ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

AT
CORNELL UNIVERSITY

THE GIFT OF

Isabel Zucker
class '26

CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Cornell University

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/cu31924067844120

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

LONDON:
i. CLAY SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,
BREAD STREET HILL.

|
|
|

Missing plates
with the exception of
"Moss Rose" facing page 208

May 25, 1994

THE

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS,

oR,

FLORAL EMBLEMS

OF

THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND SENTIMENTS.

‘* How oft doth an emblem-bud silently tell
What language could never speak half so well!”
Romance of Nature.

BY

ROBERT TYAS, M.A., LL.D., F.R.B.S.,

AUTHOR OF ‘FAVOURITE FIELD FLOWERS;” “FLOWERS FROM THE HOLY LAND,” ETC.

With Twelve Coloured Groups of Floloers.

LONDON:
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS,

THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE.
NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET.
1869.

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

BEFORE the different languages which are now common
among men were developed, various animate and inanimate
objects were made use of instead of words, for the purpose
of giving expression to thoughts. Animals, birds, and flowets
were emblems of individuals and their characteristics; and
though sometimes erroneously assigned, they are yet very
generally adopted.

Lions and foxes, eagles and hawks, and an almost endless
number of quadrupeds and fowls of the air, have been thus
applied and are still; yet, since most of us are little familiar
with beasts and birds of prey, in these days of high civiliza-
tion, it is natural that we should make choice of objects which
are mixed up with our daily life, when we desire to give
expression to our opinions or feelings by means of symbols

rather than words.
In the vegetable kingdom we find objects most suitable

for this purpose. We live in the midst of trees, and flowering
: Vv

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

plants and shrubs. We are daily surrounded by the denizens
of the conservatory, the favourites of the flower-garden, or the
native beauties of our fields. Many of these are associated
in our minds with seasons of joy and sorrow, of pleasure and
pain. Many of us have, laid up in some hidden spot, dried
specimens of one flower or another, which was gathered by,
or presented to us at a time of unusual happiness, or on
an occasion of intense grief. These dried specimens are
now and then looked upon, and they take us back into the
past, and they help us in a remarkable degree to revive
all the little incidents, pleasant or painful, connected with
the time when we first became possessed of them.
Associations such as these give a charm to the Language
of Flowers, and have tended to make it popular—in short,
to render it universal in its adoption. It is, indeed, of no
modern origin. It existed long before the oft-lamented, days
of chivalry, when faithful and reverential affection for the
comparatively secluded lady could hardly be made known
in any other way than by emblems, which were, it may be,
of ambiguous import. Antique books are full of emblems
formed by the grouping of flowers. From an ancient
Romance we learn that a wreath of Roses was quite a
treasure for lovers; and we read that a fair prisoner, Oriana
by name, not having the opportunity of speaking or writing
to her lover, informed him of her captivity by throwing to
him from a lofty tower a Rose bathed in her tears. It is

Vi

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

asserted that the Chinese possess an alphabet made up of
figures of plants and roots. The rocks of Egypt are marked
with representations of vegetables foreign to. that country,
which tell us of the conquests achieved by its ancient in-
habitants.

The Language of Flowers is indeed as old as the hills;
yet it never can become old, for every Spring reproduces its
characters anew. We have a succession, year by year, of
those emblems which, sufficiently distinct in the expression
of our thoughts and feelings, are still characterised by a
degree of ambiguity, which renders them singularly well
suited to our use, at that particular period of life when our
thoughts and our feelings are more commonly marked by
changeableness and uncertainty; when the word uttered one
moment is often regretted the next; when the polite atten-
tion which an admiring and impulsive youth pays to an at-
tractive fair one, in the excitement of a pleasure party, is not
unfrequently productive to him of regret and self-reproach ;
when a tender-hearted girl, having apparently encouraged
the attentions of an intelligent but fortuneless youth, is
annoyed at the recollection of her weakness. The innocent
and pure sensations which induce that mutual regard between
the opposite sexes in their youthfulness, are indeed well
expressed by flowers. The mischievous little god, who is

supposed to amuse himself by inflicting painful wounds

on the youthful heart, is ever represented with wings, as
vii

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

emblematical of his fleeting and inconstant character, and
with a fillet over his eyes, as indicating the uncertainty
with which he aims his darts; as also symbolical of that
blindness with which all mankind are proverbially said to
be stricken, when they yield, without submitting to the
guidance of reason, to the influence of his fatal inspiration.
It is also the characteristic of such an inspiration to despise
love bestowed ere sought for, and to account it worthless,
It looks for difficulty in conquest, regarding the fair one
who will not easily be won as only worth the winning.

In such a contest for victory, a half-avowal of reciprocal
affection is more charming than an absolute acknowledg-
ment; and the yielding up of a flower or a bouquet has
made one far happier than the far-fetched expressions
of a most tender note. The art of love-making is, with
women, the art of self-defence; the more scrupulous and
delicate they are, the more worthy are they of the homage
rendered to them. Madame de Maintenon, who is said to
have subdued the most inconstant of kings, revealed the
secret of her power, when she said, “I never send him away
content, never without hope.”

Genuine affection knows neither trickery nor calculation.
Simplicity and sincerity are its strength. That alone paves
the way for a holy union, for a happy marriage. Without
it all would languish and perish. A heart filled with in-

difference has never known what exalted devotion is, It
viii

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

is ignorant of those enchanting delicacies of feeling which
impart value to a sigh, which render a look of importance,
which give meaning to a word but half uttered, which stamp
worth upon a flower that the one detains and the other allows
to be taken. A heart filled with indifference is as far re-
moved from happiness as from excellence. It is necessary
to have known what love is; to have undergone some conflict
in order to be good, tender, and generous. But it is not in
the heart of cities,—it is in the fields, in the midst of flowers,
that the affections flourish in purity and power.

The Language of Flowers lends its charms to friendship,
to gratitude, to filial and maternal affection. Even the
unfortunate may obtain help from this gentle language.
The unhappy Roucher, alone in his prison, consoled himself
by studying the flowers which his daughter used to gather
for him; and, alas! a few days before his death, he sent
to her two dried lilies, to express at the same time the
purity of his soul and the fate that awaited him. How
often may we see, in the crowded thoroughfares of our cities,
children seeking to help their. poor mothers, by offering
small bouquets for sale! It was while presenting a Rose
to his master, that the poet Sadi undertook to break his
fetters: “Do well,” he said, “to thy servant whilst thou
hast it in thy power, for the duration of power is often as
short as the blooming of this lovely Rose.”

We have received from the ancients, and from Eastern

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

peoples, the greater part of the sentiments and emblems
contained in this volume. In searching out the reason for
assigning certain sentiments to particular flowers, we have
generally found that time, instead of disproving their fitness,
has rather given force to the symbolical character of the
flower, and has confirmed the propriety of the application.
Little study is needed in the science here taught.

The first rule in the Language of Flowers is, that a
flower, presented in an upright position, expresses a thought ;
and to express the opposite of that thought, it suffices to
let the flower hang down reversed. Thus, for example, a
Rose-bud, with its thorns and leaves, says, “I fear, but I
hope.” If we present this same Rose-bud, reversed, it means
“You must neither fear nor hope.”

But there are divers modifications of a sentiment. It
is easy to make these modifications even by means of a
single flower. Take the Rose-bud, which has already served
for an example. Stripped of its thorns, it says, “There is
everything to hope for.” Stripped of its leaves, it says,
“There is everything to fear.” One may also vary the
expression of any flower, by altering its position. The
Marigold, for instance: placed upon the head, it signifies,
sorrows of the mind; placed above the heart, it speaks of
the pangs of love; resting upon the breast, it expresses

ennut. It must also be remembered that the pronoun of
the first person is indicated by inclining the flower to the

x

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE.

right; the pronoun of the second person by inclining the
flower to the left. Such are the primary elements of our
mysterious language. Friendship and affection should join
in improving it. These sentiments, the most agreeable and
most cherished in Nature, can alone bring to perfection that
which they only have invented.

xi

LIST OF PLATES,

PLATE I.—Rose—Ivy—Myrtle, emblematic of Beauty, Friendship, and
TEGUC? be a, ae Sass a, I age gp se ee ew 6 Br ontispiece

PLaTE II.—White Violet—Small Bindweed—Asiatic Ranunculus—Rose-
bud, show how the young may win the esteem of the aged, “ Caxdour
and deference are charms in the young”

PLate III.—Strawberry—Mignonette—Blue Bell—Tulip, speak of the
characteristics which command genuine attachment, “ Your perfect
goodness, excellent qualities, and kindness constrain me to declare my
FORURE PSs, tae he le a a ae Sta a

PuaTE IV.—Columbine—Marigold—Pheasant’s Eye, tell us that ‘‘ Polly
produces chagrin and painful reflections” . . Dy Hyp to Min, Heo ds o2

PLATE V.—Blue Bottlkh—Dog Rose—Garden Wallflower, combined to
express, “Delicacy and simplicity add charms to lasting beauty”

PLATE VI.—Forget-me-not—Hawthorn—Lily of the Valley, say to the
departing loved one, “ Forget-me-not! in that rests my hope for the
return of happiness” 6 6 6 6 6 we ee ee ee ee

PLATE VII.—White Heath—Scarlet Ipomcea—Sweet Sultan—Honeysuckle,
express the sentiments prevailing in the mind of a worthy suitor in
declaring his affection, “ May good luck attend my attachment, and secure
our mutual happiness in the bonds of love” . .«

xill

PAGE

17

33

55

79

gI

LIST OF PLATES.

PAGE

PLATE VIII.—Lilac, purple and white—Marvel of Peru—Spiderwort,
betray fear and hope alternating in the mind of a youthful aspirant to
beauty’s favour, “ Youthful love is timid, and yields but transient
Pleasure eee ee Gee GE RE RY a RR BS es EG

PLATE IX.—Periwinkle—Snowdrop—White Rose—Common Heath, are
expressive of the consolation afforded in retirement by the remembrance

d of a well-spent life, “ Pleasant remembrances console us in the silence of

SOULE Ce essai se. is PAS Lie» a Byala Be Gh BCR Od Cay eas tae 82

| PLATE X.—Hollyhock—Hepatica—Rest Harrow, declare the feeling of an
y P

adventurer in a well-considered undertaking, “ Conjidence in success
overcomes every obstacle” =. 6 6 we we ee ee ee ee TZ
| *

' PLATE XI.—Pompon Rose—Star of Bethlehem—Primrose—Wood Sorrel,
| tell how the young may cause joy to their elders, “ Zhe loveliness and
|
|
|
|

purity of early youth produce joy” «5 . « 1 6 1 + ew ew ww es IQ

PLATE XII.—Sweet-scented Violet-—White Jasmine—Moss Rose, show the
influence of modesty and amiability in the fair sex, “ Your modesty and
amiability inspire me with the warmest affection” . . . . . . . . 208

ERRATUM.

In Plate V.,—Blue Bottle Dog Rose—Garden Anemone, the word Axemone
should be Wallflower.

|
i
!
|

diV

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

THE

LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.

THE ACACIA (Robinia Pseudacacia)—PLATONIC LOVE.

“Tt is a gentle and affectionate thought
That, in immeasurable heights above us,
At our first birth the wreath of love was woven,
With sparkling stars for flowers.” COLERIDGE.

“Love, the last best gift of heaven ;
Love, gentle, holy, pure.’—KEBLE.

y

THAT holy and pure affection, of which a flowering branchlet
of the Acacia is emblematical, has surely a heavenly original.
Beauty attracts; but if unaccompanied by those endowments
of mind and heart which are truly worthy of esteem, it fails to
exercise a lasting power over any who are seeking for them,
and who possess the discernment which marks their absence ;
on the other hand, where genuineness of character exists, where
‘amiability, considerateness, and purity of heart and mind are
found,—though the casket which contains them may be of the

plainest, and repulsive rather than attractive,—the influence of
I B

,

wer SEX

THE ACANTHUS.

Acanthus as an ornament of the bower of our first parents in
the garden of Eden, for he says :—

“The roof
Of thickest covert was inwoven shade,
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew,
Of firm and fragrant leaf; on either side
Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub,
Fenced up the verdant wall.”

The motto of Callimachus, if he ever adopted one, must
have been with reference to his art, “ Excelsior,’ for he never
satisfied his own ideal by the work he produced, but was ever
aspiring after something of greater elegance and beauty than
that which he had achieved.

The Acanthus delights in a hot climate, and to grow on
the banks of large rivers. From a French writer we learn
that it is found on the shores of the Nile; “le Nil du vert
Acanthe admire le feuillage;” yet it thrives well with us.
Pliny says that it is wonderfully well suited for a border
plant and an ornament of our lawns. Chasers and carvers
among the ancients, whose taste is very remarkable, decorated
furniture, vases, and the most valuable dresses, with designs
suggested by the foliage of the Acanthus. The poet Virgil
speaks of the robe of the fair but frail Helen as being
bordered with a garland of Acanthus wrought in relief; and
when he wishes to praise works of art of much value, it is
the Acanthus with which they are decorated,

“ Alcimedon duo pocula fecit,
Et molli circum est ansas amplexus Acantho ;”

4

THE ACANTAUS.

spreading its light shade over our groves, enlivening them
with the fresh greenness of its fine pinnated leaves, and
beautifying them with its white pendulous and odoriferous
flowers.

THE ACANTHUS (A. mollis) —THE ARTS.

It is related of Callimachus, a famous statuary and archi-
tect, but of unknown country, that, passing by the grave of
a young lady, he drew near to scatter a few flowers upon
her resting-place. The young lady had died some twelve
months before. She was on the point of being married, and
the intended union promised much happiness, of the enjoy-
ment of which she was thus deprived. Callimachus’ com-
miseration prompted him to pay a tribute of regret, but he
found that his offering had been already anticipated. The
deceased young lady’s nurse, collecting the flowers and the
veil wherewith her mistress was to be adorned on her wedding
day, put them together ina small basket. This basket she
placed near the grave upon an Acanthus plant, and covered
it with a large tile. In the following spring, the leaves of the
Acanthus grew round the basket, but they, being checked by
the edges of the tile, were forced round and grew towards
its extremities. Callimachus, struck with the beauty of this
rustic decoration, which appeared as though produced by the
Graces in tears, conceived the design which has ever since
adorned the capital of the Corinthian column. This possibly

suggested to our immortal Milton the introduction of the
3 B2

vee

THE COMMON ALMOND.

says it is thought that the name of Agrimony was given to
this plant on account of the resemblance of its inverted flower-
cups to the little hand-bells of the hermit. “For myself,”
she adds, “I think that Gratitude has accorded the name of
the ‘Country Nun’ (Religieuse des Champs) to this pretty
campanula, in honour of some kind, gentle, and obliging
hospitaller, whose allotted duty it was to care for the sick,
the poor, and the stranger.”

Agrimony was formerly deemed a valuable tonic. It is
still retained in our Materia Medica, but is seldom made use
of. The herbalist counts it even now amongst his treasures,
and they who prefer an infusion of herbs to plain water or
fermented drinks, reckon Agrimony tea a refreshing beverage.
It is by no means unpleasant to the palate, and the cause of
temperance might be greatly promoted by its more general
use, which would give it an additional claim to be regarded as
the emblem of Gratitude.

THE COMMON ALMOND (Amygdalus communis).
THOUGHTLESSNESS.

“The hope, in dreams, of a happier hour
That alights on misery’s brow,
Springs out of the silvery almond flower,
That blooms on a leafless bough.”
Lalla Rookh.

MYTHOLOGY hands down to us a fabulous account of the
origin of the Almond-tree. It is sufficiently romantic to
claim the character of a touching story. Among those who

6
So

ia

AGRIMONY.

and these bowls were made of beech, a wood which suits the
craft of the turner, and affords great facilities to the carver.
This elegant model for the artist has become the emblem
of the Arts. It may also be regarded as the emblem of
genius, for if any obstacle opposes the growth of the Acan-
thus, we see that it yields, and, turning aside its forces,
vegetates anew with fresh vigour ; so genius raises itself and
grows by the very difficulties which it cannot subdue. It
seems to say, as if in the very words of a remarkable bishop
of one of our antipodean dioceses, “I do not know what

failure means.”

AGRIMONY (Agrimonia Eupatoria):—GRATITUDE.

PERHAPS nothing is more uncertain than the orthography
of names of plants in colloquial language, especially in the
transposition of the letter7, The name argemon (dpyepor)
was assigned by Greek physicians to a plant supposed to be a
cure for a séngle white speck on the cornea and sclerotic coat
of the eye; and botanists regard this as the same plant, or
its best representative. By placing the r after the g we have
the modern name, and it would appear that some etymologist
among our continental neighbours supposed the word to be
equivalent to the “Country Nun,” whence its common name
in France is, Religieuse des Champs.

The flowers of the Agrimony are campanulate, of a deli-
cate yellow hue, suspended from the stalk like so many little
bells. A French authoress, Madame de Chasteney by name,
5

GSd

yen

=

THE COMMON ALMOND.

Phyllis ran to the sea-shore. Demophon came not; then hope
fled from her breast, she fell a prey to grief and died, some
say by her own hand. She was transformed into an Almond-
tree. Demophon had been detained, but was not faithless.
Three months after, he returned; returned with heart desolated
by the death of his betrothed. He offered sacrifices with all
due rites, to appease the manes of the loved one; and the
fable tells us that she was sensible of his return, for the
Almond-tree which enclosed her in its bark, was suddenly
covered with flowers, as if thus she would make known to
him that death itself had not altered her affection.

This, the sweet Almond, and its variety, the bitter Almond,
are extensively planted in the front of shrubberies and
suburban gardens, where, on the first approach of spring,
the branches, yet nude of foliage, are covered with the lovely
flowers of this beautiful tree. Hence the fruit-germs are
formed so early, that the later frosts destroy them, and they
do not come to maturity. How meet an emblem of that
thoughtlessness which too often leads youth to rash deeds,
which mar their future prospects, and render the efforts of a
lifetime nearly fruitless, when compared with the results
which might, and probably would have followed, upon a
thoughtful and deliberate course of action!

The spring frosts destroy the fruit in embryo; but instead

of causing the flowers to fade and perish, they seem to endue
them with fresh lustre,—

“The almond-bloom doth show,
When fully spread upon the leafless tree,
A whiteness like the drifted snow ;”

8

THE COMMON ALMOND.

accompanied the Greeks to the siege of Troy, was Demophon,
or Acamas, a son of Theseus and Phaedra. A®thra, the
mother of Theseus, was made captive by Castor and Pollux,
when they rescued their sister Helen. She was taken to
Sparta, and went with Helen when carried off by Paris, and
was in constant attendance upon her. When Helen was
summoned to

see the wondrous deeds
Of horse-taming Trojans and brass-coated Greeks,—ZJZ. b. ili. 1. 130.

on Paris and Menelaus having undertaken to decide the fate
of Helen and of Troy by single combat,

From her room she hastened, shedding tender tears;
Not alone, but two handmaids with her followed,
Ethra, Pittheus’ child, and full-eyed Clymene ;—
fl. b. ili. 1. 142.

who (4#thra) was afterwards set free from slavery by the
efforts of her grandson, Demophon.

Demophon on his return from Troy was shipwrecked on the
coast of Thrace, where he met with Phyllis, daughter of the
Thracian king, Sithon. A mutual attachment sprang up
between Demophon and Phyllis and they became espoused,
but ere the nuptials were celebrated, Demophon was sum-
moned to Attica on the death of his father. Hope for a
speedy return, and fear of a prolonged absence, led the young
pair to fix too early a date for their reunion. The gentle
Phyllis, with all the anxiety attendant on inactive waiting,
counted the minutes which must elapse before the day, long
looked for, would dawn; it dawned at length, and nine times

7

THE AMARANTH.

tigers and lions delight to breathe. While we admire these
flowers which adorn a climate so noxious to our constitutions,
we ought to be thankful that our lot has fallen in more
pleasant places. Here friendly Nature raises over our heads,
on every side, verdant bowers; here she spreads under our feet
a green carpet of grass, variegated by the purple crocus, the
violet, the pretty daisy with its golden disk and white and
rosy petals, and other pleasing products of Flora’s domain.

The Aloe is used medicinally; the coarser kinds for
domestic animals, the finer sorts for hepatic affections in the
human species. It is intensely bitter. The roots, by which it
is kept fixed in position, are very slender. Some of the more
curious seem to derive nourishment chiefly from the atmo-
sphere, and these present to us singular and bizarre figures.

Since disappointments, adversities and calamities, produce
grief and bitterness of feeling, and thus tend to alienate our
affections from surrounding objects; and, if they produce
their best effect, lead us to seek comfort and support of a
permanent character from the highest sources ; so the bitter
savour of the Aloe and its slight attachment to the earth,
have suggested that it may fitly represent Bitterness and
Grief in floral language.

THE AMARANTH.—IMMORTALITY, UNFADING.

SOME of the species of this order are ornamental, but the
greater number are unattractive in appearance. They are

prized because they seem to be the parting gift of autumn,
10

THE ALOE.

and thus, pale and blanched at eventide, may be seen a group
of profusely blooming trees. On the ensuing morning, as if
refreshed by the freezing air of night, the bloom appears in rich
rosy garb, and retains this new adornment,—though it may
be in fact the decoration of death,—for a month or more, and
it falls only when the trees are fully clad with leafy verdure.

THE ALOE.—BITTERNESS, GRIEF.

DE VAILLANT found very many species of the Aloe in
the deserts of Namaquois. Some of these had leaves six feet
long, closely packed and armed with a long spine; from the
midst of the leaves there rises a stem to the height of a tree,
adorned with flowers throughout. Others grow like the
Cactus, bristling with spines ; while some, again, are spotted,
and have the appearance of serpents creeping upon the earth.
Brydone says that the city of Syracuse was, as it were,
covered with large Aloes in bloom; their beautiful and elegant
stems giving to the headland above the beach the semblance
of an enchanted woodland.

The Aloe is an extensive genus of exotics, comprising
trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. The collection at the
Museum de Paris is said to be the finest in the world. The
Aloe thrives well with us, but chiefly, if not entirely, as a
denizen of the greenhouse. These magnificent, not to say
monstrous, members of the vegetable kingdom, are for the
most part natives of barbarous Africa. There they flourish
among rocks, in arid sands, in the glowing atmosphere which

9

THE AMARANTH.

few lines. The author regrets the rapid flight of time and
the fleeting beauty of summer flowers, and then adds,—

“Je t’apercois, belle et noble Amarante !
Tu viens m’offrir, pour charmer mes douleurs.
De ton velours la richesse éclatante ;
Ainsi la main de lamitié constante,
Quand tout nous fuit, vient essuyer nos pleurs.
Ton doux aspect de ma lyre plaintive
A ranimé les accords languissants.
Dernier tribut de Flore fugitive,
Elle nous légue, avec la fleur tardive,
Le souvenir de ses premiers présents.”

Queen Christina of Sweden, who wished to win for herself a
name, by abdicating the throne that she might devote herself
to literature and philosophy, founded an Order of Knights
of the Amaranth. The decoration of this order is a gold
medal, embellished with an Amaranth in enamel, with the
motto, Dolce nella memoria.

In the floral games at Toulouse, the prize for the best
lyric songs is a golden Amaranth.

Our own Milton was not unmindful of the claims of the
Amaranth to be inwoven in-his undying verse, though he
imagines a flower which, transplanted from earth, should
bloom for ever in heaven. Describing the worship of the
Almighty Creator, when He had spoken to the angels of
the “new heaven and earth,” he says,

“To the ground
With solemn adoration down they cast
Their crowns inwove with Amarant and gold,
Immortal Amarant, a flower which once
12

g

Pe

and their flowers retain the brightness of their colour when
dried. This property has gained for them the name Ama-
rantos (6 audpavtos), unfading, or the never-fading flower,
which Pliny says is of a purple colour, velvety, and, though
gathered, keeps its beauty while all others fade, and recovers
its lustre if sprinkled with water.

The ancients were accustomed to make use of this flower
in their religious ceremonies, and to deck their images with it.
Poets have sometimes combined its lustre with the gloom of
the cypress, as though they would intimate that their great
sorrow for the dead was allied with enduring remembrances.

Malherbe, a French poet, who lived 1555—1628, assuming
that his own fame was allied to that of his hero, says to
Henri Quatre :—

“Ta louange dans mes vers, d’Amarante couronnée,
N’aura sa fin terminée qu’en celle de univers.”

Love and friendship are also adorned with Amaranth. In
the “Guirlande de Julie,” the following lines claim the
Amaranth as the appropriate flower wherewith to crown the
gods :—
“Je suis la fleur d’amour qu’Amarante appelle
Et qui viens de Julie adorer les beaux yeux.

Roses, retirez-vous, j’ai le nom d’immortelle,
Il n’appartient qu’é moi de couronner les dieux.”

In a pleasant idyl, Constant Dubos has sung so sweetly of
this flower, regarding it as in some measure consoling us for

the severity of winter, that we cannot refrain from quoting a
II

THE AMARANTH. ye

THE AMERICAN COWSLIP.

loss to the floriculturist. The most haughty is the Guernsey
Lily, a flower of charming beauty, resembling in its bearing
and magnitude the Tuberous Polianthus, commonly known as
the Tuberose. The Guernsey Lily is of a rich cherry-red
colour, and, when lighted up by the direct rays of the sun,
appears to be sprinkled, or to use an heraldic term, semée,
with golden spots. The name of these lovely flowers is
derived from the Greek verb amarussein (apaptocev), to
sparkle or dazzle, which is very characteristic of their
brilliant appearance.

The dazzling splendour of the Amaryllis when in full
bloom, has sometimes a parallel in society, where a haughty
belle in the grandeur of her prime beauty, set off by the
skill of a fashionable sodzste, eclipses the quiet attractions
of as fair but more retiring sister, which are often destined
to outlast those of her proud and disdainful rival, thus,—

“ When Amaryllis fair doth show the richness of her fiery glow,
The modest lily hides her head ; the former seems so proudly spread
To win the gaze of human eye, which soonest brightest things doth spy.
Yet vainly is the honour won, since hastily her course is run ;
She blossoms, blooms,—she fades,—she dies,—they who admired, now
despise.’—F lowers and Heraldry.

THE AMERICAN COWSLIP (Dodecatheon Meadia).—
YOU ARE MY ANGEL.

DODECATHEON, a Greek word meaning twelve gods, is the
name of a plant mentioned by Pliny, to whom the native
habitat (Virginia) of this was certainly unknown. It is a
14

THE AMARYLLIS.

In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,

Began to bloom ; but soon for man’s offence

To Heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,
And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life,

And where the river of bliss through midst of Heaven
Rolls o’er Elysian flowers her amber stream ;

With these, that never fade, the spirits elect

Bind their resplendent locks enwreathed with beams,
Now in loose garlands thick thrown off; the bright
Pavement, that like a sea of jasper shone,
Empurpled with celestial roses, smiled.”

Moore introduces our flower in Lalla Rookh :—

“ Amaranths, such as crown the maids
That wander through Zamara’s shades.”

This Zamara being said to be an ancient name for Sumatra.
The people of Batta, in that country, we are informed, when
not occupied by war, indulge in idleness, and in an inactive
life, spending their days in playing on a sort of flute, and
crowning themselves with garlands, of which the chief com-
ponent are the flowers of the Globe Amaranth, one of their
indigenous plants.

THE AMARYLLIS.—PRIDE, HAUGHTINESS.

THE number of species in this genus, as well as some
kindred genera of the same natural order, is very consi-
derable. Florists say that they are very haughty plants;
for, notwithstanding the most assiduous care, they often fail
to yield the reward of flowers. This is doubtless a great
I3-

o= 7
iy
THE ASH. E

THE ASH (Fraximus excelsior)—GRANDEUR.

The Ash, aspiring upwards, rears its head,

As if still higher from its native bed

It sought to grow until it reach the sky;

Yet ’tis so tied to earth that it will die

If but some roots be bared of soil, and cease

To draw supplies which make the tree increase :
Thus man to grandeur raised and high estate

By public favour, will, if that abate,

Sink down again, and then his name shall ne’er

Be heard with aught of love, or hate, or fear.—MS.

WE are told in the Edda that the immortal gods hold
their court beneath an Ash tree which,

“Far stretching his umbrageous arms,’—COWPER.

covers with its branches the whole surface of the world.
When that veritable Chronicle was written, therefore, we
infer from this statement that the author's, and no doubt
as flat as a dish,”
an opinion not yet quite exploded in the part of the world

“ce

the popular belief was, that the earth is

where we live, even in this the nineteenth century! The
highest point of this marvellous tree is said to touch the
heavens, and the ramification of its roots to extend to the
depths of the lowest regions. From the roots issue two
fountains: in one of these wisdom is hidden, and in the
other we are bid to seek for the knowledge of future events.

16

fe

—, “3
a
APPLE BLOSSOM. |

somewhat ostentatious appellation of an herb so small and
unassuming as the American Cowslip, but extravagant
admirers and botanists, even the great Linnzeus, are not so
very particular as to the fitness of names. This plant
throws up one single stem, from the midst of a rosette of
large leaves, which lie flat on the ground; on its summit
are displayed, in the month of June, twelve inverted pretty
light-purple flowers. It is highly ornamental. The stem
dies off when the bloom is gone, and the root alone remains
until the following season. It thrives best in shady situations
and light loamy soils, but is not easily kept.

APPLE BLOSSOM.—PREFERENCE.

So much care has been bestowed upon the Apple tree
to improve its fruit, on account of which it is very highly
valued, that, whereas the Romans counted only twenty
varieties, several hundreds are now reckoned in England
and France. The tree has no beauty of form to make it
attractive when grown as a standard; but in our orchards
and fruit gardens, when the blossom is newly expanded, it
is most ornamental and pleasing; and if our imagination
passes on to a later season, anticipating the enjoyment of
the fruit, the rich russets and other dessert kinds, which
beautify our table and gratify our palate, we are much in-
clined to give to Apple Blossom the Preference over all
other flowers, not excepting even the Rose, since that, when
its beauty is fled, leaves us only an agreeable perfume to
charm our sense of smell.

15

THE ASPHODEL.

abounds with the white species. Persephone was wandering
with her companions in the fields of Enna: there, in the
meadow, sprung up a narcissus of marvellous beauty. Per-
sephone saw it, longed to gather it, hastened away from her
friends and put forth her hand to pluck the flower, when lo!
the earth opened, and Pluto seized the young goddess and
bore her in his golden chariot to his palace in Hades, where
he made her his mournful bride and queen of his domains.
The Asphodel was dedicated to Persephone, as if in memory
of her sad abduction, and by the ancients was much used
in funeral ceremonies. The Shades, who have passed
beyond the river Acheron, roam about over vast fields
covered with this flower, and there they drink of the waters
of the river of oblivion.

Longfellow, in a few verses called “The Two Angels,”
gives a curious conceit, wherein he combines the Asphodel
and the Amaranth :—

“Two Angels, one of Life, and one of Death,
Passed o’er the village as the morning broke ;
* * * * x *
And one was crowned with Amaranth, as with flame,
And one with Asphodels, like flakes of light.
* * * * ¥ *
And he who wore the crown of Asphodels,

Descending at my door, began to knock;
And my soul sank within me

* * * * * *

The door I opened to my heavenly guest,
And listened——

* * * * a *
18

‘so

THE ASIATIC RANUNCULUS.

THE ASIATIC RANUNCULUS (R. Asitaticus)—YOUR
CHARMS ARE RESPLENDENT.

THE “full Ranunculus of glowing red” is a native of the
Levant, whence it was brought nearly three centuries ago.
Though it is the common garden Ranunculus, and greatly
admired when blooming, it is not so much cultivated as
its beauty merits. The varieties of this species are innumer-
able, and are constantly increased by plants raised from
seed, not any two seedlings producing flowers the same as
the parent. This peculiarity may, perhaps, have caused
it to be neglected by the professional florist. Varieties of
established character and colour can be perpetuated and
retained for a great number of years, by separating with
a penknife all the buds in the crown of the tuber from each
other, so that they will grow into independent plants. By
these means the risk of losing the variety is greatly lessened.
The flowers are brilliant in their tints, and may be enumer-
ated as coffee-coloured, crimson, gray, olive, orange, purple,
red, rosy, spotted, striped, yellow, white, &c. Scarcely any
plant offers such variety in colour, or anything so striking
to the eye.

THE ASPHODEL.—My REGRETS FOLLOW YOU
TO THE GRAVE.

THE Asphodel is an ornamental genus of plants of easy
culture, and may be increased rapidly. It affords much
nourishment to sheep in Apulia, where a large extent of land
17 c

BALM.

about the chalk quarries at Compton and Wanborough, as
we learn from a paper on the “Flora of Godalming,” kindly
sent to us by the Author, J. D. Salmon, Esq., M.B.S. It
may easily be overlooked in such rural places, for ~

“The humble bee
Seems sipping honey from the purple flower ;”—
Favourite Field Flowers.

and we pass on, not thinking that we have just glanced
upon so singular an effort of Nature in the vegetable
kingdom. How often do we miss, in our journey through
life, things of the greatest interest and most remarkable
peculiarity, by prepossession of the mind with an object
differing from the present unperceived reality !

BALM (Melissa officinalis) —PLEASANTRY.

THE generic name Melissa (MéAiooa) was no doubt given
to this because it is pre-eminently @ dee plant, an especial
favourite with that ever active and industrious insect. Its
flowers abound in honey, as others in the Natural Order
Labiate. Its fresh leaves have the agreeable flavour of
lemon. This fragrance is evanescent and not to be perceived
in the dried plant. It used to be thought much of as a
strengthener of the nerves, and as giving relief to the hy-
pochondriac. An infusion of its leaves is now valued as a
pleasant and cheering tea in the heat of the summer.

20

THE BEE OPHRYS. * i

Then with a smile that filled the house with light—
‘My errand is not Death, but Life,’ he said ;
And, ere I answered, passing out of sight,
On his celestial embassy he sped.

*Twas at thy door, O friend, and not at mine,
The angel with the Amaranthine wreath,

Pausing, descended ; and, with voice divine,
Whispered a word that had a sound of Death.

Then fell upon the house a sudden gloom—
A shadow on those features fair and thin ;

And softly, from that hushed and darkened room,
Two angels issued, where but one went in.”

Does the writer wish to imply that the Asphodel typifies this
present Life, a season of disappointments and regrets, while

- the Amaranth represents Death, as the period which grants
to the prepared spirit an entrance into Life immortal ?

THE BEE OPHRYS (0. apifera)—ERROR.

“See, Delia, see this image bright ! why starts my fair one at the sight?

It mounts not on offensive wing, nor threats thy breast with angry sting ;

Admire, as close the insect lies, its thin-wrought plume and honey’d
thighs,

Whilst on this flow’ret’s velvet breast, it seems as though ’twere lull’d to

rest,
Nor might its fairy wings unfold, enchain’d in aromatic gold:
Think not to set the captive free, ’tis but the picture of a bee.”—SNow.

THIS is one of the most remarkably beautiful of our
indigenous orchids. Its ordinary habitat is in open meadows,
by woodsides, on chalky soils. It is found, but sparingly,

19 C2

BALSAM.

The Yellow Balsam has been found at Fountain’s Abbey,
Yorkshire; in Westmoreland, and in Surrey, but rarely ;
it is an annual, blooming in the hot months of July and
August. The flowers, and especially the capsules, merit
close inspection. When ripe, the seed-vessels, if touched
however lightly, instantaneously separate at the base and
curl backward, jerking the seeds to a considerable distance,
whence it has acquired the common name of Touch-me-
not. Darwin thus notices this peculiarity :—

“ With fierce distracted eye Impatiens stands,
Swells her pale cheeks and brandishes her hands;
With rage and hate the astonished groves alarms,
And hurls her infants from her frantic arms.”

Impatience is a very common and ruinous folly. A writer
in the popular serial, St. Paul’s, says, “the greatest of all
waste of time is hurry. Impatience is the robber of time;
whereas procrastination, as we know by the copybooks, is
a mild and gentle thing, whose petty larcenies are ac-
companied by no violence. Impatience is always rushing
headlong into tangled and thorny thickets to explore some
promising and picturesque short-cut to nowhere. Impatience
is always on the point of finding a fool’s paradise in a
mare’s nest. Impatience goes on from failure to failure,
attempting to make silk purses out of sows’ ears. Impatience
keeps tossing over new acquaintances in a perpetually dis-
appointed rapture of anticipation of ideal perfection; like
some insane bee buzzing about in search of a flower which

should be entirely constructed of white wax and clarified
honey.”

22

<

BALM OF GILEAD.

BALM OF GILEAD.—CuRE. HEALING.

THERE is a Fir-tree known as the Balm of Gilead,
which exudes a gummy substance, the medicinal qualities
of which, however, do not surpass those of common tur-
pentine. There is very great doubt about the tree which
yielded the inestimable balm so highly valued by the Jews.
It is alleged by some writers that it does not now exist
in Palestine. It was regarded as a panacea for “the thou-
sand ills that flesh is heir to.” We not unfrequently employ
the word éa/m in a moral and figurative sense, when we
mean anything which we deem likely to temper grief and
soothe the afflicted. A benevolent disposition and sincere
friendship are true balms, serving to heal the wounds of the
mind, which are far more difficult to sustain with patience
than physical evils.

BALSAM (lmpatiens Nolitangere)—IMPATIENCE.

THE Yellow Balsam, though one of our native plants, is
by no means common. It delights in shady woods, where
moisture abounds. So it has been written of it:

“Tn the thick and deep recess of a blooming wilderness,

Tangled weeds concealed from view—what alone by sound we knew—

A bubbling murmuring stream, unlit by glittering beam

Of the gorgeous sun above this delightful cool alcove.

On the soft and moistened bank, which the brooklet’s waters drank,

’Mid the ravelled weeds there grew, pleasing to our searching view,

Yellow Balsam’s blossoms gay, scattered o’er in thick array,

With the shining scarlet spots Nature to this flower allots.” —
Favourite Field Flowers.

21

G40

THE BEECH.

THE BEECH (Fagus sylvatica).—PROSPERITY.

EVERY school-boy must know the opening lines of the
first Eclogue of Virgil’s Bucolics, wherein Melibceus, seeing
Tityrus lying at ease under a Beech-tree, thus accosts him :-—

“ Tityre, tu patulz recubans sub tegmine fagi
Silvestrem tenui musam meditaris avena ;”

which is as if he had said in simple English, “O Tityrus,
thou, reclining under the shade of a wide-spreading Beech-
tree, rehearsest a sylvan song upon the slender pipe ;”
apparently envying the rustic owner of the woolly flock he
tends; thinking how happy must be the man, who, pros-
perity favouring, can thus enjoy at will the very pure air of
the open fields, shaded from the mid-day sun by the spread-
ing foliage of the Beech-tree.

Not any other of our trees forms so ample a roof, and if
you seek shelter from a pelting shower, or a shade from the
scorching sun, you will find it best

“ Beneath the shade which Beechen boughs diffuse.”

This marked feature in the Beech has seldom passed unnoticed
by the poet who has named it in his verse. Gray, inhis Elegy,
combines it in the mind of village swains with the memory of
some departed patriarch :—

“There at the foot of yonder nodding Beech,
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that bubbles by.”

24

BASIL.

BASIL (Ocymum Basilicum).—HATRED.

POVERTY has been represented as a female form covered
with rags, seated near a Basil plant. It is also a common
saying that Hatred has the eyes of a Basilisk, which, accord-
ing to several ancient and learned authors, was the King
of Serpents, wearing a royal crown upon its head, blighting
herbage with its breath, and killing by a glance of its eye.
Why Sweet Basil should be made the emblem of Hatred
it is difficult to say. The French word Basilic, corre-
sponding to our specific term Basztlicum, is also applied to
, the fabulous reptile spoken of above. There may be some
supposed resemblance to the fanciful pictures of the reptile
in the labiate flower, which may have suggested the em-
blematic use; but the flower is not only not hurtful, but
a culinary aromatic used by our continental neighbours.
Moore, in Lalla Rookh, speaks of —

“ The Basil tuft, that waves
Its fragrant blossom over graves ;”

and tells us that it is commonly found in churchyards in
Persia, where it is called Rayhan; perhaps some superstitious
passer-by at dim twilight, full of dread fear of hobgoblins
and shades of the departed, may have mistaken the flower
for the reptile, and thought that the glaring eyes of this
“monstrum horrendum” were threatening him with death
and destruction.

y,
: LG

SK

THE BIRCH TREE.

farmer. On account of the keen acidity of the fruit, it is
made the emblem of Tartness. We are also told that the
flowers are endued with such extreme irritability, that at the
lightest touch, all the stamens coil themselves around the
pistil: hence they exhibit the characteristic sharpness of
persons whose anger is instantaneously aroused by the most
trivial causes.

THE BIRCH TREE (Betula pendula.\—_GRACEFULNESS.

THIS species of the Birch is an exceedingly graceful tree.

Coleridge speaks of it as
“Most beautiful
Of forest trees, the lady of the woods ;”

a title which it fully deserves. Its spray is more slender
than that of other species, and also larger. The foliage has
an elegant pensile appearance, as the weeping willow, and
like it is set in motion by the faintest breath of zephyr. In
his poem, the “Isle of Palms,’ Wilson has observed this,
and applied the epithet, “weeping,” to our tree,—

“ On the green slope
Of a romantic glade we sate us down,
Amid the fragrance of the yellow broom,
While o’er our heads the Weeping Birch-tree streamed
Its branches, arching like a fountain shower.”
The Birch is of rapid growth, and, at any age, one or two
are a pleasing addition to small plantings in the vicinity of

our dwellings.

26

O===

oO=

THE BERBERRY.

The Beech, though perhaps neither so handsome nor so
valuable as the oak, yet rivals it in appearance, and grows
more rapidly, so rapidly indeed that on that account it might
well claim to be the emblem of prosperity, while it deserves
to be so regarded for its abundant mast, which in days of
yore fattened deer and swine. Beech-nuts yield a sweet oil,
which the French peasantry not unwillingly mingle with
their diet.

THE BERBERRY (Berberis vulgaris).—TARTNESS.
SHARPNESS.

THE Berberry is an ornament to our shrubberies, when
adorned with its pendulous racemes of flowers in spring, or
when its bunches of bright red berries are ripe in autumn.
The green of the leaves, which are pleasantly acid, has a
bluish or yellow tinge. The odour of the flowers is agreeable
when somewhat diluted with air, but offensive to our olfactory
nerves, if it comes in contact with them when just emitted
from the bloom. The fruit is so sharply acid, that birds reject
them. They are, nevertheless, valued as garnish, for which
purpose they are pickled ; and they form an agreeable pre-
serve, when boiled with sugar. The Poles extract a fine
yellow dye for leather from the root-bark. The inner bark of
the stem when applied to linen, with alum, will dye it yellow.
It is asserted by many writers that the Berberry affords
shelter and nourishment to an insect (cidium Berberidis),
which produces rust in corn, so that it is a great foe to the

25

g

BLACK MULBERRY.

Pliny. Its habit is that of the vine, though it has no tendrils,
hence in its upward tendencies it requires a firm support,
by which it climbs to the height of some ten feet. In return
for this it adds considerable beauty to the trees which grant
their aid.

BLACK MULBERRY (Morus nigra)—I WILL NOT
SURVIVE YOU.

ITALY is the birthplace of the Black Mulberry-tree, which
is cultivated on account of the delicacy of its fruit. It is by
no means a common tree; why, we know not, but it may be
that, as with the Walnut, he who plants one never eats its
fruit. The Mulberry certainly does not bear fruit for very
many years, but afterwards its fruitfulness increases with its
age, and the fruit is larger, and its flavour pleasanter. The
Mulberry, like the Strawberry, does not undergo acetous
fermentation in the stomach. It allays thirst, and is so
refreshing in its effects that Horace’s lines seem quite
justified :—

“ He shall with vigour bear the summer’s heat,
Who, after dinner, shall be sure to eat

His Mulberries, of blackest ripest dyes,
And gathered ere the morning sun arise."—FRANCIS.

Ovid’s story about Pyramus and Thisbe is well known: how
that the latter was a lovely damsel of Babylon, and that
Pyramus lived in the house adjoining. The pair became

enamoured; but their attachment was not approved of by
28

SE

yx BITTER-SWEET NIGHTSHADE.

BITTER-SWEET NIGHTSHADE (Solanum Dulcamara).
TRUTH.

TRUTH has been justly regarded as the mother of Virtue,
the daughter of Time,—since time only in many cases brings
truth to light,—and queen of the world, because in the end it
must have full sway. The facts revealed when the truth is
known may produce mental pain, and bitterness of heart,
but these are accompanied by the gratification which it gives,
and the relief frora doubt and anxiety it affords. Such are
the effects of the leaves of Bitter-Sweet Nightshade on the
palate, when they are chewed; first a keen sensation of bitter-
ness, followed immediately by sweetness. Beaumont and
Fletcher characterise truth very appropriately :—

“Truth, though it trouble some minds,

Some wicked minds, that are both dark and dangerous,

Preserves ztse/f: comes off pure, innocent !

And like the sun, though never so eclipsed,

Must bréak in glory!”
The plant is described as a deciduous twiner; but alleged to
renew its foliage twice yearly, as do our evergreens; it
delights in dark and shady places, and thus resembles truth
in her supposed characteristic of being pleased to abide at the
bottom of wells.

BLACK BRYONY (Zamus communis) —BE MY SUPPORT.

THIS twining plant is common throughout Europe, bear-
ing yellowish green flowers, and oblong fleshy berries, of a
shining orange red. It is supposed to be the Uva Taminia of

27

BLACK POPLAR.

BLACK POPLAR (Populus nigra).—COURAGE.

THE Black Poplar was consecrated to Hercules because he
slew Cacus who stole part of the cattle which he brought into
Italy. This feat the hero accomplished in a cave by Mount
Aventine, where the Poplar was abundant. Virgil records
this, speaking of Hercules undef his natne Alcides :—

“Come, then, with us to gréat Alcides pray,
And crown your heads, and soleiinize the day.
Invoke our common god with hymns divine,
And from the goblet pour the generous wine,
He said; and with the Poplar’s sacred boughs,
Like great Alcides, binds his hoary brows.”

Hercules performed wondrous exploits and possessed extra-
ordinary courage. It is alleged that in his courageous descent
into the lower world his head was covered with poplar, and
that the outsides of the leaves were blackened by the fumes
of the atmostphere. This tree may well then be made the
emblem of his most prominent quality. The Black Poplar is
a valuable tree; grows rapidly; delights in moist localities;
its light bark supplies fishermen with floats; its timber suits
the turner and the patten-maker, and supplies capital flooring-
boards ; it does not readily catch fire, and, in short, it is a
most serviceable tree for a variety of purposes. Even thus
courage is of great use, not only in the battle field of armies,
but in the battle of life, where ever-varying circumstances
are continually demanding the exercise of this inestimable
quality.
30

BLACK MULBERRY.

their respective parents. They found means to arrange a
meeting at the tomb of Ninus. Thisbe first came to the place
of rendezvous, where she saw a lion which had torn an ox
in pieces just before, and she fled alarmed, losing in her
flight her garment, which the wild animal soiled with blood.
Pyramus, finding her garment covered with blood, supposed
she had been murdered, and in his frenzy destroyed himself
beneath a Mulberry-tree. Thisbe ventured to return, when
she found her lover dead, and killed herself in her grief.
Their mingled blood was drunk up by the tree, the fruit of
which was thenceforth black :—

“ Dark in the rising tide the berries grew,
And white no longer, took a sable hue ;
But brighter crimson springing from the root, -
Shot through the black, and purpled all the fruit.”

Cowley alludes to the fable in speaking of this tree :—

“In two short months her purple fruit appears,
And of two lovers slain the tincture wears.”

A French author commends the maiden’s modesty in her
dying moments :—

“Elle tombe, et, tombant, range ses vétements ;
Dernier trait de pudeur, méme aux derniers moments.
Les nymphes d’alentour lui donnérent des larmes ;

Et du sang des amants teignirent, par des charmes,
Le fruit d’un mirier proche, et blanc jusqu’a ce jour,
Eternel monument d’un si parfait amour.”

29

“
THE BLUE BOTTLE.

THE BLUE BOTTLE (Centaurea Cyanus)—DELICACY.

THIS species of the Centaurea is so ornamental, its flower
being of the intense blue of a cloudless sky, that it is often
introduced into the garden. Under cultivation the flowers
become larger, and the colour varies. It is one of the prettiest
of Flora’s gems among ripening grain. Its specific name
Cyanus immortalizes a youth, whose time was spent in making
wreaths of such flowers as were in bloom, through his great
love for them. This flower he specially admired, and his
chief ambition was to clothe himself in garments of the same
celestial hue. Being found dead, lying amid Blue Bottles
which he had collected in the field, Flora transformed him
into the Centaurea Cyanus, as a graceful acknowledgment of
his veneration for her. It has been, therefore, made the
emblem of that delicacy which marks the devotion of an
inferior, feeding upon hope, the realization of which it does
not look for.

THE BLADDER-NUT (Staphylea pinnata) FRIVOLOUS
AMUSEMENT.

A SHRUB of some pretension to beauty, and therefore
found in our garden groves. The leaves are pinnate, which
is a pleasing form, and render it graceful. The fruit grows

in a bunch, as its generic name indicates. The nuts are
These

very curious, and hang on the tree for a long time.
32

BLACK-THORN.

BLACK-THORN (Prunus spinosa).—DIFFICULTY.

THIS bushy shrub is common enough in our hedgerows,
where its white flowers display themiselves to advantage in
March and April, ere the Hawthorn is in bloom, though Burns
says :—

“The Hawthorn’s budding in the glen,
And milk-white is the sloe ;”

as if both were flowering at the same time. The bark is of a
brown hue nearly approaching black, and the branches ter-
minate with a sharp thorn. The well-known fruit under the
name of the sloe, is small, somewhat oval, of a blackish purple,
and is covered with a fine whitish powdery bloom. The juice
is very sour, astringent, but not disagreeable at the season of
perfect ripeness. It is said to be largely used in making
British Port wines; we hope its astringent properties are
not applied to the improvement (?) of rough-flavoured wines
of Portugal (so called.) The tree furnished the means to
dishonest people of adulterating tea, by the admixture of
its leaves with the products of China. A Parliamentary
inquiry proved that it formed fictitious tea in England to
the extent of four million pounds a year!

There is a proverbial saying made use of when a
perplexing question comes before us, “It is a perfect
bundle of thorns; we don’t know where to begin, nor
how to act!”

3L

BORAGE.

Botanists class this plant among the squills. Its specific
name was fancifully given to it, from the absence of the
letters, AI, AI, woe/ woe! which are said to be inscribed
on the petals of other hyacinths. Its delicious fragrance, and
the rich beauty of its deep blue-purple bells, have apparently
claimed for it a place in floral language as the emblem of
kindness.

BORAGE (Borago officinalis)—BLUNTNESS, RUDENESS.

APULEIUS says that Sorago is a corruption of corago, a
name given to the plant because of its cordial properties. It
formed an ingredient in the beverage called cool tankard,
though it may be supposed to be rather warming than cooling
from the old adage, “I, Borage, always bring courage.”
Dodonzus, as quoted by Gerarde, says, “Those of our
times do use the flowers in salads, to exhilarate and make the
minde glad. There be also many things made of them, used
for the comfort of the Aeart, to drive away sorrow and increase
the joy of the minde.” Since men, who are civil and re-
spectful when sober, often become blunt and rude in manner
when under the influence of warming cordials, this warming
property may have led to Borage being used as the emblem
of Bluntness and Rudeness. It is, indeed, deemed a suitable
representative of these characteristics, on account of its rough
and shaggy appearance, the whole plant hanging loosely, and
being covered with rough hairs. Yet its alleged good pro-
perties remind us that a brusque manner often marks a man of

34

THE BLUE BELL.

explode with a loud noise, when pressed between the fingers,

’ and afford a trifling amusement to children. Now and then
sedate adults vie with the juveniles in this explosive sport, for
which its sentiment has been assigned, perhaps with a degree
of contemptuousness which borders on ill-nature. Roman
Catholics are said to string them for use as rosaries; and
poor people on the Continent form necklaces of the seeds,
which are highly polished.

THE BLUE BELL (Scilla nonscripta) KINDNESS.

THIs pretty flower, commonly called the Wild Hyacinth,
abounds in the spring months in our shady woods. Nowhere
have we seen it so profusely blooming, as in the hazel copses
around Godalming, a neighbourhood full of picturesque
beauty, where, interspersed with the wood anemone, and a
host of other flowers, it appears to great advantage. The
French call it Facinthe des Bois, on account of its fondness
for woodland shades, a characteristic which Elliott, the
Corn-law rhymer, has noticed in his vigorous verse :—

“ Shade-loving Hyacinth ! thou comest again,
And thy rich odours seem to swell the flow
Of the lark’s song, the redbreast’s lovely strain,
And the stream’s tune ;—best sung where wild flowers blow,
And ever sweetest where the sweetest grow.”

Keats, in his poem “ Fancy,” was mindful of its shade-loving
» character, and calls the Blue Bell the Queen of May,—

“ Shaded Hyacinth, alway sapphire Queen of the Mid-May.”
33 D

BRAMBLE.

verdure in the great heat of summer, as well as in the severe
frosts of winter, and demands little care from the gardener
for years, until, as in some soils, it grows too high and too
thick to be pleasing. Then it needs to be taken up, sub-
divided, and re-planted. It was much admired by the
Romans, by whom the taller-growing kinds were cut into
grotesque forms, to resemble men, animals, &c. It is a tree
which appears to be unchanged by time; hence it well repre-
sents that stoicism which, according to Zeno, distinguishes
the wise man, who is not moved either by joy, grief, or any
other passion, and who looks upon all events as ruled by
inevitable necessity.

The wood of the Box-tree is highly valuable, especially in
the estimation of the lover of knowledge, for the facility
which it gives to artists to convey pictorial lessons in every
branch of science, whereby the meaning of a writer is ren-
dered more precise and exact to the reader; it is also
useful for many other purposes, which are too numerous to
mention here.

THE BRAMBLE (Rubus fruticosus)—ENVY.

THE Bramble is very well known to us, growing every-
where in our woods and hedges. Its long trailing prickly
stems throw themselves outwards from the hedges, by our
road-sides and footpaths, and now and then lay hold of the
loose parts of the garments of pedestrians, who cannot readily
release themselves. On this account we have heard these

36

A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS.

WSs 4
DL

kind heart and thorough sincerity. Such-an one is greatly to
be preferred to the man of polished manner, whose every
word is honey; and every look a smile, but whose whole soul
is bent upon making use of you solely for his own advantage.
Borage is a great favourite with the honey-bee. We have
sown the seeds extensively in some years, and valued it, not
only because we saw our honey-gathering friends continually
busied about its flowers, but for the beautiful blue colour of
the large blossoms, which greatly ornamented our grounds.

A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS.—GALLANTRY.
POLITENESS.

THERE is opportunity for the display of great taste in the
arrangement of a Bouquet of Flowers. The materials vary,
of course,.with the seasons of the year; but good taste and a
proper appreciation of the character of the person to whom
the bouquet is to be offered, will generally produce a satis-
factory result. It is a mark of the politest attention, and
shows an anxious desire to give gratification.

BOX (Suxus sempervirens) —STOICISM.

Box is most commonly known as a very useful, durable,
and pleasing evergreen edging to our flower-beds. Its exceed-
ing slow growth renders it the more valuable for this purpose.
It thrives well even under the drip of trees, maintains “6

35 D2

A BROKEN STRAW.

origin. She says that the old Chroniclers relate how Charles
the Simple, in the year 922, when he saw that he was for-
saken by the chief of his barons, summoned an assembly in
the Champs de Mai, at Soissons. He looked among them for
friends, but found only a factious crew, whose audacity his
own weakness served only to increase. Some reproached him
with indolence, with his prodigalities, and for his blind trust
in Haganon, his minister. Others complained loudly of his
dishonourable concessions to Raoul, the Norman chief.
Surrounded by this seditious multitude, he entreated, he
promised, and sought to escape them by betraying fresh
weaknesses, but all in vain. When they saw him devoid
of all moral courage, their insolence knew no bounds; they
declared that he was no longer their king. At these words,
which they uttered with every gesture of violence, and accom-
panied with threats, they advanced to the foot of the throne,
broke some straws which they had in their hands, cast them
rudely upon the ground and withdrew, having expressed by
this meaning action that they renounced their allegiance to
him.

This is the most ancient example of the kind known to us;
but it proves that, long ago, this expressive mode of breaking
treaties was in use, since the great vassals of the weak king
did not consider that any words were needed in explanation ;
they felt sure that they would be understood, and they
were so.

There is a considerable space of time between the above
f and the comic scene in the Dépit amoureux of Moliére; yet

the one is the origin of the other; at least they have their
38

Ss5

lyr

A BROKEN STRAW.

branches facetiously called “lawyers,” in some parts of
England, where these gentlemen are supposed not to let a
client off easily when they get one.

The bramble creeps along through hedges, strikes roots
afresh, keeps off sun and air from the young shoots of the
hawthorn, and seems to choke every thing which it comes
near; just as envy, stealthily, treacherously, and spitefully,
seeks to destroy the character and possessions of one who is
seemingly prosperous in wealth, or friends, or esteem. Miss
Twamley assigns the bramble to a girl who is crabbed, and
displeased with another more amiable than herself,—

“Yon Bramble fling to Rachel Rann
So crabby and so spiteful ;”

and most aptly does this wild, rough, and prickly plant befit
this very objectionable trait.

Yet the Bramble affords us some pleasure by its pretty pink
flowers, and perhaps still more by its fruit, the blackberry,
which, when fully ripe, are very agreeable to the palate, and
cooling ; if eaten before, they are unpleasant and sour, and
if when over ripe, they are nauseous. They make agreeable
tarts, but are somewhat insipid.

A BROKEN STRAW.—RupPTURE. DISSENSION.

THE custom of breaking a straw, to intimate the rupture
of all mutual obligations, may be traced to a very early
period. Madame de la Tour claims for it even a royal

\
37

In

A BROKEN STRAW.

origin. She says that the old Chroniclers relate how Charles
the Simple, in the year 922, when he saw that he was for-
saken by the chief of his barons, summoned an assembly in
the Champs de Mai, at Soissons. He looked among them for
friends, but found only a factious crew, whose audacity his
own weakness served only to increase. Some reproached him
with indolence, with his prodigalities, and for his blind trust
in Haganon, his minister. Others complained loudly of his
dishonourable concessions to Raoul, the Norman chief.
Surrounded by this seditious multitude, he entreated, he
promised, and sought to escape them by betraying fresh
weaknesses, but all in vain. When they saw him devoid
of all moral courage, their insolence knew no bounds; they
declared that he was no longer their king. At these words,
which they uttered with every gesture of violence, and accom-
panied with threats, they advanced to the foot of the throne,
broke some straws which they had in their hands, cast them
rudely upon the ground and withdrew, having expressed by
this meaning action that they renounced their allegiance to
him.

This is the most ancient example of the kind known to us;
but it proves that, long ago, this expressive mode of breaking
treaties was in use, since the great vassals of the weak king
did not consider that any words were needed in explanation ;
they felt sure that they would be understood, and they
were so.

There is a considerable space of time between the above
and the comic scene in the Dépit amoureux of Molitre; yet
the one is the origin of the other; at least they have their

38
“SS

0

A BROKEN STRAW.

source in the same popular custom; there is only the
difference of time. That which of old served to dethrone
a monarch, and revolutionize a nation, is now used only to
express the desolation of a heart. Happy are the loving
hearts whose discords terminate so well as the revolutions of
early times! Yet far happier they, where dissension never
arises, though, it may be, they are few in number, since—

“ Alas—how light a cause may move
Dissension between hearts that love !—
Hearts that the world in vain had tried,
And sorrow but more closely tied ;
That stood the storm when waves were rough,—
* * * * * *
A something light as air,—a look,
A word unkind or wrongly taken—
Oh! love, that tempests never shook,
A breath, a touch like this hath shaken.
* * * * *
And hearts, so lately mingled, seem
Like broken clouds,—or like the stream,
That smiling left the mountain’s brow,
As though its waters ne’er could sever,
Yet, ere it reach the plain below,
Breaks into floods, that part forever !”
Moore, Lalla Kookh.

The Broom ,and its kindred genera were gfeat favourites
among the Greeks and Romans. One writer says that
wherever Cytisus grows, there bees never abandoned their
hives; and Pliny says of him (Aristomachus), that he was so
devotedly fond of bees, that for fifty-eight years of his life he
continued to raise swarms. The Spanish Broom (Spartium
7unceum), a yellow-flowered species, is cultivated for its beauty
39

A BROKEN STRAW.

4

and perfume when in bloom. It is grown for feeding sheep
in France, and in Spain is much used for cordage. Scott
notices the toughness of the fibrous roots, which would make
them useful for such a purpose :—

“ And now, to issue from the glen,
No pathway meets the wanderer’s ken,
Unless he climb, with footing nice,
A far projecting precipice.
The Broom’s.tough roots his ladder made ;
The hazel’s saplings lent their aid ;
And thus an airy point he won.”

An indigenous species (S. scoparium) is very beautiful in
its native wilds, where the Broom bears her blossoms,

“Yellow and bright as bullion unalloyed,”

in the pleasant months of April, May, and June, of which
Wordsworth was thinking when he wrote,—

“Twas that delightful season, when the Broom,
Full-flowered, and visible on every steep,
Along the copses runs in veins of gold.”

In bushy places, thickets, and on sandy hills, it displays its
beauties most charmingly ; and Burns admired it so greatly
that it inspired him with the following exulting lines,—

“ Their groves o’ 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.

40

BUCKBEAN.

Far dearer to me are yon humble Broom bowers,
Where the bluebell and gowan lurk lowly unseen ;

For theré, lightly tripping amang the sweet flowers,
A-listening the linnet, oft wanders my Jean.”

According to Thompson’s London Dispensatory, this species
is useful for a vast number of purposes in medicine.

BUCKBEAN (Menyanthes trifoliata)—CALMNESS.
REPOSE,

THE Buckbean is one of our native plants, found frequently
in boggy places and marshes. The flowers are white, some-
times flesh-coloured, tipped outside with a rosy pink. From
the flower-cup, often white as alabaster, springs forth a tuft
of filaments of great delicacy and dazzling whiteness. No
adequate notion of the elegance of this plant can be conveyed
in words. Those who have once seen it, lightly pendant
over the clear streamlet or the limpid water of its favourite
habitat, will never forget its appearance. The bright trans-
parency of the rivulet seems increased by the reflection of
this pretty dweller on its borders. The Buckbean is said
never to bloom in stormy weather, but only when the air
is calm and in repose: and this quiet calmness it appears
to impart to surrounding objects.

Not only is the Buckbean ornamental, but useful. The
bee delights to sip its sweetness. It is a medicinal herb;
and in times past was beneficially used to allay fever, to
soothe rheumatic pains, and to reduce suffering in the joints.

4I

BUGLOSS.

For these purposes an infusion of its dried leaves was made,
and a wine-glassful administered twice or thrice daily; there-
fore it seems fully to have merited its position as the
emblem of calmness and repose which it yielded to the
suffering.

BUGLOSS.—FALSEHOOD.

THIs plant, of different species, has been made the emblem
of Falsehood, because of its use in many kinds of colouring
substances. In very early times, Anchusa tinctoria, the Dyer’s
Bugloss, was made use of to colour the face before more
delicate means were found out. This is, perhaps, the least
hurtful, and possesses many advantages. It maintains its
colour for some days, and water revives it as it revives
natural colours; and it does not tarnish the skin.

“ But the blush which tinges the maiden’s cheek,
Whose heart is innocent, gentle and meek,”

how can it be imitated? Art, the most skilful, destroys it,
never to be restored. Do we desire to please for a long
time ?—do we desire to please always? Then let us dismiss
falsehood from our heart, from our tongue, and from our
countenance, and constantly bear in mind that nothing is
so beautiful as truth; truth alone is lovely and lasting. By
this course only can we be made “ beautiful for ever.”

42

BURDOCK.

“A

BURDOCK (Arctium Lappa and Bardana).—IMPORTUNITY.

THE Burdock is well known by all boys, to whom it is an
inoffensive source of fun. They gather the seed-vessels, and
throw them at their companions. The bristly hairs which
cover the seed-vessels cling tenaciously to the dress, and
require a little patience in detaching them. Thus the Bur-
dock is a fitting emblem of that Importunity with which
we are sometimes assailed by applicants, who seem deter-
mined not to take a refusal. It may also well be regarded
as such from its pertinacious resistance of attempts to
extirpate its roots even from good soil.

The generic name “ Arctium” is given to this plant because
of the brown hairy covering which resembles the shaggy
skin of the bear. The hardened hooks at the end of the
hairs hold so firmly to the coats of cattle, that as they
separate, the seed-vessels are forced open, when the contents
escape, and sow themselves! The plant has many useful
properties. .

a

BUTTERCUPS.—CHEERFULNESS.

EXcEPT the daisy, there is not a greater favourite than
the Buttercup. Children of all ranks delight in it, and poets,
calling to mind their early field pleasures, have not failed
to speak of this wild flower, and have thus made a permanent
record of the cheerfulness with which Buttercups inspired
them. Campbell says,—

43

BUTTERCUPS.

“wildings of nature, I dote upon you;
For ye waft me to summers of old,
When the earth teemed around me with fairy delight,
And when daisies and Buttercups gladdened my sight,
Like treasures of silver and gold.”

In the mind of another writer, with whose name we are
unacquainted, Buttercups are associated with the pleasures
of child-life, on their first appearance in spring,—

“ Again I feel my heart is dancing,
With wildly-throbbing keen delight,
At this bright scene of King-cups dancing
Beneath the clear sun’s golden light.

Again I pluck the little flower,
The first my childhood ever knew,
And think upon the place and hour
Where and when that first one grew;

And as I gaze upon its cup
Shining with burnished gold,
The faithful memory calls up
How many a friend beloved of old!”

And Miss Twamley, when she described her feelings about
flowers in poetry, reveals vivid recollections of her pleasures
in them as a child,—

“Oh! I can now recall th’ unthrift delight
That filled my basket and my tiny hand,
With Buttercups that shone in burnished gold,”

and she thought that all children must have the same emo-
tions on seeing them, for she calls them—

“blest childhood’s darling, the Buttercup,
With bright rays gilt, as its flowers glance up.”

44

CABBAGE.

We have not made any distinction as to the species, with
respect to its emblematic use, because the whole genus is
known by the common name of Buttercups, &c., and their
appearance is sufficiently pleasing to render any species a
fit emblem of Cheerfulness.

CABBAGE (Brassica).— PROFIT.

WE do not commonly associate flowers with Cabbages;
though the flowers borne by some species are not displeasing.
The genus is a very proper emblem of Profit, since there
are many garden kinds of great value, of which the Cauli-
flower is esteemed by some persons to be “the finest flower
the garden grows ;” then the Turnip, Rape, and other agri-
cultural sorts are extensively cultivated for profit, both as
regards the tuberous roots and the succulent heads, as
formerly at Rome the fields were covered with Cabbage for
the like purpose. The French have a proverb, “Fait ses
choux gras,’ which we may freely render, “He feathers
his nest well,” when they would imply that a man conducts
his business well, and makes everything turn to his own
advantage. One may acquire wealth by such a selfish
mode if so resolved, but there is a certain book of great
antiquity which calls it dangerous. “They that will (are
determined to) be rich fall into temptation, and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts (longings), which
drown men in destruction and perdition; for the LOVE of
money is the root of all evils.”

45

CANDY TUFT.

CANDY TUFT (Jéeris semperflorens).—INDIFFERENCE.

THIS small shrub is an evergreen, and throughout the year
we find it bearing its white and scentless bloom. When
he collects the seeds, the gardener must put aside the flowers
which cover them. In bearing fruit it does not fade, but
preserves its leaves and flowers even in decay. The seasons
appear to pass by this plant without affecting it. How
different to the changes in nature generally, which beautiful
spring produces :—

“ See the young, the rosy Spring, gives to the breeze her spangled wing ;
While virgin graces, warm with May, fling roses o’er her dewy way!

The murmuring billows of the deep have languished into silent sleep ;
And mark! the flitting sea-birds lave their plumes in the reflecting wave;
While cranes from hoary winter fly to flutter in a kinder sky.

Now the genial star of day dissolves the murky clouds away ;

And cultured field, and winding stream, are sweetly tissued by his beam.
Now the earth prolific swells with leafy buds and flowery bells ;
Gemming shoots the olive twine, clusters ripe festoon the vine ;

All along the branches creeping, through the velvet foliage peeping,
Little infant fruits we see nursing into luxury!”—MOoRE’s Axacreon.

Not so with the very cold and impassible Iberis, wherefore
Eastern beauties made it the emblem of Indifference. They,
indeed, are thought to have been the first inventors of the
language of flowers, a language for the first time put pro-
minently before the fair ladies of England, by Lady Mary
Wortley Montague, who sent a Turkish love-letter from Pera
to one of her friends in England, which contained the
following floral emblems :—

46

THE CHERRY.

“ Clove, You are as slender as this clove!
You are an unblown rose!
I have long loved you, and you have not known it.
Fonguil. Have pity on my passion!
Pear. Give me some hope!
A Rose. May you be pleased, and your sorrows mine!
A Straw. Suffer me to be your slave!

Cinnamon. But my fortune is yours!

Pepper. Send me an answer!”

Every flower, says her ladyship, represents a sentiment:
Letters of civility, friendship, and love, may be sent without
the use of ink. Anger, reproach, or news, may be conveyed
by these eloquent emblems.

THE CHERRY (Prunes Cerasus)—GooD EDUCATION.

“Ye may simper, blush, and smile, and perfume the air awhile;
But sweet things, ye must be gone, fruit, ye know, is coming on;
Then, oh then, where is your grace, when as cherries come in place ?”

HERRICK, while admiring Cherry-blossom, is anticipating
the time when the fruit will be ripe. Very pretty is the
Cherry-tree when in bloom. We found two splendid spe-
cimens of the wild Cherry growing in the boundary-fence
_of our grounds, where, for the last eighteen springs we have
had the gratification of seeing its cheering white flowers,
with which it was literally covered all over, as we -have sat
47

THE CHERRY. é eid

in our dining-room; and therefore we can fully enter into
the spirit of Barry Cornwall (by which nom de plume he
is best known), in his address to the wild Cherry-tree :—

“‘ Oh,—there never was yet so fair a thing,
By racing river or bubbling spring,—
Nothing that ever so gaily grew
Up from the ground when the skies were blue,
Nothing so brave—nothing so free,
As ¢hou—my wild, wild Cherry-tree!

Jove! how it danced in the gusty breeze!
Jove! how it frolicked amongst the trees!
Dashing the pride of the poplar down,
Stripping the thorn of his hoary crown!

Oak or ash—what matter to ¢hee?

’Twas the same to my wild, wild Cherry-tree!

Never at rest, like one that’s young,
Abroad to the winds its arms it flung,
Shaking its bright and crownéd head,
Whilst I stole up for its berries red—
Beautiful berries! beautiful tree!
Hurrah! for the wild, wild Cherry-tree!

Back I fly to the days gone by,

And I see thy branches against the sky,

I see in the grass thy blossoms shed,

I see (nay, I taste) thy berries red,

And I shout—like the tempest loud and free,—
Hurrah! for the wild, wild Cherry-tree !”

Cherry blossoms may be prettier on the cultivated tree,
on account of the roseate tinge upon the petals. Both
trees are, when blooming, very pleasing, but when the season
for gathering fruit atrives there is a vast difference. Then
48

THE CHASTE TREE.

the garden tree shows the effect of a Good Education, and
the trainer’s pains are well rewarded by a rich and delicious
fruit. Such difference is there between an untaught person
who presumes to prune our fruit-trees, and the educated fruit-
grower, who has learned their various habits, and knows
how to do his work. The former, if allowed to prune trees,
will usually destroy all the fruit-bearing branches, while
the latter cuts away those which only exhaust the tree,
and retains such as will bear abundant and good fruit.

The tree, ornamental in flower, deserves our regard for
its pleasant fruit, and is highly esteemed by the turner and
cabinet-maker for the hardness of its wood.

THE CHASTE TREE (Vitex agnus castus)—COLDNESS.
CHASTITY.

THIS is an autumnal shrub, bearing blue and white flowers
in spikes of seven to sixteen inches in length. The dried
leaves are very aromatic. For fanciful reasons it has had
assigned to it the singular specific name Agnus Castus, and
been made the emblem of Coldness and Chastity.

49

e

——v

THE CHESTNUT TREE.

THE CHESTNUT TREE (Castanea vesca).—Do
ME JUSTICE.

“The Chestnut flowers
By thousands have burst from the forest bowers.” —
HEMANS.

THE fruit of the Chestnut is contained in a green shell,
covered over with prickles, which gives it a rough and
unattractive appearance. This outward aspect causes persons
who are not acquainted with the edible character of their
contents to neglect or despise them. They are commonly
roasted and then eaten; but on the continent they are also
boiled and ground into meal, which is made into bread,
cakes, or puddings, hence it seems the fruit has a right to
say to those who overlook its merits, Do me Justice. It
is an excellent tree for hop-poles. In Kent and other
hop-growing districts this is therefore almost exclusively
cultivated for poles.

THE CHINA ASTER (Aster Chinensis).—VARIETY.

WHEN this species was first seen in our borders it was
called the China Aster, because it came to us from China,
and its flowers resembled the many radii of a star.

We are said to be indebted to a Missionary, one D’Incar-
ville by name, who sent some seeds to the Jardin de Roi,
about 1730.

50

THE CHINA ASTER.

The plants raised from the seeds sent by M. D’Incarville
yielded only one variety, and flowers of uniform colour.
Eventually, the velvety florets which surrounded the disc,
were doubled, quadrupled, and varied indefinitely by cul-
tivation. Some have thought, but erroneously, that the
Chinese were acquainted only with the simple violet-coloured
flower which had been sent to us. They have, in fact, all
the sorts which attract our admiration, and they know
how to make use of these varieties so as to form, by means
of the China Aster, decorations which words cannot ade-
quately describe. To prepare the flowers for this purpose,
they grow them in pots; they then arrange them according
to their colour and shades of colour; and with such a fine
art that they display them as a continuous border, with the
utmost harmony. “I wished,” writes Madame de la Tour,
“to form a similar decoration, a noted traveller having said
much to me about them; but there was wanting to secure
the full effect, a like profusion of flowers, the vast variety
of shades in each colour, which they possessed, and, beyond
these, that remarkable Chinese patience, which disregards
every difficulty. Still, my little display gave gratification to
all, and many were surprised as well as myself, that such
decorations were not adopted in our gardens, and more
especially in our floral fétes.”

As the emblem of variety, the China Aster owes its chief
charms to successful culture. The skilful hand of the florist
has surrounded her golden disc with all the colours of the
rainbow. In like manner careful study and mental culture
. | can develope great variety in the character of our natural
51 E2

CINQUEFOIL.

endowments. Though majestic and brilliant in appearance,
the China Aster does not presume to rival the rose, but
follows after her when her charms have fled, as if she would
console us for her regretted absence.

CINQUEFOIL (Potentilla)—BELOVED DAUGHTER.

THERE are many species of Potentilla, so named originally
on account of its supposed potency in medicine. They
all bear in common the English name “ Cinquefoil,” but our
favourite species, we might say our choice favourite, among
the whole range of our native plants, is the common
Cinquefoil (P. reptans). This species is not met with every-
where; we were most pleased with it in the neighbourhood
of Cambridge, where it somewhat abounds. Our apprecia-
tion of it is pretty fully expressed in the following lines,
which first appeared in “Favourite Field Flowers :”—

“How gracefully the Potentilla throws
Its trailing branches down the rude bank-side,
Until they kiss the wavelet as it flows
O’er pebbles polished by the crystal tide ;
Nor there alone it grows, but far and wide
Its quinate leaves and golden blossoms lay,
And deck the borders of each rural way.

How beautiful its slender stem, imbued
With rich fresh tinge of purple blush and green,
At intervals with fine-cut leaves indued,
And bright-hued flower rising them between!
No plant more elegant hath ever been
Within our native sea-girt island found,
*Mong those by which its hills and dales are crowned.”

ep "

CLEMATIS.

Of one species of Cinquefoil we have read that, in rainy
weather, the leaves draw together, and incline over the
flower, so as to form a kind of parapluie, or umbrella.
A fanciful mind sees in this the act of a tender mother,
carefully shielding a beloved daughter from impending
calamities.

CLEMATIS.—ARTIFICE.

THE Clematis is a great favourite in our gardens, because
of its mass of flowers and their delicious fragrance in autumn.
It is a deciduous climber of very rapid growth, and, carefully
trained over trellis work, or around windows, is very gracefully
ornamental. The species have long been used to cover
rustic arbours, whence probably their name “ Virgin’s Bower.”
Cowper addressed a few lines to one presented to adorn a
garden seat, by that appellation,—

“ Thrive, gentle plant! and weave a bower for Mary and for me,

And deck with many a splendid flower thy foliage large and free.”
Keats mentions it by the same name,—
“ The creeper, mellowing for an autumn blush;
And Virgin’s Bower, trailing airily.”

The chief of our garden kinds are C. Florida, a Japanese
species, with whitish-yellow flowers; C. Vitccel/a, with purple
flowers from June to September; and C. flammula, an
importation from France, which puts forth a profusion of
white highly odoriferous flowers during the latter part of
summer and until the frosty nights destroy its bloom. We

53
ae

‘ aH!
CLEMATIS.

have an indigenous species, C. Vitalba, not seldom found
in chalk or limestone soils, in hedges and retired localities.
This is known as “Traveller's Joy,” probably because, by
climbing up and about trees, its festoons form a leafy bower,
which in the heat of a summer's day (with the thermometer*
at 85°.5, as it has been this 20th of June, 1868, in the shade)
may afford a comparatively cool shelter to the weary pedes-
trian rejoiced to find so welcome a resting-place.

The juices of different kinds of Clematis are very acrid,
causing irritating inflammation if applied to the skin, and
if continuously, ulceration. We are told that beggars use
the juice to procure ulcerations, that they may expose
their sores, and rouse the commiseration of the charitable,
and obtain money. Cowper accuses gipsies of such artifices.
He is describing a gipsy encampment, and, dilating upon
their modes of gaining subsistence, adds,—

“ Great skill have they in palmistry, and more

To conjure clean away the gold they touch,
Conveying worthless dross into its place;

Loud when they beg, dumb only when they steal.

* * * % *
feigning sickness oft,

They swathe the forehead, drag the limping limb,
And vex their flesh with artificial sores.”

The Clematis well represents Artifice on this account, but
we would rather think of it as a graceful climber, affording
a pleasant shade, and gratifying us with its very delicious
fragrance,

* Radiating Thermometer on grass, exposed to the direct rays of the
sun, stood at 148°.7 Fahr.

54

THE CLOVE TREE.

THE CLOVE TREE (Caryophyllus aromaticus).—DIGNITY.

THE Aromatic Clove Tree is a native of the Moluccas.
It was brought into England in 1797, and there are specimens
in English gardens. It requires a moist or bark stove for
its cultivation. The fruit, which is well known to us from
its use as a culinary spice, somewhat resembles a nail, where-
fore it is called Clows de Girofiier, by our French neighbours.
There are divers preparations from it sold by our druggists,
which have the property of mitigating some of the many
pains which we have to bear. The inhabitants of the Molucca
islands are said to use cloves as marks of distinction. They
distinguish their native notabilities by speaking of them
respectively as having one, two, three, or four cloves, just
as we speak of the titles of our aristoctacy, the recapitu-
lation of which at the funeral of men of renown, occupies
considerable time. In the absence of this tree, its flowers
and its fruit, from our gardens, the Clove Pink, whose
fragrance puts us in mind of the spice, may be well sub-
stituted as the emblem of Dignity.

THE COLUMBINE (A qutlegia vulagris).—FOLLy.

THIS curious flower is not rare in a wild state in woods,
plantations, and hedgerows. It is cultivated as a border-
flower, when it frequently becomes double, and its colour
varies from dark purple to crimson, pink, and white. It

55

THE COLUMBINE.

often remains single. We brought a few seeds with us
from Godalming, sowed them on a bank among common
laurels, the Mahonia and other shrubs, and the plant has
maintained its original position, uncared for, and has bloomed
regularly every succeeding year for the last seventeen
summers. It was this year quite white. There is only one
solitary stem, with its seed-vessels now ripening, but it puts
us in mind of its parent-plant, and of the beautiful spot in
which that parent flourished. The plant seems to have
been called Columbine from the resemblance of the flowers
to doves, and Aquilegia on account of the inverted spurs
being thought to resemble the talons of a bird of prey. The
flower, as a whole, reminds some of the cap and bells worn
by Columbine in a pantomime, and has been considered a
meet emblem of Folly.

The Columbine was known to our early poets. Chaucer
says—

“ Come forth now with thin eyen Columbine;”
and Spenser speaks of two different coloured flowers,
“ Bring hither the pincke and purple Cullambine ;”

as a wild flower it has been mentioned as of three different
tints,—

“In pink or purple hues arrayed, ofttimes indeed in white,

We see, within the woodland glade, the Columbine delight ;

Some three feet high, with stem erect, the plant unaided grows,

And at the summit, now deflect, the strange-formed flower blows.”—
Field Flowers.

56

THE CORIANDER.

THE CORIANDER (Coriandrum sativum).— HIDDEN
MERIT.

THE name of this annual was given to it on account of
the odour of the leaves, which is offensive like that of
the insect which the Greek word designates. The dried
ripe seeds, however, are most agreeable in smell. They
are aromatic and carminative, and on that account are
compounded with some medicines to conceal their disagree-
able taste and effects. The confectioner uses them in
sweetmeats, and in some kinds of plum-bread. The Peru-
vians are fond of its flavour in most of their dishes.

The repulsive odour of the leaves tends to hinder the
discovery of the great utility of the seeds; which, when their
properties are known, deserve our high estimation. How
often do we feel repelled by the plain, repulsive, or ugly
countenance of persons, when we see them for the first
time, and are disposed to murmur to ourselves,—

“T do not like you, Doctor Fell!
The reason why I cannot tell,
But, I don’t like you, Doctor Fell ;”

and yet, after a time, if circumstances have led to our know-
ing them better, how frequently has the ugliness become less
repulsive, the plain face even pleasing, through the influence
of the hidden wealth of mind, and heart, and character, then
revealed, which erewhile was concealed from us by the
apparent displeasing exterior of the casket !

57

CORN POPPY. Pee

CORN POPPY (Papaver Rheas.)—CONSOLATION.

THE several species of Poppy are showy in their appear-
ance, and one yields the singular drug or medicine, opium,
which, valuable in the hands of the skilful practitioner, is most
injurious to those who have become addicted to its use as a
stimulant. We cannot enter here into the consideration of
the fearful consequences of indulging in it, nor of the mis-
chief done by its too free administration as a medicine, in
cases where there is no hope of ultimate recovery. We are,
nevertheless, sensible of its great utility in lulling the sense of
pain ; in procuring sleep for those who would otherwise be
sleepless, through calamity, or adversity, or bitter sorrow, in
whatever way produced ; a sleep beneficial, yet neither so re-
freshing, nor so strength-restoring, as that which nature brings
to the wearied frame of the sound in health ; to those whose
minds are content, and whose conscience is void of offence.
It is as the inducer of sleep that the Corn Poppy is made the
emblem of Consolation; and justly so, for sleep is, indeed,
the great healer of many ills, and the great consoler of many
a sorrowing heart. Shakspeare puts into the mouth of King
Henry IV. an apostrophe to sleep, which we can fully under-
stand to have passed, in substance, through the mind of a
monarch troubled with the cares of State in turbulent
times :— ;

“ How many thousands of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature’s soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,

58

CORN POPPY.

That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
* * * * * *
O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile
In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch?
* ¥ * * * *
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

Sleep relaxes the animal frame, so that it becomes help-
less, and the five senses are so dulled that it bears a close
resemblance to the insensibility of the dead. Hence Sleep
and Death are regarded as twin-brothers. When the hero
Sarpedon fell in the plains of Troy, Apollo, at the bidding of
Jove, went and forthwith drew the divine Sarpedon from
amid the javelins, bore him far away, washed him in the
flowing river, and anointed him with ambrosia, and wrapped
around him an immortal robe; and anon

“To two swift-bearers gave him then in charge,
To Sleep and Death, twin brothers ; in their arms
They bore him safely to Lycia’s wide-spread plain.”
HOMER (Lord Derby's Trans.).

The species named at the head of this article seems to have
been named Rheas with reference to Rhea, or Cybele, wife of
Cronos, mother of Zeus, or Jove, and, therefore, “mother of
the Gods.” She was worshipped by the ancients, and repre-
sented as wearing a wreath of Poppy-heads.

59

OE aa
THE CORNELIAN CHERRY. sl

THE CORNELIAN CHERRY (Cornus sanguinea).—
DURATION.

THE wood of this tree is said to be as hard as horn (cornu) ;
hence its generic name. Virgil tells us that it was used in the
manufacture of implements of war; and it is related of
Romulus, the mythic founder of Rome, that, when he had
marked out the boundary of the embryo city, he hurled a
javelin over Mount Palatine; that the javelin shaft was of
cornel wood; that it penetrated the earth, took root, grew
up, put forth branches and leaves, and thus became a tree!
This prodigy was regarded as a happy omen, foreshowing the
strength and duration of the infant empire!! Surely the
author of Baron Munchausen must have taken a hint from
this.

The wood is applied to a variety of useful purposes. It is
called Dogwood. Asa shrub, it is a good emblem of Hard-
ness and Duration; for in plantations where the lower branches
have perished, there, even under the drip of trees, this will
flourish and fill up the vacant spaces.

The Greeks worshipped Apollo, to whom they consecrated
this tree, because he presided over works of talent. It is,
therefore, an emblem worthy of adoption by all who are
determined to cultivate literature, oratory, and poetry; since,
if they would win the laurel leaf, it must be by patient
enduring labour, in study and in persistent reflection.

60

THE COWSLIP.

THE COWSLIP (Primula veris)—EARLY JOYS.

A FLOWER so profusely scattered over our meadows in
the merry months of May and June, needs only to be named
to recall to mind our early joys, when we roamed at will
gathering Cowslips with eager delight, and breathing their
delicious fragrance. How merrily did our great Shakspeare
sing when he thought of them, and fancied fairies dwelt in
their golden cups,—

“Where the bee sucks, there lurk I;
In a Cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I crouch when owls do cry.”

Miss Taylor, in her verses entitled “ Leafy Spring,” betrays
her fondness for these charming flowers,—

“ On pastures wide and green, upon a thousand stems,
Fit for a fairy queen to wear for precious gems,
Young Cowslips smile at earth and sky,
With sweetest breath and golden eye.”

But why should we say more of this beauteous remembrancer
of the happiness of childhood? No one, who, at that golden
age, spent any time in the country when it was in bloom, can
have failed to partake of those early joys of which it is such
an appropriate token.

6a
MIN XQ

THE CROCUS.

THE CROCUS (Crocus vernus)— PLEASURES OF HOPE.

THE Snowdrop is the emblem of Consolation, reminding
us that the season is approaching when blooming flowers will
again deck the earth in beautiful profusion ; with her atten-
dant comes up the Crocus, which imparts to our hope of
returning spring such emotions of pleasure, that it may well
represent those agreeable sensations which pervade the mind
when we see the purple, and golden, and violet-coloured
flowers bursting through the earth, not seldom covered with
snow, which gives additional zest to our gratification. Poets
have at all times inwoven it in their verse: Homer speaks of
“Crocus and Hyacinth,” and Milton mentions them together
in like manner ; Thomson associates it with the Snowdrop ;—

“ Fair-handed Spring unbosoms every grace,
Throws out the Snowdrop and the Crocus first ;”
So, also, Miss Taylor, in speaking of the leafy spring,—

‘“* Above the garden beds, watched well by lady’s eye,

. Snowdrops with milky heads peep to the softening sky,
And welcome Crocuses shoot up,
With gilded spike and golden cup.”

To Miss Twamley’s imagination the Crocus was a right royal
flower,—
“The regal Crocus, in purple and gold,
Bursts with life from its leafy fold.”

And elsewhere, fancying the Snowdrop to come forth at the

call of the robin in his merry song, she writes,—
62

THE CROWN IMPERIAL,

“ And presently the Crocus heard their greeting, and awoke,
And donned with care her golden robe and emerald-coloured cloak ;
* * * * * * *
The Crocus brought her sisters too, the purple, pied, and white;
And the redbreast warbled merrily above the flowerets bright.”

Bernard Barton looked upon it as an emblem of the leaf
which the dove brought to Noah in the ark, when hoping for
the subsidence of the waters, and thus addressed it :—

“Thine is the flower of hope, whose hue
Is bright with coming joy.”

So poets, and all who delight in flowers, have felt a gush of
pleasure when these bright things have first presented them-
selves in the parterre, a promise of the coming spring.

THE CROWN IMPERIAL (f7itillaria Imperialis).—
POWER.

FRITILLARIA, the generic name of the chequered Daffodil,
or Snake’s-head Lily, was given to it from its resemblance to
the Roman dice-box. Our indigenous species is called
Meleagris, because its markings are like those of Guinea-fowl,
hence we find people speaking of it as the Guinea-hen
flower. Its tulip-shaped cup hangs down inverted, which has

given rise to the absurd name of “ The Drooping Young
Man,” in some parts of the country. It is a common plant in
Norfolk and Suffolk, and we have met with it in Cambridge-
shire. It was at one time so abundant near Kew, that a

meadow between that royal residence and Mortlake, retains
63

CELERY-LEAVED CROW FOOT.

the appellation of Snake’s-head Meadow. Into this genus was
the Crown Imperial admitted. It was brought from Persia in
1596. Itis very ornamental. The bright yellow flowers hang
in an inverted position, the petals curling outwards and up-
wards, each flower closely resernbling a turban. The flowers are
studded round the stem, which is sometimes four feet high,
and are surmounted by a cluster of rich green leaves. The
general appearance of the plant in bloom might well suggest
to Cowper to write,—

“The Lily’s height bespoke command,
A fair Imperial Flower ;
She seemed designed for Flora’s hand,

The sceptre of her power.”
In each flower of the Crown Imperial has been observed
several drops of fluid, which adhere to the bottom of the
corolla until it is faded. Then the pedicles of the flowers raise
themselves for the seeds to ripen. We are gravely told that
“the performances of the six stamina are very curious. Now
all are remote from the pistil; anon three approach at once
to do it homage ; then the other three draw near for the same
loyal purpose, when the former have retired !!”

CELERY-LEAVED CROWFOOT (Ranunculus
sceleratus)—INGRATITUDE.

THE specific name of this plant, which is usually included
under the common term “Buttercups,” marks its pernicious
properties. It is one of the most acrid of the genus, quickly
causing great inflammation. It is used among other herbs,
64.

CELERY-LEAVED CROWFOOT.

by vagabond mendicants, to produce ulcers in the legs, that
indiscriminate almsgivers may commiserate, and give them
money. Clare thus alludes to its ungrateful qualities,—

“T wander out and rhyme;
What hour the dewy morning’s infancy
Hangs on each blade of grass and every tree,
And sprents the red thighs of the humble bee,
Who ’gins betimes unwearied minstrelsy ;
Who breakfasts, dines, and most divinely sups
With every flower save golden butter-cups,—
On whose proud bosoms he will never go,
But passes by with scarcely ‘ How do ye do?’
Since in their showy, shining, gaudy cells,
Haply the summer’s honey never dwells.”

Ranunculus sceleratus may be turned into the English
words, the detestable Crowfoot; and since nothing is more
common, and nothing more frofessedly detestable, than In-
gratitude, it is a most fit emblem of that fault in human
nature, a fault hateful in all, but still more hateful and
heinous in a child. Shakspeare puts the following words
into the mouth of King Lear,—

“ Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend,

More hideous when thou showest thee in a child
Than the sea-monster!”

because of the loving care and unlimited self-denial which
parents exercise in promoting the happiness and future
welfare of their offspring; even so we are told that the
pernicious properties of this plant become intensified, by
the culture and carefulness which the gardener may bestow
upon it.

65 F

Lay

THE DAHLIA.

THE DAHLIA (Dahlia superflua)—MyY GRATITUDE
EXCEEDS YOUR CARE.

THIS: favourite florist’s flower, named in honour of Dahl,
a Swedish botanist, is well known to every lover of Flora’s
subjects. It seems to have been imported into France
about 1789, and its cultivation was nearly confined to that
country until the peace of 1814. Then it was dispersed
over Germany, Prussia, and Denmark; and found its way into
England, where it soon became an object of great care and
emulation, as well as a fruitful source of profit to the florist.
Being a native of the very hot climate of Mexico, it was
treated as if too tender for the comparatively cold climate of
Europe ; soon its constitution was tested in the greenhouse,
and subjected there to an abundant supply of air; it was
thus acclimatized by degrees, until it flourished in some
localities for eight months, from the beginning of July to
the end of February, in the open air of sunny France.
Not less hardy is it, proportionately, in dear England, but
here, so soon as the nights of Autumn become frosty, the
beauty of its flowers fades, its herbaceous leaves and stems
perish, and the tubers require to be exhumed and stored
away as experience has taught the cultivator, if we would
keep the living principle undestroyed until the succeeding
spring. Martin has written of the Dahlia’s endurance of
various climates, thus :—

“Though severed from its native clime,
Where skies are ever bright and clear,
66

THE DAHLIA.

And Nature’s face is all sublime,

And beauty clothes the fragrant air,

The Dahlia will each glory wear,
With tints as bright and leaves as green;
And winter, in his savage mien,

May breathe forth storm,—yet she will bear
With all: and in the summer ray,
With blossoms deck the brow of day.”

The Dahlia needs but little care after planting, yielding
an abundance of flowers; but the amateur who has a genuine
taste for beauty in his favourites, will, if he can possibly
devote the necessary time to such a purpose, so train his
plants, and reduce the number of their incipient bloom,
as to produce the finest flowers which they are capable
of bearing. And in so doing he will realize an enhanced
pleasure in their possession, when like Longfellow’s Ser
Frederigo, he may

’

“ Among the Dahlias in the garden walk
ffave left his guests ;”

not fearing that they will complain of his negligence, in
his absence, in the management of his parterre. On
the contrary, when he shall have returned he will receive
their gratulations on the beauty of his flowers, and on the
rich reward he has secured in such a charming display of
lasting bloom.

e

THE DAISY.

THE DAISY (Bellis perennis)—INNOCENCE.

WORDSWORTH calls the Daisy “the Poet’s darling,” and
not without reason. By a prose poet it has been made the
emblem of Innocence; here we have an account of the
cause of this :—

“Malvina, bent over the tomb of Fingal, bewailed the
valiant Oscar, and also Oscar’s son, who died ere he saw
the light.

“The virgins of Morven, to allay Malvina’s grief, often
came about her, honouring by their songs the death of the
hero and the death of the new-born.

“«The hero is fallen, they sang; ‘he is fallen! and the
sound of his arms has re-echoed over the plain; sickness,
which takes away courage; old age, which discredits the
deeds of the brave, can no more reach him; he is fallen!
and the sound of his arms has re-echoed over the plain.’

“« Admitted to the palace of the shades where his ances-
tors dwell, he drinks with them of the cup of immortality.
O beloved of Oscar! no longer shed tears of sorrow; the
hero is fallen! he is fallen! and the sound of his arms
has re-echoed over the plain.’

“Then with softer voice, they said again to her: ‘Your
child, who never saw the light, has never known the bitter-
ness of life; his young soul, borne aloft on glittering wings,
reaches with the first dawn of day the mansions of light.
The souls of children, who, as well as he, have, without

knowing sorrow, burst through the fetters of mortal life,
68

THE DAISY.

reclined upon golden clouds, appear and open to him the
mysterious gates of the fountain of Flora. There, the band
of innocents, knowing nought of evil, are continually engaged
folding up in sheaths, which cannot be seen by mortal eyes,
the germs of flowers which every succeeding Spring shall
cause to bloom. Every day, this infantine legion scatters
over the earth those delicate buds, as the dews of rosy-
fingered morning fall; a countless host of delicate hands
inclose the rose in her bud, the grain in its sheath, the
huge branches of an oak in a single acorn, and sometimes
a whole forest in one invisible seed-vessel.

“«We have seen, oh, Malvina! we have seen the child
which you vainly regret, cradled upon a fleecy cloud; he
drew near us, and shed over our fields a harvest of new
flowers! Look, ch Malvina! among them we distinguish
one with a golden disc, surrounded as it were with plates
of silver; a light soft purple tips its delicate rays; poised
among the grass by a gentle breeze, one might fancy it to
be a little child sporting itself in the verdant mead. Cease
from tears, oh, Malvina! The hero is dead, clad in his
armour, and the flower of your bosom has given a new
flower to the hills of Cromla.’

“The sweetness of these songs allayed the grief of Malvina ;
she took her golden harp and sang in harmony with its
notes, the song of the.new-born.

“From that day forth, the maidens of Morven have con-
secrated the little Daisy to early infancy. It is, they say,
the flower of Innocency ; the flower of the new-born babe.”
Cowper refers to the Daisy as the child’s flower :-—

69

THE DAISY.

“in the spring and play-time of the year
That calls the unwonted villager abroad
With all her little ones, a sportive train,
To gather king-cups in the yellow-mead,
And prank their hair with Daisies ;”

and how intimately it is associated with child-life, is shown

by the effect of its appearance on a Missionary in India,

whose feelings James Montgomery poetized :—

“ Thrice welcome, little English flower!
Of early scenes beloved by me,
While happy in my father’s bower,
Thou shalt the blithe memorial be;
The fairy sports of infancy,
Youth’s golden age, and manhood’s prime,
Home, country, kindred, friends, with thee
Are mine in this far clime.

Thrice welcome, little English flower !
T’ll rear thee with a trembling hand ;
O for the April sun and shower,
The sweet May dews of that fair land,
Where Daisies, thick as star-light, stand
In every walk!—that here might shoot
Thy scions, and thy buds expand,
A hundred from one root !”

Miss Twamley had very joyous associations in her mind

with Daisies and the days of her childhood,—

“ For one glance
Of wondering love we lifted to the vault
Of the o’er orbéd sky, have we not bent
Full many a gaze of pleased affection down

79°

THE DAISY.

To the green field, starred over with its hosts

Of Daisies, countless as the blades of grass,

*Midst which they seemed to look and laugh at us?
* * * * * *

—Daisies, with their rose-tipped silvery rays

Spreading around the yellow boss within—

And some, most prized, that had not yet displayed

Their fairy circle, but emerging new

From their green hermitage, seemed as they blushed

Beneath the ardent sun’s admiring gaze.”

Burns says, in describing the contents of his Posy,—

“The Daisy ’s for simplicity and unaffected air,”

the mark of that genuine purity and unsuspecting faith,
which is the essential characteristic of the best type of our
race, and which is seen in the child. Miss Twamley says
of it, —

“Rich in its ignorance is Infancy,
And every added year but makes more poor,
By added knowledge, childhood’s guileless wealth,—
The wealth of an unblighted, unchilled soul.”

Burns also calls it lowly, an epithet which the character
just spoken of may always claim,—

“All beneath th’ unrivalled rose
The lowly Daisy sweetly blows.”

We have seen that Wordsworth claims the Daisy as the
Poet’s darling; other poets have had the same fondness
for it; Chaucer says,—

71

N

a

THE DAISY.

“__of all the floures in the mede
Than love I most these floures white and rede,
Soch that men callen Daisies in our town,
To hem I have so great affection,
As I sayd erst, whan comen is the Maie,
That in my bedde there daweth me no daie,
That I n’am up and walking in the mede
To see this floure ayenst the Sunne sprede;
Whan it up riseth early by the morrow,
That blissful sight softeneth all my sorrow.”

and, as when, ere rosy-fingered morn tinged the eastern sky,
he rose, so

“ As soon as ever the Sunne ginneth west
To seen this floure, how it will go to rest,
For feare of night, so hateth the darknesse,
Here chere is plainly spred in the brightness
Of the Sunne, for there it will unclose.

Shelley is reminded, by its ever-blooming, of the (to us)

never-setting constellation, commonly known as Charles’s-
Wain :—

“ Daisies, those pearled Arcturi of the earth,
The constellated flower that never sets.”

Again, our poets commonly regard the Daisy as Nature’s
Favourite; thus Wordsworth,—

“now my own delights I make,—
My thirst at every rill can slake,
And gladly Nature’s love partake
Of the sweet Daisy!”

Again he addresses it,—
72

THE DAISY.

“ Bright flower, whose home is everywhere !

A pilgrim bold in Nature’s care,

And all the long year through, the heir
Of joy or sorrow,

Methinks that there abides in thee

Some concord with humanity,

Giv’n to no other flower I see
The forest through !”

Burns in like manner,—

“ Now Nature—
—spreads her sheets o’ Daisies white
Out owre the grassy lea.”

James Montgomery, in his verses entitled the Field Flower
(they should be called The Daisy), says of it,—

“this small flower, to Nature dear,
While moon and stars their courses run,
Wreathes the whole circle of the year,
Companion of the sun.’

*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 ;

The rose has but a summer reign,
The Daisy never dies.”

The profusion with which the Daisy is scattered every-
where is noticed by our poets. Milton writes of “medows
trim with Daisies pied” (variegated); Spenser, “the grassie
grounde with daintie Daisies dight” (dressed out); Miss
73

THE DAISY.

Taylor, “Daisies enamel (variegate) the plain;” Burns, “the
bank, with Daisies all beset ;” Shelley says,—

“the sinuous paths of lawn and moss,
Which led through the garden along and across—
* * * * * *
Were all paved with Daisies ;”

and Clare addresses the flower,—

“ Daisies, ye flowers of lowly birth,
Embroiderers of the carpet earth,
That stud the velvet sod ;”

and Davors, who seems to have been a friend of Izaak
Walton, and delighted in angling, speaking of those who
preferred other sports, says,—

“Let them that list, these pastimes still pursue,
And on such pleasing fancies feed their fill ;
So I the fields and meadows green may view,
And daily by fresh rivers walk at will,
Among the Daisies.”

and last, but not least, Mason Good, looking through nature
up to nature’s God, writes,—

“ Not worlds on worlds, in phalanx deep, need we to prove that God is
here;

The Daisy, fresh from winter’s sleep, tells of His Hand in lines as clear :

For who but He who arched the skies, and poured the day-spring’s
living flood,

Wondrous alike in all He tries, could rear the Daisy’s purple bud;

Mould its green cup, its wiry stem, its fringéd border nicely spin,

And cut the gold-embosséd gem that, set in silver, gleams within :

And fling it unrestrained and free, o’er hill, and dale, and desert sod,

That man, where’er he walks may see, the stamp of God ?”

74

THE DAMASK ROSE.

DAMASK ROSE (Rosa Damascena)—BEAUTY EVER NEw.

THE varieties of the Damask Rose are numerous. They
are universal favourites. In May they begin and continue
to bloom until Autumn. In France some varieties are in
flower in every season of the year, whence they are called
Roses de Quatre-Saisons, and on that account are the suitable
emblem of Beauty Ever New. The Monthly Rose begins
first, and continues the latest, to bloom in England, and
therefore adequately supplies with us the place of the Rose
de Quatre-Saisons. It flowers until checked by frosts, and
if protected by glass, and aided by artificial heat, it will
yield us its bloom up to Christmas.

DANDELION (Leontoden taraxacum)—ORACLE.

THE bright-hued Dandelion is known to all. It opens
its petals to the earliest rays of the sun, a peculiarity Elliott
has not forgotten to notice in enumerating “the wonders
of the lane,’—

“ And here the sun-flower of the spring,
Burns bright in morning’s beam.”

Moore alludes to its unfolding to the rays of the sun, and
closing when they are withdrawn or intercepted,—

“ She, enamoured of the sun,
At his departure hangs her head and weeps,
And shrouds her sweetness up, and keeps

75

Sad vigils, like a cloistered nun,
Till his reviving ray appears,
Waking her beauty as he dries her tears.”

The hour when the Dandelion opens and closes being known,
it is a shepherd’s time-piece ; Howitt, speaking of it, says,—

“ Dandelion, with globe of down,
The schoolboy’s clock in every town,
Which the truant puffs amain,
To conjure lost hours back again.”

This globe of down is also the Oracle to every incipient
lover of either sex. The youth not yet in his ‘teens, meeting
with one of them, begins to tempt his fate. He plucks
the seed-stem from the plant, and puffs away the feathered
sphere, alternately saying, “She loves me!” “She loves
me not!” thinking of the pretty face and sparkling eyes
which enchanted his throbbing heart at the last juvenile
party. Then, according as one of these sentences is uttered
as the last sphere leaves its native station, so is the answer
to his anxious inquiry. The response is somewhat like
those of the Delphic Oracle, very ambiguous, and capable
of being interpreted as the inquirer desires. So he breathes
gently or fiercely, softly or sharply, lest the response should
dissipate the fond illusion which is adding a new and delicious
charm to his young life.

76

DANDELION. :

DARNEL.

DARNEL (Lolium temulentum).—VICE.

DARNEL is the emblem of Vice, because in warm climates
it, together with the barren oat, grows so thickly in the
fields as to choke good wheat. Its stem much resembles
that of wheat, whence there is great difficulty in eradicating
it, in an early stage of growth, without injuring the good
corn. Qn this account, as well as for other reasons, it is
thought that the word ¢aves in a well-known parable should
be Darne/, as giving a more accurate meaning. Shelley
names it among offensive vegetation,—

‘“‘__the mandrakes, and toadstools, and docks, and Darnels,
Rose like the dead from their buried charnels.”

DEAD LEAVES.—MELANCHOLY. SADNESS.

“The Dead Leaves strew the forest walk,
And withered are the pale wild-flowers ;
The frost hangs blackening on the stalk,
The dewdrops fall in frozen showers.” —-BRAINARD.

NEAR the end of September we have abundant indica-
tions of the approach of winter. The trees have displayed
their flowers; flowers have produced their fruit; the fruit,
ripened by the summer’s sun, has been gathered, and con-
sumed, or stored up, or preserved for use in winter. Now
the thick vapours are condensed upon -our trees, and their
leaves, once so vividly green, become various in hue, tawny,
77

DITTANY.

yellow, brown, lemon, and orange, as well as of divers shades
of colour. Our planet has, in its course, drawn nearer to
the sun, and the hours when we enjoy his light are daily
lessened, the days are not so warm, the nights grow colder
even to freezing, and the faded leaves fall continuously.
The paths of garden, field, and forest are strewed with
them. The beautiful Spring has gone, the brilliant Summer
has fled, the changing Autumn is fast passing, and a sense
of sadness pervades the mind, and a weight of melancholy
depresses us, as the dead leaves remind us that “all that’s
bright must fade.” Some friends we love must go on
before, leaving us behind; while we in turn must pass away,
and leave others who may grieve for us. Yet again shall
Winter give way to Spring, the fields shall become verdant,
flowers shall flourish, birds shall sing, all nature shall rejoice:
so with sadness and melancholy; they too shall give way
to consolation, and comfort, and be followed by happiness
made more enjoyable by the contrast.

DITTANY (Origanum Dictamnus).—~BIRTH.

WHEN Juno took charge of children at their birth, she
assumed as a surname, Lucina (as bringing to light, ze.
life). At such times she wore a wreath of Dittany. The
pleasant fragrance of this shrub, and its medicinal qualities,
won the favour of the ancients and exact our regard. It
is indigenous to Candia, or Crete. Its generic name signi-
fies the Joy of the Mountain, a name it fully merits, since

78

DODDER.

its pretty spikes of flowers and pleasant perfume are indeed
the joy of the places it thrives in. One species, commonly
known as Marjoram, is a favourite culinary herb, rendering
our dishes more relishing to the epicurean palate of the
Englishman.

DODDER (Cuscuta Europea).—BASENESS.

THE seeds of this genus, falling on the ground, lie dormant
until Spring. They then form their slender stem and
fibrous roots. If no other plant be near, these perish. It
usually, however, attaches itself to some neighbouring plant,
and entwines around it its slender branches. At intervals

it protrudes a glandular apex, which soon puts forth a
radicle acute enough to pierce the bark of the plant to
which it adheres, and the fluids of which it absorbs. When
this connexion is fully. established, the original roots and
stem of the Dodder die, and it becomes a true parasite,
basely feeding on the vitals of the plant into which it has
insinuated itself.

THE DOG ROSE (Rosa canina).— SIMPLICITY.

Or the Roses of June none afford such wide-spread
pleasure as the Dog Rose. It does not confine itself to a
few places, but decorates every hedge in the country with
its simple beauty, and fills the air around it with most

79

a?

THE DOG ROSE.

delicious perfume. When the first of its kind meets our
eye, we are ready to exclaim with Mrs. Howitt,—

“Welcome, oh ! welcome once again,
Thou dearest of all the laughing flowers,
That open their odorous bosoms when
The summer birds are in their bowers.
There is none that I love, sweet gem, like thee,
So mildly through the green leaves stealing ;
For I seem as thy delicate flush I see,
In the dewy haunts of my youth to be;
And a gladsome youthful feeling
Springs to my heart, that not all the glare
Of the blossoming East could awaken there ;”

And at these times, when we think of, and look round upon,
many of the beauties of Flora’s kingdom, we are disposed
to agree with her in preferring this flower, and say,—

“more than all, the sweet wild-rose,
Starring each bush in lanes and glades,
Smiles in each lovelier tint that glows
On the cheeks of England’s peerless maids.”

It is a most fitting emblem of Simplicity, since it displays
its charms, now of the faintest blush, anon of richer roseate
hues, for the enjoyment and gratification of all, not confining
its treasures to the enrichment of a select few.

80

ia

EBONY.

EBON Y.—BLACKNESS.

PLUTO, or Hades, is said to sit upon a throne of Ebony
with his consort Persephone, at his court in Pandemonium.
“He has a heart as black as Ebony,’ is not an uncommon
expression, when one is spoken of who is believed to
have done some great wickedness, or committed some
act of gross deception. This would seem to have arisen
from the fact, that Ebony is the heart-wood of a tree,
the alburnum being of a pale hue, its foliage soft and of
downy whiteness, while its flowers are beautiful and showy.

THE EGLANTINE (Rosa rubiginosa.)—POETRY.

THE Eglantine, or Sweet-briar Rose, is regarded as being
specially the flower of poets. In the floral games it is
awarded as the prize for the best production in praise of the
pleasures of study, and the charms of oratory. But not only
is it the Poet’s flower, for, thriving in every situation, and
universally admired and appreciated, both for its permanent
fragrance, and the beauty and elegance of its simple flowers
in their season, it is a most fitting emblem of poetry. How
accurately does M. de Boisjolin speak of it in these lines,—

“ Fleur chére a tous les cceurs, elle pare & la fois
Et le chaume du pauvre et le marbre des rois;
Elle orne tous les ans la beauté la plus sage ;
Le prix de linnocence en est aussi l’image ;”

8r

THE EGLANTINE.

and like it, genuine poetry, which appeals to the affections and
sings of the feelings belonging to our common humanity, is
fully appreciated, and therefore fully delighted in, as well by
the cottager who becomes acquainted with it by hearing, as
by crowned heads who read it at leisure in their splendid
palaces.

To Cunningham, it was the Poet’s flower par excellence ; all
others were disregarded by him when that was at hand,—

“Yes, every flower that blows, I passed unheeded by,
Till this enchanting Rose had fixed my wandering eye;
It scented every breeze that wantoned o’er the stream,
Or trembled through the trees to meet the morning beam.”

Landor, unacquainted, perhaps, with the many passages where
poets have simply named the Sweetbriar, asks, as if com-
plainingly,— —

“My briar, that smelledst sweet, when gentle spring’s first heat
Ran through thy quiet veins ;
Thou that couldst injure none, but wouldst be left alone,
Alone thou leavest me, and nought of thine remains.
What, hath no poet’s lyre o’er thee, sweet breathing briar,
Hung fondly ill or well?
And yet methinks with thee, a poet’s sympathy,
Whether in weal or woe, in life or death, might dwell.”

Our sweet Eglantine scatters its rich fragrance over, and
beautifies the hedgerows and gardens of our transatlantic
brethren. How warmly does the poet Brainard sing its
praises,—

“Our sweet autumnal western scented wind

Robs of its odours none so sweet a flower,
82

ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE.

In all the blooming waste it left behind,

As that the Sweetbriar yields it; and the shower
Meets not a rose that buds in beauty’s bower
One half so lovely; yet it grows along

The poor girl’s pathway, by the poor man’s door.
Such are the simple folks it dwells among;

And humble as the bud, so humble be the song.”

ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE (Circea lutetiana).—
SORCERY. WITCHCRAFT.

IN damp and humid places, where the superstitious mind
may imagine every kind of hideous reptile, and birds of evil
omen, to congregate; and plants and weeds of noxious pro-
perties to thrive; and where the wizened wizard and the
shrivelled hag, of face repulsive, might most fitly perform
their incantations ; there does this plant delight to grow, as
“amid the mouldering bones and decayed coffins in the
ruinous vaults of Sleaford church, in Lincolnshire,” and like
localities. Of its favourite habitat, Darwin, in his “Loves of
the Poets,” thus writes,— ‘

“ Thrice round the grave Circzea prints her tread,
And chants the numbers which disturb the dead.”

Moore, in the “Feast of Roses,” introduces an enchantress,
who professes to have the power of charming back the strayed
love of Selim to Nourmahal, by means of flowers,—

“Tis the hour
That scatters spells on herb and flower,
83

ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE.

And garlands might be gathered now,
That, twined around the sleeper’s brow,
Would make him dream,—”

of Nourmahal, of course ; and further,—

“ Now, too, a chaplet might be wreathed
Of buds o’er which the moon has breathed,
Which worn by her, whose love has strayed,
Might bring some Peri from the skies,
Some sprite, whose very soul is made
Of flowerets’ breaths and lovers’ sighs,
And who might tell—”

how that love is to be restored ; and so

“¢ For me, for me,’
Cried Nourmahal, impatiently,
‘Oh! twine that wreath for me to-night.’”

The enchantress does her bidding, and the result is that the
royal lover’s affections are again fixed upon the Sultana
Nourmahal, the Light of the Harem.

If the enchanter’s art always restored happiness to mortals,
we might regret the loss of the race, which is now seemingly
represented by professors of spirit-rapping. Since, however,
the supposed power of the enchanter was used to stir up the
author of all mischief, for some evil purpose, we cannot be
sorry that the darkest days of superstition are ended. It was
in those days that the enchanter’s Nightshade was thought to
have very wonderful properties. It is not of any value for
good or ill.

84

THE EVENING PRIMROSE.

THE EVENING PRIMROSE (Gxothera biennis).—
INCONSTANCY.

THIS ornamental flower is a native of North America. It
is called the Evening Primrose because it opens its sulphur-
coloured petals from six to seven p.m. Their mode of opening
is remarkable. The petals are held together by hooks at
the end of the flower-cup, whose segments separate first at
the lower part, where the corolla may be seen for some time
before its expansive force is strong enough to unhook the
flower-cup at the top. When unhooked, the corolla opens
out instantaneously as it were; it then halts, taking time to
spread out flat. The space of time occupied from the first
disclosure of the corolla at the bottom, to its full expansion,
is about half an hour. The corolla becomes flaccid during
the next day, more or less quickly, as the atmosphere is hot
and dry, or cold.and moist.

Bernard Barton has set this flower in poetry,—

“ Fair flower, that shunn’st the glare of day,

Yet lov’st to open, meekly bold,

To evening hues of sober grey,
Thy cup of paly gold ;

Be thine the offering, owing long,
To thee, and to this pensive hour,

Of the brief tributary song,
Though transient as thy flower.”

The quickly blooming and speedy fading of this flower makes

it a good emblem of Inconstancy.
85

A FEATHERY REED.

A FEATHERY REED.—INDISCRETION.

WE are told that Pan and Apollo once contended with
the flute and the lyre for pre-eminence in music, and made
choice of Midas, King of Phrygia, to award the palm. He
preferred the music of Pan to that of Apollo, whereupon the
god of the silver-bow made the king’s ears as an ass’s ears.
Midas hid them under his Phrygian cap, so that no one
but his hair-dresser knew of the change. The man, harassed
by the discovery, feeling that he could not keep it secret, .
and dreading the consequences to himself should he reveal
it, dug a hole in the ground, and whispered into it the
words, “ Midas has ass’s ears,” as if he would bury it there.
He then filled up the grave of the secret, on which a
Feathery Reed grew up, and, as it waved about in the
breeze,, it seemed to betray continually the buried secret,
waving forth the words, “ Midas has the ears of an ass!”

FENNEL (Axethum feniculum).—STRENGTH.

THE gladiators in training for exhibition used to mix
Fennel with their food, for the purpose of stimulating their
energies. Successful gladiators were crowned with a garland
of Fennel, after the sports were concluded. It is now used
by us for culinary purposes, giving a pleasant flavour to
sauces served with salmon and mackerel. It forms a pretty
garnish to these fish. The seeds are a strong carminative,
and great quantities are annually imported from France for
use in medicine.

86

“STZ

FERN.

FERN.—SINCERITY.

“The Foxgloves and the Fern, how gracefully they grow,
With grand old oaks above them, and wavy grass below!
The stately trees stand round, like columns fair and high,
And the spreading branches bear a glorious canopy
Of leaves, that rustling wave in the whispering summer air,
And gaily greet the sunbeams that are falling brightly there.”—
Romance of Flowers.

WHEN the forest glades are bordered with Ferns in the
beauteous days of summer, these graceful forms of vegetable
life make a useful carpet. Open to the lovely sky, mottled
over with clouds, amid which the glowing sun passes on his
glorious way, yet screened by a leafy canopy, such spaces
afford most pleasing resorts for the pic-nic party. There may
ministering maidens and waiting gentlemen spread the cloth ;
set forth the savoury viands, the generous and sparkling
wines, and the various fruits of the season; and then, seated
or reclining upon the obliging Fern, partake of the refreshing
collation. How pleasantly passes the time on such occasions,
and how swiftly! and then the freedom of sucha reunion, the
desire to please, the lovely weather, the generous and delicate
refection, unlock the closed heart of those usually most
reserved. Then hidden feelings show themselves ; thoughts,
at other times concealed, escape through the ivory inclosure
and ruby lips; for the most part, they who are present are

then sincere, though in their sincerity sentiments may become
known which dispel some fond yet vain illusion, which must
87

Lot

Sa

FIR TREE.

no longer be cherished. Yet so much that is delightful is
associated with these red-letter days, that we are bound to
say with Miss Twamlay,—

“ The green and graceful Fern, how beautiful it is!
There’s not a leaf in all the land so wonderful I wis.
Have ye ever watched it budding, with each stem and leaf

wrapped small,

Coiled up within each other like a round and hairy ball?
Have ye watched that ball unfolding each closely nestling curl,
And its fair and feathery leaflets their spreading forms unfurl?
Oh! then most gracefully they wave in the forest, like a sea,
And dear as they are beautiful are those Fern leaves to me.”

FIR TREE.—ELEVATION.

“Those lofty Firs, that over-top
Their ancient neighbour, the old steeple tower.”—
WORDSWORTH.

THE Firs are a hardy family of trees, growing in the coldest
regions and high situations, and attaining a height of from
twenty to one hundred feet. They also grow with consider-
able rapidity. The “ Wellingtonia gigantea,” so named by the
late Dr. Lindley, and designated by him “the monarch of the
Californian forest,” is a magnificent cone-bearing tree. One
specimen was found on the Sierra Nevada, measuring 450 feet
from its head to its root! This tree grows well in our
climate. Young trees may be purchased at small cost; its
ramification is pleasing; its verdure of agreeable tint; and
its growth quick. All the Fir tribe are more or less useful as

timber. Whether we consider it as thriving in lofty regions,
88

FLAX.

aS growing to great heights, or its high estimation as a
timber-making family, it is most deservedly the emblem of
Elevation.

FLAX (Linum usttatissimum)—I AM SENSIBLE OF YOUR
KINDNESS.

“ How sweetly blooms
Upon the slopes the azure-blossomed Flax.”—
CARRINGTON.

USITATISSIMUM! Most useful indeed is the Flax, which,
Carrington tells us, blooms upon the slopes of the wilds of
Dartmoor. It has been cultivated from the earliest ages on
account of its valuable fibres, the raw material used in the
manufacture of linen and other useful articles. Of it the
rich lace which is so ornamental to the fair sex, is made.
When the goods manufactured from it are worn out by use,
the rags are converted into the best writing and drawing
papers.

Not only is the fibre of the Flax exceedingly useful, but
also the seed, which is used as food in its whole state. It
is made into linseed cake, invaluable for feeding cattle, and
in its manufacture a rich oil is expressed, highly prized by
the artist, the ordinary painter, and the veterinary surgeon.
It also supplies rape oil and the colza oil, which yield an
artificial light so mild and agreeable in our sitting-rooms.
We are, in fact, so deeply indebted to this plant that we
must allow it to be a very appropriate emblem of the
sentiment, “I am sensible of your Kindness.”

89

THE FLOWERING FERN.

THE FLOWERING FERN (Osmunda regalis).—REVERIE.

THIS is the finest of our native Ferns. It is sometimes
called the royal Fern. Its generic name, Osmunda, ‘is
supposed to be that of a goddess, queen of Thor, a Celtic
divinity, and was applied to this plant for its alleged virtue in
medicine. One of its fancied properties is to inspire those
under its influence with dreams of great prophetic force,
whence it is made the emblem of Reverie. This Fern grows
in the most retired spots, in the midst of deep forests, as in
the royal forest of Delamere, Cheshire; and on vast bleak
moors, as at Hind Head, a few miles from Godalming,
Surrey. Wordsworth speaks of its retiring propensities—

“ Fair Ferns and flowers, and chiefly that tall Fern
So stately, of the Queen Osmunda named,
Plant lovelier in its own retired abode
On Grasmere’s beach, than Naiad by the side
Of Grecian brook, or lady of the mere,
Sole sitting by the shores of old romance ;”

so that its habitat, wherever that may be, is exactly suited to
quiet musing, and those fits of abstraction which we are
accustomed to speak of simply as a Reverie.

go

FORGET-ME-NOT.

FORGET-ME-NOT (Myosotis palustris) —FORGET-ME-NOT.

“That name, it speaks in accents dear of love, and hope, and joy,
and fear;

It softly tells an absent friend that links of love should never rend ;

Its whispers waft on swelling breeze, o’er hill and dale, by land and
seas, Forget-me-not !

Gem of the rill! we love to greet thy blossoms smiling at our feet.
We fancy to thy flow’ret given a semblance of the azure heaven ;
And deem thine eye of gold to be the star that gleams so brilliantly.”

THE Myosotis is nowhere seen, perhaps, in greater beauty
and abundance than on the borders of a small stream in
the environs of Luxembourg. The country people call this
streamlet the Fairies’ Bath, or the Cascade of the Enchanted
Oak; these two names seem to have been given to it on
account of the beauty of its source, which it issues from
with a murmuring sound, at the foot of an oak tree as old as
the hills. Its waters bound along, at first, from cascade to
cascade, under a long covering of verdure, which they leave
only to flow gently through an extensive meadow. There
they seem to the delighted eye like a thread of silver. Part
of the bank is covered with a thick border of Myosotis,
whose pretty flowers are, in the month of July, of a bright
celestial blue. Then they bend down, as though they took
pleasure in admiring themselves in the crystal stream, the
purity of which cannot be surpassed. Ofttimes do the young
girls go down from the city, on holidays, to dance by the
side of the river. There, while weaving wreaths of the flower
: 91

‘

it nourishes, we might fancy they were so many nymphs cele-
brating accustomed sports in honour of the naiad of the
enchanted oak.

Though every one knows why this pretty flower is used to
express the wish, “ Forget-me-not,” we must here repeat the
story :—Two lovers, on the eve of marfiage, were walking on
the banks of the Danube. A flower, blue as the deepest sky,
swung upon the waves, which seemed ready to bear it away.
The young lady admired its beautiful colour, and bewailed its
impending destiny. The affianced bridegroom leaped into the
stream, seized the blooming stem, and sunk engulfed in the
flowing waters. It is said that, witha last effort, he threw

the flower on the bank, and at the moment of his disappear- *

ance for ever, cried out, ‘Love me; Forget-me-not !”

“Pour exprimer l'amour ces fleurs semblent éclore ;
Leur langage est un mot, mais il est plein d’appas.
Dans la main des amants elles disent encore:

Aimez-moi; ne m’oubliez pas !”

This, the great Water Scorpion Grass, as a poetical writer,
whose name we do not know, has said—

“By rivulet, or spring, or wet road-side,
That blue and bright-ey’d flow’ret of the brook,
Hope’s gentle gem, the sweet ‘ Forget-me-not,’”

is very ornamental. The blue of its petals is brilliant, and in
the centre is a yellow eye, from which white lines radiate.
Other species of the grass are smaller, are often mistaken for
this, and, in the absence of the identical flower, may well be
regarded as emblematical of the same sentiment.

g2

FORGET-ME-NOT. at

eer

FRAXINELLA.

FRAXINELLA (Dictamnus F.).—FIRE.

FRAXINELLA, the specific name, was given to this plant
because its leaves closely . resemble those of the Ash
(Fraxinus). If you rub the plant with your fingers it will
emit a lemon scent; if you bruise it, the fragrance will be
balsamic. The footstalks of the flowers are supposed to
contain this fine scent. They are studded with glands of a
rusty red, which exude a resinous or viscous fluid. This fluid
exhales in vapour, and may be seen to take fire in dark
places. It is alleged that when the day has been very hot
and dry, and the evening damp, this exhalation is so inflam-
mable as to ignite if a lighted bougie be brought near the
plant.

FUMITORY (fumaria officinalis) —HATRED.

A PRETTY weed, whose leaves smell rather disagreeable.
The taste of the plant is somewhat bitter and saline, and is so
offensive to the palate that it has been called by the French,
Fiel de terre, and appropriated as the emblem of Hatred.

GARDEN WALL-FLOWER (Cheiranthus cheiri).—
; LASTING BEAUTY.

THE Greeks delighted in flowers, but were unacquainted

with the art of cultivating and improving them; they
received them as the wild gifts of nature.. With the arts of
93 :

GARDEN WALL-FLOWER,

Greece, the Romans took up the taste for flowers, and their
love of floral wreaths was so great that the use of certain
flowers was prescribed for special purposes. These rulers
of the then known world cultivated both violets and roses, and
whole fields, covered with these flowers, soon encroached on
the domain of Ceres. The valiant Gauls were long without
the delicacies of life; their warlike hands disdaining even the
use of the plough. With them, the garden was the territory
of the mistress of the family, and contained nothing but
aromatic plants and potherbs. In time their manners became
softened, and Charlemagne, the terror of his foes and the
father of his own people, was fond of flowers. He recom-
mends the culture of the lily, the rose, and the wall-flower.
Exotic flowers were not introduced amongst us until the.’
thirteenth century. In the time of the Crusades, our warriors
brought many new kinds from Egypt and Syria. The monks,
at that time the only skilful cultivators of the soil, took care
of them. They soon gave a pleasing charm to their quiet
retreats; thence they spread over our parterres, and became
our chief festal decorations, and the luxury of our castles
and halls. Still the rose remains the queen of our groves,
and the lily the king of our vales. The rose does not last
long, and the lily passes away almost as quickly. The Wall-
flower, less graceful than the rose, less superb than the lily,
has a more lasting beauty ; a difference which Moir has noted:

“Rich is the pink, the lily gay, the rose is Summer’s guest ;
Bland are thy charms when these decay—of flowers, first, last, and best!
These may be gaudier in the bower, and statelier on the tree;
But Wall-flower, loved Wall-flower, thou art the flower for me!”

94

GATHERED FLOWERS.

For the greater part of the year the Wall-flower displays its
orange, yellow, and red pyramidal bloom, which scatters con-
tinually a most agreeable fragrance, and these render the
flower acceptable to all. It gives a charm to the garden of
the noble, and the flower-pot of the lowliest who cherish it
with the fondest care. It claims of right, which no one can
dispute, to be the emblem of Lasting Beauty.

GATHERED FLOWERS.—WE DIE TOGETHER.

IT is well known how soon a mass of flowers, or fruit, or
vegetables, decomposes the air, and renders it unfit for
respiration, producing sickness and death.

This fact has suggested to a German writer, Freiligrath, a
touching sketch, which he calls, “The Revenge of the
Flowers.”

“Returning from a botanical excursion, two young girls
enter their home, close the windows, lie down and fall asleep.
At their feet, in a basket, is seen the flowers which they
have collected. How indiscreet! where is their mother ? who
will warn them of the danger which surrounds them? Already
the air is being decomposed, the atmosphere of the small
apartment is heavy and unfit to breathe, and the youthful
maidens weighed down by it writhe about unconsciously on
their couch. Suddenly, from amid the basket of flowers, rise
up the spirits of the narcissus and the tuberose! They
appear as two light nymphs dancing and whirling about,
meanwhile chanting ominous words: ‘ Young maidens ! young
maidens! why have you deprived us of life? Nature gives

95

GERMAN IRIS.

us but a day, and you have shortened it! Oh! how sweet
was the dew! how radiant the sun! and yet we must die!
but we will be avenged,’ Thus chanting, the two nymphs,
continually whirling about and bewailing their fate, draw
near the young maidens’ couch, and breathe over their faces
their poisonous exhalations. Poor children! Mark their
livid cheeks! their pale lips! their arms closely interwoven !
Alas! their heart has ceased to beat; they no longer breathe
the breath of life; they are dead together. The flowers are
avenged !”

GERMAN IRIS (ris germanica)—ARDOUR. FLAME.

“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 show
Like twinkling stars, that sparkle in the evening blew.”—
: FLETCHER.

THE German Iris is a plant which the peasants of that
country delight to cultivate on the tops of their cottages.
When the air gently waves about its beautiful flowers, and
the sun lights up their petals with mingled tints of gold, and
purple, and azure, one might say that bright and perfumed
flames glance upon the rustic roofs. No doubt this appearance
has caused the name F/amme to be given to this flower.

Three Flower-de-luce, or Fleur-de-lis, two and one, or, on a
shield azure, is the royal arms of France. It fitly speaks of
the ardour and enthusiasm which are peculiarly characteristic
of the inhabitants of La delle France. It is also a universally:

96

GERMANDER SPEEDWELL.

admired decoration in ecclesiastical art, in which it is figured
in great variety of form, but so faithfully representing the
original as in no case to be mistaken. May it not in all places,
so used, call to our minds that ardour and warmth of devotion
which should mark all our religious observances ?

GERMANDER SPEEDWELL (Veronica chamedrys).—
FAITHFULNESS.

THERE are many species of this genus, but not one exceeds
in beauty the little Germander Speedwell, which is very
common in our hedgerows. Its pretty blue flowers grow in
masses; and so much is it admired that it is introduced into
our gardens, where it grows longer and blooms for a more
lengthened period than in its wild state; but in this con-
dition it rarely survives more than one year, and therefore is
treated as an annual, and as such far surpasses many exotics,
Its generic name is Greek, and is said by some to signify,
Faithful Likeness.

GLASSWORT.—PRETENSION.

THE different species of this useful plant grow most
abundantly by the sea, in salt marshes, and yield the barilla
of commerce, so valuable in the manufacture of soap. It is
also used in the production of glass, whence its common
name. A lively fancy has compared it to one who, with some
pretension to beauty, smitten with her own charms, delights
in admiring her reflected image, since this pretty plant
droops over the crystal stream near which it grows.

97 H

GLYCINE.

GLYCINE (G. sinensis)—YOUR FRIENDSHIP IS PLEASING
AND AGREEABLE TO ME.

THE Glycine is an elegant creeper. The Chinese have
made it the emblem of a tender and delicate friendship.
That it may thrive with success, this plant needs to be sup-
ported, and sheltered under a wall with a south aspect. Its
beautiful pale blue flowers, arranged in long pendulous branches
like the laburnum and the acacia, bloom in succession during
the summer; but it is in the month of April, especially, that
they unfold themselves on all sides, and spread over the
largest trees their perfumed wreaths. Then they cover our
walls, they surround our windows, they form bowers, and fall
down again like a shower of flowers from the roofs of our
houses. They comply with all the caprices, and yield to all
the demands, of those who cultivate them with care and
attention.

We see that this plant is yielding, agreeable, and gentle,
like friendship; and to preserve it, what does it require?
That which the heart lavishes on a friend,—tenderness and
attention.

GOAT’S RUE (Galega officinalis) REASON.

THE juice of this plant was at one time used to tran-
quillize patients suffering mental delirium, and to recall the
wandering faculties, whence it has been made the emblem
of Reason. It is now of no repute as a medicine, but the
species are. cultivated and are handsome border flowers.

98

GRASS.

GOOSEFOOT (Chenopodium Bonus Henricus).—GOODNESS.

THE people have given the name of their best beloved
King to a wholesome and useful plant, which grows within
their reach, and which, in some sort, seems to belong to
them exclusively. Le Bon Henri needs no cultivation in
France, but flourishes everywhere along walls and thickets.
It is at once the asparagus and spinach of the poor. Happy,
a thousand times, is the king who merits such a simple
homage !

GRASS.— USEFULNESS.

THE wisdom and beneficence of the great Creator of the
universe is most plainly seen in the way in which His creatures
are provided for. When the earth emerged from the abyss
of waters, then, first of all vegetable life, Grass was bid to
grow and clothe its surface. Then, when cattle, and fowls
of the air, and creeping things were created, it was declared
that for them was given every green herb for meat. Thus
has grass from the beginning been the principal supply for
them, and is the most common form of vegetation, whereon
the cattle upon a thousand hills have fed, and grown, and
multiplied, stocking the world with the vast amount of food
now required by the millions upon millions of human beings
who people it. What then can be more useful than grass
in its many varieties? and what is more pleasing to look
upon than the verdure with which it clothes our hills and

99 H 2

GREEK VALERIAN.

dales, our meadows and downs? Surely nothing. It has,
therefore, most deservedly been adopted as the emblem of
Usefulness.

GRASS-LEAVED GOOSE-FOOT (Chenopodium altis-
simum)—I DECLARE WAR AGAINST YOU.

THIS plant bears some resemblance to the pyramidal
cypress. In some parts of Italy, of which country it is a
native, the offering to any one the stems or stalks of it is
regarded as an insult.

GREEK VALERIAN (Polemonium ceruleum).—
RUPTURE.

PLINY records that the generic name Polemonium was
given to a plant, because several kings disputed the honour
of having discovered its virtues, and carried their disputes to
such an extent as to try to settle them by an appeal to arms.
It was also called Chilodynamia on account of its remarkable
excellence. Pliny’s plant is unknown now, but the name is
borne by a pretty blue border flower, of easy culture and
long known to the florist.

GUELDER ROSE (Viburnum opulus)—Goop NEws.

THIs is indigenous, and not uncommonly found in moist
places in various parts of Great Britain in June and July. It
is, however, better known as the Snowball Tree, which forms a
100

GUELDER ROSE.

pleasing addition to our groves with the lilac, the laburnum,
and the crimson thorn. Under cultivation, the corollas of the
flowers have expanded to almost as large a size as those of the
radiating ones in the wild plant, and the cymes have become
globose, whence it has obtained the common name. It is
thus, as it were, possible to provide a snowball at Midsummer
in payment of quit-rent to the sovereign, by the noble holder
upon whom such terms are said to have been imposed.

The following legend accounts for the origin of the Guelder
Rose.

A young damsel, scarcely fifteen years of age, died. Her
spirit hovered about her dwelling when in life. She could
not resolve to abandon, even for celestial regions, the fields
she had so dearly loved. Of a sudden her guardian angel
appeared to her. Desirous of fulfilling her wishes, he asked
whether she would like to be transformed into a flower, and
gave her the choice as to its kind. “ Then,” said he, “you
will live in the garden or the meadow!” and looking round
upon the different flowers of the land, added, “Would you
wish to be a tulip?” “No,” she said, “for the tulip has no
fragrance.” “A lily?” “The lily elevates herself above
other flowers.” “A rose?” “She bears thorns which cause
pain.” “A splendid camellia?” “No, no,” suddenly ex-
claimed the spirit of the young damsel; “but, since it is per-
mitted me to make my choice, I should like to be a Guelder
Rose.” “What!” cries the angel in astonishment, “do you
desire to be in bloom when all nature seems dead? Think
of the icy winds of winter; they will drive against you, and
you will die without having felt the caresses of the gentle

IQr

NG

HAWTHORN.

zephyr!” “Be it so,” was the reply; “I shall live only for a

day, but in that day I shall announce the coming Spring !”
We are not told in what way the flower was allowed to

change the season of blooming from winter to summer.

HAWTHORN (Crategus oxyacantha).— HOPE.
“ Hope in the Hawthorn lay.”—-TWAMLEY.

THERE is no tree or shrub which we observe more closely
in the early spring than the Hawthorn. We notice its
swelling buds enlarging daily until the leaves unfold them-
selves. Here and there along the hedgerows patches of
foliage are in advance of the rest. In sheltered places, some
several feet in an enclosure may be quite verdant, while scarce
a leaf has opened out elsewhere. Then come the bunches of
flower buds, followed in due time by the sweet-scented
flowers. While this change is taking place in the Hawthorn,
from its foliation to its blooming, all Nature has been rousing
herself into active life. An abundance of flowers cheer our
hearts. Sweet concerts of birds ring in our ears. The red-
breast, the finches, the blackbird, and thrush, have charmed
us with their various notes, and we remember how they
destroy many enemies to our fruits. Then the swallow, and
the martin, and the cuckoo foretell us of sunny days, of
verdant meads, of golden corn, of glorious fruits, which are to
be showered into our lap. We welcome with delight, though

not in so demonstrative a manner as our forefathers, the Ist
102

HAWTHORN.

of May. In the days of Chaucer (A.D. 1328-1400) it was
the custom to go a-Maying, for, says that poet:

“ —forthe goeth alle the Courte, bothe moste and leste,
To fetch the flowirs freshe, and braunche and bloome,
And namely Hawthorne brought both page and groome,
With freshe garlantis partly blew and white ;”

and Spenser (A.D. 1553-1599) :

“Youngthes folke now flocken in everie where
To gather May buskets and smelling brere ;
And home they hasten the postes to dight,
And all the kirk pillours eare day-light
With Hawthorn buds.”

Herrick (born A.D. 1591) recounts very sweetly the festivi-
ties of May-day, and, as reproving his mistress for not rising
early on so joyous a morning, says:

“There’s not a budding boy or girle, this day,
But is got up, and gone to bring in May.
A deale of youth, ere this, is come
Back, and with white thorn laden home.”

Here and there May-day is still observed. The May-pole is
decked with garlands of flowers ; the May Queen is chosen
and crowned. The young dance upon the village-green, and
flirt or coquet, as in days of yore; while they whose days
for dancing are fled, sit upon the benches or chairs under the
shady foliage, recounting what May-day was in ¢heir time.
Goldsmith, in his “ Deserted Village,” makes mention of

“ The Hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade,
For talking age and whispering lovers made!”
103

HAWTHORN.

a favourite seat for lovers, of which Burns is not unmindful :

“If Heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare,
One cordial in this melancholy vale,
’Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair,
In other’s arms breathe out the tender tale,
Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale ;”

full-of hope of many happy days to come, as they wend their
way through this chequered life, which they have resolved to
do together.

Shakespeare asks :

“Gives not the Hawthorn bush a sweeter shade
To shepherds looking on their silly sheep
Than doth a rich embroidered canopy ,

To kings, that fear their subjects’ treachery ?”

Milton regards it as the favourite shade of the same rustic
character :

“ And every shepherd tells his tale
Under the Hawthorn in the dale.”

The poets are ever mindful of it. Kirke White speaks of
“The mossy seat beneath the Hawthorn’s shade,”

and inviting “ Contemplation” personified to accompany him,
says, we

“-— on the upland stile embowered
With fragrant Hawthorn, snowy flowered,
Will sauntering sit.”

104

HAWTHORN.

Miss Twamley writes :

“ Come, let us rest this Hawthorn-tree below,
And breathe its luscious fragrance ere it flies,
And watch the tiny petals as they fall
Circling and winnowing down our sylvan hall ;”
and Elliott calls upon his friend, saying:
“__ walk with me where Hawthorns hide
The wonders of the lane ;”’
and all our poets are in harmony with respect to the charms
of the Hawthorn, and might join in Miss Taylor’s words :
“] love the pleasant Spring, when buds begin to push,
And flowers their nosegays bring to hang on every bush,
Till stores of May, with snowy bloom,
Fill the young hedgerows with perfume.”

The Troglodytes, whose simple manners remind us of the
golden age, used to cover the friends whom death had taken
with branches of Hawthorn, since they looked upon death as
the morning of a life where there would be no more parting.
Longfellow well expresses this idea :

“ There is no death! what seems so is transition ;
This life of mortal breath is but a suburb of the life Elysian,
Whose portal we call death.”

At Athens, the fair young friends of a bride carried branches
of the Hawthorn at her nuptials ; and the altar of Hymen
was lighted up with torches made of the wood of this tree,
which has ever been regarded as the emblem of Hope. It
tells us of bright days at hand; it held out to the beautiful
Greek the promise of happiness in marriage; and to the
simple Troglodytes it spoke of life eternal.

105

THE HAZEL.

THE HAZEL (Corylus avellana).— RECONCILIATION.
PEACE.

TIME was when the human race had no common bond of
union. Deaf to the cries of nature, the lover abandoned his
mistress ; the mother snatched from her child the wild fruit
with which he sought to satisfy his hunger. If misfortune
united them for a moment, the sight of an oak laden with
acorns, or of a beech-tree bearing abundant mast, made them
enemies. Then the world was filled with woe. There was
neither law, nor religion, nor intelligible language. Man
understood not his nature; his reason slept, and he was oft
as cruel as the most ferocious beasts, whose howlings he
imitated.

The gods took pity upon mankind; Apollo and Mercury
prepared gifts and came down upon earth. The god of
harmony received from the son of Maia a tortoise-shell with
which he made a lyre, and gave to Mercury, in exchange, a
hazel-rod, which had the power to inspire with a love of
virtue, and to reconcile hearts divided by hatred and envy:
thus provided, the two sons of Jupiter presented themselves
to men. Apollo sang forthwith of that Eternal Wisdom
which made the world; he told them how the elements were
produced, and how charity unites by its gentle influence all
created beings; and taught his hearers that they must
appease the anger of the gods by prayer. At his voice you
might have seen mothers, pale and trembling, draw near him,
holding their little infants in their arms; hunger ceased;

106

HEATH.

revenge fled from every heart. Then Mercury touched men
with the wand given to him by Apollo. He set free their
tongue, and taught them to express thoughts by words. He
told them that union was strength, and that nothing could be
obtained from the earth without mutual aid. Filial piety and
the love of country sprung into existence, at his teaching, to
unite the human species ; and he made commerce the bond
which should bring all the world into harmony. His last
thought was the most sublime, for it was sacred to the gods,
and showed men how they might approach them in character
by the exercise of love and beneficence.

Decorated with two light wings, and surrounded by ser-
pents, the Hazel-wand, given to the god of eloquence by the
god of harmony, is yet, under the name of “The Caduceus,”
the symbol of Peace, Commerce, and Reconciliation.

HEATH (£vica vulgaris) —SOLITUDE.

WHERE can Solitude most surely be found? Where can
we betake ourselves so as to be most completely abstracted
from surrounding objects? Whither can we bend our steps
that we may be the least liable to intrusion from our fellow-
men? The answer which may first spring up in the mind
will be, perhaps,—In the wilds of nature, on the vast surface
of moorland, covered with heather, where not a tree or shrub
larger than gorse or furze intercepts the boundless view.
Thither, indeed, he who has toiled among and for his kind,
and in return has received injury and wrong, may fly to

107

HEATH. Oa

escape the society in which he has found only disappoint-

ment.

Such an one Wordsworth has portrayed,—

“He was one who owned

No common soul. In youth by science nursed,
And led by Nature into a wild scene
Of lofty hopes, he to the world went forth
A favoured being, knowing no desire
Which genius did not hallow,—gainst the taint
Of dissolute tongues, and jealousy and hate, .
And scorn,—against all enemies prepared,
All but neglect. The world, for so it thought,
Owed him no service: wherefore he at once
With indignation turned himself away,
And with the food of pride sustained his soul
In Solitude. Stranger! these gloomy boughs
Had charms for him ; and here he loved to sit,

* * * * * *
And on these barren rocks, with juniper,
And Heath, and thistle, thinly sprinkled o’er,
Fixing his downcast eye, he many an hour
A morbid pleasure nourished, tracing here
An emblem of his own unfruitful life ;

* * * * * *

= * * and so, lost man!
On visionary views would fancy feed,
Till his eye streamed with tears.”

To him the barren Heath was solitude indeed; but not less

may it be found in the crowded streets, thronged with myriads.

of human beings, bent each one upon his pursuit after plea-
sure or business, seeking how he may carry out his plans for
self or others: there we may pass along undisturbed, our

thoughts concentrated upon the subject of our reflections,

108

HENBANE.

even more fully than when amid the wilds but beauties of
nature we wander far away from the busy haunts of our
‘kind ; yet, as an emblem of Solitude, we cannot but regard
the Heath as perhaps the most appropriate flower.

HENBANE (Ayoscyamus niger).—F Aut.

HENBANE is a medicinal plant of frequent use by living
physicians. It is a virulent poison, but in their hands is
productive of great benefit in many cases. The Turks are
said to make use of it as a narcotic, its effects resembling
those of opium, and they who commonly make use of it
are regarded as dissolute debauchees.

HEPATICA (Hefatica triloba)—CONFIDENCE.

THIs is a great favourite in the flower border, not only
on account of the various colours it displays, but their many
shades. The leaves are so formed as to bear a striking re-
semblance to the lobes of the liver, whence its generic name.
It blooms from February to April; and when it spreads forth
its pretty petals, the gardener knows that the earth is in a
genial state, and that he may with Confidence sow his
seeds.

109

a
/ HOLLY.

HERB ARCHANGEL (Angelica Archangelica)—
INSPIRATION.

THE stalks of this culinary plant possess a warm aromatic
flavour, and are deemed little inferior to ginger as a stimulant.
In Norway and Lapland it is highly esteemed. It is sup-
posed to be indigenous to extreme northern countries, and we
are told that it serves to form the wreath for the poets of
Lapland, who become inspired under the influence of its
agreeable odour.

HOLLY (lex aquifolium). FORETHOUGHT.

THE forethought of Nature is shown in a remarkable
manner in this beautiful tree. The holly-trees in the forest
of Needwood supply ample proof of this, though many more
can be found. They are furnished with a belt of leaves armed
with thorns to the height of ten feet or more. At that height
the leaves cease to be any protection, for above they are
smooth at the edges. The tree has no further need to be
armed against enemies which cannot reach so high. This
tree, which is of the brightest green colour, is the last deco-
ration of our forests when despoiled of their verdure by
winter ; its berries are food for the little birds which abide
with us during that inclement season ; it lends them its foliage,
which is a hospitable roof prepared for them then. The

deer and the hart even seek its shelter; there they conceal
IIo

HOLLVHOCK.

themselves behind the snows accumulated around it. The
leaves and branches, lightly covered with snow, are disposed
like the roof of a Chinese pavilion, the elegant and pyramidal
form of which is assumed by the Holly.

Does it not seem, then, that Nature, by a kind foresight,
has taken care to preserve throughout the year the greenness
of this beautiful tree, to arm it with thorns, suited to the
needs of, and for a defence for, innocent creatures which fly
to it for refuge? Southey has well spoken of the peculiarity
in the foliation of the Holly, asking,—

“Oh reader! hast thou ever stood to see the Holly Tree?
The eye that contemplates it well perceives its glossy leaves,
Ordered by an Intelligence so 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.”

HOLLYHOCK (Althea rosea). FRUITFULNESS.

THIS beautiful biennial is universally known and admired.
It is a native of China, though some regard it as imported
from Syria during the Crusades. This species is the parent
of nearly twenty varieties, the colours of which are usually
perpetuated in the offspring. Its flowers are very abundant,
and the seeds are also numerous, whence it seems to have
been most aptly chosen as the emblem of Fruitfulness. The
Chinese are said to represent Nature as crowned with its

flowers.
III

THE HONEYVSUCKLE.

THE HONEYSUCKLE (Caprifolium Periclymenum).—
BonpDs OF LOVE.

RECOLLECTIONS of childhood are chiefly associated with
pleasurable incidents : hence the scenes mid which our golden
age was passed are ever bound round our heart by the fondest
regard. Wander where we will over the wide world, form as
many new ties as we may, ties the nearest and dearest that
the human heart can conceive of, pass through periods of the
richest enjoyment that our being is capable of feeling, there
is still—latent it may be in general—but there is still a deep,
strong, and abiding affection for that particular spot of our
native land where our early years were spent. All writers
have expressed this, some poets in language the most ex-
pressive, as, for instance, Scott:

“ Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,

Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!”

and here we have the same feeling shown in more humble
lines with which our flower is woven:

“There the wild Honeysuckle, gaily drest
In blending hues of yellow and of red,
With rich abundance, throws its slender stems
In beautiful festoons, while its flowers shed
Their fragrant sweets upon the evening air.
No blooming shrub’s more plentiful or fair,
Than Woodbine wild among thy floral gems.”

Those Bonds of Love are, perhaps, the last to be broken which

bind the child to the parent, especially to the mother. With
112

THE HONEYVSUCKLE.

her are passed the greater number of hours in infancy and
childhood : in that time, under her influence and teaching, our
character is formed,—some escape the effects of an injudicious
mother’s treatment ; others throw off for a time the salutary
control of a wise and good mother’s teaching,—but the ties
of love are not broken; they remain strong as ever though
relaxed. Wordsworth writes of Emily, in “The White Doe of
Rylstone :

“Ere she hath reached yon rustic shed,
Hung with late-flowering Woodbine, spread
Along the walls and overhead,

The fragrance of the breathing flowers
Revives a memory of those hours
When here, in this remote alcove,

A fondly anxious mother strove

To teach her salutary fears

And mysteries above her years.”

There are Bonds of Love, so called, which produce injurious
effects to the young maiden. Mrs. Laurence, addressing
Cupid, says:
“ Cruel boy!
Woodbine all untwined,
Wanders here forlorn and free ;

Emblem of the maiden’s mind,
Who has placed her trust in thee.”

and for young men, they often work most disastrously. Hear
Cowper :

“So Love, that clings around the noblest minds,
Forbids th’ advancement of the soul he binds;

113

THE HOP.

Then farewell promises of happier fruits,

Manly designs, and learning’s grave pursuits.
* * * * *

Who will, may pant for glory and excel.”

But the Bonds of Love, which have their origin in esteem for
the highest form of mental endowments and moral worth,
are pure and holy, beneficial in time and beyond it; and to
these Bonds, Miss Twamley seems to refer, when she says:

“The Honeysuckle give to Kate, so kindly and caressing ;
Whoever wins her for a mate, will win both wealth and blessing.”

THE HOP (Humulus Lupulus).— INJUSTICE.

THE Hop-gardens of England present a beautiful appear-
ance when the flowers are ready to be gathered, and are,
perhaps, still more pleasing at the time of “hop-picking,”
when the scene is animated by the presence of men, women,
and children, engaged in the operation. The specific name
Lupulus is said to be a contraction of Lupulus Salictarius, by
which name Pliny says it was known, since growing among
willows it twined around them, and was as destructive to
them as a wolf to a flock of sheep: hence it appropriately
represents Injustice.

114

THE HORSE-CHESTNUT.

THE HORSE-CHESTNUT (4sculus Hippocastanum).—
LUXURY.

NEARLY two centuries and a half have passed since this
tree was imported from India, but as yet it does not mingle
its gorgeous head with the trees of our forests. It beautifies
parks, decorates castles, and lends its shade to our colleges
and palaces. In the early spring we see its branches studded
with huge leaf-buds, smeared as it were with an unctuous
gum; a showery day comes, producing a warm moist atmo-
sphere; then the leaf-buds open and clothe the tree with
verdure. When standing alone, nothing can exceed the
beauty of its foliage and the richness of its flowers. Its
pyramidal form, clad with digitate leaves, and the mass of
spikes of delicate white and pink flowers, which appear in
thick profusion, render it an admirable object; as Howitt
writes ;

“For in its honour prodigal nature weaves
A princely vestment, and profusely showers
O’er its green masses of broad palmy leaves,
Ten thousand waxen pyramidal flowers ;

And gay and gracefully its head it heaves
Into the air, and monarch-like it towers.”

The wood and fruit of the Horse-chestnut are of little value.
Its magnitude confines it to the use of the wealthy as an
ornament. It seems thus fitly to represent Luxury in our
floral language.

115 12

THE HYACINTH.

THE HYACINTH (Hyacinthus orientalis) —GAME. PLAY.

APOLLO and Hyacinthus are related to have been engaged
in playing quoits on the river Amphysus, when a quoit, which
had just been hurled from the hand of Apollo, diverged
from its intended course and slew the luckless Hyacinthus.
The god had not the power to restore his friend to life, but
changed him into the beautiful flower which has ever since
borne his name. Milton has recorded the incident as follows :

“ Apollo, with unwitting hand,
Whilome did slay his dearly-loved mate,
Young Hyacinth, the pride of Spartan land ;
But then transformed him to a purple flower.”

THE HYDRANGEA (Aydrangea hortensis).—
YOU ARE COLD.

THIS plant was brought from China about eighty years
ago. It is highly valued for its great profusion of elegant
flowers, which are by nature of a rosy tinge. By culture,
under some circumstances, they become blue, an effect which
florists seem to aim at. The plant is very ornamental in
large rooms and halls; and when the flowers are blue the
whole plant has a cold appearance, whence it has been
thought to be emblematic of a coquette, who, devoid of

any estimable qualities, seeks to please only by attention
to her toilet.

116

THE ICE PLANT.

THE ICE PLANT (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum).—
Your LOOKS FREEZE ME.

THIS singular plant is much admired. It needs the
warm atmosphere of a hothouse, except in summer, when it
flourishes in the open air. The leaves are covered with
transparent vesicles filled with water. When the plant is in
the shade, it has the appearance of being sprinkled with
dew; when exposed to a burning sun, it seems to be heavy
with icy crystals, which give it great brilliancy. On these
accounts it has received the popular name of Ice Plant.
Cowper, alluding to it, says,—

“the spangled beau,
Ficoides, glitters bright the winter long.”

THE IRIS.—MESSAGE.

MILTON speaks of “Iris all hues,” on which account this
plant received its name at a very remote period. These
colours are very brilliant, and are as various as the colours
and shades of the rainbow. Iris has ever been the bearer
of good tidings to mortals. When Priam mourned the death
of Hector, and longed sore to ransom his body, dragged
about by the relentless Achilles, she was sent by Zeus to the
heart-broken old man to say,—

“Fear nothing, Priam, son of Dardanus,
Nor let thy mind be troubled ; not for ill,

117

IVY,

‘But here on kindly errand am I sent :
To thee I come a messenger from Jove,
Who from on high looks down on thee with eyes
Of pitying love ; he bids thee ransom home
The godlike Hector’s corpse ; and with thee take
Such presents as may melt Achilles’ heart.
(Homer, LORD DERBY’S Trans.)

and straightway he does her bidding with success.

IVY (Hedera helix) —FRIENDSHIP.

“Friendship, peculiar boon of heaven,
The noble mind’s delight and pride,
To men and angels only given,
To all the lower warld denied.”

FRIENDSHIP is represented by a device in which Ivy is
growing round a fallen tree, with the motto, “ Nothing can
detach me from it,” In Greece the hymeneal altar was hung
with Ivy, and a branch was presented to a newly-wedded
husband, symbolizing the indissoluble union he had just
formed. “Nothing,” says a popular writer, “can separate the
Ivy from the tree which it once embraces; it adorns it with
its foliage in the harsh season when its branches bear only
the hoar-frost ; the companion of its destinies, it falls when
the tree is overthrown; death even does not work separation,
and it decorates with its perpetual verdure the withered trunk
of its past supporter,” These words are true. The Ivy is
held to the soil by its own roots, and derives nothing from
the substance of the tree which it embraces. The protector

118

ex

INDIAN FASMINE.

of ruins, it is the ornament of the old walls which support it ;
it receives nothing beyond; but, a constant friend, it dies
where it attaches itself.

“The Ivy, that staunchest and firmest friend,
That hastens its succouring arm to lend
To the ruined fane, where in youth it sprung,
And its pliant tendrils in sport were flung.
When the sinking buttress and mouldering tower
Seem only the spectres of former power,
Then the Ivy clusters around the wall,
And for tapestry hangs in the moss-grown hall,
Striving in beauty and youth to dress
The desolate place in its loneliness.”—TWAMLEY.

INDIAN JASMINE (Lignonia radicans).—SEPARATION,.

‘How wonderful the harmony which we observe on all sides
from the relative adaptation of animal and vegetable life.
The butterfly adorns the rose; the nightingale lends her
sweet notes to our groves; the bee, in the act of pilfering
them, gives animation to the flowers which yield their rich
treasure. Thus, throughout nature, the insect is fitted for the
flower, the bird for the tree, the quadruped to the plant.
Man alone can enjoy the harmony of things, and he alone
can break the unison and mutual dependence which exists
in the universe. His greedy and rash hand snatches an
animal from the climate suited to its being, and thinking
only of his own gratification, he too often forgets the plant
which would have made his new slave unmindful of the
sweetness of its native country. If he brings the plant,

119
ee

THE F¥ONQUIL.

he neglects the insect which resorts to it, the bird which
enlivens it, the quadruped which feeds upon its foliage and
reposes under its shade. Mark, for instance, the Jasmine of
Virginia, with its beautiful verdure and purple flowers. It
still remains a stranger amongst us. We always prefer to it
our lovely honeysuckle, from which bees delight to sip the
honey, off which the goat browses its foliage, and which supplies
its fruit to myriads of blackbirds, warblers, chaffinches and
goldfinches. We do not doubt but that the rich Virginian
Jasmine would equal these attractions in our eyes if we could
see it enlivened by the humming-bird of Florida, which, in
the vast forests of the new world, makes choice of its beau-
tiful foliage in preference to all other shelter. It builds its
nest in one of the leaves, which it rolls up like a trumpet ;
it finds its food in its red flowers, which resemble in shape
those of the foxglove, whose nectareous glands it sips from ;
it conceals within them its little body, when the appearance
is as of an emerald set in coral, and it sometimes goes in so
far as to allow of its being caught. This little bird is the life
and the soul, the perfection of the flower which cherishes it ;
separated from its aérial guest, this elegant twiner is like a
desolate widow who has lost all her charms.

THE JONQUIL (Warcissus jonquilla) —DESIRE.

THOMSON writes of “ Jonquils of potent fragrance,” a
quality which several poets have noted. Thus Prior,—

“The smelling tuberose and Jonquil declare
The stronger impulse of the evening air,”
120

YUNIPER.

and Shenstone,—

“A various wreath of odorous flowers she made,
Gay motleyed pinks and sweet Jonquils; she chose
The violet blue, that on the moss-bank grows ;

All sweet to sense.”

In “ Flora Domestica,” aiso, this is alluded to,—

“ Gallant Jonquils, fair tuberoses,
Short is your sweet life ;”

and the American poet Bidlake says,—

“ The Jonquil loads with potent breath the air,
And rich in golden glory nods.”

Its strong fragrance, at first agreeable, soon becomes oppres-
sive ; it is a pretty flower, and by the Turks has been made
the emblem of Desire.

JUNIPER (Funiperus communis)— ASYLUM. SUCCOUR.

“ Sweet is the Juniper, but sharp his bough.”—SPENSER.

THE ancients consecrated this shrub to the Eumenides ; the
smoke of its burning green branches was the incense which
they offered to the deities of the lower regions ; they used to
burn its berries at funerals, to ward off malevolent spirits.
The simple peasantry now think that the perfume of the
Juniper berry purifies the air, and protects their humble
dwelling from evil genii.

121

LANTANA.

This shrub is sometimes grown in gardens, but it does not
yield kindly to cultivation. In its wild state it delights in
the borders of forests. Weak and timid creatures seek an
asylum under its long branches, which cover the earth
around. The hare in her extremity squats with confidence
beneath it, for its strong odour puts her canine pursuers at
fault ; the thrush builds in it a house for her young, and
feeds upon its fruit; the entomologist finds among its twigs,
bristling with thorns, numerous shining insects, which have
no other shelter, and which seem to divine that this shrub
is destined to be their refuge.

LANTANA (ZL. Cammara).—SHARPNESS.

THE Cammara is a native of the West Indies. It is a
small bushy plant, with flowers white as snow, and varying,
as pink, yellow, and orange. It is of a peculiar aromatic
odour, but its twigs and branches are so beset with thorns,
that if we bring the hand into contact with them we are
instantly sensible of their Sharpness.

LARCH (Larix communis).—BOLDNESS.

THE Larch loves to grow upon lofty mountains, where it
rises from thirty to eighty feet. Hence it is a fit emblem of
Boldness, as well also because it seems to thrive where scarce

any othér tree will grow, and it clothes with soil the almost
122

THE LARKSPURK.

bare rocks of our hill-sides in a few years. It is an in-
valuable; tree and as we have passed over different barren
and bleak wastes of England, we have oft been surprised
that the owners have not made use of this tree, both to
ameliorate the climate, and clothe the surface with an
artificial covering of earth.

THE LARKSPUR (Delthinium consolida)—SWIFTNESS.

THE calyx in this pretty field flower is divided into five
oblong segments, with a long spur at the base, either
straight or curved, whence its name. This species is called
Pied-d’ Alouette by the French. The whole genus are popular
border flowers, perennial, and needing little or no care in
cultivation.

THE LAUREL (Laurus nobilis) —GLORY.

“GLORY claims the Bay,” as its emblem, says Miss
Twamley, and of its leaves has the wreath of victory, both
in games and war, been formed. The warrior,—

“his crown of laurel-leaves
With bloody hand when victor weaves.”—SCoTT.

and Percival tells us that
“ Fame’s bright star and glory’s swell

By the glossy leaf of the Bay are given ;”
123

LAURESTINUS. at

though no one needs reminding of this who has read or
heard aught of the history of ancient Greece or Rome. In
the latter city, for ordinary uses at the temple, and for
wreathing the altars, the laurel was obtained near the
fountain of Castalia; but on rare and very important occa-
sions the citizens sent to Tempe for their Laurel.

The Sweet-Bay has also been used for wreaths to crown
philosophers, and orators, and poets; and Herrick wished
that a Laurel tree might. be planted upon his grave. He
writes,—

“ A funeral stone or verse, I covet none;
But only crave of you that I may have
A sacred Laurel springing from my grave ;
Which being seen blest with perpetual greene,
May grow to be not so much called a tree,
As the eternal monument of me.”

LAURESTINUS (Viburnum tinus).—I DIE IF NEGLECTED.

THIS native of the South of Europe is one of our prettiest
and most popular evergreen shrubs. It is highly ornamental
to our groves and shrubberies, displaying its small white
flowers at a season when all other shrubs have shed theirs.

Neither the scorching breath of summer, nor the cold
north wind of winter, robs this shrub of its charms. Still, to
preserve it, it needs care, and there are now and then winters
so severe that the frost will destroy its vitality down to the
ground. The emblem of constant and gentle friendship, we
should say it always desires to please, but it dies if neglected.

124

LAVENDER.

LAVENDER (Lavandula spica)—DISTRUST.

A NOTION prevailed in days of yore that the Asp, a most
dangerous kind of viper, delighted chiefly to dwell under
the Lavender plant; which on that account was always
approached with Distrust.

It yields an agreeable scent by distillation, and its dried
stems and leaves and flowers supply a most pleasing means
of perfuming many domestic articles. Miss Strickland says
its “ fragrance never dies.” Shenstone writes,—

“ And Lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom
Shall be, erewhile, in arid bundles bound,
To lurk amidst the labours of her loom,
And crown her kerchiefs clean with mickle rare perfume.”

LETTUCE (Lactuca sativa)—COLDNESS.

THIS well-known garden plant is the suitable emblem of
Coldness, but of Coldness most agreeable, since nothing is
more delicious to the palate than the crisp, juicy heart of the
Lettuce in the hot days of summer.

LILAC (Syringa vulgaris)—FIRST EMOTION OF LOVE.

THE Lilac has been made the emblem of the first Emotion
of Love, because nothing has greater charms than this
pleasing shrub on the return of Spring. The freshness of

128

LILAC.

its verdure, the flexibility of its branches, the abundance of
its flowers, their beauty so brief and transient, their colour so
soft and varied, all remind us of those delightful emotions,
which add charms to beauty and impart to youth a divine
gracefulness.

The Lilac, for aught we can see in it, seems to have been
formed simply to gratify the sense of sight and smell! What
a combination of fragrance, freshness, grace, and delicacy is
it! what variety in detail, what beauty as a whole! |

“The Lilac various in array, now white,
Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set
With purple spikes pyramidal, as if
Studious of ornament, yet unresolved
Which hue she most approved, she chose them all.”
COWPER.

Two American poets speak the most decidedly of its per-
fume. Willis says,—

“The Lilac has a load of balm
For every wind that stirs ;”

and Longfellow,—

“ How slowly through the lilac-scented air
Descends the tranquil moon !”

126

ng

THE LILY.

THE LILY (Lilium candidum).—MAJESTY.

“The Lily’s height bespoke command,
A fair imperial flower ;
She seemed designed for Flora’s hand,
The sceptre of her power.”—COWPER.

FROM the middle of a tuft of long leaves, which in unfolding
themselves fall back one upon another, so as to form a round
green couch, there rises an elegant and stately stem, which
is terminated by a cluster of long buds of a soft and shining
green. Time imperceptibly swells and blanches the buds of
this pretty bunch, and, towards the middle of June, they
bend downwards and unfold in six petals of sparkling white-
ness. Their union forms those admirable vases, in which
nature delights to set golden stamens, from which gush forth
wavelets of perfume. These beautiful flowers, half-inclined
around the lofty stem, seem to exact and receive the homage
of nature ; but yet the Lily, notwithstanding her charms, needs
a court in order to appear in her full lustre. Alone, she is
cold and as one forsaken ; surrounded by many other flowers,

- she throws them all into the shade. She is a sovereign; her
charm is the charm of Majesty:

“The fair Lily’s bell was set
With a bright dewy coronet.”"—-MIss BROWNE.

The Lily has ever been regarded also as the emblem of
whiteness, and hence of purity. So long ago as when the
apocryphal books of the Old Testament were written, no

title could better distinguish the Jewish matron whose spot-
127

LILY OF THE VALLE}.

less chastity is there recorded, than Susannah, the White
Lily.

LILY OF THE VALLEY (Convallaria majalis).—
RETURN OF HAPPINESS.

“Fair flower, that, lapt in lowly glade, dost hide beneath the greenwood
shade,
Than whom the vernal gale
None fairer wakes, on bank or spray, our England’s Lily of the May,
Our Lily of the vale !”—-BisHoPp MANT.

THIS greatly admired flower loves the recesses of our
valleys, the shade of oak-trées, and the banks of flowing
streams. From the early days of May she unfolds her ivory
flowers, and scatters their fragrance around. Then the
nightingale forsakes our hedges and our thickets, and seeks
in the forest glade a companion, a loneliness and an echo
which responds to his song; led by the perfume of the Lily
of the Valley, the lovely bird soon finds an agreeable asylum ;
there he takes up his abode, where he celebrates, in most
melodious notes, solitude and love, and the flower which, in
each succeeding Spring, proclaims to him the Return of
Happiness.

Shelley calls our flower a Naiad,—

“ The Naiad-like Lily of the Vale,
Whom youth makes so fair and passion so pale,
That the light of its tremulous bells is seen
Through their pavilions of tender green ;”
128

yr

THE LIME TREE.

Wordsworth speaks of “that shy plant,’—

“The Lily of the Vale,
That loves the ground, and from the sun withholds
Her pensive beauty ; from the breeze her sweets ;”

and Thomson bids us “seek the bank,’”—

“Where, scattered wide, the Lily of the Vale
Her balmy essence breathes.”

Wiffen thus expresses his admiration of the Lily of the
Valley,—

“Her flower, the vestal nun who (lone) abideth ;
Her breath, that of celestials meekly wooed
From heaven ; her leaf, the holy veil which hideth
Her from the shrine where purity resideth ;
Spring’s darling, nature’s pride, the sylvan’s queen.”

Who does not promptly join in this? What flowers do we
look for so frequently, so eagerly, as for those of the Lily
of the Valley which attend, if they do not foretell, the
return of the happy days of Spring and Summer, which
follow the dreariness and gloom of winter?

THE LIME TREE (TZika rubra).—CoNnJUGAL LovE.

« A murmur of the bee
Dwells ever in the honeyed Lime.”—Mrs. HEMANS.

ZEvuS and Hermes, in human form, visited Phrygia. They
were refused hospitality by all until they came to the dwell-
ing of Philemon and Baucis, who entertained them kindly.
Zeus compensated them by taking them to a lofty eminence,
129 K

LUCERN.

and preserving them from a flood which covered the low-
land. There also was a temple of Zeus, of which he made
his hosts the guardians. He allowed them to die at the
same moment, and changed them into trees, Baucis into a
Lime, as supposed, and Philemon into an Oak, hence the
Lime is the emblem of Conjugal Love.

Beauty, grace, simplicity, extreme gentleness, have ever
been regarded as indispensable qualities in a loving wife.
All these we may find symbolized in the Linden Tree.
Every Spring it clothes itself with foliage of a pale green.
Its flowers are very odoriferous, and supply an abundance
of honey to the bee, which is always buzzing amongst its
branches. An infusion of its flowers is deemed a most
valuable beverage in some cases of sickness. Its wood is
turned into bowls, dishes, and doctor's boxes. Its twigs
make baskets and cradles. Its bark furnished writing tablets.
Shoemakers use it for cutting leather upon. The most
elegant use to which it is applied is wood-carving. St. Paul's
Cathedral; Chatsworth; Trinity College, Cambridge; and
many other famous structures are ornamented by its means.
Its services are so great that it well represents: the good
wife, whose hand is ever busy, and whose mind is capable
of directing it, so as to render home happy.

LUCERN (Medicago Ssativa).—LIFE,

LUCERN grows in the same spot for a long time, but
when it leaves it, it is for ever. On this account it has

been made the emblem of life. Nothing is more pleasing to
130

MADDER.

the eye than a field of Lucern in bloom, which resembles a
green carpet variegated with violet. Where sown it yields
abundant crops, without demanding care. Mown down, it
springs again freely. The young heifer rejoices to see it.
Sheep are fond of it. It is a delicacy for deer, and horses
delight in it. Indigenous to our land, it is a gift direct
from heaven. We own it without an effort, we enjoy it with-
out observation or acknowledgment. We often prefer a
flower of fleeting charms to this useful plant, just as we
abandon, too frequently,a certain good to run after empty
pleasures which take wing and flee away.

MADDER (Rubia tinctorum).—CALUMNY.

THIS plant is well known as yielding a red and scarlet
dye for clothiers and calico-printers.: It is for the most part
imported from Holland, though at one time it was cultivated
here under difficulties. Sheep and animals feeding upon it
have their milk and bones dyed by it ; and when they feed
alternately upon this and grass, the bones are dyed in con-
centric circles. Sheep’s teeth, when eating it, are tinged
as with the blood of a victim, which imputes a sanguinary
disposition to an animal the most simple; thus malice will
sometimes profit by a false appearance to calumniate inno-
cence itself.

131 K 2

’

=O) .
— MADWORT.
§

MADWORT (Alyssum saxatile).—TRANQUILLITY.

A VERY ornamental plant early in the season. It was
thought by the ancients to possess the property of allaying
anger, and consequently of producing Tranquillity. Some
persons still entertain the notion that it has that valuable
quality.

MANCHINEEL (Aippomane Mancinella)—DUvUPLICITY.

THE fruit of the Manchineel has a pleasing appearance
and an agreeable fragrance, which tempt one to eat it. Its
spongy and flabby substance, however, contains a milky and
treacherous juice, which is at first unsavoury, but is quickly
perceived to be so highly caustic as to burn at once the lips,
the palate, and the tongue. It is thus a fit emblem of
Duplicity.

MAIDENHAIR (Adiantum Capillus-veneris).—
DISCRETION.

PLINY says that it is to no purpose that you plunge the
Adiantum into water, for it always remains dry. Even so we
are told does this pretty fern conceal from botanists the
secret processes in its flowering and seeding. It intrusts to
Zephyrus alone the invisible germs of its offspring. That
god makes choice of their birthplace and nursery. Some-

132

THE MANDRAKE.

times he is pleased to make their wavy hair the veil which
screens from observation the cave, in which the solitary
naiad sleeps from the earliest period; at others he bears
them upon his wings and makes them radiant stars of green
in the turrets of an ancient castle, or else arranges them as
light festoons, and decorates with them the cool resorts and
loved shades of shepherds. Thus this fern puts science at
fault, and hides her secret origin from eyes the most pene-
trating ; while she hastens to reward by her beauty the hand
that nurses her.

THE MANDRAKE (Mandragora officinalis).—RARITY.

THE ancients attributed remarkable virtues to the Man-
drake ; but as they have not left any accurate description of
the plant, we do not know to what species they gave the
name. Mountebanks who are able to make a profit out of
popular errors, know how to give the appearance of a little
man to the roots of bryony and other plants, which, they
assure the credulous, are genuine roots of the Mandrake.
They allege that they are only found in a small canton of
China, which is almost inaccessible, They assert that these
Mandrakes utter the most lamentable cries when torn up by
the roots, a statement made use of by Longfellow, where he
says,—

“teach me where that wondrous Mandrake grows,
Whose magic root, torn from the earth with groans,

At midnight hour, can scare the fiends away,
And make the mind prolific in its fancies !”

133

MARIGOLD.

They further affirm that he who uproots them dies soon
after.

A volume might be filled with an account of the fanciful,
absurd, and superstitious ideas, which have produced many
old errors as to the opposite virtues of a plant which, perhaps,
never existed.

MARIGOLD (Calendula officinalis) PAIN. CHAGRIN.

ALL the world knows this golden-coloured flower, which
symbolizes mental sorrow, as when Phcebus

“down declines, she droops and mourns,
Bedewed as ’twere with tears, till he returns ;
And * * veils her flowers when he is gone
As if she——

——did contemn (despise)
To wait upon a meaner light than him.’—WITHERS.

This flower offers to the observer many remarkable singu-
larities. It blooms the whole year, or during the calends of
each month, whence its name Calendula. Its flowers are
open from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. only; yet they always turn to
the sun, and follow him in his course from east to west.

_ The sorrowful signs of the Marigold may be modified in

many ways. Joined with roses, it is the emblem of the

sweet sorrows of love; alone, it expresses ennui; woven with

different flowers it represents the ever-varying course of

life, a mixture of good and ill; in the East, a bouquet of
134

MARYGOLD. AND CYPRESS.

Marigolds and Poppies says, “I will soothe your grief.” It
is especially by the like modifications that the Language of
Flowers becomes the interpreter of our sentiments.

MARYGOLD AND CYPRESS.—DESPAIR.

CYPRESS is the emblem of Death; the Marygold of
Chagrin and Pain ; together, the two plants are the emblem
of Despair.

ra

MARSH MALLOW (A/thea officinalis) —-BENEFICENCE.

EMBLEM of Beneficence, the Marsh Mallow is the friend of
the poor. It grows naturally by the stream which quenches
their thirst, and near the cottages which they dwell in; but it
yields to cultivation, and we sometimes see its unassuming
stalks mingling with our garden flowers. It is free from
bitterness, and its appearance is agreeable; its flesh-coloured
flowers harmonize with its leaves and stems, and the whole
plant is covered with a silken silvery down. It is pleasant
alike to the eye, and to the hand which touches it. Its
flowers, stems, leaves, and roots, are equally useful. Syrups
and lozengés are made with its juices, and are as agreeable to
the palate, as they are beneficial to health. The traveller in
his wanderings sometimes finds the root a healthy and sub-
stantial food. We need only to look about our feet to find
all nature full of love and foresight ; but this gentle mother
has often hidden, in plants as well as in man, the greatest
virtues under the most unpretending aspect.

135

C;

MARVEL OF PERU.

MARVEL OF PERU (Mirabilis Falapa).—TIMIDITY.

THIS is one of the most fragrant of flowers. It is highly
ornamental, In a state of cultivation it sports into many
varieties. Our continental neighbours call it Belle-de-nuit,
because its flowers spread their beauty to the night. Hence
it is regarded as the emblem of Timidity,—here are the first
four lines of an address to this flower by Constant Dubois,
referring to its supposed timidity in shunning the brilliancy of
day, and preferring the subdued light of evening.

“ Solitaire amante des nuits,
Pourquoi ces timides alarmes,

Quand ma muse au jour que tu fuis
S’appréte a révéler tes charmes ?”

MEADOW ANEMONE (Axemone pratensis) —SICKNESS.

THE inhabitants of some districts are of opinion that this
ornamental field flower exhales from its dark purple blossom
a pernicious odour, which so poisons the air that they who
breathe it are subject to the most frightful maladies.

MEADOW SAFFRON (Colchicum autumnale).—MY BEST
DAYS ARE PAST.

TOWARDS the last days of summer there may be seen,
shining upon the green sward of moist meadows, a flower like
the Spring Crocus. That flower is the Autumnal Crocus.
Far from inspiring us with joy and hope, as the former does,
this proclaims the departure of the bright days of summer.
136

. ee MEADOW SWEET.

This plant was supposed to be indigenous in the fields of
Colchis, and was mythically alleged to have sprung from
some drops of the fluid which Medea prepared to restore the
aged son to youth. This fabulous origin has led to the
popular belief that Meadow Saffron is a preservative against
all kinds of sickness. The Swiss attach it to the neck of
their infants, as a charm against every evil.

Meadow Saffron possesses great attractions for the scientific
naturalist in its singular botanical phenomena. Its corolla,
of which there are six divisions, of a pale violet purple, has
neither leaves nor stem. A long tube, nearly as white as
ivory, which is nothing but the prolongation of the flower, is
its only support.. At the bottom of this tube naturé has
deposited the seed, which ripens only in the following Spring.
Its inclosing sheath, buried deep under the grass, braves the
perils of winter: and in the beautiful days of the young year,
this species of cradle rises up from the soil, and submits
itself to the sun’s rays, surrounded by a tuft of large green
leaves. Thus this plant, reversing the common effect of the
seasons, mingles its fruit with the flowers of Spring, and its
flowers with the fruits of Autumn. If ever Melancholy
weaves a garland of its pale bluish flowers, it dedicates it
to happy days which have fled never more to return.

MEADOW SWEET (Sgirea Ulmaria),—USELESSNESS.

THIS herbaceous plant, which is also called in France
the Queen of the Meadows, has been designated a useless
beauty, because the chemist and the physician have failed to

137

Ee MICHAELMAS DAISY.

detect any valuable property in it; and because animals do
not feed upon it. It is very fragrant, very pretty, and is
always a pleasing object in the latter part of Summer in
our moist meadows, and by the side of ponds and pools.

MICHAELMAS DAISY (Aster Tradescanti ).—AFTER-
THOUGHT.

“We'll pass by the garden that leads to the gate,
But where is its gaiety now?
The Michaelmas Daisy blows lonely and late,
And the yellow leaf whirls from the bough.”—-TAYLOR.

THE Michaelmas Daisy begins to display her bloom, when
all other flowers are becoming rare. It isas an After-thought
of Flora, who bestows upon us a parting smile on her quitting
our parterres.

MIGNONETTE (Reseda odorata)—YOuR QUALITIES
SURPASS YOUR CHARMS.

“ Mignonette’s meek humble form,
Without one tint upon her modest garb
To draw the idle stare of wandering eyes,
ae * * * * rich
In precious fragrance is that lowly one,
So loved for her sweet qualities, that I

Should woo her first amida world of flowers.” —-TWAMLEY.

A LITTLE more than a century ago the Mignonette was
brought to us from Egypt. Linnzus could think of nothing

inferior to the divine ambrosia wherewith he could compare
138

MILKWORT.

it. The perfume is most delicious and of the greatest
strength at sunrise and sunset. It blooms from earliest
Spring to latest Autumn, in the border or the window
garden. Its blooming may be delayed till winter; it may
even be converted into a ligneous plant, by careful means, so
as to form a small shrub, and live for years.

Mignonette has nothing in its appearance to attract our
notice, but its perfume makes it a universal favourite; thus
it has become the emblem of one who, without pretension to
beauty, possesses qualities which command profound respect
and affection, and constrain us to say, “ Your qualities sur-
pass your charms.”

MILKWORT (Polygala vulgaris). —HERMITAGE.

THIS plant, with pretty blue flowers, is always covered
with foliage similar to the leaves of Box. Hermits, who
formerly loved to dwell in elevated localities, planted it about
their abodes. The ancients thought it good food for cattle,
and that it increased the quantity of their milk. It is full
of a milky juice, whence its name, which signifies much milk.

MISTLETOE (Viscum album).—I RISE ABOVE ALL.

“ Oaks, from whose branches
Garlands of Spanish moss and of mystic Mistletoe flaunted,
Such as the Druids cut down with golden hatchets at Yule-tide.”—
LONGFELLOW.

THE Mistletoe is a small shrub which grows on the top of
large trees. The grand oak is its slave, and nourishes it with
139

MOCK ORANGE. ; ay

its substance. The Druids had a sort of adoration for a
weakness so superior to strength. This master of the oak
appeared to them to be equally formidable to men and to
gods. Balder, son of the goddess Friga, was invulnerable
through her powerful conjurations. His principal enemy,
however, discovered that she had overlooked the Mistletoe,
and during the fight of the gods, he came to the blind Heder,
and desired him to aim at Balder, presenting him with a
piece of the plant. Heder hurled the branch, and Balder fell
lifeless. Thus was the invulnerable son of a goddess killed
by a Mistletoe branch thrown by one blind. Such is said to
be the origin of the reverence shown to this shrub by the
Gauls.
Longfellow sings of this,

“ Balder the Beautiful is dead, is dead.
* * * * *

All things in earth and air bound were by magic spell
Never to do him harm ; even the plants and stones ;
All save the Mistletoe, the sacred Mistletoe!

Heeder, the blind old god, whose feet are shod with silence,
Pierced through that gentle breast with his sharp spear, by fraud
Made of the Mistletoe, the accursed Mistletoe !”

MOCK ORANGE (Philadelphus coronarius)—FRATERNAL
AFFECTION,

ONE of the Ptolemies, Kings of Egypt, made himself
worthy of the highest.regard by the love he showed for his
brother. A kind of syringa has been consecrated to his

140

‘i
MOONWORT. ‘|

memory, and his surname Philadelphus, that is to say,
Brotherly Love, serves to designate the genus of which there
are four species in cultivation.

MOONWORT (Luxaria biennis)—FORGETFULNESS.

THIs plant has several names, which have been given to it
on account of the broad round silvery silicles, which are
moon-shaped. The film which presents this form retains its
brilliancy, and has some resemblance to a piece of money, or
to a cake called Oublie by the French. It is said that René,
Duke of Bar and Lorraine, having been taken prisoner at the
battle of Thoulongean, painted by his own hand a branch of
Lunaria, and sent it to his people to reproach them for their
tardiness in securing his freedom.

MOSS.—MATERNAL LOVE.

LAPLAND mothers are said to wrap their infant offspring in
ermine, and cradle them in moss. Nothing can form a softer
couch, and when we think of ourselves as wearied in a
pedestrian excursion, we fancy that a moss-covered bank,
beneath an umbrageous tree, might be the luxury then most
desirable. Wordsworth says,

“ There is a fresh and lovely sight,
A beauteous heap, a hill of moss,
Just half a foot in height. ,

All lovely colours there you see,

141

THE MOSS ROSE.

All colours that were ever seen ;

And mossy net-work too is there ;
As if by hand of lady fair

The work had woven been ;

And cups, the darlings of the eye,

So deep is their vermilion dye.

Ah me! what lovely tints are there !
Of olive-green and scarlet bright,

In spikes, and branches, and in stars,
Green, red, and pearly white !”

THE MOSS ROSE (Rosa muscosa).—LOVE.
VOLUPTUOUSNESS.

“The angel of the flowers, one day, beneath a Rose-tree sleeping lay ;
Awaking from his light repose, the angel whispered to the Rose,

“O fondest object of my care, still fairest found, where all is fair ;
For the sweet shade thou giv’st to me, ask what thou wilt, tis granted

thee !’

‘Then,’ said the Rose, with deepened glow, ‘on me another grace
bestow.’

The spirit paused in silent thought :—What grace was there the flower
had not?

*Twas but a moment—o’er the Rose a veil of moss the angel throws ;
And robed in nature’s simplest weed, could there a flower that Rose
exceed.”—From the German.

ON seeing the Moss Rose—the rose without a thorn—and
its flower surrounded by a soft and pleasing verdure, one has
said that Voluptuousness wished to dispute with Love for this
beautiful flower. Madame de Genlis says, that, on her return
from England, it was at her house where all Paris went to
see the first rose of this kind. That lady was then cele-

142

MUGWORT.

brated, and it is supposed that to see the Moss Rose,
was nothing but a pretext with the crowd to force them-
selves into her society.

MUGWORT (Artemisia vulgaris.) —HAPPINESS.

THIS species of Wormwood is said to be used in some
parts of Sweden in the place of hops, so as to render beer
more stimulating. It was at one time supposed to possess
valuable properties, able to relieve persons suffering from
maladies, the removal of which tended to restore them to
their usual state of health, and thus endow them with as
much of happiness as is allotted to mortals.

MUSHROOM (Agaricus campestris) —SUSPICION.

THERE are several species of Mushroom which are a deadly
poison. The Ostiaks of Siberia, make of some of them a
preparation which causes the death of the strongest man in
twelve hours. Many in our climate are also dangerous ; and
there are those which contain a fluid so acrid, that a single
drop put upon the tongue raises a blister. Yet the Russians,
during their long Lent, sustain themselves chiefly on Mush-
rooms, and we ourselves regard the species named at the
head of this article, dressed in various ways, as a choice
delicacy. Nevertheless we cannot safely lay aside Suspicion
in considering the character of those submitted to us, before

143

SSE aM
MOSCHATEL.

making use of them, lest we should unwittingly partake of
such as would produce injurious effects, though it might be
short of death.

MOSCHATEL (Adora Moschatellina)—WEAKNESS.

THIS plant, commonly called the Musk Plant, has early in
the morning and in the evening a musky odour, which, even
to persons who dislike musk, is pleasant. It is general all
over Europe, delighting in woods; but, as its generic name
implies, it is without note. ,

MUSK ROSE (Rosa moschata).—CAPRICIOUS BEAUTY.

THE small flowers of this Rose would be wanting in effect
but that they grow in panicles. Their fine musky fragrance
also renders them pleasing. The plant is, however, very
capricious, so to say; for all at once it droops in situations
which at first appeared most favourable. One year it is
laden with innumerable bouquets of flowers; the following it
may have no bloom at all.

THE MYROBALAN (Prunus cerasifera).—BEREAVEMENT.

THIS tree is like the plum-tree, bearing white flowers in
April and May, and offering to us a fruit which resembles in
form and colour a very beautiful cherry. This contains
nothing but an insipid and disagreeable juice; so that even
birds reject that which we would leave to them.
144

MYRTLE.

MYRTLE (Ayrtus communis).—LOVE.
“The Myrtle bough bids lovers live.”—WALTER SCOTT.

THE oak has ever been dedicated to Jupiter; the laurel to
Apollo; the olive to Minerva; and the Myrtle to Venus.
Perpetual verdure, supple branches laden with fragrant
flowers, which seem destined to adorn the brow of Love, has
procured for the Myrtle the honour of being the tree of
Venus. The chief temple of that goddess at Rome was
surrounded by a myrtle grove. In Greece she was wor-
shipped under the name of Myrtea. When she rose from the
foam of the sea she was presented with a wreath of Myrtle.
She was crowned with Myrtle by the Cupids. Being sur-
prised by a band of Satyrs on coming out of her bath, she
took refuge behind a Myrtle bush. It was with a branch of
this tree that she chastised the audacious Psyche, who com-
pared her own fleeting beauty to the immortal loveliness of
the goddess. Subsequently the garland of Love has some-
times decorated the warriors brow. After the rape of the
Sabines, the Romans crowned themselves with Myrtle in
honour of Venus victrix. The Myrtle crown then shared the
privilege of the Laurel, and shone upon the head of the suc-
cessful warrior in his triumph.

Though the Triumphs of ancient Rome have passed away,
Roman ladies retain a taste for this pretty shrub. It is said
that they prefer its fragrance to the most precious essences,
and that they mix with their baths water distilled with
its leaves, under the idea that the tree of Venus bestows

145 L

THE NETTLE.

additional charms. If the ancients had that notion, if the
tree of Venus was with them the tree of love, it was because
they observed that the Myrtle, when taking possession of
a plot of ground, banished all other plants. Thus Love,
when ruler of the heart, leaves no room there for any other
feeling.

,

THE NETTLE (Critica urens).—CRUELTY.

THE puncture of the Nettle causes a burning pain. If we
examine the leaves of Urtica urens, we find a number of fine,
stiff, jointed, and pointed hairs, which are so many conduits
for an acrid and caustic humour, which is contained in a
bladder at the bottom of each. The hair and the bladder
are like the sting of the bee. Both in that and also in the
plant it is the acrid humour which causes the pain.

NIGHT-SMELLING GERANIUM (Pelargonium triste).—
MELANCHOLY SPIRIT.

Tus charming plant, like those who suffer from melan-
choly, flies the light of day; but its delicious perfume
delights those who cultivate it. Its clothing is dark and
simple. It is a striking contrast to the Scarlet Geranium,
the emblem of Folly.

146

THE OAK.

THE OAK (Quercus pedunculata).—HOSPITALITY.

“A broad Oak, stretching forth its leafy arms
From an adjoining pasture, overhung
Small space of that green churchyard with a light
And pleasant awning. On the moss-grown wall
My ancient friend and I together took
Our seats.” WORDSWORTH.

THE earlier inhabitants of the earth thought that the Oak,
created with the earth, supplied to the first of our race both
food and shelter. Sacred to Jupiter, this tree gave shade to
the cradle of that god, when born in Arcadia, on Mount
Lyceum. The crown of oak leaves, less valued by the Greeks
than a golden crown, seemed to the Romans the most
desirable reward. He who would win it must be a citizen,
have slain an enemy, recovered a battle, or saved the life of
a Roman. Scipio Africanus refused the civic crown when
tendered to him for having saved his father on the field of
Trebia, because he deemed the action its own sufficient
reward. The Celts worshipped the Oak, regarding it as the
emblem of Hospitality, a virtue which they held so dear,
that, next to the title of “ Hero,” the “ Friend of the Stranger”
was with them the most valued designation.

The Oak is specially deserving of being assigned by us
as the emblem of Hospitality, because it furnished a refuge
to our King, Charles the Second, on his escape from the
field of battle in which his army was routed.

147 L2

ORANGE FLOWERS.

ORANGE FLOWERS (Citrus Aurantium).—CHASTITY.

THE fair brow of a virgin bride is wreathed with a garland
of Orange blossom, meet emblem of her maiden purity. This
decoration is withheld from all who are undeserving of the
distinction, more especially in the neighbourhood of Paris.

THE ORANGE TREE.—GENEROSITY.

THIS is a very handsomie shrub, of a shining green through-
out all seasons, never bare of most odoriferous flowers, and at
all times bearing some of its brilliant, fragrant, and delicious
fruit. It is the emblem of a generous friend whose coun-
tenance is ever radiant with good nature, whose lips cheer us
with kindly words, and whose hands are ever open to bestow
upon us his favours. ;

.

THE PANSY (Viola tricolor) —THINK OF ME.

“ THERE is Pansies, that’s for thoughts,” says Shakespeare
and Miss Twamley asks,

“Oh! are not Pansies emblems meet for thoughts?
The pure, the chequered—gay and deep by turns ;
A hue for every mood the bright things wear
In their soft velvet coats—”

and, as its English name seems to be a corruption of a French

word in the phrase, Pensez-a-moi—think of me, it is also

called Heart’s-ease, a sure result of a confident assurance
148

PARSLEY.

that those whom we love are not unmindful of us when
present or absent; not so unmindful, that is, as to be careless
and thoughtless of those claims we have upon their regard
and affection.

PARSLEY (Agium Petroselinum).—FEAST. BANQUET.

PARSLEY was held in great esteem by the Greeks. In
their banquets they wreathed their brows with its slender
branches, because they thought it had the effect of increasing
cheerfulness and their appetite. At Rome, in their games,
the victors were crowned with Parsley. It is thought that
Sardinia is the native region of this plant, because that pro-
vince is represented on ancient medals, by a female figure,
near which is a vase containing a bunch of parsley; but the
‘plant seems indigenous to all the cool and shady parts of
Greece, and even to the southern provinces of France.

The plant is a very pretty garnishing to our dishes, and
certainly enlivens the tout ensemble of the festive board, and
if its presence does not increase cheerfulness, its absence will
sometimes produce the opposite effect.

PASQUE-FLOWER ANEMONE (A. Pubsatilla).— You
ARE WITHOUT PRETENSION.

THIs is a plant which is covered with down, and is all over
soft and whitish. It blooms continually through the Summer
with a quantity of pretty purple flowers. It prefers the
shade, where it is highly ornamental to our borders. It
demands no care, and abundantly sows itself.

149

PASSION-FLOWER.

PASSION-FLOWER (Passiflora coerulea).—CHRISTIAN
FAITH.

“ High o’er the pointal, decked with gold, (emblem mysterious to behold!)
A radiant cross its form expands ; ;

Its opening arms appear to embrace the whole collective human race,
Refuse of all men, in all lands.”—ANOoN.

A VIVID imagination has traced in this flower figures of
a crown of thorns, the scourge, the sponge, the nails, and the
five wounds of Christ; on account of these fancied resem-
blances it has been called Passiflora, or the Passion-flower.

PATIENCE DOCK (Rumex Patientia)—PATIENCE.

MEDICAL science used to avail itself of the roots of this
plant, which are extremely bitter. The name is ambiguous.
It is used ambiguously by Mademoiselle Scudery, “Za

patience west pas la fleur des Francais.” Passerat has also
written in his Fardin d’ Amour,

“ On peut en ce jardin cueillir la Patience,
De la prendre en amour je n’ai pas la science.”

THE PAONY (Peonia officinalis) —SHAME.

TuHis flower has been made emblematical of Shame,
because Rapin, in his poem, Des Fardins, speaking of the
Peony, says, “They are not the blushes of modesty which

150

PEPPERMINT.

suffuse it with its rosy hues, but the redness which guilt
imparts, for this plant is the hiding place of a culpable
nymph.”

PEPPERMINT (Mentha piperita).—WARMTH OF
SENTIMENT.

PROSERPINA is said to have discovered a rival, in intrigue
with his sable majesty, her husband. The goddess, justly
indignant, changed that rival into this plant, which seems to
combine in its distinct effects upon the palate the coldness of
fear with the warmth of love. We cultivate this plant under
the name of Peppermint, and we owe to it the lozenges which
bear its name, and-.also a valuable essence of much use in
medicine.

T HE PERIWINKLE.—PLEASING REMEMBRANCES.

ALREADY have the winds purified the atmosphere, scat-
tered the seeds of vegetation over the earth and chased away
the gloomy clouds; the air is fresh and pure, the sky seems
lifted higher above our head, the greenness of the grass is
revived on all sides, and the trees are covered with leaf-buds.
Nature is about to deck herself with flowers, but first she
prepares the back-ground of her pictures; she covers them
with a general tint of verdure which is infinite in variety,
which rejoices our eyes and fills our hearts with hope. For
some time we have found in sheltered spots, the violet, the

I51

THE PERIWINKLE.

daisy, the primrose, and the dandelion. Along the skirts of
woods the anemone and the periwinkle display a long net-
work of verdure and flowers. These two friendly plants
exchange and mingle their mutual charms. The anemone,
with its soft foliage, deeply cut, is of a pretty green. The
periwinkle has its leaves evergreen, firm, and shining. The
flower of the periwinkle is blue; that of the anemone pure
white, with a rosy or faint purple edging. The anemone
lasts but a day, but she reminds us of the vivid pleasures and
fleeting joys of our childhood. The periwinkle emblematizes
a more lasting happiness ; its colour is that which friendship
makes choice of, and its flower was to Rousseau, the emblem
of Pleasing Remembrances. “I was going,” he said, “to
reside at Charmettes, with Madame de Warens; while
walking, she saw something blue in the hedge, and said to
me, ‘ Voila de la pervenche encore en fleur.”

[Pervenche, a modern French form of the Norman-French
name of this flower, as spoken of by Chaucer,

“There sprang the violet all newe,
And fresh Zervinke, rich of hewe.”]

“T had never seen the periwinkle,” Rousseau adds; “I did
not stoop to examine it, and I had too brief a view of it to
distinguish plants on the ground as I stood upright. I only
cast a glance upon it as I passed, and nearly thirty years
had elapsed without my seeing the periwinkle again, or
thought of it. In 1764, being at Gressien, with my friend,
M. du Peyron, we were going up a little hill, at the top of
which was a pretty room, which he justly called Bellevue. I

152

PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE.

began to botanize a little. While going up higher, and
looking round among the bushes, I uttered a cry of joy,
‘Oh! voila de la pervenche!’ And so indeed it was.”

This plant, a charming image of earliest affections, attaches
itself firmly to the spot which it beautifies; it embraces all
around it with its flexible branches; it covers all with its
flowers, which seem to reflect the colour of the sky. So with
our first fond impressions received from what is deservedly to
be loved—impressions so vivid, so pure, so innocent, that they
seem to have a heavenly origin. They stamp our life in an
instant with happiness, and we are indebted to them for the
most delightful reminiscences. The authors of “ Bouquet des
Souvenirs” make the flowers themselves affirm this,

“Emblems are we of joy or woe,
And tender recollections glow,
Inspired by our name.”

PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE (Heliotropium peruvianum).
—INFATUATION. I LOVE You.

‘Qui voit ta fleur en boira le poison !
Elle a donné des sens & la sagesse,
Et des désirs 4 la froide raison.” -BERNIS.

THE natives of the East say that perfumes lift them up to
heaven. It is certain that they stimulate us, and produce
most pleasurable sensations. The impression they make
upon us is so strong, that, if once associated with any remark-
able event in life, whether joyful or sorrowful, the same

153

PERUVIAN HELIOTROPE.

perfume will, after a long series of years, revive all the
sensations we at that time experienced. Several instances
of this have been recorded, and probably no reader of these
lines will be found who has not felt the truth of it.

The illustrious botanist Jussieu, while herbarizing in the
Cordilleras, became suddenly sensible of a most delicious
fragrance. He began to expect that he should find some
brilliant flowers, but he saw only some pretty herbaceous
plants, of a pleasant green, from which hung loosely spikes of
a pale blue colour. He drew near the shrubs, and observed
that the flowers with which they were laden turned towards
the sun, which they seemed to him as regarding with
devotion. Struck with this disposition of the flowers, he
gave the plant the name of Heliotrope (the name he
formed of the two Greek words, tpotéw, [ turn, and HXL0s,
the sun) ; the flower turning itself to the sun.

The learned botanist, delighted with his newly found plant,
applied himself to collect some of its seeds, and sent them to
the Jardin du Roi, where they germinated, and the plants
thrived and put forth their bloom. The ladies welcomed this
flower with rapture; they placed it in their choicest vases,
they called it the plant of love, and received with cold indif-
ference every proffered bouquet which did not contain this
favourite flower. It was under the high auspices of the fairest
and loveliest of Nature’s works, that the Peruvian Heliotrope,
grown for the first time at Paris, in 1740, made a successful
début on that continent, and has since spread itself throughout
the whole of Europe.

A very amiable lady, who was passionately fond of the

154

PHEASANT’S-EVE.

Heliotrope, being one day asked what charm a flower so
melancholy and so devoid of splendour could possess in her
eyes, replied, “The perfume of the Heliotrope is to my
parterre what mind is to beauty, what joy is to love, and
what love is to youth.”

An anonymous writer has thus sung of its habit of turning
to the sun,

“There is a flower whose modest eye
Is turned with looks of light and love,
Who breathes her softest, sweetest sigh,
Whene’er the sun is bright above.”

PHEASANT’S-EYE (Adonis autumnalis)—SORROWFUL
REMEMBRANCES.

THIS, one of the very few scarlet flowers indigenous in
England, has found its way into the border, where it reminds
us continually of the fate of Adonis, saying, as it were,

“ Look, in the garden blooms the Flos Adonis,
And memory keeps of him who rashly died,
Thereafter changed by Venus, weeping, to this flower.”

La Fontaine named one of his poems after this unfortunate
youth, in which he writes, i

“Je n’ai jamais chanté que ’ombrage des bois,
Flore, Echo, les zéphirs et leurs molles haleines,
Le vert tapis des prés et l’argent des fontaines.
C’est parmi les foréts qu’a vécu mon héros ;

C’est dans les bois qu’Amour a troublé son repos.

155

THE PIMPERNEL. id

Ma muse en sa faveur de myrte s’est parée :

Jai voulu célébrer ’amant de Cythérée,

Adonis, dont la vie eut des termes si courts,

Qui fut pleuré des Ris, qui fut plaint des Amours.”

All the readers of ancient mythology know that the beautiful
youth Adonis was killed by a wild boar. It was for his
sake that Venus left the pleasures of Cythera; and she shed
bitter tears on account of his sad fate. Her tears were not
in vain. The earth received them with the blood of Adonis,
and forthwith brought forth a small plant that decked itself
with flowers which resembled drops of blood. Venus found
Adonis dead, and while she was wailing and weeping,

Shakspeare says,

“ By this, the boy that by her side lay killed
Was melted like a vapour from her sight,
And in his blood, that on the ground lay spilled,
A purple flower sprung up, chequered with white,
Resembling well his pale cheeks, and the blood
Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood.”

Lustrous and transient flowers, too faithful emblems of life,
you were dedicated by Beauty herself to Sorrowful Remem-

brances!

THE PIMPERNEL (Anxagallis arvensis) —ASSIGNATION.

THE name Anagallis is said by some to be derived from
avayew, to draw back, because the most common kind was

found useful in drawing arrow-heads from wounds ; by others
156

THE PINE TREE.

from dvayédaev, to laugh again, because its medicinal virtues

. cleansed the liver, and so removed causes of despondency and
low spirits, as to restore cheerfulness. The flower is asso-
ciated with cheerfulness, for when it is fully expanded the
weather is always bright, the air is dry and reviving, and that
at a season when we have much of moisture in our atmo-
sphere. It is one of those flowers which open and close at
stated times. In our latitude this expands punctually about
7.8 A.M., and closes at 2.3 P.M. It is also an hygrometer, for
when the air is very damp, its flowers do not open, or speedily
close again ; hence it is called the Shepherd’s Weather-glass,
and according to its warning voice he may make his appoint-
ments. The author of Favourite Field Flowers, speaking as
a Shepherd might be supposed to do, says,

“ And if I would the weather know, ere on some pleasure trip I go,

My Scarlet Weather-Glass will show, whether it will be fair or no.

The blue-eyed Pimpernel will tell, by closed lids of rain and showers ;

A fine bright day is known full well, when open wide it spreads ‘its
flowers.

Some flowers put on more gay attire, and this in usefulness excel.

Rut I, a Shepherd, most admire the blue-eyed Scarlet Pimpernel.”

THE PINE TREE.—DARING.

THIS tree seems to disdain our quiet groves, and to prefer
bathing its head in the moisture of the clouds above, and to
feel its foliage continually buffeted by the winds, when its
branches give utterance to sounds like the murmurs of the
157

ng

THE PINE APPLE.

ocean, or like that caused by the surging billows as they toss
about among the rocks,

“The loud wind through the forest wakes
With sounds like ocean roaring, wild and deep,
And in yon gloomy Pines strange music makes,
Like symphonies unearthly, heard in sleep ;
The sobbing waters wash their waves and weep,
Where moans the blast its dreary path along,
The bending Firs a mournful cadence keep.”—-DRUMMOND.

Thus daring is the Pine, attaining some eighty feet in height,
and taking for its starting-point the loftiest elevations where
vegetation may be found. Again, when the “lords of the
creation” wish to plough the main, they cut down Chaucer’s
“sailing Firre,” and Spenser’s “sayling Pine,” and Browne’s

“Pine, with whom men through the ocean venture,”

to effect their design. Hart, translating Statius, calls the Pine
itself,

“The adventurous Fir, that sails the vast profound.”

So daring is this tree that it braves both the winds of heaven,
and the raging waters of the deep abyss of ocean.

THE PINE APPLE (Bvomelia Ananas).—YOU ARE
PERFECT.

THE Pine Apple has not been known to us much more
than a century and a half. It is decidedly the first fruit in
the world. Surrounded by handsome leaves, it resembles an

158

: =

THE PINK.

apple (fir-cone) of the Pine tree, sculptured in a solid mass of
pale gold. It is so beautiful that it might seem to be made
to delight the eye, so delicious that one may fancy it unites
in itself the sweetness and richness of all other fruits, and so
fragrant, that we might be induced to cultivate it for its
perfume only. |

THE PINK (Dianthus prolifer) —LIVELY AND PURE
AFFECTION.

“The Pink can no one justly slight, the gardener’s favourite flower ;
He sets it now beneath the light, now shields it from its power.”—
GOETHE.

THE Wild Pink is single, red, and odoriferous. Cultivation
has added to the number of its petals, and variations in
colour. These beautiful flowers paint themselves in an infinity
of shades, from light rose to pure white, from deep red to the
hue of glowing fire. The same flower puts on contrasting,
yet blending tints. Pure white is pricked with crimson, and
the rose-colour is streaked with a vivid and brilliant red.
Then they are marbled, spotted, and again sharply cut, so
that the eye is led to fancy that in the calyx there is an
alabaster and a purple flower. Again, the Pink is nearly as
varied in form as in colour. It opens its pretty flower-work
as a tuft, a cockade, a boss, and at other times it assumes the
shape of the rose. It always retains its delicious odour, and
it constantly strives to divest itself of its artificial dress, and
to resume its simple attire. For the hand of the gardener,

159

THE PINK.

which can double and triple its petals, variegate and diversify
its colour, does not know how to render his changes constant.
Thus Nature has sown in our heart the delightful germ of
feeling. Art and Society, in developing and cultivating this
germ, improve, weaken, or elevate it. A hundred causes
combining together can make these effects inconstant and
changeable; but, notwithstanding the caprices, the errors,
and the incomprehensible workings of the human heart,
Nature ultimately brings back the feelings and opinions into
their proper channel. Rochefoucauld has said, “It is with
true love as with a spectral appearance: all the world speaks
of it, but few or none have’seen it!” What does this fretful
moralist understand by true love? Does he wish to make us
believe that true love is a chimera? No, true love lives in
our hearts ; but

“Jai vu amour pourtrait en divers lieux :
L’un le peint vieil, cruel et furieux ;
L’autre plus doux, enfant, aveugle, nu ;
Chacun le tient pour tel qu’il ’a connu
Par ses bienfaits ou par sa forfaiture.
Pour mieux au vrai défini sa nature,
C’est que chacun varie en son cerveau
Un dieu d’amour pour lui propre et nouveau.
Et qu’il y a dans les entendemens
D’amours autant que de sortes d’amans.”——HERCET.

160

ia

THE PLANE TREE.

THE PLANE TREE (Platanus orientalis).—GENIUS.

THERE was a long avenue of superb Plane Trees at
Athens, whither the Greeks used to resort. They also paid
a species of reverence or religious worship to these magnifi-
cent trees, which they dedicated to good genii and the
pleasures of the mind.

THE PLUM TREE (Prunus domestica)—KEEP YOUR
PROMISES.

EVERY year our Plum Trees covér themselves with an
abundance of flowers, but if the luxuriant growth of the
trees is not pruned by the able hand of a skilful fruit-
grower, they will not give us, the fruit they promise, more
than once in three years.

POET’S NARCISSUS (Warcissus poetica).—EGOTISM.

THE Poet’s Narcissus emits a pleasing perfume; it carries
a golden crown in the middle of a large flower of ivory
whiteness, gently bending down. This plant seems natural to
our climate ; it delights in shade and in the freshness of the
river's rim.

The ancients saw in this flower the metamorphosis of a
young shepherd, whom Love punished for his indifference by
161 M

~6o

SASL

POET’S NARCISSUS,

a fatal mistake. A thousand nymphs fancied the handsome
Narcissus, and they learnt to know the pains of unrequited
love.; Echo was treated with coldness by the ungrateful
youth. She was then beautiful; but grief and reproach
effaced her beauty; her substance wasted until she resembled
a skeleton; the gods pitied her, and changed her bones into
stones, but they could not heal her mind, which still bewailed
her lot in the remote places whither she followed so often the
cruel-hearted shepherd who could not return her love.
Wearied by the chace and the intense heat which scorched
the earth, the handsome Narcissus lay down to rest on the
thick grass, at the brink of a fountain whose waters had
never been disturbed. The shepherd, attracted by its coolness,
wished to quench his thirst; he bent over the pure crystal
of the treacherous wave; there he saw himself, whom he
at once admired, and, struck with his own image, and gazing
intently upon the reflection, he lost the power of motion,
and was like a statue fixed upon the bank. Love, who
avenges himself on the rebellious heart, adorned the reflected
image with all the attractions he can bestow; then he mocked
the mad mistake, abandoning his victim to the delirium which
consumed him. Echo alone saw his pain, his tears; she alone
heard his sighs and the insensate vows addressed to himself.
Still, full of tenderness, the nymph answered his complaints,
and repeated his last adieus, which were not for her; even
while expiring, the unhappy youth continued searching for,
at the bottom of the water, the illusion which had enchanted
him ; and descending into the shades he sought it again in
the dark waters of the Styx, from whose banks nothing coul
162

POETS NARCISSUS.

draw him away. The naiads, his sisters, bewailed his
death, and covered his body with their long hair; they
besought the dryads to raise a wood pile for his funeral
rites. Echo followed the nymphs and repeated their plaints
with disconsolate voice. The funeral pile was raised, but
the body, which it was to reduce to ashes, was gone; there
was found in place of it, a pale and melancholy flower, which
even now droops over fountains of water as Narcissus drooped
over the Stygian wave.

From that day the Eumenides have adorned their terrible
brows with flowers dedicated to Egotism, which is of all follies
the saddest and most fatal.

The fable of Narcissus has been supposed, by Keats, to
have originated in the fancy of a poet. He asks,

“What first inspired a bard of old to sing
Narcissus pining o’er the untainted spring ?”

And then he answers,

“In some delicious ramble he had found
A little space, with boughs all woven round ;
And in the midst of all a clearer pool
Than e’er reflected in its pleasant cool
The blue sky, here and there, serenely peeping,
Through tendril wreaths fantastically creeping.
And on the bank a lonely flower he spied,
A meek and forlorn flower, with nought of pride,
Drooping its beauty o’er the watery clearness,
To woo its own sad image into nearness :
Deaf to light Zephyrus it would not move,
But still would seem to droop, to pine, to love.

163 M

Nu

THE POLIANTHES.

So while the poet stood in this sweet spot,
Some fainter gleamings o’er his fancy shot ;
Nor was it long ere he had told the tale

Of young Narcissus, and sad Echo’s vale.”

Shelley, admiring the flower, wrote,

“ And Narcissi, the fairest among them all—
Who gaze on their eyes in the streaim’s recess,
Till they die of their own dear loveliness !”

THE POLIANTHES (P. éauberosa)—VOLUPTUOUSNESS.

THIS beautiful and most odoriferous flower, commonly
known as the Tuberose, and which is calculated to please
all, was brought from Persia in 1632. It flowered for the first
time in France, at M. de Peiresc’s, at Beaugencier, near Toulon.
The flower was then single; but its petals became double
after some time, under the careful hand of Lecour, of Leyden.
From that place it spread every where. In Russia it blooms
only for royalty, and those who come near the court. It is
naturalized in Peru; there it grows without culture, and com-
bines with the brilliant capucin to decorate the fair American.
The Tuberose, that superb native of the East, which the illus-
trious Linnzeus has named Polianthes, from the abundance of
its flowers, a flower worthy of cities, has become with us, as
it is-in Persia, the emblem of Voluptuousness. A young
Icoglan, who receives from the hands of his mistress a stem

of the Tuberose in bloom, experiences supreme happiness ;
164

THE POMEGRANATE.

for he knows that he may thus interpret the happy symbol of
their mutual affection ;

“ Our happiness will surpass our anxieties.”

All the world knows and admires the white spikes and
stars of the Tuberose ; those beautiful spikes are the termina-
tion of a tall and slender stem, and they diffuse a most
penetrating and intoxicating perfume. Shelley says of it,

“the sweet tuberose,
The sweetest flower for scent, that blows ;”

and Moore tells us how it is esteemed by the Malays, who
call it Sandal Malam, or the Mistress of the Night ;

“The Tuberose, with her silvery light,
That in the gardens of Malay
Is called the Mistress of the Night.”

THE POMEGRANATE (Punica granatum).—
FOPPISHNESS.

FOPPISHNESS has been represented by the figure of an
ignorant person, who would force one to admire the brilliancy
of a bouquet of Pomegranate flowers, which, fine in their
appearance though inodorous, have sometimes been used as
the emblem of Folly.

165

Ye ae : ‘<
l PES THE POMPON ROSE. i

THE POMPON ROSE (RX. AL. Pomponia).— LOVELINESS.

LOVELINESS or Gracefulness, which is the great charm
of early childhood, forms the principal attraction of the
Pompon Rose.

THE POTATO (Solanum tuberosum).—BENEVOLENCE.

THE Potato is alike esteemed by the rich and the poor.
It is a luxury to the former, and constitutes a large part
of the food of the latter. It is a food which escapes the
greediness of the monopolist, who, because the tubers will
not keep well, so as to be good for food, longer than from the
ripening of one crop to the planting of another, cannot with-
hold it as he may do corn. Like true charity, it is an
unassuming plant, hiding its treasures in the earth, and pre-
paring itself for our use, with very little effort on our part
to cultivate it. America has supplied us with this root, which
for ever has banished from Europe that most frightful of
plagues, famine. How important it is to the inhabitants of
the United Kingdom, those know who remember the failure
of the crops in Ireland in 1846 or 1847. Sir Walter Raleigh
is believed to have been the means of its importation into
England.

THE PRIMROSE (Primula vulgaris)—EARLY YOUTH.

BuRNS says, “ The Primrose I will pu’, the firstling of the
year,” which, in truth, it is, when we speak of the wild
flowers of our native country; and it proclaims to us that

166

THE PRIMROSE. a

period in which Winter, withdrawing herself, sees the hem
of her.snowy mantle adorned with an embroidery of verdure
and of flowers. It is no longer the season for frosts, nor
yet are bright days come. Yet how exhilarating are the
days when Primrose tufts appear on every bank, and beneath
every hedgerow! How well do we remember the millions
which deck the hill-sides, and vales, and hazel copses in
the lovely country about Godalming! there, mingled with
the dog-violet and a vast variety of wild flowers, they are
a most fitting emblem of Early Youth, when the spirits are
full of freshness, when hope abounds, when the future is all
of a rosy tint, when the mind is free from anything like
real care or sorrow in most of us! And in that beautiful spot
these lovely flowers have an added charm in the presence
‘of the nightingale, whose rich and liquid notes fill the air
in every direction at the joyous season of Spring; well may
Bidlake say to the Primrose,—

“ Pale visitant of balmy Spring, joy of the new-born year,

That bidd’st young hope new plume his wing, soon as thy buds appear.
* * * * * *

Remote trom towns thy transient life is spent in skies more pure ;

The suburb smoke, the seat of strife, thou can’st but ill endure.
* * * # *% *

Thy smiles young innocence invite, what time thy lids awake,

In shadowy lane to taste delight, or mazy tangled brake.
* * * ¥ * *

Ah! happy breasts ! unknown to pain, I would not spoil your joys,
Nor vainly teach you to complain of life’s delusive toys.
Be jocund still, still sport and smile, nor dream of woe or future guile ;,
For soon shall ye awakened find
The joys of life’s sad thorny way, but fading flowerets of a day
Cut down by every wind.” ,
167

Ey

‘|

PRIVET.

PRIVET (Ligustrum vulgare)—PROHIBITION.

THE hawthorn hedge is a real protection, when well kept,
against horses, cattle, and sheep, and against man generally.
The Privet is prohibitory, and is a sufficient guard against
injury, to that which it surrounds, from the well-meaning,
and those who act on the golden rule of doing unto others
-what they would that others should do to them. It forms
a pretty fence, being evergreen for nine months of the year,
bearing a pretty white flower in season, and a small black
berry ; but it requires care, for there is nothing which sooner
becomes denuded of its foliage by the absence of air and
light.

THE PUMPKIN (Cucurbita Pepo).—BULKINESS.

THE Pumpkin is usually very large, and of considerable
weight. It is sometimes said of a very stout person, that he
resembles a Pumpkin. The comparison is vulgar, and cannot
fail to be taken as an affront.

THE PYRAMIDAL BELL FLOWER (Campanula
pyramidalis).— CONSTANCY.

THE stems of this very ornamental plant sometimes
exceed six feet in height. These stems are studded from
bottom to top with large and beautiful flowers, which begin
to bloom in July, and continue to display their beauty until
October. The splendid colour of these pyramidal clusters is

168

\ RED AND WHITE ROSES. a

a lovely blue, the colour of the eye of a young lady whose
characteristic is constancy.

.

ee TY

RED AND WHITE ROSES.—WarRMTH OF HEART.

THE poet Bonnefons sent to the object of his affection
two Roses, one deep red, the other white. The Red Rose
was the symbol of his heart, which was being consumed by
the intensity of his anxiety, the other told of the pallor of
his countenance, caused by the exhausting force of his
internal fire. He sent with the Roses the following lines :

“ Pour toi, Daphné, ces fleurs viennent d’éclore ;
Vois, l'une est blanche, et l'autre se colore
Dun vif éclat : Pune peint ma pdleur,

L’autre mes feux ; toutes deux mon malheur.”

Carew, who lived 1580-1639, has thus interpreted the
language of the Red and White Rose together,—

“ Read in these Roses the sad story,
Of my hard fate, and your own glory ;

| In the white you may discover
i The paleness of a fainting lover ;
In the red the flames still feeding
On my heart with fresh wounds bleeding.
The white will tell you how I languish,
And the red express my anguish,
The white my innocence displaying,
The red my martyrdom betraying :
The frowns that on your brow resided,
Have those roses thus divided.

|
Oh! let your smiles but clear the weather,
And then they both shall grow together.”
169

RED VALERIAN.

In our own national history, the union of the Red Rose and
the White, is the emblem of a return to that state of feeling
which ought to exist among all mankind, and especially
among those of the. same race and nation. Long had the
two Roses represented the rival houses of York and Lan-
caster, each anxious to do battle to the death, each burning
with hatred to the other, until a better mind came, when the
two combined worked together for the good of the Common-
wealth. Wordsworth sings of this happy change,

“The Red Rose is a gladsome flower.
Her thirty years of winter past, the Red Rose is revived at last ;
She lifts her head for endless Spring, for everlasting blossoming ;
Both Roses flourish, Red and White ; in love and sisterly delight,
The two that were at strife are blended, and all old troubles now are
ended.” :

RED VALERIAN (Valeriana montana). READINESS.

THIS species of Valerian has been brought from Switzer-
land within a hundred years. Its attire is bright, but always
lax. This mountain child retains, amid our cultivated flowers,
her rustic bearing, which imparts the air of a parvenu., This
wild beauty owes her good fortune to merit; the root is a
remedy for those maladies which engender feebleness; an
infusion of the plant strengthens the sight, revivifies the
spirits, and drives away melancholy. The flowers continue
to bloom for a long time. Cultivation improves the flower,

but the plant does not despise its origin, for it abandons our 9

borders to dwell on the side of a dry hill, or on the top of
170

ee

Oe

REEDS.

AEX

woods possess as many virtues and beauties as this; but the
gardener neglects them, because they do not offer the same

| a ruined wall. The indigenous Valerians of our fields and
|
; readiness and facility to his nurturing hand.

REEDS.—MusIc.

“the mingling sounds that come,
Of shepherd’s ancient reed.” -MoorE.

PAN, who was devotedly fond of the fair Syrinx, pursued
her one day upon the banks of the river Ladon, in Arcadia.
The nymph intreated the river to help her, when she was
received into the stream, and became transformed into Reeds.
Pan cut several of the Reeds, of different sizes, and formed
of them, as we are told, the first shepherd’s pipe. Moore
tells us that this is still a pastoral instrument of music in
Syria.

REST HARROW (Ononis spinosa).—OBSTACLE.

THIS pretty weed may still be found in some parts of the
country, although the intelligent and industrious farmer has
used his best efforts to banish it. It has strong woody roots,
which, when it abounded, were a great obstacle to the steady
progress of the plough, as its thorny branches were to the
motion of the harrow. As food it may be said to be generally
rejected by all animals except the ass, whence its generic J

| name.

THE ROCK ROSE. a /

THE ROCK ROSE.—SAFETY. |

THE Cistus, or Rock Rose, bears some resemblance to
Chick Pea. Aristotle tells us that it is a powerful protection
against ghosts and phantoms, when held in the hand. The
petals of the flowers of C. villosus, are purple, large, and
spread open like the Rose. They commonly fall off on the
same day on which they open, a feature which Campbell
notes:

“ Thou wert working late, thou busy busy bee !
After the fall of the Cistus flower.”

There is, however, a succession of new flowers daily for a con-
siderable time in May and June. In September and October,
also, they will bloom again, if the autumn be mild; and their
flowers may be procured in winter by sheltering the plants
from frost.

THE ROSE.—BEAUTY.

WHO, that has ever been endowed with the power of song,
has not sung of the Rose? Poets have not been able to
exaggerate her beauty, nor to sing her praises to perfection.
They have spoken of her, and with justice, as the daughter
of the sky, the ornament of the earth, and the glory of
Spring ; but what words have ever expressed the charms of
this lovely flower, her exquisite beauty, her matchless grace ?
When she spreads open her petals, the eye follows her

172

THE ROSE.

harmonious outlines with delight. But how can we describe
the rounded sections which form her entirety, the lovely tints
so delicately laid upon her, the sweet perfume which she
sends forth? Behold her, in the Spring, raising herself softly
amid her elegant foliage, surrounded by her many buds;
one might say that the Queen of flowers sports with the air
which plays around her, that she adorns herself with diamond-
like drops of dew which bathe her, that she smiles at the
sun’s rays which persuade her to display her charms. Nature
seems to have exhausted her resources, in order to lavish
upon her to excess, freshness, beauty of form, perfume,
splendour, and loveliness. The Rose decorates the whole
earth ; she is one of the most common of flowers.

On the day that the beauty of the Rose is perfected, it
begins to fade; but each succeeding Spring restores her to
us fresh and new. Poets have sung of her charms in vain;
they have not made her praises grow old or become weari-
some ; and her name of itself keeps their productions fresh
and attractive. The emblem of every age; the interpreter
of all our sentiments; the Rose is mixed up with our
festivals, with our joys and our sorrows. Innocent mirth
crowns herself with Roses; simple modesty borrows her
blushing tints; and we bestow a wreath of Roses as the
reward of virtue. The Rose is the image of youth, in-
nocence, and harmless pleasure. She belongs to Venus,
and even is the rival of her beauty; the Rose possesses,
like her, charms more lovely than beauty. Moore has sung
rapturously of the Rose,

173

THE ROSE.

“Rose! thou art the sweetest flower, that ever drank the amber shower ;
Rose! thou art the fondest child of dimpled Spring, the wood-nymph
wild!”

and again,

“While we invoke the wreathed Spring, resplendent Rose! to thee we'll
sing ; ‘
Resplendent Rose, the flower of flowers, whose breath perfumes Olym-
pus’ bowers ;
Whose virgin blush, of chasten’d dye, enchants so much our mortal
eye.”

and further,

“The Rose distils a healing balm, the beating pulse of pain to calm ;
Preserves the cold inurnéd clay, and mocks the vestige of decay;
And when at length in pale decline, its florid beauties fade and pine,
Sweet as in youth, its balmy breath diffuses odour e’en in death !”

We are told that all Roses were once white, and Herrick
accounts for some being changed into red, thus,

“OTis said, as Cupid danced among the gods, he down the nectar flung ;
.Which on the white rose being shed, made it for ever after red.”

Moore, however, makes the origin of the red Rose coeval
with the rising of Venus (Aphrodite) from the foam of the
sea ; he'says,

“Then, then, in strange eventful hour, the earth produced an infant

flower,

Which sprung, with blushing tinctures drest, and wantoned o’er its
parent breast.

The gods beheld this brilliant birth, and hailed the Rose, the boon of
earth !

With nectar drops, a ruby tide, the sweetly orient buds they dyed,

And bad them on the spangled thorn expand their bosoms to the morn.”

174

“SEK

\

THE ROSE ACACTA.

Sais

The same writer in his Irish Melodies, gives another state-
ment:

“They tell us that-Love in his fairy bower,

Had two blush Roses, of birth divine ;

He sprinkled the one with a rainbow’s shower,

But bathed the other with mantling wine.

Soon did the buds, that drank of the floods
Distilled by the rainbow, decline and fade ;
While those which the tide of ruby had dyed

All blushed into beauty, like thee, sweet maid!”

THE ROSE ACACIA (Robinia hispida) —ELEGANCE.

A HANDSOME shrub when grown in a sheltered situation.

The toilet has nothing of greater freshness, nor of greater
elegance, than the attire of this pretty shrub.
attitude, its gay green, its beautiful rose-coloured branches,
which have the appearance of waving ribands, all give it the
appearance of a coquette arrayed in ball-room dress.

Its inclining

THE HUNDRED-LEAVED ROSE.—THE GRacEs,

WHEN the three Graces are spoken of as being in attendance

,

175

on Venus and her Cupids, they are said to be crowned with
Myrtle ; when they accompany the Muses, they are repre-
sented as wearing wreaths of Roses.

“as

2

A ROSE IN A TUFT OF GRASS.

A ROSE IN A TUFT OF GRASS.—THERE IS EVERY
THING TO BE GAINED BY GOOD COMPANY,

“ONE day,” said the poet Sadi, “I saw a rose-bush sur-
rounded by a tuft of grass. ‘What!’ I cried, ‘does that
vile plant dare to place itself in the company of Roses?’
I was about to tear the grass away, when it meekly
addressed me, saying, ‘Spare me! I am not the Rose, it is
true ; but, from my perfume, any one may know at least that
I have lived with Roses. How anxiously should we seek
the company of those whose intellectual and moral character
surpasses our own, that we may drink in some of their
mind’s wealth and moral worth, and so far be improved by
the association.

yr,”

A ROSE-BUD.—YOUNG GIRL.

A YOUNG girl is to beautiful womanhood, what the Rose-
bud is to the Rose in the perfection of its charms. Burns
made use of the Rose-bud as the emblem of a favourite
young lady in a poetical address to “dear little Jessie,”
whose father was a master in the Edinburgh High school,
he says,

“ Beauteous rose-bud, young and gay, blooming in thy early May,

Never may’st thou, lovely flower, chilly shrink in sleety shower.
May’st thou long, sweet crimson gem, richly deck thy native stem ;”

and again, to the same,
176

A ROSE LEAF.

“ Thus thou, sweet Rose-bud, young and gay,
Shall beauteous blaze upon the day,
And bless the parent’s evening ray,
That watched thy early morning.”

A ROSE LEAF.—I AM NEVER IMPORTUNATE.

AT Amadan, there was a school of philosophers, whose
statutes prescribed that, “the Academicians should think
much, write little, and speak as little as possible.” Dr. Zeb,
famous throughout the East, learnt that there was a vacancy
in the academy, and hastened to seek it, but, unfortunately,
arrived too late. The members were extremely sorry. They
had just accorded to influence that which was due to merit.
The president, not knowing how to express a refusal which
caused the assembly to blush with shame, had a cup brought
to him, which he filled so full of water that one drop more
would have made it run over the brim. The learned can-
didate understood by this that they had not now room
for him. He was withdrawing, sadly disappointed, when he
saw a Rose Leaf at his feet. On this his courage revived. He
took up the leaf and placed it so lightly upon the surface of
the water in the cup, that not a single drop was displaced.
At this display of his ingenuity, the whole assembly clapped
their hands, and the doctor was received, by acclamation,
among the number of the silent Academicians.

177 N

"Oo

ROSEMARY. a

ROSEMARY (Rosmarinus officinalis) —Y our PRESENCE
REVIVES ME.

HUNGARY water is said to be distilled from Rosemary,
which is refreshing in its fragrance. It was formerly thought
to give vigour to the nervous system, to remove headache,
and to strengthen the memory, on which account Shakspeare
wrote,—

“There’s Rosemary—that’s for remembrance 3 ‘pra ou, love, re-
2 >
member 5 ap?

Rosemary was also deemed the emblem of Fidelity between
lovers, and so was worn at weddings. It symbolized
repentance, and hence its adoption at funerals, as in Wales
and Cheshire. At such times a few stalks are bound together
and presented to each of the mourners, who, when the de-
parted friend is consigned to the grave, cast in their bunches
upon the coffin, thereby expressing, as we presume, their
faithful and lasting remembrance of the dead. Kirke White
addresses it as a funeral flower,

“ Come, funeral flower ! who lov’st to dwell
With the pale corpse in lonely tomh,
* + * * %
My grave shall be in yon lone spot,
Where, as I lie, by all forgot,
A dying fragrance thou wilt o’er my ashes shed.”

178

ROSE-SCENTED GERANIUM.

ROSE-SCENTED GERANIUM (Pelargonium
capitatum).—PREFERENCE.

THERE are numberless species of the Geranium, or Pelar-
gonium. Some are heavy, others bright; some perfumed,
others scentless. The Rose-scented kind is distinguished by
the smoothness of its leaves, its agreeable fragrance, and its
pretty purplish flowers.

RUSHES (Yunucus conglomeratus).—DOCILITY.

“YIELDING and tractable as a Rush,” is an old proverb.
Very useful are different species of this genus, and they are
so pliant that we may work them into any form we please.

SAFFRON (Crocus sativus)—DO NOT DECEIVE
‘YOURSELVES.

A LIGHT infusion of Saffron tends to raise the spirits ;
but if indulged in to excess it produces intoxication. If
its emanations be inhaled in moderation, it is said to be
restorative ; if too freely breathed, the effect is injurious.

SAGE (Salvia officinalis) —ESTEEM.

VARIOUS species of this genus are of much value. At
one time our garden Sage was of high repute as a medicine,
179 N 2

THE SCARLET GERANIUM.

ASS

as a sudorific, aromatic, astringent, and antiseptic. For these
and other supposed properties, it is not improperly the
emblem of that Esteem which it has acquired.

THE SCARLET GERANIUM.—FOLLY.

MADAME DE STAEL was always angry when any one tried
to introduce into her society a mindless man. One day, how-
ever, a friend of hers risked the introduction of a young Swiss
officer of very pleasing figure. The lady, misled by his
appearance, became animated, and uttered a thousand plea-
sant remarks to the new comer, who at first seemed dumb
with surprise and admiration. But, since he listened in silence
for an hour, she began to doubt the cause of his conduct, and
all at once addressed him with such direct questions, that it
was quite necessary that he should answer. Alas! the unfor-
tunate fellow could reply with nothing but foolish nonsense.
M. de Staél then turned away, vexed at her loss of pains
and mental effort, and, addressing herself to her friend, said,
“Truly, sir, you are like my gardener, who thought to give
mea treat by bringing me this morning a pot of Geraniums;
but I tell you that I sent the flower away, desiring him never
to let me see it again.” “Ah! why so?” asked the young
man in astonishment. “It is, sir, since you wish to know it,
because the Geranium is a flower well clad in scarlet: so long
as we look at it, it pleases the eye; but when we press it
lightly, it emits a disagreeable odour.” While saying this,
the lady rose and went out, leaving, as we may well imagine,

180

THE SCARLET IPOMEA.

the cheeks of the young officer as red as his regimentals,
which were the colour of the flower to which he had been
compared. ;

The scarlet Geranium is a most pleasing object in beds on
our lawns, displaying its masses of brilliant flowers to great
advantage in the later Summer months.

THE SCARLET IPOMCEA (WJ. coccinea).—I ATTACH
MYSELF TO YOU.

LIKE other weak twining plants, the Scarlet Ipomcea has
need of a support to hold up its slender branches, which,
without being burdensome to its supporters, surrounds them
with verdure and flowers.

SCRATCH WEED, OR BED STRAW (Gahum verum).—
HARDNESS.

BED Straw was sometimes used to strew upon beds be-
cause of its agreeable fragrance. Scratch Weed seems to
be another species, once thought to be of great utility, but
now sought to be banished from fields, an attempt which its
tenacity of life, or hardness, renders most difficult. The
effort to eradicate it is continuous, but the plant as per-
sistently maintains its position. —

181

SEA THRIFT.

SEA THRIFT (Statice maritima) —SYMPATHY.

“ From the border lines,
Composed of daisy and resplendent Thrift,
Flowers straggling forth had on those paths encroached,
Which they were used to deck.”—-WORDSWORTH.

The generic name of this’ plant is Greek, and denotes
that which has the property of fixing, uniting, and retain-
ing. The flowers are small, very numerous, turning towards
the sky, forming pretty purple blue spikes. They are very
ornamental border flowers, but require considerable care.
Naturally the plants prefer marshy places, and especially
the shores of the sea, where they seem to bind the sands
together by their abundant roots.

THE SENSITIVE PLANT (Mimosa sensitiva).—
BASHFULNESS.

THE sensitive plant seems to shrink from under the hand
when about to touch it. At the slightest shock the leaflets
bend one towards another in succession. Then the common
leaf stalk, if the plant be low, bends down to the earth. A
cloud passing between it and the sun suffices to change the
position of the leaves and the whole appearance of the plant.
The ancients observed the phenomenon. Pliny speaks of it,
but neither Pliny, nor yet modern botanists have been able

satisfactorily to explain it. A Dr. Dutrochet made a variety J
182

THE SENSITIVE PLANT.

of experiments, the results of which satisfied himself, but do
not appear to have convinced others. Shelley has written
some lively verses about the plant, from which we extract
a few lines :—

“ A Sensitive Plant in a garden grew,
And the young winds fed it with silver dew,
And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light,
And closed them beneath the kisses of Night.
* * * * * %
—the Sensitive Plant, which could give small fruit
Of the love which it felt from the leaf to the root,
Received more than all [flowers], it loved more than ever,
Where none wanted but it, could belong to the giver—

For the Sensitive Plant has no bright flower ;
Radiance and odour are not its dower ;

It loves, even like Love, its deep heart is full,
It desires what it has not, the beautiful !

* % * % * *
Each and all like ministering angels were
For the Sensitive Plant sweet joy to bear,
Whilst the lagging hours of the day went by
Like windless clouds o’er a tender sky.

And when evening descended from heaven above,
And the earth was all rest, and the air was all love,
And delight, though less bright, was far more deep,
And the day’s veil fell from the world of sleep,

* * * * * *
The Sensitive Plant was the earliest
Up-gathered into the bosom of rest ;
A sweet child weary of its delight;
The feeblest, and yet the favourite,
Cradled within the embrace of night.”

183

THE SERPENTINE CACTUS.

THE SERPENTINE CACTUS (C. Serpentinus).—
HORROR.

THIS species of Cactus throws its thorny stems, which bear
a strong resemblance to serpents, in every direction. Its un-
expected appearance within view, produces a slight sense of
that Horror which we should feel, if a living reptile of a
deadly nature were suddenly before us.

THE SERVICE TREE (Pyrus domestica).—PRUDENCE.

EVERY tree and every plant has its own peculiar phy-
siognomy which seems to give it character. The thoughtless
almond tree hastens to display her flowers in the Spring, at
the risk of not bearing any fruit in the autumn, whilst the
Service Tree, which comes forth more tardily, bears its fruit
only when it has acquired its full strength; but then its crop
is made sure. Hence it is the meet emblem of Prudence.
This tree, so beautiful and so hardy, retains its shining red
berries the winter through; we see them glittering in the
midst of snows; it is a harvest which is yielded only in
winter, and which Providence has kept in reserve for the
smaller birds.

SHAKING SAINTFOIN (Hedysarum Gyrans).—
AGITATION.

THIS wonderful plant is a native of Bengal, near the
Ganges. No sooner do the ternate leaves of a seedling
184

SMALL BINDWEED.

develop themselves, than they commence moving, now here,
now there. In their native clime this motion does not cease
so long as vitality exists. They do not observe any time,
order, or direction in their movements. One leaflet will
revolve, while all the others on the same footstalk are at rest.
Now a few leaflets move about, then the others on that
petiole. The whole plant is never agitated at the same time.
The leaves are not quiescent even in winter. With us this
agitation can only be detected about mid-day.

SMALL BINDWEED (Convolvulus arvensis. —HUMILITY.

THIS pretty little Bindweed is one of the greatest favourites
among our indigenous wild flowers. Its feeble stems cannot
raise themselves above the surface of the earth, but trail upon
it until some friendly plant lends its firm support. Then the
lowly Bindweed twines around its friendly sustainer, and
decorates it with its nicely-shaped green leaves and beautiful
pale whitish-pink flowers. It is very common in our corn-
fields, and is a certain indicator of a dry soil, It is a most
fitting emblem of Humility.

SMALL CAPE MARIGOLD (Calendula pluvialis).—
PRESAGE. OMEN.

THIS flower expands invariably at seven o'clock in the
morning, and remains open until four o’clock in the afternoon,

if the weather be dry. If the flower does not open, or if it
185

mG

SMALL DOUBLE DAISY.

closes before its appointed time, we may be sure that there
will be rain during the day. '

SMALL DOUBLE DAISY.—I RECIPROCATE YOUR
AFFECTION.

IT would seem that the field daisy was long ago made
double by cultivation, since in the days of chivalry it was a
most expressive emblem. When the lady-love of a gallant |
knight granted him permission to emblazon his shield with a
Double Daisy, it was a public avowal that she reciprocated
his affection.

SNAP DRAGON (Antirrhinum majus)—PRESUMPTION.

THIS remarkable flower has singular attractions. Its
colours are now very varied, and adorn our parterres. They
need careful control in cultivation, for otherwise, like persons
who are inclined to presume on the sufferance accorded them,
they claim too large a space amid the company they are
introduced to, and require either to be immediately banished,
or for the future quietly passed over.

THE SNOWDROP (Galanthus nivalis)—CONSOLATION.

No sooner have we entered fully upon the Winter season,
than the pale Snowdrop lifts up her white bells to assure us

that Nature is not dead. The rude north wind may howl
186

Yt THE SNOW DROP.

ne

and sigh—the hoar frost may whiten the naked branches of
our trees—the clouds may have covered the face of the earth
with a snowy carpet—the songs of birds may have ceased,
and the flowing streams may no longer murmur, being bound
in icy fetters—the freezing atmosphere may have attained its
maximum strength—the sun, shrouded in fog, may but feebly
light up our fields—our hearts may sink saddened within us
at the death-like appearance of Nature; but yet the springing
up of the little Snowdrop produces an emotion of pleasure ;
the consolatory feeling that snow shall disappear, ice dissolve,
birds renew their song, green leaves take the place of hoar
frost, the sun shine forth again in splendour, and all Nature
awaken to life and beauty.
The venerated Keble thus addressed the Snowdrop:

“Thou first-born of the year’s delight, pride of the dewy glade,

In vernal green and virgin white, thy vestal robes arrayed.
* * * * * *% *

Thy shy averted smiles
To fancy bode a joyous year, one of life’s fairy isles.

They twinkle to the wintry moon, and cheer the ungenial day,
And tell us, all will glisten soon as green and bright as they.

Is there a heart, that loves the Spring, their witness can refuse ?”

The answer is, No! and the poet goes on to moralize in a
manner most devout and admirable, as those who love his
“Christian Year” well know.

Langhorne addresses our flower as the

“ Earliest bud that decks the garden, fairest of the fragrant race,
First-born child of vernal Flora, seeking mild thy lowly place ;
187

SPIDER OPHRYS. : ei

Though no warm or murmuring zephyr fan thy leaves with balmy wing,
Pleased we hail thee, spotless blossom, Herald of the infant Spring.

* * * * * * * *
White, as falls the fleecy shower, thy soft form in sweetness grows ;
Not more fair the valley’s treasure, not more sweet her lily blows.
Drooping harbinger of Flora, simply are thy blossoms drest ;
Artless as the gentle virtues mansioned in the blameless breast.”

So pleasing is the appearance of the Snowdrop, when she
pierces through, and expands her flower over, the snow; she
seems to cast a smile upon the severity of winter, and to say
to us, “I am come to calm your fears; I am come to console
you in the absence of bright days, and to reassure you of
their return !”

SPIDER OPHRYS (0. aranifera).— SKILL.

IDMON of Colophon was in great repute as a dyer. He
had a daughter Arachne, whose skill in weaving was such
that in her pride she challenged Minerva to a contest in the
art of weaving. Arachne wove a piece of cloth of so much
beauty that the goddess could not find any fault in it, but
tore it into pieces, at which the weaver was so grieved that she
hung herself. The rope was transformed into a cobweb, and
Arachne into a spider, from which we infer that man learnt
the weaving art from the spider, and first applied it in Lydia:
The flower is a remarkable production of Nature, being one
of those where she has produced in the vegetable kingdom,
an imitation of animal life. Here we see, as it were, upon a
plant the

188

SPIDERW ORT.

“skilful Spider seated silently,
As lurking for his prey in webby bower ;”

Guillim, whose writings few know but all have read of in

Scott’s “Rob Roy,” says “the Spider is free of the Weavers’
Company.”

SPIDERWORT (Tvradescantia virginica),—TRANSIENT
HAPPINESS.

A BLUE border-flower, but of no great beauty. The flower
is said to continue in succession from April to October, fading
on the day in which it opens.

THE SPINDLE TREE (E£uonymus europ@a).—Y OUR
CHARMS ARE TRACED UPON MY HEART.

THE wood of this tree was at one time used for spindles.
Sculptors make use of it, as well as turners. It is also called
prick-wood, from its being manufactured into skewers for a
useful but not noble application. Hedges are formed of it
sometimes, which in autumn are covered with rose-coloured
berries producing a very pleasing effect.

SPOTTED ARUM (A. maculatum).—WARMTH.

THIS is known commonly as “Lords and Ladies,” and is
used both as food and medicine. If you taste the roots, they

at first seem insipid, but afterwards the effect is as though
189

SPURGE LAUREL.

your tongue were pricked with needles, so acrid and sharp
is their juice. It is alleged by some naturalists, that the
spadix in certain of the species becomes so hot that the
hand cannot touch it with impunity. For one or the other
of these reasons it has been made the emblem of warmth.

SPURGE LAUREL (Daphne Laureola).—CoQUuETRY.
DESIRE TO PLEASE.

THIS is valuable in shrubberies, thriving under the drip
of trees, and never attaining an unshapely size. Its bark is
such as to give it the appearance of a dead tree, but Nature,
to hide this deformity, envelopes its branches in purplish
flowers, and puts forth at the end a tuft of leaves resembling
a pine-apple in form.

The Spurge Laurel begins to flower amid the snows of
January ; it seems the fitting representative of an imprudent
coquette who, in the dead of winter, decks herself in Spring
attire.

SQUIRTING CUCUMBER (Momordica Elaterium).—
CRITICISM.

ADVERSE criticism produces a painful effect upon the
unfortunate object of it, therefore the specific name of this
plant has suggested it as the proper symbol of the dang

operation.
190

ye THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM.

THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM (Ornithogalum umbella-
tum).—PURITY.

THE “ Bright-eyed Star of Bethlehem,” is indigenous, but
it is a welcome plant in our gardens. From April to June it
bears an umbel of star-like flowers, white as the purest milk.
There is no dweller in our borders more agreeable in its
whole appearance than it, and none more pure and pleasing.

STRAWBERRY (Fragaria vesca)—PERFECT GOODNESS.

THE Strawberry Plant is a lowly one, but its leaves are
exquisitely cut, and furnish, as regards form, ornaments on the
coronets of the Princess Royal of England and her sisters,
of Nephews of the royal blood, and of Dukes, Marquisses, and
Earls. The flowers are pretty in shape, perfectly white, and
cluster in masses upon the plants, and are so attractive as to
induce children to pluck them; hence Wordsworth makes an
elder child address a younger one thus:

“ That is work of waste and ruin—do as Charles and I are doing!
Strawberry blossoms, one and all, we must spare them—here are many;
Look at it—the flower is small, small and low, though fair as any:

Do not touch it ! summers two I am older, Anne, than you.”

Then the child bids Anne pluck other flowers, whose fruit is
useless to us, and proceeds to say why she would spare the
\ Strawberry flower,

IgI

SUCCORY.

“God has given a kindlier power to the favoured Strawberry flower,
When the months of Spring are fled, hither let us bend our walk ;
Lurking berries ripe and red, there will hang on every stalk,

Each within its leafy bower ; and for that promise spare that flower !”

And who would not join in the intreaty of the child to spare
a flower which should produce so rich a fruit as the Straw-
berry, whose worth can only be expressed fully by the words,
Perfect Excellence |

The good Bishop Mant, in his Wreath of April flowers, has
not forgotten this, which he speaks of as,

“With milk-white flowers, whence soon shall swell
Rich fruitage, to the taste and smell
Pleasant alike, the Strawberry weaves
Its coronets of three-fold leaves,
In mazes through the sloping wood.”

SUCCORY (Cichorium Intybus).—FRUGALITY.

THIS plant, and such like, were highly esteemed by the
Egyptians, and we are told that they constitute half the food
of that people of the present day. It was part of the repast
of the poet Horace; the leaves are much used by the
French as a winter salad, and its roots enter largely into
the compounds which are sold as coffee, in England; to
such an extent, indeed, that we have been assured by a
most respectable dealer, that we never obtain genuine Coffee
unless we specially stipulate for it when making a purchase.
Succory, or Chicory as it is commonly called, is a cheap
article, and hence its use is a frugal practice,
192

THE SUNFLOWER.

THE SUNFLOWER.—FALSE RICHES.

THIS flower is from Peru, in which country it was formerly
honoured as the image of the great orb of day.

It is related that a rich Lydian, named Pythias, owning
gold mines, neglected to till his fields, that his slaves might
work in the mines. His wife, who was wise and good, caused
a dinner to be served with dishes of meats in gold, saying, “I
give you the only thing in which you abound: you can reap
only what you sow; think whether gold is so great a good!”
He then saw that the annual productions of the earth were
the true riches, distributed among men in return for their
labour.

Longfellow has a poetical lesson of somewhat the same
import. He says,

“ As in at the gate we rode, behold,
A tower that was called the Tower of Gold !
For there the Kalif had hidden his wealth,
Heaped and hoarded and piled on high,
Like sacks of wheat in a granary;
And thither the miser crept by stealth
To feel of the gold that gave him health,
And to gaze and to gloat with his hungry eye

On the jewels that gleamed like a glow-worm’s spark,
Or the eyes of a panther in the dark.

I said to the Kalif ; ‘ Thou art old,

Thou hast no need of so much gold.

Thou should’st not have heaped and hidden it here,
Till the breath of battle was hot and near,

But have sown through the land these useless hoards,
To spring into shining blades of swords,

193 (0)

SWEET BAY.

And keep thine honour sweet and clear.
These grains of gold are not grains of wheat,
These bars of silver thou canst not eat.”

Gold, silver, and precious stones are but mediums of exchange;
hoarded up they are hurtful to the owner; spread,so as to;
help the struggling, to relieve the poor, to promote the glory
of the Giver, they then become true riches, to be returned with |
interest into the bosom of the agent in their distribution. |
|
|
{

SWEET BAY (Laurus nobilis) TREACHERY.

IT was formerly a common practice in making custards,
to throw into the pan a few leaves of Laurel, in order to
flavour them. Where the party preparing them was well
acquainted with the properties of the leaves, care was taken to
limit the quantity so as to produce an agreeable flavour; but
if too many were used they always produced a deleterious
effect, and not seldom death has ensued where the quantity
has been in excess; hence the tree has been made emble-
matic of Treachery.

SWEET-SCENTED COLTSFOOT (Tussilago fragrans).
WE WILL DO You JUSTICE.

IT has always been the lot of men whose minds have
soared above that of their contemporaries, to be unappre-
ciated. Authors, poets, painters, inventors of surpassing
merit, have rarely had the just value put upon their pro-

194

SWEET-SCENTED VIOLET.

ductions, and suggestions, and improvements in their life-time ;
or, if otherwise, the recognition of their deserts has been too
late to be of service to them. In these respects many plants
have shared the lot of many men, and their value has long
escaped the notice of those who were capable of appreciating
them. Thus our plant, notwithstanding its agreeable fra-
grance, had for a long time grown at the foot of Mount Pila
unknown. There it would have continued, doubtless, “to
waste its sweets upon the desert air,” if M. Villau, of Grenoble,
had not discovered its good qualities. That botanist sang the
praises of this humble flower; he gave it a distinguished
position in his writings; and, from that time, it has been
valued as an early blooming and fragrant flower, so that that
degree of justice has been accorded to it which it deserves.

SWEET-SCENTED VIOLET (Viola odorata) MODESTY.

LITTLE need be said to increase the universal admiration
of this favourite flower, for there is not one more sought after
than it, nor does any yield us greater pleasure when found in
the early Spring. We admire the embossed leaves, the
drooping purple flower, and are enchanted with its de-
licious fragrance. Then, as we roam through rustic lanes,
or by the hedgerow, or the border of a wood, how pleasant it
is to find that

“Where the banks are wet with drops of morning dew,
The gentle Violet steals out, in hood of blue ;”—-TAYLOR.

or fo see it when
195 O2

SWEET SULTAN.

“ Deep in the shade of a flowery vale,
Its frail form waves in the passing gale ;”—ANON.

and then its rich purple, which Byron speaks of,

“ The sweetness of the Violet’s deep blue eyes
Kissed by the breath of heaven, seem coloured by the skies.”

The fondness of this flower for the most retired spots, over-
grown by grass, often in the very depth of the hawthorn
hedge, where its presence can only be detected by the fra-
grance which Zephyr steals from her in passing, and diffuses
through space, has made the Sweet-scented Violet the proper
emblem of Modesty ; and so Miss Taylor sings of it,

“Down in a green and shady bed, a modest Violet grew ;
Its stalk was bent, it hung its head, as if to hide from view.

And yet it was a lowly flower, its colour bright and fair ;
It might have graced a rosy bower, instead of hiding there.

Yet thus it was content to bloom, in modest tints arrayed ;
And there diffused a sweet perfume, within the silent shade.”

SWEET SULTAN (Centaurea moschata) —HAPPINESS.

In the East, of which this handsome border flower is a
native, the Sweet Sultan is considered the emblem of
Supreme Happiness.

THE SYCAMORE.

THE SYCAMORE (Acer Pseudo-Platanus).— RESERVE.

RESERVE is symbolized by the Sycamore Tree, which is
slow to put forth its flowers. The tree is one of great beauty.
We have had many self-sown, which, being allowed to remain
in the spot where they were cradled, and with ample room to
grow upward and laterally, have become natural specimens.
They are very upright, well ramified, and altogether deserving
of great admiration. They bloomed, and bore their seeds,
furnished with two broad wings, in their seventeenth year.

THE TEASEL (Dipsacus fullonum).—MISANTHROPY.

IT is not easy to perceive why this should be the emblem
of Misanthropy. It is a prickly plant, and requires two years
from the time of being sown to grow to full ripeness. The
prickly awns with which they are beset make the Teasel
most useful, as being the best means known whereby clothiers
are able to raise the nap upon our beautiful broadcloth.

TEN-WEEK STOCK (Mathiola annua).—PROMPTITUDE.

No sooner have we cast the seeds of these pretty border
flowers into the earth than they begin to germinate, and
we quickly have them in masses, or borders covered with
them. The bloom, however, is transient, so that we must
197

THE THISTLE. '

sow for a succession from March to August. The pretty lilac,
white, and rose-coloured tints of the flowers are fresh and
various. This garden favourite diffuses an agreeable odour.

THE THISTLE (Carduus nutans).—STERNNESS.

THIS is, as is well known, the badge of the Scotch Order
of the Thistle and St. Andrew, together with a gold chain
interlaced with Thistle and rue. The motto of the Order is
“Nemo me impune lacessit ;” which, for our fair friends, we
put into English, “No one annoys me with impunity ;” a
very suitable motto for Scotchmen in the days when the
warlike spirit of their race was fully developed, by the
invading attacks of relentless foes.

THORN APPLE (Datura Stramonium).—DECEITFUL
CHARMS.

THE Thorn Apple has been compared to the capricious
beauty who, unseen in the open light of day, sparkles only
in the light which illuminates saloons and ball-rooms, There
she displays her charms, and delighting in admiration, allures
the young and ardent of the opposite sex, upon whom she
has no heart to bestow. Some of the species have an agree-
able odour, but they are poisonous; though others, in the
hands of skilful practitioners, are useful.

198

THYME.

THYME (Thymus serpyllum).— ACTIVITY.

THE Greeks regarded Thyme as the emblem of Activity.
No doubt they observed that its perfume, which stimulates
the brain, is very wholesome to elderly people, whose energies

it seems to restore.

Action is characteristic of the soldier, and is always allied
with true courage; wherefore, in days gone by, ladies were
often wont to embroider the scarf for their knights with the
figure of a bee humming around a sprig of Thyme. This
two-fold symbol implied, moreover, that he who adopted it,
was gentle in all his acts.

TOOTHWORT (Lathrea squamaria)—CONCEALMENT.

THIS plant grows only in the most hidden recesses of the
grove, at the foot of large trees, in moist and shady places.
Its flowers are nearly always concealed under moss or dry

leaves.

THE TREMBLING POPLAR.—MOANING.

THIS beautiful tree which, in the calmest weather, pro-
duces by its rustling leaves a sound resembling that of a
murmuring brook, seems to moan under the influence of the
lightest wind. It would appear to harmonize with the touch-
ing notes of the nightingale, when she bewails the loss of
her young, as noticed by Virgil :

199

ss TREMBLING GRASS.

“So mourning ’neath the trembling poplar’s shade
The nightingale bemoans her absent young,
Which some hard-hearted rustic, noting well,
Drew from their nest, unplumed : now she, distressed,
Weeps through the night, and, perching on a branch,
Repeats her mournful song ; and with sad plaints
Fills up the grove extended far and wide.”—
Favourite Field Flowers.

TREMBLING GRASS (Briza media). FRIVOLITY.

FRENCH shepherds call this plant, Asourette, perhaps
because of its pleasant and varied appearance. They look
upon it as the emblem of a slight and transient attachment ;
for a lover is suspected of insincerity if he presents his
inamorato with a bouquet bound together with this grass. It
is, however, one of the prettiest of our grasses, and a bunch of
them in a vase is a most pleasing ornament.

TREMELLA.—RESISTANCE. OPPOSITION.

THIs is a gelatinous plant, which has engaged the attention
of the learned, but has hitherto withstood all their researches.
It was celebrated among alchemists, who made use of it in
preparing the philosopher's stone and the universal panacea;
regarding it as an emanation from the stars. Some have
supposed these gelatinous substances to be the ejected pellets
of herons after feeding on frogs; others have regarded it as
an animal. It seems to have transformed itself into many

analogous plants, as if determined to elude the inquiries of
200

TULIP.

the curious. It is found in garden paths and meadows. In
truth we have no positive knowledge of the Tremella. It is
a secret of Nature which is as little to be understood as the
“everybody says so” of the unlettered mind.

TULIP (Tulipa sylvestris). DECLARATION OF LOVE.

ON the banks of the Bosphorus, the Tulip represents
Inconstancy ; but it also is the emblem of the most violent
love. Those which grow naturally in the fields of Byzantium,
with petals of fiery red and centres black as though burnt,
say to a captive beauty, that one loves her, and, if she will
show herself to him for a moment, her appearance will make
his countenance as of fire, and his heart like coal. Thus a
young man fresh or green from the hands of nature, yields an
homage without disguise ; but when fashioned by the world,
as the tulip is manipulated by the hands of the gardener,
he becomes more amiable, more lovely, but he has ceased
to love.

The Tulip is so called from its shape resembling that of
the turban. Its emblematic power, if it does not sufficiently
express a declaration of love, may well speak of that mania
which exceeded the madness of the most ardent lover in
times past ; for under its influence men did the most insane
things. Poets have written in raptures of it. Hear
Thomson,

* Then comes the Tulip race, where beauty play
Her idle freaks. From family diffused
To family, as flies the father dust,
201

VENUS’S LOOKING-GLASS.

The varied colours run; and while they break
On the charmed eye, th’ exulting florist marks
With secret pride, the wonders of his hand.”

and then Kleist asks,

“Who thus, O Tulip! thy gay painted breast,
In all the colours of the sun hath drest!
Well could I call thee, in thy gaudy pride,
The queen of flowers ;”

but alas! it has not her fragrance ; rather we may say of it,

“Yet no delicious scent it yields, to cheer the garden or the fields,
Vainly in gaudy colours drest, ’tis rather gazed on than caressed.”

VENUS'S LOOKING-GLASS (Campanula Speculum),—
FLATTERY.,

THIS is a pretty annual border-flower of great beauty,
which, from May to August, opens its shining purple flowers
in our fields so soon as the sun sheds his golden light upon
them. If clouds should intercept his rays, then the sensitive
petals close themselves as at the approach of night. A
fanciful fable tells us that Venus let one of her mirrors fall
upon the earth. A shepherd found this dzjou, and looking
upon it, as it had the power of reflecting an image more
beautiful than the reality, he forgot his mistress, and cared for
nothing but to admire himself in the glass. Cupid, fearing

the consequences of so great an error, broke the glass and
| transformed the pieces into this pretty Campanula, which
has ever since borne the name of Venus’s Looking-glass.

7a»

202

a VERVAIN. | eG
4

VERVAIN (Verbena officinalis) ENCHANTMENT.

VERVAIN was made use of by the ancients in different
kinds of divination. A thousand various properties were
assigned to it, among others the power of reconciling enemies.
Whenever the Romans had occasion to send heralds to other
nations, with a message of peace or war, one of them wore a
wreath of vervain. To this custom our native poet Dryden
alludes,

“ A wreath of Vervain heralds wear, amongst our garlands named,
Being sent that dreadful news to bear, offensive war proclaimed.”

The Druids held this plant in high esteem, and did not
venture to gather it until they had offered sacrifice to the
Earth; and now, in the north of France, the shepherds are
said to collect this sacred plant with ceremonies and words
known only to themselves. Thus in our time, as in the days
of the ancients, Vervain is looked upon as the emblem of
Enchantment.

THE VINE (Vitis vinifera). INTOXICATION.

ANACHARSIS used to say that the Vine bore three kinds of
fruit,—intoxication, voluptuousness, and repentance; and that
he who was temperate in his speech, moderate in his diet,
> and innocent in his amusements, was a perfect man.

The Vine, notwithstanding that its produce has been, and
203

WHITE WATER LILY. ie /

is still, greatly abused, is one of the most valuable gifts of
nature. Its fruit, when ripe and fresh from the tree, is most
delicious and refreshing; when dried it adds to our enjoyment
of the food given to us, and is a most wholesome part of our
diet ; and in the form of wine expressed from the grape, it is
not only innocuous but invigorating when used within proper
limits. The effects in no case should exceed what we call
mirthfulness ; as Scott says,

“ Let dimpled mirth his temples twine,
With tendrils of the laughing Vine ;”

and if it do more than “ gladden the heart of man, and make
him of a cheerful countenance,” it produces results which
invariably follow upon the abuse of those good things which
have been given to us; for every created thing is good, and to
be rightly received with thankful heart.

WHITE WATER LILY (Nymphea alba) —ELOQUENCE.

THE Egyptians consecrated the Nymphza Lotus to the
Sun, the god of Eloquence. These flowers close at sunset
and sink into the water ; they rise with the god of day as he
comes above the horizon. The flower forms part of the head-
dress of Osiris. Indian gods are depicted sitting on a Lotus-
flower at the bottom of the waters; symbolizing, as it would
seem, the rising up of the Earth, and its separation from
the Water.

Our White Water Lily is a lovely sister of the Egyptian
Lotus. Well may Miss Twamley give the invitation,

204.

THE WALL-FLOWER.

“Oh! come to the river’s rim, come to us there,
For the White Water Lily is wondrous fair ;”

and much more she sweetly sings of its praises in her
“Romance of Flowers.”

THE WALL-FLOWER (Chetvanthus fruticulosus)—
FAITHFUL IN ADVERSITY.

“ Recesses where the Wall-flower grew.”—ScoTtT.

WE find this fragrant flower blooming in places where ruin
and desolation prevail. In the cracks of ancient walls, in
nooks and corners of shattered towers, on cottages and tombs
in decay, there we may find the wall-flower, in short, wherever
adversity and misfortune have befallen masonry of old, valued
for what it has been, there this flower flourishes, faithful to
the friends who cherished it when they were prosperous and
gay. Thus Delta (Moir) has sung of it,

“The Wall-flower—the Wall-flower, how beautiful it blooms!
It gleams above the ruined tower, like sunlight over tombs ;
It sheds a halo of repose around the wrecks of time ;—

To beauty give the flaunting rose, the Wall-flower is sublime.

Flower of the solitary place! grey ruin’s golden crown!

Thou lendest melancholy grace to haunts of old renown;

Thou mantlest o’er the battlement, by strife or storm decayed ;
And fillest up each envious rent Time’s canker-tooth hath made.”

205

0.

Tees
THE WEEPING WILLOW.

THE WEEPING WILLOW (Salix babylonica).—
MELANCHOLY.

THIS noble tree never meets our eye, but we call to mind
the melancholy, but beautiful words of the sacred poet, ‘ By
the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we
remembered thee, O Sion! As for our harps, we hanged them
up, upon the willows that are therein.” Thus mournfully
bewailing their beloved Sion, whence they had been led
captive, beneath the pendulous branches of this graceful tree,
they have caused it ever since to be regarded as the emblem
of Melancholy. Bidlake looks upon it as ever sorrowful :

“The Willow tribes that ever weep,
Hang drooping o’er the glassy-bosomed wave.”

The association of melancholy feelings with the Willow of
Babylon, seems to be communicated to others of the tribe.
We well remember the saddening, but pleasing influence
which a long row of silver-leaved Willows, growing on the
grassy bank of the silvery Dearne, in Yorkshire, had upon us.
Often did we, in our boyish days, stand or recline under their
shade, in the glowing heat of summer, and, looking on the
water, feel refreshed. There, too, in sweet interchange of
thought with one who has long since entered into his rest,
we conversed, ever and anon quoting passages from favourite
poets, whose words seemed to ring out with a peculiar charm
and freshness in that pleasant spot.

Among the many interesting specimens of this tree is one
206

WHEAT.

in the churchyard of West Harptre, Somersetshire, said to
have been brought from St. Helena, where Napoleon, from
1815 to 1822, had leisure to review his nineteen years of life,
spent amid scenes of carnage and bloodshed, and to mourn
over the schemes of ambition, which he had planned and
striven to carry out, frustrated and annihilated. This now
magnificent tree is stated to have been planted by the
Rev. G. T. Hudson, vicar, 1837-42.

WHEAT.—RICHES.

* Now waving grain, wide o’er the plain,
Delights the weary farmer,”—BURNS.

WHEN he, seated upon a rustic stile, looks down, right and
left, upon the valleys beneath, standing so thick with corn,
that they seem to laugh and sing; and thither we would
gladly wend our way to share his pleasure, as if in answer to
Miss Twamley’s summons,

“ Come, let us rest on yon rude stile where stand
The village children, and look o’er the sea
Of golden-coloured grain, that waves beneath
The gentle breath of the soft Summer's day.”

Meet emblem of Riches is the golden wheat, for is it not to
the children of men the most important element of that
annual shower of wealth which falls, as it were, direct from
heaven, to feed and sustain in life, not only the human race,

but every living thing that hath breath! And the abundance,
207

ie

WHITE HEATHER.

and excellence of quality, of the Wheat of this present year,
1868, are such as has scarcely ever been known, and may not
be again seen for many, many years to come.

WHITE HEATHER.—Goop Luck.

ExTRACT from our beloved Queen’s Book :—“Our dear
Victoria (the Princess Royal) was engaged to Prince Frederick
William of Prussia. He had spoken to us of his wishes;
but we were uncertain whether he himself should speak to
her or wait till he came back again. During our ride up
Craig-na-Ban, he picked a piece of White Heather, the
emblem of “ Good Luck,” which he gave to her; this enabled
him to make an allusion to his hopes and wishes, as they
rode down Glen Girnock, which led to their happy
[betrothal].”—Sept. 29, 1855.

WHITE JASMINE (Fasminum officinale)—AMIABILITY.

“Luxuriant above all
The Jasmine, throwing wide her elegant sweets,
The deep dark green of whose unvarnished leaf
Makes more conspicuous, and illumines more
The bright profusion of her scattered stars."—COWPER.

THERE are those individuals who are endowed with such
a happy temperament, that they seem thrown into the world
to hold society together. They have in their manners so

much complaisance and grace, that they well sustain every
208

Moss Rase Sweet Scented Violet

— White Jasmine

WHITE LILAC.

position into which they are cast. They accommodate them-
selves to the taste, and properly estimate the mind, of all
others. They are so obliging, that they always interest
themselves in what you say to them; they are oblivious of
themselves to serve you, and they are silent to listen to you.
They flatter no one, assume nothing, never give offence.
Their character is a heavenly gift, like that of personal
charms. They please, in short, because Nature has made
them amiable.

Of this characteristic Amiability the Jasmine has long been
considered a most appropriate emblem.

WHITE LILAC.—YourTH.

ON account of the purity and brief duration of its beautiful
thyrses, the White Lilac is the emblem of Youth, that fleet
and charming period of life which all the treasures of the
world are unable to restore.

WHITE MULBERRY (Morus alba).—WISDOM.

THE White Mulberry has ever been called the wisest of
trees, because it is very slow in developing its leaves. There
is a saying, “Foolish as the Almond Tree, wise as the
Mulberry,” because the Almond is always the first to bloom.
A sprig of the Almond Tree together with a sprig of the
White Mulberry, say, Wisdom should be joined with Activity.
209 P

WHITE POPLAR.

WHITE POPLAR (Populus alba).—TIME.

THIS tree grows to eighty feet high, with a magnificent
head upon a straight stem, covered with a silver bark. The
ancients dedicated it to Time, because the leaves of this
beautiful tree are in continual agitation, and, being brown
on one side and white on the other, represent the alternation
of day and night.

WHITE POPPY.—SLEEP OF THE HEART,

BECAUSE the tasteless oil expressed from Poppy seeds
calms the nerves and induces sleep.

WHITE ROSE.—SILENCE.

“O goddess, thou art wondrous queer !
When none invoke thee, then most near ;”

WROTE an old friend in a sonnet addressed to this mytho-
logical being. The deity is represented as a youthful figure,
half naked, holding a finger upon the mouth, and a White
Rose in the other hand. A White Rose used to be sculp-
tured over the door of banqueting rooms, to remind the
guests that they must never repeat abroad what was said in
their festive moments.

210

WHITE VIOLET.

WHITE VIOLET.—CANDOUR.

CANDOUR takes precedence, in order of time, of Modesty.
The White Violet is as if the purple one were invested with
the robe of innocence.

THE WHORTLE OR BILBERRY (Vaccinium myrtillus).—
TREACHERY.

“ Nor lacked, for more delight on that warm day,
Our table, small parade of garden fruits,
And Whortle-berries from the mountain side.”—
WORDSWORTH.

ZENoMAUS, father of the lovely Hippodamia, had Myr-
tillus, son of Mercury, for a shield-bearer. Being proud of
this, he required that all who aspired to the hand of his
daughter, should enter the lists with him in the chariot race.
Pelops, anxious to secure Hippodamia, promised a high
reward to Myrtillus if he would take away the bolt from his
master’s chariot wheels. Myrtillus took the bribe: the
chariot was overthrown, and CEnomaiis killed; but with his
expiring breath he prayed that the traitor should be thrown
into the sea. On his body being brought to the shore for
that purpose, Mercury changed it into the shrub which
bears his name; that shrub resembles a little Myrtle. It is
the Whortleberry. It bears.an abundance of purple berries,
which are juicy, but somewhat insipid.
211 P 2

eas

THE WILD PLUM.

THE WILD PLUM.—INDEPENDENCE.

THE Wild Plum Tree is said to be the least tractable of
our indigenous trees. It will not bear the knife, nor allow
itself to be transplanted.

WILD RUE—MANNERS OR MORALS.

SHAKSPEARE and other old authors call this, “ Herb of
grace.” We are told that Mercury gave to Ulysses an
infusion of the root of Wild Rue to carry off the effects of
the draught given to him by Circe.

HELENIUM (&. autumnale)—TEARS.

THE flowers of this North American plant bear some
resemblance to little bright yellow suns. They flourish in
the Autumn with the Asters. They are fancifully said to
have sprung from the tears of Helen. Other writers assert
that Helenium was the name given to a plant which that

frail beauty used in preparing her cosmetics.

WITHY, OR OSIER (Salix viminalis)—FRANKNESS.

THERE is a proverb referring to a sincere man, which says,
He is frank as an Osier. It is in this sense that a French
poet has used the emblem,

“Le fier et brave Montansier,

Dont le cceur est brave comme Osier.”
212

WOOD ANEMONE.

WOOD ANEMONE (4. xemorosa).—FORLORNNESS.
“The Wind-flower, pale and fragile.,—M. A. BROWNE.

ANEMONE was a nymph beloved of Zephyr. This aroused
the jealousy of Flora, who banished her from her court, and
changed her into a flower, which always blooms before the
return of Spring. Zephyr has abandoned this unfortunate
beauty to the caresses of Boreas, who, failing to win her love,
disturbs her, makes her bloom too early, and causes her to
fade quickly.

An Anemone, with the motto, Brevis est usus, i.e. “ Her
reign is short,” accurately declares the fleeting nature of her
beauty.

WOOD SORREL (Oxalis acetosella).—Jov.

THE Hallelujah Oxalis, as the French call this plant,
flourishes at Easter. Every evening it closes and bends down
its leaves, folds up its corollas, and allows its flowers to hang
drooping. They seem to fall with the sun; but, at dawn of
day, one might fancy that they are filled with joy, for they
unfold their leaves, and spread forth their flowers. On these
accounts it is said by country people, that they praise God.

The Wood Sorrel is by some thought to be the true
Shamrock. It is the emblem of the Irish nation, and the
badge of the Order of St. Patrick. By its means that early
preacher of Christianity taught the people the great doctrine
of the Trinity.

213

WORMW OOD.

As a national emblem, Moore has written of it,

“Where’er they pass, a triple grass
Shoots up, with dew-drops streaming,
As softly green, as emerald seen
Through purest crystal gleaming.
O the Shamrock, the green, immortal Shamrock !
Chosen Leaf of Bard and Chief,
Old Erin’s native Shamrock !”

WORMWOOD (Artemisia A bsinthium).—ABSENCE.

La FONTAINE has said that Absence is the greatest of
evils. Absinthe, or Wormwood, is the most bitter of plants.
Its name comes from the Greeks, and means wzthout sweetness.
Spenser makes a maiden thus bemoan the absence of her
lover :

“ So I alone, now left disconsolate,
Mourn to myself the absence of my love,

And wandering here and there all desolate,
Seek with my plaints to match the mournful dove.”

A WREATH OF ROSES.—THE REWARD OF VIRTUE.

WE are told that S. Medard, Bishop of Noyon, who was
born at Salency, of an illustrious family, offered the most
touching prize that kindness ever gave to virtue. This was a
simple wreath of Roses; but to obtain this, the candidates
must be humble-minded, very modest, and very prudent.
The Bishop’s sister received the prize from his own hands
ALT. 532.

214

A WREATH OF WHITE DAISIES.

A WREATH OF WHITE DAISIES.—I wILi
THINK OF IT.

IN the days of chivalry, when a lady, to speak in common
parlance, “didn’t know her own mind ;” that is to say, was
not determined either to accept or refuse the suit of her
lover, she used to wear on her brow a Wreath of White
Daisies, by which she wished to say to him; I will think
of it.

YARROW (Achillea Millefolium).—War.

THIS plant is said to heal all wounds caused by iron.
We have it stated that Achilles made use of it to cure the
wounds he had inflicted on Telephus; but other accounts
say that he was cured by the rust of the spear which caused
the wound.

YELLOW NARCISSUS.—DISDAIN.

DISDAINFUL persons are for the most part exacting, and
have little amiability: thus of all this genus the Yellow
Narcissus is the least beautiful, most devoid of fragrance,
and yet it demands more care than the rest.

215

THE YEW-TREE.

YELLOW ROSE.—UNFAITHFULNESS.

YELLOw is the colour which we usually assign to faults of
unfaithfulness. The Yellow Rose seems the flower which
properly represents those who are guilty of it. Water
wearies it, the sun burns it. Constraint can alone bring this
Rose, which has no fragrance, into good condition. It does
not improve with care, nor yet when it enjoys freedom.
When one would wish to see it at its best, we must bend its
buds down to the earth, secure them in that position, and
then it will flourish.

THE YEW-TREE (Taxus baccata)— SADNESS.

“The Yew, which, in the place of sculptured stone,
Marks out the resting-place of men unknown.”—
CHURCHILL.

THE Yew-tree has always been considered the suitable
ornament of churchyards, and so has become associated with
sad recollections. It is not a favourite tree with us. Its
appearance, when left to grow at will, is gloomy and heavy.
We had occasion to plant trees in a churchyard, and we pre-
ferred the cheerful Lime-tree, which has grown and prospered,
and added much to the light and airy aspect of the village
cemetery. We were offered some Yew-trees, which we declined
with thanks. Where our brothers and sisters sleep the sleep
of death, there ought we to feel all the comfort that we can

feel, in the hope that they enjoy a better life than this, and
216

wr

YOKE ELM.

look forward, without dread or despondency, to the time
when we shall be ‘permitted to rejoin them.

Sir Walter Scott agrees with all other poets in regarding
the Yew Tree as having a sad and gloomy appearance, and as

producing a corresponding feeling in the mind. In Rokeby
he describes them thus—

“ But here, ’twixt rock and river grew
A dismal grove of sable Yew,
With whose sad tints were mingled seen
The blighted fir’s sepulchral green.
Seemed that the trees their shadows cast,
The earth that nourished them to blast ;
For never knew that swarthy grove
The verdant hue that fairies love,
Nor wilding green, nor woodland flower,
Arose within its baleful bower.
The dank and sable earth receives
Its only carpet from the leaves,
That, from the withering branches cast,
Bestrewed the ground with every blast.”

YOKE ELM.—ORNAMENT.

Tuls beautiful tree was formerly the principal ornament of
large gardens. It was used to form long verdant screens, for
porticoes, obelisks, pyramids, colonnades. Father Rapin, in
his poem, Des Fardins, wrote a fine eulogy on this tree. We
may see at Versailles how well the famed Le Notre knew to
introduce it into his beautiful designs.

217

INDEX OF SENTIMENTS.

Absence .
Activity. . .
Afterthought .
Agitation
Amiability .
Ardour .
Artifice. . .
. Arts, The .
Assignation

“"ASylum! .

Banquet. . ..
Baseness . .
Bashfulness .
peony és :
Beauty ever-new .
Beloved Daughter
Be my support
Beneficence .
Benevolence . .
Bereavement .
Birth .
Bitterness .
Blackness .
Bluntness . i
Boldness . . .
Bonds of Love .
‘Bulkiness ¥
Calmness . .
Calumny
Candour
Capricious Beauty
Chagrin. .
Chastity F
Chastity . . .
Cheerfulness .
Christian Faith .
Coldness -
Coldness . . .-
Concealment .
Confidence. . .
Conjugal Love.

en ee
Wormwood .
Thyme . .
Michaelmas Daisy . A

Shaking Saintfoin .

White Fasmine .
German Tris
Clematis .
Acanthus.
Pimperned .
Funiper. .
Parsley :
‘Dodder
Sensitive Plant .
Rose, The . .
Damask Rose
Cinguefoi
Black Bryony
Marsh Mallow .
Potato S33
Myrobalan .
Dittany .

Aloe .

Ebony

Borage ..
Larch. «. .
Honeysuckle .
Pumpkin.
Buckbean
Madder...
White Viole .
Musk Rose .
Marigold
Chaste Tree. .
Orange Flowers
Buttercups
Passion Flower .
Chaste Tree .
Lettuce .
Toothwort
Hlepatica. . .
Lime Tree. .
219

oo

INDEX OF SENTIMENTS. oa

PAGE
Consolation (of ase) . . 1» Corn Poppy. 6 6 1 ew we 588
Consolation . . . . . . Snowdrop. . bo hk . 186
Constancy . soe ew ew ee «6 Pyramidal Bell, flower. a ee 9 968

Coquetry . . . . 2 yw... (SpurgeLaurd . 2. 1 ee 190
Courage. . . . . .. . . Black Poplar . 2. 1 1 + 2 2 30
Criticism 2. 1. 1 1 1... . Sauirting Cucumber. . . « « « 190
Cruelty. 2. 2... os a GNA2 es ose a go 4 5 46
Cure) eee sae 2. a Balm of a at

Daring. . ao Pe Pe «ee es we RB ee RT
Deceitful Charms | 1 oe ee «) Thorn Apple . 1 6 www ws 198
Declaration of Love .. . PS 7) ee en a ea . 201
Delicacy ss ce a wee ae ARNE BONE oo ase ee owe we BR
Desire . .. ip ey tape Hes . Jouquil. . . « 6 « + + + + 120
Desire to please eo oe we el we Sptempe Laue oc ae, Ge HOO

Despair. . . . .,. . . . . Marigold and Cpress i> ve Ye - 135
Difietlty: a Black Thorn : ie oe nha ae BE
Dignity. . See AO Be Clove Tree . . 1 5 2 ae oe. 255

Discretion . rab bt coe tox ALMGIDERRAEY pe i we ae ae 'TQZ
Disdain. . 2. 1... . . « Yellow Narcissus . 2. we . 215
Dissension. . . . . . . . . A Broken Straw . . . 2... 37
Distiust..:2 4 0m ty oe me A) en Bavenderg 4 GB s -5 125
Dociliy. . 2. 2... . ge ee GLOUSHES ae a it, RS Se 179
Do me justice. . s «= « Chestnut Tree «0% eo we ee w OO
Do not deceive yourselves . . og DOS «2 a koe we ee me wo ZO
Duplicity . eg oe se a Momohinel ss oe we ew ws . 132

Duration . 2. 2. 1. 1 1...) Cornelian Chey ei a: (eA ee ae 68
Early Joys. . ey «a we = = Cowslp . x ooh a. lee) ee - OF
Early Youth. 2 6 6 « » » a P¥imrose. 3 2 wy ee % a @ 166

Egotism . 3) ae ee Poet’s Narcissus . . . . . « « IOI
Bleganee sw 2 & a s om « 2 Rose-Acatia. = 3 ¢ se ee we ES
Elevation . . . . . 1 . . . Fir Tree. . o aon BR ee ae 88
Eloquence. « 2. . . . . White Water Lily 8 oe OZOH
Enchantment. . . , . . . . Vervain. . Oh GO OB

ENVY 3 4 ms & © 32 se Bramble 2. es we ee Se we = SD BO
Forror 3. a gy we 4s soe » BeOphrys s 2 4 es i we % & IQ
Esteem. . Bie Ben be Se SEB EE a a hey OR nae GS ae pO
Faithful in Adversity se ee « Wallflower. . soe ee 6 205
Faithfulness . . oo. ee) 6Germander Speedwell « a fea ey OF
False Riches . . . . . . . . Sunflower . . aoa on cur ae ee LO)
Falsehood. . . . : pc AUUOSS oo ag pe ae ee gs ay

Fault . . . . . . . . .) . Aenbane. . . AGh <2).o - 109
Feast af Ae ge 8 east et ove cea, APMEP oe Ge carl oe Sa, we EEO
FI a eo a Prawn ae ek OB
First Emotion of Love. wtp te EGE a. tee tas ok oaks eR tee se SEG
Flame. . . . . . «6 Gevrmandris. «2 1 we - 96
Flattery . . . . - . . . Venus Looking-glass . . . . « « 202
Folly . . 2... 1 1 1 6. Columbine i Gos

Folly 2... . 1...) Starlet Geranium :
Foppishness . . . . . . . . Pomegranate
Forethought . . . . .. . . Folly.

220

INDEX OF SENTIMENTS.

Forget-me-not
Forgetfulness .
Forlornness .
Frankness' . aod
Fraternal Affection .
Friendship .

Frivolity . . . :
Frivolous Amusement ‘
Frugality
Fruitfulness
Gallantry .
Game
Generosity .
Genius . . 4
Glory

Good Education 3
Good Luck . .,
Good News . .
Goodness

Gracefulness .

Graces, The .

Grandeur

Gratitude .

Grief i

Happiness. .

Happiness .

Hardness

Hatred .

Hatred .- jk Sat! 3
Haughtiness . . .
Healings . 2...
Hermitage. . . 1. 2...
Hidden Merit. . . . . .
Hope By OR ee ey
Horror: 2 « 2 « «
Hospitality. ite a
Humility . ‘

I am never Importunate.

I am sensible of your Kindness
I attach myself to you

I declare War against you .

I die if neglected . .
Tlove you. .

I reciprocate your Affection

I rise above all oe 1g

I will not survive you

I will think of it.
Immortality

Impatience

: Importunity

Forget-me-not
Afoonwort
Wood Anemone .
Withy, or Osier

Mock Orange

ly.

hy vembling Grass
Bladder Nut ‘
Succory (Chicory) .
folly hock

A Bouquet of Flowers
Hyacinth. . .
Orange Tree

Plane Tree. .
Laurel a
Cherry. . ‘
White Heather |
Guelder Rose

Goosefoot . :
Birch Tree. . Fi
Hundred-leaved Rose 3
Ash Tree . wu.
Agrimony . .. .
Aloe Sale 7
Mugwort. .
Sweet Sultan
Scratchweed . . .
Basil .

fumitory .

Amaryllis . .
Balm of Gilead .
Milkwort .

Coriander Bi oe
Hawthorn . 4...
Serpentine Cactus .
Oak . ...
Small Bindweed

A Rose Leaf .

Flax . ‘
Scarlet Ipomea
Grass-leaved Goosefoot .
Laurestinus .
Peruvian Heliotrope
Small Double Daisy
Mistletoe. . . .
Black Mulberry

Wreath of White Daisies ;

Amaranth
Balsam
Burdock .

221

INDEX OF SENTIMENTS.

Inconstancy . . . . . . . . Evening Primrose. . 1... . 85
Independence. . . . .. . . Wild Plum. ee + + 212
Indifference . . . . . . . . Candy Tuff. . .. ‘ 46

Indiscretion . . . . . . . . Feathery Red... ; s %
Infatuation . . . . . . . . Peruvian Heliotrope . . . . « . 153
Ingratitude . . ... . . . Célery-leaved Corafere Re ee HOA

Injustice? ok a ew OP ew tee Be Oe oo a
Innocence. . . . ... . «. Daisy. . oy my. Ss ey ae 168
Inspiration. . . . . .. . . Herb archangel BPR SE ee kT
Intoxication . . . . .. . . Vine. . gi Ake Be att 1 2203
Joy. . Le ee qe) DC ln oa ae eke 213

.
il
a
cal

Keep your Promises . - . + « « Plum Tree Ce ae
Kindness. 3 3 @ ge & Se BeBe we we ww we ww 183
Lasting Eeanty soe + + 4 + «© Garden Wallfower . . . . . . 93
Life. se =» 2 Laer = ~ Ge ee ZO
eye and pure A Affection | 1. Pink . Bey Ge Re ap ee aes a a
Love » 1 + « MossRose . 1 1 ww ww ws 142
Toye, soe 3 oe a 8 ee ee ANGFUE ee eh ae te aw se TAR
Loveliness. . . . . . . . « Pompon Rose . . . . . . « . 166
Luxury. . 2. . . . . . . « Horse Chestnut’. . 5 1. ww. TIS
Majesty’ a at a ee ee EE ee tic ae ee
Manners: i023 2 @ @ & & i WHE RM i ee Ge we we 4h BIZ
Maternal Love . . . . .. . Moss. . tee 8 ee ew + IGE
Melancholy . . . . . . . . Dead Leaves. 1. mE age ee ee ie 7
Melancholy . . .. . . . . Weeping Willow . .... . . 206
Melancholy ape, + + + « « 4 Night-smelling Geranium . . . . 146
Message . . Ree gee attuas Herne SALMESS hoe he a ee a ey
Misanthropy . . ..... . ZYeasd . , a a gE ah et DOF
Moaning . . . .. .. « « Trembling Poplar 4 & & & = 2 TOO
Modesty . . . . . . . « « Srweet-scented Violet . . . . « . 195
Motals’ 200k oe SWE se ee ee BIB
Music .. - + . . Reeds. . Sb. a oe oe Se
My best Days : are . past . 3 . Meadow Saffron Be Re eB AO
My Gratitude exceeds your Care. | Dahlia... | So Se ee ce 166
My Regrets follow you to the Grave Asphodel. . . . . 1... 7

Obstacle « « « «© » Rest Harrow . ; ee Ries TUE
Omen... .... . . « Small Cape Marigold « soe ee. 185
Opposition. . . . . . . . . Tremélla. . . og ce lee <a 2ZOO)

Oracle . 2 2 1 1 1» » » « Danddim © 6 we ee ee OS
Omament. . . ... . . . VYokeHlm .. . 1... . 2 217
Pain. . . . . . . « « « . Marigold, » «ww. 184
Patience, 2 2 % 6 # © & » « Patente Dock ow oe a we ae a I 50

Peace .. Ba Bee a ae PENA R ee o ike ide aD Rds an Gee, TOO
Perfect Goodness. soe eee . Strawberry . 6. ee ew. QE
Pleasantry . . She RB BUA iat cay tae (ee Se iy oe ye BO

Pleasing Remembrances . . . . Periwinkle eek: ae ee ap ae a EBT
Pleasuresof Hope . . . . . . Crocus . 2... wa,
Platonic Love. . . . . . . . Acacia .

Plays ak A a owe ee we pean, . a
Poetry 5 Sica ee es EU OMEIAE Reo cas oe ew

222

INDEX OF SENTIMENTS.

Politeness: 3 ga wow ww aD
Power ae a ae e
Preference « «= « © 6 * @ a
Preference. « 2 « & % «© & %
Presage}s. ie ts we ea
Presumption Ser eee a
Pretension. . . . 2...
Pride ...

Profit

Prohibition.

Promptitude

Prosperity .

Prudence

Purity .

Rarity .

Readiness .

Reason. -. .

Reconciliation .

Repose. .

Reserve . we

Resistance. 2 5 «© » # % % 8
Return of Happiness.

Reverie. . ‘

Reward of Virtue

Riches . . . .

Rudeness 5 Aah ys Ge ates
Rupture: 40 ee ae
Rupture bo csy Se ae ct ee ce
Sadnessin 6. & 4 # © @ &
Sadness .

Safety

Separation .

Shame . a ES
Sharpness. . . . .
Sharpness . * 8
Sickness

Silence . fk ee en ea
Simplicity « «<4 8 2 ¢ @ 4
sincerity « . « « 4 6 # & &
Skill . ar

Sleep of the Heart eae

Solitude. a8

Sorcery. . :
Sorrowful Remembrances .
Sternness b .dah ts
Stoicism . . ....
Strength

Succour. . . .

\. Suspicion. 2...

NN Swiftness . . . . ..

Bouquet of Flowers
Crown Imperial
Apple Blossom . .
Rose-scented Geranium
Small Cape nis a .
Snapdragon .
Glasswort . .
Amaryllis . .
Cabbage .

PRO as
Ten-week ‘Stock .
Beech. . . ‘
Service Tree. . .
Star of Bethlehem .
Mandrake ‘
Red Valerian
Goat’s Rue .
Ffazel .

Buckbean

Sycamore

Tremella r
Lily of the Valley .
Flowering Fern
Wreath of Roses
Wheat 3
Borage ..

A Broken Straw

- Greek Valerian.

Dead Leaves.

Yew Tree i. A
Rock Rose . . . .
Indian Fasmine .
Peony ee
Berberry. . .
Lantana .

Meadow A nemone .
White Rose. .

Dog Rose. ‘
Fern. . ee ds
Spider Ophrys -
White Poppy

Fleath

Enchanter’s ‘ightshade ‘

Pheasant’s Eye. .
Thistle ues

INDEX OF SENTIMENTS.

Sympathy . ae
Tartness . . . . .
Tears

There is everything t to be gained by

good company .
Think of me :
Thoughtlessness .

PETG: Gey cs Ser an ee oe
Timidity

Tranquillity * +
Transient Happiness. . .
Treachéfy .. 0 4. = -@ 4
Treachery... arouse ae
4 sd on
Unfading pace He ah
Unfaithfulness. 1 1 1.
Usefulness . Be de
Uselessness.

Variety .

Vice. ‘
Voluptuousness
Voluptuousness

War. .

Warmth.

Warmth of Heart .
Warmth of Sentiment .
Weakness . “8

We die together .

We will do you justice 5
Wisdom

Witchcraft . ES eg
YouareCold. . . . .
You are my Angel

You are Perfect F
You are without Pretension
Young Girl

Your Charms are resplendent -

Your Charms are traced upon my

Heart

Your Friendship is is pleasing and

agreeable tome. .
Your Looks freeze me .
Your Presence revives me .

Your oe ee a Charms .

Youth

/

Sea Thrift .
Berberry .
Helenium

A Roseina as ha z

Pansy ..

Almond Tree

White Poplar

Marvel of Peru.
Mugwort,

Spiderwort .

Sweet Bay A

Whortle, or Bilberry : 7
Bitter-sweet Nightshade
Amaranth 7
Yellow Rose.

Grass. . 6 4

Meadow Sweet .

China Aster.

Darnel

Moss Rose

Tuberose .

Varrow .

Spotted Arum ‘
Red and White Roses .
Peppermint , ‘
Moschatl . .
Gathered Flowers
Sweet-scented Coltsfoot .
White Mulberry ae
LEnchanter’s i kaos .
Hydrangea

American Cowslip .

Pine Apple . Snes
Pasque-flower Anemone .
Rose-bud . eae
Asiatic Ranunculus

Spindle Tree

Glycine

Ice Plant.
Rosemary
Mignonette
White Lilac .

Ei London: R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor, Printers.