1

of %

P^ntersitg of 'SEcrontxt

the Estate of
Robert A. Johnston

THE

GARDEN FLOWERS

OF

THE YEAR.

' For wonderful indeed are all His works,
Pleisatit to know, and worthiest to be aU ^^
Had in remembiance always with deUght."

LONDON:
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETV t

Imliluled 1799.

QK

&3

^^

/^^- -

\

A-L<^ ( 5 dC5

854961

PEEFACE.

The Author of tlie followiBg pages, in treating
** the Gai'den Flowers, has acted on the same
|jrinciple as that adopted in the volume on
Wild Flowers, which preceded it. In selecting
a few from the thousands of flowers which
;iave been introduced into Britain, those are
ohosen which are most commonly seen in the
garden, rather than those which are of more
choice culture. No instructions have been
added as to the mode of rearing them, as many-
inexpensive and valuable treatises are aheady
before the public, which are well calculated to
aid the amateur gardener in his pursuit. A
few simple things respecting cultivated flowers,
somewhat of their history, their uses, and
their relations to scriptural allusions, are here
stated.

A 2

iv PREFACE. i

The ■writer has also sought, as occasion |
presented itself, to point the reader to the |
connexion existing between the kingdom of |
nature and the kinadom of heaven : since .
our knowledge would be but of little worth, j
though we could name every herb of the field, j
or rear every flo\ver of the garden, or classify
each tree of the forest, if we were ignorant ot
the living " Plant of Renown."

CONTENTS.

Page i

JANUARY. 1

Rosemary — Old uses of thii plant — Snowdrop — Snow- ■
flake— Cyclamen — Candy tuft — Early flowering Cress —
Scented Colt's-foot — Winter Aconite .... 7

FEBRUARY. \

Crocus — Mezereon — Pontic Daphne — Lace bark tree — Hep- i

atica — Lilac Primrose — Japan Quince — Vernal Bulbo- '

codium — Corydalis 12 i

MARCH. I

Almond Tree — Coronilla — Garden Dafl^odils — Polyanthus — \
Anemone — Star of Bethlehem — Dog's Tooth Violet —

AVallflower — Flowers on Carmel Tulip — Crown Imperial — ]

Penstemon — Periwinkle — Violets — Clandestine Violet — \

Pansy — Iris — Bulbous Plants — Cardamine ... 19 ,

APRIL. i
Flowers of Fruit Trees — Apple— Ornamental Pear and •
Cherry — Perfumed Cherry — Hyacinth — Garden of Hya-
cinths—Grape Hyacinth— Feathered Hyacinth — Garden ;
Daisies — Pyramidal Saxifrage— Round-leaved Saxifrage — ,
Double Furze— Onosma— Dragon Flower — Dumb Cane — j
Horn Flower — Spiraea — Bridewort — Italian May — Bladder j
Nut — Auricula — Greek Valerian — Flowering Currant — i
Snowy-flowered Gooseberry^Berberry — Clustered Ber-
berry—Venus's Looking Glass— Mesembryanthemum —
Ice Plants — Lilac — Persian Lilac 37

MAY. • ;

Laburnum — Red Valerian — Ancient Spikenard— Lobelia — '
Cardinal Flower — White Lobelia — Spider Wort — Bugloss —
Pelargonium — Myrtle — Heliotrope — Marigold — Rainy

Marigold — Mullcius — Mallow of Scripture — Mallow i
Paper — Mallow used as food by Ancients — Lavatera —

Heaths — Andromeda — Climbing Cobsea — Tiger Flower — j

Box Edgings — Box Shrub of Scripture — CEnothera — ;

Evening Primrose — Various species of Clematis — Japan |

Corchorus — Bachelor's Button — Rue-leaved Ranunculus |

— Asphodel — Regard of Ancients for the Asphodel — I

Honesty — Perennial Adonis— Columbines — Pfeony^Tree j

Paony — Rhubarb — Honeysuckle — Trumpet Honey- I

Buckle — Rhododendron — Garlic — Garlic prired by the j

Ancients — Syringa — Persicaria — Monkshood — Aconites— j

Rose Acacia — Locust Tree — True Acacia — Charles's .

Steptre— Escholtzia 63 i

VI CONTENTS.

Page
JUNE.
Rose of Scripture— Provence Rose — Musk Rose — French
Rose — Damask Rose— China Rose — Bourbon Rose —
Scarlet Lychnis— Catchfly—Fraxinena—Fuehsia— French
Honeysuckle — Carnation Poppies— Minor Convolvulus —
Major Convolvulus — Fitches of Scripture — Nasturtium —
Canary Bird Flower — Calceolaria — Verbena — Lemon-
scented Verbena — Lupin — Ancient uses of Lupin seed —
Tree Lupin— Scented Scabions — Lily- Lily of Scripture —
Martagon Lily — Lily of Australia — Stock — Campanula —
Dane's Blood— Sweet Pea— Tangier Pea— White Jessa-
mine — Yellow Jessamine — Jessamine of Mauritius —
Night-flowering Jessamine — Monkey Flowers — Hop Mar-
joram— Larkspurs — Gum Cistus — Blue Pimpernel— Flow-
ering Raspberry — Potentilla— Spanish Broom— Esparto of
Spaniards— Petunia— Prickly Poppy— Foxglove— Madeira
Foxglove •• . .105

JULY.

Lavender — Phlox — Day Lily — Hibiscus — Various uses of
Hibiscus — Bladder Ketmia — Gladiolus — Bladder Senna —
Commelina — Sweet Basil — Hollyock — French Willow —
Nemophila — Carnation — Pink — Tree Pink— Groundsel —
Coreopsis — Salvia — Clary — Blessed Thistle — Purple and
Yellow Sultans — Yucca — Zinnia — African Marigold —
French Marigold— Globe — Balsam — Hop Grass — Ribbon
Grass— Feather Grass — Tobacco Flower . . . .136

AUGUST.
Dahlia — Sun-flower — Sun-flower of Peruvians — Hydrangea
— Blue Hydrangea — Everlasting flowers — Gnaphalium —
Helichrysum — Xeranthemum — Globe Amaranth —
Prince's Feather — Coxcomb — Strawberry Elite —
Rudbeckia — Milfoil— Golden rod 159

SEPTEMBER.
Oriental Arbutus — China Aster — Michaelmas Daisy —
Autumn flowering Gentians — Yellow Gentian — Autumnal
Crocus — Colchicum 171

OCTOBER.

Chrysanthemum — Feverfew — Cotoneaster — Mignonette —
Tree Mignonette 1 78

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER.
Monthly Rose — Winter Cherry — Anemones — Christmas
Rose — Evergreens — Laurel — Portugal Laurel — Sweet
E ay— Rhododendron— Evergreen Thorn . . . .185

JANUARY.

" Here spreads a range of level plots,
Of box-fringed beds, where lurking knots
Of buried flowers repose, to bring
Kind greeting to the early spring." — Bishop Manx.

Vegetation makes little progress now, for the
earth seems waiting for the breath of spring.
The seeds lie dormant till some access of heat
shall cause them to germinate, and the roots
abide imderground, till the coming thaw shaU
enable them to put forth their fibres, and to
send their young green shoots into the light of
the upper world.

Yet, even at this time of the year, the garden
is not absolutely forsaken of leaves and blos-
soms, for God has given us winter flowers, and,
like those cheering hopes of future joy, which
spring up in the heart at the bidding of our
heavenly Father, during the season of gloom,
they smile even on darkest days, and give
assurance of fulness and beauty, such as Ave
should deem impossible if we looked only on
the present appearances of earth and sky.
The buds gradually increase in number, and
grow larger on the branches of the trees. The
evergreens, with their many dark green leaves,
or with their lighter hue, Uke the laurel, re-
flect, on their shining surfaces, the noonday

8 GAEDEN FLOWERS.

sunbeams, and the laurnstinus and the rose-
mary bring theii' flowers to form the winter
nosegay.

There is a sweet fragrance in the rosemary.
So thought our forefathers when they used it
at table, and infused it in their ale. George
Herbert considered it a good addition to cook-
ery, for while he saj's that the country parson
should be well skilled in the knowledge of
plants, he recommends this and other herbs.
" As for spices," says he, " the parson doth not
only prefer this and other homebred things
before them, but condemns them for vanities,
and so shuts them out of his family, esteeming
that there is no spice comparable for herbs, to
rosemary, thyme, savory, and mint ; and for
seeds, to fennel and carraway seeds." The
troubadours, too, prized the winter fragrance
of the rosemary, and regarded both this flower
and the violet as emblems of constancy. In
many parts of Germany it is still grown in
large pots, that small sprigs of it may be sold
during winter and the commencement of spring,
as it is used there for some religious ceremo-
nies.

From the cottage maiden, who wore a wreath
of this plant to the altar, to the royal bride of
the king, the rosemary was once the customary
ornament of the wedding ceremony; and in
funerals it was often used. Its sprigs mingled in
the coronal which bound the hair of Anne of
Cleves, on the day when she became the -wife
of the tyrannic Henry ; and it was intended

JANUARY. 9

as an emblem of a happiness which she was
not destined to enjoy, with that inconstant
monarch.

The flowers of the rosemary {^Rosmmimis
officinalis) are of a bkiish Hlac colour, and are
on the shrub from this month until April. The
plant has been from time immemorial common
in the English garden, and grows wild in the
south of Europe. It is found, too, on some
parts of the dry deserts of Africa. Dr. Sha^v
saw the rosemary, and the dried stems of the
myrtle, used by the Moors in Barbary, for
heating ovens ; and was reminded of the words
of our Saviour respecting the flower of the
field, Avhich " to-day is, and to-morroAV is cast
into the oven."

If the weather be mild during January, the
snow-drop (Galanthus nivalis) droops its head
over the earth. The Italians call it snow-bell.
It is a wild flower in our laud. The Russian
snow-drop (Galanthus plicatus) is not found in
our native fields, but is common ^n the lands
of the Crimea. This species is smaller than
the English snow-drop, and continues in blos-
som later in the year.

One or two of the various species of snow-
flake, especially the spring kind, (Lencojmn
venntm,) are also conmion now. They are
pretty l)ulbous- rooted plants, natives of various
parts of Europe, and abundant in Switzei'land.
This flower was formerly known as St. Agnes'
flower.

With a blossom of a reddish purple colour,

A3

10 GARDEN FLOWERS.

the round-leaved cyclamen (Cyclamen Coum)
often salutes the opening year. The name of
this genus, taken from the Greek, and signify-
ing circular, is expressive either of the leaves,
or, more probably, of the numerous serpent-
like coils, into which the fruitstalks entwine
themselves. The bulbs of this and the other
species of cyclamen are as large as a Guinea-
fowl's-egg. They contain a great degree of
acridity. In the north of Italy swine feed upon
them, hence the name by which this plant is
often called of sow-bread. It is not till the
beautiful flowers of the cyclamen wither away,
that the stalks assume the coiled form before
alluded to ; when, screwing themselves round,
they inclose the rudiments of the fruit in the
centre, and lying down among the fohage, re-
main in that position till it comes to maturity.
This early cyclamen is very general in the
south of Europe.

The Persian cyclamen, {Cyclamen Persicum,)
which blooms two months later, and is far less
hardy than this, is a native of the isle of
Cypru.s, and was introduced into this country
rather more than a century since. One rarer
species, the ivy-leaved (Cyclamen hedercefolium,)
has a most fragrant odour, and sometimes en-
livens the window among the white and lUac
primroses, which are cherished in flower-pots
at this season.

Large patches of the broad-leaved candy
tuft (Iberis semperflorens) are now on the gar-
den-plot, with clusters of pure white cross-

JANUARY. 11

shaped blossoms. Most of the species Avere
brought hither from Spain, and their Latin
name, from its old appellation of Iberia, re-
minds us of their origin. All the species are
common on the northern shores of the Mediter-
ranean. Some of the later blooming kinds are
abundant on the rocks of Gibraltar, and afford
a relief to the eye, wearied with gazing on their
barren surfaces. The early flowering cress
(Arahis albida) is not unUke these plants, and
blooms from this period till autumn. It is a
native of Caucasus.

Winter is not the season for odours, and few
breathe their sweetness in the frosty air;
but there is one plant in flower, which is so
powerfully fragrant as to fill a small garden
with its perfume. This is the scented colt'sfoot,
{Tussilarjo fragrans.) Its stem rises but a little
height from the ground, and it has many and
large leaves. If the growth be not restrained,
it sends out so many young suckers from its
root, that it will cover the garden and overrun
the more delicate flowers. The blossoms are
white, and their scent is like that of almonds.
It is very abundant on some lands of Italy,
and flowers in that lovely climate during the
Avinter months.

The brightest flower of the winter garden,
the very gem of January, till the crocus comes
to rival it, is the winter aconite, {Eranthis hy-
emalis.) Its glossy yellow cups, growing near
the earth, gave it its name, which, taken from
the Greek, imports earth-flower. Its leaves

12 GARDEN FLOWERS.

are much like those of the aconite or wolfsbane.
This flower belongs to the ranunculus tribe ; and,
like all plants of that order, it is very acrimo-
nious and also poisonous. A person known to the
writer, once thoughtlessly ate a small piece of
this pretty blossom, and experienced so violent
a burning sensation in his throat for some
hours afterwards, as to be seriously alarmed.
It is a frequent flower in the shady woods of
Italy, and is found in wooded spots very gene-
rally in the midland countries of Europe ;
while a species very similar, but which has
not yet found a place in our gardens, the Sibe-
rian eranthis, grows most plentifully in Siberia.
The old writers called it yellow wolfsbane,
and winter wolfsbane. Clare well describes
this flower —

" The -winter aconite,
With buttercup-like flowers, that shut at night;
Its green leaf furling round its cup of gold,
Like tender maiden ifluflled from the cold."

FEBRUARY.

" A tale of spring around the distant haze
Seems muttering pleasures with the lengthened days ;
Morn wakens, mottled oft with May-day stains,
And shower-drops hang the grassy sprouting plains ;
Or on tlie naked thorn of brassy hue.
Drip glistening, like a summer stream of dew ;
The woodman in his pathway, down the wood,
Crushes with hasty step full many a bud
Of early primrose ; yet if timely spied.
Sheltered some old half-rotten stump beside,
The sight will cheer his solitary hour.
And urge his feet to strive and save the flower." — Ci.are.

Notwithstanding the usually dreary aspect of
this month, yet still there are days on which

FEBRUARY. 13

nature seems to tell a tale of spring. And
cheering it is, at such brief intervals to wel-
come its approach, and to persuade ourselves
that snow and rain and frost have left us, and
that the early flowers ay ill soon cluster about
us. But again the clouds return after the
rain ; the white fleeces from heaven descend,
as God " sendeth forth his snow like morsels,"
and we find we have yet to wait longer before
the leaves shall cover the boughs, and the
herbs, with all their myriads of blossoms,
shall silently praise the hand of Him who
made them.

But by the end of the month the snows are

generally disappearing, and then we see how,

under their covering, the young leaves and

buds have found a shelter from the frosts.

ISIany a green thing has been thriving beneath

the snow. In the northern countries of Europe,

the grass not only lives, but daUy grows under

it ; and the Norway peasant, who longs that

the verdant land shall yield him food for his

cattle, scatters the ashes over the white surface,

that the young blade may rise to the sunshme.

And mercifully has the great Creator thus

ordained it, for in those more rigorous climates

the snow seldom leaves the earth till the sun of

April has, in our warmer regions, smiled out

upon the fields, and made them gay with many

ccloui's.

First and brightest of Febmary flowers we
must hail the crocus, standing forth in its deep
bright raiment of " cloth of gold." Several

14 GARDEN FLOWEKS.

species of yelloAV crocus bloom now, but the
kind especially termed the spring crocus
(Orocus vermis) which often opens in January,
has usually white flowers tinged Avith purple,
or is striped with purple and gold, or Avith a
delicate tinge of lilac, softening into pure wliite.
This flower, which is a native of Switzerland
and Italy, is called by the French le safran
printanier. The true saffi-on crocus, however,
blooms in autumn. The species which blooms
earliest in the spring, is the Scotch crocus,
{Crocus biflorus,) striped with white and pur-
ple. The beautiful kinds of feathered crocus,
are varieties altered more or less by cultiva-
tion, but all included under the names of party-
coloured crocus, (Crocus versicolor.) This
flower is a native of southern Europe, and very
abundant on the hills of Greece. Rich saw
both pink and yellow crocuses growing wild in
Koordistau, all over the roads. Gardeners
enumerate about a hundred kinds of the
crocus. It was introduced into England about
the time of Queen Elizabeth. Gerarde says
of it, " That pleasant plant that bringeth forth
yellow flowers, was sent unto me from Robinus
of Paris."

Then the mezereon, (Daphne mezereum,)
though a shrub of our native woods, is rare
enough to be planted in our gardens, because
it flowers at this early season. The Pontic
Daphne, too, (Daphne Pontica,) -with its dark
evergreen shining leaves, and its wreath of
green Avinter flowers, often finds a place there.

FEBRUARY.

15

It is a native of Asia Minor, and is supposed
to be one of the plants which, \nth the rhodo-
dendron, poisoned the honey of the bees, and
caused tlie death of the soldiers, in the famous
retreat of the "ten thousand" recorded by
Xenophon.

It is remarkable that the nectar of some
flowers should yield a honey poisonous to those
who eat it, but quite innoxious to the bees;
yet it is undoubtedly the case. Professor Lind-
]ey observes of the rhododeiadron, kalmia, and
andromeda, that they have not only noxious
leaves and branches, but that their very honey
is poison, " as has been too fatally experienced
by those who have fed on the produce of the
hives of Trebizonde."

There are in our gardens two varieties of the
common mezereon, one with red, the other vnth.
•white flowers ; and the twin-flowered spurge
laurel, though a wild plant of Britain, is com-
monly cultivated. The sweet-scented mezereon
(Daphne oclora) is a pretty shrub, but needs
the shelter of the greenhouse.

Several kinds of daphne are used in the
south of Europe to dye wool yellow ; from
other kinds cordage is made ; and a soft paper
is manufactured from the bark of a species
common in Nipal. The inner bark of one
kind, called the lace bark tree of Jamaica,
{Daphne lagetto) is so beautifully formed into
a network, that it is worn as lace. It has a
white shining surface, like silk, and when taken
carefully from the plant, the hand may be put

16 GARDEN FLOWERS.

into it as in a stocking. Sir Thomas Lynch,
who was governor of Jamaica in the time of
Charles i., presented that monarch witli a
cravat made of this materiaL The shrub will
not grow in the Enghsh garden.

The highly-poisonous berries of the mezereon
are given in Sweden to kill wild animals. The
women of Tahtary rub them on their cheeks,
and by causing an irritation, produce the tem-
porary efiect of rouge. Some writers think
that the scent of every species of daphne is
deleterious, and that if kept in rooms it will
cause head-ache and fainting.

The two varieties of hepatica are among the
prettiest flowers of the winter months. Some
are of a deep rose pink, others of a brilliant
blue colour ; and they bloom very brightly
among their ivy-shaped leaves. This plant
was once called noble liver-wort, and herb
Trinity. The colour of the buds is very deep,
but the outside tint of the petals of the blue
variety is a jaale grey. " The hepatica," says
the author of the " Backwoods of Canada,"
" is the first flower of the Canadian spring ; it
gladdens lis with its tints of azure, pink, and
white, as early as April, soon after the snows
have melted from the earth. The Canadians
call it snow-flower, from its coming so soon
after the snow disappears. We see its grey
flowers in the open clearings, and the deep
recesses of the forest : its leaves are also an
enduring ornament through the open months
of the year : you see them on every grassy

FEBRUARY. 17

mound and mossy root. The shades of blue
are very various and delicate, the white anthers
forming a lovely contrast with the blue petals."

The lilac double primroses are now A'ery
ornamental, as are also the red, white, and
flesh-coloured varieties. All the primroses are
valued for their early bloom, but our own "\\dld
sulphur-coloured kind is the prettiest of them
all, though it is seen to more advantage bloom-
ing in the wood among the withered leaves
than in the garden bed.

In some gardens the dark red flowers of the
species of gladiolus called Watson's corn-flag,
{^Gladiolus J-Fatsonhis,) are already in bloom.
It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. This
tribe of plants is obtained almost solely from
Southern Africa, and the large bulbous roots
arc a common food of the Hottentots.

The brightly-blushing flowers of the Japan
quince (Cydonia Japonica) redden among the
dark leaves of the bush on Avhich they grow.
This is a beautiful plant, with flowers of all
tints, from the faintest pink to a rich deep
scarlet colour. It is a favourite shrub of the
Japanese, who are remarkable, not only for
their general love of flowers, but for the atten-
tion which they have paid to the science of
botany. The traveller Siedbold, who spent
some time in this island, says that in no country
out of Europe is botany so much regarded as
there and in China. He enumerates ten
Japanese books on the science, which have been
printed and illustrated by coloured plates.

18 GARDEN FLOWERS.

A very pretty little spring flower is not un-
common even in tliis month. The bulbocodium
(Bulbocodium vernum') is like a small dark
jDurple crocus. It is a native of Spain. Tavo
or three species of the elegant corydalis bloom,
too, as early as February. They are very
similar to the fumitory. The bean-leaved
species {Corydalis fabacea) has purple flowers,
and is a native of Germany ; and the solid-
rooted kind, with its pink flowers, grows wild
in British woods, but its size is increased by
culture. The most common species is the
glaucous corydalis : it is a North American, an
annual, and may be sown so as to flower at
almost any season of the year.

The list of February flowers is short indeed.
A few more weeks and they will have increased
tenfold, yet we shall scarcely value them more
than we do these few and early blossoms, for
these come, with the voices of the robin and
the thrush, to whisper of brighter days in store
for the lover of nature. These come to remind
us that God's hand is yet working gradually,
even as it did when the earth Avas first robed
with verdure, and when each successive day
witnessed the fresh and luxuriant growth of
primeval vegetation.

MARCH. 19

MARCH.

"How many a thing that pretty is, delays
The wanderer's steps heiieath the sun's soft rays.
Gay daffodils bend o'er the watery gleam,
Douhling their flickered image in the stream ;
The woody nook, where bells of brightest blue
Have clothed the ground with heaven's ethereal hue ;
The lane's high-sloping bank, where pale primrose,
With hundreds of its gentle kindred blows ;
And speckled daisies, that on upland bare.
Their round eyes opening, scatter gladness there :
Man looks on nature with a grateful smile.
And thinks of nature's bounteous Lord the while."

Joanna Baillie.

When the fruit-trees are covered with flowers,
when the peach on the wall puts forth its lilac
blossoms, and the apricot's faint blush, and the
dark red streaks on the apple-bloom, attract
our notice, then we feel fully that spring has
arrived. Not yet, however, can we mark these
blooms. The sun must have greater power,
and the winds be gentler, too, before these
tokens of spring shall revisit the garden.
Meantime the almond-tree becomes clad with
its rose-like flowers, and its sweet fragrance is
delightful in the open air. Like the blossoms
of many other of our fruit-trees, its scent is far
from innocent : a poison liu'ks, not only in the
juices and leaves of the plant, but even in its
odour ; and, as it is with many of the attract-
ive pleasures which open to the spring-time of
hfe, a snare lies hid in its dangerous beauty.

Could we at this season visit the land
" beloved for the fathers' sake," the beautiful
Palestine, wc should find the almond-blossom
covering the trees in every part of the country,

20 GARDEN FLOWEES,

on Loth sides of the Jordan. Even as we see it
in our spring garden, the mind invokmtarily
adverts to the place and period when Aaron's
rod " brought forth buds, and bloomed blos-
soms, and yielded almonds;"* and when' the
bowls nsed in the Holy Temple were made in
the shape of the almond ; or where Joseph's
brethren carried up into Egypt, as a present to
Pharaoh, its sweet-flavoured kernels.^ The
early-coming flower is spoken of by their pro-
phets as emblematic of haste, or of the head of
age ; to the ancient Hebrew it told of things of
which we take little cognizance ; yet still we
may listen to its silent voice of remembrance,
and be led by the almond-flower to thoughts of
God.

The common almond-tree (^Amygdalus com-
munis) and the bitter almond, (^Amygdalus
amara,) esj^ecially the former, are the species
chiefly cultivated in our gardens and shrub-
beries for the sake of their flowers. Their
fruits need a warmer climate to bring them to
maturity, but in France and Spain, as well as
in the Mediterranean isles, these shrubs are
planted for the kernels. We receive our sweet
almond of commerce chiefly from Malaga ; and
the bitter from Magadore. These two species
are so ahke in their form and flowers, that they
are distinguished chiefly by the flavour of their
fruits ; but the bitter almond contains the
larger portion of hydrocyanic or prussic acid ;

• Numbers xvii. S. t Gen. xliii. 11.

MARCH. 21

and a distilled water made from it is as injurious
as the laurel water.

The profuse flowering of the almond- tree
was formerly considered as indicative of an
abundant harvest. This is alluded to by
Vii-gil—

" Mark well the flowering almond in tlie wood ;
If odorous blooms the bearing branches load,
The glebe will answer to the sylvan reign,
Great heats will follow, and large crops of grain.
But if a wood of leaves o'ershade the tree,
Such, and so barren, will the harvest be;
In vain the hind shall vex the threshing floor,
For empty straw and chaff shall be thy store."

In Egypt a paste made of almonds is used,
through which to filter the water of the Nile,
when muddy, at the time of the annual flood,
and by this mode of filtration it is rendered
sweet and pleasant, even to those who, but for
some process of this kind, could not drink it.
At the Cape of Good Hope the wood of the
almond-tree is made into heels for shoes.

One or two pretty flowering shrubs, of the
genus coronilla, are daily putting forth more
blossoms. The nine- leaved species (Coronilla
valentind) is a great ornament of the green-
house, with its pretty yellow, butterfly-shaped
flowers; and, like the seven-leaved species,
{Coronilla glauca,) blooms both in winter and
summer, though it flowers most freely in this
and the following months. The latter plant
has bluish green leaves, and its flowers are
fragrant during day, though scentless at night.
The most frequent of our garden kinds is the
scorpion senna, {Coronilla emerus,) which

22 GARDEN FLOWERS.

blooms in April, and is a native of most parts
of the continent. A dye is obtained from this
plant which is litle inferior to indigo. The
small tufted coronals of flowers gave to this
genus of plants the name of coronilla.

The daffodil is now nodding to the breeze,
and sending its strong scent on the air. The
old writers called it Lent lily, chaUce flower,
and daffy-down-dilly. Our gardens have a
great variety of this flower, as the Tradescant's
daffodil, which is the handsomest kind ; the
nonsuch ; the yellow incomparable, and many
others. They are all in blossom during this
month ; some of them remain through April,
and they all grow Avild in the fields of southern
Europe. Our old writers appear to have in-
cluded under the general name of daffodil, the
smaller jonquils, and indeed all the narcissus
tribe. Some of those which we call narcissus
are very pretty flowers of the early spring, but
the jonquils are most fragrant ; the latter were
sometimes called, in former times, by the name
of rush daffodil. The narcissus was much
esteemed by the ancients, and is still greatly
admired by the Asiatics, being fou.nd through-
out Syria, as far as India. The common name
of two of our species, Bazelman minor, and
major, is evidently of Eastern origin. The
polyanthus narcissus is much celebrated in the
east, as is also the poets' narcissus. The former
(Narcissus tazettd) derives its name from the
Italian tazza, a cup ; and is called in France
Le narcisse de Constantinople. Its scent is plea-

sant, and it is used in China in some relicioua
ceremonies, and its flowers are annually sent
to various parts of that kingdom, from Canton,
where it is cidtivatod for sale. The poets'
narcissus, called in France Janette des contois,
is a wUd flower, too, in some parts of England.

" And some faint odours o'er the vernal dew
Shall tempt the wanderings of the earliest bee
Hither, with music sweet as poetry,
To woo the flower whose verge is wiry gold."

Thus ElHott describes the polyanthus, which,
with its red, or claret-coloured, or lilac blooms,
decks every cottage garden, and looks up, too,
from the choicest flower border. The poly-
anthus much resembles the aiuicula, and is
simply a variety of our common wild primrose.
Thomson speaks of it as

" The polyanthus of unnumber'd dyes."

It differs from the primrose, not only in hue,
but in flowering in clusters, instead of having
each flower on a stalk. The leaves and roots
of this and other species of primrose are some-
times grated and used as snuff, or taken inter-
nally as a medicine.

The bright flowers of the garden anemonies
have a very gay and cheerful aspect, dazzling
the eye by their briUiant scarlet, or pleasing
it no less by their softer purple or lilac tints,
fading into white. These flowers have been
brought VIS from the east ; and some of the
fields of the Levant are, in early spring, quite
radiant with their varied and beautiful tints.
In the soft climate of Provence some most

24 GARDEN FLOAVERS.

lovely anemonies are scattered thickly over the
lands. Our handsome garland, or poppy
anemone, (Anemone coronarid) is the parent of
the finest fiorists' flower, and comes from the
hot and dry plains of Syria and Asia Minor.
The flower is Avhite, with a red ring round its
centre. The star anemone (Anemone stcUata)
is purple ; and the kind called garden anemone
(A7ie7none hortensis) is purple, with a white
centre ; and all the numerous varieties which
we haA'e in our gardens spring from one of
these three kinds. The anemone is another
flower much prized in the eastern bouquet.
D'Herbelot mentions a Persian work, a col-
lection of moral essays, which was called, in
the figurative language of that people, " The
Garden of Anemonies." In former days this
flower was believed to possess such magical
virtues, that the sages of old times recom-
mended every person to gather, in spring, the
earliest anemone he saw, and keep it as a pre-
servation from pestilence. For this pm-pose
it was carefully wrapped in scarlet, till spring
again brought the fresh anemone, to allure to
hope, and often to lead on to disappointment.
And ^vell is it for us that our destiny in this
life is not thus placed in our own keeping ; for
man, blind man, should choose the evil some-
times when he sought the good ; and while he
carefully shielded himself from sickness and
every afiliction, should perhaps put far from
him the very means of moral improvement,
the very trial which might be sent in mercy to

MAECH. 25

bear him from this world, and draw him to
God.

One or two of the many species of the star
of Bethlehem are already in flower, especially
that handsome kind called by gardeners the
great flowery star, {Omithogalum Arahieuni)
which is a native of Egypt. The most frequent
garden flower of the genus is that termed com-
mon star of Bethlehem, ( Ornithogalum umhella-
tum,) which flowers about a month later, and
is found, though rarely, in the English mea-
dow. It is called by the French, La Belle
cVonze heures — Eleven o'clock Lady, as it opens
at that hour and closes at five. Its white
flowers grow but few in a cluster. A parti-
cular interest is attached to this plant, from its
having been considered by Linna;us, and
other writers, as the dove's dung of Scripture.
That the roots of this and other species are
cooked and eaten in many parts of the east,
there can be no doubt ; and this species is
common throughout Palestine, and in the
neighbourhood of Samaria. It is so generally
used for food, that it would naturally have
a high value in a time of scarcity, like that
described in Scriptm-e, when a small quantity
was sold in Samaria for five pieces of silver.*
Tliis flower grows wild in Caucasus, Taurus,
and Northern Africa ; and it is expressly
stated by Dioscorides, that its bulbs were
sometimes cooked with bread, and were also

* 2 Kings vi. 25.

26 GARDEN FLOWERS.

often eaten raw. They were, too, in former
ages, the common food of the peasantry of
Italy and Southern Europe. The French term
the Star of Bethlehem Epi de lait, (milky
blade.) The yellow kind is a pretty and com-
mon flower. One species of this plant, the
officinal squill, (^Ornithogalmn sqiiilla,) is the
medicinal plant mentioned by the ancient
Greeks, and one of the very few named by
them which is used in modern times. It blooms
in April and May : it has white blossoms, and
is common in the Greek islands. Its root is of
a great size, and is said by Loudon to be often
as large as the human head, and shaped like a
pear. The leaves — often a foot long — continue
• green all the winter, and die away in spring ;
after which rises the tall stem with its pyramid
of white blossoms, that continue in flower two
or three months.

That pretty little favourite flower, the dog's-
tooth violet, is now opening in the garden
border. Unlike the violet in all but its early
appearance, it is a lovely little vernal bulb,
with petals of deep lilac, reddish stem, and
twin spotted leaves. The species now in flower
it the common kind, (Erythronmm dens cants.')
Its drooping flowers are sometimes quite of a
deep purple, but sometimes vary to white 5
and a species with yellow flowers, {E^'ythronium
Americanum) is found in our gardens a month
later. This latter flower requires skill and
management with us, but in its native forests
it is very luxuriant and beautiful. There its

MARCH. 27

pendant yellow blossom is described as " deli-
cately dashed \vitli crimson spots within, and
marked with fine purple lines on the outer
part of the petal;" while a variety of this
species is of a pale crimson colour, without
any spots or lines ; and a second is of a deep
gloAving yellow, its anthers of a reddish orange
colour, and thickly strewed -with fine powder.
These flowers gi-ow freely in Canada, and cover
large tracts of land, mingling their faint odour
with tliat of the sweet wild roses which grow
there, and with the fragrance of the flower
called by the colonists the milk weed, which
has the delicious perfume of a stock, and
which, with a few other powerfully scented
blossoms, compensate, in some measure, for
the want of odours in the Canadian violets,
which grow in profusion in their forests.

The dark bro\vn or yellow wallflower {Cliei-
ranthus cheiri) has been cultivated for many
centuries in our gardens, and furnished many
an allusion for the songs of the troubadours.
The Alpine wallflower is generally thought
handsomer than our common species, on ac-
count of its larger and more compact flowers,
but it must yield to the former in sweetness of
scent. This plant is a native of France and
Spain. The Avallflower grows wild on the
old walls of many an eastern city, whose
proud palaces are crumbling to dust. Lamar-
tine marked its blossoms, too, on Carmel, whose
" excellency" still remains, for it retains its
beautiful vegetation to a greater degree than,

28 GARDEN FLOWERS.

perhaps, any other mountain in Syria. Grow-
ing wild upon its heights, may yet be seen the
""bright blue hyacinth, the yellow jonquil, the
varied anemone, and the golden cup of the
poets' narcissus; while thyme and wallfiower,
and a variety of odoriferous herbs, yield to
every pressure of the traveller's foot an exqui-
site perfume; and the luxuriant vine, trailing
its broad leaves over its slopes, contributes,
with the flowers and shrubs, to render it yet
worthy of its Hebrew name of Carmel, which
signifies, a country of vineyards and gardens.
Its laurels are ever green; its olive-trees ever
fruitful, from the rivulets which wander down
its heights; Avhile on its very summits grow
the tall dark pines of the north, and the hardy
oak of our climates.

The wallflower is prized highly by Asiatics,
especially by the Persians. It will ever be a
favourite flower with us, for the fragrance
which it yields before the rose and other
summer flowei's yet please us with their odours.
Its pungent leaves are very wholesome for cattle,
and on this account it is often planted in j^as-
tures destined for their food. It bears the
smoke of cities better than some other flowers,
and is, therefore, frequently seen in the little
plot of ground which in the large towns is
devoted to the culture of flowers. The botanic
name — taken from the Greek — signifies hand-
flower, because it was gathered so often for
nosegays; and as we see it in the pent-up
garden, or the balcony which fronts the city

MARCU

29

-.vindow, Avhere smoke somewhat impairs its
lustre, Tve are reminded of Elliott's lines : —

" But mourning better days, the widow here
Still tries to make her little garden bloom,
For she was country born. No weeds aiipear
Where her poor pinks deplore their pnson-tomb;
To them, alas, no second spring shall come !
And there in May the lilac gasps for breath ;
And mint and thyme seem fain their woes to speak,
Like saddest portraits painted after death ;
And spindling wallflowers in the choking reek .
For life, for life lift up their branches weak.

The magnificent tribe of tulips, so often the
pride of the cottage garden, will now be coming
forth, one after another, as the spring advances,
but it will not be until May that the florist can
exhibit them in all their varieties, and con-
gratulate himself on their perfect forms and
clear colours. One of the earliest blowing
species, is that which is now found in many
a cherished garden plot, and is called by
gardeners Van Thol. {Tulipa suaveolens.) Its
red and yellow streaked cup glows in the fields
of southern Europe.

The French formerly called this ilower Tu-
lipan, vfhich, as well as our own name, is derived
from the Persian Thouhjhan, the word used
in Persia for the turban. The tulip was intro-
duced into England about the year 1557, and
was, for the next century, a source of consider-
able traffic in the Netherlands, .is well as an ob-
ject of gambling. Growers of tulips, during the
Tulipomania, purchased the bulbs at enormous
prices, and most remarkable speculations were
carried on by merchants with the tuhp-roots.

So GAEDEN FLOWERS.

The flower is still imich cultivated in Holland,
from which country all the rest of Europe are
supplied with bulbs. The varieties of tulip,
and the names given to them by florists, are,
like the different anemonies, nearly endless.
The kind which is considered as the " king of
florists' flowers," is the common tuUp, {Ttdipa
Gesneriana,) which was named after Conrad
Gesner, the celebrated Swiss botanist ; and
which has had more culture bestowed on it,
than perhaps any other flower in the world, if
we except such as are cultivated for the food
or other useful substances their plants may fur-
nish. Though this flower grows wild in the
Levant and Syria, and is occasionally seen in
the fields of Constantinople, yet the Turks have
for many centuries cultivated it in gardens. It
was brought to us from a garden of Turkey, by
Busbequius, and was first described by Gesner
in 1559. It appears, however, to have reached
England two years earlier, for Gerarde, at that
time, mentions the pains taken by one of his
" loving friends, a curious searcher of simples
and learned apothecary," who undertook, if
possible, to find out the number of sorts ;
" but," adds the writer, " he had not done this
after twenty years, not being able to attain to
the end of his travail ; for that each new year
bringeth forth new plants of sundry colours,
not before seen; all which to describe particu-
larly, were to roll Sisyphus' stone, or to num-
ber the sands."

An anecdote which is recorded of an occur-

MARCH. 31

rence during the prevalence of the tiilipomania,
shows the value which was attached to their
bulbs at that time. A merchant having given
a herring to a sailor, who had delivered some
goods, left him to his breakfast. The man
seeing some tuHp-roots lying near him, mis-
took them for onions, and ate a part of one of
them with his fish. The narrator observes,
that this single root was so valuable, that the
sailor's meal cost the merchant more money
than if he had entertained a prince.

The tulip is much admired in the east, and
as it grows wild in Palestine, it is one of the
flowers which have been considered as the
" lihes of the field" of Scriptui'e. The Turks,
as well as the Persians, hold annually a feast
of roses ; and the former people have also a
yearly festival of tuhps, when the grand
seignior exhibits a display of oriental magnifi-
cence.

And now the large drooping bells of the
crown imperial {Fritillaria imperialis) hang
in garlands imder the coronal of leaves which
surmounts the stem. It was formerly called
Persian hly, as it is a native of Persia. Its
sweet honey is said to be poisonoiis to bees.
The fight purple bells, too, of the early bloom-
ing Penstemon (^Penstenion camjyanulata) are
coming into flower. This species is a native
of Mexico, and all the kinds of this plant have
reached us from the various parts of America,
where they are common flowers.

The bright blue flowers of the periwinkle

32 GARDEN FLOWERS.

( Vinca mcijor^ have been open here and there
all through the winter, but are much more
abundant now, and during the summer months.
They are the common ornaments of cottage
gardens, and sometimes grow wild by streams
or in woods. Hurdis describes thei?i —

" See where the sky-blue periwinkle climbs
E'en to the cottage eaves, and hides the wall
And dairy lattice, with a thousand eyes
Pentagonally formed, to mock the skill
Of proud geometer."

This species is wild in all the countries of
southern and middle Europe.

But some of our garden perimnkles are not
blue. There is the Madagiiscar periwinkle,
( Vinca rosea,) of a beautiful pink colour ;
Avhich, like our common species, blooms during
the greater part of the year, and bears its twin
floAvers, and twines luxuriantly among the
trees and bushes of Ilindoostan. Then there
are the silver-striped, gold-striped, white-
flowered, and several others, some of their
varieties produced by cultivation from our com-
mon blue species, and others introduced from
India. The name of vinca is derived from vin-
culum, a bond. The French term the flower
pervenche. Its old Anglo-Saxon name was
peruince, and Chaucer calls it by another ;
thus, he says,

" There sprange the violet a) newe,
And fresh pewinke rich of hewe."

It was supposed, in the olden times, to cure the
cramp, and wreaths of its twigs were woimd
round the limbs for this purpose.

IIAECH. 33

The violet, the lowly violet, belongs to the
wild flowers, yet it is valued now in the garden,
when lavender and other fragrant plants are yet
waiting for sunshine to bring forth their scents.
The dark blue double sweet violet, is merely a
variety of our Avoodland flower, and the Eus-
sian and Neapolitan violets are a great addition
to our garden bed. The Neapolitans

" Now in sv.-eet profusion spring,
Haunting the air."

This is a winter flower, too, for it has been
in blossom froua October, and will still bloom
on till May. Many of our garden violets are
brought from the fields and woods of America,
and are cultivated by our gardeners for the
beauty of their flowers, as they are not fra-
grant. There is one species very common on
the high mountains of Pennsylvania, with small
chocolate flowers and haiiy roundish leaves.
The rich vegetable mould of some of these
beech forests, is very favourable to its growth,
and like our native violet, it seems to seek se-
clusion, rejoicing not alone in the quiet of the
woods, but often blooming quite hidden among
the dead leaves, which the high winds have
scattered from the leafy boughs. This flower
is on this account called the clandestine violet,
(Viola dandestina.) It is a common remedy
for wounds, among the dwellers in the forests,
and is called " all heal." The bruised plant is
applied with great success for similar purposes
in several parts of North America, and, like
most of the violet tribe, its roots contain an

B

3<'; GAKDEN FLOWERS.

emetic pioperty. Botanists have stated that a
larger number of species of violets are found in
North America, than in any other portion of
the globe.

Besides the tufts of violets of various kinds
which are found in our spring gardens, we
might enumerate the large tribe of heartsease
or pansy, which flower is, in fact, a violet, and
is the Viola iricolov of the botanist. A. few
only of these flowers are found within the
tropics. Many are from America, and several
from Siberia. Some very pretty pansies grow
on the cliffs of Northern Europe. Linnajus, in
his work on the flowers of Lapland, says,
" Here and there, among the rocks, small
patches of vegetation were to be seen, full of a
variety of herbaceous plants ; among others,
Viola tricolor^ of which some of the flowers
were white ; others, with the upper petals blue
and yellow, and the lateral and lower ones blue ;
while others, again, had a mixture of yellow in
the side petals. All these were found within a
foot of each other, sometimes on the same
stalk."

The striped flowers of the Chalcedonian iris
{Iris Susiana) now wave gaily over the borders.
Its flowers are the largest and handsomest of
this most beautiful genus, and it was called by
the old writers, the Turkey flower de luce.
The various species of iris are chiefly European.
Several are from different parts of Asia, and a
few from America. The pretty Persian iris, {Iris
Persica,) with its fragrant and bright-coloured

MAECH. 35

blossoms, is a native of the country which its
name denotes. We have also some pretty-
Chinese species. The dark purple, almost
black kind of iris, called snake's head, (Iris
tuberosa,) is common in the Levant. The very
lovely white species, the Florentine iris (Iris
Florentina) is called by the French la Jiamhe
blanche. It grows wild in the south of Europe.
IVIilton describes these flowers, with their
various colours, as

" Iris all hues."

Among the ancients an iris was the symbol of
eloquence.

Some species of iris have large bulbous roots,
and many of the African kinds are commonly
eaten as food by the Hottentots. " The Iris
edulis" says Thunberg when speaking of the Cape
of Good Hope, " a plant which grew here in
great abimdance, and decorated the fields with
a variety of white and yellow and blue flowers,
was brought in great quantities by the slaves.
These bulbs were eaten either roasted and
boiled, or stewed with milk, and appeared to
me to be both palatable and noui'ishing."

The Hottentots live not only upon this root,
but on a great variety of bulbous-rooted plants,
Avith the bright blossoms of which the desert
is strewn. Bulbous plants are very generally
found in spots, which, at some parts of the
year, are dried up, and which would produce
no vegetation were it not for some such provi-
sion as is contained in the bulb. '' Thus,"

B 2

36 GARDEN FLOWERS.

says Professor Lindley, " in places like the hard
dry Karroos of the Cape of Good Hope, where
rain falls only for three months in the year ;
in the parched plains of Barbary, where the
ground is rarely refreshed by showers, except
in the winter ; and on the most burning shores
of tropical India, beyond the reach of the tide,
and buried in sand, the temperature of wliich
rises to 180°, bulbous-rooted plants are enabled
to live and enUven such scenes with periodical
beauty." The succulent stems and leaves of
other plants of the sandy deserts afford a simi-
lar provision, by their power of absorbing and
retaining the dews which water the desert;
and shall we not say with the psalmist, " Oh
that men would praise the Lord for his good-
ness, and for his wonderful works !" The igno-
rant Hottentot knows not how to till his land,
nor will its arid soil admit of culture. He cares
not to provide beyond the morrow, yet is he
cared for by the God who feeds the fowl of
the air, and instructs the bird of the wilder-
ness.

And now every day the garden-trees seem to
produce more young buds, and the buds are
expanding so ftiSt, notwithstanding the easterly
Avinds, and the blights Avhich they bring with
them, that there will be shade enough by the
time when the sun shall drive lis to seek it. The
winds yet whistle shrilly through some half-
clad branches, but Nature seems to be rejoicing,
and to be gradually putting on her strength
and beauty ; and the green of the half- expanded

APRIL. 37

foliage, though exhibiting less variety than the
hues of later seasons, has a beauty of its own —
a beauty of youth and freshness. It seems like
the imtried feeUngs and hopes of the young life
of human beings ; and were we not certain that
it should again bloom in another spring, we
should sigh as we remembered that it must
turn to the withered leaf, as surely as the early
hope shall change to disappointment. But
there are hopes which may grow brighter and
brighter as seasons and years move onward;
and bloom in freshness through a long eternity ;
and bring forth that joy which fadeth not
away — hopes which shall be consummated iu
an eternal spring, for they are founded on those
m-omises of God which are immutable.

APRIL.

"Is there a heart that beats and lives,
To wliich no joy the spring-time gives ?
Alas, in that unfeeling heart
No love nor kindliness hath part ;
Or chilling want, or pining care,
Must brood, or comfortless despair :
Blest, who witliout profane alloy,
Can revel in that blameless joy ;
More blest in every welcome hour
If spring-time smile, or winter lower,
Who round him scattered, hears and sees
What still the excursive sense may please;
Who round him finds, perchance unsought,
Fresh matter for improving thought;
And more, the more he looks abroad,
Marks, owns, and loves, the present God."— Bishop Mant.

The white and blushing blossoms of the fruit-
trees render the April garden a grove of flowers.

38 GARDEN FLOWEES.

Among the most abundant and the brightest
in tint, are the apple-blossoms, which thicken
and redden until by the close of the month their
redness turns to paleness. The apple which
they produce is among the most valuable of
British fruits ; and as the tree may be grown in
any soil or climate, and will bear its bright
blossoms and its ruddy store for many years, it
is not surprising that it should be so generally
cultivated. Though only twenty-two kinds of
apple were known to the Eomans, several
hundred varieties are now reared in this land.
The blossoms of none are more beautiful than
those of the Siberian crab, {^Pyrus pnuufolia)
Avhich is now in flower, and the small cherry-
like fruits of which, though harsh to the taste,
are the most deeply coloured and ornamental of
any of the species.

That this tree was cultivated by the ancient
Britons in the earlier days of this country,
there is little doubt. Our Enghsh name for the
fruit seems to have been derived from the
Saxon aeppel, while the cider made from its
juice is a slight abbreviation of the name of
seider, given by the early Britons to some
beverage which they had in common use. In
later days the apple juice has been used as a
cosmetic, and the old physicians estimated its
odour so highly that they often directed their
patients to hold in their hand " a sweet apple,"
as a remedy in some of those alarming infec-
tions, which, like the plague, once preyed upon
the inhabitants of this land.

APRIL. 89

The apple is familiar to us as a plant named
in Scripture. Thus the prophet Joel, describing
the mournful condition of the land of the
patriarchs, when lying under the wrath of
Jehovah, says, " The vine is di'ied up, and the
fig-tree languisheth, the pomegranate-tree, the
palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the
trees of the forest are wdthered, because joy is
withered away from the sons of men." Some of
oui- best commentators, however, are of opinion,
that the word translated apple, ought rather to
have been rendered citron, as the handsome
appearance of this latter tree, both while in
flower and fruit, seems, particularly suited to
the allusions of the inspired writers. The fruit,
too, is highly valued, while the apple of Pales-
tine is of an inferior quality.

Some very ornamental trees of the pear kind
are now putting forth their blossoms, and are
cultivated by our gardeners for their beautiful
flowers. A"^ species of pear {Pyrus salvifolia)
with downy leaves, something like those of the
sage, and with white flowers, is one of the
prettiest kinds. Several of these plants have
long silvery white leaves, others narrow silky
leaves, like the willow ; while one species
(Ptjrus nivalis) has round leaves, as white as
its snowy flowers. These trees are beautiful
in form, but their fruits are not fit for eating.
The ornamental plum-trees, too, are numerous,
with their white flowers ; and the pretty flower-
ing shrubs of the cherry-tree tribe, have a good
ett'ect in the garden or shrubbery. Several of

40 GARDEN FLOWERS.

them liave large double flowers. One kind of
cherry, the perfumed cherry-tree, (Cerasus
Mahaleb,) often found in gardens, has a sweet
scent, like that of the clematis, which is percept-
ible at a considerable distance. Its hard round
fruit is used for beads by Catholics, and the
wood is scented by the French, and manu-
factured into various articles of furniture. The
manufacture is carried on cliiefly at the village
of St. Lucie, near Commercy, and hence this
wood is called by the French, hois de St. Lucie.
With us the tree is planted lor its profuse and
fragrant flowers.

" Shade-loving hyacinth, thou comest again,
And thy rich odours seem to swell the flow
Of the lark's song, the redbreast's lovely strain,
And the stream's tune."

Thus sang Elliott to our woodland hyacinth,
which now is blooming. Our garden hyacinths
are much like the wild species, but are double,
and have a variety of tints. Some are dark
blue or pale azure, others are of pink, amethyst,
white, or primrose colours. This flower is
the eastern hyacinth, (^Ili/acinthus Orientale.)
It has long shed its beauty on the in-doors'
room, from the water vase, and now flourishes
freely in the open air. It has one advantage
when grown in the water above its growth in
the ground, inasmuch as we can there see the
fibres fi'om tlie root, which are almost as beau-
tiful as the flower itself, while, in the garden,
these are concealed from our view. A variety
of names have been given by florists to these

APRIL. 41

favourite flowers. The species thought to
have been earhest introduced into our gardens
is that called the King of Great Britain. Like
the tuhp and narcissus, this flower has been
much cultivated by the Dutch, and is still
among them an article of commerce with other
nations. They Avere the first European culti-
vators of the hyacinth, and raised it in their
gardens as eaidy as the commencement of the
sixteenth century. About the latter end of
that century, there were seven or eight varieties
knoma in England, while Miller says that iu
his time — rather more than a hundred years
ago — the Haarlem florists had above two
thousand kinds. The passion for hyacinths
which once existed in Holland, has, like many
other popular follies, greatly subsided; but the
beauty of the flower will ever make it valuable ;
and above four hundred kinds are annually
brought into England, by seedsmen, from Hol-
land. The garden hyacinth is a native of the
Levant and of several parts of the east. It
grows wild in abundance in some parts of
Syria, flowering in February, and its roots and
blossoms are much larger than those with us.
It is said to be very beautiful on the lands
lying by the coast of the Jordan, from the
Dead Sea. Schubert, describing his course
from this part of Syria, along the border of the
Lake of Gennesaret, says, " Whoever desires
views really extensive and beautiful, and lilies,
tulips, hyacinths, and narcissuses, must in the
sprinjj season visit this district, where also

b3

42 GARDEN FLOWERS.

the garlic assumes a size and beauty which
might render it worthy of becoming an orna-
mental plant in our gardens."

In Russia the hyacinth has been found wild,
with bells of deep yellow. The roots of all
species of hyacinth are more or less poisonous.
This flower is much admired in the east, and
some years since, the favourite apartment of
the Sultan at Constantinople was called the
chamber of the garden of hyacinths. Dr.
E. D. Clarke contrived to gain admittance into
this retired spot. He describes it as a small
garden, neatly arranged in a number of oblong
borders, edged with porcelain or Dutch tiles.
Not a flower was to be seen in this cherished
parterre, save the eastern hyacinth, and this
waved its thousands of bells ; but, by its mo-
notony, the garden was rendered less pleasing
than gardens in general, and had a dreary
and unvaried aspect. One would have ima-
gined that the powerful odours from a garden
of hyacinths, borne upon the warm air of the
soutla, would have rendered the neighbouring
apartment neither healthful nor agreeable; yet
here, gazing upon the flowers, the Sultan spent
a great part of his time.

The starch hyacinth, called also grape
hyacinth or grape flower, [Muscari txicemosum,)
received its former name from Curtis, on
account of its strong odour of starch, and the
quantity of thick mucilage w*hich exists in the
plant. The old writers termed it tassel
hyacinth, " because," says Parkinson, " the

Aran, 43

whole stalk, ^vitll the flowers upon it, doth
somewhat resemble a long purse tassel, and
thereupon divers gentlewomen have so named
it." It is in some parts of France called wild
onion, on account of its ovate, bulbous root.
The flowers are composed of a thick compact
cluster of small purple or ash-coloured bells.
The species called musk-grape hyacinth, is a
handsomer flower than the starch kind. It has
narrow leaves, more than a foot long, and grows
wild in southern Europe. The feathered hya-
cinth [Miiscari comosnm monstrosiirn) is an
exceedingly pi-etty border flower. It blows
during April and May. Several kinds have
an odour of musk, hence their Latin names
from milieus. This substance is called misk
by the Arabs. The flower is very general in
the east, and one of the commonest in the
Syrian field.

" In spite of nippins; sheep and hungry cow,
The little daisy finds a place to blow."

Clare writes thus of our field flower, and the
garden daisies keep pace with it. Indeed all
the double, and quilled, av hen and chicken
daisies, which have, for ceuuines, ornamented
the edges of flower beds, are merely varieties
of the common daisy, {Bellis jjerennis.) The
Germans have raised a great number of
varieties of this flower, differing especially in
all the shades of red and white; but the dark
crimson daisy, so often clustering with the
London pride around the cottage garden bed,
is the most beautiful in hue. There is a

44 GARDEN FLOWERS.

garden species called the annual daisy, [Bellis
annua,) whicli is mucli like our British daisy,
and which grows wild as commonly as that,
in the fields of Italy, Spain, and France. The
large white Portugal daisy (Bellis sylvestris) is
the common ornament of the meadows in the
land from which it derives its name.

Some of our most elegant spring border
flowers are the saxifrages. They are chiefly
Alpine plants, growing wild on rocky or stony
places. ^ One of the most common kinds is that
which is in flower during this month, and
sometimes as early as February. It is tlie
thick leaved saxifrage, {Saxifraga crassifolia.)
It has pale purple blossoms, and large showy
foliage. During autumn the leaves of this
plant wither, and the stem turns quite black,
and forms fibres, which constitute tlie root of
the plant which is, in the following spring,
to enliven the garden. This flower is a native
of Siberia, growing among the snows of that
inclement clime, and blooming far up the hills
of those dreary regions. The variety called
the thick heart-leaved saxifrage bears larger
blossoms. The London pride (Saxifraga
umhrosa) is the hardiest and most common of
the genus. It grows wild on some of our
mountains. The French term it Amourette.

Nearly sixty species of saxifrage bloom in
the English garden. Though mountain flowers,
they will flourish on plain and valley; and
many, Hke the London pride, will bloom amid
the impure airs of the great metropohs. A

APIUL. 45

few are difficiilt to rear. They can bear the
cold spring winds, for their native haunts are
the high peaks of the mountains, and the
Alps and Pyrenees are made beautiful by their
blossoms, which open even on the limits of per-
petual snow ; but our winter, with its frosts,
injures them, for they have not at all times a
thick covering of snow over their roots, and a
wet season renders them still more sickly.
On their ice-clad regions they bloom unhiu't,
and tlie sno\v gradually makes room for their
blossoms to show themselves. Mrs. Sigourney
has some hues addressed to mountain flowers
well suited to them : — ■

"Man, who panting toils
O'er slippery steeps, or trembling treads the verge
Of yawning gulfs, o'er which the headlong plunge
Is to eternity, looks shuddering up,
And marks ye in your placid loveliness,
Fearless yet frail, and clasping his chill hands,
Blesses your pencilled beauty ! 'Mid the pomp
Of mountain summits rushing on the sky.
And chaining the rapt soul in breathless awe,
He hows and binds you drooping to his breast,
Inlialcs your spirit from the frost-winged gale,
And freer dreams of heaven."

The pyramidal saxifrage {Saxifraga coty-
ledon) is by no means an uncommon garden
flower, but its large handsome spikes of flowers
do not open till June. They ai-e white, spotted
with rose colour, and grow on the Pyrenees.
The saffron-coloured saxifrage {Saxifraga
wutata) with its yellow flowers, requires
shelter from the frost, and is among the least
hardy of the tribe. It grows wild on the high
lands of Switzerland and Italy.

46 GAKDEN FLOWERS.

One of the prettiest species is the round-
leaved, {Saxifraga I'otuncUfolia,) which blooms
later in the summer, and is most abundant on
the rocks and in the valleys of Piedmont ;
those valleys made deeply interesting, not only
by natural scenery, but by the faith of many,
who have in these seclusions died martyrs for
the truths of the gospel. A flower allied to the
saxifrages, and called golden saxifrage, grows
there too, and is eaten by the Piedmontese.

The purple flowers of the opposite-leaved
saxifrage, and the white-flowered granulated
kind, often bearing double flowers, are very
common in the garden during April. The
former was much admired by Dr. Clarke in
Norway. The most beautiful and scarce
plants were, he says, here pendant among the
cliffs : this species of saxifrage especially, and
a kind of gentian peeping above the snow.
The clustered Alpine, the starry, the larger
mountain, and the opposite-leaved species, also
grew in great beauty ; and " nothing," he adds,
" can be more elegant, than the hanging clusters
of the last, like pendent pearls upon the
rocks."

The bright flowers of the double furze
(Ulex Euro2)CBus) are very fragrant now. It
is merely a variety of our common moorland
furze. It is not often that double flowers are
found wild in this country, but this was dis-
covered some years ago to be growing on some
uncultivated moors of Devonshire, and has
since been propagated by cutting in the nursery

APEIL, 47

ground. The larger kind, called Irish -whin, is
a very luxuriant plant for the garden or shrub-
bery. It has no sjjines, and is often eight feet
high. It must be propagated by cuttings, as
it has never been known to ripen its seeds.
The wild fiu'ze is common on our English
heaths, and Stephens saw it gromng in great
profusion in central America, on the ruins of
some of those interesting ancient cities, on
whose history books tlirow little hght, yet
whose origin and decay are deeply interesting
to the philosopher.

In many gardens we now find m flower one
or two species of arum, as the purple and
Virginian arums. All kinds of this plant are
sutficiently like our Avild flower, called lords
and ladies, to be recognised without difficulty
as belonging to the same genus. They all
have a central column, called by botanists a
spadix, on which the flowers are found. The
roots of all, hke those of the wild ai'um, are
pungent and acrid ; but some of them are
milder, and, as well as the leaves, are nutritive,
when cooked. The celebrated yam of the
isles of the southern ocean is the root of one
of them. They are very abundant, and of
various species in hot climates, and are used
as common food by the natives of the West
Indies. One species cultivated in our gardens,
and growing wild in many parts of southern
Europe, is the common dragon flower (Arum
dracunculus) called by the French la ser~
pentaire. It is a remarkable plant, and

48 GARDEN FLOWERS.

reminds one of a snake, by its leaves spotted
■with purple and brown. The flower has so
strong an odour of carrion, that few persons
can bear to approach it. Still more offensive
is the odour from a species of arum which
grows in ditches, about the Straits of Magellan.
This plant has the appearance of an ulcer, and
so powerful is its odour of decayed meat, that
the flesh-fly deposits her eggs on its flowers.

Dr. Lindley, treating of the acridity Avhich
exists in the roots of the arum tribe, names
one which has a singular and dangerous poison.
This is the celebrated dumb cane of the West
Indies and South America. This plant grows
to the height of six feet. " It has," says this
writer, " the property, when chewed, of
swelling the tongue and destroying the power
of speech." Dr. Hooker relates an account of
a gardener, who incautiously bit a piece of
the dumb cane, when his tongue swelled to
such a degree that he could not move it. He
became utterly incapable of speaking, and was
confined to the house for some days, in the
most excruciating torment.

More than a dozen species of arum have
been introduced into the gardens of England,
but they are, on account of their unpleasant
odour, but little in general cultivated, and
chiefly left to the gardens of those who value
them as curiosities. One very lovely kind,
however, is often found gracing the hall or
parlour, and has a sweet fragrance. It is some-
times called the horn flower, {Galla Ethiopica.)

APRIL.

49

It has a large white flower, shaped like a leaf,
and looking like an alabaster vase, while from
the centre rises the bright golden column.
Leaves of glossy surface and bright green
colour, sometimes two feet in length, add to its
beauty, and it is so like the wild arum that it
will not be doubted as being of the same tribe.
It is very common at the Cape of Good Hope,
having a most magnificent appearance on any
moist portion of that arid soil, and growing
even in ditches.

Several species of arum afford medicines,
and the roots of some kinds, when boiled in
milk, are thought to have been very usefuHn
consumption. The dumb cane yields a juice
which gives a permanent dye to linen. Some
of the newly-gathered leaves are used in Deme-
rara as blisters. One kind, very abundant in
the woods of North America, is called the
Indian turnip, as the Indians eat its boiled root.
This is the arwn atropurpurewn, which has
handsome leaves tinged with blue, and which is
a vegetable of great service to the European
settlers in these vast forests. The soft, silky
leaves of some species are used in some hot
countries as plates and dishes.

One or two species of spirasa are now begin-
ning to put forth their blossoms on the shrubs.
The smooth-leaved spircca {Spircea lcvvigata)is
one of the earliest, and is a native of Siberia.
Its flowers are of a pale rose colour. The
pretty flower, commonly called Itahan May,
(Spircea Jiypericifolia,) is a very well-kuoAvn

I

50 GAKDEN FLOWERS.

species, with its large biinclies of small wliite
flowers, among its dark green leaves, and it is
an under-slirub in the tall American forest,
blooming with us in the month from which it
has its famihar name. About the same time,
too, we see the bridewort or queen's embroidery,
with its spikes of pinkish lilac flowers, looking
much Hke some piece of finely-wrought needle-
work ; and a little later the Vii-ginian Guelder
rose, and the Californian species, with its
loose clusters of feather-like white flowers,
floating up and down to every summer breeze,
may be seen decking the summer bed, delight-
ing most in a moist soil, and flourishing to
fullest perfection in the garden through which
a stream meanders.

Nor is this genus destitute of those herb-
aceous plants, those lowher flowers, which
sometimes find room on beds which could not
admit of the more spreading shrub. The mea-
dow sweet {Spircea ulmaria) is often brought
from our wild fields into the garden ; the goat's
beard, (^Sinrcea aruncus.) a Siberian species, is
very ornamental with its white flowers in the
month of June ; and the dropwort of our
meads {Spircea Jilipendula) is very pretty in
the garden, when its blossoms have, by culture,
been rendered double.

The bladder-nut (Staphylea pinnatd) is a
hardy plant of North America, now in bloom.
Its flowers are white, and the brown seeds are
enclosed in a large inflated capsule or bladder.
The hard smooth nuts, bitter as they are, are

APRIL. 51

eaten in some countries, and in Catholic lands,
are struno: as necklaces and rosaries.

During this and next month we may see the
flowers of the numerous varieties of auricula,
(Auricula primula.) Most of them are kept in
pots, but some common kinds are found in the
garden, blooming beside the early hyacinth
and other spring flowers. This flower has
received great attention from florists, and in-
numerable varieties, differing both in blossoms
and foliage from each other, have been the
resiUt of their pains. Several volumes have
been written solely upon its culture, their
authors recommending a great number of
modes of treatment. The artisans of Lanca-
shire have long been celebrated for the beauty
of their auriculas, and Loudon observes, that it
is no uncommon thing for a mechanic of that
county, who earns from eighteen to thirty
shillings per week, to give two guineas for a
fresh variety, in order to raise seedUngs from
it. This flower was long known as the moun-
tain or French cowslip. It deserves its former
name, for it blooms above the snows of many
alpine regions of Italy, Switzerland, and , Ger-
many. It is also found wild in the neigh-
bourhood of Astracan. The old botanists
termed it bear's ear {Auricula ursi) from the
shape of its leaves, and gardeners have many
fancifid names for the varieties they have
raised. In its wild state the auricula is gene-
rally of a red or yellow, sometimes of a purple
colour, and occasionally variegated, or scattered

52 GARDEN FLOWERS.

over witli a mealy powder. In the garden the
darker kinds have visually more or less of this
white powder on their blossoms, and some-
times, too, on their foliage, as Thomson de-
scribes them —

" Auriculas enriched
With sliining meal o'er all their velvet leaves."

The expressed juice of the leaves of the
auricula, was, in former days, a valued medi-
eine ; and Ray gravely says of it, that if min-
gled with the milk of a red cow, it will cure
the most intense headache.

A pretty lloAver, called Greek valerian, (Po-
lemoiiium reptans^) is already in bloom. It has
light blue flowers, and is a native of America.
A much more frequent kind is the species
generally called Jacob's ladder, (^Polemonium
ccendeum,) which blooms "in almost every gar-
den in the month following this. It has numer-
ous blossoms, either of a light blue, or varying
in aU the shades of blue and bluish white, to a
pure snow-white tint. This flower is in Staf-
fordshire called charity ; and the familiar name
of Jacob's ladder was probably suggested by
the form of its leaves, which consist of a num-
ber of leaflets, opposite to each other, on the
stem, and not unlike steps. This was sufficient
to lead our forefathers to adopt it as an emblem
of something scriptural, at a period Avhen monks
and fi-iars were the chief cultivators of plants,
and the great discoverers of their virtues. The
ancient writers held in great repute a plant
which they termed polemo?iium. The name is

APRIL. 53

taken from the Greek word signifying war, and
Pliny relates, that it received this designation
from its having been the cause of war between
two kings, each of whom claimed the merit of
having discovered some medicinal properties
which it was supposed to possess. Great in-
deed must its virtues have been, if its good to
mankind could have at all compensated for the
ills brought on by war, and its attendant
miseries ; but if the plant we now call Greek
valerian, is the same as that which occupied so
much attention in ancient days, the discovery
was indeed of little value, and its remedial
effects of small power. It is not improbable,
however, that the old name has descended, in
this instance, to another flower than that to
Avhich it was originally given.

And now several of those ornamental plants
of modern gardens, the flowering currant and
gooseberry bushes, are hanging their abundant
blossoms to the sunshine. These shrubs were
iinkuown to us a century since, though now so
many species are common. One of the most
general of them all is now in blossom. This is
the red -flowered black currant, (Eibes sangui-
7icum.) Several varieties of this species are
cultivated, distinguished chiefly by the colour
of their blossoms. The dark-tinted variety is
the prettiest. This plant was brought hither
from California, where it grows wild, be-
neath the shade of the wood. It is found wild,
too, most frequently, and in greatest luxuri-
ance, in the neighbourhood of streams. MrS'

54

GARDEN FLOWERS.

Loudon observes, that "the colour of the
flowers varies very much according to the soil
on which the shrub is grown : the darkest and
brightest hue has been observable in those plants
which are grown on calcareous soils, and the
palest and least brilliant are those grown on
sandy soils." All the different species of flow-
ering currant are hardy plants, and bloom
early in the year.

Perhaps the most ornamental of all the com-
mon species of ribes, is the snowy- flowered
gooseberry, (Bibes nivemn,) with its hanging
bells as white as the purest wax, and its dark
purple fruits of the later season, which are
very agreeable to the palate. Then there are
other species, with red bells and long stamens,
hke the fuchsia ; and others with pale green
or gold-coloured blossoms ; while one beautiful
kmd, the wax-leaved currant, (Eibes cereum,)
has round leaves covered with a thin layer
of a wax-hke substance, and well deserves its
distinctive name. The fruits of these flowering
currant bushes are all wholesome, and some of
them agreeable to the taste. They are purple,
scarlet, or black in colour. Several of them'
however, will not ripen in this country, and
others have a harsh and crude flavour.

Many species of berberry are daily becoming
gayer with their pretty yellow flowers, nor wiU
they be less ornamental to the garden, when, in
the autumnal season, their dark red pendulous
fruits will glitter among the branches. Our
common kind (Berberis vulgaris) is well known,

ApniL. 55

but it is in very ill repute with tlie farmer, as
it is believed to be injurious to corn. How
far this reproach is merited, is a question still
much discussed by botanical v/riters. The
injury is supposed to originate with an insect,
which is very fond of the berberry tree, and
very generally found upon it, and this is thought
to cause a kind of powder, which, being scat-
tered over the neighbouring cornfield, alights
upon the wheat and barley, ancf produces a
sort of fungus, rendering the plant unhealtliy,
and giving it the appearance of mildewed corn.
Several naturalists of eminence have advocated
this popular opinion. The flowers of the com-
mon species possess stamens of so irritable a
nature, that Linnreus observed them all to tend
towards the central column, or pistil, if touched
ever so lightly by the bee ; and their singular
sensibility may be easily seen, by touching one
of the stamens with a pin, when they all imme-
diately curve and meet at the point. There is
a great degree of acidity in the red fruits of
this plant, and they are considered to afford
a good medicine in cases of fever ; Avhile they
hang untouched by the birds, which do not
relish their sour flavour. These fruits are
used for preserves, for garnishing dishes, and,
enclosed in sugar, are prepared as comfits by
confectioners. A great degree of the acidity is
also found in the bluish green leaves of the
berberry. The roots yield a yellow colour,
which is much used in Poland for dying lea-
ther; and the astringent bark and stem are

56 GARDEN FLOWERS.

valuable to our manufacturers in their coloui'-
ing preparations. Sometimes the fruits of the
common berberry are of a yellow colour, and
occasionally they ai'e purple in hue.

That pretty little border flower, the Venus's
looking-glass, (Ccanjycmiila speculum^) with its
white or purple circular blossoms, is very com-
mon. From its shape, hke that of the ancient
mirror, this flower derived its familiar name ;
and as the astronomical sign of Venus (9) was
a figure of the old mirror, and the handle by
which it was held, so the flower bears, too, the
name of the fabled goddess. The root of this
plant, like those of most other species of cam-
2)a)iula, contains a milky juice. The flower
grows very freely in the cornfields of southern
Europe, and is veiy common in France and
Italy, though on the former lands it is not
usually quite so large as we see it in our gar-
dens. A new species of Venus's looking-glass
{^Campanula Lorei) has lately been introduced
into the English nursery grounds. The flower
is called in France la doucette, and it was for-
merly known in this country as the corn-pink
and corn-gilliflower.

Some of the more hardy kinds of that sin-
gular flower the fig-marigold, are, by the end
of the month, glittering on the stone or rock-
work of the garden, and are the heralds of the
hundreds, which shall, as the season advances,
put forth their starry flowers. This handsome
tribe has been brought to us from the Cape
of Good Hope, and with its singular beauty

APRIL. , 57

and variety of colours, enlivens the dreary
deserts of Africa. Their common name was
given on account of their fruit, which is shaped
like a fig, and Avhich is eaten by the Hotten-
tots ; while the marigold is a good type of the
form of most of their blossoms. From the flowers
opening chiefly at mid-day, and never expand-
ing but to the sunshine, their botanic name is
derived from the Greek words mid-day flower.

The most common and hardy of all this
large genus of flowers, is the great yellow-
flowered kind, (MesemhryantJiemnm pomeridi-
aniim,) with its showy golden starry blossoms,
opening in June. One of the hardy kinds is
now in bloom. This is the long-horned fig
marigold, (^Mesemhryanthemum cornicnlatum,)
with flowers of pale yellow. All these plants
require to be kept very dry, their succulent
leaves deriving and retaining from our humid
atmosphere, more than enough moisture to
nourish them. Some of their leaves are most
singular and even grotesque in form. They
are described on the deserts of Africa as having
the appearance of masses of spotted stones or
shells. The colours of the flowers are not ex-
ceeded in brilliance by any tints of the vege-
table kingdoni; they are yellow, pink, scarlet,
violet, amethyst, purple, and indeed of every
tint of the rainbow.

Two kinds of fig-marigold, though requiring
shelter during the greater part of the year,
arc very popular plants, and often deck the
cottage window, beside the fuchsias and

58 GARDEN flo\\t:rs.

geraniums, which preside there. These are
those curious species, the ice plants, which
even on the warm summer day, seem as if
winter had condensed his icicles on their suc-
culent stems and leaves. One of these, the
ice plant {^Mesemhryanthemum crystalliniim) is
a biennial plant. The common frozen plant
{Mesembryantliemum glaciale) is an annual.
They have both white flowers, but it is for the
beauty of the crystallization on their foliage,
that they deserve culture. They were brought
into our gardens from Greece.

The leaves of several species of this plant
contain soda. One kind especially, the knot-
flowered fig-marigold, which is a native of
some of the dry plains of Egypt, is burned for
the great quantity of potash to be found in its
ashes. This plant, as well as another species,
burned for the barilla or soda which they con-
tain, are, by the Arabic writers, comprehended
under the general name of ghasool, signifying
the washer or washing herb, and they are
common not only in the deserts of Arabia, but
also in various parts of Syria. The ashes of
this and a similar species, yielding alkaline
substances, are supposed to be referred to in
Scripture under the word translated " soap" in
our version. " Though thou wash thee with
nitre, and take thee much soap," said the
prophet Jeremiah, "yet thine iniquity is
marked before me, saith the Lord God." For
the evil heart of Israel had led him astray
from God, so that he had become polluted in

APRIL. 59

the eyes of Jehovah, and no apphance of
man's device could cleanse him, till he turned
and submitted himself to God. As it is in
our day, so it was then, man could not atone
for past pollution or present sin, and the only
means of pm-ification and forgiveness was that
which the Holy Scriptures reveal.

The roots of some of these flowers, especially
one termed the edible fig marigold {Mescmhry-
anthemum edule) are very valuable to the Hot-
tentots, who often pull them up from their
sandy soils. One species of this plant is
abundant in the very different climate of the
Canadian woods. When the soil is sandy it
covers the earth like a thick mat, and when it
encroaches on the spot which the colonist has
appropriated for a garden, it is a most trouble-
some weed. It is a variety of the hour-
blowing fig marigold, and sends forth a con-
stant succession of yellow star-shaped flowers
from among its thick green traihng stalks and
its iuicy foliage.

ivitto speaks of these flowers on the Arabian
deserts as exceedingly numerous, and as ex-
hibiting every playful variety in the form of
the leaves. He says that " their aspect often
presents a delightful contrast to the comfortless
waste around, and the arid soil beneath

them.'"

Not the less beautiful, because it is very
common, is the lilac tree, {Syringa vulgaris,)
which graces alike the poor man's cottage
door, and the highest cultui-ed garden of his

60 GARDEN FLOAVERS.

rich neigliboiir. The old name of this plant
was pipe-tree, and pipe-privet, by either of
which it was known to the botanists of queen
EUzabeth's days ; and it was called privet be-
cause it was usually grafted on stocks of that
shrub, while its name of pipe originated with
the Turks, as the stems were often used by
them, for their long pipes. It is called in
Barbaiy by the name of sirinx, and hence we
have probably the name of syringa. This
flower is a native of Persia and other parts of
tlie east, as well as of Hungary and the shores
of the Danube. The Turks, who, in addition
to the love of flowers which they possess in
common with all the people of the east, have
an enthusiastic regard for a flowering tree, were
the 23eopIe from whom we first received this
beautiful addition to our gardens. It was
brought from the gardens of Constantinople,
in the sixteenth century, by the ambassador
Busbequius, and planted in the gardens of
Vienna. Being a plant which will bear a con-
siderable degree of smoke, it was soon a
favourite in the London gardens ; nor is any
shrub or tree more common than this, now, in
the plots which he around the dwellings in the
suburban villages of our metropolis, where it
flourishes exceedingly well. Even the courts
and back yards of the crowded streets are
often enlivened by its green leaves, though its
purple clusters refuse to bud in an atmosphere
so laden with fog and soot. It probably was
introduced during the reign of Henry vin.,

APRIL. 61

as •when Cromwell caused an inventory to be
made of the plants which grew in the garden
of the palace of Nonsuch, there were enume-
rated " six lilackes, trees which have no fruit,
but only a pleasant smell." Gerarde, in 1597,
says of the white and blue lilacs, " I have
them in my garden in great plenty." Our
common English name is merely a corruption
of that by which this shrub is usually called
in its native Persia, where it is known as the
Ulag, which word signifies a flower. The
French, too, term it le lilas. There are several
common varieties of this species, as the blue
lilac, {Syringa v. ccerulea) and the purple lilac,
{Syringa v. violacea) called the Scotch lilac ; and
as beautiful as either are the large thick
clusters of the white lilac, now contrasting
Avith the darker-coloured species, and wdiich
unfolds its fair flowers a week or two earlier
than even its deeper-tinted companion. There
are also two varieties with reddish purple
flowers, called by the French gardeners, le lilas
de Marly. Cowper had noticed its many hues.

" Various in array, now white
Now sanguine, and lier beauteous head now set
With purple spikes pyramidal ; as if
Studious of ornament, yet unresolved
Which hues she most approved, she chose them all."

Scarcely less frequent in our gardens, and
easily distinguished from the common kind, is
that species termed the Persian hlac, (Syringa
Persica. ) It is on the hills and plains of the
lovely Persia still more general than is the
larirer kind. Its leaves are long and pointed,

62 GABDEN FLOWERS.

while those of the common lilac are broad and
heart-shaped. Its clusters of flowers are less
compact, but blow loosely about in the
southerly winds of April, diffusing an odour,
delicious in the outer air, but which would
render the atmosphere of an apartment faint
and sickly. In Persia its delicate lilac flowers
are much admired ; and it often mingles with
the rose, the narcissus, and the jonquil, in those
bouquets which are sent by eastern letters as
expressions of sentiment.

The Persian lilac was, long after its intro-
duction into Europe, termed Persian jessamine,
and the Italians called it German jessamine.
This plant is sometimes grown in pots, and
made to flower at Christmas, but by this process
it quite loses its fragrance.

There are, in our garden, two or three
varieties of the Persian, besides some other
species of lilac. The Chinese lilac, with purple
flowers, is, as its name implies, a plant growing
wild in the celestial empire : while another
species is found wild on the mountains about
Pekin ; and a third smiles in beauty in
Kumaon, near the lofty mountains of the
Himalaya. These AviU, probably, some day
grace our English gardens, as they seem likely
to bear our climate.

A[AY. 6S

MAY.

" All the flowers that gild the spring,
Hither their still music bring ;
If Heaven bless them, thankful, they
Smell more sweet, and look more gay.

" Though their voices gentle be,
Streams have too their melody ;
Night and day they warbling run,
Never pause, but still sing on.

" Wake, for shame, my sluggish heart.
Wake and gladly sing thy part ;
Learn of birds, and streams, and flowers.
How to use thy nobler powers." — Hickes.

How wonderM appears the change which a
few weeks have now made on the face of
Nature, if we compare this month, and its
aspects and productions, with the comparatively
bare and gloomy appearance of the garden
during February and March ! How has the
Almighty's word been working as surely in
bringing forth the bright verdure and radiant
flowers from their wintry darkness, as it did
when he framed this beautifully organized
world out of chaos. In the northern countries
of Europe, where the change is greater and
more rapid, the effect is less pleasing than in
the gradual transition of our winter to spring.
Laing, speaking of this in Norway, says, the
snow is painfully bright to the eyes under " the
sunshine. When it melts, vegetation bursts
forth at once ; but the patchy, un picturesque
appearance of the country, with a knob of
a rock here, and a corner of a field there,
appearing through the white covering, deprives
us of the pleasing impressions of an English
spring. The rapid advance of vegetation is

64 GARDEN FLOWERS.

more astonisliing than pleasing. It is not
agreeable to step thus, all at once, from dead
winter to living summer, and to lose the chai-m
and interest of the gradual revival of a'll that
has leaf or wing."

In many tropical countries the change from
the winter to the early season is little marked,
for when the trees are evergreen, and the
flowers always bright, there is less variety in
the aspect of the season. The gradual coming
of leaves and flowers in our climate, and their
no less gradual decline, is to the year what the
morning and evening twilight are to the day.
"We should never estimate the shortness of life
were it not for the changing aspects of things
around us ; and whether this change be sudden
or slow, whether the flowers go and come in a
few hours, or a few weeks, yet as Ave mark
these beautiful objects to which the Scripture
has compared oiu' mortal lives, we should
adopt the words of David: " Lord, make me to
know mine end, and the measure of my days,
that I may know how frail I am."

May is universally hailed by the poets, as
the loveliest month of the year, and its coming
seems to revive in some the freshness of life,
and to make them feel young again. Many
sweet and familiar flowers now spring up day
by day on the garden bed ; and some very
beautiful shrubs are dressed in their garlands
of blossoms. The scarlet hawthorn blushes
like the rose, and it is merely a variety of our
wilding May. The dark lilac still contends with

MAY. 65

tliG snowy balls of the guelder rose ; and on
the low boughs of the Judas tree {Cereis Sili-
quastmm) the beautiful pink flowers are
ckistering in abundance. Its large showy
leaves are eaten on the continent in salads, as
are also those of the Canadian species, by the
settlers in the woods. The floAvers have a
slight and agreeable acidity, and are in France
fried in batter and eaten; while the wood,
finely veined with black and green, takes so
good a polish, as to be well adapted for the
cabinet maker, and the young branches are
used for dyeing wool.

Not less beautiful than either of the pre-
ceding flowers are the golden clusters which
now hang down from the labiirnum, (Cytisiis
laburnum.) This plant, which grows very
abundantly on the Swiss mountains, is called
by the French Cytise des Alpes. The wood of
the laburnum is so very valuable, that it has
been a matter of surprise that the tree should
not have been cultivated for its timber. Even
though growing to a comparatively small size
in our country, it is very useful for many
purposes. The Eomans thought this wood
next in valvie to ebony, and though this is not
so hard as that wood, yet, from its durability,
furniture made of it is stronger than that
manufactured of mahogany. The blossoms
of the laburnum are very fragrant, and their
hue gave to it the common country name of
goldfm chain. Llany persons are affected with
head-ache by their odour, and the seeds have

c

66 GARDEN FLOWERS.

a powerful influence on the human constitution.
Happily tliey have not the pleasant flavour
-which might render them attractive to chil-
dren ; yet the writer of these pages once saw
two Httle ones rendered very ill by having eaten
laburnum seeds, and it required the prompt
use of medical remedies to prevent more lasting
effects on the constitution.

Another species of the laburnum, commonly
called in our country the pigeon pea, produces
seeds which are mtich eaten by the negroes
and poor people of the West Indies, while they
are often given to horses and other cattle,
which thrive exceedingly well on them. In
the island of JNIartinico they are served at
table as a dish for the rich, who prefer them
even to the green peas of our country. Both
our wild and cultured broom plants are by
many writers considered as species of the
cytisus. The Scotch laburnum {Cytisns
alpimis) has larger leaves and flowers than the
common kind. It is frequent in our gardens,
and blossoms a month later than that. The
Itahans name it after this month, as we do
our hawthorn ; for with them it blooms in
May.

A very common flower, to be found indeed
in almost every garden, is the red spur flower,
or red valerian, commonly termed Pretty
Betty. It has long been known to botanists as
Valeriana 7'iibra, but is now called Cent rant kiis
rubra. It varies in all shades of red, from
crimson to palest pink, and is sometim.es of a

JUT. 67

pinkish or yelloAvish white. Its large clusters
of blossoms are composed of a great number
of small flowers, and they are to be seen
through all the summer months, as late as
September. It blooms on the heights of
Mount Vesuvius, and enlivens the ashy soil of
the barren spot by its cheerful tint. It has
been seen too by the British traveller in
northern Africa, and awakened reminiscences
of the garden plots of his native land. The
scent of this species, as well as that of some
other kinds, is very fragrant.

Another species called the Celtic nard, or
nard valerian, ( Valeriana Celtica,) has a root far
more odorous than this, and which is stronger
when the plant is growing on its native
Alps than in the moister soil of our garden -
ground. It is a native of France, Italy, and
Switzerland. Its roots, which are black, are
imported from the mountains of Austria into
Egypt, whence it has been carried both into
Africa and Asia. It is valued by the orientals
as a sweet-smellinn^ drua, and much used,
especially in Egypt, for perfuming the baths
in which the people of that country spend so
much of their time. There seems much reason
to beUeve that the spikenard of the ancients, as
well as the fragi'ant root called by the modern
Hindoos nard or Jatamansi, is the root of a j^lant
of the Valerian family, and thus this plant is by
some writers considered to be the spikenard of
Scripture, which Solomon describes as " sending
forth a pleasant smell," and which was one of

c2

68 GAIIDEN FLOWERS.

the SAveet essences witli -whicli Mary anointed
the dead body of our Lord and Redeemer.

The root of our common wild valerian
( Valeriana officinalis) possesses very great me-
dicinal power, and its odour is very strong, but
disagreeable. It is cultivated in Derbyshire
for medicinal purposes, but the root is prefer-
able in its wild state to that under cultivation.

Some very pretty species of lobelia arc in
blossom in May; several of this genus are
among the handsomest of our garden flowers.
Some are lowly-looking, simple blossoms,
scarcely peeping from above their leaves;
others are tall and showy. A few of them are
blue ; but the greater number are of a bright
scarlet or pink colour, while some among their
number are of a full yellow. One of the most
common, and also of the most striking beauty,
is that called the cardinal flower, (^Lobelia car-
dinalis,) with its long slender leaves, and spike
of blossoms, so bright in hue as to have re-
minded the originator of its name, of the scarlet
cloth of Rome ; while its shape is not altogether
dissimilar to the hat of the Romish ecclesiastic.
It is a native of Virginia, and was described by
Parkinson, in his " Garden of Flowers," where
he calls it a " brave plant." The species
brought from Mexico, the fulgent lobelia, (Lo-
belia fulgens,) and that briUiant flower called
the splendid or shiny lobelia, (Lobelia splen-
dens,) with a tint outrivalling that of the
brightest popjay, and its foliage marked with
puri>le spots, is another Mexican species, and

MAY. 69

these are the handsomest of the tribe to be
foiftid in our gardens.

Almost all the lobelias are natives of tropical
climates, many of them being the wild flowers
of the "West Indian islands. Several of them
have been brought from the Cape of Good
Hope, and others grow in the warmer regions
of South America. A few of their number
require to be kept in the greenhouse.

A milky fluid, in greater or less quantity,
exists in every individual of this species of
plant, and it is of so acrid a quality that the
whole tribe may be considered as of a danger-
ous nature. One species, {Lobelia tiipa,) a
native of Chile, yields a virulent poison; and
one of the most powerful medicines used in
North America, is the juice of the inflated
lobelia, which, unless given only in small doses,
proves fatal'. So deleterious is the beautiful
white lobelia, (Lobelia longifiora,) that when
taken internally it causes death ; while if the
hand which has touched it, be miguardedly
placed on the eye, it produces a violent inflam-
mation. This flower grows wild on moist
places, and by stream sides in the West Indies.
Like the common reed of our native land,
(Arundo phragynitis^) its presence is, most
probably, indicative of an unhealthy atmo-
sphere, as the moist spots in the West Indies
are always unfavourable to health. It adds
much, however, to the beauty of the lands
where it flourishes, and delights the lover of
flowers by its beauty, but it also renders the
pasture very dangerous to horses, which are

70 GARDEN FLOWERS.

sometimes allured by the verdure around it, to
graze upon these plants, and soon fall victims
to its powerful poison. This is so often the
case, that the Spanish Americans give it a
name significant of its destructive effect on
those animals. Our beautiful cardinal flower
contains a dangerous poison. One species of
lobelia is smoked by the negroes, and termed
Indian tobacco.

A very coinmon border flower now, is the
spider wort, {Trades cantia Virgiiiica,) which,
as its name implies, is a native of North Ame-
rica, and very general in several parts of that
country. It is there often called by the name
of the " life of man ;" because, like that, though
beautiful it is brief, for it soon withers. Its
botanic name stands as a record of John Tra-
descant, gardener to Charles r., Avho introduced
several plants into England, and this among
others ; and Avhose museum of curiosities is
celebrated as the earliest collection of that kind,
made in our land. It is now in the Ashmolean
museum of the University of Oxford.

We have several garden species of spider
wort. None are found wild either in Europe
or Northern Asia, but several are brought
from the East Indies and Ceylon, and others
from America. Some of them have rose-
coloured blossoms, but they chiefly vary in all
the shades of blue. They are not a very hand-
some tribe of flowers, and our common species
is as ornamental as any, its dark blue petals
and yellow anthers showing to advantage among
its glossy green leaves.

■ TiUT. 71

During May, and the foUoTvIng months, the
different species of viper's bngloss exhibit their
handsome purple, violet-coloured, or pale blue
flowers. None are more beautiful than our
■wild kind, {Echhim viiJgare,) but many are very
ornamental. The red viper s bugloss, which,
however, is not yet in flower, is a showy plant,
though the stems and leaves are rough with
bristly hairs. It grows on the steppes of Russia,
for those vast regions approaching the Black Sea,
though dreary from the absence of trees, are
enlivened with a variety of flowers, of which
this is among the most conspicuous. Dr.
Clarke says he saw it here, and it was in other
parts of Russia more common. It grows
chiefly among corn. The women of the Don
use it in painting their cheeks, the root, while
fresh, yielding a bright vermilion tint. Gmelin
recommends its transplantation and the appli'
cation of its colouring properties to objects of
more importance. The reddish bro^vn substance
contained in this plant, is now much used by
dyers ; and one species of the viper's bugloss,
which has been naturalized in Brazil, is used,
like our wild borage, to give coolness to liquids
in which its leaves are steeped. Some species
were used by the Romans for dyeing.

"We have more than twenty species of bu-
gloss in gardens. Blue is the prevailing colour
of their flowers, but some which have reached
us from the Cape of Good Hope, the Canary
and Madeira islands, have red or white blos-
soms.

72 GARDEN FLOWERS.

The geraniums, or, as they are more properly
called, the pelargoniums, flower throughout the
summer. We have about six hundred distinct
species, but most of them are grown either in
the greenhoiise or in the in-doors apartment.
We received the plant from the Cape of Good
Hope, where their handsome flowers are in
great profusion ; but new varieties are every
year raised from seed in England. The myrtle,
too (MyrtKS communis) is opening its fragrant
white blossoms. It has several varieties, of
which one of the best is the Roman myrtle.
This shrub grows wild in the south of France
and Spain, in Italy and Greece, and in north-
ern Africa ; Avhile in many parts of Syria it is
very abundant, as we might infer from the
numerous allusions made to it in the sacred
writings. All travellers in the east notice
its luxuriance. On the hiJls which lie about
Jerusalem, forming its natural protection, and
which were to suggest to the Hebrew the re-
membrance that God Avas thus round about his
saints, the white myrtle spray is seen in profu-
sion, amid its dark green boughs. Banks of
rivers, hill sides, wide plains, and valleys
among mountains, are all rendered sweet by its
odour. Mrs. Piozzi admired the beauty of this
shrub too, near Pisa in Italy, where, she says,
the mountains are mountains of marble, and
the bushes on them bushes of myrtle, as large
as the hawthorn. In Devonshire the myrtle
thrives well in the open air : Carringtou thus
notices it : —

MAY. 73

" And there in liveliest green attired,
Smiiing like hope, and cheering the glad eye,
The meek, unsheltered myrtle sweetly blooms."

The poet adds, that several houses in Mary-
church, and indeed in almost every village
on the southern coast of Devon, are profusely
bespread with it.

By the middle of the month, the Peruvian
heliotrope {Hcliotr opium Periivianum) shows
its delicate lilac flowers, and perfumes the air
with its scent — a scent so powerful, that it is
i'carcely to be borne in a room. It resembles
that of ne\v-made hay, or of cooked fruit. It
was termed by the Latins, verrucaria, because
its expressed juice, mingled with salt, was used
to cure warts. We have other species of helio-
trope, but this and the species termed Euro-
pean {Heliotropium Europceum) are the most
general, and the latter is more hardy than the
Peruvian. Its flowers are paler, and it is a
native of southern Europe. The ancients
named these plants from the sun and " to turn,"
and the old writers assert, that the blossoms
always follow the smi. The heliotropes re-
quire protection during winter.

Our common marigold {Calendula officinalis)
is indeed so common, that we almost regard it
as a weed in the border, and the gardener
eradicates many of the young plants, which
have arisen from the readily dispersed seeds of
the last summer. Some of the double varieties
of the common marigold are very handsome
flowers, and so also are the deep orange co-
loured blossoms of the starry marigold (Calen-

c3

74 GARDEN FLOWERS.

dula stellata.) The common species grows wild
in fields and vineyards in Italy, and pretty
generally in cixltivated lands tlirongliout the
countries at the south of Europe. It is called
by the French, soiici du jardin, and by the
Germans goldblume. It is still mingled by
cottagers with soup and broth, but was once
much more generally used for that purpose.
The idea that it tended to " comfort the heart
and spirits," rec^ommended it not only as a
medicine, but induced good housewives to dry
its yellow petals as a store for Avinter. Its
t)ropertios are sudorific, and it was deemed a
preventive to infection. A distilled water, a
conserve, and a kind of vinegar, are still ob-
tained from its blossoms, but its young leaves
are not now eaten as they formerly were for
salads.

Our old poets call this flower gokle and mary
budde, as Avell as marigold. This last name it
received from the absurd and popular tradition
that the virgin Mary wore the flower in her
bosom.

Elliott alludes to the use which the cottae;ers
make of the marigold.

" There is a flower, the housewife knows it well."

And thus describes its closing during wet
weather : —

" It hoards no dew-drops, like the cups of May,
But rich as sunset, wlien tlie rain is o'er,
Spreads flaming petals from a burning core ;
Which, if morn weep, their sorrowing buds upfold
To wake and brighten when bright noon is near."

MAY. 7C

This closing of the flower during the rain, jis
Avell as its habit of folding up its petals early in
the afternoon, ■while it does not open them till
after nine in the niorninfr, "was remarked not
only by Linnfeus, but had rendered the flower
a theme of various comparisons to the older
poets. Thus Herrick, alluding to the approach
of evening, says: —

"No Tnariffolds j-et closed are.
No shadows yet appear;
Nor doth the early shepherd's star
Sliine like a spangle here." ^

The marigolds received their name on ac-
count of their flowering during the calends of
each juonth. The common marigold, indeed,
is in bloom in every season, except when snow
covers the ground, and is often among the
brightest flowers of the garden in December and
January.

The Cape marigolds are natives of that part
of Africa after which they are named. The
small Cape marigold, {Calendula pluvialis,)
which is the commonest of them, was called the
rainy marigold, by Linnaeus, because it is always
closed, not only during rain, but under a cloudy
sky. The rays of this flower are white inside,
and of a dark purple on the outer surface. It
blooms from June till August.

The French term the marigold sonci, (care,)
but in the reign of Henry vm. it was called
souvenir, and ladies wore wreaths of these
flowers, intermixed with the pansy, whose name.

76 . GARDEN FLOWERS.

tlerivecl from the French word pensee, (thought,)
was also indicative of remembrance.

And now in this pleasant month we see the
difierent mallows assume their tints of deep red
or purple, pink or white, and more rarely, of
yellow or orange. They are beautiful flowers,
and all possess more or less the mucilaginous
property which renders some so useful in
medicine. They are of easy culture, and some
so hardy as to grow on any soil, in any situa-
tion. Several of the most handsome species
are brought from the Cape of Good Hope, and
the fields of southern Europe have supplied us
with others.

The Egyptians, Chinese, and Syrians, are
said by travellers to use some kinds of mallow
as food. Thus Biddulph, an old writer quoted
by Dr. Royle, says, " We saw many poor peo-
ple collecting mallows and three-leaved grass,
. and asked them what they did with it, and they
answered that it was all their food, and that
they boiled it and did eat it." The leaves of
the common mallow of our road-sides, (Malva
sylvestins,) a plant which is found wild from
Europe to the north of India, is still used in
Hindostan for food. It is well known that at
the table of the ancient Romans, some kinds of
mallow were served up as vegetables. Not-
withstanding, however, that mallows have been,
and still are eaten, in many parts of the east,
yet, for various reasons, most of those writers
v/ho are best acquainted with oriental botany,
have arrived at the conclusion, that the plant

MAT. 77

named in Scripture, and whicli is rendered
mallow in oi;r version, is not referable to one
of the mallow tribe. The patriarch, when
describing the former straits and necessities of
some, who new when sorrow had fallen on him,
prided themselves on their worldly prosperity,
says, They " cut up mallows by the bushes."*
Authors have arrived at various conclusions
as to the plant intended. The Scripture Avord
malluach, is thought to denote a saltish plant,
and several herbs whose ashes contain soda,
have been adduced by writers. The learned
Bochart is of opinion that a shrubby species of
orache, or atriplex, is intended; another sug-
gests that it may be a species of fig-marigold ;
while a third considers it to be the Jews'
mallow, (^Corchorus olitorius,) which is planted
in great quantity in the neighbourhood of
Aleppo for food, and of which the Jews boil
the leaves to eat with their meat. It is well
for us that we do not live in those times when
such discussions would render us liable to
ecclesiastical censure, and that we need not
fear such blame as St. Augustine denounced
upon a bishop of his times, who having, as
he considered, wrongly translated the name of
a plant mentioned by the apostle John, was
declared to be " a falsifier of the Holy Scrip-
ture." Still it is most important that we rightly
discern the correct rendering of the inspired
word.

Many of our common garden mallows

» Job XXX. 4.

78 GARDEN FLOWEUS.

produce, in autumn, very beautiful specimens
of skeleton leaves and calyxes, the green parts
having withered away, and left bare the bundles
of vessels which form the frameAVork. Of the
macerated fibres of some of these plants, a cloth
and stuff have been made, supeiior even to
those made of flax. This is the case especially
with the ivy-leaved mallow, (il/aZva mauritiana,)
whose pink flowers are sometimes found in
EngHsh gardens, and were brought from the
south of Eru-ope. The cm-led mallow [Malva
crispcL) of Syria, and the Peruvian mallow,
{Malva Peruviana^ both of which are cultivated
in England, have been used for the same pur-
pose. The former species Avas once planted
in kitchen gardens for food. It affords re-
markably strong fibres, Avhich have been
manufactured, not only into thread for spinning,
but also into cordage for vessels. The French
chemist, De Lisle, gave great attention to the
mallows, and recommended that the fibres of
various kinds should be used instead of rags in
making paper. So interested was he in this
project, that he had u volume printed on j^aper
made wholly of the fibre of the mallow, and
presented it to " L' Academic des Sciences."
But the members of the academy, while they
admired the skill and science of the exj^eriment,
did not consider the mallow paper as Hkely to
be generally useftd.

These plants, boiled as food, were formerly
considered so wholesome, that Horace commends
them for their salutary properties. They were

MAY. 7i)

eaten by the Eomans and Greeks \\itli lettuce,
and "were used," says Baxter, "to decorate
the graves of our ancestors." " So indispen-
sable," adds this writer, " Avere they deemed
to each domicile of the li'V'iug, that as a matter
of ill omen, the poet exclaims : —

' Alas when rnailows in the garden die ! ' "

This planting the grave with flowers Avas al-
luded 'to not only by profone writers, but may
also be inferred from the Scripture. Job spoke
of the clods of the valley Avhich should be
sweet about him. This beautiful practice, of
high antiquity, is supposed to have originated
in the belief of the" resurrection of the body,
a doctrine, which, if not so plainly taught in
the Old as in the New Testament, yet is in
various passages plainly indicated in the former
part of the vokmie. " Thy dead men shall live,
together with my dead body shall they arise.
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy
dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall
cast out her dead."* This Avas the promise
uttered by the evangelical Isaiah ; and the Eev.
Samuel Burder thinks that the custom of
decking the grave with flowers, was likely to
have its origin from this passage ; or, if prac-
tised earlier, suggests that this custom might
have been present to the mind of the projjhet,
when, directed by the Holy Spirit, he thus
taught the consoling doctrine, that in the flesh
we shall see God.

• Isa. xxvi. ly.

80 GARDEN FLOWERS.

The plants termed lavatera, are very similar
to the mallows in general appearance. There
are some showy annual species common iu
gardens, and the shrubby kinds are very
ornamental. The species which is most gene-
rally cultivated is the sea-side lavatera, {Lava-
tera maritima,) which is a native of Spain and.
the south of France, and will bear the open
air of this country if slightly guarded from
frost. The tree -mallow {Lavatera arhorea) has
a magnificent appearance when covered Avith
its large piu'ple rose-coloured floAvers.

The beautiful deUcate flowers of the large
.number of exotic heaths are, during this and
the next month, unfolding their bells on their
brittle stems, and the greenhouse is quite gay
with their flowers. They are, with few excep-
tions, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, where
they grow chiefly on the tops and sides of
mountains, and in the crevices of rocks. This
genus of flowers is quite of modern introduction
into this coimtry. Miller, in 1768, enumerates
but five species. They are now very numerous.
•' Till the latter end of last century," says
Loudon, " this genus consisted of three or four
humble British shrubs, and the heath of Spain,
{Erica Afediterranea,) a slow-growing tree ; but
when the Cape of Good Hope fell into the
hands of the British, collectors were sent out,
and soon brought to light some hundreds of
species. It may serve as an easily recollected
date, to say, that all of them were sent home
during the reign of George in. Some of the

MAY. 81

heaths are very fragrant, and our common
British heaths are, as well as the exotics, very
beautiful flowers.

' Sometimes with bells like amethysts, and then
Paler and shaded like the maiden's cheek
With gradual blushes ;— other while, as white
As rime that hangs upon the frozen spray.'

These bear the bleakest Avinds of the moor-
lands, and all heaths, growing as they do, when
wild, on open lands, require so much air and
light, that, as has been said of them, ' it may
be taken as a proverb, that heaths like to feel
the wind between every leaf.' "

The androincdas, some of which blossom in
this month, are very similar to the heaths, and
are very ornamental Uttle plants, or low ever-
green shrubs, chiefly natives of North America.
Several of them grow wild in Lapland. The
moss-like sj)ecies, {Anch'omedahypnoides,) which
has the appearance of a beautiful moss, spreads
over immense tracts of ground on the higher
regions of Lapland, adorning them with its red
blossoms, which, with many other lovely blooms,
thicken their surfaces, and are included by the
Laplanders under the general name of ren-
blomster, or reindeer flowers, as that animal
feeds on the pasturage where they grow. The
marsh species (^Andromeda polifoUa) is a native
of some parts of Great Britain, and is the most
common in the garden. Linnajus found it in
Sweden, and names it as decorating the marshy
grounds during summer, in the most agreeable
manner. The flowers he describes as of a

82 OARDEN FLOWERS.

bright red colour before expansion, and when
full grown of a flesh colour. Scarcely any
painter's art can, he says, so happily imitate
the beauty of a fine complexion. This great
botanist portrays in a very interesting manner,
in his " Flora Lapponica," his discovery of an-
other species, (^Andromeda tetragona) which he
found on the celebrated mouuta^ri Wallivari, in
the district of Lulea. " "Whilst I was walking
quickly along, facing the cold wind, at midnight, if
I may call it night, when the sun was shining
without setting at all, still anxiously inquiring
of my interpreter how near I was to a Lapland
dwelling, which I had for two hours been ex-
pecting, though I knew not its precise situation,
casting my eager eyes around me in all direc-
tions, I perceived as it were the shadow of this
plant, but did not stop to examine it, taking it for
the empetrum, (Croiv-herry.) But after going
a few steps farther, an idea of its being some-
thing I was unacquainted with, came across
my mind, and I turned back, when I should
have again taken it for the empetrum, had not
its greater height caused me to consider it with
more attention. I know not what it is that so
deceives the sight on our Alps, during night,
as to render objects far less distinct than in the
middle of the day, though the sun shines
equally bright. The sun being near the horizon,
spreads its rays in such a horizontal direction,
that a hat can scarcely protect oiu- eyes ; besides,
the shadows of plants are so infinitely extended,
and so confounded with each other, from tlie

iuv. 83

tremulous agitation caused by the blustering
■winds, that objects, very different in them-
selves, are scarcely to be distinguished from
each other." Linnteus describes the flower as
shaped like a lily of the valley, but with five
sharper divisions. Barren and dreary as are
some lands in the north of Europe, yet many
beautiftil flowers are found on their hills, or in
their dark pine forests. Linna;us speaks Avith
rapture of the verdui'e and flowers of his native
land, and Olaus Eudbeck was so well satisfied
with its beauty, that, instead of thinking that
the garden of Eden lay amid the palm-trees,
and the roses and jessamines of eastern lands,
he discovered that one j)art of Sweden had
certainly been the scene of the original Para-
dise.

And now the large dark pujrple bells of the
climbing cobasa {Cobcea sca7idcns) hang over
the trelhs of the arbour, and its foliage heljjs to
cover the garden wall. The Mexicans, among
whom this handsome plant grows wild, call it
by a Spanish word, signifying the ^dolet-bearing
ivy. It received its botanic name from Bar-
nardes Cobo, a Spanish Jesuit and naturalist of
the seventeenth centmy. It is very remark-
able for its rapid growth. Even in the open
air this is very striking ; Avhile in a conserva-
tory, it has been known to increase in length,
two hundred feet in the course of a summer.
This was long the only species cultivated in
Great Britain; but in 184.0, the seeds of two
others were sent to England from Mexico, by

84 GAUDEN FLOWERS.

one of the collectors of plants for tlie London
Horticultural Society.

And now if the border be tolerably well
sheltered from the north and east winds, the
splendid tiger flower {Tigridia Pavonia) will
spread its handsome petals to the svmshine. Its
colours, so like the skin of a tiger, originated
its name, and this plant with its variety, {Tigri-
dia Pleoiia,) and the Tigridia conchiflora, are
among the most magnificent flowers of this
month. They are all natives of Mexico, and if
the bulbs are kept dry, they may remain in the
ground all the winter. Their tints are red and
orange, and their flowers very abundant, but
also very frail, lasting but a iijw hours. The
edging to the garden plots, which are composed
of thrift, are now very gay with the pink tufts
of blossom.

The box too has now its green flowers, so often
said to be poisonous to the bee which sucks
their nectar, and it is a far better plant for
the garden border than either thrift, Virginian
stock, or any other substituted for it. In addi-
tion to its being an evergreen, it is very hardy,
and when once a good edging is made, it will
last for many years, needing little attention
from the gardener, except the annual midsum-
mer clipping. If we wander through the de-
serted gardens of some ancient castle or man-
sion, whether in England or almost any other
part of Europe, where the flowers of the olden
time waved their petals to the summer wind,
we find some of their hardiest successors, as

MAY. 85

the wall -flower, the pansy, and the columbine.
And there too we see the wide box edgings,
phmted by hands which have long since min-
gled in the dust, and their borders perhaps,
though they are not in such trim order, are
as healthy and as verdant as they were a cen-
tury ago, when the dwarf box was extolled for
" bordering up a knot," and was considered " a
marvellous fine ornament to a flower garden."
The species used by gardeners for this purpose
is the dwarf box, (^Biuvtis sempervirens nana^
being merelj' a variety of the hardy box tree
of our native Avoods, which too seems to have
been in the gardens of England from the earliest
period. It was formerly cut, especially by the
Romans, into those various figures in which
the gardeners of the olden times so much de-
lighted. Few of them apparently would have
agreed with Lord Bacon : " I, for my part," says
he, " do not like images cut out in juniper or
other garden stufFe; they be for children."
Modern taste, justly preferring the graceful
wildness of nature, rejects the custom of clip-
ping trees into the shapes of birds or animals,
or of cones and pyramids, yet the old yew or
box, which still retains its place on the terrace
of the ancient dwelling, has a charm of its own,
whispering to the heart of other days, and lead-
ing the mind to dwell on England in the olden
years, and to muse on the changes of things
and feelings, which time is ever making, as he
marches onwards to mingle into eternity.

The box crows wild, not only in England,

86 GARDEN FLOWERS.

but almost tliroughout Europe. It attains a
great height in Smtzerland, and is abundant
in France. It is found too in America, and
many parts of Asia, growing wild on Mount
Caucasus, and extending even to the Hima-
layan mountains. On the slopes of the lofty
Lebanon its green stiff leaves exhibit them-
selves, when the siui has melted the snow from
its boughs. The names of various places in
oiu' own land remind us, that it was even
much more general and abundant than it now
is. Boxley in Kent, Boxwell in Gloucester-
shire, and. Boxhill in Surrey, were all named
from the quantity of this plant which was
formerly found in the neighbourhoods. The
ancients used its Avood for musical instruments,
and Virgil mentions that it was often inlaid
with ivory. It is still of great value to the
turner and engraver on Avood.

The box is often alluded to in Scripture.
In the beautiful description given by the
prophet Isaiah, of the glory of the latter days
of the church of God — a glory yet remaining
to be looked and longed for, we find the in-
spired writer declaring in the powerful imagery
of holy writ, that "the glory of Lebanon shall
come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the
box together, to beautify the place of my sanc-
tuary; and I will make the place of my feet
glorious."* The prophet also enumerates it
among the myrtle and other trees whicli are to
flourish in the waste places of the wilderness,

* Isaiah Ix. 13.

MAT. 87

in those happy days, when " the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose." It is well
known now to the Arabs.

May and the three following months, are the
season at which the different species of the
evening primrose tribe make their appearance.
Only the yellow and white kinds truly deserve
the familiar name, but these seem to give wel-
come to a cloudy day, or to the evening
twilight, by opening just at the period when
other flowers are closing. The common even-
ing primrose {CEnothera hiemiis) expands its
pale yellow flowers at about six o'clock in the
evening. It was termed by Parkinson the
primrose of Virginia, aTid is now often called
evenino; star. Its roots are eaten in the same
way as olives, and make; wine more agreeable,
thereby adding drunkenness to thirst. In
many coimtries the plant is cultivated for these
roots, Avhich are boiled and eaten at table.
The great flowered species {G^nothera grandi-
florcC) is delightfully fragrant. It was intro-
duced into England from America, by Dr. John
Fothcrgill, and has also pale yellow blossom.s.

The evening primroses are annual, luennial,
or perennial plants, and there is a great variety
of them in common culture. The purple flow-
ered kinds, still called by gardeners (enothera,
are by botanists now termed godetia: some of
them are showy tall plants, the handsomest of
which are the annuals, introduced from Cali-
fornia. Their colours are most brillinnt wlicn
grown in a poor soil.

38 GARDEN FLOWERS.

And now the garden bower is covered not
only with numerous sprays of green leaves,
but odours from the sweet-scented clematis
invite us to linger near it, though as yet the
sun is scarcely so warm as to make the shade
valuable. The commonest and most fragrant
garden species, is that called the sweet-scented
virgin's bower, (Clemcdis flmnnuila,) which is
very similar in the appearance of its flowers to
the wild traveller's joy of our woods. This
plant is remarkably acrid in its nature, and
indeed some portion of acridity exists in every
species of the genus. Millar says of this, that
if a leaf be gathered on a hot day, and after
being bruised, be put to the nostrils, it has the
scent of a flame, and will produce in the per-
son who smells it the sensation of having been
scorched. The bruised leaves applied to the
skin, will also raise a blister on its surface.
The large-flowered species, {Clematis florida,)
with white flowers, is commonly admired ; and
the more hardy clematis aziirea, with beautiful
violet blue flowers, though well fitted to bear
the open air, is still often found ornamenting
the conservatory. Some of the common spe-
cies are of a dark dull purple ; others bright
blue, or white ; while the evergreen virgin's
bower, {Clematis cirrJiosa,) which is a native of
Spain, has green flowers, which bloom very
early in the year, and a few have yellow blos-
soms. The common Japan corchorus, {Kerria
Japonica,) which is still very generally called
by gardeners corchorus Japonicus, is a good

MAY. 89

flower, either for the shrubbery or garden, be-
cause it is seldom quite out of bloom ; but if the
winter be mild, has here and there a floAver on
its branches, even to the season least favour-
able to vegetable beauty. Its yellow stars are
now in great profusion on the weak straggling
branches which reach over the sunny wall.
They are composed of rays, and round, like
dandelions or marigolds, but of a darker and
less brilliant colour, and the long notched and
deeply-veined pale green leaves, grow thinly
over the weak boughs. This plant is some-
times upright, being merely fastened to a stick ;
but it is much better adapted for covering the
garden or house wall. It grows wild in Japan,
and was named after Ker the botanical collector,
who, some years since, introduced into our
gardens several plants from China.

Some very pretty flowers of the ranunculus
genus are blooming on the border. There is
the common bachelor's button, {Ranunculus
acris fiore pleno^) with its double yellow flowers,
which are to be seen in every garden, and
which is merely a variety, rendered double
by cultivation, of our wild flower, the acrid
crowfoot of the meadows. There are also the
pretty double blossoms of the white-flowered
bachelor's button, {Ranunculus aconitifolius,) a
long-standing ornament of the British parterre,
but which in its native haunts, the high moun-
tains of Switzerland, rears its snowy flowers,
and varies the monotonous tints of ice and
snow with its dark green leaves. This flower

90 GARDEN FLOWERS.

is often called Fair IMaid of France, and it has
been said it was so named by onr gardeners,
becanse the French emigrants who were in this
country during the revolution were very fond
of the plant.

Some of the tall and showy asphodels are
conspicuous flowers in May and June. This
flower is commonly called king's spear or
king's rod ; the French term it, verge de Jacob,
or bato7i royal. The most ornamental species
are the yellow asphodel, (Asphodehis luteus,)
vrhich grows wild in the fields of Sicily, and
now blossoms in our gardens ; and the upright
asphodel, (Asphodehis albus,) also blooming now
with its spike of white flowers, and which ig
also common in the south of Europe. St.
Pierre quotes a touching inscription from an
ancient tomb, around which the hand of affec-
tion had planted the favourite flowers: "With-
out, I am surrounded with mallow and aspho-
del ; within, I am but a corpse :" and the corpse
to the ancients, was but the name of a decayed
and withered remains of what was once lovely,
and not, as with us, the seed of the more glo-
rious resurrection body which is sown in hope.

The yellow flower of the perennial adonis
{Adonis vernalis) deserves a place in any
garden. It begins to bloom as early as March,
and is still bright. It is a Avild flower in many
parts of the continent of Europe, and especially
abundant on the countries on the shores of the
Mediterranean, and it is of very easy culture.
The dark crimson flowers of the flos adonis, or

yiAY. 91

phpfisant's eye (Adonis aidumnalis) are equally
hardy. This last species is generally known
in France by the name of gontte de sang, and is
the flower fabled by ancient poets to have
sprung from the blood of Adonis, which, ac-
cording to their legends, had a wonderful
fliculty of giving a red tinge to natural objects,
and was said to have coloured the river of
Lebanon, called Adonis, whose waters are red
from the soil over which it flows.

Common as the humblest flower of our
garden groimd, is the columbine, (Aquilegia
vulgans,) which sometimes grows also in our
native woods, and wears its hues of blue or
pink, or purple or white, at this pleasant
season. In the wild state it is generally blue,
and is called by country people, blue starry.
Our fathers fancied that the lion was fond of
it, and hence its old name of herha Iconis.
The double-flowered variety is almost as
general as the single flower. The prettiest of
the garden species is the Alpine columbine,
which also nods its head to the winds as they
rush through the valleys of the high Swiss
mountains. It has blue flowers tipped with
yellowish green, and is, probably, but a variety
of the common columbine.

A syrup is sometimes made for children of
the flowers of the columbine, but it has been
denounced by Linna;us as highly dangerous;
and he even asserts it to have proved fatal to
children. This plant was called culverwort by
old writers.

92 GAEDEN FLO-WERS.

The pseony is now bursting forth into con-
spicuous beauty, with its red rose-like flowers.
The double red variety of the common pasony
(Pceonia officinalis) is that most frequently cul-
tivated; but the double white and the delicate
blush-coloured, are by no means rare, and one
variety, the rose-scented, is sweetly fragrant.
The common species grows wild in China and
Siberia, as well as in various parts of Europe,
and is said to be very beautiful on Mount Ida.
The handsome flower called the Chinese tree-
pffiony, {Pceonia moutan,) the flowers of which
expand during this month, and are, in the dif-
ferent varieties, of various tints, is sufiiciently
hardy to bear the open air of our winters. The
most beautiful variety of the flower is the
single poppy-flowered tree-peeony, which has
large white petals with a dark purple mark at
the base. From its coming out of the ground
so early in the year, this plant is liable to be
injiu'ed by frosts, and, therefore, requires to be
planted in a sheltered part of the garden, where
it is not much exposed to the morning sun.
The tree-pfEony is a cherished flower in China,
and is said to have been cultivated in the
Chinese gai'dens for fourteen himdred years. It
is believed to have been brought originally frora
some of the mountains of that empire. A few
years since it was so choice a flower in this
country, that the price of a plant was six
guineas ; but it is now to be procured at a small
expense.

The more slender species of pteony {Pceonia

MAY. 93

erhdis,) is miicli used by the ]Mongolian Tartars
as food. These people boil the roots in their
broth, and grind the seeds to a powder, which
they mix with their tea.

And noAV, if we wander through green lanes
white with liaAvthorn clusters, we find them
fragrant with the odours of the honeysuckle.
In the garden also,

" The creeping honeysuckle weaves
Its yellow horns and verdant leaves."

Our common kind (^Caprifolium Perijcly-
meniim) is also called woodbine ; and this is
one of its oldest English names. Milton calls
it too by our common name : —

" I sate me down to watcli upon a bank
Witli ivy canopied, and interwoven
And flaunting honeysuckle."

But besides that our lovely wilding flower is
often cherished in the garden, Ave have here
several other species. One of the most general
is the Italian honeysuckle, {Ccqmfolium Itali-
ciim,) which throws its long branches luxuri-
antly over the hedges of southern Europe, and
a variety of which, called by gardeners the red
honeysuckle, is very beautiful.

Another very handsome and common garden
species is the trumpet honeysuckle, {^Capri-
folium semperoii'cns,) which, though it equals,
or perhaps exceeds in beauty, any other of
the common kinds, yet wants their fragrance.
This elegant shrub is a native of North
America, and flowers very freely with us from
this month until August. The sweet and

94 GARDEN FLOWEKS.

pretty plant called Chinese honeysuckle, and
the gold and silver honeysuckles, are much
more tender. They are natives of China, and
are among the many flowers on which the
Japanese bestow so much regard. _ The bark
of most of the species is very astringent, and
that of one kind is used in China for dyeing
black.

The French term the honeysuckle maire
sauvage. Its old English names were suckling
and caprifoly ; and with the Germans this
climber is so great a favourite, that they have
bestowed upon it at least a dozen familiar
names. Caprifolium is a poetic word used for
it by old botanists, because the leaf, or rather
stem, climbs over the high places where the
goat fears not to tread. It must be confessed
that this origin is rather remote ; but the word
chevre feuille, (goat leaf,) by which the pea-
santry of France often call the plant, has the
same origin.

And now those handsome plants the rose
bay or rhododendrons, come into blossom, and
deck both garden and shrubbery with their
handsome flowers and hard evergreen leaves.
Numerous kinds blossom during this and the
coming month, but by far the greater number
are varieties of the common species, {^Rhodo-
dendron Ponticum,) which is found wild on the
coasts of the Black Sea, from the range of
Caucasus through Armenia and Georgia to the
western parts of Persia. This species grows in
moist woods, but not on higli mountains, a;v;l

MAY. 95

is said to be that wliicli, by the nectar in its
flowers, poisoned the honey of Asia Minor,
though some Avriters ascribe this ratlier to a
species of azalea. Another liardy species, tlie
Cataivha rhododendron, is very abundant in
America. Some species of rose bay are de-
scribed to be as abundant as the furze of our
native island, growing in clumps on the grassy
plain or hill, and, with their purple flowers,
gladdening many a dreary and lonely place.
Then we have several very pretty dwarf
species, hardly more than a foot high. Two of
these, the rusty-leaved rose bay, {Rhododendron
ferrugineum,) and the hairy kind, {Rhododen-
dron hirsutum,) with rose-coloured flowers,
abound on the high mountains of Switzerland ;
and Dr. Gilly records the beauty of the rhodo-
dendrons in the interesting valleys of Piedmont.
In Dauphine they are very luxuriant and
beautiful ; and near the lofty summits of the
magnificent Alps, they bloom in profusion,^ and
are the highest woody plants of these regions,
terminating all vegetation but that of lowliest
herbs and mosses. To them the mountain
herdsman is often indebted for his only fuel,
and their branches crackle on the hearth of the
solitary chdlet. The lofty trees gradually
dimini'sh or dwindle near the heights of the
mountains. They will grow in the valleys
below, but cannot bear the snow-storm and
bleak hurricanes, which leave these plants
uninjured. And on the hills of some of these
Alps, the lonely Piedmontese, as he gathers

96 GARDEN FLOWERS.

them for his fire, or sits by its light, ponders
on the dajo when his fathers were rolled over
the craggy heights, to join the " noble army of
martyrs," because their enlightened spirits
forbade them to join in idol worship. The
white hares of the mountains, whose coats were
given them of the snowy colour to help them
to elude the pursuer, often feed on the hard
bark of these plants, when the severe weather
has covered up the green things of lower
growth, but the leaves and branches are
thought to be poisonous to animals in general.

Though a large number of the rhododen-
drons are American plants, in the warm
regions of Asia they are also often found in
great beauty, with crimson, purple, white, or
rose-coloured flowers. The Daurian species
(Bhododendron Daiiricuni) is almost peculiar to
the subalpine tracts of eastern Asia, and is
common in the pine woods. One of the most
beautiful plants in the British conservatory is
the Nepaul species, (^Rhododendron arboreum.)
which is sometimes twenty feet high, with large
bunches of flowers, of a dark crimson or
scarlet hue, and the blossoms are so full of
liquid honey, that when the tree is shaken, it
falls down in showers. This species has large
leaves, with glossy itnder surface, as white as
silver, and has a variety Avith white wax-like
flowers. The name of rhododendron, taken
from the Greek, signifies rose and tree ; and
the French term it la rosage.

And now, wdien the clouds seem literally "to

JIAY. 97

drop fatness," and the " little hills and pastures
to rejoice on every side," how sweet are the
odours from the flower-bed, on which the
gentle pattering of the rain-drops has just
been heard! Now it comes breathing from the
hawthorn, or the lilac, or more powerfidly from
the honeysuckle, or the clustering flowers oi
the syringa, {Philadelphtis coronarius.) This
plant is often called mock orange, not only from
its blossoms, so similar to the orange-flower
which the EngHsh bride selects as the fitting
ornament to the wedding attire, but because its
odour, though far more powerful, resembles
that of this blossom. The leaves have both the
scent and flavour of the cucumber. Cowper
admired its flowers among others of this month.

"Laburnum rich,
In streaming gold, syringa, ivory pure."

This plant is of easy culture and very general,
but its native place of growth is imknown. It
has been found in Italy, apparently wild, in
some imcultured lands, but not so far from the
villa, with its luxuriant garden, as to enable the
botanist to pronounce it indigenous to the soil.
A different species has been discovered on the
Himalayan mountains, growing at the height of
six or seven hundred feet, and it is thought
very probable that our common syringa may
exist still farther to the north-west, and that it
may be one of those plants which, some centu-
ries since, were introduced from Persia, into the
gardens of Italy and the other countries of
southern Europe.

98 GARDEN FLOWERS.

We have several other species in the garden,
resembling the common kind both in scent and
appearance. They are chiefly North American
shrubs. Those called the myrtle-leaved and
sweet syringa, are both natives of the thickets
of New Zealand. The young shoots of one of
them were made into a tea by the sailors of
Captain Cook's crew, and the infusion taken as
a remedy for some of those complaints engen-
dered by long voyages. It Avas, while fresh,
very pleasant to the taste. The dwarf variety
of the mock orange has been found in Carolina.

The garden persicaria {Polygonum orkntale)
is a common flower, with its spike of dark red
blooms. From its bearing so well the smoke of
cities, it is often called London persicaria. It
was brought originally from the garden of the
monks of Mount Ararat, where it is cultivated,
not only as an ornament to the parterre, but
also for its medicinal properties. One or two
species of this plant are sown in China for dye-
ing cloth of a beautiful blue or green colour.
Another sjoecies yields a yellow dye, and one of
the strongest astringents of the vegetable king-
dom is yielded by some plants of this genus.
The roots of several kinds are eaten in Lapland
and Tartary; and about the neighbourhood of
Manchester the young leaves and shoots of
one Avild species, termed patience dock, are
boiled and eaten as food.

The dark blue flowers of the common monks-
hood (Aconitum napellus) ought not to be wel-
comed in the garden, as persons unacquainted

MAY. 99

with their properties frequently bind tliem np
with the nosegay, and their scent is very dele-
terious. Linnseus says that the leaves are fatal
to many animals, and mentions the case of their
poison, recorded in the Stockholm Acts, in
which a surgeon, little acquainted with the
nature of plants, prescribed the use of this as a
medicine to a patient. The invalid refused to
take it, and the medical adviser, in order to
convince his patient of the safety of the remedy,
took them himself, and fell a victim to his
experiment. Orfila states that the juice of the
leaves occasions death in a very short time ; and
the root of the plant is still more powerful;
while instances are on record, in which long
fainting fits have been the result of merely
smelling the flower. It would be well if this
poisonous plant were quite banished from the
garden, but gardeners shordd certainly be careful
not to throw it with other refuse, from the ground
into the public road, as the lives of children are
often thus endangered. This flower was for-
merly called ptirple helmet flower. The Enghsh
name of wolfsbane is given to some of the
genus. They grow on the lofty pastures of the
Swiss mountains, as well as on many other
mountainous regions of Europe and North
America. The roots, when pounded, are mixed
with food, to form a bait for wolves and other
animals. The yellow monkshood (^Aconitwn
anthora) is a more ornamental flower than the
purple kind, and a very pretty species ; the
hairy wolfsbane (Aconitum barbattim,)vnih. T^ale
D 2

100 GARDEN FLOWERS.

yellow flowers, a native of Siberia, is a frequent
flower of the garden border.

The aconites are regarded as a highly poi-
sonous tribe of plants, but no other species, not
even the purple monkshood, can be compared
for its virulence to an Indian kind, (Aconitum
ferox.) The root of this is the celebrated sub-
stance called hikli, or hisli, and is a poison of
the most deadly nature. The great yellow
aconite, {Aconitum lycoctomim,) which grows
wild on the Alps, and is very common in Lap-
land, is said by Linnaeus to be boiled and
eaten as greens in that country, but it cannot
be recommended. It grows in some districts of
Lapland, he tells us in his " Flora Lapponica,"
as commonly as heath or ling. It is called by
the Laplanders giske, and not being eaten by
any kind of cattle, it thrives luxuriantly, and
increases in proportion as other herbs are
devoured. The wife of a clergyman of Lulea,
on whose accuracy the great botanist says he
could place the greatest dependence, assured
him that at a post-house where she dined, she
saw great quantities of this aconite collected and
brought to table cooked as greens. As she
knew the plant to be used as a poison to flies,
she expressed some surprise that it should be
eaten. The maid-servant of the house, how-
ever, laughed at her fears, and told her it was
too good to be slighted.

Many very pretty species of stellaria, some
of them much like our common stitchwort,
adorn the garden beds at this season, and by

MAY. 101

their profusion of starry "white floM'ers cover the
stones of the rock work.

The rose acacia (Eohinia hispida rosea) is
now profusely flov/ering, and its long blushing
wreaths of flowers droop from among its light
sprays of leaves, rendering \t a truly graceful
shrub. By persons unacquainted with flowers,
it is commonly called pink laburnum, as its
blossoms are formed like those of that tree. Its
roots require much room, so that it is an incon-
venient plant for a small plot, but no large
garden should be without its beauty. It is a
native of Carolina.

Several other beautiful species of the plant
called acacia are to be found in the garden,
while the locust - ti'ce, or false acacia, {Bo-
binia pseudacacia,) is very general, and lends
its shadow to the lawn, or hangs its pendent
blossoms in the shrubbery. Some of the Jesuit
missionaries gave to this plant its name of locust-
tree, from the mistaken idea that its seeds were
alluded to in Scripture, where the forerunner
of the Messiah is described as eating locusts
and wild honey. Its flowers are generally
either white or tinged with pink and purple,
but it is one of those trees which remain the
longest in spring, waiting to be clothed with
the verdant foliage; and this, as well as the
very brittle nature of its branches, which snap
and break away in the high winds of spring,
is a great disadvantage to its beauty. With us
it is more connnonly a low than a very high
tree, but in the JMorth American woods its

102 GARDEN FLOWER^.

brandies reach the height of a hundred feet.
It grows well in the neighbourhood of London,
and is, with the lilac and the laburnum, among
the commonest flowering trees in the gardens of
the villages around the metropolis. It is one
of the first trees which reached us from the
American forests, and it has always been valued
there for its hard and durable wood. Cattle
are very fond of the young shoots, and some
botanists have recomm.ended the culture of the
plant for forage. Their nutriment is owing to
a saccharine principle, which exists also in the
roots. With us its flowers are ornamental, and
very pleasing by their fragrance, while the
natives of St. Domingo make from them a dis-
tilled liquor, said to have a very agreeable
flavour'.

The false acacia has so long been termed
acacia, that it is often confounded with the true
plants of that name, which, however, are very
different in appearance. These latter flowers
are called in Austraha by the general name of
wattles. More than three hundred kinds have
been introduced into England, but few species
remain in culture. The greater number of
these are natives of New Holland ; they are
nearly all evergreens, and their flowers are Httle
yellow balls or tufts, Uke down. The gum
arable of commerce is derived from the acacia
vera, a plant found in every part of Africa. In
our country they nearly all require to be
treated as greenhouse plants, and several are
commonly planted in pots and kept in rooms.

MAY. 103

The author of " The Picture of Australia" re-
marks, that the acacias in all their varieties are
very elegant, and says that " they are among the
few plants in the Austrahan forest which an
European would be disposed to consider orna-
mental. There are more than one hundred
species scattered over Australia, and of these a
considerable number belong to the leafless kind.
Their flowers are very beautiful, and the leaf-
less variety is probably not found in any other
part of the world."

Some pretty species of the flower called
lousewort, are now opening in gardens, but
they mostly require considerable care in their
culture. Their leaves are cut into fine segments
like those of our wild kinds ; and their flowers
are chiefly pink or purple, but sometimes yel-
low. When the white, red, and yellow colours
mingle in their blossoms, they are said by
Loudon to give to the flower the tints of flames
of fire. They generally grow on very elevated
situations, and are found more than a thousand
toises above the level of the sea. Notwith-
standing their acridity the movmtam goats browse
on them in the pastures where they are plentiful.
One species of this plant will not grow in the
English garden, though some pains have been
taken to raise it from seeds sent from the north
of Europe to the botanic garden of Cambridge.
It was a flower which much interested Linnaeus
and other Swedish botanists. This is the
flower called Charles's sceptre, (Pedicularis
sceptrum Carolinumj) a name given to it by

i04 GARDEN FLOWERS.

Rudbeck, in 1697, in honour of Charles xii. of
Sweden. Tliis monarch having visited Tornea
to observe the appearance of the solstitial sun
above the horizon at midnight, was so struck
with the beauty of the plant, that he carried it
about in his hand. Its large golden flowers,
with ruby lips, are described as rising in tiers
one above another, to the height of four or five
feet from the ground. It is abundant in
Norway, and found in Lapland, though less
luxuriant in the latter country.

By the latter end of this month one of the
gayest of our garden flowers, the escholtzia, is
expanding its large yellow or orange-coloured
ujjright bells. It was, at its first introduction
into this country, termed Californian poppy.
This flower is, among several others, included
by gardeners in the name of Californian annuals,
and they were brought from California, on the
north-west coast of America. IVIany of them
were sent home by the indefatigable botanical
collector, Douglas, who was sent out by the
Horticultural Society of London, and who, in
the enthusiastic pursuit of his object, lost his
life by falling into a bull pit. The escholtzia
has pale sea-green leaves, covered with a fine
bloom ; and the flowers are verv brilliant,
though destitute of fragrance. When the blos-
som opens, the calyx, or flower cup, instead of
gradually imfolding at the summit, like the
calyxes of flowers in general, separates at its
base from the flower, and comes off in the form
of an extinguisher.. This is one of the most

JUNE. 105

hardy of the Californian annuals; for though
these flowers bear the open air of our winters
well, yet they are generally liable to be injured
by the heat of our summers ; and if by any
accident their roots become exposed to the sun,
they wll often die in the course of a few houi's.

JUNE.

" The shining pansy, trimmed with golden lace ;
The tali topped lark-heels, feathered thick with flowers;
The woodbine, climbing o'er the door in bowers ;
The London tufts of many a mottled hue ;
The pale pink pea, and monkshood darkly blue;
The white and purple gillyflowers, that stay
Lingering in blossom summer half away;
The single blood walls, of a luscious smell,
Old-fashioned flowers which housewives love so well ;
The columbines, stone blue, or deep night brown.
Their honey-comb like blossoms hanging down ;
Each cottage garden's fond adopted child.
Though heaths still claim them, where they yet grow wild;
With marjoram knots, sweet briar, and ribbon grass,
And lavender, the choice of every lass."— Clare.

If from among the many flowers which deck
the June garden, we were bid to select one
which should seem its peculiar ornament, the
mind would involuntarily recur to the rose.

" The roses laden with the breath of June,"

are now found both in the hedgerow of the lane,
and in the lowliest and richest garden. They
are ever favourite flowers, nor Avere they less so
in the olden time.

Many hundred years have passed since the
rose was first the theme of praise, and time, with
his many changes, has not deprived the queen of

d3

106 GARDEN FLOWERS.

flowers of her pre-eminence. In the east
generally, and in Persia especially, it points the
moral of the sage, and inspii'es the song of the
minstrel. Not only did Hafiz and Khusroo
sing of its beauty and odour, and tell how the
nightingale, "the bird of a thousand songs,"
utters her plaintive lament when it is gathered,
but even to the present day, the Persian song
would seem incomplete did it make no reference
to " the garden of Gul in its bloom."

It would be vain, in so small a volume as the
present, to attempt to enumerate the various
roses under culture in our country. More than
a hundred distinct species are known, and
about two thousand varieties are said to be the
objects of care to the British gardener. The
rose, in some one or other of its species, is a
Avild flower in almost every country of the
northern hemisphere of the globe ; from Sweden
to northern Africa ; from Kamschatka to Ben-
gal ; ■ and from Hudson's Bay to the lofty
mountains of Mexico : but neither South
America nor Australia can boast the rose-bush,
either on mountain height, or in deepest valley.
In the countries at the north of Europe, the
flower, in its wild state, is single, like our
wilding rose; but in Italy, Spain, and Greece,
it is often double.

The two species of rose which were earliest
cultivated in the British garden, appear to be
the cabbage or Provence rose, and the musk
rose. The former {Rosa centifolia,) is well
known by its numerous petals, closely folded

JUNE. 107

over each other, like the leaves of a cabbage.
Every cottage plot can show a bush of this
sweetest of roses. It was long thought to be a
native of France, but this seems doubtful. In
some low woods on the eastern parts of Cau-
casus, it is certainly vnld, and its odour per-
fumes the air. Dr. Clarke speaks of its fra-
grance and profusion in the isle of Rhodes.
Upwards of seventy kinds of this rose only, are
imder culture, and our pretty moss roses, which
blush so beautifully from under their verdant
mossy veil, are varieties of the Provence rose.
It is remarkable of these flowers, that, when
removed to the milder atmosphere of southern
Europe, they lose the mossy covering, which
seems so suited, in our climate, to preserve the
delicate young biid from the morning or even-
ing chills. The cabbage rose is planted both
in England and France for the sake of its petals,
which are gathered, when fully blown, for
making rose Avater, and also for the conserve of
roses sold by the druggist.

The musk rose {Rosa moschata) is found
wild in the north of Africa, and the warmer
portions of Spain. It blooms in autumn, and
its musky odour is most powerful in the even-
ing. Its large bunches of flowers would weigh
down the slender branches, were they not sup-
ported. The kinds of musk rose are not nu-
merous, as there are not above a dozen sorts.
This flower is thought to be the rose repre-
sented by the Persian poet as the delight of the
nightingale of the east, whose songs, sweet

108 GARDEN FLOWERS.

tliougli they are to oriental ears, are described
by English travellers as far inferior to those of
our bird of night.

The French rose (Bosa Gallica) is also a
common flower in onr gardens. It has large
open flat flowers, on stiff stalks. It grows wild
in some parts of France, and at Geneva ; and is
found in Austria and Piedmont. This rose is
easily scattered by the winds, and forms a
great contrast to the compact, closely-folded
cabbage rose. Though wild in France, it is
cultivated at the little town of Provins, and
also at Fontenay aux Koses, near Paris, for the
conserve made of its petals. The York and
Lancaster, with its flowers variegated with red
and white, is one of the varieties of the French
rose. It delighted our forefathers, by blooming
at a season when they deemed it an auspicious
token that the civil wars should cease, and the
union of the two emblematic roses, in the per-
sons of Henry vii. and Elizabeth of York,
should bring peace and happiness to the long
distracted nation. It is said that the significant
colours of red and white, were never, till this
period, seen united in the symbolic flower of
England, and great crowds went from the city
to witness this natural prodigy.

The damask rose too, (^Rosa Damascena^ is
common with us, and if it is not a native of
the neighbourhood of Damascus, yet it was
planted many centuries since in that ancient
city, whose name it bears; and now, both in its
red and white varieties, it still decks the gar-

JUNE, 109

deus there. It appears to be, certainly, wild
in some parts of Syria. The Parisians are very
fond of this flower, and it is one which is most
commonly sold in their flower markets. The
French, indeed, prize the roses generally, and
it is an old custom in some villages of France,
to present, on a certain day in every year, a
rose to the cottage maiden who is thought, by
her conduct, to have merited the esteem of her
neighbours, and who for the following year is
termed la rosiere.

Then, too, we have the numerous varieties
of the delicate China, or monthly rose, (Eosa
indica,) which sometimes half cover the cottage
wall, or grace the bush of the town garden.
But the dim air of the city is not good for roses,
and even these look pale and sickly if compared
to the country flowers, while our yellow roses
will not thrive at all near the smoke of a
crowded neighbourhood. The most beautiful
of this family of roses are the tea-scented, or
noisette roses. The China rose grows wild
alwut Canton, in China.

The dark velvet petals of the Bourbon rose
{liosa Bourhoniana) render it much admired,
and its fragrance is remarkably sweet. We
have, too, some pretty roses, with their tiny
buds and little sprays of leaves, called the roses
de Meaux, and these are a variety of the cab-
bage rose. There are, besides, the white Scotch
roses, and the inaiden's blush roses, and the
yellow double and single roses, and that lovely
kind of briar rose, called by the Italians, Rosa

110 GAEDEN FLOWERS.

Perla, which blooms all Europe over, and which
awakened feelings of deep emotion in Rich,
when he saw it flowering wild in Koordistan,
just as it did in the hedges whence he had
gathered it near his home. But we must
pause in the list of the sweetest of flowers, and
leave unnoticed many others, familiar to those
who, like Eve, tend the plants, as Milton de-
scribes our first mother as doing in earth's
fairest garden.

" Veiled in a cloud of fragrance, where she stood
Half spied, so thick the roses blushing round
About her glowed ; oft stooping to support
Each flower of tender stalk, whose head, though gay,
Carnation, purple, azure, or specked with gold,
Hung drooping, unsustained."

The rose is much cultivated both in Egypt
and Syria. It is in many parts of the Holy
Land found mid in abundance, yet it is not so
general as to render it an object of so frequent
reference as the myrtle, the palm, and the
olive, which are far more widely distributed
in that country. There exists, however, a
tradition that the name of Syria is a cor-
ruption of Suristan, the land of roses, which it
was once called, from the profusion of a species
of rose termed Suri, that grew in some part of
the land.

Very beautiful yeUow roses have been found
flourishing among the ruins of Baalbec, and
the hills which lie on the road from Joppa to
Jerusalem, are still gay with the white or pink
rose. In the desert of St. John, the gardens of
the Httle village of that name abound with

JUNE. Ill

these flowera, and the bushes are described as
" forming small forests in the gardens." Burck-
hardt found roses in plenty among the ruins of
Bozra, beyond the river Jordan.

There seems little doubt that the isle of
Rhodes derived its name from Bhodos, the
Greek word for this flo^yer, on account of its
lovely roses. Dr. Clarke speaks with delight
of the fragrant atmosphere of this island, and
says that, in addition to the odours of the rose,
every gale is scented Avith citron and orange
trees, and that numberless aromatic herbs ex-
hale at the same time such profuse fragrance,
that the whole atmosphere seems to be im-
pregnated with its spicy perfume. The pagan
writers said of this island, that Jupiter poured
on it a golden shower.

And now, when the sun shines brightly, the
eye is absolutely dazzled as it gazes on the
glowing flowers of the scarlet lychnis, {Lychnis
chalcedonica.) Pliny observes that this flower
was in his time called flammea, from its colour
60 like to the flame of fire. He speaks of its
having been brought from Asia. It appears to
have been introduced hither from the Russian
gardens, in the year 1596, and it is generally
thought to have been sent into Em^ope from
Asia° during the period of the crusades. The
large clusters of this brilliant flower, growing
on a stem often three feet high, render it a
valuable addition to the garden. It blooms also
for three or four months. The Avhite and
double-flowered varieties are equally handsome,

112 GARDEN FLOWERS.

and are mucli cultivated in Holland, but are
not so frequent in oui- gardens as tlie common
scarlet kind.

Two other very beautiful species of lychnis
are not rare. Tlae red flowers of the Chinese
lychnis (^Lychnis coronatd) are much valued
in China and Japan ; and the splendid lychnis
{^Lychnis fulgens) is a native of Siberia. Both
plants are well worth the care which the gar-
dener must bestow on them during the frost.

Several smaller kinds of border flowers, as
the ragged robin, the pink bachelor's button,
and others, are species of lychnis ; and the
flowers termed catchfly are very nearly allied
to them. Of these we have a great number in
the garden, and several grow wild in our fields.
As Dr. Clarke observes, the weeds of one
country are the flowers of. another ; "accord-
ingly," says he, in his account of Sweden,
*' we found the common poppy and the night-
flowering catchfly cultivated with great care,
as ornaments of the little garden of the inn
where we rested."

INIore than seventy kinds of catchfly are in
British gardens, and they are all more or less
covered with a glutinous substance, which,
having a sweet taste, is attractive to insects,
and prevents their escape from the flower.
The old writers called the plant limewoort,
Lobels catchfly (Sileiie armeria) is common in
most gardens, and the clammy species, Silenc
viscosa, well deserves its name.

The flowers of the two species of fraxinella

JUNE. . 113

shoot up on tall branches, and the leaves, so
like those of the young sapling of the ash tree,
are very elegant. From this resemblance the
flower is termed fraxinella, or little ash. The
red species (Dictamniis frcLvinella) has pale pink
flowers, marked with purple. These plants
have a number of small brownish red glands
on the flower stalks, which exude a viscid juice
of a resinous nature. When slightly rubbed, a
pleasant odour is diffused, like that of lemon-
peel ; and if the plant be wounded, the fragrance
is much more powerful. The resin from the
glands renders the plant very clammy to the
touch, and it is also inflammable. It is well
known that this plant may be lighted up by the
flame of a candle, but it is generally thought
that the light can be seen only during darkness.
On a fine summer evening in June, before even
the twijight had commenced, the Avriter of these
pages once tried the experiment. On holding
the light at about half an inch from the flower,
the vapour which it emitted took fire, and a
beautiful blue flame ran over every part of the
plant, which was about three feet high. It
occupied about half a minute in its progress,
and the strong balsamic odour which at that
time arose from the plant, was almost over-
powering, and perfumed the air of the garden
for some distance. This same fraxinella
bloomed for days and even weeks after, and its
pink flowers and feathered foliage seemed as
fresh as before the flame had passed over them.
Both the red and the white species (■Dictammcs

114 GARDEN FLOWERS.

alhis) are natives of Germany. The root is
used in medicine, and contains a powerful
opiate. They are hardy perennial plants, and
will thrive in almost any situation, or on any
soil.

Sixty years since, the lovely tribe of fuchsias
were unknown in Great Britain, and now they
hang their crimson bells in our gardens, or
bloom among the flowers which deck the win-
dow-sill, smihng even in the dim atmosphere
of London, but looking greener and gayer in
the little garden-pot of the country cottage
parlour. We have now several species, and
many others will probably yet be brought from
the wild places of Peru and Chili. The most
interesting as well as the earliest introduced, is
the scarlet fixchsia, (Fuchsia coccinea) which is
wild in Chili, and was brought into this country
and presented to the royal garden at IJew, in
1788 ; the remaining species of the genus not hav-
ing been introduced before 1823. This fuchsia
was long considered a very delicate plant, and
was kept in the greenhouse, and known only to
the rich ; but it is found to be so hardy as to
be now also the poor man's flower. The richly
coloured tints of its crimson calyx, and the
purple corolla within, rolled up like a ribbon,
enable the scarlet fuchsia to vie in beauty even
with the brighter scarlet of the splendid fuchsia
{Fuchsia fnlgens) and others recently imported ;
while it is far superior in beauty to the pale flesh-
coloured and green varieties, now cherished by
the curious. The slender fuchsia, (Fuchsia

JUNE. 115

gracilis,) which is a crimson and purple flower,
is one of the best for the garden bed. It is a
handsome slender shrub, about foui' feet high ;
its leaves, like most of the fuchsias, veined with
red. This was introduced from Chili in 1823,
and though usually a shriib, may be trained to
a single stem. The smaller plant, the globe
fuchsia, (Fuchsia glohosa,) is also very hardy.

The fuchsias were named after Leonard
FiTchs, a well-known German botanist, who
pubhshed some valuable works in the sixteenth
century. Their fruit is a dark berry, which
when ripe is agreeable to the taste. These
plants are often, when in the garden, five feet
high ; while in the greenhouse it is no uncom-
mon thing to see them nine or ten feet in height.

The French honeysuckle has long been an
ornament to our gardens. Parkinson, who
published his "Garden of Flowers" in 1596,
calls it the red satin flower, and the red-flow-
ered fitchling ; and adds, "some fooUshly call
it the red or French honeysuckle." The nu-
merous species of hedysarum are all hardy
flowers, and one which grows wild in various
parts of Asia, the prickly-stemmed species,
(Hedysarum Alhagi,) is celebrated as being the
shrub which produces manna.

Many beautiful poppies are expanding their
crumpled petals to the sunshine, and though
their unpleasing odour renders them little
suited for nosegays, yet they are very brilliant
additions to the parterre. The brightest of
them all is the large scarlet eastern poppy,

116 GAEDEN FLOWERS. ■.

(Papaver orientale,) which was first found by
Tournefort in Armenia, and soon dispersed
throughout Europe, by the seeds Avhich he sent
to the Garden of Plants at Paris. It is of the
most dazzHng colour, and on summer evenings
bright flashes of light have been seen to ema-
nate from its fire-coloured flowers. The large
bracted poppy {Papaver hracteatimi) is no less
splendid a plant, and is noAV very generally
cultivated. It is a native of Siberia.

Some pretty delicate poppies, called carnation
poppies, are in flower by the end of the month,
and continue blooming till August. So frail
are they, that it seems as if a shower or a rude
wind -would scatter them all away, yet, like the
delicate cobweb wdth which the spider en-
wreaths the hedges, the light shower of summer
only brightens them by its spangles, and the
soft Avinds only rufile them to display their
beauty. Still, however, they are frail flowers,
even where all are frail ; and a long-continued
rain will so beat them down, that they cannot
rise after it. Sometimes they are like white
gauze ; again they glow in brightest scarlet, or
deepest crimson ; or their white petals are
traced with a blush-coloured streak, or edged
with a rim of rose colour. These are all vari-
eties, produced by culture, from the common
poppy of our cornfield.

The yellow poppy, often called Norway poppy,
{Papiavev nudicaule,) with its bright orange-co-
loured flowers, is very handsome, and has a sweet
fragrance. It is a native of Siberia and Eussia.

JUNE. 117

And now the pretty minor convolvulus ( Con-
volvolus tricolor) is beginning to blow, and its
large cups of deep azure will soon cover the
branches. This species grows wild in southern
Europe, and the blossoms have usually rays
of white. Sometimes they are pure white or
blue, rayed with yellow in the centre. This
flower is not very similar to the climbing plant,
called by gardeners the major convolvulus,
(Ipomcea purpurea.) This, in its different vari-
eties, of purple, white, pink, or lilac, is a beau-
tiful American plant. In its native woods it is
very luxuriant, twining so among the branches
of the trees, and so mingling itself with its
neighbour plants, that the Americans term one
species of the flower " busy body." "With us
it will sometimes climb ten feet high, but in
Jamaica its bells hang from the loftiest trees of
the forests. All the species are ornamental.
That known by the name of indigo convolvulus
(Ipomcea nil.) is of the clearest blue tint. The
Italians term it campana aziirea, and as, unlike
the others of the convolulus tribe, it opens at
night, it has also the name in Italy, of Jior cli
notte.

Many species of the ipomtea are to be found
in our hot-houses, and comparatively few can
bear the winter in the garden.

Our wild species of convolvulus are among
the most graceful plants of the hedges, and so
also are other species in the hedgerows of Italy,
as well as in tropical lauds. A beautiful
climber of this tribe, (Quamoclit anfjulata,)

118 GARDEN FLOWERS.

produces, in the Mauritius, an immense pro-
fusion of scarlet flowers, which hang about the
shrubs, and render them so bright, that it has
obtained the name of fire-in-the-bush. The
scammony, the jalaji, and other medicines are
the produce of plants of the convolvulus tribe,
and the sweet potato (^Convolvoliis batata) is a
well-known food in tropical countries. Back-
house, when in the Mauritius, saw some of the
poor people collecting the long stems of this
plant, and binding them together in bundles.
This formed a simple net, which, when throAvn
into the sea, and presently drawn ashore, was
fuU of small fishes. The stems extended many
yards along the sandy coast, and produced a
very pretty convolvulus flower in great abun-
dance.

The various kinds of nasturtium, or Indian
cress, make a great show in the garden. Lin-
nseus named the flower from tropceum, a trophy,
because of its helmet-like shape, and because,
like too many of the trojjhies of man, it wore
the dark red stain of blood. The round leaf,
too, is like a buckler. The French term the
flower la capucine, and the Italians, caprivola.
Until the year 1823, two kinds of nasturtium
only were known in this country. These were
the large and small-flowered common species ;
and owing to the more showy flowers of the
larger kind, the smaller has been little culti-
vated. Several varieties have, of late years,
been raised from seed, and one of the most
handsome and generally known is the dark red-

JUNE. 119

brown nastm-tium, (Twpceohim major atrosan-
guineum.) A flower which, until the last few
years, was deemed unfit for the open air, is now
a common and beautiful climber on the wire or
trellis-work of the garden. This is the canary
hirdi ii.o\fQV, {Tropmolum peregriniim,) the little
delicate fringed flowerets of which seem ho-
vering over the green sprays, as if some pale
yellow bird were alighting there beneath their
chequered shadows. The nasturtium is quite
a Peruvian genus. The flowers of our common
species are sometimes eaten as salad, and both
these and the young succulent leaves and shoots
have a pungent property, which renders them
very wholesome. The seeds are very com-
monly pickled and used instead of capers.

During this and the two following months,
the plants called slipper Avort, but moi-e gene-
rally known by their botanical name of Calce-
olaria, are either flowering in the greenhouse
or on the garden plot. They are half hardy
plants, requiring care in the winter. The
greater number have yellow blossoms, and in
all, the lower lip of the flower is inflated like a
bag, and the form of the whole suggests the
idea of a slipper. A few of the species have
purple or pink flowers, and sometimes the dark
brown tint mingles with the yellow, as in the
common wallflower, or they are of a dark rich
brown. The different species grow as wild
flowers in almost every variety of climate,
owing to the various elevations on which they
are found. The whole family are natives of South

120 GABDEN FLOWERS.

America, and abound, either on the western
side of the Cordilleras, or the southern parts of
the continent, or in the contiguous islands.
Some grow at such a height on the Andes, that
their yellow flowers vary the somewhat mono-
tonous tint of grey lichens and green mosses
which are found in these elevated regions ;
while some smile among the flowers of the low-
liest valleys. In Chili, and on the mountains
of Peru, they grow in thick i^rofusion, so that
they are said to give a pecuhar character to the
vegetation. In 1820, six species only were
known out of the number now to be found in
Britain. The species most common in gardens,
and the most hardy, is the little shrubby rugose
slipperwort, (^Calceolaria rugosa.)

Several pretty kinds of veronica, with blue
or white flowers, all in some degree resembling
the wild speedwells of our meadows, are blowing
in the gardens in the month of June, while the
eye is almost unable to gaze on the bright scar-
let patches of the vervain, which now cluster
in glowing colour. These flowers are better
known by their name of verbena, and though
the botanist may perceive that they bear much
resemblance to our wild vervain, yet the
unpractised eye might not discern the resem-
blance. The scarlet species, ( Verbena atrosan-
gidnea,) is the most intense in colour, and
absolutely pains the eye by its brightness ; but
the most common species, the scarlet verbena,
is, in some of its varieties, little less brilliant
than this. Several of the species have purple

JUNE. 121

flowers ; some pale lilac, or rose-coloured, or
white. These flowers are chiefly natives of
North or South America.

The shrub generally called sweet-scented
verbena, (^Aloysia citriodora,) does not properly
belong to the vervain tribe. It has panicles of
small pale lilac flowers, and its highly fragrant
leaves are well known. This is a native of South
America, and tolerably hardy, requiring pro-
tection only when the frost is very severe.

The pea-shaped blossoms of the pink, blue,
Avhite, and yellow lupins, are among our prettiest
and well-known border flowers. They are some
of the oldest annuals of the British garden.
The yellow kind, (^Liipinus luteus,) is sweet
scented.

The great tree lupin, {Liipinus arhoreus,)
when trained beside a wall, in a sheltered situa-
tion, will often grow six feet in height ; and
the changeable Ivipin {Lupiniis mutabilis) is a
handsome plant, branching like a tree, and fre-
quently five feet high. The white lupin, {Lu-
pinus albas,) is much cultivated in the Levant,
and called fig-bean. Our small blue lupin is a
native of the south of Europe, and the common
yellow species grows wild in Sicily.

Among the sweet odours with which the air
of June is laden, there is perhaps scarcely any
more pleasant than that of the sweet scabious,
{Scahiosa atropurpvrea.) This is the dark,
rich mulberry-coloured flower, often called
musk rose, and termed by the French, fleur de
veuve, and scabieuse des Indes. It is au old

122 GARDEN FLOWERS.

ornament of our gardens, so old that we know
not whence it came originally, though it is ge-
nerally thought to be a native flower of some
part of India.

The lily, interesting to us by its historical
associations, and leading us by its very name
to think of the tender charge of our Saviour to
the trembling disciples, " Consider the lilies," —
the Hly, the tall white lily, (Liliimi candidum,)
may now be seen in its beauty and purity,
towering above all the other flowers ; and we
can say with Bernard Barton,

" Ye loftier lilies, bathed in morning dew
Of purity and innocence, renew
Each lovely thought."

Dr. Koyle quotes Dr. Bowring's description
of a lily, which that writer terms the lily of
Palestine, and heard called Lilia Syriaca, and
which grew in great profusion about Galilee.
Yet our white lily is not likely to be the lily
of the field, or the lily of the Song of Solomon,
or the prophets of the older Scriptures. The
white lily is not known to exist as a wild
flower in Syria. None of the natives of Pales-
tine can give any account of its growing wild
there, but it is cultivated in pots, and regarded
as a rare exotic. The fields of Palestine are,
however, full of liliaceous plants, and Sir J. E.
Smith and Dr. ICitto both consider that a
species of amaryllis was intended, the golden
flowers of which are common in fields of Pa-
lestine, or the Levant. Dr. Bowring plainly
indicates the scarlet martagon lily, which was in

JUNE, 123

former days called the Byzantium lily, and
■which grows from the Adiiatic to the Levant.
It is commonly called Turk's cap, or turn again
gentlemen, and is the Lilium chalcedonicum of
botanists. This species of lily is in flower
during this month in our gardens, and as it is
in bloom at the season when oiu' Saviour spoke
his sermon on the mount, Dr. Eoyle concludes
that this is most probably the lily of the field,
of which the disciples were to learn a lesson of
faith, and this invests this flower with fresh in-
terest. The common white lily has been planted
from time immemorial in the English gardens,
and its mucilaginous roots boiled in milk form
an old remedy for wounds.

As long since as the days of Dioscorides, the
martagon hly has been kno\vn as a flower of
Asia, and he mentions its having been found at
Antioch, in Syria. The Hly of the Old Testa-
ment has shared with the lily of the field, in
having a variety of flowers assigned as the lily
intended by the Hebrew name Shushan. The
violet, the rose, t'he jasmine, and many other
sweet flowers of the Holy Land, have been said
to be the lily. Whatever it may have been, it
was doubtless a flower much esteemed in the
east.

The sweet flowers of the white and purple
stocks are fragrant now. The old favourite red
or carmine stock, called queen's stock, (3Iathi-
ola incand) is called by the French girojlee des
jardi/is ; by the old writers, purple gilliflower.
Its rosettes are sometimes of a pale pink, or

124 GARDEN FLOWERS.

variegated hue. The Brompton stock is a
variety of this, and was probably improved by
the skill of some Brompton florist. The wild
flower, from which many botanists consider the
garden stock to have been derived, is, indeed, a
blossom very inferior in beauty to this, and few
would detect, in the small purple flower of our
sea-side cliffs, the parent of this beautiful orna-
ment of the cultivated ground. The annual, or
ten-week stock, is called by the French, la
violette d'ete. It is generally about two feet
high, with white, red, and variegated varieties,
both single and double. It grows on the cliffs
of southern Europe, and, like all the species,
flourishes best near the sea.

There are, besides, some cinnamon-coloured
stocks, and the night-blowing stock is of a dingy
brown. The bright pinkish lilac annual, called
Virginian stock, which is planted round the
garden bed, is not a species of this plant. It
grows wild in the Mediterranean isles, and is
called by the French, girofiee ch Malion. Some
of our most beautiful stocks are reared from
seeds brought from Germany and Russia, and
are hence called German or Russian stocks.

Several species of campanula bloom now
from the various pretty little flowers, wdiich,
with their blue and white bells, cover the rock-
work to the tall jjyi'amidal campanula, or the
Canterbury bell, and throatwort. One of the
kinds frequently seen in gardens, is the peach-
leaved bell-flower, [Campanula persicifolia,) often
called paper flower, with blue and Avhite spread-

JUNE. 125

ing blossoms. It grows mid ia the south of
Europe. The fau-shaped branches of the pyra-
midal campanula, (^Campanula pyramidalis,)
are thickly covered with their numerous blue
flowers, but more often grace the hall, or
Avindow-seat, than the garden bed. The Can-
terbury bell and great throatwort are very
generally cultivated ; the latter is a native of
Europe, as well as of Japan, and some parts of
Asia. It is wild in some parts of Britain ; the
Scottish poet speaks of it, as growing on the
heath of his native land : —

"He laid him down
Where purple heath profusely strown,
And tliroatwort with its azure bell,
And moss, and thyme, his cushion swell."

The French call this species, la cloche. The
lesser Canterbury bell, (^Campanula medium,)
is a native of Germany, but was by Gerarde
deemed a British flower.

Very beautiful are the blossoms of the
passion flower, (Passijlora cccrulea,) which, Avith
its twining branches, and dark-green leaves,
now climbs over the front of the dwelling, or
the garden arbour. It is the only species
which is quite hardy. Its fruit ripens in
England, and is not unwholesome. It is a wild
flower of the American wood, climbing up to
the hiorhest boujjh of the tall forest tree, and
hanffincT its rich festoons from one branch to
another. It is called by a name similar to our
familiar one, in most of the countries of Europe.
The Spaniards, when they first saw its flower,
regarded it as a token that the Indian should

126 GARDEN FLOWERS.

be converted to Christianity, for they fancied
that its several parts indicated the various
accompaniments of the crucifixion. In the five
anthers, the monks saw a resemblance to the
wounds on the body of our Lord ; the triple
style, they considered emblematic of the three
nails by which he was fixed to the cross ; the
central column, of the pillar to which he was
bound ; wliile the rays of the flower figured to
their minds the rays of light which the old
painters always represented as surrounding the
Saviour ; or were by some regarded as the sign
of the crown of thorns, which sinful man
placed around the brow of man's Eedeemer.
Exaggerated descriptions and figures of the
marvellous passion flower were soon circulated
throughout Europe ; and " there are cuts," says
Sir J. E. Smith, "to be found in some old
books, apparently drawn from descriptions,
like the hog in armour upon our signs, to
represent the rhinoceros, in which the flower is
made up of the very things themselves."

The common passion flower grows very
rapidly. Its shoots are said, by Loudon, to
make fifteen feet in the summer. The fruit is
about as large as a mogul plum, but its flavour
is not agreeable. The species first cultivated
in Europe, was the rose-coloured passion
flower, which is a native of Virginia. All the
species are very handsome flowers, and their
fruits are much valued in tropical countries.

A. very popular flower of this month is the
common sweet pea, (Lathyrus odorattis,) which

JUNE. 127

equals iu fragrance almost any flower in tlie
British garden. Its butterfly-like blossoms
are streaked with white and red in the kind
called painted lady ; but another variety has
petals of a dark rich purple. Linnaeus says that
the pink and white sweet pea is to be found
in Sicily, while the purple kind groAvs wild in
the magnificent hedges and woods of Ceylon,

The everlasting sweet pea {Lathyrus latifo-
liiis,) is considered a wild flower of Great
Britain, but it is a doubtful native. Its large
rich blossoms, grovnng on stems sometimes
seven or eight feet high, add much to the
beauty of the shrubbery, while the still larger
flowers of the perennial pea {Lathyrus grancUflo-
riis,) are remarkably showy. Gerarde calls the
former kind, pease everlasting, tare everlasting,
and chickling.

A very pretty border annual is the Tangier
pea, [Lathyrus Tingitanus,) which is said to be a
native of Barbary. It is a tall-gi-owing plant,
with small dark purplish brown flowers. The
light blue pea, now sometimes seen in gardens,
is a perennial plant, remarkable, not only for
the colour of its flowers, but also for its beau-
tiful foliage. It is to be regretted that it is
not more commonly cultivated.

The odour of the sweet pea, deUcious as it is,
is injurious to a close apartment ; and an in-
stance occurred in France, in which a person,
owing to carrying a small bunch of these
flowers in the mouth, on a warm summer's
day, was seized with convidsions.

1 28 GARDEN FLOWERS.

Another sweetly fragrant flower is the com-
mon white jessamine, (Jasminum offioinale.) It
is a very old garden flower, and Gerarde says,
in 1597, that it was in common use for covering
arbours. The white flowers are often used for
making a fragrant oil. Cowper well describes it :

" The jasmine, throwing wide her elegant sweets,
The deep dark green of whose unvarni;>iied leaf
Makes more conspicuous, and illumines more
The bright profusion of her scattered stars."

A few, besides the common species, bear the
open air, but many jessamines reqiure the hot-
house. The Italian yellow jessamine (Jasmi-
num himiile,) is a border flower, and the curled
yellow jessamine, a native of Nepaul, grows
well against walls. The sweet night-blowing
Arabian jessamine is most fragrant during
night. Its powerful fragrance renders it a fa-
vourite flower, both in the East and West
Indies. Loudon remarks of this plant, that it
grew in the Hampton Coui't garden at the close
of the seventeenth century, but being lost there,
it was known in Europe only in the garden of
the Grand Duke of Tuscany, at Pisa, where the
plant was placed under guard, that no cuttings
might be stolen.

But no species of the jasmine tribe is more
interesting than that called the tree of mourn-
ing, {Nyctanthus arhor tristis,) which, however,
requires to be grown in a stove in this country.
It is an Indian tree, and the Hindoo women
use its flowers to decorate their hair. It is
dehciously fragrant, the blossoms having the
scent of fresh honey, but the brightness of day

JUKE. 129

must Lave faded into the dim light of evening,
or the darkness of night, before they unfold, a
circumstance which makes this tree the fre-
quent allusion of the poet : —

"The timid jasmine buds that keep
Their odour to themselves all day ;
But when the sunlight dies away,
Let the delicious fragrance out
To every breeze that roams about."

Both because of its blowing in darkness, and
from its ragged and melancholy appearance
when its flowers are withered, the plant re-
ceived its poetic name.

Some of the monkey flowers are showy orna-
ments of the borders. They bloom from early
spring, and several of them as late as August.
They are natives of North and South America,
and received their familiar name becaiise the
front of the seed is curiously marked, and re-
sembles the face of a grinning monkey.
They are nearly all hardy flowers, and two
common species, the cardinal and the musk
monkey flowers {Mimulus cardinalis, and Mi-
mulus moschata,) will bloom for many successive
summers without needing winter shelter.

The species called the gaping monkey flower,
was the earliest introduced, and was first culti-
vated in this country in 1759, and numerous
kinds are now in British gardens.

Our wild marjoram, so common on the
chalky hills, is often planted in gardens Ihr its
fragrant flower, which is so delightful to the
bees. The Oregon territory is „.-id to have
received its name from the abundance of

130 GARDEN FLOWERS.

marjoram wliich grows there, and which the
Spaniards term origano. The sweet or knotted
marjoram, (^Origanum 7najorana,) cultivated for
seasoning dishes, is a native of PortugaL The
hop marjoram (^Origmmm didamnus,) has pink
flowers, on green cones, something like those of
the hops : it is a native of Candia, and though
more frequently grown here in pots than on the
garden bed, is quite hardy. This plant is the
celebrated dittany of Crete of the ancient
writers. It clothes, in profusion, the rocks of
Candia. It is an excellent stomachic, and the
ancient physicians considered the air of Candia
especially healthful, on account of the fragrance
with which it is imbued by the marjoram. Its
balsamic odour is very lasting.

The tribe of larkspurs which now arise, of
almost every colour except yellow, the blue,
white, pink, and even scarlet larkspurs, have a
gay effect on the flower bed. The double lark-
spur has, however, a somewhat formal appear-
ance, and must, perhaps, yield in grace and
beauty to the more simple single blossom. It
is to the latter kind only that the famihar
name of larkspur can be applied, for the spur
becomes lost in the multiplied petals of the
double flower. The common blue larkspur
{Delphinium consolida,) grows wild almost
thi'oughout Europe, and is very frequent in
some of the fields in Cambridgeshire. It is said
to be an ingredient in those cosmetics used by
French ladies, the frequent application of which
proves so destructive to the skin. These

JUNE. 131

flowers received their Latin name from their
resemblance to the imaginary dolphin, -which,
with griffins and other strange animals, figure
in heraldic inscriptions. It was formerly called
also lark's heel or lark's foot. It is probably
from the sceptre-like appearance of the double
flower, that the Italians call it (Fio)' regio)
king's flower. It is an old inhabitant of the
British garden, and is mentioned by the herb-
alists of queen Elizabeth's time.

Far more beautiful than the common species,
are the handsome Siberian larkspurs, with tall
stems, dark green leaves, and deep blue flowers ;
which, as Mrs. Loudon observes, seem to have
a metallic lustre, the hue of which resembles
that of silver that has been tarnished by fire.
These, both in then- single and double varieties,
are now in bloom. The bee hirkspur {Delphi-
nium intermedium) is also a flower of great
beauty, with blossoms of intense blue, and pe-
tals so curiously folded, that they present the
ajipearance of a bee or blue-bottle fly.

Another of the Californian annuals, which,
like the cscholtzia, has of late years become
very common in gardens, is the clarkia, with
rose-coloured, white, or lilac flowers, of a very
singular shape : and the diflerent kinds of
cistus are now very handsome and frequent
plants. There is the frail gum cistus, {Cistus
ladaniferus,) smiling for a day, Avith its white
petals, each ornamented with a dark crimson
spot at the centre, l^oth this and the many-
flowered gum cistus, {Cislus Icdon,) furnish the

E 2

132 GARDEN FLOWERS.

odoriferous drug termed ladanum, so much
employed in the east. This ladanum is of old
repute, and is thought by many writers, to be
the substance called myrrh in Scripture.

But besides the gum cistus, we have a variety
of plants of this genus now in full flower.
There are several shrubs covered with blos-
soms, while clumps of lovely flowers of the
cistus kind, nod to every breath of wind which
rufiles the leaf The pretty purple-flow^ered
species, {Cistus piirpweus,) is quite a popular
shrub from the south of Europe. This flower
blooms not only during this and the next
jnonth, but, if the autumn be mild, vv'ill bloom
again at that period. The lower growing
cistuses, of orange, red, yellow, or other colours,
are often seen on the bed. The old writers
called the larger cistases Bosa alpinaand Rosa
montana, while Parkinson terms them holly
roses. Several of the herbaceous species are
used as ornaments to the rock-work, and have
evergreen leaves. The different jjlants of this
genus were well known to our old botanists and
gai'deners, and Gerarde mentions that, in his
day, there were thirty-eight kinds cultivated in
England. They are all natives of the southern
countries of Europe, where even if the win-
ter brings some chilly days, yet the summer
season is hot and dry. Their perfume exists
rather in their leaves and young buds, than in
the flowers. A beautiful gi'eenhouse species,
the oblong-leaved cistus, (Cistus vagiiiatus,)
often grows five feet high, and has rose-colovu'ed

JUNE. 133

flowers, sometimes as large as the monthly rose.
It is wild on the rocks of TenerifFe.

The flowering raspbei'ry (Rubus odoratus) is
covered now Avith its large red flowers, and the
beautiful Californian hva.n\h\e(Rubiis spectahilis)
invites our attention, not only by its dai'k pur-
ple flowers, but by its sweet odour; while the
American raspberry looks among the bushes
and trees of the shrubbery like some bush
spattered with snow, from the abundance of its
white single rose-like floAvers. This last plant
is very plentiful among the bushes and trees of
the forests of the new world.

That very elegant plant the single-seeded
broom, (Spartium monospermum^) Avith its blos-
soms like snow-white butterflies, seated on its
long pliable branches, is now frequent in
gardens. It is a native of Portugal, and is said
by Osbeck to grow along the shores of Spain,
like the willow tree, as far as the flying sands
can reach. Few plants Avill thrive so Avell near
the ocean, and its roots are most useful in
binding down the sands; while the swine which
frequent these shores, and the goats Avhich
browse on the surrounding cliffs, seek some
relief from the scorching sun, beneath its
shadoAV. Its foliage, too, is much relished by
the latter animal, and the peasants make bas-
kets of the long twigs, in Avhich they carry their
provisions to market for sale. It grows also in
Arabia and Syria, and along the sandy coasts of
Barbary.

The Spanish broom (Spartium junceum) is,

134 GARDEN FLOWERS,

as its name implies, a native of the same land
as the one-seeded species. Both in France and
Spain it is cultivated as fodder for sheep, and
its fibres are woven into a kind of cloth, and
still more often made into cordage. Its hand-
some flowers are often double, and are of the
same bright golden hue as the broom of our
heath lands, which Cowper describes as

" Yellow and bright, as bullion unalloyed.'

The handsome petunias, now so general, have
been but recently objects of culture in this
country. When first introduced they were
treated as greenhouse plants ; now some are
found to be quite hardy, and others, which must
be raised on a hot bed, may yet flower in the
open air. The petunia earliest brought to
England, was the white flower, {Petunia mjcta-
ginifloi^a,) noAV so common in gardens and
flower-pots, and whose odour is so sweet in the
air of the summer evening. Tliis is a native of
Brazil, whence it was brought in 1823. It was
thought to resemble the tobacco plant, and as
the " fragrant weed" of America is known in
Brazil by the name of petun, so this flower
gained its name. About seven years after the
introduction of the white species, the equally
common purple kind (Petunia violacea) was
brought from Buenos Ayres. Since that period
the British gardeners have produced from tliem
& great variety of flowers, of white, of all shades
of purple and red, and streaked with many
beautiful tints. The dwarf shrubby petunia,

JUNE. 135

which will thrive only in a greenhouse, is a
native of Panama.

The white and yellow prickly poppies are
now blowing freely. They are fit only for a
large garden bed, for their showy flowers and
spreading foliage occupy much room. The
yellow Mexican poppy {Argemone Mexicand) is
a most annoying weed in the West Indies,
springing up in the plantation, and attaining a
luxuriance of growth which it requires constant
care to check. Its fruit is something like a
fig, closely beset with prickles. It abounds in
a thick white juice, and contains seeds which
are said to be even more powerfully narcotic
than opium. The thick juice, when exposed to
the air, becomes hard and yellow, and can
scarcely be distingiTished from gamboge.

Besides the common fox-glove, we have
some other handsome species on the garden
bed. The yellow fox-glove {Digitalis amhigud)
grows wild on the hills of Switzerland, and is
less general than the smaller yellow species,
{Digitalis lutea,) which is as common in the
woods of France and Germany, as is oiur purple
species with us. Then we have the iron fox-
glove, {Digitalis ferruginea,) which has short
globular bells of rust colour, and is common in
the countries at the south-east of Eiirope, and
also in many parts of Asia.

The handsome ^ladeira fox-glove {Digitalis
sceptrum) requires to be kept in the greenhouse
during winter. It grows wild in the woods of
Madeira, and when cultivated by florists in the

136 GARDEN FLOWERS,

neiglibonrhood of Ghent, has been known to
grow to the height of ten feet. It has large
yellow bells, sometimes varying to a bright
orange.

JULY.

" The cottage garden, most for use designed,
Is not of beauty destitute. The vine
Mantles the little casement, and the briar
Drops fragrant dew among the July flowers ;
And pansies rayed, and freaked with mottled pinks,
Grow among balm, and rosemary, and rue ;
There honeysuckles flaunt, and roses blow.
Almost uncultured — some with dark green leaves
Contrast their flowers of pure unsullied white ;
Others like velvet robes of regal state.
Of richest crimson ; while in thorny moss
Enshrined and cradled, the most lovely wear
The hues of youthful beauty's glowing cheek."

Charlotte Smitu.

How beautiful, in this season, are the dew-
drops which at morn and evening glitter on
half-opened flowers, or twinkle on every blade
of grass, or bestrew every leaf with their pearls!
Truly the dew of heaven, even if it brought not
with it the " fatness of earth," Avould at least
delight the eye with its lustre. In our own
land we see the appropriateness of the numeroiTS
comparisons which are made to the dew by the
inspired writers ; while in the hotter regions of
the earth, its greater copiousness renders them
stiU more striking. Some lands, like Egypt,
would not be habitable but for the dews, and
the driest deserts of earth are watered by the
dews of heaven. " He shall be as the dcAV

JULY. 137

unto Israel," said the prophet Hosea,* as he
foretold how the Spirit of God should again re-
vive the Avithei'ed graces of the erring Israelites,
■who might well be compared to dying flowers.
And when the psalmist would liken to some
natural object, the sweetness, and blessedness,
and cheering influence of brotherly affection, no
more fitting image could have been presented
to his mind by the Holy Spirit, than the dew
of Hermon, and the dews which descended on
the mountain of Zion.f And while we look at
the dew on the flower, it Avould be well that we
remembered, that it has been likened to the
momentary feeling of goodness, which, though
lovely to look upon, Avas frail and transient;
leaving no trace of holiness iipon the character,
more permanent than the drop which glitters
on the rosebud ; and that the glow of devotion,
which is soon droAvned in the act and habit of
worldliness, is recorded by the angel of God, as
the morning cloud, or as the early dew, which
passeth away.

The sweet lavender {Lavandula spica) is
fragrant in the garden, and the cottage dame
will soon gather it to lay in her drawers among
her store of linen. It was named from lavare,
to wash, because the ancients used it in baths,
and the fragrant perfume which it yields in dis-
tillation, is both pleasant and useful. The flower
is called, in Provence, Vespk, and hence the
foreign oil of lavender is often termed oil of
spike. The lavender is found on the deserts

» Hos. xiv. 5. t Ps. cxxxiii. 3.

e3

138 GARDEN FLOWERS.

botli of Asia and Africa, diffusing its most
■welcome odour when little expected by the tra-
veller. It grows wild too in sonthern Europe.
In our gardens it is too well known to need
description, and it is still brought to market for
the purposes to Avhich Shenstone describes his
school-mistress as applying it.

' And lavender, whoso spikes of azure bloom,
Shall be erew liile in arid bundles bound,
To lurk amidst the labours of the loom,
And crown her kerchiefs clean, with mickle rare perfume."

Fields of lavender are cultivated at Mitcham,
and Henley-on-Thames, as well as in Kent,
for the oil of commerce. An ounce of oil is
said to be yielded by sixty ounces of the
blossoms.

There is no summer month from May to
September, in which we may not find some
species of phlox decking the garden. On the
prairies of America, as well' as in the woods of
Canada, it grows to a great height, and is very
abundant ; but most of the purple kinds, like
many flowers of the American forest, are scent-
less. The large white-flowered or scented phlox
{Phlox snaveoJens) is now, hoAvever, in bloom,
and has a very pleasant odour. A very pretty
variety of this species has pure white flowers,
with a pink star in the centre, gradually fading
as it approaches the edges.

All the species of these handsome border
flowers are natives of America. The fine-
leaved phlox, [Phlox setacecp,) with flesh-
coloured blossoms, and its snoAv-white variety,
are among the earliest blooming species. They

JULY. 139

are low trailing perennials, blooming in April
and May. The Canadian species has pale blue
flowers, and grows about a foot high ; and the
ovate phlox has purple flowers, and is, like the
former, a spring flower.

The panicled phlox {Phlox paniculata) is
one of the most popular species. It is a tall
plant, sometimes four feet in height, with
numerous clustered flowers of pale lilac. This
flower is very conspicuous on the plains of
America. It has been an inhabitant of the
British garden for more than a hundred years,
and blooms in autumn.

And noAv that frail and beautiful flower, which
blooms but for one day, then droops and dies,
the lovely day lily, may be seen opening its
;^ellow vase to receive the dew-drops of the
morn. The French term it La belle d\mejour,
and some of their writers call it the asphodel
lily. Frail as it is, it is long ornamental to the
garden, for though one flower may die to-night,
yet to-morrow's sun shall gild another, and the
root will bloom for one or two months. Both
the yellow lily, {Hcmerocallis fldva,) and the
copper-coloured species, (HemerocalUs fidva,)
were known in England in queen Elizabeth's
time. The latter species is a native of the
Levant, and is a much taller flower than the
yellow kind, being sometimes four feet high.
The flowers generally called Japan lilies, are
natives of China and Japan. They bear the
open air well, and are handsome, and most of
them fragrant flowers. The blue Japan lily i?

140 GARDEN FLOWEKS.

quite hardy ; the white species require some
protection.

Several species of hibiscus are in bloom
during this and the next month. They are
very nearly allied to the mallow. The shrubby
kind, caUed Althaea frutex, (Hibiscus Syriaats,)
is very generally cultivated. A large number
of species of hibiscus are known to botanists,
and they are an interesting tribe of plants, not
only because of the beauty of their flowers, but
on account of the various uses to which they
are applied in the lands where they are native.
Abounding in the tropical regions, they are of
great value to the people of those lands, but
many of them, when transplanted to our country,
need protection from its climate. In the hotter
regions of the continent of Asia, in India and
Ceylon, some of the most beautiful species are
abundant. In Africa and South America they
axe also wild, and even in North America a few
are found: while in the West Indies, as well as
in other tropical islands, a gi'eat variety exist.
Like the mallow, they are remarkahle both for
the mucilage which they contain, and for the
fibres which their stalks yield on maceration.
One species, the esculent hibiscus, called ocId'O,
in the West Indies, is cultivated as an esculent
vegetable, and is also used for thickening soups ;
but the English residents rarely like it as diet.
In France it is planted for the pods, which are
gathered while green, and either eaten in soups^
or pickled like cajiers, and they are often spiced
and made into a rich dish. In another species,

JULY. 141

the flower cups are of a deep red colour, and
are so acid that they are made into tarts. This
flower is in the East Indies called red sorrel;
while in the West India islands, the refreshing
acid is used to make a drink resembhng
lemonade, which is much valued in the sugar
colonies. From the bark of this and other
species, the people of the Malabar coast manu-
facture, not only coarse cordage, but fine thread ;
while the acid leaves serve as a salad. Several
species are cultivated both for food and for the
manufacture of India matting ; while the seeds
of several are, in Hindostan, used as a cordial
medicine, and in Arabia are mingled with the
coffee berry to heighten its flavour. Of one
species were made the whips with which the
slaves were beaten in the "West Indies, ere
British justice had declared that all the subjects
of the British empire were a free people. The
leaves of some species yield a good blue dye.

The beautiful flower called China rose
hibiscus, (Hibiscus rosa Siiiensis,) is a favourite
flower in the hot-houses of this country, and is
very common in China, where the plant grows
to a high tree. Its flowers also grace the hedges
at the Cape of Good Hope. It is one of the
flowers often represented in Chinese paintings,
on screens, and other articles of furniture. It
is chiefly from its rich petals that the thick
black substance is extracted, used instead of
blacking, and which, from the purposes to which
it is applied, has given to this flower, in its
native land, the name of shoe flower. With

142 GAKDEN I'LOWKKS.

this colouring matter the womeu also blacken
their hair aud eyebrows.

One of the -very few plants of the hibiscus
triloe which is quite hardy, is the common
bladder ketmia, (Hibiscus h'iomiin,) or Venice
mallow, sometimes called buff-colom-ed mallow,
from its flowers, which are also striped Avith
brown veins. It is a native of Italy and Austria,
and was called by the old writers, " Good night
at noon." If we are to believe Gerarde, how-
ever, still shorter than this name would imply,
is its little hour of beauty, for he says, " it opens
at eight in the morning, and closes again at
nine." Many persons who have had it. in their
gardens have never seen it flower, for though it
is sometimes open so late as three o'clock in the
day, yet, unless the weather be clear and
bright, many days will pass by, and it will
remain folded up, Avaiting for the sunshine.

The common corn flag (Gladiolus communis)
is too tall a flower to be overlooked, and it has
a long spike of bells, of elegant shape and
bright pink colour. Several varieties of this
species are in cultivation, but some of the less
general kinds are more briUiant in colour. The
superb corn flag (Gladiolus cavdinalis) has
rich scarlet flowers, spotted with white, and the
different orange - coloured species are very
showy. Almost all our garden gladioli are
natives of the Cape of Good Hope ; but these
flowers are not hmited to that part of Africa,
but are to be found scattered over the vast
deserts of that country. Backhouse describes

JULY. 143

one which he saw iu CafFruria, which had dense
spikes of flowers, of a dingy hue, covered with
minute purple spots; and other travellers have
named them as blooming in all shades of jellow,
pink, and brown colours, among the brilliant
blossoms which enliven these arid lands. They
have bulbous roots and long sword-shaped
leaves ; the latter suggested their botanic name,
from gladius, a sword.

The common bladder senna {Golutea arhor-
escens) is a pretty shrub, now covered with its
clusters of buttertly-shaped yellow flowers; nor
is it less ornamental in autumn, when its large
inflated pods stand thickly among its foliage.
It is remarkable as growing and flowering on
Mount Vesuvius, even on spots quite near to
the crater. It is wild in many parts of France,
and its leaves afford a grateful food to cattle.
Both seeds and leaves are used medicinally.
The smaller species, the oriental bladder senna,
( Colutea cruenta,) is a much prettier shrub than
this. Its flowers arc of a reddish colour, and it
is a native of the Levant.

The blue commelina, {Gommelina ccelestis,) as
well as the other species of this flower, is a
native of South America. And very brilliant
is the tint of its blossoms, which are now open.
Far less showy are the flowers of the l)asil,
but the air is quite perfumed with the odours
of this plant. The blossoms are shaped like
those of the lavender, but are either purple or
white. The common sweet basil, {Ocyinum
hcisiliouvi,) notwithstanding that its native soil

144 GARDEN FLOWERS.

is Persia or India, is a hardy annual. In Persia
the basil is planted on graves, and is a favourite
addition to the bouquet. Both in India and on
the continent of Europe it is much .used as a
culinary aromatic plant. The Hindoos attach
a superstitious veneration to some of the species ;
they use them in religious ceremonies ; and one
kind, known in Calcutta by the name of toolsy,
is much cultivated there. The ancient Greeks
held the strange superstition that this plant
flourished best when planted amid railings and
angry words ; and it seems strange, that as both
Greeks and Romans so highly prized its fragrance,
a malignant custom should have been connected
with it. In former days many persons in our
own land refused to plant it in their gardens,
from the absurd notion that smelling it infected
the brain, and that it produced scorpions. This
idea was so prevalent, that sir Thomas Browne
thought it worthy of his notice, and attempted
to refute it in his " Inquiry into Vulgar Errors,"
where he affirms that the Africans deemed it a
remedy against the bite of a scorpion, and that
if any one has eaten basil he is safe from dan-
ger, should a scorpion inflict a wound. And
thus this learned writer displaces one error to
advance another.

Although the stately hollyock (Althcea rosea)
is too large a flower for the smaller garden, yet
on a large space of groimd it well repays its
culture. It IS said to be a native of China, and
is undoubtedly of eastern origin. The French
tei-m it rose d'outre mer, and it was long known

JULY. 145

in this country as the outlandish rose. It was
well known to the ancients. Pliny describes it as
a rose growing on stalks, like the mallow. This,
as well as some other species of that plant, has
been cultivated for its fibres, from Avhich thread
has been manufactured. Phillips states that, in
the year 1821, about two hundred and eighty
acres of land were planted with the common
holly ock, with the view of using the fibres of
the plant instead of those of hemp or flax, and
converting them into thread. It was discovered,
in the progress of the manufiicture, that the plant
yields a fine blue colour, little inferior to indigo.

The common hollyock is a biennial plant.
It sometimes attains the height of ten feet. Its
varieties are of many hues, from the bright
clear white, to the rich dark purple which gar-
deners call black. It is a native, not only of
the east, but of Siberia, and the southern coun-
tries of Europe ; and the single yellow hollyock
has been found wUd in Africa.

That common, but handsome flower, the
French willow, (EpiloMum migusUfolium,) often
termed rose hay willow, is now very conspi-
cuous. It is, by its height, well fitted for the
shrubbery, but it is often seen, too, on the gar-
den bed. So far from requiring any culture,
it is a most troublesome flower in the garden ;
for the long pods which contain the seeds pro-
duce a great abundance, and each seed is
crowned with a tuft of dovm, which facilitates
its dispersion, so that the gardener finds con-
siderable trouble in eradicating the numerous

146 GARDEN FLOWERS.

yoviiig shoots. This flower is occasionally found
wild in Great Britain, and is a native of most
parts of Europe, from Lapland to Italy. In no
country, however, is it so luxuriant as in Lap-
land. Dr. Clarke says, that it there attains a
magnificence, compared with which it seems in
other lands but a stunted plant ; and adds,
that among the many gay flowers which decked
the river sides of that land, its gaudy blossoms
shone pre-eminently. Its high clusters ofj)urple
lilac flowers acquire a prodigious size among
the rocks and stones. This traveller observes,
that it may be considered as the garland of
Lapland ; often attaining the greatest magni-
tude, when every other sign of vegetation di-
minishes. The Lapps call it almoke, and
among the inhabitants of Dalecarlia, the flower
is familiarly termed heaven's grass.

The French name this flower laurier de St.
Antoine. Its young shoots may be eaten, and
the pith, bitter as it is in its fresh state, becomes,
when dried, very sweet, and, by a certain pro-
cess, is made into ale ; while, by a farther pro-
cess, the Kamschatctales derive vinegar from
it. It is also used as fodder for cattle, and the
goat is glad to come to the clifi's by the river,
to eat its foliage. The great quantity of down
which exists in the pods, has been mixed Avith
fur or cotton, and made into stockings and other
articles of wearing apparel. The little red
Alpine willow herb is a pretty ornament for
rock- work, and several species are among oui-
wild flo-svers.

JULY. 147

A very pretty Californian annual is now
blooming. This is tlie shady uemophila, {Ne-
tnophila 2:>hacelioides.) Its flower is of brightest
blue, and its name, taken from the Greek words,
to love, and shade, indicate that this genus is to
be found chiefly where trees and bushes cast
their shadow.

Among the many odours of this season, few
are more pleasant than that of the pinks, which
flowers are now in perfection. It was, perhaps,
for its fragrance, stiU more than for its
beauty, that the pink was called the divine
flower. The aivnaiiou {Dianthus caryophyUus)
is thought to have had its origin in the wild
clove pink of our land, and wdiich also grows
on the Alps of Switzerland. At the commence-
ment of the eighteenth century, four hundred
varieties of the carnation were enumerated,
and their numbers are now increased. They
are all sweet and beautiful flowers, and their
leaves, which gardeners term grass, are, from
their evergreen natui'e, ornamental to the bed
in Avinter or early spring. The plant called
tree pink {Dianthus arhoreus) is merely a kind
of carnation, with a woody stem, and its pink
flowers are found in the isles of Greece.

Many writers have considered the pink (Di-
anthus j)lumanus) as merely a variety of the
carnation ; and as it does not appear to be found
in a Avild state, it is probably derived, if not
from the carnation, yet from some of the smaller
pinks, Ashich grow wild in various countries.
Our native pinks are few, and chiclly inconspi-

148 GARDEN FLOWERS.

cuous flowers, but a great variety bloom in the
lands of southern Europe, and grow on the
mountains of Germany and Switzerland at a
great height. The kind of jjink called laced
pinks, is that cultivated so much by florists,
and their flowers should be about two inches
and a half in diameter, with white petals,
rose-coloured edges, and a dark purple ring
in the centre. It does not appear that this
tribe of flowers was known to the ancients,
for no poet of Greece or Eome has sung of
their perfume or beauty ; and they are not
mentioned by Pliny, or any other naturalist of
those distant ages.

The sweet-william {^Dianthus harhatiis) is a
clustered species of pink, and is called by the
French, nosegay of pinks. It grows wild in
Germany, and also on the hills of Normandy,
but with much smaller flowers than it has in
our gardens.

The China pink, {Diantlius Chinensis,') which
seems neither exactly like a pink nor a sweet-
william, is of a beautiful red colour, each
blossom growing on a single stalk. It appears
to have been introduced from China, into our
gardens, about the middle of the last century.

The numerous species of groundsel have
among them a few handsome flowers. One
common and very ornamental species is now
in bloom. The purple ragwort, or jacobaja,
(Senecio ekgcms,) has sometimes double flowers,
of rich velvet surface, and beautiful dark hue.
It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. One

•93,17 JULY. 149

species, the luawkweed-leaved groundsel {Senecio
hieradfolius) is a most troublesome weed iu
newly- cleared grounds of Nortli America, and
is called by the Canadians fireweed, because it
springs up from the ashes of the clearing flame.
Its white flowers bloom in August. A yellow,
creeping -rooted kind, which grows wild in
Britain, (Senecio Sarracenicus,) was used by the
Saracens in the cure of wounds.

Some species of groundsel are found wild in
every part of the world, but a great variety
exists in South Africa. Backhouse describes
the groundsels of the sandy deserts as of piu-ple
or lilac, resembling those of our gardens. Hum-
boldt found this tribe very numerous in the
upper regions of the Andes, just below the
limits of eternal snows, " where the sun has
very little power, where hurricanes are inces-
sant, and not a tree is al^le to rear its head."

The greater number of those handsome
annual border flowers, the fair-eye, or coreop-
sis, are now common. The dyer's coreopsis
{CalUopsis hicolor) is one of the most popular
kinds. Its yellow flowers grow wild on the
borders of the Missouri, and have been used in
dyeing. The whorl-leaved coreopsis of North
Amenca, {CalUopsis veiiicillata,) wh^ch is a tall
plant, often cultivated in our shrubberies, is in
bloom now, and for several months. The
colour contained in its flowers is used for dye-
ing cloth red.

Some of the species of sage which are now
80 generally cultivated for their blossoms, are

150 GATOE17 rLOX^TRS.

blooming during this and the folloAving months.
The well-known sage {Salvia officinalis) of the
kitchen garden, Avould give little idea of the
beauty of many of the exotic kinds of salvia
which thrive with us ; yet there is so much
similarity in all, not only in the shape of the
blossom, but in the wrinkled foliage and aro-
matic odour, that the sage plants are plainly
distinguished. Our common sage was formerly
in great repute as a medicine. Eating a quan-
tity of its leaves was supposed to avert sick-
ness, and hence the old Latin proverb, " How
can a man die that has sage in his garden ?"
The Chinese have a high opinion of the
virtues of the common sage, and prefer it
to the tea, whose stimulating properties are
deemed so refreshing in our land. Indeed, the
Dutch appear at one time to have been engaged
in a very profitable commerce, for it is said
that they carried a cargo of the sage leaf to
China, and returned to their own country
freighted with four times the quantity of tea.
But though the Chinese thus valued the sage,
yet they had a high opinion of their tea also,
as a remedy. So early as the ninth century,
travellers in China mention their custom of
drinking an infusion of the leaves of a plant,
which they termed sali, that was reputed as a
medicine for all diseases, and which is proved
to be the tea, which, from having been at first a
luxury, seems now to have become a necessary
article in the diet of an Englishman. With
us the sage is much used as a condiment

JULY. 151

for dishes. Tt grows Avild in the south ot
Europe.

There are betweea one and. two hundred dis-
tinct species of sage in gardens, and the tints of
their bkie, purple, scarlet, white, or yellow
flowers, are very bright. The apple-bearing
sage, {Salvia pomifera,) with large azure blos-
soms, is among the handsomest kinds. This
plant is subject to the puncture of an insect,
which produces excrescences as large as oak-
galls, and which contain an acid aromatic juice.
These apples are much valued as food in the
isle of Crete, where they are sold in the mar-
kets. Our common garden sage is also, in
that island, covered with these substances, and
they are called sage-apples. In all the IMedi-
terranean isles, different kinds of sage are
abundant. Dr. Clarke observes, too, that they
flourish on the south coast of Crimea, and says
that there the sage of our kitchen garden is
the principal spontaneous production of the
rocks and mountains. He observed, that here,
as in the isles of the Archipelago, the sage
plants attained to a very considerable size,
beinor tall enoufrh to be ranked as shrubs.

Several of our cultivated species are shrubs,
as is the case in the bright scarlet kind, termed
the shining-leaved salvia, {Salvia formosa,)
which is a native of Peru. Some lovely spe-
cies, as the tooth-leaved sage, have v,-hite flow-
ers. One of the most ornamental is the fulgid
sage, {Salvia spJcndcns,) which is a native of
Mexico. The gold-flowered sage, a native of

152 GARDEN FLOWERS.

the Cape of Good Hope, has pale silvery leaves,
and deep yelloAV flowers, and blossoms from
spring to autumn.

The plants which we term clary, are also
species of sage, and are cultivated not so much
for their tlowers, as for the deep red, purple, or
violet colour, which some of their young shoots
exhibit. The common clary, {Salvia sclarea,) a
native of Italy, has a most powerful odour, and
was once much used medicinally. Our common
wild clary (Salvia verhenacd) has a still stronger
fragrance, and is found in almost every land of the
globe. Its seeds contain a mucilaginous sub-
stance, which, if it be placed under the eyelid, en-
velopes any grain of dust Avhich may have settled
on the eye, and brings it away. It was this which
gave the plants the name of clary or clear-eye.
A wine is made of the common clary, which,
when boiled with suear, is said to have the
flavour of Frontignac, and is remarkable for its
narcotic qualities. This plant grows wild in
Syria, Italy, and Bithynia, and is one of the
exotic herbs of longest standing in the British
garden. Another species of salvia is used in
Holland, to flavour Ehenish wines.

And now the awning is spread to keep the
sun from injiu'ing the full-blown ranunculus,
{Ranunctdns Asiaticus,) which glitters in every
colour of the rainbow, and is streaked with
each hue of nature. This is the month in
which florists usually display them in a mass,
and for this purpose they are planted late in
autumn ; but when planted in January, they

JTJLT. 153

will bloom at an earlier season. Indeed, they
may be made to flower at almost any part of
the year. On the culture of this florists' flower
much has been written. At the end of the last
century, more than eight hundred varieties had
been enumerated, and it would now be difficult
to ascertain their number. These lovely flow-
ers grow wild on the mountains of Persia, and
are significant emblems in the eastern bouquet.
They are very general in the Levant, and in
many parts of Palestine ; and, like our common
buttercups, which are species of ranunculus,
they have very acrimonious properties. The
Turks cultivated them in their gardens for
many centuries before they were known in the
other parts of Europe. Gerarde speaks of
them as common in his time, and says, they
flourish here, as well as in their own country.

The love of the marvellous, and the conse-
quent watchfulness for it, have so declined
in modern days, that the marvel of Peru
(Mirabilis jalapa,) now no longer excites any
degree of wonder. Gerarde thought it ought
to be called the wonder of the world, and its
changing hues, varying from white to red,
purple, or yellow, as well as the circumstance
of its opening at night, excited the astonish-
ment of the older botanists. This flower is not
a native of Peru only, but is also a common
wild flower in China and India, and grows both
in the West Indies and in Africa. Some of
the old writers called it the Mexican jasmine,
and the specific name was given to it from the

154 GARDEN FLOWERS.

idea that this plant yielded the true jalap of
commerce. The forked marvel of Peru is a
smaller flower, of a reddish purple colour. It
is called, in the "West Indies, the four o'clock
flower, as it opens at that time of the day.
The white sweet-scented marvel of Peru ex-
pands only at night ; and its odour of musk is so
poATOrful, as to be disagreeable to many persons.

A large number of plants are blooming in
the garden, of the genus Centaiirea, with flow-
ers many of them something like thistles.
Two very common flowers, long included in
this genus, but now removed into another, are
the purple and yellow sultans. The purple
sultan (^Amberboa moschatd) grows wild in
corn-fields in the Levant, and is also a native
of Persia. Parkinson, who wrote his work in
1629, thus mentions it: "As a kind of corne-
flowers, I must needs adjoyne another stranger
of miich beauty, and but lately obtained from
Constantinople ; where, because it is said the
great Turk, as we call him, saw it abroad,
liked it, and wore it himself, all his vassals
have had it in great regard, and it hath been
obtained from them, by some that have sent it
from these parts." He adds, that it was also
called the blackamoor's flower. The tint of
this siiltan is purple, white, or flesh-colour, and
its odour of musk very strong. The French
term it fleur du grand seigjicur.

The common yellow sultan {Amberboa sua-
veohvs) has a much more pleasant fragrance,
but differs little, except in colour, from the

JULY* 155

purple kind, and is -wild in the corn-fields of
the same countries.

The tall flower, termed yucca, or Adam's
needle, ( Yucca gloriosa,) with its pyramids of
large pendent bells, is now very conspicuous.
Its blossoms are greenish- white, and its ever-
green leaves, like those of the aloe, are long
and pointed. The natives of St. Domingo call
the plant yicca. It grows both in these islands
and on the continent of America. Its pointed
leaves have been compared to a needle ; but,
as Dr. Lindley observes, it better deserves the
name of needle and thread plant, for "by soak-
ing in water, the fibres of the leaves may be
separated from the pulp, without being torn
from the hard sharp point, so that when pro-
perly prepared, the leaves do really become
needles, ready provided with a skein of thread."
Two other hardy species of yiicca are com-
monly cultivated in England. They flourish
well by the sea-side, and are very suitable
ornaments to the grounds of marine dwellings.
The dark rich velvet zinnias unfold their
stars. They are annuals. The red zinnia
{Zinnia miiltijlora,) is a native of North Ame-
rica, and its purple- red blossoms seem as if a
shower of gold had alighted on its petals. The
whorl - flowered zinnia, {Zinnia verticillata.,)
and the elegant zinnia, {Zinnia elegans,) are
both wild flowers of IMexico. The former
species has double red blossoms, and the latter
has red flowers, which change as they decay,
to a deep violet hue. The zinnias have very

156 GARDEN FLOWERS.

thick stems. They were named by Linnseus, in
honour of John Godfrey Zinn, a German botanist.

Somewhat similar in colour to these flowers,
are the African and French marigolds ; but
the latter have been much longer in the British
garden. Tlie very unpleasant odour of these
plants, is hardly compensated by the velvet
suit of yellow and brown in which they are
attired ; but one of the Afiican marigolds
{Tagetes lucidct) has a pleasant fragrances.
Parkinson remarks of the flower, that it "smells
like a honeycomb, and has not that poysonful
scent of the other kinds."

The French marigold (Tagetes patula) is
called in France lyetit ceillet d'hide, but it is
" not, as its name would import, a native either
of France or India. Both this and the African
marigold are cultivated in the gardens of
India, China, and Japan. This species has
great brilliance of colours, varying from a
bright yellow to a deep orange tint.

The Italians term these plants garofano
Messicano, and also death flower, Jior di morto.
All the species are American, and the Italian
names have both probably a reference to the
tradition which exists respecting them. It is
said that these flowers sprung up on grounds
on which had been spilled the blood of the
unfortunate Mexicans who fell victims to the
love of gold, and the thirst of power, which
induced the Spaniards to destroy these unof-
fending people. And truly has the Scripture
said, that " the love of money is the root of all

JULY. 157

evil." The African marigolds appear to have
been introduced into this country about the
year 1573. They Avere named from a Greek
word, principaUty, on account of their splendid
and regal appearance. Some of the double
varieties of the French marigold are very hand-
some.

The variegated balsams, with their clear
succulent stems, and spikes of delicately-tinted
flowers, bloom in July. The balsam grows
wild in India, China, Japan, and the West
Indies, and is used in Cochin China by the
ladies, who make of its flowers an infusion,
with which to cleanse and perfume the hair.
The great attention paid by the females of the
east to personal decoration, renders this a
valued flower, for they tinge their nails with
the deep pink dye which its petals, when mixed
with alum -water, will furnish. The flowers are
white, red, or purple, or variegated and striped
with aU these hues. Several of the species
throw their seeds, with considerable force, from
the seed-vessels.

Some very pretty grasses are admitted to the
parterre, and are now in flower. There is the
large quaking grass, or, as gardeners term it,
the hop grass, {Briza mcwima,) so like the
pretty tothering grass of our fields, that every
one may know it. If the hop-like cones are
Eucked, they are found to contain a sweet juice,
resembling that of the liquorice root. There
IS also the tall reed-grass, looking almost
like a bamboo, which tlie Itahans call garden

158 GAllDEN FLOWERS.

cane, {Arundo donax,) and which they use for
fences, for supporting the graceful festoons of
the vine, or for fishing-rods. In Spain and
Portugal it forms an important part of com-
merce, being used in those countries in looms,
and for numerous piu-poses. The striped vari-
ety of this plant is well known by the name of
ribbon-grass, and in Scotland is called garden-
ers' garters. The roots of several species of
arundo are used in dyeing. And now as the
soft wind blows, and the beautiful plumes of
the feather-grass (Stipa pinniita) wave up and
down, we do not wonder that the Eussian poet
celebrates it in his songs, and finds comparisons
to it in the movements of feminine gracefulness.
It grows freely on almost all the steppes of
Eussia, and waves to the winds which play
around some alpine rocks of our native land.
Ladies of former days wore it as an ornament
to the hair, and it is now often used to adorn
the mantel-piece, but, unless gathered just be-
fore the seeds ripen, it will fall into shreds ; nor
can its beauty be long jjreserved under any
circumstances. A species of stipa is one of the
grasses so much used by the Spaniards, under
the general name of esparto.

The large handsome flowers and magnificent
foliage of the sweet-scented or Virginian to-
bacco plant, (^Nicotian tahocum,) may be seen
• in many gardens. The tubular flowers are of
a purplish rose-colour. It grows wild in the
West Indies, as well as in some countries of
America.

AUGUST.

AUGUST.

159

" A drowsy indolence now hangs on all ;
Each creature seeks someplace of rest, some shelter
From the oppressive heat: silence prevails,
Nor low, nor bark, nor chirp of bird is heard ;
In shadv nooks the sheep and kine convene ;
Within the narrow shadow of the cot
The sleepy dog lies stretched upon his side,
Nor heeds the footsteps of the passer by.
Or at the sound but raises half an eyelid, _
Then gives a feeble growl and sleeps again :
No sound is heard but humming of the bee,
For she alone retires not from lier labour, _ ^_
Nor leaves a meadow flower unsought for gain.

Joanna Baillie.

If there is less variety in the floAvers which
during this month expand afresh, yet there is
as great an amount of briUiant colouring in the
garden, as in the more proUfic season of mid-
summer; for dahUas, sun-flowers, and ama-
ranths, wear hues more deep and glowing than
the rose or hly of June. A magnificent flower
is the dahlia, and it is pleasant to think that its
culture afi'ords an innocent recreation to many
a florist of humble life. The autumnal flower-
shows in which it is exhibited, give evidence
how wonderfully the skill of the florist has
improved the stately flower, which, Avheii it
grows in its native land, is neither so bright
. nor so beautifully formed, as the blossom to be
seen in the humblest garden. The dahlia
grows wild on the sandy plain, as well as on
the mountains of Mexico ; and was introduced
into Europe by the great natui-alist Baron
Humboldt. He, in the year 1789, sent it to
Professor CavaniUes, of the Botanic Garden ot
Madrid, who in that year presented it to the

160 GARDEN FLOWERS.

Marchioness of Bute. This lady kept it in the
greenhouse, and from this species (Dahlia va-
riabilis) nearly all the numerous varieties have
been obtained. In the field of Mexico it is a
single flower, not remarkable for the bright-
ness of its purple or lilac tint, and growing to
the height of about eight feet. Few flowers
vary more in colour when under cultivation,
and we have now the dark purple and rich-
est puce, with every shade of scarlet, crimson,
and pink ; while the dahlia of pure ■white,
or delicate yellow, grows beside others streaked
•with the variegated hues of the tuli}) or ranun-
culus : though that great desire of florists has
not yet been fulfilled in any approach towards
a blue dahlia, nor is it often of unmingled
whi More than two hundred varieties have

been raised from the seeds of the common
purple flower.

In 1802, two other species of dahlia were
added to that akeady in the garden. They
were both procured from Mexican lands. The
barren, rugged dahlia, (^Dahlia frustranca,) and
the scarlet flower, (Dahlia coccinea,) both, how-
ever, produce smaller blossoms and fewer va-
rieties ; and the variable dahlia, which was first •
brought into our land, is still the favourite
flower of the florist. A species of recent intro-
duction, (^Dahlia excelsa,) called the tree dahlia,
is said to attain, in Mexico, the height of
thirty feet, with a stem proportionably thick.

The Mexicans boil and eat the tuberous
roots of the dahlia ; but even could we spare

AUGUST, 161

them for sucli a pui-pose, they are not palatable
to European taste.

A handsome American plant is now equally
conspicuous on the parteri'e. This is the tall
and brilliant sunflower, (Heliatithus cmnuus,)
which is a native flower of Peru and Mexico,
as well as of Canada, and several other parts of
North America. In the Canadian woods it
grows to a great height, and the blossom is as
large as a dinner plate. On the prairies, Catlin
observes of it, that it often taunted them by
striking against their faces, as they made their
weary way through the tall grass. Dr. E. D.
Clarke also saw it in abu.ndance on the steppes
of Tahtary, growing very tall and large. The
ancient Peruvians, when found on their native
plains by the Spaniards, were worshippers of
the great natixral light of day. They had
theii- temple of the sun, and the maidens who
officiated in the sei-vice of their god, were
crowned with wreaths of sunflowers, made of
purest gold, while they wore on their breasts
similar emblems of the idol of their worship.
The hoher faith professed by their conquerors,
as yet was not accompanied by that spirit of
love, and truth, and justice, which we who read
our Bibles know to be its sure fruit, but which
in times of papal darkness was understood but
by a few, and the sight of these golden orna-
ments, while they aroused their hatred of idolatry,
appealed but too surely to their covetousness.
And when, at a later season, the Spaniards saw
the fields bright with the same golden hue, and

162 GARDEN FLOWERS.

observed these magnificent flowers on lull
and valley, by wood and river side, Peru
must have seemed to them a land of glowing
gold.

The seeds of the sunflower are recommended
as an excellent food for cattle, and the settler
in the woods of Canada gathers and stores them
for a winter supply for his poultry. In the
United States the flower is cultivated to a great
extent for the oil procured from its seeds, which
is as good as Florence oil. The whole plant,
and especially the golden blossom, exudes a
thin, clear, resinous substance, the strong odour
of which resembles that of Venice turpentine.
The sunflower is not found wild in any part of
southern Europe, but in Asia and Africa a few
species are to be met with. Several double
varieties are cultivated in the garden.

The numerous clusters of the garden hydran-
gea (^Hydrangea Jiortensia) bloom in the autumnal
season. This flower is often called the Chinese
guelder rose, as it is much cultivated in the
gardens of China, as well as in those of Japan,
but its native place of growth is unknown.
The flowers are usually of a pale rose colour,
but are sometimes blue. Great pains have been
taken by cultivators to discover under what
conditions of the soil the blue colour may be
insured. .The yellow loam of Hampstead heath
will produce it, as does also the peat of the bogs
near Edinburgh, and the soil in the neighbour-
hoods cf Berlin and of St. Petersburgh. Water
impregnated with alum, steel filings, carbonate

AUGUST. 163

of soda, 01 common salt, lias been known to
give the blue to the hydrangea ; but on no one
of these can any certain dependence be placed.
Inglis says that this tinge is very general in the
flowers of this plant in the isle of Jersey. The
hydrangea is there seen grooving as a shrub at
every cottage door, or in one of those gardens
which are always planted by the houses of that
island. It is often twelve feet in circumference
and five in height, and is tall and branching
enoiagh to form a shade, ixnder which one might
find shelter from the sun of August. " These
beautiful shrubs," says Inglis, " here almost as
trees, form the avenues in the neighbourhood ;
and at the season in which they are covered with
their large blue flowers, the effect is indeed most
captivating. I have nowhere seen the hy-
drangea so luxuriant in growth as in the channel
islands, and the flowers are most commonly
blue, not pink, as we are accustomed to see
them in England."

As the different flowers, called everlasting
flowers, bloom during this and the two following
months, they may here be noticed together.
The yellow ilower, called love everlasting, has
been long knowm to botanists as the eastern
everlasting, (GnajjJiaImm orientale,) but it is
now very generally included in the genus
heUchrijsum. It grows wild in abundance on
some of the mountains of Asia, and the pilgrims
who visit the flowery Carmel, and the lofty
Lebanon, gather it from their sunny plopes, as
memorials of their pilgrimage. Another kind

f2

164 GARDEN FLOWERS.

■which has been introduced into England, the
blood everlasting, (GnaphaUiim sanguineiim,) is
generally gathered by those who, when tread-
ing the Mount of Olives, wish to carry thence
some record of a visit to so sacred a spot ; and
the durable nature of the chafty petals of the
lowly floweret, render it a very suitable one.
Few flowers, indeed, preserve their beauty like
this, when brought from a warmer climate ; and
to these blossoms the description of the poet is
applicable —

" They look as infants do, who smile when dead."

A species of cudweed grows in great profu-
sion on the steppes of Tahtary, and the Cos-
sacks drink an infusion of its yellow floAvers as
a cure for the jaundice.

The brilliant everlasting flowers, which, as
they have no English name, we must call by
their botanic one of helicJwysum, are so named
from two Greek words signifying sun and gold.
They are chiefly natives of Africa, especially
of the southern parts of that continent. The
handsomest, as well as the hardiest kind, is
the waved-leaved species, {Helichrysmn hracte-
atum,) which grows wild in New Holland.
This has yellow flowers. Some species are
white, and one beautiful kind has its flowers
tipped with pink, and is brought from the
colony of the Swan River. Backhouse writes
thus of one species, which he saw at Cape
colony : " In the course of the day I walked to
the top of a hill, on which the lidichrijsum
proliferum, a beautiful crimson everlasting,

AUGUST. 165

was growing in profusion among low rocks and
ferruginous sandstone. The plants were about
the size of gooseberry-bushes, covered with
flowers, and as fine as I ever saw them, when
highly cultivated, in an English greenhouse.
This is not generally the case with Avild shrubs ;
they are broken by storms and cattle, and
overgrown one by another, in the sitiiations
where they grow naturally; but when culti-
vated, they are carefully protected from in-

Another geniis of flowers called purple ever-
lasting, and whose blossoms retain their beauty
for many years, are the xeranthemums. They
are popular annuals, and their Greek name
signifies dry-flower. There are but few spe-
cies, and all are natives of southern Europe.
They are purple, red, or white, and one is yel-
low. Some of the species are small shrubs.
The flowers of all these kinds of everlasting,
when mingled together, form a beautiful and
permanent bouquet for the winter season.

A flower which is equally well entitled to the
name of everlasting, is the globe amaranth,
{Gomphrena fjlohosa.) Milton has immortalized
this lovely flower in his Paradise Lost, where
he describes it as encircling the brows of
angels —

" To the sround,
In solemn adoration, down they cast
Their crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold.
Immortal amaranth, a fiower which once
In Paradise fast by the Tree of Life
Began to bloom."

Nor is the mention of the amaranthine wreath

166 GAJUDEN FLOWERS.

peculiar to our great poet. Homer had long
before told how, at the burial of Achilles, the
Thessalians wore it in honour of the warrior,
and it appears to have been often worn at fune-
rals, in the early ages of Greece. In Sumatra,
where this flower grows wild, its purple globes,
which seem as if sprinkled with gold, are worn
as garlands around the head ; and both in Por-
tugal and in Paris, these flowers are mingled
with the wreaths made to deck the shrine of the
saint, or the tomb of the dead. In the former
country, churches are adorned with this flower,
and the French term it violette immortelle. The
plant, though separated by modern botanists
from the amaranth genus, is very nearly allied
to it.

A large number of amaranths are cultivated
in this country, one of the most common of
which, is the flower called love-lies-bleeding,
(^Amarantlms caudatus,) the flower gentle of the
old writers. It was known to Gerarde by this
name, and also by that of florimor. He says
of it, " It has exceeded any skill of mine to
describe the excellency and beauty of this rare
flower." It has variegated leaves. It grows
wild in Persia, China, and India.

The prince's feather, (Amaranthiis hypochon-
driacus,) Avith its long velvet plume-like flowers,
is equally common, and blooms also at this
season ; and the three- colom-ed amaranth,
which blooms from June to September, and is
called by the French /e?i/' de jalousie, is a very
pretty species. It is a native of the East Indies,

AUGUST. 167

and was knoA\Ti to the old English gardener by
the name of passevelours. The leaves of some
species are eaten, and the foliage of several is
boiled as spinach, in the East Indies.

The coxcomb amaranths are very curious
flowers, and notwithstanding a certain formality
of appearance, are much prized for the deep
piu'ple or red of theii' silky or velvet blossoms.
The crested amaranth {Celosia cristata) is a
native of many parts of Asia, and is said by
Thunberg to be cultivated to such perfection in
Japan, as that the heads of flowers are often a
foot long, and of equal breadth. There are
many varieties of this amaranth, and the scarlet
species are extremely beautiful. Several are
natives of China.

The strawberry bhte, or Indian spinach, is
now red with its juicy fruits, by which it is
known to us, rather than by its less conspicu-
ous greenish flowers, which bloom in April.
These fruits are something similar to our Avood
strawberries, but are neither so handsome nor
so palatable. Their juice flows very freely,
often staining with its deep red the hand which
touches them, and the juice was formerly used
by cooks in colouring puddings. The berry-
headed species (Blitum capitatuin) is the most
ornamental ; it is a native plant of southern
Europe. There are three species in oiu* gar-
dens ; they are commonly called strawberry
spinach. Their name, blitum, taken from the
Greek, and signifying flt only to be thrown
away, woidd suggest the thought that they were

168 GARDEN FLOWERS.

not ornamental, yet their berries render them
so in a good degree, nor is their handsome
spinach-hke fohage uuworthj of admiration.
The crimson berries are covered, lilie those of
the strawberry, with small seeds.

The strawberry blite is one of the greatest
ornaments of the summer woods of Canada,
and it grows in great profusion in those forests,
where

" The hiccory, the sumach, and the red maple,
The fringe-tree, and the acac'a triple-thorned,
Temper the ardour of the burning sun.
And on the locust's violet-breathing flowers
Cast the pale yellow of its meekened tire."

The author of the " Backwoods of Canada "
mentions having gathered branches a foot in
length, thickly studded with its crimson ber-
ries, and regrets that the beautiful fruit should,
by its insipidity, be unfit for eating : she adds,
that on the banks of creeks and in rich ground
it grows luxuriantly, " sending up twenty or
thirty branches, drooping with the weight of
their magnificent burden. As the middle and
superior stems ripen and decay, the lateral
ones come on, presenting a succession of fruit,
from July till the frosts nip them off, in Sep-
tember."

The Canadian Indians are said to be fond of
these unpalatable berries, and they use the
juice as a dye, and make it into ink. The
writer before quoted, states, however, that this
ink is liable to fade ixnless mixed with alum.
She mentions the circumstance of a lady, who
sent a letter from Canada, crossed with the red

AUGUST. 169

inl? made from the juice of this plant, without
having first taken the precaution of fixing it
witli alum. The epistle from the far country
reached its destination, but the ink had faded,
and the writing become illegible ; and the
friend who had anxiously longed for the intel-
ligence which it was to convey, had to wait
some months before a more permanent liquid
should record the good news, which the Scrip-
ture has described as in its effects like cold
water to a thirsty soul.

The tribe of rudbeckia are annuals of great
beauty, but their large size excludes them from
the smaller gardens. This is exclusively a
North American genus. They have all starry
blossoms, and are yellow or purple. The pur-
ple rudbeckia, {Rudbeckia purpurea,) which was
known to our gardeners as early as 1G99, and
is very hardy, is a singular looking flower.
Phillips observes of it, that its petals being
pendulous, and curling inwards, have the ap-
pearance of so many pieces of narrow ribbon,
notched at the end. The colour of this flower
is of a purplish crimson. One or two of the
species are fragrant. This genus was named in
honour of Rudbeck, an enthusiastic botanist of
Sweden, who, having just completed a work
entitled " The Elysian Fields," was so distressed
at witnessing the destruction by fire of this
cherished production of his mind, that lie died
of grief, in 1702. During his last days, how-
ever, his son laboured diligently to re-write
this woik, and it was published in the course

f3

170 GARDEN FLOWERS,

of the year of his death, and that which pre-
ceded it.

If we were to go now into the fields, we
should see the milfoil, or yarrow, scattered iu
plenty over their grassy siirface, and the garden
yarrows are blooming too on the border. They
are a vigorous family, mth yellow, red, or
white flowers, the ornaments of the pasture
lands of southern Eurojoe. One of the prettiest
kinds, which is also one of the most general, is
the woolly milfoil, {^Achillea tomentosa,) which
has pale yellow flowers, and blooms from May
to October. The red-flowered kind (Achillea
tanacetifolia,) is also a pretty flower, and grows
on the Swiss mountains ; while the double va-
riety of our wild milfoil is no less ornamental.
The musk-scented yarrow is the genipi of the
Swiss, who use the plant medicinally ; while
the herdsmen of the hills value it much for
their cattle. The Laplanders and Finns mix
some species of yarrow with their tobacco, for
smoking. The golden y?,rrow of our gardens,
which is not more than six inches high, and has
an abundance of rich yellow clusters, is a beau-
tiful plant for the edging of a border.

The sweet-scented golden rod, (SoUdago
odora,) is another of the few fragrant flo-\vers
which we find in the garden at this season.
The odour is diffused from the leaves, and is
compared to the mingled scent of sassafras and
anise. It is often planted in the garden or
shrubberies, and is sometimes called Aaron's
rod.

SEPTEJIBER. 171

SEPTEMBER.

" WhJther be the violets gone,

Those that hloomed oV late so gay,
And in fragrant garlands strown,
Decked the blooming flower-queen's way i
Youth, alas, the spring must fly,
Yonder violets withered lie.

■Whither are the roses fled,

We so gaily singing bound,
WHien the brow of sliepherd maid.
And the herdsman's hat was crowned ?
Maiden, summer days must fly,
Yonder roses withered lie."

Jacobi.

Almost all the flowers of the last month bloom
also during September, yet now, as their num-
ber will seem gradually to diminish, we are
pleased to mark the bright fohage of the ever-
greens, and to look on the pale greenish flowers
which hang among the branches of the arbutus
or strawberry tree. The common arbutus is
now generally enumerated among British plants,
biit several others, as Avell as this species, are
cultivated in this country. The oriental arbu-
tus (^Ai'buttis andrachne) is scarcely less general
than the common kind, though requiring more
care. It blooms some months earlier than
that, and may be distinguished by the greater
beauty of its foliage and flowers, its broader
leaves, which are also less notched at the edges,
and by its red bark which peels off", and leaves
much of the trunk smooth and brown.

This arbutus is a native of the Levant. In
the isle of Cyprus it attains an enormous size.

172 GARDEN FLOWERS.

In a great part of this island, no other tree is
large enough to cast any extent of shadow, and
the inhabitants sit in parties beneath its boughs.
Both this and our common arbutus are abund-
ant in many parts of Palestine, and growing
to a much larger size, they are very pic-
turesque objects, the oriental species flowering
in spring, and our common kind in autumn.
The arbutus, in the lovely valleys, is often
found with a stem six feet in circumference,
and, with the oak and the fir, is said to be
one of the trees which principally give a wooded
character to the hills of Gilead and Bashan ;
So too, in southern Judea, these shrubs form
an important part of the woodland scenery,
mingUng with the Scotch fir and the oak ; and
although the olive still is, as it ever was, the
characteristic tree of Palestine, yet the arbutus
is so general as to attract the attention of all
travellers who observe the scenery of the Ploly
Land. Its fruits, too, are more beautiful and
conspicuous than its flowers, and they may be
safely eaten. A very showy species from the
Canary isles is kept in the greenhouse, and we
have also a handsome Peruvian kind.

And now clumps of the China aster, (Calli-
stephus,) with their large stars of white, lilac,
pink, purple, or variegated blossoms, are among
the most attractive of the autumnal flowers.
This is one of the flowers which the Chinese
prize and cultivate so highly, and in China it
is much larger than in our gardens. Several
kinds of starry flowers, under the general name

SEPTEMBER. 173

of aster, among which are this genus, as well
as that commonly called chrysantl^mum, re-
ceive especial care in China. By this people,
their large water-lily, the nelumbium, is es-
teemed as the very chief of flowers, and though
it grows wild in their streams, yet it is brought
into their enclosed grounds. Next to this, in
their estimation, come the fragrant olive (0/ea
f7'ag)'ans,) and the innumerable varieties of
star-like blossoms which glitter in golden
beauty, or are shaded off to most delicate tints ;
and which, arranged on terraces, one above
another, offer every variety of hue.

The Michaelmas daisy, or Christmas daisy,
arrayed in its sober tints, is a very useful
flower now, when flowers seem gradually going,
and brown leaves rustle on the spots where
zephyrs lately played among soft green branches.
The common Michaelmas dais}', {Aster Trades-
cantia,) and the Alpine species, (Aster Aljmms,)
arc among the handsomest kinds. Like most
of the genus, these flowers are natives of the
fields of Virginia, and the common kind was
named in honour of the celebrated naturalist
John Tradescant, who introduced it in England
among several other plants, the seeds of which
he brought from America.

Far more beautiful in colour are the brilliant
bell-shaped blossoms of the gentianella, or large
flowered dwarf gentian, (Gentiana acaulis,)
wliich are now blooming for the second time
in the year, and seem to be as vigorous at the
autumnal season, as in the early months. This

174 GARDEN FLOWERS.

beautiful flower grows in profusion on the
Welsh moxyjtains, and has been found on some
of the highest of the Swiss Alps. Its large
flowers are of the colour called mazarine blue,
and they are sometimes used as an edging for
the border. It is less difficult to cultivate than
most of the gentians. These flowers, inhabit-
ing naturally the high mountain regions, require
conditions of atmosphere not to be found in the
lowland garden. A piire and rarefied air
blows over the lofty height where they grow
wild, and the bright light of the summer season
on the mountain can never be rivalled on the
plain. The effect of a bright light on colour,
has been well ascertained by dyers, who cannot
produce the most brilliant tints under a cloudy
sky ; while it is equally evident in its effects on
the plants which exist under its influence.
Our winters too are often unfavourable to moun-
tain flowers ; for though the cold of elevated
regions is far more severe, yet the snow re-
mains much longer on the earth, and thus the
plants are not subjected to the alternate frosts
and thaws to which they are exposed in the
winter and early spring of our country.

We have in our fields a pretty gentian,
(Gentimia campestiHs,) which, however, attains
a greater degree of perfection in some other
countries, and in the month of October covers
the tops of the hills of Norway. In Sweden
too it is abimdant at the same season, and it is
described as one of the most beautiful flowers
of the alpine pastures of that land, its blossoms

SEPTEMBER. 175

clustering among the short grass, and studding
all the surface of the mountain. ".The whole
plant," says Dr. Clarke, " was scarcely an inch
in height, and seemed to consist of little else
than the petals of its flowers, which, in size and
luxuriance, were out of all proportion to its
diminutive leaves and branches."

The taller yellow gentian (^Gentiana luted) is
also a species which can be well cultivated in
the British garden. This flower, besides being
handsome, is valued for the bitter medicine
aflbrded by its root. It grows wild on the
mountains of all the central parts of Europe,
and is gathered for the French and English
markets. The root also contains an abundance
of sugar, and a spirit is distilled from it called
enziangeist, or bitter snaps, which the peasants
of the Swiss Alps drink, under the idea that it
will presei-ve them from the injurious efibcts of
the fogs and damps sometimes prevalent on
these regions. Wherever this bitter plant
abounds, the pastures are untouched by cattle,
and large tracts of land Avhich the herdsman
w^ould value, remain unused, because of its
bitterness. It is this principle, hoAvever, which
renders it so useful in medicine, and it is one of
the medicines of greatest antiquity. In the
West Indies, where the European constitution
becomes languid by the heat of the climate, it
is customary to take a preparation of gentian
before meals, in order to assist the appetite.

Some other gentians may also be seen
commonly in the garden. The small Alpine

176 GARDEN FLOWERS.

species, {Gentiana nivalis,) which dehghted
Linnaeus when on the Pyrenees by its bhie blos-
soms, is j;olerably hardy ; and the kind termed
Calathian violet, succeeds well. These have
both blue flowers. The name of Gentius, a
king of Illyria, is preserved to memory by these
flowers, as this monarch is said, by Pliny, to
have discovered their tonic virtues.

The different kinds of autumnal crocus open
as the season advances. The purple species,
which is so general in this and the next months,
is the saffron crocus, (Crocus sativits,) the stig-
mas of whose flowers form the saffron of the
dru2:o;ist. This flower has long- been cultivated

CO O

in many parts of Asia, as well as in Greece.
In Persia and Cashmere, large plantations of
this crocus are general, and some of the lands
of Smyrna are said to be quite purple with it,
while its flowers are in great abundance in the
gardens of Aleppo. In Europe it seems to
grow wild on the south of the Tyrol, and on the
Alps of Saivoy ; but its occasional appearance
in our British meadows does not prove that it
is indigenous there. Dr. Clarke found the
plains of Tahtary covered with its gay flowers,
and its bulbs were deeply seated in the black
vegetable moiild which forms the soil of these
wide plains. Notwithstanding that the saftron
crocus is cultivated in England, yet we receive
our chief supply of the drug from France and
Spain. In the latter country the cultivator of
this flower is much annoyed by a fungus found
upon it, and which the French call moi't de

SEPTEMBER. 177

safran. Saffron was formerly mncli employed
as a medicine and condiment, and is still so
used in the east. The ancients esteemed it as
a perfume ; and so high an opinion of its cheer-
ing and stimulating powers was once prevalent,
that when a man was merry, he was said to
have slept on a bag of saffron.

And now when the meadow saffron is, by its
purple crocus-like flowers, turning our wild
pasture lands into a gay carpet, we find too in
the garden several cultivated species of this
plant. Like the wild colchicum, the leaves of
all wait for the following spring to. make their
appearance. Our garden colchicums are of
many colours, and several varieties have double
blossoms. None, except the wild colchicum, is
of much value to the druggist, but great quan-
tities of the roots, seeds, and blossoms of this
are annually collected for medicinal purposes.
Though very similar to the saffron crocus, so
much so, that an inexperienced observer would
mistake the one for the other, yet one simple
and obvious distinction exists, in the fact, that
the crocus has only three stamens and one
central column or pistil, whei'eas the colchicum
has six stamens and three pistils. This distinc-
tion might seem of little worth, yet it is truly
valuable; since though the crocus is a plant
which is perfectly innoxious, yet all the species
of the colchicum possess an acrimonious quaUty,
which in the meadow saffron of our fields is
highly poisonous. Our garden species are
some of them from the isles of Greece, and some

178 GARDEN FLOWERS.

from Hungary and Russia. They were termed
colchicum from the ancient Colchis, interesting
to the classic reader, by its association, in the
legends of ancient Greece, with the expedition
of the Argonauts.

OCTOBEE.

"The little bird, yet to salute the morn,
Upon the naked branches sets her foot.
The leaves now lying on the mossy root;
And there a silly chirruping doth keep,
As though she fain would sing, yet fain would weep ;
Praising fair summer, that so soon is gone,
Or mourning winter, too fast coming on."

Michael Dratton.

Every gust which blows thins the scanty foliage
yet left on the boughs, and the leaf is broken as
it waveth to and fro, Avhile each bright sunbeam
seems to leave its red or yellov/ tinge on the
leaf ere it quits it. The humble flowers "which
yet remain of the summer are pale and wan :
even the taller dahlias are drooping; and were
it not for the Michaelmas daisies and the
Chinese chrysanthemums, and the verdure of
the evergreens, the scene would be already
desolate. Of these, however, it may even now
be said, " They are green before the sun, and
their branch shooteth forth in the garden:"*
yet still we can see that our Saxon forefathers
had appropriately designated this month, when
they termed it v/inter fyllith — winter begin-
ning.

But though no straggling flower needs to be

* Job viii. 16.

OCTOBER. 179

tied to its support, and no luxuriant growth
has to be restrained by the hand of the culti-
vator, still this naonth too brings its work to
the gardener. It is now that the autumnal
transplanting of the shrubs takes place, and
most practical gardeners seem to prefer this
season to the spring for these removals. Suckers
of the rose, the lilac, and other trees are to be
taken, and a pleasure is felt in the culture of
these plants,

" Which, save himself who trains them, none can feel."

]\Iuch has now to be done too in the greenhouse :

" The surplus branch
Must fly before the knife ; the withered leaf
Must he detached, and where it strews the floor
Swept with a woman's neatness, breathing else
Contagion, and disseminating death."

The interest which has in all periods of time
been taken in the culture of plants, would of
itself prove that the care of a garden is calcu-
lated to afford to many persons a source of
delightful enjoyment. This is confirmed, too,
when we remember that when God planned the
earthly happiness of man, he placed him in a
garden, in which were made to grow, not only
** every tree that was good for food," but such
also as were " pleasant to the sight;" while the
employment of our first parents in their state
of innocence, was to " dress the garden and to
keep it."

The odour of the chrysanthemum is now
very sweet, and it seems as expressive of the
autumn, as the violet is of spring. Several

180 GARDEN FLOWERS.

star- shaped flowers are by botanists placed
under the general name of chrysanthemum,
but our -winter flower is the Chinese chrysan-
themum, (C/!r?/Sff?z</ie??ii<??i Sinense) which, how-
ever, most modern botanists term pyrethrum.
The most aromatic of all the species is the old-
fashioned small red kind, which was the first
cultivated in the gardens of this country ; but
this has little beauty compared Avith those of
modern introduction, the flowers of which are
very large, and have an odour like honey. The
chrysanthemum is brought to great perfection
in the Chinese garden ; and figures there in
every variety of garden pot, from the elegant
vase, to the uncouth little round pot which we
often see figured on their paintings ; while the
poet of China sings the praise of the chrysan-
themum, as the minstrel of Persia tells the
delights of the rose. The Japanese value the
flower equally with the Chinese, and it is a
favourite ornament of their saloons and gai'dens.
In the year 1795, the chrysanthemum was
brought into the English garden, though it
appears to have been cultivated here at an
earlier period , but to have been lost. Receiving
it from a warm region, our cultivators naturally
thought that it would require great care in our
colder climate, and it was long deemed unfit for
the open air. Now every garden sends forth
its sweet fragrance, at a time when it is almost
the only fragrant flower of the border. The
Chinese are said to cultivate more than fifty
varieties of this plant, for each of which they

OCTOBER. 181

have a distinct name. In England many-
varieties are enumerated, and the number is
increasing ; and the beautiful quilled species
Avhich have of late years been introduced, will,
probably, originate many more. The varieties
indeed are perpetually changing ; but Mrs.
Loudon has observed, that they may all be
classed in one or other of the following divi-
sions : the ranunculus llowered ; the inciu'ved ;
the China aster flowered ; the marigold flowered,
the clustered, the tasselled, and the quilled. The
best annual chrysanthemum is considered to be
the chrysanthemum tricolor, which has yellow,
white, and purple flowers ; and equally hardy,
and worthy a place in every flower garden, is
the yellow chrysanthemum coronarium.

The Greeks gave the general name of chry-
santhemum to several flowers of a similar form
lO this. It signifies gold flower, and was given
from the bright colours of some species known
to them.

Some species of feverfew, with flowers some-
thing like those of the camomile, bloom late
in the year. The roots are used in medicine,
and several of the kinds which have double
blossoms are very ornamental. The flowers of
the double variety of our common feverfew
{Pyreihrum jxirthenium) look like little tufl:s of
snow on its branches, but the odour is very
impleasant. One or two yellow-flowered kinds
are handsome, as the milfoil-leaved species,
which is a native of Caucasus ; and some very
pretty ones grow wild on the Peak of TenerifFe.

182 flAKDKN TLOWEnS.

The cotonensters are noAv assuming tlieir red,
or in some species, their purple berries. Their
pretty white or red blossoms come out in early
spring, but they are so small as to be little con-
spicuous, and the plant is far better known to
us by the beads of coral with which it is studded
during autumn and winter. The common kind
{Cotoneaster vulgaris) often gi'ows in gardens.
It is a frequent shrub in southern Europe, and
was introduced into this land in 1656. The
other species are of comjoaratively recent intro-
duction, and are natives of India. The plant
was named from the cottony down which
invests the young shoots and fruits. Some of
the Nepal species are handsome, especially the
taper pointed and the downy kinds. They are
all hardy, and may be grafted on the quince or
hawthorn.

Although the sweet mignonette {Reseda
odorata) is triJy a summer flower, yet it may,
by a little management, and without the aid of
the greenhouse, be made to flower almost
throughout the year. Indeed, the hardy plants
which are self-sown, are often numerous at this
season. If the mignonette be wanted for a
winter flower it should be sown in July, and
kept well watered. It is very fragrant, and the
Parisians and the inhabitants of our own metro-
polis alike value its odours, for it may be seen
in both cities where

" The saslies ranged
Of orange, myrtle, or the fragrant weed,
The Frenchman's darling,"

send forth sweet odours on the air.

OCTOBEU. 183

It is ratlier remarkable that we in England
should call this floAver so exclusively by its
French name, from mignonne, little darhng,
■when the Frenchman terms it la resede
d'Egypte. The Spaniards, who are also fond of
this tlower, retain for it the endearing name of
minoneta. This plant is much cultivated by
the gardeners who supply the London markets,
on account of its use for balconies; and its deli-
cate scent is rarely disliked. It is generally
thought to be a native of Egypt, and to have
been first sown in the gardens of the south of
Europe, whence it was sent into England about
the year 1752, when it was cultivated by Mil-
ler in the Botanic Garden of Chelsea, and soon
became a popular flower. The mignonette has
been found apparently Avild in some parts of
Barbary, but it seems probable that it may
have sprung up from seeds borne by Avinds or
other means from the ]\foorish gardens, where
many flowers are cultivated. The plant was
termed, by the ancients, reseda, {rom reseda, to
calm or appease ; because it was in former
times applied to allay the irritation accom-
panjang wounds. Pliny tells that it was re-
garded as a charm, and gives an account of a
superstitious form of words Avhich preceded its
use as a remedy.

The tree mignonette {Reseda odorata frutes-
ceiis) was long considered as a species distinct
from the fragr'ant herb, but it is merely a variety
produced by the cultivator. This perennial
shrub retains its sweet odour during Avinter, and

184 GARDEN FLOWERS.

is obtained in the following manner. A vigorous
plant of the annual mignonette is, during April,
transplanted into a garden pot, and the young
blossoms nipped off while in the bud. A stick
is then placed in the pot, to which the plant
may be attached ; and in the autumn all the
lower shoots and leaves are stripped off, so as
to give the plant the appearance of a minia-
ture tree. It must then be removed to a
warmer room. As Avinter advances the stem
gradually becomes more woody ; and if the
plant be allowed during summer a free access
of air, it may thus be grown for several years
in a room.

The attempt to render this plant a perennial,
renders it necessary to prvme away the seed-
vessels as soon as they ajjpear, as, if allowed to
perfect its seeds, the tree mignonette would
soon lose its vigour.

We have a number of species of the mignon-
ette in the garden, but the common fragrant
one is by far the most valuable. Most kinds
grow wild in the south of Europe, and a few of
them in the sands of Africa.

And now some sweet violets bloom aaain at
the close of the year. This is often the case
with the common purple Marcli violet, and its
double variety ; while the sweetly-scented
Neapolitan violets and the Russian violets are
at this season in full perfection. The Parisians
contrive to obtain at almost all seasons the
flowers of the common violet, which they so
much prize. This is done by checking the

NO^nEMBER AND DECEJIBER. 185

early blossoms tliat liide among the leaves in
spring, and thus

"The violets, Tvhose looks are like the sky,"

may be found in their flower markets, from
early spring till winter has long begun his
reign.

Old prejudice and superstitions induced our
forefathers to undervalue this second frao-rance
of the \'iolet. WcUsford, in his " Scents of
Nature," records that, " when roses and violets
flourish in autumn, it is an evil sign of an in-
suing plague the year following, or of some
pestiferous disease ;" and so the blooming of a
flower, which might have told of God's love,
was enough to trouble a man's mind, and to
presage ills which should have no existence but
in his own imaginings.

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER.

The withered leaves bestrew the garden path.

Made miry with the fall of fleeting showers ;
The sun emits a feeble ray, which hath

No power to warm or cheer the gloomy hours,

The robin only sings among the bowers,
Now bare and desolate, his simple lay :
All other birds are mute and sad, or they

Have flitted with the spring and summer flowers ;
Yet are the borders not entirely bare,

For many tinted asters still remain.
And bright chrysanthemums nod here and there

Their heads, to chilling blast and pelting rain.

H. G. Adams.

A CHANGE has come rapidly over the garden
during the last few weeks, and few and faint are
the tints which variegate the winter landscape.

186 GARDEN FLOWERS.

He " who giveth raiu upon the earth, and
sendeth waters upon the fields," calls too for
" the whirlwind out of the south, and cold out
of the north."* Even the crystal brooks are
now, in the descriptive words of the patriarch,
" blackish by reason of the ice, wherein the
snow Hes hid ;" and of a great portion of the
day it may be said, " Now men see not the
bright light by reason of darkness." The pro-
gress of the early year seems to breathe a call
to energy and exertion ; but its gradual decline
seems to bid iis " stand still and consider the
wonderful works of God."

The Chinese or monthly rose {Rosa indicd)
yet puts forth its delicate and odorous blooms,
which, if they have not quite so bright a tint
or so powerful a perfume as in midsummer,
are not less valued now, when gayer roses have
left us. Like all other species of rose it requires
a pure air, and will not thrive well in the crowded
city. IMore than two hundred varieties of the
China rose are known, and Villaresi, the royal
gardener at Mouza, is said by Loudon, to have
raised upwards of fifty varieties of this species,
Avhich have never reached Britain. The China
rose flourishes much better in France and at
the south of Eiu-ope than in our country, and
some of the varieties alluded to are described
as quite black, others much resembhng a ra-
nunculus, and many of them as highly odori-
ferous. The pretty noisette, or tea-scented
roses, Tarieties of the China rose, are sold at

* Job xxxvii. 9 ; Job vi, 16.

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. 187

Paris in small bouquets, ^vrapped round with
coloured papers. The monthly rose, as its
name might import, is in bloom almost through-
out the year, but has most beauty and vigour
in the months of June and July. The stem
and leaves are of a light green, and the flowers
semi-double, and its colour varies from a blush
colour to a deep red. In order to secure a
good number of autumnal blossoms, the young
flower buds should be cut from the tree in
June.

The winter cherry {Physalis alkekengi) is
now in full lustre, as its bright red, glossy fruit
shines through the thin, fibrous, bladder-hke
calyx which encircles it. The white flowers of
this plant open in July, and are ornamental,
but it is for the sake of the beautifid fruits
that the plant is valued. When the calyx is
macerated, either by exposure to the rains
of the winter season, or by steeping in
water, it forms a very pretty addition to the
everlasting flowers, and the evergreens which
are placed in the winter vase. The fruit,
which is slightly acid, is wholesome, and was
esteemed by the ancients for some valuable
medicinal properties which they considered it
to possess. In Spain, Switzerland, and Ger-
many, it is a common fruit of the dessert. In
all these countries it grows wild, as it does also
in China. The fruits of the eatable winter
cherry, {Physalis Peruviana,) a native of South
America, are sometimes cultivated in this
country for tarts.

188 GARDEN FLOWERS.

The winter cherry was known by its Arabic
name of Alkehengi to the botanists of queen
Elizabeth's time. Gerarde says of it, " The
red winter cherrie groweth upon old broken
walls, about the borders of fieldes and in moist
shadome places, and in most gardens, -where
some conserve it for the beautie of the berries,
and others for the great and worthy vertues
thereof." Modern physicians think little of
the properties ascribed to these plants.

Sometimes the bright stars of the anemones
enliven the borders, even in December, while
the laurustiuus, and the Christmas rose, are the
common flowers of every parterre. The former
plant {Vihurmim tinus) is a shrub of much
beauty, and justly prized for its winter blos-
soms, which are of a purplish red colour, when
half expanded, and which grow in large white
clusters among its evergreen leaves. Dark
blue berries succeed the flower. The shrub
was introduced into the English garden in the
year 1596, and though so hardy as to bloom
amid winter winds and nipping frosts, is a
native of the soft climates of the south of
Europe, and an ornament to the hills and plains
of northern Africa. It was known to the
ancients by the name of Tinus, and, because its
leaves, hke those of the laurel, are evergreen,
it was called laurustinus ; while the name of
viburnum, from viere, to tie, was applied to it
on account of the flexible branches of many
species, which are used for binding boughs
together. Our wild, wayfaring tree, which

NOVEMBER A^^) DECEMBEK. 189

country people of Kent call the cottoner, is used
for making baskets, and is also a species of
vibiunum. Several varieties of the laurustinus
are knoAvn in our gardens. The hairy kind has
its leaves hairy underneath, and on the margin,
and is found in the neighbourhood of Spain and
Portugal, and near Nice ; and the shining lau-
rustinus has larger and more glossy foliage, and
is not in flower imtil spring. It is abundant
about Algiers, and blooms freely in the classic
soil of Mount Atlas. When the leaves of these
plants decay, they should be carefully cleared
from the shrub, if it is growing near a house,
as in addition to the injurious effect of an atmo-
sphere tainted by a decayed vegetation, this
withered foliage diffuses a remarkably fetid
odour.

And now, at Christmas time, we may gather
from our gardens a flower as beautiful as any
which the summer produces. The Christmas
rose, {Helleborus niger,) in form like a large
white rose, standing among its dark evergreen
leaves, is the hardiest of all flowers. It is -wild
on high mountains, and its abundant growth iu
the isle of Anticyra, as well as its repute in
the cure of mental disorder, originated the
proverb of the ancients, " Send the lunatic to
Anticyra." This species, as well as another,
the eastern hellebore, {Helleborus orientalis,)
is still in use among medical practitioners,
but the powerful effects of these plants render
this a remedy requiring great caution. The latter
hellebore grows abundantly in the Levant, and

190 GARDEN FLOWERS.

is very similar to our common winter flower,
except that its blossoms are purple.

Many superstitions were connected by the
ancients with the Christmas rose. In their
dread of the presence and power of demons,
they had a number of charms, which they con-
sidered effectual in guarding them from ill, and
when the winter covered the ground with the
white flowers of the hellebore, they strewed
them over their floors, that thus they might
hallow their dwelUngs ; and so they introduced
a real evil into their homes, instead of an
imaginary one, for the perfume of this lAant is
highly injurious to health. When the ancients
bronght in these roses, and scattered them thus,
they sung aloud hymns of praise to their pagan
deities — the gods whom their own hands had
made, while they entreated their aid, to keep
them from the devices of evil men. The root
of this plant was formerly powdered and taken
as snuff, and the ancient Gauls are said to have
been accustomed to dip their arrows in the
herb. All the species of hellebore contain an
energetic medicinal principle.

The moist climate of our island agrees well
■with the evergreens. Enabled, as they are, by
a peculiar structure, to withstand a moderate
proportion of heat and drought, yet the hot and
dry summers of the greater part of the conti-
nent of Europe are unfixvourable to them. The
thick tough leaves of the evergreen shrubs and
trees, are covered with a harder cuticle or skin
than those cf most other plants ; and are also

no\t;mber and decesiber. 191

cliaracterised by having fewer evapoiating
pores on the surflice. The old leaves of this
enduring foliage do not drop from the trees till
the spring or summer, when the thickening
new leaves of the weU-clad branches are so
many, that we are not conscious of the fall of
the leaf. To our gardens the evergreens give
a cheerful appearance, as contrasted with cold
naked boughs ; but in countries as in Australia,
where the trees are almost all evergreen, tlie
traveller wearies of their monotony, and longs
for the changing tints which variegate our
fohage with the changing seasons.

Our most common and hardy evergreen is
the holly, (^Ilex aquifolium,) which is now glis-
tening on the wild hedge, as well as in the
garden. We have, however, under culture,
several varieties of this plant, some of which
have yellow berries; others, leaves variegated
with pale yellow, or several tints of green ; but
none is more beautiful than the common kind.
The laurel, too, (Cerasus lanro cerasus^) looks
bright under the clear sky of a frosty noonday.
Both this and the Portugal laurel {^Cerasus Lusi-
tanica) blossom early in the spring. The first
account which we find of the laurel in England,
states, that it was planted in the garden of a
London merchant, who used, in winter, to cover
it with a blanket. It is a native of the south
of Europe. The leaves are sometimes used to
flavour custards, but it should not be forgotten
that they are very poisonous in their nature.

The laurel of the poet is the sweet-bay,

192 GARDEN FLOWERS.

(Laurus nohilis.) In former days its branches
enwreathed the head of the priestess of Delphi,
and were hung about the gates of the Roman
emperoi's. The victorious general, too, who
had carried the proud eagle to the conquest,
was congratulated by letters wrapped in the
fragrant bay leaves ; and the soldiers who fought
under him, entered the imperial city, carrying
triumphantly the branches of the bay tree. It
is a native of Italy, and of the soutliern parts of
Asia. The perfume of its bruised leaf is very
pleasant, and was once supposed effectual in
relieving the symptoms of many diseases.

The handsome evergreen thorn, (Crattegits
pyracantha,) with its profusion of scarlet berries,
vies with the mountain ash in winter splendour,
and its dark foliage brightens in the sun. It
is a native of North America. Some of the
garden species of broom, too, retain their ver-
dure, and the rhododendrons are still green ;
and the hardy alaternus (Rhamnus alatermvs)
glows with as bright a tint, and looks as fresh,
even in the middle of the smoky city, as if it
were flourishing under the clearest sky.

And thus amid all the changes of nature,
God has given to earth, to its wikl Avoods, and
its sheltered gardens, a voice to praise him.
" For who knoweth not in all these that the
hand of the Lord hath wrought this ?" Job xii. 9.

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY: IKSTITUTED 1799.

WILD FLOWERS

OE

THE YEAR.

' ixstuuct us, lokd,
Thou Father ok the sunbeam and the soul
E'sx BY the simple sermon of a flower

To LIVE BY thee."

LONDON:

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY :

Instituted I'yy.

■R

i

PREFACE.

In giving some account of the Wild Flowers
of each month, the author has selected those
which are most common, and most likely to be
known by name to the general reader. To
have enumerated each flower of each month,
would have occupied so much space, as to
render these few pages no more than a floral
dictionary. The writer would regard the work
as a little guide-book to the fields, and lanes,
and woods; designed to direct the attention of
the lover of country walks, to the lowly flowers,
which he may be most likely to find in his
path.

"For not to aweil at large, on things remote
From vise, obscure a;id subtle ; but to know
That which before us lies, in common life,
Is the chief wisdom."

The scientific name of each flower is added,
in order to assist any who may wish to study

IV PKEFACE.

Botauy. The author however, is not one of
those

" \Vho allium call tlifir onions and their leeks,"

and would rather recommend to the unscientific
their simple English names. Many of these
are connected with old times and old customs ;
or convey some idea of the uses of the plants
to which tliey belong. Our pretty English May,
or Hawthorn, gains nothing by its Botanic
name of Cratayus oxyacantha ; nor can the
expressive Day's-cye, bring to us a pleasanter
ideaj even by its Latin name of Bellis perennis.

CONTENTS.

JANUARY.

Flowers in garden — Primrose— Daisy — Winter Furze — Early
Grass— Chiekweed — Holly — Mistletoe — Old customs

Page 15
FEBRUARY.

Early leafing trees — Young foliaee of herbs — Snowdrop— Red
Dead-nettle — Dandelion— Dandelion Seeds— Groundsel — Ca-
nadian Flea-bane— Coltsfoot— Marsh Marigold — First flower
of Sweden 21

MARCH.

March weather — Almond tree — Lombardy Poplar — Ash — Me-
zereon — Poisonous berries — Use of plants in France — Spurge
Laurel — Celandine — 'Whitlow grass — Shepherd's Purse —
Gloryless — Flowers of woods — Violet — Anemone — Daffodil —
Poet's Narcissus — Narcissus in Holland — Arum — Cranesbill —
Palm Willow— Hazel— Alder 27

APRTL,

Blackthorn — Germander Speedwell — Ivy-leaved Speedwell —
Wall Speedwell— Gray-field Speedwell— Common Speedwell —
Lamb's Lettuce— Salad herbs — Ground Ivy — Fumitory— Ro-
bert-leaved Cranesbill— Beauty of meadows— Meadow Clover —
Dutch Clover— Shamrock— Valley of Sharon — Yellow Trefoil
— Hop Trefoil — Starry-headed Trefoil— Hare's-foot Trefoil —
Strawberry -headed Trefoil — Cowslip— Oxiip— Love of Nightin-
gale for Cowslip — Cuckoo flower— Autumnal Gentian— Field
Gentian — Heartsease — Scorpion Grass — Butter-bur— Hyacinth
— Oriental Hyacinth — Starch Hyacinth— Squill— Green Hel-
lebore — Stinking Hellebore — Guelder Rose — Box — Pasque
Flower— Wood Sorrel— Yellow wood Sorrel— Field Dock Sorrel
— Sheep's Sorrel— Sweet Wallflower — White Brjony- Sea-side
Pea — Former times of famine 39

MAY.

Spring woodlands — Tway blade — Brown-winged Orchis — Man
Orchis — Bee Orchis — Fly Orchis — Butterfly Orchis— Ladies'
Tresses — Strawberry Flower — Hautboy Strawberry — Lily ofthe
Valley — Solomon's Seal — Sweet Woodrufi'^Herb Paris- Bugle
— Spindle Tree — Dogwood— Black Currant— Red Currant —
Saintfoin — Moving Plant — Theory of seijsation in vegetables
— Knot Grass — Foxtail Grass— Reed meadow Grass — Butter-
cup— llawthoin — Old Suiicrstitions — Furze — Clematis — Bil-
berry— Whortleberry — Stitchwort — Periwinkle — Toadflax-
Wall Pellitory— Small Bugloss — Dyer's liugloss— Borage —
Comfrey — Lung- wort — Rest Harrow— Common Juniper — Bitter
Vetch — Comieille — Vetches— Red Pottage- Lady's Finger —
Hedge Mustard— Field Mustard — London Rocket — Peony —
Ills — Lychnis — Golden Saxifrage — Rue-leaved Saxifrage —
Meadow Saxifrage— London Pride— Dutch Myrtle . fO

VI INDEX,

JUNE,

Prolific vegetation — Pond-weeds — Aquatic vegetables— Water
Flag — Fleur-de-luce — Forget-rae-not — Bulrush — Flowering
Rush — Water Violet — Bog Bean— Birdsfoot 'I'refoil — Honey-
suckle— Wayfaring Tree— Cottnn-tree— Bladder Campion-
Convolvulus — YellowAgrimony — YellowAvens — Globe Flower
— Hound'stongue — Yellor/ Rattle— Dwarf Red Rattle— Butter-
woi't — Cinquefoil — Viper's Bugloss — Corn Gromwell — Red
Poppy — White Poppy— Phenomenon of Red Flowers — Phos-
phorescent light in Roots — Corn-cockle — Pimpernel — Flax —
Stone-crop— Orpine -Nettle— Shepherd's Needle — Foxglove —
Burnet — Mallows — Bitter Sweet— Sweetbrier Rose— 13urnet-
leaTcd Rose— Trailing Dog Rose— Broom — Dyer's Weed 99

JULY.

Beauty of Nature— Ileath— Ling— Wild ThjTne— Harebell —
Bog-punpernel- Bog- Asphodel— Sundew — St. John's Wort —
Broom Rape — Scotcli Thistle--Carline Thistle— Sweet Marjo-
ram— Corn Bluebottle— Scabiotis — Blue Succory— Sow Thistle
— Burdock — Water Lily — Meadow Sweet — Willow Herbs —
Water Arrowhead — V\'atcr-cress — Water Parsnip — Thrift —
SeaLavendcr— Tamarisk — Sea Holly — Sea Weeds — Tall Teasel
— Red Centaury— Woodsage — Betony— Hedge Woimd-wort —
Black Horehound— Mints— Rock Rose — Rose of Sharon —
Snapdragon — Yellow Toad-flax — YaiTow — Knapweeds ~ Great
Mullein — Yellow Hoary Mullein— Tliorn Apple— Henbane —
Horsetails — Elder— Bramble — Raspberry . . . 122

AUGUST.

Hawkweeds — Camomile — Cudweeds — Spurge — Corn-fields —
Corn — Wild Marigold — Spun-ey- Mignonette — Tansy — South-
ernwood— Elecampane — May Weed — Hemp Agrimony —
Grass of Parnassus — lieed Mace — Sea Southern wood — Horned
Poppy— Salt-wort — Samphire— Sand-worts — Sea-side Convol-
vulus— Sea Purslane— Goosefoots .... 159

SEPTEMBER.

Golden Rod— Flea-bane— Marsh Mallow— Michaelmas Daisy —
Sea Wormwood — Mugwort — Meadow Grasses— Darnel — Mea-
dow Saffron . . . ; 174

OCTOBER.

Signs of Autumn— Ivy — Irish Ivy— Strawberry-tree— Shepherd's
Spikenard — Dwarf Green Weed — Crocus — Winter green —
Mosses 181

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER.

Signs of coming Winter— Leafless Vv'oods- Mushrooms— Funga*
Tribe . . 191

WILD FLOWERS OF THE YEAR.

In watching the progress of vegetation, as,
month by month, it expands before us, we are
struck with the rcgalarity with which the
flowers and fruits of earth visit us at their ap-
pointed times. More than five tliousand years
since, the promise of God was recorded, that
" while the earth remaineth, seed-time and har-
vest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter,
and day and night, shall notecase,"* and every
season attests its fulfilment. They who mark
most closely the changes of nature, know best
how fully and faithfully God has kept his word.
As said the inspired psalmist, "Whoso is ^vise,
and will observe these things, even they shall
understand the lovingkindness of the Lord."f
Nature presents to us, even in the history ot
a simple blossom, some striking marks of God's
skill and goodness. The devout Fuller has told
us in what way we should look upon the flowers.
"A flower," says he, " is the best complexioned^
grass, as a pearl is the best complexioncd clay;

• Gen. viiL 22. t PsaJm cvu. 43.

8 WILD FLOWEES

and daily it Aveareth God's livery, for he clotheth
the grass of the field. Solomon himself is not
outbraved therewith, as whose gallantry only
was adopted, and on him ; theirsinnate, and in
them. In the morning when it growet'h up, it
is a lecture of Divine Providence : in the even-
ing, when it is cut down, and withereth, it is a
lecture of human mortality."

The argument so often applied to the various
works of- creation, that an instance of design
necessarily implies a designer, is so obvious, that
a child can understand it. That there is a God
who created, and hourly regulates this world of
ours, with all its changing seasons, its coming
flowers, and falling leaves, seems so direct a
conclusion, that the more we examine the works
of nature, the more entirely we feel the truth
of the declaration of the psalmist, that it is the
fool who " hath said in his heart. There is no
God."*

Let us consider only the structure of the very
commonest plant in the world ; the meadow
grass, which trembles at the touch of the but-
terfly, and bends before the sweeping wind.
Destined for every soil and every situation, it is
provided with a root composed of numerous
slender fibres, so that it can penetrate, not only
into the solid ground of the field, but can find
its way into the scanty portion of earth at the
top of the cliff, in the crevice of the wall, or on
the loose sand. Its slight and hollow stem
might be snapped by the high winds which pass

* Psa. xiv. 1.

OF THE YKAK. 9

over the most elevated spot of its growth; but
the stem is strengthened by knots, at intervals,
and by a coat of flint, which gives to it that
solidity, furnished to the animal structure by
means of the bone. Instead of receiving injury
from the continual cropping of cattle, its leaves
increase the faster for being broken ; while its
parts of fructification, which are to serve for its
increase by seed, are carefully protected in a
chaffy case, so minutely and beautifully perfect,
that its fitness can only be seen by means of a
microscope.

Advancing another step in the consideration
of nature, we remark how constant the Almighty
is to his original plan, in every subsequent
growth of even the simplest flower. How,
through all ages, the myrtle has its dark-pointed
evergreen leaf, and its sweet odour ; and the
wood-sorrel, its triple quickly-withering leaf of
palest green, and acid flavour. How the almond-
tree, which first put forth its bloom to the in-
habitants of Palestine, and covered over the
branches with its gradually whitening blossoms,
so as to serve as a figure for the silver hairs of
the aged man, still blooms aiul grows white,
as it grows older, just as it did in the days of
Solomon. How, in closely looking at the small
cup, or calyx, of a flower — a cup so small that
even a drop of dew might fill it — we find that
the thread-like ril>s with which it is marked,
are, in the cahTc of one family of plants, ten m
number; and in another, only five; and this in
all the individual blooms which have come and

4 S

10 WILD FLOWERS

gone, since Adam first looked out on the flowers
of Eden.

The wonderful fertility of plants in the
immense number of seeds which they produce,
and the plans by which they are scattered,
affords another remarkable instance of goodness
and skill. Sharon Turner states that "a
common scarlet bean yielded a hundred pods,
with five full formed beans in each; making in
such stalks, from three to five hundred from
the single bean sown." What is the end of all
these numerous seeds ? "Why this profusion ?
Is it that five hundred plants may be pro-
duced by each one, and so the earth be over-
run with a luxuriant vegetation, that man may
find no room for himself and his home ? No.
The great Creator has provided the seeds, not
only for the reproduction of the plant, but for
the food of man and animals, and for the birds ;
yea, even for the meanest. " He giveth to the
beast his food, and to the young ravens which
cry." He, in preparing for their wants,
knew how many of his creatures should live
upon seeds : how the corn should be even the
very staff of life ; how the apple, and the cherry,
and a thousand other fruits, in which the seeds
lie embedded, should refresh his frame, and
gratify his appetite : how the silky thistle-down
and the black ivy-berry should give food for
the birds, and how " the cattle upon a thousand
hills " should be nourished by the grass of his
fields. He knew that the rains would destroy
many seeds ; that many would be blown bv the

OF THE TEAE. 11

winds on unkindly soils ; that myriads would
lose their germinating powers, by falling on the
waters ; and he has thus enriched the plant,
that after all that are eaten and that are
wasted, there may yet be enough left to sow
the earth with fruits to feed us, and flowers to
delight us. How many, as the seeds of the
pea, or bean, are inclosed in pods as impervious
to ram, as if they were little bags of canvass ;
yet drying up as the seeds ripen, and, just at
the time when they are fit for sowing, rolhng
round Uke a crumpled parchment, and letting
their seeds fall out upon the land. See the
hard shell of the cocoa-nut — so hard that,
when we wish for the fruit within, we must
employ the sharpest and firmest instrument to
obtain it; yet it lies in the ground, and, after a
while, the shell opens, and a tender gre^u sprout
rises into the air, and grows into a goodly tree ;
giving its shadow to the land, and the music of
its waving leaves to the ocean. And why has
the cocoa its hard shell, but that, growing' as it
does near the sea, it may be fitted to swim away
to a distant continent ; or to the island of the
ocean, or the coral reef, which as yet is un-
clothed with vegetation ; but, in the progress of
years, is to present a green spot in the waste
of waters, where the birds of song shall find
shelter, and man shall come to eat the fruits of
the land ? So light is the down that fills the
thistle-tuft, that the very faintest summer breeze
raises its millions of feathers into the air ; and
let a stronger blast arise, and away the numerous

12 WILD FLOWEES

seeds of the ash are scattered far and near.
Under the bough of the horse-chestnut tree, lies
the nut wrapped in its green and prickly co-
vering, till svm and rain have decayed its oTiter
coat, and left it free to find its place in the soil ;
and the autumnal damps rot the hard woody
cones of the fir-apple, and the seed, so carefully
guarded till it is matured, finds its way into
the land, and the dark forest of the north rises
and thickens with its thousands of trees. In-
numerable are the means which the great
Creator employs in spreading fertility ; from the
gentle summer wind "which ripples the waters,
to the storm which lashes the waves into fury;
from the humble and unintentional ministry of
the fowl of the air, to the thoughtful plan and
the unwearied pursuit of it, which characterises
the works of his great masterpiece — man.

There are few who arc disposed to resist these
evidences of a Supreme Being, or to deny his
power and beneficence as shown in creation.
Though on looking around we see so much prac-
tical infidelity; though many are Uving and dying,
and God is not in all their thoughts ; yet most
would acknowledge the fact of his existence,
and welcome the proofs of his omnipotence.
Far more general is the notion, that we can
learn so much of God in his works, as that we
need not study his Holy Word. We may listen
to the sweeping winds with solemn awe, and a
rapt and subdued feeling may take possession
of our souls, and we may fancy it is devotion ;
yet not one holy or spiritual emotion may be

OF THE ■i'EAH. 13

called into action, which shall enable us to go
forth resisting the temptations of sin, or which
shall really constitute communion with God.
We may look on the broad landscape, smiling
in summer beauty, and speak with dehght of
the " temple of nature," and say with the poet

" The turf shall be my fragrant shrine,"

and follow with reverence the man of science,
as he displays God's wisdom in the creation of
the universe ; and yet there may be no sense
of God's holiness — no true penitence for sin —
and no pleading of that atoning blood — with-
out which, prayer cannot be acceptable to the
majesty of God.

But though the knowledge of eternal life is
not to be gathered from nature, yet we may not
only trace God's love in the "flower of the
field," but we may be reminded, by rural sights
and scenes, of many portions of Scripture truth.
Our Saviour himself bade r.s look upon this
material world for this object. "And thus,"
says that pious old writer, George Herbert,
" our Saviour made trees and plants to teach
tiie people : for he was the true householder,
who bringeth out of his treasury things new
and old : the old things of philosophy, and the
new of grace, and maketh one to serve the
other. And I conceive," says he, "that our
Saviour did this, that, by familiar things, lie
might make his doctrine slip more easily into
the hearts even of the meanest ; and that la-
bouring people, whom he chiefly considered,

14 WILD FLOWERS.

might have everywhere monuments of his
doctrine ; remembering in gardens, his mustard-
seed and hlies; in the fields, his seed-corn and
tares ; and so not to be drowned altogether in
the works of their vocation, but sometimes lift
up the mind to better things in the midst of
their pains."

JANUARY.

" And not a leaf or sprig of green
On ground or quaking bush is seen,
Save grey-vein'd ivy's hardy pride,
Round old trees by the common side :
The sparrow too, a daily guest
Is in the cottage eaves at rest ;
And robin small, and smaller wren.
Are in their warm holes safe again
From falling snows, that winnow by
The hovels where they nightly lie ;
And ague winds that shake the tree
Where other burds are forced to be."— Clark

In the cold and frosty January, where are we
to look for the wild flowers ? Their roots and
seeds are safely covered by the snow, and if a
oright clear sky, and a frosty air, should spread
their influences, yet few will open to a January
sun. Man has, by skill, brought the flowers ot
other lands to enliven our winter; even at that
season when the Almighty "scattereth his hoar-
frost like ashes," and none " can stand before
his cold ;" the golden clusters of the winter
aconite {Eranthis hyemalis) have been brought
us from the mountains of , Italy, and their
buttercup-like blossoms are bright as gold :
the Christmas rose {IleUeborus niger) stands
like a flower of snow among its dark shining
leaves ; and the bright pink, and deep blue

16 Wir.I) FLOWERS.

blossoms of the Iiepatica, are already putting
forth their buds ; and the laurustinus, so plen-
tiful in the south of Europe, is almost as com-
mon in our gardens as in the wild hedges there.
Not more than three or four kinds of wild
flowers can be found, e\'en as occasional visitants
of the English field, at this season. In our
southern counties, indeed — in the warm and
moist climate of Devonshire, for example — a
few flowers, elsewhere considered as belonging
to the spring, are in bloom in winter. Thus
Carrington speaks of our vernal blossom, as the
flower " that cheers Devonia's fields," and

" In her maternal clime,
Scarce shuts its eye on Austral suns— and wakes
Arul smiles in winter oft — the primrose— hail'd
By all who live."

The daisy that " never dies," is the flower
which we are most likely to find on a January
day, when the sun has melted the snow from
the grass. lu the north of England, this
blossom is distinguished from the large ox-eye
daisy, by the name of dog-daisy; from a notion
that a decoction of its juice, if given to young
dogs, prevented their growth. The simple
daisy was once a flower of great renown, and
was called in England, either herb Margaret, or
Day's-eye ; and it still bears the name of Mar-
guerite, in France. It was the device of the
unfortunate Margaret of Anjou, and when that
queen was in prosperity, her nobles wore it in
wreaths in their hair, or had it embroidered on
their robes. That noble-minded woman Mar-

JANUARY. 17

garet of Yalois — the friend of Erasmus and
of Cabin — she who could retire from the ad-
miration and ghtter of courts, to study her
Bible and her own heart — she too had the
daisy-flower worn in her honour, and was called
by her brother Francis i., his "INIarguerite of
Marguerites."

The daisy grows in fields throughout Europe,
and is as common in the Italian meadows as in
ours. The children of Italy gather it as an early
favourite, and call it PratoUna, (meadow flower.)
Butleaving the daisy — which, after all, is rather
the occasional blossom of the winter mead,
than its accustomed ornament — we may wander
to the heath-land, to search for the winter-
furze, or gorse, (JJlex vanus,) when this low and
prickly shrub is covered with golden flowers,
which' defy the winter frost. This species is
of much lower growth than the common gorse,
(IJlex 'EvropcEvs.) On the latter, indeed, we
sometimes espy a bright blossom in winter,
and it is described as "the never bloomless
furze ;" but the peculiarity of the dwarf furze,
is, that it exhibits its flowers solely in the
autumnal and winter months, beginning to
blossom in August, and remaining in full beauty
till the end of January. It is very similar to
the common species, ])ut not nearly so general.
It often grows on high lands, and the Pentland
hills are covered with the mountain gorses,

" Tlipy vliom Ood prcsevveth still,
Set as li^lits up(in a liil! :
A token to tlit- uintry cartl;, that beauty livcth still."

18 WILD FLOWERS.

The grass lands look less beautiful in December
and January than in any other months. As
soon as February has commenced, the leaves of
several spring plants unfold, and trail over the
hedge-bank, or shoot among the grass, and the
verdure begins to show a gradual increase. But
the January grass is almost stationary, and, if
v?e are to believe the old proverb, it ought not
to grow at all during the month.

" If the grass grows in Janiveer,
It grows the worse for it all the year."

The fact is, that a premature spring is in-
jurious, not only to pasture land, but to vegeta-
tion generally.

The common chickweed {Stellaria media) is
another little blossom which may be found in
this early month, when the snow is off the
ground. It is too commonly gathered for the
tame bird to need any description. Its small
white flowers may be seen, on richly cultivated
lands, at almost any season. Our song birds,
especially the tribe of finches, are much in-
debted to this ])lant for food ; as they eat, not
only its numerous seeds, but its young tops
and leaves.

Thus small is January's wreath ! The trees,
as yet, are leafless ; but the shining dark buds
of the horse-chestnut promise us a speedy
foliage. One would wonder where the little
birds found shelter, but the sparrow is twitting
still, and the robin, though silent during the
frost, will have a merry song to greet us on a

JANUARY. 19 I

mild day. The thrush is commencing his tune ; !
*:.he storm, or missel thrush, sings loudly from
the mistletoe ; the wren unites her voice ; and
that sweetest of birds, the lark, is far up in the
blue sky, pouring out a strain of melody from
a joyful heart.

But we cannot, in noticing the vegetation of
January, omit the holly and the mistletoe ; for ,
though their flowers ai'e not now in bloom, yet
they are so much more noticeable from their
berries than their blossoms, that they seem to
belong to the wdnter. The holly {Ilex aqid-
foliiim) intersperses its dai-k leathery leaves,
sharp with spines, among the bare branches of
many a hedge-row. "Whole forests and woods
of this beautiful evergreen, flourish in several
parts of our country ; and some fine spots of
clustering hollies may be seen in Medwood ;
Park, in Staffordshire. This plant was once
called scarlet oak ; and our present word, holly, ;
is a corruption of holy-tree, by which name it '
was formerly known, on account of its old use I
in decking churches at Christmas time. In ;

• • •

many parts of England it is very common in i
the hedges ; and Carrington, among the other j
plants of Dartmoor, notices

" The holly pointing to the moorland stonn,
Its hardy fearless leaf."

The flowers of this shrub appear in April.
They arc white, and look as if cut out ot
wax. The holly wood, which is very hard and
white, is used by turners ; and the boxes and

20 WILD FLOWERS.

screens on Avhich paintings are so often made,
are formed of it. In the pretty Tunbridge-
ware, which is ingeniously made of various
woods, the holly is extensively used. The
viscous substance found in the bark, is used for
birdlime : and the tough leaves afford food for
the caterpillars of one of our loveliest butter-
flies— the azure blue insect, which is known to
naturalists as the Papilio Argioliis.

The silvery modest mistletoe {Viscum album)
cheers the wood, and with the holly adorns our
houses. The Druids, probably, first used these
plants as the indoor winter ornament ; and we
dress our houses now, because the custom
reminds us of the olden days ; and on the same
principle

" As the ear
May love the ancient poet's simple rhyme,
Or feel the secret chami of minster's distant chime."

"We use the mistletoe chiefly at Christmas ;
but, even a few centuries ago, its branches were
carried about from house to house, on the first
day of January, by young men and maidens, as a
new year's gift of friendship ; and to the present
time, the French preserve a relic of this practice.
Our forefathers, at a very early period, che-
rished the mistletoe as a plant which, when
gathered with some superstitious rites, would
cure disease, avert the influences of the enl
eye, and preserve from many dangers; and
earlier still, when our country lay in all the
darkness and ignorance of Druidical super-
stition, this pl.ant was reverenced and almost
worshipped, and associated with practices at

februaht. 21

which humanity shudders, and which, though
professedly in honour of God, were as far
removed as possible, from the great truth which
Christianity teaches, that " God is love."

We cannot now trace exactly the origin of
placing the mistletoe- bough in houses and
churches. Some authors have thought that an
idea prevailed among the ancient Britons, that
the sylvan spirits took shelter in it, when the
trees of the wood were leafless. Others trace
the custom to the fact, that the feast of Saturn
was held in December, when the priests com-
pelled the people to celebrate it by bringing
in branches from the woods. The earlier
Christians are supposed to have adopted these as
signs of joy and gladness ; and as Christmas-
day ^vas their festival, they, on this day, decked
their houses and churches.

FEBRUARY.

"There is at times a solemn gloom,
Ere yet the lovely spring assume
Sole empire, with the lingering cold
Content divided sway to hold;
A sort of interreign, which throws
On all around its dull repose ; '

Dull, not unpleasing ; when the rest
Nor snow, nor rain, nor winds molest ;
Nor aught by listening ear is heard
Save lirstfruit notes of vernal bird,
Alone, or with responsive call,
Or sound of twinkling waterfall;
Yet is no radiant brightness seen
To pierce the cloud's opposing screen,
Or hazy vapour to illume,
The thickness of that solemn gloom." — Mant.

The chilly month of February, though it

22 WILD FLOWERS,

seems scarcely propitious to the growth of
flowers, yet shows some Uttle token of coming
spring, by a small increase in their number.
The leaves on the gooseberry-bush unfold
themselves, and the purple-tinged leaves of the
honeysuckle may be seen. The ancients ac-
counted the mulberry as the wisest of trees,
because it never put forth its foliage till winter
snows, and spring blasts, were fairly over ; and
the oft-nipped young green leaves of the elder
tree, in this month, shows that an early leafing
tree is subject to a few injuries from the weather.
But He who " made everything beautiful in
his time," the God who "made summer and
winter," has given Nature such abundance,
that though a few young shoots may be nipped
by frosts, yet the leaves on the main branches
are uninjured, and the shoots which the early
winds had withered, are not missed in the
plentiful canopy of the summer tree.

The banks which border the lanes and roads,
are now putting forth the leaves of many flowers
of spring. The foliage of the early speedwell
is daily growing larger. The deeply-crimsoned
stems and young shoots of the Robert-leaved
cranesbill, brighten the hedge ; and the five-
fingered leaves of the creeping cinquefoil, are
clothing their long trailing stems. The fragrant
leaves of the ground-ivy may be gathered now,
and are often collected by country people as a
cure for the coughs so common in this month
of alternate snow and thaw.

The snow-drop (Galanthus nivalis) is the

FEBRUAEY. 23

herald of the flowers. It is not, strictly speaking,
a wild plant ; but it lias, for so man}- centuries,
established itself in many orchards and green
lanes, that it is commonly enumerated among
British flowers. A lane near Newport, in the
Isle of Wight, is so full of its pure white blos-
soms, that it is well-known as Snow-drop lane.

The red dead nettle (Lamimn purjnirewti)
is common on sheltered hedge-banks in Feb-
rnaiy. Its leaves are of a dull green, slightly
tinged with purple, and its reddish purple
flowers are not beautiful. It is an old re-
medy for stopping the effusion of blood, and
a very good one. This plant is in blossom
all the summer, until October, throughout
England ; though it is little noticed by any,
but those who, in taking cognizance of the
flowers, omit not the humblest. Its foliage has
some little similarity to those stinging plants,
the true nettles; and this and the other species
are termed dead, or blind-nettles, because they
have not the venomous powers of their neigh-
bours, the stinging-nettles.

The daudelion, {Leontodon Taraxacum,) "the
Sunflower of the Spring," as Elliott calls it,
illumines the moors and pastures of the early
year, and holds a store of honey for the bee,
and those other insects which soon will glitter
" with wings of sunbeams," across our path.
The dandelion root is a medicine used in
England, but still more generally in France and
Germany. The leaves arc sold in the markets
of the former country for salad, and, atGottingen,

24 WILD FLOWEKS.

the young roots are roasted for coffee. The
Scotch call the dandelion, tlie hawkweed govvan.
Every one must have noticed its dowiiy ball of
seeds, which are so well adapted for flying in
the air, though they need the breeze to scatter
them; for if the plant be gathered, and brought
into the house, the little shuttlecock-shaped
seeds remain firmly fixed in their place. The
French term this flower, Couronne de ipritre.

The dandelion seeds are eaten by birds : and
another plant still more valuable to them, is now
blooming. It is the common groundsel, {Se-
necio vulgaris ;) this not only affords food to
birds, by its feathered seeds, but they eat also
the young foliage : and as few berries, except
those of the ivy, are now in perfection, it is of
much service. And who that delights in the
woodland walk, and listens to the full-hearted
song which is poured forth in varied notes, and
considers their innocent enjoyment, but must
feel glad that a provision is made for the ne-
cessities of the birds? What would our spring
and summer woods be, if the birds were wanting,
and we lacked the spirit-stirring influences of
their music and motion ? As Hurdis says of
the songsters —

" I love to see tlie little goldfinch pluck
The groundsel's feather'd seeds, and twit and twit,
And soon, in bower of apple blossom perch'd,
Trim his gay suit, and pay us with a song •
I would not hold hmi prisoner for the world."

The groundsel is one of those plants which
seem to follow man wherever he sets up his
habitation. It was originally a native of some

FEBnCARY. 25

parts only of Europe, and of the southern
countries of Asia ; but there is, perhaps, hardly
a European settlement in the Avorld, in -which it
does not grow upon the land Avhich the colonist
is bringing into cvdture. Its seeds must be
disseminated among the grain, Avhicli the Euro-
pean takes ■n-ith him to the foreign land. Similar
circumstances are kno\Mi to have occurred with
some other of our wild flowers. The Canadian
flea-bane (Erigeron Canadensis) was planted,
about a century since, in the gardens of Paris,
having been brought thither from its native
Canada. Its seeds have now not only crossed
the channel, to deck our wild landscape, but
have spread themselves o^cr France, German}^
Holland and Italy, and brought forth their
flowers in the Isle of Sicily. So common is
the flea-bane, during the autumnal months, in
the southern counties of our native land, that
botanists class it among our mid flowers.

Our common groundsel has a remarkable
power of softening water, if it is poured, while
boiling, on the plant ; and this fluid forms a
pleasant wash for the skin, irritated by the
winter wind.

The groundsel is one of the largest tribes ol
flowers which is known throughout the world.
No less than five hundred and ninety-six species
having received each a distinct name from the
botanist. There are nine British kinds, and
many htmdreds are cultivated in the gardens of
this country.

By the latter end of February, the road-side,

26 WILD FLOWERS.

and the neglected field, are gay with the bright
yellow rays of the coltsfoot, (Tnssilaffo Far-
fara.) It is almost the only instance of a wild
flower which appears long before its leaves are
unfolded. This plant is a ceitain indication of
a clayey soil, and its large angular leaves some-
times abound on the moist clay grounds in the
middle of summer. Loudon says of this plant,
that " it covers the clay soils on the pestilential
Maremmas, in Tuscany, where scarcely any other
plant will grow ; and the traveller on these
desolate scenes, must rejoice even at this sign
of vegetation. We can, indeed, hardly find a spot
of earth on which some plant peculiar to the
soil will not take root."

The coltsfoot is, in some country places, called
bviU's-foot, or horse-foot. The cottony down,
under the leaves, is often gathered in villages
for tinder ; and the feather of the seeds, which
is of a more woolly texture than that of the dan-
delion, is used by the Highlanders for stufiing
mattresses. The coltsfoot leaves, previously
dried in the sun, will, if dipped in a solution of
saltpetre, burn like linen rag. The flowers are
infused as a remedy for coughs, and were smoked
through a reed by the ancient Greeks, as a cure
for asthma. The leaves are, in modern times,
the chief ingredient of the British herb tobacco,
and are often smoked ])y country peo{)le.

By the cold river-side may be found the
flowers of the marsh marigold, {Caltha pa-
lustris;) its sturdy stem unbroken by the winds;
which make wild music, on the harp of reedsj

MARCH , 27

fringing the edge of the water. Unless th'e
weather he unusually fine, we must not expect
it to blow before the end of the month, but by
that time it is very common on marshy groimds.
It is often the flower which enlivens the
mountain streams of Scotland in the early year,
and is very common in France, where it is
called souci (Teau. It is well known in villages
as the water-blob and water-boot. In Lapland
and Sweden, whole plains are yellow vnth it,
and its opening is eagerly watched, as it is the
first flower which blooms wild in the northern
fields, from which the snows are scared by the
spring ; though it is not till IMay that it expands
there. Few flowers are more abundant on the
marshy lands of Holland, than this. It is not
a good plant for the pasture, as the cattle reject
this and the other species of ranunculus, except
when herbage is so scarce that thev haAC little
choice. The blossoms of the marsh marigold,
when boiled in alum., give a good dye to paper.

MARCH.

" What tliouRh tlie npeniiif; spring be cliil!,
AUhotigli tlie lark, clu-ck'(i in his airy path,
Eke out his son^, iiorcli'd on the fallow clod
That still o'crtops ihe bhuia ! Althongh iso branch
Have spread its foliage save tlie v iliow wand
That dips its pale leaves in the swollen stream !
Wiat tliouph the clouds oft lower! these threats but end
In si'.nny sliowers, that scarcely (Ml the folds
Of mi'ss-couch'd violet, or interrupt
The merle's duket pipe, lueiodinns bird '
He, hid behind the milk wliite slne-'horn spray,
Whose early flowers anticipate the leaf,
Welcomes the time of buds, the infant year."— Grahame.

The old proverb that " March comes in like

28 WILD FLOWERS,

a lion, and goes out like a lamb," though be-
longing particularly to the month under the old
style, is yet generally true. There is scarcely
any time of the year, in which a few weeks effect
a greater change in the appearance of nature,
and the state of the atmosphere, than at this
time ; when, both in morn and eve, " the still
increasing day" grows on the darkness, at the
command of Him who causeth " the day-spring
to know his place ; that it might take hold
of the ends of the earth."*

The vegetation of this month is not only
rapidly assuming the brighter colours of spring,
but daily becomes less thin and scattered. The
winding sprays of the honeysuckle are pretty
well covered ; the spir}^ branches of the Lom-
bardy poplar look cpiite green, and the flowers
of the ash are coming out on its leafless boughs.
The v/ell-cased foliage which has been hid in
the resinous buds of the horse-chestnut tree,
bursts out from its winter shield, and the green
flowers of the gooseberry invite the bee to their
nectar. The blossoms of the apricot tree
slowly unfold on the garden wall, and that
beautiful plant, the almond tree, is putting forth
its delicate blushing flowers so quickly, and so
much in advance of all the other trees in the
garden, as to remind us of the haste and vigi-
lance of which it was an ancient symbol. "What
seest thou? " said the word of the Lord to the
prophet Jeremiah, and he said, " I see a rod
of an almond-tree. Then said the Lord, — Thou

Job xxxviiL 12, 13.

MARCH. 29

hast well seen : for I will hasten my word and
will perform it." *

The redbreast and the blackbird already sing
their welcome to the spring ; and foremost
among the flowers are the bright blossoms of
the mezereon, {DajjJnie mezereum.) Long be-
fore the rongli winds have subsided, its odours
greet our sense, and its beauty adorns our
gardens. It is also a wild flower, and grows in
many woods of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hamp-
shire, and other counties ; although it was in-
troduced from Sweden, into the English garden,
many years before a better acquaintance ^^ith
our native botany had led to the knowledge
that it belonged to England's Flora. Its purple
clusters arc out before the leaves appear, which
Cowper has noticed.

" Hrezereon too,
Though leafless, wen attired, and thick beset
Witli blushing leaves investing ever)' sjiray."

The mezereon grows in woods throughout
Europe ; from the forests of the cold Lapland,
where it looks gay among the dark firs and the
stunted ])irch trees, to the richly-decked groves
of the blight islands of the Mediterranean sea ;
and in some islands of the Levant, it is so
plentiful, that a silver-leaved variety is com-
monly used for Ijrooms, and called broom plant,
{Herbe aux baluis.)

Almost every part of the mezereon is acrid.
Its one-seeded Ijerries are highly j)oisonous.
Dr. Thornton records the case oi his young

» Jer. i. 11, 12

30 WILD FLOWERS.

sister, who died in consequence of eating but
a small number of these bright fruits. Yet,
poisonous as they are to man and animals, in
general, the Great Creator has adapted them to
the use of some of his creatures, for to the
birds they are palatable and nourishing ; and
the thrush and the blackbird search for them
eagerly, and haunt the neighbouring trees and
hedges where these bushes abound.

A small piece of the mezereon baric, bound
down upon the skin with a plantain leaf above it,
is used in villages to raise a blister. In France,
the use of plants, in their simple forms, is much
more common than v/ith us ; and the physician
directs his patient to gather his remedy from
the wood or field ; and the herbalist collects a
quantity of plants, which are hung, dried on
strings, and sold in the shops of Paris. There
we may find the mezereon bark, for the blister;
and the mullein, the mclilot, the mallow, and
fifty others, ready for medicinal or sui'gical pur-
poses. Both in France and England, the meze-
reon-root is used for toothache, and a yellow dye
has been obtained from its branches.

This plant, and the several kinds of Daphne,
are often termed laurel, from the similarity of
the leaves of some species to those of the
shining laurel tree. Our old names for the me-
zereon, are olive spurge and mountain pepper,
and the French call it laureole yentille. In
Italy, it is a favourite flower, and called Bion-
della, (Little fair one.)

Our other wild Daphne is much more general

MABCH. 3!

than the mezereon m our woods, and, like the
former plant, blooms very early in the year.
This plant, the spurge laurel, (Bajjhne lau-
reole,) is about three feet high, and having cir-
cular rows of leaves around its stem, its mode
of growth somewhat resembles that of a palm-
tree. It has pale yellowish drooping flowers,
which hang in clusters under its dark glossy
leaves. Like the mezereon, it has an acrid
property, and its bluish black berries are poi-
sonous. It is also an evergreen, and looks as
bright in the winter wood, as when summer's
sun shines upon it.

The bright cehandine (liamincuhts Jtcfma) is
showing its golden glossy stars by the middle
of this month. A large number of flowers
spring from one root, and its heart-shaped leaves
are spotted witli a whitish green colour. Very
beautiful it is, but very injurious to most lands.
Linnaeus thought that agriculturists should
endeavour to extirpate this pretty flower, as he
considered that it injured all the plants growing
near it. Its blossoms shut up before rain, and,
even in fine weather, are late in unclosing, for
they never look out upon the sun before nine
o'clock ; and by five in the evening, they are
folded up for the night. The roots are highly
valued as a medicine, in Cochin China; but they
are very bitter and acrid, and must require
caution.

On old walls, and on pastures where the soil
is of a rocky nature, may now be found the
small white blossoms of the common whitlow

32 WILD FLOWERS.

grass, (Draba verna.) Its little flowers are
cross-shaped, its stem about two inches high,
with a small circle of slender leaves around its
base. Each individual plant is so very small,
that flower and foliage might all be hidden by
a shilling piece, but it grows in patches, and is
therefore conspicuous above the low green moss,
which so often protects its roots. The old
writers on herbs commended it as a cure for
whitlows, and it was also called nail wort. The
Swede is interested in observing this plant, for
he waits for its appearance to sow his barle}',
as he judges that, when its flower opens, the
spring is sufficiently advanced to favour the
germination of his seedj.

A small flower which blooms throughout the
summer, begins to blossom in March. Perhaps
few but botanists, would call it a flower ; most
persons would speak of it as a weed, yet like
all the works of Him who made it, its structure
is beautiful when seen through a magnifying
power. It is familiarly known by the name of
shepherd's purse, (Capsella bursa pastoris,^ on
account of the little heart-shaped seed-vessels,
which are closely set upon its stem, and some-
what resemble the old-fashioned purses. It may
easily be known by these pouches, and is also
commonly called pick-jjurse. Insignificant as
the plant seems, it appears to have attracted
some notice in the olden times, for it was called
shepherd's scrip, case weed, St. James's wort ;
and its name of " poor man's parmacetic,'* would
suggest the idea that it was deemed of some

MAncii. 33

value in the healing art. Fleur de St. Jacques
is also its old name in France, and it was, doubt-
less, dedicated to some patron saint, in the days
when men sought the intercession of some de-
parted man, like themselves, of a sinful nature,
but renowned for deeds of piety, instead of
seeking God, in the only appointed way which
he has himself revealed. A small green flower
the gloryless, or moschatel, (Adoxa Moschatel-
lina,) may be gathered now in the wood, or on
the shady hedge-bank. The stem has four or
five flowers at its summit, and the leaves, two or
three in number, are on very long stalks. It
is not particularly pretty, but is remarkable for
its musk-like scent, which, however, is little per-
ceptible during the day, though strong when
the plant is wet with the pearls of morn and
evening dew.

The woods, so beautiful in the coming month,
begin to show here and there a woodland flower,
which peeps a])ove the withered leaves and green
wintry mosses. The primrose {Prinnda vul-
garis) is to us what the Italians call the daisy,
flower of spring. The violet too, (Viola odo-
rata,) that long noted favourite of the poet, half
liidden among its broad green leaves, betrays
itself, by its sweet odour, to the rambler in tho
woods. The old naturalist Pliny had so high
an opinion of the virtues of this flower, as to
state, that a garland of violets, worn al)out the
head, prevented headache, or dizziness. Modem
writers hold a far diff'erent opinion; fo;- it is a
well-knowTi fact, that a great number of violets,

B

34 WILD FLOWERS.

in a small apartment, have, in several instances,
caused convulsions. The leaves of the violet
are frequently applied to bruises ; and the flower
was so liighly esteemed as a remedy for weak
lungs, that a conserve, called violet sugar, or
violet plate, Avas, in the time of Charles ii., sold
by apothecaries, and continually recommended
by physicians, to their consumptive patients.
A decoction of the heartsease, which is a species
of violet, is still much used as a medicine on
the continent. The violet imparts its colour
also to liquids, and vinegar derives not only a
brilliant tint, but a sweet odour, from having
violets steeped in it. It is, howevei', from its
beauty and scent as a wild flower, that the violet
will ever derive its chief attraction. It has
been said, that " the wise read nature as the
manuscript of Heaven," and we may trace a
legible handwriting of the Great Creator, even
in the lowliest blossom that the Divine Hand
has streaked and pencilled.

" The coy anemone that ne'er uncloses
Her leaves until they're blown on by the wind,"

is now coming into blossom. The wood anem-
one (Anonone nemorosa) is generally com-
mon in England, yet unknown in many parts
of Essex, and some other counties. The
old name of wind-flower is still retained in
France, where it is called Vherbe au vent ; and
its English name is taken from anemos, which
the ancients gave it, because its delicate flowers
quivered in the fierce breezes of March, and
its shining seeds were carried about on the air.

MAECH. 35

It is still more abundant in the April woods
than now; and though frail when gathered,
and dying quickly, yet it continues in bloom
during a longer period than many other flowers.
The blossom of the wood anemone is white and
star-shaped, and its stem has about its middle,
three dark smooth green leaves, of a very beau-
tiful form, with the veins tinged with crimson.
This flower is poisonous to cattle, and, if bruised,
will raise a blister on the skin.

The daff'odil (Narcissus pseudo narcissus)
blooms in Islarch, not only in gardens, but also
in a few moist woods, and in meadows watered
by streams. This flower, though admired by
us chiefly for its early appearance, was a great
favourite wth the old poets ; and it was one of
the flowers, called by Spenser, IMichael Drayton,
and other early writers, by the name of " lily."
The poets' narcissus, also, (Narcissi/s poefici(S,j
grows wild in some sandy fields of England,
especially in Kent and Norfolk, but does not
flower till ^lay. Its colour is pure white ; in
former days it was called "primrose peerless."
It is the flower so celebrated by tlie ancient
Greek writers.

The scent of both these, as well as of every
other species of narcissus, is strong and delete-
rious. In Holland, where this flower, as well
as many others, receives a great degree of atten-
tion, some of tbe more delicate species of the
narcissus tribe are cultivated in rooms, and the
odour from these rooms is a frecpient ckusc of
sickness. This scent is probably more powerful

36 WILD FLOWERS.

in the clamp air of that conntiy, than it would be
in our land ; a fact of which we may form a good
idea, by observing lunv strong are the odours
from the field, or wood, just refreshed by a heavy
shower, and which float upoii the damp air then
evaporating from the surface of the earth.

But the daffodil is a rare wild flower, com-
pared with one which we now find in bloom
imder hedges and in woods. The common
arum, {A?'iim maculatum) — better known by its
famihar names of lords and ladies, wake robin,
or cuckoo pint — has large broad glossy leaves,
often marked with black spots. From the
centre of these leaves, rises a kind of column,
sometimes of a s-reen, or often of a rich violet
colour. On this is the blossom, and on this
cluster, the bright orange berries which in
winter make so conspicuous an appearance, and
which, though highly poisonous, are relished
by birds. The root of this plant is about the
size of a nutmeg, and contains a farinaceous
powder, which has been applied to a variety of
purposes. In former times, when not oidy ladies
but gentlemen also, were attired in rufTs, so
starched and stiff, that on looking at their por-
traits we wonder how they contrived to bow
their heads, a thick starch was much valued;
and clear-starching was regarded as an elegant
feminine accomplishment, in which gentlewomen
liked to excel, and for the teaching of which
they often paid a great price. The starch found
in the arum root, was, in those days, highly
prized as an excellent stiffener of linen, but the

MAEGH. 37

use of it so irritated and cha]:)ped tlie hands,
that the less glutinous root of the wild hyacinth
was preferred, when it could be obtained.

The root of the arum, while in the fresh
state, is highly acrid, though a favourite food of
the thrush ; but drying, or any application of
heat, dissipates its acrimonious quality, and it
is then good for food. In Portland island,
where the plant grows in great abundance, the
dried roots are much eaten by the peasantry ;
and both there, and at Weymouth, the powder,
or flour, derived from them, is sold, and con-
sidered as good for making bread as the corn
flour. This powder is also sent to London, and
sold by the liOndon chemists under the name
of Portland sago : in times of famine, it has
been very extensively used, instead of flour, by
the poor, throughout England. The fresh root
is taken as a medicine, both in this country and
in France ; and the renowned cosmetic, known
by the name of cypress powder, is made from
the arum I'oot.

The cranesbills, of which we have seventeen
kinds among our wild flowers, succeed each
other as the summer advances. The carhest
blossoming species is very common now, and
may be found until autunni. It is the dove's
foot cranesbill, {Ceraniioa vwlle.) It has a
small upriglit bell-shaped flower, of a deep rose-
colour, and round leaves ; which, as well as its
steins, are so covered with soft hairs, that it is
like velvet to the touch. The French also term
it, pied ds 2>i(jeon.

38 WILD FLOWERS.

And now, as an old poet sings, the " palms
put forth their braverie," and the early willows
are covered with their grey, or yellow calkins,
around which, on a bright day, the bees hum
perpetually. The willow commonlj'' called
palm, is the great round-leaved willow, (Salix
caprea,) and its golden balls are a beautiful
ornament to the woodland scenery. They are
called by country children yellow goslings ; and
the old custom of decking the houses with the
willow branch, in the week succeeding Palm
Sunday, is still retained in villages. It is
often, also, carried about at this season of the
year, as a representation of the palm branches,
which the children strewed in the way when
our Saviour entered Jerusalem, It is not easy
to guess why this tree should have been selected
to represent the oriental palm, as it is altogether
unlike it. If we except the weeping willow,
(Salix Bahjlonica) — which, though common in
this country, is not indigenous, — there is little
beauty in the willows generally ; but they are
very useful trees to the tanner and basket-
maker, and are valuable for poles and fences.

The hazel {CoryJus avelland) is now decked
with its hanging tassels, and the wind, as it
rushes on, in playful gusts, through the woods,
stirring up the streams, waves also the boughs
of the alder, which are becoming covered with
their dark gloomy foliage. The alder (Almts
ylutinosa) is a sombre tree. Its leaves are sin-
gularly glutinous ; so much so, that if placed
between the teeth, one might fancy, on biting

APRIL. 39

them, that a coating of Indian ruliber lay
between their two surfaces.

APRIL.

" The smooth sweet air is blomng round,
It is a spirit of hope to all:
It whispers o'er the dewy ground,
And countless daisies hear the call.

" It mounts and sings away to heaven,
And 'mid each light and lovely floiid;
To it, the lark's loud jnys are given,
And young leaves answer il aloud.

' It skims above the flat green meadow,

And darkening sweeps the shining stream;
Along the hill it lirives the shadow.
And sports and warms in the skyey beam."

Sterlino.

The " showers that water the earth," alter-
nating with the sunshine and soft airs, render
this a month of spring flowers. Primroses,
anemonies, and violets are spread like a gay
variegated carpet over the woods, and the scent-
less dog violet, (Viola canina,) with larger blos-
soms than the darker tinted sweet violet, blooms
in great profusion. Its flowers do not, hke
those of our old emblem of modesty, hide among
the leaves, but flaunt gaily on their longer stalks
before the breeze.

And now God "quieteth the earth by the
south wind," * and all nature looks calmly
beautiful. The swallow knowetVi the time of
his coming, and the voice of the dove is heard
in the wood. The hedges are white with the

•Job xxxvii. 17.

40 WILD FLOWERS.

blossoms of the early sloe, or black-tliorn,
(Prunus spinosa.) Its dark brown branclics are
thick with the snowy wreath, long before the
leaves appear, and, as the spring advances, the
leaves take the place of flowers. The white
blossoms are very beautiful, and very common in
the English coppice. The little harsh fruit, in
flavour something like the unripe damson, is
relished, perhaps, by none but the school-boy :
it is, however, often gathered into jars and
bottles, and after lying buried under-ground till
winter, makes a very tolerable preserve. The
sloe is much used in the adulteration of port
wine, and the leaves are said to be sometimes
mingled with the tea-leaf, and sold as Chinese
tea. An infusion of the flowers, made by
pouring boiling water on them, is a common
village medicine.

But leaving the woodland boughs, with their
half unfolded beauty, we may pass on to the
green lanes where many flowers already grace
the hedge-bank. Foremost of these, as most
common and conspicuous, are the bright blue
flowers of the germander speedwell, {Veronica
chamoedrys,) sometimes called eyebright and
cat's-eye. Ebenezcr Elhott calls it by the
former name.

" Blue cye'oright! loveliest flo^ver of all that grow-
In flower-loved England ! Flower whose hedge-side gaze
Is like an infant's ! What heart does not know
Thee, cluster'd smiler of the bank, where plays
The sunbeam on the emerald snake, and strays
The dazzling riil, companion of the road."

The old English names of this flower, were

APRIL. 41

" Paul's betony," and " fluellin :" but, iu former
times, all the species of speedwell were so highly
admired by the Dutch for their real, or supposed
virtues, that they called them " honour and
praise." The germander is of a most brilliant
blue ; so bright that it cannot foil to attract the
notice of those, who, in early spring, walk in the
country ; and its notched leaves, in shape not
unlike the leaves of a rose, but growing opposite
to each other on the stem, sufficiently mark the
species. We have in our fields, woods, and
hedges, thirteen species of them, but only three
other kinds are to be found now in bloom.
The ivy-leaved speedwell, (Ferowzca he deri folia,)
which has thick green leaves, shaped like the
ivy-leaf, is now a very common weed in gardens,
and runs profusely over some corn-fields among
the early blade ; its long slender stems entang-
ling in each other, or in those of the plants near
it. Its flower is very small, but most brightly
blue, and the seed-vessel which succeeds the
blossom, is formed of two lobes. Similar in
colour is the blossom of the speedwell now to
be found commonly on walls, (Feron/ca arvensis,)
but the whole a])pearancc of the plant is diffe-
rent as it grows upright ; and the grey field
speedwell {Veronica ac/restis) has a small
blossom not quite so bright as those of the
other species, while its notched leaves and stems
lie along the cultured field, or cover over the
waste bank. All these are sm.iller than the
germander speedwell, and they all bloom fronr
spring to autumn.

B 3

42 WILD FLOWERS.

As summer progresses, the remaining speed-
wells come into blossom. One species, the
common speedwell, (Veronica officinalis,) is in
flower in May, and is very frequent in dry woods
and pastures. It grows upright, and has a pale
blue spike of flowers. The leaves are bitter
and astringent, and are often made into tea,
especially on the continent. Indeed the French
call this flower, Th6 de VEurope. An old
Danish writer once contended very warmly, that
this plant was the identical tea of China ; and
before the Chinese tea had acquired a settled
reputation for its superior flavour and stimu-
lating qualities, this, as well as several other
plants, were recommended by herbalists as a
more safe and pleasant beverage. The Swedish
and German writers of the present day, have a
very high opinion of the speedwell tea.

A small flower, the lamb's lettuce, (Valeria-
nella olitoria,) is now very abundant on banks
and in corn-fields, especially on a light soil. As
this flower blooms when flowers are few, it is
more likely to be observed than if a blossom
of the summer. It has very thick compact
clusters of tiny lilac flowers, its stem is about
half a foot high, and the branches spread out
over a good space of ground. The leaves are
of a pale green, and they are considered by
many people to have, if eaten when young, the
flavour of lettuce. The plant was formerly
cultivated for salad, and is still called by the
French, monk's salad, (salade de chanoine.) Its
English name suggests the idea of its growing at

APRIL. 43

the season when these beautiful spring animals,
lambs, are seeking their food on the mead. Our
forefathers called it white pot-herb ; and Ge-
rarde, the old botanist of queen Elizabeth's time,
says of it, " In winter and the first months of
spring, it serves for a salade herbe, and is mth
pleasure eaten with vinegar, salt and oile, as
other salades be, among which it is none of
the worst."

One would scarcely suppose that a plant so
msignificant as to be overlooked by many who
must often pass it, coidd have been at all im-
portant as food ; but vegetables, either for cook-
ing, or salad, were, in those days, little cultivated
in our country, and brought to so little perfec-
tion, that the lamb's lettuce would be a less
contemptible dish then than now.

The fragrant leaves of the ground-ivy (Gle'
choma hederacea) are winding now on their
long stems by every wayside, and, if bruised,
diffusing their sw-eet odour, while their whorls of
purplish lilac flowers are daily becoming more
abundant. This is another plant which was
more highly valued some centuries since, than
in modern days, though it is still used in
making a tea for the cure of coughs. The
" herbe women of Cheapside," who, in queen
Elizabeth's time, were very numerous on that
spot, walking up and down the street with their
baskets of "simples" on their heads, had, at
all seasons, either the newly-gathered, or dried
ground-ivy, and regularly cried it for sale about
this and other streets of London. They called

44 WILD FLOWERS.

it by the now almost-forgotten names of ale-
hoof, tun-hoof, cat's-hoof, hay-maids, and gill-
by-the-ground ; and the latter name is still
used for it in some counties. Ray mentions
several cures wrought by the ground-ivy, and
warmly recommends its use.

One can now hardly walk into the corn-field,
without finding the spi-ay of fumitory, {Fu-
maria officinalis.^ The flower is of a deep
purplish rose-colour, with a small black spot
upon it, and a number of these small tubular
blossoms growon the upper portion of the stem,
forming a spike of flowers about an inch long.
The leaves are divided into slender segments,
and are so like those of the bright yellow garden
escholtzia, that the gardener scarcely distin-
guishes the young leaves of the weed from
those of the flower. They are of a pale sea-
green colour. In summer the neglected corn-
field is often quite red with the blossoms of
this plant. This plant retains all its properties
when dried. It has a very strong saline flavoar,
and is particularly wholesome for cattle. It is
called in the northern counties earth-smoke.

The dark red stems and leaves of the herb
Robert, or Robert-leaved cranesbill, (^Geranium
Robertianuin,) are gay with its pretty pink
flowers, which mingle on the hedgebank with
the blue germander speedwell. The cranesbills
received their name from the Greeks, because
the seed-vessel is long and pointed like the
bill of a crane. The different species are now
becoming numerous ; and a less conspicuous

APRIL. 45

kind than tlie Robert-leaved, is quite as common
as that flower. It has round deeply jagged
leaves, and its blossom is a small pink bell.
This is the Geranium flissectum. One of the
cranesbills, found wild in North America, {Ge-
ranimn maculatum,) has so astringent a root,
that it is called alum-root, and used in that
country, instead of that mineral, to fix the dye
of the manufacturer.

Every day now adds to the charms of the
meadow land. "Blessed be the Lord for the
beauty of summer and spring, for the air, the
water, the verdure, and the song of birds."
This was the exclamation of Linnaeus ; and who,
in looking on the April mead, is not ready to
respond, Blessed be God for the green earth ?

Every one knows the pretty and sweet-scented
meadow clover, {Trifoliiim pratense,') and most
of us have gathered it from the summer meadow,
or the purple field, on which it is sown, and
sucked the honey from its petals, while hundreds
of bees were humming over the clover-field,
intent on sucking it too.

The farmer has not, on his land, a more valu-
able herbage plant than this and the white
Dutch clover, (TrifoUnm repens.) He has
commonly two crops of it, the one in spring
and the other in autumn. The name of trefoil
has been given to it for its triple leaflets, and
the French term it tre/le. The plant was called
" clcefer-wort" by the Saxons, from cloefer, to
cleave — probablyon account of its divided leaves.
The Dutch term it "klafer ;" and in our country

46 WILD FLOWERS.

it was, of old, called " cock's head" and
"honey-suckle."

The white Dutch clover is no less common
than the purple species ; and it is interesting,
as being most commonly considered to be the
shamrock, the national emblem of the Irish ;
though some writers consider that to be the
leaf of the wood- sorrel.

In the beautiful valley of Sharon, so renowned
in Holy Scripture, Monro found the Dutch
clover to be most abundant, covering the grassy
plain with its white blossoms, and there, as
with us, in\'iting swarms of bees to gather
over it.

Besides the white and purple clovers, we have
several other species of trefoil, though many of
them bloom rather later in the summer. The
little common yellow trefoil, (Trifolmm fili-
forme,) with its small flowers, not larger than
a green pea, meet our eye in every country
walk, blooming on every pasture land and
wayside. The hop trefoil, {Trifolium procum-
hens,) a yellow flower, somewhat larger than
the last-named species, is less common than
that kind, but readily distinguished from it
by its oval, hop-shaped blossoms. We have be-
sides, on gravelly heaths, and on banks and pas-
tures, some very pretty downy purple trefoil,
one of which, the hare's-foot trefoil, {Trifolium
arvense,) took its name from the soft silky
whitish tuft of which its flowers consist, and
which resembles the foot of the hare. This
is very common on pastures, and in corn-fields,

APRIL. 47

during July and August. A less frequent but very
singular species, is the strawberry-headed tre-
foil, {Trifolium fragiferum,) which has purplish
red flowers an inch in diameter, and is often so
coloured as to bear a considerable resemblance
to a strawberry. It may, at a glance, be distin-
guished, by this circumstance, from the other
trefoils ; it is found in meadows during the
middle of summer. A calcareous soil is that
on which clovers flourish best ; and it is well
known that, if lime be strewed on some soils,
a crop of clover will arise on lands from seeds
which were scattered over them by the wild
winds ages since, and which only needed this
stimulus to arise and cover the earth.

The leaves of all trefoils are very sensitive
to a moist atmosphere, and close their leaflets
when the sun goes down, drooping low beneath
the drops of evening dew. They also close and
droop when the rain is coming on, and the
clover field presents a singular appearance dur-
ing a heavy shower. The ancients remarked,
that they closed and trembled before a tempest ;
but, probably, the movement of gradually enfold-
ing leaves was regarded as a trembling ; or,
perhaps, the fierce winds, which precede the
storm, shook them so much as to originate this
idea.

On dry soils, in warm climates, several species
of clover attain a great degree of luxuriance ;
though clovers generally are best adapted to
temperate regions. In Buenos Ayres clover
grows to such a height, that " men and cattle

48 WILD FLOWERS.

cannot see each other while passing through a
plain covered with its flowers."

Blooming beside the clover, and nodding far
above it, we may find the " fragrant dweller of
the lea," the yellow cowslip, or \)aigle, (Primula
veris,)and alsothe yellow oxlip(P?7mMZa elatior.)
This latter plant is less common than the cow-
slip, and much Uke it, but it has larger flowers.
The leaves of both are like those of the prim-
rose. The cowslip was formerly called " petty
mullein," and " palsy Avort ;" and as the French
still term it, herbedelapai'alysie, it probably had
some old renown as a medicine. An ointment
of cowslip leaves has long been used to remove
tan and freckles from the sun-burnt complexion.

The cowslip is a great ornament to our spring
meadows. Nightingales are affirmed by some
ornithologists, to have a peculiar predilection
for these flowers. It has been said that they
are only found where cowslips are plentiful.
" Certainly," says Mr. Jacob, in his " Flora of
Devon and Cornwall," " with "regard to these
counties, the coincidence is just :" but the writer
of these pages knows a copse, much frequented
by nightingales, and from which a chorus of
their songs issues in spring, but around which
cowslips cannot be found for some miles.

Another meadow flower, the cuckoo-flower,
{Cardamine pi-atensis,) with its pale lilac blos-
soms and pungent leaves, is now abundant in
moist meadows ; as are also several other species
of cardamine, too closely allied to each other
to be easily discriminated. The little dark-

APRIL. 49

blue flower, which, though called the autumnal
gentian, (Geiifiana amavella,) blooms in spring,
may now be found in the meadow, esjjecially
where the soil is composed of limestojie. It is
about three inches high, and its bell-shaped
flowers grow in clusters. It is not quite so
common as the species called field gentian,
{Gentiana campestris,) which much resembles
this, and is very abundant on chalky, hilly pas-
tures, in the month of October. AVe have seve-
ral other wild species of gentian, but all are rare.

The little wild pansy, or heartsease, {Viola
tricolor,) is now in blossom on banks and culti-
vated fields. It is sometimes purple, at other
times, yellow with purple streaks, but most
commonly all its petals are of a pale sulphur
colour. It is a species of violet. The numerous
and beautiful pansies cultivated by florists, are
mostly natives of Siberia, and the northern
countries of Europe, and America ; though a few
like our sweet violet, are found within the tropics.

The early scorpion grass, (Mijosotis collina,)
with very small but very bright blue blossoms,
is also a sjiring flower, and is common both on
sterile fields and cultured lands ; and now, on
marshy meadows, we may see the buttcr-buf,
{Petasites rulyaris) which may easily be de-
scribed. This plant has a thick stem, with
a crowded cluster of pink, or rather flesh-
coloured flowers, and is ai)parently destitute of
leaves. Like the coltsfoot, to which plant it is
nearly allied, its blossomslongprecede itsfoliage;
but when this aj)pcars, it is very conspicuous.

50 WILD FLOWEES.

as the leaves are larger than those of any
other wild flower.

By the latter end of April almost every wood-
land displays its stores of blue wild hyacinths,
(Hi/acinthus non script.us.) Some of the old
herbalists, as Gerarde, term this beautiful flower
the harebell ; but the nodding blue-bell of the
heath-land is the harebell of modern poets,
and probably, also, of most of the older ones.
The Germans call our woodland flower the
Englische hyacinth ; but it is a native not
only of every county of England, but of every
land of Europe. The roots contain a great
quantity of starch, which, in former times, was
used, not only by the laundress, but also in-
stead of gum for pasting books and setting
feathers on arrows. The fresh root is said
to be very poisonous. Our garden hyacinths,
called eastern hyacinths, {Htjacinthus orieiitale,)
are very abundant in Palestine. Lamartine
found them in great beauty on the plains, at
the foot of Mount Lebanon. Kitto, in his " Pic-
torial Palestine," says, " the narcissus, the hya-
cinth, and the violet are in flower in the Holy
Land in the beginning of February. One
species of narcissus is cultivated in the open
fields, by the people of Aleppo, and towards the
end of winter, certain Arab women are seen in
the streets, carrying baskets of the flowers for
sale, and chanting as they walk along ' How
delightful its season ! its Maker is bountiful.' "
The Holy Land has also the grape hyacinth and
the blue grape hyacinth in its corn-fields.

APRIL. 51

The starch gray)e hyacinth {Muscari race-
mosum) is sometimes found in grass fields, and
among ruins, in this countrv,but many botanists
think that it is not indigenous. The cir-
cumstance that a flower is found among ruins,
renders it probable that a garden was formerly
in the neighbourhood, and that the flower was
once cultivated there. This flower is well-known
by being so common in gardens. It resembles
abunch of dark purple grapes, and when bruised
a quantity of clammy starch-like substance
issues froni it. The flower has also the odour
of wet starch. It has a large bulbous root.

Very nearly allied to the hyacinth is the
vernal' squill, '(Scilla verna,) w^hich is now in
flower on rocks by the sea- side. It is about
four or five inches high, with blue bells and
long slender leaves. It is common on the coasts
of the northern and western parts of Great
Britain, and frequent in the Orkney and Shet-
land isles, where the bleak winds are so un-
favourable to vegetation that few flowers will
flourish. The bulbous root contains a very
useful medicine, but as it is also a powerful
poison, it should never be taken but under the
direction of a medical adviser.

The large greenish yellow blossoms of the
two species of wild hellebore now stand out
boldly under the hedges. These are the green
hellebore, (Ilc/lefjonfs viriJits,) and the stink-
ing hellebore, {Ilelleljonts fatidus ;) the latter
species is clearly distinguished from the other,
by the purple colour at the edge of its green

52 WILD FLOWERS.

cup. They have both large leathery leaves,
and, as well as the garden hellebores, among
which is the Christmas-rose, are extremely
poisonous.

The white balls of the guelder-rose (Vi-
burnum opulus) now thicken on the shrub, its

" Silver globes, light as the foaming surf,
Which the winil severs from the broken wave ;"

being ornamental both to the shrubbery and the
hedge-row. These flowers, however, are not so
globular in their wild as in their cultivated
state, when in the garden ; they contrast with the
bloom of the lilac-tree, and well deserve their
common name of snowball. The guelder-rose
derived its name from having been planted and
flourishing profusely in Guelder-land, in the Low
Countries ; but the plant is a native of almost
every coiuitry of Europe, and quite common in
our wild hedges. The berries are among the
most beautiful of our autumnal fruits. They
are of an eUiptical shape, very juicy and bril-
liantly red. They have a very nauseous taste,
so much so, that one can only wonder how they
can be so palatable to the Swedes ; yet the
people of Sweden relish them greatly when
made into a paste with flour and honey. In
Siberia, they are not only eaten thus, but a spirit
is distilled from them by fermenting the berries
with flour. The young shoots are made into
tobacco-pipes and whip-handles.

The box shrub, {Buonis sempervirens,) so well
known in its dwarf state as an edging to the
garden border, puts forth its green flowers in

APKIL. 53

April. It was formerly used for decking houses ;
for in olden times, not only was tlie Christmas
holly placed on the chimney-piece, but every
season gave its proper flowers, or shrubs, to
adorn the English home. Thus the old poet
Herrick records these long-lost customs:

" When yew is out, the birch comes in,
And many flowers beside ;
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin,
To honour Whitsuntide.

" Green rushes then, and scented bents,
Witli cooler oaken boughs,
Come in for comely ornaments
To re-adorn the house."

About this time we may search for the beau-
tiful dark-j)urple silky stars of the pasque-flower,
(Aneinone jndsatilla.) It grows on chalky
pastures, or on banks, and, sometimes, though
more rarely, in woods ; and the rare wood-
anemone, (Anemone rannnculoides,^ with its soft
yellow flowers, springs up in some few sequest-
ered woo'^s at this season. It has been found in
several parts of Kent and Hertfordshire.

Among the most common, and certainly one
of the prettiest flowers which we in this month
gather from the woodlands, is the wood-sorrel,
(Oxalis acetosella,) though, unless the spring be
forward, we shall not And it till the latter end
of the month. While wc admire the pencilled
beauty of this blossom, we observe too the
delicate light green -tripled leaf. We have
not a wild flower whicli can rival the sensitive
})lant of warmer regions — that plant, the con-
sideration of whose mysterious sensibility, is

54 WILI; FLOWERS.

said to have driven the ancient philosopher to
madness, — yet if any British flower might be
called a sensitive plant, it is this. Not only
does its foliage close and droop at the approach
of the evening dews, but at the coming rain,
even before the " storm sings i' the wind," the
wood-sorrel compresses its leaves, and even
when handled roughly in gathering, it shrinks
from the touch. The wood-sorrel grows es-
pecially around the trunks of decayed trees.
That pleasing poet Charlotte Smith, describes
the flower-gatherer,

" Who from the tumps with bright green mosses clad
Plucks the wood-sorrel, -vvith its light green leaves
Heart-shaped, and triply-folded; and its root
Creeping lilve beaded coral ! "

The plant is generally most plentiful in the
thickest part of the wood.

Wood-sorrel is abundant on the Alps and
other mountains, and is found as far to the
uorth of our globe as travellers have ever yet
penetrated. In Lapland, it is so plentiful and
so much used, that Linnaeus says the natives of
that country take scarcely any other vegetable
food than sorrel and angelica. The great bot-
anist adds, that it is in Norway the prmmla, or
first flower of spring.

The old herbalists had a variety of names for
the woodland flower. It was called wood-sower,
stub wort, wood trefoil, cuckoo's meat, and alle-
luya. Gerarde says of it, " Apothecaries and
herbalists call it alleluya and cuckowe's meat ;
either because the cuckowe fecdeth thereon, or

APRIL. 55

by reason when it springeth forth the cuckowe
singeth most ; at which time also alleluya was
wont to be sung in our churches." It is still
known both in Spain and Italy by the name of
alleluya. It is much used on the continent
as a fish-sauce, and was, among our ancestors,
in great repute, as the chief ingredient in the
"green sauce," which, in former days, always
accompanied fish on the table.

The acid flavour of the sorrels, renders them
generally palatable to children, and, if taken
only in small quantities, they are not pernicious ;
but no one should, at one time, eat more than a
handful of wood-sorrel. The expressed juice
of this plant is used to remove spots and iron-
moulds from linen. It is also diluted with milk
and given as a febrifuge in our English villages,
and still more commonly in Russia.

A yellow species of the wood -sorrel (Oxalis
corniculata) is occasionally found in shady
places, but it is rare. The plant which is most
commonly known as sorrel, and which may be
seen in any summer meadow, is the field dock-
sorrel, {Rumex acetosa.) It is most abundant
on the sandy soil. Its acidity is less than
that of the wood-sorrel, and its spikes of dark
red flowers often rise above the grass, and may
be seen very plainly on the pasture land. The
sheep's sorrel, too, {Rumex acetosella,) is scarcely
less frcfuicnt on open places, and its flowers are
similar to those of the field-sorrel, but much
smaller. These two sorrels are not in bloom
until June and July. They resemble the wood-

56 WILD FLOWERS.

sorrel in their acid flavour only : botanists
class them among the dock plants. A red
dye is procured from the field-sorrel. The
smaller species is an invariable indication of a
dry soil. Both kinds are very nutritious to
cattle.

From the old wall, the sweet wallflower {Chei-
ranthus cheiri) now greets us with its odour.
Many are the flowers which we value for their
fragrance, but scarcely one is sweeter than this.
It is much prized in the east.

The common white bryony {Bryonia dioica)
is now abundant, its large vine- shaped leaves
covering the hedges, and twining among the
bushes, both by their twisting form and by the
numerous and long curling tendrils which grow
on every stem. It is often called wild hop ; but
those who live in the counties in which hops
are cultivated, know it to be very different from
that plant. We have no wild trailing plant,
which better than this merits the old name of
white vine. The flowers are mariced with green
veins, and though not showy, are when ex-
amined found to be very beautiful ; but it is the
luxuriant growth of the bryony, which renders
it an elegant plant. The stems often extend
four or five feet, and grow much faster than
those of plants in general. Their rapid growth
is attributed, by Linnaeus, to the immense size
of its white branching root, which was formerly
miich used as a medicine. It is very acrid,
while fresh, but, when dried, it yields a flour
which has often supplied food to the poor in

APRIL. 57

times of scarcity. Its properties are not,
however, so certainly known as that it can be
recommended as food.

Happily for us, vre are not subject to those
occasional seasons of dearth which were for-
merly experienced in this country, when the
poor were compelled to seek vegetable food from
wild roots and seeds. An old WTiter, speaking
of the dearth which prevailed in England in
1555, says : "At this time plenty of "leas did
grow on the sea-shore, near Dunwich, m Suffolk,
never set or sown by human industry ; which,
being gathered in full ripeness, much abated
the high price of the market, and preserved
many hungry families from perishing." The
plant which thus appeared at so needful a season
was the sea-side pea, (Pisum marifimum,) which
is a native of our shores, but not usually very
common or abundant. It is a pretty wild pea,
sufficiently similar to the sweet pea of the gar-
den to remind us of that flower. There is a
tradition that the plant sprang up in conse-
quence of th wreck of a vessel near the coast,
on which the seeds were washed by the waves :
but this is scarcely probable, as the bitterness
of this pea renders it unlikely that it had been
of sufficient value for exportation ; and the sea-
side pea is so different from all other kinds, that
the flower could not have been the produce of
the seed of any otlier pea. Like the writer just
quoted, we must attribute its growth to the pro-
vidential interference of God, but cannot account
for the means employed for its production.

58 WILD FLOWERS.

This food was a tolerably wholesome one,
and formed a far better substitute for corn thau
the diet to which many of the French peasantry
were reduced in 1817. At this season, the
heavy rains which fell over the greater part of
France, had, in some departments especially,
prevented the ripening of the corn, and it be-
came so dear as that the rich only covdd pvu'-
chase it. The poor were compelled to live on
wild sorrel, nettles, thistles, and even on the
boiled leaves of trees. This food sufficed to
preserve life ; but a large number of those who
lived on it, were afflicted both viith dropsy and
other complaints. During the disastrous cam-
paign of Napoleon's army at Moscow, the un-
fortunate soldiers boiled and ate the common
grass of the field, and delirium was the conse-
quence of this wretched food.

Our wild bryony abounds Avith a fetid juice,
which is most abundant in its berries. These
may well be termed coral-berries, for they are
not clear like those of the nightshade, nor do they
glisten like them ; but they are perfectly round,
smooth, and unpolished, and of the most beau-
tiful red colour. NotAvithstanding their poison-
ous nature, they are eaten by birds ; and while
no other animal but the goat will feed on the
branches of the bryony, these are to him a de-
licious repast ; he will leave untouched all
other vegetables to feed on this. Several kinds
of brj'ony are much used in India, and other
countries, as medicines.

MAY. 59

MAY.

" Grateful 'tis,
Ah passing sweet, to mark the cautious pace
Of -ilow-returniiig Spring, e'en from the time
When first the matted apricot unfolds
Its tender bloom, till the full orchard glows ;
From when tlie gooseberry first shows a leaf,
Till the high wood is clad, and the broad oak
Yields to the fly-stung ox a shade at noon.
Sun proof.' Hurdis.

From about tlie middle of March until sum-
mer is fairly ushersd in, vegetation makes such
rapid progress that we every day observe some
changes. This is particularly the case if we
walk among the woods, for never are the woods
so bright nor so full of those flowers which love
the shade, as during April and May. The
spring colouring of the trees, too, has its own
emerald beauty, though differing from that of
the richly variegated autumn.

There is also something peculiar in the life
and acti\'ity of the spring woodlands, which
contrasts with the stillness of the autumnal
season in the same spots — when no birds are
singing, and when the winds are still, the influ-
ence of their shade and silence is like that ot
the starry sky, soothing and calmiing to the
mind ; but the spring wood is all so joyous and
so full of voices, that they who wander thither,
leaving their hearts open to the impressions of
nature, feel that its songs and soft green light,
and delicate sliadows inspire to gladness. A
wild thrill of delight is among the trees. The
storms of March have left behind, the lilac cloud.s
and the bright gleams of sunshiue, and, as yet.

60 VnLD FLOWERS.

the quivering leaves hide not the hght, and a
thousand mingled voices hail the coming of sum-
mer. Happy are they to whom God has given
hearts attuned to the utterances of nature, and
whom the cares and follies of the world have not
weaned away from its teachings ! Happy too,
if in the seclusion of the woodland, their hearts
can he lifted up to God, with wonder and ad-
miration of his providential goodness to those
of his inferior creatures which sport and sing in
the woods ; and more blessed still, if they can
recognise that God, not only as their Creator
and the Father of their spirits, but commune
with hivn as their Friend and their Guide, and,
like Adam in the brighter bowers of Eden, hear
the voice of God among the trees.

The turf which enamels the ground of the
wood is rich with a variety of flowers,

"As if the rainbou-s of the fresh wild spring
Had blossom'd where they fell."

The xiyacinth, the anemone, the violet, and
the wood-sorrel, are as beautiful as during last
month, and many of the large tribe of orchis
flowers are coming into bloom. A very singular
one is thebrownbird's-nestorchis, or tway-blade,
{Listera nidus avis.) One might see it growing,
and on passing it hastily, take it for a withered
flower ; but on gathering it, we see that, brown
as it is, it yet has life and freshness. It is just
of the colour of some drooping oak-leaf, which
is fading on the autumn bough, or strewed
among multitudes on the winter earth. It is
not, however, on account of its colour, that it

JIAT. 6 1

received its familiar name. Unlike the gene-
rality of our British orchises, its root is not
formed of bulbs, but of a number of fibres,
crossing and entangling each other, like the
sticks of a crow's nest. Its common companion
in the wood, is another species, the green tway-
blade, {Listera ovata,) vnih. its broadly ovate
leaves and spike of small yellowish-green flowers.
They are both of the orchis tribe, and persons
accustomed to this family of plants would easily
recosinise them as belono-ino; to it.

jNIore conspicuous than these, and more beau-
tiful also, is that species of orchis commonly
called the ladj^ orchis, which is the brown-
winged orchis of the botanist, {Orchis fv sea.)
It is during jMay, very common in chalky woods,
especially in Kent, and is the handsomest of
our wild orchideous plants. The stem is some-
times tv/o or three feet high, and the large and
thickly set flowers form a cluster of the size oi
a bunch of grapes. The upper part of the
blossom — the helmet as it is called — is of a dark
brown purj)le colour, but the lower lip is white
and beautifully spotted. Gay enough it is to
represent a lady delicately attired— for " even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these," — but in what other respects it
resembles a lady, it would be hard to tell. A
similar remark may be made of the man orchis,
{Aceras anthropophei-a,) which is as much like
a man as an animal, and far more like some
of the smaller insect tribe, as the gnat. One
month later, and we may find on the chalky down

62 WILD FLOWERS.

two or three species of the orchis plant, which
certainly much resemble the insects from which
they are named, Tliese are the bee, the fly,
and the spider orchises. The latter, however,
is so similar to the bee orchis, that many writers
consider it merely a variety of the same plant.

The bee-orchis {Ophi-ys apifevd) is abundant
on some chalky and clayey soils, yet is so con-
fined to peculiar spots, that it can hardly be
called a common wild flower ; in Scotland it is
almost unknown. In many parts of Kent and
the Isle of Wight, it flourishes in profusion.
The blossom is nearly as large as an humble-
bee, and so like that insect in form and colour,
that it might mislead the passer-by into the
belief that a bee was hovering on its stem. It
never deceives the bee himself, for, on a warm
day of June or July, a number of these busy
creatures settle upon it, and rob its nectary of
the sweet juice which it contains in abundance.
The fly-orchis, too, (^Ojo/oys muscifera,) grows
on similar spots, and as nearly resembles the fly
as this does the bee.

The resemblance of insects is far more
striking in the orchideous plants of tropical
coantries. One species, the butterfly- orchis,
{Oncidium papilio,) is so similar t j our tortoise-
shell butterfly, as continually to deceive the eye
of the traveller. There is something so remark-
able in these resemblances that the lovers of
flowers usually feel much interested in the orchis
tribe, and many exotic orchises liave been of late
years introduced into this country.

MAY. 63

Our native orchises, which though not in
bloom till next month, are now sending up from
the earth their long glossy leaves. There are
more than thirty species of our wild flowers,
not all called orchis, hut all of the orchideous
tribe, and all much alike. The two most com-
mon species, which are found in almost every
English county, are the early purple orchis,
{Orchis mascula,) and the green-winged meadow
orchis, (Orchis morio.) The former has its
leaves marked with dark purple sjtots, and is
very frequent in the woods in May, The latter
is found in meadows at the same season. They
are both of a pinkish purple colour, and the
wood species is sometimes deliciously fi'agrant.
The meadow orchis often grows pretty thickly
among the grass, and has been found with fawn-
coloured blossoms. The roots of both these
flowers are perfectly wholesome and nutritious.
The marsh orchis, (Orchis lafifolia,) and the
spotted palmate orchis, (Orchis maculuta,) are
also common, but on moist places only. They
have pale tinted lilac, or white flowers, and are
thus quite distinct from the two kinds just
mentioned. They are also taller and more
slender, but by no means so general. In Essex
and Cambridgeshire, they are almndant. On
the bogs about Tunbridge NVells, they are among
the most common flowers ; yet in many districts
in Kent, famous as it is for orchis ])lants,
and possessing peculiarities of soil necessary
for their production, not a single plant of these
two species can be fouiul

64 WILD FLOWERS.

The butterfly-orchis {Hahenaria hifolia) is
another flower which by its beauty and fre-
quency chiims our notice. It has white frai^rant
blossoms, the acent of which is considerably
increased in the evening. It blooms in June
in the moist copse, and though nmch like a
butterfly, yet resembles some smaller and more
slender winged insect. No hothouse flower is
more delicately beautiful than this simple tenant
of llie woods, which so often lives and dies un-
seen by the eye of man.

A verv pretty but very small species of orchis,
called ladies' tresses, {Neottia spiralis,) is com-
mon on dry hilly pastures, but so uncertain in
its appearance, that we cannot depend on finding
a single plant in the next summer on a field
decked this year with thousands. A field in
the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells, Avas, in
the summer of 1843, so full of it, that one
might gather it at almost every step. In the
Augnst following, not a stem or leaf indicated
that it had ever grown there. This flower had
several old names. It was called sweet-cods,
sweet-cullins, and stander grass.

In considering the orchises we liave rather
anticipated the season of the year, as several of
them grow in the later months. We may, how-
ever, with tolerable certainty expect to find in
the May woods, a pretty and well-known blossom
the wild strawberry-flower, {Fragaria vesca,)
which blows both now and in June. The patches
of this meek white flower lie among its leaves
on the grassy bank which skirts the wood, and

WL^y. 65

are still more numerous beneath the shelter of
the overarching boughs. This flower is of the
rosaceous family of plants, its shape being like
that of the wild brier-rose, and all fruits grow-
ing on a plant bearing this shaped flower, may
be safely eaten. A more wholesome, or a sweeter
fruit than this, cannot be gathered. The wood-
strawberry is common throughout Great Britain.
It is equally so in the woods of France ; and the
Parisians esteem this small fruit, and that of
the equally small alpine strawberiy, as far supe-
rior to the hautboy.

The different kinds of strawberry are natives
of temperate, or cold climates, and are common
in Europe, and the greater part of America.
They also often present themselves to the eye
of the traveller, on the hill-sides of Asia and
Africa. In cold countries, berries generally are
more abundant than in warmer regions, and the
wild strawberry grows in great quantities in the
woods of Sweden, and is nmch valued for
desserts. Linnaeus considered it the most
wholesome of all fruits^ and records that he, in
two instances, was cured of fits of the gout by
eating wild strawljcrries. It is commonly carried
about the towns of Sweden for sale, and the
great botanist desired his servants to purchase,
at all times, the strawberries which were offered
at his door, however large the quantity. Hoff-
man thought that, if eaten in the early stage of
consumption, they would arrest the progress of
that malady.

The hautboy strawberry (Frag aria ehttiur)
c

66 WILD FLOAVEES.

grows in several of our wild woods and hedges,
and is reckoned among British plants, yet it can
he scarcely considered indigenous. It is, by
most writers, thought to be a native of the Ame-
rican woods, but it was commonly cultivated
before the time of Henry viii. — a period in
which few fruits were reared in England, until
after Catherine of Arragon had had them im-
ported. The beauty both of the fruit and
flower of the strawberry had attracted the notice
of lord Bacon. Speaking of a flower-garden :
" Trees," says he, " I would have none in it,
but some thicket made of sweetbrier and honey-
suckle, and some wild vine amongst ; and the
ground set with violets, strawberries, and prim-
roses ; for these are sweet, and prosper in the
shade."

How beautiful now are the delicate bells of
the lily of the valley, {Convallaria majalis,) as
they grow, half hidden in the shade of their two
broad green leaves ! These flowers are now
brought in baskets for sale, into the towns, and
often planted in town gardens, there to pine
away far from their native shades. The root
of this flower is bitter, and has medicinal pro-
perties, and the juice of its leaves, prepared with
lime, yields to the manufacturer a beautiful dye.
By its side may sometimes be seen the wax-like
drooping blossoms of the Solomon's seal, (Con-
vallaria multijlora,) with their delicate green
edges. Its root, called whitewort, is used for
bruises, and certainly removes their blackness^
Superstitious people, a few years ago, thovgh*

MAT. 67

that the great botanist and naturalist, Solomon,
had given this virtue to the plant, by stamping
it with his seal ; in proof of which, the herbal-
ist would point to the marks which are to be
found on the knotted root, and claim for his
remedy a wondrous efficacy.

The sweet woodruff, {Aspenda odorata,) with
its clear white cluster of small flowers, and its
rings of green leaves, is now in bloom around
the roots of trees. Its fresh leaves are almost
scentless, but we have no native flower which
so long retains its odour when dried. Withering
says of it, that its strongly aromatic flowers,
infused in water, make a beverage which far
excels all the teas of China. The dried leaves,
when mixed wth snuff, are also said to give to
it the sweet odour of the Tonquin bean — with-
out being, as that seed is, prejudicial to the
eyesight — Vthile the scent is more lasting.

A very singular flower, called herb Paris,
{Paris quadrijfolia,') now grows in moist shady
woods. From the summit of the stalk proceed
four broad leaves, which form a cross. The
flower, which is green, consists of four petals,
and the leaves of the calyx, or cup, are four ;
this arrangement is so peculiar, that the flower
may easily be known by this description. On
account of its fuur cross leaves, it has the
name of true-love knot. Green flowers are
always of a suspicious nature ; a ])oison often
lurks in their blossoms, leaves, or iruit ; nor is
the her!) Paris an exception. It has, however,
been used medicinally, and Linna;us recom-

68 WILD FLOWERS.

mends it to the attention of tlie faculty. The
leaves and berries partake of the narcotic prin-
ciple of opium, and the juice of the berry is
applied to remove pain in the eye. As a flower,
the herb Paris is rather singular than beautiful,
but we admire it as an instance of the wonder-
ful variety wdiich exists in " the flowers of the
field."

The common bugle (Ajuffa reptans) is ano-
ther flower generally found in the woods in May.
A hardy plant it is, its purple blossoms some-
times venturing forth in January, though less
vigorously than at their proper season. It also
grows on moist hedgebanks, and varies with a
pale lilac, or even white blossom, the shape of
which is much like that of the ground ivy. It
was formerly called sicklewort, or carpenter's
herb ; for, in former times, when the labourer
was cut by the sickle, or other sharp instrument,
some plant which grew near him was employe(f
to cure the wound, and this was found verj"
serviceable, and is still a common remedy. A
proverb was very common in France concerning
this and another wood plant, " He needeth
neither physician nor surgeon who hath bugle
and saniclc." This latter flower, however, is
known to be a positively injurious application,
especially if it grow in a moist place, which,
indeed, is the situation in wliich it flourishes
most.

The white flowers of the holly are now in full
beauty, and the spindle tree (Euonynms Euro-
pceu^) is covered with its small green blossom.

MAT. 69

Then there are the white clusters of the cornel,
or dogwood, [Cornus sangidnea,) coming out
upon the red twigs of the bush, and blooming
occasionally all the summer, till winter is fully
in ; its leaves turning red at the season when
those of plants in general turn yellow. It is
found more especially on chalk, or limestone
soils, and its wood has often been burned as an
ingredient in making gunpowder. This shrub
was also called gaten tree, and Chaucer speaks
of its fruit as the gaten berrie. Its hard wood
was anciently used for martial instruments ; and
Virgil has celebrated the plant as " the good
and beautiful cornel."

In some few of our native woods, we may
find the red and black currant bushes, and the
gooseberry also, all of which flower in May.
The fruit of the black currant (Ribes nigrum)
is, in Kent, called gazel, and was known there,
by this name, in the time uf queen Elizabeth.
All these bushes grow in cold climates, and are
abundant in the snowy woods of the north.
The black currant is common in the woods of
Russia and Siberia ; not only do the Russians
make wine of its berries, but the Siberians
make a tea of its strongly scented leaves. The
red currant {Ribes rubi-wn) is planted in Essex
for making wine.

But quitting the woodland, and coming away
into the open field, the eye is greeted by the
beautiful field of saintfoin {Hedysarum ono-
hrychis) which is now most brilliantly red, and
on wnich an unclouded sun throws a dazzling

70 WILD FLOWEBS.

lustre. But the saintfoin, though cultivated in
fields, is an English wild flower ; it is not, how-
ever, common in Scotland. It springs up natu-
rally, on dry and chalky soils only, its long
roots penetrating between the crevices in the
rock, or chalky cliff ; and it is upon this kind of
soil that it can be cultivated to most perfection.
On several of our moors, as Royston Heath and
Salisbury Plain, it is plentiful. It is not till the
latter end of ISIay that the saintfoin is in full
flower on the field, and it then contrasts beau-
tifully with the light green of the corn-field,
and the deeper tint of the meadow. It was
formerly called cock's head grass, and French
grass. Fuller, commenting on the vegetable
productions of the different counties of England,
says of it, " It is called saintfoin, or holy hay.
Superstition may seem in the name, but there
is nothing but good husbandry in the sowing
thereof. It was first fetched out of France from
about Paris, and since is sown in divers places
in England, especially at Cobhani-park, in Kent,
where it thriveth extraordinary well on dry,
chalky banks, where nothing else will grow."
The plant is, in the present day, very plentiful
as a wild flower, and decks the hedge-banks of
some of the lovely green lanes which lie around
the ancient hall of Cobham.

A most singular instance of spontaneous mo-
tion is exhibited by a species of saintfoin called
the moving plant, {Hedysarum gyrans.) This is
a handsome flower of a purplish pink colour.
It grows on the banks of the Gauges, and is

MAY. 71

called by the natives of India, Burram. chandali.
No sooner do its young leaves shoot out of the
ground than they begin moving up and down ;
now with sudden jerks, now with a gentle wav-
ing motion. By day or night, in sun or shower,
the plant is never at rest ; and if the beholder
grasp it with his hand, and compel it to be still
for a moment, it is no sooner released than
it recommences its action with more rapidity
than before, as if trying to regain the time
it had lost while under pressure. The leaves
are composed of three leaflets. Sometimes one
leaflet will wave up and down while the others
are motionless, and sometimes the three leaflets
move simultaneously : but it has been observed
that the whole plant is seldom agitated at one
time. This flower is a universal wonder, no
botanist being able to account for its voluntary
movement. The well-known irritability of the
sensitive plant, the Venus's fly-trap, the sun
dew, and others, is caused by the touch, and is
considered by botanists as similar to the action
of muscular animal fibre, under the influence ot
galvanism. But this plant needs no approach
of external objects to impel its action, nor is it
influenced by electricity in the air, or by any
perceptible cause. In our hothouses, the plant
loses some of its acting power, and has only a
faint tremulous motion. It is also, in India,
sometimes nearly quiet during the middle of the
day, but its agitation is, in its own climate, ge-
nerally as unceasing as that of the heaving
ocean, or the beating heart.

72 WILD FLOWERS.

The singular movement of this plant, and
the others just referred to, has often been ad-
duced in support of the theory, that vegetables
are endowed with sensation. Wordsworth has
said,

" It is my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breatlies."

In modern times, this belief seems almost
left to the poet ; but a few years since, it was
held by the philosopher.

We can now scarcely walk a step from the
paved ways of the city, without seeing the small
reddish-white blossoms of the knotgrass, {Poly-
gonum aviculare.) This little plant is as fa-
miliar to our view, as the meadow grass. Form-
ing green patches by every wayside, on the
borders of the public highway ; shooting up
under the walls of the crowded city, or even
between the stones of the street. Commoner
than even that common flower, the daisy ; yet
it is scarcely known by name, to any but the
botanist. Milton speaks of it, as

" The knotgrass dew besprent ;"

and George Herbert, in giving his advice to the
country parson, on the choice of wholesome and
medicinal herbs, enumerates this. Notwith-
standing its former repute, no " simpler " of
modern times would gather it ; and the lover
of wild flowers often treads over it daily, with-
out any regard. This plant, though called
grass, has little more affinity to the true grasses,
thai! that elegant white flower, which, from its
beautv, has been termed the grass of Parnassus.

JIAY. 73

Several plants have been called grass ; but the
true grasses have characteristic marks, which,
when once known, are obvious even to those
unacquainted with botany. They have all long
slender leaves, hollow jointed stems, and green
flowers. Swine are so fond of the knotgrass,
that it is, in some counties, commonly called
swine' s-cress, or hog-weed ; and the plant
strewed so abundantly over our land, forms, by
its seeds and young buds, a good store for the
birds. From INIilton's lines we may suppose
it to be a pleasant food for sheep, as he
speaks of the evening, when,

"The chewiiif; flocks,
Had ta'cn their supper of that savour>' lierh, «
Tlie knotgrass."

Several of the true grasses flower during May,
though the greater number are not decked with
their green and purple panicles, or their silvery
pyramids, till the later months. Among the
early blooming grasses, we may mention the
common foxtail-grass, (^Alopecurns j}i'(itensis,)
which grows on almost every spot of pasture ;
and is a very useful grass for cattle, blooming
twice in the year; and being ripe for the scythe
even as early as this month. Its long yellow-
greenish blooms are covered with silvery hairs.
The bulbous meadow grass, (Poa bulbosa,) and
the annual meadow grass, {Poa anmia,) are now
commonly in flower ; the latter, on all green
places, in all countries. AVe have fourteen
species of the poa grass. One common kind,
the tallest of our native grasses, the reed meadow
c3

74 WILD FLOWEKS.

grass, (Poa aqua.tica,) is often six feet high. It
has a long creeping root, and grows either
by the sides of ditches, or on other moist lands.
In the fenny districts of Cambridgeshire and
Lincolnshire, it is a very valuable plant of
pasturage ; but when it grows in rivers, its
tangling roots and luxuriant growth make it
very troublesome, and it soon fills up a river
which has not a rapid current.

Meadows are, at all seasons, pleasant spots.
In the dreariest months of the year, their
fainter greenness is agreeable to the eye,
which has lately looked but on the cold plain of
snow, or the leafless trees. But when May
comesj, and the grass twinkles in the sunshine ;
and the daisies open their round eyes by thou-
sands among it ; and the buttercups gleam in
rich profusion, tlien is the tim fully to enjoy
the meadow. These simple flowers give delight
to the many " who long in populous cities
pent," novvT wander fortli into the fields. Nor
would we forget the joy which they afford to '
children. Children spring up, like the butter-
cup, everywhere, and are linked by strong ties
to almost every human heart ; and those who
can look back to rural walks of early life, when

" Thouglits themselves were birds, and stars, and flowers,"

are disposed to sympathize with the joy of the
Uttle ones, as they gaze on the yellow field.

The buttercup is a species of ranunculus.
The kind which blooms at this early season, is
the bulbous crowfoot, {Ranunculus bttlbostis,)
and may be distinguished from the other flowei-

MAY. 75

ing kinds, by its bulbous root. The May
buttercups have not passed away, before the
creeping buttercup, (Ranunculus rejjens,) and
the acrid crowfoot, {Itanuncuhis acris,) make
their appearance. These bloom on, till the end
of August, and here and there, a few of the
latter species may be found under the hedges,
till time, with liis autumnal scythe, has mowed
down every flower, and the stormy winds pro-
claim the winter.

In the hedges which border the field, or
afford their shade to the green country lane,
the flower which receives its name from this
month — the May, or hawthorn, {Crateeyus
Oxyacantha) — is radiant in beauty. Very rarely
is it in bloom by the first of May ; though by
the first of May of the old style, which is twelve
days later, the hedge is often white with its
pearly blossoms. A decoction of the fragrant
flowers of the May is said to counteract poison.

The hawthorn bough was formerly hung over
every door of England, on the May morning ;
and brought in from the woods "with ]\Iay-day
rejoicings ; and it still, in Athens, on that day,
graces every doorway of the classic city. The
custom of going on May mornings, at break ot
day, into the woods, to bring away the boughs
and flowers, was much discountenanced by our
reformers. They regarded it as the remains of an
evil superstition; for it had its origin in the spring
rites paid by the heathen to Flora ; and they
also disapproved of the noisy andj)rofligate revel-
ling with which it was often accompanied. They

76 WILK FLO WEES.

preached continually against "doing observance
to a morn of May," and were greatly the means
of suppressing May-sports, and May-gatherings,
The first day of this month was also called
Robin Hood's day; and the sincere and earnest
bishop Latimer complained, that once when he
was about to preach in a town on that day, he
could get no audience ; because all the young
men and maidens, "were gone a maying." "I
found," said he, " the churches fast locked. I
tarryed there half an houre or more, and at
last, the key was found ; one of the parish came
to me and says, ' Syr, this is a busy day with
us, we cannot hear you; it is Robin Hood's day.
The parish are gone abroad to gather for Robin
Hood. I pray you let them not.' So," as the
good bishop observes, " he was fain to give place
to Robin Hood, and his men."

An infusion of the hawthorn-bark gives a
yellow dye ; and, if mixed with copperas, yields
a fine black colour.

The common hawthorn was the distinguish-
ing badge of the royal house of Tudor. Miss
Strickland thus states its origin : "When the
body of Richard iii. was slain at Redmore
Heath, it was plundered of its armour and orna-
ments. " The crown was hidden by a soldier
m a hawthorn bush ; but was soon found, and
carried back to lord Stanley ; who placed it on
the head of his son-in-law, saluting him by the
title of Henry vii. ; while the victorious arn:y
sang Te Deum, on the blood-stained heath.

* oil Redmore, then it seem'd thy name was not in vaiiii '

MAT. TJ

" It was in memory of this picturesque fact,
ftiat the red-berried hawthorn once sheltered
the crown of England, that the house of Tudor
assumed the device of a crown in a bush of
fruited hawthorn. The proverb of ' Cleave to
the crown though it hang on a bush,' alludes
to the same circumstance."

The wild-cherry, the apple, the pear, and the
mountain ash ; are all now in bloom in hedge-
•row, or copse ; while the common is bright with
the yellow flowers of the furze, (Llex Enro-
pcevs.) Unheeded by those who can delight
only in the flower brought from afar, it is ever
an object of admiration to the lover of simple
beauty. Lmnseus fell on his knees, and thanked
God for its loveliness, when first he beheld it.
Among the plants of his native land, he knew
not one which could equal it ; and he attempted
in vain to introduce it into Sweden. Hardy as
it is, and capable of bearing the winds wOiich
sweep over the bleak moorland, or by the sea-
shore ; yet it would not grow in the northern
land, and even in the garden in which Linnaeus
planted it, it sickened and died. Dillenius, too,
looked upon our heath-lands, covered with its
profusion of golden flowers, and said that he
could not find words to express the pleasure
which the sight of this plant had given him.
The furze is also an evergreen. Its flowers last
from May till summer is ended ; and even
during nipping frosts, the bush is sometimes
thick with its half-expanded flowers, which seem
only awaiting the sunshine, to stand out Uke so

78 WILD FLOWERS.

many glittering butterflies upon the spiny
branches.

The furze is used for hedges, and its young
tops are eaten by animals. To the poor it fur-
nishes winter firing, and is often gathered from
the heath, and stacked by the cottage-door for
that purpose. In former times, large tracts ot
common were cultivated with the shrub, in
various parts of Devonshire, to supply the
winter fuel. The numerous pods which hang*
on the summer bush, are soon cleared away by
the birds, and a store of honey is furnished to
the bees by their fragrant pea-shaped flowers.
The summer wind bears to the traveller a de-
lightful odour from the common covered with
the furze ; and so beautiful is it that we have
not a wald flower which better deserves the
praises that the poets have lavished upon it.
The French call this plant, ^'owc marin, because
it bears the sea-breeze so well. The name of
Ulex is derived from a Celtic word, signify-
ing a sharp point ; in Scotland, it is usually
termed gorse, or whin. The Russian cultivates
it in a green-house, as one of his rarest flowers.
A double variety of furze grows wild on the
heaths of Devonshire, and is a handsome and
fragrant addition to the bushes and trees of
the shrubbery.

On many a hedge may now be seen the
graceful flowers of the plant, called, familiarly,
traveller's joy, or virgin's bower, or wild
clematis. It is the clematis vitalba of the
botanist. The Greek word from which its

MAT. 79

name is taken, signifies the young slioot of a
vine, or tendril, and indicates its tAvining nature.
The clematis, though rare in the northern por-
tions of this country, is very abundant in the
greater part of England, especially in the south,
and on limestone, or chalky soils, where, in May,
or June, its clusters of greenish white are
thickly scattered over the hedges. The flowers
are succeeded by a quantity of seeds, crowned
with tufts of silvery down, which look very
beautiful through the greater part of the winter,
and the plant may well be abundant, for these
feathered seeds are exactly suited for flying on
the air, and are often carried about by birds.
In winter these little tufts of down are stripped
off by the harvest mice, which make of them
and other materials, soft little nests, as warm
as a feather bed, and not unlike the nests of
a bird, and there, leaving their cheerless little
dwellings in the earth, they come and spend a
part of their time.

The stems of the clematis often extend more
than twenty feet over the hedge ; and, although
it is destitute of the curling tendrils, which,
like those of the vine, support the plant, yet
its flexible branches answer the purpose more
fully. The young stems are, in this month, of
a purj)lish green colour, but become brown
and hard in the course of the summer ; and
then they serve the cottagers instead of pipes,
for they are often smoked by country people.
Bishop Mant has some lines on this pretty
flower : —

80 WILD FLOWERS.

" The Traveller's Joy,
Most beauteous when its flowers assume
Their autumn form of feather)' plume :
The Traveller's Joy ! name well bestow'd
On that wild plant, which by the road
Of Southern England, to adorn
Faiis not the hedge of prickly thorn,
On wilding rose-bush, apt to creep
O'er the dry limestone's craggy steep,
There still a gay companion near
To the way-faring traveller."

The old herbalist, Gerarde, gave the flower
this name. He says, " This is commonly
cafled, Fiorna quasi via ornana, of decking and
adorning waies and hedges where people travel,
and therefore I have named it the Traveller's
Joy."

Growing in small groups, on hedgebanks, or
on heaths or woods, the whortleberry hush is
now coming into blossom. There are four wild
species of this plant, but the most common is
that called the bilberry {Vacciniutn myrtiUus.)
This shrub is lovv^ and straggling, seldom found
alone, but generally clustering on diiferent spots
of the land on which it appears. Indeed, this
tribe of plants is never found growing singly.
We do not meet with an individual plant, but it
always grows in numbers, and generally abounds
in the neighbourhood for some miles. This
species is an elegant little plant, its leaves are
of a beautiful green, and its small red flowers
hang among them like so many waxen cups.
Children are fond of the bilberry, or hurtlebcrry,
as it is often called ; and, in some of the northern
counties, this fruit is sold in the markets for
tarts. The people of Devonshire eat the ber-

MAY. 81

rles with their rich clotted cream ; and they
are also the autumnal food of the moorfowl.
They are taken both in Poland and the Scottish
islands as medicine. This species is abun«
dant on many heaths and woodlands, hut is very
local, and, sometimes, is not found over half a
county.

Of still lower growth than this, and scarcely
more than a foot hijjh, is the red whortleberry,
or cowberry, {F. vifis idaca,) which we can
hardly call "a shruo, though it wears its green
leaves all the winter through, and its stem does
not die away. Its foliage much resembles that
of the garden-box, and its flesh-coloured flowers
are found in ]\Iay and June. The berries are
not so well flavoured as those of the common
bilberry, but in Derbyshire, they are used for
tarts. " They are stated by Linnseus to be sent,
in great quantities, from West Bothnia to Stock-
hohn, for pickling. The Swedes, too, use a
jelly with all kinds of roast meat, and the cow-
berry jelly is considered superior to that of the
red currant. This plant also serves, in Norway,
the purpose of the box, and is used as an edg-
ing to the garden plot.

One of the loveliest flowers of May, and one
which adorns the hedges in greatest profusion,
is the stitchwort, {Stellaria holostea.) It is,
in most parts of f'higland, a very common flower,
and is the companion of the violet and primrose
in the May copse and hedge. It grows most
plentifully' on loamy soils. It was formerly
called white-flowered grass, or all-boucs, though

82 WILD FLOWERS.

it is one of the most delicate and tender plants
in its structure. It is very brittle, and often
said to have no root ; but the fact is, that the
stem is so frail, that on attempting to pull up
the root, it separates itself just above the fibre,
leaving that in the ground. The flower is
white as the driven snow, and not much smaller
than a primrose. Then the periwinkle (Vinca
major) lends its graces to the May hedge,
throwing its bright blue flowers on bush or
bramble, and its large glossy leaves, glistening in
the sun with so bright a green as to deserve its
name of little laurel, by which it was formerly
known.

Springing from out the crevices of the wall,
and throwing its many leaves and blossoms
over the gray ruin, the ivy-leaved toad-flax,
(Linaria cpnbalaria,) is now very frequent.
It may easily be described. Its blossoms are
shaped like those of the snap-dragon, of a deli-
cate lilac, marked with a small portion of
yellow ; and the leaves are thick and fleshy, and
have their under surfaces coloured with a
purplish crimson hue. It is often hung up in
a flower-pot from the cottage ceiling, and the
long stems hang down all around it. It some-
times, too, mingles with the house -leek and
stone-crops which grow upon the cottage roof.
The wall-pellitory {Parietaria officinalis) is
now in blossom on old castles, churches, and
walls. It was formerly called perdiceum, be-
cause partridges are said to feed upon it ; and
the housewives of old times knew it by the

MAT. 83

name of vitraria, "because," sajs an old
writer, " it serveth to scour glasses, pipkins,
and such like."

Several very rough-leaved plants bloom dur-
ing this month, and are much allied to each
other, not only by their prickly foliage, but by
their medicinal properties. The smaU bugloss,
(Anchusa arvensis,) with its bright blue flowers,
is not uncommon in corn-fields and on hedge-
banks. Every hair, or bristle, on its leaves is
seated on a white tubercle, and is very strong
and sharp. The flowers of this plant are par-
ticularly attractive to bees, and the roots con-
tain a great quantity of mucilage. "With us,
this flower is little used ; but in China, where
it is abundant, the roots form an important
medicine. Another species {Anchnsa tinctoria)
was formerly used for painting the face, by
ladies who were not content ■with the beauty
which God had given them ; and it must have
imparted a more permanent stain than the
rouge of modern times. It is still cultivated in
the south of France for its red dye, and is used
by druggists for colouring various salves, and
by vintners for adulterating port wine.

Most closely alHed to this plant, though
blooming some months later in the year, is the
common hova.^(i,(^liorayoqffidna1is,)yi\\uii\ grows
on waste places, and on heaps of rubbish, and
which bears beautiful blue flowers. It has
been discovered by a chemist that a decoction
of the leaves of this plant, evaporated to a
syrup, and kept for some days, yields salt

84 WILD FLOWEBS.

crystals, partly in form of needles, and partly
cubical ; and that the needle crystals were found
to be perfect nitre, and the cubical ones sea salt.
If a dried piece of this plant be held in a flame,
it emits, while burning, a kind of coruscation,
accompanied by a slight detonation. This is
caused by the nitre which it contains, and
which renders it suitable for match-paper, of
which it is sometimes an ingredient. We see
something of those small sparks in burning the
dried stalks of lavender ; and one of our wild
reed plants, — the great bur cat's tail, {Typha
latifolid) — will produce a flash of light if a
candle be held near it.

The borage grows round about Aleppo in
such profusion as to attract the attention of
travellers ; and its flowers are, in the east,
larger and of a deeper blue than ours. This
plant was once thought to strengthen the frame,
and give courage and spirit to those who partook
of it. The old English bowl, called a cool tank-
ard, and made of cider, lemon-juice, and water,
was considered to derive its refreshing powers
from the borage-blossoms which were steeped
in it ; and as may easily be ascertained, they
certainly possess the power of imparting cool-
ness to liquid. Any part of the plant will also
give its peculiar flavour to water in which it is
placed ; though few, perhaps, would relish its
strong taste. The leaves are very rough, but,
when young, are sometimes eaten as salads ; and
were once highly esteemed as improving the
flavour of cresses and chervil. Indeed the

MAS. 85

borage was, with the rue and rosemary, gathered
not only for present use, hut was stored by the
prudent housewife against the season when the
fresh plants were not to be procured ; and, hke
the two former, was praised for that it kept
" seeming and savour all the winter long."
" Those of our time," says an eld writer, " doe
vise the flowers in salads, to exhilarate and make
the mind be glad. There be also many things
made of them, used everywhere for the comfort
of the heart, for the driving away of sorrow."

Another very rough-leaved plant, the com-
frcy, {Symphytum officinale,^ is now in blos-
som, chieflv bv the river-sides, or other moist
grounds. It has clusters of yellowish white
drooping bells, and the leaves are so rough that
they cannot be touched by the naked hand
with impunity. The root, which abounds in
mucilage, is much valued by villagers, who use
it as medicine. The lungwort {Pidmona7-ia
officinalis) is showing its purple bells with their
young pink buds in the woods. The rough
fuliage is spotted like the animal lungs, and
hence it was inferred that it was designed to be
useful in pulmonary complaints. It was for-
merly called sage of Bethlehem, and spotted
comfrey, and is known in France as Vhcrbe aux
poumons.

On field-borders, commons, and other waste
lands, the j)ea-shaped blossoms of the rest-har-
row {Ononis arvensis) are, by the end of the
month, covering the spiny stems. This pea-
like blossom is called by botanists, papiliari'

86 WILD FLOWEES.

aceons, or butterfly-shaped ; and as it is always
found that plants whose flowers are of this form,
bear their seeds in a legume, or pod, they are
also termed leguminous. The structure is re-
marked by Dr. Paley, as a beautifid instance o/
contrivance on the part of the ^ reat Creator of
the universe. After having adverted to the
importance of preserving from injury the parts
of fructification in a plant, which are usually
lodged in the centre of a blossom, he says,
" The pea, or papilionaceous tribe, inclose these
parts within a beautiful folding of the internal
blossom, sometimes called, from its shape, the
boat, or keel, itself also protected under a pent-
house formed of the external petal. This
structure is very artificial, and what adds to the
value of it, though it may diminish the curio-
sity, very general. It has also this farther
advantage, and it is an advantage strictly me-
chanical, that all the blossoms turn their backs
to the wind whenever the gale blows strongly
enough to endanger the delicate parts on which
the seed depends. I have observed this a hun-
Ired times, in a field of peas in blossom. It is
an aptitude which results from the figure of the
flower, and as we have said, is strictly mecha-
nical, as much so as tlie turning of a weather-
board, or tin cap, upon the top of a chinmey."
The flowers of the rest-harrow are usually
pink, but sometimes white, and the plant is
usually very spiny, but the number of spines
seems afi"ected by the nature of the soil on
which it grows. On calcareous soils these

MAY. sy

prickly appendages are few and small ; while
on the plants which flourish on a soil whose
suljstratum is gravel, they are very strong and
sharp.

On similar places to that on which the rest-
harrow flourishes, the low juniper is often
found. The common juniper {Junijienis com-
munis) now bears its bloom. In England, it
grows on sandy, or chalky soils, or on open
downs ; but it is a ])laut common to the whole
of Northern Europe, and, in some countries, is
abundant on high mountains. In Sweden and
Norway, it is applied to a variety of domestic
purposes. In Norway — that land of good
housewifery — the bowls of the dairy are daily
washed with a decoction of the juniper branch,
which is remarkably effectual in keeping them
sweet. Then the Norwegian dame strews the
young tops of the juniper over her floors, as
our country people strew the sand on theirs ;
and the juniper is regularly sold in the streets
for this use. When about to consign to the
dust the remains of the dead, the juniper twigs
are scattered plentifully from their houses to
the church-yard, and a number of its green
sprigs thrown on and around the grave ; and
the twi'is mav be seen Ivino; on many a tomb,
still keeping their greenness long after they
were strewn there by the hand of love and
friendship. The Swedes make a conserve of
the berries, and eat it in their meals : they
also drink juniper beer, and take the plant
medicinally. In Germany, the berries are used

88 WILD FLOWEES.

to flavour the smier kraut, wliicli is so unpalat
able a dis'li to all but Germaus ; and in that
jand they are burned in sick rooms and hos-
pitals for the purpose of fumigation. In our
country, they are chiefly used for giving the
flavour to gin, and large quantities are imported
from Holland, Germany, and Italy, for making
this liquor. The juniper bush is, with us, low
and small, seldom so large as the furze ; but
where it attains some size, the wood is very
firm and compact. In former times, spits and
drinking vessels were made of it, as it was
thought to impart a pleasant flavour to meat,
or liquid. Tbe sandarach, or pounce, which
is used to strew over manuscripts, is made
from a gum which oozes from the old juniper
plants.

We read in the first book of Kings, xix. 4,
that the prophet Elijah lay and slept " under
a juniper tree ;" but the word so translated is
thought by recent commentators to be a species
of broom. Three kinds of juniper, however,
are said byKitto, in the " Pictorial Palestine,"
to be common in the Holy Laud. " On Mount
Hor," on which Aaron died, says this writer,
" and where his tomb is still honoured, it
grows even to the summit ; nor is it wanting
in the renowned valley below, in which the
metropolis of Seir is entombed." Many writers
think that one species of juniper, {Juniperus
oxijcednis,) rather than that of the so-called
cedar of Lebanon, is the cedar wood so famed,
in former times, for its durability, and of which

MAY. 89

statues ■nere made before the use of marble
was introduced. The wood of our common
juniper is said to burn so well, that a fire made
of juniper boughs may, by constant replenish-
ing, be kept burning for twelve months, without
the addition of any other fuel.

Though our juniper grows low on the ground,
yet some species of juniper attain, in other
climates, the height of trees, and afford a wel-
come shade from the sun. Both lady Sale
and heutenant Eyre describe the refreshment
which they experienced, when they and their
fellow-captives reposed under the shadow of
the juniper arbours, during their melancholy
imprisonment in Afghanistan ; and the people
of Syria often sit in groups around the trunk
of the juniper, dehghting in the shade of its
green and fragrant boughs.

Under hedges, by the side of meadows, and
in thickets, on high situations especially, the
bitter vetch, (Orobits tuberoms,) is not un-
common. This plant has pea-shaped blossoms
of a pinkish purple colour, and marked Tsath
purple veins. The flowers are on long stalks,
and the stem, which is about a foot high, has
three or four pairs of leaflets. This flower is
very common in Surrey. In the Highlands of
Scotland it is also abundant, and is much
vjilucd by the Highlanders on account of its
tuberous root, which has the flavour of li-
quorice, and is called by them Cormeille. These
roots they dry, and chew with their liquor, in or-
der to improve its flavoui. They also consider

90 WILD FLOWERS.

that a very small quantity of the cormeille will
enable them to repel hunger and thirst for
many hours. In some parts of Scotland, the
roots are bruised and made into a fermented
liquor. They are very nutritive, and have
been used, when boiled, both in England and
Scotland, as fov><I in times of scarcity. In
Holland and Flanders, they are commonly
roasted as chestnuts, and have a very similar
flavour to that of this fruit ; yet in our coun-
try they are scarcely known to be of any value,
and are quite neglected by villagers, though
the flower is often gathered for the wild nose-
gay. It is known by the names of wood-pea
and heath-pea, and, in Scotland, generally called
by the name of knapperts.

During this month and the next, a number
of vetches and vetchlings come into flower.
They may be generally described as plants
with butterfly-shaped blossoms, mostly of a
purple, or red colour, though a few of them have
yellow flowers. They have slender leaves, and
twining, or straggling stems, some of them with
tendrils. The pretty crimson vetchling, or
grass-vetch, {Lathyriis nissolia,) mth its slen-
der grass-like leaves, is in bloom this month,
on the green borders of fields ; and the spring
vetch (Ficia sativa) is not nnfrequcnt now on
roads and pastures ; but these are difficult to
describe without the use of botanical terms.

Several species of vetch yield good herbage for
cattle ; and as they all have legumes, or pods,
full of seeds, they afibrd food for birds. The

MAT. 91

vetches were formerly called fetches : thus, in
Milton's "Connis," the lines which now stand,

"If all the world
Should, in a fit of temperance, feed on pulse,"

stood originally, " feed on fetches."

The red pottage, for which the weary hunter,
Esau, sold his birthright to his brother Jacob,
was made of the seed of a species of vetch, or
tare, the lentile, {Ervvm lens.) The lentile is
still highly prized in eastern lands ; and in
Eg}'pt, and throughout Syria, the bean is
parched in frying-pans, and sold in shops. The
mess of red pottage is still an esteemed dish,
as it was when Esau coveted it, and sinned, by
undervaluing his birthright, in order to })ro-
cure it ;* and it is now, as it was then, a very
important article of diet to the labouring
classes, and often cooked, too, for the rich.
Dr. Shaw relates, that " lentiles dissolve easily,
in boiling, into a mass, and form a pottage of
a red, or chocolate colour, much valued in
Egypt and Western Asia." The yellow flowers
of the plant called familiarly kidney vetch, or
lady's finger, (^Anthyllis vidneraria,) are bloom-
ing on dry pastures by the latter end of this
month, and continue in bloom till August.
These flowers grow in heads, or clusters, two
clusters on each stem, and may be known from
any other of our paj)ilionaceous plants by the
quantity of white silky wool in which they lie as
in a nest. The flower, which, in Kent and most

• Gen. XXV. 81, at.

92 WILD FLOWEES.

other counties, is always yellow, grows in De-
vonshire, and in Wales, with cream-coloured,
white, or red blossoms. Linnaeus observed of
this plant, that in (Eland, where the soil is a
red calcareous clay, the flowers are red ; but
that on the white chalky soil of Gothland, they
are white.

From every hedge we may now gather the
flower called treacle mustard, {Erysimum alli-
aria.) It grows to the height of two or three
feet, has small white flowers of the shape
termed by botanists, cruciferous, and forming
a cross, like those of the wallflower. The
leaves are as large as those of the nettle ; and,
when broken, yield a most powerful odour of
garlic, which renders the plant very off'ensive
in a nosegay, and which even scent the dried
specimens in an herbarium. It was formerly
cultivated in kitchen gardens, as a salad plant.

A large number of yellow cruciferous flowers^
as the wild cabbage, or coleseed, (Brassica
napus,) the common turnip, (Brassica raj)a,)
and the various kinds of mustard, now show
themselves among the young spires of the green
corn-field ; and in neglected fields, threaten de-
struction to the blade. The charlock, or wild
mustard, {Sinapis arvensis,) is, too, common on
the cultured land, and gives much trouble to
the farmer. Its seeds are pungent and acrid ;
and are often mixed with those of the species
cultivated especially for mustard. It is called
in the diff'erent counties, charlock, garlock, or
chadlockj and in Yorkshire is commonly known

MAY 93

as runsli. The foliage is rough, and the flowers
large and yellow. The kind chiefly planted for
the table condiment, is the black, or common
mustard, (Si?wpis nigra,) which is also a wild
flower on waste places ; but the seeds of all the
species are hot ; and aff'ord, on expression, a
pungent oil ; or when dried, a stimulating
powder. Our word, mustard, and the French
word, moutarde, are corruptions of the words,
imistcm ardens, (hot must,) as the French pre-
pare the mustard used at their tables with the
sweet-must of new wine.

All the plants which have cross-shaped
flowers, contain, in greater or less degree, the
acrid, volatile, oily principle, which is so abund-
ant in the mustard-seed, and the root of the
horseradish ; and is less perceptible in the
common wall-flower, or the water-cress. In all
cases, cruciferous plants may be eaten with
safety ; l)ut, in many instances, tlie acrid prin-
ciple must be reduced by culture, or by blanch-
ing, before they become palatal)le. When the
texture of a cruciferous plant is very succulent
and juicy, it is always eatable ; as in the case of
the common cabbage-leaf, and in the radish, or
turnip.

The sight of any of our numerous wild
mustard plants will often suggest to the reader
of ScTij)ture the words of our Saviour, "The
kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-
seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field :
which indeed is the least of all seeds ; but ,when
it is gro\ni, it is the greatest among herbs, and

94 WILD FLOWEBS.

becometh a tree ; so that the birds of the air
conie and lodge in the branches thereof."*
A great variety of opinion lias been entertained
as to the species intended in this text. The
eastern mnstard, (Sinapis orientalis,) has been
often considered as the Scripture mustard. It
is very common in Palestine, and very similar
in its appearance to our charlock. The warmth
of the climate, however, renders it far more
luxuriant ; and it attains the height of a shrub,
or even a tree ; but as it has not a woody stem,
or branches, and it dies down to the ground
every winter, it can scarcely be called a tree.
Here again, we must refer to that valuable work,
the " Pictorial Palestine." The author of this
book quotes from the travels of captains Irby
and Mangles. Speaking of vegetable produc-
tions in the neighbourhood of the Dead sea,
these travellers say, "There was one curious
tree, which we observed in great plenty ; and
which bears a fruit in bunches, resembling in
appearance the currant, with the colour of the
plum. It has a pleasant, although strongly aro-
matic taste, exactly resembling mustard ; and,
if taken in any quantity, produces a similar
irritability of the nose and eyes, to that which
is caused by taking mustard. The leaves of the
tree have the same pungent flavour as the fruit,
although not so strong. We think it probable
that this is the tree our Saviour alluded to, in
the parable of the mustard-seed, and not the
plant we have in the north : for although, in our

• Matt. xiii. 31, 32.

MAY. 95

journey from Bj san to Adjelouu, we met with
the mustard plant growing wild, as high as our
horses' heads ; still, being an annual, it did not
deseiTe the appellation of a tree ; whereas the
other is really such, and birds might easily,
and actually do, take shelter under its shadow."
Kitto, commenting on this quotation, remarks,
" The Jewish writers speak of a mustard-tree
common among them, in quite corresponding
terms ; seeming to show that a species of the
sinapis or some analogous genus, existed in Pa-
lestine, with which we are not Avell acquainted ;
and which may very probably prove to be that
which captain Mangles has pointed out."

One of our w ild species of mustard, the broad
hedge mustard, or London rocket, (Sisi/mbrium
trio,) is exceedingly common on waste grounds,
in the neighbourhood of the metropolis ; and is
remarkable as having sprung up immediately
after the great fire of London, in 166G, and
quickly covered the ground wliere the city had
stood. So profuse was this flower, in a few
weeks after the fire, that it was supposed by the
botanists of those days, that a greater quantity
existed on that one spot, than could have been
collected from over the whole surface of Europe ;
and it is a singular instance of vegetable growth,
for which no naturalist has ever been able to
account.

A peculiar circumstance connected with a
flower of this, and the coming month, is, that it
has bloomed for centuries on a lone place in the
sea, and is almost unknown as a wild flower in

9G WILD FLOWERS.

every Other part of England, this is the wild peony,
{Ptsonia corallina,) which lifts its red blossom
on the island in the Severn, called Steep Holmes.
It is stated by Gerard e, to have been found, in
his time, near Gravesend ; but if it grew there
in those days, it has disappeared since. The
rev. W. Lisle Bowles thus notices it : —

" The cliff abrupt and high,
And desolate, and cold, and bleak, uplifts
Its barren brow ! barren ; but on its steep
One native flower is seen — the peony —
One flower wliich smiles in sunsliine and in storm.
There still companionless, but yet not sad,
She has no sister of the summer held.
None to rejoice with lier, when spring returns .
None, that in sympathy may bend its liead
When evening winds blow hollow o'er the rock
In autumn's gloom ! "

This flower is distinguished by the nam.e of
the entire-leaved peony, because its leaves,
unlike those of the garden species, have straight
uncut edges ; the blossoms too are single.

The dark purple flag, or iris, {Irisfoeticlissima,)
called, when planted by gardeners, the gladwyn
iris, may be found in May and June, on meadow
lands and in thickets, in the south and west
of England. In Devonshire it is a very com-
mon flower ; it is not unfrequent in some parts
of Kent. In the northern and midland coun-
ties, it is rare, and has not been known to grow
wild in Scotland. This flower has a strong
odour of roast beef ; the leaves and roots steeped
in beer, are taken as a medicine.

One or two species of Lyduiis are now in
bloom ; and in meadows and corn-fields, the
bright flowers of the red lychnis, or campion,

MAY. 97

{Lychnis dioica) are very common. This is
a flower shaped a little like that of the prim-
rose, but the stem, when on moist lands, often
rises two or three feet in height. There are
many species of wild lychnis ; one is very com-
monly known, from its jagged petals, by the
name of ragged robin, or cuckoo flower, {Lychnis
Aos cnculi ;) it is frequent by streams, and its
pink flowers are very similar to those of the com-
mon garden C/ar/aa. It is also called bachelor's
buttons, becavise, as Gcrarde says, "the similitude
which these flowers have to the jagged cloth but-
tons, ancieutlyworninthiskingdom, gaveoccasion
to our gentlewomen, and other lovers of flowers,
in those times, to call them bachelor's buttons."
The flower called golden saxifrage {Chry-
sosphniiim oppositifoUinn) is now in bloom by
river sides ; and several of the true saxifrages,
of which there arc twenty-one wild species, are
in flower during this month. The golden saxi-
frage is remarkable for its medicinal virtues,
and is much esteemed as a salad, in the Vosges,
where it is termed Cresson de roche. Several
species of saxifrage grow on rocks or stones ;
one very common kind is often found on old
walls, this is the ruc-lcaved saxifrage, {Saxifraga
tridactylites,) which flowers in May ; it has
small white blossoms, and the leaves and stems
are covered with thick viscid hairs. The white
meadow saxifrage {Saxifraya granidata) is not
uncommon now in meadows and on hedge
banks ; it has a much larger flower than the
last species, and is remarkable for its root,

D

98 WILD FLOWERS.

which consistsof a number of small knobs, strung
together, and of so bright a red as to resemble a
string of coral beads. Butthe best known species
is the flower called Loudon pride, or none so
pretty, which is so often the ornament of the
cottage garden border, and which, perhaps,
received the former name because it will grow
on the little soil which borders the paved yards
of the city, and is uninjured by smoke or
fog. In Ireland, it is called St. Patrick's cab-
bage, and its old name of " queen Anne's needle-
work" is expressive of its flower, which resembles
a most beautiful embroidery, and well repays
examination with a microscope.

The flowers of May may be concluded with
some account of a plant, so fragrant and useful,
that although it has not ornamental blossoms,
its flower being on a catkin, or cone, yet it well
deserves the notice of all who value our wild
plants. The sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle,
(Myrica gale,) grows on boggy, or moory
grounds ; its fragrance resembles that of a myr-
tle, but is much more powerful, and not only
scents the air while growing, but, when gathered,
perfumes the room. The Highlanders lay its
branches in their linen chests, to scent their
clothes, and to drive away the moth. The
Welsh place it under their beds ; and, in some
parts of Scotland, it is strewed with the heather
for the nightly couch. In Sweden it is used
for a variety of purposes ; a dye is made from
it, and a common medicine, and it serves in-
stead of hops to give the preserving principle
to beer; but it is less wholesome than the hop.

JXJNE. 99

In some parts where this plant is common it is
used for brooms, and in the Isle of Ely it is
so very abundant, that it is burned instead of
common fagots.

The sweet gale is generally considered much
like the myrtle in appearance ; but the lighter
green of its leaves, and the more crowded
growth of the stem, lessen the resemblance.
Like that plant, it is a small shrub. It is
plentiful in Devonshire, and is commonly called
the Devonshire myrtle ; it grows in quan-
tities on the dreary Dartmoor. When the
sweet gale is boiled, a kind of wax, like bees'
wax, rises to the surface of the water, and may
be collected in large pieces. Tapers are some-
times made of this wax, and are so fragrant
while burning, that they are very agreeable
and salutary in a sick room. These candles
are so much used in Prussia, that they are
burned constantly in the royal household. The
berry is about the size of a pea, and has, both
when fresh and dried, a most grateful perfume.

JUNE.

" For who would sing the flowers of June,
Though from grey morn to blazing noon,
From blazing noon to dewy eve
Tlie chaplet of liis song lie weave,
AVouUl lind his summer daylight fail,
And leave hah" told the pleasing tale."

Tiie ]n-escnt month has a diiferent character
from that of the last. The flowers are even
more numerous, the leaves thicker, the grass
and foliage of a deeper green. Spring has quite
yielded to summer. Nature, too, wears a

100 WILD FLOWERS.

calmer and more settled aspect ; and, at noon-
time, on a June day, the birds sing but little,
and few sounds are heard in the wood, save
the humming of that busy little chemist, the
bee, wliich is distiUing honey from the flowers.
And now, on the open land, we see that clear
trembling vapour, which the Scripture describes
as "the clear heat upon herbs," and which
quivers and dances in the sunshine till the eye
aches with gazing upon it.

There is no month in the year in which the
early morning and evening are more delightful
than in this. It is in June that we see the
appropriateness of the beautiful simile of the
psalmist, when he spoke of the " Hope of
Israel:" "He shall be as the light of the morn-
ing, when the sun riseth, even a morning v/ithout
clouds ; as the tender grass springing out of the
earth by clear shining after rain." * " He shall
come down like rain upon the mown grass ; as
showers that water the earth. "f

Every part of a rural landscape in June is
profuse in leaves and flowers. Even the sur-
face of the stream is covered over with the
green leaves of various plants. The white
crowfoot still adorns the silver current ; the
duckweeds, (Jemna,) which consist of thick and
succulent green pieces, like leaves — called by
botanists fronds — and of threads which de-
scend from them, and hang floating in the
water, form a thick herbage on the stagnant
pool. The ducks and waterfowl, as they glide
among it, gather plentiful meals from its juicy

* 2 Sam. xyiii. 4. t Psa. Ixxii. 6.

JUNE. 10]

substance, and innumerable insects find a covert
under it. The lesser species {lemna minor) is
very common, and has small compact leaves,
very thick in their texture, and slightly con-
vex beneath. It grows so rapidly, as some-
times to be a troublesome plant in the pond ;
but it has been discovered that it converts
hydrogen gas into air fitted for respiration, and
thus renders the exhalation from the stagnant
pool less injurious to the neighbourhood. The
flowers of the duckweed are so inconspicuous,
that few would observe them, and the greater
duckweed, (Jemna jwli/hrhr/,) though some-
times covering our ponds with its purple fronds,
is not known to flower in Britain.

Several species of the plant, called pondweed,
(potamoffefon,) are now wearing their green
flowers, which rise above the water, while the
whole of the foliage is immersed, and floats
about on our clear streams, looking as beau-
tiful as the delicate green seaweeds which lie
in the ocean. These plants are often very
thick in the pools, and when the current is
slow, are sometimes several feet in length ; but
they grow in the Swiss lakes so much larger
and thicker, that they look like large woods
under the water, and are frequently twenty
fathoms in length. Like other aquatic plants,
they shelter many insects, and swans and
ducks are very fond of them.

Loudon quotes professor Martyn's observa-
tion on water plants generally, that the " res-
piration of these truly aquatic vegetables must

102 WILD FLO-VVERS.

be different from those which inhale atmospheric
air, as the breathing of fishes is from that
of birds." "Accordingly," adds this writer,
" they are of a different texture, pelkicid, hke
oiled paper, harsh and ribbed, but often very
brittle ; and their surfaces, like that of aquatic
animals, destituteof down, or hair of any kind."
This remark applies to those plants which live
wholly in the water, and not fully to those
which grow to some height above its surface.

Waving its bright yellow petals above the
stream, and forming in and around it a thick
sedgy mass, Vvdth its sword-like leaves, the
yellow iris (Iris j;5e!f(/ffco;vf.y) is a beautiful
flower in June. It is often called flag-sedge,
and corn-flag, and, in Scotland, is named water-
skeggs. The French term it la flamhe aqua-
tique. Country people value its long acrid
root as a cure for the tooth-ache. It is also
used for dyeing a black colour, and for making
ink, and is dried and ground for snuff. Its
juice is made into a cosmetic, and its seeds
roasted for coffee. This flower is sometimes
found in moist woods.

We have but two wild species of iris, and
the other was named on a preceding page. Our
common purple iris is the jieur de luce, and it
derives the name from Louis vii., king of
France, who, when setting forth on his crusade
to the Holy Land, chose this flower as his
heraldic emblem. Fleiir de luce is merely a
corruption of Jieur de Louis, and it is now
more often called ^ewr «?e lis, or lily flower.

JUNE. 103

The forget-me-not, or water scorpion-grass,
{Mi/osotis 2)alustris,) is m blossom iu June, and
continues flowering till August. Two or three
of our wild flowers arc occasionally honoured
TOth this sentimental name. In queen Eliza-
beth's time, it was often applied to the ground-
pine, a small yellow flower found on sandy banks,
or gravelly fields, with its blossoms so hidden
among a profusion of leaves, as somewhat to
resemble a pine. In our days the germander
speedwell is sometimes designated as the forget-
me-not ; but it is seldom, so called by persons
well acquainted with ftewers, and it probably
originates in its being mistaken for the myosotis.
^Yhether the species of myosotis which grows
in the fields, {Myosotis 'arvensis,) the small
brilliant blossom of which looks like a cluster
of blue tvn-quoise, or the large kind, which
grows on the stream, be the true oldeu forget-
me-not, may be disputed. Botanists, however,
in France, Germany, and England, seem to
agree that it is the latter kind, 'j'he water
scorpion-grass grows plentifiillyin most country
streams. Its long cluster of pinkish-coloured
buds, bending nearly into a circular form, before
expanding, j)rocured for all the species, their
name of scorpion-grass. Our forefathers, acting
upon their usual jjvinciplcs of analogies, inferred,
from the sha])e of the young shoots, that it was
a remedy against the bites of scoipions ; mider
which name they seem to have included snakes,
adders, and various other reptiles. The old
legend ol the knight who was drowjicd, while

104 WILD FI.Ou'ERS.

attempting to gather for a lady some of the
flowers from a stream in which the current was
rapid, and whose dying Avords are said to have
given the name to the flower, must now yield
to an apparently more authentic account of its
origin. Miss Strickland, in her late work on
the queens of England, has given us a state-
ment of the cause of the name, forget-me-notj
scarcely less poetical than that Avhich has, for
centuries, been sung by poets of all the lands
of Europe. Speaking of Henry of Lancaster,
she says, "This royal adventurer — the ban-
ished and aspiring Lancaster — appears to have
been the person who gave to the myosotis ar-
vensis, or forget-me-not, its emblematical and
poetical meaning, by uniting it at the period of
his exile, on his collar of S. S., with the initial
letter of his mot, or watchword, Souveigne vous
de moif : thus rendering it the symbol of re-
membrance, and, like the subsequent fatal roses
of York, and Lancaster, and Stuart — the lily
of Bourbon, and the violet of Napoleon —
an historical flower. Few of those, who, at
parting, exchange this simple touching appeal
to memory, are aware of the fact, that it was
fij'st used as such by a royal Plantagenet prince,
who was, perhaps, indebted to the agency of
this mystic blossom for the crown of England.
It was with his hostess, at that time wife of the
duke of Bretagne, that Henry exchanged this
token of good-will and remembrance."

" Can the rush grow up without mire ? can
the flag grow without water?" was the question

JUNE. 105

of the patriarch Job ; and as, in his day, the
rushes and sedges crowded by the edge of the
river, so it is now. Their long thin leaves form
islets on the stream, or fringe its border with
their greenness ; and as a wind sweeps over the
current, and ruffles it into waves, we are re-
minded of the denouncement, made by the
prophet, to the wife of the wicked Jeroboam,
" The Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is
shaken in the v.ater."

The tall bulrush, or clubrush, (^Scirpus la-
custris,) is now growing up ; and, by the end of
the month, bears its brown and fringed head.
Its stems are much used for mats and chairs,
and are gathered by country people for sale.
The spongy stems are also useful to coopers,
for filling up the crevices in casks ; cottages
are often thatched with them ; and when pas-
turage is scarce, they are eaten by cattle. The
salt marsh rusb, (^Scirpus maritimiis,) and se-
veral other species, flower by the end of May.
The roots of the latter kind are eaten in times
of scarcity. The Pi-tsi, or water-chestnut,
which the Chinese cultivate in tanks, and value
as a dessert, is a species of clubrush. It is
dried in the sun, and is eaten either boiled,
or uncooked.

In former times, when rushes supplied the
place of modern carpets, and when the ground
over which the bride walked to tbe altar was
strewed with their leaves, the sweet flag
{^Acorns calamus) was much sought for these
purposes, and well suited to them, bv its fragrant

d3

106 WILD FLOWERS.

leaf. The custom of strewing floors on festival
days is still retained at Norwich ; and the old
cathedral is, on certain days, scented with the
perfume of the sweet flag, profusely strewn over
its floors. This plant is abundant in the fenny
districts of England. The root is — especially
when dried — so powerfully aromatic, as that it
might be used instead of spice, for dishes. The
Turks make a sweetmeat of this root, and think
it valuable as a preservative against the plague.
The sweet flag root, which is sold by druggists,
is imported from the Levant ; but our native
species is quite as aromatic as that which is
brought from afar. It is one of the oldest
medicines known, and is much used in the pre-
sent day. Linnseus says, that it is the only
native aromatic plant of northern climates ; the
hot spices of foreign lands being invariably the
product of the plants grown in the hot regions
of the world.

The lovely flowering rush, (Bufomus umbel'
latus,) often called water-gladiole, is now in
bloom. The old writers termed it " grassie
rush;" and one of them says, "It is of all
others the fairest and most pleasant to behold,
and serveth very well for the decking and
trimming-up of houses, because of the beautie
and braverie thereof." Its flowers grow in a
cluster at the summit of its stem, and are of a
delicate rose-colour, tinged with purple. The
sharp edges of the leaves cut like a razor, and
often wound the mouths of cattle.

That beautiful aquatic flower, the water-

JUNE. 107

nolet, or feather-foil, {Ilottonia palustris,) is
a great ornament to streams, but it is, in some
counties, very rare. Its white thread-hke roots
sink deep into the soil, at the bottom of the
pond, and its leaves are all under water. The
flowers rise above the stream, and seem to rest
on itb surface ; and their handsome clusters are
either of a ])ale lilac or white colour. It affords a
covert to several small shell-fish; among others,
to the fresh-water periwinkle. It is to be re-
gretted that it is not more general, as it is easily
cultivated ; for if the seeds be thrown one
summer into the stream, the flow^ers will appear
in the ensuing season.

On the marshy sides of the river, grows that
very pretty flower, the buck-bean, or bog-bean,
{Menyanthes trifoUafa.) It may easily be
known by its triple-leaf, resembling in colour
and shape that of the field bean. Its flowers
gro^v in bunches, and are white, tipped with
red, and most beautifully bordered with a deli-
cate fringe. Its roots are so numerous, and so
matted, that on bogs on which this plant grows
in plenty, the grovuid is rendered firm by their
interstices. It contains a bitter principle, and
is used by the Swedes instead of hops. The
roots, when ground to flour, are eaten by the
Laplanders, but form a poor food.

But quitting the river side for the green
lanes and fields, we find nature equally ])ro-
fuse. The bird's-foot trefoil, (Lotus cornicu-
latus,) with its pretty yellow papilionaceous
blossoms, is scattered all over the mead.

108 WILD FLOWERS

scarcely taller than the grass, but not hidden
bj' it. Every hedge is now white with the
flowers of the privet, {Lignstrum vulgare^ a
plant which is green all the year, and, in winter,
is covered with its numerous purple berries,
which the birds leave untouched on the trees,
and which are used by dyers. The honey-
suckle {Caprifolimn periclymenum) mingles
its sweet breath with that of the hay-field.
On calcareous and limestone soils, the flowervS
of the wayfaring tree (Fiburnum lantand) are
a very conspicuous feature of the hedgerow.
This plant is also called the mealy guelder
rose, and it is well named by INIrs. Howitt, the
wild hydrangea, for its general appearance is
very similar to that of the garden plant. Its
young shoots are covered with a cottony down,
and its stems and leaves are thick and heavy.
Its flat bunches of scarlet berries turn black in
drying, and are used for making ink. In the
Crimea, the young shoots are valued for the
tubes of tobacco-pipes ; and in Germany, baskets
are made of the pliable branches. This beau-
tiful shrub is called, in Kent, the cotton tree.

The young shoots of the bladder campion
{Silene hiflata) peep up on the hedgebank, as
early as April, and, in this month, the flower is
blooming. The shoots are of a pale green,
and have a powerful odour of green peas ; and
they are sometimes gathered while young, and
eaten at table. There is, however, a bitter
flavour mingling with the sweet taste, which
renders them less palatable than the green pea j

JUNE. 109

but this flavour is quite removed by blanching.
The plant is a common chsh in several of the
Mediterranean islands, and in Zante it is very-
general on the table in spring. In the year
1685, the injuries done by the swarms of
locusts to the vegetation of the island of INIi-
norca was so great, that the inhabitants were m
a melancholy state of destitution, and were
saved from starvation, entirely by meefns of
this common wild flower.

The sweet-scented convolvulus (Convolvobis
arvensis) hangs its delicate pink bells on the
wheat-stalk, and the large white flowers of the
larger bind-weed {Calystegia sepiuni) are wind-
ing among the bushes ; and, by their side,
sometimes springs tlie enchanter's nightshade,
a plant with small pink flowers and heart-
shaped leaves, found chiefly in damp and shady
places.

The yellow agrimony (Jgnmotiia eupatorid)
blows both in June and July. The most fre-
quent {daces of its growth are field-borders
and road-sides. The flower has a sweet scent
hke that of an apricot, which is stronger
when the plant is bruised ; and, in early spring,
before the appearance of the blossom, the root
is also aromatic. Country people make much
use of this plant both as an external apjjlica-
tion and a medicine. It was formerly e^Jteu-
sively prescribed by physicians as a tonic, and
considered by Dr. Hunter a valuable remedy
in disorders of the skin. It is thought by
some writers to be the flower called by the

110 WTID FLOWERS.

ancients, argemon ; and Pliny says, it takes its
name from Eupator, the " finder of it out, and
hath a royal and princelie authoritie."

The yellow avens, {Geum urbanum,) though
rare in Scotland, is so frequent in rural places
in England as to have obtained many familiar
names. It is called herb Bennet,star of the earth,
goldy flower, and its oldest name was, blessed
herb.- It probably received tliis because it was
once much used by physicians as a febrifuge :
Dr. Thornton thought highly of its virtue.
It is a pretty flower, growing on a branched
stem, and has large leaves at the root. Its
root is prized on account of its sweet odour,
and, in several parts of England, is collected and
laid in drawers and chests, to give its scent to
linen. It is also put into wine or ale, to im-
part to it a spicy flavour, and a water is dis-
tilled from it. It is remarkable that when
this flower grows in damp places, the root does
not possess this peculiar ai'oma. The water
avens {Geum rivale) is the only other wild
species, and is a much larger and thicker plant
than this, with its flowers each about the size of
a shilling, and of a deep purplish orange colour.

In the northern counties of England, and in
Scotland, especially in the neighbourhood of
mountains, the large round yellow blossoms of
the globe flower {TrolUus Europt^xis) are a very
handsome ornament to the green lands. In
the south, they deck our garden borders, but in
Scotland, they are very general as wild flowers,
and are called lucker-gowaus, and cabbage-

JUNE. Ill

daisies. This is a common plant on all tlie chain
of the Alps, and seems by universal consent,
to be used on the Continent as a flower of which
to make garlands, on all rural festive occasions,
and with which to dress houses on holidays.
Miller says of the globe flower, "In West-
moreland, these flowers are collected with great
festivity, by the youth of both sexes, at the
beginning of June ; about which time, it is
usual to see them returning from the woods in
an evening, to adorn their doors and cottages
with wreaths and garlands."

The hound's tongue {Cynoglossum officinale)
would attract our notice in the country lane,
rather by its great number of leaves, than by
its flowers. The dark crimson-browii tint of
their blossoms is so rare among our wilding
plants, that this alone may serve to distinguish
it from others. This flower is altogether of a
most sober aspect, and has nothing gay or
bjright about it. It rarely grows on pasture
lands ; but when it springs up therf, the cattle
most carefully avoid it. This is probably owing
to its peculiar odour, which has been compared
to that of mice.

The yellow rattle {RhinantJms crista galli)
intrudes itself in many pastures, but is rather
local. In some parts of Kent, it is almost im-
known ; Ijut around Tunbridge Wells, the fields
are full of it. In the sunmier of 1839, it was
unusually abundant in Essex, and found oa
many lands on which it had never before ap-
peared. It not only grows in the meadows.

112 WILD FLOWERS.

but even among the corn, and was a source
of great annoyance to the Essex agriculturists.
Tlie newspapers of the county descanted on the
unusual quantity of this plant; which was ren-
dered the more troublesome, as it yields a great
abundance of seeds. The country people of
Essex had a remarkable prejudice against it,
as they thought that its roots emitted some
secretion of the plant, which burned the roots
of the corn. This flower is about a foot high ;
the stem branched, and often spotted with
purple. The plant is very conspicuous, when
its flowers are over ; for the flat seed-vessels are
particularly large. When the seeds are ripe,
they rattle in their large husks, whenever the
wind blows, or they are shaken by the passing
footstep ; and when they rattle thus on the lields
of Sweden, the peasant concludes that it is
time to cut down his grass, and commence
the labours of the hay field. This is not, how-
ever, a guide to the English farmer ; for his hay
is generally cut while the flower is in blossom,
and is stacked by the time its seeds are ripened.

The dwarf red-rattle, (Pedicidarissi/lvatica,)
and the taller red species, (Pedicularisj^abosfris,)
are both much prettier flowers than the yellow
rattle. Their manner of growth, and the shape
of their leaves, as well as the delicate rose-tint
of their large blossoms, render them very orna-
mental, either to the heath-land, or the wet
marshy ground, on which they are very abundant.

It is also on moist boggy soils that that
lovely flower, the butterwort, {Pinguicula vul-

JUNE. 113

garis,) now droops its head. The leaves are of
a very unctuous nature, and are used to coao-u-
late milk. The Laplanders and Swedes pour
the milk, warm from the cow, or the reindeer,
on these leaves, which gives to it the consistency
of cream. They then strain it, and keep it for
several days, when it acquires that acidity
which seems very agreeahle to the natives of the
northern lands. One spoonful of this substance
will have the same effect on a fresh quantity of
milk ; and thus this plant, which is very plen-
tiful in these cold climates, is also very valu-
able to those who reside in them. The butter-
wort is more common in the north than in the
south of England.

The large flowered species {Pinguicula yran-
difiora) blossoms in May, on marshy grounds,
but is better known as a garden flower. " Few
plants," says Dr. Hooker, "can exhibit a more
beautiful appearance early in the year than a
cluster of Finguicula grandijlora, blossoming
under the shelter of a common frame. It is
a mass of large deep and rich purple-coloured
flowers ; well contrasted by the pale, but bright
tint of its leaves." A writer in the " Magazine
of Natural History" says of the common but-
tervfort, (Pinguicu/avulgai'is,) that, upon pulling
up the plant from the earth somewhat roughly,
" the flower-stalk, previously erect, began to
bend itself backwards, and formed a more or
less perfect segment of a circle. So also, if
the specimen is ])laced in a botanical box, it
will soon be found that the leaves have curled

114 WILD FLO WEBS.

themselves backwards, and now conceal the root
by their revolution."

The creeping cinquefoil {Potentilla reptans)
weaves its tapestry of pretty leaves and yellow-
velvet blossoms over the mead, or on the hedge-
bank ; and now, too, we may find the smaller
blossoms of the i(i\-m&a.t\\s,{tormentilla,) which
are very nearly allied to the potentilla, and the
roots of which are used by the natives of the Ork-
neys and the Hebrides in tanning, and are con-
sidered to yield a better tanning material than
even the bark of tbe oak. Loudon states, that
in the isles of Tirey and Col, so much land has
been desti-oyed by digghig for these roots, that
the inhabitants have been prohibited the use of
them. In many countries, they are used for
dyeing red.

And now, too, some of the flowers of the corn-
field spring up, and tower above the daily length-
ening corn. The viper's bugloss {Echium
vulgare) is seen from a distance on the chalky
hill, the barren wall, or the heap of rubbish ;
and too often on the corn-lands. Crabbe, when
naming the wild flowers, which are so unwelcome
in the sterile corn-fields near the sea, gives to
the bugloss a prominent place : —

" Rank weeds which every art and care defy
Reiffn o'er the land, and rob the blighted rye ;
Here thistles stretch their priclily arms afar,
And to the ragged infant thi-eaten war; —
Here poppies, nodding, mock the hopes of toU—
Here the blue bugloss paints the sterile soil ; —
Hardy and high above the slender sheaf
The shining mallow waves her silky leaf:
O'er the young shoot, tlie charlock throws a shade,
Aud clasping tares cling round the sickly blade."

JUNE. 115

That the bugloss " paints the sterile soil," is
very evident from its places of growth; yet
Loudon says truly, it is perhaps the handsomest
of our native flovi'ers. About Cambridge, where
the country, by its barren soil and stunted vege-
tation, reminds us of the sea-coast, the bugioss
is very commonj and is called by country people,
cat's tail.

The foliage of this flower is so thickly beset
with prickles, that even those animals, which,
like the donkey, browse on the thistle-tops,
shrink from its spiny leaves and stems ; and
professor Martyn observes, that when the bees
pause in their flight, to suck the honey from its
rich blue bells, their delicate wings are torn,
before they can make their escape from the
plant. The same writer, speaking of its fre-
quency in Cambridge, among the spring-corn,
says, "that the agriculturists of that land,
have remarked, that it appears most plentiful
every third year, when the fields are quite blue
with its flowers."

The general name of viper's bugloss is com-
mon to the plant in several countries of Europe.
Thus the Spaniard calls it herhu de la vibora ;
and the Frenchman la viperine ; and it is
amusing to trace the odd fancies which led to
its being thus designated. The spotted stem re-
sembles the skin of a snake, and the seeds are
each like a viper's head ; and our forefathers,
who looked upon these marks as the signs of
some corresponding virtues, inferred that the
plant must heal the bite of a viper. On the

116 WILD FLOWERS.

same principle the consumptive patient hoped
for rehef from the hmgwort because of its spot-
ted leaves ; and who, in those hopeful, trusting
days, doubted that the pretty hepatica of the
garden, with its lobed leaves, so like the liver,
was created for the benefit of the sufferer under
the gloomy liver-complaint ? In looking over
the works on plants, written a few centuries
ago, one might infer that snakes, vipers, and
serpents abounded in our rural districts ; and
so many specific remedies are given against
their bites, that surely none but the ignorant
need have suffered from their effects. The very
sight of the viper's bugloss would, according to
Gerarde, drive vipers away from the spot, and
the seed of the larkspur had, he says, a still
more powerful influence. " Its vertues," says
he, " are so forcible, that the herbe only thrown
before the scorpion, or any other venemous
beast, causeth them to be without force and
strength to hurt ; insomuch that they cannot
move or stir until the herbe be taken away."
Yet Gerarde was a good botanist and an iutelli-
gent man, and these strange notions belonged
rather to people of those times in general, than
to an indindual.

The corn gromwell, {Lithospermuin arvense^
a plant about a foot high, with narrow-pointed
leaves, covered with white hairs, and seeds hard
as flint, is now very general in the corn-field :
and a plant called the shepherd's needle, {Scan-
dix pecteii,) attracts observation by its peculiai
seed-vessels. This plant is about a foot high,

JUNE. 117

with clusters of very small white flowers. "When
the flowers die, they are succeeded by bunches
of seed-vessels, so large that no one would sup-
pose that they belonged to so tiny a flower.
The seed-vessels are often three or four inches
in length, and they taper into a sharp point at
the summit ; hence the rural name of the flower,
which is also called Vcnus's comb. It is be-
lieved that this plant was eaten at table by the
ancient Greeks.

Several poppies are in bloom during this
month, and in the course of July, all our six-
wild species of this beautiful flower enliven the
fields. Ornamental as they are to the pastoral
scenerv, wavins; to and fro their large handsome
heads, yet they are very annoymg to the culti-
vator. The common red poppy, {Papaver
Mhceas,) with its globular flower, is general in
all parts of England, and sometimes called
cheese-bowl, and head-ache. It is cultivated in
Flanders, and several parts of Germany, for the
sake of its seeds, from which an excellent oil is
made, and used as a substitute for olive-oil.
The ancients had a very different opinion of the
poppy from that entertained in modern days ;
for, instead of regarding it as injurious to the
corn-field, they looked upon its gay petals as a
trophy of triumph to the land-owner, since no
corn was thought good which had not an admix-
ture of the poppy : and when the reaper offered
to Ceres his thank-oiferings for a good harvest,
the brown ears of corn and the seeds of the
poppy served for an expression of his gratitude.

i

i
118 WILD FLOWERS. j

All the poppies possess the narcotic principle !
in a greater or less degree, and the white poppy !
especially {Pcipaver somnifenim) partakes it. |
It is now common in corn-fields. It is thought i
that this flower was originally brought us from ■
some parts of Asia. It is, in several east- ;
em countries, cultivated for the purposes of .
opium. Upon breaking the stem of this flower j
it may easily be seen to contain a quantity of i
thick white milk ; and the opium is made by i
wounding the poppy-stem, and leaving the milk ■
to harden in the sun. It is then formed into i
flat cakes, and covered with leaves, and in this 1
state we receive it from the east. The Turks j
mingle in their opium-cakes a variety of syrups ;
made from several fruits, and stamp these \
sweetmeats with the words "Mash Allah,'" the j
work of God. Alas, that pious words should j
have so little real meaning, and should be used i
as a sanction to that degrading intoxication, and j
destruction of bodily and mental faculties, which j
is the sad result of opium eating ! (

The white poppy is planted in many fields of i
England for its seed-vessels, which are used in j
medicine and surgery. It was formerly called j
Joan silver pin. !

Poppy seeds, in the east, are commonly ;
sprinkled on the tops of cakes and sweetmeats.
Several seeds are, indeed, used in this way, as
we should use carraway-seeds, and even the
bread is thus adorned with the seed of the
poppy or some other plant. The cracknels
spoken of in the first book of Kings, when

Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin, sent them as
a present to the prophet Ahijah, when he asked
of the fate of his sick chikl, are supposed by
Kitto to have been a kind of cake, sprinkled
oyer in this way with poppy-seeds, as the ori-
ginal word implies a spotted cake.

Poppies are found in all countries, and under
all chmates, from the north pole to the sandy
deserts of Africa. Brilliant as is our wild scar-
let flower, it is much brighter in some other
lands. In the corn-fields, in some parts of
France, it has a much richer tint than in the
English field.

An interesting phenomenon is sometimes ex-
hibited by red and orange-coloured flowers, and
also, in a less degree, by yellow-tinted blossoms.
It is that of a light of their own colour playing
about the plant. This is not the result of au
inflammable vapour igniting on the approach of
a candle, but seems rather, as Sharon Turner
has remarked, "an actual secretion of light ad-
ditional to their usual show." The cause of
this phenomenon has not been discovered, but
it seems dependent on an electrical state of the
atmosphere. It has not been seen during the
bright sunshine, but has been observed after
sunset, in several flowers, as the marigold, the
different species of poppy, the scarlet geranium,
and even in the heartsease.

A bright light is given out not by the blos-
soms alone of plants ; several roots show a bril-
liance in the progress of decay ; this, however,
is of a phosphorescent nature. A hmiinosity so

120 Vni.T) FLOWERS.

powerful as to enable the bystander to read by
it, issues from the common potato, when in a
state of pvxtrefaction ; and professor Lindley
mentions that an officer who was on guard at a
barrack near Strasburg, during night, thought
that the building was on fire, and, upon exami-
nation, found that the vivid light which had
alarmed him proceeded from a heap of potatoes
contained in a cellar. The vast coal-mines of
Dresden are said almost to reahze, by their lus-
trous illumination, the appearances described in
the fairy tales of the east. In those spots, into
which the sun's rays never penetrate, some spe-
cies of fungus of the genus Rhizomorpha, grow-
ing ov^r the roofs, pillars, and other parts of
these subterraneous places, emit a light so
brilliant and powerful as almost to dazzle the
eye of the beholder ; though it is sometimes so
soft and subdued as to resemble a faint moon-
light. This fungus is found in many other
caverns besides those of Dresden, and adds
greatly to the interest which such scenes excite
in the traveller.

Among the flowers which, during this month,
annoy the farmer, though they please the
botanist, the corn cockle {Agrostemma githago)
is very frequent in the field ; the corn cockle is
named in the book of Job ; thus the patriarch
says, " Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and
cockle instead of barley;"* but as the word
which our translators have rendered cockle is
expressive of an unpleasant odour, the poppy

• Job xxxi. 40.

JUNE, 121

is, by some commentators, tliouglit to be here
intended.

That very common flower, the scarlet pim-
pernel, {Anagallis arvensis,) is now smiling by
the road side ; it is perhaps better known as
the poor man's Awather-glass, or shepherd's
barometer ; both names given on account oi
its closing before rain. This peculiarity was
noticed many years since, and Gerarde thus
writes of the pimpernel : " These plants in sum-
mer, and especially in the month of August,
at what time the husbandmen, having occasion
to go to their harvest work, will first behold
the flower of pimpernel, whereby they know the
weather that will follow the next day after ; as
for example, if the flowers be close shut up, it
betokencth rain and foul weather ; contrariwise,
if they be opened abroad, fine weather." Though
we must not expect so much from the pimper-
nel as this would promise, yet it is more to be
depended on than other wild flowers, which
close before rain. It must be remembered,
too, that it closes up for the day by twelve
o'clock, however bright the sunshine.

The flax {lAmnn vsitatissnm) is now in
bloom in many wild places. The pale blue erect
bell is very frail, falling off" even at the touch.
This is a plant of much interest. The strong
fibres of its bark form the valual.)le flax of com-
merce ; these fibres, when separated from the
plant, compose the tow, which being spun into
yarn, is afterwards woven into linen. The
stalks require macerating, in order to separate

122 WILD FLOWEES.

the fibrous strings from the more fleshy sub-
stance, and they are laid mider water, either
in tanks or ponds, or they are strewn over the
grass field, for the dews and sunshine to pre-
pare them for use. Fields of flax have been
cultivated from the earliest antiquity, for mak-
ing linen ; and it appears from the Scriptures,
that a numerous class of people were engaged
in the manufacture, among the ancient He-
brews and Egyptians. The prophet Isaiah,
when predicting the wrath of God, and the
coming desolation of the land of Egypt, foretells
that " they who work in fine flax, and they
that weave networks, shall be confounded ;"
and the "fine twined linen, wrought with needle-
work," was ordered for many purposes, in the
ornament and service of the tabernacle, which
the Lord commanded that the children of Israel
should make. The mucilaginous seeds of the
flax are much employed in surgery, and the
flower is so elegant, that it is frequently planted
in gardens.

The small common white flax (Linum cathar'
ticum) is abundant by road-sides, both in
England and France, and grows in such pro-
fusion about Versailles, that, small as are its
pretty flowers, they make the fi.eld quite white
by their number. It is often called mill-moun-
tain : country people gather and dry it, as a cure
for rheumatism ; and professor Martyn says,
" that it is an excellent medicine in that pain-
ful complaint."

Even the barren wall bears an aspect of

JUNE. 123

gaiety now, for it is thickly covered with patches
of the bright yellow flowers of the stonecrop,
{Sedum,) which cluster both here and on the
cottage roof. The Latin name of the stonecrop is
derived from the word " sedere," to sit, because
many of the species may be said to sit on the
walls, clothing them like mosses. The yellow
biting stonecrop, (Sedum acre,) now in blos-
som, grows also on sandy hills, and is often
planted on rock work in gardens ; it is very
acrid, and when bitten, its juice leaves on the
tongue a flavour as pungent as that of pepper,
hence it is frequently called wall-pepper. It
has also the old familiar names of gold dust,
and gold chain. In former days, too, it was
known as jack of the buttery, country pepper,
pricket, and bird's bread. It is given in beer
or milk to invalids : if laid on the skin, it will
quickly raise a blister.

We have eleven wild kinds of stonecrop,
which are, with one exception, very similar to
each other in nature and habit, though several
have red or white flowers. The plant com-
monly termed orpine, or livelong, {Sedum tele-
pJiium,) differs much from the other stonecrops ;
it has a spotted stem, and instead of the closely
imbricated foliage of the other stonecrops, has
broad leaves ; its pui-ple flowers appear in July,
on waste places, or field borders ; its leaves are
occasionally ])oilcd and eaten. One would won-
der at the taste of those who selected them for
this purpose, as even after boiling, they retain
a considerable portion of acridity and though

124 WILD FLOWERS.

wholesome, are not more so than hundreds of
common plants, some of which, like the chick-
weed and nettle, are vised at the poor man's
table.

One species of stonecrop, the white orpine,
(Sedum album,) is pickled as samphire. A large
white kind, called English stonecrop, (Sedum
anc/elicum) is very ornamental to the rocks on
the Highlands and Hebrides, scattering its
white stars by thousands on their else barren
surfoces, and supplying their want of verdure by
its thick green leaves.

On the summit of the wall, or rock, or still
more often at its base, we may now find the
small nettle, (Urtica urens,) full of its green
bloom y we have three native species, easily dis-
tinguished, even by persons unacquainted with
botany, by the circumstances respecting them.
The lesser nettle is seldom above two feet high,
its leaves are small, and it is not a conspicuous
plant; but the great nettle {Urtica dioica)
cannot be overlooked, and grows by every way-
side, often to the height of three feet. The
Roman nettle {Ui-tica piluUfera) is not much
unlike it, but is comparatively rare, and found
chiefly near the sea ; this is by far the most
virulent of our stinging nettles, and the pain
inflicted by its venom remains for several hours.
The old English writers had a legend, concern-
ing the introduction of this nettle into our
country, which was very generally believed,
though, as Ray observes, it is not very likely
to be true. Our great antiquary, Camdeu,

JUNE. 125

records it in his " Britannia." The Roman
nettle was known to have been found growing
at Lidd, near Romney, and also in the streets
of Koniney. Julius Csesar landed at Eomney,
with his soldiers, and remained there for some
time, on which account the place is supposed to
have been called Eomania, of which its modern
name is a corruption. The old antiquary re-
lates, that " tlie soldiers brought some of the
nettle seed with them, and sowed it there for
their use, to rub and chafe their limbs, when,
throusli extreme cold, tliev should be stiff and
benumbed, being told, before they came from
home, that the climate of Britain was so cold,
that it was not to be endured, without some
friction to warm the'r blood." No plant, cer-
tainly, could better serve to chafe and warm
their limlis ; but how far the glow would be
pleasurable, even to the hardy Iloman soldiers,
must be questioned.

Though the nettles are not favourite planU.
with country ramblers, yet they are far from
being useless. A decoction of nettle juice,
mingled with salt, will curdle milk, without im-
parting any disagreeable flavour ; the fibres of
the stems are manufactured into cloth, ropes,
and even ])aper. Some lovely kinds of butterfly
feed on the nettle ; the gay creature

" Array'd
In crimson, azure, emerald, and gold.
With more niagniliccnce upon his wing —
His little wing — than ever graced tlierube
Gorgeous of royalty."

Much use is made in Russia of the large

126 ^VII.D FLOWERS.

nettle, and in Sweden, it is planted in rows foi
forage. The roots furnish a beautiful yellow
colour to the dyers of Russia, and are very
extensively employed by them for this purpose.
It is a singular fact, that steel dipped in the
juice of the nettle becomes flexible.

But there are still further uses to which this
neglected and despised plant may be applied.
Dr. Thornton, who has made the medicinal
properties of our wild plants his peculiar
study, states, that lint dipped in nettle juice,
and put up the nostril, has been known to stay
the bleeding of the nose, when all other reme-
dies have failed ; and adds, that fourteen or
fifteen of the seeds, ground into powdei', and
taken daily, will cure the swelling in the neck,
known by the name of goitre, without in any
way injuring the general health.

The English word, nettle, is supposed to
have been derived from the Anglo-Saxon word,
noedl, or noedle. The pain caused by the
sting of this plant arises from the poisonous
juice, which lies in a small bag, at the base ot
each sting, or hair ; the fine hair penetrates the
skin, and the juice flows through an aperture
at the point, into the wound which it has made,
and thus gives a degree of pain, which would
not be caused by the mere puncture.

The wild nettles are found everywhere, on
the neglected garden, or field, on the crumbling
wall, or towerhig clifP, or in tlie dim and gloomy
forest. Lilce the evil passions of man, they need
no cherishing; we have only to leave them

JUNE. 127

imdisturbed, and they will take root and grow,
and bear fruit abundantly.

The white dead nettle (Lamium alhvni) is in
appearance something like the true nettle, but
its rings of Avhite flowers at once distinguish it,
as the blossoms of the true nettles are all green ;
its odour is very disagreeable, bv\t Linnaeus
states, that, in Sweden, it is much employed
as a vegetable for the table.

The flower so often praised as the handsomest
of our native flowers, the tall and showy fox-
glove, (Diffif all's 2n(rpia'ea,) graces the banks and
hedges, during June and July. The spike of large
purple, or white freckled bells, and its large
leaves, render it so striking an object, that the
artist frequently selects it to adorn his painted
landscape ; it contains a virulent poison, but is,
when properly administered, a most valuable
medicine. In some countries, the foxglove leaf
is made into tea, for the sinful purpose of pro-
ducing intoxication, and degrading the being, to
whom God has given an immortal spirit, and
a clear intellect, to a condition beneath that ot
the brutes which perish. This showy flower
is peculiar to hilly and rocky situations, and is
but little known as a wild flower in some parts
of England, as in Norfolk and Suffolk.

On the dry chalky soils, the burnet, (Pote-
rium sanf/uisorba,) is blooming, with its heads of
})urplish-green flowers. It is called the salad
burnet, because its leaves have the scent and
flavour of the cucumber, and are consequently
often used in salad ; it is also, as well as the

1

128 WILD FLOWERS.

borage, an ingredient in the drink, called a cool
tankard.

Few persons could be found in the rural dis-
tricts of England who are unacquainted with
that common flower the mallow, {Maha syl-
vestris.) It grows by ovir every road side, and
in almost every meadow, and its handsome lilac
flowers and large and numerous leaves form a
picturesque object. Common as it is with us,
however, it is rarely found in Scotland. The
flowers continue through this and the two
following months, and its clumps of leaves
remain in the hedges till winter has swept aU
Ihe remnants of summer beauty before 'uS
rains and snows. There are few who have not,
during childhood, picked the circular seeds of
the mallow, and called them cheeses, and most
can sympathize with the reminiscences of Clare
on the subject : —

" The sitting down when school was o'er,
Upon the threshold of the door,
Picking from mallows, sport to please,
The crumpled seed we call a cheese."

Nor is this play peculiar to the English child,
for the French children call them also les petits
fromageons. Like all the other parts of the
plant, they are used in medicines, not only by
the cottager, but by the regular practitioner,
though the greater power of the marsh mallow
causes it to be more generally selected for use
than this. The word mallow is derived from a
Greek word, signifying soft, on account of the
emollient properties of the plants of this tribe.

Another kind of mallow, not quite so gene-

JUNE. 129

ral as this, and easily distinguished from it by its
lesser leaves and small pale lilac flowers, grows
by waysides and on waste places. It is the
dwarf mallow, (Malva rotundifoUa.) It is not
in bloom till July, and frequently remains iu
flower till September.

The only other native mallow — if we except
the marsh species, which botanists distinguish
by the name of Althcca — is the fragrant musk
mallow, {JMalva moschata,^ which is not unfre-
quent on the gravelly soil of several English
counties. In Essex it is very abundant. In
many parts of Kent, not a single specimen
could be found wild, but it is planted in gar-
dens. The large rose-coloured blossoms of
this species are very beautiful, and when a
shower has fallen uoon them, their musky odour
is very powerful.

The bitter sweet, or common nightshade,
{Solunmn dulcamara,) throws its lurid purple
flowers over every hedge ; and that lovely flower
the wilding rose is one of the sv/eetest adorn-
ments of the green lanes of June. The older
writers dcpreciatod this flower so as to call it
canker, a name by which it is still known in
Devonshire. It was called dog's rose and
dog's thorn, because dogs arc said to eat the
hips. Its beautiful (lushed ])ctals have a slight
odour, scarcely stronger than that which the
breath of morning brings us from the dewy
grass. " A great store of hips and haws," says
Lord Bacon, " portends a cold winter :" a
statement which, whether true or not, is gene-

E

130 WHJ) FLOWERS. ,

rally believed by country people. These fruits
are to the birds a continual feast, until the
frost has rendered them tasteless, or the wind
has scattered them under the hawthorn or
brier. In the time of queen Elizabeth, the
wild brier hips were made, " by cooks and
gentlewomen," into tarts and conserves ; and
the conserve made from the scarlet fruits of
the common dog rose (Rosa canind) is still sold
by the druggist, and considered better than
that which is the produce of the garden flower.
From this flower, too, an excellent rose water is
distilled.

The sweet brier rose, (Rosa ruhiyinosa,) the
eglantine of the poets, is common in some parts
of England, on open bushy places. It may
easily be known from the dog rose by its
smaller flowers, of a deeper pink colour, and
especially by its fragrant foliage.

The several other wild roses, with the ex-
ception of two kinds, are so alike in general
appearance, as that they cannot be easily de-
scribed in a popxilar work, so as that the reader
may distinguish them. Two common species,
however, may be recognised. The little white
flowers of the burnet-leaved rose (Rosa spino-
sissima, ) grow plentifully on chalky or sandy
soils. It is tinged with cream colour. Its
leaves are much smaller than those of the
dog rose, of a darker green, and not so glossy ;
and its stems are so thickly set both with long
and short prickles, that it is difficult to gather
a branch of its slightly scented flowei"s. The

i JTJNE. 131

hip is not scarlet, but of a brown, or purplish
black colour, and full of a sweet purple juice.
The tall Scotch rose of the garden is very
similar to this flower, and probably only a cul-
tivated variety of it.

The trailing dog rose (Rosa arvensis) is also
very common in the sovithern counties of Eng-
land. The bush is seldom more than three
feet high, but its long winding stems extend to
the distance of several feet. The flowers grow
in large bunches, and are quite white. The
prickles are not numerous on the branches, and
the little round buds which cluster upon them
are almost destitute of them. This flower is
very common in Yorkshire, and has the repute
of being the white rose of the Yorkists, at the
time when civil wars desolated our land.

The broom, " the bonnie broom," {Genista
scoparia,) with its myriads of golden flowers, is
glittering on the dry hill, or heath-land. The
farmer eyes it with complacency, for when the
broom flowers freely it is generally regarded as
a promise of a good harvest. It is an exceed-
ingly beautiful flower, and one over which the
bees hover incessantly, and beside which the
wanderer on the heath is glad to make his
couch, that its odour may sweeten his sleep.
The French term it le (jenet a balai, for, like
us, they make brooms of its branches. It is
said that the house of Plantagenct derived its
name from this flower, and various traditions
record the circumstance. The one most com-
monly believed is, that the name was assumed

132 WILD FLOWERS.

by Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, the husband of
Matilda, the haughty empress of Germany ;
who, having placed a sprig of the broom in his
helmet on the da}^ of battle, acquired the sur-
name, and bequeathed it to his descendants. Per-
chance, before engaging in the contest, he had
lain down among the fragrant broom, and had
been struck by its beauty. Yet flowers seem
ill suited to accompany the horrors of war.
"Bring flowers," says Mrs. Ilemans, " to deck
the bride, and to crown the feast ;" but bring
them "to die in the conqueror's path."

The dyer's weed, or woad-Avaxen, {Genista
tinctoria,) has blossoms very much like those
of the broom, but they are not in flower till a
month later. It is common on pastures and
field-borders, and is used by dyers in giving a
yellow colour to yarn. It is much valued in
Russia as a cure for hydrophobia.

JULY.

"In the breeze
That wafts the thistle's plumed seed along.
Blue bells wave tremulous. The mountain thyme
Purp'es the hassock of the heaving mole,
And the short turf is gay with tormentils,
And bird's foot trefoil, and the lesser tribes
Of hawkweeds ; spangling it with fringed stars."

How often do a few lines, like those which
are placed at the head of this chapter, bring
before us the pleasant scenes of the country !
The wide-spread open down ; the upland moor;
the flowers which are springing in the fresh
grass or on the brown summer turf of the heath ;

JULY. 133

how are they present to the eye of the mind,
even while the bodily eye is gazing on the brick
wall, or the city houses ! The love of the coun-
try— the love of nature, affords, next to religion,
the surest means of enjoyment ; and may so
well be connected with pious thought, that it is
often the means of raising us above the world
and its cares to the contemplation of God. It
is very desirable that the young should cherish
it ; for he who has been taught to mark the
beauties of the starry heavens, and the waving
tree, and the wayside flower, has learned a better
lesson than if he had been taught to gather gold.

The heath-lands are so beautiful in July,
with their gorgeous array of flowers, that one
can hardly imagine that the purple bells indi-
cate that the soil is barren and poor. As the
bleak winds chase over them in winter, they do,
indeed, seem drear ; but the seasons come round,
and the Almighty causeth "it to rain on the
earth .... to satisfy the desolate and waste
ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb
to spring forth,"* and then the heath becomes a
spot of beauty, fitted to invite the footstep and
to charm the spirit.

Our five native species of heath (Erica) are
very lovely flowers, either of a dark purplish red,
or of a rose colour, and are so little like our
other wild plants that few would mistake them.
Thj Highlanders thatch their cottages and
make their beds of its sprays, and an old histo-
rian relates, that the Picts, who drank a great

• Job xxxviti. 26, 27.

184 WILD FLOWERS.

quantity of ale, made it of the young heath-
shoots. Carrington has some lin6s on this
flower —

"How many a vagrant wing lipht waves around
Thy purple bells, Erica ! 'Tis from thee
The hermit birds, that love the desert, find
Shelter and food. Nor these alone delight
In the fresh heath. Tl y gallant mountaineers,
Auld Scotia, smile to see it spread immense
O'er their uncultured hills ; and at the close
Of the keen boreal day, the undaunted race
Contented on the rude Erica sink
To healing sleep."

The hng {Calluna vulgaris) is included
among the plants which compose the heather ;
it is more like a small shrub, and has lighter
coloured and smaller flowers than the heaths.

The strong sweet scent of the wild thyme
(Thymus serpyllwri) comes up now to the wan-
derer over the moor, and it is one of the sweet-
est of wild odours. Among the Greeks, this
flower was an emblem of activity. The highest
flavoured venison is furnished by the deer
which feed on thymy lands, and sheep, too,
thrive well on these places.

The bluebell, or harebell, (Campanula rotun-
difolia,) bends its azure drooping blossoms to
the winds, on the chalky cliff or barren hill of
England, or Scotland, and graces the solitary
ridges. Professor Lhidley remarks : — " On the
mountains of Switzerland there are species of
harebell, with corollas of a pale yellow, spotted
with black. On the Alps of India are others
of the deepest purple that can be conceived.
On the rocks of Madeira Hves one which was,
formerly, not uncommon in our gardens, (Mus-

JULY. 136

thia aurea,) whose corollas are of a rich golden
yellow ; and, finally, on the pastures of the
Cape of Good Hope, are Roellas, the flowers
of which are elegantly banded with streaks of
violet or rose, passing into white."

A little white harebell, sometimes cultivated
in pots, is very common in the meadows of
France ; and from its modest and pure appear-
ance is called " the nun of the fields."

On the moist bog, or heath, we should now
search for the bog-pimpernel, {Anagallis te-
nella,) with very tiny leaves, and comparatively
large rose-coloured blossoms ; and we may
also find the bog or Lancashire asphodel {Nar-
thecium ossifragum) growing near it. The
latter plant bears a spike of pretty yellow flow-
ers, and is very similar to the true asphodel,
{Asphodelvs,) renowned as the asphodel of the
Greek poets, and as the flower with which the
ancients planted their graves, and which they
used in funeral ceremonies. This plant covers
large tracts of land in Apulia.

That singular and interesting flower, the
sundew, (Drosera 7-otundifolia,) grows com-
monly on moist heathy grounds, and its white
blossoms may be gathered in July. The curious
structure of the leaf is well worth observation.
It is covered with hairs tipped with pellucid
glands, which exude a clear liquid ; these ghsten
in the sunshine, giving the leaf the appearance
of being sprinkled with dew, and by their
sweet taste are very attractive to insects. These
hairs are not only thick on the surface, but

136 WILD FLOWERS,

aromul the edge of the leaf. The insect on
ahghting on the plant is held a prisoner by these
clammy hairs, and the leaf immediately closes
over it. Dead flies and other small insects
may thus often be found captured by this irri-
table leaf. The foliage of this flower is very
much tinged with crimson, and on drying it for
the herbarium, this red hue colours the page
through several sheets. The plant is so small
as that the whole of it might be covered by the
palm of the hand. It is very frequent on the
downs near Tunbridge Wells.

The sundew is used as an ingredient in the
celebrated Italian liqueur, termed Rossoli ; it
is, nevertheless, very acrid and caustic in its
nature ; when distilled with lime, it makes a
highly stimulating drink, and, in former times,
was much used as a tincture. The practice
of expressing the juice, for the removal of the
freckles and tan which the summer sun gives
to the rustic maiden, has long been a common
one ; its juice is also said to curdle milk.

The various species of St. John's wort
(Hr/pe?'ici(m) are now common everywhere,
and their bright yellow flowers, with the scent
of rosin, are very pretty. The yellow bed
straw, {Galium verum,) with its honey like
odour, is, when growing in any quantity, a very
great ornament to the heath.

The tall broom rape, (Orohanche vuijor,)
though not very beautiful, is too large and sin-
gular a flower to escape notice. This plant
is a parasite, growing on the roots of the

JULY. 137

broom and furze, and even soTnetimes on that
of the clover ; it very much injures the plant
on which it fixes. On heaths it is very com-
mon ; it is one, two, or even three feet high,
with a stem as thick as a finger, mthout leaves,
but with brown scales. Its flowers grow
down about a third of the stem, and are of a
dingy purple brown. It has the appearance,
on a cursory glance, of being a withered plant.
The broom rapes attach themselves particularly
to plants wdiich have butterfly shaped blossoms.

The waste places are now enlivened by the
beautiful tribes of thistles, whose minute
feathery seeds, flying so lightly on the breeze,
seem in sufticient profusion to sow the whole
land with their flowers. One cannot help re-
marking liow, even when the curse was pro-
nounced on Adam, good was mingled with the
evil. God said, "Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee ; in the sweat
of thy brow shalt thou eat bread ;" * yet who
shall say that toil is an mimixed evil, or that
labour brings not an enjoyment with it, when
he is the least happy who spends his days in
listless idleness ? So even also the thorns bear
roses, and the thistle brings forth lovely flowers.

AVe have more than a dozen species of wild
thistle, difficult, however, to describe jiarticularly.
One species, the milk thistle, {Canhnis mari-
amts,) may be known by its large leaves,
chequered with streaks of milky white. This
is often called the Scotch thistle, but is not so,

• Gen. iv. 18,19.
E .3

138 WILD FLOWERS.

for common as it is in England, it is very rare
in Scotland ; almost the only spot of that coun-
try in which it is known to grow is on the
rocky cliffs near Dunbarton castle ; and tradi-
tion tells, that the unhappy Mary, queen of
Scots, planted it there with her own hand.
The beautiful cotton thistle, {Onopordmn acan-
thhim,) which grows by Scotia's highways, is
cultivated by Scotsmen, as the Scottish thistle ; it
seems to have some claim to be regarded as the
national insignia, for the hard and sharp spines
well accord with the proud defiant motto which
accompanies it. The adoption of this flower as
the national emblem is said to have arisen from
the following circum.stance : the Danes were
invading the Scottish nation, and, according
to their usual practice, attacked them during
night, when they were sleeping; they had just
reached the Scottish camp, when a Dane placing
his naked foot on the spiny leaves of a this-
tle, instinctively uttered a cry, which roused the
slumbering warriors, who quickly chased the
mvaders.

Several thistles have a large quantity of cot-
tony down on their stems and leaves, which,
is picked off by country children for tinder;
and their large number of seeds are eaten by
birds, especially by the goldfinches, which feed
almost entirely on the downy grains of flowers.

One of our wild thistles, the musk thistle,
(Carduus nutans,) has beautiful purple blos-
soms, most powerfully fragrant in the evening ;
and a more common species, the carline thistle^

JULY. 139

{Carlina vulgaris,) which is about a foot high,
may easily be distinguished from all the others
by its yellow flowers ; it is frequent on dry and
hilly pastures.

The sweet marjoram {Origanum vuJgare) is
now putting forth its clusters of chocolate-
coloured blossoms, and shedding a sweet odour
over the heath, or chalky bank ; a very useful
plant it is too, for the dried leaves make a
wholesome tea, and are used medicinally. A
piece of cotton dipped in the strong oil which
may be expressed from it will often cure the
toothache •, and the young tops are used to
dye cloth of a purple colour, and to give to
linen a reddish brown. Its scent is very simi-
lar to that of the wild thyme, and the flowers
are much like those of that plant, but they
grow on a stem, one or two feet high, instead
of forming tufts on the ground.

The corn is now fast ripening for the sickle,
and very often the corn-field is covered with
that bright flower, the corn bluebottle, {Ce^u
taurp.a Cyamis,) verging from a deep blue to a
pale azure, or a faint blue tint ; its colour is
always beautiful and striking. In Scotland it
is called blue bonnet, in France, bluet ; in for-
mer times, it was termed in our own land, hurt
sickle, " because," says an old writer, " it hin<
dereth and annoyeth the reapers, by dulling
and turning the edge of their sickles, in reap-
ing of corn." A brilliant blue juice is obtained
by exjjression from this plant, which gives its
tint to linen, but the dye is not permanent.

140 WILD FLOWERS.

This flower is a great favourite with German
ladies, and they frequently wear it in their hair ;
it lb the companion of the ripening and ripened
corn in all the countries of Europe.

The several kinds of scabious are also
pretty and common flowers now ; the field
scabious, {Scabiosa arveiisis,) termed by botan-
ists, field knautia, is very frequent on dry fields,
and has large convex heads of flowers, of a
beautiful purplish lilac ; these floAvers, if held
in the snioke of tobacco, become of a delicate
green colour.

The devil's bit scabious (Scabiosa succisa)
grows in meadow lands, and is remarkable for
its abrupt root, which seems as if bitten off;
the fact is, that the top of the root actually
dies awav, and then a horizontal root is formed ;
but as no philosophy has yet accounted for the
singular fact of this decay, we need not be sur-
prised that, in olden times, it was believed that
the great enemy of mankind bit it off in " cnvie
because it had so many excellent vertues."
"Unhappily," says Sir J.E.Smith, "this malice
has been so successful, that no virtues can be now
found in the remainder of the root or herb."

The blue succory, sometimes called chicory,
or blue endive, (^Cichorium Iiitybus,) grows
alike in corn-fields and hedges, not only in
England, but very generally on the continent.
The Germans had an old name for it, which
signified "keeper of the ways." It has large
flowers, the size of half-a-crown, pale blue, and
composed of rays, so as that it may truly be

JULY. 141

called star shaped. Tn most of the chalky
lands of England it is abundant, but it is gene-
rally rare in sandy soils.

The flo^\er of the succory opens at eight in
the morning and closes at four in the evening,
and suggested some verses to a poet, true to
nature.

" On upland slopes the shepherds mark
The hour, ^vhcll to the dial true,
Cichorium, to the towering lark
Lifts her soft eye, serenely blue.

Thus in each flower anrl simple bell,
That in our path untrodden lie,
Are sweet reniemlirancers, which tell
Hov/ fast the winged moments fly."

Alas, we little heed those silent teachers, or
the more emphatic monitions of holy writ, of
the fleeting nature of our time ! yet the flowers
bloom in beauty, and preach their lessons to us
as tliey did to our fathers ; and the Bible gives
us its more direct and solemn warnings ; but
men live on and heed them not, and pass their
fleetinir lives as if the world were their final
resting place.

The common sow thistle, (Sonchus oleracens,)
a plant known to every schoolboy as the food
of his tame rabbit, and which is equally relished
by the wild rabbit of the warren, has the same
properties as the succory ; and, like that flower,
is full of milky juice. Its young leaves arc
sometimes eaten. This plant is termed by the
American settlers, gall of the earth, and is
thought by them to cure the bite of the rattle-
snake.

And now by every wayside and waste place

142 WILD FLOWERS.

the large leaves of the common burdock (Arc-
tium lappa) are spreading themselves out, and
its dull purple flowers, something like those of
a thistle, seem small when compared with its
foliage. A few weeks later, and these flowers
will have changed to balls of seeds, covered
with spines, and these fruits well deserve the
name Lappa, taken from the Celtic Uap, a hand,
for they catch at every passer by.

But it is pleasant, in these days of sunshine,
to turn from the open and dry lands to the
crystal stream, which wanders by the wood,
giving the sweet tones of its ripplings to all
who will listen.

The glassy pool reflects on its bosom some
of our handsomest aquatics. The white water
lily, (NymphcBa alba,) its rose-like flower sitting
on the water, has for its companion the yellow
water lily, {Ntiphar lutea,) and both have large
oval leaves, so smooth and shiny that the water
runs over them as if their surfaces were oiled.
Then by the side, and almost down in the water,
the meadow sweet, {Spircea ulmaria,) which, as
a Kentish poet, Mr. IMerritt, has said, has a
Bf^^zr of "lace-like embroidery," is so beauti-
ful and so graceful that the wind which is too
soft to stir the stream, bids it nod and rise
up again, so prettily, that one might watch
its motions and dream that it was some crea-
ture of gentle heart and elegant manners. Its
odour is very fragrant, but it has too much ot
the nature of prussic acid to be wholesome in
a close apartment. An instance of the danger-

JULY. 143

ous properties of the meadow sweet occurred
in Kent, a few years since. Two young men,
who had gone thilher from London to spend
a day in roving among hills and glades, and
to gather the mid flowers from some of the
sweetest nooks of that beautiful county, went,
in the evening, laden with their nosegays, to a
village inn. They had been struck with the love-
liness of the meadow sweet, and had gathered
a large store to take away with them. In the
night both became ill, and the surgeon who
was sent for detected, immediately on entering
their chamber, a strong scent of prussic acid.
This he found to proceed from a quantity of the
withering flowers of the meadow sweet, which
they had incautiously laid around and under
their beds. Both suffered severely, and one of
them so much so, that he remained ill for se-
veral weeks. This flower is sometimes called
queen of the meadows, and the French too
term it la reine des j))'es. The stems are used
in some countries for dyeing.

"We have several very pretty willow herbs,
{Epilobium,) which with their purplish red
blossoms deck the summer hedges ; the hand-
somest of the tribe growing near streams.

The Kamschatdales are very fond of an in-
toxicating liquor made from some species, and
they also prepare vinegar from them, and eat
the young shoots as food.

The flowers of the willow herb are seated
upon long pods, which contain a number of
seeds crowned each with a tuft of down. These

144 WILD FLOWERS.

seeds are most frequently the produce of rayed
flowers, like the dandelion and thistle ; but
some few flowers, as the willow herb and cle-
matis, send them forth also by thousands.
The latter plant is so covered with them, that
if in winter it grow near a town, the hedge looks
as if the spiders had been diligently weaving
their tapestry about the branches, and produced
a drapery of cobwebs ; or if it be far away
among the wild woods, where the smoke cannot
reach it, it seems as if the swan had bestowed
its down upon it. The great quantity of down
yielded by the seeds of the willow herbs has
induced some writers to recommend their culti-
vation for manufactures. The down has been
mingled with fur or wool, and made into stock-
ings, with very good success.

A very pretty aquatic, the water arrowhead,
{Sagittaria sagittifolia,) easily known from all
our other water plants by its arrow-shaped
leaves, is frequently found in the pools in July.
It has white flowers, and its leaves lie in large
iiiasses on the surface of the stream. The
root is most nutritious, and might well be used
in this country as food ; but in warmer climates,
where the whole plant is more luxuriant, its
large size renders it very valuable.

The " cresses, which grow where no man may
see them," now often lie in abundance on the
secluded stream. Our rural flora does not fur-
nish a more wholesome salad herb than the
water-cress {Nasturtium qffic'male.) The only
danger which arises from eating this plant, is

JULY. 145

that the incautious cress gatherer may have
mixed witli it some sprays of the water parsnip,
(Sinm nodijlorum,) a plant common in streams,
and which is very poisonous in its nature.
Inexperienced persons may mistake one of these
plants for the other, but a little observation will
detect the difference between them. In the
water-cress, the leaf which grows at the ter-
mination of the leaf-stalk is rounder and larger
than the other leaflets ; while that of the water
parsnip is smaller than the rest. The blossoms
of the water-cress are white, small, and cross
shaped. This plant is now much cultivated in
streams, near London, Paris, Edinburgh, and
other large cities.

The salt marshes near the shore, and even
the sands of the sea, now show a few blos-
soms. The white or pink heads of the thrift,
{Statice anneria,) often called sea-turf, are very
plentiful. The sea-lavender, (Statice limotnium,)
with its htindsome spike of blue lilac flowers,
and that elegant cypress-like shrub, t!ae tama-
risk, {Tamarix ffallica,) with rose-coloured blos-
soms, which show to great advantage among
its light and graceful foliage, often enliven the
salt marsh, or the rocky cliff.

On some of our shores too, the tall sea-holly
(EnjHffiuni maritiiuum) makes its a})pearance
on the sands. It is a stiff and rigid plant, with
firm prickly leaves beautifully veined ; and,
like those of the generality of our sea-side
plants, of a pale sea-green hue. Its flowers
are blue, and shaped much like the thistle's.

146 WILD FLOW^EBS.

The roots have a pleasant taste, and are often
candied for a sweetmeat, being considered sti-
mulating and restorative in their properties.
Linnseus says that the young shoots of this
plant are eaten in Sweden, after being blanched,
and are scarcely inferior to asparagus. He re-
commends their use in other countries.

The sea-weeds (Fuci) are always scattered
over the shores, for they are little affected bj
the changing seasons. The bed of the oceau
being less exposed to changes of temperature
than the land, and the great body of water
being never either completely hot, or cold, the
plants growing in the sea do not experience
that change of seasons which so determines
the growth of laud vegetation. In some seas,
however, marine plants are much more luxu-
riant than around our island. In all countries,
the base of the ocean is continually rising by
the increase of plants, just as the site of the
city rises in progressive years by the accumu-
lation of soil.

Sea-weeds afford soda and colour for dyeing ;
and their gelatinous nature renders many of
them nutritious and medicinal. Iodine, so
often administered in cases of glandular en-
largement, is procured from several species of
sea- weed.

The woodland scenery is not so brightly
green as during last month. Although autumn
has not yet touched the leaves with brown, yet
their verdure is of a duller cast, and here and
there the slight tinge ot yellow may be seen.

JULY. 147

The flowers in the wood are also few now,
compared with thosv; of the earUer months.
The tall teasel {Dipsacus fullonum) shows
itself almost like a young shrub ; and that
pretty low flower, the red centaury, {Enjthrcea
cenfaunum,) — its red blossoms growing in clus-
ters, and shaped something like those of the
garden jessamine, though smaller — is very com-
mon, both in woods, and on dry pastures. Its
bitter principle is said to be equal to that of
the gentian. This flower closes so early that
only those who walk in the former part of the
day see its beauty. By twelve o'clock it begins
to shut up, and if a cloud is on the sky, it
does not open at all. This is evidently because
of the moisture of the atmosphere, even when
it is not perceptible to us; for if the flower be
taken in-doors and placed near a fire, it will
expand fully.

The Avood sage, (TeucHum scorodonia,) a
common })lant with spikes of green flowers,
tinged with a brown hue, is now very plentiful
on dry grounds. It has leaves wrinkled like
those of the garden sage, and so bitter that
they are very suitable for the purpose of
mingling with hops in making beer — a use
to which they are continually applied by the
Swede, and sometimes by the English cottager.
The betony, too, {Betonica officinaUs,) is very
generally in flower in this month. This flower
lias somewhat the appearance of the red dead
nettles, though its purplish red l)lossoms are
lighter and brighter than theirs. In some

148 -WILD FLOWERS.

parts of Kent it is commonly gathered in
bundles and hung up around the ample fire-
place of the farm kitchen, or suspended from
the cottage ceiling ready for use. The whole
plant gives a yellow colour to wool, and the
root is extremely hitter.

The hedge wound-wort {Stachys sylvaticd)
is also very common in the hedge from June
till August. It has around its stem a number
of purplish red flowers streaked with white,
and leaves something like those of the stinging
nettle in shape, but very silky and downy. Its
old fiimiliar name distinguishes it as a plant
often used for staying the effusion of blood.
This flower was also called clown' s-all-heal.
When compounds and extracts from plants and
minerals were less common than at present, an
acquaintance with the virtues of plants was ot
more value than in modern days.

The common black horehound, (Ballota
nigra,) with its whorls of dull, cheerless red
flowers, and its dusty-looking foliage, was once
thought a very useful plant, and is still some-
times made into a candied sweetmeat. Country
people say, that the plant has an odour of
graves, but its frequent growth in churchyards
probably contributed to this idea. The catmint
{Nepeta cataria) is another common plant, and
it is really amusing to see how cats are excited
by it, and with what avidity they devour it.
Its scent is too strong to be agreeable.

The numerous tribe of mints (Mentha) all
flower, either in this, or the following month.

JULY. 149

aud may be recognised hy their strong perfume,
which, in all the species, resembles, more or less,
the common mint {MentJia viridis) used at table.
The distilled waters made from these plants are
well known. Some of the mints are handsome
as wild flowers, and growing by river sides,
or on field borders, look very beautiful on the
summer landscape.

But leaving the less gay and showy flowers,
for one of rich golden beauty, we may now see
in full bloom the lovely yellow blossom of the
rock rose, {Ileliantliemum vulyare.) This flower
grows sometimes singly, more often in clumps,
on rocky barren })laces ; just svicli spots as are
described in the parable of the sower ; where if
the sower were to sow his corn, it might s])ring
up and wither awav, because there is no deep-
ness of earth. But many a dry and arid spot
is clothed by God with occasional verdure and
beauty ; for he has fitted the flower to the soil,
and given to all their ajipointed times and jdaces.
This flower is not of a bright glossy colour, like
the buttercup, nor of the firm structure of that
blossom ; but the petals are of a paler tint, and
velvet surface, and so soft and cruiupled, that
they seem as if they had been wrinkled by being
crowded in the cup, out of which they expand.
They are of the shape of the brier rose, or
rather of the strawberry flower, as they are flat
when fidly open. It was termed Ilelianthemum
from two words signifying tlie sun and a flower ;
perhaps, because of its golden beauty ; ])ut more
probably, because of the old fancy tliat its flowers

150 WILD FLOWERS.

always turned to meet the sun. Professor
Rennie saj-s of the rock rose, " If you take a
small probe, or hog's bristle, and irritate any of
the numerous stamens of this flower, you will
see them fall back from the central column, and
spread themselves upon the petals, exhibiting a
very pretty example of vegetable irritability little
less striking than that of the sensitive plant."

This simple flower has another point of in-
terest, which is, that the rose of Sharon is
thought by Linuseus, and many travellers in
the east, to be merely a variety of our common
rock rose. The cistus roseiis, diifering little
from our wild flower, except in colour, is re-
garded as the rose of Sharon, because it abounds
in that valley, and is scattered in such rich
profusion, that it is one of the most striking
objects of its vegetation ; while none of those
plants which are termed roses are found there,
or in the neighbourhood.

In the old churchyard, or garden wall, the
purple, pink, or white snapdragon (^Antirrhinum
mqjus) now waves to the soft wind. Children
call it bull dogs and rabbit's mouth, and its
flower has really an odd resemblance to the
mouth of the latter animal. The author of
the "Journal of a Naturalist," remarks, that
these flowers are perfect insect traps ; and
"multitudes of small creatures," he adds,
" seek an entrance into the corolla, through
the closed lips, which, upon a slight pressure,
yield a passage, attracted by the sweet liquor
which is found at the bottom of the germen ;

JULY. 151

but when so admitted lliere is no return, the
Kps are closed, and all advance to them is im-
peded by a dense thicket of woolly matter, which
invests the mouth of rhe lower jaw. But the
snapdragon is more merciful than most of our
insect traps. The creature receives no injury
from confinement, but having consumed the
nectareous liquor, and finding no egress, breaks
from its dungeon by gnawing a hole at the
bottom of this tube, and returning to liberty
and hght. The extraordinary manner in which
the corolla is formed, the elastic force with
which the lower limb closes and fits upon the
projection of the upper, manifest the obvious
design of the great Architect.

The French call the snapdragon mvjie de veaii,
and the Russians highly value its seeds, which
are very numerous. From these they express
an oil little inferior in quality to that obtained
from the olive.

A very common flower, with blossoms shaped
like those of the snapdragon, the yellow toad-flax,
(Linaria vulgaris^) is now conspicuous in hedges
by waysides ; for though it scarcely blooms till
August, yet its stem of crowded slender leaves
of a greyish green, cannot escape notice.
Country people tenn this pretty wild flower,
butter and cs-gs. The iuice of the toad-flax
is often expressed, and when mingled with milk,
is set in an open dish, to attract flies, and its
sweet flavour proves to them poison.

The vervain, once so renowned by the Ro-
mans, and praised by cur forefathers as the

152 WILD FLOWERS.

holy herb, now shows its small lilac flowers
near houses ; and the tall yarrow, {AchillcEa
millefoUuni) is to be found in every meadow.
This was formerly called nose bleed, but is
now better known by the name of old man's
pepper. Its leaves are very pungent.

The Highlanders make of it an ointment,
and it was used for this purpose by the ancient
Greeks, who told that Achilles discovered and
applied its virtues.

Then the tall brown knapweeds and the
handsome mullein are showy flowers now.
The former are often called iron weeds, from
the hard brown ball or cup, on which the pur-
})le florets are set. The flower of the knap-
weeds is much like that of the thistle, but it
may filways be known from a thistle, by its
having no spines nor prickles upon it ; except
in one species, the common star thistle, which
is indeed veiy nearly allied to the former tribe.
The common black knapweed {Centaurea nigra)
is a very frequent weed in meadows, and it is
refused by cattle, both \^hile it is growing, and
when made up into hay. This plant stains
linen of a bright blue colour, and its juice is
expressed for ink. The common star thistle,
{Centaurea calcitrapa,) or Jersey thistle, as it is
often called, is found near the sea, aiul also on
chalky or gravelly banks. It is singular from
having on its calyx a number of large green
spines, which, as the plant grows older, turn
into hard Avood. Hence tliis flower received
its Ijatln name from the caltrops, or iron ball

JULY. 153

of spikes, used in the early and middle ages,
for throwing under the horses' feet in the field
of battle. This flower is the caltrops of Virgil.

We have no less than seven native species of
mullein now in blossom ; the great mullein,
{Verbascinn thaj)sus) is one of the largest and
most conspicuous of our wild flowers. The
stems, both of this, and the hoary mullein, are
about four or five feet in height ; the flowers
grow about one or two feet down the stem, and
are of a pale yellow. The stem is very thick
and woolly, and the large leaves which grow
about the root, are so densely covered on both
surfaces with wool, that Kentish people call
the mullein, flannel flower ; the wool is fre-
quently picked off for tinder, and is recom-
mended by many writers, as applicable to the
purposes of manufacture.

The blossoms of the great mullein are some-
times laid to dry in the sun, when a soft unc-
tuous substance exudes from them, which is
spread on linen, and used by "\'illagers as an ap-
plication to the chest. This plant was formerly
called high taper and torches ; and the white
nudlein was termed candlcweek flower. Nor
are they unfitted to suggest the idea of the
tapers which are burned before the images of
saints, in those countries in which men are
beguiled into what the apostle Paul calls "a
voluntary humility and worshipping of angels,"
instead of holding the "Head of the church" as
their only Advocate at the throne of God's grace.

The yellow hoary mullein {Verhascum pulve-

154 WILD FLO WEES.

rulentiim) has its Inmdreds of flowers so lightly
set upon its stem, that a small blow given to it
with a stick, will scatter them all on the ground.
It has a quantity of mealy down on its leaves,
which comes off on the hand if it is passed
over them. The little moth mullein, {Verbas^
cum blattaria) rare in most counties, but often
found in Kent, received its name from its virtue,
whether real or imagined, of driving from its
neighbourhood the blatter or cockroach.

Two very poisonous flowers bloom during
July and August on waste grounds, and near
to houses or ruins. The thorn-apple and the
henbane are both to be dreaded for their dan-
gerous properties ; yet the narcotic principle
found in both, is useful when carefully admi-
nistered, and will give sleep to the sufferer
whose eyes have long waited for it in vain.

The thorn-apple (Datura stramonium) is
rather a naturalized than, strictly considered, a
wild flower ; for our great herbalist Gerarde,
having received a present from Constantinople
of some of its seeds, dispersed it, as he says,
through the land. It is one of the most com-
mon and troublesome weeds in America, and
the colonists are at considerable pains to ex-
tirpate it, before they can transform the wild
wastes or crowded forests of that country into
fertile lands. Whenever any plants are brought
into England from America, its seeds are con-
veyed in the soil, and it springs up plentifully
around them. Its bell-shaped flower is very
handsome, and its delicate beauty is shielded

JULY. 155

from the clews of night by its leaves, which,
when darkness comes on, rise close around the
flower, and protect it from the damp air.

The henbane, {Hyoscyanms niger,) so often
smoked by country people for tooth-ache, and
so useful also to the physician, has a greenish
yellow flower, pencilled all over with purple
lines. The seeds found in its "belted pod"
are often a plaything for children ; and profes-
sor Martjm says he has eaten them without
any ill effects, while other botanists affirm that
the seeds have deprived persons of the use of
their limbs, and even of reason. To all the
inferior animals, except swine, they are poison-
ous. The whole plant is covered witli hairs,
and the peculiar odour that proceeds from it
would at once point it out to the botanist as a
poisonous flower.

Those curious plants the horsetails, (Equise-
tum,) now put forth their cones or catkins,
some of them by river-sides, many under
hedges, or in fields. They have long leaves,
set in whorls round the stem, each leaf not
thicker than a common cord. We pay but
little regard to these plants, but to the house-
wives of olden times they were of great service.
The pewter kitchen utensils were daily scoured
into brightness with this plant, which was once
called pewterwort. It was sold in the London
streets, both for this purpose and also for
cleaning those wooden platters and bowls,
almost unknown in modern kitchens, but which,
in other days, held the roast beef of Old Eng-

156 ^Y1LD FLOWERS.

land. Sometimes the plant was called shave-
grass ; and comb-makers and other workmen
who wanted a polish to the articles they made,
rubbed them with its rough hard substance ;
but it was not known till recently that this
hardness was caused by an abundance of flint
in this plant. One species of horsetail (Eqiiise-
tiim hyemale) is still much used by whitesmiths
and cabinet-makers in their work, and also by
the Northumbrian dairymaids in cleaning their
milk-pails. It grows in our bogs, but not very
generally ; and as the swampy grounds of
Holland furnish it in great quantities, it is
imported hither from that country, and called
Dutch rushes. Our great water horsetail,
{Equisetum Jluviatile,) very frequent in ponds,
was a common article of food among the
Romans. The reindeer, which will not feed
upon hay, will eat this plant.

And now the white bunches of flowers on
the elder tree, are gradually giving way to the
green elder-berries, which in a few weeks vnll
be quite black. The elder {Samhucus nigra) is
very common in woods and hedges, and its
wood is so hard that Pliny said of the plant
that it was all skin and bones. The berries are
poisonous to poultry, yet they make an excel-
lent wine. The Romans were accustomed to
stain their hair black with their juice ; and
these fruits, as well as the bark and leaves, are
used medicinally. So highly did the celebrated
physician of Leyden, Boerhaave, estimate the
properties of this plant, that he never passed

Ji'i.Y. 157

it without taking off his hat — not so much, it
is to be hoped, in veneration of the tree itself,
as in thankfuhiess to the God who made it.
The young shoots of this tree arc often used
as a pickle, and the elder flower ointment is so
general an application, especially in villages,
that most persons know it. The scent of the
elder flower is very powerful, but not very
pleasant. This is one of the few trees which
are not hurt by exposure to the sea breeze.

Now, too, the pretty rose-like flower of the
bramble, (Rvbus /rvficosKS,) v,it\\ its "gauzy
satin frill," is waving on the long flexible
sprays. To many, beside the poet, the bramble
tells a tale of other days — a tale of youthful
pleasures, when roaming in country lanes and
fields, we gathered blackberries for our food,
and when

'■■ The linnet from the self-same bush
Came after us to dine."

And, in later years, when the graver concerns
of life occupy us, and, })erhaps, its trials weigh
heavily upon the spirits, it is well to be recalled,
for a moment, to the simple and inexpensive
sources of joy which blessed our childhood.
The bramble, or blackberry, is, when eaten
ripe, a perfectly wholesome fruit. Country
people often make this fruit into pies and
tarts, and it forms a good and cheap j)reserve,
as it requires not more than half the quantity
of sugar which is used for other preserved
fruits, and the coarsest sugar may be used in
making it. The red muscat of Toulon, is said

158 WILD FLOWEES.

to receive its red colour from the blackberry ;
and in several parts of the south of France
this fruit is so large and juicy, that it is
commonly called, pinte de vin. The bramble
leaves and stems are used in dyeing, and the
young tops and leaves were a common salad at
the tables of the ancient Greeks.

One common use of the bramble stem must
have often attracted our attention, when we
have wandered in the quiet village churchyard.
Its young shoots serve to bind down the sods,
under which repose the "young men and
maidens, old men and children."

" O'er some of these
The flight of centuries has passed — alas !
Above the wept remains of others, yet
The fresh-reared hillock waves not in the wind
Its friendly robe of green."

The bramble was, of old, used for this pur-
pose ; for Jeremy Taylor, when commenting on
the certainty of man's mortality, says, " The
autumn, with its fruits, prepares disorders for
us, and the winter's cold turns them into
sharp diseases ; and the spring brings flowers
to strew upon our hearse ; and the summer
gives green turf and brambles to bind upon
our graves."

The thorny branches of this plant exhibit
many a reddish green spray of leaves in winter.
It is a native both of cold and hot climates, and
found wild in every country in Europe. Several
species of rubus, known by the name of dew-
berry, cloudberry, and bilberry, are common iu
Britain ; and the raspberry {Rubus idceus) is

AUGUST. 159

occasionally found wild in our woods, and was
kno^Mi to the older Avriters as the raspis, or
hiiidberry. The Arctic bramble, {Rubus arc-
ticus,) so common in Sweden, bears a fruit
much eaten by the people of that country.

The bramble is the subject of the oldest
apologue extant, when Jotham, bitterly re-
proaching the men of Shechem for their ingra-
titude to his father's house, narrated to them,
in the eastern manner, the parable of "the
trees choosing a king."*

AUGUST.

" The scarlet pimpernel creeps here and there,
Amid the corn the crimson poppies blush,
Still on the brooks gleam water-lilies rare,

And puri>le loosestrife and the flowering rush:
Still honeysuckle blooms perfume the gale.

Where brj'ony leaves adorn the hedgerows green,
Where peep the scabious and the campion pale,

With trumpet-like convolvuli between;
The blue campanula and chicory wild,

And yellow toad-flax, variegate the plain.
And with a thankful heart and sense beguiled,
We look upon the fields of ripening grain."

H. G. Adamb.

August, with its flowers and fruits, wears a
rich and plenteous aspect. The brown corn,
now ready lor the sickle, is waving over the
field ; the broad and leafy branches of the trees
afford a shade to the tired cattle ; the golden
cones of the hop are twining round the tall
poles ; and the orchard trees are laden with

* Judges ix. 8—15.

160 WILD FLOWERS.

ruddy fruits. The flowers look gay and bril-
liant, for autumn flowers are mostly yellow, and
tliey seem to cluster in such abundavice that
none would suspect that they are far fewer in
variety than in the preceding months. Per-
haps, twice the number of species of wild
flowers might be found by the botanist dur-
ing the month of June than he could find
now ; and though many summer blossoms still
linger, yet those strictly peculiar to August
are comparatively so few that we can but re-
mark that the year is making rapid progress to
its close.

One of the tribes of the plants most likely to
attract our eye during this month, by the great
number of its flowers, is the hawkweed. They
form a family of plants very puzzling to the
botanist, by the resemblance of the species to
each other. The hawkweeds maybe described
generally as flowers shaped like the dandelion,
their leaves are also often similar in form, but the
whole structure of the flower is Kghter and more
delicate. Some of the blossoms are very small,
others as large as a marigold, and they vary in
all shades of yellow, from a deep bright orange
colour to the pale lemon tint which distinguishes
one of our commonest and prettiest kinds.
This species is the mouse-ear hawkweed, (Hie-
racium piloseUa,) and it may at once be known
from the others by its paler hue, scarcely deeper
than that of the primrose, and also by its creeping
scions. It grows on dry pastures, and unless

AUGUST. 16X

the garden lawn be carefully cut, it will spring
up there beside the daisy ; for it commonly
spangles the short grass, or turf, of that and
similar spots.

When the Almighty, in his solemn arguings
with Job, reproved him for presumption, he
asked, " Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom ?"
and the unerring instinct which guides that
strong and quick-sighted bird to his prey is
a striking proof of the skill and power of the
All-wise and All-powerful. The old tradition,
that the hawk fed upon the hawkweed, and led
her young ones early to eat this plant, that, by
its juices, they might gain acuteness of vision,
was believed, some centuries since, not only in
our land, but throughout Europe ; for the po-
pular name of this liower in France is L'Ejter-
vicre, and the Germans call it Ilahichts kraut.
An American species of hawkweed is considered
to possess great medicinal virtues, and com-
monly called, in America, poor Robin's plantain.

Several kinds of camomile are also blooming
now. All the common sorts of this flower
have yellow disks and white rays ; but the ox-
eye camomile (Anthemis tinctoria) is wholly
yellow. The plant which jjroduces the fra-
grant flower sold by the druggists as a tonic
is a native of Britain. It is the Anthemis no-
bilis, and is often cultivated for the purposes
of commerce. The bed of camomile is fre-
quently found in the cottage garden, and most
fullv do the villagers believe the old English
proverb : " Camomile, the oftencr it is trodden

F

162 a\t:ld flowers.

upon, the faster it grows." The whole plant is
very bitter, and its old name is derived from a
Greek word signifying apples, because it was
thought to have the scent of that fruit.

We have five wild species of camomile, and
three of these are very common flowers. One
kind, the stinking camomile, {Anthemis cotula,)
has, indeed, the most disgusting odour. It
grows by road-sides and waste places, and often
bhsters the hands of those who gather it.

A very pretty family of plants, the cudweed,
is abundant in August, One species is well
known, and may serve to guide to the others,
though none of our wild kinds are so handsome
as this. It is the flower called, everlasting love,
and is famihar to those who have visitedthe cele-
brated cemetery of Pere la Chaise, where wreaths
of its blossoms, dyed of a deeper yellow, and
intermingled with others dyed of a jet black,
are thrown upon the tombs of the beloved, or
celebrated, and sold in all the ways which lead
to the ground. The Parisians term this flower
Vimmortelle. It is a native of Africa, and the
Gnaphalium Orientale of the botanist. Our
wild cudweeds are smaller than this, and their
stems and foliage generally covered with woolly
and cottony down. Most of the wild cud-
weeds grow on sandy or gravelly heaths, or
pastures ; some on mountains, and a few on
bogs. One of the most frequent, the common
cudweed, {G^iaphalium Germanicum,) is found
on dry places, and as its mode of growth is
very singidar, it may, by this, be knovra from t^e

AUGUST. 163

remainder of the species. The stem is about
eight inches high, terminated by a globular
head of blossoms, from beneath which spring
two or three more branches, each having a head
of flowers at the point, and these all rise above
that which terminates the main stem. The old
botanists called this flower, wicked herb, {Herha
impia,) because it conveyed the idea that children
were undutifuUy disposed to exalt themselves
al)ove the parent flower. It was also called, hve
long, chaff-weed, cotton-weed, and dwarf cotton.
The various kinds of spurge mostly produce
their yellowish green flowers in this and the
following month. The sun-spurge (Euphorbia
helioscopia) is common everywhere, and is a
good example of our native species, for they
are all very similar in general appearance. It
is found on waste-grounds, as a garden weed,
and in corn-fields. Its stem is so full of thick
white milk that it is often called churn-staff;
and as this liquid is a common cure for warts,
it will point out the plant to the reader. We
have fourteen wild kinds of spurge, and a num-
ber of exotic species have been imported, but
they have little beauty. The juice of all is
acrid, and almost all our wild spurges are poi-
sonous. One species, the caper-spurge, {Eu-
'phorbia laihi/rus,) is rare in woods, but it is
often planted in shrubberies. It has grey green
leaves, and much resembles the true caper-plant.
Indeed its seeds, which are about the size and
colour of the caper-l)ud, are pickled and used in
I'aris as capers ; but there is reason to- believe

164 WILD FLOWERS.

that, if eaten in any quantity, they are very per-
nicious. A very common kind, the cypress-
spurge, {Evphorhia ci/pmnssius,) readily dis-
tinguished from the rest by its long, slender,
numerous leaves, was formerly called, " Wel-
come to our house ;" though on what account
so dangerous a herb was so gratefully welcomed
one cannot guess. The gum-resin, termed, Eu-
pho}'bium, which is diluted for medicinal pur-
poses, is obtained by incision from a common
African species. Its fresh juice raises blisters
on the skin ; and the poor people employed in
collecting it are so affected by the noxious pro-
perties of the withered branches of the plant, that
they are obliged to cover their faces with a linen
cloth when they approach it. One British spe-
cies, the Irish spurge, (Euphorbia Hibernica,)
is said by Dr. Hooker to be much used by the
peasantsof Ireland for poisoning, or rather stu-
pifying fish. He adds, that its qualities are
so powerful as that a small creel, or basket,
filled with the bruised plant, will suffice to poison
the fish for several miles down the river.

The corn-fields, which are now ripe and
brown, add much to the beauty of the land-
scape of August. The healthful toil of the
reaping peasant, and the busy employment of
the rustic maid and matron, are interesting to
every one fond of the country. To those
whose minds are well stored with Scripture
story, and who have associations formed
between the scenes of nature and the descrip-
tions of holy writ, the corn-field is connected

AconsT. 165

■with the remembrances of by-gone ages. The
pious attachment of the gentle Ruth, who chose
to share the sufferings of her aged relative, and to
follow her to the land, blessed with the ordinances
of the God of Israel: those touchins; words of
love spoken by her, "^Vhither thou goest, I will
go ; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge : thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my
God : where thou diest will I die, and there
will I be buried :" all these things are brought
vividly before the mind, as we mark the gleaner,
who, like her of old, fills her apron with the
brown ears of corn. The remembrance of the
early disciples, who, being hungry, "plucked the
ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their
liands ;" and the emphatic words of our Lord,
who, when calling their attention to the state of
the world, and the need of missionary exertion,
said, " Look on the fields ; for they are white
already to harvest ; " and that solemn com-
parison of the harvest to the end of the world,
when "the reapers are the angels," and God
shall separate the chaff from, the wheat, wall
recur to the thoughtful reader of Scripture, to
whom God has given feeling and imagination,
and may fill the inmost recesses of his mind
with trains of holy and devout imagery. Such
a wanderer will not think it enough to exclaim,
" All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord," but
will add, with his whole heart, " and thy saints
shall bless thee !"

Corn, in the state in which we have it, when
cultivated, does not grow wild in any land ; atid

166 WILD FLOWEES.

the field, of wheat, or rye, of oats, or harley, as
well as the maize and millet-crops of other
lands, attest, wherever they are fomid, that man
has been tliere, not as the roving Arab or the
restless Indian, but as the tiller of the soil and
the settled inhabitant of the country. The
corn-plants are termed the cereal grasses ; and
that species by which the people of the land is
mainly supported is called pre-eminently corn.
The -most showy flower of the corn-field, in
this month, is the wild marigold, {Chnjsan-
themum segetum.) The old writers, and even
our earhest British poet, Chaucer, knew it by
the name of gold ; and it is still called goules,
orgoulans, in some counties of England. It is
quite as large, or even larger, than the garden
marigold ; which flower also grows wild in the
corn-fields of Southern Europe, and is called by
the Italians, the flower of every month. The
corn marigold blossoms as early as July, and it
bears the cold of winter better than many of
our flowers ; for if the autumnal and winter
seasons are not very severe, it may be found
bright and blooming as late as December, and

" Cheering through the shortening day
Is autumn with her weeds of yellow."

This flower is rather local in its haunts ; it is
by no means common in Kent, though abund-
ant in some of the neighbouring counties. In
the corn-fields, within a few miles of Paris, it
grows so profusely, that the land is as gay with
its golden flowers as our fields are with the
charlock, or our sprmg meads with the butter-

AUGUsr. 167

cup. In Denmark, it is so common and trou-
blesome a weed, that a law was made, some
years since, compelling the farmer to eradicate
it. The deep yellow juice of this flower is
used, by the Germans, for giving a permanent
dye to stuffs. The corn- marigold was for-
merly called St. John's bloom, yellow-bottle,
and ruddes.

Early in this month we find that unwelcome
intruder in the corn-lands, the spurrey, {Sper-
gula arvensis.) This pretty little flower may
be thus described. Its stem is from six to
twelve inches high. The leaves are slender,
scarcely thicker than coarse threads, and they
stand in circles all around the stem. At the
summit is a cluster of white flowers, each hardly
larger than that of the chickweed. This
plant, though an annoyance in the corn-fields,
is so eagerly eaten by cattle, that when it grows
occasionally on sandy heaths and pastures, it
is a useful herb ; and, in Holland, it is sown in
fields, for pasturage. It is named from spargo,
to scatter, because it scatters an abundance of
seeds. In Scotland it is called yarr ; but the
Norfolk farmers, jealous of their corn-lands,
term it pick-pocket.

In every hedge may now be seen the pale
yellow si)ikc of the wild mignonette, {Reseda
luteola,) which is often called dyer's weed, as
it has been used for dyeing, especially in France.
The whole plant affords juice for this purpose,
and its colour is good and permanent. The
coloured paint, called by artists Dutch pink, is

168 WILD FLOWERS.

obtained from it. Linnseus remarked, of this
flower, that its spike of bloom always follows
the course of the sun, even on a cloudy day :
turning, at sun-rise, to the east ; at noon-day,
looking up to the south ; in the afternoon,
marking the west ; and, with its half-closed
flowers, standing at night, pointing didy to the
north. It is very similar in appearance to
that sweetly-fragrant plant, the garden migno-
nette, {Reseda odorata.) This latter flower is
a native of Egypt, and was known, long after its
introduction into England, by the name of the
Egyptian's mignonette.

The tansy (Tanacetiim vnlgare) grows wild
in some fields. It was formely called Athanasia
by botanists, and the French still dedicate it
to the saint of that name. The flowers ot
the tansy are in thick yellow clusters. Its
strongly aromatic and bitter principle render it
a useful plant in medicine ; and its young leaves
are made into puddings, cakes, and omelets,
though the flavour is too strong to be generally
palatable. A distilled water is obtained from
this plant. This flower was formerly very ge-
neral in gardens, but is left now for the cottage-
ground, where, in the rustic plot, it still takes
its place with the flowers which the poet Clare
describes, —

" And where the marjoram once, and sage and rue,
And bahn and mint, with curl'd-leaf parsley grew,
And double marigolds, and silver thyme.
And pumpkins 'neath the window used to climb ;
And where i often, when a child, for hours
Tried through the pales to get the tempting flowers ;

AUGUST. 169

As lady's laces, everlasting peas,

True-love lies bleeding, with the hearts at ease;

And (golden rods, and tansy running high.

That o'er the pale-top smiled on passer-by ;

Flowers in my time, that every one would praise,

Though thrown, like weeds, from gardens now-a-days."

On a few sandy soils may now also be seen
the plant called field- southemiwood, {Artemisia
cauipesfris,) with its smooth green leaves and
whitish flowers. It has been found chiefly on
some lands of Norfolk and Suffolk, especially
near Thctford and Bury. Then the old village
remedy for luimerous ills — the elecampane,
(Inula helenium) — puts forth its bright yellow
stars in the moist pasture or hedge. This
is one of the largest of our wild flowers ; and
it was formerly much esteemed for its tonic
properties. Its root is glutinous and aromatic ;
and from it is made tlie candied sweetmeat,
called elecampane. The whole plant is downy,
and its stem is about five or six feet high. A
good blue dye exists in its juices.

The May-weed {Pyrethrum inodorum) is so
truly an autumnal flower, that it is little enti-
tled to its spring-like name. In August and
September, wlicn the corn is being cut down, and
ifter it is gleaned, the fields are full of it ; and
it may be commonly seen as late as Pecembor,
looking, indeed, somewhat the worse for wind
and weather at that season, though in August
it is a pretty flower. Notwithstanding its Latin
specific name, it is slightly scented, and is con-
sidered to possess some good tonic properties.

One beautiful flower, growing by the river-
side in this month, is very general and very

I- 3

170 WILD FLOWEES.

conspicuous. The tall hemp agrimony (Eupa-
torium cannaMnum) is often five feet high. Its
flowers grow in crowded clusters of a pale flesh
colour, and are not unlike those of the garden
valerian, which is sometimes seen v/ild also on
walls. The hemp agrimony is shghtly fragrant,
and has been used medicinally. Indeed it is
of old renown, for Mithridates, king of Pontus,
first discovered its good properties.

That very lovely flower, the grass of Par-
nassus, {Parnassia jmlusti-iS)) blooms now in
marshy grounds, and near streams, but, though
common in Scotland, is rather a rare plant in
the south. It is a large flower, of a yellowish
white tint, situate on an angular stem, a few
inches high, its leaves proceeding from the
root on long footstalks, and heart-shaped. Its
beauty may be inferred from the name with
which it is honoured, and which it obtained
not only because of its growing so often on
hilly places, but also because it was deemed a
fit flower for the muses.

One of the handsomest reed plants is now in
flower, and it is common not only in England,
but in almost every part of the world where
streams are to be found. This is the great
cat's tail, or reed-mace, {Typha JatifoUa,) and
it is very flourishing along the borders of many
ponds and lakes. Its long catkins are of a
greenish brown colour, and its greyish green
leaves are often an inch wide, and a yard long.
The downy seeds of the reed-mace are used in
stuffing pillows aud mattresses, and they are a

AUGUST. 171

good substitute for the feathers of the bird.
Its leaves, besides being eaten by cattle, are
useful for thatching cottages, and for making
mats and baskets. London also mentions that
this is the plant which Rubens, and tlie later
Italian painters, have represented in their pic-
tures as the reed which was borne by the
Saviour, when, in cruel mockery, it was given
as a sceptre. Another writer says of this
plant, " A weaver of velvet told me that, at
Spitalfields and other places, the head of this
rush is used for cleaning their work in prefer-
ence to a common brush. Since then, being
in the neighbourhood of Blackheath, I met a
man carrying a large bundle of them, and upon
inquiry, he told me that they would be sold to
the poor at one penny each, for the purpose of
a hat-brush. I see no reason to doubt their
utihty in either case, for their softness and elas-
ticity render them very applicable to these pur-
poses." This reed is very abundant in the
swamps of New Zealand, and much used by
the natives for thatching roofs.

The flowers which find their places by the
shores of the ocean, though never numerous,
are as many as in the former mouths. The
horned poppy {Ghaichim luteian) yet showers
down its frail yellow petals on the mass of sea-
weed. The several kinds of sea southernwood
(Arteinisia) are dressed in their green flowers ;
the thrift still lends its pink tufts to adorn the
crevices of the rocky clifF; and the saltwort
{Suncorma herbacea) is so general on ovir

172 WILD FLOWERS.

coast as to be known by most who visit the
sea-side. The Itahans call it Erba Kali. It is
used in making glass and salted as a pickle.

The samphire {Crithmum maritimum) is an
excellent pickle, but this flower grows only on
the southern coast of England. As it flourishes
on cliffs and walls near the sea, the gathering
of samphire is often a dangerous occupation.
Its flower is of a greenish white colour, and is
in bloom durino: August.

Some of the little sandworts blossom now
by the sea-side. They are all much alike,
except one species, which is often called sea-
pimpernel, or sea sandwort, {Arenaria 'peploi-
des.) Large patches of this plant grow on
several parts of our coast. At Sheerness, in
Kent, it is very abundant. It has stems, a
few inches high, much branched and thickly
crowded with succulent leaves. It has small
white flowers, growing two or three in a cluster.
The whole plant is pretty from its shining
glossy appearance.

The sea-side convolvulus, {Cahjstegia solda-
nella,) with its pretty rose-coloured bells, flowers
all the summer ; and a less showy but very
common plant, the sea-beet, (Beta maritima,)
with its green blooms and large root, is now
found near the sea. It has thick wavy green
leaves, which, when boiled, are a good vegetable.
It is very much like the beet of the garden,
{Beta vulgaris,) which is well known as a culi-
nary root, and as a pickle ; and which is so
often cut into the flowers used for ornamenting

AUGUST. 173

dishes. There is a great quantity of sugar
both in the wild and cultivated species.

The sea purslanes, (Atriplex,) and the
common gooseCoots, {Chenopodimn,) are in this
month plentiful near the sea, and are mostly
in bloom. The leaves of the former are gene-
rally of a whitish green, and the plant often grows
in such quantities as to present to the eye a
grey green mass. The flowers are green, tinged
with red, and grow in clusters of thick spikes,
at the upper part of the stem. The goosefoots
are very similar to these plants, and some of
them are burned with the glassworts and other
marine plants, for the soda yielded by their
ashes. One kind is termed the good king
Henry, {Chenopodhim bonus Henricus,) and is
cultivated in Lincolnshire as spinach, and its
stems as asparagus. It is quite as good in its
wild as in its cultivated state.

The woodlands are now full of boughs and
leaves, and the summer-flowers of last month
are blooming yet. Some very pretty ferns
wave their luxuriant and feathery leaves, and
the mosses are thickening into a soft pathway.
The rare purple Helleborine {Epipactis lati-
folid) should be sought for now, and may be
found in the woods of mountainous countries.
Its flowers are a long lax spike, sometimes of
a greenish purple, at others deep tinted as the
purple grape of the vine.

174 WILD FLOWERS.

SEPTEMBER.

" Summer ebbs— each day that follows
Is a reflex from on high,
Tending to tlie darksome hoUo-ws,
Where the frosts of winter lie.

" He who governs the creation,
In his providence assign'd,
Such a gradual declination
To the life of hrunan kind.

" Yet we mark it not ; — fruits redden,

Fresh flowers blow as flowers have blown,
And the heart is loth to deaden
Hopes that she so long hath known."

Wordsworth.

The September landscape is very beautiful,
for though the changing tints of the leaves
temind us that summer is going, yet they add
to the glory and richness of the present scene.
It is chiefly in remarking the flowers that we
see the rapid advance of the coming winter.
The flowers are now evidently lessening in
number. One by one the blossoms of mid-
summer have disappeared; and though some,
like the golden ragwort, are as bright as ever,
and though others, more delicate than this, still
bloom for us in some sheltered nooks, yet it
would be an easy matter to count the species of
flowers which open, for the first time, to the sun
of September.

The tall and handsome golden rod, (Solidar/o
virgaurea,) with its crowded clusters of flowers,
does not unfokl for the first time in this month,
for it begins to bloom even as early as the end of
July J but it may be found in great perfection

SEPTEMBEE. 175

from now till the end of the year. It grows in
woods and thickets, and is often planted in
shrubberies. It was once supposed to be a
cure for wounds . It was brought, in a dried state,
from the woods of other lands, and sold in the
London markets by the herb-women of queen
Elizabeth's days ; and, about that time, it was
first discovered to grow wild in llampstead
woods. Botanists were not so numerous then
as they are now; and this mxist account for the
fact, that a flower which grows wild in several
English counties had never previously been
supposed to be indigenous. Fuller — who, in
enumerating the " Worthies of England," intro-
duces them to his readers, by an account of the
vegetable productions of their native counties —
speaks very highly of the golden rod, and cen-
sures its disuse : — " Some maintain," says he,
" that every county cures the diseases which
it causes, and bringeth remedies for all the
maladies bred therein. An opinion which grant
not true, yet may have much of truth, seeing
that every coimty of England especially aflFord-
eth excellent plants, were it not partly for men's
laziness that they will not seek them ; partly
for their ignorance, that they will not know
them ; and partly for their pride and peevish-
ness, that because, when they are found, they
disdain to use and apply them." lie adds,
that while the golden rod was brought, at great
expense, from foreign countries, it was highly
valued : but that it was no sooner discovered to
be a native plant, than it was discarded from use.

176 WILD FLOWERS.

Its bright yellow flowers have found for It an
introdaction into our gardens, and several of
the species which we cultivate grow wild on
the few green spots which lie about the rocky
island of St. Helena.

The common flea-bane, ( Inula dijsenterica, )
a star- shaped flower, as large as a guinea, and
of as bright a hue, is very frequent now on
moist lands throughout England ; and we may
be sure, when we find this in our country walk,
that some quiet river, or stream, is gliding
through the landscape. This flower is com-
monly called wild marigold, and it received
both its familiar and scientific names from the
belief that its odour was repulsive to fleas,
gnats, and other insects. It seems strange that
it was considered as obnoxious to insects, and
worn about the person, or hung around the bed
as a terror to them, while, in our days, its effi-
ciency is totally denied. The Arabs extol this
plant very highly, as a remedy for wounds.
One of those traditions which a wandering
people transmit from generation to generation
records that this bruised flov/er was used by
Job, as an application to those grievous diseases
which he so pathetically laments. Hence the
flea-bane is called by the men of the desert
" Job's tears." Its stems and leaves are of a
woolly texture, and of a whitish-green colour.

But directing our attention to the sandy
shores, or the salt-marshes of the sea, we shall
find a few autumnal flowers. The marsh mal-
low, {Althcp.a officinalis,) formerly called moor-

SEPTEMBER. 177

ish mallow, or white mallow — is not uncommon
on salt shores, either of the sea or river. The
name Althcea, to cure, was given to it for its
healing properties, which are well known, hot
to medical practitioners and to country people
The flowers are very pretty, of a delicate rose
colour ; the leaves are very thick, and hoth
surfaces are so soft and downy that they resem-
ble a piece of thick silky velvet. Both leaves
and root contain a great quantity of mucilage,
which, in France, is made into a kind of paste,
and forms the lozenges well known on the con-
tinent by the name of Pate de Gubnmive.

The ^lichaelmas-daisy, or blue camomile,
(^Aster f?-ipoliii7» ,) though never, in our coimtry,
found on inland spots, is very frequent near
the sea, or salt river. It is often called sea-
starwort and blue daisy. It grows about three
or four feet in height, and its lilac flowers are
in bloom from August to November. Ancient
writers on flowers reported of this, that it changed
its colour three times a-day ; hence it is termed
iriiwlium. The Greek writers stated, that it
was white in the morning, purple at noon, and
crimson in the afternoon. An old English
name of this flower is hog's bean ; because its
root, which is shaped like a bean, is eagerly
rooted out and eaten by swine.

The common sea-wormwood (^Artemisia
maritiind) is in blossom now, on salt marshes.
This is not the wormwood once worn as a
charm against ague. The species thus rever-
enced is that generally called mugwort {Arte-
misia vulgaris.) It is a well-known plant of

178 WILD fLOWEES.

waste places and hedge banks. Tlie upper
surface of its leaf is of a green as dark as that
of the old ivy leaf, but it is quite white and
cottony underneath.

The raugwort had, according to old writers,
so powerful a spell, that the wayfaring man,
who bore a branch of it about him, felt no
fatigue. A species of wormwood is cultivated
in some parts of Surrey for its seed, which is
used by the rectifiers of British spirits ; and
our common mugwort is used, instead of hops,
in the beer of Sweden.

And now, again, the fields are green with
the after-grass, which springs up after the hay
is cut down. The exquisite verdure given by
the grasses to the fields — making the pastoral
landscapes of England among the most lovely
spots of earth, v/ould lead us highly to value
this important tribe of plants, even were they
of no other use. The beneficence of the great
Creator, in adorning the earth, is too little
thought of. His goodness is recognised in
providing us with plants for food and clothing,
for shade and shelter ; yet how seldom do we
Uiank him that he has made the meadow green,
and scattered the blossoms of beauty on every
path. And yet how much real enjoyment is
derived from the loveliness of the landscape !
God might have provided for all our wants, and
yet have placed us in a land destitute of beauty ;
and, surely, the profusion of the summer-flowers
and the bright verdure of earth should make us
not only glad, but grateful too.

In the grass tribe are included all the com-

SEPTEMBER. 179

plants, the sugar-cane and the useful bamboo.
\Vlien we consider that, in every land in which
the corn-field exists, the fiour procured from it
Eonstitules the staple food of man, we form
some idea of the value of this tribe ; and though
the South Sea Islander may live on his bread-
fruit tree, and the Ncv/ Hollander, too idle to
cultivate his land, may enjoy tlie produce of his
native sago-palm, or the large root of the arum ;
yet this food can be procured in few climates,
while corn can be cultivated on the greater part
of the globe. When we see the multitude of
cattle enjoying the liberal supply of food spread
over the green pastures, and when " the hay
appeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself,
and the herbs of the mountains are gathered,"
we see again, though indirectly, that the grass
groweth for the service of man. When we
behold how the grass, by its matted roots,
binds down the sands which else would be
floating far and wide, we have another instance
of its value. In the Hebrides, the shore grass
(Arundo arenaria) is made into ropes, and
bags, and hats. The grass oil of India is
highly valued for its aromatic properties, and
the fragrant scent of our native meadow
grasses, when they lie withered in the sun,
is delightful to the wanderer in the hay-field.
The sugar-cane of the west, and the baml)oo of
the east, are alike valuable. The native of
Asia eats the soft shoots of the bamboo as we
eat asparagus. Tlie hollow joints yield him
a retreshiug drink ; its seeds are eateu as a

180 WILD FLOWERS.

delicacy ; and a decoction of its leaves furnishes
him with a medicine. The large stems are
used for baskets and pipes. Its leaves are
made into fans and coverings for roofs ; and
from the plant, in various ways, are procured
paper, writing-pens, furniture for houses, and
every variety of domestic implements.

It is a circumstance worthy of remark, in
our meadow grasses, that they possess the same
properties for food as those vihich we cultivate
in our corn-fields. The smaller size of the seeds
renders them unsuitable for culture ; or bread,
or malt, might be made from seeds of tlie com-
mon grass. There is, indeed, a great similarity
in all the plants of the grass tribe. Every one
of them contains sugar, and each one has on
its stem a coat of flint. After the burning of
a hay-stack, pieces of glass have been found
lying on the ground around it, which the fusing
properties of fire have converted from flint to
this substance. The straw of barley is said,
by professor Lindley, to be melted by fire into
a glass of a topaz yellow colour ; and a wheat
straw is stated to furnish a colourless glass,
when fused by a common blow-pipe. One grass
only is deleterious. The darnel, {Lolium temu-
lentum,) when mingled with flour, is unwhole-
some ; but Lindley considers that its injurious
effects may have been greatly exaggerated.

That singular flower, the meadow safl'ron,
{Colchicum autumnaJe,) may be found both in
this monih and in October. It is a purple
blossom, in shape resembling the common

OCTOBER. 181

crocus. The singularity of this flower consists
in its blooming in autumn, while its leaves and
fruit appear in the spring following. About
the end of October the flower dies away, and
no one, on looking at the plant, would observe
any indication of its seeds. Yet these lie buried
in the bulb while winter snows are around and
above it ; but when the sun and showers of
spring bring forward the early flowers of the
meadow, the seeds rise up, ripen during summer,
and in autumn produce the saffron flower. The
colchicum is a powerful medicine. No cattle
will touch the fresh plant ; and the idea that it
is fatal to dogs originated its French name of
morte aux chiens. It probably, when made
into hay, loses some of its noxious property,
for it is very abundant on the high lands of
Ital}', and is regularly cut down, on the Alpine
pastures, with the summer grass. With us it
grows pretty generally on the pasture-lauds of
the north-western counties.

OCTOBER.

" Let me quit this spot,
And roam where Nature sheds a parting smile :
As yet tlie blue-bells linger on the sod
That copes the shcepfold ring; and in the woods
A second blow of many flowers appears,
Flowers faintly tinged, and breathing no perfume.
But fruits, not blossoms, form the woodland wreath
That circles autumn's lirow ; the ruddy haws
Now clotlie the half-leaved thorn ; the bramble bends
Beneath its jetty load; the hazel hangs
With auburn branches, dipping in the stream
That sweeps along, and tlireatens to o'erflow
The leaf-strewn banks." Ja.mks Grahamk.

The brown October is more fertile in fruits

182 WILD FLOWERS.

than in flowers, and the wild nosegay gathered
now is, indeed, a small one. Yet the pastoral
landscape has not lost its charms, for its grass
is still bright and fresh. It is not the decrease
of flowers alone, however, which warns of
autumn. The trees are now yellow, red, or of
a withered brown, with his touches. Some,
like the ash, and the great white poplar, are
daily dropping so many showers of leaves, that
we are anticipating that their naked branches
will soon stand boldly out on the landscape.
The swallows are congregating for their de-
parture to other and warmer lands ; and the
loud twittering which they make on the great
oak, or elm, has, to the naturalist, a sound pecu-
liarW autumnal. All at once we miss the sound,
and they are gone ; and we are reminded of
the allusion made by the prophet Jeremiah to
the migration of birds, and the melancholy
comparison which he draws between tlie wild
bird and the instructed man. " Yea," says the
prophet, " the stork in the heaven knoweth her
appointed times; and the crane and the swallow
observe the time of their coming ; but my people
know not the judgment of the Lord." * Alas !
it is not alone to ancient Israel that the reproof
belongs. The voice of nature, and the voice
of Providence, and the voice of God's word, are
still unheard by uutliinking man !

The cultivated fi-uits of earth are now chiefly
gathered in. The corn is brought into the
garner, the fragrant hops are lying in the store-

* Jer. viii' 7.

OCTOBEB.

183

house, the cherries are gathered and consumed,
and the store of apples, destined for winter use,
are either taken from the tree, or are ready for
harvesting. But the wild berries grace the
hedges by thousands, and ghmmer among tlie
rain-drops like jet and ruby mingled with
crystal. The clear berries of the nightshade
are outshone by the beautiful red clusters of the
berries of the guelder rose, and contrast with
the deep opaque red fruits of the bryony, or
the more orange-tinted branches of the moun-
tain ash. Tlie^scarlet haws and hips, the black-
berries, the rose-tinted fraits of the spindle
tree, lying open and displaying the bright
orange-coloured seeds, arc all plentiful now in
the good greenwood; and when we consider
the fruits of earth which are laid up for man,
and m-ark the preparation of food for the fowls
of heaA-en, may we not say with the psalmist,
"Thou crownest the year with thy goodness?"

It has been observed of our native fruits,
that white berries are commonly sweet, red
ones sour ; blue, of a sour, mixed with a sweet
flavour ; and black are either almost tasteless,
or poisonous. But several of our scarlet berries
are poisonous too, and should never be tasted
by anv who do not understand their properties.

The ivy, {Iledera helix,) which mantles over
the old ruins, or climbs to the highest bough of
the oak of the forest, is now displaymg its
clusters of green blossoms ; and the bees which
still venture to leave their retreats, when the
mormng sun shines out brightly, seem highly

184 WILD FLOWERS.

to prize them. The French term this plant
la lierre, and the Spaniards give the name of
yedra, not only to the ivy, hut to every plant
which, like this, has a propensity to climh.
• Sheep are very fond of ivy, and its grey-
veined leaves often yield them a winter repast.
The Irish ivy, (Helix vegeta,) so often culti-
vated under the name of the giant ivy, has very
large leaves ; but in other respects differs little
from our wild plant.

The question, whether ivy is destructive to
trees, has been much discussed by botanists,
but it seems the general opinion, that it is not
so. Loudon considers that the ivy is the only
plant which may be reared against houses,
without rendering the walls damp, and the sole
objection to be raised against the picturesque
covert which it affords to the house wall is,
that it harbours spiders and other insects, which
will sometimes find their way into the dwelling.

That very handsome shrub, the strawberry
tree, or bear berry, {Arbutus unedo,) is now
gay with its greenish white flowers, which hang
among its thick evergreen foliage like so many
waxen bells. This shrub is very common in
gardens, but it is usually enumerated among
our wild plants, for it has been known to grow
for many centuries in the south of Ireland ;
some writers, however, think that it was intro-
duced there from Spain, by the monks of
Mucross Abbey ; and when we consider how
many flowers and shrubs, as well as esculent
vegetables, were brought into Britain, for the

OCTOBER. 185

use of the monastery lands, this is not impro-
bable. At the lake of Killarney, so often
celebrated by the poets for its beautiful
scenery, the arbutus grows in great plenty, and
attains a considerable size, in the woods on
the shores of the blue waters. The fruit of the
tree is as large as the common hautboy, but of
a much deeper crimson, and of a firmer sub-
stance ; it is very ornamental to the tree, and
it appears to have been a common article of
food among the ancients, as it now is in Spain
and Italy ; yet Pliny says, the specific name
ef the plant is derived from unedo, I "eat
one," because he who ate one would eat no
more. Its name of arbutus is also from the
Celtic words, ar boise, " austere bush," because
of the nature of its berries ; yet to many per-
sons their flavour is agreeable. The Spaniards
make of them a conserve, and the Irish peasant
children gather them for sale, from the bushes
of Killarney.

Two other kinds of arbutus belong to our
wild plants : the trailing, or black bear-berry,
{Arbutus alpina,) which grows on the bleak
Highland mountains, and whose foliage in
autumn is remarkably beautiful, from its deep
yet bright crimson colour ; and the red bear-
berry, {Arbutus uva ursi,) which is a common
plant throughout the north of England, and on
the Scottish Highlands. Its blossoms are of a
deep rose colour ; its berries smaller and more
austere than those of the strawberry tree ; and
they afford excellent food for the moor-fowl.

186 WILD FLOWERS*

The shepherd's spikenard (Conysa squarrosa)
is among our latest blooming wild flowers. It
has hairy leaves, and as its stem is often a yard
high, it is not likely to be overlooked on the
chalky or clayey pastures, where it abounds.
Its radiate, or star-shaped flowers are yellow,
and grow in clusters. It was, in former days,
hung up in rooms to drive away gnats and other
insects, and branches of it are still suspended
from the cottage ceiling in the French village,
for the same purpose. The spikenard is often
cultivated in gardens, and the strong odour of
camphire, which some exotic species emit, may
probably have suggested its name, as many
writers consider that camphor is the spikenard
of the ancient writers, and the substance alluded
to, under that name, in the Song of Solomon.

And now, when few flowers appear, we are
glad to gather the second bloom of the purple
violet from under its broad canopy of leaves,
and to detect something like the spring odour
in its flowers. That pretty bright yellow flower,
with its pea-shaped blossoms, the hairy dwart
green weed, (Genista pilosa,) very generally
blooms, for the second time, on the gravelly or
sandy heath, during the latest months of the
year. Several kinds of crocus too appear late
in the autumn, and one species, the naked
flowering ci'ocus, (Crocus nudijlorus,^ does not
open its bright purple flowers until October,
when it may be found in the meadows of some
counties. How far any of the crocus tribe
may be considered as truly indigenous, is a

OCTOBER. 187

point on 'whicli botanists differ. Some writers
think that they are all natives of Asia, and
have been naturalized in those spots where we
find them growing wild. Dr. Hooker enume-
merates five species in his " British Flora."

The largest of those pretty white flowers,
the winter green, or pyrola, may still be ga-
thered from beneath the shade of the autumnal
wood ; for though these plants begin to bloom
as early as July, they are quite vigorous till
now. The species which blooms the latest is
the round-leaved winter green, {Pyrola rotundi-
folia.) It cannot bt said of one of the winter
greens that it is a common flower of England,
though it is less rare in the north and in
Scotland. The round-leaved species has white
spreading flowers, and grows on moist copses.
It is often found in Yorkshire, and, occasionally,
in the Kentish woods. All the plants are
exceedingly pretty, and are called winter-green
from their unfading foliage. They all possess
tonic properties.

And now, when flowers are few, the mosses
attract the attention of the botanist, and are
flourishing particularly on moist places. These
minute plants are found in damp climates, in all
parts of the globe, but are far more numerous
in cold and temperate, than in hot regions.
They are of little value in medicine, or manu-
factures, nor can we use them for domestic
purposes. One species, the fir club-moss,
{Lycopodium selayo,) is used in the Isleof Skye
mstead of alum to fix the colour in dyeing.

188 WILD FLOWERS.

Another species, the common club-moss,
{Lycopodimn clavatum,) which is a large moss
frequent in England, and which covers immense
tracts of moss land in Lapland, is used in the
manufacture of fireworivs.- It often grows two
or three feet in length, on heathy mountainous
lands, and its seeds are remarkably inflamma-
ble. It is probable that this moss will be
found of more service in dyeing than has hi-
therto been supposed ; for it has been stated
by a French botanist to have the property of
imparting a brilliant blue to woollen cloths, if,
afterwards, they are passed through an infusion
of Brazil wood.

But though no single moss is of any very
great value to man, yet the mosses in general
are by no means useless plants. It would re-
flect no dishonour on their great Creator, could
we discern no service which they render to us,
and no particular purpose which they answer in
the economy of nature. Enough it might be
to claim our grateful admiration, that their soft
green substance adds to the smoothness of the
grassy path ; that their scaly stems, or their
small leaves, forming -little stars of verdure,
beautify the landscape. Enough it would be
that they enliven the grey stem of the old oak
tree, and furnish us vdth a cushioned seat at its
foot. But mosses perform an important part
in the vegetable kingdom. But for them, the
mountainous regions would be barren indeed ;
for their patches of verdure cover up the seeds
and roots of the Alpine flowers, and, as they

OCTOBER. 189

flecaj-, improve the poor soils of rocks and
hills. The trees are defended by them from
the -winter cold. The whole texture of mosses
consists of cells, iu \vhich the summer shower,
or the morning, or evening dew lingers, and
renders the plant always moist ; and thus the
little moss preserves from drought the giant
tree of the wood. Thousands of insects live
on these plants, and hide beneath their shelter ;
and the bird, whose song gladdens the summer
wood, gathers the moss for his nest. The
bog and morass are gradually filled up, and in
some instances become firm land by the growth
and decomposition of mosses. They and the
lichens are the first vegetation which spring up
on the thin soil of rocks or islands, from which
the sea has withdrawn ; and the farthest and
dreariest spot of earth which the foot of man
has traversed was found decked with some of
the moss plants. When mosses have ceased,
vegetation is at an end, and the snows dwell
perpetually on the high mountains, or northern-
most point of land. About eight hundred
kinds of moss have been discovered, and small
as they are, each species has distinct characters,
by which all the plants composing it may be
recognised. No confusion exists in natine, and
when the marks of one moss are clearly defined,
the botanist may discover them in every plant
of the species, whether he find it on a rock of
England, or on some hill distant from our
country by thousands of miles. We must look
at them through a microscope, to sec their full

190 WILD FLOWERS.

beauty. Unlike the works of man, the works
of God are always perfest, and most admirable
when most examined. The finest cambrics,
when seen through a magnifying power, will
be discovered to have specks, and flaws, and
uneven threads ; but the smallest moss will be
found full of symmetry and beauty.

There is something inexplicable in the growth
of mosses and lichens on newly-formed soils.
We can comprehend how the seeds of plants
may have reached the summit of the highest
ruin, but how can we account for them on new
islands, where httle specks of moss are seen
struggling into existence, on barren and lifeless
soils. Their seeds were never planted there by
man; the waters cannot have borne thither
these minute particles, for so much moisture
would have destroyed the vital power of the
seeds ; the birds of the air can hardly have
carried them so far ; one would think they had
lain in the earth since the creation, and were
now bursting into light from their long night of
darkness : it is mystery, all ! But He who made
the earth, and the dews which water it, has
planted them there, and daily vivifies them with
his fresh airs, and the showers of heaven.
And while we see how unable we are to com-
prehend these his works, shall we wonder that
some of the great mysteries of spiritual truth
should be incomprehensible to finite minds;
and if a little moss on a rock can suffice
to make us feel our ignorance, need we, on
the sublime things of the kingdom of heaven.

NOVEMBEB AND DECEMBEE. 191

hesitate to say with Job, "Lo, these are parts
of his -ways : but how httle a portion is heard
of him!"*

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER.

" Where is the pride of Summer— the green prime,
The many many leaves, all twinkling ? — Tliree
On the moss'd elm ; three on the naked lime,
Trembling,— and one upon the old oak tree !" — Hood.

We may even yet cull a good nosegay from
the garden, but our fields and lanes put forth no
new blossoms for the dreary November, or the
frosty airs of the closing month ; not that the
country is absolutely destitute of flowers, for a
few autumnal blossoms, as the ragwort, are yet
left ; and the winter flowering furze is bright ;
and the pale yarrow still stays with us ; and the
starry daisy yet sparkles in the grass. Not only,
in our rural walk, do we miss the many flowers,
but the voice of the tuneful bird now rarely bids
us pause to listen. The robin, however, that
" household bird, with the red stomacher,"
sings every day more regularly, and with louder
note ; the sky-lark warbles a parting song, and
the thrush has not yet forsaken the almost
leafless woods, but on a bright frosty morning
will cheer us with a song, as loud and sv.eet as
even the strains of summer. The countryman
finds employment in tending his farm ; but
the field labour is little now, tor the Almighty

* Job xxvi. li.

192 WILD FLOWEBS.

" saith to the snow, Be tbou on the earth ; i

Hkewise to the small rain, and to the great rain j

of his strength. He sealeth up the hand of i

every man ; that all men may know his work,"* ;

The mushroom, or fungus tribe, with their i

leathery, or spongy textures, are some of them |

common on the decayed tree, or putrid substance, j

Some are of a grey gi-een, others of lemon or '

orange colour, or red, or spotted with chocolate- ;

coloured spots, and bright mulberry-coloured '

stains. Though several are poisonous, yet ,

many are beautiful, and display, by their great j

variety, the Almighty skill. ■

Spring, and summer, and autumn, with \

their flowers, and fruits, and leaves, pass rapidly i

away. Other springs shall arise, but which of '

us can tell that we shall mark its flowers; the t

voice of the changing seasons is, to us, the voice \

of God; and well may the prayer of the psalm- •

ist suit us all, " So teach us to number oui i

days, that we mav apply our hearts vmto wis

dom."t

* Job xxxvii. e, 7 tPsa. xc. 32.

59^

IGIOUS TUACT SOCIETY : INSTITUTED l7^).

^: —

f 1:

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY '■

QK The Garden flowers of the

BioMed