrows tost ;
For though the Rose has more perfuming power,

The Violet (haply 'cause 'tis almost lost,
And takes us so much trouble to discover)
Stands first with most, hut always with a lover.

This poet, like most of his competitors, dwells
upon the Blue Violet, overlooking the innocent and
sweet flower altogether.

And Violets, a hlue profusion, sprung,
Haunting the air.

And Violets, whose looks are like the skies.

Or when the hlue-eyed Violet weeps upon
Some sloping hank *.

Virgil tells us —

The daughters of the flood have searched the mead
For Violets pale.

This flower was in such high estimation with the
ancients, that one of the prizes of the Floral games
consisted of a Golden Violet, and we are told in
their fables, that la, the daughter of Atlas, fleeing
into the woods from the pursuit of Apollo, was,
through the power of Diana, changed into a Violet,
which still retains the bashful timidity of the
nymph, by partially concealing itself from the gaze
of Phoebus in its foliage.

■ The tremhling Violet, which eyes

The sun hut once, and unrepining dies.

H. Smith.

* The eye of the Violet is of an orange colour.

C4 FLORA HISTORICA.

Mycologists also tell us, that Proserpine was
gathering Violets as well as Narcissuses when she
was seized by Pluto.

"Iov, the Greek name for this flower, is said to
have been given it because Io fed on Violets, when
she was transformed by Jupiter into a heifer : others
tell us that it was so called after some nymphs of
Ionia, who first presented these flowers to the Fa-
ther of the Gods.

That the ancients were acquainted with ana-
grams, we learn by Lycophron, who lived in the
time of Ptolemy Philadelphia, about 280 years
before Christ. This Greek grammarian found, in
the name of Ptolemy, the Greek word for honey ;
and in that of the Queen Arsinoe, Violet of Juno.
It is through ancient anecdotes

. The piercing eye explores

The manners and the pomp of ancient days,
"Whence cnlls the pensive hard his pictured stores :

Nor rough, nor barren, are the winding ways
Of hoar antiquity, but strewed with flowers.

T. Warton.

The sweet Violet, Viola odorata, when growing,
naturally, is found on banks where the soil is light,
and where it has partial shade. It seems to love a
mixture of chalk in the earth, as we have observed
that it propagates itself most rapidly in such situa-
tions, both by its runners, in the manner of straw-
berries, and also by seed.

VIOLET. C5

In the spring of 1823, we found the banks be-
tween Preston and Clayton, near Brighton, covered
with Violets, principally white. The soil was a
kind of chalky loam, and on some of the banks we
found a considerable quantity of Sweet Violets, of
a murrey or pale mulberry colour, and others of a
dingy flesh colour, not unlike the tint of common
blotting paper. Near these we uniformly discovered
patches of White Violets on one side, and the
purple variety on the other, which evinced the
change to be principally owing to the accidental
mixture of the farina of the two varieties, as we ob-
served some of the AVhite Violets had the edges of
their petals tinged with purple, and the spur of
the greater part were tinged with that colour with
a reddish cast. We are inclined to think that the
soil in some decree assisted in contributing to this
unusual colour of the Sweet Violet, as on the same
day we found on a grass-plot, near a very large
yew tree, in the Rectory garden at Clayton, where
the soil is a mixture of cold clay and chalk,
Violets growing spontaneously, of a rich red plum
colour, and as odorous as the White or Purple
Violets.

In dissecting the blossom of the Sweet Violet, the
students of phytography will have clearly demon-
strated to them the utility of the nectary to the
parts of fructification. What is termed the spur

66 FLORA HISTORICA.

calcar of the Violet, wherein the honey is secreted,
is a little bag formed by the lower petals, and this
is distinguished from other nectaries by the appel-
lation of nectarothecce. In carefully taking off the
petals of the Violet, and splitting open the nectary
with a pointed penknife, it will be seen that the
two lower anthers have a tongue or tube attached
to them, which descends into the spur, evidently to
draw up the nectareous j uice for the invigoration of
the anthers, or to assist in the decomposition of the
farina. Nature has guarded the nectary of the
Violet in a manner that must excite our warmest
admiration, and which at the same time must
strengthen the opinion, that this saccharine juice is
of the most vital importance to the sexual parts of
plants, as it is always attached to the flower under
some shape or other, and more or less exposed to
the intrusion of those insects which subsist on the
honey of plants. As the Violet blossoms in a sea-
son when there are but few plants in flower, Nature
seems to have taken a double precaution to secure
the entrance of the spur against intrusion. For
this purpose the two side-petals are furnished with
a kind of beard, which keeps out the smallest
insect, at the same time it admits air, which appears
to be necessary in the formation of the nectar or
honey. The entrance of the spur is grooved on
the under side, but this channel is occupied by the

VIOLET. G7

stigma, which bends its hook into the groove, as if
to partake of the effluvia of the nectar.

The stigma of the Sweet Violet, when attached
to the seed-vessel, is not unlike the Ostrich in shape,
but when the corolla and the calyx are carefully
removed, leaving only the parts of fructification
attached to the receptacle, a most beautiful miniature
bird is represented ; the stigma formed the head
and beak, the anthers make a golden breast, whilst
their tongues appear like a pair of green wings.

It was the Violet which induced John Bertram,
a quaker of Pennsylvania, to study plants. He had
employed his time in agricultural pursuits without
a knowledge of botany, but being in the field one
day he gathered a Violet, examined its formation,
and reflected upon it until he became so pre-
possessed with the flower that he dreamed of it.
This circumstance inspired him with a desire of
becoming acquainted with plants; he therefore
learned for that purpose as much Latin as was ne-
cessary, and soon became the most learned Botanist
of the new world.

The Violet is the precursor of floral odours,
which so successively follow each other after the
departure of their sweet harbinger, as to lessen our
regret for the loss of its fragrant blossoms. Both
the White and the Purple Violet have had their
flowers doubled by the art of cultivators, and they

68 FLORA HISTORICA.

have been found wild, with this departure from
nature. Double Violets are easily increased by
parting the roots in the autumn, and as it is so uni-
versal a favourite, no flower-garden should be with-
out it, nor should any gardener omit to pot it for the
use of the saloon. In Paris, notwithstanding the
arbitrary regulations of Fashion, which reaches even
to the sale of flowers, the Violet constantly holds its
rank as a favourite, on which account the French
florists check the early flowering of some of their
plants, so as to secure blossoms in the height of
summer, and we have frequently met with them at
the celebrated Marche aux Fleurs in the months of
August and September ; nor are les dames de la
Halle, nor the admired Vendeuses de fleurs at
Rouen, without a supply of Double Violets at that
season of the year.

Between her breasts, that never yet felt trouble,
A bunch of Violets, full blown, and double,
Serenely sleeps.

Keats.

To wear Violets, in Paris, denotes the person to
belong to the Liberal party.

It is related of Mademoiselle Clairon, a cele-
brated French actress, that being passionately fond
of Violets, a friend cultivated them so as to give
her a nosegay of these flowers every morning dur-
ing their season. This fragrant offering lasted
thirty years, and to lose nothing of a gift which

DOG'S VIOLET. 69

friendship and constancy rendered so precious to
her who received it, she stripped off* the flower
petals every evening, and took them in an infusion
like tea.

The growth of the Sweet Violet is not confined
to Europe, it perfumes the palm groves in Barbary
during winter, it flourishes in Palestine, and both
Japan and China boast of this fragrant flower.
Hasselquist tells us that it is one of the plants most
esteemed in Syria, and particularly on account of
its great use in making violet sugar, of which they
make Sorbet. Tavernier says that the most
esteemed sherbet of the Turks, and which is drunk
by the Grand Seignior himself, is made of sugar
and violets.

DOG'S VIOLET. Viola canina.

The Violet without perfume has been named
Dog's Violet, Viola canina, to express a degree of
inferiority to that of the odorous kind. This
species of Violets seems an intermediate kind be-
tween the odorata and the tricolor Pansy, to which
it nearly approaches in many of its characters.
The Dog's Violet grows in more open and exposed
situations than the Sweet Violet, often covering
large spaces on heaths and downs with its fine blue

70 FLORA HISTORICA.

flowers, the petals of which are strongly marked
with lines like those of the Pansy or Hearts-ease.
On hilly, dry situations, the corolla of the Dog's
Violet is considerably smaller than that of the
odorous Purple Violet ; but in moist and sheltered
situations, the flower is considerably larger than
those of the sweet kind, and as it blossoms later
than the odorous Violet, its time of flowering is of
longer duration, and its colour a fine azure. It is
on the whole one of the most ornamental of our
creeping plants, yet it is seldom to be seen in the
flower-garden, and is perhaps better adapted for
the shrubbery or wilderness walks, as there the

garden painted o'er

With Nature's hand, not Art's, should pleasure yield.

Cowley.

This species of Violet, like that of the sweet
kind, produces seed during the summer months
without any expanded corolla.

As it has been observed by Lord Bacon that
sweet odours contribute to health, by refreshing
the spirits and causing cheerfulness, we shall notice
how the Sweet Violets wili retain their fragrance
the longest after being gathered for the saloon.
Saucers should be filled with sea sand, or common
sand mixed with salt and water. In this holes
should be made with the back of a pen, and the
stalks of the Violets being first fresh cut at the

DOG'S VIOLET. 71

end, place two or three in each hole, so as to cover
the sand entirely, keeping the flowers about half
an inch above the sand, which should be pressed
tight to the stalks. In this manner they may be
preserved fresh for several days, and yield their
delightful fragrance for the enjoyment of those
who are not able to seek them in the fields, where

Blows not a blossom on the breast of Spring1,
Breathes not a gale along the bending mead,

Trills not a songster of the soaring wing,
But fragrance, health, and melody succeed.

Laxghorne.

The Sweet Violet was held in considerable esti-
mation by the ancients for its medicinal properties;
and the petals of this flower are still used in medi-
cine, principally as a cooling, emollient, and gentle
cathartic. For this purpose they are made into a
syrup by the following simple process : to one
pound of fresh-gathered Sweet Violets, carefully
picked, add two pints and a half of boiling water ;
infuse them a whole day in a glass, or glazed china
vessel ; then pour off the fluid, and strain it through
muslin, avoiding all pressure; after which add dou-
ble its weight of the finest sugar, and make it into
a syrup, without letting it boil.

This, with a small quantity of almond oil, is an
excellent laxative medicine for young children, and
is esteemed good for irritating coughs and sore

72 FLORA HISTORICA.

throats. The seeds of the Violet are said to be
strongly diuretic, and useful in gravel complaints.

The Sweet Violet is highly valuable in chemistry
to detect an acid or an alkali ; and this test is so
delicate, that the smallest quantity of free acid
or alkali in any mixture is immediately detected by
the syrup of Violets, as acids turn the blue colour
of it to a red, and alkalies to a green : for this
purpose Violets are cultivated in large quantities at
Stratford-upon -Avon.

PANSY, or HEART'S EASE. Viola tricolor.

And thou, so rich in gentle names, appealing
To hearts that own our nature's common lot ;

Thou styled by sportive fancy's better feeling,
A Thought, The Heart's Ease, or Forget me not.
Who deck'st alike the peasant's garden plot,

And castle's proud parterre ; with humble joy
Proclaim afresh, by castle and by cot,

Hopes which ought not, like things of time, to cloy,

And feelings time itself shall deepen— not destroy I

Barton.
Ye valleys low,

Throw hither all your quaint enamell'd eyes,
That on the green turf suck the honey'd showers
And purple all the ground with vernal flowers.
******

. and the Pansy freakt with jet ;

The glowing Violet. Milton.

The tints of this variable flower are scarce less
numerous than the names that have been bestowed

PANSY. 73

on it. That of Pansy is a corruption of the French
name penaJe, thought. In Shakspeare's Tragedy
of Hamlet, Ophelia says —

and there are Pannes, that's for thoughts.

In the floral language, as adopted by the French,
this favourite flower means, " think of me," pensez
a moi.

The hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians
abound in floral symbols, and from hence we may
surmise that the Greeks became accustomed to this
figurative language. Their poetical fables are full
of the metamorphoses of their deities into plants ;
indeed there was no flower to which their imagina-
tions had not affixed some meaning : even to this
day a young Arcadian is seldom seen without his
turban full of flowers, presented to him by the
beauty he admires, by the silent language of which
his hopes are kept alive ; and it forms one of the
great amusements of the Greek girls to drop
these symbols of their esteem, or scorn, upon
the various passengers who pass their latticed
windows.

Shakspcare notices the Heart' s-ease by the name
of Love in Idleness, in his celebrated compliment
to Queen Elizabeth, which he makes Oberon de-
liver in the Midsummer Night's Dream : —

That very time I saw _

Flying betwixt the cold earth and the moon,
VOL. I, E

74 FLORA HISTORICA.

Cupid all arcn'd : — a certain aim lie took

At a fair vestal, throned by the "west,

And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow,

As it would pierce a hundred thousand hearts :

But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft

Quench' d in the chaste beams of the wat'ry moon ;

And the imperial votaress pass'd on,

In maiden meditation, fancy free.

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell : —

It fell upon a little western flower, —

Before, milk-white, — now purple with love's wound,

And maidens call it Love-in-idleness.

Spenser calls it the " pretty pawncy," and Mr.
eiMi Hunt ad

o

of Hearts-ease

Leigh Hunt admits it into his verse under the name

the garden's gem

HeartVease, like a gallant bold,
In his cloth of purple and gold.

In addition to these names, it bears those of Herb
Trinity, Three faces under a hood, Flame Flower,
Jump up and kiss me, Flower of Jove, Pink of my
John, and others equally whimsical and unappro-
priate.

Nature sports as much with the colours of this
little flower as she does with the features of the
human countenance ; and you may almost as well
seek a perfect likeness in two faces, as hunt for
Pansics of the same tint.

Whilst looking on a bank of these favourite
flowers, we may safely say with Cowley —

Can all your tap'stries, or your pictures, show
More beauties than in herbs and flow'rs do grow ?

1'ANSY. 75

The most brilliant purples of the artist appear dull
when compared to that of the Tansy, our richest
satins and velvets coarse and unsightly by a com-
parison of texture; and as to delicacy of shading,
it is scarcely surpassed by the bow of Iris itself.

When seen individually, the flower must be no-
ticed with admiration, yet it is not calculated to
make a figure in the garden unless planted in large
clumps; but when a considerable plot of rising
ground is covered with these flowers, the appear-
ance cannot be equalled by the finest artificers in
purple and gold. The seeds may be sown at al-
most any season of the year. Those sown late in
the autumn blossom early, whilst those sown in the
spring flower during the summer. It is a flower
that bears transplanting ; and if the branches are
cut off when the beauty of the blossom is past, they
will send out fresh branches, and continue to flower
throughout the year ; but when suffered to ripen
the seed, the plant generally dies. We have fre-
quently kept the plants alive for several years by
this treatment ; and transplanting rather adds to the
beauty of the flower than otherwise.

The Pansy will grow in almost any soil and si-
tuation, but the self-sown plants degenerate very
rapidly, producing only small dingy flowers.

The perfume of the Pansy is too weak to be

E 2

76 FLORA HISTORICA.

regarded in single flowers ; but a cluster of these
blossoms give out an agreeable fragrance.

The pansy is a native of most parts of Europe,
as well as of England. It also grows naturally in
Siberia and Japan.

In the Materia medica of old writers, the Pansy
holds a situation of some importance, but in modern
practice it is nearly, if not altogether, neglected,
for fashion creeps even into our pill-boxes.

WALL-FLOWER. 77

WALL-FLOWER. Chciranthus Cheiri.

Natural Order Siliquosa, Crucifcrcc, or Crucifonnes, a
Genus of the Tdradynamia Siliquosa Class.

The rude stone-fence, with Wall-flowers gay,

To me more pleasure yield
Than all the pomp imperial domes display.

Scott..

Ye Wall-flowers, shed your tints of golden dye,
On which the morning sunbeams love to rest,—

On which, when glory fills the glowing west,
The parting splendours of the day's decline,.,

With fascination to the heart address' d,
So tenderly and beautifully shine,

As if reluctant still to leave that hoary shrine.

Barton".

In floral language, the Wall-flower stands as the
emblem of fidelity in misfortune, because it attaches
itself to the desolate, and enlivens the ruins which
time and neglect would otherwise have rendered
terrible. It hides the savage strokes of feudal
times on the castle walls, fills the space of the wanted
stone in the mouldering church, and wreathes a
garland on the crumbling monument no longer
noticed by friendly relatives.

For this, obedient zephyrs bear

Her light seeds round yon turret's mould,
And, undispersed by tempest, there

They rise in vegetable gold.

Laxghorne.

78 FLORA HTSTOR1CA.

It is'f the flower with which the romance-writers
embellish all their decaying battlements, falling
towers, and monastic ruins, and it seems as neces-
sary to their stories as the dark ivy, the screeching
owl, and the gliding spectre itself.

Why loves my flower — the sweetest flower

That swells the golden breast of INI ay —
Thrown rudely o'er this ruin'd tower,

To waste her solitary day?
Why, when the mead, the spicy vale,

The grove and genial garden call,
"Will she her fragrant soul exhale

Unheeded on the lonely wall ?

Langhorxe.

Our northern poet says —

And well the lonely infant knew
Recesses where the Wall-flower grew,
And Honey-suckle loved to crawl
Up the low crag and ruin'd wall,
I deem'd such nooks the sweetest shade
The sun in all his round survey "d ;
And still I thought that shatter'd tower
The mightiest work of human power.

Walter Scott.

During the reign of terror in France, the mis-
guided populace of Paris, not satisfied with the
devastation their frenzy occasioned in the capital,
flew to Saint Denis, with an intent to destroy every
vestige of the royal monuments, and to scatter in
the wind the ashes of their sovereigns, which were
deposited in the sacred abbey of that place. Some
time after, this spot was visited by the poet Treneuil,

WALL-FLOWER. 79

who found heaps of sculptured fragments, which
the madness of the rabble had thrown into an ob-
scure court of the abbey, covered over with fragrant
Wall-flowers, which gave rise to his verse —

Mais quelle est cette fleur que son instinct pieux

Sur Taile du zephir amene dans ces lieux ?

Quoi ! tu quittes le temple ou vivent tes ratines,

Sensible giroflee, amante des mines,

Et ton tribut fidele accompagne nos rois ?

Ah ! puisque la terreur a courbe sous ses lois

Du lis infortune la tige souveraine,

Que nos jardins en deuil te cboisissent pour reine ;

Triompbe sans rivale, et que ta sainte fleur

Croisse pour le tombeau, le trone et le malheur.

TOMBEAUX DE SaIXT-DENIS.

The common Wall-flower is a native of the South
of Europe, and is found wild in Switzerland, France,
and Spain ; and we may presume that it was one of
the earliest flowers which was cultivated in our
gardens, from its being so constantly found on the
ruins of our oldest buildings. Turner, one of the
earliest English writers on plants, calls it wall-
gelouer, or hartis ease. Gerard names it wall-
flower, yellow stocke gillo-flowers, and wall gillo-
flower. It is the Keyri, or Keiri, of the Arabians ;
the Xefxoiov of the Greeks ; the Viola lutea, and the
Leucoium luteum of the Latins ; the Violettas ama-
rillas of the Spanish ; Viola gialla of the Italians ;
the Giroflee des murailles, giroflier jaune violier,
muret, and ravenelle of the French ; and the Vio-

SO FLORA HISTORICA.

Keren of the Dutch. The modern name of Chei-
ranthus for the Wall-flower and the Stock was given
by Linnaeus, who gave it this Greek name from
j^eif, a hand, and civ9os, a flower, which he derived
from the Arabic Keiri. It was by the same learned
botanist placed in the natural order Cruciformes,
because the flowers have only four petals, which
expand in the form of a cross. It is also, and more
correctly, ranked in the natural order Siliquosce,
because the seed is contained in a siliqua (pod.)
The silique is a pod, consisting of two valves, and
generally one dissepiment, extending its whole
length, and the seeds are fixed on both sutures ; it
differs from the legume (legumen), where the seeds
are fixed on one and the same suture, but alternately
upon the two valves.

The Wall-flowers which grow out of the cre-
vices of old buildings are of a much hardier nature
than those of the garden, for as they can receive
but little moisture by the fibres of their roots, their
stem becomes firm and woody, and able to bear the
frost without injury, whereas those cultivated in
the garden become succulent, and, consequently,
more susceptible of cold. The two principal va-
rieties of Wall-flower are the yellow, and the red
or bloody. These, by intermixture of impregna-
tion, have created numerous trivial varieties, as the
yellow striped with a reddish brown, or the red

WALL-FLOWER. 81

striped with yellow. Thomson, whose pen was
not able to describe so sweet a flower by so terrible
a name as that of bloody wall, distinguishes it as

The yellow Wall-flower, stain'd with iron-hrown,
And lavish Stock, that scents the garden round.

We have frequently sown the seeds of the rich
Iron-brown Coloured Wall-flower on old walls,
and they have uniformly degenerated into a plain
yellow; we, therefore, consider this to have been
the natural colour, and the dark tint to have been
first caused by the impregnation of its relative the
scarlet Stock, as by blending these two colours a
rich iron-brown will be produced.

The Wall-flower has also been cultivated in a
double state for more than two centuries and a
quarter, as Gerard, in his description of this plant,
says, iC whereupon do growe most pleasant sweete
yellow flowers, very double ; which plant is so well
knowen to all, that it shall be needlesse to spend
much time about the description."

Parkinson is the earliest writer that notices the
Wall-flower with striped or variegated petals. Ge-
rard notices only the plain yellow variety.

A most beautiful variety of this plant has lately
been introduced from Moscow, by Mr. Lambert,
of Boyton House, Wiltshire, which has been
named the Chameleon Wall-flower, as its petals at
first appearance are of a bright yellow, but gra-

e o

82 FLORA HISTORICA.

dually become paler, until they are nearly blanched
white ; after which they change to a purple tint, so
that the top flowers are yellow, those in the middle
white, and the lower blossoms of a lilac or purple
hue. This variety is perfectly hardy, but not per-
manent, as in some instances it has changed to a cop-
per colour, and in others to a plain yellow or white.
It appears to us a mixture of the Yellow Wall-
flower with its kindred the White and Purple Stock.
We possess but few flowers that ornament the
garden so gaily and so sweetly as the W all-flower :
the green of its foliage is of the most agreeable
tint, and endures through the winter, often treating
us with its fragrant and showy petals, amongst the
earliest and latest flowers that blossom ; and when
planted in clumps of six or ten plants each, the
effect is both gay and agreeable. By cutting off
the branches of seed pods, they will blossom a
second time, and we have often kept them for several
years by this means, which also insures flowers
early in the spring.

The yellow Wall-flower is the most conspi-
cuously gay in the shrubbery, but the dark iron-
brown is the most esteemed on the border of the
florist. It frequently happens that some plants,
when growing upon rich soil, produce flowers with
five petals ; it is the seed of these that should be
principally saved, as they frequently produce double
flowers.

WALL-FLOWER. 83

April is the season recommended to sow the
seeds of the Wall-flower, which are soon of suffi-
cient size to transplant out, either in a nursery-bed
or on the spots they are intended to embellish :
they should always be planted sufficiently early in
the autumn to get a good rooting before the frost
approaches, and the drier and poorer the ground
the better will these plants endure the winter ; but
when planted in a rich compost of vegetable mould,
cow-dung, and loam, well mixed, they arrive at a
state of perfection scarcely surpassed by any Eu-
ropean flower, particularly when potted in the
spring, and kept in a north-east aspect, where they
receive only about three hours sun each day. These
should be housed during the winter, giving them
but little water until they begin to show flower-buds,
when they may be more freely watered, and if they
prove of good kinds, they will be found to repay the
attention by the beauty and size of their flowers.

The perfectly double varieties, being destitute of
the organs of fructification, produce no seed, but
may be propagated by slips planted in the spring,
which readily take root if kept moist; but these
seldom make such fine plants, or produce so large
petals, as those raised from seeds that are saved
from semi-double flowers.

84 FLORA HISTORICA.

COWSLIP. Primula veris.

Natural Order Precice. Lysimachicc, Juss. A Genus
of the Pentandria Monogynia Class.

Cowslips wan, that hang the pensive head.

Milton.

This favourite flower of our native fields has had
its praises sung by our sweetest poets in a manner
that revives the pleasures of our infant days, when
gambling on the grass we delighted in the sports of
the Cowslip ball, catching and throwing at each
other the floral globes we had formed by uniting
the clusters of these fragrant blossoms.

How cheerful along the gay mead,
The Daisy and Cowslip appear !

Hymn of Eve.
How exquisitely sweet
This rich display of flowers,
This airy wild of fragrance,
So lovely to the eye,
And to the sense so sweet.

G. B. And reiki's Adam.

When April's smiles the flowery lawn adorn,
And modest Cowslips deck the streamlet's side ;

When fragrant orchards to the roseate morn

Unfold their bloom, in heaven's own colours dyed.

MlCKLE.

COWSLIP. 85

The flowery May, who from her green lap throwi
The yellow Cowslip and the pale Primrose.

M 1 1. T 0 M .

This is the time when the village children remind

us of the ancient games of Flora—

Now let us garlands -weave
Of all the fairest flow'rs,
Now at this early dawn.

AXDREINI.

equal meed receive :

At most such garlands from the field
As Cowslips, Pinks, and Pansies yield,
And rural hands can weave.

Siiexstoxe.

It is impossible for the most refined imagination
to form a more delightful idea than Shakspeare has
connected with this flower, in making Ariel sing
in her freedom —

"Where the hee sucks, there lurk I ;

In a Cowslip's hell I lie :

There I couch when owls do cry.

Tempest.

Our poet also celebrates this flower in his Mid-
summer Night's Dream, where, in a few lines, he
makes it subservient to the Queen of the Fairies,
describes the character of the corolla, and alludes
to the institution of tall military courtiers which
were pensioned by Queen Elizabeth.

And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orhs upon the green :
The Cowslips tall her pensioners he ;
In their gold coats spots you see ;

86 FLORA HISTORICA.

Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours :
I must go seek some dew-drops here,
And haug a pearl in every Cowslip's ear.

Milton describes Sabrina's airy tread over this
flower by the beautiful song of the goddess.

Whilst from off the waters fleet
Thus I set my printless feet
O'er the Cowslip's velvet head,
That bends not as I tread.

The calyx of the Cowslip is the most delicate
of all the shades of green which are presented to
us by the vegetable kingdom : hence Hurdis calls it

The love-sick Cowslip, that the head inclines,
To hide a bleeding heart.

The last line is in allusion to the orange or red
mark in the cup of the flower, from whence it is
often called the Freckled Cowslip :

rich in vegetable gold

From calyx pale the freckled Cowslip born,
Receives in amber cup the fragrant dews of morn.

Shakspeare refers to this red speckle, when he
makes Iachimo describe Imogene as having

on her left breast

A mole cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops
I' the bottom of a Cowslip.

The Cowslip is seldom found in the immediate
neighbourhood of its relative Primrose ; for whilst
the modest Primrose partially conceals itself by the
branches of shrubs, the Cowslip advances more

cowslip. 87

boldly into the open fields, and decorates the slop-
ing hills with its pendant umbels of fragrant blos-
soms. The corollas of the Cowslip are often
gathered to make a kind of liqueur wine, which is
thought to promote sleep. Pope observes —

For want of rest,

Lettuce and Cowslip wine : probatum est.

The author of the celebrated Poem on Cider also
recommends this Mine, and says,

-Thy little sons

Permit to range the pastures ; gladly they
Will mow the Cowslip posies, faintly sweet,
From whence thou artificial wines shalt drain
Of icy taste, that in mid fervors, hest
Slack craving thirst, and mitigate the day.

Phillips.

The flowers of the Cowslip are also frequently
mixed with tea, to give it a flavour, and sometimes
used alone in infusion, as they are thought to pos-
sess antispasmodic and anodyne qualities, and. to
be also mildly corroborant.

Cowslips were formerly esteemed good for pains
in the joints and sinews, palsy, &c. and were there-
fore called ArthritictB and Herbce Paralysis by
medical writers ; for the same reason they were
called Palsy-worts in English, and d'Herbe a
Parahjsie by the French. The French peasants
call this flower Fleur de coucou, from its blooming
at the same time when the cuckow begins to sing ;

38 FLORA HISTORICA.

but its general names in that country are Primevere
and Primerole.

The name of Cowslip seems to have originated
from the Saxon word cuslippe, which is thought to
have originated from the resemblance which the
perfume of these flowers has to the breath of a
cow, or from its being so closely pressed away by
the lip of the cow in the pastures, where it is
considered an injurious weed, that occupies a
space which clover or other nutritious plants should

fill.

Silk worms will feed upon the leaves of the
Cowslip, but their silk is of no value unless they
are supplied with the leaves of the mulberry tree.

The leaves were formerly eaten in salad, but the
ease by which we now procure lettuce and other
exotic salad plants in our kitchen gardens, has
banished those of our fields from the table.

OXLIP. 89

OXLIP. Primula elatior.

I know a bank whereon the Wild Thyme blows,
Where Oxlip, and the nodding Violet grows.

SlIAKSPEARE.

The Oxlip is so named from being a larger kind
of Cowslip, and it appears to be the offspring of
the Primrose impregnated by the Cowslip. Like
the mother plant, it seeks the thicket and the
hedge-rows, being seldom found in the open fields.
It also assimilates with the Primrose in scent, but
its umbellate flower-stalk proclaims it also a child
of the Cowslip. It is from this plant we seem to
have obtained, through cultivation, that beautiful
kindred flower the Polyanthos. The Oxlip is by-
no means so common as the Primrose or the Cows-
lip ; it loves a clayey soil, and deserves a more
frequent situation beneath the rose bushes of the
garden than it generally occupies. Clumps of
Oxlips are great ornaments to the shrubbery, and
particularly so —

Till riper months the perfect year disclose,
And Flora cries exulting " See my Rose !"

Mrs. Barbauld.

90 FLORA HISTORICA.

NARCISSUS. Narcissus.

Natural Order Spathacece. Narcissi, Juss. A Genus
of the HexandriaMonogynia Class.

Thy sommer prowde, with Diffadillies dight.

Spenser.

Foolish Narcisse, that likes the wat'ry shore.

Spenser.

Jonquils,

Of potent fragrance. Thomson.

This beautiful family of flowering bulbs, so cele-
brated by the ancient poets, under the name of
Narcissus, we shall notice in the order of their
flowering, commencing with the species distinguished
by the name of

DAFFODIL.

When early Primroses appear,

And vales are deck'd with Daffodils,

I hail the new reviving year,

And soothing hope my bosom fills.

Williams.

This is one of the flowers which the daughter of
Ceres was gathering when she was seized by Pluto.

Here, while young Proserpine, among the maids,
Diverts herself in these delicious shades ;
While, like a child, with busy speed and care
She gathers lilies here, and vi'lets there :

NARCISSUS. 91

While first to fill her little lap she strives,
Hell's grizly monarch at the shade arrives ;
Sees her thus sporting on the flou'ry green,
And loves the blooming maid as soon as seen.

Maynwahing's Ovid.

Shakspeare alludes to this story in the Winter's
Tale, as well as to the early season in which the
blossoms of the Daffodil appear.

O, Proserpina,

For the flowers now that, frightened, thou let'st fall
From Dis's waggon ! Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.

Milton has also noticed this early-flowering spe-
cies of the Narcissus, among the plants he selects to
adorn the tomb of Lycidas, in which is

every flower that sad embroidery wears :

******

And Daffodillies fill their cups with tears,
To strew the laureat hearse where Lycid lies.

This flower was evidently considered a kind of
Lily by early writers, and we are of opinion that
the name is a corruption of Dis's lily, as it is sup-
posed to be the flower dropped from the chariot of
that god, in his flight with Proserpine. Skinner
supposes it corrupted from Asphodelus. Spenser
spells it DhTadillies, and in one instance he says —

Strew me the green round with Daffodowndillies,
And Cowslips, and King-cups, and loved Lilies.

92 FLORA HISTORICA.

Gerard, who wrote on plants in Spenser's days,
also calls them Daffadowndillies. They were also
called Chalice flowers, from the nectary, or cup,
being shaped like the chalice used at the commu-
nion table. They are likewise called Lent-Lilies,
from their flowering at the season of Lent.

The Daffodil which flowers the earliest is the
Spanish Daffodil, Narcissus minor. Parkinson,
notices this species as long back as 1620 ; yet it
remains nearly a stranger in our gardens at the
present day, although it stands the severity of our
winters in almost any soil and situation, and pro-
pagates very fast by the roots. Notwithstanding
the flowers are of a diminutive size, in comparison
to other Daffodils, yet it makes a pleasing variety
with the Snowdrop and other early -flowering plants,
and gives a gaiety to the walks of the shrubbery,
wThen planted in large clusters.

Our native Daffodil, Pseudo Narcissus, is the
next in succession, which also blossoms in March,
to embellish our wet pastures, the banks of orchards,
the borders of woods, and cottage gardens. We
have many varieties of this species of Narcissus, all
of which are important to the early decoration of
our flower-garden, but more particularly so to the
adornment of the shrubbery, as clumps of these
gay yellow flowers enliven the plantation beyond
those of any other flower which blossoms so early.

NARCISSUS. 03

They should, therefore, be planted with a liberal
hand, amongst the evergreens that are seen from
the principal walks and windows of the house,
avoiding, as much as possible, the appearance of
the gardening art, by clumps at set distances. They
should be scattered, as it were, from Nature's hand,
sometimes half obscured by shrubs, and at others
springing out of the green turf beneath the spreading
branches of some sable-clad tree ; for beauties but
half discovered are the most coveted, as the charms
of the moon's beams are increased by passing clouds.
Gerard tells us, as long back as 1597, that he
received the Double Yellow Daffodil from his friend
Hobinus, of Paris, and that the Yellow Spanish
Daffodil " doth likewise decke up our London
gardens, where they increase infinitely." Parkin-
son distinguishes it as the " Great Yellow Spanish
Bastard Daffodil," which is the largest of the genus,
and bears the most magnificent flowers. Curtis,
therefore, distinguishes it as the Great Daffodil,
Narcissus major. It bears its fine golden chalice
amidst petals of the same colour, on a stalk two
feet in height. This species of Narcissus succeeds
the common Daffodil in its time of flowering, being
generally from three weeks to a month later before
it bursts from its sheath, which is the involucre
called by botanists Spathc, Spatha ; and hence
Linnaeus formed his natural order Spathacea, for

94 FLORA HISTORICA.

all plants whose flowers proceed from a spathe.
ML Jussieu has arranged these plants under a dis-
tinct order, which he terms Narcissi.

The Single Daffodils require no further attention
than to observe the spot where they grow, so as not
to cut their roots by the hoe or spade ; but the
double varieties should be taken out of the ground,
with other curious bulbs ; for, by remaining in the
earth they will return to their natural single state,
which is, by the florists, improperly termed dege-
nerating. These bulbs should be replanted about
the end of October, observing to open a space of
ground the size intended for the clump, and then
cover them with the earth, which avoids the vacuum
left about the roots when planted with a dibble.

NARCISSUS. Narcissus.

Narcissus fair,
As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still.

Thomson.

This favourite flower has been made the emblem
of egotism and self-love, from the beautiful and
well-known story in Ovid's Metamorphoses, of the
lovely and coy Narcissus, who was changed into this
plant, for slighting the fair Echo in favour of his
own shadow.

NARCISSUS. 95

Narcissus on the grassy verdure lies :
But whilst within the crystal font he tries
To quench his heat, he feels now heats arise.
For, as his own bright image he surveyM,
He fell in love with the fantastic shade ;
And o'er the fair resemblance hung unmoved,
Ncr knew, fond youth ! it was himself he loved.

The concluding lines of this pathetic poem are so
sweetly translated by Addison, that, although known
to every admirer of the Narcissus flower, we cannot
forbear repeating the moan of the languishing
youth, and the responses of his slighted Echo —

She saw him in his present misery,

Whom spite of all her wrongs she grieved to see,

She answer'd sadly to the lover's moan,

Sigh'd back his sighs, and groan'd to every groan ;

M Ah youth ! beloved in vain," Narcissus cries —

" Ah youth ! beloved in vain," the Nymph replies.

" Farewell," says he ; the parting sound scarce fell
From his faint lips, but she replied " Farewell."
Then on the wholesome earth he gasping lies,
Till death shuts up those self-admiring eyes.
To the cold shades his flitting ghost retires,
And in the Stygian waves itself admires.

For him the Naiads and Dryads mourn,
Whom the sad Echo answers in her turn :
And now the sister-nymphs prepare his urn ;
When, looking for his corpse, they only found
A rising stalk, with yellow blossoms crown'd.

On this account the flower retains the name of
Narcissus in all the enlightened countries of Eu-
rope, although some etymologists derive the word
Na§>a^os-, Narcissus, from N^§jcwo/r, on account
of its narcotic quality.

96 FLORA HISTORIC^.

We have now many different species of this
flower cultivated in our gardens ; yet the ornament-
ing of our parterres with a succession of early-
flowering bulbous plants has rather diminished than
increased for some years past : we cannot, however,
recommend a more desirable class of plants to the
notice of the florist than that of the Narcissus,
one of which, distinguished as the Poetic or White
Narcissus, is said to be indigenous to our soil, as
also to the South of France, Carniola, Switzerland,
as well as to the more genial climes where the poet
gave it so much celebrity. This Narcissus seldom
produces seed in England even by the assistance of
cultivation, and we are, therefore, of opinion that
the few plants which have been found at Shorne,
between Gravesend and Rochester, as well as those
discovered in Norfolk, are the offsets from imported
plants, probably of as early a date as the time of
the Romans, who, we may naturally conclude,
would not fail to plant the flower of their favourite
poet, when we discover that they paved the floors
of their dwellings in this country with tesellse that
represented his tales.

The Poet's Narcissus produces but one flower
on each stalk, which inclines to one side, and takes
a horizontal position. The corolla is of a pure
white, and expands quite flat, the petals being
rounded at the points. The cup or nectary in the

NARCISSI'S. 97

centre is very short, and fringed on the border
with a bright purple circle; sometimes this flower
is found with a crimson edge to the nectary, and
we occasionally meet with them with two flowers
issuing from one spathe. Lobel notices its culti-
vation in this country as long back as 1570, and
Gerard has described and pictured four different
kinds of these Purple-ringed Narcissuses, that or-
namented British gardens in the time of Queen
Elizabeth. The varieties of this species of Nar-
cissus, flower from about the middle of April to
the end of May. They have an agreeable per-
fume, and the Double White Narcissus, which
is a variety of the poet's flower, is generally
esteemed either in the garden or when planted in
pots for the house, and but few flowers are better
calculated to fill the vase of the saloon or ornament
the epergne for the dinner-table.

The Polyanthos Narcissus is so called on account
of producing many flowers on one stalk. The ge-
neric name of this species Taxetta^ is from the Ita-
lian, and signifies little cup, as the nectary or cha-
lice of this flower is small in comparison to many
kinds of Narcissus.

This Narcissus is a native of Portugal, Spain,
the South of France, Italy, and the Islands of the
Archipelago, and the neighbourhood of Constanti-
nople, as also of Japan. The Chinese call this

vol. i. F

98 FLORA HISTORICA.

species of Narcissus Slntey seen fa, and it is used
by them for religious purposes at the new year.
The bulbs are sent every year from Chinchew,
being only kept at Canton during the time of their
flowering. They are planted in pots made to re-
tain water, filled with sand or small stones.

It is one of the most valuable of our flowering
bulbs, both on account of the early season in which
it blossoms, and the numerous flowers which it
gives out from one stalk, as well as for its agree-
able odour ; on this account, the florists in Hol-
land, Flanders, and France, have taken great pains
in improving it by cultivation, and raising nume-
rous varieties of it from seed : their catalogues
contain upwards of a hundred sub-varieties, distin-
guished by similar pompous and ridiculous names
to those which the English florists now bestow on
their Geraniums. The double-flowered Polyanthos
Narcissus has been cultivated in our gardens as
long back as the time of Queen Elizabeth, as Ge-
rard tells us it was sent from Constantinople Ci to
the Right Honourable the Lord Treasurer, among
other bulbed flowers." We learn from the same
author, that his Lordship's house was situated in
the Strand, with a garden running down to the
Thames, on whose banks a greater variety of plants
have been naturalized from that time to the present
day than ever graced the shores of any other ma-
jestic stream, for there —

NARCISSI'S. fjg

sits enthroned in vegetable pride

Imperial Kew l>y Thames'a glittering side •
Obedient sails from realxni onfurrow'd bring
For her tlio unnamed progeny of Spring:

Attendant nymphs her dulcet mandates hear,
And nurse in fostering arms the tender year,
I'lant the young bulb, inhume the living seed,
Prop the weak stem, the erring tendril lead ;
Or fan in glass-built fanes the stranger flowers
With milder gales, and steep with warmer showers.

Darwin.

The bulbs of this species of Narcissus should
be planted in October, in good fresh earth of rather
a light loamy nature, with a small portion of sand
well mixed with it. Those bulbs that are planted
in pots should receive but moderate watering, so
as to keep up a slight moisture, but at the time of
their flowering a more plentiful supply of water
will greatly assist them. From the end of October
to the middle of November is the proper time to
place these bulbs in the glasses to flower with Hya-
cinths, and for this purpose the variety called the
Cyprus Narcissus is the most desirable.

It should be observed not to place the same
bulbs in water two successive years. After they
have flowered, and the leaves are quite decayed,
they should be laid in a shady situation to dry, but
not where they receive a draught of air ; in this
state they may be preserved until the season for
planting them in the natural ground or in pots of
earth.

r 2

0 HISTORICA FLORA.

The Sweet-scented Narcissus, Odorus, is admired
for the size of its yellow flower, as well as its fra-
grance. This specie?, which is a native of the South
of Europe, flowers in April.

JONQUIL. Jonquilla.

The Jonquil, which in floral language is made the
emblem of desire, is distinguished from other spe-
cies of Narcissus by its rush-like foliage, and hence
the name, which is derived from juncus, rushy.
Gerard, and other old writers, call it " The rush
Daffodill and Narcissus Juncifbliiis.*1 This is the
most fragrant of all the species of the Narcissus, and
is often found too powerful for small rooms. It
flowers well in water, and forms a good figure in
the grass with other Narcissuses, as its colour is
of the brightest yellow. When planted in the
open ground, it prospers best in a south-east aspect,
and it flowers stronger if an oyster-shell or tile be
put beneath the bulb to prevent the roots running
too deep into the earth. The bulbs of the Single
Jonquil may remain undisturbed in the earth for
several years, but the double variety should be taken
out of the ground when the leaves are quite de-
cayed, as it will otherwise return to its natural

NARCISSI'S. 101

single state, to the disappointment of the admirers
of double-petaled flowers.

When planted in the open garden, the Jonquil
should be placed in clumps of considerable size, as
it then makes an agreeable figure both by its rushy
foliage and its fine yellow flowers, and its roots
are less likely to be cut up or injured than when
scattered three or four in a bunch in various parts
of the border. As Jonquils and the more tender
Narcissuses are liable to be injured by the winds,
we recommend that they should be planted in such
situations as arc sheltered from the west and south-
west wind by evergreen shrubs, which will also be
found to lengthen the duration of the flowers by
shading them from the afternoon sun, and these
blossoms will appear to greater advantage when
contrasted with the dark foliage of evergreen trees.

The hardier kinds of Narcissuses should also be
planted at the edge of ornamental waters, particu-
larly where there are small islands or necks of land
running into lakes, for here they will not only con-
trast well with the blue waters, but will have their
beauties reflected in the stream. Keats observes —

"What first inspired a bard of old to sing
Narcissus pining o'er the untainted spring ?
In some delicious ramble he had found
A little space, with boughs all woven round :
And in the midst thereof a clearer pool
Than e'er reflected in its pleasant cool

102 FLORA IIISTOIllCA.

The blue sky here and there serenely peeping
Through tendril wreaths fantastically creeping.
And on the bank a lonely flower he spied,
A meek and forlorn flower with nought of pride,
Drooping its beauty o'er the watery clearness,
To woo its own sad image into nearness.
Deaf to light Zephyrus, it would not move ;
But still would seem to droop, to pine, to love.
So, while the poet stood in this sweet spot,
Some fainter gleamings o'er his fancy shot ;
Nor was it long ere he had told the tale
Of young Narcissus and sad Echo's bale.

AN KM ONE. 103

ANEMONE. Anemone.

Natural Order, Mi/lt/siliquce. Ranunciilarcte, Juss
A Genus of the Polyandria Polygynia Class.

From the soft wing of vernal breezes shed,
Anemonies.

Thomson.

That veteran troop who will not for a blast
Of nipping air, like cowards, quit the field.

Mason-.

And coy Anemone, that ne'er uncloses
Her lips until they're blown on by the wind.

Hon. Smith.

The Greeks named this flower Anemone from
^Avspcor, the wind, because it flowers both in a
windy season, and in exposed, windy situations.

The ancients made this flower the emblem of
sickness. Pliny tells us that the magicians and
wise men in old times attributed wonderful powers
to this plant, and ordered that every person should
gather the first Anemone he saw in the year, re-
peating at the same time, u I gather thee for a
remedy against disease." It was then devoutly
placed in scarlet cloth and kept undisturbed,
unless the gatherer became indisposed, when it was
tied either around the neck or arm of the patient.

104 FLORA HISTORICA.

Some suppose that the Anemone was made the
emblem of sickness, in allusion to the fate of Adonis
the favourite of Venus, who changed his body into
this flower, after he had been killed by a boar which
lie had wounded in the chase.

The flying savage, wounded, turn'd again,
"Wrench* d out the gory dart, and foam'd with pain.
The trembling hoy by flight his safety sought,
And now recall'd the lore which Venus taught.
But now too late to fly the hoar he strove,
"Who in the groin his tusks impetuous drove :
On the discolour'd grass Adonis lay,
The monster trampling o'er his heauteous prey.
*******

Yet dares not Venus with a change surprise,
And in a flow'r hid her falPn hero rise !
Then on the hlood sweet nectar she bestows,
The scented hlood in little bubbles rose :
Little as rain drops, which fluttering fly,
Borne by the winds along a low'ring sky.
Short time ensued, till where the blood was shed
A flow'r began to rear its purple head :
Such as on Punic apples is reveal'd,
Or in the filmy rind but half conceal'd.
Still here the fate of lovely forms Ave see,
So sudden fades the swreet Anemone.
The feeble stems, to stormy blasts a prey,
Their sickly beauties droop and pine away.
The winds forbid the flow'rs to flourish long,
Which owe to winds their name in Grecian song.

Eusden's Ovid.

It is related by other mythologists, that Adonis
was restored to life again by Proserpine, on con-
dition that he should spend one half of the year
with her and the other with Venus. This is

ANEMONE, 105

thought to imply the alternate return of summer
and winter. The festivals of Adonis commenced
with mournful lamentations and finished with joy
and gladness, which would seem to indicate a be-
lief of his return to life.

In all ages there appears to have been the same
love of meeting in large assemblies, no matter for
■what cause, whether to deplore the fabled death of
Adonis, as the ancients did — or, as in modern times,
to eat a dinner for the benefit of the Greek cause
against the Turks — or to dance a French quadrille
at a London theatre by way of stamping a favour-
able impression on Spanish independence.

The Anemone was held in great estimation by
the Romans, who formed it into wreaths for the
head ; and there is scarcely any flower better cal-
culated to be artificially imitated, for the purpose of
ornamenting the temple of Venus ; for as its flowers
are of such various colours, the Venuses of every
tint, from the blackest child of Africa to the fairest
daughter of Britain, may suit their complexions by
wreaths of Anemonies.

At what period our ancestors first called this
plant by the Greek name is uncertain. Turner
writes on it by that appellation in 1568, and
observes that " it maye be called in English Rose
pcrsely, because there groweth a floure like a single

F 5

106 FLORA H1STORICA.

rose in y* middle of this herbe, which is very lyke
persely in the leaves that are aboute the rote."

That the Anemone was a favourite flower, and
sought after with diligence to embellish gardens in
the age of Elizabeth, will appear by an extract from
Gerard's Herbal of 1597, who says, u The stock
or kindred of the Anemones or winde flowers, are
without number, or at least not known vnto any
one that hath written of plants. For Dodoneus
hath set forth five sorts : L'Obelius eight : Taber
Montanus, ten : myselfe haue in my garden twelve
different sorts ; and yet I do heare of diuers more
differing verie notably from any of these ; euery
newe yeere bringeth with it newe and strange kindes.
And euery countrey his peculiar plants of this
sorte, which are sent vnto vs from farre countries,
in hope to receive from vs such as our countrie
yeeldeth."

This excellent old writer on plants also notices
the four species of Anemonies which are indigenous
to this country, which proves that a diligent search
was then made to discover the number of our
native plants ; and when we reflect that they were
separated into families without any settled order of
classification, we cannot but admire with what
judgment and care they were arranged.

Although these native kinds of Anemonies sel-
dom are seen in the parterre of Flora, they deserve

ANEMONE. 107

a notice and a situation amongst flowering shrubs,
particularly as they cover the earth with blossoms
at the early season of March, April, and May, and
flourish under trees and in situations where the
greater variety of plants will not live. The Wood
Anemone, Ncmorosa, bears a like flower, and should
be kept distinct from the Blue Mountain Anemone,
Apennina. This species loves a light loamy soil,
and may be planted in more open situations than
the former. Its purple buds and delicate lilac
petals are very ornamental when planted in large
patches. It has been found in the wild state,
near Harrow on the Hill, at Lord Spencer's Park
at Wimbledon, in a wood by Luton Hoe in
Bedfordshire, and at Berkhamstead in Hertford-
shire. It grows naturally near Rome, and like-
wise on the Apennines.

The Yellow Wood Anemone, Ranunculoides,
should also be planted beneath the trees and shrubs
of our plantations, for the sake of its golden colour.
The pasque flower Anemone, which bears the
Italian name of Pulsatilla, because its downy seeds
are driven about by the winds, loves more open
situations, and is admirably adapted to ornament,
hilly situations by its violet-coloured flowers which
blossom in April and May. There is a variety of
this species with white petals, and another with
double flowers.

108 FLORA HISTORICA.

The roots of all these native Anemonies may be
procured in the woods, and taken up at the season
the leaves decay, to transplant in the shrubbery or
to ornament the walks of the wilderness planta-
tions, which but few flowers do more effectually
in the spring :

thickly strewn in woodland bowers,

Anemonies their stars unfold.

THE GARDEN ANEMONIES.

This exotic family of plants has been imported
from most parts of Europe as well as from North
America, to embellish and enliven our parterres
at the earliest dawn of spring ; and when we take
into account the infinity of varieties and the bril-
liancy of their numerous colours, we cannot refrain
from expressing our regret that the Anemone
should be so sparingly cultivated as it is at the
present day.

The Hortus Kewensis notices twenty-one dis-
tinct species of this plant, and Marty n enumerates
twenty- eight, besides varieties of every species
which have been obtained by seed. The Anemo-
nies are generally divided into two distinct families
by the florists, under the names of Coronaria and
Hortensis. The latter expands its six petals in

ANEMONE. 109

the form of a star, and hence is called the Star
Anemone. Tins species was introduced by our
forefathers previous to 159G, and has been so im-
proved by some careful cultivators, that it may
justly rank amongst the most elegant as well as the
most showy of our early flowers.

Its colours run through all the shades of crim-
son, scarlet, purple, blue, and yellow, down to
pure white, with all the delicate intermediate tints
of peach-blossom, violet, pink, and primrose; and
frequently the petals are beautifully striped or ex-
quisitely shaded, from the fullest of each colour to
the softest stain of each dye. These flowers are
equally admired in the single state, semi-double, or
when all the filaments are converted into petals.
The Star Anemone grows naturally in Switzerland,
Provence, Italy, and Germany, as also in the
vicinity of Constantinople, from whence Gerard
tells us it was originally brought. Mr. Hobhouse
informs us that he found these plants blooming in
wild profusion under the hedges and beside the
paths between Smyrna and Bournabat, The
Turks distinguish those with double flowers by the
name of Giul, and Gulcatamer, and the variety
with cut or parsley-leaved foilage Laid benzede and
Galipoli laid, whilst those with single flowers are
named Binizate and Binizade.

The Coronaria or Poppy Anemonies were origi-

110 FLORA HISTORICA.

nally brought from the Levant, and were known
in our gardens as early as the Star Anemone, but
their cultivation was carried to a great extent both
in Holland and in France before they were much
known in England. Mr. Ray enumerates near
three hundred varieties of Anemonies, and our
modern seedsmen offer us nearly two hundred va-
rieties of the Poppy Anemone, through all the
varying hues of the last kind, and still more diver-
sified in the shades of their double petals : we shall
therefore desist from description, and say with
Miss Mitford,

'Twere hard to sing thy varying charm.

As our object is to improve the appearance of
the garden rather than to give the nurseryman
directions, we shall not speak of Anemone beds,
but advise the best method of planting clumps of
these flowers, whose gaiety so considerably contri-
butes to lengthen the floral year.

To flower these plants in the greatest perfection,
a suitable compost must be prepared of good loam
and rotten cow-dung, adding more or less of the
latter according to the lightness or richness of the
loam. This should be well mixed, and if prepared
a year before and frequently turned over, so much
the better. Some persons prefer a clayey loam
with a fourth part of rotten dung. Where the
Anemonies are to be planted, let holes be dug of

ANEMONE. Ill

the size the clumps are to be formed, of about
eighteen inches deep, and filled about six inches
-with well-rotted dung, as the bottom of melon or
cucumber beds. This space must then be filled
with the compost or mixed earth, leaving it a few
days to settle before the roots are planted. Ob-
serve to place that side of the roots next to the
earth in which the decayed rudiments of small
thready fibres are seen, then cover them about two
inches deep with the prepared soil.

This may be done about the middle of Septem-
ber, with a second planting in October, and a third
in November, by which means the clumps will
flower in succession during the Spring. Some
roots should also be reserved for the spring plant-
ing which will flower in the summer, and those
planted as late as August will flower in the autumn.
In choosing roots of Anemonies, those that are
fresh, plump, and of a moderate size, should be
selected, for large roots that are hollow in the
centre never blow strong. The roots may be di-
vided to increase the best varieties, but care must
be taken not to break off the little tubers, as every-
one of these will produce a plant. The time to
take up the roots will be observed by the decaying
of the leaves, which is generally about the month
of June or July, according to the time of their
flowering : but they must in no case be suffered to

112 FLORA HISTORICA.

remain in the ground after the proper time, for in
wet years the roots will shoot afresh, and be thereby
materially weakened.

It is recommended to wash the roots when taken
out of the ground, and then to spread them on a
board or mat in a dry, shady place. When per-
fectly dried, they are more securely kept in bags,
hung up to the ceiling of a dry room, than when
kept on shelves or boxes, where the mice will fre-
quently destroy them.

As the roots of Anemonies bear a considerable
price, we shall notice the best mode of raising them
from seeds, first describing the criterion of a fine
double Anemone ; and although the perfectly
double flower produces no seed, it will serve to
govern the cultivator in the choice of those single
and semi-double flowers which we recommend the
seed to be saved from.

The stem should be strong, elastic, and erect,
and not less than nine inches high. " The blossom,
or corolla, should be at least two inches and a half
in diameter, consisting of an exterior row of large,
substantial, well-rounded petals, or what is termed
guard-leaves, at first horizontally extended, and
then turning a little upwards, so as to form a broad
shallow cup, the interior of which should contain a
great number of long, small petals, imbricating each
other, and rather reverting from the centre of the

ANEMONE. 113

blossom. The colour should be clear and distinct
when diversified in the same flower, or brilliant
and striking if but simple, as blue, crimson, or
scarlet, &c, in which case, the bottom of the
broad exterior petals is generally white ; but the
beauty and contrast is considerably increased when
both the exterior and interior petals are regularly
marked with alternate blue and white, or pink and
white, &c. stripes, which, in the broad petals,
should not extend quite to the margin.'1

The seed being very light and downy, must be
gathered from time to time as it opens, for it will
otherwise be blown away by the first breeze of
wind. In August a bed of good mould should be
prepared, and the seeds being mixed with sand, so
as to prevent their falling in lumps, must be strewn
as regularly as possible, and then some earth should
be lightly sifted over the bed about a quarter of
an inch thick. If the season should prove dry, the
bed must be -watered in the most gentle manner so
as not to wash the seeds out of the ground. For
this purpose a watering-pot should be used, the
nose of which should be perforated with very small
holes, that will discharge only fine streams of water.
It is also advisable to cover the beds with a mat
during the great heat of the day, but always
attending to the removing them at sunset, so that
the bed may have the advantage of the moist dews

114 FLORA HISTORIC.*.

and gentle showers. The young plants appear in
about ten weeks after they are sown, and they will
then require care to protect them from severe frosts,
which often injure them in the months of February
and March, if not screened by some fence from
the cutting winds of that season. In the following
autumn the beds should be carefully weeded, and
about a quarter of an inch of additional mould
should be placed over them. The plants generally
flower the second year, after which the roots may
be taken up as before directed.

We shall close our history of the Anemone with
an anecdote related by the Abbe la Pluche, who
states that a Parisian florist, named Bachelier,
having procured some very beautiful species of
these plants from the East, kept them to himself
in the most miserly manner for ten years, during
which time neither friendship nor money could
obtain the least root of one of these rare plants from
this selfish florist. A witty member of the French
parliament, vexed to see one man hoard up for
himself what ought to be distributed to beautify
gardens in general, paid him a visit at his country-
house, where, in walking round the garden, and
observing the Anemonies were in seed, let his robe
fall upon them as if by accident ; by this device he
swept off a considerable number of the little
feathery seeds, which stuck fast to it. His servant,

ANEMONE. 115

whom he had purposely instructed, wrapped them
up in a moment, without exciting suspicion or
attention. The innocent theft was made known to
the friends of the member, who enjoyed the joke
against the niggardly florist, and they by this pro-
ject soon spread the young plants over the Farisian
gardens.

116 FLORA HISTORICA.

HYACINTH. Hyacinthus.

Natural Order Liliacece. — Coronarice, Lin. Atphodeli,
Juss. A Genus of the Hexandria Monosynia Class.

And all alxnit grew every sort of flowre,

To which sad lovers were transformde of yore ;

Fresh Hyacinthus, Phoebus parainoure

And dearest love.

Sfekseh's Fa'dry Queene.

The melancholy Hyacinth that weeps
All night, and never lifts an eye all day.

Hurdis.

The Hyacinth, so celebrated in the songs of the
poets, from the time of Homer to the present day,
is made hieroglyphical of play, or games, in allusion
to the fabulous origin of this favourite flower, which
mycologists tell us sprang from the blood of
Hyacinthus, a youth greatly beloved both by
Apollo and Zephyr ; but who preferring the Sim
to the Winds, created a jealousy in the bosom of
the latter god, which caused his destruction.

Hyacinthus, being at quoits with Apollo, Zephyr,
unperccived, took the opportunity of revenging
himself on his rival, by causing him to become the
instrument of the death of their favourite; for,
whilst Apollo's quoit was in the air, Zephyr blew

HYACINTH. 117

it from its course towards the head of the unfortu-
nate youth. Ovid, however, mentions the circum-
stance as sollows : —

A well poised disk first hasty Phoebus threw,
It cleft the air and whistled as it flew ;

It reach'd the mark, a most surprising length,
Which spoke an equal share of art and strength.
Scarce was it falTn, when, with too eager hand,
Young Hyacinth ran to snatch it from the sand ;
But the curst orb, which met a stony soil,
Flew in his face with violent recoil.

As in a water'd garden's hlooming walk,

"Whensome rude hand has hruised its tender stalk,

A fading Lily droops its languid head,

And bends to earth, its life and beauty fled,

So Hyacinth, with head reclined, decays,

And, sick'ning, now no more his charms displays.

Quick to his aid distressed Apollo flew,

And round the hero's neck his arms he threw ;

But whilst he held him to his throhhing breast,

And all the anguish of his soul exprest,

His polish' d limbs, by strange enchantment's power,

Shoot into buds and blossom into flower,

His auburn locks in verdant foliage flow,

And wreaths of azure flow'rets shade his brow.

Ovid.

Nor are the Spartans, who so much are famed
For virtue, of their Hyacinth ashamed ;
But still, with pompous woe and solemn state,
The Hyacinthian feasts they yearly celebrate.

Ibid.

An annual solemnity, called Hyacinthia, was
held at Amycta, in Laconia, in honour of Hya-
cinthus and Apollo, which lasted three days, the

US FLORA HISTORICA.

first of which was observed by affected mourning
for the death of Hyacinthus, during which time
none appeared with their usual garlands about their
heads, and they refused to eat bread, or to sing in
honour of Phoebus; but the two following days
•were spent in the games customary at ancient fes-
tivals, even the slaves were liberally entertained
during this period, and the altars of Apollo were
loaded with the accustomed victims.

Homer mentions the Hyacinth amongst the
flowers which formed the genial couch of Jove and
Juno.

Thick new-born Violets a soft carpet spread,
And clust'ring Lotos swell'd the rising bed,
And sudden Hyacinths the turf bestrow,
And flow'ry Crocus made the mountain glow.

Iliad , Book 14.

Crowns of Hyacinths were worn by the young
Greek virgins who assisted at the weddings of their
friends. Some authors suppose the Red Martagon
Lily to be the poetical Hyacinth of the ancients,
but this is evidently a mistaken opinion, as the
azure blue colour alone would decide ; and Pliny,
describes the Hyacinth as having a sword grass,
and the smell of the grape flower, which agrees
with the Hyacinth, but not with the Martagon.
Again, Homer mentions it with fragrant flowers of
the same season of the Hyacinths. The poets also
notice the Hyacinth under different colours, and

HYACINTH. 11 9

every body knows that the Hyacinth flowers with
sapphire-coloured purple, crimson, flesh, and white
bells, but a Blue Martagon will be sought for in vain.
The English Hyacinth, Nutans, or Nun Scrlp-
tus, commonly called the Harebell, has scarcely been
less celebrated by our native poets than that of the
ancients by their fables. It is hardly possible
for a person of poetical imagination to pass our
sloping hedge-rows when covered with the azure
bells of this native Hyacinth, mixed, as they gene-
rally are, with the delicate colour of the Primrose,
without having their ideas softened into song, when
they

Behold the woody scene

Deck'd with a thousand flowers of grace divine.

Andreini.

Milton says,

I know each lane and every alley green,
Dingle or bushy dell, of this wild wood,
And every bosky bourn from side to side,
My daily walks and ancient neighbourhood.

Comus.

Mrs. Charlotte Smith, who spent her youth at
Eio-nor Park, one of the most romantic and beauti-
ful spots beneath the Sussex Downs, tells us —

In the lone copse, or shadowy dell,
Wild clustered knots of Harebells blow.

For this sweet spot we may justly borrow the
lines of Milton, calling it

120 FLORA HISTORICA.

A wilderness of sweets ; for Nature here
Wanton'd as in her prime, and play'd at will
Her virgin fancies, pouring forth more sweet,
'Wild above rule or art, enormous bliss.

The distinguished family who now reside at
Bignor Park have too correct a taste to destroy the
natural beauties of the spot, which our fair poetess
has made celebrated, either by the introduction of
the axe, or the line and rule, yet we perceived here

Flowers worthy of Paradise.

Shakspeare's magic pen alone is sufficient to stamp
celebrity on any plant it has glided over ; for, how-
ever slightly he touches on it, it is fully painted to

our senses

"With fairest flowers,

Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
I'll sweeten thy sad grave : thou shalt not lack
The flower that's like thy face, pale Primrose ; nor
The azured Harebell like thy veins : no, nor
The leaf of Eglantine, whom, not to slander,
Outsweetend not thy breath.

The fair poetess, who personated our bard's

Perdita so charmingly, contemplates our native

Hyacinth under the name of Bluebell.

Bluebell ! how gaily art thou drest,

How neat and trim art thou, sweet flow'r ;

How silky is thy azure vest,

How fresh to flaunt at morning's hour !

Couldst thou but think, I well might say

Thou art as proud in rich array

HYACINTH. 121

As lady, blithesome, yonng, and vain,
Prank'd ap with folly and disdain,
Vaunting her power,

Sweet flower !

Mrs. Robinson-.

Browne says —

The Harebell, for her stainless azured hue,
Claims to he worn by none but those are true.

This flower is called Harebell, from the campanula,
or bell-shape of its flowers, and from its being
found so frequently in those thickets most fre-
quented by hares.

The name of Bluebell is a sufficient distinction
for those cottage children who know but few besides
their native plants, but we have occasionally found
them in coppices with a pure white corolla. Gerard
tells us, that they have been found with " a faire
Carnation colour;" but we should suspect that
these were the remains of the bulbs brought into
this country by the Romans, as the places noticed,
where they have been found, are known to have
been the stations of that people when in this part
of the world.

In the time of Queen Elizabeth, when the high-
plaited ruff was worn both by gentlemen and ladies,
the juice of the bulbs of this plant was used to
make starch, and also to paste books, and to fix
feathers upon arrows instead of glue.

Dioscorides tells us, that this root will procure

vol. i. g

]22 FLORA HISTORICA.

hair on bald and beardless men. We presume it
was to be used in the manner of glue, as is now
said to be practised by some mustachioed beaux.

Gerard calls this plant " Blew Harebell, or
English Jacint," which was evidently from the
French Jacinthe. The term of Non Scriptus was
applied to this plant by Dodonseus, because it had
not the Ai, Ai on the petals, and therefore could
not be the Hyacinthus Poeticus.

GARDEN HYACINTH. Orlentalis.

Hyacinth, with sapphire bell
Curling backward .

Some deep empurpled .

Some as the Rubin laughing sweetly red,

Some like fair Emeraudes not yet well ripened.

Had the Oriental Hyacinth been disregarded by the
poets, it could not have failed claiming our notice
and admiration by its extreme delicacy of colouring,
elegance of form, and delightful fragrance, which
fit it alike for the garden of choicest plants, or the
vase of odorous flowers. Hence, no wonder that
Phoebus became enamoured with its beauty, and
Zephyrs sighed to enjoy its sweet breath — that our
artists should invent glasses for the bulbs, and our

HYACINTH. ItS

fair countrywomen should foster them with such
care in their saloons.

The Hyacinth may be considered as supreme
amongst the flowers of the Spring, as the Rose is
amongst those of the Summer ; and its charms have
rendered it a successful rival to the Tulip even in
the hearts of the Dutch florists. It is a native of
the Levant, and grows abundantly about Aleppo
and Bagdad, where it flowers naturally in February.
Lepechin found it in Russia, not only with purple
corollas, but with yellow flowers also. These
beautiful flowers appear to have been common in
our gardens prior to 1597, as Gerard does not
mention them as being rare in his time, but
observes, " These kinds of jacints have been
brought from beyond the seas, some out of one
countrey, and some out of others, especially from
the East countries, whereof they tooke their name
Orientalist

It is probable that these bulbs and many seeds
of eastern plants were brought to this country
during the early part of the reign of Elizabeth, as
we find that about the year 1561 she enabled
Anthony Jenkinson and others to visit Persia on
a trading speculation in raw silk, &c, in which
they eventually succeeded ; and Monsieur de Thou
remarks, that this company of the English also
obtained the exclusive privilege of importing all

G 2

124 FLORA HISTORICA.

manner of foreign commodities into Russia, and by
this support they were encouraged to visit the
several provinces of the East more carefully than
other nations could do.

The Dutch, who at that period were the greatest
florists in Europe, soon turned these bulbs to
account ; and it is rather singular that neither the
French nor the English should ever have made the
attempt of raising flower-bulbs for the market : to
this day, the rearing them from seed in private gar-
dens is seldom, if ever, practised in this country,
even in situations offering all the advantages of soil
which the Dutch are said to possess in so high a
degree for bulbous flowering plants.

We are satisfied that if it should become the
practice to raise our own bulbs from seed produced
in this country, our Hyacinths would not be found,
to degenerate so soon, and we should produce much
finer flowers of this kind than those which at present
..embellish our borders. They would be more per-
fectly naturalized to our soil and climate, and more
interest would be excited in our florists to rival
each other in producing the finest plants of this
beautiful flower. It is admitted that the time re-
quired (namely, five years) to raise these bulbs
from seed to a state fit for the market, is a long
period for a planter to wait for a return ; but when
once this is accomplished, the succession goes on

HYACINTH. 125

annually with as much regularity as a crop of seeds
of any description ; and when we consider the high
price which bulbs of good varieties fetch in the
shops of our seedsmen, it must appear to be a most
lucrative branch of gardening.

The cultivation of Hyacinths receives more
attention, and is in higher estimation with Dutch
florists at present, than that of tulips. The Hy-
acinth is certainly a very superior kind of flower to
the Tulip, but we presume that the great attention
given to it by the Dutch is owing to the increased
demand from London and Paris, where the roots
are sent in large cases and casks, and where, from
our own observation, we conclude that nearly
three-fourths of the bulbs that are imported are
lost through carelessness after they have once
flowered, particularly those that are grown in
glasses.

It is calculated that more than a hundred English
acres are occupied for rearing bulbous plants, prin-
cipally Hyacinths, near the village of Overveen, in
the neighbourhood of Haarlem, where the best
growers keep about 50,000 bulbs as breeders, and
these florists now enumerate upwards of 2000
varieties of the Hyacinth. The list of one florist
at Haarlem enumerates more than 800 kinds of
double-flowered Hyacinths, besides about 400
varieties of the single kind.

126 FLORA HISTORICA.

Peter Yoerhelm was one of the earliest cultiva-
tors of the Double Hyacinth, which was about the
beginning of the last century. Previous to his
time, the single kind only had been propagated^
This florist named his first Double Hyacinth Mary,
but the kind is now lost ; and his third double flower
was called The King of Great Britain : this is
now the oldest Double Hyacinth known, a single
bulb of which used to bring the price of a thousand
florins, or one hundred pounds sterling; and, about
seventy years back, two hundred pounds was no
uncommon price for a single bulb of a favourite
Hyacinth. At present, about ten pounds is the
general price given for the finest bulbs, and from
one to ten shillings for the varied sorts ; what are
called the common mixtures, are sold from two to
three pounds a hundred.

The criterion of a fine Double Hyacinth consists
in its stem being strong, tall, and erect, garnished
with numerous and large bells, each supported by
a short and strong peduncle, or foot-stalk, in a
horizontal position, so that the whole may have a
compact pyramidical form, with the upper flower
perfectly erect. The flowers should be large, and
perfectly double, that is, well filled with broad bold
petals, appearing rather convex than flat or hollow.
The flowers should occupy about one half the
ength of the stem. The colours should be clear

HYACINTH. 127

and bright) whether plain yellow, red, blue, or
white ; or variously intermixed and diversified in
the eye — which is thought to give additional lustre
and elegance to the Hyacinth. Strong bright
colours are in greater request, and bear a higher
price than such as are pale. Under bad treatment,
good Hyacinths will degenerate in two or three
years ; but in Holland they have been preserved
perfect for nearly a century.

The Hyacinth has a coated bulb, that is, it con-
sists of a number of concentric laminae, like the
onion, and it is hence termed bulbus t urticatus ; but
the natural history of the Hyacinth differs as much
from the onion in the economy of its nature as in
its perfume.

Every body knows that the bulb of the common
onion is exhausted by its flower stem, and that
when it has performed its oviparous duties, as
ordained by nature, there are no remains of the
bulb left. Not so with the Hyacinth : there Nature
works in a more complicated manner; for whilst the
stem is sent out of the earth to form its seed, the
bulb is forming a new germ or bud within the next
coat or circle of the laminae ; and thus whilst the
flower stem is exhausting the old germ or heart of
the bulb, a regeneration is taking place within the
body for the succeeding year : nor is this all, for as
the Hyacinth possesses a viviparous nature also, it

128 FLORA HISTORICA,

throws off perfect plants from its side beneath the
earth.

Who can look into these mysterious works of
Nature without having his mind enlightened, and
his admiration increased towards the Omnipotent
Being

whose sun exalts,

"Whose breath perfumes, and whose pencil paints
The Hyacinth.

Some varieties of the Hyacinth do not so readily
throw off young bulbs as others, but require all the
nourishment to form their flowers, and support the
seed vessels. In this case a simple expedient is
resorted to, if the variety be scarce and valuable.
The base of the bulb is slightly cut or notched in
three or four places — which hinders the plant from
exhausting itself in the production of a flower-stem,
and at the same time induces a tendency in the bulb
to throw out off-sets at the wounded places ; and
these off-sets soon become independent plants, with
all the character of the parent bulb.

To raise Hyacinths from seed is doubly desirous,
as it increases the quantity and also the variety of
this admired flower. Plants that have a strong and
straight stem, and a regular and well formed pyramid
of bells that are semi- double, should be selected for
seed. They should not be gathered till they have
become perfectly black and ripe, at which time the

HYACINTH. 129

pcricarpium will appear yellow on the outside, and
will begin to open. The stem, with which the seed
is connected, is then to be cut off, and placed in a
dry airy situation, but not in the sun, where it may
remain until the time of sowing, which is either
about the end of October or the beginning of
March. The seeds should be sown in pots or
boxes filled with compost, as will be described.
The seeds should be as regularly sown as possible,
and then covered with the compost about half an
inch thick. These pots, or boxes, should be placed
in a warm situation for the winter. They will
never require water or other attention, excepting to
keep the boxes free from weeds and the frost. At
the approach of the second winter, an additional
stratum of about half an inch of the compost must
be spread over the pots or boxes, and about the
middle of July in the third year, the bulbs may be
taken up, dried, and treated in the same manner as
old bulbs or off-sets. Some of the bulbs may be
expected to flower in the fourth year, and others in
the fifth and sixth, according to their strength.
The Dutch florists consider it a successful sowing
if they procure four or six good varieties out of
each thousand bulbs so raised. Maddock says we
must be content if we find, one flower in five hun-
dred deserving a name or place in a curious collec-
tion ; but for ourselves we should prefer seeing the

G 5

130 FLORA HISTORICA.

four hundred and ninety-nine common varieties
flowering at one time on our parterre, than a single
plant of the most curious variety : not but that we
would wish them all to be of the best kinds, if pos-
sible ; but in Hyacinths, as in Violets, we covet
quantity, both to gratify the sight and the smell.
Those for the house, or that are intended to be
sheltered by awnings, should be of the most curious
kinds ; whilst those of least attractions may form
clumps in the open borders, but where they are in
some degree screened by shrubs or taller plants.

Off-sets will bloom the second year, and be tolera-
bly strong the third, if properly treated. They may
be planted soon after they are taken from the old
bulbs; and it is desirable to form a separate bed for
these young bulbs, which should be in an open
part of the garden, screened from the north and
eastern winds. The bed should be a few inches
above the common level of the garden, so that
superfluous moisture may run off; and for this end
it is advised that the beds be formed of a rounding
cr convex shape. The bulbs should be covered
about two inches deep with the compost.

The compost most esteemed at Haarlem for
growing Hyacinths consists of pure white sand,
rotted leaves of trees, fine peat earth, and a small
proportion of thoroughly rotted cow-dung, and this
prepared soil is renewed annually after the bulbs

HYACINTH. 131

are lifted in summer. The compost in which they
gyew is removed to the depth of about nine inches,
and the sub-soil is digged over ; a new layer of
compost of equal depth is afterwards introduced ;

and in this the choice bulbs are again planted in
the autumn. The compost in which the Hyacinths
grew, descends the following year, first to the
Tulips, and then to the Narcissus, Sec, so as to give
them all a regular change of soil, adding more cow-
dung or more sand to the compost, as the nature
of the succeeding plants may require.

From the middle of October to the middle of
November is the best time for placing Hyacinth
bulbs in the ground, for when planted earlier they
appear above the ground in the middle of winter,
and if neglected later, the bulbs will be weakened
by their natural tendency to vegetate. The bulbs
may be placed from six to nine inches apart, and it
is advisable to place a small quantity of sand beneath
each bulb, to prevent the earth adhering too closely
to them ; they should also be placed on the beds in
the manner recommended in planting the Narcissus,
and not with a dibble of any kind.

It is the practice to plant Hyacinths alternately
on the beds, according to their colours ; but when
they are planted in the flower-garden, or on the
projecting borders of the shrubbery, they will be
found to have a much better effect when clumps
are formed of distinct colours.

132 FLORA HISTORICA.

The principal Hyacinth growers in Holland take
up their bulbs about a month after bloom, or as
soon as the plants begin to appear yellow and de-
cayed. They then cut off the stem and the foliage
close to the bulb, or within about half an inch of
it, but leave the fibrous roots attached to the bulb;
the bulbs are then placed on the same beds on their
sides, with the points towards the north. They
are then covered with dry earth or sand, about half
an inch thick, in the form of a ridge or cone, and
in this state they are left to dry or ripen gradually,
for about three weeks. They are then taken up,
and their fibres gently rubbed off, after which they
are laid in a dry room for a few days, and then
cleared from soil or loose decayed coats, &c, and
their off-sets separated. The bulbs should then be
placed in shallow drawers, where the air can circu-
late around them. Some persons place them with
the oase of tire bulb upwards ; but the most material
thing is to keep them from damp, and place them
"where there is a free circulation, as on a lattice
shelf, or in open wicker baskets, with little sticks
across to separate each layer of bulbs, and these
baskets may be suspended to the ceiling to keep
them from vermin.

The Hyacinth is one of the plants that thrive
best in a saline atmosphere, and is, therefore, calcu-
lated to embellish the gardens on the sea-coast ; it

HYACINTH. 133

loves a sandy soil, and we recommend a mixture of
sea sand in preference to any other, whenever it
can be procured. When planted in pots, it should
be observed to select those of the deepest make,
which should be filled with a sandy loam or earth
approaching as near to the compost recommended
as possible. We know of no flower that will flourish
in so great perfection in the saloons of London as
the Hyacinth when placed in glasses ; and for this
purpose we should recommend those of green glass,
as the common white glass throws an injurious light
on the roots. Nature tells us that the parts of the
plant which are destined for the earth cannot be
kept too much in darkness; whereas the plant,
whilst growing, cannot receive too much light and
sun, and should therefore be placed on a table near
the window, unless the frost is severe, when it may
be placed over the chimney to prevent the water
from being frozen ) but the heat is liable to draw
the plants up too weakly to flower well — therefore
they should only be placed over the fire-place when
the frost is so severe as to freeze in other parts of
the room.

The beginning of November is early enough to
place the bulbs in the glasses, which may be done
from that time to the end of February, according
to the season they are wished to flower in. The
glasses should be filled with soft water, with a small

134 FLORA HISTORICA.

quantity of nitre in each, and we do not recommend
the water to be changed oftener than once a month ;
but when the plants begin to grow, it should be
observed to keep the glasses filled, so that the
bottom of the bulb may touch the water, as a great
exhaustion takes place at that time. The plants
will be strengthened by having as much free air as
the season of the year will admit of ; but we should
not forget that Hyacinthus prefers the beams of
Phoebus to the breath of Zephyr : for if the latter
is allowed to break or damage the foliage, the plant
will be materially injured in its flowering ; and when
in full flower, it should not be placed where the
sun throws his rays too powerfully, as this will con-
siderably lessen the time of its duration.

It has been ascertained that the Hyacinth will
grow and flower in the water without sending out
fibrous roots. In the year 1787, M. le Marquis
de Gouffier exhibited to the Royal Society of Agri-
culture, in Paris, a glass, with the bulb of a Hya-
cinth turned the base upwards : in this state it sent
down a stem and leaves into the water, but the
bulb did not send out roots upwards ; the leaves
were very green3 but the petals of the flowers, which
should have been blue, were of a discoloured white.
This experiment proves how much the foliage of
plants has the power to assist in their growth, since
they can even subsist without the aid of the root.

TULIP. 135

TULIP. Tnlijja.

Natural Order Corona/rim. Liliacca, Juss. A Genus
of the Hexandria Monogynia Class.

Then comes the Tulip race, where beauty plays

Her Idle freaks ; from family diffused

To family, as flies the father dust,

The varied colours run ; and while they break

On the charm'd eye, th' exulting florist marks,

With secret pride, the wonders of his hand.

Thomson'.

This flower, so much admired in the eastern parts
of the world on account of its splendour and variety,
has, from time immemorial, been made the emblem
by which a young Persian makes a declaration of
love. Chardin tells us that when these young
turbaned swains present a Tulip to their mistress,
it is their intention to convey to her the idea that,
like this flower, they have a countenance all on fire,
and a heart reduced to a coal.

The Turks regard this flower with so much
delight, that a Feast of Tulips is celebrated annually
in the Grand Seignior's seraglio, the description of
which, when related to us in all the flowery garb of
their language, leaves even the delineation of the

136 FLORA HISTORICA.

fairy scenes of the Arabian Nights' tales in the
shade.

Vases of the purest crystal, filled with the gayest
Tulips the world produces, are scattered over the
scene, like the stars which look down upon them
for number ; galleries, amphitheatres, and pagodas
are erected, and covered with lights that form gar-
lands of emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and diamonds,
entwined with lights that present to the imagination
the sparkling of every jewel which nature has pro-
duced or art polished; showers of rose-water refresh
the air, and the very tapers shed the most exquisite
odours ; the banks are covered with carpets, whose
colours are as vivid as the clouds which surround
the setting sun ; pyramids of cooling fruits meet
the eye at every turn, whilst innumerable birds of
song, whose golden cages are suspended by strings
of pearl, seem to mistake the scene for the arrival
of Phoebus, and being awoke by the delights of the
feast, mix their warbling with the melodious sounds
of the instruments which seem touched by invisible
musicians.

In the centre of the seraglio, a splendid pavilion
shades the Sultan, who carelessly reposes on the
skins of the most costly and curious animals, with
all the nobles of his court in their richest robes and
shawls, seated at his feet, to behold the winding
dances of the lovely women of his court, in all the

TULIP. 137

luxurious display of their light and sparkling
attire, who sometimes encircle and at others glide
around the vases of Tulips, whose beauty they
celebrate in song and action. During these fes-
tivals, Cupid often urges his votaries to dare the
bowstring of the Sultan, by making a sighing
Selim present a Tulip to a languishing Fatima.

This gay flower having been obtained from the
Turks, was called Tulipa, from the resemblance of
its corolla to the eastern head-dress called Tulipaa
or Turban, and from hence our name of Tulip, as
well as that of the French Tulipe, the Italian
Tulipano, and the German Tulpe.

Moore alludes to the similarity of the Tulip to
the turban in his Lalla Rookh.

What triumph crowds the rich Divan to-day
With turban'd heads of every hue and race,
Bowing before that veil'd and awful face,
Like Tulip-beds, of different shape and dyes,
Bending beneath th' invisible west wind's sighs.

We are not able to discover any mention of the
Tulip in the works of Pliny, which induces us to
think that it is not an indigenous plant of the
Levant, but that it was introduced from Persia and
other eastern parts in later days, and that it has since
so naturalized itself as to appear like an indigenous
plant. Where the climate allows the Tulip to pro-
pagate itself by seed so readily as in the neighbour-

138 FLORA HISTORICA.

hood of the Levant, it is not extraordinary that it
should be found growing in the wild state, as it is
frequently discovered in the vicinity of Constanti-
nople. Mr. Hobhouse tells us that he found the
Tulip growing spontaneously under the hedges
between Smyrna and Bournabat. But this flower
appears to have been scarce at Constantinople even
so late as the middle of the sixteenth century, as
in the year 1554 Auger Gislen Busbec (Busbequius)
being at the Porte as Ambassador from the Emperor
Ferdinand I. of Germany, sent both seeds and
bulbs of the Tulip to Vienna, with an observation
that the Turks charged a high price for these
flowers, which would not have been the case had
the Tulip been then growing spontaneously in that
country *.

This is the first notice we have of the Tulip
which was afterwards figured by Conrad Gesner,
who has been with justness denominated the German
Pliny. This excellent writer of natural history,
botany, and medicine tells us, in his additions to
Cordus, that he first saw the Tulip plant in the
year 1559, in the garden of John Henry Harwart,
at Augsburg. From its having been figured and
made generally known in the works of Gesner, the

* We have already observed under the proper head, that Europe
is indebted to Busbec for the common Lilac-tree.

TULIP. 139

common Tulip lias very properly been named
Tul i pa GesneriaHa.

Balbinus asserts, for the honour of Prague, that
the Tulip was first sent to that city by Busbee, from
whence they were afterwards spread all over Ger-
many. C. Clusius, the celebrated Botanist of
Arras, who introduced the Horse Chestnut (JEscu-
lusj through the means of the imperial Ambassador
at the Porte, tells us that Busbequliis received a
great quantity of the seed, together with many
bulbs, of the Tulip from Constantinople, on the
year that he, Clusius, went to Vienna. Busbee
going to France, left his Tulip bulbs under the care
of Clusius, who thinking them old and withered
concluded they would come to nothing, and there-
fore committed them to the ground in a heap, and
to his astonishment they produced a great, variety
of flowers.

Clusius also gave more than a hundred of the
bulbs to an apothecary at Vienna to be preserved
in sugar, in the same manner as the roots of the
Orchis, with a view to ascertain whether they had
not the same qualities. It is also related in
Martyn's edition of Miller, that a merchant of
Antwerp had a cargo of Tulip roots as early as
1562, and taking them for a sort of onion, ordered
some to be roasted under embers, and ate them
with oil and vinegar like common onions : the rest

140 FLORA HISTORICA.

he set in the kitchen garden among the cabbages,
where most of them perished, except a few that
George Rye, a merchant of Mechlin, took under
his care, which produced a variety of beautiful
flowers.

It is also related that a sailor having taken some
goods to a Dutch merchant, had a herring given
him for his breakfast, but seeing what he supposed
to be a kind of small onions lying on the counter,
the tar carelessly took up a handful, which he im-
mediately ate with his dried fish. These proved
to have been Tulips of so much value that it was
estimated a magnificent breakfast might have been
given to the heads of the Dutch government for
less expense than the cost of the condiment which
the sailor so inadvertently took with his salt herring.

The Tulip was first introduced into England
when the sceptre of these realms was swayed by a
female monarch, who by encouraging her subjects
to make commercial visits to distant countries, was
the means of procuring many valuable and rare
plants that have since naturalized themselves to our
soil, so as to gratify the sight as well as the palate.
We are able to state the time when this gay flower
first flourished in our parterres with more accuracy
than can be given to most other plants of that early
period of our garden history.

In the history of plants which Doctor William

TULIP. 141

Turner dedicated to Queen Elizabeth in the year
1568, the Tulip is not mentioned ; but in the Re-
membrances for Master S., by Richard Hakluyt, in
1582, we are told that " now within these four
years there have been brought in England, from
Vienna in Austria, divers kinds of flowers called
Tulipas."

And that excellent vegetable historian, Gerard,
gives us an account of the Tulip, which also fixes
its first introduction at the same period, viz., 1577.
This author says in his work, which bears date
1597, "my kming friend Master James Garret, a
curious searcher of Simples, and learned Apothe-
carie in London, hath vndertaken to finde out, if it
were possible, the infinite sorts, by diligent sowing
of their seedes, and by planting those of his owne
propagation, and by others received from his friends
beyond the seas, for the space of twentie yeeres
not being yet able to attaine to the end of his
trauaile, for that each new yeere bringeth foorth
new plants of sundrie colours not before seene : all
which to describe particulate, were to roule Sisi-
phus stone, or number the sandes." The same
author says, " Tulipa groweth wilde in Thracia,
Cappadocia, Italic; in Bizantia about Constanti-
nople, at Tripolis, and Alepo in Syria, from
whence I haue receiued plants for my garden, and
Master Garth, a worshipful gentleman, and Master

142 FLORA. HISTORICA.

James Garret, apothecarie, also for their gardens,
where they flourish and increase, as in their own
natiue countrey." Amongst the varieties which
Gerard particularizes are some that continue to be
very rare even to this day. " We have," says this
writer, " one of great beautie, and verie much de-
sired of all, with white flowers dasht on the back
side, with a light wash of watchet colour. There is
another also in our London gardens, of a snow-
white colour : the edges slightly washt ouer with a
little of what we call blush colour. We have
another like the former, saving that his flower is of
a straw colour.1'

It was towards the middle of the seventeenth
century that the rage for flowers, and particularly
for Tulips, was carried to such an excess, both in
Holland and in France, as to produce bankruptcy
and ruin to many families ; and we are told that
the Tulipomania, for so it was justly termed, was
entered into with as much avidity for a time as the
Mississippi and South-Sea schemes, which were
attended with such ruinous consequences. It would
be almost impossible for us to credit the extraordi-
nary accounts handed down respecting the high
prices given for Tulips by the Dutch florists of that
age, were we not acquainted with their gambling
speculations in this bulb, which carried them to
much greater excess than their real fondness for

TULIP. 143

flowers. Betting to a ruinous .amount was often
made respecting the eventual superiority of pro-
mising seedling bulbs; and for the possession of
breeders of high merit, from which fine seedlings
might be expected, as large a sum was given as
the fleetest race-horse of the British turf ever sold
for.

About the year 1636, this spirit of floral gambling
was carried to such excess at Haarlem, that
during three years it is said to have yielded to that
city a sum not less than ten millions sterling, for
the price of these bulbs rose higher than that of the
most precious metal. For a single Tulip, to which
they had given the fine name of Semper Augustus,
4600 florins, a beautiful new carriage, two horses with
harness, &c, were given ; and another of the same
kind sold for 13,000 florins. Twelve acres of land
were given for a single root, and engagements to
the amount of 5000/. were made for a superior
Tulip during the height of this mania ; and when
a bidder could not be found to offer a sum equal to
the ideal value of a fine flower of this kind, it was
frequently disposed of by way of lottery or raffle.

We are told of a person who possessed a very
fine Tulip, but finding there was a second root of
the same nature in Haarlem, he repaired to that
place, and, after having purchased it at an enormous
price, placed it on a flag-stone, and pounded it to

144 FLORA HISTORIC.*.

a mummy with his foot, exclaiming, with exultation,
" Now my Tulip is unique !" In another instance,
-we are told of one who possessed a yearly rent of
60,000 florins, and who reduced himself to beggary
in the short space of four months by purchasing
flowers. Crabbe says —

With all his phlegm, it broke a Dutchman's heart,
At a vast price, with one loved root to part.

The Dutch government were at length obliged to

issue a proclamation to suppress this ruinous excess

of the votaries of Flora.

In Paris the prices given for flowers were nearly
as extravagant, but the rage soon gave way to
other fashionable follies in that gay city, without
the interposition of government. It is probable
that the unsettled state in which this country was
at that time prevented, in a great measure, the
infection of the Tulipomania reaching England.

As the Tulip is but rarely propagated by seed
in this country, we shall briefly explain the nature
of a breeder : it is a bulb which has attained matu-
rity, but is not too aged to have lost its vigour, and
which is considered at its zenith in the eighth or
ninth year from the seed. When such a Tulip
throws up a strong tall stem, headed by large petals,
blunt, or rounded at the end ; and if it be self-
coloured, or of one uniform equal colour on both
sides of the petals ; if the base be either pure white,

TULIP. 145

or bright yellow, and the authors and stigma black,
or very dark, it is accounted a breeder of first-
rate qualities; and the bulb of such a breeder is
planted deeper than usual in a sheltered and sunny
situation, and the greatest care taken to prevent
its leaves from being injured by wind or hail : the
stem is tied to a stake, the corolla is protected from
the scorching rays of the sun as well as from the
rain, and the perfecting of the capsule encouraged ;
the seeds are carefully gathered when ripe, and
from these seeds, in a course of years, many fine
varieties of variegated flowers are expected, par-
taking of the fundamental good properties of the
breeder.

These brilliant hues are all distinct and clean,
No kindred tint, no blending streaks between ;
This is no shaded run-off.

When the self-colour of the petals of a breeder
begins to break, the bulb is regarded as past its
highest vigour; no judicious florist, therefore, ever
sows the seeds of variegated, or aged Tulips, but,
on the contrary, the capsules of these are cut off
as soon as the flowers have wholly decayed, to
prevent an unnecessary expenditure of the juices of
the bulbs.

The Tulip was regarded as a sovereign amongst
the flowers of the English gardens about the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century ; but when America

vol. i. Ir

146 FLORA HISTORIC*.

Le^an to pour her plants into our parterres in such
profusion as took place between the years 1730
and 1740, the taste for Tulips gave way for that
of plants of greater novelty ; and it has, as Loudon
observes, become neglected by the higher classes,
and descended into the gardens of tradesmen and
operative manufacturers : but this cannot lessen
the beauty of the Tulip, nor can we deem any
flower-garden complete that is deficient in these
gaily painted and enlivening flowers : nor do we
consider the Tulip so deficient in its botanical
attractions as modern florists make it. Of the
varieties of Tulips now cultivated in this country,
some idea may be formed from the catalogue of
Mason, for the year 1820, where we have the names
of six sorts of early Tulips, four of per roquets, or
middle blowers, twenty-two double sorts, and up-
wards of six hundred single late sorts.

The criterion of a perfect Tulip of the late-
flowering kind, is, that " the stem should be strong,
elastic, and erect, and about thirty inches above
the surface of the bed. The flower should be large,
and composed of six petals : these should proceed
a little horizontally at first, and then turn upwards,
forming almost a perfect cup, with a round bottom,
rather wider at the top. The three exterior petals
should be rather larger than the three interior ones,
and broader at their base : all the petals should

TUMP. |4|

have perfectly entire edges* free from notch or ser

rature ; tlic top of each should be broad and well
rounded, the ground colour of the flower at the
bottom of tlie Clip should he clear white, or yellow,
ami the various rich-coloured stripes, which arc the
principal ornament of a fine Tulip, should be regu-
lar, bold, and distinct on the margin, and terminate
in fine broken points, elegantly feathered, or pen-
cilled. The centre of each leaf or petal should
contain one or more bold blotches, or stripes, inter-
mixed with small portions of the original, or breeder
colour, abruptly broken into many irregular obtuse
points. Some florists are of opinion that the cen-
tral stripes, or blotches, do not contribute to the
beauty and elegance of the Tulip, unless confined
to a narrow stripe exactly down the centre, and
that it should be perfectly free from any remains
of the original, or breeder colour : it is certain that
such appear very beautiful and delicate, especially
when they have a regular narrow feathering at the
edge ; but the greatest connoisseurs in this flower
unanimously agree that it denotes superior merit
when the Tulip abounds with rich colouring, dis-
tributed in a distinct and regular manner throughout
the flower, except in the bottom of the cup, which,
it cannot be disputed, should be a clear bright
white, or yellow, free from stain or tinge, in order
to constitute a perfect flower."

H 2

148 FLORA HISTORICA.

The Tulip, when raised from seed, differs so
materially from the parent plant, that we can never
expect to procure the same variety, but by its vivi-
parous nature the kinds are propagated with all
the character of the old bulb. Thus, whilst it runs
into a thousand varieties by its oviparous powers,
it remains steady when propagated by offsets. The
natural history of the Tulip also differs materially
from that of other bulbs, and is therefore worthy
of more attention than we generally bestow upon
those objects which do not continually present them-
selves to the eye. The Tulip has what is termed a
solid bulb, and sends its stem from the centre, but
it does not possess the power of forming a germ in
the old bulb like the coated bulb of the Hyacinth :
for the bulb of the Tulip is entirely exhausted by
the act of flowering and forming seed, and no part
of the old bulb remains, excepting the dry outer
husk, or coat; but the stem is attached to the
stool of the bulb, to which is also fixed an entire
new bulb, that contains the germ which holds the
flower for the succeeding year. If this bulb be
carefully dissected in the winter, the flower, which
was destined to charm the admiring eye in the fol-
lowing spring, will be perfectly seen in miniature.
The offsets are weaker and smaller bulbs, that re-
quire from two to four years before they produce
flowers : these should be separated from the large

IT LIP. 119

bulb when taken out of the ground, but the small
bulb that is formed under the husky coat, and
which is the one that succeeds the flowering bulh>
should not be removed or injured.

The young physiologist cannot have a better
example given him of the harmony and unity of
the various parts of a plant in its process towards
performing its destined duties to nature,, which are
to propagate its species, than the Tulip presents ;
for the most indifferent observer must be struck
with the wonderful security with which the parts of
fructification are guarded from the night-air and
tempestuous weather by the petals, which form
themselves into the shape of an egg; and so closely
are they shut, that neither damp air nor wind can
enter, to retard the formation of the pollen, for
sooner shall the wind snap the stem than separate
the petals, although they regularly open to admit
the rays of the sun to mature the parts which are
necessary to the formation of the seed. In cold and
uncongenial seasons, the petals retain their concave
shape, and act as so many reflectors to assist the
ripening of the pollen ; whilst in dry and hot seasons
the petals curl backwards, so as to throw off the too
powerful rays of the sun, but continue to close
towards sunset, until the impregnation of the stigma
has taken place, after which the petals decay and
fall off, leaving the capsule to benefit by all the

150 FLORA HISTORICA.

nourishment the stem affords, and to enjoy the
light and air uninterrupted.

■ Florists who are careful of their choice Tulips,
erect frames with awnings over their beds, as by
this means they are sheltered from tempestuous
weather, and also from the too great heat of the
mid-day ; by this precaution, the ripening of the
pollen is retarded, and consequently the corolla
retains its beauty for a greater length of time, ex-
cessive heat frequently causing the colours to run
and intermix, so as to destroy the elegance and
beauty of the flower.

The Dutch florists treat their Tulips in a similar
manner to what has already been observed of the
Hyacinth, respecting the mode of planting and the
nature of the soil, excepting that the Tulip is placed
in the more tenacious soil of the two.

Hogg recommends a fresh, rich, loamy soil, of
rather a sandy nature, which should be dug at
least twelve months before it is used, and to which
a small portion of well-rotted dung should be
added. He tells us, that an intelligent old Tulip-
grower assured him that the best compost he had
ever mixed for these bulbs (C was three-fourths rich
yellow loam; one-fourth leaf-mould ; one-sixth two
years' old horse-dung ; and one-eighth sea-sand,
well incorporated, and laid in a bed or stratum for
the plants, two feet deep,"

TCLir. 151

AW have a decided objection to Tulip bed* m
pleasure gardens ; first, on aeeount of the formality
which long or square beds give to the general scene ;
and next that these beds become blanks for the
remainder of the year, which destroys the effect of
other plants. Tulips, that are not of the first rate
varieties, may be made to add greatly to the gaiety
and beauty of the garden when they are judiciously
planted in clumps of from six to eighteen in a spot.
Situations that arc sheltered from the winds should
be chosen, as also where a partial shade is afforded
from the afternoon sun. By this manner of plant-
ing bulbous flowers, the patches of ground required
are not larger than will be found necessary between
the clumps of later flowering-plants, whose branches
will occupy so much of the spot made vacant by
the loss of the Tulip, as to be unperceived in the
later season of the year. The Tulip bulbs should
be so allotted to the grounds, as to embellish those
spots that are most deficient in flowers at the season
of their blooming, which is confined to the months
of May and June, excepting the dwarf early-blow-
ing Tulips, suaveolens, which usually flower in
April.

The proper time for committing these bulbs to
the around, is from the end of October to about
the middle of November, but not later ; and a circu-
lar spot of from two to three feet in diameter will

152 FLORA HISTORICA.

be sufficient to plant about eighteen bulbs. Having
prepared the spots, lay little patches of sand where
each bulb is to be placed ; then gently cover them
with sand, or a very light sandy soil, forming little
pyramids over each bulb : after this lay the com-
post gently over the clump, so as to cover the bulbs
about three inches in depth ; and the spot should be
rather higher than the general surface of the border,
so that superfluous water may run off by the convex
shape of the clump. The brown coat of the bulb
should be carefully taken off when it is placed in
the ground, but the root must not be injured in
performing this operation.

The time for taking up the bulbs will be shown
by the decay of the stem and the leaves : they
should then be placed in a dry, airy, shaded situa-
tion, until the season for planting: their outer skins
must by no means be disturbed until the moment
they are to be covered with earth.

The dwarf early-flowering Tulip is the kind
used for forcing in pots, and these prosper better in
earth than when placed on water, although the
latter mode is frequently adopted, but the bulbs
uniformly perish after having flowered in water.

LILY OF THE VALLEY. 153

LILY OF THE VALLEY. Convallaria
Mdjalis,

Natural Order Sarmcntaeea. Asparagi, Juss. A
Genus of the Hexandria Monogynia Class.

Sweet flower o' the valley, wi' blossoms of snow,

And green leaves that turn the cauld blast frae their stems ;

Bright emblem o' innocence, thy beauties I lo'e,
Aboon the king's coronet circled wi' gems !

There's nae tinsel ahint thee, to make thee mair bright,

Sweet Lily ! thy loveliness a' is thine ain,
And thy bonny bells, danglin' sae pure and sae light,

Proclaim thee the fairest o' Flora's bright train.

J. Lb S.

The flowery month of May produces no plant of
more exquisite fragrance, or more delicate form,,
than the Lily of the Valley.

In floral language is is made to represent a
Return of Happiness, because it announces by its
elegance and its odour the happy season of the year.

The graceful manner in which these perfumed
bells are suspended on the stem, and the agreeable
contrast which their broad leaves of bright green
afford to the snowy corollas, could not escape the
notice of our poets. Bernard Barton thus speaks
of this flower : —

H 5

;154 FLORA HISTORICA.

and sweetest to the view,

The Lily of the vale, whose virgin flower
Trembles at every breeze beneath its leafy bower.

Mr. Leigh Hunt calls them

the nice-leaved lesser Lilies,

Shading, like detected light,

Their little greeu-tipt lamps of white.

Keats says —

No flower amid the garden fairer grows
Than the sweet Lily of the lowly vale,
The queen of flowers.

Hurdis moralizes on this flower that flourishes so
well in the shade, where gayer plants would not
exist : —

, to the curious eye

A little monitor presents her page

Of choice instruction, with her snowy bells,

The Lily of the Vale. She nor affects

The public walk, nor gaze of mid-day sun :

She to no state or dignity aspires,

But silent and alone puts on her suit,

And sheds her lasting perfume, but for which

We had not known there was a thing so sweet

Hid in the gloomy shade. So when the blast

Her sister tribes confounds, and to the earth

Stoops their high heads, that vainly were exposed,

She feels it not, but flourishes anew,

Still shelter'd and secure. And as the storm,

That makes the high elm couch, and rends the oak,

Tlie humble Lily spares, — a thousand blows

That shake the lofty monarch on his throne,

We lesser folks feel not. Keen are the pains

Advancement often brings. To be secure,

Be humble ; to be happy, be content.

When poets thus sweetly endeavour to reconcile

LILY OF THE VALLEY. 158

us to humble stations, their works may be compared
to Lilies of the Valley, which give pleasure to all
that behold them, and can never be found offensive
by any rank or station of men. Prior, after look-
ing at this flower, wrote —

"Why does one climate and one soil endue

The blushing Poppy with a crimson hue,

Yet leave the Lily pale, and tinge the Violet blue.

These are reflections which flowers bring to our
contemplation, and which must always end in our
admiration of the infinite wisdom of the Creator,
who formed man with mind, and the Lily with
fragrance.

Prior adds —

Take but the humblest Lily of the field ;
And if our pride will to our reason yield,
It must by sure comparison be shown,
That on the regal seat great David's son,
Array'd in all his robes and types of pow'r,
Shines with less glory than that simple flow'r.

This native flower did not fail to catch the atten-
tion of our great dramatic bard, whose pen could
not touch the humblest plant without portraying
its character to the life, and his happiest similes
are often taken from flowers.

Shipwreck'd upon a kingdom, where no pity !
No friends ! no hope ! no kindred weep for me,
Almost no grave allowed me ! like the Lily,
That once was mistress of the field, and flourish'd,
I'll hang my head and perish.

The Lily, for its delicate whiteness, has been as

156 FLORA HISTORICA.

frequently used as the pure snow, as a comparison
for the complexion of our fair belles —

Oh ! had the monster seen those lily hands
Tremble, like aspen leaves upon a lute,
And make the silken strings delight to kiss them,
He Mould not then have touched them for his life.

Keats goes still farther, for, in his Endymion,
he poetically paints

Valley- Lilies, whiter still

Than Leda's love.

This elegantly modest plant formerly grew in
our woods and valleys in great abundance, but the
increase in the number of our gardens, and the high
state of cultivation of the country in general, have
rendered the plant rare in its natural state ; yet it
is cherished in the garden by all the admirers of
good flowers. Gerard tells us as late as 1597, that
it then grew abundantly on Hampstead heath, also
on ** Bushie heath" now Bushy park, likewise near
Lee in Essex, and it has been found in most coun-
ties of England, and is indigenous to most parts of
Europe from Italy to Lapland : it grows abundantly
in the woods of France and Germany. In the
latter country it is called Meyen Blumlen, which is
similar to the Low Dutch Meyen Bloemkins, May-
flower. In French it is named Muguet and Muguet
de Mai, as well as Lis des vallccs. The Italians
call it mughetto, giglio convallio, and giglio delle
conxallL In the time of Queen Elizabeth it was

LILY OF THE VALLEY. 157

called " Conval Lilly, May Lillies, Lillie of the
Vallie, and Liriconfancie." (Gerard, p. 333.)

The name of Lily has been very improperly
given to this species of ConvaUaria, as it has not
the least affinity with the Lily either in its root,
fruit, or flower. We presume that it was called a
Lily from the purity of its white corolla, for even
at the present time, notwithstanding we have
Orange and Scarlet Lilies, we attach an idea of
delicacy to the very name of Lily. As it grows
spontaneously in shady valleys, it is natural to
call it the Lily of the valley. The name of
ConvaUaria is derived from ConvaUis, a valley.
It was called May Lily from the month in which
it flowered.

The proper situation for this plant in the garden
is the most rural and rustic part, where it is partially
shaded by shrubs and trees ; and it flowers even
better in a north aspect than when fully exposed to
the noon-day sun. It will grow in almost any
earth, but it produces most flowers in a loose sandy
soil that is rather poor than otherwise ; for when
planted in a rich garden mould the roots spread
and multiply rapidly, but the plants give but few
flowers, and like most other creeping rooted plants,
it seldom produces seed where it can propagate
itself so readily by the nature of its roots. From
this economy of nature, an observing gardener will

158 FLORA HISTORICA.

be taught to transplant many kinds of his fruit-
trees into poorer soil,, when the richness of the earth
forces the growth of the tree too rapidly to form its
fruit.

The Lily of the Valley is a desirable creeper for
the shady banks of lakes and ornamental streams,
and we love to meet its grateful fragrance beneath
the pendulous branches of the Babylonian Willow,
although

Nymphs and shepherds dance no more

By sandv Ladon's lilied banks.

Milton.

The autumn is the proper season for placing
these perennial fibrous roots in the ground, where
they should be covered with about two inches of
earth, and not be disturbed oftener than every third
or fourth year, as they seldom flower strong or
plentifully after being removed. The plants will
require no other attention than that of keeping them
free from weeds, and thinning the roots about once
in three or four years, according to the nature of
the soil and the increase of the plants.

The Lily of the Valley is one of the flowers that
bears forcing in pots, and as but few plants are
more agreeable for the house in the months of
March and April, this mode of flowering the Con-
vallaria Majalis should never be omitted by the
florist who has the opportunity of doing it; and

LILY OF THE VALLEY. J59

v\v strongly recommend the potting of these plants
abundantly for the town, which at any reasonable
price will never return unsold from the market, for
it is a flower worthy of Paradise, and

Whoever a true epicure would 1><\

May there iind cheap and virtuous luxury.

Cowley.

These plants are so numerous in the woods of

Eileriede, in the neighbourhood of Hanover, that

the ground in many places is completely covered

with them, and the air scented for a considerable

distance by their agreeable perfume. These woods

are regularly visited on Whit-Monday by numerous

parties from Hanover, who go to gather these

May-flowers, and the forest on that day is a scene

of rural festivity and mirth. Cottages are erected

for the sale of coffee, and other refreshments, and

neither the pleasures of tobacco nor the twirling

waltz are omitted on that occasion. The roads

leading to the forest are thronged by persons of all

ages, from the earliest dawn to the closing of the

day, and few are the houses in the city of Hanover

that are not furnished with the Whitsuntide Bouquet

of Lilies of the Valley.

And ye whose lowlier pride

In sweet seclusion seems to shrink from view,—
You of the Valley nam'd, no longer hide

Your blossoms meet to twine the brow of purest bride.

Barton

]60 FLORA HISTORICA.

The flowers of this plant possess not only an
agreeable odour, but also a fragrance thaUs refresh-
ing and highly medicinal against nervous affections
and many diseases of the head. The water distilled
from these little corollas was formerly in such great
repute that it was kept only in vessels of gold and
silver, and hence Matthiolus calls it Aqua aurea,
golden wafer. It was esteemed as a preventive
against all infectious distempers. Miller tells us, in
his Bot. Off., that these flowers are of great service
in all disorders of the head and nerves, as apoplexy,
epilepsy, convulsions, vertigo, &c, &c.

Geoffroy directs, for the distillation of the water^
that it should be prepared from the fresh-gathered
flowers, whilst wet with the morning dew, in a
water-bath, and that the water thus obtained be
poured upon fresh flowers and distilled again, and
repeated in the same way for several times, until it
becomes very fragrant. In a similar manner also
the spirit is directed to be made by Ettmuller ;
macerating the flowers wet with the dew in good
spirit of wine, and drawing off the same spirit by a
water-bath from fresh flowers three or four times,
by which means a most valuable spirit will be
obtained, which he greatly extols in head-aches,
nervous affections of all kinds, hysterics, and faint-
ings, &c.

In Germany it is common to make a wine of the

LILY OF THE VALLEY. 161

flowers, by drying them in the summer, and, in the
time of vintage, mixing them with grapes when,
pressed. This wine is prescribed in cephalic dis-
orders ; and also as a cordial in the cardiac passions,
and lipothymy.

The flowers as well as the roots, when dried and
pulverized, are a celebrated P tannic. Rail. His.
Plant. Its errhine properties are held in estima-
tion at the present day ; when snuffed up the nos*
trils it excites a discharge of mucus, and affords
great relief in all affections of the head ; and its
operation this way is gentle, though it sometimes
induces sneezing. Ettmuller, a celebrated physi-
cian and botanist of Leipsic, who flourished about
the end of the seventeenth century, gives the follow-
ing exellent formula for a cephalic snuff.

" Of the dried flowers of the Lily of the Valley,
and of the leaves of majoram, a drachm each, in
powder, mix them well together with half a scruple
of the essential oil of majoram, and use it as snuff."

Of the virtues of the Lily of the Valley, Ettmuller
goes so far as to say,

Quod specijice armalit importentes maritos ad helium venerum.

Dr. James says, " these flowers being analyzed,
after a long maceration, yield several acid liquors,
a good deal of concreted volatile salt, and a great
quantity of oil. Thus we may believe they contain

162 FLORA HISTORICA.

a good deal of sal ammoniac and sulphur, alloyed
with a little earth."

The English gardens now possess several varie-
ties of the Lily of the Valley, amongst which is the
white with double flowers, the single and double
red, and a variety with larger corollas that are
variegated with purple. This latter kind is greatly-
esteemed in Paris, from whence it was first brought
to this country ; but as it does not increase so fast
as the other varieties, it still remains more rare than
we could wish to find it in the country in general.

The Convaliaria Japonlca, Ophiopogon, or
SnakeVbeard, was first brought to this country
from Japan, in the year 1784, and although its cul-
ture is as easy, and its nature as hardy as the
indigenous Lily of the Valley, it has not yet become
common. It flowers in September of a fine blue
colour, and it is esteemed for its fruit, which is
partly obscured by its foliage.

We have also three other distinct species of Con-
valiaria, that are natives of our woods, and which
have been named Solomon's Seal, in English, and
Sceau de Salomon and Signet de Salomonin French,
and Sigillo di Solomone'm Italian, because on cutting
the root transversely, characters appear that have
resemblance to a seal. Dioscorides says that the
root of this plant pounded and laid on fresh wounds
heals and seals them up, and it is on this account

L ILV ()!• Till: V Al.Ll.Y. 1 G3

that Gerald considers its name to have originated.
It appears to have been a plant of great medical
celebrity in the reign of Elizabeth, for a medical
author of her clay gravely tells us, " The roots of
Salomon's Scale, stamped while it is fresh and
greene, and applied, taketh away in one night or
two at the most, any bruse, blacke or blew spots
gotten by fals, or woman's wilfulness, in stumbling
vpon their hastie husband's fists, or such like."
The same author adds, u Galen saith, that neither
herb nor root hereof is to be giuen inwardly ; bat
note what experience has found out, and of late
daies, especially among the vulgar sort of people of
Hampshire, which Galen, Dioscorides, or any other
that hath written of plants, haue not so much as
dreamed of, which is : That if any, of what sexe or
age soeuer, that chance to haue any bones broken,
in what part of their bodies it be, their refuge is to
stampe the rootes heereof, and giue it vnto the
patient in ale to drinke, which soldcreth and
gleweth together the bones in very short space, and
very strongely, yea, although the bones be but
slenderly and vnhandsomely wrapt vp. [Moreover
the said people do giue it in like manner vnto their
cattle, if they chance to haue any bones broken,
with good successe, which they do also stampe, and
apply outwardly in manner of a pultis, as well vnto
themselves as their cattle.'1 He continues, " That

164 FLORA HISTORICA.

which might be written of this herbe, as touching
the knitting of bones (and that truly), would seeme
vnto some incredible, but common experience teach-
eth, that in the worlde there is not to be found
another herbe compareable to it for the ppurpose
aforesaide." (Gerard.)

The French Herbalists call it V herbe dcla rupture,
which insinuates that it was esteemed in that country
for the same qualities, but we suspect that modern
practice has discovered the inefficacy of the juices
of this plant to the extent of the virtues given it by
our forefathers, as we hear no more of its use in
medicine, at present, than we do of its forming a
substitute for bread, which it did in times of scarcity
in ancient days. The Turks, who have neglected
to improve their country by cultivation, continue to
eat the roots of this plant as we eat asparagus.

All the different species of these plants are of an
elegant and rather singular shape, which entitles
them to a situation in the shady parts of our gar-
dens, but more particularly so in the grove, and
amongst the shrubs of the wilderness walks ; they
are of the same easy propagation as the Lily of the
Valley.

PERIWINKLE. 10;

PERIWINKLE. Vlnca.

Natural Order Contortce. Apocincce., Juss. A Genus
of the Pcntandria Mouogynia Class.

Nor are the plants which England calls her own
Few, or unlovely.

Mason'.
There sprange the Violet al newe,

And fresh Pervinke, rich of hewe.

Chaucer.

The Father of English Poetry frequently notices
this flower by a name that was evidently derived
from the French Pervenche, and hence the modern
name of Periwinkle is a corruption.

There lacked no floure to my dome,
Ne not so moche as floure of brome,
Ne Violet, ne eke Pervinke,
Ne flowre none that men can on thinke.

Chaucer's Romaant of the Rose.

It is the Vinca Pervinca of Pliny, from whence
the Spanish call it Perulnqua, the Italians Per-
vinca, and the French Pervenche, although it has
in each country a variety of names given it by
the vulgar, as Violette des sorciers, because the
French considered it one of the plants which assisted
the Sorcerers in their pretended magical operations;
they also call it Pucellage, Virgin Flower. The

165 FLORA I1IST0RICA .

Italians sometimes give it the name of Centocchio,
Hundred Eyes ; but the peasants of Italy generally
call it Fior di Morto, Death's Flower, because it
is used by them to make garlands for their dead
infants. The Greeks, who generally named plants
from some character in their natural history, called
the Periwinkle YLteitaris AzpvoeiSr,s, Clematis, from
its creeping nature, and Daphnoides, from the re-
semblance of the leaves to those of the Bay-tree.
The Latin name of Vinca is derived from vinco or
vincw, because it subdues other plants by its creep-
ing, or binds them by its runners.

It is a plant to which our ancestors attributed
many medicinal virtues, and attached many ridi-
culous superstitions. Ray recommends it to fasten
loose teeth, and as a remedy for the tooth-ach ; and
most of the old writers extol its virtues as a gargle
for a relaxation of the uvula and palate ; and we
are assured that a strong decoction of it has been
found, when applied externally, very efficacious in
restraining profuse bleeding of the nose, or for any
kind of haemorrhage. Lord Bacon observes that
in his time it was common for people to wear bands
of Green Periwinkle tied about the calf of the hg,
to prevent the cramp ; and Coles says, in his history
of this plant, printed 1657, "I knew a friend of
mine, who was very vehemently tormented with the
cramp, for a long while, which could be by no

PERIWINKLE. 1G7

IIIIHIIll cased, till he had wrapped some of the
branches hereof about his legs and other parts that
were affected.11 It was also a celebrated simple for
restoring milk to the breasts of nurses, and was re-
commended lor that purpose by the most learned
physicians of early days. Ray, who was so cele-
brated as a botanist in the seventeenth century, and
to whose memory Dr. Compton, Bishop of London,
erected a monument in the churchyard of Black
Notley, in Essex, tells us, in his Ills. Plant., that
u the fresh leaves of the Periwinkle, spread upon
coarse and thick brown paper, and well matted and
pressed together, then covered with combed flax
and afterwards fumigated with frankincense, being,
by the advice of an old w<oman, applied to a stru-
mous swelling, discussed it in a short time, after it
had been, for a whole year, under the treatment of
a learned physician, without effect. The same old
woman had, before this, with the same medicine,
cured another whose case wras reckoned desperate.51
We may probably be laughed at by modern
practitioners for noticing the receipt of an old
woman, but we shall give a laugh in return against
one of their own body, who gravely tells us in

1681, " That the leaves of the Feri winkle, eaten by
man and wife together, cause love between them.'

{Culpepper.)

The admirers of Rousseau still hold this plant

163 FLORA HISTORIC.*.

in high veneration ; for in France they have made
it emblematical of the pleasures of memory, and of
sincere friendship, from the circumstance of this
author's saying, in one of his works, that as he was
walking to Charmettes, accompanied by Madame
Varence, she was struck by the appearance of these
blue flowers in the hedge, and exclaimed, " Here
is the Periwinkle still in blossom." Rousseau then
tells us that he did not notice this flower again for
near thirty years, but that being at Cressier, in the
year 1764, with his friend Peyron, as they were
climbing a little hill, he found this plant in blossom
among the bushes, which carried his recollection
back so instantaneously to the time he was walking
with Madame Varence, that he inadvertently ex-
claimed in a cry of joy, "Ah, there is the Peri-
winkle."" He relates this anecdote as an instance
of the vivid recollection he had of every incident
which occurred at a particular time of his life, and
from hence this flower is made to represent " les
doux souvenirs"

Oh Memory, thou fond deceiver,

Still importunate and vain,
To former joys recurring ever,

And turning all the past to pain.'

Thou, like the world, the opprest oppressing,
Thy smiles increase the wretch's woe ;

And he who wants each other blessing,
In thee must ever find a foe.

Goldsmith.

PERIWINKLE. 10'J

The inharmonious name of Periwinkle we pre-
sume is more the cause of this flower being so

to

generally omitted in poetical writings, than any
want of attraction in the flower itself.

There is a delightful softness in the blue colour
of the Periwinkle, and a quietness in the whole
appearance of the flower, that seems to harmonize
with the situation in which it flourishes ; for it
rather seeks the shady banks of the grove than to
meet the meridian sun in society of the gayer plants
of the parterre.

It is a pretty plant to cover the banks of hedge-
rows and shrubbery grounds, and contrasts well, in
such situations, with the Primrose, as the dark
rich green foliage of the Vinca forms as happy a
mixture with the pale puckered leaves of the
Primula, as the delicate yellow of the corollas of
the latter plant do with the sky-blue of the former
flower; and, although the opposition of the two
colours is great, it is as mild as the effect of the
silver stars in the blue atmosphere.

They are both plants that should decorate rustic
scenes and rural walks, rather than approach the
gay parts of the garden ; they should thickly
spangle both the wilderness part of the shrubbery
and the woodland banks, where Milton says —

Wisdom's self
Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude ;

VOL. I. I

170 FLORA HISTORICA.

Where, with her best nurse, Contemplation,
She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings,
That in the various bustle of resort
Were all too ruffled, and sometimes impaired.

Comus.

The lesser Periwinkle, Finca Minor, is the most
proper for the flower borders, and the variety of
this species with double flowers is exceedingly orna-
mental, as their fine blue colour is so desirable a
mixture to the yellows and reds of other plants.
There are some varieties of this plant with a white
flower, but the most common is the pale blue and
bluish purple. There is also a variety with varie-
gated foliage. All these plants love rather a moist
soil, and a south-east aspect, where they are shel-
tered from the afternoon sun.

The lesser Periwinkle, with a white flower, was
first discovered by Mr. Woolgar, of Lewes, in
Sussex, who found it at Chiltington, four miles from
Lewes.

The trailing stalks of these plants take root very
freely, by which means they are easily propagated,
as it is a rare circumstance for them to produce
seed ; for like many other plants which run much
at the root, they seldom produce their follicles.
Mr. Curtis and Dr. Smith inform us that they
have never seen them, and although we have
minutely examined tlic large beds of them which
we frequently meet with in the plantations of the

PERIWINKLE. 171

Sussex coa t, we have never found a single seed.
Tournefoot says that he never saw any fruit in
Provence or Languedoc, where the Periwinkle is
very common, nor about Lisbon. Miller procured
seeds by cutting off all the lateral shoots, and
Ca?salpinus obtained the fruit by setting the plant
in a pot, with little earth.

It would appear that nature wisely checked the
formation of the seed of this plant, that propagates
itself so rapidly by other means ; for was it as pro-
ductive of seed as many other plants, it would soon
occupy more space on the earth than seems destined
for any one species of plant : yet we have never
dissected a flower where the parts of fructification
appear to be so admirably adapted to secure them-
selves from the inclemency of the weather, or the
intrusion of insects, as the parts of the Periwinkle
flower. One of the striking beauties of this flower
consists in the large pentagonal mouth of the tube,
the angles of which point to the centre of the petals,
or rather to the centre of each of the five segments
of the corolla. To obviate the inconvenience of
this large mouth, the tube lessens where the anthers
are fixed, and each of the five anthers are termi-
nated by a membrane, so shaped, that as they bend
over at the top, they form a dome that effectually
secludes every thing that might injure either the
stigma or the anthers. The style of this flower is

I 2

172 FLORA HISTORIC^.

of a pale orange colour, bearing two distinct circular
plates, the lower one of which is of a full orange
colour, and the top one white, which may be
compared to a shilling placed on a guinea; the
lower one is thought to be the true stigma : on
the top of the white plate there is a short green
elevation, which is crowned with five white drooping
feathery substances, that form a rosette, whose
purpose seems to be that of confining down the
overhanging parts of the anthers, without entirely
excluding the air, which can pass through the
feathery nature of this crown. The whole of this
flower deserves the most curious investigation ; and
when the internal parts are viewed through a micro-
scope, we can scarcely do less than exclaim in the
words of Delille —

Each secret spring, each organ let me trace,
That mock the proudest arts of human race ;
Completest toil ! from endless source that rose,
Each -worth a world ; for each the Godhead shows.

RANUNCULUS. 173

RANUNCULUS.

Natural Order Multisiliquce. Ranuncutacea, Juss.
A Genus of the Polyandria Polygynia Class

Long worke it were
Here to account the endlesse progeny
Of all the Weeds that bud and blossom there ;
But so much as doth need must needs be counted here.

SrENSER.

The gaily-coloured Ranunculus, that gives such
splendour to our vernal parterres, is a species of
Crowfoot, that grows naturally in Persia, and other
eastern countries, from whence it has been brought
to beautify this island, for

The land which warlike Britons now possess,
And therein have their mighty empire raysed,

In antique times was salvage wilderness,

Unpeopled, unmanured, unproved, unpraysed.

Spexser.

The Turks cultivated the Asiatic Ranunculus at
Constantinople for several ages before it was gene-
rally known in other parts of Europe. In their
language it is called Tarobolos Catamarlale, and
their account of it is, that a Vizier, named Cara
Mustapha, who delighted to contemplate the beau-
ties of nature in solitude, first observed, amongst

174 FLORA HISTORICA.

the herbage of the fields, this hitherto neglected
flower, and wishing to inspire the then reigning
Sultan with a taste for plants similar to his own, he
decorated the gardens of the seraglio with this new
flower, which he soon found had attracted the notice
of his sovereign, upon which he caused it to be
brought from all parts of the East, where varieties
could be found. But enclosed within the inacces-
sible walls of the seraglio these flowers remained
unseen by the rest of the world, until bribery,
which surmounts the loftiest towers, and breaks the
strongest bolts, entered the palace of the Sultan,
and secured the roots of these highly-cherished
plants, which soon afterwards flourished in every
court in Europe.

We are told (not in the land of Hibernia, but in
France) that this fine flower was one of the fruits
of the Crusades, and that St. Louis first brought
it into that country. This would make its intro-
duction into France as early as the middle of the
thirteenth century, which was about one hundred
years prior to the taking of Constantinople by the
Turks.

Admitting that Louis IX. brought it from
Palestine into France, there can be no doubt but
that the plant was soon lost in that country, from
the imperfect state of gardening at that period ;
and we should have obtained it from thence instead

RAIfUNCULUS. 175

of sending into the eastern parts of the world for
these roots, which it is evident we did in the time
of Queen Elizabeth, as Gerard tells us, in his
herbal of that reign, that one kind of Ranunculus
li groweth naturally in and about Constantinople,
and in Asia, on the further side of the Bosphorus,
from whence there hath beene brought plants at
diuers times, and by diuers persons, but they hauc
perished by reason of the long journey, and want
of skill of the bringers, that haue suffered them to
lie in a boxe, or such like, so long, that when we
haue received them, they haue beene as dry as
ginger ; notwithstanding, Clusius saith he receiued
a plant fresh and greene, the which a domesticall
theefe stole foorth of his garden : my lord and mas-
ter, the Right Honourable the Lorde Treasurer, had
diuers plants sent him from thence, which were drie
before they came as aforesaide. The other groweth
in Alepo and Tripolis in Syria naturally, from
whence we haue received plants for our gardens,
where they flourish as in their owne countrey."
This unvarnished account fixes the time of the
introduction of the Ranunculus into England, and
at the same time is a pretty satisfactory assurance
that it was not then growing in Paris, as Clusius
would not have mentioned the receipt and loss of a
single root, had it been common in the gardens of
his country.

17G FLORA HISTORICA.

The Dutch, -who studied floriculture as an art
connected with commerce, soon turned the cultiva-
tion of the Ranunculus to a profitable account, and
they still continue to export these roots in great
quantities to every part of Europe, although the
English are said to have raised a greater variety of
them than any nation, as this flower was held in
high estimation here from about the middle to the
end of the last century. The varieties of this
brilliant but heavy flower are such, that, in 1792,
Maddock had upwards of eight hundred sorts ;
and the catalogue of Mason's Ranunculuses for
1820 contains about four hundred names. Mad-
dock is of opinion that there are more varieties of
the Ranunculus than of any other flower ; and he
observes that the seed in no instance ever produces
two flowers alike, or one similar to the parent plant,
so that the diversity of them may be carried to an
amazing extent. The finest and most approved
sorts are propagated by dividing the tubers, or by
offsets from the tubers; for by this means they
will retain all their original character for more than
twenty years.

The Garden Ranunculus was not sufficiently
common to have been mentioned by Shakspeare,
nor has it been much noticed bv later poets.
Thomson slightly mentions the African variety,
which Miller calls R. Sanguineus.

RANUNCULUS. 177

From the soft wing of vernal breezes shed,
Anemonies, Auriculas, enrich'd
With shining meal o'er all their velvet leaves ;
And full Ranunculus, of glowing red.

Notwithstanding this is one of the most hardy of
the earden Ranunculuses, and makes the most bril-
liant appearance by its vivid scarlet colour, it is
almost lost in the country, or so little esteemed in
comparison with the Persian Ranunculus, that it
is seldom cultivated by the epicurean florist. We
have sometimes met with this variety in the cottage-
gardens which border the sandy commons of Sussex
and Surrey, where, meeting with a congenial soil,
it seems to linger like an expiring flame.

The African Ranunculus differs from the Asiatic
by having few but larger leaves, which are of a
darker green than those of the latter kind. The
stem seldom produces more than one flower, and
never exceeds two ; but these are considerably
larger than those of Persia, and very double, and a
stem is frequently thrown up from the centre of
the flower, bearing a second corolla of a smaller
size. This is the flower which the French name
Rcnonculc Pivoine and R. Peone. There are several
varieties of this kind of Ranunculus, amongst which
is one of the colour of the Jonquil, which the
French call Scraphique tC Alger, and another of
the hue of the Golden Marigold, with a green
heart, which is named SouciDore, or Merveilleusc :

I 5

178 FLORA HISTORICA.

but the variety most esteemed is of a fine red colour,
spotted with yellow, called l\irban Dore, Golden
Turban. As these kinds of Ranunculuses are less
susceptible of frost than those of Persia, the roots
are generally left in the earth throughout the year;
but this is a bad practice, as when the soil or season
is wet, they are sure to return to their natural red
colour, by which means the most beautiful varieties
are frequently lost.

The Ranunculus has not what is generally termed
either a palmated or tuberous root, but consists of
a fasciculus of tubers nearly approaching to the
character of the Palmatum. When the plant be-
gins to vegetate, there grows out of the part which
surrounds the eye many thin white threads, that are
of equal dimensions all their length till they have
finished their growth ; they then swell out at the
part adhering to the trunk, and form one or more
claws above the old one, which, after having fur-
nished the new ones with the nutritive juices which
it contained, or enabled them to procure strength,
the old tubers are decomposed, and consequently
vegetate but one year, after the manner of many
bulbs, or in a similar way to the buds of trees which
throw out branches that form other buds, whilst
the original is no more.

The Ranunculus varies in its colours even more
than the Tulip, running from a black down to white

RANUNCULU8. 179

through all the shades of reds, yellows, browiM ;
and, indeed, all colours, excepting blue, may be
found in these gaily-painted flowers — the criterion
of whose perfection is, that they should produce a
strong, stem, not less in height than from eight
inches to a foot, and that they should bear a flower
at least two inches in diameter, well filled with con-
cave petals, that diminish in size as they approach
the centre. The corolla should be of a hemispheri-
cal form : its component petals should be imbricated
in such a manner as neither to be too close and
compact, nor too widely separated, but have rather
more of a perpendicular than horizontal direction,
to display their colours with better effect. The
petals should be broad, and quite free from fringe
or indentures at the edges : the beauty of their
colouring consists in their being dark, clear, rich, or
brilliant; either of one regular colour throughout,
or otherwise variously diversified, on white, ash,
pale yellow, gold, or fire-coloured ground, either
in regular stripes or spots, or marble-mottled.

The aspect most congenial to these plants is that
of the east, where the situation is open, but free
from draughts, and sheltered from the violent
westerly winds that generally prevail during the
early part of their growth. The soil recommended
by Maddock, the greatest cultivator we have had of
the Kanunculus, is a fresh, strong, rich, loamy

180 FLORA HISTOR1CA.

earth. Hogg, in his treatise on this plant, advises
fresh loam, with a considerable portion of rotten
horse or cowdung. The Rev. W. Williamson,
whose remarks on this subject are published in the
London Horticultural Transactions, uses a stiff
clayey loam, with a fourth part of rotten dung.
An earth that cakes on the surface is the worst that
can be used to cover the tubers ; and where the soil
is of that nature, we should recommend a mixture
of sand, more particularly as the fibres of the tubers
do not depend on the surface- soil for nourishment,
but run deep into the earth. On this account, in the
beds or spots where the clumps of Ranunculuses are
to be planted, the earth should be dug out nearly two
feet deep, and at the bottom should be placed a stra-
tum of six inches of well-rotted dung, such as has
been taken from an old cucumber-bed; the hole
of the clump or bed should then be filled up level
with the surface, with well-pulverized earth that is
quite free from dung : on this the tubers should be
placed about four inches from each other, with their
claws downwards ; and where the earth is of a cold
or wet nature, a little sand should be placed beneath
each plant, and the whole covered with a fine light
soil, as nearly as possible one inch and a half in
depth, which may be so much higher than the level
of the border where they are planted in clumps.
When the season is either too wet or cold to

RANUNCULI 3. 131

plant them in November, it must be deferred
till the middle of January, but not later than the
middle of February. The greatest danger these
plants are in from being injured by frost is soon
after they are committed to the ground, when they
have swelled by the moisture which they have im-
bibed, and have not actually begun to vegetate.
Should severe frosts come on at that period, the
spots where they are planted should be covered
with loose moss or straw, which, however, should
be removed at all favourable times, for covering
them too much causes them to turn mouldy, which
destroys the plants. When the plants appear above
ground, if the earth is not of that fine crumbly
nature to fill up the holes caused by the shoot of
the plants, it should be compressed with the fingers
quite close to the plants, which protects them from
cold drying winds : and if a fine light moss be laid
over the earth between each plant, it will greatly
assist their growth, by keeping the ground moist,
and not be offensive to the eye like straw ; and it
also breaks the force of hasty showers, as well as
that of artificial watering, which it is sometimes
advisable to give the plants, when the months of
April and May prove dry.

About the end of June, or beginning of July,
the foliage will be changed and partly decayed.
The roots should then be taken out of the earth

182 FLORA HISTORICA.

with care, so as not to break off the tubers. The
stems should next be cut close off, and their claws
well cleansed and separated, before they become dry
and brittle.

It is recommended, on taking them out of the
ground, to put them into a sieve with a fine wire
bottom, and then to work the sieve in a tub of
water, by which means the earth will be washed
from the claws without breaking or loosening the
small and new-formed tubers; but it must be ob-
served not to let the water run over the top of the
sieve. The tubers should then be placed in a dry,
airy, but shaded room, until they are dry enough
to be tied up in bags and suspended from the ceil-
ing of a dry room.

The offsets of the Ranunculus generally attain
perfection in the season of their formation on the
old plant, but where the offsets are few, and it is
desirable to increase the number of a good variety,
it may be done by carefully dividing the tubers
with a sharp knife ; for, on closely examining the
crown of these roots, several small protuberances
will be found, from each of which a shoot will arise.

When these plants are raised from seed, it should
be procured from semi- double flowers, that grow
on strong, tall stems, where the petals are of a
clear and rich colour. The seed should remain on
the plant until it has lost its verdure, and become

RANI NCl'LUS. 183

dry and brown. The heads containing the seeds
may then be cut of!', and spread upon paper until
all humidity is exhaled from them, when they may
be preserved in a bag, in any warm, dry place, until
the month of January, which is the best time for
sowing them. The heads containing the seeds
should then be put in a tea-tray, and placed before
the fire till they are just warm ; the seeds will then
easily scrape off with the assistance of a small knife,
but care must be taken to avoid scraping them off
in lumps, or suffering any pieces of the stalk or other
extraneous matter to be mixed with them, which
would create mouldiness when sown. When the
seed is scraped in a proper manner, it will have
much the appearance of clean, course bran, with
a spot in the centre of each cuticle, which is the
kernel.

u When the seed is thus prepared, it should be
sown in a shallow frame provided with sashes ; the
soil should have been previously taken out three
feet deep, and spread thin upon the ground till it
has been perfectly frozen throughout, in order to
destroy any vermin it may have contained, more
particularly the common earth-worms.

" When the pit is filled up again with the frozen
lumps of earth, it should remain till the whole mass
has thawed, and subsided to its pristine bulk, or
nearly so. Its surface should then be made per-

I84 FLORA HISTOBICA.

fectly smooth and even, and the seeds sown upon it
with the utmost regularity, in such quantity as nearly
to cover it. The glasses should be placed over it
immediately, and the frame kept closely covered with
them for two or three days, till the seed begins to
swell and soften : a little light earth should then be
sifted upon it, through a fine sieve, but not suffi-
cient to cover it ; this should be repeated once or
twice a week, till the greater part of the seed dis-
appears. It is proper to remark that those seeds
which happen to be covered deeper than the thick-
ness of a half-crown piece will never vegetate, and
must of course perish."

It is necessary to keep the seed moderately moist,
by gentle waterings with soft water that has been
exposed to the sun ; and it must be given by a
watering-pot that has a rose perforated with a great
number of very small holes, that the streams may
be very fine and regular.

About the time that the plants begin to make
their appearance, it is proper to stir the surface of
the earth with a pin or bodkin, just sufficient to
admit air, and give liberty to the young plants to
pass easily through. This operation should be very
carefully performed, to prevent breaking off the
fibres, or raising or leaving any of the plants out of
the earth. When the sun shines very hot, it is
necessary to admit some fresh air under the glasses

RANUNCULUS. I6J

and shade the frame with mats ; but it should be
closely shut up with the glasses at night, and when
the air is cold. After the plants are all up, and

their two interior leaves appear, more air must be
given, and water supplied when the weather renders
it necessary ; but fine warm showers of rain are
always preferable when they happen in due time.
The plants require this regular attention until the
foliage is become perfectly dry and brown. The
roots are then to be taken up, and the safest way to
do it is to pare off the earth with a trowel to about
three inches deep, and put it into a sieve, as before
recommended. Those roots that have two or three
claws, will blow strong the following summer, if
planted as already advised.

Neither the Persian nor the African Ranunculus
were known to the Romans in the time of Pliny,
who has described four kinds of these plants, with-
out noticing the beauty of the flower. The Latins
called these species of plants Ranunculus, from
Rana, a frog, because they were observed to grow
in places frequented by those animals. It was also
called Strumea by the Latin herbalists, because it
was used as a cure for a complaint similar to the
KingVevil, which they termed Struma*.

From its caustic and burning qualities, the green
leaves were used to draw blisters, and take off
marks in the skin, as also for the leprosy. Pliny

186 FLORA HISTORIC.*. <

tells us that the root was chewed as a cure for the
tooth-ache, but if kept long in the mouth it de-
stroyed the teeth.

We are not aware that the garden Ranunculus
has been used in medicine, and shall not in this
place dwell further on the properties of our native
species of this family of plants, than to observe that
they contain virulent qualities, which affect both men
and cattle, particularly sheep ; and that it was with
one of the kinds of Ranunculus that the ancients
poisoned the points of their arrows. Mons. C.
Dubois gives us the following pretty moral verses
on the dangerous nature of the Ranunculus of our
fields, called Butter-cups.

Vois, mon fils, ce bouton charmant

Que Zephyr berce de son aile ;
Comme il etale, en s'inclinant,

L'or dout sa corolle etincelle !

Ce joli bouton satine,

Qui sourit comme l'innocence,
Recele un sue empoisonne,

Et souvent blesse 1' imprudence.

Des pieges d'un monde inconnu

Apprends, mon fils, a te defendre ;
Tel nous mon t re un front ingenu,

Qui ne cherche qu'a nous surprendre.

IRIwS. 187

IRIS.

Natural Order JUnsatee. Iridcs, Juss. A Genus of the
Triandria Monogynia Class.

Iris, on saffron wings aray'd with dew

Of various colours, through the sun-beams flew.

Virgil.
Tlie various Iris, Juno sends with haste.

Then clad in colours of a various dye,
Junonian Iris breeds a new supply.

Ovid.

The ancients named this plant after the attendant
of Juno, because its colours are the same as those
which the poets and mythological writers have
bestowed on the messenger of their goddess. Iris
is generally depictured as descending from the rain-
bow, and her arch is said not to vary more in its
colours than the flower that has been honoured by
her name.

Columella observes in his tenth book —

Nor Iris, with her glorious rainbow clothed,

So fulgent as the cheerful gardens shine

With their bright offspring, when they're in their bloom.

Milton distinguishes these flowers as " Iris, all
hues.'1 Every quarter of the world possesses the
Iris, and, excepting the Rose, no flower has been

188 FLORA HISTORICA.

more celebrated by the historian and the poet than
this genus of plants, which so greatly embellishes
both the land and the waters, and has at various
periods contributed so much towards the sustenance,
and added to the medicines of man.

Bildad, in his remonstrance with Job, uses this
plant as a simile. — " Can the Rush grow up with-
out mire ? Can the flag grow without water ?"
Job viii. 11 ; which was thus versified, in the be-
ginning of the seventeenth century, by G. Sandys : —

Can Bulrushes but by the river grow ?

Can Flags there nourish where no waters flow ?

The ancients used the Iris or Flag-flower as the
symbol of eloquence ; and on this account it was,
we presume, placed by the Egyptians on the brow
of the Sphinx, as we have seen in the collection of
antique statuary at the Louvre, in Paris, where
there are three Sphinxes of great magnitude,
Nos. 253, 373, and 375, all of which have the Iris
flower sculptured on the brow. May not the
Egyptians have represented Moses by the Sphinx,
and placed the Flag-flower on the temple of this
symbolical figure in allusion to the spot from which
he was taken, for the daughter of Pharaoh dis-
covered him in an ark of bulrushes (i laid in the
flags by the river's brink ?" (Exod. ii. 3.)

The History of France informs us that the
national escutcheon of that country was strewed

IRIS, 189

with an indefinite number of Fleurs-de-lis as early

as the "time of Clovis the First, about the end of
the fifth century, previously to which time the em-
blem of France had been either three toads or three
diadems in champ d'argent — others say three cres-
cents, surrounded with a number of bees.

About the middle of the twelfth century, Louis
the Seventh of France, having been excommuni-
cated by the Pope, and his kingdom laid under an
interdict, was persuaded to take up the cross and
join in the romantic expedition of the Crusaders,
on which occasion he distinguished himself, as was
the custom of those times, by a particular blazon,
for which he chose the Iris flower, from that time
called Flour de Louis, Louis's flower, which was
first contracted into fleur de Luce, and afterwards
into fleur de lis, Lily flower, although it has no
affinity to the Lily. The Iris flower soon became
celebrated in France as the Fleur de lis, and was
not only used in the arms of France, but employed
in the decorative embellishments of the crown itself.

The number of fleurs de lis used in emblazoning
the arms of France was reduced to three in the
reign of Charles the Sixth, about the year 1381,
when that monarch added supporters to the shield
of France — which arose from the following circum-
stance. This youthful Prince, whilst hunting in
the forest of Senlis, roused an enormous stag, which

190 FLORA HISTORICA.

would not suffer himself to be taken by the dogs,
but being secured in the toils of the net, a collar
of copper, gilt, was found fixed around the neck of
the animal, with this Latin inscription, " Hoc mihi
Ccesar donavitP After this adventure the young
king dreamed that he was carried through the air
on a winged stag, from which time he added two
winged stags for supporters of the arms of France.
The north part of the mariner's compass was
marked by its immortal author (Flavio Giovia, a
native of Amalfi, in Naples) with this beautiful
flower, in compliment to France, the Neapolitan
monarch being a younger branch of the royal
family then (1302) upon the throne of that king-
dom.

Edward the Third,

Whose ripe manhood spread our fame so far,
A sage in peace, a demi-god in war :
Who, stern in fight, made echoing Cressy ring,
And mild in conquest, served his captive king,

T.ICKELL,

added the Fleurs de Luce to the arms of England.
Gray calls him

Great Edward, with the Lilies on his brow,
From haughty Gallia torn.

Phillips says —

Behold Third Edward's streamers blazing high
On Gallia's hostile ground ! his right withheld,
Awakens vengeance : O imprudent Gauls,

IRIS. 191

Relying on false hopes, thus to im

The warlike English !

(Jreat IMwanl thus avenifetl,
With g«ldCB Jn's his hn.atl shield Bttboa/4.

The Flour de lis has frequently been allowed to
British subjects in heraldry. Queen Anne granted
to Sir Cloudesly Shovel, for his arms, a chevron
between two Flcurs de Us, and a crescent in the
base, to denote three victories that he had gained
— two over the French, and one over the Turks.

The Fleur de Us no longer occupies a place in
the British arms, as, on the union of these king-
doms on the 1st of January, 1800, it gave place to
the Shamrock, which, being now united to the
Rose, the Thistle, and the Harp, we could, in
justice to our neighbours, do no less than restore
to them the full possession of their ancient heraldic
flower, which we hope to see flourishing by the
Rose, each amicably striving to display their mas-
tery in good qualities, rather than in strife and con-
quest.

That the Iris should be called by a French name
in this country is not surprising, since it was won
of them in battle, and worn in the British crown
from that time until the coronation of his present
Majesty, who has graciously dispensed with it.
The Roses that emblazon the arms of England
were not more a cause of bloodshed in this country
than the Iris has proved to the inhabitants of France

192 FLORA HISTORICA.

during the present age. It was proscribed during
the Revolution, and hundreds of persons, found
wearing it, were condemned to death by the revo-
lutionary tribunal, whose revolting act of the 21st
of January, 1793, rendered a line of our great bard
on this subject so strikingly appropriate as almost
to be considered prophetic :

Cropp'd are the Flower de Luces in his arms.

During this national frenzy, wherever the Fleur de
Lis stood conspicuous in sculpture, it was defaced
through the fury of the mob, who covered the obli-
teration by their silly cap of liberty, which, in its
turn, was obscured by the expanding wings of the
imperial eagle. Napoleon substituted the bee for
the Iris flower, and it would certainly appear a
more rational emblem of an industrious nation than
their ancient flower ; but both bee and eagle have
taken their departure, and the Fleur de Lis is
once more left to spangle the royal robes of France.
Chaucer seems to confound the Lily with the

Iris :

His nekke was white as the Flour de Lis.

Spenser, who, in most instances, preserved the old
spelling with the greatest care, says —

Bring hither the pinke and purple Cullambine,

With Gelliflowres ;
Bring Coronations, and sops in wine,

Worne of paramours :

IRIS. 193

Btrowe mee the groande with Daffadown-Dillies,
And Cowslips, and Kingcups, and loved Lillies:

Tin' prettie Pawnee,
And the ( 'hevisaunce,

Small match with the fayre Flowre Delice,

Skep. Cal

Dr. Turner says, in 1568, the Iris is called

Floure de Lyce. Gerard and Parkinson write it

Flower de Luce, which is continued by all who

distinguish the Iris from the Lily. When Shaks-

peare wrote

Lilies of all kinds,

The Flower-de-Luce being one,

botanical arrangements had not then been suffi-
ciently established to settle the natural affinities of
plants.

Martyn enumerates fifty distinct species of Iris in
his edition of Miller, 1807, but Aiton regards but
thirty-two species in the Hortus Kewensis. Of
many of these species there are varieties, so that
few flowers would contribute more to ornament our
gardens were their culture as much attended to as
their beauty demands. It is also a great recom-
mendation to these plants, that, whilst some of the
kinds blossom as early as March and April, others
succeed them through every month until August
and September. The easy propagation and hardy
nature of the greater number of these plants renders
it unnecessary to dwell upon their culture ; but we
cannot leave the Iris of Flora, without strongly re-

VOL. I. k

194 FLORA HISTORICA.

commending it a more frequent situation in every
pleasure-ground than it now occupies.

It is a species of flower that our earliest gardeners
seem to have cultivated with great delight, on
account of its rich and varying colours ; for, whilst
it equals the bow of Iris in the softness of the tints
of some of its varieties, the petals of others excel in
richness the celebrated purple of Tyre, whilst other
kinds exhibit a colour so opposite, and of so vivid a
dye, as to be made emblematical of flame.

As our collectors have brought the Iris from
every quarter of the glebe, so would we see it flou-
rish in every part of our grounds, and even in
the waters ; for,

Amid its waving swords, in flaming gold
The Iris towers.

Charlotte Smith.

Where waves the hulrush as the waters glide,
And yellow flag-flowers deck the sunny side.

Scott.

It is difficult to imagine an effect more agreeable
to the eye than clumps of these yellow flowers re-
flected in the blue waters of our winding streams
and ornamental lakes. The embellishment of such
situations, in general, is too little understood, and
less attended to. We would not wish to see the
banks of our rivers bearing visible marks of art, but
the naked expanse of artificial lakes is unnatural —
a proportion of aquatic plants is necessary to keep

IRIS. 195

up a harmony of colouring, and to soften the
abruptness of the change which catches the eye
when waters are too suddenly contrasted with the
land. Where the waters are of sufficient size to
maintain fish and aquatic birds, we should never
fail to set aquatic plants, which Nature instructs us
to be necessary for their shelter, food, and medicine.

In situations where it may be desirable to keep
the waters free from plants, there can be no objec-
tion to the banks being beautified by the yellow
and purple corollas of the Iris, provided they are
so judiciously placed as not only to be doubled by
reflection, but carry rather the appearance of grow-
ing naturally on the spot, than of being placed there
by the hand of art.

Where the Yellow Iris is allowed to grow on the
brink of waters, the purple or blue varieties should
be planted on the banks as a contrast, but in no
instance in such a manner as to give the idea of a
border to the lake, but rather to add irregularity,
and break uniformity, by large clusters of these
plants ascending the banks.

In the most embellished borders of the vernal
season the dwarf species of Irises cannot fail to be
attractive. The Persian Iris displays, on the same
petal, nearly all the tints of " The dome's high
arch," and, like it,

K 2

19G FLORA HISTORICA.

the mingled blaze,

Forms a rainbow of alternate rays.

PorE.

This species of Iris flowers as early as February
and March, but it is of too tender a nature for the
exposed border, excepting where the soil is naturally
sandy, and the situation warm and sheltered : it
prospers well, however, when planted in pots filled
with sandy loam, or when the bulb is placed on
water in the manner of Hyacinths.

The fragrance of this plant is such, that a few
flowers will perfume a large room ; and on this
account, as well as the early season in which its
finely- painted corollas open, it is a desirable plant
for the house, as the

DWARF IRIS, Pumila,

is for the open garden, where it endures the in-
clemency of our winters without injury, and pro-
duces its rich purple flowers in almost any soil and
situation, being a native of the open hills of Austria
and Hungary. Its diminutive height is its protec-
tion against the tempestuous season in which it
flowers, which also adapts it as a neighbour to the
Primrose, the early Narcissus, and other early-

IRIS. 197

flowering plants that benefit by a purple contrast.
There are varieties of this Iris with pale blue, and
some with straw-coloured and bluish-coloured

petals, but they are neither so common nor so
desirable for the season of their flowering as those
of the royal purple.

Many of the later-blowing Irises arc of a height
that towers above dwarf shrubs, and they have an
enchanting effect when planted amongst the bushes
of the roseries, or between the tall shrubs and
dwarf evergreens of the shrubbery ; the pale
Turkey, the yellow, or the various-coloured, being
planted in the vicinity of the purple rhododendron,
and the blue and violet varieties of Iris, where
white, yellow, or pink flowers abound

The CHALCEDONIAN IRIS, Susiana,

takes its name from Susa, in Persia. This species
requires a drier soil and warmer situation than
most other kinds, and has many qualities to recom-
mend it to our care. Its corolla is the largest of
all the species, the upper petals being as broad as
a hand, and singular in their colours, being striped
with black and white, whilst the falling petals are

198 FLORA HISTORICA.

of so dark a hue as to have given rise to the name
of Mourning Iris. This species of Iris was cul-
tivated in this country previous to 1596. as Gerard
then tells us that it flourished well in his garden,
being planted in ground not over-wet. This old
herbalist observes, " the whole flower is of the
colour of a Ginnie hen ; a rare and beautiful flower
to behold." We learn from Clusius that this
superb Iris was first brought from Constantinople
to Vienna and Holland, in the year 1573.

The hardy sorts of Iris are easily propagated by
parting their roots in the autumn ; and few flowers
requiring so little attention, produce so fine an
effect as these plants, particularly when their
clumps are large. The roots should not be re-
moved oftener than once in three or four years, as
they seldom flower so abundantly the year after
having been planted.

The great bulbous-rooted Iris, Xiphioides, and
the small bulbous-rooted Iris, X/p/mwi, are natives
of Spain, and were cultivated in England as long
back as the time of Gerard ; yet they continue
rather rare than plentiful in most of our gardens,
although no flower which we can bestow our atten-
tion upon will be found more ornamental than
these species of Iris, which vary so considerably in
their corollas, that scarcely two plants produced
from seed are painted in the same manner ; but

IRIS. 199

the approved varieties are increased by offsets,
which they abundantly produce. The bulbous-
rooted Iris prospers best in a poor, light, sandy
loam, where it is exposed to an eastern aspect.
The seeds of these plants are generally ripe in
August, when they should immediately be sown
in slight drills, about six inches from each other.
In the following spring the young plants appear
above the earth, with a resemblance to young
onions. In shis state they will require no other
care than weeding. In August or September of
the third year after sowing, they should be trans-
planted into clumps or beds, at about eight inches
apart each way : in two or three years from their
removal most of them will blossom, and new
varieties may be expected.

In Africa the roots of the edulis Iris are esteemed
as food after being boiled, and they are eagerly
sought for in that quarter of the world by the
monkeys.

It is the Florentine Iris, Florentina, whose roots
when dried give out that agreeable perfume so
similar to the odour of Violets .

This medicinal root, which is principally brought
from Leghorn, was in great demand when hair-
powder was more generally worn, as what was sold
as violet-powder was nothing more than a propor-

200 FLORA HISTORICA.

tion of the powder of this root mixed with common
hair-powder. It is the Orris root of the shops, so
frequently chewed by those who have a fetid breath:
it was formerly much esteemed in medicine ; and
old writers extol its virtues as an attenuant, emol-
lient, and pectoral, and, therefore, as being good
for the lungs. At present we believe it is only held
valuable for the pleasantness of the flavour which
it communicates to medicine.

The Florentine Iris produced its white blossoms
in English gardens previous to 1596, as we are in-
formed by Gerard.

One of the most curious species of this genus of
plants that we have seen is the Iris dichotoma,
Afternoon Iris, or Scissor plant. It has the slen-
derest stem, and the smallest flower, of all the
Irises, and the corolla never expands until after
mid-day — hence the trivial name. It is a native
of Dauria, and is called Cheitschi (Scissors) in the
Mogul language, from the form of the fork pro-
duced by the two branches which support the
flowers.

It is not even " the flower of a day," for it
never fails to collapse before night by a two- fold
inflexion, rolling inwards at the limb or upper por-
tion, and twisting spirally together at the ungues
or lower.

mis. 201

It was first introduced by Mr. Jolnr Bell, in
1784, but being lost, was again raised 1'roni seed
sent from the Berlin garden to Messrs, Whitley
and Co., of the Fulham nursery, where it flowered
ill August, 1817, and was found sufficiently
hardy to stand in a sheltered border in the open
ground.

The root of our native Yellow Water-Flag, Iris
Pseudo-Avonis, that flowers so abundantly in our
fens and marshes during the month of June, had
formerly a place in the " London Pharmacopoeia,"
under the name of Gladiolus luteus. It is much
praised by Ettmuller, as a very certain and power-
ful styptic in spitting and vomiting of blood. At
present this acrid root is but little used in medi-
cine. It is of so powerfully astringent a nature, that
it may be employed as a substitute for galls in
making ink.

The common blue or purple Flower de Luce of
our gardens, Iris Germanica, yields a most beauti-
ful paint for water-colours, for which purpose the
flower-petals are collected before they are fully
expanded, " and pounded in a stone mortar with a
stone-capped or wooden pestle — then put into a
glass, and placed for some days in a cellar or other
moist place : after the space of about a fortnight,
the mass, which is now become liquid, is to be set

202 FLORA HISTORICA.

over the fire in a glass pot, till about a third part
is consumed ; then some rock-alum is to be put
into it, more or less, till it becomes clear, and ac-
quires its fine blue colour ; after which it is poured
into shells for use/" — MartyrCs Miller.

The root of this Flower de Luce was formerly
used to prevent beer becoming stale, by suspending
it in the cask ; and it was in like manner suspended
in casks of wine, to communicate both its taste and
smell to the liquor.

AURICULA. 2U3

AURICULA. Primula Auricula.

Natural Order Precice. A Genus of the Pentandria

Monogynia Class.

Auriculas, enrioh'd

"With shining meal o'er all their velvet leaves.

Thomson-.
Queen of the snowy Alps, in glittering pride
She rears her palace on the mountain's side ;
There, as bright sun-beams light her spangled throne,
Attendant sylphs the acirial empress own ;
Bkpand their purple plumes, and raised in air,
"Wave their green banners to protect the fair ;
Imperial beauty, with resistless sway,
Tames the rude bears, and bids their tribes obey ;
Roar round each crystallVl cliff and moss-girt plain,
And guard in shaggy troops her bright domain.
Delighted Boreas views her from afar,
And drives in stormy state his ebon car ;
Low at her feet the boist'rous monarch bows,
And breathes his passion "mid descending snows,
While timid Zephyr flies through fields of air,
Scarce daring to approach the hill-encircled fair.

Shaw.

This favourite offspring of vernal Flora is a native
of the icy summits of the Alps, from whence the
Flemish gardeners first procured it, and brought it
into cultivation, before its beauties were known in
other distant lands, or regarded in its native country.
But when it was once ascertained to be a plant on

204 FLORA HISTORICA.

which Nature plays her frolics, and which she loves
to paint in all the varieties of whimsicality and di-
versity of rich hues, it was eagerly sought after by
all the florists of Europe, and was soon brought to
the highest, state of perfection by the English culti-
vators, who, in the flowering of the Auricula, have
left even the Flemings far in the back-ground.

At what exact period this Primula of the moun-
tains was first brought to England is uncertain, but
Gerard speaks of it as no stranger in 1597, and
observes, " it do grow in our London gardens.1''
This author calls it Beare's-eares, or Mountaine
Cowslips, and Auricula Ursiflora. The leaves of
this plant are thought to resemble the ears of the
bear, on which account it received the Latin name
of Auricula Ursi, and the French Oreille d,oursi as
well as the Italian Orecchia cVorso.

It is thought to be the Alisma of Dioscorides.
Matthiolus and Pena call it Sanicula Alpina, from
its character of healing wounds. It has also been
named Paralytica by old herbalists, on account of
its being esteemed a remedy for the palsy.

When this plant was established as a favourite in
the garden, it was sought for on most of the moun-
tains of the continent. Carolus Clusius found it
on the mountains of German}', and it has since been
discovered in Switzerland, Carniola, Savoy and
Piedmont.

AURICULA* 203

The art of floriculture has been so happily be-
stowed upon the Auricula aa to render it one of the

flowers of highest esteem ; and it is deservedly
admired for its rich velvet corollas, some of which
are of the darkest purple, others of a fine blue,
bright yellow, delicate lilac, olive brown, pure white,
variegated, bordered or mottled as variously as the
Tulip ; and as it is a flower often exhibited for
prizes at Auricula-shows, we shall give what is now
considered as the criterion of a perfect and fine
flower of this kind.

" The stem must be erect and strong, and of a
height to carry the bunch of flowers above the
foliage of the plant. The peduncles, or foot-stalks,
of the flowers, should also be strong and elastic,
and of a proportionable length to the size and
quantity of pips, which should not be less than
seven in number, that the bunch may be rather
round, close, and compact. The component parts
of the pip are the tube, (with its stamens and an-
thers,) the eye, and the exterior circle, containing
the ground colour, with its marginal edge : these
three should be all well proportioned, which they
are when the diameter of the tube be one part, the
eye three, and the whole pip six, or nearly so. All
the connoisseurs of the Auricula agree that the pips
should be round, but this seldom happens ; and if
they be so nearly round as not to deserve the ap-

206 FLORA HISTORICA.

pellation of a starry flower, j udges of this flower
are content. The anthers, or summits of the
stamens, must be large, bold, and fill the tube well,
and the tube should terminate rather above the
eye : the eye should be very white, smooth, and
round, without any cracks, and distinct from the
ground, or self-colour. The ground-colour must
be bold and rich, and equal on every side of the
eye; whether it be in one uniform circle, or in
bright patches, it must be distinct at the eye, and
only broken at the outward part into the edging.
The favourite colours are a fine black, purple, or
bright chesnut, a rich blue, or bright pink ; but
the acme of the florist's ambition is to procure the
Auricula of a glowing scarlet, or deep crimson,
edged with a clear green. The green edge, or mar-
gin, is the principal cause of the variegated appear-
ance in this flower ; and it should be in proportion
to the ground colour, that is, about one-half of
each." Nature has guarded these delicate flowers
from the scorching heat of the sun's rays by sprink-
ling them with a fine powder, and the leaves of most
of the kinds of Auricula are kept cool by the same
wise precaution.

The Auricula is generally observed to be brought
to the highest perfection in the neighbourhood of
manufacturing towns, where the mechanic leaves
his labour to attend and admire the beauties of his

Al R I ( TLA. 207

>tage. In these towns a rivalship generally prevails
as to who shall rear the finest spceimen of this plant,
which instead of dissension, produces social neigh-
bourhood, and exchange of civilities, for it is

A fair ambition, void of strife or guile,
Or jealousy, or pain to be outdone.

But great delight it gives to the happy cultivator

who shows

The earliest bloom, the sweetest, proudest charms
Of Flora.

Armstrong.

It is recorded in the history of this plant, that
Mr. Henry Stow, a gardener near Colchester,
reared, previously to the year 1768, some plants of
Auricula that produced one hundred and thirty-
three blossoms on one stem ; and in the year 1821,
an extraordinary flower of this kind was gathered
in the garden of Mr. Tanby, of Bath : it had eight
distinct stalks, combined in one flat stem, completely
incorporated together, and bearing a calyx contain-
ing one hundred and seven petals ; but this would
be considered rather a singular than a perfect
flower.

Lancashire is at present the most celebrated part
of the country for fine Auriculas, and from thence
most of the florists in the neighbourhood of London
are supplied. About a century ago, when this
flower was more in fashion in England than at pre-

208 FLORA HISTORICA.

sent, the Dutch bloemists were supplied from this
country ; but they afterwards obtained this part of
the floral trade, and frequently before the late war
returned to this kingdom the offspring of our own
flowers.

It is observed in a late French publication on
flowers, that the Auricula is still the favourite flower
of the English ; and the anonymous author tells us
that it is made the terrible symbol of ambush. " I
shall add,'1 says the writer, " without being sus-
pected of malignity, that the Bears Ear is the
favourite flower of the English. " AVe may fairly
surmise that the author alluded to has more malig-
nity towards the English than knowledge of their
country.

The best season for propagating the approved
sorts of the Auricula is about the end of July, or
beginning of August, when the roots may be divided,
or rooted slips taken off, and planted in pots filled
with a good compost, which should be composed of
a fresh loamy soil, and perfectly decomposed cow-
dung, equal parts of each, adding to the mixture
one-tenth of sea or river sand. Good leaf mould
may be used instead of cow-dung, but the whole
should be well mixed, and exposed to the frost the
winter before it is used ; but, as Hogg observes,
the cultivators of these flowers are not more nume-
rous than their compost is various, and quackery,

AURICULA. 2UD

even in the growing of flowers, has as many fol-
lowers as in any other line.

We arc told by some growers of the Auricula,
that sugar-bakers' scum, goose or pigeons' dung,
sea-sand, rotten willow-trees, night-soil, dung
steeped in butchers' blood, &c. &c, are all neces-
sary to produce fine flowers ; but, from our own
observation, all that is requisite seems to be a rich
and light mixture that has been well frozen, and
frequently turned over. Mr. S. Curtis tells us, that
he has seen the strongest Auriculas produced from
the following ingredients : two-thirds of the rotten
dung from old hot-beds reduced to fine mould,
one-third containing equal parts of coarse sand and
peat, or bog-earth, such as is used in the culture of
heaths, mixed well together by shifting or screen-
ing, and suffered to be well aired by frequent
turnings during the frosts of winter.

Where it is desirable to plant Auriculas in the
open ground, we recommend that a space sufficient
for about eight or twelve plants should be fixed on
in a situation sheltered from the heat of the mid-
day sun, with either an east or north-cast aspect ;
that the earth should be taken out of the spot fixed
on to about eight inches in depth, filling it up with
a compost rather above the general surface of the
border, so as to throw off superfluous moisture.
As many of these clumps may be formed as the

210 FLORA HISTORICA.

size of the garden and number of plants will admit,
reserving the finest varieties for potting. The pots
recommended by Emmerson for large blooming
plants are those of about eight inches high, five
and a half diameter at the top, and four and a half
at the bottom, outside measure.

Maddock recommends the Auricula to be potted
immediately after the bloom is over, and re-potted
every year, to invigorate the plants by fresh earth.
The Auricula is by no means a tender plant, and
it loves a free air, rather cold than warm ; yet it is
advisable to secure those in pots from severe frost,
and a shed open to the north or east is preferable
for blowing them, than either a south or west
aspect ; but, as a winter repository, they should
have the advantage of a south aspect, and be kept
very dry during the months of November, Decem-
ber, and January, as in case of frost the weather
has less power on the roots. In February it is ad-
visable to top-dress the pots with fresh compost,
and when the season is mild, to allow them to
receive gentle showers : during the time of flower-
ing, the pots should be moderately watered two or
three times a week.

Every admirer of these flowers should endeavour
to raise new varieties from seed, which should be
preserved from the strongest plants of the hand-
somest kinds, and be kept separate from inferior

AURICULA. 211

sorts, to prevent accidental impregnation. As the
capsules ripen they should be cut off singly, and
kept in a dry situation until the time of sowing,
which is principally performed in the month of
February. " Maddoek sows this seed in boxes,
and covers it as light as possible; and sets the
boxes in a hot-bed, preserving a moderate and
equal degree of warmth both day and night, ad-
mitting fresh air occasionally. The advantage of
this mode is, that it forces every live grain into
vegetation in about three weeks, if the warmth of
the bed be properly kept up ; whereas, by the more
usual mode of exposure to the open air, the greater
part does not vegetate till the second year ; and
the weaker seeds, which are probably the most
valuable, seldom vegetate at all.

" The earth and seed must always be kept
moderately moist, but never very wet : the best
method of watering it, is by means of a hard
clothes-brush, dipped into soft water, which has
had its chill taken off by standing in the sun ; the
hair side being quickly turned upwards, and the
hand rubbed briskly over it, will cause the water to
fly off, in an opposite direction, in particles almost
as fine as dew. If the surface of the earth in the
boxes is inclining to become mossy or mouldy, it
must be stirred all over very carefully with a pin,
about as deep as the thickness of a shilling. When

212 FLORA HISTORIC A.

the young plants make their appearance, it then
becomes necessary to give them very gradually
more air, in order to harden, and render them fit
for an entire exposure to it, which they will be able
to bear in a fortnight or three weeks, at which time
the box should be taken out of the frame, and
placed in rather a warm situation, though not too
much exposed to the sun, till towards the end of
April, when it may again be removed to a cooler
aspect, where it can only receive the sun till nine
o'clock in the morning ; and in May, if the weather
is hot, it should be placed in the most cool and
airy part of the garden, not neglecting at any time
to keep the earth moderately moist, but at the
same time preserving it from violent rains when-
ever they occur. As soon as any of the plants
appear with six leaves, such should be taken out
from the rest, and transplanted into other boxes,
filled with the compost, about two inches distant
from each other ; and when they are again grown,
so as nearly to touch each other, they must be a
second time transplanted into larger boxes, or small
pots, where they should remain till they blow,
which will generally happen the following spring ;
but their full merit will not be seen until the
second year, when the finer kinds may be marked
for the house, and the inferior varieties for the
open borders."

AURICULA. 213

Sonic cultivators of these flowers sow the seed in
pots, about six inches over the top, and six deep,
filled half full with coal ashes or cinders, for the
sake of drainage ; the seed being covered as thin
as possible with compost, and the pots covered with
a hand-glass, and placed in a situation where it
receives only the morning sun. These glasses are
not to be taken off, but the water sprinkled over
them will afford sufficient moisture to the earth.
The front of a green-house, or a cool frame, is re-
commended for these pots.

As the spring is the season we desire to have
our Auriculas in flower, all the autumnal buds
should be carefully taken off to strengthen the
plants for the early flowering ; and as the Auricula
blossoms at the same season of the year that the
Hyacinth and Jonquil flower, a most desirable
assemblage for the house may be formed, by a ju-
dicious mixture of these plants being placed on a
window table, with a sunk centre to receive the
depth of the pots, which should for this purpose be
of a square shape, so as to fit close, as well as to
exactly fill the space in the table. These little
table gardens are a great ornament to the saloon
in the spring, and often beguile the time of the in-
valid in the most happy manner ; for, in whatever
situation we meet with fine flowers, they give a
calm cheerfulness conducive to health, and the

214 FLORA HISTORICA.

care they require is only asked of our leisure;
whilst that of birds and animals which are confined
to the house must be regularly attended to at their
call, or they become offensive and annoying.

ORCHIS. 2rt

ORCHIS. Orchis or Satyrion.

Natural Order, Orchidece. A Genus of the Gynandria
Monandria Class.

Nor will her prudence, when intent to form

One perfect whole, on feehle aid depend,

And give exotic wonders to our gaze ;

She knows, and therefore fears the faithless train :

Sagely she calls on those of hardy class

Indigenous, who, patient of the change

From heat to cold which Albion hourly feels,

Are braced with strength to brave it. These alone

She plants and prunes, nor grieves if nicer eyes

Pronounce them vulgar.

Mason.

That this family of plants, so singular in their
construction, and so beautiful in their appearance,
should be excluded from the parterre of Flora in
every part of the globe, evinces either a general
want of taste in floriculture, or a strong predilec-
tion for ancient prejudices and absurd opinions.

Even the poets have failed to celebrate this
flower that so richly enamels our vernal pastures
with its spiral blossoms, and so sweetly contrasts its
purple spikes with the yellow furze of our chalky
hills. It is slightly mentioned by Mrs. Charlotte
Smith, who spent her early days at Berton Park,

21G FLORA HISTORICA.

on the north side of the South Downs of Sussex,
where these flowers are too abundant to have
escaped her notice. On the close of spring, she
says —

No more shall Violets linger in the dell,

Or Purple Orchis variegate the plain,
Till Spring again shall call forth every hell,

And dress with humid hands her wreath again.

Our great lexicographer has not deigned to men-
tion this plant under any of its various names.
Milton appears to have been struck with the beau-
ties of its hue, but avoids to name the flower.

Throw hither all your quaint enamell'd eyes,
That on the green turf suck the honeyed show'rs,
And purple all the ground with vernal flow'rs.

Shakspeare seems to allude to this plant as one
which helped to compose the garland of Ophelia ;
but the great dramatist evidently varnishes over
the familiar name by which it was distinguished by
the herbalist of his day.

There with fantastic garlands did she come,

Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples,

That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,

But our cold maids do dead men' s fingers call them.

Hamlet, Act. IV.

The Greeks named it Ozyjr, Orchis, from the
form of the roots in many of the species, and this
appellation is now generally adopted in most of the
European languages. In addition to the Greek
name, the Latins often called it Satyrion, because

orchis. 213!

the early Romans believed it to be the food of the
Satyrs, and that it excited them to those excesses to
which fabulous history describes them as being so

much addicted.

In mythology, the Satyri are represented as
demi-gods, who chiefly attended upon Bacchus;
but Pliny speaks of them, from report, as animals
which inhabited a part of India (book vii. chap. 2).
It is related by Pausanias, Plutarch, and other an-
cient historians, that a Satyr was brought to Sylla,
as that general returned from Thessaly ; the mon-
ster was taken alive, and is stated to have answered
in every degree to the descriptions given of the
Satyrs by the painters and the poets. We read,
also, that Sylla was so disgusted with the sisht
of the monster, that he ordered it to be instantly
removed.

The Orchis root being represented as the fa-
vourite diet of the imaginary Satyrs, it naturally
became celebrated as one of the most stimulating
medicines known, and it is so described by all
medical writers on simples, from Dioscorides down
to the present day : but most of these accounts
are too ridiculous and indelicate to transcribe, and
we trust that they will be so far disregarded as not
to shut this beautiful plant out of the gardens of
this enlightened age ; nor would we debar the
student in medicine from ascertaining the real

VOL. I. t.

218 FLORA HISTORICA.

qualities of these bulbs, the juice of which is so
strongly recommended as a cooling application to
inflamed surfaces, and as a resolutive to accelerate
the suppuration of indolent tumors, to say nothing
of its powers in the electuary Diasatyrion.

Fabulous history tells us that the Orchis owes
its origin to the lascivious son of the Satyr Patella-
nus, and the nymph Acolasia, who presided at the
feasts celebrated in honour of Priapus. The youth
being present at the celebration of the feast of
Bacchus, laid violent hands on one of the priest-
esses of that god, which so incensed the Baccha-
nals against him, that they instantly tore him in
pieces ; and all the remedy which his father could
obtain from the gods was, that his mangled corpse
should be transformed into a flower, which should
retain his name of Orchis, as a blot upon his
memory.

The Persians and Turks call the roots of the
Orchis Salop, and it is with these bulbs, as well as
the pal mated roots of other species of Orchis, that
they prepare their favourite drink of salop, which
is made palatable by the addition of milk and
ginger. This beverage is drunk hot, with the
same opinion of its qualities that was entertained by
the ancients. The salop powder was formerly
brought over fromTurkey in considerable quantities ;
and we have had our salop rooms in London, as well

ORCHIS. 219

as the Turks in Constantinople, or the Persians in

Ispahan.

And yet the wholesome herb D6glected dies ;
Though with the pure exhilarating soul
Of nutriment and health, and vital powers,

Beyond the search of art, 'tis copious blest.

Thomson".

In the long list of the English names for this
plant, as recorded by our early writers on plants,
none are admissible before the time of Parkinson
(1640), who adds to the nomenclature that of
Standle-wort, which seems derived from one of the
old German or Dutch names for the Orchis, the
former being Stendelwiirtz, and the latter Standle-
cruyt. In 1657, Coles writes the name of King-
fingers for this plant, in addition to those of the
former herbalists.

The florists have not proved more negligent in
cultivating these curious plants than the botanists
have been anxious to collect the different species of
them from all quarters of the known world ; and
from their exertions we now possess upwards of
eighty distinct species, besides numerous varieties
of several of the kinds.

Modern arrangement divides this family of plants
into different genera, under the heads of Orchis,
Satyrium, Ophrys, Habenaria, Gymnadenia, Her-
mirum, Aceras, Goody era, Bartholina, Serapias,
Disa, Pterygodium, Neottia, Ponthieva, Diuris,
Thelymitra, Listera, Epipactis, Pogonia, Calade-

L 2

220 FLORA HISTORICA.

nia, Glossodia, Pterostylis, Calcya, Calopogon,
Arethusa, Bletia, Geodorum, Calypso, Malaxis,
Isochilus, Corallorrhiza, Stelis, Ornithedium, Cryp-
tarrhena, Aerides, Limodorum, Pleurothallis, Oc-
tomaeria.

To describe all the varieties of these singular
plants would require a separate volume, for which
purpose we have already made many drawings, as
the pencil can far better than the pen represent
their various forms and colours. We shall, how-
ever, not pass over the native tribes of the Orchi-
decE family, without most earnestly recommending
them to the notice all true admirers of flowers.
The idea that these plants will not bear cultivation
is as absurd as the old story of their springing from
the seed of the thrush and the blackbird. "We
have frequently transplanted several species of the
Orchis and the Ophrys into the garden with suc-
cess, and the early varieties of the former never
failed to draw attention by the beauty of their
spotted foliage, and the richness of their purple or
lilac colours. We have generally collected the
plants as soon as they have appeared above the
ground, taking them up with as much earth as
possible about their roots, and planting them in a
similar soil to that from which they were taken;
and where they have remained for several years
without our disturbing the ground, we have found

ORCHIS. 221

them grow stronger than in their natural situations.
About the year 1812, we planted many of these
bulbs under some trees on a small bank in a garden
at Worthing, and in the year 1810 several young
plants were found growing on a small turf-plot
adjoining, which must evidently have sprung from
the seeds of those planted on the bank : they were
of the morio, mascula, and ustulata kinds. It
would be more desirable to collect the bulbs in
the summer, which might be easily done by
placing a small stick in the earth on the north side
of each plant when in flower, and to take them up
in July or October, before the foliage be entirely
decayed.

The Ophrys are far less common than the Orchis,
but these are frequently found in chalky soils, that
are kept moist by the partial shade of coppice-
wood. Martyn says, the Fly Ophrys, O. muscifera,
u is found in Bocton church-yard, and about
TVrotham and Northfleet in Kent ; Harefield in
Middlesex ; Croydon in Surrey ; Hinton, Tever-
sham, Fulbourn, Linton, and Chippenham, in
Cambridgeshire ; Bath-hills near Bungay, and
Earsham-wood in Suffolk ;" Ray observed it " in
Essex, as well as the two last counties ; St. VincentV
rocks near Bristol ; Plumpton-woods near Ulver-
ston ; Rush ton in Northamptonshire ; Asply in Not-
tinghamshire ; Barrow- field- wood and Brigstear-moss

222 FLORA HISTORICA.

in Westmoreland; generally in calcareous pastures."
We have frequently found it on the south downs of
Sussex and Hampshire, most generally on the north
side and near the foot of hills, where the soil is fre-
quently a mixture of clay and chalk, and of a wet
nature. We have also found it in plantations on
the downs, particularly at Stanmer, the seat of the
Earl of Chichester, near Brighton, where we have
seen more plants of this kind in a small space than
in any other situation.

The Fly Ophrys did not appear in this spot until
the third year after the plantation had been thinned
of its underwood ; and it is difficult to assign a
reason for its abundance in a site that less than half
a century back was a bare down. We also found,
in the same situation, the Epipactis grandiflora, the
Epipactis, or Ophrys Nidus Avis, and the Ep. or
Op. ovata, all growing within a few yards together
with the Op. muscifera.

That the seeds of all these species of Orchis
should be brought by accident to this one particu-
lar spot in the plantation is improbable, since none
of the kinds have been found growing in any other
part of the neighbourhood : we must therefore sur-
mise that they sprung from the nature of the soil,
assisted by the decayed vegetable matter falling
from the trees, which vegetated into these singular
plants so soon as a necessary proportion of light

ORCHIS. 223

and air was admitted into the wood. There must
have been a first cause for the origin of all plants,
and that this cause should be renewed or repeateda
agreeably to necessary circumstances, cannot be
disputed by those who reflect on the subject. It
was evidently the opinion of the inspired Israelite,
when he wrote in the book of Genesis, " the earth
brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after
his kind, whose seed was in itself.11 And were it
possible that every plant and every seed on the
earth should perish, it cannot be doubted but that
the same kind of vegetation would eventually
spring up as is now peculiar to each particular soil
and climate of the world. It may be asked, would
our majestic oaks, and the imperial cedars of Le-
banon, with the towering palms of India, again
return to fill the space in their natural situations ?
Minute as the loftiest trees are, in comparison with
the boundlessness of space, they are, conjointly with
the humblest herb, necessary links in the harmony
of this terrestrial globe. Their existence is as neces-
sary to form the vital air which surrounds the earth,
as their substance is to the animals which inhabit it.
A singular instance of vegetation occurred in Lon-
don after the great fire of 1666, which reduced the
centre of that city to a heap of cinders, and roasted
the very earth ; yet on the following year the whole
mass of the ruins was so entirely covered with the

224 FLORA HISTORICA.

broad-leaved Hedge Mustard, or London Wild
llocket, Sisymbrium Iris, that in many places it
might have been mowed like a field of corn. — Mor-
rison, Prcolud. But to return to the Fly Ophrys,
Ophrys muscifera : without further disputing its
being, like the fungus tribe, germinated by the fer-
mentation of certain particles of earth combined
with water, we are satisfied of its propagation by
seed, having, in the summer of 1823, saved the seed
from plants which we cultivated.

That it does not increase by a viviparous nature,
like many other bulbs, seems pretty certain, by our
not finding any of these plants growing in clusters
like the Crocus, Snowdrop, Tulip, or Hyacinth.
This plant, like the Meadow Orchis, has two dis-
tinct bulbs, united at the top, one of which only
sends up a stem ; and during the season that this
bulb is nourishing the flowers and seed it becomes
shrunk and shrivelled, but the dormant bulb swells
and increases in strength, and sends up a flowering
stalk the following year, leaving its companion bulb
to rest and recruit in its turn. When these bulbs
are divided, the plant is sure to perish, — as we have
experienced, having taken off the dormant bulb
and planted the flowering one in a small pot, where
it continued to flourish and produce blossoms ; but
on examining the earth in the autumn there was
no part of the bulb remaining, whilst those that

orchid ir>

had been planted with the two bulbs were found
as already described, the one in a shrivelled state
from which the stem was decayed, and the other
become full and pushing out its stem.

The name of Ophrys which is given to these
plants is derived from the Greek oQ^us, the eye-
brow, one species having been anciently used either
to blacken the eye-brows or to make them grow.
Its trivial name Muscifera is given to it from the
great resemblance which the flower bears to a fly,
and on this account it is made to represent error or
mistake, in floral language; indeed the blossoms
are so much like the insects we have mentioned,
that they may easily be mistaken one for the other.
The Spider Ophrys, Aranifera, is made the em-
blem of adroitness or skill. The Bee Ophrys,
Apifera, ought certainly to represent industry ; and
the Butterfly Orchis, Gymnadenia bifolia, flighti-
ness or gaiety : whilst the Lizard Orchis, Hircina,
and the Frog Orchis, Gymnadenia viridis, may
describe disgust, when used emblematically.

The Fly Ophrys is generally in flower from the
end of May to the beginning of July : it has a
slender stem from twelve to eighteen inches in
height ; it is rarely seen with more than three
leaves, which sheath the stem at the base ; they are
of a pale green colour, and of a lanceolate shape.
The flowers expand in succession, beginning at the

L5

226 FLORA HISTORICA.

bottom, and it is not common to see more than
three or four expanded at one time ; as the lower
ones decay others open higher on the spike, until
the whole have blossomed. A spike seldom con-
tains more than fifteen flowers, and frequently not
more than four or five. They are thinly scattered
on the stem, which adds considerably to the decep-
tion, for were they numerous it would lessen the
effect. The calyx divides into three lanceolate
leaves of pale green, out of which issues a corolla
or petal, so bent, cut, and painted, as to resemble
a fly with its head in the calyx. 'The velvet-like
pubescence of the corolla, and the blue mark di-
viding the chocolate colour, contributes much to
the resemblance of this vegetable substance to an
animal body.

There has been no instance of either the Orchis
or the Ophrys, as now defined by botanists, being
found in tropical countries ; but a beautiful species
of this genus of plants has within these last few
years been brought from the botanic garden of
Palermo, by Mr. AVm. Swainson. The plant is
indigenous to the coast of Barbary, and has been
named Sawfly Ophrys, Tenthredin fera, but we
have seen no species of the Musca so gaily coloured,
as yellow, crimson, white, and blue, render the
corollas of this flower, which being moreover set in
a rose-coloured calyx has a fine effect. The ge-

ORCHIS. 227

neral character of this exotic Ophrys conies nearer
to the Bee than the Fly Ophrys of this country.

The Bee Ophrys flowers about a month later
than the Fly Ophrys, and the flowering spike is
thicker and shorter than the latter species, being
generally from about six to ten inches in height.
The flowers are considerably broader and closer
set, and in shape and colour resemble a small hum-
ble bee. The spike seldom produces more than
four or six flowers, but like the Fly Ophrys, it
continues a considerable time in blossom before it
"withers, unless it is too much exposed to the sun
or the winds. The leaves of this plant are of an
ovate lanceolate shape, silvery underneath, and con-
siderably larger than those of the Fly Ophrys.

This plant, which was included among the varie-
ties of the insectifera of Linnaeus, is a native of
several parts of Europe, and an indigenous plant
of our calcareous soil near woods, and in meadows.
We have found it growing in the park belonging
to his Grace the Duke of Norfolk, at Arundel, in
Sussex. " It has been found also near Charlton-
church, and Chislehurst, in Kent. It grows also
on Trunhill-downs in the same county. In Cam-
bridgeshire it is abundant about Madingley-wood,
Hinton, Feversham, Fulbourn, Burrough-green,
Chippenham, and Linton. In Bedfordshire, at
Bolnhurst. In Buckinghamshire, at Bradenham.

223 FLORA HISTORICA.

In Northamptonshire, at Blatherwick and Asply.
In Oxfordshire, at Pently Hangings. About Ear-
sham in Suffolk, and Mulbarton. On St. Yincent's-
rocks, near Bristol. Carisbrook Castle, in the Isle
of Wight Great Comberton, towards Woller's-
hill -, and Tedestone, near Whitebourne in Worces-
tershire."

We have noticed the various situations where
these plants are found, in order to assist the curious
in their research ; and as the seed ripens in the
month of August, it would be worth the experi-
ment of those who have a suitable soil on their
estates, to scatter it on the ground in situations
similar to where it grows naturally ; but as most
bulbous roots raised from seed require some years
before they have strength to send up flower-stalks,
these must not be expected for at least three or
four years. We should recommend, at the same
time, that a portion of the seed should be sown in a
bed of earth congenial to the nature of the plant,
and very slightly covered with vegetable mould, as
we observe the plants to be generally most abun-
dant amongst decayed leaves. We should also
recommend the bed to be covered with moss, which
would keep the earth moist and protect it from
frost ; the moss should be kept clown by laying
slender twigs over it and pegging them down with
little forked branches.

orchid 229

We cannot conclude our brief history of this
family of plants without publicly soliciting informa-
tion from those who have already made the experi-
ment of raising the Orchis and the Ophrys from
seed, as also from such as may be disposed to
try the cultivation of these singular plants, the
natural history of which is at present but too im-
perfectly understood.

230 FLORA HISTORICA.

FRITILLARY. FritiUaria.

CROWN IMPERIAL.

Natural Order Coronaria;. Lilia, Juss. A Genus of
the Hexandria Monogynia Class.

The Crown Imperial ; Lilies of all kinds,

The Fower-de-Luce heing one ! O, these I lack,

To make you garlands of.

Shakspeare's Winters Tale.

The Crown Imperial is one of the flowers that was
first introduced into this country in the time of our
great dramatic bard, who has celebrated it as above,
in a speech which Perdita makes to the Prince of
Bohemia. Gerard who was our principal writer on
plants in the days of Shakspeare, tells us, in 1597,
that he had then plenty of the Fritillary in his
garden at Holborn, but he calls it a rare and
strange plant. It was first sent from Constanti-
nople into the Christian countries of Europe by
Clusius, who forwarded it first to Vienna in the
year 1576, stating it to be a native plant of Persia,
growing in the woods of that country. It was,
therefore, for some time called Lilium Persicum,
Persian Lily ; but, as there was already another

FRITILLARY. 231

Persian Lily growing in the European gardens,
Alphonsus Paucius, physician to the Duke of
Florence, when he sent a drawing of it to M. John
de Brandon, named it Corona Imperlalls. Madame
de Genlis thinks the name originated from the cele-
brated Guirlande de Julie, Chapelain having under
the painting of this flower written a poor metamor-
phosis in compliment to Julie, who was a great
admirer of Gustavus Adolphus the King of Sweden,
who lost his life in the battle he gained in the
plains of Lutzen. The poet says, that had this
monarch gained the Imperial Crown, he would
have offered it with his hand to Julie ; but, as the
Fates have metamorphosed him into this plant, it is
given to her under the name of Couronne Imperiale.
This title appears to have been adopted in all the
European languages, — the German name being
Kaiserkrone, Danish Keiserkrone, Swedish Keisar-
hrona, Italian La Corona Imperiale, Spanish La
Corona Imperial, French La Couronne Imperiale ;
but in later days these ingenious people, like the
Greeks of old, named it after the resemblance
which the flowers have to a familiar object; and
as they have none more ready at hand than their
dice-box, it was called Fritillaire Imperiale, from
fritillus, the Latin for dice-box. Modern botanists
have since bestowed the name of Fritillaria on a
family of plants, of which this is, from its noble

232 FLORA HISTORICA.

deportment and brilliancy of colouring, considered
the sovereign.

The Lily's height bespoke command,

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

The sceptre of her power.

The Crown Imperial is therefore made the emblem
of majesty, and the representative of power, in
floral language.

In the Turkish language this flower is called
Tusai or Tuschai, as well as Turfani or Turfanda ;
and as it was obtained from the Turks under this
name, it ought, in justice, to have retained its
original appellation.

This Lily of the turbaned countries towers above
all the flowers of our vernal parterres, throwing up
its tall stem amidst the dwarf flowers of April, like
the tall Palm amongst trees, or a pagoda arising
out of a Chinese town. At the top of its stem is
supported a circle of Tulip-shaped corollas turned
downwards, which have the appearance of so many
gay bells, the stigma answering for the clapper.
The whole being crowned by a coma, or a tuft of
green leaves, gives it a singular and agreeable
effect ; and when the bulbs are suffered to remain
two or three years in the earth, which should be a
light dry soil free from dung, they frequently send
up a stem that carries two or three whorls of pen-

IK HILLARY. 233

dulous flowers above each other : it is then called
the Triple Crown.

Numerous varieties of this flower have been
raised from seed by the patient perseverance of the
Dutch florists ; but the most desirable varieties
are those of the gayest colours, such as the bright
yellow and the brilliant red, as the dingy colours
and variegated kinds make less show in the garden*
This imperial flower is not without its body-guard,
to keep its admirers at a proper distance ; for it
possesses so strong a scent of the fox, combined
with that of garlic, as to ensure its protection from
meddling fingers, and its safety from the saloon
vase. It is the same property of the plant, we may
presume, that defends it from being rifled of its
nectareous juices, which are not only rejected by
the bees, but refused by all kinds of insects. But
the beauty and splendour of this magnificent flower
will ever secure it a situation in pleasure-grounds,
as it is equally adapted to decorate the centre of
large flower borders, or to intermix with dwarf
shrubs in more sylvan scenes ; and it is one of the
few flowers which, like noble personages, is seen to
the best effect when planted singly.

The more closely Ave attend to the natural history
of plants, the more are we delighted with the
works of Nature. To the Crown Imperial a large
flow er is bestowed, that has not the gift of closing

234 FLORA HISTORICA.

its petals, like the Tulip and most other flowers, to
secure the parts of fructification from the wet and
inclement season in which it flowers ; but, to
counteract this apparent inconvenience, a pendulous
position is given to the corolla, which effectually
protects the important parts of the flower, like a
bell-glass, until impregnation has taken place, when
the peduncles change to an upright position, in
order to facilitate the ripening of the seed. The
singularity of the nectary of this flower is too
peculiarly conspicuous to have been overlooked by
the curious : it is a white glandular cavity, at the
base of each petal ; and as long as the flower re-
mains in vigour, a large drop of limpid nectareous
juice is hung to each nectary ; and thus we are struck
with other important uses of the petals, in addition
to that of a covering to the stigma and anthers',
for they appear to be organs by which the polarised
primitive matters are directed to their evolution,
and to their different attractions. We have con-
sulted with some of the first botanists of the age
on the use of the nectareous juice in nourishing the
parts of fructification, and assisting the impregna-
tion of the seed, and we have met with that diver-
sity of opinion which we could hardly have ex-
pected on a subject that seems so clearly developed.
The ingenious authoress of u Sketches of the Phy-
siology of Vegetable Life1' tells us, that she made

i imtili.au v. 235

an experiment upon the flower of the Crown Im-
perial, " to observe the effect upon the fructifica-
tion when deprived of the nectarcous juice. I rob-
bed,'1 says this lady, u the petals of this delicate
fluid at about ten o'clock in the morning, and seven
every evening, during which period it became usu-
ally replaced in the degree of about one third of the
natural quantity when suffered to remain undis-
turbed. Those bells from which the honey was
regularly taken morning aud evening did not pro-
duce any seed : two bells, wherein this operation
was less closely attended to, formed very poor
seed-vessels ; while the bells on the same plant,
which remained in their natural state, brought their
seeds to perfection. The anthers and stigmas
seemed to wither sooner in those flowers which were
deprived of their nectareous juice, and the germ
certainly appeared to suffer essentially j but whe-
ther the effect produced upon the seed by the honey
being taken away, was in consequence of the an-
thers and stigmas losing their wonted nutriment, or
of the seed itself being deprived of its sustenance,
is a question of importance to be determined.'''

Decandolle says, " the return of the sap to a
more oxydized condition, and the evident evacua-
tion of hydrogen and azote, appear to have as essen-
tial an influence on fructification as the deposition

236 FLORA HISTORICA.

in the honey juice of flowers of oxydized mucilage
during the evolution of hydrogen."

The situation of the nectaries, at the basis of the
sexual organs, shews us, that the oxydized sap must
be deposited in these organs before the more vola-
tile matter can ascend into the parts of fructifi-
cation.

It is hence that the nectaries have commonly such
a position, that the evacuation of the pollen from
the antherae is directed towards them. This is so
evident in the Iridece, that it is impossible to deny
the connexion between the nectaries and the organs
of fructification. This relation is still more striking,
when we observe an inclination of the pistilla, with
their stigmata, towards the nectaries, at the period
when the former have attained their perfect ease.
Finally, the evolution of the sexual organs at dif-
ferent times, or what is called the dichogamy, is a
very obvious proof that in many cases fructification
is accomplished by the nectaries. When we thus
observe, that, in the same flower, the antherae are
much sooner ripe than the stigmata, or the reverse,
it is evident that these latter organs cannot be im-
pregnated by the former, in so far as they belong
to the same plant. Hence it happens that the first
blossoms always fall off, and the fruit fails, when
the dichogamy is gynandrous, because the early

FRITILLAHY. 237

unfolded stigma finds no anthers to impregnate it ;
and when these become capable of this office, the
stigma of these first blossoms has already lost its
susceptibility. When the dichogamy is androgy-
nous, the last blossoms suffer the same failure, be-
cause, when the stigma of the last blossom has
come to perfection, there are no antherae remaining
to impregnate it.

But to return to the Crown Imperial, and its
cultivation : we must observe, that from the length
of time required to obtain flowering bulbs from the
seeds of this plant (not less than six years), it is
seldom propagated in this country by its oviparous
nature. Those who are disposed to exercise their
patience, and raise new varieties from seed, have
only to follow the direction already given for in-
creasing Tulips from seed, and there is no fear but
success will attend the operation.

The Crown Imperial has a large round scaly
root, that throws off young offsets, by which it is
generally increased in our gardens, but it is more
frequently obtained from the shops, which import
it from the Netherlands, or from Holland. The
roots should be planted at least six inches deep,
and not removed oftener than every third year,
when the young plants may be separated from the
parent bulb, and planted in a soil, as already
noticed, the strongest of which will flower the fol-

238 FLORA HISTORICA.

lowing spring, if removed at the proper season,
which is about the beginning of July, when the
stalk is decayed.

Parkinson, who dedicated his first work, called
" The Garden of Pleasant Flowers," to the Queen
of Charles the First, chose the Crown Imperial for
the subject of his opening chapter ; and just twenty
years afterwards, he had the misfortune to see not
only his Royal Patroness deprived of the British
Crown, but left in widowhood to beseech a crown of
immortality for her decapitated Sovereign. The
Revolutions which have shaken every throne and
made every kingdom tremble since that period are
known to us all ; yet we have seen the Crown Im-
perial performing its annual reign in quiet splendour,
unconscious of the cares attending other crowns.
Happy Lily ! we address you in the words of
Madame Deshoulieres :

Que votre eclat est peu durable,
Charmautes fleurs, honneurs de nos jardins !
Sou vent un jour commence et finit vos destins,

Et le sort le plus favorable
Ne vous laisse briller que deux ou trois matins.
Ah ! consolez-vous-en, jonquilles, tubereuses !
Vous vivez peu de jours, mais vous vivezbeureuses!

Les medisans, ni les jaloux

Ne genent point Tinnocente tendresse
Que le printemps fait naitre entre zepbire et vous.

Jamais trop de delicatesse
Ne mele d'amertume a vos plus doux plaisirs ;
Que pour d'autres que vous il pousse des soupirs ;

Que loin de vous il folatre sans cesse.

FRITILLARY. 239

Vous ne reasentei print la morteUe tristesse

Qui devore les ti'iidivs OOBUTt,

Loraqne, plains d'une ardeur extreme,
On voit Pingrat objet qu'on alma
Manquex d'empresaamant, <>u ■'engager ailleora.

Pour plain, vous n'avez settlement qu'i paraitre,
Pitta lieureuses que nous, ee n'est qua le trepan

Qui vous fait perdra vos appas.
Plus lieureuses que nous, vous mourez pour renaitre.
Tristes reflexions, inutiles souliaits !

Quand une Ibis nous cessons d'etre,

Aimables fleurs, e'est pour jamais.
Un redontable instant nous dctruit sans reserve ;
On ne voit au-dela qu'un obscur avenir.
A peine de nos noras un leger souvenir

Parmi les hommes se conserve.
Nous entrons pour toujours dans le profond repos

D'ou nous a tire la nature,
Dans cette affreuse nuit qui confond les heros

Avec le lache et le parjure,
Et dont les tiers destins, par de cruelles lois,

Ne laissent sortir qu'une fois.

]\Iais, helas ! pour vouloir revivre,
La vie est-elle un bien si doux ?

Quand nous Faimons tant, songeons-nous
De combien de cbagrins sa perte nous delivre ?
Elle n'est qu'un amas de craintes, de douleurs,
De travaux, de soucis, de peines ;

Pour qui connait les miseres bumaines,

Mourir n'est pas le plus grand des raalbeurs.
Cependant, agreables fleurs,
Par des liens bonteux attaches a la vie,
Elle fait seule tons nos soins ;
Et nous ne vous portons envie
Que par ou nous devons vous envier le moins.

240 FLORA HISTORICA.

PERSIAN FRITILLARY, or PERSIAN
LILY. Fritillaria Persica.

This flower was known in Europe about three years
prior to the introduction of the Crown Imperial,
and was an inhabitant of the London gardens in
the time of Gerard. Parkinson tells us that " it
•was first brought from Persia into Constantinople,
and from thence sent unto us by the means of
divers Turkie merchants, and in especial, by the
procurement of Mr. Nicholas Lete, a worthy mer-
chant, and a lover of all fair flowers." Clusius
informs us that it was sent into the Low-Countries
under the name of Susam giul9 from which name
he supposed it to be an indigenous plant of Susis
in Persia, and he therefore named it Lilium Su-
sianum.

The bulb of this plant sends up a stem about
three feet in height, on which the purple corollas
are loosely hung, like bells, in a pyramidical form ;
and as we have but few elevated purple flowers that
blossom in May, it is a desirable flower to mix
in many situations of the garden, where it requires
a light earth and a warm situation. This bulb is
frequently planted in pots for the house, and the

PRTTILLARY. "211

Dutch have large glasses to flower these bulbs in
Water, in the same manner as Hyacinths, It sel-
dom ripens its seed in England, therefore we must
depend on the increase by the offset bulbs.

COMMON FRITILLARY,or CHEQUERED
LILY. Fritillaria Meleagris.

These flowers are natives of most of the European
countries, and are generally found growing in
humid meadows. At present they are much less
in request than formerly, although, when planted
in large clumps, their pendulous blossoms and che-
quered appearance afford a desirable variety amongst
the gifts which Flora bestows upon us in the early
part of the month of April. The Black Fritillary
is a native of France, and Monsieur Pirolle tells us
that a variety with perfectly white corollas is found
in the neighbourhood of Poitou. Some of the
varieties have their petals chequered like a chess-
board, others are mottled or spotted like the fea-
thers of the Guinea-fowl, and hence Gerard calls
them " Turkey-hen, or Guinea-hen flowers ;" and
they are now distinguished by botanists under the
Latin name Meleagris, (Guinea-fowl,) although
some of the varieties are of a plain yellow, blood-

VOL. I. M

242 FLORA HISTORICA.

red,, or chequered with purple and white, yellow
and red, or of two reds. Gerard also calls it Che-
quered Daffodil ; and we learn from him that it
was introduced into this country in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, as he says " The curious and
painful herbarist of Paris, John Robin, sent him
many plants for his garden, where they prospered
(as he informs us) as in their own native country ;
and were then greatly esteemed for the beautifying
of our gardens, and the bosoms of the beautiful."

Parkinson observes that it was first named Nar-
cissus Caparonius, in honour of Noel Capron, an
apothecary at Orleans, who first discovered this
plant, and was shortly after murdered in the mas-
sacre of St. Bartholomew.

Thus we obtain the period of its being first
brought into cultivation, a period that must for
ever mark the absurd policy of religious persecu-
tion in any part of the globe. Historians say that
these religious civil wars cost France more than one
million of men, and one hundred and fifty mil-
lions of livres, in carrying them on. And it is
terrible to reflect that bigotry should have ever
existed to such an extent between Christian sects,
living in one country, as to cause, in a short space
of time, the destruction of nine cities, four hundred
villages, two thousand churches, two thousand
monasteries, and ten thousand houses, which were

FBITILLAET. 243

actually burnt or otherwise destroyed during the

persecution of the Protestants in France, — atrocities
which not only disgraced humanity, but impo-
verished the country from that time to the present
moment, by driving the silk manufacturers into
this country, and giving to England that part of
commerce which France had previously and almost
exclusively enjoyed.

These French refugees first established the silk
trade at Canterbury, in the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth ; from Canterbury it found its way to Spital-
fields, where it was for a long time carried on al-
most exclusively ; and at the present day we meet
with families on that spot who have descended from
the first settlers in the silk manufactory in these king-
doms, and whose peaceable habits and good conduct
as a body of people is proverbial. For a history
of the silk trade, see Pomarum Brit., third edition,
under the article Mulberry.

Thus it is scarcely possible to meet the che-
quered flowers of the Fritillary without con-
templating that the events of our private lives are
not more chequered than those of nations ; and
not finding this flower in the vocabulary of floral
language, we place it there as the emblem of per-
secution, and recommend it to fill a situation in all
gardens, as a memento, that by persecuting others
we lessen our own portion of happiness.

M 2

244 FLORA HISTORICA.

Soon after this flower was brought into notice,
the fields of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, and
Germany were all successfully searched for varieties,
and the different kinds were brought into this
country to ornament the parterres of our ancestors.
"Within these last fifty years it has been discovered,
growing in a wild state in this country. This cir-
cumstance was first mentioned by Mr. Blackstone,
who states that it grew in Mawde fields, near
Hislip common, Middlesex, and was observed there
by Mr. Ashby, of Beakspears, for a number of
years. It has since been found between Mortlake
and Kew, where the plant was formerly called
Snake' s-head, and on account of its growing plen-
tifully in a particular pasture of that neighbour-
hood, there is a field called SnakeVhead meadow.
These plants have a solid bulb or tuber, about the
size of a hazel nut. These are increased annually
by offsets, which should not be disturbed oftener
than every third year. Miller observes that new
varieties can only be raised from seed ; and that by
sowing the seeds, a larger stock of these bulbs will
be obtained in three years, than can be procured
by the increase of their bulbs in twenty years.

The seed should be sown as soon after it is ripe
as possible, in shallow boxes filled with light fresh
earth, on which the seeds should be thickly scat-
tered, and then covered with sifted mould, not

HtlTILLARY. 245

more than a quarter of an inch in thickness. These
boxes should be so placed as to receive only the
morning sun, but in the beginning of October they
should be removed to a -warmer situation in a south
aspect. During the winter these boxes should be
covered, so as to secure the earth from the effects
of severe frost. The plants will make their ap-
pearance in March, and as the weather becomes
warm the boxes should be removed to a situation
where they arc shaded from the mid-day sun. In
this state they may remain during the summer,
keeping them free from weeds, and occasionally
watered ; but the latter must not be repeated after
the leaves are decayed, lest it should rot the bulbs.
In the following August they may be planted out
in a bed of light earth, where they may be expected
to flower about the third year from the time of

246 FLORA HISTORIC.*.

GENTIAN. Gentiana.

Natural Order Rotacece. Gentiana, Juss. A Genus
of the Pentandria Digynia Class.

Scarce any plant is growing here,

Which against death some weapon does not bear.

Cowley.

It is now about two thousand years since the
medicinal virtues of this bitter plant were dis-
covered by Gentius, King of Illyricum, who after-
wards drank so deeply of the bitter cup of fortune.
This monarch having broken the most sacred laws
of nations, by imprisoning the ambassadors sent to
his court by the Romans, it so roused the resent-
ment of that warlike people, that they invaded his
kingdom ; and being conquered by Anicius, both
himself and family were led in triumph through
the streets of Rome.

In justice to this royal botanist the plant was
called Gentiana by the Latins, and it is now the
universal name, wherever the European languages
are known; and, indeed, it would not be inappro-
priate to add this flower to the heraldic arms of all
ambassadors whilst in office, as a memento that

GENTI.\.V. 217

their persons should be considered equally sacred
With that of their sovereign, or the country which
they represent.

Martyn enumerates fifty-three species of Gen-
tian ; but he observes that the numerous species of
this genus have very few characters in common,
which has induced some botanists to range them
under separate genera. Alton, therefore, notices
but twenty-two distinct species in the Hortus
Kewcnsis; and, as ornaments to the open garden,
we shall regard but a small portion of these moun-
tainous plants, some of which are said to perish
when exposed to the rising sun. The Yellow
Gentian, Lutea, has been made the emblem of in-
gratitude, because it so frequently dies under the
culture of the gardener. This species is a native
of France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden,
Lapland, and North America ; and is of so strong
a bitter, that where it abounds, whole tracts of
country may be seen untouched by the bite of any
kind of cattle : but still it is not without its use in
the economy of Nature, which renders it profitable
to those whose lands it has usurped ; for it is the
root of this species of Gentian which we import
from Switzerland, and other places, as a medicinal
drug, on account of its bitter being highly es-
teemed, not only as a tonic and stomachic, but also
anthelmintic, antiseptic, emmenagogue, antiarthri-

243 FLORA HISTORICA.

tic, and febrifuge. Before hops were so generally
used as a bitter to preserve malt liquors, this root
was in much greater demand, it being generally
used in brewing, under the name of bitterwort
and felwort, baldmoyne and baldmoney.

In the days of Queen Elizabeth, when neither
the infusion of the Chinese leaf, nor that of the
Arabian berry, was known as a breakfast beverage,
the knowledge of a wholesome bitter that would
preserve the home-brewed ale from becoming acid,
was as necessary as sugar is to our present drink.
Gerard, who lived in those days of gallantry, ale,
and hospitality, tells us, that " Master Isaac de
Lanne, a learned physician, sent him plants of this
Gentian, for the increase of his garden, from Bur-
gundie."

Pliny observes, that the Gentian which grows
in Illyria is the most efficacious in medicine. This,
we presume, is the species now distinguished by
the name of Septemfida, Crested Gentian, which
grows naturally in the mountains of Persia, near
the Caspian Sea, as well as in several places in the
Levant.

As an ornament for the English parterre, we
shall notice two that are indigenous to our climes ;
for, like Addison, we prefer those plants which
grow in all the luxuriance of unaided nature, to
those rare exotics whose sickly appearance bespeaks

(. ; i:\tia.w 240

their dislike to our country : yet we would not go
so far as Mason, and say,

When foreign or fantastic, never charnVd
3Iy judgment ;

for all good citizens are bound to admire the exer-
tions of those who endeavour, as Cowper observes,

To give the Pole the produce of the sun,
And knit th' unsocial climates into one !

The large-flowered Dwarf Gentian, or Gentia-
nella, is by botanists named Gentiana Acaulis, be-
cause in its natural state the flowers have no stalk,
but by the force of cultivation it frequently throws
up its corolla on a kind of stem. This species
grows naturally on the Welsh mountains, as well
as those of the Alps. Ray found it on the highest
parts of Mount Jura in Switzerland, and it has
also been found in Austria, Carniola, and Silesia ;
yet, although a native of such exalted regions, it
flourishes in the garden, where the situation is
elevated, and the air is pure. Thus it readily admits
cultivation in some parts of the country, whilst it
cannot be made to prosper in others, particularly
in the immediate vicinity of London. This is the
species of Gentian best known and most admired in
the garden, on account of the brilliancy of its blue,
which is equal to the finest of the metallic blues.
The corolla is monopetalous, and very large for the
size of the plant — therefore it has a fine effect when

M 5

250 FLORA HISTOR1CA.

planted in large clusters ; and it demands admira-
tion when viewed singly, as the lower part of the
interior of the campanula of the flower forms a fine-
spotted yellowish star on the rich azure blue ground
of the five expanding segments of the corolla, whilst
the exterior of the bell is of reddish purple, or deep
lilac. It flowers in April and May, and frequently
in the autumn : it loves a moist loamy soil and a
shady situation, and is propagated by parting the
roots ; but it may also be increased by sowing the
seeds which produce the best plants. These should
be sown in the autumn in a border of good loam
earth, and the plants will flower the second year ;
but they are greatly checked by frequent trans-
planting.

The Spring Gentian, Verna, is also a British
plant that flowers in April ; but, as it is of a more
diminutive size, it is not so frequently planted for
ornament as the foregoing. The culture and soil is
the same.

The Yellow Gentian, Lutea, grows from three to
four feet in height, and is a desirable plant to orna-
ment groves and woody scenes, as it succeeds best in
shady situations where the soil is light and damp,
and where many plants would not exist. It flowers
in June and July ; and when several plants arise
near to each other, the effect they give in wilder-
ness scenery is most agreeably enlivening.

GENTIAN. 651

These plants arc raised from seed that should he
sown in the autumn, as soon after they are ripe as
possible. They are usually sown in pots, which
require to be kept in a shady situation : when the
young plants appear above the earth they must be
duly watered in dry weather, and in the autumn
they may be planted into the beds where they are
to remain, as there is danger in removing them ;
for if the root, which is like that of the carrot, be
broken, it generally causes the plant to perish.
The stalks decay down to the ground every win-
ter, and they seldom flower oftener than every
third year, and never blossom two successive years ;
but the roots remain sound for a great length of
time in the earth.

252 FLORA HISTORICA.

VIRGINIAN COWSLIP. Dodccatheon Meadia.

Natural Order Prccice. Primulaccce, Juss. A Genus
of the Pentandria Monogynia Class.

Meadia's soft chains five suppliant beaux confess,
And hand in hand the laughing belle address ;
Alike to all she bows with wanton air,
Rolls her dark eye, and waves her golden hair.

Darwix.

The petal, stamen, and the pistil trace

Of common blossoms, or of unknown race ;

The first well pleased you mark with grateful sight,

And view the last through hope's bewitching light.

What sudden pleasure, when some object rare,
Confined peculiar to one soil and air,
More precious far from expectation grown,
By some bless' d turn upon the sight is thrown !

Delille.

The delight with which the botanist views a
newly-discovered plant can only be conceived by
the students of nature; it seems to expand his
ideas, and give him new conceptions of the wisdom
of the Great Creator. He contemplates with ad-
miration the harmony of its parts, which he finds so
happily adapted to its native situation on the globe ;
he learns by the character of the plant the climate

VIRGINIAN COWSLIP. 233

to which it belongs, and he soon conceives the

utility of the individual plant to the grand link of
vegetation by which the animal world is supported.
The pleasure that the herbalist enjoys, when he first
meets with an unknown plant, has been thus tie-
scribed by the poet of I? Homme des Champs.

He marks the treasure with an eager glance !

" Great God I" exclaims, and forth his hands advance,

Sudden to seize the prey : not more delight

Feels the fond lover at his mistress' sight.

He deems it as the most important event of his life,
and he joyfully bestows on it the name of some
esteemed friend, or eminent countryman : his fancy
pictures it growing under cultivation with his native
plants ; his immediate acquaintance covet it for his
sake, and his name is justly registered amongst
those who have benefited their country by peaceable
pursuits.

The plant, of which we are about to speak, is
indigenous to the Columbian world, that vast field
from which such store of novelty has been poured
into the more known quarters of the globe. It
grows in several parts of North America, and was
first sent from Virginia by Banister to Bishop
Compton in the year 1704 ; and Miller mentions
having seen it in blossom at his lordship's garden at
Fulham in the year 1709. After which, the plant

254 FLORA HISTORIC.*.

was lost for several years in England, till it was
again obtained from America, by Mr. Catesby,
about the year 1744.

Mr. Mark Catesby, in his Natural History of
Carolina, gave it the name of Meadia, in honour of
Dr. Richard Mead, an English physician of that
day, who, like some of the present time, was courted
by the wealthy, and adored by the needy of his
country, whilst his name was revered by the eminent
of all parts of Europe.

On this account we feel a regret that Linnaeus
should have thought it necessary to change the
generic term of this plant from that of Meadia, and
more particularly so since the one he has bestowed
on it seems as inappropriate, Dodecatheon being
derived from two Greek words, which mean twelve
gods ; and the only cause he could have for adopt-
ing so whimsical a name, was from the observation
that each of these plants generally produced twelve
corollas. Meadia, however, remains as the specific
name for the plant, of which there has not yet been
a second species discovered. The French have
given it the name of Gyroselle de Virgine, in addi-
tion to that of Dodecatheon Meadia.

This elegant plant flowers about the end of April,
or the beginning of May ; the stalk, after rising
up to about eight inches in height, throws out an

\ I KM MAN COW SLIP. 2&5

umbel of flowers gracefully pendent, as rockets
flppetf when thrown out of an elevated piece of
fire- work.

The petals of the flower are of a rosy lilac, in-
clining to the colour of the peach or almond blos-
som ; and they arc reflexed, or turn back over the
calyx, giving the appearance of an half-expanded
parasol, which resemblance is considerably heighten-
ed by the long tapering shape of the parts of fruc-
tification, and the golden colour of the anthers.

The Dodecatheon should be planted in a shady
situation, where the earth is of a loose, moist
nature ; but its beautiful delicacy and graceful
formation make it deserving a situation even
amongst the plants that are potted for the house.

It is easily propagated by offsets, which should
be taken from the old plants in the month of
August, that they may be fixed well to the earth
before the frost comes on. It is increased more
rapidly from seed, which the plant generally pro-
duces in plenty ; these should be sown soon after
they are ripe, either in pots, or a shady border.
If these plants are much exposed to the sun whilst
young, they are almost sure to perish, so impatient
are they of heat. Many persons have lost their
stock of these plants by planting them in dry soil
in the most sunny parts of the garden, without

256 FLORA HTSTORICA.

reflecting from what latitude they were originally
brought, or recollecting the lines wherein Milton
tells us,

Nature's boon

— ^«iuic t> uuon
Four d forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain,
Both where the morning sun first warmly smote
The open field, and where the unpierced shade
Imurown'd the noon-tide bowers.

D,OG'S TOOTH VIOLET. 237

DOG'S TOOTH VIOLET. Eryihronium.

Natural Order Sarmcntacea. Lilia, Juss. A Genus
of the Hexandria Monogynia Class.

Multiplies les fleurs, ornement da parterre.

We select this line from Fontaine, to draw the
attention of our florists to this elegant little Lily,
which has been so much neglected, that we rarely
meet with it in sufficient quantities to make a figure
in the garden, which, we presume, arises from the
time required to raise a number of bulbs ; for
under the most favourable circumstances they in-
crease but slowly, by their viviparous nature. We
shall, therefore, recommend this curious and beauti-
ful flower to the protection and care of our fair
florists, who will be well repaid for the slight at-
tention it requires, by the delicacy and novelty its
foliage and blossoms display on the parterre in the
months of April and May : but, before we go into
the history of the plant, let us extract what Milton
has so charmingly described as the employ of our
first mother : —

All alone, amid her garden fair,
From morn to noon, from noon to dewy eve,

258 FLORA HISTORICA.

She spent her days, her pleasing task to tend

The flowers ; to lave them from the water-spring ;

To ope the buds with her enamour'd breath,

Rank the gay tribes, and rear them in the sun.

Thus plied assiduous her delightful task,

Day after day, till every herb she named

That paints the robe of Spring.

The plant, which botanists now distinguish by
the name of Erythronium, appears not to have been
brought into notice before the middle of the six-
teenth century, an age when the most eminent
physicians of Europe turned their particular atten-
tion to the study of botany. Gerard, who wrote
on this plant about the end of that century, ob-
serves, " there hath not long since been found out
a goodly bulbose plant, and termed Satyrion."
Lobel, a native of Lisle, seems to have given it
this name, supposing it to be the true Satyrion of
Dioscorides. Lobel most probably met with the
plant in his travels through Switzerland, Germany,
and Italy, from whence he probably brought it to
England, as he settled in this countrv about the
year 1570, and undertook the superintendence of
Lord Z ouclVs botanical garden at Hackney. In
1596, we find the plant was cultivated in Holborn,
but Gerard does not mention from whom he re-
ceived it. Lobel afterwards wras appointed physician
and botanist to James the First of England. Mat-
thiolus, a celebrated physician of Sienna, who died

DOG'S TOOTH VIOLET. 2'jO

of the plague at Trent in the year 1577, writes of
this plant under the name of Paeudohermodactylus.

Gesner, a physician of the same age, who has
been styled the German Pliny, wrote also on this
plant) which he called IJcrmodactylus. lie also
died of the plague in 1565. Clusius, whom wc
have already noticed in other parts of this work,
appears to have been the first who gave it the
name of Dental i. It was afterwards called Dens
Caninus, Dog's Tooth Violet, from the appearance
of the root, which is white, and shaped like a
tooth ; and this idea has governed the name in all
European languages, as the Germans call it Hunds-
zahn, the Swedes and Danes Hundetand, the
French Le Dent de CJiien, the Italians Dente di
Cane, the Spaniards Diente de Pcrro, the Portu-
guese Dente de Cao, the Russians Kondik.

Parkinson considered it to be a species of Or-
chides, and that the Tulip was the Satyrium Ery-
thronium of Dioscorides ; yet he writes of it in a
separate chapter, and observes, that the root of
the Dens Caninus M is held to be of more efficacy
for certain effects than any of the Orchides and
Satyrions."

The Dog's Tooth Violet grows naturally in the
woody mountains of the south of France, Switzer-
land, Germany, Italy, and Siberia. This species
of Erythronium sends up but one leaf until it is

2G0 FLORA KISTORICA.

strong enough to flower, and then only two leaves,
which are curiously spotted with purple and white,
like the feathers of some birds : between these
leaves arises a reddish or purple stem of about four
inches high, sustaining one flower, which hangs
down like the Chalcedonian Lily, or the Virginian
Cowslip. The petals are generally of a full lilac
colour, but sometimes white : they are reflex, and
spread open to the base, exposing the six dark
purple oblong anthers and the three-cleft stigma
to the full influence of the light and air. On the
whole, it may be ranked amongst the most graceful
flowers of the vernal season, and when planted in
patches of from twenty to forty bulbs in a spot, it
cannot fail of attracting general admiration. The
proper season for setting the bulbs is from about
the end of June to the beginning of September.
The roots should be kept as short a time out of
the ground as possible, as they are apt to shrink,
which causes them to rot ; therefore those who
may be disposed to collect these bulbs on the
continent should be careful to have them packed
in a small box, with earth between each layer of
roots, and to have the box with a latticed lid to
prevent mouldiness.

This plant loves a shady situation and a light
loamy soil, and it should not be removed, or the
ground further disturbed, than to keep it free from

DOG'S TOOTH VIOLET. 2CI

weeds, until the plants appear to have increased so
as to become too thick, which will not be oftener
than every third or fifth year, when the offsets may
be placed in a separate patch. The Dog's Tooth
Violet may also be increased by sowing the seeds in
pots, as has already been observed in the history of
other bulbous plants.

A second species of Erythronium was introduced
from North America in 1665, and bears the specific
name of Americanum. It flowers a month later
than the European species, and is something larger,
and of a golden yellow colour. The cultivation is
the same, and it is equally calculated to ornament
many shady places in the shrubbery, or wilderness
scenery. We would place the Yellow Erythronium
in the shade of the Purple Rhododendron, as it
loves the same soil, and flowers at the same season.
INI. Pirolle, in " Le Bon Jardinier^' recommends
that the seeds of each of these plants be sown in pots
of bog-earth.

262 FLORA HISTORICA

SESSILE TRILLIUM. Trillium Sessile.

Natural Order Sannentacece. Asparagi, Juss. A Genus
of the Hexandria Trigynia Class.

Each land its flower bath given,

To form this fair young nursery for heaven !

T.Moore.

This singular tribe of plants we owe to the dis-
covery of a new world, as the five species hitherto
made known are all indigenous to North America
exclusively : we cannot, therefore, meet with them
in the pleasure-grounds without having our mind
conveyed back to the period when the perseverance
of Columbus overcame all the obstacles and difficul-
ties thrown in his way. to prevent his glorious plan
of enlarging our knowledge of the earth, and en-
riching the known world with unknown produce.

The name of Trillium is derived from the num-
ber of three, because the plant has three leaves, a
calyx divided into three, a corolla with three petals,
that shelter three styles, which conduct the farina
into a three-celled capsule. The specific name of
Sessile is given to this species of Trillium, because
the flowers sit on the stalk without peduncles. It
was first introduced into this country in the year

SESSILE TRILLU'M. 203

1759, having been found growing in the shady

thickets of Carolina and Virginia, which should in-
struct us to plant it in the shade of our shrubbery
grounds, where the earth is light and moist. The
leaves of this plants are curiously piebald or mottled
■with two greens, the calyx-leaves are streaked with
a reddish purple, and the petals are of a dark claret
colour. It flowers in April and May, and rises
from six to nine inches from the ground. The root
is a perennial tuber which increases but slowly, and
from this cause it remains rare in the garden,
although it is easily raised from seed, if sown soon
after it is ripe in a shady border, or amongst shrubs
where the soil is moist and light.

2G4 FLORA HISTOKICA.

SAXIFRAGE. Saxifraga.

Natural Order Succulentce. Saxifragce, Juss. A
Genus of the Decandria Disynia Class.

Nor will the breast, where fancy glows,
Deem every flower a weed that blows
Amid the desert plain.

Shenstone.

Of this numerous family of plants twenty distinct
species are indigenous to Great Britain, eighteen of
which are mountain plants, one grows in our meadow
pastures, and one in bogs, to which we have added
twenty-five exotic species, besides several varieties
of some of the kinds.

We do not find that the Greeks have made any
mention of these plants. Their herbarizings appear
to have been made principally in more eastern parts
than these plants have been found in.

The Roman physicians held certain species of
this genus in great esteem, on account of their sup-
posed efficacy in breaking and dissolving calculi in
the bladder, from which cause they called them
Saxifraga, a name that implies a breaker of the
stone, and the old English name of Breakstone was
bestowed on them for the same reason. But in this

SAXIFRAGE. 2Gj

age of critical inquiry and medical investigation, the
plant is found not to possess the dissolving qualities
formerly attributed to it. It is, however, known
to be a powerful diuretic, that carries off gravelly
substances ; but this valuable property of the Saxi-
frage exists only in the fresh plant, though the
dried roots or tubercles retain it in an inferior
degree. The Saxifrage of our country is said to
be the most powerful in medicine, and the kinds in
highest estimation are the white, or sengreen, gran-
clulata, of the meadows, and the yellow marsh,
Hirculus, of the bogs. The latter is a more gentle
medicine in its effects, and therefore not so fre-
quently used.

As an ornament to the vernal garden we shall
recommend the purple-flowered Saxi/raga oppositi-
folia, which, under cultivation, expands its purple
flowers to the winds of March and the showers of
April. The stems of this species are long and
trailing, and form tufts that have a good effect on
artificial rock-work, but a far better one when the
trailing branches hang down from natural rocks,
into the crevices of which this plant loves to insinu-
ate its roots. As a border- plant the following
method of treating it is recommended by Miller.
" At the end of March divide a plant that has filled
a pot the preceding year, into many small pieces,

vol i. k

266 FLORA HISTORICA.

taking care that each has a few fibres to it ; plan ,
about six of these in a small pot, filled with a
composition of loam and rotten leaves or bog-earth,
in equal parts, water them and set them by in a
shady place for about a week, then plunge them in
an open border, exposed not more than half the day
to the sun ; in dry weather water them once a day ;
the ensuing spring each pot will be covered with a
profusion of bloom : to continue this plant in per-
fection, it must be thus treated yearly." And it
must be recollected that the plant is of that hardy
nature as to disdain all tender treatment.

LONDON PRIDE, or NONE-SO-PRETTY.

Saxifraga umbrosa.

Witness the neglect
Of all familiar objects, though beheld
With transport once.

Akexside.

This pretty plant, that now so commonly borders
the little flower-gardens of our cottagers, and is so
often transplanted by their juvenile gardeners, can-
not be known without being admired, although it
has of late too frequently given place to plants of
inferior beauty. This species of Saxifrage grows

SAXIPB ' 2G7

naturally in Yorkshire, but more abundantly in the

mountains of Ireland. It is also a native of the
Alps, from whence, we presume, it was first brought
into our gardens, as it was in cultivation for many
ages before it had been noticed as an indigenous
plant of these islands.

Parkinson speaks of it, in 1629, under the name
of Serf urn, and observes, u some of our English
gentlewomen have called it Prince's Feather, which
although it be but a bye-name, may well serve for
this plant, to distinguish it." It was afterwards
called None-so-pretty, and if we view it with the
attention that its beauties demand, we must ac-
knowledge that but few flowers are prettier, and
that Nature has not painted any flower with more
delicacy than the pretty-spotted petals of this plant.
When viewed through a microscope, its beauties
seem to increase, as the young flower-buds appear
like so many ripening peaches, whilst the sprays
seemed frosted with diamonds. The foliage is also
exceedingly pretty, being set in rosettes like the
Houseleek and common Daisy. It is one of the
plants that will grow in confined and shady situa-
tions, and was therefore much cultivated in London
as long as an unpaved spot could be found : hence
it was called London Pride.

The French named this plant Mignonnette, which
means curiously delicate: they also bestow on it the

N 2

FLORA HISTORICA.

name of Amourette. In floral language it repre-
sents a love-match.

In the garden it should be planted on artificial
rock-work, but it is also acceptable in the flower-
border, and at the foot of flowering shrubs. It
likewise makes a neat edging where this prim style
of gardening is retained ; and it propagates itself
so fast by offsets, that it is seldom raised from seed :
Ave have, indeed, but few flowers that require so
little care in cultivating as the London Pride, or
the Parisian Amourette.

STAR OF BETHLEHEM. 269

STAR OF BETHLEHEM. Omithocjalum.

Natural Order Coronarice. Asphodeli, Juss. A Genus
of the Hexandria Monogynia Class.

And shape star-bright appear'd.

Milton*

This bulbous-rooted flower received the reverential
title of Star of Bethlehem from the formation of its
corolla ; for it is not, as many persons formerly
supposed, a native of the land of Judea. The
Latin name is derived from the Greek O^viSoyaXov,
which is supposed to have been given it from the
whiteness of the root or flower, but, we think, more
probably from the white vein that runs up the leaf
of the species pyramidale, which the French call
Epi-de-lait, milky blade, and Epi-de-la-vierge,
virgin's blade, a flower which is indigenous to
France and the hills of Spain and Portugal. The
common Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbel-
latum, grows spontaneously in France, Switzerland,
Germany, Carniola, Italy, and some places in the
Levant. Mr. Martin says, " with us it is a doubt-
ful native, as many of the bulbous plants are ;" but

270 FLORA HISTORICA.

as it has been found growing naturally in such
various parts of England, and more particularly as
it never appears to have been introduced as a plant
of luxury or medicine, we can have no hesitation in
pronouncing it indigenous to our soil. It has been
found in the closes about Streatham, in Surrey.
Stillingfleet observed it in Norfolk ; Relhan, in
Cambridgeshire ; Sibthorp, near Barton, and in
Christ-Church meadows, Oxfordshire ; Mr. Robson
says it is plentiful in a field near Knaresborough,
Yorkshire, and it has been found near Leeds in
the same county. The bulbs of these plants should
be placed in a light sandy soil, where they increase
rapidly by their viviparous nature, which renders it
necessary to thin them every second or third year ;
for although they have the best effect when grow-
in «• in large patches, yet, if suffered to remain
beyond that time, the bulbs impoverish each other,
and have only strength to throw up leaves. They
should be removed in the month of July or August,
which will enable them to become so fixed in the
ground as to flower freely in the following April or
May. This flower remains in perfection for about
fifteen days, during which time it never expands in
a wet or gloomy day, and even in the brightest
weather the flowers do not open until an hour before
noon ; and from this circumstance it is frequently
called Eleven-o'clock Lady. The petals close again

STAR OF BETHLEHEM. 271

at three o'clock in the afternoon, and this opening
and closing will be generally found as correct to
time as the shadow on the sundial itself. In Trance
this species is called Dame ou belle d'unze heurs9
from the same observation. These flowers have a
pleasant odour, and the bulbs were formerly eaten
after being roasted in the embers ; but it is so little
cultivated at present, that a dish of them would at
any season be as expensive as the greatest vegetable
rarity. The roots of all the species of these plants
are considered nutritious and wholesome, and have
been frequently used as food in Sweden, during
times of scarcity, particularly the bulbs of the

YELLOW STAR OF BETHLEHEM.

Omithogalum Luteum.

This species is a native of most parts of Europe,
and is generally found in woods, pastures, and moist
sandy places. (i It has been found in the meadows
near Godalming in Surrey. In woods near Ash-
ford mill, and Fauler in Oxfordshire. In several
parts of the north, as in a meadow adjoining to the
copper mills, Derby. Under Malham-cove ; near
Doncaster, Yorkshire ; and Kendal, Westmore-
land. In the woods on the banks of the Tees, near
Greia-bridge and Bignal, Yorkshire. It has been

272 FLORA HISTORICA.

found growing spontaneously also in Northum-
berland, and in some parts of Scotland.1'

It flowers in April, and requires the same treat-
ment as the former kinds, excepting that it should
be planted in a moister soil, but at the same time
light. The Drooping Star of Bethlehem, Nutans
Ornithogalum, and the spiked Pyrenaicum, are also
found so frequently in this country as to be thought
indigenous to our soil. Two species of these plants
have been introduced from Egypt, one from Siberia,
one from Sweden, one from Austria, one from Cali-
fornia, and twelve from the Cape of Good Hope ;
amongst the latter are some of the greatest orna-
ments of the greenhouse.

HONESTY. 273

HONESTY. Lunaria.

Natural Order SiliquostB or Crucifonnes. Cruciferce
Juss. A Genus of the Tdradynamia Siliculosa Class.

Then sprinkles she the juice of rue,
With nine drops of the midnight dew
From Lunary distilling.

Drayton's Nymph id.

Enchanting Lunary here lies,
In sorceries excelling.

Ibid.

This plant, which is now solely cultivated for the
beauty of its lilac corollas and the singularity of its
seed vessels, was held in high repute among the
credulous of former ages, being considered a
charming, enchanting, and bewitching herb. It
still continues to give a charming effect to the gar-
dens, but its mysterious powers arc no longer
known, for it has shared the fate of numerous
other magical plants, which enabled the people of
old to transform themselves into aerial beings, and
even to travel through the air in their natural
shapes. We read of numerous plants whereby it
was said that love or hatred could be engendered,
lost property recovered, men's bosoms unlocked
and iheir secrets sucked out, and by whose aid

N 5

274 FLORA HISTORIC*.

battles were won and lost, and even the dead
brought to life.

For by his mighty science he could take

As many forms and shapes in seeming wise,

As ever Proteus to himself could make :

Sometimes a fowle, sometimes a fish in lake !

Now like a foxe, now like a dragon fell ;

That of himselfe he ofte for feare would quake,

And oft would flie away. O who can tell

The hidden powre of herbes, and might of magick spell !

Spenser.

We learn from Chaucer that the Lunaria was one
of the plants used in incantations, but it is not men-
tioned under the name of Honesty ! !

And herbes coude I tell eke many one,
As egremaine, valerian, and lunarie,
And other swiche, if that me list to tarie,
Our lampes brening bothe night and day,
To bring about our craft if that we may,
Our fournies eke of calcination,
And of waters albification.

Spenser tells us that even the witches themselves
could not escape penance : —

When witches wont do penance for their crimes,
I chaunst to see her in her proper hue,

Bathing herselfe in origane and thyme :
A filthy foule old woman I did view.

As we prefer relating the wonders of magic in
verse, we shall further quote the same author : —

The develish hag, by changes of my cheare,

Perceiv'd my thoughts ; and drown'd in sleepie night,

With wicked herbes and oyntments did besmeare
I\Jy body, all through charmes and magicke might.
That all my sences were bereaved quight.

HONESTY. 275

The same poet shows us that, in supers! itious
times, the magician was applied to as well as the
physician in dangtroua eases; and we have some-
where read that it was a common practice to call in
the aid of magic when medicine failed : —

Beseeching him with prayer, and with praise,

If either salves, or oyles, or herhes, or charmes,
A foredone wight from (lore of death mote raise,
He would at her request prolong her nephew's daies.

Spexser.

That such ideas actually occupied the minds of men
in unenlightened days we have numerous authentic
accounts related in history ; and that what is
strongly impressed upon the minds of the ignorant
should in some degree affect the learned is not so
wonderful, as it is difficult to shake off the preju-
dices of the age we live in : of this we have a
striking example in the capacious mind of the great
Verulam, who in his Natural History acknowledges
his belief in witches. Yet we do not consider him.
capable of consulting magicians or wizards ; but it
would have been scarcely possible to have escaped the
prevailing opinion, in an age when numerous persons
openly professed the art of magic, and every de-
formed and ugly old woman was persecuted as a witch.
Even in later times than those of the celebrated
Chancellor, a firm belief in witchcraft seems to have
possessed the minds of the nation ; for Butler

276 FLORA HISTORICA.

relates that a fellow in the reign of Charles the
First obtained a celebrity by detecting witches, and
actually caused the death of nearly sixty poor old
creatures on charges of witchcraft In those days,
the ordeal for the trial of witches was to tie them
up in a sack, and throw them into a river. If they
swam, they were taken out and burnt as decided
witches ; if they sank, why then they were drowned
in the experiment ! At last, the fellow was himself
charged with witchcraft, tried, and perished by his
own ordeal.

The fear of evil spirits and the power of magic
seem to have prevailed over all nations before true
religion and pure philosophy had extended their
universal blessings. The Scriptures inform us of
its existence in eastern countries; and from the
numerous ceremonies of the Romans to prevent the
effects of enchantment, we learn how much it oc-
cupied their attention. That the poets of every
age have availed themselves of the superstition
of the times to render their poems more effective,
we have an instance in our own great dramatic
poet, whom we have frequently quoted on this
subject. The prince of the Latin poet says in the
'iEneid —

For Circe had long loved the youth in vain,
Till love, refused, converted to disdain :

HONESTY. 277

Then mixing pow'rful herb*, with magic art,

She changed bii form, who could not change his heart ;

Constrain'd him in a bird, and made him ily,

With party-coloor'd plnmea, ■ chattering pie.

Diiydex's Virgil.

The art of magic was for many ages publicly
professed in the universities of Salamanca in Spain,
Cracovia in Poland, and several other places, and
so far approved by some princes, says Boesartus,
that they still consult them, and indeed dare
do nothing without their advice. " Ut nihil ausi
aggredi in politicis, in consiliis, sine eorum
arbitrio"

We read of some sovereigns who have so far for-
gotten their dignity as to enter into this cheat.
Erricus, King of Sweden, had his enchanted cap,
and pretended by the additional assistance of some
magical jargon, to be able to command spirits, and
trouble the air, and turn the winds themselves, so
that his ignorant subjects believed, when a great
storm arose, that the King had got his conjuring
cap on ; and from this fact originated the custom of
our mountebanks and legerdemain-men playing
their tricks in a conjuring cap.

In the year 1318, we find the Chancellor and
University of Paris had both wisdom and spirit
enough, not only to condemn these cheats, but to
put a stop to the practice as far as their influence
extended ; and we believe the University of Oxford

278 FLORA HISTORICA.

disavowed all faith in these pretended divinations
about the same time : yet we still keep the idea
alive in the minds of our children by following
some of the old forms of prayer against these ima-
ginary evils.

That there should exist in this enlightened age
persons who profess to believe in the power of
magic, is a convincing proof how much the mar-
vellous is preferred by the ignorant to the true
principles of philosophy. The persons who now
pretend to act upon the principle of divination, or
by the art of magic, consist of knaves, who cheat
the credulous for the sake of gain, and endeavour
to impose upon others what they are too crafty to
believe themselves. Private astrologers, who do
not make a trade of their art, are, if not fools, per-
sons whose weak minds are so susceptible as to
mistake the phantoms of their disturbed imagina-
tions for realities ; and of this we have lately
known an instance in a person who is not only
considered sane on other subjects, but who actually
holds a respectable rank in his profession. Having
procured the herbs and drugs which are recom-
mended for magical purposes, his mind became
bent upon raising a spirit, and for this purpose he
shut himself up in a room in the dead of the night.
Here he began to burn fumigating herbs, and to
make the mysterious figures directed by his instruc-

HONESTY. 279

tion-book, until his imagination was worked up to

such a pitch as easily transformed one object into
the appearance of another, to which the fumes of
aromatic smoke no doubt greatly contributed . His
servant, knowing his master studied magic, and find-
ing great preparations for some secret performance,
bad, with a very natural curiosity, contrived to
secrete himself in the room, instead of retiring to
rest ; but when the lights were extinguished, and
the coloured flame of burning drugs threw a
ghastly effect over the figures of the apartment and
the countenance of his master, he became so pos-
sessed by fear, and influenced by the fumes of the
drugs, that at the moment when his master ex-
pected to see a spectre, he being no longer able to
contain himself in his hiding place, rose up slowly,
and forgetting he was under a table, threw it over.
In this confusion, his eyes caught the reflection of
his own face in a mirror, to which the burning
salts had given such a cadaverous appearance, that
he very naturally mistook his own living figure for
a supernatural agent, which so effectually worked
on his imagination, that he leaped suddenly on a
grand piano-forte, and broke it with a tremendous
crash. This only heightened the fears of both
master and man. The former, believing he had
raised a spirit which he could not lay, wisely quit-

260 FLORA HISTORICA.

ted the room, which gave the latter an opportunity
to escape to his bed, where his disturbed mind pre-
sented such dreadful apprehensions to him that he
became fevered and delirious, and in this state left
his service, firmly believing in the power of magic :
his master to this day seems convinced that he
actually did raise a spirit, and to his want of know-
ledge how to appease the perturbed spirit he had
raised, he persists in attributing the broken piano-
forte, and the overthrow of some bronze figures.

We shall conclude this digression by a transla-
tion from Ennius, who, in his early days, says,

Augurs and soothsayers, astrologers,

Diviners, and interpreters of dreams,

I ne'er consult, and heartily despise :

Vain their pretence to more than human skill :

For gain, imaginary schemes they draw :

Wand'rers themselves, they guide another's steps ;

And for poor sixpence promise countless wealth :

Let them, if they expect to be believed,

Deduct the sixpence, and bestow the rest.

The plant which led to these remarks was named
Lunar ia, from the circular shape of its silique or
pod, which is thought to resemble the moon, Luna,
not only in shape, but in its silvery brightness.
The title of Honesty appears to have been bestowed
on this plant from the transparent nature of the
silique, which discovers those seed vessels that con-
tain seed from such as are barren, or have shed

HONESTY. 231

their fruit. It was formerly called " Penuie
Flower, or Money Flower, Silver Plate, Pricksong
Wort, and White Satin.1' It has had similar
names bestowed upon it by the French, who fre-
quently call it Monnale du Pape, Pope's Money ;
Satin Blanc, White Satin ; Medaille, Medal ; and
Herbe aux Lunettes, Spectacle Plant. The Bra-
banters name it Paeschbloement, Easter Flower,
because it generally flowers about the feast of
Easter. Mr. Aiton considers the Annual Lunaria
to be indigenous to Germany, and the Perennial
to be a native of Austria, the latter being, he
states, introduced to this country in the year 1596,
and the former in 1570. This is evidently a
mistake, as we have already noticed Chaucer's
mention of this plant as early as the middle of the
fourteenth century. We might have concluded
that Chaucer had alluded to some other plant,
such as the Cluster jflftounfouvt of Turner, who calls
it the %t$$ SrttltatJ) ; Gerard, however, not only
describes these plants, but has left us good figures of
both species, and says, " These plants are set and
sowen in gardens, notwithstanding the first (round
podded) hath beene founde wilde in the woods
about Pinner, and Harrow on the Hill, twelve
miles from London, and in Essex likewise about
Hornchurch. The second (long podded) groweth
about Watforde, fifteene miles from London."

282 FLORA HISTORICA.

Thus, if we admit of their being exotic plants,
their introduction must have been at a much earlier
period than that noticed by the able compiler of
the Hortus Kewensis, a work which we hold in
such high estimation, that we feel always a degree
of pride when we can point out a trivial inaccuracy,
and more particularly so, knowing that the liberality
of the author will receive it as a mark of our regard
for his labours, from which we have received so
much useful assistance.

These plants frequently grow to the height of
from three to five feet, and are therefore better
adapted to fill vacant spaces amongst shrubs than
in the spots allotted to more delicate flowers. If
the seeds be thrown on the ground soon after they
are ripe, the young plants will appear early the
following spring, whilst those that are carefully
covered with earth frequently disappoint us by not
appearing. The Lunaria will not bear transplant-
ing ; and although we recommend several plants
to stand near enough to form but one head when
in flower, yet they ought to be from two to three
feet distant from each other. The only attention
they require is to be kept free from weeds, as they
will grow in almost any kind of soil and situation,
but thrive best in a partial shade.

As the farce of witchcraft is no longer played by
the assistance of the Lunaria, and as the plant

HONESTY. 283

does not fill a place in the floral vocabulary, we
will, by permission, place it there to represent the
necessary and honourable virtue of Honesty, which
title was, according to Gerard, bestowed upon this
flower by an English gentlewoman, whom our im-
mortal bard makes to say,

mine Honesty shall be my dower.

284 FLORA HISTORICA.

CANDY-TUFT. Iberis.

Natural Order Siliqiioscc, or Cruciformes. Crucifcr(P>
Juss. A Genus of the Tetradynamia Siliculosa.

Here also, bathed in dew,
Plants in minutest growth
Are painted with flow'rs.

Akdreini.

In floriculture the aid of humble plants is fre-
quently found to be as important in the general
decoration of the garden as that of the more tower-
ing kinds ; for Nature has made the same wise
provision in miniature plants that we observe in the
smaller kinds of the animal creation, which propa-
gate by thousands, whilst the more gigantic tribes
multiply singly.

The parent eagles will not suffer their offspring
to build themselves a habitation within a given dis-
tance, nor will the sturdy oak or the noble chestnut
permit their seedlings to thrive beneath the paternal
branches ; but that their fruit should not be formed
in vain, Nature has made it the food of particular
kinds of animals, and thus we find a due propor-
tion observed in every part of the creation.

Few plants are more conspicuously ornamental

CANDY-TUFT. 23j

Id the borders of the flower-garden, or the fore-
ground of the shrubbery, than some species of the
Iberis, when a number of plants are so congregated
in one spot as to form a single cluster, or an irre-
gular mass. Of these, we shall first notice the
Ever-flowering Candy-tuft, Ibcrls semperflorens,
which remains in blossom nearly the whole year,
but more particularly so from the end of August to
the beginning of June, braving all the inclement
seasons with such an apparent negligence of the
changes in the weather, that the Persian ladies have,
in their floral language, adopted this flower as the
representative of indifference.

The snow itself is scarcely whiter than the petals
of this plant ; and therefore it is particularly well
adapted to enliven the sombre appearance of ever-
green plantations during the winter season, — if not
placed near the Laurustinus, which requires no aid
of this kind, for that beautiful shrub, like the
Iberis, seems awake whilst the rest of vegetable
nature sleeps.

Pliny slightly mentions this plant under the
name of Iberis ; it is also the Ifiepi? of Dioscori-
des, and is supposed to be so named from Iberia,
where it formerly grew abundantly. The English
name of Candy-tuft seems to have originated out of
the circumstance of the first species of these plants
being brought from Candia, from whence, says

286 FLORA HISTORICA.

Gerard, st I receiued seede, by the liberalitie of the
Rio-ht Honourable the Lord Edward Zouche, at
his return into England from those partes, with
many other rare seedes which do flourish in my
garden." This was purple umbellata, which Ge-
rard calls Candie Mustard, Thlaspi Candle. The
tufts of these white flowers, which blossom in win-
ter, have the appearance of being candied over by
-white frost ; and hence probably its name, as we
find one of our early descriptive poets makes the
observation —

Since when those frosts that winter brings,

Which candy every green,
Renew us like the teeming spring,

And we thus fresh are seen.

Drayton.

The French distinguish this plant by the name
of Ibe'ride, Thlaspie, and Taraspie, and they have
ingeniously enough made one of the species the
emblem of architecture, because its flowers are dis-
posed in stories from the bottom of the stalk to the
top, which is thought to produce a resemblance to
the pretty open columns of one of the most delicate
orders of architecture.

The broad-leaved evergreen Candy-tuft, Iberis
semper florens, is a native of Persia and Sicily : it
was brought to this country in the year 1679, and
cultivated in the Botanical Garden at Oxford in
the following year.

CANDY-TUFT. 267

The narrow-leaved evergreen species, semper-
virens, is indigenous to the rocky grounds of the
island of Candia, and was first brought to this
country in the year 1731, and cultivated at the
Chelsea Garden in 1739. These kinds of Candy-
tuft seldom ripen their seed in our climate, but they
are easily propagated by planting the slips or cut-
tings in the summer, observing to keep them
watered and shaded from the sun, until they have
taken root. If these plants are set in a rich earth
they are apt to grow too luxuriantly, and become
so full of moisture as not to be able to endure the
winter ; therefore, if the soil is of that nature where
the clumps are to be formed, a mixture of lime rub-
bish should be added, which causes their branches
to become more woody, and consequently better
able to resist the frost.

The purple Candy-tuft, Iberis umbellata, and
the common white or bitter species, amara, are
raised by sowing the seeds in patches early in the
spring, which should be repeated every month until
July, and by this means a succession of flowers may
be obtained. It is a desirable plant to sow on
banks and in the front of taller-growing flowers,
■where it makes a conspicuous figure until the end
of the summer, when its site may be occupied by
the latest-flowering annuals.

These latter kinds of Candy-tuft are apt to come

288 FLORA HISTORIC*..

up too thick from sowing, and they should, there-
fore, be regularly thinned, so as to give them room
to extend their branches, which will increase the
number of flowers, and prolong their duration.

The sweet-scented Candy-tuft is raised by seed
in the same manner as the two last species. This
kind is a native of the mountains near Geneva, and
was cultivated in this country by Mr. Miller, as
long back as 1759. The flowers of this species are
considerably smaller than the others ; they are of a
snowy white, and of an agreeable odour.

The bitter Candy-tuft, amara, is a native of our
chalky fields, and is frequently found in dry and
barren soils ; to which we have added nine other
distinct species for the embellishment of our gar-
dens.

The seeds of these plants were formerly eaten
with meat, as we now eat mustard, excepting that
they were not pounded. Dioscorides notices their
efficacy in relieving the chest from phlegm.

SWEET-SCENTED TUSSILAOE. 299

SWEET-SCENTED TUSSILAGE. Tassilajo
Fragrans,

A SPECIES OF COLTVFOOT.

Natural Order Composite Discoideee. Corymhifera,
Juss. A Genus of the Syngenesia Polygamic* su-

ycrjlua Class.

He trudged along, unknowing what he sought,
And whistled as he went, for want of thought .

That even classical ground produces minds of this
description, is instanced in the long-neglected plant
of which we are about to speak. Although the
Tussilacjo fragrans is a native plant of Italy, it
remained in obscurity until the nineteenth century,
when M. Villan, of Grenoble, was attracted by its
agreeable fragrance at the foot of Mount Pilat,
from whence he brought it to perfume the winter
gardens of the continent, and it cast its first odour
on British shores in the year 1806. As its per-
fumed flowers expand in the months of January,
February, and March, it cannot fail of being wel-
comed amongst us by every lover of sweet smells ;

VOL. I.

0

290 FLORA HISTORICA.

and it is already become so far naturalized to our
climate, as to discharge its fragrance as freely over
our walks in the winter months, as the Egyptian
Reseda disperses its odours over those of the sum-
mer. We may hail it as the Heliotrope of the open
garden, and as a vegetable winter friend of no small
importance in the parterre.

The modest flowers of this plant were too insig-
nificant to have attracted the notice of the ignorant,
who have not souls to admire humble merit, whe-
ther in men or flowers, until it has received the
sanction of fashion, or the patronage of the great.
It is the exalted mind alone which can penetrate
through the flimsy veil of a gaudy exterior, and
discover merit in a hovel. Had not Evelyn dragged
Gibbons from such a situation into the presence of
his sovereign, the world would never have been
enriched by his incomparable writings, nor would
England have had to boast of such a treasure. The
plants of the hedge are unobserved by the vulgar,
who cannot conceive that beauty can flourish out of
the garden's bounds.

Madame de Latour could not leave this fragrant
plant without a place in floral language, and there-
fore says, under this head —

On vous rendra justice.

And as an illustration that the vulgar have not the

SWBlT-SCElfTBD TUSSILAGE. 291

power to discern merit, either in men or plants,
until it is pointed out to them by the finger of the
world, she gives the following anecdote of a young
miller in Holland, who, having a taste for painting,
exercised it at his leisure hours in pourtraying the
few objects within his limited circle : the mill, his
master's cattle, and the pastures, were all that pre-
sented themselves to his confined view, but these
he varied so accurately by light and shade, as the
effect of the clouds changed them, as fully to com-
pensate for the want of variety ; yet his labours
were not appreciated, and when he had finished
one picture he bartered it away to the colourman,
in exchange for materials to paint another. It so
happened that a master of a tavern, who expected
company at his house, wished to ornament the bare
walls of his apartment, and purchased one of these
paintings for a crown, which probably would have
still remained unnoticed on his wall, had not chance
sent an artist of judgment to his tavern, who had
no sooner entered the room where the picture was
hanging, than he discovered the merit of the young
rustic painter, and immediately offered the inn-
keeper a hundred florins for what had cost him a
Dutch crown ; and, paying down the money, de-
sired the landlord to procure him all the paintings
he could obtain from the young miller at the same

O 2

292 FLORA HISTORIC.!.

price, which circumstance soon brought him into
repute, and enabled him to follow the bent of his
inclination, and delight the connoisseurs of paintings
by the faithful touches of his pencil.

Their various tastes, in different arts display'd,
Like temper'd harmony of light and shade,
"With friendly union in one mass shall blend,
And this adorn the state, and that defend.

Some trace with curious search the hidden cause
Of Nature's changes, and her various laws :
Untwist her beauteous web, disrobe her charms,
And hunt her to her elemental forms ;
Or prove what hidden pow'rs in herbs are found,
To quench disease, and cool the burning wound.

T\Ye had, previously to the discovery of the Sweet
Tussilage, become acquainted with nine different
species of these plants, some of which have, for
many ages, been celebrated in medicine for diseases
of the lungs, and relieving coughs, on which ac-
count their generic name was derived from tussis
and agere.

The thyrsi of this fragrant plant are of a whitish
lilac tint, and the odour greatly resembles that of
the Heliotrope. It is easily propagated by parting
the roots in the summer, and planting them in a
free, light, and fresh earth, in a warm and sheltered
situation. It is also planted in pots, for the purpose
of perfuming our winter apartments; and thus the
plant which, so short a time back, could not, by

SWEET-SCENTED TUSS1LAGE. 29$

all its fragrant charms, obtain a corner in a
cottage-garden, now fills a situation in the proud
saloon, to the admiration of all the crowd that
usually attend the decorated apartments of gay
routs.

"294 FLORA HISTORICA.

CYCLAMEN, or SOW-BREAD. Cyclamen.

Natural Order Precice. Lysimachice, Juss. A Genus
of the Pentandria Mojwgynia Class.

With superstitions and traditions taint.

Milton.

This plant was formerly regarded as a powerful
assistant by the midwives, and it was recommended
to them by the surgeons of the day. Gerard tells
us that he had these plants growing in his garden,
but for fear any matrons should accidentally step
over them, and by this means bring on abortion,
he stuck a fence of sticks round the roots, and laid
others crossways over them, " lest any woman
should by lamentable experiment finde my words
to be true, by their stepping ouer the same."

A rev'rent fear, such superstition reign3
Among the rude, ev'n then possess'd the swains.

We cannot be surprised that such superstitious
notions respecting plants should be found amongst
the vulgar of those times, when we find men
of learning like Gerard possessed with the same
ideas, for to him we may justly apply the lines of
Chaucer, —

CYCLAM1N. 295

Wei knew lie the oM Btculaphu,

And DioBCoridei and eke Ru&ts,

Old IIij>](.)ti-;is, Hali, :nid (Jallicin,
Serapion, Hards, and Aviivn,

Avi'n-ois. Damasoeae, and Conetaatin,
Bernard, and Gati&den, and Gilbertin.

The Greeks had several names for this plant,
and the Romans also distinguished it by a variety
of titles, as Tuber terrcc, and Torres rapum, from
its turnip- like root, Panis Porcinus, Orbicularis,
Artanita, and Cyclamen, on account of the round-
ness of the root. It was named Sow-bread and
Swine-bread, because the swine eat it greedily in
countries where it is plentiful ; and for the same
reason the French call it pain clu porceau, which the
country people abridge into pan de pur. The Ita-
lians also name it pane jyorcino, which has the same
signification ; they also call it pane terreno, ground-
bread .

The Ivy-leaved Sow-bread, Cyclamen hederifo-
lium, is a native of this island, growing in woody
situations in Wales. It flowers with a white blos-
som in April, and therefore is but little regarded ;
a variety of this species, with a pale purple flower,
was introduced from Italy previous to the year
1596.

The round-leaved Sow-bread, Cyclamen coum,
was also cultivated by Gerard prior to 1596. This
species is a native of Italy and the Alps, and as it

296 FLORA HISTORICA.

blossoms with a bright purple corolla in the months
of February and March, it is an acceptable plant
either for a sheltered situation in the open garden,
or in pots on the Auricula stand.

The Cyclamen Europium is a native of Austria,
and has the advantage of being sweet-scented : this
species flowers in April ; and was also cultivated
by Gerard.

Cerces and Cyclamen all art defeat.

PiTATT.

The Persian Cyclamen, which was first brought
to this country in 1731, is by far the most desirable
species for the house, as its flowers are large and
frequently odorous, and it continues to blossom
from February to April.

The introduction of so many plants from China
has greatly lessened the cultivation of the Cycla-
men for the house ; and as it requires a frame in
most situations in the garden, it is but little at-
tended to in the present day. This plant requires
a light sandy earth, or lime rubbish and loam
mixed, that will not retain wet; and water must
be given it very sparingly at all times.

All the kinds of Cyclamen are propagated by
seeds ; but as they require five years' attention be-
fore they will flower, they are but seldom raised in
this country. The seeds should be sown soon
after they are ripe, in pots filled with light garden

CYCLAMEN. 297

mould mixed with a little sand, and covered about
half an inch deep, placing them where they receive
the morning sun till the beginning of September,
when they should be removed to a warmer expo-
sure ; and it is desirable to house them during the
winter months, but at the same time to place them
in situations where they have the advantage of
light and air. This attention, of placing them in
the morning sun during the summer and the full
day's heat in the autumn, must be yearly attended
to. When they are of a size to transplant, each
bulb should have a small pot, in preference to
placing several in one pot ; and as the bulb in-
creases in size, so should the size of the pot be
larger at every planting.

05

298 FLORA HISTORICA.

ARUM axd CALLA. Arum.

Natural Order Piperitcc. Jroidecs, Juss. A Genus
of the Monoecia Polyandria Class.

Voyez, 6 prodige etonnant !
L'Arum, qu'admire l'ltalie,
Si le nceud de l'hymen la lie,
Lancer, de son spadix brulant,
Un feu bien plus etincelant
Qu' a toute autre heure de sa vie.

The character of this family of plants is so distinct
from that of any other kind of vegetable nature,
that their singularity of shape attracts the notice
of all classes, from the botanist to the children of
the cottagers, who seek the indigenous species be-
neath the shade of our hedge-row banks, and
give to them the names of Cuckoo-pint, Cuckoo-
pintle, Wake-robin, Friar's-cowl, and Lords-and-
Ladies. The more polished part of society admit
the Ethiopian Calla, a species of Arum, into their
most embellished saloons, where its alabaster calyx
expands into so elegant a vase-like shape, that
Flora seems to have intended it for the hand of
Hebe, when she presented the imperial nectar to
Jove.

The Calla is a native of the Cape of Good Hope,

ARl'M AND CALLA. 299

and the earliest notice of it in this country is not
farther back than 17;J1, when it was cultivated by
Mr. Miller, in the botanical garden at Chelsea;
but it is only within these few years that it has
become generally known. The fashion of orna-
menting the houses in London with plants, when
routs are given, greatly contributed to bring it
into celebrity, its time of flowering being from
January to June, which is the period of our me-
tropolitan gaieties. It was soon found to be a
conspicuous candlelight plant, and was therefore
increased by all the rout-furnishing florists. Thus
introduced to public notice, its charms could not
fail to obtain it a favourable regard among all
the admirers of nature, for its appearane in the
group of plants reminds us of a beautiful antique
lamp for burning incense, which illusion the flame-
coloured spadix, arising out of the centre of the
white calyx, considerably increases. This vege-
table cup also pours out an agreeable perfume from
its graceful and beautiful horn. The leaves of the
Calla are large, and of a glossy fine yellowish
green, which contrasts as well with the foliage of
other plants as its white colour does with the gayer
tints of other flowers.

The name of Calla is derived, according to
Marty n, from the Greek xstXkauov, palaaria <jalli,
the wattle of a cock ; but we consider it to be from

300 FLORA HISTORICA.

the Greek naXkot, beauty, because the flower is
both beautiful in appearance and has a fine texture.
It will be necessary to observe that botanists have
now placed this plant out of the genus Arum,
although in the natural arrangement of plants it
stands in the same family; but in the sexual system
it is found to be of a different class and order.
Martyn places it under the class and order Gynan-
dria Polyandria, and M. Pirolle continues it under
the same head ; whereas Aiton and Brown remove
it to the class Heptandria Monogynia, which ap-
pears to us to be correct, since we observe that the
spadix is not simply covered with the parts of fruc-
tification, but surrounded with minute flowers, each
of which contains seven anthers and one stigma.

Although this plant has generally been treated
as a greenhouse flower, we are desirous to remove
it into the open garden where it endures the winter
very well, excepting when the frost is very severe,
and then a temporary covering is sufficient to
protect it. In the open garden it should have a
dry soil and a warm sheltered situation, where it
will be found to propagate itself very fast by off-
sets ; and when from five to ten plants are placed
on a spot at about twenty inches from each other,
they make a fine figure in the garden, not only
whilst in flower, but by their large pointed leaves,
which succeed each other throughout the year.

ARUM AM) CALLA, 301

September is a good season for removing the
voung plants; and where the open garden is found
too cold for the roots to stand the winter, we re-
commend them to be planted in pots filled with
garden mould that may be taken into the house
during the winter ; and as soon as the frost is over,
the pots may be plunged into such parts of the
parterre, or the shrubbery, as require the aid of
white flowers to enliven it or to contrast with those
of heavier colours. These plants may also be
increased from the seeds, which ripen in August ;
but, as they require three years before they arrive
at a state to flower, this mode of cultivation is sel-
dom attended to. It should be observed, that this
plant has a thick, fleshy, tuberous root, which
rots if too freely watered. The French call this
plant Calla cV Ethiopia, Pied-de-Veau, and Arum
d Etldopie,

The common Dragon plant, Arum Dracunculus,
grows naturally in Italy, and other southern parts
of Europe, from whence it has long been intro-
duced to the gardens of this country, as Gerard
observes, in 1596, that he had two of these plants
growing in his garden. This species of Arum,
although objectionable on account of its disagree-
able odour, deserves a place in large gardens, from
its singularity of appearance ; for in the spring it
sends up a straight stalk about three feet in height,

302 FLORA HISTOR1CA.

curiously spotted like the belly of a snake, and
from hence it is called the Dragon Arum. The
calyx or spathe is very large when growing in a
rich moist soil, and being of a fine claret colour
within, and enclosing a large spadix of the same
colour, it has an uncommon appearance, and should,
therefore, for its odd, capricious shape not be altoge-
ther neglected, although when in flower its strong
carrion-like scent is certainly disagreeable.

There is a species of Arum which grows in the
morasses about Magellan's Strait, in South Ame-
rica, whose flowers exhibit the appearance of an
ulcer, and exhale so strong an odour of putrid flesh,
that the flesh-flies resort to it to deposit their eggs.
Pliny says that the smell of the common Dragon
Arum is so offensive as to be even dangerous to
pregnant ladies. He tells us, also, that it was a
common practice in his day to carry about the per-
son a part of the root of this plant as a preventive
against serpents, which he affirms will not come
near any one who has taken this precaution. (Book
xxiv. chap. 16.)

This singular exotic is so hardy that it will grow
in any soil and situation ; and it propagates itself
so fast by offsets from the root, that there is no
occasion to give directions for its increase by seed.
It should be removed in autumn when the leaves
are decayed.

ARUM AND CALL A. 303

The name of Arum for this family of curious
plants is derived from \A/>a, Noxa, Injury, because
the root when eaten without preparation affects the
tongue with a pungency as if it were pricked with a
needle.

CUCKOO PINT, or WAKE ROBIN. Arum
Maculatum.

This native plant frequently finds its way into the
banks of our orchards and shrubberies, although it
is seldom if ever cultivated. We shall, however,
not let pass unnoticed what seems to have excited
more regard in ancient times.

Pliny tells us that the leaves of the Arum were
anciently used to preserve cheese, by covering it
over with them. AVedelius is of opinion that the
Chara, which Caesar's soldiers found abundantly
about Dyrrachium, was this plant. Being reduced
to straits for want of provisions, they mixed the
roots with milk, and made them into a sort of bread.
But this probably was the Italian Arum, the roots
of which are considerably larger than those of Eng-
land. The roots of the latter might certainly be
eaten with safety, after having their acrid nature
destroyed by several waters.

304 FLORA HISTORICA.

Mr. White notices, in his History of Selborne,
that the roots of the Arum are scratched up and
eaten by the thrushes in severe snowy seasons, and
the berries are devoured by several kinds of birds,
particularly by pheasants.

Bears seek this plant as a necessary medicine to
open their stomachs, after they have lain for several
weeks without food.

This species of Arum was formerly called Starch
Wort, on account of the roots being employed to
stiffen ruffs and frills, particularly in the time of
Queen Elizabeth, when these ornaments were worn
by gentlemen as well as ladies. Gerard, who wrote
during the virgin reign, says, " the most pure
and white starch is made of the rootes of Cuckoo
Pint ; but most hurtful! for the hands of the laun-
dresse that hath the handling of it, for it choppeth,
blistereth, and maketh the hands rough and rugged,
and withall smarting." These roots have occasion-
ally been used as a substitute for soap ; and Mr.
Ray particularly mentions their being used about
Maidstone in Kent for that purpose. The roots
loose their acrimony in drying, and become farina-
ceous and insipid. It is from these roots, dried and
powdered, that the French make a wash for the
skin, which is esteemed a good and innocent cos-
metic, and which sells for a high price, under the
name of Cypress powder. In Worcestershire they

ARUM AND CALLA, 303

give this plant the name of Bloody Men's Fingt r§j
from the red berries that siirromul the sp.ulix. The
French have as many Vulgar names for the Arum
as ourselves, amongst which is Pied de Veau, from
the shape of the leaf resembling the bottom of a
calf's foot; Bonnet de grand Prf'trc, High Priest's
Mitre; Pain deLu'vrc, Hare's Bread, which seems
to imply that it is eaten by those animals. In some
parts of that country it is called Chou Polcre,
Pepper Cabbage.

Sir Hans Sloane says that a species of these
plants is carefully cultivated in most of the planta-
tions in the West Indies, principally for the sake
of the leaves, which are boiled, and eaten like spi-
nach or cabbage. The roots are also eaten after
being baked in hot ashes. This species is found in
all the islands of the Southern Ocean, and is culti-
vated every where within the Tropics, and even in
the northern extremity of New Zealand. The
natives of the South-Sea Islands bestow great pains
on the culture of this root, by inundating the land
at one time, and draining it dry at others, by means
of ditches dug round the fields. Thus we have
another instance of the importance attached to the
same plants in one part of the world, which in others
are utterly despised, and deemed by the illiterate
almost a curse to the land.

Old medical writers extol the virtues of this acrid

306 FLORA HISTORICA.

plant, but in modern practice it is but little used,
although acknowledged to be of great value in some
of the most obstinate diseases of the human body ;
but as its volatile and acrimonious particles are
nearly lost when the plant is in a dry state, we must
not be surprised that it should be discarded from
the shops. Mr- J. A. Waller tells us, in his British
Domestic Herbal , that a few years back he witnessed
a most alarming case of dropsy, accompanied with
every sign of an exhausted constitution, treated by
a prescription of Sydenham, of which the Arum
and Angelica formed the most prominent articles.
The success of this treatment was most astonishing,
for all the symptoms of the most alarming general
dropsy disappeared in less than three weeks. Ett-
muller extols the fresh -prepared root as a most ex-
cellent stomachic in cases of extreme prostration of
appetite. He recommends the root to be cut into
very small pieces, and taken in brandy. But we
must leave the physicians for the notice of the
poets, who have made the Arum the emblem of
ardour.

Mrs. Frances Arabella Rowden thus cautions
children against the berries of the Arum : —

Oh ! wander not where Dragon Arum showers
Her baleful dews, and twines her purple flowers,
Lest round thy neck she throw her snaring arms,
Sap thy life's blood, and riot on thy charms,

ARUM AND CALJ,A. 307

Her shining berry, m the rnby bright,

Slight please thy taste, and tempt thy eager sight :

Trust not this specious veil ; beneath its guise,

In honied streams ai'atal poison lit-s.

So Vice allures with Virtue's pleasing song,
And charms her victims with a siren's tongue.

308 FLORA HISTORICA.

CARDAMINE. Nasturtium Pratense.

CUCKOO FLOWER, OR LADY'S SMOCK.

Natural Order Siliquosa, or CrucifertB. A Genus of
the Tetradynamia Siliquosa Class.

When Daisies pied, and Violets blue,

And Lady's Smocks all silver white,
And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue,
Do paint the meadows with delight.

Shakspeare.

That our great dramatic poet should thus describe
one of the most delicate and beautiful of our native
plants, shows what charms vegetable beauties had
for his capacious mind. The happy expression
" silver white,11 exactly describes the tint of these
flowers, some of which are nearly of a pure white
colour, whilst others have that purple cast so
peculiar to highly-polished silver. As this plant
flowers in April, and is in full beauty in the month
of May, it generally forms a conspicuous figure
in the May-day garlands of the children of our
peasantry, which Walton thus notices in his
Angler : — " See here a boy gathering Lilies and
Lady-Smocks, and there a girl cropping Culver-
keys and Cowslips, all to make garlands.1'

CARDAMINE. 309

This pi tint, which is «*i species of Cress, has been
named Cardamine, from its having the taste of
Cardamom. It has also been called in Latin Fins
Cuculi, because, says Gerard, " it flowers when
the cuckowe doth begin to sing her pleasant notes
without stammering," and from hence it is called
Cuckoo Flower. Shakspeare's Cuckoo Bud is
thought to be the Wild Yellow Ranunculus ; he
mentions the Cuckoo Flower as one of those that
formed the crown of the wretched Lear.

lie was met even now

As mad as the vex'd sea : singing aloud ;
Crown'd with rank Fumiter, and Furrow "Weeds,
"With Harlocks, Hemlock, Nettles, Cuckoo Flowers,
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow
In our sustaining corn.

King Lear.

Gerard tells us that he writes it " Ladie Smocks,'?
because it was so called in Cheshire, his native
county ; and the unfortunate Chatterton, in his
admirable imitation of the older poets, gives it the
same name.

So have I seen a Ladie-Smock soe white,

Blown in the mornynge, and mowd down at night.

Battle of Hastings.

We do not find that this flower has been placed
in floral language; and we shall, therefore, taking
it from the brow of King Lear, present it as an
emblem of paternal error, since this historic drama

310 FLORA HISTORICA.

so forcibly paints the folly of a parent's making
himself dependent on the liberality of his children.
The Cuckoo flower grows spontaneously in most
of our moist pasture lands, and is a most ornamental
plant when sown in clumps in the damp parts of
wilderness scenery, or on the banks of brooks or
lakes. In its double state it is deserving a place
in the choicest flower-garden ; and we particularly
recommend clumps of it in the foreground of small
shrubberies, as it contrasts as well with the foliage
of evergreen shrubs as with the grass of the lawn.
This variety is propagated by parting the roots in
autumn, at which time they should always be
transplanted, and a moist and partially shady situa-
tion is most congenial to the nature of the plant.

The leaves of the Cardamine Pratense are fre-
quently eaten in the spring by country people,
and have nearly the same anti-scorbutic qualities
as the common Water-Cress : it is said to give tone
to the stomach and digestive organs. In northern
countries, where salt-fish and meats are much eaten,
they pound the whole plant, and express the juice,
of which they give a wine-glass full for a dose ;
and it is esteemed an excellent remedy in scorbutic
diseases and obstructions of the liver, and the
jaundice.

leopard's-mam:. 31]

LEOPARDS-BANE. Doronicum PardaHanches^

Natural Order Composite DUcordece. Corymb iferw,
Juss. A Genus of the Syngencsia Polygamia Super-
jlua Class*

"Were man to live coeval with the sun,
The patriarch pupil would be learning still ;
Yet, dying, leave his lesson half unlearnM.

Youxg.

Notwithstanding the study of botany, as far as
it relates to the nature and virtue of herbs and
plants, is the most ancient and universal of all
sciences, yet we may at the present time consider
ourselves but in the infancy of the art. So much
does the vegetable world offer to our contemplation
and research, that to become thoroughly acquainted
with the phytonomy of a small portion of our native
plants is more than the longest liver has been able
to accomplish. With the introduction of exotic
plants we are naturally led to inquire into their
character, and how far they have been made sub-
servient to the human species of their natural
regions : this inquiry is frequently made, without
taking into consideration the difference of climate
and habits of the people from whom we receive

012 FLORA IIISTORTCA.

them ; and this accounts for our so frequently
finding them deficient in the virtues ascribed to
them by the natives, to whom many plants become
aoTeeable and ^Yholesome, from custom and other
causes, which, with us, would act as a violent and
dangerous medicine.

The materia medica of the most ancient phy-
sicians, that have been handed down to us through
the languages of different countries, seem all to
have derived the foundation of their knowledge
originally from the Arabians ; and as the present
European name of Doronicum is derived from the
Arabic Doron'uji or Durugi, it is probable that
this plant was in some celebrity with these wander-
ing tribes, who must, of necessity,' have made them-
selves acquainted with the qualities of herbs.

The trivial name of this species of Doronicum is
derived from the Greek Pardalio, Leopard, and
Agcho (pr. Angcho), to strangle : hence our name
of Leopard's Bane, because it was said to cause the
death of any animal that ate it ; and it was there-
fore formerly mixed with flesh to destroy leopards.

Martyn observes Ci that this plant has been
stigmatized as poisonous, seemingly without much
reason ;" and he adds, " the famous Conrad Gesner
took two drains of the root without injury." But
we are informed, in the Historla Plantarum
ascribed to Boerhaave, that Gesner took some of

LEOPARD'S-BANE. 313

this plant in the morning fasting, and two hours
afterwards he wrote a letter to a friend, in which

he said that he was then in good health ; but it
appears, from the account of his other friends, that
he had not sent off the letter an hour before he was
taken ill and died.

Matthiolns appears to have been a strong advo-
cate for the admission of this plant into medical
use, and he asserted that it had no venomous
quality ; but he afterwards had reason to change
his opinion, having given it to a dog, which it
killed.

This plant is a native of the mountains of Swit-
zerland, the Alps, Austria, Hungary, &c. Most
of our modern English writers on botany mention
it as indigenous to this country ; but Martyn says,
" this is one of the plants which, from the facility
with which it propagates itself, has lately escaped
from the gardens to increase the British Flora.
Mr. Lightfoot remarked it in Scotland, but always
near houses ; and Dr. Stokes near Duplin House.
Dr. Turner's account of this plant seems to confirm
Mr. Martyn's statement, as this writer says, in
1568, " Doronijum, otherwise called Carnaba-
dium, groweth not that I knowe of in England,
and, that I remember, I never sawe it growyng but
once, and that was in Germanye." He adds, a the
rootes are wel knowen in the apothecaries1 shoppes ; "
vol. i. p

314 FLORA HISTORICA.

and he concludes, " the Arabian commendeth this
herbe verye muche agaynst the diseases of the
herte, and holds that it is good against poyson and
venome."

Gerard tells us that he had the Leopard's- Bane
growing in his garden, and he observes that it grows
naturally in the mountains of France ; and adds,
u it is also brought into, and acquainted with, our
English grounds.'"

The greatest recommendation of this plant to a
station in the realm of Flora, is, that it will grow
in any soil or situation, and its bright yellow flowers
make a conspicuous figure among shrubs, particu-
larly in a shady spot, both in the month of May,
and again in autumn, provided the plants be cut
down before the seed ripens.

The Leopard' s-Bane multiplies very fast by its
spreading roots, and if the seeds are permitted to
scatter, they will produce plants wherever they
fall, so as to become a troublesome wreed : on this
account, as well as that of having the flowers at
two distinct seasons of the year, we recommend
the stalks to be cut down when the flowers begin to
fade.

ROCKET. 315

ROCKET. Ilcsperis.

Natural Order Siliquosce. CrucifertB, Juss. A Genus
of the Tetradynamia Siliquom Class.

That keep

Their odour to themselves all day;
But when the sunlight dies away,
Let the delicious secret out
To every breeze that roams about.

T. Moore.

The ancients named this family of plants Hespe-
r», from Hesper or Vesper, because they do not
discharge their perfume until the evening. In
floral language, these flowers are made the emblem
of Falsehood or Deceit, on account of their deny-
ing their odorous virtues to the light of day.

We have no plant that exhales so delightful a
fragrance in the night as the Hcspcris Trlstas,
Night-smelling Rocket, or Night-odorous Stock.
This flower has for many ages been a favourite
with the German ladies, and is consequently much
cultivated in that country in pots for the apart-
ments ; and hence it obtained the name of Dame's
Violet, in addition to that of Nacht Violen. It
has been known in this country as long back as the

P2

316 FLORA HISTORICA.

reign of Queen Elizabeth, as Gerard has figured
it in his Herbal. Parkinson also gives an engrav-
ing of this plant, in his work of 1629? under the
title of " Leucoium Marinum Syriacum, Levant
Stock Gilliflower ;" yet it remains rather a rare
than a common plant with us, principally, we
presume, from the little figure which its flowers
make either in the open garden or in the green-
house, for the petals, which are small, curl back-
wards, and are of a dingy liver-colour, rather than
a purple. The foliage is much less than that of
the common Stock, but of the same downy nature,
and bluish-green colour ; and as fresh leaves come
out the lower ones wither, and change to a sandy
colour, but they do not drop off, which gives the
plant a sickly and unsightly appearance. It is also
a very slow-growing plant, which is another cause
of its being so neglected by the market florists, that
not one in twenty of the cultivators of flowers for the
London market grow it. They acknowledge, that
were the plant sufficiently known to be properly
estimated, there would soon be a demand that
would induce them to attend to its propagation.
"We have found a single plant sufficient to perfume
a moderate-sized room, even when it has not had
more than four or five flowers expanded. It is
perfectly hardy, and may be kept in flower the
greater part of the year. It will stand in the open

ROCKET. 317

ground ; but as it has no effective appearance, it
is better adapted for the pot, which can be brought
into the house in the evening, or placed in the bal-
cony, so as to disperse its grateful fragrance to ad-
vantage. It is easily propagated by slips, strip-
ping off the lower leaves, and planting it in a good
garden mould, pressing the earth tight to the stalk
with the fingers, and keeping the earth moderately
moist. We have found it facilitate the growth
of the slips to place a small bell-glass over the
young plants, whether planted in the open ground,
or in pots.

We earnestly recommend the culture of these
plants to all the rout-serving florists, as a dozen
plants would perfume a whole suite of apartments,,
and the heat of candles seems less to affect this plant
than most others : its want of splendour is certainly
fully compensated for by its agreeable scent, which
seems rather increased than diminished by the heat
of crowded saloons.

313 FLORA. HISTORIC.*..

GARDEN ROCKET, or DAME'S VIOLET.
Hesperis Matronalis.

This beautiful plant was originally brought from
Italy, and its spikes of double corollas are ranked
amongst the most ornamental of our garden flowers,
where it shines conspicuously by day in its white
and purple costume, whilst its fragrance is reserved
for vesper hours, to rival the gayest of Flora's gifts,
like Philomel,

Elate to make her night excel their day.

This plant will only flourish in a pure air, and
where the soil is both light and fresh, that is, rather
rich, but not dunged. It is a flower much cul-
tivated on the French coast, and may be seen in
great perfection in most gardens between Calais and
Abbeville ; but it will not endure the atmosphere
of either Paris or London.

Of all the directions we have consulted as to its
propagation, that of Dr. Robertson seems to answer
the best for this country. He observes, iC The
Double Rocket is a beautiful plant, rather scarce in
this part of the country, owing chiefly, I suppose, to
florists not being acquainted with a successful way
of increasing it. I had a few plants of Rockets under
my care, and I did them all justice, as I thought,

ROCKET. 319

but all would not do; I lost them all. I tried to
part their roots, but, being small and weak, the
slugs ate them all op in a short time, as they are
very fond of them, especially of their leaves. I
tried to increase them by cuttings in the common
way, widi as little success. This led me to try
another method which I would recommend as a
never-failing way of propagating this beautiful
flower. If a person has but one plant of Rocket,
and is anxious for its flowers, the first thing is,
after the flower is beginning to fade, to cut down
the stalks, and divide them into ordinary lengths
of cuttings ; next to cut off the leaves, and smooth
the ends ; then to make three slits with a knife in
the bark or rind, longwise, so as to separate or raise
the bark for half an inch in length. When the
cutting is inserted in the ground, the loose bark
naturally curls up, and it is from this bark that the
young roots proceed. The partial separation, and
the turning up of the bark, seems to promote a
tendency to throw out roots. The cuttings may be
put into flower-pots, as they may thus be sheltered
during winter with more ease, or they may be
placed in the natural earth, provided the soil is
light and fresh. Covering them with a hand-glass
will forward the rooting of the cuttings, or with
the aid of a hot-bed they will succeed excellently.
I have used this simple way for six years past, and

320 FLORA HISTORICA.

never without success, not one in twenty having
failed. This method, it may be remarked, will
hold good in cuttings of Stock Gilliflowers and
Double Wall-flowers." (Ceded. Mem. ii. 245.)

The Sweet-scented Garden Rocket, although by
no means so common at the present time as we
could wish to see it, has long been cultivated in
our gardens in the single state, as Gerard speaks of
it in 1597, under the title of " Dame's Violets, or
Queene Gilliflowers.'" In Parkinson's " Garden of
Pleasant Flowers,'" 1629, we have the figure of this
plant in a double state, under the head of Hespcris
Pannonica, Dame's Violets of Hungary.

Our native species of Rocket, Hesperis Inodora,
which has also had its petals doubled by the art of
the florist, resembles the exotic kind in all respects
except in fragrance, and as this kind is of easier
propagation, it is by far the most common ; and
although not so desirable as the sweet kind, yet it
is a beautiful plant to ornament the parterre from
May to the end of summer. Miller remarks that,
in his time, these beautiful flowers were much less
common than formerly ; and he seems to attribute
their decay to the quantity of manure used in mo-
dern gardens, for these plants will only thrive in
fresh undunged earth. Marty n says, in his ad-
mirable additions to Miller, these plants " being
naturally biennial, the plants with single flowers

ROCKET. 321

rarely survive the second year; nor will those with
double flowers continue niueli longer, so that unless
young plants are annually raised to supply the
place of the old ones, there will soon be a want of
them, which is what few persons are careful enough
to observe ; but thinking the roots to be perennial,
trust to their putting out offsets ; or the plants re-
maining after they have flowered, and finding them
decay, are apt to think their soil very improper for
them, and are at a loss to account for their decay-
ing : whereas, when the plants have flowered, they
have finished their period, and seldom continue to
flower a second time from the same root, though,
in poor land, they will often put out a few weak off-
sets, which may flower again, but seldom so strong as
the principal root ; therefore those who are desirous
to propagate these plants should do it in the fol-
lowing manner : —

ct There should be some strong roots of each sort
kept apart for this purpose, which are not intended
to flower. When these have shot up their flower-
stalks about six inches high, they should be cut
close to the bottom ; each of these may be divided
in the middle to make two cuttings, which should
be planted in a soft, gentle, loamy soil, to an east
exposure, where they may have only the morning
sun ; and these may be planted pretty near to-
gether, so as to be covered with hand or bell-glasses,

P o

322 FLORA HISTORICA.

which should be put over them after the cuttings
have been well watered, and closely shut down,
drawing the earth round the rim of the glasses to
exclude the air : then the glasses should be shaded
with mats every day when the sun is hot ; and if
the cuttings are gently refreshed with water once in
seven or eight days, it will be sufficient, for too
much moisture will cause them to rot : when these
are watered, the glasses should be closely shut down
again as before : with this management the cuttings
will put out roots in five or six weeks, and will be-
gin to shoot above ; then the glasses should be
gently raised on one side to admit the air to them,
and so gradually harden them to the open air, to
prevent their drawing up weak. When these have
made good roots they should be carefully removed,
and planted in an east border, at about eight or
nine inches asunder, observing to shade and water
them till they have taken new root ; after which
they will require no other care but to keep them
clean from weeds till the autumn, "when they may
be transplanted into the borders of the pleasure-
garden where they are designed to flower.

" The roots which are thus cut down will send
up more stalks than before, and when these are of
a proper height they may be cut off, and treated in
the same way, so that if the roots are sound, there
may be two or three crops of these cuttings from

ROCKET. 323

them ; and by so doing, the old roots may be
continued much longer than if they are permit-
ted to flower, and by this management there may

be always a supply of good plants for the flower-
garden/'

324 FLORA HISTORTCA.

MANDRAKE. Atropa Mandragora.

Natural Order Luridce. Solanea, Juss. A Genus of
the Pentandria Monogynia Class.

La Mandragore qu'on arrache,
Long-temps resiste avec effort,
Jette un grand cri, frappe de mort
Le bras haxdi qui la detache.

I do not mean to wake the gloomy form
Of Superstition.

This plant, which has been rendered celebrated by
absurdity, is indigenous to classical ground ; and
on this account, as well as the wonderful tales that
have been handed down to us from antiquity, it
naturally excites some degree of interest in the in-
quisitive mind.

In symbolical language, the Mandrake is made
the emblem of any thing rare or extraordinary, and
from the earliest ages appears to have excited great
veneration amongst the inhabitants of eastern coun-
tries, on account of its supposed extraordinary pro-
perties, as well as its rarity.

It is generally believed that the Atropa, or Man-
drake, is the same plant which the ancient Hebrews

MAXDKAKi:.

called Dudaxm : that these people held it in the.
highest esteem in the days of Jacob, is evident from
the notice of its having been found by Reuben,
who carried the plant to his mother ; and the in-
ducement which tempted Leah to part with it,
proves the value then set upon this celebrated
plant.

As we have no authority for believing the He-
brews used the mandrake for superstitious purposes,
it is most probable that they were acquainted with
its anodyne and soporific properties ; and perhaps
it was the only opiate known in that age, which
alone would render it an invaluable root to persons
who could receive no medical assistance but what
their own household afforded. This plant was
thought to possess the properties of making child-
less wives become mothers ; and hence some sup-
pose Rachel became so desirous to possess the
Mandrakes that Reuben had found.

The Greeks were evidently acquainted with the
dangerous properties of the Mandrake, as is shown
by the names bestowed on it, that of Circeium beino-
derived from Circe, a witch celebrated in fable for
her knowledge of magic and venomous herbs. The
name of Atropa is after Atropos, the eldest of the
Parcae, whose duty among the three Fates was to
cut the thread of life, without regard to sex, age,
or quality.

326 FLORA HISTORICA.

. The fables of the ancients, which were originally
intended to instruct and to caution the ignorant,
were frequently so transformed in the songs of the
poets as to lose their intention, and they were still
more disguised by the crafty, who imposed upon
the credulous through some pretended miraculous
stories of antiquity. Thus we are told by old
medical impostors, that when the Mandrake was
taken from the earth it gave a dreadful shriek, and
struck the daring person with death who had the
presumption to drag the root from its bed ; and
therefore it was obtained by fastening the plant to
the tail of a dog, who thus drew the root from the
ground.

Columella, in his directions for the site of gar-
dens, says, they may be formed where

the Mandrakes flowers

Produce, whose root shews half a man, whose juice

With madness strikes.

Book 10.

The Romans appear to have been very supersti-
tious as to the manner of taking up this root. Pliny
tells us that those who undertook this office paid
particular attention to stand so that the wind was
at their back ; and before they began to dig, they
made three circles around the plant with the point
of the sword, and then turning to the west pro-
ceeded to take it up. We are disposed to think
that this ceremony was first observed to prevent the

MANDRAKE. 327

too frequent use of so dangerous a plant amongst
the idolaters of early a§

In later times, when the darkness of ignorance
spread its wings over Europe, this plant and its
substitutes formed a profitable article with the
mountebank doctors of those superstitious days,
when credulity was at a sufficient height to believe
that this root was a preventive against mischief and
dangers of every kind. With this belief, the Ger-
mans formed little idols of the roots of the Man-
drake, to which they gave the name of Abrunes.
These images were regularly dressed every day,
and consulted as oracles; and their repute was
such, that they wrere manufactured in great num-
bers, and sold in cases. They appear to have been
brought over to this country in this state during the
time of Henry the Eighth, and met with ready
purchasers, it being pretended that they would,
with the assistance of some mystic words, be able to
increase whatever money was placed near them ;
and to give greater importance to these pretended
miracle- workers, it was said that the roots of these
plants were produced from the flesh of criminals
which fell from the gibbet, and that they only grew
in such situations. Others pretended that this
plant grew only in one small spot in China, from
whence they were procured with the greatest risk
and danger.

323 FLORA HISTORIC.!.

Dr. Turner wrote at considerable length, in the
time of Queen Elizabeth, to expose these imposi-
tions : he says, " I haue in my tyme at diuerse
tymes taken vp the rootes of Mandrag out of the
grounde, but I neuer saw any such thyng vpon or
in them, as are in and vpon the pedlers rootes that
are comenly to be solde in boxes." He adds, " it
groweth not vnder gallosses, as a certayn dotyng
doctor of Colon in hys physik lecture dyd tech hys
auditores, neither doth it ryse of the sede of man,
that falleth from him that is hanged."

Gerard also wrote on this plant, about thirty
years later than Turner ; and this excellent old
writer endeavoured to convince the people of the
impositions practised on them by the venders of
these roots. He states that both himself and his
servant had frequently dug up these roots without
receiving harm, or hearing any of the shrieks which
it was pretended these roots sent forth.

Our immortal bard availed himself of these

superstitions to work on the imagination of his

admirers :

And shrieks like Mandrakes, torn out of the earth,
That living mortals, hearing them, run mad.

Again he says, —

Would curses kill, as doth the Mandrake's groan,
I would invent as bitter-searching terms,
As curst, as harsh, and horrible to bear.

Lord Bacon notices the use to which these roots

MANDRAKE. 323

were converted in his time. He observes, in his
Natural History, " Some -plants there arc, but
rare, that have a mossie or downie root, and like-
wise that have a number of threads, like beards, as
Mandrakes, whereof witches and impostours make
an ugly image, giving it the form of a face at the
top of the root, and leave those strings to make a
broad beard down to the foot."

The English name of this plant was originally
derived from the Latin, Mandragora, as we ob-
serve Dr. Turner spells it Mandrag. By whose
barbarity it was afterwards transformed into Man-
drake we have not been able to discover, unless it
be from the following superstition, which we find
mentioned by Madame de Genlis. She speaks of
an author, who gravely gives a long description of
these pretended Mandrakes, and adds, that they
must be wrapped up in a piece of sheet, for that
then they will bring unceasing good luck. The
same author, she says, gives the name of Mandra
eora, Mandrake — it is not known for what reason
— to certain sprites, that are procured from an egg
that must be hatched in a particular manner, and
from which comes forth a little monster, half chick
and half man, that must be kept in a secret cham-
ber, and fed with the seed of spikenard, and that
then it will prophesy every day. This grave
author tells his readers, that some people of a weak

330 FLORA HISTORICA.

judgment, and fond of the marvellous, pretend that
these Mandrakes pay a tribute of a pistole a day ;
but this he assures them is not true, and that all
they can do is to make their masters lucky at play,
discover to them treasures, and foretel what is
to happen.

Gerard observes, " in English we call it Man-
drake, Mandrage, and Mandragon." The French
name of Mandracjore is nearly the same as the
Latin. At what period this plant was first culti-
vated in our gardens is uncertain, but it appears,
from Dr. Turner, to have been common in 1564,
who writes sensibly on its medical properties ; and
it seems also to have been well known as an opiate
in the time of Shakspeare, who says,

Not Poppy, nor Mandragora,
Nor all the drowsy syrops of the world,
Shall ever raed'eme thee to that sweet sleep.

In the Hist. Plant, ascript. Boerhaave, it is
stated that this plant brought into a chamber, or
closed room, procures sleep to those that want it.

The Mandrake is a species of deadly nightshade,
which grows with a long taper root like the par-
snip, running three or four feet deep ; these roots
are frequently forked, which assisted to enable the
old quacks to give it the shape of a monster. This
plant does not send up a stalk, but immediately
from the crown of the root arises a circle of leaves,

MANDRAKE. 331

which, at first, stand erect, but when grown to
their full size, which is about a foot in length, and
five inches broad, of an ovate-lanceolate shape,
waved at the edges, these spread open and lie on
the ground : they are of a dark green, and give
out a fetid scent. About the month of April the
flowers come out among the leaves, each on a scape
about three inches long : they arc of a bell shape,
with a long tube, and spread into a five-cleft co-
rolla. The colour of the flower is of an herbaceous
white, but frequently it has a tinge of purple. The
flower is succeeded by a globular soft berry, when,
full grown, as large as a common cherry, but of a
yellowish green colour when ripe, and full of pulp,
intermixed with numerous reniform seeds. The
Mandrake grows naturally in Spain, Portugal,
Italy, and the Levant ; it is also indigenous to
China, where it enters into the compositions pre-
pared by the most skilful physicians of that coun-
try, and taken by the Mandarins, with the flatter-
ing hope of having their existence prolonged by
their powers.

This plant is propagated by sowing the seeds in
the autumn soon after they are ripe, which come
up in the spring, but if the seeds are kept until the
spring they seldom succeed. The earth should be
light, and of considerable depth, for the root can-
not make its way through chalk or gravel; and

332 FLORA HISTORIC.*..

where the soil is wet these plants do not prosper,
as they are apt to rot during the winter ; but in
good light earth, and in warm situations, the Man-
drake root will continue sound longer than the life
of man. The Mandrake should never be removed
after it has arrived at any considerable size, as it is
hardly possible to take it up without breaking the
lower fibres, which so stints the plant, that, although
it may live, it seldom recovers its former strength.

Pliny observes that, for medicinal purposes, the
root should be taken up about the time of vintage,
as it is then fullest of its powerful juice. The same
author observes that in some countries they eat the
fruit or berries of this plant; but those who do
not understand the manner of preparing them
sometimes lose their tongue, and become dumb
after eating them.

We learn, both from ancient and modern writers,
that the Mandrake root is an anodyne and sopo-
rific of a dangerous nature if not administered with
with great judgment, as it has been known to ex-
cite maniacal fury, and has sometimes proved to be
a mortal narcotic. The berries have, however,
been eaten without producing this effect ; but we
cannot help condemning all such idle experiments,
since it is known that the seeds certainly possess
deleterious qualities.

Most of the ancient writers on plants assure us

MANDRAKE. 333

that the seeds of this fruit when taken inwardly
purge the uterus ; and it is probable that Rachel
was not unacquainted with this property of the
berries, and that her desire to obtain them was to
take away the reproach of her barrenness.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME,

LONDON:

Printed by W. Clowes,

^tamford-streer.

QK83.P48 1829v. 1 gen

Phillips Henry/Flora historica : or, Th

5185 00088 6166