The language of flowers

ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

AT
CORNELL UNIVERSITY

THE GIFT OF

Isabel Zucker
class '26

CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 1924 067 884

B Cornell University
y Library

The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240678841 26

I'M al,LV'ruf'jJ'Vlii!pr,'IV';ajc d'l I'i:iii-,^,iaiii

PUBLISHED by DE VRIES.IMRRA ET C;, BOSTON,

THE

EDITED BY

MISS ILDREWE.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM
THOMAS MILLER.

Plustx-Hteb bj ffiolortb ^lafts, anb Itamcrons WoobtKts, after

GUSTAVE DORJ:, DAUBIQHT, TIMMS, AHD OTHEEB.

BOSTON:
DE VRIES, IBARRA, AND COMPANY,

BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by

DE VRIES, IBARRA & CO.,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

■LBOTnOTTPBD AT THE

BOSTON STBRBOTYPE FOUNDRY,
Ko< 4 Spring Lane.

Printed by John Wilson and Sons.

. .-M - — .

TO THE READER.

0^ I VACANCY seems to exist in the litera-

^ ture of tlie present day, which this book,

*^ it is hoped, may help to fill. There is

no English work on the Language of

Flowers which is at all satisfactory, and

no foreign one, as far as we are aware,

which is either sufficiently complete, or

exactly adapted to American wants. The

editor has consulted all the flower books

1 * (5)

6 TO THE READER.

known to her in English, French, and German, and belieyes
this will be found to contain a more copious dictionary, and
more appropriate descriptions, than any of its predecessors.

It is designed for all parts of the United States ; but if any
are disappointed in not finding here some flowers they seek,
they must remember that this charming language is not yet
perfected, and we have been unwilling to attach arbitrary and
unauthorized meanings to many of our native blossoms which
certainly deserve and convey a sentiment as well as their older
foreign sisters.

Where authorities differed in regard to signification, the
most correct has been carefully sought out; and in some in-
stances, where two seemed equally good, both are given.

The quotations from English authors (to say nothing of
Latin and other languages) might have been multiplied, and
a very large volume written on this delightful subject — for
who is ever tired of rambling among flowers ? But it was
necessary to keep the volume of a convenient size — and this
must be our excuse for rejecting much which some may
expect to find.

Trusting that any omissions or inaccuracies may meet with
indulgence, we commend our new "Language of Flowers,''
not to the tender mercies of the critics, but to the attention
of all who love flowers.

DECE.MBER, 1885.

INTRODUCTION.

ij^ T was in that age when the golden
mornings of the early world were
unclouded by the smoke of cities, —
when the odors from thousands of
untrodden flowers mingled with the
aroma of old forests, and the gen-
tlest wind that ever tried its wings,
flapped its way through vast realms of sleeping fragrance,
— that Love first set out to discover the long lost Lan-
guage of the Flowers. For there had been rumors in
the olden world, that before the winged lovers of Earth's
first daughters left their watch beside the star -beaconed

(7)

» INTRODUCTION.

battlements of Heaven, and gave up all their glory for
the heart of woman, — the buds and blossoms held
sweet converse together, and that many a time when
the nightingale ushered in the twilight with her song,
voices from the flowers had made low response, amongst
the glades and rose-girded pastures in the Garden of
Paradise. Even on Olympus, Love had heard that an
immortal language never could die ; that, although silent,
it still slept somewhere among the flowers ; and many a
time, whilst resting on some fragrant bed, he had been
awakened by low whisperings, and disturbed by the
heavy beating of his heart, which ever seemed urging
him onward to commence his holy mission, and discover
that language, which had been lost ever since the day
when Eve went weeping from the angel-guarded gates
of Eden.

Love arose and shook the rounded dew in Idosened
pearls from the feathery silver of his wings, and soared
far away over many a hill and valley, alighting when
weary, and kneeling lowly, with attentive ear and bowed
head, beside the blossoms ; but as yet he had only
leai'ned what the bees said when they hung murmuring
over the honeyed bells, and what words the butterflies
whispered afe they alighted upon the flowers with subsid-
ing wings. Onward wandered Love for many a day ;
although he caught the faint breathing of the blossoms.

IN TROD Ua TION. 9

yet the meaning of their lowest words was still to him a
mystery. At last, weary and sad at heart, he sat down
and wept upon a bed of roses. The rose was his moth-
er's favorite flower ; it had ever been sacred to Venus,
and he heard a sound as of low sighing amongst its
leaves ; and when he lay down, he felt the drooping
petals falling upon his lips and around his neck, as if to
catch the tears that fell ; and then it was that Love first
kissed the Rose and blessed it unawares, for the sweet-
ness and beauty of the flower sank into his heart. And
whilst folded upon his lips, she told him that ages ago
Jove selected her for the Queen of Flowers and the
'Goddess of Beauty; that nothing human had ever sur-
passed her charms ; and that when every image of
poetry was exhausted, none could equal her own ; that,
from the first creation of flowers, she had been named
" the ornament of the earth, the princess of plants, the
eye of the flowers, the blush of beauty, the breath of
love ; " and that even when her leaves withered, to mark
her immortal origin, she gave not up her breath, but
still lived in a spirit of invisible fragrance ; that she
never knew old age, but sank to sleep in perfume, in t^e
full perfection of her beauty, for she was the fairest
daughter that was born of the Mother of Love.

So Love found his sweet and long lost sister in the
Rose, and she first spoke to him in the old language of

10 INTRODUCTION.

the flowers, giving him a new lesson every day, until not
a bell bowed or a bud expanded, nor a blossom opened
its beautiful lips, without Love knowing every word it
whispered. For days did Love linger with his sweet
sister the Rose, before he again set out on his pilgrim-
age ; but his journey was now no longer lonely ; he
found a companion in every flower by the wayside, and
held converse with every bud that dwelt within its green
homestead of leaves.

Long did Love brood over the new language which he
had discovered, and many a day did he sit pondering to
himself, as if hesitating whether or not he should trust
Woman with the secret. " She is already armed with'
beauty,'' reasoned Love, as he sat with his elbow pil-
lowed on a bed of flowers ; " there is a language in her
eyes, and a sweet music in her voice, and shall 1 now
teach her to converse through flowers — to give a tongue
to the rose, and a voice to the lily, and hang upon the
honeysuckle words of love, and turn every blossom she
gathers into the language of afi"ection ? No : I will
again fly abroad, and dropping a bud here and a bell
th.ere, see to what purpose she turneth these beautiful
secrets. I will but at flrst teach her a few letters in this
new Alphabet of Love."

Then he thought that as the flowers were such holy
things, born of beauty and nursed in purity, fed upon

introduction: 11

the dews, and seldom looking upon aught less sacred
than the stars, as if they were more allied to heaven
than to earth — that if the virtue, and goodness,
and love, which they represent, were but practised by
mankind, they would again make the children of earth
what they were in the infancy of the world, and man would
again be found only " a little lower than the angels."

Ages passed away before Love entered the flowery
fields and velvet valleys of merry England ; his heart
had long been light, and his wings unfettered, and he
cared not now into what quarter of the world he wan-
dered, for he found that wherever he went upon his
flowery errand, man grew more refined, and woman each
day bore a closer resemblance to the angels. He visited
ancient castles, and humble hamlets, and thronged
thorpes, and thatched granges, and taught everywhere
this new language of love. K he saw a rustic maiden
with her head hanging aside, and her hands clasped, he
plucked the fragrant blossom of the Hawthorn, and
throwing it at her feet, he whispered into her ear and
bade her Hope. As his foot dashed away the dew from
the up-coned Lilac, he gathered the topmost sprig, and
threw it at her unsuspecting lover, who from that
moment dated his first emotions of Love, He pointed
out the spot where many a blue-belled flower grew, and
there they met, and vowed to be Constant unto death.

12 INTBODUCTIOX.

So he wandered along; and on wild moorlands, where
rude huts rose, and scarce a flower broke the dark brown
solitude, Love left the broad Pern as a token of Sin-
cerity ; on bleak mountain-tops, where scarce a tree
threw down its checkered shadow, he planted the Hare-
bell and the crimson Heather, to give a charm to Retire-
ment and Solitude. Into the depths of the loneliest
woods he went, visiting deep dells and deserted dingles,
where the graceful Lilies of the Valley grew, telling
them they were not forgotten, but should yet be proudly
worn on many a fond breast that sighed for a Return of
Happiness. Beside the Marigold, which closed its eyes
as if for very Sorrow, he planted the Celandine, and
promised that, whilst ever the golden star shone there,
it should be the image of Joys to Come. From flower to
flower he flew on his peaceful pilgrimage ; through them
reconciling lovers who had long been estranged, and
bringing back many a wandering affection that had long
sighed for a fond heart to dwell within.

Thus Love restored a language which for undated
centuries had been lost — which the sweet tongue of
woman had made music of before the beauty of the
early world was submerged beneath the waters. For
Time had all but blotted out the few records which told
that there ever existed a language between Love and
the Flowers.

INTRODUCTION. 13

Amid the broken and crumbling ruins over which
Time has marched, he has only left the sculptured
capital of some column or shattered pedestal, in
which we can trace, among a hundred rude hiero-
glyphics, the rough outline of some flower, which was
either sacred to their religion or to their love. In
the ruins of temples, whose origin even antiquity has
forgotten, we trace in the life-like marble of the figures
brows which are wreathed with blossoms, and in the
broken fresco we find groups of maidens strewing the
pathway which leads to the holy shrine with flowers ;
the carven altar is piled high with them ; they garland
the neck of the victim which their priests are about
to sacrifice; and — we know no more.

Ages have passed away since that procession moved
— the shadows of two thousand years have settled
down over the hUls and valleys where those beautiful
maidens first gathered the flowers of summer — history
has left no record of their existence — the language in
which they breathed their loves, their hopes, and their
fears, has died away — even their name as a nation
is forgotten : and aU we know is, that their men looked
noble, and their women beautiful ; and that flowers were
used in their sacred ceremonies ; and that all, saving
the mute figures upon the marble, have long since
2

14 introduction:

passed away. We sigh, and try in vain to decipher
these ancient emblems.

Love turned to the fables of the Heathen Poets, and
there he found that those whose beauty the gods could
not lift into immortality, they changed, into flowers ; as
if they considered that next to the glory of bein^ en-
throned upon Olympus, was to be transformed into a
beautiful and fragrant object; one that, so long as sun
shone upon the world, and the globed dews hung their
rounded silver upon the blossoms, so long should it
«tand throughout all time

" A thing of beauty, and a joy forever."

Thomas Miller.

D£ V?

THE

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

SPRING.

MARCH.

GRASSES (Gramina). Utility.

HEEE is there any plant
more useful than the grass
of the meadow ? It grows
without care or culture, all
over the earth ; sustaining the
life of aU the animals most
serviceable to man. Bota-
nists tell us that more than three hundred varieties
of grass exist. Many of them have exceedingly grace-
ful and beautiful blossoms.

2 * (1")

18 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

WEEPING WILLOW {Salix Bdbylmica). Melancholy.

The common willow is sacred to forsaken lovers ; but
this graceful tree, whose branches seem to droop with
an eternal weight of regret, is by universal consent
appropriated to the graveyard. There, early in spring,
its silvery, flexile branches wave over the resting-places
of those dear to us, and seem to murmur continually,
with Lafontaine, —

" Absence is the greatest of all evils."

HORSE-CHESTNUT {jEseidus hij^ocastanum). Luxury.

This gorgeous tree bursts into leaf and bloom with
incredible rapidity on the return of spring. When it is
growing alone, nothing can equal the symmetry of its
pyramidal form, the richness of its foliage, and its
superb clusters of flowers. The fruit, however, is bitter,
and the wood of little value.

LILAC (Syringa vulgaris). First emotion of love.

" O Lilac, in wliose purple well
Youth, in perpetuOf doth dwell,
My fancy feels thy fragrant spell.

" Of all that morning dews do feed —
All flowers of garden, field, or mead —
Thou art the first in childhood's creed.

"And, e'en to me, thy breath in spring
Hath power a little while to bring
Back to my heart it« blossoming.'*

T. W. Parsons.

•Van Spaendonck let his brush fall before a bunch of
lilacs. Nature seems indeed to. have made every cluster

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 19

perfect. Around each mass of bloom the light plays
and is decomposed into a thousand varying shades,
which, all melting into one tint, make that happy har-
mony which dazzles the beholder and drives the painter
to despair.

" The lilac, various in array, now white.
Now Banguine, and her beauteous head now set
With purple spikes pyramidal, as if, studious of ornaments,
Yet unresolved which hues she most approved.
She chose them all."

Cowper.

The lilac symbolizes the first emotions of love, because
its tender green, its flexible shoots, and its abundant
flowers, with their tender and varied colors, aU recall
those celestial emotions which lend to youth a divine
grace.

ALMOND (Amygdalus communis). Heedlessness.

Emblem of heedlessness, the almond answers first to
the call of spring, and covers itself with a shower of
blossoms, like rosy snow, while all the shrubbery is yet
leafless. Virgil makes it prophesy of the harvest to
come. Fable gives the almond tree this origin. De-
mophoon, son of Theseus and Phaedra, returning from
the siege of Troy, was thrown by a tempest on the coast
of Thrace, where the beautiful Phyllis then reigned.
The young queen welcomed the prince, loved him, and
made him her husband. Recalled to Athens by the
death of his father, Demophoon promised Phyllis to

20 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEIIS.

come back in a montli, and fixed the moment of his
return. The tender Phyllis counted every instant of
his absence, and when the long-desired day at last
arrived, she ran nine times to the shore : but, having
lost all hope, believing herself forsaken, she fell there,
dead of grief, and was changed into an almond tree.
Three months after, Demophoon returned : disconso-
late at his loss, he offered a sacrifice on the sea-shore,
to appease the manes of his beloved. She seemed
sensible of his repentance and return, for the almond
tree suddenly put forth flowers, proving by this last
effort that death itself could not change her.

PERIWINKLE ( Vinca minor) . Sweet memories.

The periwinkle has green, firm, glossy leaves, which,
growing on long, trailing stems, weave a fairy net over
the grass to imprison the pretty blue flowers which
peep out here and there. This plant is dedicated to
lasting happiness ; its color is that preferred by friend-
ship, and it was for J. J. Rousseau the emblem of the
sweetest remembrances.

TULIP {Ttilipa gesneriana). Declaration of love.

The tulip is a native of Asia, and some writers claim
that its name arose from its resemblance to a turban,
though Thomas Miller says, " Few know that there
is a beautiful fragrant yellow tulip which grows wild

THE LANGUAGE 'OF FLOWERS. 21

in our own pastoral England. It gives pleasure to me
to know that we are neither indebted to Turks nor
turbans for the origin of this splendid flower, which
was, no doubt, more plentiful in the days of our old
Elizabethan poets, and which is mentioned in Ben
Jonson's ' Pan's Anniversary ' by the very name it
still bears." In the East, when a young man presents
one to his mistress, it signifies, by its general color,
that he is on fire with her beauty, and by its black
centre, that his heart is burned to a coal. The Turks
almost idolize this flower ; and every year, in the
seraglio of the Sultan, the Feast of Tulips is celebrat-
ed with the ntmost splendor. In Europe, also, tulips
have had their adorers. Between the years 1644 and
1647, tulips rose to incredible prices in Holland, and
enriched many speculators. Those who, for want of
ready money, could not engage in this trade, exchanged
houses and lands for bulbs. One variety, the Viceroy,
is said to have been sold as high as ten thousand dol-
lars ! This extraordinary traffic was at last checked
by a law that no tulip, or other flower, should be sold
for a sum exceeding one hundred and seventy-five
dollars.

BUCKBEAN (Menyanthes trifoliata). Calmness, repose.

Along that lake whose silvery waters reflect a cloud-
less sky, do you see those clusters, as white as snow ?
A light pink just tinges the reverse of these lovely

22

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

flowers, and a tuft of very delicate filaments of dazzling
whiteness escapes from their alabaster cups. If you
have once- seen this plant, balancing gently on the
edge of the water, you can never forget its elegance
and grace. The bog-bean, or water-trefoil, as it is
sometimes called, never blooms in stormy weather ; it
expands only in a calm day.

APRIL.

HAWTHORN {Crattegus). Hope.

tJE old poets, as if despairing
to find a fitting name for this
fragrant blossom, have called
it May ; for to them that word
recalled the season of poetry,
the month of flowers, and was
fraught with associations of all
that is bright and beautiful on the earth." The Troglo-
dytes, who recalled the golden age by their simple man-
ners, smilingly covered those whom death took from,
them with branches of hawthorn ; for they regarded
death as the dawn of a life in which they should part no
more. In Athens, young maidens carried boughs of
hawthorn at the weddings of their companions ; the

C23)

24 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

altar of Hymen was lighted by torches made of the wood
of this shrub, which, as we see, has always been the em-
blem of hope.

PRIMROSE (^Primula vulgaris, or acaulis). Modest worth.

English literature is filled with allusions to this flower.
The primrose, cowslip, polyanthus, and auricula are all
members of the same floral family.

" Pale primroses,
That die unmarried ere tliey can behold
Bright Phoebus in his strength." — Shakspeare.

"Bring the rathe primrose, that forsaken dies." — MUton.

" The primrose, tenant of the glade,
Emblem of virtue in the shade." — J. Mayne, 1609.

MYRTLE (Myrtus communis). Love.

The oak from all time was consejsrated to Jupiter, the
laurel to Apollo, the olive to Minerva, and the myrtle to
Venus. In Rome the first temple of this goddess was
surrounded by a grove of myrtles ; in Greece she was
adored under the name of Myrtea or Murtia. When
she appeared rising from the sea, the Hours went to
meet her, and presented to her a thousand-colored scarf
and a myrtle garland. After her victory over Pallas
and Juno, she was crowned with myrtle by the Loves.
Surprised one day by a troop of Satyrs, she took refuge
behind a bush of myrtle : it was also with branches of
this tree that she avenged herself on the audacious
Psyche, who had dared to compare her charms with

TBE LAXGUAGE OF FZOJVESS. 25

those of the immortal beauty. The Flora Domestica
says, " Myrtle was the symbol of authority for magis-
trates at Athens ; bloodless victors were crowned with
myrtle." Spears, too, were made of its wood.

"The war from stubborn myrtle shafts receives." — Dryden's Virgil.

The Arabs have recorded an ancient tradition that
Adam bore in his hand a sprig of myrtle when he was
driven out from the garden of Paradise. It was formerly
much used in medicine and cookery, and also to flavor
wines. It flourishes in warm climates, near the sea-
coast.

ACANTHUS (^Acanthus molUs). Art.

The acanthus delights in warm countries and the
banks of great rivers. Pliny speaks of its value for dec-
orative purposes. The ancients ornamented their furni-
ture, their vases, and their valuable garments with its
beautifully cut leaves. The robe of Helen was bordered
by a garland of acanthus in relief. VirgU tells us also
of a vase from the hand of Alcimedon, adorned with
foliage imitated from the acanthus. This charming
model of the arts has become their emblem. If any-
thing is opposed to the acanthus, we see it redouble its
forces, and grow with new vigor. Thus genius rises
and increases by the very obstacles which seemed insur-
mountable. It is related that the architect Callimachus,
passing by the tomb of a young girl who died within the
3

26 THE LANOUAOE OF FLOWERS.

year, on the eve of a happy marriage, was moved by a
tender pity, and approached to throw flowers on it. But
an offering had preceded his. The nurse of the young
girl, taking the veil and flowers which should have
adorned her on her wedding day, put them in a little
basket ; then, having placed it beside the tomb on a
plant of acanthus, she covered it with a broad tile. The
next spring the acanthus leaves had surrounded the
basket ; but, stopped by the edges of the tile, they bent
back and rounded gracefully towards their extremities.
Callimachus, surprised at this rural decoration, which
seemed the work of the weeping Grraces, made of it the
capital of the Corinthian column.

BUGLOSS (Anchma officinalis.) Falsehood.

La Bruyere, the most spirituel of French moralists,
said, " If women were naturally what they become by
art, if they should lose in a moment all the freshness of
their complexion, if their faces were as glowing or as
leady as they make them by the rouge and the paint
which they use, they would be inconsolable." This
truth appears incontestable ; and yet, from north to
south, from east to west, among savage or polished na-
tions, this strange taste for painting is universal. Du-
perron relates how a young savage, wishing to attract his
attention, took a bit of coal and went to pound it in a
corner, then, having rubbed her cheeks with it, returned
with a triumphant air, as if this had rendered the effect

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 27

of her charms more sure. Castellan, speaking of a
Greek princess whom he painted, describes her thus :
" Her black eyes, well shaped, and on a level with her
head, had the brilliancy of diamonds, but her stained eye-
lids spoiled their expression. Her eyebrows, joined by
a pencilled line, gave a kind of hardness to her look.
Her mouth, very small and highly colored, might have
been embellished by a smile, but I never had the happi-
ness of seeing one. Her cheeks were covered with a
very deep red, and crescent-shaped patches disfigured
her face."

Bugloss has been made the emblem of falsehood, be-
cause its root is used in the composition of several kinds
of paints. That of vrhich it is the basis is perhaps the
oldest and least dangerous of aU. But nothing can im-
itate the natural blush of modesty, and art destroys it
irreparably. If we wish to please long, if we wish to
please always, let us discard falsehood from our hearts,
our lips, and our faces, repeating with the poet, —

" Bien n'est beau que le vrai, le vrai seul est aimable."

REST-HARROW (Ononis spinosa). Obstacles.

This plant sometimes stops the labors of the husband-
man by its tough network of roots. With its pretty
papilionaceous pink flowers, its long thorns, and deeply-
struck roots, it is the siren of the fields, and the emblem
of the obstacles which vice opposes to virtue.

28 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS-

HONEYSUCKLE (Lonicerd) . Bonds of love.

" Bid her steal into the pleacli^d bower,
Where honeysuckles, ripened by the sun,
Forbid the sun to enter — like favorites
Made proud by princes, that advance their pride
Against that power that bred it."

The poets have repeatedly celebrated this delightful
flower under the name of woodbine.

The delicious bank in Midsummer Night's Dream was

" Quite overcanopied with lush woodbine."

The opposite attributes of inconstancy and fidelity
have been ascribed to the honeysuckle by two poets,
but the following lines are most certainly a slander
on this sweet flower —

" Inconstant woodbine,' wherefore rove
With gadding stem about my bower?
Why, with my darling myrtle wove.
In bold defiance mock my power."*"

Carew.

Rather let us believe with good old Dan Chaucer,
in the Floure and the Leafe, —

" And those that were chapelets on their hede.
Of fresh woodbind, be such as never were
To love untrue in word, in thought, in dede.
But ay stedfast, ne for plesauuce ne fere, "
Tho' that they shudde their hertis all to tere.
Would never flit, but evir were stedfast,
Till that ther livis these assunder brast."

Sometimes we see a young honeysuckle lovingly wind
its slender arms around the knotty trunk of an old oak :
one would say that this weak shrub wished, springing
aloft, tO' surpass the king of the forests in height; but

THE LAXOVAGE OF FLOWESS. 29

soon, as if its efforts were vain, it falls gracefully down
again, and crowns him with perfumed festoons. Thus
Love sometimes unites a timid girl to a proud warrior.
Unhappy Desdemona ! the admiration of strength and
courage, and the feeling of helplessness, attached thy
heart to the terrible Othello ; but jealousy struck thee
in the very arms which should have protected thee.
And thou, gentle and humble La VaUiere, the love of
the greatest monarch alone could subjugate thy poor
heart, and draw it away from virtue. Poor vine ! the
wind of inconstan^jy soon deprived thee of that dear
prop ; but thou didst never trail on the ground — thy
heart, raising its affections to heaven, carried its ten-
der homage to Him who alone is worthy of eternal

love.

3*

»w

MAY.

LILY OF THE VALLEY {Convallaria ma/aUs). Return of

among
the
broad green
leaves, with what
joy do we greet the little ivory bells of

" that modest, pale,
And sweetest nursling of the wood,
Which men call lily of the vale,
Because it dwells in lowly mood " !

Parsons,

(30)

TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 31

" No flower amid the garden fairer grows
Than the sweet lily of the lowly vale."

Keats.

" The lUy of the vale, whose virgin flower
Trembles at every breeze within its leafy bower."

Barton.

Wordsworth does not forget

" That shy plant, the lily of the vale,
That loves the ground, and from the smi withholds
Her pensive beauty, from the breeze her sweets."

And Thomson, in his Spring, bids us

" Seek the bank where flowering elders crowd.
Where, scattered wide, the lily of the vale
Its balmy essence breathes."

PRIVET (Ligustrum mdgare). Prohibition.

" Why," said a young matron to the venerable pastor
of the village, " have you not planted a strong thorn
hedge, instead of that flowering privet which encircles
your garden ? " The pastor replied, " When you for-
bid your child some dangerous pleasure, the prohibition
is accompanied on your lips by a tender smile ; your look
is a caress ; and if he rebels, your maternal hand imme-
diately offers a plaything to console him : in like man-
ner, the pastor's hedge ought to keep off the intrusive,
and offer flowers even to those whom it repulses."

HEATH (Erica). Solitude.

The common heather, which grows so freely in Great
Britain and Germany, is not found wild in this country.

32 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

The various elegant species which are found in conser-
vatories are mostly natives of the Cape of Grood Hope.
Miller says, " The heath was well chosen as the emblem
of solitude. It recalls many a wild lalidscape ; the
bleak, broad mountain side, which, throughout the long
winter and the slow-opening spring, looked black and
barren, till towards the end of summer, when it was
clothed everywhere with the rich carpet of crimson and
purple heather, looking from the distance as if a sun-
shine not of earth had come down and bathed the whole
mountain steep in subdued and rosy light — it recalls
vast plains of immeasurable extent ; spots where lovers
might sit and sigh away their souls in each other's arms
without being disturbed by the foot of the solitary
hunter."

POETS' NARCISSUS {Narcissus poeticus). Egotism.

This is the most beautiful of its family. A large
flower, of pure white, slightly drooping, with a golden
cup in the centre, which exhales a strong and pleasant
odor. Every one knows the pretty story attached to it ;
so we confine ourselves to three extracts. Spenser, in
describing a garden, says, —

'* And round about grew every sort of floure,
To which sad lovers were transformed of yore; —
Foolish Narcisse, that likes the wat'ry shore."

" The pale narcissus, that with passion pure
Still feeds upon itself; but, newly blown,
The nymphs will pluck It from its tender stalk,
And say, ' Go, fool, and to thy image talk.' "

Lord 'Hiurtow,

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 33

" On the bank a lonely flower he spied,
A meek and forlorn flower, with nought of pride,
Drooping its beauty o'er the watery clearness
To woo its own sad image into nearness.
Deaf to bright Zephyrus, it would not move,
But still would seem to droop, to pine, to love."

Keats.

LINDEN, or LIME {Tilia). Conjugal love.

** Come forth, and let us through our hearts receive
The joy of verdure ! — see, the honeyed lime
Showers cool green light on banks where wild flowers weave
Thick tapestry."

Mrs. Memans.

This favorite tree commemorates the beautiful story
of Baucis and Philemon. Baucis was turned to a lin-
den, and thus it stands now an emblem of the attri-
butes and graces of a faithful wife. The foliage is very
thick and verdant, and the effects of light and shade on
it bewitching. The blossoms perfume all the surround-
ing air. It is a useful tree too ; an infusion of its flow-
ers makes a good tisane ; its bark can be woven into a
kind of cloth, and braided into ropes and hats. The
Greeks made paper of it, resembling that from papyrus,
and specimens made by our modern processes resemble
white satin. Its wood furnishes the poorer classes in
Europe with fuel, shoes, and furniture. The horse-
chestnut and other trees have disputed its place in
avenues and public promenades, but nothing can ban-
ish it.

STRAWBERRY {Fragaria vesca). Perfect excellence.

The illustrious Bernardin de St. Pierre conceived the
project of writing a general history of nature, in imita-

34 TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

tion of the ancient authors. A strawberry plant, which
had chatieed to grow over his window, turned him from
this vast design : he observed this plant, and discovered
so many wonders in it, that he clearly saw that the study
of a single plant and its inhabitants was enough to fill a
lifetime. He then renounced the ambitious title of his
book, and contented himself with writing Studies of
Nature. It is from this book that we must acquire a
taste for observation ; and it is there, above all, that we
must read of the strawberry. All over the world this
charming berry, which vies with the rosebud in fresh-
ness and perfume, delights the sight, the smell, the
taste. It is a welcome luxury on the tables of the rich,
and a feast for the children of the poor. The learned
botanist Linnaeus was cured of frequent attacks of the
gout by the use of strawberries. The flowers are
delicate and pretty ; but who so barbarous as to
pluck them ?

THYME {Thymus). Activity.
" I know a bank whereon the wild thyme grows."

How many diligent bees sing this song to each other,
and swarm about the flowery, fragrant tufts ! The
Greeks regarded this herb as the symbol of activity ;
doubtless they had observed that its perfume, strength-
ening to the brain, is very salutary for old persons.
Activity is a warlike virtue, and this is why ladies for-
merly often embroidered on the scarf of their knights a
bee humming round a branch of thyme.

TBE LAXGVAGE OF FLOWERS.

35

RED VALERIAN (Valeriana rubra). Readiness.

This is a native of the Alps. Its root is said to he
an excellent remedy against most maladies engendered
by luxury, and an infusion of it is strengthening to the
eyes, and animating to the spirits. It blooms freely and
is improved by culture, though our common valerian
is perhaps more attractive, and equally useful. The
odor of the root is very enticing to eats, and also, it is
stated, to rats.

SUMMER.

JUNE.

THE MONTH OF ROSES.

rEEN of flowers, who that
could sing has not sung thee,
enchanting Rose ? Yet no ex-
pression can exaggerate, or
even do justice to, thy per-
fections. Perhaps the sweetest
title of the Virgin Mother, to
the heart of many a Catholic
maiden, is the one of " Rosa Mystica." Among the
Greeks and Romans the rose was the most conspic-

(36)

bf. , ii^'ipffcUe P'ijw I'is.J'f id-V/ii'

rUBLISHED BY DE VRIES. IBARRA ETT:. BOSTON.

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 37

uous ornament of every festival and every solemn sacri-
fice, Syria, Arabia, and Persia vie in tiieir admiration
of it. In the East, indeed, this fairest of flowers attains
its greatest perfection. There is distilled the precious
Attar, which makes it live forever.

"Its breath
Is rich beyond the rest; and when it dies
It doth bequeath a charm, to sweeten death."

Barry ComwaU.

The love of the nightingale for the rose is continually
mentioned by the Eastern bards, and we find many allu-
sions to it in our English rhymes. Moore says, —

" Though rich the spot
With every flower this earth has got,
"What IS it to the nighting-ale,
If there his darling rose is not -•' "

And Byron sings, —

" How welcome is each gentle air
That wakes and wafts the odors there!
For there the rose, o'er crag and vale,
Sultana of the nightingale,
The maid for wliom his melody,
His thousand songs, is heard on high.
Blooms blushing to her lover's tale:
His queen, the garden's queen, his rose,
Unbent by winds, unchilled by snows.
Far from the winters of the west,
By every breeze and neason blest,
Ketums the sweets by nature given
In softest incense back to heaven.
And grateful yields that smiling sky.
Her fairest hue and fragrant sigh,"

In France there takes place annually a beautiful cere-
mony, which, originated as follows ; Saint 3Iedard,
4

38 THE LANGUAGE OF FLO^rEBS.

bi.sliop of Noyon, born at Salency, of an illustrious
family, instituted in his birthplace, in 532, a prize for
virtue. This prize is a simple crown of roses ; but all
the young people of the village must acknowledge her
who obtains it as the most worthy, modest, and virtuous.
The sister of St. Medard was unanimously named the
first rosilre. She received her crown from the hands of
its founder, and bequeathed it, with the example of her
virtues, to posterity. Time, which has overturned so
many empires, and broken the sceptre of so many kings
and queens, has respected the rose crown of Salency.
It has continued to pass from the hand of one protector
and another to the brow of innocence.

Chaucer loved the rose, and crowned Venus with a
garland "rosy white and redde." Spenser tells us that,
in the contest of beauty, " a rosy girlond was the
victor's meed." And after his description of fair Alma,
in her rich array, he says, —

** Her yellow golden heare
Was trimly woven, and in tresses wrought;
Ne other tire she on her head did weare,
But crowned with a garland of sweet rosi&re."

In many a festive scene, we find, as Sir Philip Sidney
beautifully said, —

" A rosy garland and a weary head."

Thus the rose has often been used to "point a
moral or adorn a tale." One of the most pleasing of
Waller's poems is the well-known song, " Go, Lovely
Eose." Middleton says, —

THE LAXGUAGE OF FLOWEIiS. 39

" I never heard
Of any true affection, but 'twas nipt
With care, that like the caterpillar eats
The leaves of the spring-'s sweetest book — the rose."

Herrick sings, —

"Gather the rosebuds while ye may;
Old Time is still a flying;
And this same flower, that smiles to-day,
To-morrow will be dying."

And holy G-eorge Herbert, —

"Sweet rose, whose hue, angry and brave,
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye.
Thy root is ever in its grave.
And thou must die."

The celebrated Roman de la Hose, the delight of
the court of Philip the Fair, seems to have been
written only to teach us how dangerous it is to listen
to a seducing voice ; and that modesty ought to defend
beauty, as thorns the rose.

The order of the Golden Rose was instituted by
the Pope of Rome in the twelfth century. It was
formerly sent to new sovereigns at their accession, but
is now presented annually to some crowned head.

A fine little . poem on the rose is attributed to

Sappho : —

" Did Jove a queen of flowers decree,
The rose the queen of flowers should be;
Of flowers the eye ; of plants the gem ;
The meadows' blush; earth's diadem;
Glory of colors, on the gaze
Lightening in its beauty's blaze.
It breathes of love : it blooms the guest
Of Venus' ever-fragrant breast :
In gaudy pomp its petals spread;
Light foliage trembles round its head;
With vermeil blossoms fresh and fair,
It laughs to the voluptuous air."

40 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEBS.

Anacreon has sung the praises of the rose in two
• exquisite odes. In one he says, —

" O, lovely rose ! to thee I sing,
Thou sweetest, fairest child of spring;!
O, thou art dear to all the gods,
The darling of their blest abodes ;
Thy breathing buds and blossoms fair
Entwine young Cupid's golden hair,
When gayly dancing hand in hand,
He joins the Graces' lovely band."

The other one we give entire, sure that our readers
will forgive its length for its beauty and appropriate-
ness. The translation is by T. Bourne.

" Thou, my friend, shalt sweep the strings
I In loftiest strains will sing,
Wliile its fragrance round us flows.
The queen of flowers, the lovely rose.
Its perfumed breath ascends the skies
On every gentle gale that sighs;
Its sweets descend to earth again,
Alike beloved by gods and men.
When spring awakes the slumbering flowers,
And music breathes amid the bowers.
Thee, darling gem, the Graces wear
Entwined amid their flowing hair;
And rosy wreaths alone may dress
The queen of love and loveliness.
In every song and fable known
The Muses claim thee as their own;
Thou bidd'st thy blooming sweetness glow
In thorny paths of pain and woe.
But O, what joy, when blest we rove
Through rosy bowers and dream of love.
While bliss on every breeze is borne,
To pluok the rose without the thorn;
With gentlest touch its leaves to press.
And raise it to our soft caress!'
O, thou art still the poot*s theme,
And thee a welcome guest we deem,
To grace our feasts and deck our hair.
When Bacchus bids us banish care.
E'en Nature does thy beauties prize —
She steals thy tint to paint the skies;

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 41

For rosy-fing-ered is the morn

With which the crimBon veil is drawn.

The lovely nymphs we always deck

"With rosy arms and rosy neck ;

And roseate tints are ever seen

To bloom the cheeks of beauty's queen.

Its power to soothe the pang^s of pain

Physicians try, nor try in vain;

And e*en when life and hope are fled,

Its deathless scent embalms the dead;

For though its withering- charms decay,

And one by one all fade away,

Its grateful smell the rose retains,

And redolent of youth remains.

But, lyrist, let it next be sung

From whence this precious treasure sprung,

"When first from ocean's dewy spray

Fair Venus rose to upper day, —

"When, fearful to the powers above,

The armed Pallas sprimg from Jove, —

'Twas then, they say, the jealous earth

llrst gave the lovely stranger birth.

A drop of pure nectareous dew

From heaven the blest immortals threw;

A while it trembled on the thorn,

And then the lovely rose was bom.

To Bacchus they the flower assign.

And roses still his brows entwine."

Tasso gives us an exquisite description of the rose.

" Deh mira, egli cant5, spuntar la rosa
Dal verde suo modesta e verginella,
Che mezzo aperta ancora e mezzo ascosa,
Quanto si mostra men, tanto h piu bella,
Ecco poi nudo il sen gla baldanzosa
Dispiega, ecco poi langiie, e non par quella,
Quella non par, che desiata avanti
Fu da mille donzelle e mille amanti.

" CoBi trapassa al trapassar d'un giomo
Delia vita mortale il fiore e'l verde."

Ger, Lib., Canto XVI.

And Ariosto tells us, —

" La verginella fe simile alia rosa
Ch* in bel giardin su la nativa spina
Mentre sola e sicura si riposa,
Nfe grcgge nfe pastor se le awicina :

4 *

42 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

L' aura soave e i' alba rugiadosa,
L'acqua, la terra al suo favor s'lncliina ;
Giovoni vaghi e donne inamorate
Amano averne e seni e tempie ornate."

Orl. Fur.f Canto I.

The origin of the thorns on the rose is thus fancifully

told : —

*' Young Love, rambling through, the wood,
Found me in my solitude,
Bright with dew, and freshly blown,
And trembling to the zephyr's sighs.
But as he stooped to gaze upon
The living gem with raptured eyes.
It chanced a bee was busy there
Searching for its fragrant fare ;
And Cupid, stooping, too, to sip,
The angry insect stung his lip, —
And, gushing from the ambrosial c«ll,
One bright drop on my bosom fell.
Weeping, to his mother he
Told the tale of treachery ;
And flhe, her vengeful boy to please,
Strung his bow with captive bees;
But placed upon my slender stem
The poisoned sting she plucked from them ;
And none, since that eventful morn,
Have found the flower without a thorn."

ROSEBUD. Confession of love.

" Who can view the ripened rose, nor seek
To^'^"''"-" Byron.

Yet to many the rose is lovelier before she " ex-
pands her paradise of leaves."

"The rose is fairest wlien 'tis budding new,"

Scott.
" Ah I see the virgin rose, liow sweetly shee
Doth first peepe forth with bashfull modestee,
That fairer seemes the less ye see her may."

Spenser,

Thomson praises

" A red rosebud, moist with morning dew,
Breathing delight."

THE LAXaUAGE OF FLOWEBS. 43

WHITE ROSE (Bosa cUba). Silence.

It was fabled that all roses were originally white ;
but the authorities differ widely as to how it became
red. The legend most generally received is, that it
was colored by the blood of Adonis. The ancients
represented the god of Silence under the form of a
young man, putting one finger on his lips, and hold-
ing in the other hand a white rose. A rose was
carved on the door of banqueting halls, to signify to
the guests that nothing said there should be repeated.
Sometimes the rose was painted on, or suspended from,
the ceiling. Hence the expression " sub rosa, " for
secrecy. Happy age, when a rose was enough to seal
the lips of the tale-bearer I

The white rose is connected with more melancholy

scenes and thoughts than the brilliant red rose. In

the " Lay of the Last Minstrel," when the sad, anxious

Margaret came on her palfrey, —

" White was her wimple and her veil.

And her loose locks a. chaplet pale

Of wlutest roses bound."

And at the tomb of Byron's Zuleika, —

" A single rose is shedding
Its lonely Instre, meek and pale;
It looks as planted by despair, —
So white, so faint, — the slightest gale
Might whirl the leaves on high."

*' Bring flowers, pale flowers, o'er the bier to shed,
A crown for the brow of the early dead '.
For this through its leaves hath the white rose burst."

" By the garland on the bier.
Weep I a maiden claims thy tear —
Broken is the rose,"

Mrs, Hemans,

44

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS,

MOSS ROSE {Rosa musoosa). Superior merit. Voluptuousness.

PHETTY translation from the
G-erman gives us the origin of
this superb rose. The Angel of
the Flowers fell asleep one day
under a rose tree, which gave
him refreshing shade, and on
waking, thus in rapture he
'spoke : —

'* ' Thou queen of my bowers,
Thou fairest of flowers,
What gift shall be mine.
And what guerdon be thine ? *
' In guerdon of duty-
Bestow some new beauty,'
She said; and then smiled
Like a mischievous child.
In ang-er he started.
But ere he departed,
To rebuke the vain flower
In the pride of her power,
He flung some rude moss
Her fair bosom across; —
But her new robes of green
So became the fair queen.
That the Angel of Flowers
Mistrusted his powers.
And was heard to declare
He had granted her prayer."

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWESS. 45

WILD BRIER, SWEET BRIER ROSE, or EGLANTINE.

Poetry.

This is, par excellence, the flower of the poets. Hear
them.

" A Bweeter spot of earth was never found,
1 looked and looked, and Rtill with new deligfht,
Such joy my soul, such pleasures filled my sight.
And the fresh eglantine exhaled a breath
Whose odors were of power to raise from death.''

Dryden, from Chaucer.

Spenser teUa us of an arbor

** Through which the fragrant eglantine did spred
His prickling arms, entrayld with roses red.
Which daintie odours round about them threw."

" Its sides T'U plant with dew-sweet eglantine."

Keats.

" Grateful eglantine regales the smell."

Cowper

" Here eglantine embalms the air."
Scott.

** A brier rose, whose buds
Yield iragrant harvest for the honey bee."

** The chestnut flowers are past,
The crowning glories of the hawthorn fail.
But arches of sweet eglantine are cast
From every hedge."

Mrs. Semans.

" The wild-brier rose, a fragrant cup
To hold the morning's tear."

Atiss Landon.

In Cymbeline we find Arviragug saying that the grave
of Fidele, while he lives there, shall not lack

" The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,
Outsweetened not thy breath,"

46

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

" Eglantine est la fleur que j'aime."

Clemence Isaure is made to say, in the pretty old
romance that bears her name ; and a golden eglantine
was one of the prizes at the celebrated Floral Games
of Toulouse, instituted by her; a fuller account of
which will be found immediately after the article on
the violet.

JULY.

MUGWORT (^AHemisia vulgaris or ponticum). Good luck.
Happiness.

HERE is a superstition among
the French peasantry that a
wreath of this plant, gathered
and worn on midsummer eve,
has power to preserve the wearer
from all attacks of evil spirits
or men, throughout the year.
With regard to the name of this plant, a quaint old
French translation of Pliny tells us, " La gloire d'im-
poser les noms aux herbes n'a pas seulement appartenue
aux hommes, elle e.st aussi venue jusqu'a enflammer le
cerveau des femmes, qui ont voulu avoir leur part ; car
la royne Artemisia, femme du riche Mausolus, roy de
Carie, fit tant par son Industrie, qu'elle baptisa de son
nom I'armoise, qui, auparavant, etoit appel^e parthenis.

(47)

48 TBE LANCrUAaE OF FLOWERS.

Toutefois il y en a qui tiennent ce nom d'artemisia avoir
ete impost h Tarmoise, a raison de la deesse Artemis
Ilithya (Diana), paroeque cette herbe est particulidrement
bonne aux femmes." The fragrant southern-wood be-
longs to this family, and also the bitter wormwood.

WHITE JASMINE (^Jasminum officinale). Amiability.

The jasmine seems to have been created as the
emblem of amiability. Its supple branches bend grace-
fully to every caprice of the trainer ; and whether in the
shape of bush, tree, or arbor, it lavishes on us a shower
of fragrant, star-like blossoms. It grows now in all
warm climates, but was introduced into Europe from
India by Spanish navigators, about 1560. Its fragrance,
like the woodbine's, is stronger towards night.

" Many a perfume breathed
From plants that wake while others sleep,
From timid jasmine buds, that keep
Their odors to themselves all day,
But, when the sunlight dies away,
Let the delicious secret out."

Moore.

The Earl of Carlisle is the author of the followin<'

o

pretty stanzas : —

TO A JASMINE TREE.

" My slight and slender jasmine tree,

That bloomest on my border tower,
Thou art more dearly loved by me

Than all the wreaths of fairy bower :
1 ask not, while 1 near thee dwell,

Arabia's spice, or Syria's rose;
Thy light festoons more freshly smell,

Thy virgin White more freshly glows.

fHE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 49

My mild and winsome jasmine tree,

That climbest up the dark gray wall.
Thy tiny flowerets seem in glee,

Lite silver spray-drops, down to fall :
Say, did they from their leaves thns peep

When mailed moss-troopers rode the hill, ,
When helmed warders paced the keep.

And bugles blew for Belted Will?

My free and feathery jasmine tree.

Within the fragrance of thy breath
Ton dungeon grated to its key.

And the chained captive pined for death.
On border fray, on feudal crime,

I dream not, while I gaze on thee;
The chieftains of that stem old time

Could ne'er have loved a jasmine tree."

It is related that a duke of Tuscany, who was the first
possessor of the plant in Italy, forbade his gardener to
take off a single flower or cutting. The gardener might
have been faithful had he not been in love. On the
birthday of his mistress he presented her a bouquet con-
taining one sprig of the precious jasmine. She put it in
moist earth to keep fresh : it took root, grew, and multi-
plied under her skilful hands. She was poor, her lover
was not rich, and her careful mother forbade their union.
But the young girl, by selling her jasmines, soon amassed
a little dowry. The Tuscan girls stUl wear a wreath of
jasmine on their wedding day ; and they have a proverb
that a maiden worthy to wear this wreath is rich enough
to make her husband's fortune.

CARNATION (Diarahus caryaphyUua). Pure and deep love.

The variety of shades produced in this flower by
skilful cultivation is almost infinite, making it a great
5

50 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS,

favorite witli florists. But through all changes it still
preserves its beauty aud fragrance. The great Conde.
loved and cultivated carnations, and had the courage to
wear one in his button-hole before Louis XIV., whose
aversion to perfumes is well known.
Pope says, —

" To the Elysian shades
Dismiss my soul, where no carnation fades.*'

And in one of the most enchanting scenes that even
Shakspeare ever wrote, he makes sweet Perdita say, —

" The fairest flowers of the season
Are our carnations and streaked gillyflowers."

VERVAIN {Verhenahastata). Enchantment.

Vervain was used among the ancients in various kinds
of divination, and among other properties, that of
reconciling enemies was attributed to it. When the
Romans sent heralds to carry to nations peace or war,
one of them carried vervain. The Druids had the great-
est veneration for this plant ; before gathering it they
made a sacrifice to the Earth. The Magi, when adoring
the sun, held branches of vervain in their hands. Venus
victrix wore a crown of myrtle interwoven with vervain,
and the G-ermans to this day give a wreath of vervain to
brides, as if to put them under the protection of this
goddess. In the northern provinces of France, the
shepherds gather it with ceremonies and words known
only to themselves.

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 51

TARES (Lolium termUeiitum). Vice.

The tare is made to, symbolize vice. Its stalk resem-
bles that of wheat ; it grows up in the finest harvests.
The hand of the wise and skilful cultivator roots it up
with care, that it may not be confounded with the
good grain. Thus a wise instructor ought diligently to
eradicate every inclination to vice which springs up in
the youthful heart ; but he should beware lest he uproot
at the same time the germs of virtue.

MARSHMALLOW (Althea officinalis). Beneficence.

The marshmaUow, which typifies beneficence, is the
poor man's friend. It grows wild along the brook and
around the cottage, and sometimes shows its modest
head in the garden. It is a soft, silvery-looking plant,
with delicate, pretty pink flowers. The flowers, the
leaves, the stalk, and the root are all useful. Various
pastes and sirups are prepared from its juices, as
pleasant to the taste as they are excellent for the health.
A lost traveller has sometimes found wholesome nutri-
ment in its root. We need only look around us to
discover, everywhere in nature, proofs of love and
foresight. But this tender mother often conceals, in
plants as in men, the greatest virtues under the most
modest exterior.

52 THE LANOUAGE OF FLOWERS.

FLOS ADONIS (^.idonia autumnalis). Painful recollections.

Adonis was killed by a wild boar. Venus, who had
left for him the delights of Cythera, shed tears over his
fate : they were not lost ; the earth received them, and
immediately produced a slender plant covered with
flowers like drops of blood.

LOCUST (Robinia pseudo-acacia), Platonic love.

This fine tree was carried from America to France,
more' than a century ago, by the botanist Robin, who
gave it his name. Its foliage is exceedingly light and
fresh, and its white, drooping flowers very fragrant. The
Indians are said to have made bows of its wood, and
buried their dead under its shade.

AUGUST.

WHITE LILY (LUium candidum). Majesty. Purity.

"n est le roi des fleurs, dont la rose est la reine."

BoisjoUn.

EAB to the heart of every one is
this regal flower. It stands with
ineffable grace on the elegant
stem which rises from its circle of
long green leaves, and breathes
out the richest incense. It is a
native of Syria, but has reigned
in our gardens from time immemorial. The sovereigns
of France have especially honored it. It bloomed in
the gardens of Charlemagne. Louis VII. placed it
on his coat of arms, coins, and seals. Philip Augustus
5 * (''•')

54 • THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

sprinkled his standard with lilies. St. Louis wore a
ring representing, in enamel and relief, a wreath of lilies
and daisies, and pn the stone was graven a crucifix with
these words : " Hors cet annel pourrions-nous trouver
amour ? " because, indeed, this ring combined for the
pious king the emblems of all he held dear — his reli-
gion, his country, and his wife.

** Crowned with a wreath of lilies, breathing cool
Their fragrance o'er his throbbing temples, comes
July, with languid step."

" Long alleys, falling down to twilight grots,
Or opening upon level plots
Of crowned lilies, standing near
Purple-spikad lavender." Tennyson.

" Nor snow-white lily, called so proudly fair.
Though by the poor man's cot she loves to dwell,
Nor finds his little garden scant of room
To bid her stately buds in beauty bloom."

Mri. Norton.

GARDEN GILLYFLOWER (Cheiranthus annuus).
Lasting Beauty.

The gillyflower, less graceful than the rose, less
majestic than the lily, keeps its freshness longer than
either. The old English poets loved the gillyflower,
and made frequent allusions to it. In Germany, surpris-
ingly fine effects are produced with this flower. Mme.
de la Tour says, "At an old chateau near Luxemburg
were arranged, along an immense terrace, four rows of
vases, of coarse ware, but well shaped, and of the
purest white ; these were all filled with the finest red

FiJBLISHED B7DE VRiES. IBARRA ET '" = , BOSTON.

THE LANGUAGE OP FLOWERS. 55

gillyflowers. Towards sunset one would have said that
living flames were issuing from these vases, and a bal-
samic odor filled the air around."

WHEAT (Triticum vulgare). Wealth.

This plant seems to have been conferred on man,
together with the use of fire, to assure to him the sceptre
of the earth. It is one of the first links of society,
because its culture exacts mutual labor and services.
An Arab, lost in the desert, had eaten nothing for two
days. Nearly dead with hunger, in passing by a well
where caravans stopped, he saw on the sand a little
leather bag. " God be praised," said he, picking it up ;
" I believe this is a little flour." He hastily opened it,
but, seeing what it contained, exclaimed, " Unfortunate
that I am ! It is nothing but gold dust ! "

DAHLIA (Dahlia). My gratitude exceeds your cares. Novelty.

This showy plant comes from Mexico, where its roots
are eaten, roasted in the ashes. It was first introduced
into Europe as an edible, but proved of too strong a
flavor, and botanists soon began to cultivate it for its
flowers, which were at first only single. It is named
from Andrew Dahl, a celebrated Swedish botanist.
Cultivation has developed a countless variety of shades,
whilfe improving the shape of this flower, and English
gardeners hold it in great esteem.

56 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

GARDEN MARIGOLD {Calmchila officinalis). Grief. Chagrin.

" No marygolds yet closed are,
No BhadowB yet appear."

Herrich.

" But, maiden, Bee, the day is waxen olde,
And 'gins to shut in with the marygold."

Browne.

The celebrated Mme. Lebrun painted a pretty little
picture, representing Grief under the form of a young
man, pale and languishing, whose head seemed bent
under the weight of a wreath of marigolds. It blooms
nearly all the year round ; therefore the Romans called
it the Flower of the Calends. It is open only from
nine A. M. till about three P. M., but turns towards
the sun, and follows his course from east to west. In
July and August it emits luminous sparks by night, like
the nasturtium and a few other plants of the same
color. Margaret of Orleans, the maternal grandmother
of Henry IV., took for her device a marigold turning
to the sun, with the motto, " Je ne veux suivre que
lui seul."

The older poets called it simply gold. Chaucer de-
votes the marigold to jealousy.

" and Jalousie,
■ That weved of yelwe goldes a girlonde."

Spenser associates it both with bridals and funerals.
Chatterton mentions

" The mary-budde, that ahutteth with the light."

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 5

Shakspeare evidently cherished this flower.

" The marigold, that goes to bed with the sun,
And with him rises weeping."

'* like marigolds, had sheathed their light,
And canopied in darkness sweetly lay,
Till they might open to adorn the day."

*' Hark ! hark ! the lark at Heaven's gate sings,
And Phoebns 'gins arise,
His steeds to water at those springs

On chaliced flowers that lies.
And winking mary-bndds begin

To ope their golden eyes;
With every thing that pretty bin,
My lady sweet, arise,
Arise, arise ! "

The practical Gay tells us, —

" Fair is the marigold, for pottage meet."

The more poetical Keats sings, —

" Open afresh your round of starry folds.
Ye ardent marigolds I
Dry up the moisture of your golden lids ;
For great Apollo bids

That in these days your praises shall be sung
On many harps, which he has lately strung;
And when again your dewiness he kisses.
Tell him I have you in my world of blisses :
So haply when 1 rove in some far vale.
His mighty voice may come upon the gale,"

"We end with part of a fine piece by George Wither

" When with a serious musing I behold
The grateful and obsequious marigold,
How duly every morning she displays
Her open breast, when Titan spreads his rays;
How she observes him in his daily walk.
Still bending towards him her small, slender stalk;
How, when he down declines, she droops and mourns,
Bedewed as 'twere with tears till he returns;

58 THK LANOUAOE OF FLOWERS.

And how Bhe veils her flowers when he is gone,

As if she soornSd to be looked on

By an inferior eye, or did contemn

To wait upon a meaner light than him ; —

When I thus meditate, methinks the flowers

Have spirits far more generous than ours.

And give us fair example to despise

The servile fawnings and idolatries

Wherewith we court these earthly things below.

Which merit not the service we bestow."

MIGNONETTE (Reieda odorata). Your qualities surpass your
charms.

" No gorgeous flowers the meek Reseda grace.
Yet sip with eager trunk yon busy race
Her simple cup, nor heed the dazzling gem
That beams in Fritillaria's diadem."

Evans.

Cowper says in the Task, —

" What are the casements lined with creeping herbs.
The prouder sashes fronted with a range
Of orange, myrtle, or the fragrant weed.
The Frenchman's darling ! "

We owe the reseda to Egypt. Linnaeus compared
its perfume to that of ambrosia. At sunrise and sun-
set it is sweetest and most penetrating. Flowering
from spring till autumn, in doors or out, it is a uni-
versal favorite. By keeping it in a temperate, even
atmosphere, it grows woody, and becomes a little tree,
living several years.

DATURA (JDatura arhorea). Deceitful charms.

The foliage of this plant seems faded and lan-
guishing in the daytime, but at night appears reani-
mated, and its beautiful flowers exhale an intoxicating

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 59

but dangerous perfume. One of HoflPman's "wonderful
stories was suggested by it ; and Mrs. Hemans wrote
the following sonnet upon it : —

" M^estic plant ! such fairy dreams as lie

Nursed where the bee sucks in the cowslip's bell,
Are not thy train : those flowers of Tase-Uke swell.

Clear, large, with dewy moonlight filled &om high,
. And in their monumental purity

Serenely drooping, round thee seem to draw
Visions linked strangely with that silent awe

Which broods o'er Sculpture's works. A meet ally
For those heroic forms, the simply grand,
Art thou; and worthy, carved by plastic hand,

Above some kingly poet's tomb to shine
In spotless marble; honoring one whose train
Soared, upon wings of thought that knew no stain.

Free through the starry heavens of truth divine."

AUTUMN.

SEPTEMBER

FORGET-ME-NOT (Myosotis palustris). Forget me not.

HERE is a flower, a lovely flower,

Tinged deep with Faith's unchanging
hue,
Pure as the ether in its hour

Of loveliest and serenest blue.
The streamlet's gentle side it seeks,

The silent fount, the shaded grot.
And sweetly to the heart it speaks.

Forget me not, forget me not !

Halleck. {Trmis.fromthe Gerrrum.)

A- story is told in Germany, that two young lovers
were walking on the banks of the Danube, when a

m

TBE LAXOUAGE OF FLOWERS. 6l

cluster of flowers of celestial blue floated by on the
stream. Struck by their beauty, the girl admires and
regrets them. Her lover springs into the water,
seizes the flowers, and has just time to throw them
at her feet, crying, " Love, forget me not,'' before
he disappears in the swift current.

CHINA-ASTER {Aster sinensis). Variety.

This beautiful aster comes from China, where it is
cultivated in great perfection, and extensively used
as a decoration. They are planted in pots, and ar-
ranged according to their colors in charming lines
and masses, the efiect of which is often heightened
by their reflection in a stream or sheet of water.
The china-aster owes its' variety to skilful culture.
Thus study can vary continually the graces of the mind.

TUBEROSE (Polianthes tuberosd). Voluptuousness.

The tuberose seems to be first mentioned by a
European writer in 1594. There has been some doubt
whether it came from the East Indies or from Mexico ;
but the latter country seems to have most evidence
in its favor. Father Camell says it was imported from
Mexico to the Philippine Islands by the Spaniards, who
called it Vara de S. Jose, or St. Joseph's wand.

It was carried from Persia to France In 1632. It
was single then, but its petals were doubled under the
hands of a skilful florist of Leyden named Lecour;
6

62 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

thence it spread all over the world. In Eussia it
blooms only for czars and courtiers, but in Peru it is
naturalized. Its lovely spires terminate a tall, slender
stem, and exhale a strong, sweet perfume, which is
oppressive if inhaled too closely.
Moore tells us of

" The tuberose witli her silvery light,
That in the gardens of Malay
Is called the ' mistress of the night,'
So like a bride scented and bright,
She conies out when the sun's away."

MORNING GLORY (^Convolvulus purpureus). Coquetry.

" Convolvulus, in streaMd vases flush."

Keats,
" Yes, thou canst smile and be as gay

As thouf;h no heart thy guile had broken,
While every step along my way
Brings up of thee some painful token.

Thou breathest in a dozen ears

The same fond words once breathed to me ;
While I, alas ! in secret tears,
Can only think and dream of thee."

The Flower Vase.

»* Aux feux dont Pair etincelle

S'ouvre la bellc-de-jour;

Zephyr la ilatte de I'aile :

La friponne encore appelle

Les papillons d'alentour.

Coquettes, c'est votre emblSme :

Le grand jour, le bruit vous plait.
Briller est votre art auprgme;
Sans 6clat, le plaisir m€me

Devient pour vous sans attrait."

Ph. de la Madeline.

HELIOTROPE {Ilelioiropium, perumanum). I adore you.
Intoxication.

" Heliotrope, whose gray and heavy wreath
Mimics the orchard blossom's flrulty breath."

Mrs, Norton.

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 63

One day, the celebrated Jussieu, botanizing in the
Cordilleras, felt himself almost intoxicated with a most
delicious perfume : he expected to discover some bril-
liant flower, but found only pretty bushes of a soft
green, crowned with clusters of a pale, lustreless pur-
ple. He approached these bushes (which were six
feet high), and saw that the flowers with which they
were loaded, all turned to the sun. Struck with this
circumstance, he gave it the name of heliotrope, from
the Greek words helios, sun, and trope, turn. Elat-
ed with his new conquest, he hastened to gather some
seeds of it, and send to the Jardin du Boi. The
ladies of Paris received the new plant with enthu-
siasm ; they placed it in the most precious vases,
called it " herb of love," and received with indiffer-
ence a bouquet which did not contain it. It was
cultivated for the first time, in Europe, in 1740, and
immediately took its place as a favorite in fashion-
able society.

SUNFLOWER {Heliartthus annuus). False riches.

*' The gaudy orient sunflower &om the crowd
Uplifts its golden circle."

Maturm.

" Sunflowers, planted for their gilded show,
That scale the window's lattice ere they blow;
Then, sweet to habitants within the sheds,
Peep through the diamond panes their golden heads."

Clare.
" Uplift, proud sunflower, to thy favorite orb.

That disk whereon his brightness seems to dwell;
And as thou seem'st his radiance to absorb,
Proclaim thyself the garden's sentinel."

BarUm.

64 TBE LANGTTAOE OF FLOWERS.

The sunflower, too, is a native of Peru, where it
was formerly honored as the image of the star of
day. The Virgins of the Sun, in their religious fes-
tivals, wore a golden crown, representing this immense
flower, which also glittered on their breasts and in
their hands. Poets have wrongly imagined this plant
to turn towards the sun, and sometimes confounded
it with the heliotrope, though so unlike it.

Lord Thurlow crowns Jealousy with the sunflower,
— yellow being her appropriate color.

It is said that Pythius, a rich Lydian, possessing
several gold mines, neglected the culture of his estates,
and only employed his numerous slaves in the mines.
His wise wife one day ordered a supper to be served up
to him, at which aU the dishes were filled with gold.
" I give you," said she, " the only thing we have in
abundance ; you can reap only what you sow ; see your-
self whether gold is so great a good ! " This lesson
made the desired impression, and he acknowledged that
Providence had not abandoned true riches to man's
avarice.

WALL-FLOWER (Cheiranthm cheiri). Fidelity in misfortune.

" The yellow wall-flower stained with Iron brown."

Tliomson,

" With cloudy fire the Wall-flowers burned."

" Wall-flowers in fragrance bum themselves away
With the sweet season on her precious pyre."

THE LAXGCAGE OF FLOWERS. Qto

'* Flower of the solitary place !
Gray Ruin*8 golden crowD,
That lendest melancholy grace
To haunts of old renown."
Moif,
" An emblem true thou art

Of love's enduring lustre, given
To cheer a lonely heart."

Barton.

Minstrels and troubadours formerly wore a sprig of
wall-flower as the emblem of an affection which resists
time and survives misfortune. During the reign of terror
in France, the sepulchres of the kings in the Abbey of
St. Denis were broken open and violated, and the remains
thrown into an obscure court behind the choir of the
church. There the revolution forgot them. The poet
Treneuil, going to visit this sad spot, found it brilliant
with the blossoms of the wall-flower. This plant, true
to its character, breathed out its perfume, like incense
rising to heaven, and inspired the poet with a fine apos-
trophe to it.

OCTOBER.

IVY (Jledera helix). Friendship.

EiENDSHiP has chosen for its
device an ivy surrounding a
fallen tree, with the motto,
" Nothing can detach me." In
Greece the hymeneal altar was
wreathed with ivy, and a branch
of it was presented to the bridal
pair, as the symbol of indissoluble union. The Bac-
chantes, old Silenus, and Bacchus himself, were crowned
with ivy. In Egypt it was consecrated to Osiris. The
fadeless green of the ivy made it a suitable crown
for the poet.

" An ivy wreath, the poet's prize,
Would lift MsBcenas to the skies."

Horace.

(66)

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 67

It was a favorite with Milton. Eve bids Adam

" Direct the clasping ivy where to climb."

Wordsworth, speaking of an old church, overgrown
with ivy, gives ns this pretty picture : —

"* Dying insensibly away
From human thoughts and purposes.
The building seems, wall, roof, and tower,
To bow to some transforming power,
And blend with the surrounding trees."

" Hast thou seen, in winter's stormiest day,

The trunk of a blighted oak;
Not dead, but sinking in slow decay,

Beneath Time's resistless stroke;
Round which a luxuriant ivy had grown,
And Avreathed it with verdure no longer its own?

O, gmile not, nor think it a worthless, thing,

If it be with Instruction fraught —
That which will closest and longest cling

Is alone worth a serious thought.
Should aught be unlovely which thus can she.!
Grace on the dying, and leaves not the dead?"

Barton,

With the Ivy Song of Mrs, Hemans, we end,

'* 0, how could fancy crown with thee.
In ancient days, the God of Wine,
And bid thee at the banquet be

Companion of the vine ?
Ivy' thy home is where each sound

Of revelry hath long been o'er,
Where song and beaker once went rouu.l.
But now are known no more.

Where long fallen gods recline.
There the place is thine.

The Roman on his battle plains,

Where kings before his eagles bent,
With thee, amidst exulting strainsi

Shadowed the victor's tent.

68 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

Though shining there in deathless green,

Triumphally thy boughs might wave,
Bettor thou lov'st tlie silent scene
Afound the victor's grave :

Urn and sculpture half divine
Yield their place to thine.

The cold halls of the regal dead,

Where lone the Italian sunbeams dwell.
Where hollow sounds the lightest tread —

Ivy '. they know thee well I
And far above the festal vine

Thou wav'st where once proud banners hung.
Where mouldering turrets crest the Rhine,

The Khine, still fresh and young I

Tower and rampart o'er the Khine,
Ivy ! all are thine 1

High from the fields of air look down

Those eyries of a vanished race^
Where harp, and battle, and renown

Have passed and left no trace.
But thou art there ! serenely bright,

Meeting the mountain storms with bloom.
Thou that wilt climb the loftiest height,

Or crown the lowliest tomb.
Ivy, Ivy ! all are thine— ^
Palace, hearth^ and shrine !

*Tis still the same; our pilgrim tread

O'er classic plains, through deserts free.
On the mute path of ages fled.

Still meets decay and thee*
And still let man his fabrics rear,

A ugust in beauty, stern in power, --
Days pass — thou ' Ivy never sere ; '

And thou shalt have thy dower.

All are thine, or must bo thine -^
Temple, pillar, shrine ! "

MEADOW SAFFRON {Colchicum autumnalis). My best days
are past.

The' ancients believed that this plant, from the fields
of Colchis, owed its origin to some drops of the magic

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWBHS. 69

liquor whicli Medea prepared to make old ^Eson young.
This caused it to be regarded as a preservative against
all sorts of maladies. It is stiU used in gout and rheuma-
tism. The seed does not ripen until the following
spring. The melancholy nymph weaves herself a crown
of its pale violet flowers, and consecrates it to the
happy days which have fled to return no more.

FOUR O'CLOCK, or MARVEL OF PERU (ilirahilis
Jalapa). Timidity.

This plant, known also as jalap, princess's leaf, and
helle-de-nuit, is a native of the Malay Isles, and in its
own climate is an elegant shrub. It opens its timid
bells at four in the afternoon, closing them again at four
in the morning.

We cannot refrain from transcribing here the fol-
lowing graceful lines of Constant Dubos : —

'* Solitaire amante des nuits,

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

S'apprete k reveler tes charmes.'
Si, par pudeur, aux indiscrets

Tu caches ta fleur purpurine.
En nous derobant tes attraits,

Permets encore qu'on les devine.

Lorsque I'aube vient reveiller

Les brillantes fllles de Flore, —
Seule tu scmbles sommeiller,

Et craindre I'iclat de I'aurore.
Quand I'ombre efface leurs coulcurs,

Tu reprends alors ta parure,
Et de I'absenee de tes sceurs,

Tu viens consoler la nature.

70 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

Sous le Toile raystdrienx

Be In craintxve modestie
Tu veux (ichapper a nos yeux,

Et tu n'en es que plus jolie;
On cherche, on aime k decouvrir,

Le doux plaisir que tu recfeles;
Ah ! pour encove les embcllir,

Donne ton secret a nos belles."

FRAGRANT COLTSFOOT {Tussilago fragrans). Jttstiee
shall be done you.

Grenius, concealed under a modest exterior, does not
strike the vulgar. But if the eye of a discriminat-
ing judge meets it, immediately it obtains the accla-
mations of those whose stupid indiflFerence could not
comprehend . it. Plants have the same, fate as men,
and often require a patron to be appreciated. The
fragrant coltsfoot, in spite of its sweet odor, lived a long
time unknown at the foot of Mount Pila, where it would
doubtless flourish ignored to this day, if a learned bot-
anist, M. Villau, of Grenoble, had not appreciated its
merits, and given it a prominent place in his works. It
is very welcome in the drawing-room, as it comes at a
season when other flowers are scarce.

SCARLET GERANIUM {Pelargonium in(iuirmm). SiUiness.

Mme. de Stael was always angry when a man of no
intellect was introduced into her circle. One day, how-
ever, a friend risked presenting a young Swiss oflScer,
of most amiable appearance. Deceived by appearances,
the lady grew animated, and said a thousand flattering

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 71

things to the new-comer, who seemed at first mute with
surprise and admiration. At last, after he had listened
nearly an hour without opening his mouth, she began to
mistrust his silence, and asked him some questions so
direct that he was forced to reply. But, alas ! he gave
only the sUliest answers. Mme. de Stael, angry at hav-
ing thrown away her trouble and her wit, turned to her
friend and said, " Truly, sir, you resemble my gardener,
who thought to please me this morning by bringing me
a pot of scarlet geranium ; but I sent him away, begging
him never to let me see it again." " Why so ? " asked
the young man, confounded. " Because, sir, since you
wish to know, this geranium is finely dressed in .red ; so
long as you only look at it, it is pleasing ; but the mo-
ment you press it slightly, it gives out only a disagreeable
odor." Saying these words, she rose and went out,
leaving the young man with cheeks as red as his coat, or
the flower to which he had been compared.

CYPRESS {Cupresms). Mourning.

'* Peace to the dust that in silence reposes
Beneath the darlc shades of the cypress and yew."

Pierpont.

*■ And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom."

Byron.

'' The nodding cypress formed a fragrant shade."

Pope.

" In cypress chests my arras connterpanes."

Shah^eare.

72

THE LANGUAOE OP FLOWERr,

The cypress is a tall, straight, evergreen tree, of a
fragrant smell — the leaves bitter. Its wood is almost
imperishable. The Romans devoted it to funereal uses,
and the Orientals plant it in their cemeteries. Spenser
tells us that in the garden of Proserpina —

" There mournful! cyprcsse grew in greatest store."

''^'^^^

**Ss

NOVEMBER.

OAK {Quercui). Hospitality.

' The builder oake, sole king of forrests all."

^Spenser.

HE ancients believed that the
oak, born with the earth, gave
shelter and sustenance to the
first men. This tree, conse-
crated to Jupiter, shaded his
cradle in Arcadia. The civic
crown of oak leaves appeared
to the Romans the most desirable of rewards. In
Epirus, the oaks of Dodona gave oracles ; those of
Gaul covered the mysteries of the Druids. An account
of all the celebrated oak trees in history would fill a
volume. Tennyson has sung the " Talking Oak," and

7 (73)

74 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEJiS.

Millevoye " La feuille de chene." Bryant eloquentlj
wrote, —

"This mighty oak —
By whose immovable stem I stand, and seem
Almost annihilated — not a prince
In all the proud old world beyond the deep
Ere wore his crown as loftily as he
Wears the green coronal of leaves with which
Thy hand has graced him."

AMARANTH (Amaranthits). Immortality.

" Sad Amaranthus, made a tlowre but late,
Sad Amaranthus, in whose purple gore
Me seemes I see Amintas' wretched fate,
To whom sweet poets' verso hath given endless date."

The amarantt is one of the last gifts of Autumn.
The ancients associated it with supreme honors, and
adorned with it the foreheads of the gods. In the
" Jeux Floraux," at Toulouse, the prize for the best
lyric was a golden amaranth. It has, for some reason
or other, been a favorite of the poets ; and Milton, in
Book III. of his great poem, pays it this homage : —

" To the ground,
With solemn adoration, down they cast
Tlicir crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold,
Immortal amaranth, a flower which once
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,
Began to bloom; but soon, for man's ofTence,
To Heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows
And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life.
And where the river of bliss, through midst of Heaven,
Bolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream,
Witli these, that never fade, the 'spirits elect •
Bind their resplendent locks inwreathed with beams."

And again in Lycidas, —

"Bid Amaranthus all his beauty shed."

PUEUSHED BYDE VRIES IRAT;RA -t^^BCSTON.

THE LAXGUAGE OF FLOWEIiS. 75

There are many species of amaranth. That which is
called coxcomb (a corruption of cock's comb) is very
handsome, and is said to grow to a great size in Japan.
Another variety is popularly (sailed Love-lies-bleeding.
In Campbell's poem of " O'Connor's Child," he makes
the heroine say, —

'• This purple flower my tears have nursed
A hero's blood supplied its bloom :
I love it, for it was the first
That grew on Connocht Moran's tomb."

* * * *

** Kor would I change my buried love
For any heart of living mould.
No, for 1 am a hero's child —
I'll hunt my quarry on the wild,
And still my home this mansion make.

Of all unheeded and unheeding.
And cherish, for my warrior's sake.

The flower of love-lies-bleeding."

PARSLEY (^Apium petroselinum). Festivity.

Parsley was in great repute among the Greeks. At
banquets they crowned themselves with it, to excite
gayety and appetite. In the Nemean games the victor
received for prize a wreath of parsley. It was sup-
posed to be a native of Sardinia, because on old medals
that province was represented by a woman at whose side
is a vase of parsley ; but it is found in cool, shady
places throughout the south of Europe. The beautiful
verdure of this plant heightens the elegance of the dishes
it adorns.

76

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

CORNELIAN CHERRY (Cormis mascula). Continuance.

This tree rises only to the height of eighteen or
twenty feet, but is slow of growth, and lives for centu-
ries. It blossoms in Spring, and in Autumn produces
its brilliant red fruit. The Greeks consecrated it to
Apollo, doubtless because this god presided over intel-
lectual labors, which demand much time and reflection.
This tree is the emblem of patience to all those who
would win the laurel crown for poetry or eloquence.

A HEAP OF FLOWERS. We will die together.

A pile of flowers and fruit decomposes the air, and
renders it unfit for respiration. This sad property in-
spired the German poet Freiligrath to write a striking
little piece called " The Vengeance of the Flowers."

Jn j.snv.

WINTER.

DECEMBER.

SERVICl£ TR£E (Pyrus domesticd). Prudence.

;> ACH plant and tree has a character
of its own. The giddy almond
hastens to give her flowers to the
Spring at the risk of having no
fruit for the Autumn, while the
service tree, which grows slowly,
only bears fruit when it has

7 * (77)

78 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

attained its full strength ; but then the harvest is cer-
tain. This is why it is called the type of prudence.
Handsome and durable, it keeps its bright red berries
all winter — a food provided in the midst of the snow
for the little birds.

MISTLETOE (^Viseum verticillatum). I surmount everything.

The following legend has come down to us from the
days of the Druids. The god Balder having dreamed
that he should die, his mother, Frigga, conjured fire,
metals, maladies, water, animals, serpents, and plants,
not to harm her son, and her conjurations were of such
power that nothing could resist. Loke, the enemy of
Balder, wished to know the cause of his invulnerability,
and disguising himself under the form of an old woman,
went to ask Frigga. He learned that everything in
nature was sworn not to hurt Balder, except one little
plant, which seemed too insignificant to harm, having not
even a root of its own. It was the mistletoe. Loke
immediately ran to find some, and, coming where the
gods were fighting against the invulnerable Balder,
asks the blind Heder, " Why dost not thou, too, throw
arrows at Balder?" "I am blind," replied Heder,
" and have no arms." Loke presented the mistletoe to
him, and said, " Balder is before thee." It is thrown,
and Balder falls lifeless. Thus the invulnerable son of
a goddess is slain by a branch of mistletoe thrown by a
blind enemy.

TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 79

The mistletoe is a little evergreen shrub, growing
on the tops of the tallest trees ; even the proud oak
becomes its slave, and feeds it with his own substance.
It was regarded as peculiarly sacred by the Druids.
Every one is familiar with the English customs con-
nected with it as a Christmas decoration.

" Bright-headed as the merry May dawn

She floated down the dance;
I thought some angel must have gone

Our human way by chance.
I held my hands and caught my bliss :

Children, I'll show you how I
And earth touched heaven in a kiss

Under the mistletoe bough."

MOSS (jCryptogamid). Maternal love.

Like those friends repulsed neither by misfortune
nor ingratitude, the mosses, banished from cultivated
fields, advance towards dry, uncultivated lands, to cover
them with their own substance, which is by degrees
changed into fertile soil. They extend over marshes,
and soon transform them into useful meadows. They
form, in the forest shade, a turfy carpet, where the
shepherd, the lover, and the poet love to repose.
Without these plants, so little regarded by us, a part
of the globe would be uninhabitable. In Lapland, the
families cover with moss the subterranean huts, where
they brave the longest winters. Their numerous herds
of reindeer know no other food, yet they supply their
masters with delicious milk, eatable flesh, and warm
furs.

80 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEnS.

LAURESTINE (Viburnum tinus). I die if neglected.

This pretty shrub, improperly called laurustinus,
comes to us from Spain, and is brilliant with verdure
and flowers when other plants are stripped of them.
It always requires assiduous attention, which, however,
it well repays.

JANUARY.

LAUREL (^Laurns nobilis). Glory.

" Yield me one leaf of Daphne's deathless plant."

Byron.

HE laurel or bay tree has been
the symbol of glory and vic-
tory in every age and among
every people. The lovely
Daphne, daughter of the river
Peneus, was loved by Apollo ;
but she fled from his profi'ered
caresses. He pursued her, and
as he began to gain on her, she invoked her father's
aid, and was changed into the laurel. Apollo crowned
his head with the leaves, and ordered that it should
be esteemed sacred to him. It grows in great
profusion on the banks of the Peneus, and its aromatic

(81)

82 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEBS.

evergreen branches rise there to the height of the
tallest trees. The property of resisting lightning was
anciently ascribed to it.

The Flora Domestica says, " The bay or laurel
was in great esteem with physicians. The statue of
-i^sculapius, in allusion, perhaps, to his father, Apollo,
was adorned with its leaves. From the custom which
prevailed in some places of crowning the young doc-
tors in physic with this laurel in berry, the students
were called haccalaureats, or bachelors."

Every poet has sung the laurel. Byron said of Pe-
trarch, —

" Watering the tree which bore his lady's name
With his melodious tears, he gave himself to fame."

Though the laurel be the " meede of mighty con-
querors,'' Oglevie bids us remember that

" Short IS Ambition's gay, deceitful dream;

Though wreaths of blooming laurel bind her brow,
Calm thought dispels the visionary scheme,
And Time's cold breath dissolves the withering bough."

This classic tree is not a native of our country ;
but we have the beautiful kalmia, or American sheep
laurel, which can challenge comparison with any shrub
of Europe.

HOLLY (7fex). Forethought.

" Boldest of plants that ever faced the wind."

JVordsworth.

The holly brings to mind delightful scenes of Christ-
mas festivities and family joys. Its curiously cut,

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, 83

shining leaves, and rich clusters of scarlet berries,
make it an unequalled ornament for church, palace,
or cottage. Among the best lines Southej ever wrote
are the following : —

THE HOLLY TREE.

*' O reader, hast thou ever stood to see

The holly tree r
The eye that contemplates it well perceives

Its glossy leaves
Ordered by an intelligence bo wise.
As might confound the atheist^s sophistries.

Below, a circling fence, its leaves are seen

Wrinkled and keen;
No grazing cattle through their prickly round

Can reach to wound;
But as they grow where nothing is to fear,
Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear.

I love to view these things with curious eyes,

And moralize;
And in this wisdom of the holly tree

Can emblems see
Wherewith perchance to make a pleasant rhyme —
One which may profit in the after-time.

Thus, though abroad perchance I might appear

Harsh and austere.
To those who on my leisure would mtrude

Reserved and rude, —
Gentle at home amid my friends I'd be,
Like the high leaves upon the holly tree.

And- should my youth, as youth Is apt, I know,

Some harshness show, —
All vain asperities I day by day

Would wear away,
Till the smooth temper of my age should be
Like the high leaves upon the holly tree.

84 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

And, ae when all the summer trees are seen

So bright and green,
The holly leaves their fadeless hues display —

Less bright than they;
But when the bare and wintry woods we see.
What then so cheerful as the holly tree?

So serious should my youth appear among

The thoughtless throng,
So would I seem amid the young and gay

More grave than they,
That in my age as cheerful I might be
As the green winter of the holly tree."

ALOE {Aloe). Grief. Bitterness.

The aloe holds to the soil only by weak roots ;
it loves to grow in the desert ; its taste is very
bitter. Thus grief withdraws us from the world,
detaches us from the earth, and fills our hearts with
bitterness. These plants live almost entirely on air,
and affect grotesque and wonderful forms. Mexico
and the sands of Africa are their native climes.

AGNUS CASTUS. Coldness. Life without love.

Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galienus inform us that the
priestesses of Ceres formed their virginal couch of
the fragrant branches of this shrub, which covers itself
with long tufts of white or violet flowers, and that
they regarded it as the palladium of their chastity.
Nuns used to drink a water distilled from it, to
banish terrestrial thoughts from their solitary cells ;
and several Orders of monks wore a knife whose

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 8.

handle was made of the wood of the agnus castus
as a sure means of rendering their hearts insensible
In Dryden's version of the Flower and the Leaf, —

" "Wreaths of agnus caRtus others bore ;
These last, who with those virgin crowns were dressed,
Appeared in higher honor than the rest."

And their queen carried a branch of it for a sceptre

. FEBRUARY.

SNOWDROP {Galanfhus nivalis). Consolation. A firieud
in adversity.

" lione flower, hemmed in with snows, and white as they."

* Wordsworth.

" Thou timid snowdrop, raise thy lovely head."

£artcm.

DELICATE blossom Suddenly appears
breaking through the snowy Teil
which covers the earth, and shows
to our wondering eyes its pure cups,
tipped with green, as if Hope had
marked them for her own. Expand-
ing amid wintry scenes, this lovely
flower seems to smile at all the rigors of the season,

(86)

TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 87

and says, " I come to console you, and whisper the
return of the long, bright, sunny days."

*' Already now the Bnowdrop dares appear,
The first pale blossom of the unripened year;
As Flora's breath, by some transforming power.
Had changed an icicle into a flower."

Mrs. Barbauld.

*' Nature — deep and mystic woi^d !
Mighty mother, still unknown !
Thou didst sure the snowdrop gird

With an armor all thine own.
Thou, who sent'st it forth alone
To the cold and sullen season
(Like a thought at random thrown).
Sent it thus for some grave reason,"

Barry Cornwall.

JUNIPER (Juniperus communis). Asylum. Aid.

This tree was anciently consecrated to the Eumenides ;
the smoke of its green branches was the incense which
was most preferred to offer to the infernal deities. The
berries were burned at funerals to keep off witchcraft.
In Holland they are extensively used now to flavor gin.
The Chinese and the English like to adorn their gardens
with this wild tree, which accustoms itself with difficulty
to cultivation. Free, it loves to grow on the edge of
the forest ; weak and timid creatures often seek an
asylum under its long, low boughs. The hunted hare
crouches there, as its strong odor sets the dogs at fault ;
the thrush often confides her family to it, and fattens on
its berries ; while the entomologist studies around its
prickly branches a thousand brilliant insects, which have

88 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

no other defence, and seem to guess that this tree ia
destined to protect them.

YEW {Taxus baccata). Sadness.

The Greeks, affected, like us, by the sad aspect of this
tree, imagined that the unhappy Smilax, who saw her
love despised by the young Crocus, was imprisoned in
the bark of a yew. Its black, gloomy foliage, and ugly
form, seem to warn us against reposing under it. It is
said that its juice is poisonous to horses and asses, and
that if one sleeps under a yew tree, the head grows
heavy, and suffers violent pain. Our ancestors liked to
see it in their cemeteries. Its wood was used for bows,
lances, and cross-bows. In Dutch gardens one may still
see yews clipped into fantastic forms, which recall the
masterpieces of Le Notre and La Quintinie.

FIELD DAISY {Bellis perennis). I will think of it.
•' Si douce est la marguerite."

Chaucer asserts that Alceste, a fair queen, who sacri-
ficed her own life to preserve her husband's, was trans-
formed into a daisy. What poet has not written of the
daisy ? But one stands preeminent. Few will disagree
with Mr. Thomas Miller, that the daisy ought to be known
as " Chaucer's flower." He all but worshipped it.

" Love I most these floures white and rede,
Sueh that were eallen Daisies in our town;

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 89

So hence I have so great affection,
As I sayd erst, when comen is the Maie,
That in my bedde there daweth me no daie
That I am up and walking- in the mede.
To see this flower against the sunne sprede;
When it up riseth eftrly by the morrow,
That blissful sight softeneth all my sorrow.
So glad am I that when I have presence
Of it to done it alle reverence,
As she that is of all floures the fioure,
Fulfilled of all vertue and honoure,
And ever ylike faire and fresh of hewe,
And ever I love it, and ever ylike newe.
And shall till that mine herte die."

In the times of chivalry, when a lady neither accepted
nor rejected a wooer's suit, she expressed, by a wreath
of single white daisies, the sentiment, " I will think
of it."

*' The band of flutes began to play,
To which a lady sung a virelay ,
And still at every close she would repeat
The burden of the song, The Daisy is so sweet.
The Daisy is so sweet when she begun,
The troths of knightH and dames continued on
The concert, and the voice so charmed my ear
And soothed my soul, that it was heaven to hear.'^

Dry den from^ Chaucer.

*' The daisie scattered on each meade and downe,
A golden tuft within a silver croune;
Fayre fall that dainty floure ! and may there be
No shepherd graced, that doth not honor thee ! "

W. Browne.

The daisy (or day^s eye) is the gowan of Burns
and the other Scotch bards. The beautiful " Lines to
a Mountain Daisy " are so well known and so often
quoted, that we forbear to give them. A few stanzas
from a poem by Wordsworth in praise of the daisy find
their place here.

8*

90 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

" When Winter decks his few gray hairs,
Thee in the scanty wreath he wears;
Spring parts the clouds with softest airs,

That she may sun thee;
Whole summer fields are thine by right;
And Autumn, melancholy wight !
Doth in thy crimson head delight

When rains are on thee.

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

Thou art not daunted,
Nor car'st if thou be set at nought.
And oft alone, in nooks remote,
We meet thee like a pleasant thought,

When suteh are wanted.

Be violets in their secret mews

The flowers the wanton zephyrs choose;

Proud be the rose, with rains and dew»

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

The poet's darling.

* * *

When, smitten by the mornmg ray,
I see thee rise, alert and gay.
Then, cheerful flower ! my spirits play

With kindred gladness;
And when at dusk, by dews oppressed.
Thou sink'st, the image of thy rest
Hath often eased my pensive breast

Of careful sadness."

DOUBLE GARDEN DAISY. I share your feelings.

When the lady of a knight allowed him to engrave
this flower on his arms, it was a public avowal that his
affection was returned.

If left too long in one spot, the garden daisy is apt

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 91

to degenerate. The roots should be taken up in the
autumn and divided.

" Star of the mead, sweet daughter of the day,
Whose opening flower invites the morning ray
From thy moist cheek, and boBom^s chilly fold,
To kiss the tears of eve, the dew-drops cold !
Sweet daisy, flower of love ! when birds are paired,
'Tis sweet to see thee, with thy bosom bared,
Smiling in virgin innocence serene,
Thy pearly crown above thy vest of green.
The lark, with sparkling eye and rustling wing,
Rejoins his widowed mate in early spring,
And as he prunes his plumes of russet hue,
Swears on thy maiden blossom to be true.

* * * *

Oft have 1 watched thy closing buds at eve,
Which for the parting sunbeams seemed to grieve.
And, when gay morning gilt the dew-bright plain.
Seen them unclasp their folded leaves again.
Nor he who sung, *• The daisy is so sweet,'
More dearly loved thy pearly form to greet.
When on his scarf the knight the daisy bound,
And dames at tourneys shone with daisies crowned.
And fays forsook the purer flelds above.
To hail the daisy, flower of faithful love."

Leyden.

The following beautiful tribute is by Montgomery : —

THE DAISY.

" There is a flower, a little flower.
With silver crest and golden eye.
That welcomes every changing hour.
And weathers every sky.

The prouder beauties of the field

In gay but quick succession shine;
Kace after race their honors yield;

They flourish and decline.

But this small flower, to nature dear,
While moons and stars their courses run,

Wreathes the whole circle of the year.
Companion of the sun.

92 . THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

It smiles upon the lap of May,
To sultry August spreads its charms,

Lights pale October on its way,
And twines December's arms.

The purple heath and golden broom
On moory mountains catch the gale;

O'er lawns the lily sheds perfume;
The violet in the vale.

But this bold floweret climbs the hill,
Hides in the forest, haunts the glen,

Plays on the margin of the rill,
Peeps round the fox's den.

Within the garden's cultured round
It shares the sweet carnation's bed.

And blooms on consecrated ground
In honor of the dead.

The lambkin crops Its crimson gem.
The wild bee murmurs on its breast.

The blue-fly bends its pensile stem,
Light o'er the skylark's nest.

' 'Tis Flora's page ; In every place.
In every season, fresh and fair,
It opens With perennial grace,
And blossoms everywhere.

On waste and woodland, rock and plain.
Its humble buds unheeded rise;

Tlie rose has but a summer reign.
The daisy never dies."

VIOLET {Viola). Modesty.

Ovid tells us that yiolets were strewn as oflFerings at
the Roman feast of the Feralia, kept for their dead.

" The violet in her greenwood bower,

Where birchen boughs with hazels mingle.
May boast itself the fairest flower
In glen, or copse, or forest dingle."

Scott.

■PUBUSHED BYDE VRres iHAfiRA i^tt<-;'_'bqst0N

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 93

" There are no flowers grow in the vale,
Kissed by the dew, wooed by the gale,
None by the dew of the twilight wet.
So sweet as the deep-blue violet."

Landon.

Fairest and sweetest of flowers ! What more praise
can be given r If some invisible power should sud-
denly sweep away from the earth every tuft of violets,
could any flower, of garden, field, or copse, replace
them ? Ah, no ! the very soul of Spring would have
passed away with them.

There is no fragrance like that of the violet. A
peculiar freshness and purity make it stand alone
among all the odors of the floral kingdom. Shakspeare
felt it when he wrote of

"violets dim.
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyea
Or Cytherea's breath."

The Duke in Twelfth Night commands, —

*' That strain again; it had a dying fall;
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south.
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odor."

And at Ophelia's grave Laertes cries, —

" Lay her i' the earth.
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring."

Barry Cornwall says, —

" Dost see yon bank
The sun is kissing .' Near — go near ! for there
('Neath those broad leaves, amidst yon straggling grasses)
Immaculate odors from the violet
Spring up forever ! Like sweet thoughts that come

94

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

Winged from the maiden fancy, and fly ofl"
In music to the skies, and there are lost,
These ever-steaming odors seek the sun,
And fade In the hght he scatters."

We close in the grateful words of Langhorne : —

" That lavish hand
Which scatters violets under every thorn.
Forbids that sweets like these should be confined
Within the limits of the rich man's wall."

AEDON, fair reader, if we weary
you ; but it seems fitting here to
give a brief account of the cel-
ebrated Floral G-ames of Toulouse.
The south of France was, per-
haps, the cradle of all our modern
poetry ; for while the language
of the surrounding nations was scarcely formed, the
Proven5al was already a copious, expressive, and ele-
gant tongue. The love for polite literature made
such progress in Toulouse during the reign of the
house of Raymond, that one of the old writers calls
it " the flower and rose of all cities."

The origin of the Troubadours goes back to ob-
scurity ; but we know that through the middle ages
poetical courts, called Buys d' Amour, were of frequent

(95)

96 THE LANQVAGE OF FLOWERS.

occurrence. The word jjuy comes from a' supposed
Celtic root, and signifies tribunal. It was one of these
courts which was established at Toulouse jn 1324, by
a company of seven Troubadours. They called it the
court of the Gai Saber, and poets from Provence,
Languedoc, and Catalonia were invited to compete
for the prize, which was a violet " of fine gold."
The court assembled annually in a garden, and under
a spreading elm made their award. This gave such
an impetus to the "joyous science," that, in 1388, King
John, of Arragon, sent an embassy to Charles VI.,
asking for French Troubadours to establish academies
of the Gai Saber in his dominions.

But, in the next century, wars, and other circum-
stances unfavorable to the quiet pursuits of litera-
ture and the peaceful pleasures of the garden, caused
such a decline in the spirit of the age, that this pretty
custom fell into disuse. Then, when a night of igno-
rance and mental indolence seemed settling down upon
these fair southern fields, Clemence Isaure suddenly
steps upon the scene, and rescues her native land
from the demoralizing influence of material force by
encouraging once more the cultivation of eloquence
and belles-lettres.

This famous lady was of an ancient and illustrious
Toulousan family. She is represented to have pos-
sessed all graces, both of mind and person, and to
have encouraged in every way the revival of letters.

TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 97

She caused the Jeux Floraux to be celebrated again
each year, with renewed splendor, and with her own
hand bestowed a golden eglantine on a competitor
of her own sex, Antoinette ViUeneuve.

Clemence, in spite of the most brilliant offers,
never married. She died, aged about fifty, at the
beginning of the sixteenth century, and by her wiU
left nearly all her property to her native city, to be
applied to the encouragement of intellectual develop-
ment. She ordained three golden flowers as prizes —
the violet, the eglantine, and the marigold. As the
old romance prettUy says, —

*' Eglantine est la fleur que j'aime.
La vlolette est ma couleur;
Dans le souci tu vois I'emblSme
Des chag^rins de mon triste coeur."

This Festival of Flowers, as it is called, survives
still, four hundred years after its foundation ; though
the contests of the present day are in modern French,
which scarcely equals, for poetical purposes, the more
flexible and impassioned Proven9al. It is celebrated
on the third of May. The ceremonies begin with a
eulogy of Clemence Isaure, after which the commis-
sioners go in pomp to take the prize flowers from
the high altar of the church of Our Lady de la
Daurade, where Isaure was interred. Meantime the
Secretary reports on the pieces offered by the concur-
rents, and on the return of the commissioners the
9

98 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

prizes are awarded. Formerly it was the custom for
the victors to go in procession to the church, and
cover with a shower of roses the marble tomb of
Clemence, in compliance with a request in her will.
The statue which adorned this tomb was removed to
the town hall in 1557, and a few years later its coro-
nation with roses was substituted for the strewing on
the grave, the religious authorities objecting to that
as a relic of pagan rites.

Four flowers have been added to the first three,
since the time of Isaure ; and the amaranth now usurps
the place of the violet as the flor sohrana or sover-
eign flower. The prizes at the present day are as
follows : —

A golden amaranth for the best ode.

A golden eglantine for the best piece of prose.

A silver violet for the best heroic poem, or epistle
in verse.

A silver marigold for an eclogue, idyl, elegy, or
ballad.

A silver primrose for the best fable or apologue.

A silver lily for a sonnet or hymn in honor of the
Virgin Mary.

A silver pink is given as a prize of encouragement
under either head.

Ie must say a few words, too,
about the celebrated Garland
of JuHa. Madame de Genlis
informs us that the Guirlande
de Julie was a piece of gal-
lantry imagined by the aus-
tere Due de Montausier, for
the beautiful Julie de KambouiEet. After her hand
was promised him, it became his duty, in conformity
to an old custom, to send his future bride a bouquet
every day until the wedding. But he did not stop
here. He caused to be painted on vellum, in a large
folio volume, by the best artists, the most beautiful
flowers cultivated ; and the most distinguished poets
of the time wrote verses on each flower. The volume,

(99)

100

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

magnificently bound, was placed upon the bride's dress-
ing table on the wedding day. This interesting monu-
ment of the delicate gallantry of the seventeenth cen-
tury passed into foreign hands during the Revolution,
and in 1795 was at Hamburg. Its present possessor
is unknown.

DIRECTIONS

IN THE USE OF FLOWERS.

BEE follows a brief summary of
directions for the use of the floral
language.

Any noun can be changed to a
verb or adjective when necessary.
The present tense is expressed by
holding the flower as high as the
heart; the past, by presenting it with the arm towards the
ground ; the future, by raising it as high as the eyes. There
are three persons ; first, second, and third. For the first,
present the flower horizontally, with the right hand. For
9 « (101)

102 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

the second, with the same hand, but held to the left. For
the third, present it with the left hand. Two flowers indicate
the plural ; a flower upside down, negation.

There are some amusing examples of the applica-
tion of this language in winter, when flowers are scarce,
in " Les Fleurs Animees ; " as for instance in this
note : —

" Wormwood has no crown imperial on bittersweet myrtle.
You know I have a serpent cactus of whortleberry. Musk
plant upside down ! Liverwort, we are cistus. Banish all
mangolds, and pansy only of the sweet sultan of our pim-
])ernel.

Myrtle as high r.s the heart, and myrtle as high as the

eyes forever."

Jacobus.

Translated it reads, —

Absence has no power on true love. You know I have

a horror of treachery. No weakness ! Confidence, we are .

secure. Banish all griefs, and think only of the happiness of

our meeting.

I love you, and shall love you forever.

Jacobus.

The colored plate gives an idea of the arrangement
of a floral sentence. It is a translation of some verses
by the Chevalier Parny.

'Fairies use flowers for their cliaractery."

are.

' The tongue that erst was spoken by the elves,

When tenderness as yet within the world was new."

Hoffman.

" Souvent, d'une amante offens^e,

Quelques fleurs calment le courroux;
Souvent, du fils de Cyth^ree,
Flore sert a cacher les coups."

Old French Poet.

(104).

DICTIONARY

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

Abruptuess, Borage.
Atysence, Wormwood,
Acconuno dating disposition, Valerian,

(105)

106 DICTIOXABY OF THE

Activity, Thyme. See p. 34.

A fi*ieud in adversity, Snowdrop. See p. 86.

Alterthouglit, Large-Jlowered Aster.

The large-flowered aster begins to bloom -when other flowers
become scarce. It is, as it were, the afterthought of Flora,
who smiles while leaving us.

Agitation, Rhododendron.

Honey made from the flowers of the rhododendron was
anciently supposed to cause delirium, and very probably some
of the species possess poisonous qualities. Undoubtedly this
is the most brilliant of all American shrubs. The less showy
but beautiful azaleas belong to this family.

Always clieerfnl, Coreopsis,
Always remembered, 'Everlasting.
Ambition, Hollyhock.
Amiability, Jasmine. See p. 48.
Anger, Gorse, or J!^rze.

The furze blossom resembles the broom, but the plant is
very prickly. It grows in greater profusion in England than
in any other country. It is said that Linnaeus, when he saw
it for the first time, near London, fell on his knees enrap-
tured ; and, carrying some plants to Sweden, tried to raise
them in a hot-house. Vu-gil mentions the furze. Keats
speaks of

" downs, where sweet air stirs

Blue liarebells lightly, and where prickly furze

Buds lavish gold."

*' Here the furze,
Euriched among its spires with golden flowers.
Scents the keen air."

CJiarlntte Smith,

LANGUAGE OF FLOWEBS.

107

Animosity, St. JolirOs Wort.

" Hypericum beneath each sheltering bush
Its healing virtue modestly conceals."

Dodsley.
Artifice, Clematis.

To excite commiseration, beggars sometimes produce on

themselves, by applying the juice of the clematis, factitious

sores. This infamous artifice sometimes results in real ulcers.

Arts, Acanthus. See p. 25.

Asyluxn, Aid, Juniper. See p. 87.

Audacity, Larch.

Austerity, Thistle,

Beauty ever new, Monthly Rose.
Be my support, Black Bryony.
Beloved daughter, Cinquefoil.
Beneficence, Marshmallow. Seep. 51,

108 VICTIONAUY OF THE

Benevolence, Potato.

The reader is referred to Humboldt for the history of the
potato. In England, in the reign of James I., it was consid-
ered a great delicacy, and provided only in very small quan-
tities for the queen's household. Bradley, an extensive
writer on horticultural subjects at the beginning of the eigh-
teenth century, says of potatoes, " They are of less note
than horseradish, radish, scorzonera, beets, and skirret ; but
as they are not without their admirers, I will not pass them by
in silence." It was unknown in Saxony as late as 1740, but
cultivated earlier in Switzerland.

Parmentier, by the most persevering labors, succeeded in
introducing the cultivation of this useful vegetable into France,
in the reign of Louis XVI. -It had been known in Italy
long before.

ISene'POlence, Hyacinth.

The poets are not agreed whether the hyacinth sprung from
the blood of Ajax or that of Hyacinthus ; but the flower they
so designate was probably a kind of lily, and not our modern
hyacinth. This, however, does not lack praise.

Hyacinths, with their graceful bells,
Where the spirit of odor dwells. *'

Miss Landon.
' The hyacinth, purple, white, and blue,
Which flung from its hells a sweet peal anew
Of music HO delicate, soft, and intense,
It was felt lilje an odor within the sense."

SlieUey.
" Shaded hyacinth, alway
Sapphire queen of the mid-May."

Keats.
In the bower of Eve, —

" hyacinth, with rich inlay,
Broidered the ground, more colored than with stone
Of costliest emblem."

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 109

The curling petals furnished Milton with a simile in de-
scribing Adam.

" Hyacinthine locks
Round from his parted forelock manly hung
Clustering."

Collins, too, speaks of

" The youth whose locks divinely Bpreadiug
Like vernal hyacinths.'*

The poetical Hyacinth of the ancients was supposed to

wear

" His bitter Borrows painted on his bosom."

" As poets feigned, from Ajax* streaming blood
Arose, with grief inscribed, a mournful flower.'*

"In the flower he weaved
The sad impression of his sighs j which bears
Ai — Ai — displayed in funeral characters."

Sandys's Ovid.
'■ Camus, reverend sir, went footing slow.
His mantle hairy, and his bonnet sedge,
Inwrought with figures dim, and on the edge
Like to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe."

Be^vare, OleaTider.
Bu'th, Dittany of Crete.

"When Juno, under the name of Lucina, presided at the
birth of children, she wore a wreath of dittany. Its good
odor and medicinal qualities, which caused it to he esteemed
by the ancients, make it still' valued. It is a native of the
isle of Crete.

In Martyn's Botany we read, " Dittany of Crete has the

small purple flowers collected in loose, nodding heads ; the

stalks are pubescent, purplish, and send out small branches

from their sides by pairs j the leaves are round, thick, and so

10

110

DICTIONARY OF THE

woolly as to be quite white ; the whole plant has a piercing,
aromatic scent ^nd biting taste.'' Woodville, in his Medical
Botany, gives a figure of it, and says, " Both the Greek and
Roman writers have fabled this plant into great celebrity ; of
which a single instance, related by the Latin poet, affords a
beautiful illustration." See jEneid XII. 411-416.

Bitterness, Aloe. See p. 84.
Blackness, Ebony Tree,
Blemish, Henbane,
Boldness, Larch,

The larch is often found at a prodigious elevation on moun-
tains.

Bonds of love, Honeysuckle, See p. 28.

Calmness, Huckbean, See p. 21.
Calumny, Madder,
Candor, While Violet.

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Ill

Capricious Seanty, Mush Rose,

This capricious rose will languish in situations which at
first appeared most favorahle to it. One year it will be
loaded with flowers, and the next it will refuse to blossom
at all.

Cha§^in, Marigold. See p. 56.

Clian^e, Pimpernel.

Always closing before rain, it denotes a change of weather.

Cliastity, Orange Blossom.

Coarseness, Grossuess, Fompion, or Pumpkin.

Coldness, Agnus C'asfus. See p, 84.

Compassion, Elder.

The elder is said to furnish quack doctors with many of
their most successful remedies. The great Boerhaave is said
to have held the medicinal qualities of the elder in such rever-
ence, that he would take off his hat when passing it. Elder
berries make u. very excellent wine.

Conceit, Pomegranate.

A pomegranate in Spanish is granada; and the kingdom
of Granada is said to have derived its name from the pome-
granate trees planted there by the Moors ; which is quite
probable, from a cleft pomegranate being represented on its
arms.

Confession of lOT-e, Rosebud. See p. 42.

Confldence, liverwort.

Conjugal love. Linden, or Lime. Seep. 33.

112

DICTIONARY OF THE

Consolation, Snowdrop. Corn Poppy-

Cowley says, —

" Indulgent Cerea knew my worth.

And to adorn the teeming earth

She bade the poppy blow."

Constancy, Cmderbury Bell.

Coolness, Lettuce.

Coquetry, Morning Glory. See p. 62.

Courage, Blade Poplar.

The tree is consecrated to Hercules.

Cruelty, Nettle.

The sting of the nettle causes a pain like a bum. The
mechanism of the sting is similar to a bee's, as may be seen
by looking at a leaf under the microscope.

Deceitful charms, Datnra. See p. 68.
Declaration of love. Tulip. See p. 20.

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 113

Kejectiou, Impiiie.

" Tristes lupini."

Virgil.

A beautiful white lupine is found -wild in North America.
All the species have rich, velvety leaves, and the variety of
color in their flowers is very great.

Delicacy, Bluebottle.
Departure, Sweet Pea.

The dark sweet pea is a native of Sicily ; and the light,
of Ceylon.

" Here are sweet peas, on tiptoe for a flight,
Witli \ving8 of gentle flush o'er delicate white.
And taper fingers catcliing at all things.
To bind them all about with tiny rings."

Keais.
X>esertiou, Anemone (Wiji4fiovjer).

Anemone was a nymph beloved by Zephyr. Flora, jealous,
banished her from her court, and metamorphosed her into a
flower which always expands before Spring has really returned.
Zephyr abandoned this unhappy beauty to the rough caresses
of Boreas, who shakes the blossom, rudely opens it, and
soon destroys it.

Desire, Jonquil.

Thomson speaks of

" Jonquils of potent fragrance."

And Bidlake, ^^

" The jonquil loads with potent breath the air,
And rich in golden glory nods."

Prior, too, — ■

' The smelling tuberose and jonquil declare
The stronger impulse of the evening air."

10*

114 DICTIONARY OF THE

Of the same family are Shakspeare's daffodils, —

*' That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty."

Desire to please, Mtzereon.

^Devotion, Passion Flower.

]>iificiilties, Black Thorn.

discretion, Maiden Hair.

Disdain, Bue.

" There's rue for you ; and here's some for me : — we may call it herb
of grace o* Sundays : — you may wear your rue with a difference."

" Here did she drop a tear; here, in this place,
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace;
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen
In the remembrance of a weeping queen."

Shakspeare,

Before the Reformation, priests used to sprinkle the people

in church with bunches of rue dipped in the holy water;

hence the name of Herb of Grace o' Sundays.

Disguise, TJtorn Apple.

Distinction, Cardinal Flower.

The cardinal flower, or scarlet lobelia, is one of the most
splendid American flowers. It was introduced into Great
Britain in 1629, and Justice says of it, "A flower of most
handsome appearance, which should not be wanting in curious
gardens, as it excels all other flowers I ever knew in the rich-
ness of its scarlet color."

Docility, Rush.

Do me Justice, Chestnut.

Do not abuse ine, Saffron Crocus,

Duration, Continuance, Cornelian Cherry. See p. 76.

LA2^'GUAGE OF FLOWERS,

11.

Egotism, PoeVs Narcissus. See p. 32.
Elegance, JRose Acacia.
Elevation, Fir.

Eloquence, Water Lily.

•' Brilliant thyself in store of dazzling white,
Thy sister plants more gaudy robes unfold :
This flames in purple; that, intensely bright
Amid the illumined waters, burus hi gold.

To brave Osiris' fiery beam is thine,
Till in the distant west his splendors fade;

Thou, too, thy beauties and thy fire decline,
With morn to rise, in lovelier charms arrayed.

Thus from Arabia, borne on golden wings.
The phcenix on the sun's bright altar dies,

But from his flaming bed refulgent springs.
And cleaves with bolder plume the sapphire skies."

T. Maurice.

The Egyptians consecrated the lotus to the god of elo
quence, and it forms part of the head-dress of Osiris. Th^
East Indian gods are often represented in the midst of watei

116 DICTIONARY OF THE

seated on a lotus flower. Perhaps it may be an emblem of
the world issuing from the deep.
In Moore's Lalla Rookh, we read of

" Those virgin lilies, all the night
Bathing their beauties in the lake,
That they may rise more fresh and bright
When their beloved sun's awalce."

Camdeo, or Cama, the Indian Cupid, has his nest "in the
water lily's breast," and floats on its leaves.

The true lotus is the red nymphsea of Hindustan. The
blue lotus, according to Sir "William Jones, grows only in
Cashmere and Persia. The rose-colored water lilies of Bengal
resemble our own white ones, except that they are of larger
size.

We give Mr. Caldwell's translation of the pretty lyric of
Geibel, " Die stille Wasser rose."

"The quiet water lily

Floats on the lakelet blue;
Its soft leaves glow and glisten,
Its cup of snowy hue.

The fair moon smileth on her,
Through all the summer night,

And on her fragrant bosom
Pours all her golden light.

Over the rippling water
Glideth a snow-white swan;

He Bingcth sweet and softly,
The lily gazing on.

He singeth sweet and softly;

Thus will his death-song flow;
O flower, snow-white flower,

Dost thou its meaning know ? "

ISuohitntnicut, Venain, Sec p. 50.

LANO UA QE OF FL WERS. 117

Encouragement, Golden Rod.

This flower, so common in the autumn, was anciently much
valued, and used in medicine. Gerarde says, after alluding
to the high price it brought till discovered growing near
London, " This verifieth our English proverbe, ' Far fetcht
and deere bought is best for the ladies.' Thus much I have
spoken to bring these new-fangled fellowes back againe to
esteeme better of this admirable plant."

X^ndurance, Pine.

The pine disdains the peaceful quiet of the garden ; it loves
to bathe its head in the dew of the clouds, and feel its foli-
age beaten by the winds. Stripped of its branches, it floats
on the ocean, to brave the tempests there.

Energy in adversity, Camomile.

Camomile grows the more by being trampled on. Its bitter

aromatic flowers are well known for their virtues.

" He the root
Of broad angelica, and tufted flower
Of creeping camomile, impregnates deep
Witli powers carminative."

Dodsley.
Envy, Briers.

Error, Bee Orchis.

This flower bears so striking a resemblance to a honey-bee,
as to frequently deceive.

Esteem, Sage.

The sage is justly esteemed for its medicinal and culinary
virtues. The flowers of some of the species are exceedingly
brilliant and beautiful.

The ancients have left us several proverbs showing their

118

DICTIONARY OF THE

appreciation of this herb. Among them we find the fol-
lowing : —

" Salvia cum ruta faolunt tibi pocula tuta."

" Salvia salvatrix, nature coneiliatrix."

" Cur moriatur homo cui salvia crcscit in horto .'
Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis."

Faith, Passion Flower.

The different species of the passion flower are natives of
South America. The name was given by the missionaries
who first discovered it, as they saw in it the emblems of our
Saviour's passion. The ten petals were supposed to indicate
tl\e ten faithful apostles ; the stamens, a glory ; the purple
thread around the style, the crown of thorns ; the style, the
pillar of scourging ; the tendrils, the cords ; the leaves, the
hands ; the three divisions of the style, the three nails ; one
of the five stamens, a hammer ; the other four, the cross.
The time of three days between its opening and closing,

LAXaUAGE OF FLOjrERS. 119

completed the parallel, in the eyes of the simple and pious
fathers.

Falselkood, Bugloss. See p. 26.

Falseness, Manchineel Tree.

Its fruit looks very good, and, by its agreeable odor, invites
one to taste ; but its soft, spongy flesh contains a milky, per-
fidious juice, which is at first insipid, but soon becomes so
caustic as to bum the lips, the palate, and the tongue. Trav-
ellers say that the best remedy against a poison so violent,
is the water of the sea, on whose shores this tree always
grows.

False Riches, Sunflower. See p. 63.

Fecundity, JSollylioch.

The Chinese represent Nature crowned with these flowers.
The hollyhock was brought from Syria, in the time of the
crusades.

Festivity, Parsley. See p. 75.

Fidelity, SpeedweU, or Veronica.

One of the loveliest flowers in all the realm of nature.
Tennyson does not forget

" The little speedwell's darling blue."

And Dupont, in his charming piece. La Vironique, says that
it is a dewdrop tinged by reflected light, which Aurora has
transformed to a flower. He goes on to say, —

" O fleur insaisissable et pure,
SapMr dont nul ne eait le prix,
M§lez-vou8 a la cheveliire
De celle dont je Buis epris;

120 DICTIONARY OF TBE

Folntillez dans la mousscline

De son blane peig:noir entr'ouvert,
£t dans la porcelaine line

Oi sa Iftvre boit le th^ vert.
* * *

O y^roniqueB, sous les chgnes

Fleurissez pour les simples coeurs,
Qui, dans les traverses humaines,

Vont cherchant les petites fleurs."

Fidelity In utilsfoi-tuiie, Wall Flower, See p. 64.
Finesse, Sweet William,
Fire, Fraxw^lla.

In a warm, dry day, a gas exhales from the fraxinella,
which forms an inflammable atmosphere around it, easily
ignited by the approach of a lighted candle.

First emotions of love, Lilac, See p. IS.

Flame,' German Iris,

The German peasants sometimes plant this flower on the
roofs of their cottages. The sun, gilding the petals as they
wave in the breeze, produces a flame-like appearance.

Flattery, Venus^s Looking Glass,

It is related that Venus dropped one of her mirrors. A
shepherd picked it up, and as soon as he looked in it, forgot
his mistress, and thought only of admiring himself, for the
mirror had the gift of making beautiful all who looked in
it. Love, fearing the consequences of such a silly error,
broke the toy, and changed its fragments into this pretty
campanula, which still retains its name.

Folly, Columbine,

Its flowers, resembling a fool's-cap, gave rise to this emblem.

■(/y4

PUBLISHED BY DE VRIES.LBARM ET I:':, BOSTON.

LAXGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 121

Foresight, HoUy. See p. 82.

Forgetfolnegg, Satin Flower, or ITonesty

Rene, Duke of Bar and Lorraine, having been taken pris-
oner at the battle of Thoulongeau, painted with his own hand
a branch of this plant, and sent it to his people to reproach
them for their tardiness in delivering him from captivity.
It seems to have been used in magical incantations, for we
find in Drayton, —

'* Enchanting Lunarie here lies,
In sorceries excelling."

And in LaUa Rookh, Namouna puts in the chaplet of

Nourmahal

" the white moon-flower, as it shows,
On Serendib'8 high crags, to those
Who near the isle at evening sail."

Forget me not, Forget-me-not, See p. 60.

Forgi-renesa of injiu-ies, Cinnamon Tree.

" The dream of the injured, patient mind.
That smiles with the wrongs of men.
Is found in the bruised and wounded rind
Of the cinnamon, sweetest then."

Moore.

The cassia of commerce must not be confounded with the
cassia which bears a beautiful yellow flower in our green-
houses.

Forsaken, Common WUlow.

Fragility, Fuchsia.

Franlcness, Osier.

Fraternal love, Syringa.

A king of Egypt, one of the Ptolemys, was celebrated pir
11

122 DICTIONARY OF THE

his love to his brother. His surname, Philadelphus {loving
Ms brother), was given to this species of syringa, which was
consecrated to his memory.

Friendship, Ivy. See p. 68.

FrivolOTis annnsement, Bladder Tree.

Frugality, Succory, Endive, or Chiccory.
This plant is mentioned by Horace : —

" me pascunt olivse,
Me eichorea, levesque malvje."

It is useful in medicine, being of cooling and antiscorbutic
properties.

evening, Plane, or Platane.
Oiddiness, Almond Tree. See p. 19.
<wIo^y, Laurel, See p. 8],
Good education, Cherry Tree,

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 123

Good fortune, Mugwort. See p. 47.
Goodness, Snowball, or Guelder Rose.

Grace, Birch.

Coleridge calls the birch the " lady of the woods ; " and

Gerald Massey writes, —

*' Lady of the forest
Is the silver birk;
Shimmermg m the sunBhinc,
Shivering at the mirk:
* * *

'Mid the dance of colors

And semitones of ^een.
Gleams this daintier spirit
That in leafdom is the qneen."

A wine made from the juice of the bu-ch was once highly
esteemed. The fragrant Bussia leather used in bookbinding
is prepared with the empyreumatic oil of the birch.

Grandeur, Ash.

The mu-aculous tree Tgdrasil of the Edda, with its top
reaching to heaven and its roots to hell, was an ash.

Gratitude, Camellia. Agrimony.

The camellia japonica, as its name shows, comes to us
from Japan, and is the ornament of every garden in that
country and in China. It well repays careful cultivation.

The name camellia is from George Camellus, a missionary,
and author of a work on botany.

Agrimony has a bitter and slightly aromatic taste. Cattle
disUke it, but it is thought to have some useful medicinal
qualities.

Grief, Garden Marigold. See p. 56.

124

DICTIONARY OF THE

Happiness, Sweet Sultan,
A native of Turkey.

Hatred, Basil.

The Greek name of this herb signifies royal ; but its identity
with, or similai'ity to, that of a fabulous creature supposed
to kill by a single glance, has caused basil to become the
emblem of hate, hatred being said to have eyes like the basilisk.
Poverty is sometimes figured as a woman covered with rags,
seated beside a plant of basil.

Healing, Balm of Gilead,

The true balm of Gilead, produced by the Amyris Oile-
adensis, is never to be met with pure, except in the East j and
therefore its place is usually supplied by the American balm
of Gilead, which exudes from a beautiful species of fir, and
resembles the Oriental balm in most of its essential qualities,

Heart left to desolation, Clirysanthemum.

The pretty flowers that enliven the autumn with their varied

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

125

hues ought surely to be emblems of some more cheerful senti-
ment than this. China is the native country of the chrysan-
themum, as of many other of our most valued flowers, whence
it was introduced into Europe in 1789. It is a favorite with
gardeners throughout India, and very beautiful dwarf plants
of it are reared for in-door decoration.

Hidden merit. Coriander,

The aromatic seeds of this plant are much used by confec-
tioners and physicians ; but the odor of fresh coriander is
insufferable, as the name horis expresses.

Hope, Hawthorn. See p. 23.

Horror, Serpent Cactus.

Hospitality, Oak. See p. 73.

Humility, Bindweed,

1 adore you. Heliotrope, See p. 62.

I am your captive. Peach JiloBsom,
11*

126 DICTIONARY OF TBE

I cling to thee, Vetch, or CMch Pea.

I die if neglected, Laurestine. See p. 80.

1 feel your l>eiielits. Flax.

Linen, lace, and paper remind us every instant of this
useful plant. The seeds are used in preparing poultices, and
also make a useful drink ; while the oil expressed from them
is invaluable to painters.

Illness, Garden Anemone.

In some provinces the anemone is thought to poison the
air, and cause various maladies. Ovid makes the anemone
spring from the blood of Adonis.

" ' Could Pluto's queen with jealous fury storm,
And Menthe to a fragrant herb transform?
Yet dares not Venus with a change surprise.
And in a flower bid her fallen hero rise?'
Then on the blood sweet nectar she bestows;
The scented blood in little bubbles rose.
Little as rainy drops which fluttering fly.
Borne by the winds along a lowering sky.
Short time ensued, till where the blood was shed
A flower began to rear its purple head;
Such as on Punic apples is revealed.
Or in the filmy rind but half concealed.
Still here the fate of lovely forms we see.
So sudden fades the sweet anemone.
The feeble stems to stormy blasts a prey.
Their sickly beauties droop and pine away ;
The winds forbid the flowers to flourish long,
Which owe to winds their name in Grecian song."

2V. by Eusden.

Immortality, Amarainth. See p. 74.

Impatience, Bal&amvne.

The impatient seed-vessels of the balsamine burst open
suddenly at the slightest touch.

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 127

Importttnity, Burdock,

The burdock takes possession of good ground, from which
it is very difficult to extirpate it. The attachment of the burrs
to clothing is famUiar to alL Unprepossessing as the burdock
appears, it seems to be a useful plant. The roots and stalks
are said to be eatable, either boiled or in salad. Snails feed
on its rough leaves, -which are also used as a poultice ; and
the seeds are recommended as good to fatten poultry.

Independence, WUd Plum.

This indocile tree dislikes to be pruned or transplanted.

Indifference, Candy Tuft.

I never tronble. Rose Leaf.

The well-known reply of Dr. Zeb to the academicians of
Amadan illustrates this sentiment.

Infidelity, YeUmo Rose.

Injustice, Hop.

Innocence, Innocence, or Houstonia ctBrulea.

•' It comes when wakes the pleasant spring.
When first the earth is green,
Four white or pale blue leaves it hathj
With yellow heart between.

It grows about a heap of stones,

For there the dew will stay;
It springs beside the dusty road.

Where children are at play.

It dots with stars the grassy bank

That slopes adown the brook,
And there it takes a deeper blue.

And there a fresher look.

12^ DICTIONARY OF THE

We call thoe Innocence, Bweet one;

And well it thee beseems,
For thou art cherished in the heart,

With childhood's sinless dreams."

Mrs. Seba Smith.

Inspiration, Angelica.

This beautiful plant, which grows in the remotest countriesi
of the north, forms a crown for the Lapland poets, who be-
lieve that its sweet odor gives inspiration.

The Flora Medica says, " The leaf and seeds, when recent,
and the root, both fresh and dried, are tonic and carminative,
and may be considered the most elegant aromatic of our
northern climes. By the Laplanders and Icelanders angelica
is much in request, both as an article of food and for medi-
cinal purposes. The former use it for many catarrhal and
pectoral affections ; the stalks, roasted, are used by them as
an article of food ; and we are told by Sir George Mackenzie,
that the Icelanders eat the stems and roots raw with butter.
In this country [England,] the tender stems are cut in May,
and made into an agreeable sweetmeat. By Gerarde angelica
is extolled as a panacea for all the ills of life."

Intemperance, Grape.

Pliny mentions a vine six hundred years old.
The vine at Hampton Court, in the yeat 1816, produced
a ton of grapes.

Intrinsic wortli, Gentian.

The name is said to be derived from Gentianus, a king
of lUyria. Some varieties of the gentian are used in medi-
cine, the root being an excellent bitter. Bryant has sung
the praises of the beautiful fringed gentian, and we quote

LANGVAOE OF FLOWERS. 129

a sonnet, new, perhaps, to some of our readers, on this most
lovely flower.

SONNET

TO THE FRINGED GENTIAN.

** Oft had I heard thy beauty praised, dear flower,

And often soug^ht for thee through field and wood;
Yet could I never find the secret bower

Where thou dost lead, in maiden solitude,
A cloistered life, until, tliis autumn day,

Beside a tree that shook her golden hair
And laughed at death, flaunting her rich array,

I found thee, blue as the still depths of air
Seen leagues away, between the pine-wood boughs,

O, never yet a gladder sight hath met
These eyes of mine ! Depart, before the snows

Of hastening winter thy fringed garments wet I
Thine azure flowers should never fade nor die.
But bloom, exhale, and gain their native sky."

TlM Xew rath, Oct., 1865.

I prefer yow. Rose Geranium.

Irony, Sardonia.

This plant, of the ranunculus famUy, has some resemblance
to parsley. It contains a poison, which contracts the mouth
so strangely, that the person appears to laugh while dying.
Hence the expression, a sardonic laugh.

I shall not snrvlve yon, BJfiek Mulberry.

The reader is referred to the history of Pyi-amus and Thisbe,
in La Fontaine.

I share yonr feelings. Double Daisy. See p. 90.

I gnrmonnt everything, Mistletoe. See p. 78.

I iTlll think of it. Single Field Daisy. See p. 88.

130

DICTIONAMT OF TEE

Joy, Wood Sorrel, or Oxalis.

Justice shall toe done yoix, Fragrant Coltsfoot. Sieep. 70.

(^\ ■:& * ^i-^

Keep your promises, Plum Tree.

This tree blossoms profusely every year ; but unless some
of this useless ornament is removed, it bears fruit only ever)'
third year.

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

131

^A'^-sT t

Iiasting beauty, Common Gillyflower. See p. 54.

Xicvity, Xiiglituess, Larkspur.

Juife, ittcem.

liOTe, Myrtle. Bed Damasli Ease. See pp. ii, 36.

liiixury, Horse-chestnut. See p. 18.

majesty, TPftite L«jf. See p. 53.

132 DICTIONARY OF TEE

Maternal love, Moss. See p. 79.

meanness. Dodder.

The seed of the dodder germinates in the ground ; but as
soon as its stem encounters that of another plant, it fastens
itself to it; the root dries up, and it lives entirely at the
expense of the other. Like a vile parasite, it absorbs all
the juices of its supporter, and soon kills it.

Melancholjr, Weeping Willow. Dead Leaves. See p. 18.

" The melancholy days are come,
The saddest of the year,
Of walling winds, and naked woods,

And meadows brown and sere.
Heaped in the hollows of the grove,

The withered leaves lie dead;
They rustle to the eddying gust,
And to the rabbit's tread."

Bryaiit.

A modern French poet, V. de Laprade, has also written a
beautiful poem, beginning Feuilles, tombez.

Message, Common Garden Iris.

There are more than thirty varieties of the iris. Its vaiied
and beautiful colors have caused it to be named from the
lovely messenger of the gods. Orris root is the root of the
Florentine iris. The Persian iris is very fragrant.

Misantliropy, Teasel.

Mistrust, La/vender.

It was formerly believed that asps had their lurking-places
under lavender, and therefore this plant was approached
with mistrust. Lavender is a grateful perfume, and a specific
for headaches and nervousness.

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 13S

Modest Wortb., Primrose. See p. 24.
Modesty, Blue Violet. See p. 92.

Monmiitg, Purple ScabUms, or Mourning Bride. Cypress. See p. 71-
M!nsic, Reeds,

Pan formed the Arcadian pipe from the reeds into which
Syrinx was transformed.

My best days are past, Meadow Saffron. See p. 68.

My gratitude exceeds yoiu- cares, 2?aAZia. See p. 55.

IValvet^, Silver Weed.

JVatxTe ^ace, Cowslip.

Shakspeare makes the servant of the fairy queen say, -

"The cowslips tall her pensioners be;

In their gold coats spots you see:

Those be rubies, fairy favors;

In those freckles live their savors :
I mnst go seek some dew-drops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear,

12

134

DICTIONAEY OP TBE

Neatness, Broom.

The broom is found wild in Europe. It is a fragrant, papil-
ionaceous, yellow ilower. Burns says in his Caledonia, —

*' Their groves of sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon,
"Where bright beaming summers exalt the perfume;
Far dearer to me yon lone glen o* green breckan,
Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yellow broom."

And Shakspeare mentions

" broom groves.
Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves.
Being lass-lorn."

iVovelty, Dahlia, See p. 35.

Obstacle, Rest-harrow. See p. 27.

Occupation, Foxglove.

Rhind says, "The beauty of this plant has recommended
it to the notice of the florist, and it is accordingly often found
in the garden parterre. It also forms an ornamental and
conspicuous object in many woodland and mountain scenes
in Scotland and Wales. Among the country people it has

LANGUAGE OF FLbWEBS. 135

received various names. In the south of Scotland it is still
called ' bloody fingers ; ' in the north, ' dead man's bells.'
Ill Wales it is called ' fairies' gloves.' Fairies were often called
'folks;' hence, no doubt, the origin of the common name
'foWs glove,' and not, as misspelled, foxglove." The foxglove
has very powerful medicinal qualities, especially in dropsy,
and to retard the circulation. It requires to be administered
with great caution, being a violent poison. The Italians
value it so highly that they have a proverb, " Aralda tutte le
piaghe sana" (Foxglove cures all hurts). There are two kinds,
the purple or red, and the white. A poet WTites, —

" Here the spotted foxglove dwells,
Ringing oft its fairy bells;
And its sister, purely white,
Makes the shady places bright.
Like that maiden mild and young
^Y Spenser's magic numbers sung."

Oracle, Bandelian,.

The dandelion is used as a salad, as greens, as a bitter, and
to prepare a kind of coifee. Its feathery seed-globes are
made to give various prophecies ; hence its meaning, oracle.

Ornament, Sbrnbeam.

Under the name of cliarmille, this iine tree was formerly the
principal ornament of the great gardens of France ; and one
can still see at Versailles how the famous Le N6tre employed
it in his compositions. Father Rapin has eulogized it in

verse.

Ostentation, Peony.

The peony was called ii-om the Greek Pseon, who is said to
have used.it in medicine, and cured Pluto, by its means, of a

136

BICTIOSABY OF THE

wound inflicted by Hercules. There are two kinds of the
peony. The herbaceous one is found native in Europe and
Asia ; the shrubby one comes from China and Japan.

Faliiliil recollections, Flos Adanis. See p. 52.
Patience, Patience.

A kind of dock.

Patriotism, Nasturtium,

Peace, Olive,

Neptune disputed with Minerva about naming the new city
of Athens, and it was agreed that the one who gave the best
gift to man should give the name. Neptune produced the
horse, Minerva the olive tree, and she was victorious.

An English author says of the olive tree, "It has been
compared to a willow; it differs, however, very materially

LANGUAGE. OF FLOWERS. 137

in its color, having none of that sickly hue of bluish green
which gives such a peculiar coldness to the landscapes of
some of the Dutch painters. The upper side of the leaf has
precisely that tint familiarly known by the name of olive.
The under side is of shining whiteness, and as the foliage is
turned up by the lightest breeze, its progress over the valleys
covered with olive gardens becomes visible in the form of a
silver cloud gliding across the landscape. The inhabitants
of the south of Europe employ the oil expressed from the
fruit of this tree for the same purposes as we employ
butter, and feel at least as much dislike to the produce of the
dairy, as an article of food, as we may feel to the use of oil."
Ruffini has set this last fact charmingly before his readers in
the beautiftd story of " Doctor Antonio.''

Pensive lieality, Laburnum.
Peusiveness, Cowslip.

Perfect excellence, Strawberry. See p. 33.
Perpetual pleasure, Everlasting Pea,
Perseverance, Magnolia.

The magnolia grandiflora is the most superb vegetable
production of the New World. Its region is from South
Carolina to the Isthmus of Darien. We are also told that it
is found in China. The peculiar and fascinating odor of the
magnolia flower can never be forgotten if once inhaled.

Petulance, Barberry.

The flowers of this shrub are so irritable, that at the slight-
est touch the stamens contract around the pistil.
12*

138 DICTIONARY OF THE

Platonic love, Locust. See p. 62.

Pleasantry, Jialm Mint, or Lemon Balm.
An infusion of it tends to exhilarate.

Poetry, Eglantine. See p. 45.

Po'iver, Crown Imperial.

Preference, Apple Blossom.

Psesagc, Mainy Marigold.

This ilower, in dry weather, opens at seven and closes at
four. If it does not open, or closes before its hour, it is
considered a sure sign of rain.

Presumption, Snapdragon.

Pretension, Willow Herh.

This pretty plant seems to take delight in viewing itself
in the water ; like a pretentious woman enamoured of her
own charms.

Pride, Amaryllis.

Gardeners call this beautiful plant proud, because it often
refuses to flower under careful culture. The name of these
plants is derived from a Greek verb signifying to shine.

Privation, Indian Plum, or Myroholan.

The fruit has the color and look of a iine cherry, but
contains only an insipid, sickening juice. Even the birds
refuse to eat them.

Profit, Cabbage.

Froliibitiou, Privet, or Prim. See p. 31.

LAS GV AGE OF FLOWERS. 139

Promptness, Stock Gillyflower.

Prosperity, Beech.

Gilbert White calls the beech " the most lovely of all forest
trees, whether we consider its smooth rind or bark, its glossy
foliage, or graceful, pendulous boughs." Old Evelyn says,
" They make spreading trees, and noble shades with their
well-furnished and glistering leaves." And Miller writes,
" Xot that the color of the oak is be compared to the rich
orange hue of the beech, which is, beyond question, the most
beautiful of all autumnal colors to an eye that loves a deep
blaze." In the olden times, beds, %ht and fragrant, were
made from beech leaves. The oil from beech nuts is said to
be but little inferior to olive oil.

Prudence, Service Tree. Lemon. See p. 77.

The lemon tree is proverbial for its fertility. In 1812, a wager
was laid between a gentleman of Massa and the Marchese
Calani of Spezzia, that a lemon tree at Cresullo, half a mile
from Massa, would produce fourteen thousand lemons. It
exceeded that number.

Ptire and deep love, Carnation. See p. 49.

Pure love, Med Pink.

Pnxity, Star of Bethlehem. White Violet. White Idly. See p. 6.3.

140 DICTIONARY OF THE

Barity, Mandralce.

" Not poppy, nor mandragora,
Nor all the drowsy sirups of the world
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou ow'dst yesterday."

Shakspeare.

The ancients attributed great virtues to the mandragora ;

but as they have left us no exact description of the plant, we

are ignorant to -what species they gave the name. Charlatans,

by a gross artifice, sometimes make several roots assume the

shape of a man, and tell the credulous that they are true

mandrakes, found only in an almost inaccessible part of China.

They are fabled to utter cries when pulled up, and the person

who uproots them is supposed to die soon after. To procure

this root, they say it should be carefully uncovered, and

pulled up by means of a string attached to a dog, which then

bears the penalty of the impious deed.

Reason, Goat's Hue.

This plant is thought useful in oases of disordered, intel-
lects.

LANOUAOE OF FLOWERS. 141

Reconciliation, Basel.

" Ye Bwains, now haBten to the hazel bank,
Where down yon dale the wildly winding brook
Falls hoarse from steep to steep. In close array.
Fit for the thickets and the tangling shrub,
Ye virginB, come. For you their latest song
The woodlands raise; the clustering nuts for you
The lover finds amid the secret shade,
And where they burnish on the topmost bough
With active vigor crushes down the tree.
Or shakes them ripe from the resigning husk."

Thomson.

The hazel was said to have been imported into Italy from
Pontus; hence the Roman name, nitx pontica, -which was
changed later to nux avellana, from a Neapolitan city where
it was cultivated. The filbert is not a distinct species, but
a mere variety of hazel.

Gower tells us, —

" Phillis
Was shape into a nutte-tree,
That all men it might see;
And after Phillis, PMWerd
This tree was eleped."

But Rhind says filbert is a corruption of full-beard, a. word
applied to designate the large, fringed husk. As the wood
of the hazel is very flexible, it is applied to various uses.
Of it are made hoops for barrels, hurdles, fishing-rods, crates,
poles, and walking-sticks. In Italy the chips are used to clear
turbid wine. Withering informs us that in some places the
twigs take the place of yeast. Hazel charcoal is prized by
artists, as it draws freely, and rubs out easily. The caduceus
of Mercury was supposed to be a hazel wand, given him by
Apollo.

Begret beyond tlie tomb, Asphodel.

The ancients planted this flower beside tombs, and believed

1^2 DICTIONARY OF TBE

that beyond Acheron the spirits walked in a vast field of
asphodel, drinking the water of Lethe.

Remembrance, Rosemary.

" There's rosemary — that's for remembrance; pray you,
love, remember."

" For you, there's rosemary and rue ; these keep
Seeming and savor all the winter long^;
Grace and remembrance be to you both."

*' Stick your rosemary
On this fair corse."

Slmkspeare.

Rosemary is used at christenings, weddings, and funerals.
It blossoms about Christmas, and our ancestors used to stir
up with a branch of rosemary the spiced Christmas tankard.
Herrick, in allusion to its different uses, says that it

** Grows for two ends ; it matters not at all
Be it for my bridal, or my burial."

This aromatic plant has had a merited reputation, from the
most ancient times, as a remedy in headaches and nervous
disorders. It forms the principal ingredient in the celebrated
Eau de la Reine de Hongrie, or Hungary Water.

Henry Kirke White wrote, —

TO THE HERB EOSEMAEY.

"Sweet-scented flower! who 'rt wont to bloom

On January's front severe,

And o'er the wintry desert drear
To waft thy waste perfume!

Come, thou shalt form my nosegay now.

And I will bind thee round my brow;
And as I twine the mournful wreath

I'll weave a melancholy song;

And sweet the strain shall be and long,
The melody of death.

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 143

Come, funeral flower, who lov'st to dwell

"With the pale corse in lonely tomb,

And throw'st across the desert gloom
A sweet decaying smell,—

Come, press my lips, and lie with me

Beneath the lowly alder tree ;
And we will sleep a pleasant sleep,

And not a care shall dare intrude

To break the marble solitude,
So peaceful and so deep."

Remorse, Raspherry.

RendezTons, Pimpernel.

Its punctuality in opening and closing makes it a fit emblem
for an appointment.

Repose, Euckbean. See p. 21.

Reserve, Maple.

The maple has been made the emblem of reserve, because
its flowers are slow to open, and very long in falling.

Resistance, Tremella Nostoc, or Nostoc Commune,

Nothing positive is known about this gelatinous plant, which
seems a link between the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
It was celebrated among the alchemists, who thought it an
emanation from the stars, and used it in searching after the
philosopher's stone and the universal panacea.

Retirement, Harebell.

The Lady of the Lake says, as she plucks a harebell, —

" This little ilower, that loves the lea.
May well my simple emblem be;
It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose
That in the king's own garden grows ;
And when 1 place it in my hair,
Allan, a bard is bound to swear
Ho ne'er saw coronet so fair."

144 DICTIONARY OF THE

" Have ye ever heard, in the twilight dim,

A low, soft strain,
That ye fancied a distant vesper hymn.

Borne o'er the plain
By the zephyrs that rise on perfumed wing.
When the sun's last glances are glimmering ?

* * * *

The source of that whispering strain I'll tellj

For I've listened oft
To the music faint of the blue harebell.

In the gloaming soft;
'Tis the gay fairy folk the peal who ring
At eventime for their banqueting.

And gayly the trembling bells peal out

With gentle tongue.
While elves and fairies career about,

'Mid dance and song:
O, roses and lilies are fair to see.
But the wild bluebell is the flower for me."

Wild Flowers.

Return of happinegs, Lily of the Valley. See p, 30.

Reverie, Osmunda,

No one can form an adequate idea of the beauty of the
osmunda regalis, according to Curtis, who has not seen this
fern growing in the southern pai't of England, where, sheltered
by alders, it grows to the height of five feet, bearing at the
extremities a mass of fructification so conspicuous as to have
caused it to be commonly known as flowering fern. Its virtues
are highly extolled by ancient authors. " Osmonde," says the
translator of Dodonseus, " is hoate in the first degree, and dry
in the second. The harte of the root of osmunde is good
against squattes or bruises, heavie or greevous falles, and
whatever hurt or dislocation soever it be."

Riches, Corn.

Roughness, Scratchweed,

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 145

Rnptnre, Greek Valerian, or Polemony.

The name is from Polemos, -which means war, because, as
Pliny assvires us, several kings disputed for the honor of
having discovered it.

Sadness, Tew. See p. 88.

Sensibility, Verbena.

The original of aU the numerous verbenas now cultivated
was the verbena melindres, or common scarlet, carried from
South America to England. These flowers are of such varied
and beautiful tints, and so easy of cultivation, that we could
ill spare them from the flower bed or window.

SensitiT-eness, Sensitive Plant, or Mimosa,
Serenade, Dew Plant.

The resemblance to dew-drops of the little transparent
vesicles in the leaves of this plant probably caused the con-
oection of ideas with evening music.

Sigliing, Aspen.

13

146 , DICTIONARY OF THE

Silence, White Rose. See p. 43.
Silliness, Scarlet Geranium, See p. 70.
Simplicity, Wild Single Rose.

Sincerity, Fern.

Thomas Miller says, " The very name of the fern calls
up the forest, where it still lives on, though ages ago the
mighty oaks have heen felled — there it still spreads, true
to its native soil, the hardy image of deep-rooted sincerity.
It is associated Vfith our oldest fairy legends, and our simple
ancestors believed that they had hut to find the true fern
seed, and carry it about with them, to become invisible."

Slcill, Spider Orchis.

This flower resembles the insect into which Arachne was
transformed by Minerva, and which, under its hideous form,
has lost nothing of her skill.

Sleep, Willie Poppy.

The palace of Sqmnus was a cave near the Cimmerians.
Poppies grew before the entrance, and Morpheus, his prima
minister, watched over his couch, a vase in one hand and
poppies in the other. The poets have drawn many fin»
similes from this flower, as for instance, —

" As full-blown poppies, overcharged with rain,
Decline the head, and, drooping, kiss the plain,
So sinks the youth."

Papers Homer.

"But pleasures are like poppies spread;
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed."

Bums.

Solitude, Heath. See p. 31.

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 147

Sorcery, jSnclianted Nightshade.
Sonrnega, Barberrj.
Stoicism, Box,

Strengtli, Fennel.

The gladiators mixed it with their food to give them
strength; and after the games of the arena, the yictor was
crowned with fennel.

Milton speaks of the " smell of sweetest fennel ; " and Long-
fellow says, in the " Goblet of Life," —

" Above the lowly plants It towers,
The fennel, with its yellow flowers ;
And in an earlier age than ours
Was gifted with the wondrous powers
I^ost vision to restore."

Superior merit, Moss Rose. See p. 44.

Surety, Cistus.

Aristotle assures us that this plant preserves those who
hold it in their hands from spirits and phantoms.

Suspicion, Miisliroom.

Some kinds of mushrooms are edible, and others, resembling
them closely, are very poisonous.

Sfveet disposition, Lavatera.

The lavatera is an extremely delicate and lovely garden
mallow. It is called after the celebrated physiognomist
Lavater.

Sweet memories. Periwinkle. See p. 20.

Sympathy, Thrift.

148

DICTIONABY OF THE

Taste, Fuchsia,

This graceful plant is a native of Mexico, and was named
from L. Puchs, a German botanist.

Tears, JSlecampane, or Selenium.

It was fabled to have sprung from tlie tears of Helen.

TemptatioiL, Quince.

The quince is found in a wild state in Austria. Pliny says
it was brought into Italy from Cydon, in Crete ; hence its
botanical name, malus cydonia. It is also described under
the names of pyrus cydonia and cydonia vulgaris. The far-
famed apples of the Hesperides were most probably quinces-
The French call the quince tree coignassier, because, according
to Du Hamel, the unpleasant odor of the fruit caused it to be
planted in a remote corner (coin) of the orchard or garden.
In New England, the smell is generally considered rather
pleasant than otherwise. In the south of France, the marma-
lade called cotignac is prepared from this fruit The word

lull i].iY.r^e\ir i- I>'i}iit Pi.^Jdy h rie;ir,'',Pins

njELISHED BYDE VRIES, IBARRA ETC" BOSTON.

LAXGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 149

marmalade is said to come from the Portuguese name of the
quince, marmdo. The seeds are used for jelly, handoline, and
mucilage, though these last preparations do not keep long.

Quince pie was anciently esteemed a delicacy. In Romeo
and Juliet, the nurse tells Lady Capulet, —

" They call for dat«s and quinces in tlie pastry."

The Graces, Sundred-Leaved Rose,

When the Grraces attend the Muses, they wear wreaths of
this rose.

Tlionglit, Pansy,

"And there is pansies; that's for thoughts."

Shakspea/re,
"Lilies for a bridaL bed,
Eoses for a matron's head,
Yiolcts for a maiden dead;
Fansies let my flowers be."

There is no end of fanciful names for this flower, such as,
three faces under a hood, heart's-ease, kiss-me-quick, ladies'-
delight, love-in-idleness, and, among the Germans, little step-
mother. Shakspeare's famous compliment to Queen Eliza-
beth gives us its origin : —

" That very time I saw (but thou couldst not),
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid all armed: a certain aim he took
At a fair vestal, throned by the west,
And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow.
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts.
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon ;
And the imperial vot-aress passed on.
In maiden meditation, fancy free.
Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell.
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before, milk-white; now, purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness,"

13*

150 DICTIONARY OF THE

Time, Wvite I'oplav.

This was made the emblem of time, because its leaves,
dark on one side and bright on the other, represent day
and night.

Timiaitjr, Four o'Clooli, or Marvel of Peru. See p. 69.

Tranquillity, GoW, Basket.

This plant has been supposed to have the power of curing
madness.

Treacliery, Wkorfleherryy or Huclcleb&rry. Monkshood, or Aconite.

ffinomaiis, father of the fair Hippodamia, had for a groom
Myrtilus, the son of Mercury. Proud of this advantage, he
required all the pretenders to his daughter's hand to compete
with him in a, chariot race. Pelops, who wished to obtain
Hippodamia, promised Myrtilus a great reward if he would
take out the pin which held his master's chariot wheels. He
did so ; the car was upset, and ffinomaiis was killed ; but, ex-
piring, he besought Pelops to avenge him, which he did by
throwing Myrtilus into the sea. Thrown back on the shore,
Mercury changed him to this shrub, which resembles a little
myrtle. Its pretty, bell-shaped flowers are succeeded by dark
berries of an agreeable flavor.

Professor Burnett says of aconite, " Its deleterious efiects
were well known to the ancients, who regarded it as the
most violent of all poisons, — being unacquainted with those
of mineral origin, — and fabled it to be the invention of Hecate,
who caused it to spring from the foam of Cerberus. Aconite
is said to have been the principal ingredient in the poisonous
cup that was mingled by Medea for Theseus ; and it was the

LAXGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 151

poison employed to execute the barbarous law in the island
of Ceos, which condemned to death all who were no longer
useful to the state." It is now used as a powerful remedy
in gout, rheumatism, paralysis, and intermittent fevers.

Trutli, Bittersweet, or Woody Nightshade.

ITiicertainty, MocJ;; Orange.
TJncliaiiging friendsliip. Arbor Vitx.
United liearts, PhZox.

TJselessuess, Queen of the Meadow, Meadow Sweet, or Spirxa.

Uselessijess is the universal signification of this pretty flower;
but Mr. MiUer well suggests that it be changed to Neglected
Beauty.

UtUlty, Grass.. See p. 17.

152 DICTIONARY OF THE

Vainglory, Hydrangea, or Hortenxia,

A shrub from the East Indies, whose showy corymbs of
changeable flowers, and handsome green leaves, formerly made
it a great favorite.

Vaiii is beauty witliout merit, Coclcle, and jRose Campion,

Pretty, but scentless flowers, growing in or near corn-
fields. We read in Job xxxi. 40, " Let thistles grow instead
of wheat, and cockle instead of barley."

Variety, Double German Aster, See p. 61.

Vice, Tares, See p. 51.

Victory, Laurel, See p. 81.

Volaptwottsmeas, Tuberose. Moss Rose, See pp. 61, 44.

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

153

War, MUfoil, or Yarrow.

Achilles, whose name this plant bears in botany, used it to
heal the wounds of Telephus.

Warmth of feeling, Peppermint.

Proserpina surprised Mentha in the arms of Pluto, and,
justly irritated, changed her to a plant, whose double savor
seems to contain the chill of fear and the warmth of love.

TVeakness, Musk Plant.

Wealth, Wheat. See p. S5.

Welcome, TraUing Arbutus, Mayflower, or Ground Laurel.

" Art thou not dearer in Spring's first prime
Than the fairest rose of the Summer time ? "

" A charm hast thou no forest flower can boast,
Thou little heaming; herald of the Spring !
How thrilled thy smile when on our rock-bound coast
The wearied pilgrims found thee blossoming !

154

DICTIONARY OF THE

A blessing on thy graceful, perfumed bell,

That bloomed in roseate tints for years unknown,
And peered above the withered leaves to tell
How in the wilderness God's love is shown."

M. X. Jenks,
Wisdom, Wliite Mulberry,

TVitliout pretension, dnnamon Rose.

There is a peculiar look of incompleteness and want of
finish about this rose. Its color is very dull, compared with
the rest of its glowing sisterhood, and the bush has an
irregular, ragged growth. Yet it is often quite fragrant, and
the leaf is sometimes very pretty. It should always be gath-
ered in bud.

TTorcls, tliough sweet, may deceive, American Laurel.

The great beauty of this shrub does not prevent farmers
from exterminating it on their lands, because it is so poisonous
to their sheep.

Ton are perfect, Pme-Apple.

This fragrant fruit was introduced into Holland, from South

LANGUAGE OF FLOWEUS. 155

America, about the middle af the seventeenth century; and
the Earl of Portland carried it to England in 1690.
Thomson thus apostrophizes it : —

" Thou, the pride
Of vegetable life, beyond whate'er
The poets imaged in the golden age, —
Quick, let me. strip thee of thy tufty coat,
Spread thy ambrosial stores, and feast with Jove."

You are radiant vritli. cKarms, Garden Sanunculus.

Ilowt beauty is vain, Hibiscus.

" I would be fair, but see the fair and proud,
Like the bright sun, oft setting in a cloud."

JVoiton.

" Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like seasoned timber, never gives.
But, when the whole world turns to coal,
Then chiefly lives."

Jjterbert,

" The body subject is

To fickle Fortune's power,
And to a million of mishaps

Is casual every hour;
And death in time doth change

It to a clod of clay ;
Whereas the mind, which is divine,
Runs never to decay."

Zord Vaux.

The African hibiscus is a well-known annual in the flower
garden, and those who have ever seen in some conservatory
the superb variety rosa sinensis, or Chinese hibiscus, will not
be likely to forget its exquisite richness of color. The Chinese
are said to use the petals for blacking shoes.

Tour cliarms are graven in my heart, Spindle Tree.

The spindle tree makes pretty hedges. Its wood is used
for spindles and pencils. Sculptors and turners also prize it.

156 LANG UA GE OF FLO WEES.

Tour looks freeze me, Ice Plant.

Tour presence revives me, Rosemary.

The Hungary Water, so refreshing a toilet article, is made
from rosemary.

Tour qualities surpass your cliarnks, MigTwnette. See p. 58.

Touth, White Lilac.

By its purity and short duration, this flower typifies youth.

Toutlifuluess, Crocus,

" The spendthrift crocus, bursting- from the mould,
Naked and shivering, with his cup of gold."

Holmes.

DICTIONARY

TRANSLATING A BOUQUET

Acacia (Common), . . . v. Locust.

Acacia (Rose), Elegance.

Acanthus, Art.

Adonis (Flos), Painful recollections.

Agnus Castus, Coldness ; life without lore.

Agrimony Gratitude.

Almond, Gid(Mness; heedlessness.

14 (157)

158 DICTIONARY FOR

Aloe, Bitterness.

Amaranth, Immortality.

Amaryllis, .... . . Pride.

Anemone (Garden), . . Illness,

Anemone (Windfiower), . . Desertion.

Angelica, Inspiration.

Apple Blossom, . . . Preference.

Arbor Vitse, Unchanging friendship.

Ash, Grandeur.

Aspen, . Sighing.

Asphodel, Regret beyond the tomb.

Aster (Double German), . . Variety.

Aster (Large-flowered), . . Afterthought.

Bachelor's Button, . . . v. Bluebottle.

Balm Mint, Pleasantry.

Balm of Gilead Healing.

Balsaniine Impatience.

Barberry, ... . . Petulance ; sourness.

Basil, . . Hatred.

Bay, V. Laurel.

Beech, Prosperity.

Bee Orchis, v. Orchis.

Bindweed, Humility.

Birch, Grace.

TRANSLATING A BOUQUET. 159

Bittersweet Nightshade, . . Trjith.

Black Bryony, ....!>. Bryony.

Black Mulberry, . . . v. Mulberry.

Black Poplar, . . . . v. Poplar.

Blackthorn, or Sloe, . . . Difficulties.

Bladder Tree, . . . . Frivolous amusement.

Bluebottle, Delicacy.

Blue Passion Flower, . . v. Passion Flower.

Blue Violet, v. Violet

Borage, Abruptness.

Box, Stoicism^

Briers, Envy.

Brompton Stock, . . . v. Gillyflower.

Broom, Neatness.

Bryony (Black) Be my support.

Buckbean Calmness ; repose.

Bugloss Falsehood.

Burdock, . Importunity.

Buttercup, v. Crowfoot.

Cabbage Profit.

Calla Feminine delicacy.

Camellia, Gratitude.

Camomile, Energy in adversity.

Candytuft, Indiflference.

160 DICTIONARY FOB

Canterbury Bell Constancy.

Cardinal Flower, .... Distinction.

Carnation, Pure and deep love.

Celery Crowfoot, . . . ». Crowfoot.

Cherry A good education.

Chestnut, Do me justice.

Chiccory, Frugality.

Chickpea, v. Vetch.

Chickweed (Red), . . , v. Pimpernel.

Chrysanthemum, .... A heart left to desolation.

Cinnamon Tree Forgiveness of injuries.

Cinquefoil, A beloved daughter.

Circe, v. Nightshade.

Cistus, Surety.

Clematis Artifice.

Cockle, Vain is beauty without merit.

Coltsfoot, Justice shall be done you.

Columbine, Folly.

Coreopsis, Always cheerful.

Coriander, Hidden merit.

Corn, Riches.

Corn Flower, v. Bluebottle.

Corn Poppy, ». Poppy.

Cornelian Cherry, .... Continuance ; duration.

Cowslip, Native grace ; pensiveness.

Crocus, Youthfulness.

Crowfoot, Ingratitude.

Crown Imperial, .... Power.

Cypress, Mourning.

TBAXSLATING A BOUQUET, J 6

f My gratitude exceeds your cares

Dahlia <

I novelty.

Daisy (Garden), I share your feelings.

Daisy (Single Field), . . I will think of it.

Dandelion, Oracle.

Datura, Deceitful charms.

Dew Plant, Serenade.

Dittany of Crete, .... Birth.

Dodder, Meanness.

Ebony Tree, Blackness.

Eglantine, Poetry.

Elder Compassion.

Elecampane,, Tears.

Enchanter's Nightshade, . v. Nightshade.

Everlasting Always remembered.

Everlasting Pea, Perpetual pleasure.

14*

162

DICTIONARY FOB

Fennel, Force ; strength.

Fern, ... .... Sincerity.

Filbert, v. Hazel.

Fir, Elevation.

Flax, ... .... I feel your benefits.

Flos Adonis, Painful recollections.

Forget-me-not, . ... Forget me not.

Four o'clock, ...... Marvel of Peru.

Foxglove Occupation.

Fraxinella, Fire.

Fuchsia, Taste ; fragility.

Gentian,

Geranium (Oak), . .
Geranium (Rose), . .
Geranium (Scarlet) , .
Gillyflower (Common),
Gillyflower (Stock), .
Goats' Rue, ....

Intrinsic worth.

A melancholy mind.

I prefer you.

Silliness.

Lasting beauty.

Promptness.

Reason.

TRANSLATIXG A BOUQUET.

Gold Basket Tranquillity.

Grape Vine, Intemperance.

Grass Utility.

Greek Valerian Rupture.

Golden Rod, Encouragement.

Gorse, or Furze, .... Anger.

163

Harebell, . .
Hawthorn,
Hazel, . . .
Heart's-ease,
Heath, . . .
Heliotrope,
Henbane, . .
Hibiscus, . .
HoDy, . .
Hollyhock,
Honesty, . .
Honeysuckle, .
Hop, . . .
Hornbeam,
Horse-chestnut,
Houstonia,
Hyacinth, .
Hydrangea, .

Retirement.

Hope.

Reconciliation

Pansy.

Solitude.

Intoxication ; I adore you.

Blemish; fault.

Beauty is vain.

Foresight.

Fecundity ; ambition.

Satin Flower.

Bonds of love.

Injustice.

Ornament.

Luxury.

Innocence.

Benevolence.

Vain-glory; heartlessness.

164 DICTIONABT FOB

Ice Plant Your looks freeze me.

Indian Plum Privation.

Innocence, Innocence.

Iris (Common Garden), . . Message.

Iris (German), Flame.

Ivv, Friendship.

Jasmine (White), .... Amiability.

Jonquil Desire.

Juniper, Asylum ; aid.

Laburnum, Pensive beauty.

Larch Boldness; audacity.

Larkspur, Lightness; levity.

TliAXSLATIXG A BOUQUET. 16,

, ,. . ^ fWcrds, though sweet, may dea

Laurel (American), . . . {

L ceive.

Laurel, Glory; victory.

Laurestine, 1 die if neglected.

Lavatera, Sweet disposition.

Lavender, Mistrust.

Lemon, . Prudence.

Lettuce, Coolness.

Lilac (Purple) First emotion of love.

Lilac (White), Youth.

Lily (Water), . . . . Eloquence.

Lily (White) Majesty ; purity.

Lily of the Valley Return of happiness.

Linden, or Lime, .... Conjugal love.

Liverwort, Confidence.

Locust Platonic love.

Lucern, Life.

Lupine, Dejection.

/^

Madder, Calumny.

Magnolia, Perseverance.

Maiden Hair, Discretion.

Manchineel Tree Falseness.

Mandrake, Rarity.

Maple, Reserve.

166

DICTIONARY FOR

Marigold (Garden),
Marigold (Rainy), .
Marigold and Cypress,
Marshmallow,
Marvel of Peru, .
Mayflower, . .
Meadow Saf&on,
Mezereon, . . .
Mignonette, . .

Milfoil

Milkweed, . . .
Mistletoe, . .
Mock Orange,
Monkshood, . .
Morning Glory, .
Moss, ....
Mugwort, . .
Mulberry (Black),
Mulberiy (White),
Mushroom, . .
Musk Plant, . .
Myrtle, ....

Grief; chagrin.

A storm.

Despair.

Beneficence.

Timidity.

Welcome.

My best days are past.

Desii-e to please.- [charms.

Your qualities surpass your

War.

Hope in misery.

I surmount everything.

Uncertainty.

Treachery.

Coquetry.

Maternal love.

Good luck ; happiness.

I shall not survive you.

Wisdom.

Suspicion.

Weakness.

Love.

Narcissus, Egotism.

Nasturtium, Patriotism.

TRANSLATING A BOUQUET. 167

Nettle Cruelty.

Nightshade (Enchanter's), . Sorcery.

Oak Hospitality.

Oleander Beware.

Olive, Peace.

Orange Flower, Chastity.

Orchis (Bee), Error.

Orchis (Spider), Skill.

Osier, Frankness.

Osmunda, . Reverie.

Oxalis, V. Wood sorrel.

Pansy, Thought.

Parsley Festivity.

Passion Flower Devotion ; faith.

Patience, Patience.

Peach Blossom, I am your captive.

Peony, » . Ostentation.

168 DICTIOSART FOB

Peppermint, Warmth of feeling.

Periwinkle, Sweet memories.

Phlox ... Our hearts are united.

Pimpernel, Rendezvous ; change.

Pine, Endurance.

Pine-apple, .... . You are perfect.

Pink (Red), Pure love.

Plane, or Platane, .... Genius.

Plum Keep your promises.

Plum (Indian), ...... Indian Plum.

Plum (WUd), Independence.

Polemony (Blue), . . . w. Greek Valerian.

Pomegranate, Conceit

Pompion, or Pumpkin, . . Crossness ; coarseness.

Poplar (Black), ... . Courage.

Poplai- (White) Time.

Poppy (Corn), Consolation.

Poppy (White), Sleep.

Potato, Benevolence.

Primrose, Modest worth.

Privet, or Prim, Prohibition.

Purple Scabious, .... Mourning,

Queen of the Meadow, , . Uselessness.
Quince Temptation.

;.". v^j^ay ilf I'uiiin.c--

ill Tfjir J I'sni

PUBLISHED BYDE VRIES, IBARRA ETT°, BOSTON,

TRANSLATING A BOVQVET. 16£

Ranunculus (Garden), . . . You are radiant with charms.

Reeds, Music.

Rest-harrow, Obstacle.

Rhododendron, Agitation.

Rose Acacia, v. Acacia.

Rosebud, Confession of love.

Rose (Cinnamon), .... Without pretension.

Rose (Guelder), ... i. Snowball.

Rose (Hundred-leaved), . . The Graces.

Rose Leaf, . .... I never trouble.

Rose (Monthly), .... Beauty ever new.

Rose (Moss), Superior merit ; voluptuousness.

Rose (Musk), Capricious beauty.

Rose (Red Damask), . . . Love.

Rose (White), Silence.

Rose (Wild Single), . . . Simplicity.

Rose (Yellow), Iniidelity.

f Remembrance ; your presence

Rosemary ■!

I revives me.

Rue, Disdain.

Rush, Docility.

15

170 DICTIONARY FOB

Saffron Crocus, .... Do not abuse me.

Sage, Esteem.

Saint John's Wort Animosity.

Saidonia, Irony.

Satin Flower, Forgetfuluess.

Scratchweed, Roughness.

Sensitive Plant, Sensitiveness ; modesty.

Serpent Cactus, ...._. Horror.
Service Tree, or Sorb, . . . Prudence.
Silverweed, ... . . Naivete.

Snapdragon, Presumption.

Snowball, Goodness. [sity.

Snowdrop, Consolation ; a friend in adver-

SpeedweU, Fidelity.

Spider Orchis v. Orchis. [heart.

Spindle Tree, Your charms are graven on my

Spiraea, v. Queen of the Meadow.

Star of Bethlehem, .... Purity.

Stock, 0. Gillyflower.

Strawberry, Perfect excellence.

Succory, r. Chiccory.

Sumach Splendid misery.

Sunflower, False riches.

Sweet Basil v. Basil.

TRANSLATING A BOUQUET. 171

Sweet Brier v. Eglantine.

Sweet Pea, . .... Departure.

Sweet Sultan, Happiness.

Sweet William, Finesse.

Syringa, Fraternal love.

Tare, Vice.

Teasel, Misanthropy.

Thistle, ... ... Austerity.

Thorn Apple, . . . Disguise.

Thi-ift, Sympathy.

Thyme, Activity.

Trailing Arbutus, . . . v. Mayflower.

Tremella, Resistance.

Tuberose Voluptuousness.

Tulip, .... ... Declaration of love.

Valerian (Common), . . . Accommodating disposition.
Valerian (Red), Facility.

172

BICTIONAUr FOB

Venus's Looking-glass, . . Flattery.

Verbena, .... . . Sensibility.

Veronica, . . .v. Speedwell.

Vervain, Enchantment.

Vetch, I cling to thee.

Vine, . . . n. Grape Vine.

Violet (Blue), Modesty.

Violet (White), Purity ; candor.

Virgin's Bower, . . . . v. Clematis.

Wall Flower, .
Water Lily, .
Weeping Willow
Wheat, . . .
White Lily, .
White Mulberry,
White Poplar,
White Poppy,
White Rose, .
White Violet,
Whortleberry,
Wild Plum, .
Wild Rose, .
Willow (Basket),
Willow (Common),

. Fidelity in misfortune.

w. Lily.

. Melancholy.

. Wealth.

». Lily.

V. Mulberry.

B. Poplar.

V. Poppy.

V. Rose.

V. Violet.

. Treachery.

». Plum.

z). Rose.

«. Osier.

. Forsaken.

TSAXSZATIKG A BOUQUET. 173

Willow Herb Pretension.

Windflower, v. Anemone.

Wood Sorrel, Joy.

Wormwood, Absence.

Yarrow, v. Milfoil.

Yew, Sadness.

Yoke Elm, v. Hornbeam.

Zinnia, I mourn yom- absence.

15*

" I must fill up this osier cage of ours
With baleful weeds and precious juiced flowers.

* * * *

Many for many virtues excellent,
None but for some, and yet all different,"

Shakspea/re.

" Flowers fresh in hue and many in their class,
Implore the pausing step, and with their dyes
Dance in the soft breeze in a fairy mass."

Byron.

(174)

E introduce under this head
a few plants, which, although
they have not a meaning as-
signed them as yet in Flora's
vocabulary, are stiU worthy
of mention on account of
their beauty, usefulness, or
the allusions made to them by various authors.

(175)

176 APPENDIX.

American, or False Cowslip. Dodecatlieon media.

The name signifies twelve divinities, and the flower is so
beautiful that a botanist might well fable that the whole circle
of the Grecian gods conspired to create it. Another plant, the
caWia palustris, is also called the American cowslip, but its
more general name is marsh marigold. It is a brilliant yellow
flower growing in wet places, but quite unlike our elegant
dodecatheon, which blooms a little later.

Apples of Sodom. Solanum nodovieum.
The famous

" Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye,
But turn to ashes on the lips,"

mentioned by Josephus, yet often regarded as fabulous, are
at last ascertained to be a kind of purple egg-plant. An
insect usually punctures the skin of the fruit, causing it, while
outwardly fair, to gangrene and turn to dust within. In the
Diary of Henry Teonge, an English fleet chaplain, he writes
in December, 1675, " This country (around the Dead Sea)
is altogether unfruitfull, being all over full of stones, which
looke just like burnt syndurs. And on some low shrubbs
there grow small round things, which are called apples, but no
witt like them. They are somewhat fayre to look at; but

APPENDIX. 177

touch them, and they moulder all to hlaok ashes, like soote,
boath for looks and smell."

Milton makes the fallen angels, changed to serpents, when
their penance was aggravated by an image of the forbidden
tree, pluck greedily

" The fruitage fair to sight, like that which grew
Near that bituminous lake where Sodom flamed;
This, more delusive, not the touch, but taste
Deceived; they, fondly thinking to allay
Their appetite with gust, instead of fruit
Chewed bitter ashes, which the offended taste
With spattering noise rejected; oft they essayed.
Hunger and thirst constraining; drugged as oft.
With hatefulest disrelish writhed their jaws,
With soot and cinders filled; so oft they fell
Into the same illusion.*'

Par. Lost, Book X,

Anun, IVakerobin, Wild Tmrmip, Jack-inthe-Falpit. Arum
macuZatum,

This curious plant, found blooming in May in wet, shady
places, bears spikes of scarlet berries late in the summer.
The name arum is said to come from its leaves, shaped like
an arrow or dart. The root, when fresh, contains a milky
juice, very acrid, which is used in medicine as a stimulant.
The acrimony is dissipated by drying and the application of
heat, when the substance of the root becomes a bland farina-
ceous matter resembling arrow-root. Powdered it is said to
have a saponaceous quality. It is also used by the Parisians,
under the name of cypress powder, as a cosmetic for the
skin.

178 APPENDIX.

JSelladoiuia, or l>eadly IViglitsliade, Atr<ypa beUadouTM.

It is called Atropa, from Atropos, the goddess of destiny, in
allusion to its fatal effects ; and belladonna, because the fair
ladies of the Continent formerly made use of it as a cosmetic.
As a medicine it has great repute among the homoeopathic
practitioners. Sauvages supposes it to be the plant which
produced such strange and dreadful effects upon the Roman
soldiers, during their retreat, under the command of Antony,
from the Parthians. A Scotch historian relates that the Scots
treacherously mixed its juice in the bread and drink with which
the conditions of a tnice bound them to supply the Danes. They
were so intoxicated by it that the Scots killed the greater part
of them before they had recovered consciousness. Dr. Wood-
yille quotes the passage in Shakspeare where Banquo says, —

** Or have we eaten of the inenne root
That takes the reason prisoner .' "

Blaclcljerry. Jiubus irivialis or villosus.

Pliny speaks of a " mulberry growing upon briers," by which
the blackberry is thought to be intended. The delicious flavor
of this fruit, and the virtues of the cordial made from it, are
known to every good housekeeper ; and the plant, if attentively
examined, will be found very beautiful. Although they may
be familiar, we cannot resist giving here the lines of Elliot.

AFPEKDIX,

TO THE BRAMBLE FLOWER.

" Thy fruit full well the schoolboy knows.

Wild brfimble of the brake I
So put thou forth thy small white rose;

I love it for his sake.
Though woodbines flaunt and roses glow

O'er all the fragrant bowers.
Thou need'st not be ashamed to show

Thy satin-threaded flowers;
For dull the eye, the heart is dull.

That cannot feel how fair,
Amid all beauty beautiful.

Thy tender blosHoms are !
How delicate thy gauzy frill !

How rich thy branchy stem !
How soft thy voice when woods are still,

And thou sing'st hymns to them 1
When silent showers are falling slow,

And 'mid the general hush,
A sweet air lifts the little bough.

Lone whispering through the bush 1
The primrose to the grave is gone;

The hawthorn flower is dead.
The violet by the mossed gray stone

Hath laid her weary head;
But thou, wild bramble ! back dost bring,

In all thy beauteous power.
The fresh, green days of life's fair spring,

And boyhood's bloomy hour.
Scorned bramble of the brake ; once more

Thou bidd'st me be a boy.
To gad with thee the woodlands o'er,

In freedom and in joy."

"When Titania gives Bottom iu charge to the fairies, i
commands them to

" Feed him with apricocks and dewberries."

Dewbemes are the fruit of one species of the bramble
the rvhus ecesius, according to Brande.

180 APPENDIX.

Bnckthorn. Jihamvus caiharticus.

The juice from the berries of the buckthorn, mixed with
alum and gum arabic, makes the sap green used in water colors.
These berries are a violent medicine, and have a very unpleasant
taste. The bark produces a fine yellow dye.

Calceolaria.

There seems to be an infinite variety of calceolarias, and
they are favorite florists' flowers. They are all natives of
Chili and Peru. The name comes from calceolus, a slipper,
owing to the shape of the flowers.

Canary -tiird Flo"«ver. Tropssolum peregrinum.

This graceful climber, known to the Spaniards as " pajaritos
amarillos," also comes from Peru. It blossoms profusely,
and, twisted around slender columns, makes a charming
effect.

Carrot. Daucus carota.

The ancient Greeks seem to have cultivated the carrot, and
it has appeared on the tables of all the civilized nations ever
since their time. Parkinson, who was botanist to King
James I., tells us that in his time ladies wore the delicate,
feathery leaves of the caiTot in their head-dresses, instead
of plumes.

APPENDIX. 181

Catalpa. CaiaXpa cordifolia.

The name catalpa is of Indian origin. The showy flowers
of this elegant tree grow similarly to those of the horse-
chestnut. We have but one species indigenous to America.

Celaudine, or STvallow "Wort. Clielidonium mnjus.

This acrid plant was long considered a most effectual remedy
for jaundice. It was also recommended for other diseases ;
but an eminent author says, " We have little doubt but that
the virtues of celandine have been greatly exaggerated ; in
certain cases, however, we should expect to find it a useful
remedy, for it evidently possesses active powers." It grows
commonly along the roadside, and wherever the stem is broken
sends out a yellow, milky juice, which stains like iron rust all it
falls upon. The celandine which Wordsworth has compli-
mented with a poem, was not this plant, but a flower, known
as the lesser celandine. {Ranunculus Jicaria.)

Ceutaiiry^. Cliironea centaurea, or Erytlirxa centaurium,

" Wormwood and centaury their bitter juice
To aid digestion's sickly powers refine."

Dodsley.

The centaur Chiron is said to have cured a wound in his
foot with this plant ; hence its name. It is inodorous, but so
bitter that it was called by the ancients /eZ terroe, or gall of the
earth. It has antiseptic properties, and before the discovery
of the Peruvian bark, was in great esteem as a febrifuge.

Cbristmas Rose, or Slack Hellebore. Melleborus niger.

A native of Austria and Italy. It was introduced into
Britain in 1596, and is called the Christmas Rose, because,
in mild weather, it usually blooms at the end of the year.
16

182 APPENDIX.

The blossom is very handsome, having five large white petals,
tipped with rose. The root was used by the ancients as a
remedy for madness.

ColFee. Coffea araiica.

The coffee berries, which we roast to make a beverage, grow
on an evergreen, fifteen or twenty feet high, which is a native
of Arabia and Ethiopia. The flowers are white and sweet-
scented. The use of coffee as a drink is said to have begun
in Constantinople in 1554. It was used in Marseilles in 1644.
The first coffee-house in Paris was established by an Armenian
named Pascal, in 1672 ; but he met with so little encouragement
that he removed to London, where it had been previously
'introduced in 1652. According to a recent traveller, Mr.
Palgrave, we can never know the real excellence of coffee —
the nectar in its perfection — tiU we go to Arabia.

Cuckoo Sud,

Simply the old name for the buttercup.

]>eatzla.

Early in spring every greenhouse displays this pretty plant
covered with a profusion of white blossoms. It is a native of
China and Japan, and was called by Thunberg after John
Deutz, a senator of Amsterdam, who furnished him with means
for exploring those oountiies.

APPENDIX. 183

iEnplirasyf or Eyebrigbt. Euphrasia oj

Milton wrote that, —

" Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed
Which that false fruit that promised clearer sight
Had bred; then purged with euphrasy and rue
The visual nerve, for he had much to see."

Eyebright was foi-meily applied externally and taken inter-
nally, as a sovereign remedy for all affections of the eyes.
As it is clearly impossible that one thing could cure so many
different diseases, arising from various causes, endeavors have
been made to ascertain the real virtues of the plant. The
result seems to be, that it is valuable in cases of weakness
of the eyes, produced by over-exertion, or in old age.

Fennel Flo-^ver, Ljove in a Mist, Ijady in tbe Green. Nigella
damaacetm.

The seeds of this curious flower (which gave it the name of
nigella, from their blackness) are very pungent in the East, and

184 APPENDIX.

are used instead of pepper. We are told that they were
probably the cumin, to which our Lord alluded when re-
proving the Pharisees.

ruclisia-flo'wered Oooseberry. liibes speciosum.

Among the wonderful vegetable productions of California
is this magnificent gooseberry. It grows to the height of five
feet, and is sometimes covered for six weeks with brilliant
scarlet ilowers, whose long, drooping stamens have caused it
to receive the appellation of fuchsia-flowered.

Criaut Fennel. Fenda villoaa.

Prometheus is fabled to have brought fire from heaven in a
stalk of this plant. Its stems grow ten or twelve feet high,
and contain a pith, which, in the interior of Sicily, is stiU used
for tinder. A Persian species of ferula produces the assqfcetida
of medicine.

Ground jVnt, or ]i^artl> ]Viit. Bunium bulbocastanum.

This is an umbelliferous plant, with a. root resembling a
chestnut. Another kind of ground nut, the apios tuberosa,
or glycine apios, is common in America, and very nutritious.
The Indians made great use of them in theii- simple diet.

APPElfDIX. 185

Hemlock. Conium macutatum and Cicuta virosa.

Both the common hemlock and the water hemlock were
probably known to the ancients, and both are poisonous.
W'e are ignorant which kind was given to Socrates. The
Greek and Arabian physicians were in the habit of using the
hemlock juice externally for swellings and pains in the joints.
Baron Stoerck, among the moderns, has recommended it for
cancers, &c.

Horseradisb. CocMearia armoracia.

Horseradish is a most excellent and wholesome condiment.
It is a strong stimulant, and has sometimes been used in place
of mustard, in poultices. A sirup of this root is an excellent
remedy for hoarseness and sore throat. Dr. Withering says,
that an infusion of horseradish in mUk is one of the safest
and best cosmetics.

Jerusalem Artlclioke. 3elianthus tuberosus.

The word Jerusalem is, in this case, a curious corruption
of the Italian girasole, turning to the sun. It is a kind
16* .

186 APPENDIX.

of sunflower, and was very common in old-fashioned gardens.
The roots, about the size of a potato, are thought to resemble
artichokes in their taste.

Judas' Tree, or Bed-toud. Cercis canadensis.

The brilliant clusters of crimson flowers which adorn this
tree in the spring, and its large heart-shaped leaves, render
it a very attractive object. A botanist tells us, " I have often
observed hundreds of the common humble bees lying dead
under these trees while in flower." Its fatality to insects gives
it the appellation of Judas' tree. There is also a tradition that
Judas hung himself upon it. ^

liadies' Slipper. Cypripedinm.

A great many varieties of this curious and beautiful orchid
are found wild in America. Some are yellow, some white,
some purple.

Iiady's Smock. Cardamine.

Frequent allusions to this flower are found in the early
English poets. The name was given from the pure whiteness
of the flowers, in the variety most common. It was also, for
the same reason, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and called
Our Lady's Flower. Another name is Cuckoo-flower.

APPENDIX. 187

This family of plants comprises several with handsome
flowers ; as the scarlet lychnis, or London pride, the ragged
robin, &c. The cottony leaves of some varieties have been
used as substitutes for lamp-wicks.

Maijoram. Origanum inUgare and Tiut^oranum.

The common wild marjoram is found native here; ,the

sweet marjoram, used in cookery, came originally from Portugal.

This herb is supposed to be the amaracus of the ancient poets.

Thus Virgil: —

" ubi mollis amaracus ilium
FloribuB et dulci aspiraua complectitur umbra."

^neid, Book I., I. 698.

And Catullus: —

' Cinge tempora floribas
Suave olentis amaraci."

Mountain Asb. Pyrus aucuparia, and Sorbus americana.

The Scotch call this brilliant tree the rowan. In some
places the peasantry use its branches to avert witchcraft.
The elegant clusters of orange-red berries which succeed the
white flowers, and the handsome pinnate leaves, render it
one of the greatest ornaments to a shrubbery. Words-
worth, in the Excursion, speaks of

188 APPENDIX.

" file mountain ash
No eye can overlook, when 'mid a g:rove
or yet imfaded trees she lilts her head, '

Decked witli autumnal berries that outshine
Spring's richest blossoms ; and ye may have marked,
By a brook-side or solitary tarn,
How she her station doth adorn ; — the pool
Glows at her feet, and all the gloomy rocks
Are brightened round her."

JUulleiu. Verbascum thapsus.

Every reader is probablj' familiar with the white, soft,
downy leaves, and slightly fragrant yellow flowers, crowded
together on a large, clumsy stalk, which distinguish the
mullein. It is emollient and gently astringent, and great use
is made of the leaves in the country for fomentations and
cataplasms. Gerarde calls it " Cow's Lungwort," as it was
thought to be of great use in pulmonary complaints of cattle.
One species of mullein is said to be a strong anodyne, and
to intoxicate fish.

Onion. Allium cepa.

There is evidence to show that the onion was known and
esteemed in Egypt two thousand years before Christ. Rhind
says, " Hasselquist, in a panegyric on the exquisite flavor
of the Egyptian onion, remarks that it is no wonder the
Israelites, after they had quitted their place of bondage, should
have regretted the loss of this delicacy. The Egyptians
divide them into four parts, and eat them roasted together

APPENDIX. 1 89

with pieces of meat; which preparation they consider so
delicious that they devoutly wish it may form one of the
viands of Paradise." The onions of warm countries are
immeasurably superior to those of colder climes, being larger
and milder in flavor. This vegetable possesses healing
qualities, and many a mother can testify to the efficacy of
onion sirup.

Petunia.

The diflferent varieties of this showy flower, so ornamental
in the house or garden, come to us from South America
They are annuals out of doors, but perennial under shelter.

Purple XiOosestrUe. Ltjihrum sallcaria.

In July, around the edge of wet meadows, we find a tall
plant with long, loose spikes of very delicate and brilliant
flowers. The color is a fine purple, tinged with red, which
has obtained for it in some places the name oi fireweed. This
is the purple loosestrife. Transplanted to the garden, it is
a fine perennial border flower.

190 APPENDIX.

Rice. Oryza

Rice was cultivated from the earliest times in Asia and
Africa. Its introduction into America is of very modern date.
According to one account, Mr. Ashby, an English merchant, at
the close of the seventeenth century, sent a hundred weight
of rice from India to Carolina, which was the seed of all the
future harvests. Another authority says, " A brigantine from
the island of Madagascar, happened to put in at Carolina, having
a little seed rice left, which the captain gave to a gentleman of
the name of Woodward. From part of this he had a very good
crop, but was ignorant for some years how to clean it. It was
soon dispersed over the province, and by frequent experiments
and observations, they found out ways of producing and man-
ufactui-ing it to so great perfection, that it is thought to exceed
any other "in value. The writer of this has seen the said
captain in Carolina, where he received a handsome gratuity
from the gentlemen of that country, in acknowledgment of the
service he had done the province.''

On the Importance of the British Plantations in America.
{London, 1701.)

APPENDIX. .191

Samphire. Crithmum maritimum, and Salicornia herbacea.

The first of these is the English samphire ; the second the
American. Both grow on the sea-coast, and are used as
pickles. The salicornia is also found in great quantities on
the coast of the Mediterranean, where its ashes are used in
the manufacture of soda. The word samphire is a corrup-
tion of the French Saint Pierre. On Dover heights Edgar
exclaims to Gloster, —

" stand still. — How- fearful
And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low I
The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air.
Show scarce so gross as beetles. Half way down
Hangs one that gathers samphire — dreadful trade !
Methiuks he seems no bigger than his head."

Sassafi'as. Laurus sassafi'as.

This fragrant shrub or tree Ijecame known to the old world
on the discovery of Florida, and was sold at enormous prices
when first introduced into Europe, on account of the great
medicinal virtues attributed to it. It was cultivated in Eng-
land before 1633. A tincture of the bark is still in vogue for
the cure of rheumatism, gout, &c., though it is generally used
in a combination with sarsaparilla.

192. APPENDIX.

Snakeroot, Seneca and Virginia. Polygala senega, and Aristolo~
cMa serpentaria.

Very dangerous consequences have sometimes ensued from
confounding these two plants. Dr. Tennent first called the
attention of physicians to the fact that the Indians possessed
a specific for the bite of the rattlesnake, which was ascertained
to be the Seneca snakeroot. It is also prescribed in pleurisy
and dropsy. The Virginia snakeroot is likewise considered
a remedy for the bites of serpents. It is strongly aromatic, and
was at one time thought to be of marvellous efficacy in various
diseases ; but its fame has declined in modern practice.

Solomon's Seal. Convallaria hi/oUa, racemosa, mutiijtora, &c.

The name of Solomon's seal was given on account of
certain marks on the root. There are many varieties of it
found in the spring in shady woods. The mucilaginous roots
make an excellent poultice for tumors, bruises, &c.

Old Gerarde says, " The root of Solomon's seal, stamped,
while it is fresh and greene, and applied, taketh away in one
night, or two at the most, any bruse, black or blew spots
gotten by fals, or woman's wilfulness in stumbling upon their
hasty husband's fists, or such like.''

Sugar-cane. Saccharum officinarum,.

Sugar, like that which appears every day upon our tables,
seems to have been a luxury unknown to the old Greeks and
Romans, though some have thought they found an allusion
to it in Theophrastus. Father Hennepin found this priceless
cane growing near the mouth of the Mississippi, and Ximenes
mentions that it grew wild near the Rio de la Plata. The
plants introduced from Java, Isle of Bourbon, &c., ai-e said

APPENDIX. 193

to be superior to the native variety. Before the Indies were
discovered, sugar was made in considerable quantities in the
islands of Sicily, Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus, where it was
supposed to have been carried by the Saracens.

Snude^v, Drosera.

The word drosera means dewy. It is found in blossom late
in the summer, in moist gi-ound. In Crabbe's Borough, —

'• Our busy streets and sylvan walks between
Fen, marshes, bog, and heath, all intervene;
Here pits of crag, -svith spongy, plashy base,
To some enrich th' uncultivated space;
For there are blossoms rare, and curious rush.
The gale's rich balm, and sundew's crimson blush,
Whose velvet leaf, with radiant beauty dressed.
Forms a gay pillow for the plover's breast."

Tansy. Taruicetum vulgare and crispum.

The French anciently called this plant by the name of
Athanasie, which became by corruption tansy. The curled
leaves are not destitute of beauty, and send forth a strong but
pleasant odor. On account of its iatense bitterness, it was
formerly eaten in puddings and otherwise at Easter, to sym-
bolize the bitter herbs which the Jews were commanded to eat
at the Passover.

17

194 APPESBIX.

Tea. Thm, viridis and bohea.

Tea is a small evergreen shrub, belonging to the same
family as the camellia. Owing to the Chinese policy in regard
to foreigners, we know very little about the plant, or the
method of preparing the leaves ; as one may ascertain by
reading various elaborate accounts, which are very far from
agreeing with one another. It was first introduced into
England, in 1666, from Holland, and sold at a very high
price. In view of the present enormous consumption of tea,
it is a curious question what people drank before it came
into use.

Thorn Apple, Apple of Pern, or Jamestown TVeed. Datura
stramonium.

Almost every one must know this peculiar looking plant
as a violent narcotic poison. Even the odor of it is said to
induce dizziness and stupor. Yet, in skilful hands, it proves
a most valuable medicine. The old Greek physicians appar-
ently knew its properties ; and in our time it is used in
epilepsy and mania. The root is smoked for asthma, and
an extract of the leaves is sometimes applied to burns and
inflamed tumors. Such dangerous remedies, however, should
be given only by physicians.

Toad Flax. AntirrMnum Hnaria.

A common flower in summer, with rather fine bluish leaves,
and yellow and orange flowers, shaped like those of its brother,
the snapdragon. Country people give it the descriptive name
of butter-and-eggs. Linnseus says it was used to poison flies.
Like many common plants, it has healing virtues. An infu-
sion of the flowers is highly recommended for skin diseases,

APPENDIX. 195

and the leaves in dropsy. Both leaves and flowers are used
in compounding ointments and poultices.

Tobacco, Nicotiana tdbacum.

Tobacco was imported into Spain ana Portugal from
America, by Hernandez de Toledo, about the middle of the
sixteenth century. Nicot, .who was ambassador of France
at Lisbon, carried it to Catherine de Mddicis, in 1560, as a
plant possessing wonderful virtues. The generic name was
given in his honor ; and the English name, tobacco, is either
from Tobago in the West Indies, or Tobasco in Mexico,
or, as one authority says, from a South American word for a
pipe. In spite of the hundred or more volumes written
against its use, smoking, and, we regret to say, chewing, are
still practised, though snuff-taking seems to have gone out of
fashion, except with a few old women.

Burnett says, "It is supposed that the 'juice of cursed
hebenon,' by which, according to Shakspeare, the king of
Denmark was poisoned, was the essential oil of tobacco."
Hebenon undoubtedly meant hevhane, and as our author con-
tinues, " it appears from Gerarde that tobacco was commonly
called 'henbane of Peru.' No preparation of hyoscyamus
with which we are acquainted, would produce death by an
application to the ear ; whereas the essential oE of tobacco
might without doubt occasion a fatal result.''

Trumpet ITlo-wer. Bignonia radicans.

The elegant climbing plant which produces this brilliant
flower is the pride of southern gardens, though rarely seen
at the north. The name Bignonia is in honor of the Abb6
Bignon.

196

APPENDIX.

Tulip Tree. Jjiriodendron tuUpifera.

A magnificent flowering tree, known also as white-wood
and canon-wood, which surpasses almost every other in
America in height as well as beauty. The flowers are fragrant,
and the bark, which has an aromatic odor, has been used as a
tonic and febrifuge. The wood is valuable for many purposes.
The name liriodendron signifies a lily tree.

PJBLISHED B7 DE VRIESJEAERA EF f:^ BOSTON.

HE air of cities, heavy with
smoke and poisonous exhala-
tions, is fatal to many flowers ;
and all true poets have sung
the charms of country life.
Cowley prayed, —

" Ah, yet, ere I descend to the grave.
May I a small house and large garden have ! " —
X7* (197;

198 APPENDIX.

And longingly cried, —

" fields, O woods ! when, when shall I he made
The happy tenant of your shade ?
Here's the spring-head of Pleasure's flood.
Where all the riches lie, that she

Has coined and stamped for good."

Anne, Countess of Winchelsea, sings, —

" Give me, indulgent Fate,

Give me yet, before I die,
A sweet but absolute retreat

'Mong paths so lost and trees so high.
That the world may ne'er invade.
Through such windings and such shade.

My unshaken liberty.

Fruits indeed would Heaven bestow.

All that did in Eden grow.

All but the forbidden tree

"Would be coveted by me:

Grapes with juice so crowded up,

As breaking through the native cup;

Figs yet growing, candied o'er

By the sun's attracting power ;

CheiTies, with the downy peach,

All within my easy reach ;

While creeping near the humble ground

Should the sti'awberiy be found.

Springing wheresoe'er I strayed

Through those windings and that shade."

APPENDIX. 199

We find Pope writing, at a very early age, —

" Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres hound,
Content to breathe his native air

In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread.

Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blessed who can unconcernedly find

Hours, days, and years, slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day, —

Sound sleep by night ; study and ease

Together mixed, sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation."

A poem by Warton runs as follows i —

" On beds of daisies idly laid,
The willow waving o'er my head.
Now morning on the bending stem
Hangs the round and glittering gem.
Lulled by the lapse of yonder spring.
Of nature's various charms I sing :
Ambition, pride, and pomp, adieu.
For what has joy to do with you ?

200 APPENDIX.

Joy, rose-lipped dryad, loves to dwell
In sunny field or mossy cell ;
Delights on echoing hills to hear
The reaper's song, or lowing steer.
Or view, with tenfold plenty spread,
The crowded cornfield, blooming mead;
While beauty, health, and innocence
Transport the eye, the soul, the sense.

Nymphs of the gi-oves, in green arrayed,
Conduct me to your thickest shade.
Deep in the bosom of the vale,
Where haunts the lonesome nightingale ;
Where Contemplation, maid divine.
Leans against some aged pine,
Wrapped in solemn thought profound,
Her eyes fixed steadfast on the ground.

0, Virtue's nurse, retired queen.

By saints alone and hermits seen.

Beyond- vain mortal wishes wise.

Teach me St. James's to despise ;

For what are crowded courts but schools

For fops, or hospitals for fools ?

Where slaves and madmen, young and old,

Meet to adore some calf of gold ! "

In a similar strain Dyer says, —

" Be full, ye courts, be great who will ;
Search for Peace with all your skill ;
Open wide the lofty door,
Seek her on the marble floor ;

APPENDIX. 201

In vain you search ; she is not there ;
In vain you search the domes of Care !
Grass and flowers Quiet treads,
On the meads and mountain-heads ;
Along with Pleasure, close allied.
Ever by each other's side."

But perhaps one of tlie best things of this kind
is Cunningham's Town and Country Child. He be-
gins, —

" Child of the country ! free as air
Art thou, and as the sunshine fan- ;
Bom like the lily, where the dew
Lies odorous when the day is new ;
Fed 'mid the May-flowers, like the bee ;
Nursed to sweet music on the knee ;
Lulled on the breast to that glad tune
Which winds make 'mong the woods of June ;
I sing of thee ; — 'tis sweet to sing
Of such a fair and gladsome thing.

Child of the town, for thee I sigh ;
A gilded roof's thy golden sky,
A carpet is thy daisied sod,
A naiTow street thy boundless road.

* * * *

Through smoke, and not through trellised vines
And blooming trees, thy sunbeam shines ;
I sing of thee in sadness ; where
Else is wreck wrought in aught so fair ? "

202

APPENDIX.

And ends, —

" Fly from the town, sweet child ! for health
Is happiness, and strength, and wealth.
There is a lesson in each flower,
A story in each stream and bower ;
On every herb on which you tread
Are written words, which, rightly read,
■Will lead you from earth's fragrant sod
To hope, and holiness, and God."

r we should begin to expatiate on
the subject of gardens, it would be
difficult to stop ; for, as Sir Thomas.
Browne has said, " Gardens were
before gardeners, and but a few
hours after the earth ; " and from
the earliest days descriptions, in
prose and verse, of gardens real or imaginary, have
come down to us. We shall confine ourselves, then,

(203)

204 APPENDIX. '

to three descriptions, not so hackneyed as many others
The first is from Giles Fletcher.

" All suddenly the Iiill his snow devours,

In lieu whereof a goodly garden grew,

As if the snow had melted into flowers,

Wliich their sweet breath in subtle vapors threw.

That all about perfumed spirits flew.

For whatsoever might aggrate the sense,

In all the world, or please the appetence,
Here it was poured out in lavish affluence.

The garden like a lady fair was cut,
That lay as if she slumbered m delight.
And to the open skies her eyes did shut ;
The azure fields of heaven were sembled right
In a large round, set with the flowers of light ;
The flowers-de-luce, and the round sparks of dew
That hung upon their azure leaves, did shew
Like twinkling stars, that sparkle in the evening blue.

Upon a. hilly bank her head she cast.
On which the bower of Vain-delight was built.
White and red roses for her face were placed.
And for her tresses marigolds were spilt;
Them broadly she displayed, hke flaming gilt.
Till in the ocean the glad day were drowned :
Then up again her yellow locks she wound.
And with green fillets in their pretty cauls them bound.'

APPENDIX. 205

The next is from Langhorne : —

" A bower he framed (for he conld frame
What long might weary mortal wight,
Swift as the lightning's rapid flame
Darts on the unsuspecting sight).

Such bower he framed with magic hand,

As well that wizard bard hath wove
In scenes where fair Armida's wand

Waved all the witcheries of love.

Yet was it wrought in simple show ;

Xor Indian mines nor Orient shores
Had lent their glories here to glow,

Or yielded here their shining stores.

All round a poplar's trembling arms
The wild rose wound her damask flower

The woodbine lent her spicy charms,
That loves to weave the lover's bower.

The ash that courts the mountain air.

In all her painted blooms arrayed.
The wilding's blossom blushing fair,

Combined to form the flowery shade.

With thyme that loves the brown hill's breast.

The cowslip's sweet reclining head,
The violet of sky-woven vest.

Was all the fairy ground bespread."

18

206 APPENDIX.

Andrew Marvell's exquisite Garden comes last, —
unabridged, — though we think the last stanza but
one contains a heresy against truth.

THE GARDEN.

" How vainly men themselves amaze
To win the palm, the oak, or bays.
And their incessant labors see
Crowned from some single herb or tree,
"Whose short and narrow-verged shade
Does prxidently their toils upbraid !
While all the flowers and trees do close,
To weave the garlands of repose.

Fair Quiet, have I found thee here,
And Innocence, thy sister dear ?
Mistaken long, I sought you then
In busy companies of men.
Your sacred plants, if here below.
Only among the plants will grow ;
Society is all but rude
To this delicious solitude.

No white nor red was ever seen
So amorous as this lovely green.
Tond lovers, cruel as their flame.
Cut in these trees their mistress' name ;
Little, alas ! they know or heed
How far these beauties her exceed !
Fair trees ! where'er your barks I wound.
No name shall but your own be found.

APPENDIX. 207

When we have run our passion's heat,
Love hither malces his heat retreat.
The gods, who mortal beauty chase,
Still in a tree did end their race.
Apollo hunted Daphne so,
Only that she might laurel grow;
And Pan did after Syrinx speed,
Not as a nymph, but for a reed.

What wondrous life is this I lead !
Ripe apples drop about my head ;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine ;
The nectarine, and curious peach,
Into my hands themselves do reach ;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass
Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass.

Meanwhile the mind from pleasure less

Withdraws into its happiness;

The mind, that ocean where each kind

Does straight its own resemblance find ;

Yet it creates, transcending these.

Far other worlds and other seas.

Annihilating all that's made

To a green thought in a green shade.

Here at the fountain's sliding foot.
Or at some fruit tree's mossy root.
Casting the body's vest aside,
My soul into the boughs does glide ;

208

APPENDIX.

There, like a bird, it sits and sings.
Then whets and claps its silver wings,
And till prepared for longer flight.
Waves in its plumes the various light.

Such was the happy garden state.
While man there walked without a, mate:
After a place so pure and sweet,
What other help could yet be meet !
But 'twas beyond a, mortal's share
To wander solitary there :
Two paradises are in one.
To live in paradise alone.

How well the skilful gardener drew
Of flowers and herbs this dial new !
Where from above the milder sun
Does through a, fragrant zodiac run ;
And, as it works, th' industrious bee
Computes its time as well as we.
How could such sweet and wholesome hours
Be reckoned, but with herbs and flowers ? "

c &r(3^iyf^S-S^ =

Page

Acanthus, 25

Aconlto, 150

AgnuB CaBtus, ... 84

Agrimony, 12.3

A Heap of Flowers, . . 76

Almond, 19

Aloe, ... . 84

Amaranth, . ... 71

Amaryllis, 138

American Cowslip, . . 176

Anemone, Garden, ... 126

18*-

Anemone (Windflower),
Angelica,

Appendix

Apple of Pern, .
Apples of Sodom, .

April,

Artichoke, Jerusalem, .

Anim,

Ash,

Ash, Mountain, .

Asphodel, ....

Aster, China or German,

Aster, Large-flowered, .

August,

Autumn

(209)

210

INDEX.

Carnation, *^

i

Carrot

Catalpa,
Celandine, .

180
181
181

Balm Mint, . ... 138

Centaury, .

181

BalmofGilead, . .

. 124

Cherry, Cornel, . .

76

Balsamine, .

. 126

Chiccory, .

122

Barberry, .

. 137

Christmas Kose,

181

Basil, .

. 12i

Chrysanthemum,

124

Bay, .

81

Cinnamon Eose,

154

Beech, .

. 139

Cinnamon Tree,

121

Bee Orchis,

. 117

Cistus, . . •

147

Belladonna,

. 178

Clematis, ' .

107

Birch, .

'" - 123 ■

Cockle, . . .

152

Blackberry,

. 178

Cockscomb, .

75

Black Hellebore,

. 181

Coffee, . . ■

182

•

Black Mulberry,

. 129

Columbine, .

. 120

Black Poplar, .

. . 112

Coriander, .

. 125

Bogbean,

. •. 21

CorneUan Cherry,

76

Broom, .

. . 133

Country Life, .

. 197

Buckbean,

. . 21

Cowslip,

. 133

Buckthorn, .

. . 180

Cowslip, American

or F

alse

, 176

BuglOSB,

.' . 20

Crocus, ...

. 156

Burdock,

. . 127

Cuckoo Bud,

. 182

Butter ana Eggs,

. . 194

Cuckoo Flower, .

. 186

Cypress,

71

Calceolaria, .
Camellia,
Camomile, .
Canary-Bird Flower,
Cardinal Flower,

180
123
117
180
114

Dahlia, 55

Daisy, Single, .... 88

Daisy, Double, .... 90

Dandelion 135

INDEX.

•ill

Darnel, .

Datura, .

Dead Leaves,

December, .

Deutzia,

Dewberries, .

Dew Plant, .

Dictionary of the Language

of Flowers, .
Dictionary for Translating

Bouquet, .
Directions, . . .^ .
Dittany of Crete, . ..
Dodder, - . ■

132
77
182
179
145

157
101
109
132

Eglantine, 45

Elder, .111

Elecampane, .... 148

Endive, 122

Euphrasy, or Eyebright, . 183

February, 86

Fennel, ...... 147

Fennel, Giant, .... 184

Fennel Flower, . ... 183

Fern, . . .

Firewced,

Flax, . . .

Floral Games, .

Flos Adonis,

Forget-me-not, ..

Four o'clock, .

Foxglove, .

Fragrant Coltsfoot,

Fraxinella, .. .

Fringed Gentian,

Fuchsia,

Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry, 181

Furze, . . . ... 106

148

189

126

95

52

60

69

134

70

120

128

148

Gardens, 202

Garland of Julia, . . 99

Geranium, Scarlet, . . 70

German Iris 120

Gentian, .... 128
Giant Fennel, . . .184

Gillyflower, . . . . ■ . 54

Goat's Eue, ..... 140

Gold Basket, .... 150

Golden Rod, .... 117
Gooseberry ,Fuchsia-FIowercd, 184

Gorse, 106

Grape, 128

Grasses, 17

Greek Valerian, ... 145

Ground Nut, .... 184

21-2

INDEX.

Harebell,

143

Hawthorn, .

23

Hazel, ....

141

Heart's-ease,

149

Heath, .

31

Heliotrope, .

62

Hellebore, Black,

181

Hemlock, . .

186

Hibiscus,

155

Holly, . . .

83

Hollyhock, .

119

Honesty,

121

Honeysuckle, .

28

Hornbeam, .

. 135

Horse-Chestnut,

. 18

Horseradish,

. 185

Houstonia, .

. 127

Huckleberry, .

150

Hundred-Leaved Rose,

. 149

Hyacinth, .

. 108

Hydrangea, . .

. 1S2

Indian Plum,

Innocence, .

Introduction,

Iris,

Iris, German,

Ivy,

138
127
7
132
120
66

Jack-in-the-Pulpit, ... 177

Jamestown Weed, ... 194

January 81

Jasmine, 48

Jerusalem Artichoke, . . 183

Jeux Floraux 95

Jonquil, H*

Judas Tree, 186

July «

June, 36

Juniper, 87

lialmia, .

Ladies' Slipper, .
Ladies' Smock, .
Lady-in-the-Green, .
Larch, ....
Large-Flowered Aster,
Laurel, Bay,
Laurel, Mountain, .
Laurestine, .

186
186
183
110
106

81
154

80

INDEX.

213

Lavatera,

. 147

Mistletoe, . . .

78

Lavender, .

. 132

Monkshood,

150

Lemon, .

139

Morning Glory,

62

LUac, ....

. 18

Mosses, ....

79

Uly, Water,

. 115

Moss Rose, .

. 44

Liiy, White, . .

. S3

Mountain Ash, .

187

Lily of the Valley, .

. 30

Mountain Laurel, .

. . 154

Lime, or Linden,

. 33

Mugwort, .

. . 47

Locust, ....

. 52

Mulberry, .

129

London Pride, .

. 187

Mullein,

188

Love In a Mist, .

. 1S3

Mushroom, .

147

liOve-lies-bleeding, .

. 75

Musk Kose, .

. . Ill

Lupine, ....

. 113

Myrtle, . . .

. . 24

Lychnis,

. 187

1

Nettle, ....

. 112

Magnolia, . ... 137

Nightshade, Deadly,

. 178

Manchineel Tree,

119

November, .

. 73

Mandrake, .

140

Maple, . . .

143

March, .

17

Marigold, .

56

©

Marigold, Eainy,

138

Marjoram, .

187

Marshmallow, .

51

Oak, ....

. 73

Marvel of Peru,

69

October,

66

May, . . .

30

Olive

. 136

Mayflower, .

153

Onion, ....

188

Meadow Saflron,

68

Orchis, Bee, . .

. 117

Meadow Sweet, .

151

Orchis, Spider, .

. 146

Mignonette,

58

Osmunda, .

144

Milfoil, . . .

153

Our Tiady's Flower,

. 186

214

INDEX.

Pansy

149

Eagged Robin, ...

187

Parsley,

75

Eainy. Marigold, . . .

138

Passion Flower,

118

Red Bud,

186

Patience,

136

Red yalerian, . . . .

35

Peony, ....

135

Reeds,

133

Peppermint.

163

Eest-Harrow, . . . .

. 27

Periwinkle,

20

Rhododendron, . . . .

106

Petunia,

189

Rice, . . . V . .

190

Pimpernel, . .

111

Rosea, . ....

36

Pine, ....

117

■Rosebud,

42

Pine- Apple, .

154

Rose Campion, . . . .

152

Plum, . . .

130

Rose, Cinnamon,

154

Plum, Indian, .

138

Rose, Hundred-Leaved, . , .

149

Plum, Wild,

127

Rose Leaf, . .

127

Poet's Narcissus,

32

Rose, Moss,

44

Polemony, .

. 145

Rose, Musk,

111

Pomegranate, .

. Ill

Rose, White, . . .

43

Poplai-, Black, .

. 112

Rose, Wild Brier, . .

43

Poplar, White, .

150

Rosemary, . .

142

Poppy, . • •

. 146

Rue

lit

Potato, . . .

. 108

Preface, .

5

-

Primrose, . . ;

24

^

Privet, .

31

(^

Purple Loosestrife,

. 189

Sage,.or Salvia, .

. 117

/i\

Samphire, ....

. 191

w

Sardonia,

. 129

^

Sassafras, ....

. 191

Satin Flower, .

. 121

Queen of the Meadow, . . 151

Scarlet Geranium, .

. 70

Quince, . . .

.

. 148

Scarlet Lobelia

. 114

INDEX.

215

Scarlet Lychnis,
Scarlet Pimpernel,
September, .
Service Tree,
Sheep Lanrel,
Snakeroot, Seneca

ginla, . .
Snowdrop, .
Splomon's Seal,
Speedwell, .
Spider Orchis,
Spindle Tree,
Spiraea, .
Spring, . .
Strawberry,
Succory,
Sngar-Cane,
Summer,
Sundew,
Sunflower, .
Sweet Basil,
Sweet Brier,
Sweet Mai;ioram,
Sweet Pea, .
Sweet Sultan,
Syringa,

and

Vir-

187
111
60
77
154

192
119
146
155
151

17

33
122
192

30
193

63
124

45
187
113
124
121

Tansy, 193

Tares, 51

Tea, 194

Thorn Apple, .... 194

Thyme 34

Toad Flax, 194

Tobacco, ... .195

Trailing Arbutus, . . 153

TremeUa, 143

Trumpet Flower, . . . 195

Tuberose 61

Tulip, 20

Tulip Tree, 196

Valerian, .35

Venus' Looking-Glass, . . 120

Verbena 145

Veronica, 119

Vervain, 50

Violet, 92

Virgin's Bower, ... 107

m

Wallflower,

64

Water Hemlock,

185

Water Lily,

115

Water Trefoil, .

21

Weeping Willow, . .

IS

Wheat, . . . .

55

White Jasmine,

48

216

INDEX.

White Lilac,
White Lily,
White Poplar,
White Poppy,
White Bose,
Whortleberry,
Wild Plum, .
Wild Turnip,
Willow,
Willow Herb,

156
53
160
146
43
150
127
177
IS
138

Windflower, .... 113
Winter, 77

Yarrow,
Yew, .

153