ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 AT 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 Isabel Zucker 
 class '26 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 067 884 
 
B Cornell University 
 y Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240678841 26 
 
I'M al,LV'ruf'jJ'Vlii!pr,'IV';ajc d'l I'i:iii-,^,iaiii 
 
 PUBLISHED by DE VRIES.IMRRA ET C;, BOSTON, 
 
THE 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 MISS ILDREWE. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM 
 THOMAS MILLER. 
 
 Plustx-Hteb bj ffiolortb ^lafts, anb Itamcrons WoobtKts, after 
 
 GUSTAVE DORJ:, DAUBIQHT, TIMMS, AHD OTHEEB. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 DE VRIES, IBARRA, AND COMPANY, 
 
 BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 
 
 DE VRIES, IBARRA & CO., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 ■LBOTnOTTPBD AT THE 
 
 BOSTON STBRBOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
 Ko< 4 Spring Lane. 
 
 Printed by John Wilson and Sons. 
 
. .-M - — . 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 0^ I VACANCY seems to exist in the litera- 
 
 ^ ture of tlie present day, which this book, 
 
 *^ it is hoped, may help to fill. There is 
 
 no English work on the Language of 
 
 Flowers which is at all satisfactory, and 
 
 no foreign one, as far as we are aware, 
 
 which is either sufficiently complete, or 
 
 exactly adapted to American wants. The 
 
 editor has consulted all the flower books 
 
 1 * (5) 
 
6 TO THE READER. 
 
 known to her in English, French, and German, and belieyes 
 this will be found to contain a more copious dictionary, and 
 more appropriate descriptions, than any of its predecessors. 
 
 It is designed for all parts of the United States ; but if any 
 are disappointed in not finding here some flowers they seek, 
 they must remember that this charming language is not yet 
 perfected, and we have been unwilling to attach arbitrary and 
 unauthorized meanings to many of our native blossoms which 
 certainly deserve and convey a sentiment as well as their older 
 foreign sisters. 
 
 Where authorities differed in regard to signification, the 
 most correct has been carefully sought out; and in some in- 
 stances, where two seemed equally good, both are given. 
 
 The quotations from English authors (to say nothing of 
 Latin and other languages) might have been multiplied, and 
 a very large volume written on this delightful subject — for 
 who is ever tired of rambling among flowers ? But it was 
 necessary to keep the volume of a convenient size — and this 
 must be our excuse for rejecting much which some may 
 expect to find. 
 
 Trusting that any omissions or inaccuracies may meet with 
 indulgence, we commend our new "Language of Flowers,'' 
 not to the tender mercies of the critics, but to the attention 
 of all who love flowers. 
 
 DECE.MBER, 1885. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ij^ T was in that age when the golden 
 mornings of the early world were 
 unclouded by the smoke of cities, — 
 when the odors from thousands of 
 untrodden flowers mingled with the 
 aroma of old forests, and the gen- 
 tlest wind that ever tried its wings, 
 flapped its way through vast realms of sleeping fragrance, 
 — that Love first set out to discover the long lost Lan- 
 guage of the Flowers. For there had been rumors in 
 the olden world, that before the winged lovers of Earth's 
 first daughters left their watch beside the star -beaconed 
 
 (7) 
 
» INTRODUCTION. 
 
 battlements of Heaven, and gave up all their glory for 
 the heart of woman, — the buds and blossoms held 
 sweet converse together, and that many a time when 
 the nightingale ushered in the twilight with her song, 
 voices from the flowers had made low response, amongst 
 the glades and rose-girded pastures in the Garden of 
 Paradise. Even on Olympus, Love had heard that an 
 immortal language never could die ; that, although silent, 
 it still slept somewhere among the flowers ; and many a 
 time, whilst resting on some fragrant bed, he had been 
 awakened by low whisperings, and disturbed by the 
 heavy beating of his heart, which ever seemed urging 
 him onward to commence his holy mission, and discover 
 that language, which had been lost ever since the day 
 when Eve went weeping from the angel-guarded gates 
 of Eden. 
 
 Love arose and shook the rounded dew in Idosened 
 pearls from the feathery silver of his wings, and soared 
 far away over many a hill and valley, alighting when 
 weary, and kneeling lowly, with attentive ear and bowed 
 head, beside the blossoms ; but as yet he had only 
 leai'ned what the bees said when they hung murmuring 
 over the honeyed bells, and what words the butterflies 
 whispered afe they alighted upon the flowers with subsid- 
 ing wings. Onward wandered Love for many a day ; 
 although he caught the faint breathing of the blossoms. 
 
IN TROD Ua TION. 9 
 
 yet the meaning of their lowest words was still to him a 
 mystery. At last, weary and sad at heart, he sat down 
 and wept upon a bed of roses. The rose was his moth- 
 er's favorite flower ; it had ever been sacred to Venus, 
 and he heard a sound as of low sighing amongst its 
 leaves ; and when he lay down, he felt the drooping 
 petals falling upon his lips and around his neck, as if to 
 catch the tears that fell ; and then it was that Love first 
 kissed the Rose and blessed it unawares, for the sweet- 
 ness and beauty of the flower sank into his heart. And 
 whilst folded upon his lips, she told him that ages ago 
 Jove selected her for the Queen of Flowers and the 
 'Goddess of Beauty; that nothing human had ever sur- 
 passed her charms ; and that when every image of 
 poetry was exhausted, none could equal her own ; that, 
 from the first creation of flowers, she had been named 
 " the ornament of the earth, the princess of plants, the 
 eye of the flowers, the blush of beauty, the breath of 
 love ; " and that even when her leaves withered, to mark 
 her immortal origin, she gave not up her breath, but 
 still lived in a spirit of invisible fragrance ; that she 
 never knew old age, but sank to sleep in perfume, in t^e 
 full perfection of her beauty, for she was the fairest 
 daughter that was born of the Mother of Love. 
 
 So Love found his sweet and long lost sister in the 
 Rose, and she first spoke to him in the old language of 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the flowers, giving him a new lesson every day, until not 
 a bell bowed or a bud expanded, nor a blossom opened 
 its beautiful lips, without Love knowing every word it 
 whispered. For days did Love linger with his sweet 
 sister the Rose, before he again set out on his pilgrim- 
 age ; but his journey was now no longer lonely ; he 
 found a companion in every flower by the wayside, and 
 held converse with every bud that dwelt within its green 
 homestead of leaves. 
 
 Long did Love brood over the new language which he 
 had discovered, and many a day did he sit pondering to 
 himself, as if hesitating whether or not he should trust 
 Woman with the secret. " She is already armed with' 
 beauty,'' reasoned Love, as he sat with his elbow pil- 
 lowed on a bed of flowers ; " there is a language in her 
 eyes, and a sweet music in her voice, and shall 1 now 
 teach her to converse through flowers — to give a tongue 
 to the rose, and a voice to the lily, and hang upon the 
 honeysuckle words of love, and turn every blossom she 
 gathers into the language of afi"ection ? No : I will 
 again fly abroad, and dropping a bud here and a bell 
 th.ere, see to what purpose she turneth these beautiful 
 secrets. I will but at flrst teach her a few letters in this 
 new Alphabet of Love." 
 
 Then he thought that as the flowers were such holy 
 things, born of beauty and nursed in purity, fed upon 
 
introduction: 11 
 
 the dews, and seldom looking upon aught less sacred 
 than the stars, as if they were more allied to heaven 
 than to earth — that if the virtue, and goodness, 
 and love, which they represent, were but practised by 
 mankind, they would again make the children of earth 
 what they were in the infancy of the world, and man would 
 again be found only " a little lower than the angels." 
 
 Ages passed away before Love entered the flowery 
 fields and velvet valleys of merry England ; his heart 
 had long been light, and his wings unfettered, and he 
 cared not now into what quarter of the world he wan- 
 dered, for he found that wherever he went upon his 
 flowery errand, man grew more refined, and woman each 
 day bore a closer resemblance to the angels. He visited 
 ancient castles, and humble hamlets, and thronged 
 thorpes, and thatched granges, and taught everywhere 
 this new language of love. K he saw a rustic maiden 
 with her head hanging aside, and her hands clasped, he 
 plucked the fragrant blossom of the Hawthorn, and 
 throwing it at her feet, he whispered into her ear and 
 bade her Hope. As his foot dashed away the dew from 
 the up-coned Lilac, he gathered the topmost sprig, and 
 threw it at her unsuspecting lover, who from that 
 moment dated his first emotions of Love, He pointed 
 out the spot where many a blue-belled flower grew, and 
 there they met, and vowed to be Constant unto death. 
 
12 INTBODUCTIOX. 
 
 So he wandered along; and on wild moorlands, where 
 rude huts rose, and scarce a flower broke the dark brown 
 solitude, Love left the broad Pern as a token of Sin- 
 cerity ; on bleak mountain-tops, where scarce a tree 
 threw down its checkered shadow, he planted the Hare- 
 bell and the crimson Heather, to give a charm to Retire- 
 ment and Solitude. Into the depths of the loneliest 
 woods he went, visiting deep dells and deserted dingles, 
 where the graceful Lilies of the Valley grew, telling 
 them they were not forgotten, but should yet be proudly 
 worn on many a fond breast that sighed for a Return of 
 Happiness. Beside the Marigold, which closed its eyes 
 as if for very Sorrow, he planted the Celandine, and 
 promised that, whilst ever the golden star shone there, 
 it should be the image of Joys to Come. From flower to 
 flower he flew on his peaceful pilgrimage ; through them 
 reconciling lovers who had long been estranged, and 
 bringing back many a wandering affection that had long 
 sighed for a fond heart to dwell within. 
 
 Thus Love restored a language which for undated 
 centuries had been lost — which the sweet tongue of 
 woman had made music of before the beauty of the 
 early world was submerged beneath the waters. For 
 Time had all but blotted out the few records which told 
 that there ever existed a language between Love and 
 the Flowers. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 Amid the broken and crumbling ruins over which 
 Time has marched, he has only left the sculptured 
 capital of some column or shattered pedestal, in 
 which we can trace, among a hundred rude hiero- 
 glyphics, the rough outline of some flower, which was 
 either sacred to their religion or to their love. In 
 the ruins of temples, whose origin even antiquity has 
 forgotten, we trace in the life-like marble of the figures 
 brows which are wreathed with blossoms, and in the 
 broken fresco we find groups of maidens strewing the 
 pathway which leads to the holy shrine with flowers ; 
 the carven altar is piled high with them ; they garland 
 the neck of the victim which their priests are about 
 to sacrifice; and — we know no more. 
 
 Ages have passed away since that procession moved 
 — the shadows of two thousand years have settled 
 down over the hUls and valleys where those beautiful 
 maidens first gathered the flowers of summer — history 
 has left no record of their existence — the language in 
 which they breathed their loves, their hopes, and their 
 fears, has died away — even their name as a nation 
 is forgotten : and aU we know is, that their men looked 
 noble, and their women beautiful ; and that flowers were 
 used in their sacred ceremonies ; and that all, saving 
 the mute figures upon the marble, have long since 
 2 
 
14 introduction: 
 
 passed away. We sigh, and try in vain to decipher 
 these ancient emblems. 
 
 Love turned to the fables of the Heathen Poets, and 
 there he found that those whose beauty the gods could 
 not lift into immortality, they changed, into flowers ; as 
 if they considered that next to the glory of bein^ en- 
 throned upon Olympus, was to be transformed into a 
 beautiful and fragrant object; one that, so long as sun 
 shone upon the world, and the globed dews hung their 
 rounded silver upon the blossoms, so long should it 
 «tand throughout all time 
 
 " A thing of beauty, and a joy forever." 
 
 Thomas Miller. 
 

 D£ V? 
 
THE 
 
 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 SPRING. 
 
 MARCH. 
 
 GRASSES (Gramina). Utility. 
 
 HEEE is there any plant 
 more useful than the grass 
 of the meadow ? It grows 
 without care or culture, all 
 over the earth ; sustaining the 
 life of aU the animals most 
 serviceable to man. Bota- 
 nists tell us that more than three hundred varieties 
 of grass exist. Many of them have exceedingly grace- 
 ful and beautiful blossoms. 
 
 2 * (1") 
 
18 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 WEEPING WILLOW {Salix Bdbylmica). Melancholy. 
 
 The common willow is sacred to forsaken lovers ; but 
 this graceful tree, whose branches seem to droop with 
 an eternal weight of regret, is by universal consent 
 appropriated to the graveyard. There, early in spring, 
 its silvery, flexile branches wave over the resting-places 
 of those dear to us, and seem to murmur continually, 
 with Lafontaine, — 
 
 " Absence is the greatest of all evils." 
 
 HORSE-CHESTNUT {jEseidus hij^ocastanum). Luxury. 
 
 This gorgeous tree bursts into leaf and bloom with 
 incredible rapidity on the return of spring. When it is 
 growing alone, nothing can equal the symmetry of its 
 pyramidal form, the richness of its foliage, and its 
 superb clusters of flowers. The fruit, however, is bitter, 
 and the wood of little value. 
 
 LILAC (Syringa vulgaris). First emotion of love. 
 
 " O Lilac, in wliose purple well 
 Youth, in perpetuOf doth dwell, 
 My fancy feels thy fragrant spell. 
 
 " Of all that morning dews do feed — 
 All flowers of garden, field, or mead — 
 Thou art the first in childhood's creed. 
 
 "And, e'en to me, thy breath in spring 
 Hath power a little while to bring 
 Back to my heart it« blossoming.'* 
 
 T. W. Parsons. 
 
 •Van Spaendonck let his brush fall before a bunch of 
 lilacs. Nature seems indeed to. have made every cluster 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 19 
 
 perfect. Around each mass of bloom the light plays 
 and is decomposed into a thousand varying shades, 
 which, all melting into one tint, make that happy har- 
 mony which dazzles the beholder and drives the painter 
 to despair. 
 
 " The lilac, various in array, now white. 
 Now Banguine, and her beauteous head now set 
 With purple spikes pyramidal, as if, studious of ornaments, 
 Yet unresolved which hues she most approved. 
 She chose them all." 
 
 Cowper. 
 
 The lilac symbolizes the first emotions of love, because 
 its tender green, its flexible shoots, and its abundant 
 flowers, with their tender and varied colors, aU recall 
 those celestial emotions which lend to youth a divine 
 grace. 
 
 ALMOND (Amygdalus communis). Heedlessness. 
 
 Emblem of heedlessness, the almond answers first to 
 the call of spring, and covers itself with a shower of 
 blossoms, like rosy snow, while all the shrubbery is yet 
 leafless. Virgil makes it prophesy of the harvest to 
 come. Fable gives the almond tree this origin. De- 
 mophoon, son of Theseus and Phaedra, returning from 
 the siege of Troy, was thrown by a tempest on the coast 
 of Thrace, where the beautiful Phyllis then reigned. 
 The young queen welcomed the prince, loved him, and 
 made him her husband. Recalled to Athens by the 
 death of his father, Demophoon promised Phyllis to 
 
20 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEIIS. 
 
 come back in a montli, and fixed the moment of his 
 return. The tender Phyllis counted every instant of 
 his absence, and when the long-desired day at last 
 arrived, she ran nine times to the shore : but, having 
 lost all hope, believing herself forsaken, she fell there, 
 dead of grief, and was changed into an almond tree. 
 Three months after, Demophoon returned : disconso- 
 late at his loss, he offered a sacrifice on the sea-shore, 
 to appease the manes of his beloved. She seemed 
 sensible of his repentance and return, for the almond 
 tree suddenly put forth flowers, proving by this last 
 effort that death itself could not change her. 
 
 PERIWINKLE ( Vinca minor) . Sweet memories. 
 
 The periwinkle has green, firm, glossy leaves, which, 
 growing on long, trailing stems, weave a fairy net over 
 the grass to imprison the pretty blue flowers which 
 peep out here and there. This plant is dedicated to 
 lasting happiness ; its color is that preferred by friend- 
 ship, and it was for J. J. Rousseau the emblem of the 
 sweetest remembrances. 
 
 TULIP {Ttilipa gesneriana). Declaration of love. 
 
 The tulip is a native of Asia, and some writers claim 
 that its name arose from its resemblance to a turban, 
 though Thomas Miller says, " Few know that there 
 is a beautiful fragrant yellow tulip which grows wild 
 
THE LANGUAGE 'OF FLOWERS. 21 
 
 in our own pastoral England. It gives pleasure to me 
 to know that we are neither indebted to Turks nor 
 turbans for the origin of this splendid flower, which 
 was, no doubt, more plentiful in the days of our old 
 Elizabethan poets, and which is mentioned in Ben 
 Jonson's ' Pan's Anniversary ' by the very name it 
 still bears." In the East, when a young man presents 
 one to his mistress, it signifies, by its general color, 
 that he is on fire with her beauty, and by its black 
 centre, that his heart is burned to a coal. The Turks 
 almost idolize this flower ; and every year, in the 
 seraglio of the Sultan, the Feast of Tulips is celebrat- 
 ed with the ntmost splendor. In Europe, also, tulips 
 have had their adorers. Between the years 1644 and 
 1647, tulips rose to incredible prices in Holland, and 
 enriched many speculators. Those who, for want of 
 ready money, could not engage in this trade, exchanged 
 houses and lands for bulbs. One variety, the Viceroy, 
 is said to have been sold as high as ten thousand dol- 
 lars ! This extraordinary traffic was at last checked 
 by a law that no tulip, or other flower, should be sold 
 for a sum exceeding one hundred and seventy-five 
 dollars. 
 
 BUCKBEAN (Menyanthes trifoliata). Calmness, repose. 
 
 Along that lake whose silvery waters reflect a cloud- 
 less sky, do you see those clusters, as white as snow ? 
 A light pink just tinges the reverse of these lovely 
 
22 
 
 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 flowers, and a tuft of very delicate filaments of dazzling 
 whiteness escapes from their alabaster cups. If you 
 have once- seen this plant, balancing gently on the 
 edge of the water, you can never forget its elegance 
 and grace. The bog-bean, or water-trefoil, as it is 
 sometimes called, never blooms in stormy weather ; it 
 expands only in a calm day. 
 
APRIL. 
 
 HAWTHORN {Crattegus). Hope. 
 
 tJE old poets, as if despairing 
 to find a fitting name for this 
 fragrant blossom, have called 
 it May ; for to them that word 
 recalled the season of poetry, 
 the month of flowers, and was 
 fraught with associations of all 
 that is bright and beautiful on the earth." The Troglo- 
 dytes, who recalled the golden age by their simple man- 
 ners, smilingly covered those whom death took from, 
 them with branches of hawthorn ; for they regarded 
 death as the dawn of a life in which they should part no 
 more. In Athens, young maidens carried boughs of 
 hawthorn at the weddings of their companions ; the 
 
 C23) 
 
24 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 altar of Hymen was lighted by torches made of the wood 
 of this shrub, which, as we see, has always been the em- 
 blem of hope. 
 
 PRIMROSE (^Primula vulgaris, or acaulis). Modest worth. 
 
 English literature is filled with allusions to this flower. 
 The primrose, cowslip, polyanthus, and auricula are all 
 members of the same floral family. 
 
 " Pale primroses, 
 That die unmarried ere tliey can behold 
 Bright Phoebus in his strength." — Shakspeare. 
 
 "Bring the rathe primrose, that forsaken dies." — MUton. 
 
 " The primrose, tenant of the glade, 
 Emblem of virtue in the shade." — J. Mayne, 1609. 
 
 MYRTLE (Myrtus communis). Love. 
 
 The oak from all time was consejsrated to Jupiter, the 
 laurel to Apollo, the olive to Minerva, and the myrtle to 
 Venus. In Rome the first temple of this goddess was 
 surrounded by a grove of myrtles ; in Greece she was 
 adored under the name of Myrtea or Murtia. When 
 she appeared rising from the sea, the Hours went to 
 meet her, and presented to her a thousand-colored scarf 
 and a myrtle garland. After her victory over Pallas 
 and Juno, she was crowned with myrtle by the Loves. 
 Surprised one day by a troop of Satyrs, she took refuge 
 behind a bush of myrtle : it was also with branches of 
 this tree that she avenged herself on the audacious 
 Psyche, who had dared to compare her charms with 
 
TBE LAXGUAGE OF FZOJVESS. 25 
 
 those of the immortal beauty. The Flora Domestica 
 says, " Myrtle was the symbol of authority for magis- 
 trates at Athens ; bloodless victors were crowned with 
 myrtle." Spears, too, were made of its wood. 
 
 "The war from stubborn myrtle shafts receives." — Dryden's Virgil. 
 
 The Arabs have recorded an ancient tradition that 
 Adam bore in his hand a sprig of myrtle when he was 
 driven out from the garden of Paradise. It was formerly 
 much used in medicine and cookery, and also to flavor 
 wines. It flourishes in warm climates, near the sea- 
 coast. 
 
 ACANTHUS (^Acanthus molUs). Art. 
 
 The acanthus delights in warm countries and the 
 banks of great rivers. Pliny speaks of its value for dec- 
 orative purposes. The ancients ornamented their furni- 
 ture, their vases, and their valuable garments with its 
 beautifully cut leaves. The robe of Helen was bordered 
 by a garland of acanthus in relief. VirgU tells us also 
 of a vase from the hand of Alcimedon, adorned with 
 foliage imitated from the acanthus. This charming 
 model of the arts has become their emblem. If any- 
 thing is opposed to the acanthus, we see it redouble its 
 forces, and grow with new vigor. Thus genius rises 
 and increases by the very obstacles which seemed insur- 
 mountable. It is related that the architect Callimachus, 
 passing by the tomb of a young girl who died within the 
 3 
 
26 THE LANOUAOE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 year, on the eve of a happy marriage, was moved by a 
 tender pity, and approached to throw flowers on it. But 
 an offering had preceded his. The nurse of the young 
 girl, taking the veil and flowers which should have 
 adorned her on her wedding day, put them in a little 
 basket ; then, having placed it beside the tomb on a 
 plant of acanthus, she covered it with a broad tile. The 
 next spring the acanthus leaves had surrounded the 
 basket ; but, stopped by the edges of the tile, they bent 
 back and rounded gracefully towards their extremities. 
 Callimachus, surprised at this rural decoration, which 
 seemed the work of the weeping Grraces, made of it the 
 capital of the Corinthian column. 
 
 BUGLOSS (Anchma officinalis.) Falsehood. 
 
 La Bruyere, the most spirituel of French moralists, 
 said, " If women were naturally what they become by 
 art, if they should lose in a moment all the freshness of 
 their complexion, if their faces were as glowing or as 
 leady as they make them by the rouge and the paint 
 which they use, they would be inconsolable." This 
 truth appears incontestable ; and yet, from north to 
 south, from east to west, among savage or polished na- 
 tions, this strange taste for painting is universal. Du- 
 perron relates how a young savage, wishing to attract his 
 attention, took a bit of coal and went to pound it in a 
 corner, then, having rubbed her cheeks with it, returned 
 with a triumphant air, as if this had rendered the effect 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 27 
 
 of her charms more sure. Castellan, speaking of a 
 Greek princess whom he painted, describes her thus : 
 " Her black eyes, well shaped, and on a level with her 
 head, had the brilliancy of diamonds, but her stained eye- 
 lids spoiled their expression. Her eyebrows, joined by 
 a pencilled line, gave a kind of hardness to her look. 
 Her mouth, very small and highly colored, might have 
 been embellished by a smile, but I never had the happi- 
 ness of seeing one. Her cheeks were covered with a 
 very deep red, and crescent-shaped patches disfigured 
 her face." 
 
 Bugloss has been made the emblem of falsehood, be- 
 cause its root is used in the composition of several kinds 
 of paints. That of vrhich it is the basis is perhaps the 
 oldest and least dangerous of aU. But nothing can im- 
 itate the natural blush of modesty, and art destroys it 
 irreparably. If we wish to please long, if we wish to 
 please always, let us discard falsehood from our hearts, 
 our lips, and our faces, repeating with the poet, — 
 
 " Bien n'est beau que le vrai, le vrai seul est aimable." 
 
 REST-HARROW (Ononis spinosa). Obstacles. 
 
 This plant sometimes stops the labors of the husband- 
 man by its tough network of roots. With its pretty 
 papilionaceous pink flowers, its long thorns, and deeply- 
 struck roots, it is the siren of the fields, and the emblem 
 of the obstacles which vice opposes to virtue. 
 
28 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS- 
 
 HONEYSUCKLE (Lonicerd) . Bonds of love. 
 
 " Bid her steal into the pleacli^d bower, 
 Where honeysuckles, ripened by the sun, 
 Forbid the sun to enter — like favorites 
 Made proud by princes, that advance their pride 
 Against that power that bred it." 
 
 The poets have repeatedly celebrated this delightful 
 flower under the name of woodbine. 
 
 The delicious bank in Midsummer Night's Dream was 
 
 " Quite overcanopied with lush woodbine." 
 
 The opposite attributes of inconstancy and fidelity 
 have been ascribed to the honeysuckle by two poets, 
 but the following lines are most certainly a slander 
 on this sweet flower — 
 
 " Inconstant woodbine,' wherefore rove 
 With gadding stem about my bower? 
 Why, with my darling myrtle wove. 
 In bold defiance mock my power."*" 
 
 Carew. 
 
 Rather let us believe with good old Dan Chaucer, 
 in the Floure and the Leafe, — 
 
 " And those that were chapelets on their hede. 
 Of fresh woodbind, be such as never were 
 To love untrue in word, in thought, in dede. 
 But ay stedfast, ne for plesauuce ne fere, " 
 Tho' that they shudde their hertis all to tere. 
 Would never flit, but evir were stedfast, 
 Till that ther livis these assunder brast." 
 
 Sometimes we see a young honeysuckle lovingly wind 
 its slender arms around the knotty trunk of an old oak : 
 one would say that this weak shrub wished, springing 
 aloft, tO' surpass the king of the forests in height; but 
 
THE LAXOVAGE OF FLOWESS. 29 
 
 soon, as if its efforts were vain, it falls gracefully down 
 again, and crowns him with perfumed festoons. Thus 
 Love sometimes unites a timid girl to a proud warrior. 
 Unhappy Desdemona ! the admiration of strength and 
 courage, and the feeling of helplessness, attached thy 
 heart to the terrible Othello ; but jealousy struck thee 
 in the very arms which should have protected thee. 
 And thou, gentle and humble La VaUiere, the love of 
 the greatest monarch alone could subjugate thy poor 
 heart, and draw it away from virtue. Poor vine ! the 
 wind of inconstan^jy soon deprived thee of that dear 
 prop ; but thou didst never trail on the ground — thy 
 heart, raising its affections to heaven, carried its ten- 
 der homage to Him who alone is worthy of eternal 
 
 love. 
 
 3* 
 
»w 
 
 MAY. 
 
 LILY OF THE VALLEY {Convallaria ma/aUs). Return of 
 
 among 
 the 
 broad green 
 leaves, with what 
 joy do we greet the little ivory bells of 
 
 " that modest, pale, 
 And sweetest nursling of the wood, 
 Which men call lily of the vale, 
 Because it dwells in lowly mood " ! 
 
 Parsons, 
 
 (30) 
 
TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 31 
 
 " No flower amid the garden fairer grows 
 Than the sweet lily of the lowly vale." 
 
 Keats. 
 
 " The lUy of the vale, whose virgin flower 
 Trembles at every breeze within its leafy bower." 
 
 Barton. 
 
 Wordsworth does not forget 
 
 " That shy plant, the lily of the vale, 
 That loves the ground, and from the smi withholds 
 Her pensive beauty, from the breeze her sweets." 
 
 And Thomson, in his Spring, bids us 
 
 " Seek the bank where flowering elders crowd. 
 Where, scattered wide, the lily of the vale 
 Its balmy essence breathes." 
 
 PRIVET (Ligustrum mdgare). Prohibition. 
 
 " Why," said a young matron to the venerable pastor 
 of the village, " have you not planted a strong thorn 
 hedge, instead of that flowering privet which encircles 
 your garden ? " The pastor replied, " When you for- 
 bid your child some dangerous pleasure, the prohibition 
 is accompanied on your lips by a tender smile ; your look 
 is a caress ; and if he rebels, your maternal hand imme- 
 diately offers a plaything to console him : in like man- 
 ner, the pastor's hedge ought to keep off the intrusive, 
 and offer flowers even to those whom it repulses." 
 
 HEATH (Erica). Solitude. 
 
 The common heather, which grows so freely in Great 
 Britain and Germany, is not found wild in this country. 
 
32 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 The various elegant species which are found in conser- 
 vatories are mostly natives of the Cape of Grood Hope. 
 Miller says, " The heath was well chosen as the emblem 
 of solitude. It recalls many a wild lalidscape ; the 
 bleak, broad mountain side, which, throughout the long 
 winter and the slow-opening spring, looked black and 
 barren, till towards the end of summer, when it was 
 clothed everywhere with the rich carpet of crimson and 
 purple heather, looking from the distance as if a sun- 
 shine not of earth had come down and bathed the whole 
 mountain steep in subdued and rosy light — it recalls 
 vast plains of immeasurable extent ; spots where lovers 
 might sit and sigh away their souls in each other's arms 
 without being disturbed by the foot of the solitary 
 hunter." 
 
 POETS' NARCISSUS {Narcissus poeticus). Egotism. 
 
 This is the most beautiful of its family. A large 
 flower, of pure white, slightly drooping, with a golden 
 cup in the centre, which exhales a strong and pleasant 
 odor. Every one knows the pretty story attached to it ; 
 so we confine ourselves to three extracts. Spenser, in 
 describing a garden, says, — 
 
 '* And round about grew every sort of floure, 
 To which sad lovers were transformed of yore; — 
 Foolish Narcisse, that likes the wat'ry shore." 
 
 " The pale narcissus, that with passion pure 
 Still feeds upon itself; but, newly blown, 
 The nymphs will pluck It from its tender stalk, 
 And say, ' Go, fool, and to thy image talk.' " 
 
 Lord 'Hiurtow, 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 33 
 
 " On the bank a lonely flower he spied, 
 A meek and forlorn flower, with nought of pride, 
 Drooping its beauty o'er the watery clearness 
 To woo its own sad image into nearness. 
 Deaf to bright Zephyrus, it would not move, 
 But still would seem to droop, to pine, to love." 
 
 Keats. 
 
 LINDEN, or LIME {Tilia). Conjugal love. 
 
 ** Come forth, and let us through our hearts receive 
 The joy of verdure ! — see, the honeyed lime 
 Showers cool green light on banks where wild flowers weave 
 Thick tapestry." 
 
 Mrs. Memans. 
 
 This favorite tree commemorates the beautiful story 
 of Baucis and Philemon. Baucis was turned to a lin- 
 den, and thus it stands now an emblem of the attri- 
 butes and graces of a faithful wife. The foliage is very 
 thick and verdant, and the effects of light and shade on 
 it bewitching. The blossoms perfume all the surround- 
 ing air. It is a useful tree too ; an infusion of its flow- 
 ers makes a good tisane ; its bark can be woven into a 
 kind of cloth, and braided into ropes and hats. The 
 Greeks made paper of it, resembling that from papyrus, 
 and specimens made by our modern processes resemble 
 white satin. Its wood furnishes the poorer classes in 
 Europe with fuel, shoes, and furniture. The horse- 
 chestnut and other trees have disputed its place in 
 avenues and public promenades, but nothing can ban- 
 ish it. 
 
 STRAWBERRY {Fragaria vesca). Perfect excellence. 
 
 The illustrious Bernardin de St. Pierre conceived the 
 project of writing a general history of nature, in imita- 
 
34 TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 tion of the ancient authors. A strawberry plant, which 
 had chatieed to grow over his window, turned him from 
 this vast design : he observed this plant, and discovered 
 so many wonders in it, that he clearly saw that the study 
 of a single plant and its inhabitants was enough to fill a 
 lifetime. He then renounced the ambitious title of his 
 book, and contented himself with writing Studies of 
 Nature. It is from this book that we must acquire a 
 taste for observation ; and it is there, above all, that we 
 must read of the strawberry. All over the world this 
 charming berry, which vies with the rosebud in fresh- 
 ness and perfume, delights the sight, the smell, the 
 taste. It is a welcome luxury on the tables of the rich, 
 and a feast for the children of the poor. The learned 
 botanist Linnaeus was cured of frequent attacks of the 
 gout by the use of strawberries. The flowers are 
 delicate and pretty ; but who so barbarous as to 
 pluck them ? 
 
 THYME {Thymus). Activity. 
 " I know a bank whereon the wild thyme grows." 
 
 How many diligent bees sing this song to each other, 
 and swarm about the flowery, fragrant tufts ! The 
 Greeks regarded this herb as the symbol of activity ; 
 doubtless they had observed that its perfume, strength- 
 ening to the brain, is very salutary for old persons. 
 Activity is a warlike virtue, and this is why ladies for- 
 merly often embroidered on the scarf of their knights a 
 bee humming round a branch of thyme. 
 
TBE LAXGVAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 35 
 
 RED VALERIAN (Valeriana rubra). Readiness. 
 
 This is a native of the Alps. Its root is said to he 
 an excellent remedy against most maladies engendered 
 by luxury, and an infusion of it is strengthening to the 
 eyes, and animating to the spirits. It blooms freely and 
 is improved by culture, though our common valerian 
 is perhaps more attractive, and equally useful. The 
 odor of the root is very enticing to eats, and also, it is 
 stated, to rats. 
 
SUMMER. 
 
 JUNE. 
 
 THE MONTH OF ROSES. 
 
 rEEN of flowers, who that 
 could sing has not sung thee, 
 enchanting Rose ? Yet no ex- 
 pression can exaggerate, or 
 even do justice to, thy per- 
 fections. Perhaps the sweetest 
 title of the Virgin Mother, to 
 the heart of many a Catholic 
 maiden, is the one of " Rosa Mystica." Among the 
 Greeks and Romans the rose was the most conspic- 
 
 (36) 
 
bf. , ii^'ipffcUe P'ijw I'is.J'f id-V/ii' 
 
 rUBLISHED BY DE VRIES. IBARRA ETT:. BOSTON. 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 37 
 
 uous ornament of every festival and every solemn sacri- 
 fice, Syria, Arabia, and Persia vie in tiieir admiration 
 of it. In the East, indeed, this fairest of flowers attains 
 its greatest perfection. There is distilled the precious 
 Attar, which makes it live forever. 
 
 "Its breath 
 Is rich beyond the rest; and when it dies 
 It doth bequeath a charm, to sweeten death." 
 
 Barry ComwaU. 
 
 The love of the nightingale for the rose is continually 
 mentioned by the Eastern bards, and we find many allu- 
 sions to it in our English rhymes. Moore says, — 
 
 " Though rich the spot 
 With every flower this earth has got, 
 "What IS it to the nighting-ale, 
 If there his darling rose is not -•' " 
 
 And Byron sings, — 
 
 " How welcome is each gentle air 
 That wakes and wafts the odors there! 
 For there the rose, o'er crag and vale, 
 Sultana of the nightingale, 
 The maid for wliom his melody, 
 His thousand songs, is heard on high. 
 Blooms blushing to her lover's tale: 
 His queen, the garden's queen, his rose, 
 Unbent by winds, unchilled by snows. 
 Far from the winters of the west, 
 By every breeze and neason blest, 
 Ketums the sweets by nature given 
 In softest incense back to heaven. 
 And grateful yields that smiling sky. 
 Her fairest hue and fragrant sigh," 
 
 In France there takes place annually a beautiful cere- 
 mony, which, originated as follows ; Saint 3Iedard, 
 4 
 
38 THE LANGUAGE OF FLO^rEBS. 
 
 bi.sliop of Noyon, born at Salency, of an illustrious 
 family, instituted in his birthplace, in 532, a prize for 
 virtue. This prize is a simple crown of roses ; but all 
 the young people of the village must acknowledge her 
 who obtains it as the most worthy, modest, and virtuous. 
 The sister of St. Medard was unanimously named the 
 first rosilre. She received her crown from the hands of 
 its founder, and bequeathed it, with the example of her 
 virtues, to posterity. Time, which has overturned so 
 many empires, and broken the sceptre of so many kings 
 and queens, has respected the rose crown of Salency. 
 It has continued to pass from the hand of one protector 
 and another to the brow of innocence. 
 
 Chaucer loved the rose, and crowned Venus with a 
 garland "rosy white and redde." Spenser tells us that, 
 in the contest of beauty, " a rosy girlond was the 
 victor's meed." And after his description of fair Alma, 
 in her rich array, he says, — 
 
 ** Her yellow golden heare 
 Was trimly woven, and in tresses wrought; 
 Ne other tire she on her head did weare, 
 But crowned with a garland of sweet rosi&re." 
 
 In many a festive scene, we find, as Sir Philip Sidney 
 beautifully said, — 
 
 " A rosy garland and a weary head." 
 
 Thus the rose has often been used to "point a 
 moral or adorn a tale." One of the most pleasing of 
 Waller's poems is the well-known song, " Go, Lovely 
 Eose." Middleton says, — 
 
THE LAXGUAGE OF FLOWEIiS. 39 
 
 " I never heard 
 Of any true affection, but 'twas nipt 
 With care, that like the caterpillar eats 
 The leaves of the spring-'s sweetest book — the rose." 
 
 Herrick sings, — 
 
 "Gather the rosebuds while ye may; 
 Old Time is still a flying; 
 And this same flower, that smiles to-day, 
 To-morrow will be dying." 
 
 And holy G-eorge Herbert, — 
 
 "Sweet rose, whose hue, angry and brave, 
 Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye. 
 Thy root is ever in its grave. 
 And thou must die." 
 
 The celebrated Roman de la Hose, the delight of 
 the court of Philip the Fair, seems to have been 
 written only to teach us how dangerous it is to listen 
 to a seducing voice ; and that modesty ought to defend 
 beauty, as thorns the rose. 
 
 The order of the Golden Rose was instituted by 
 the Pope of Rome in the twelfth century. It was 
 formerly sent to new sovereigns at their accession, but 
 is now presented annually to some crowned head. 
 
 A fine little . poem on the rose is attributed to 
 
 Sappho : — 
 
 " Did Jove a queen of flowers decree, 
 The rose the queen of flowers should be; 
 Of flowers the eye ; of plants the gem ; 
 The meadows' blush; earth's diadem; 
 Glory of colors, on the gaze 
 Lightening in its beauty's blaze. 
 It breathes of love : it blooms the guest 
 Of Venus' ever-fragrant breast : 
 In gaudy pomp its petals spread; 
 Light foliage trembles round its head; 
 With vermeil blossoms fresh and fair, 
 It laughs to the voluptuous air." 
 
40 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEBS. 
 
 Anacreon has sung the praises of the rose in two 
 • exquisite odes. In one he says, — 
 
 " O, lovely rose ! to thee I sing, 
 Thou sweetest, fairest child of spring;! 
 O, thou art dear to all the gods, 
 The darling of their blest abodes ; 
 Thy breathing buds and blossoms fair 
 Entwine young Cupid's golden hair, 
 When gayly dancing hand in hand, 
 He joins the Graces' lovely band." 
 
 The other one we give entire, sure that our readers 
 will forgive its length for its beauty and appropriate- 
 ness. The translation is by T. Bourne. 
 
 " Thou, my friend, shalt sweep the strings 
 I In loftiest strains will sing, 
 Wliile its fragrance round us flows. 
 The queen of flowers, the lovely rose. 
 Its perfumed breath ascends the skies 
 On every gentle gale that sighs; 
 Its sweets descend to earth again, 
 Alike beloved by gods and men. 
 When spring awakes the slumbering flowers, 
 And music breathes amid the bowers. 
 Thee, darling gem, the Graces wear 
 Entwined amid their flowing hair; 
 And rosy wreaths alone may dress 
 The queen of love and loveliness. 
 In every song and fable known 
 The Muses claim thee as their own; 
 Thou bidd'st thy blooming sweetness glow 
 In thorny paths of pain and woe. 
 But O, what joy, when blest we rove 
 Through rosy bowers and dream of love. 
 While bliss on every breeze is borne, 
 To pluok the rose without the thorn; 
 With gentlest touch its leaves to press. 
 And raise it to our soft caress!' 
 O, thou art still the poot*s theme, 
 And thee a welcome guest we deem, 
 To grace our feasts and deck our hair. 
 When Bacchus bids us banish care. 
 E'en Nature does thy beauties prize — 
 She steals thy tint to paint the skies; 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 41 
 
 For rosy-fing-ered is the morn 
 
 With which the crimBon veil is drawn. 
 
 The lovely nymphs we always deck 
 
 "With rosy arms and rosy neck ; 
 
 And roseate tints are ever seen 
 
 To bloom the cheeks of beauty's queen. 
 
 Its power to soothe the pang^s of pain 
 
 Physicians try, nor try in vain; 
 
 And e*en when life and hope are fled, 
 
 Its deathless scent embalms the dead; 
 
 For though its withering- charms decay, 
 
 And one by one all fade away, 
 
 Its grateful smell the rose retains, 
 
 And redolent of youth remains. 
 
 But, lyrist, let it next be sung 
 
 From whence this precious treasure sprung, 
 
 "When first from ocean's dewy spray 
 
 Fair Venus rose to upper day, — 
 
 "When, fearful to the powers above, 
 
 The armed Pallas sprimg from Jove, — 
 
 'Twas then, they say, the jealous earth 
 
 llrst gave the lovely stranger birth. 
 
 A drop of pure nectareous dew 
 
 From heaven the blest immortals threw; 
 
 A while it trembled on the thorn, 
 
 And then the lovely rose was bom. 
 
 To Bacchus they the flower assign. 
 
 And roses still his brows entwine." 
 
 Tasso gives us an exquisite description of the rose. 
 
 " Deh mira, egli cant5, spuntar la rosa 
 Dal verde suo modesta e verginella, 
 Che mezzo aperta ancora e mezzo ascosa, 
 Quanto si mostra men, tanto h piu bella, 
 Ecco poi nudo il sen gla baldanzosa 
 Dispiega, ecco poi langiie, e non par quella, 
 Quella non par, che desiata avanti 
 Fu da mille donzelle e mille amanti. 
 
 " CoBi trapassa al trapassar d'un giomo 
 Delia vita mortale il fiore e'l verde." 
 
 Ger, Lib., Canto XVI. 
 
 And Ariosto tells us, — 
 
 " La verginella fe simile alia rosa 
 Ch* in bel giardin su la nativa spina 
 Mentre sola e sicura si riposa, 
 Nfe grcgge nfe pastor se le awicina : 
 
 4 * 
 
42 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 L' aura soave e i' alba rugiadosa, 
 L'acqua, la terra al suo favor s'lncliina ; 
 Giovoni vaghi e donne inamorate 
 Amano averne e seni e tempie ornate." 
 
 Orl. Fur.f Canto I. 
 
 The origin of the thorns on the rose is thus fancifully 
 
 told : — 
 
 *' Young Love, rambling through, the wood, 
 Found me in my solitude, 
 Bright with dew, and freshly blown, 
 And trembling to the zephyr's sighs. 
 But as he stooped to gaze upon 
 The living gem with raptured eyes. 
 It chanced a bee was busy there 
 Searching for its fragrant fare ; 
 And Cupid, stooping, too, to sip, 
 The angry insect stung his lip, — 
 And, gushing from the ambrosial c«ll, 
 One bright drop on my bosom fell. 
 Weeping, to his mother he 
 Told the tale of treachery ; 
 And flhe, her vengeful boy to please, 
 Strung his bow with captive bees; 
 But placed upon my slender stem 
 The poisoned sting she plucked from them ; 
 And none, since that eventful morn, 
 Have found the flower without a thorn." 
 
 ROSEBUD. Confession of love. 
 
 " Who can view the ripened rose, nor seek 
 To^'^"''"-" Byron. 
 
 Yet to many the rose is lovelier before she " ex- 
 pands her paradise of leaves." 
 
 "The rose is fairest wlien 'tis budding new," 
 
 Scott. 
 " Ah I see the virgin rose, liow sweetly shee 
 Doth first peepe forth with bashfull modestee, 
 That fairer seemes the less ye see her may." 
 
 Spenser, 
 
 Thomson praises 
 
 " A red rosebud, moist with morning dew, 
 Breathing delight." 
 
THE LAXaUAGE OF FLOWEBS. 43 
 
 WHITE ROSE (Bosa cUba). Silence. 
 
 It was fabled that all roses were originally white ; 
 but the authorities differ widely as to how it became 
 red. The legend most generally received is, that it 
 was colored by the blood of Adonis. The ancients 
 represented the god of Silence under the form of a 
 young man, putting one finger on his lips, and hold- 
 ing in the other hand a white rose. A rose was 
 carved on the door of banqueting halls, to signify to 
 the guests that nothing said there should be repeated. 
 Sometimes the rose was painted on, or suspended from, 
 the ceiling. Hence the expression " sub rosa, " for 
 secrecy. Happy age, when a rose was enough to seal 
 the lips of the tale-bearer I 
 
 The white rose is connected with more melancholy 
 
 scenes and thoughts than the brilliant red rose. In 
 
 the " Lay of the Last Minstrel," when the sad, anxious 
 
 Margaret came on her palfrey, — 
 
 " White was her wimple and her veil. 
 
 And her loose locks a. chaplet pale 
 
 Of wlutest roses bound." 
 
 And at the tomb of Byron's Zuleika, — 
 
 " A single rose is shedding 
 Its lonely Instre, meek and pale; 
 It looks as planted by despair, — 
 So white, so faint, — the slightest gale 
 Might whirl the leaves on high." 
 
 *' Bring flowers, pale flowers, o'er the bier to shed, 
 A crown for the brow of the early dead '. 
 For this through its leaves hath the white rose burst." 
 
 " By the garland on the bier. 
 Weep I a maiden claims thy tear — 
 Broken is the rose," 
 
 Mrs, Hemans, 
 
44 
 
 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, 
 
 MOSS ROSE {Rosa musoosa). Superior merit. Voluptuousness. 
 
 PHETTY translation from the 
 G-erman gives us the origin of 
 this superb rose. The Angel of 
 the Flowers fell asleep one day 
 under a rose tree, which gave 
 him refreshing shade, and on 
 waking, thus in rapture he 
 'spoke : — 
 
 '* ' Thou queen of my bowers, 
 Thou fairest of flowers, 
 What gift shall be mine. 
 And what guerdon be thine ? * 
 ' In guerdon of duty- 
 Bestow some new beauty,' 
 She said; and then smiled 
 Like a mischievous child. 
 In ang-er he started. 
 But ere he departed, 
 To rebuke the vain flower 
 In the pride of her power, 
 He flung some rude moss 
 Her fair bosom across; — 
 But her new robes of green 
 So became the fair queen. 
 That the Angel of Flowers 
 Mistrusted his powers. 
 And was heard to declare 
 He had granted her prayer." 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWESS. 45 
 
 WILD BRIER, SWEET BRIER ROSE, or EGLANTINE. 
 
 Poetry. 
 
 This is, par excellence, the flower of the poets. Hear 
 them. 
 
 " A Bweeter spot of earth was never found, 
 1 looked and looked, and Rtill with new deligfht, 
 Such joy my soul, such pleasures filled my sight. 
 And the fresh eglantine exhaled a breath 
 Whose odors were of power to raise from death.'' 
 
 Dryden, from Chaucer. 
 
 Spenser teUa us of an arbor 
 
 ** Through which the fragrant eglantine did spred 
 His prickling arms, entrayld with roses red. 
 Which daintie odours round about them threw." 
 
 " Its sides T'U plant with dew-sweet eglantine." 
 
 Keats. 
 
 " Grateful eglantine regales the smell." 
 
 Cowper 
 
 " Here eglantine embalms the air." 
 Scott. 
 
 ** A brier rose, whose buds 
 Yield iragrant harvest for the honey bee." 
 
 ** The chestnut flowers are past, 
 The crowning glories of the hawthorn fail. 
 But arches of sweet eglantine are cast 
 From every hedge." 
 
 Mrs. Semans. 
 
 " The wild-brier rose, a fragrant cup 
 To hold the morning's tear." 
 
 Atiss Landon. 
 
 In Cymbeline we find Arviragug saying that the grave 
 of Fidele, while he lives there, shall not lack 
 
 " The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander, 
 Outsweetened not thy breath," 
 
46 
 
 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 " Eglantine est la fleur que j'aime." 
 
 Clemence Isaure is made to say, in the pretty old 
 romance that bears her name ; and a golden eglantine 
 was one of the prizes at the celebrated Floral Games 
 of Toulouse, instituted by her; a fuller account of 
 which will be found immediately after the article on 
 the violet. 
 
JULY. 
 
 MUGWORT (^AHemisia vulgaris or ponticum). Good luck. 
 Happiness. 
 
 HERE is a superstition among 
 the French peasantry that a 
 wreath of this plant, gathered 
 and worn on midsummer eve, 
 has power to preserve the wearer 
 from all attacks of evil spirits 
 or men, throughout the year. 
 With regard to the name of this plant, a quaint old 
 French translation of Pliny tells us, " La gloire d'im- 
 poser les noms aux herbes n'a pas seulement appartenue 
 aux hommes, elle e.st aussi venue jusqu'a enflammer le 
 cerveau des femmes, qui ont voulu avoir leur part ; car 
 la royne Artemisia, femme du riche Mausolus, roy de 
 Carie, fit tant par son Industrie, qu'elle baptisa de son 
 nom I'armoise, qui, auparavant, etoit appel^e parthenis. 
 
 (47) 
 
48 TBE LANCrUAaE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 Toutefois il y en a qui tiennent ce nom d'artemisia avoir 
 ete impost h Tarmoise, a raison de la deesse Artemis 
 Ilithya (Diana), paroeque cette herbe est particulidrement 
 bonne aux femmes." The fragrant southern-wood be- 
 longs to this family, and also the bitter wormwood. 
 
 WHITE JASMINE (^Jasminum officinale). Amiability. 
 
 The jasmine seems to have been created as the 
 emblem of amiability. Its supple branches bend grace- 
 fully to every caprice of the trainer ; and whether in the 
 shape of bush, tree, or arbor, it lavishes on us a shower 
 of fragrant, star-like blossoms. It grows now in all 
 warm climates, but was introduced into Europe from 
 India by Spanish navigators, about 1560. Its fragrance, 
 like the woodbine's, is stronger towards night. 
 
 " Many a perfume breathed 
 From plants that wake while others sleep, 
 From timid jasmine buds, that keep 
 Their odors to themselves all day, 
 But, when the sunlight dies away, 
 Let the delicious secret out." 
 
 Moore. 
 
 The Earl of Carlisle is the author of the followin<' 
 
 o 
 
 pretty stanzas : — 
 
 TO A JASMINE TREE. 
 
 " My slight and slender jasmine tree, 
 
 That bloomest on my border tower, 
 Thou art more dearly loved by me 
 
 Than all the wreaths of fairy bower : 
 1 ask not, while 1 near thee dwell, 
 
 Arabia's spice, or Syria's rose; 
 Thy light festoons more freshly smell, 
 
 Thy virgin White more freshly glows. 
 
fHE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 49 
 
 My mild and winsome jasmine tree, 
 
 That climbest up the dark gray wall. 
 Thy tiny flowerets seem in glee, 
 
 Lite silver spray-drops, down to fall : 
 Say, did they from their leaves thns peep 
 
 When mailed moss-troopers rode the hill, , 
 When helmed warders paced the keep. 
 
 And bugles blew for Belted Will? 
 
 My free and feathery jasmine tree. 
 
 Within the fragrance of thy breath 
 Ton dungeon grated to its key. 
 
 And the chained captive pined for death. 
 On border fray, on feudal crime, 
 
 I dream not, while I gaze on thee; 
 The chieftains of that stem old time 
 
 Could ne'er have loved a jasmine tree." 
 
 It is related that a duke of Tuscany, who was the first 
 possessor of the plant in Italy, forbade his gardener to 
 take off a single flower or cutting. The gardener might 
 have been faithful had he not been in love. On the 
 birthday of his mistress he presented her a bouquet con- 
 taining one sprig of the precious jasmine. She put it in 
 moist earth to keep fresh : it took root, grew, and multi- 
 plied under her skilful hands. She was poor, her lover 
 was not rich, and her careful mother forbade their union. 
 But the young girl, by selling her jasmines, soon amassed 
 a little dowry. The Tuscan girls stUl wear a wreath of 
 jasmine on their wedding day ; and they have a proverb 
 that a maiden worthy to wear this wreath is rich enough 
 to make her husband's fortune. 
 
 CARNATION (Diarahus caryaphyUua). Pure and deep love. 
 
 The variety of shades produced in this flower by 
 skilful cultivation is almost infinite, making it a great 
 5 
 
50 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, 
 
 favorite witli florists. But through all changes it still 
 preserves its beauty aud fragrance. The great Conde. 
 loved and cultivated carnations, and had the courage to 
 wear one in his button-hole before Louis XIV., whose 
 aversion to perfumes is well known. 
 Pope says, — 
 
 " To the Elysian shades 
 Dismiss my soul, where no carnation fades.*' 
 
 And in one of the most enchanting scenes that even 
 Shakspeare ever wrote, he makes sweet Perdita say, — 
 
 " The fairest flowers of the season 
 Are our carnations and streaked gillyflowers." 
 
 VERVAIN {Verhenahastata). Enchantment. 
 
 Vervain was used among the ancients in various kinds 
 of divination, and among other properties, that of 
 reconciling enemies was attributed to it. When the 
 Romans sent heralds to carry to nations peace or war, 
 one of them carried vervain. The Druids had the great- 
 est veneration for this plant ; before gathering it they 
 made a sacrifice to the Earth. The Magi, when adoring 
 the sun, held branches of vervain in their hands. Venus 
 victrix wore a crown of myrtle interwoven with vervain, 
 and the G-ermans to this day give a wreath of vervain to 
 brides, as if to put them under the protection of this 
 goddess. In the northern provinces of France, the 
 shepherds gather it with ceremonies and words known 
 only to themselves. 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 51 
 
 TARES (Lolium termUeiitum). Vice. 
 
 The tare is made to, symbolize vice. Its stalk resem- 
 bles that of wheat ; it grows up in the finest harvests. 
 The hand of the wise and skilful cultivator roots it up 
 with care, that it may not be confounded with the 
 good grain. Thus a wise instructor ought diligently to 
 eradicate every inclination to vice which springs up in 
 the youthful heart ; but he should beware lest he uproot 
 at the same time the germs of virtue. 
 
 MARSHMALLOW (Althea officinalis). Beneficence. 
 
 The marshmaUow, which typifies beneficence, is the 
 poor man's friend. It grows wild along the brook and 
 around the cottage, and sometimes shows its modest 
 head in the garden. It is a soft, silvery-looking plant, 
 with delicate, pretty pink flowers. The flowers, the 
 leaves, the stalk, and the root are all useful. Various 
 pastes and sirups are prepared from its juices, as 
 pleasant to the taste as they are excellent for the health. 
 A lost traveller has sometimes found wholesome nutri- 
 ment in its root. We need only look around us to 
 discover, everywhere in nature, proofs of love and 
 foresight. But this tender mother often conceals, in 
 plants as in men, the greatest virtues under the most 
 modest exterior. 
 
52 THE LANOUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 FLOS ADONIS (^.idonia autumnalis). Painful recollections. 
 
 Adonis was killed by a wild boar. Venus, who had 
 left for him the delights of Cythera, shed tears over his 
 fate : they were not lost ; the earth received them, and 
 immediately produced a slender plant covered with 
 flowers like drops of blood. 
 
 LOCUST (Robinia pseudo-acacia), Platonic love. 
 
 This fine tree was carried from America to France, 
 more' than a century ago, by the botanist Robin, who 
 gave it his name. Its foliage is exceedingly light and 
 fresh, and its white, drooping flowers very fragrant. The 
 Indians are said to have made bows of its wood, and 
 buried their dead under its shade. 
 
AUGUST. 
 
 WHITE LILY (LUium candidum). Majesty. Purity. 
 
 "n est le roi des fleurs, dont la rose est la reine." 
 
 BoisjoUn. 
 
 EAB to the heart of every one is 
 this regal flower. It stands with 
 ineffable grace on the elegant 
 stem which rises from its circle of 
 long green leaves, and breathes 
 out the richest incense. It is a 
 native of Syria, but has reigned 
 in our gardens from time immemorial. The sovereigns 
 of France have especially honored it. It bloomed in 
 the gardens of Charlemagne. Louis VII. placed it 
 on his coat of arms, coins, and seals. Philip Augustus 
 5 * (''•') 
 
54 • THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 sprinkled his standard with lilies. St. Louis wore a 
 ring representing, in enamel and relief, a wreath of lilies 
 and daisies, and pn the stone was graven a crucifix with 
 these words : " Hors cet annel pourrions-nous trouver 
 amour ? " because, indeed, this ring combined for the 
 pious king the emblems of all he held dear — his reli- 
 gion, his country, and his wife. 
 
 ** Crowned with a wreath of lilies, breathing cool 
 Their fragrance o'er his throbbing temples, comes 
 July, with languid step." 
 
 " Long alleys, falling down to twilight grots, 
 Or opening upon level plots 
 Of crowned lilies, standing near 
 Purple-spikad lavender." Tennyson. 
 
 " Nor snow-white lily, called so proudly fair. 
 Though by the poor man's cot she loves to dwell, 
 Nor finds his little garden scant of room 
 To bid her stately buds in beauty bloom." 
 
 Mri. Norton. 
 
 GARDEN GILLYFLOWER (Cheiranthus annuus). 
 Lasting Beauty. 
 
 The gillyflower, less graceful than the rose, less 
 majestic than the lily, keeps its freshness longer than 
 either. The old English poets loved the gillyflower, 
 and made frequent allusions to it. In Germany, surpris- 
 ingly fine effects are produced with this flower. Mme. 
 de la Tour says, "At an old chateau near Luxemburg 
 were arranged, along an immense terrace, four rows of 
 vases, of coarse ware, but well shaped, and of the 
 purest white ; these were all filled with the finest red 
 
FiJBLISHED B7DE VRiES. IBARRA ET '" = , BOSTON. 
 
THE LANGUAGE OP FLOWERS. 55 
 
 gillyflowers. Towards sunset one would have said that 
 living flames were issuing from these vases, and a bal- 
 samic odor filled the air around." 
 
 WHEAT (Triticum vulgare). Wealth. 
 
 This plant seems to have been conferred on man, 
 together with the use of fire, to assure to him the sceptre 
 of the earth. It is one of the first links of society, 
 because its culture exacts mutual labor and services. 
 An Arab, lost in the desert, had eaten nothing for two 
 days. Nearly dead with hunger, in passing by a well 
 where caravans stopped, he saw on the sand a little 
 leather bag. " God be praised," said he, picking it up ; 
 " I believe this is a little flour." He hastily opened it, 
 but, seeing what it contained, exclaimed, " Unfortunate 
 that I am ! It is nothing but gold dust ! " 
 
 DAHLIA (Dahlia). My gratitude exceeds your cares. Novelty. 
 
 This showy plant comes from Mexico, where its roots 
 are eaten, roasted in the ashes. It was first introduced 
 into Europe as an edible, but proved of too strong a 
 flavor, and botanists soon began to cultivate it for its 
 flowers, which were at first only single. It is named 
 from Andrew Dahl, a celebrated Swedish botanist. 
 Cultivation has developed a countless variety of shades, 
 whilfe improving the shape of this flower, and English 
 gardeners hold it in great esteem. 
 
56 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 GARDEN MARIGOLD {Calmchila officinalis). Grief. Chagrin. 
 
 " No marygolds yet closed are, 
 No BhadowB yet appear." 
 
 Herrich. 
 
 " But, maiden, Bee, the day is waxen olde, 
 And 'gins to shut in with the marygold." 
 
 Browne. 
 
 The celebrated Mme. Lebrun painted a pretty little 
 picture, representing Grief under the form of a young 
 man, pale and languishing, whose head seemed bent 
 under the weight of a wreath of marigolds. It blooms 
 nearly all the year round ; therefore the Romans called 
 it the Flower of the Calends. It is open only from 
 nine A. M. till about three P. M., but turns towards 
 the sun, and follows his course from east to west. In 
 July and August it emits luminous sparks by night, like 
 the nasturtium and a few other plants of the same 
 color. Margaret of Orleans, the maternal grandmother 
 of Henry IV., took for her device a marigold turning 
 to the sun, with the motto, " Je ne veux suivre que 
 lui seul." 
 
 The older poets called it simply gold. Chaucer de- 
 votes the marigold to jealousy. 
 
 " and Jalousie, 
 ■ That weved of yelwe goldes a girlonde." 
 
 Spenser associates it both with bridals and funerals. 
 Chatterton mentions 
 
 " The mary-budde, that ahutteth with the light." 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 5 
 
 Shakspeare evidently cherished this flower. 
 
 " The marigold, that goes to bed with the sun, 
 And with him rises weeping." 
 
 '* like marigolds, had sheathed their light, 
 And canopied in darkness sweetly lay, 
 Till they might open to adorn the day." 
 
 *' Hark ! hark ! the lark at Heaven's gate sings, 
 And Phoebns 'gins arise, 
 His steeds to water at those springs 
 
 On chaliced flowers that lies. 
 And winking mary-bndds begin 
 
 To ope their golden eyes; 
 With every thing that pretty bin, 
 My lady sweet, arise, 
 Arise, arise ! " 
 
 The practical Gay tells us, — 
 
 " Fair is the marigold, for pottage meet." 
 
 The more poetical Keats sings, — 
 
 " Open afresh your round of starry folds. 
 Ye ardent marigolds I 
 Dry up the moisture of your golden lids ; 
 For great Apollo bids 
 
 That in these days your praises shall be sung 
 On many harps, which he has lately strung; 
 And when again your dewiness he kisses. 
 Tell him I have you in my world of blisses : 
 So haply when 1 rove in some far vale. 
 His mighty voice may come upon the gale," 
 
 "We end with part of a fine piece by George Wither 
 
 " When with a serious musing I behold 
 The grateful and obsequious marigold, 
 How duly every morning she displays 
 Her open breast, when Titan spreads his rays; 
 How she observes him in his daily walk. 
 Still bending towards him her small, slender stalk; 
 How, when he down declines, she droops and mourns, 
 Bedewed as 'twere with tears till he returns; 
 
58 THK LANOUAOE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 And how Bhe veils her flowers when he is gone, 
 
 As if she soornSd to be looked on 
 
 By an inferior eye, or did contemn 
 
 To wait upon a meaner light than him ; — 
 
 When I thus meditate, methinks the flowers 
 
 Have spirits far more generous than ours. 
 
 And give us fair example to despise 
 
 The servile fawnings and idolatries 
 
 Wherewith we court these earthly things below. 
 
 Which merit not the service we bestow." 
 
 MIGNONETTE (Reieda odorata). Your qualities surpass your 
 charms. 
 
 " No gorgeous flowers the meek Reseda grace. 
 Yet sip with eager trunk yon busy race 
 Her simple cup, nor heed the dazzling gem 
 That beams in Fritillaria's diadem." 
 
 Evans. 
 
 Cowper says in the Task, — 
 
 " What are the casements lined with creeping herbs. 
 The prouder sashes fronted with a range 
 Of orange, myrtle, or the fragrant weed. 
 The Frenchman's darling ! " 
 
 We owe the reseda to Egypt. Linnaeus compared 
 its perfume to that of ambrosia. At sunrise and sun- 
 set it is sweetest and most penetrating. Flowering 
 from spring till autumn, in doors or out, it is a uni- 
 versal favorite. By keeping it in a temperate, even 
 atmosphere, it grows woody, and becomes a little tree, 
 living several years. 
 
 DATURA (JDatura arhorea). Deceitful charms. 
 
 The foliage of this plant seems faded and lan- 
 guishing in the daytime, but at night appears reani- 
 mated, and its beautiful flowers exhale an intoxicating 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 59 
 
 but dangerous perfume. One of HoflPman's "wonderful 
 stories was suggested by it ; and Mrs. Hemans wrote 
 the following sonnet upon it : — 
 
 " M^estic plant ! such fairy dreams as lie 
 
 Nursed where the bee sucks in the cowslip's bell, 
 Are not thy train : those flowers of Tase-Uke swell. 
 
 Clear, large, with dewy moonlight filled &om high, 
 . And in their monumental purity 
 
 Serenely drooping, round thee seem to draw 
 Visions linked strangely with that silent awe 
 
 Which broods o'er Sculpture's works. A meet ally 
 For those heroic forms, the simply grand, 
 Art thou; and worthy, carved by plastic hand, 
 
 Above some kingly poet's tomb to shine 
 In spotless marble; honoring one whose train 
 Soared, upon wings of thought that knew no stain. 
 
 Free through the starry heavens of truth divine." 
 
AUTUMN. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 
 
 FORGET-ME-NOT (Myosotis palustris). Forget me not. 
 
 HERE is a flower, a lovely flower, 
 
 Tinged deep with Faith's unchanging 
 hue, 
 Pure as the ether in its hour 
 
 Of loveliest and serenest blue. 
 The streamlet's gentle side it seeks, 
 
 The silent fount, the shaded grot. 
 And sweetly to the heart it speaks. 
 
 Forget me not, forget me not ! 
 
 Halleck. {Trmis.fromthe Gerrrum.) 
 
 A- story is told in Germany, that two young lovers 
 were walking on the banks of the Danube, when a 
 
 m 
 
TBE LAXOUAGE OF FLOWERS. 6l 
 
 cluster of flowers of celestial blue floated by on the 
 stream. Struck by their beauty, the girl admires and 
 regrets them. Her lover springs into the water, 
 seizes the flowers, and has just time to throw them 
 at her feet, crying, " Love, forget me not,'' before 
 he disappears in the swift current. 
 
 CHINA-ASTER {Aster sinensis). Variety. 
 
 This beautiful aster comes from China, where it is 
 cultivated in great perfection, and extensively used 
 as a decoration. They are planted in pots, and ar- 
 ranged according to their colors in charming lines 
 and masses, the efiect of which is often heightened 
 by their reflection in a stream or sheet of water. 
 The china-aster owes its' variety to skilful culture. 
 Thus study can vary continually the graces of the mind. 
 
 TUBEROSE (Polianthes tuberosd). Voluptuousness. 
 
 The tuberose seems to be first mentioned by a 
 European writer in 1594. There has been some doubt 
 whether it came from the East Indies or from Mexico ; 
 but the latter country seems to have most evidence 
 in its favor. Father Camell says it was imported from 
 Mexico to the Philippine Islands by the Spaniards, who 
 called it Vara de S. Jose, or St. Joseph's wand. 
 
 It was carried from Persia to France In 1632. It 
 was single then, but its petals were doubled under the 
 hands of a skilful florist of Leyden named Lecour; 
 6 
 
62 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 thence it spread all over the world. In Eussia it 
 blooms only for czars and courtiers, but in Peru it is 
 naturalized. Its lovely spires terminate a tall, slender 
 stem, and exhale a strong, sweet perfume, which is 
 oppressive if inhaled too closely. 
 Moore tells us of 
 
 " The tuberose witli her silvery light, 
 That in the gardens of Malay 
 Is called the ' mistress of the night,' 
 So like a bride scented and bright, 
 She conies out when the sun's away." 
 
 MORNING GLORY (^Convolvulus purpureus). Coquetry. 
 
 " Convolvulus, in streaMd vases flush." 
 
 Keats, 
 " Yes, thou canst smile and be as gay 
 
 As thouf;h no heart thy guile had broken, 
 While every step along my way 
 Brings up of thee some painful token. 
 
 Thou breathest in a dozen ears 
 
 The same fond words once breathed to me ; 
 While I, alas ! in secret tears, 
 Can only think and dream of thee." 
 
 The Flower Vase. 
 
 »* Aux feux dont Pair etincelle 
 
 S'ouvre la bellc-de-jour; 
 
 Zephyr la ilatte de I'aile : 
 
 La friponne encore appelle 
 
 Les papillons d'alentour. 
 
 Coquettes, c'est votre emblSme : 
 
 Le grand jour, le bruit vous plait. 
 Briller est votre art auprgme; 
 Sans 6clat, le plaisir m€me 
 
 Devient pour vous sans attrait." 
 
 Ph. de la Madeline. 
 
 HELIOTROPE {Ilelioiropium, perumanum). I adore you. 
 Intoxication. 
 
 " Heliotrope, whose gray and heavy wreath 
 Mimics the orchard blossom's flrulty breath." 
 
 Mrs, Norton. 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 63 
 
 One day, the celebrated Jussieu, botanizing in the 
 Cordilleras, felt himself almost intoxicated with a most 
 delicious perfume : he expected to discover some bril- 
 liant flower, but found only pretty bushes of a soft 
 green, crowned with clusters of a pale, lustreless pur- 
 ple. He approached these bushes (which were six 
 feet high), and saw that the flowers with which they 
 were loaded, all turned to the sun. Struck with this 
 circumstance, he gave it the name of heliotrope, from 
 the Greek words helios, sun, and trope, turn. Elat- 
 ed with his new conquest, he hastened to gather some 
 seeds of it, and send to the Jardin du Boi. The 
 ladies of Paris received the new plant with enthu- 
 siasm ; they placed it in the most precious vases, 
 called it " herb of love," and received with indiffer- 
 ence a bouquet which did not contain it. It was 
 cultivated for the first time, in Europe, in 1740, and 
 immediately took its place as a favorite in fashion- 
 able society. 
 
 SUNFLOWER {Heliartthus annuus). False riches. 
 
 *' The gaudy orient sunflower &om the crowd 
 Uplifts its golden circle." 
 
 Maturm. 
 
 " Sunflowers, planted for their gilded show, 
 That scale the window's lattice ere they blow; 
 Then, sweet to habitants within the sheds, 
 Peep through the diamond panes their golden heads." 
 
 Clare. 
 " Uplift, proud sunflower, to thy favorite orb. 
 
 That disk whereon his brightness seems to dwell; 
 And as thou seem'st his radiance to absorb, 
 Proclaim thyself the garden's sentinel." 
 
 BarUm. 
 
64 TBE LANGTTAOE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 The sunflower, too, is a native of Peru, where it 
 was formerly honored as the image of the star of 
 day. The Virgins of the Sun, in their religious fes- 
 tivals, wore a golden crown, representing this immense 
 flower, which also glittered on their breasts and in 
 their hands. Poets have wrongly imagined this plant 
 to turn towards the sun, and sometimes confounded 
 it with the heliotrope, though so unlike it. 
 
 Lord Thurlow crowns Jealousy with the sunflower, 
 — yellow being her appropriate color. 
 
 It is said that Pythius, a rich Lydian, possessing 
 several gold mines, neglected the culture of his estates, 
 and only employed his numerous slaves in the mines. 
 His wise wife one day ordered a supper to be served up 
 to him, at which aU the dishes were filled with gold. 
 " I give you," said she, " the only thing we have in 
 abundance ; you can reap only what you sow ; see your- 
 self whether gold is so great a good ! " This lesson 
 made the desired impression, and he acknowledged that 
 Providence had not abandoned true riches to man's 
 avarice. 
 
 WALL-FLOWER (Cheiranthm cheiri). Fidelity in misfortune. 
 
 " The yellow wall-flower stained with Iron brown." 
 
 Tliomson, 
 
 " With cloudy fire the Wall-flowers burned." 
 
 " Wall-flowers in fragrance bum themselves away 
 With the sweet season on her precious pyre." 
 
THE LAXGCAGE OF FLOWERS. Qto 
 
 '* Flower of the solitary place ! 
 Gray Ruin*8 golden crowD, 
 That lendest melancholy grace 
 To haunts of old renown." 
 Moif, 
 " An emblem true thou art 
 
 Of love's enduring lustre, given 
 To cheer a lonely heart." 
 
 Barton. 
 
 Minstrels and troubadours formerly wore a sprig of 
 wall-flower as the emblem of an affection which resists 
 time and survives misfortune. During the reign of terror 
 in France, the sepulchres of the kings in the Abbey of 
 St. Denis were broken open and violated, and the remains 
 thrown into an obscure court behind the choir of the 
 church. There the revolution forgot them. The poet 
 Treneuil, going to visit this sad spot, found it brilliant 
 with the blossoms of the wall-flower. This plant, true 
 to its character, breathed out its perfume, like incense 
 rising to heaven, and inspired the poet with a fine apos- 
 trophe to it. 
 
OCTOBER. 
 
 IVY (Jledera helix). Friendship. 
 
 EiENDSHiP has chosen for its 
 device an ivy surrounding a 
 fallen tree, with the motto, 
 " Nothing can detach me." In 
 Greece the hymeneal altar was 
 wreathed with ivy, and a branch 
 of it was presented to the bridal 
 pair, as the symbol of indissoluble union. The Bac- 
 chantes, old Silenus, and Bacchus himself, were crowned 
 with ivy. In Egypt it was consecrated to Osiris. The 
 fadeless green of the ivy made it a suitable crown 
 for the poet. 
 
 " An ivy wreath, the poet's prize, 
 Would lift MsBcenas to the skies." 
 
 Horace. 
 
 (66) 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 67 
 
 It was a favorite with Milton. Eve bids Adam 
 
 " Direct the clasping ivy where to climb." 
 
 Wordsworth, speaking of an old church, overgrown 
 with ivy, gives ns this pretty picture : — 
 
 "* Dying insensibly away 
 From human thoughts and purposes. 
 The building seems, wall, roof, and tower, 
 To bow to some transforming power, 
 And blend with the surrounding trees." 
 
 " Hast thou seen, in winter's stormiest day, 
 
 The trunk of a blighted oak; 
 Not dead, but sinking in slow decay, 
 
 Beneath Time's resistless stroke; 
 Round which a luxuriant ivy had grown, 
 And Avreathed it with verdure no longer its own? 
 
 O, gmile not, nor think it a worthless, thing, 
 
 If it be with Instruction fraught — 
 That which will closest and longest cling 
 
 Is alone worth a serious thought. 
 Should aught be unlovely which thus can she.! 
 Grace on the dying, and leaves not the dead?" 
 
 Barton, 
 
 With the Ivy Song of Mrs, Hemans, we end, 
 
 '* 0, how could fancy crown with thee. 
 In ancient days, the God of Wine, 
 And bid thee at the banquet be 
 
 Companion of the vine ? 
 Ivy' thy home is where each sound 
 
 Of revelry hath long been o'er, 
 Where song and beaker once went rouu.l. 
 But now are known no more. 
 
 Where long fallen gods recline. 
 There the place is thine. 
 
 The Roman on his battle plains, 
 
 Where kings before his eagles bent, 
 With thee, amidst exulting strainsi 
 
 Shadowed the victor's tent. 
 
68 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 Though shining there in deathless green, 
 
 Triumphally thy boughs might wave, 
 Bettor thou lov'st tlie silent scene 
 Afound the victor's grave : 
 
 Urn and sculpture half divine 
 Yield their place to thine. 
 
 The cold halls of the regal dead, 
 
 Where lone the Italian sunbeams dwell. 
 Where hollow sounds the lightest tread — 
 
 Ivy '. they know thee well I 
 And far above the festal vine 
 
 Thou wav'st where once proud banners hung. 
 Where mouldering turrets crest the Rhine, 
 
 The Khine, still fresh and young I 
 
 Tower and rampart o'er the Khine, 
 Ivy ! all are thine 1 
 
 High from the fields of air look down 
 
 Those eyries of a vanished race^ 
 Where harp, and battle, and renown 
 
 Have passed and left no trace. 
 But thou art there ! serenely bright, 
 
 Meeting the mountain storms with bloom. 
 Thou that wilt climb the loftiest height, 
 
 Or crown the lowliest tomb. 
 Ivy, Ivy ! all are thine— ^ 
 Palace, hearth^ and shrine ! 
 
 *Tis still the same; our pilgrim tread 
 
 O'er classic plains, through deserts free. 
 On the mute path of ages fled. 
 
 Still meets decay and thee* 
 And still let man his fabrics rear, 
 
 A ugust in beauty, stern in power, -- 
 Days pass — thou ' Ivy never sere ; ' 
 
 And thou shalt have thy dower. 
 
 All are thine, or must bo thine -^ 
 Temple, pillar, shrine ! " 
 
 MEADOW SAFFRON {Colchicum autumnalis). My best days 
 are past. 
 
 The' ancients believed that this plant, from the fields 
 of Colchis, owed its origin to some drops of the magic 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWBHS. 69 
 
 liquor whicli Medea prepared to make old ^Eson young. 
 This caused it to be regarded as a preservative against 
 all sorts of maladies. It is stiU used in gout and rheuma- 
 tism. The seed does not ripen until the following 
 spring. The melancholy nymph weaves herself a crown 
 of its pale violet flowers, and consecrates it to the 
 happy days which have fled to return no more. 
 
 FOUR O'CLOCK, or MARVEL OF PERU (ilirahilis 
 Jalapa). Timidity. 
 
 This plant, known also as jalap, princess's leaf, and 
 helle-de-nuit, is a native of the Malay Isles, and in its 
 own climate is an elegant shrub. It opens its timid 
 bells at four in the afternoon, closing them again at four 
 in the morning. 
 
 We cannot refrain from transcribing here the fol- 
 lowing graceful lines of Constant Dubos : — 
 
 '* Solitaire amante des nuits, 
 
 Pourquoi ces timides alarmes, 
 Quand ma muse au jour que tu fuis 
 
 S'apprete k reveler tes charmes.' 
 Si, par pudeur, aux indiscrets 
 
 Tu caches ta fleur purpurine. 
 En nous derobant tes attraits, 
 
 Permets encore qu'on les devine. 
 
 Lorsque I'aube vient reveiller 
 
 Les brillantes fllles de Flore, — 
 Seule tu scmbles sommeiller, 
 
 Et craindre I'iclat de I'aurore. 
 Quand I'ombre efface leurs coulcurs, 
 
 Tu reprends alors ta parure, 
 Et de I'absenee de tes sceurs, 
 
 Tu viens consoler la nature. 
 
70 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 Sous le Toile raystdrienx 
 
 Be In craintxve modestie 
 Tu veux (ichapper a nos yeux, 
 
 Et tu n'en es que plus jolie; 
 On cherche, on aime k decouvrir, 
 
 Le doux plaisir que tu recfeles; 
 Ah ! pour encove les embcllir, 
 
 Donne ton secret a nos belles." 
 
 FRAGRANT COLTSFOOT {Tussilago fragrans). Jttstiee 
 shall be done you. 
 
 Grenius, concealed under a modest exterior, does not 
 strike the vulgar. But if the eye of a discriminat- 
 ing judge meets it, immediately it obtains the accla- 
 mations of those whose stupid indiflFerence could not 
 comprehend . it. Plants have the same, fate as men, 
 and often require a patron to be appreciated. The 
 fragrant coltsfoot, in spite of its sweet odor, lived a long 
 time unknown at the foot of Mount Pila, where it would 
 doubtless flourish ignored to this day, if a learned bot- 
 anist, M. Villau, of Grenoble, had not appreciated its 
 merits, and given it a prominent place in his works. It 
 is very welcome in the drawing-room, as it comes at a 
 season when other flowers are scarce. 
 
 SCARLET GERANIUM {Pelargonium in(iuirmm). SiUiness. 
 
 Mme. de Stael was always angry when a man of no 
 intellect was introduced into her circle. One day, how- 
 ever, a friend risked presenting a young Swiss oflScer, 
 of most amiable appearance. Deceived by appearances, 
 the lady grew animated, and said a thousand flattering 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 71 
 
 things to the new-comer, who seemed at first mute with 
 surprise and admiration. At last, after he had listened 
 nearly an hour without opening his mouth, she began to 
 mistrust his silence, and asked him some questions so 
 direct that he was forced to reply. But, alas ! he gave 
 only the sUliest answers. Mme. de Stael, angry at hav- 
 ing thrown away her trouble and her wit, turned to her 
 friend and said, " Truly, sir, you resemble my gardener, 
 who thought to please me this morning by bringing me 
 a pot of scarlet geranium ; but I sent him away, begging 
 him never to let me see it again." " Why so ? " asked 
 the young man, confounded. " Because, sir, since you 
 wish to know, this geranium is finely dressed in .red ; so 
 long as you only look at it, it is pleasing ; but the mo- 
 ment you press it slightly, it gives out only a disagreeable 
 odor." Saying these words, she rose and went out, 
 leaving the young man with cheeks as red as his coat, or 
 the flower to which he had been compared. 
 
 CYPRESS {Cupresms). Mourning. 
 
 '* Peace to the dust that in silence reposes 
 Beneath the darlc shades of the cypress and yew." 
 
 Pierpont. 
 
 *■ And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 '' The nodding cypress formed a fragrant shade." 
 
 Pope. 
 
 " In cypress chests my arras connterpanes." 
 
 Shah^eare. 
 
72 
 
 THE LANGUAOE OP FLOWERr, 
 
 The cypress is a tall, straight, evergreen tree, of a 
 fragrant smell — the leaves bitter. Its wood is almost 
 imperishable. The Romans devoted it to funereal uses, 
 and the Orientals plant it in their cemeteries. Spenser 
 tells us that in the garden of Proserpina — 
 
 " There mournful! cyprcsse grew in greatest store." 
 
 ''^'^^^ 
 
 **Ss 
 
NOVEMBER. 
 
 OAK {Quercui). Hospitality. 
 
 ' The builder oake, sole king of forrests all." 
 
 ^Spenser. 
 
 HE ancients believed that the 
 oak, born with the earth, gave 
 shelter and sustenance to the 
 first men. This tree, conse- 
 crated to Jupiter, shaded his 
 cradle in Arcadia. The civic 
 crown of oak leaves appeared 
 to the Romans the most desirable of rewards. In 
 Epirus, the oaks of Dodona gave oracles ; those of 
 Gaul covered the mysteries of the Druids. An account 
 of all the celebrated oak trees in history would fill a 
 volume. Tennyson has sung the " Talking Oak," and 
 
 7 (73) 
 
74 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEJiS. 
 
 Millevoye " La feuille de chene." Bryant eloquentlj 
 wrote, — 
 
 "This mighty oak — 
 By whose immovable stem I stand, and seem 
 Almost annihilated — not a prince 
 In all the proud old world beyond the deep 
 Ere wore his crown as loftily as he 
 Wears the green coronal of leaves with which 
 Thy hand has graced him." 
 
 AMARANTH (Amaranthits). Immortality. 
 
 " Sad Amaranthus, made a tlowre but late, 
 Sad Amaranthus, in whose purple gore 
 Me seemes I see Amintas' wretched fate, 
 To whom sweet poets' verso hath given endless date." 
 
 The amarantt is one of the last gifts of Autumn. 
 The ancients associated it with supreme honors, and 
 adorned with it the foreheads of the gods. In the 
 " Jeux Floraux," at Toulouse, the prize for the best 
 lyric was a golden amaranth. It has, for some reason 
 or other, been a favorite of the poets ; and Milton, in 
 Book III. of his great poem, pays it this homage : — 
 
 " To the ground, 
 With solemn adoration, down they cast 
 Tlicir crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold, 
 Immortal amaranth, a flower which once 
 In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, 
 Began to bloom; but soon, for man's ofTence, 
 To Heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows 
 And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life. 
 And where the river of bliss, through midst of Heaven, 
 Bolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream, 
 Witli these, that never fade, the 'spirits elect • 
 Bind their resplendent locks inwreathed with beams." 
 
 And again in Lycidas, — 
 
 "Bid Amaranthus all his beauty shed." 
 
PUEUSHED BYDE VRIES IRAT;RA -t^^BCSTON. 
 
THE LAXGUAGE OF FLOWEIiS. 75 
 
 There are many species of amaranth. That which is 
 called coxcomb (a corruption of cock's comb) is very 
 handsome, and is said to grow to a great size in Japan. 
 Another variety is popularly (sailed Love-lies-bleeding. 
 In Campbell's poem of " O'Connor's Child," he makes 
 the heroine say, — 
 
 '• This purple flower my tears have nursed 
 A hero's blood supplied its bloom : 
 I love it, for it was the first 
 That grew on Connocht Moran's tomb." 
 
 * * * * 
 
 ** Kor would I change my buried love 
 For any heart of living mould. 
 No, for 1 am a hero's child — 
 I'll hunt my quarry on the wild, 
 And still my home this mansion make. 
 
 Of all unheeded and unheeding. 
 And cherish, for my warrior's sake. 
 
 The flower of love-lies-bleeding." 
 
 PARSLEY (^Apium petroselinum). Festivity. 
 
 Parsley was in great repute among the Greeks. At 
 banquets they crowned themselves with it, to excite 
 gayety and appetite. In the Nemean games the victor 
 received for prize a wreath of parsley. It was sup- 
 posed to be a native of Sardinia, because on old medals 
 that province was represented by a woman at whose side 
 is a vase of parsley ; but it is found in cool, shady 
 places throughout the south of Europe. The beautiful 
 verdure of this plant heightens the elegance of the dishes 
 it adorns. 
 
76 
 
 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 CORNELIAN CHERRY (Cormis mascula). Continuance. 
 
 This tree rises only to the height of eighteen or 
 twenty feet, but is slow of growth, and lives for centu- 
 ries. It blossoms in Spring, and in Autumn produces 
 its brilliant red fruit. The Greeks consecrated it to 
 Apollo, doubtless because this god presided over intel- 
 lectual labors, which demand much time and reflection. 
 This tree is the emblem of patience to all those who 
 would win the laurel crown for poetry or eloquence. 
 
 A HEAP OF FLOWERS. We will die together. 
 
 A pile of flowers and fruit decomposes the air, and 
 renders it unfit for respiration. This sad property in- 
 spired the German poet Freiligrath to write a striking 
 little piece called " The Vengeance of the Flowers." 
 
 Jn j.snv. 
 
WINTER. 
 
 DECEMBER. 
 
 SERVICl£ TR£E (Pyrus domesticd). Prudence. 
 
 ;> ACH plant and tree has a character 
 of its own. The giddy almond 
 hastens to give her flowers to the 
 Spring at the risk of having no 
 fruit for the Autumn, while the 
 service tree, which grows slowly, 
 only bears fruit when it has 
 
 7 * (77) 
 
78 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 attained its full strength ; but then the harvest is cer- 
 tain. This is why it is called the type of prudence. 
 Handsome and durable, it keeps its bright red berries 
 all winter — a food provided in the midst of the snow 
 for the little birds. 
 
 MISTLETOE (^Viseum verticillatum). I surmount everything. 
 
 The following legend has come down to us from the 
 days of the Druids. The god Balder having dreamed 
 that he should die, his mother, Frigga, conjured fire, 
 metals, maladies, water, animals, serpents, and plants, 
 not to harm her son, and her conjurations were of such 
 power that nothing could resist. Loke, the enemy of 
 Balder, wished to know the cause of his invulnerability, 
 and disguising himself under the form of an old woman, 
 went to ask Frigga. He learned that everything in 
 nature was sworn not to hurt Balder, except one little 
 plant, which seemed too insignificant to harm, having not 
 even a root of its own. It was the mistletoe. Loke 
 immediately ran to find some, and, coming where the 
 gods were fighting against the invulnerable Balder, 
 asks the blind Heder, " Why dost not thou, too, throw 
 arrows at Balder?" "I am blind," replied Heder, 
 " and have no arms." Loke presented the mistletoe to 
 him, and said, " Balder is before thee." It is thrown, 
 and Balder falls lifeless. Thus the invulnerable son of 
 a goddess is slain by a branch of mistletoe thrown by a 
 blind enemy. 
 
TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 79 
 
 The mistletoe is a little evergreen shrub, growing 
 on the tops of the tallest trees ; even the proud oak 
 becomes its slave, and feeds it with his own substance. 
 It was regarded as peculiarly sacred by the Druids. 
 Every one is familiar with the English customs con- 
 nected with it as a Christmas decoration. 
 
 " Bright-headed as the merry May dawn 
 
 She floated down the dance; 
 I thought some angel must have gone 
 
 Our human way by chance. 
 I held my hands and caught my bliss : 
 
 Children, I'll show you how I 
 And earth touched heaven in a kiss 
 
 Under the mistletoe bough." 
 
 MOSS (jCryptogamid). Maternal love. 
 
 Like those friends repulsed neither by misfortune 
 nor ingratitude, the mosses, banished from cultivated 
 fields, advance towards dry, uncultivated lands, to cover 
 them with their own substance, which is by degrees 
 changed into fertile soil. They extend over marshes, 
 and soon transform them into useful meadows. They 
 form, in the forest shade, a turfy carpet, where the 
 shepherd, the lover, and the poet love to repose. 
 Without these plants, so little regarded by us, a part 
 of the globe would be uninhabitable. In Lapland, the 
 families cover with moss the subterranean huts, where 
 they brave the longest winters. Their numerous herds 
 of reindeer know no other food, yet they supply their 
 masters with delicious milk, eatable flesh, and warm 
 furs. 
 
80 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEnS. 
 
 LAURESTINE (Viburnum tinus). I die if neglected. 
 
 This pretty shrub, improperly called laurustinus, 
 comes to us from Spain, and is brilliant with verdure 
 and flowers when other plants are stripped of them. 
 It always requires assiduous attention, which, however, 
 it well repays. 
 
JANUARY. 
 
 LAUREL (^Laurns nobilis). Glory. 
 
 " Yield me one leaf of Daphne's deathless plant." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 HE laurel or bay tree has been 
 the symbol of glory and vic- 
 tory in every age and among 
 every people. The lovely 
 Daphne, daughter of the river 
 Peneus, was loved by Apollo ; 
 but she fled from his profi'ered 
 caresses. He pursued her, and 
 as he began to gain on her, she invoked her father's 
 aid, and was changed into the laurel. Apollo crowned 
 his head with the leaves, and ordered that it should 
 be esteemed sacred to him. It grows in great 
 profusion on the banks of the Peneus, and its aromatic 
 
 (81) 
 
82 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWEBS. 
 
 evergreen branches rise there to the height of the 
 tallest trees. The property of resisting lightning was 
 anciently ascribed to it. 
 
 The Flora Domestica says, " The bay or laurel 
 was in great esteem with physicians. The statue of 
 -i^sculapius, in allusion, perhaps, to his father, Apollo, 
 was adorned with its leaves. From the custom which 
 prevailed in some places of crowning the young doc- 
 tors in physic with this laurel in berry, the students 
 were called haccalaureats, or bachelors." 
 
 Every poet has sung the laurel. Byron said of Pe- 
 trarch, — 
 
 " Watering the tree which bore his lady's name 
 With his melodious tears, he gave himself to fame." 
 
 Though the laurel be the " meede of mighty con- 
 querors,'' Oglevie bids us remember that 
 
 " Short IS Ambition's gay, deceitful dream; 
 
 Though wreaths of blooming laurel bind her brow, 
 Calm thought dispels the visionary scheme, 
 And Time's cold breath dissolves the withering bough." 
 
 This classic tree is not a native of our country ; 
 but we have the beautiful kalmia, or American sheep 
 laurel, which can challenge comparison with any shrub 
 of Europe. 
 
 HOLLY (7fex). Forethought. 
 
 " Boldest of plants that ever faced the wind." 
 
 JVordsworth. 
 
 The holly brings to mind delightful scenes of Christ- 
 mas festivities and family joys. Its curiously cut, 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, 83 
 
 shining leaves, and rich clusters of scarlet berries, 
 make it an unequalled ornament for church, palace, 
 or cottage. Among the best lines Southej ever wrote 
 are the following : — 
 
 THE HOLLY TREE. 
 
 *' O reader, hast thou ever stood to see 
 
 The holly tree r 
 The eye that contemplates it well perceives 
 
 Its glossy leaves 
 Ordered by an intelligence bo wise. 
 As might confound the atheist^s sophistries. 
 
 Below, a circling fence, its leaves are seen 
 
 Wrinkled and keen; 
 No grazing cattle through their prickly round 
 
 Can reach to wound; 
 But as they grow where nothing is to fear, 
 Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear. 
 
 I love to view these things with curious eyes, 
 
 And moralize; 
 And in this wisdom of the holly tree 
 
 Can emblems see 
 Wherewith perchance to make a pleasant rhyme — 
 One which may profit in the after-time. 
 
 Thus, though abroad perchance I might appear 
 
 Harsh and austere. 
 To those who on my leisure would mtrude 
 
 Reserved and rude, — 
 Gentle at home amid my friends I'd be, 
 Like the high leaves upon the holly tree. 
 
 And- should my youth, as youth Is apt, I know, 
 
 Some harshness show, — 
 All vain asperities I day by day 
 
 Would wear away, 
 Till the smooth temper of my age should be 
 Like the high leaves upon the holly tree. 
 
84 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 And, ae when all the summer trees are seen 
 
 So bright and green, 
 The holly leaves their fadeless hues display — 
 
 Less bright than they; 
 But when the bare and wintry woods we see. 
 What then so cheerful as the holly tree? 
 
 So serious should my youth appear among 
 
 The thoughtless throng, 
 So would I seem amid the young and gay 
 
 More grave than they, 
 That in my age as cheerful I might be 
 As the green winter of the holly tree." 
 
 ALOE {Aloe). Grief. Bitterness. 
 
 The aloe holds to the soil only by weak roots ; 
 it loves to grow in the desert ; its taste is very 
 bitter. Thus grief withdraws us from the world, 
 detaches us from the earth, and fills our hearts with 
 bitterness. These plants live almost entirely on air, 
 and affect grotesque and wonderful forms. Mexico 
 and the sands of Africa are their native climes. 
 
 AGNUS CASTUS. Coldness. Life without love. 
 
 Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galienus inform us that the 
 priestesses of Ceres formed their virginal couch of 
 the fragrant branches of this shrub, which covers itself 
 with long tufts of white or violet flowers, and that 
 they regarded it as the palladium of their chastity. 
 Nuns used to drink a water distilled from it, to 
 banish terrestrial thoughts from their solitary cells ; 
 and several Orders of monks wore a knife whose 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 8. 
 
 handle was made of the wood of the agnus castus 
 as a sure means of rendering their hearts insensible 
 In Dryden's version of the Flower and the Leaf, — 
 
 " "Wreaths of agnus caRtus others bore ; 
 These last, who with those virgin crowns were dressed, 
 Appeared in higher honor than the rest." 
 
 And their queen carried a branch of it for a sceptre 
 
. FEBRUARY. 
 
 SNOWDROP {Galanfhus nivalis). Consolation. A firieud 
 in adversity. 
 
 " lione flower, hemmed in with snows, and white as they." 
 
 * Wordsworth. 
 
 " Thou timid snowdrop, raise thy lovely head." 
 
 £artcm. 
 
 DELICATE blossom Suddenly appears 
 breaking through the snowy Teil 
 which covers the earth, and shows 
 to our wondering eyes its pure cups, 
 tipped with green, as if Hope had 
 marked them for her own. Expand- 
 ing amid wintry scenes, this lovely 
 flower seems to smile at all the rigors of the season, 
 
 (86) 
 
TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 87 
 
 and says, " I come to console you, and whisper the 
 return of the long, bright, sunny days." 
 
 *' Already now the Bnowdrop dares appear, 
 The first pale blossom of the unripened year; 
 As Flora's breath, by some transforming power. 
 Had changed an icicle into a flower." 
 
 Mrs. Barbauld. 
 
 *' Nature — deep and mystic woi^d ! 
 Mighty mother, still unknown ! 
 Thou didst sure the snowdrop gird 
 
 With an armor all thine own. 
 Thou, who sent'st it forth alone 
 To the cold and sullen season 
 (Like a thought at random thrown). 
 Sent it thus for some grave reason," 
 
 Barry Cornwall. 
 
 JUNIPER (Juniperus communis). Asylum. Aid. 
 
 This tree was anciently consecrated to the Eumenides ; 
 the smoke of its green branches was the incense which 
 was most preferred to offer to the infernal deities. The 
 berries were burned at funerals to keep off witchcraft. 
 In Holland they are extensively used now to flavor gin. 
 The Chinese and the English like to adorn their gardens 
 with this wild tree, which accustoms itself with difficulty 
 to cultivation. Free, it loves to grow on the edge of 
 the forest ; weak and timid creatures often seek an 
 asylum under its long, low boughs. The hunted hare 
 crouches there, as its strong odor sets the dogs at fault ; 
 the thrush often confides her family to it, and fattens on 
 its berries ; while the entomologist studies around its 
 prickly branches a thousand brilliant insects, which have 
 
88 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 no other defence, and seem to guess that this tree ia 
 destined to protect them. 
 
 YEW {Taxus baccata). Sadness. 
 
 The Greeks, affected, like us, by the sad aspect of this 
 tree, imagined that the unhappy Smilax, who saw her 
 love despised by the young Crocus, was imprisoned in 
 the bark of a yew. Its black, gloomy foliage, and ugly 
 form, seem to warn us against reposing under it. It is 
 said that its juice is poisonous to horses and asses, and 
 that if one sleeps under a yew tree, the head grows 
 heavy, and suffers violent pain. Our ancestors liked to 
 see it in their cemeteries. Its wood was used for bows, 
 lances, and cross-bows. In Dutch gardens one may still 
 see yews clipped into fantastic forms, which recall the 
 masterpieces of Le Notre and La Quintinie. 
 
 FIELD DAISY {Bellis perennis). I will think of it. 
 •' Si douce est la marguerite." 
 
 Chaucer asserts that Alceste, a fair queen, who sacri- 
 ficed her own life to preserve her husband's, was trans- 
 formed into a daisy. What poet has not written of the 
 daisy ? But one stands preeminent. Few will disagree 
 with Mr. Thomas Miller, that the daisy ought to be known 
 as " Chaucer's flower." He all but worshipped it. 
 
 " Love I most these floures white and rede, 
 Sueh that were eallen Daisies in our town; 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 89 
 
 So hence I have so great affection, 
 As I sayd erst, when comen is the Maie, 
 That in my bedde there daweth me no daie 
 That I am up and walking- in the mede. 
 To see this flower against the sunne sprede; 
 When it up riseth eftrly by the morrow, 
 That blissful sight softeneth all my sorrow. 
 So glad am I that when I have presence 
 Of it to done it alle reverence, 
 As she that is of all floures the fioure, 
 Fulfilled of all vertue and honoure, 
 And ever ylike faire and fresh of hewe, 
 And ever I love it, and ever ylike newe. 
 And shall till that mine herte die." 
 
 In the times of chivalry, when a lady neither accepted 
 nor rejected a wooer's suit, she expressed, by a wreath 
 of single white daisies, the sentiment, " I will think 
 of it." 
 
 *' The band of flutes began to play, 
 To which a lady sung a virelay , 
 And still at every close she would repeat 
 The burden of the song, The Daisy is so sweet. 
 The Daisy is so sweet when she begun, 
 The troths of knightH and dames continued on 
 The concert, and the voice so charmed my ear 
 And soothed my soul, that it was heaven to hear.'^ 
 
 Dry den from^ Chaucer. 
 
 *' The daisie scattered on each meade and downe, 
 A golden tuft within a silver croune; 
 Fayre fall that dainty floure ! and may there be 
 No shepherd graced, that doth not honor thee ! " 
 
 W. Browne. 
 
 The daisy (or day^s eye) is the gowan of Burns 
 and the other Scotch bards. The beautiful " Lines to 
 a Mountain Daisy " are so well known and so often 
 quoted, that we forbear to give them. A few stanzas 
 from a poem by Wordsworth in praise of the daisy find 
 their place here. 
 
 8* 
 
90 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 " When Winter decks his few gray hairs, 
 Thee in the scanty wreath he wears; 
 Spring parts the clouds with softest airs, 
 
 That she may sun thee; 
 Whole summer fields are thine by right; 
 And Autumn, melancholy wight ! 
 Doth in thy crimson head delight 
 
 When rains are on thee. 
 
 In shoals and bands, a morrice train, 
 Thou greet'st the traveller in the lane; 
 If welcome once thou count'st it gain; 
 
 Thou art not daunted, 
 Nor car'st if thou be set at nought. 
 And oft alone, in nooks remote, 
 We meet thee like a pleasant thought, 
 
 When suteh are wanted. 
 
 Be violets in their secret mews 
 
 The flowers the wanton zephyrs choose; 
 
 Proud be the rose, with rains and dew» 
 
 Her head impearling; 
 Thou liv'st with less ambitious aim, 
 Yet hast not gone without thy fame; 
 Thou art indeed, by many a claim. 
 
 The poet's darling. 
 
 * * * 
 
 When, smitten by the mornmg ray, 
 I see thee rise, alert and gay. 
 Then, cheerful flower ! my spirits play 
 
 With kindred gladness; 
 And when at dusk, by dews oppressed. 
 Thou sink'st, the image of thy rest 
 Hath often eased my pensive breast 
 
 Of careful sadness." 
 
 DOUBLE GARDEN DAISY. I share your feelings. 
 
 When the lady of a knight allowed him to engrave 
 this flower on his arms, it was a public avowal that his 
 affection was returned. 
 
 If left too long in one spot, the garden daisy is apt 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 91 
 
 to degenerate. The roots should be taken up in the 
 autumn and divided. 
 
 " Star of the mead, sweet daughter of the day, 
 Whose opening flower invites the morning ray 
 From thy moist cheek, and boBom^s chilly fold, 
 To kiss the tears of eve, the dew-drops cold ! 
 Sweet daisy, flower of love ! when birds are paired, 
 'Tis sweet to see thee, with thy bosom bared, 
 Smiling in virgin innocence serene, 
 Thy pearly crown above thy vest of green. 
 The lark, with sparkling eye and rustling wing, 
 Rejoins his widowed mate in early spring, 
 And as he prunes his plumes of russet hue, 
 Swears on thy maiden blossom to be true. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Oft have 1 watched thy closing buds at eve, 
 Which for the parting sunbeams seemed to grieve. 
 And, when gay morning gilt the dew-bright plain. 
 Seen them unclasp their folded leaves again. 
 Nor he who sung, *• The daisy is so sweet,' 
 More dearly loved thy pearly form to greet. 
 When on his scarf the knight the daisy bound, 
 And dames at tourneys shone with daisies crowned. 
 And fays forsook the purer flelds above. 
 To hail the daisy, flower of faithful love." 
 
 Leyden. 
 
 The following beautiful tribute is by Montgomery : — 
 
 THE DAISY. 
 
 " There is a flower, a little flower. 
 With silver crest and golden eye. 
 That welcomes every changing hour. 
 And weathers every sky. 
 
 The prouder beauties of the field 
 
 In gay but quick succession shine; 
 Kace after race their honors yield; 
 
 They flourish and decline. 
 
 But this small flower, to nature dear, 
 While moons and stars their courses run, 
 
 Wreathes the whole circle of the year. 
 Companion of the sun. 
 
92 . THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 It smiles upon the lap of May, 
 To sultry August spreads its charms, 
 
 Lights pale October on its way, 
 And twines December's arms. 
 
 The purple heath and golden broom 
 On moory mountains catch the gale; 
 
 O'er lawns the lily sheds perfume; 
 The violet in the vale. 
 
 But this bold floweret climbs the hill, 
 Hides in the forest, haunts the glen, 
 
 Plays on the margin of the rill, 
 Peeps round the fox's den. 
 
 Within the garden's cultured round 
 It shares the sweet carnation's bed. 
 
 And blooms on consecrated ground 
 In honor of the dead. 
 
 The lambkin crops Its crimson gem. 
 The wild bee murmurs on its breast. 
 
 The blue-fly bends its pensile stem, 
 Light o'er the skylark's nest. 
 
 ' 'Tis Flora's page ; In every place. 
 In every season, fresh and fair, 
 It opens With perennial grace, 
 And blossoms everywhere. 
 
 On waste and woodland, rock and plain. 
 Its humble buds unheeded rise; 
 
 Tlie rose has but a summer reign. 
 The daisy never dies." 
 
 VIOLET {Viola). Modesty. 
 
 Ovid tells us that yiolets were strewn as oflFerings at 
 the Roman feast of the Feralia, kept for their dead. 
 
 " The violet in her greenwood bower, 
 
 Where birchen boughs with hazels mingle. 
 May boast itself the fairest flower 
 In glen, or copse, or forest dingle." 
 
 Scott. 
 
■PUBUSHED BYDE VRres iHAfiRA i^tt<-;'_'bqst0N 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 93 
 
 " There are no flowers grow in the vale, 
 Kissed by the dew, wooed by the gale, 
 None by the dew of the twilight wet. 
 So sweet as the deep-blue violet." 
 
 Landon. 
 
 Fairest and sweetest of flowers ! What more praise 
 can be given r If some invisible power should sud- 
 denly sweep away from the earth every tuft of violets, 
 could any flower, of garden, field, or copse, replace 
 them ? Ah, no ! the very soul of Spring would have 
 passed away with them. 
 
 There is no fragrance like that of the violet. A 
 peculiar freshness and purity make it stand alone 
 among all the odors of the floral kingdom. Shakspeare 
 felt it when he wrote of 
 
 "violets dim. 
 But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyea 
 Or Cytherea's breath." 
 
 The Duke in Twelfth Night commands, — 
 
 *' That strain again; it had a dying fall; 
 O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south. 
 That breathes upon a bank of violets, 
 Stealing and giving odor." 
 
 And at Ophelia's grave Laertes cries, — 
 
 " Lay her i' the earth. 
 And from her fair and unpolluted flesh 
 May violets spring." 
 
 Barry Cornwall says, — 
 
 " Dost see yon bank 
 The sun is kissing .' Near — go near ! for there 
 ('Neath those broad leaves, amidst yon straggling grasses) 
 Immaculate odors from the violet 
 Spring up forever ! Like sweet thoughts that come 
 
94 
 
 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 Winged from the maiden fancy, and fly ofl" 
 In music to the skies, and there are lost, 
 These ever-steaming odors seek the sun, 
 And fade In the hght he scatters." 
 
 We close in the grateful words of Langhorne : — 
 
 " That lavish hand 
 Which scatters violets under every thorn. 
 Forbids that sweets like these should be confined 
 Within the limits of the rich man's wall." 
 
AEDON, fair reader, if we weary 
 you ; but it seems fitting here to 
 give a brief account of the cel- 
 ebrated Floral G-ames of Toulouse. 
 The south of France was, per- 
 haps, the cradle of all our modern 
 poetry ; for while the language 
 of the surrounding nations was scarcely formed, the 
 Proven5al was already a copious, expressive, and ele- 
 gant tongue. The love for polite literature made 
 such progress in Toulouse during the reign of the 
 house of Raymond, that one of the old writers calls 
 it " the flower and rose of all cities." 
 
 The origin of the Troubadours goes back to ob- 
 scurity ; but we know that through the middle ages 
 poetical courts, called Buys d' Amour, were of frequent 
 
 (95) 
 
96 THE LANQVAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 occurrence. The word jjuy comes from a' supposed 
 Celtic root, and signifies tribunal. It was one of these 
 courts which was established at Toulouse jn 1324, by 
 a company of seven Troubadours. They called it the 
 court of the Gai Saber, and poets from Provence, 
 Languedoc, and Catalonia were invited to compete 
 for the prize, which was a violet " of fine gold." 
 The court assembled annually in a garden, and under 
 a spreading elm made their award. This gave such 
 an impetus to the "joyous science," that, in 1388, King 
 John, of Arragon, sent an embassy to Charles VI., 
 asking for French Troubadours to establish academies 
 of the Gai Saber in his dominions. 
 
 But, in the next century, wars, and other circum- 
 stances unfavorable to the quiet pursuits of litera- 
 ture and the peaceful pleasures of the garden, caused 
 such a decline in the spirit of the age, that this pretty 
 custom fell into disuse. Then, when a night of igno- 
 rance and mental indolence seemed settling down upon 
 these fair southern fields, Clemence Isaure suddenly 
 steps upon the scene, and rescues her native land 
 from the demoralizing influence of material force by 
 encouraging once more the cultivation of eloquence 
 and belles-lettres. 
 
 This famous lady was of an ancient and illustrious 
 Toulousan family. She is represented to have pos- 
 sessed all graces, both of mind and person, and to 
 have encouraged in every way the revival of letters. 
 
TBE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 97 
 
 She caused the Jeux Floraux to be celebrated again 
 each year, with renewed splendor, and with her own 
 hand bestowed a golden eglantine on a competitor 
 of her own sex, Antoinette ViUeneuve. 
 
 Clemence, in spite of the most brilliant offers, 
 never married. She died, aged about fifty, at the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century, and by her wiU 
 left nearly all her property to her native city, to be 
 applied to the encouragement of intellectual develop- 
 ment. She ordained three golden flowers as prizes — 
 the violet, the eglantine, and the marigold. As the 
 old romance prettUy says, — 
 
 *' Eglantine est la fleur que j'aime. 
 La vlolette est ma couleur; 
 Dans le souci tu vois I'emblSme 
 Des chag^rins de mon triste coeur." 
 
 This Festival of Flowers, as it is called, survives 
 still, four hundred years after its foundation ; though 
 the contests of the present day are in modern French, 
 which scarcely equals, for poetical purposes, the more 
 flexible and impassioned Proven9al. It is celebrated 
 on the third of May. The ceremonies begin with a 
 eulogy of Clemence Isaure, after which the commis- 
 sioners go in pomp to take the prize flowers from 
 the high altar of the church of Our Lady de la 
 Daurade, where Isaure was interred. Meantime the 
 Secretary reports on the pieces offered by the concur- 
 rents, and on the return of the commissioners the 
 9 
 
98 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 prizes are awarded. Formerly it was the custom for 
 the victors to go in procession to the church, and 
 cover with a shower of roses the marble tomb of 
 Clemence, in compliance with a request in her will. 
 The statue which adorned this tomb was removed to 
 the town hall in 1557, and a few years later its coro- 
 nation with roses was substituted for the strewing on 
 the grave, the religious authorities objecting to that 
 as a relic of pagan rites. 
 
 Four flowers have been added to the first three, 
 since the time of Isaure ; and the amaranth now usurps 
 the place of the violet as the flor sohrana or sover- 
 eign flower. The prizes at the present day are as 
 follows : — 
 
 A golden amaranth for the best ode. 
 
 A golden eglantine for the best piece of prose. 
 
 A silver violet for the best heroic poem, or epistle 
 in verse. 
 
 A silver marigold for an eclogue, idyl, elegy, or 
 ballad. 
 
 A silver primrose for the best fable or apologue. 
 
 A silver lily for a sonnet or hymn in honor of the 
 Virgin Mary. 
 
 A silver pink is given as a prize of encouragement 
 under either head. 
 
Ie must say a few words, too, 
 about the celebrated Garland 
 of JuHa. Madame de Genlis 
 informs us that the Guirlande 
 de Julie was a piece of gal- 
 lantry imagined by the aus- 
 tere Due de Montausier, for 
 the beautiful Julie de KambouiEet. After her hand 
 was promised him, it became his duty, in conformity 
 to an old custom, to send his future bride a bouquet 
 every day until the wedding. But he did not stop 
 here. He caused to be painted on vellum, in a large 
 folio volume, by the best artists, the most beautiful 
 flowers cultivated ; and the most distinguished poets 
 of the time wrote verses on each flower. The volume, 
 
 (99) 
 
100 
 
 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 magnificently bound, was placed upon the bride's dress- 
 ing table on the wedding day. This interesting monu- 
 ment of the delicate gallantry of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury passed into foreign hands during the Revolution, 
 and in 1795 was at Hamburg. Its present possessor 
 is unknown. 
 
DIRECTIONS 
 
 IN THE USE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 BEE follows a brief summary of 
 directions for the use of the floral 
 language. 
 
 Any noun can be changed to a 
 verb or adjective when necessary. 
 The present tense is expressed by 
 holding the flower as high as the 
 heart; the past, by presenting it with the arm towards the 
 ground ; the future, by raising it as high as the eyes. There 
 are three persons ; first, second, and third. For the first, 
 present the flower horizontally, with the right hand. For 
 9 « (101) 
 
102 THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 the second, with the same hand, but held to the left. For 
 the third, present it with the left hand. Two flowers indicate 
 the plural ; a flower upside down, negation. 
 
 There are some amusing examples of the applica- 
 tion of this language in winter, when flowers are scarce, 
 in " Les Fleurs Animees ; " as for instance in this 
 note : — 
 
 " Wormwood has no crown imperial on bittersweet myrtle. 
 You know I have a serpent cactus of whortleberry. Musk 
 plant upside down ! Liverwort, we are cistus. Banish all 
 mangolds, and pansy only of the sweet sultan of our pim- 
 ])ernel. 
 
 Myrtle as high r.s the heart, and myrtle as high as the 
 
 eyes forever." 
 
 Jacobus. 
 
 Translated it reads, — 
 
 Absence has no power on true love. You know I have 
 
 a horror of treachery. No weakness ! Confidence, we are . 
 
 secure. Banish all griefs, and think only of the happiness of 
 
 our meeting. 
 
 I love you, and shall love you forever. 
 
 Jacobus. 
 
 The colored plate gives an idea of the arrangement 
 of a floral sentence. It is a translation of some verses 
 by the Chevalier Parny. 
 
'Fairies use flowers for their cliaractery." 
 
 are. 
 
 ' The tongue that erst was spoken by the elves, 
 
 When tenderness as yet within the world was new." 
 
 Hoffman. 
 
 " Souvent, d'une amante offens^e, 
 
 Quelques fleurs calment le courroux; 
 Souvent, du fils de Cyth^ree, 
 Flore sert a cacher les coups." 
 
 Old French Poet. 
 
 (104). 
 
DICTIONARY 
 
 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS 
 
 Abruptuess, Borage. 
 Atysence, Wormwood, 
 Acconuno dating disposition, Valerian, 
 
 (105) 
 
106 DICTIOXABY OF THE 
 
 Activity, Thyme. See p. 34. 
 
 A fi*ieud in adversity, Snowdrop. See p. 86. 
 
 Alterthouglit, Large-Jlowered Aster. 
 
 The large-flowered aster begins to bloom -when other flowers 
 become scarce. It is, as it were, the afterthought of Flora, 
 who smiles while leaving us. 
 
 Agitation, Rhododendron. 
 
 Honey made from the flowers of the rhododendron was 
 anciently supposed to cause delirium, and very probably some 
 of the species possess poisonous qualities. Undoubtedly this 
 is the most brilliant of all American shrubs. The less showy 
 but beautiful azaleas belong to this family. 
 
 Always clieerfnl, Coreopsis, 
 Always remembered, 'Everlasting. 
 Ambition, Hollyhock. 
 Amiability, Jasmine. See p. 48. 
 Anger, Gorse, or J!^rze. 
 
 The furze blossom resembles the broom, but the plant is 
 very prickly. It grows in greater profusion in England than 
 in any other country. It is said that Linnaeus, when he saw 
 it for the first time, near London, fell on his knees enrap- 
 tured ; and, carrying some plants to Sweden, tried to raise 
 them in a hot-house. Vu-gil mentions the furze. Keats 
 speaks of 
 
 " downs, where sweet air stirs 
 
 Blue liarebells lightly, and where prickly furze 
 
 Buds lavish gold." 
 
 *' Here the furze, 
 Euriched among its spires with golden flowers. 
 Scents the keen air." 
 
 CJiarlntte Smith, 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWEBS. 
 
 107 
 
 Animosity, St. JolirOs Wort. 
 
 " Hypericum beneath each sheltering bush 
 Its healing virtue modestly conceals." 
 
 Dodsley. 
 Artifice, Clematis. 
 
 To excite commiseration, beggars sometimes produce on 
 
 themselves, by applying the juice of the clematis, factitious 
 
 sores. This infamous artifice sometimes results in real ulcers. 
 
 Arts, Acanthus. See p. 25. 
 
 Asyluxn, Aid, Juniper. See p. 87. 
 
 Audacity, Larch. 
 
 Austerity, Thistle, 
 
 Beauty ever new, Monthly Rose. 
 Be my support, Black Bryony. 
 Beloved daughter, Cinquefoil. 
 Beneficence, Marshmallow. Seep. 51, 
 
108 VICTIONAUY OF THE 
 
 Benevolence, Potato. 
 
 The reader is referred to Humboldt for the history of the 
 potato. In England, in the reign of James I., it was consid- 
 ered a great delicacy, and provided only in very small quan- 
 tities for the queen's household. Bradley, an extensive 
 writer on horticultural subjects at the beginning of the eigh- 
 teenth century, says of potatoes, " They are of less note 
 than horseradish, radish, scorzonera, beets, and skirret ; but 
 as they are not without their admirers, I will not pass them by 
 in silence." It was unknown in Saxony as late as 1740, but 
 cultivated earlier in Switzerland. 
 
 Parmentier, by the most persevering labors, succeeded in 
 introducing the cultivation of this useful vegetable into France, 
 in the reign of Louis XVI. -It had been known in Italy 
 long before. 
 
 ISene'POlence, Hyacinth. 
 
 The poets are not agreed whether the hyacinth sprung from 
 the blood of Ajax or that of Hyacinthus ; but the flower they 
 so designate was probably a kind of lily, and not our modern 
 hyacinth. This, however, does not lack praise. 
 
 Hyacinths, with their graceful bells, 
 Where the spirit of odor dwells. *' 
 
 Miss Landon. 
 ' The hyacinth, purple, white, and blue, 
 Which flung from its hells a sweet peal anew 
 Of music HO delicate, soft, and intense, 
 It was felt lilje an odor within the sense." 
 
 SlieUey. 
 " Shaded hyacinth, alway 
 Sapphire queen of the mid-May." 
 
 Keats. 
 In the bower of Eve, — 
 
 " hyacinth, with rich inlay, 
 Broidered the ground, more colored than with stone 
 Of costliest emblem." 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 109 
 
 The curling petals furnished Milton with a simile in de- 
 scribing Adam. 
 
 " Hyacinthine locks 
 Round from his parted forelock manly hung 
 Clustering." 
 
 Collins, too, speaks of 
 
 " The youth whose locks divinely Bpreadiug 
 Like vernal hyacinths.'* 
 
 The poetical Hyacinth of the ancients was supposed to 
 
 wear 
 
 " His bitter Borrows painted on his bosom." 
 
 " As poets feigned, from Ajax* streaming blood 
 Arose, with grief inscribed, a mournful flower.'* 
 
 "In the flower he weaved 
 The sad impression of his sighs j which bears 
 Ai — Ai — displayed in funeral characters." 
 
 Sandys's Ovid. 
 '■ Camus, reverend sir, went footing slow. 
 His mantle hairy, and his bonnet sedge, 
 Inwrought with figures dim, and on the edge 
 Like to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe." 
 
 Be^vare, OleaTider. 
 Bu'th, Dittany of Crete. 
 
 "When Juno, under the name of Lucina, presided at the 
 birth of children, she wore a wreath of dittany. Its good 
 odor and medicinal qualities, which caused it to he esteemed 
 by the ancients, make it still' valued. It is a native of the 
 isle of Crete. 
 
 In Martyn's Botany we read, " Dittany of Crete has the 
 
 small purple flowers collected in loose, nodding heads ; the 
 
 stalks are pubescent, purplish, and send out small branches 
 
 from their sides by pairs j the leaves are round, thick, and so 
 
 10 
 
110 
 
 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 woolly as to be quite white ; the whole plant has a piercing, 
 aromatic scent ^nd biting taste.'' Woodville, in his Medical 
 Botany, gives a figure of it, and says, " Both the Greek and 
 Roman writers have fabled this plant into great celebrity ; of 
 which a single instance, related by the Latin poet, affords a 
 beautiful illustration." See jEneid XII. 411-416. 
 
 Bitterness, Aloe. See p. 84. 
 Blackness, Ebony Tree, 
 Blemish, Henbane, 
 Boldness, Larch, 
 
 The larch is often found at a prodigious elevation on moun- 
 tains. 
 
 Bonds of love, Honeysuckle, See p. 28. 
 
 Calmness, Huckbean, See p. 21. 
 Calumny, Madder, 
 Candor, While Violet. 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. Ill 
 
 Capricious Seanty, Mush Rose, 
 
 This capricious rose will languish in situations which at 
 first appeared most favorahle to it. One year it will be 
 loaded with flowers, and the next it will refuse to blossom 
 at all. 
 
 Cha§^in, Marigold. See p. 56. 
 
 Clian^e, Pimpernel. 
 
 Always closing before rain, it denotes a change of weather. 
 
 Cliastity, Orange Blossom. 
 
 Coarseness, Grossuess, Fompion, or Pumpkin. 
 
 Coldness, Agnus C'asfus. See p, 84. 
 
 Compassion, Elder. 
 
 The elder is said to furnish quack doctors with many of 
 their most successful remedies. The great Boerhaave is said 
 to have held the medicinal qualities of the elder in such rever- 
 ence, that he would take off his hat when passing it. Elder 
 berries make u. very excellent wine. 
 
 Conceit, Pomegranate. 
 
 A pomegranate in Spanish is granada; and the kingdom 
 of Granada is said to have derived its name from the pome- 
 granate trees planted there by the Moors ; which is quite 
 probable, from a cleft pomegranate being represented on its 
 arms. 
 
 Confession of lOT-e, Rosebud. See p. 42. 
 
 Confldence, liverwort. 
 
 Conjugal love. Linden, or Lime. Seep. 33. 
 
112 
 
 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 Consolation, Snowdrop. Corn Poppy- 
 
 Cowley says, — 
 
 " Indulgent Cerea knew my worth. 
 
 And to adorn the teeming earth 
 
 She bade the poppy blow." 
 
 Constancy, Cmderbury Bell. 
 
 Coolness, Lettuce. 
 
 Coquetry, Morning Glory. See p. 62. 
 
 Courage, Blade Poplar. 
 
 The tree is consecrated to Hercules. 
 
 Cruelty, Nettle. 
 
 The sting of the nettle causes a pain like a bum. The 
 mechanism of the sting is similar to a bee's, as may be seen 
 by looking at a leaf under the microscope. 
 
 Deceitful charms, Datnra. See p. 68. 
 Declaration of love. Tulip. See p. 20. 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 113 
 
 Kejectiou, Impiiie. 
 
 " Tristes lupini." 
 
 Virgil. 
 
 A beautiful white lupine is found -wild in North America. 
 All the species have rich, velvety leaves, and the variety of 
 color in their flowers is very great. 
 
 Delicacy, Bluebottle. 
 Departure, Sweet Pea. 
 
 The dark sweet pea is a native of Sicily ; and the light, 
 of Ceylon. 
 
 " Here are sweet peas, on tiptoe for a flight, 
 Witli \ving8 of gentle flush o'er delicate white. 
 And taper fingers catcliing at all things. 
 To bind them all about with tiny rings." 
 
 Keais. 
 X>esertiou, Anemone (Wiji4fiovjer). 
 
 Anemone was a nymph beloved by Zephyr. Flora, jealous, 
 banished her from her court, and metamorphosed her into a 
 flower which always expands before Spring has really returned. 
 Zephyr abandoned this unhappy beauty to the rough caresses 
 of Boreas, who shakes the blossom, rudely opens it, and 
 soon destroys it. 
 
 Desire, Jonquil. 
 
 Thomson speaks of 
 
 " Jonquils of potent fragrance." 
 
 And Bidlake, ^^ 
 
 " The jonquil loads with potent breath the air, 
 And rich in golden glory nods." 
 
 Prior, too, — ■ 
 
 ' The smelling tuberose and jonquil declare 
 The stronger impulse of the evening air." 
 
 10* 
 
114 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 Of the same family are Shakspeare's daffodils, — 
 
 *' That come before the swallow dares, and take 
 The winds of March with beauty." 
 
 Desire to please, Mtzereon. 
 
 ^Devotion, Passion Flower. 
 
 ]>iificiilties, Black Thorn. 
 
 discretion, Maiden Hair. 
 
 Disdain, Bue. 
 
 " There's rue for you ; and here's some for me : — we may call it herb 
 of grace o* Sundays : — you may wear your rue with a difference." 
 
 " Here did she drop a tear; here, in this place, 
 I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace; 
 Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen 
 In the remembrance of a weeping queen." 
 
 Shakspeare, 
 
 Before the Reformation, priests used to sprinkle the people 
 
 in church with bunches of rue dipped in the holy water; 
 
 hence the name of Herb of Grace o' Sundays. 
 
 Disguise, TJtorn Apple. 
 
 Distinction, Cardinal Flower. 
 
 The cardinal flower, or scarlet lobelia, is one of the most 
 splendid American flowers. It was introduced into Great 
 Britain in 1629, and Justice says of it, "A flower of most 
 handsome appearance, which should not be wanting in curious 
 gardens, as it excels all other flowers I ever knew in the rich- 
 ness of its scarlet color." 
 
 Docility, Rush. 
 
 Do me Justice, Chestnut. 
 
 Do not abuse ine, Saffron Crocus, 
 
 Duration, Continuance, Cornelian Cherry. See p. 76. 
 
LA2^'GUAGE OF FLOWERS, 
 
 11. 
 
 Egotism, PoeVs Narcissus. See p. 32. 
 Elegance, JRose Acacia. 
 Elevation, Fir. 
 
 Eloquence, Water Lily. 
 
 •' Brilliant thyself in store of dazzling white, 
 Thy sister plants more gaudy robes unfold : 
 This flames in purple; that, intensely bright 
 Amid the illumined waters, burus hi gold. 
 
 To brave Osiris' fiery beam is thine, 
 Till in the distant west his splendors fade; 
 
 Thou, too, thy beauties and thy fire decline, 
 With morn to rise, in lovelier charms arrayed. 
 
 Thus from Arabia, borne on golden wings. 
 The phcenix on the sun's bright altar dies, 
 
 But from his flaming bed refulgent springs. 
 And cleaves with bolder plume the sapphire skies." 
 
 T. Maurice. 
 
 The Egyptians consecrated the lotus to the god of elo 
 quence, and it forms part of the head-dress of Osiris. Th^ 
 East Indian gods are often represented in the midst of watei 
 
116 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 seated on a lotus flower. Perhaps it may be an emblem of 
 the world issuing from the deep. 
 In Moore's Lalla Rookh, we read of 
 
 " Those virgin lilies, all the night 
 Bathing their beauties in the lake, 
 That they may rise more fresh and bright 
 When their beloved sun's awalce." 
 
 Camdeo, or Cama, the Indian Cupid, has his nest "in the 
 water lily's breast," and floats on its leaves. 
 
 The true lotus is the red nymphsea of Hindustan. The 
 blue lotus, according to Sir "William Jones, grows only in 
 Cashmere and Persia. The rose-colored water lilies of Bengal 
 resemble our own white ones, except that they are of larger 
 size. 
 
 We give Mr. Caldwell's translation of the pretty lyric of 
 Geibel, " Die stille Wasser rose." 
 
 "The quiet water lily 
 
 Floats on the lakelet blue; 
 Its soft leaves glow and glisten, 
 Its cup of snowy hue. 
 
 The fair moon smileth on her, 
 Through all the summer night, 
 
 And on her fragrant bosom 
 Pours all her golden light. 
 
 Over the rippling water 
 Glideth a snow-white swan; 
 
 He Bingcth sweet and softly, 
 The lily gazing on. 
 
 He singeth sweet and softly; 
 
 Thus will his death-song flow; 
 O flower, snow-white flower, 
 
 Dost thou its meaning know ? " 
 
 ISuohitntnicut, Venain, Sec p. 50. 
 
LANO UA QE OF FL WERS. 117 
 
 Encouragement, Golden Rod. 
 
 This flower, so common in the autumn, was anciently much 
 valued, and used in medicine. Gerarde says, after alluding 
 to the high price it brought till discovered growing near 
 London, " This verifieth our English proverbe, ' Far fetcht 
 and deere bought is best for the ladies.' Thus much I have 
 spoken to bring these new-fangled fellowes back againe to 
 esteeme better of this admirable plant." 
 
 X^ndurance, Pine. 
 
 The pine disdains the peaceful quiet of the garden ; it loves 
 to bathe its head in the dew of the clouds, and feel its foli- 
 age beaten by the winds. Stripped of its branches, it floats 
 on the ocean, to brave the tempests there. 
 
 Energy in adversity, Camomile. 
 
 Camomile grows the more by being trampled on. Its bitter 
 
 aromatic flowers are well known for their virtues. 
 
 " He the root 
 Of broad angelica, and tufted flower 
 Of creeping camomile, impregnates deep 
 Witli powers carminative." 
 
 Dodsley. 
 Envy, Briers. 
 
 Error, Bee Orchis. 
 
 This flower bears so striking a resemblance to a honey-bee, 
 as to frequently deceive. 
 
 Esteem, Sage. 
 
 The sage is justly esteemed for its medicinal and culinary 
 virtues. The flowers of some of the species are exceedingly 
 brilliant and beautiful. 
 
 The ancients have left us several proverbs showing their 
 
118 
 
 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 appreciation of this herb. Among them we find the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 " Salvia cum ruta faolunt tibi pocula tuta." 
 
 " Salvia salvatrix, nature coneiliatrix." 
 
 " Cur moriatur homo cui salvia crcscit in horto .' 
 Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis." 
 
 Faith, Passion Flower. 
 
 The different species of the passion flower are natives of 
 South America. The name was given by the missionaries 
 who first discovered it, as they saw in it the emblems of our 
 Saviour's passion. The ten petals were supposed to indicate 
 tl\e ten faithful apostles ; the stamens, a glory ; the purple 
 thread around the style, the crown of thorns ; the style, the 
 pillar of scourging ; the tendrils, the cords ; the leaves, the 
 hands ; the three divisions of the style, the three nails ; one 
 of the five stamens, a hammer ; the other four, the cross. 
 The time of three days between its opening and closing, 
 
LAXaUAGE OF FLOjrERS. 119 
 
 completed the parallel, in the eyes of the simple and pious 
 fathers. 
 
 Falselkood, Bugloss. See p. 26. 
 
 Falseness, Manchineel Tree. 
 
 Its fruit looks very good, and, by its agreeable odor, invites 
 one to taste ; but its soft, spongy flesh contains a milky, per- 
 fidious juice, which is at first insipid, but soon becomes so 
 caustic as to bum the lips, the palate, and the tongue. Trav- 
 ellers say that the best remedy against a poison so violent, 
 is the water of the sea, on whose shores this tree always 
 grows. 
 
 False Riches, Sunflower. See p. 63. 
 
 Fecundity, JSollylioch. 
 
 The Chinese represent Nature crowned with these flowers. 
 The hollyhock was brought from Syria, in the time of the 
 crusades. 
 
 Festivity, Parsley. See p. 75. 
 
 Fidelity, SpeedweU, or Veronica. 
 
 One of the loveliest flowers in all the realm of nature. 
 Tennyson does not forget 
 
 " The little speedwell's darling blue." 
 
 And Dupont, in his charming piece. La Vironique, says that 
 it is a dewdrop tinged by reflected light, which Aurora has 
 transformed to a flower. He goes on to say, — 
 
 " O fleur insaisissable et pure, 
 SapMr dont nul ne eait le prix, 
 M§lez-vou8 a la cheveliire 
 De celle dont je Buis epris; 
 
120 DICTIONARY OF TBE 
 
 Folntillez dans la mousscline 
 
 De son blane peig:noir entr'ouvert, 
 £t dans la porcelaine line 
 
 Oi sa Iftvre boit le th^ vert. 
 * * * 
 
 O y^roniqueB, sous les chgnes 
 
 Fleurissez pour les simples coeurs, 
 Qui, dans les traverses humaines, 
 
 Vont cherchant les petites fleurs." 
 
 Fidelity In utilsfoi-tuiie, Wall Flower, See p. 64. 
 Finesse, Sweet William, 
 Fire, Fraxw^lla. 
 
 In a warm, dry day, a gas exhales from the fraxinella, 
 which forms an inflammable atmosphere around it, easily 
 ignited by the approach of a lighted candle. 
 
 First emotions of love, Lilac, See p. IS. 
 
 Flame,' German Iris, 
 
 The German peasants sometimes plant this flower on the 
 roofs of their cottages. The sun, gilding the petals as they 
 wave in the breeze, produces a flame-like appearance. 
 
 Flattery, Venus^s Looking Glass, 
 
 It is related that Venus dropped one of her mirrors. A 
 shepherd picked it up, and as soon as he looked in it, forgot 
 his mistress, and thought only of admiring himself, for the 
 mirror had the gift of making beautiful all who looked in 
 it. Love, fearing the consequences of such a silly error, 
 broke the toy, and changed its fragments into this pretty 
 campanula, which still retains its name. 
 
 Folly, Columbine, 
 
 Its flowers, resembling a fool's-cap, gave rise to this emblem. 
 
■(/y4 
 
 PUBLISHED BY DE VRIES.LBARM ET I:':, BOSTON. 
 
LAXGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 121 
 
 Foresight, HoUy. See p. 82. 
 
 Forgetfolnegg, Satin Flower, or ITonesty 
 
 Rene, Duke of Bar and Lorraine, having been taken pris- 
 oner at the battle of Thoulongeau, painted with his own hand 
 a branch of this plant, and sent it to his people to reproach 
 them for their tardiness in delivering him from captivity. 
 It seems to have been used in magical incantations, for we 
 find in Drayton, — 
 
 '* Enchanting Lunarie here lies, 
 In sorceries excelling." 
 
 And in LaUa Rookh, Namouna puts in the chaplet of 
 
 Nourmahal 
 
 " the white moon-flower, as it shows, 
 On Serendib'8 high crags, to those 
 Who near the isle at evening sail." 
 
 Forget me not, Forget-me-not, See p. 60. 
 
 Forgi-renesa of injiu-ies, Cinnamon Tree. 
 
 " The dream of the injured, patient mind. 
 That smiles with the wrongs of men. 
 Is found in the bruised and wounded rind 
 Of the cinnamon, sweetest then." 
 
 Moore. 
 
 The cassia of commerce must not be confounded with the 
 cassia which bears a beautiful yellow flower in our green- 
 houses. 
 
 Forsaken, Common WUlow. 
 
 Fragility, Fuchsia. 
 
 Franlcness, Osier. 
 
 Fraternal love, Syringa. 
 
 A king of Egypt, one of the Ptolemys, was celebrated pir 
 11 
 
122 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 his love to his brother. His surname, Philadelphus {loving 
 Ms brother), was given to this species of syringa, which was 
 consecrated to his memory. 
 
 Friendship, Ivy. See p. 68. 
 
 FrivolOTis annnsement, Bladder Tree. 
 
 Frugality, Succory, Endive, or Chiccory. 
 This plant is mentioned by Horace : — 
 
 " me pascunt olivse, 
 Me eichorea, levesque malvje." 
 
 It is useful in medicine, being of cooling and antiscorbutic 
 properties. 
 
 evening, Plane, or Platane. 
 Oiddiness, Almond Tree. See p. 19. 
 <wIo^y, Laurel, See p. 8], 
 Good education, Cherry Tree, 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 123 
 
 Good fortune, Mugwort. See p. 47. 
 Goodness, Snowball, or Guelder Rose. 
 
 Grace, Birch. 
 
 Coleridge calls the birch the " lady of the woods ; " and 
 
 Gerald Massey writes, — 
 
 *' Lady of the forest 
 Is the silver birk; 
 Shimmermg m the sunBhinc, 
 Shivering at the mirk: 
 * * * 
 
 'Mid the dance of colors 
 
 And semitones of ^een. 
 Gleams this daintier spirit 
 That in leafdom is the qneen." 
 
 A wine made from the juice of the bu-ch was once highly 
 esteemed. The fragrant Bussia leather used in bookbinding 
 is prepared with the empyreumatic oil of the birch. 
 
 Grandeur, Ash. 
 
 The mu-aculous tree Tgdrasil of the Edda, with its top 
 reaching to heaven and its roots to hell, was an ash. 
 
 Gratitude, Camellia. Agrimony. 
 
 The camellia japonica, as its name shows, comes to us 
 from Japan, and is the ornament of every garden in that 
 country and in China. It well repays careful cultivation. 
 
 The name camellia is from George Camellus, a missionary, 
 and author of a work on botany. 
 
 Agrimony has a bitter and slightly aromatic taste. Cattle 
 disUke it, but it is thought to have some useful medicinal 
 qualities. 
 
 Grief, Garden Marigold. See p. 56. 
 
124 
 
 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 Happiness, Sweet Sultan, 
 A native of Turkey. 
 
 Hatred, Basil. 
 
 The Greek name of this herb signifies royal ; but its identity 
 with, or similai'ity to, that of a fabulous creature supposed 
 to kill by a single glance, has caused basil to become the 
 emblem of hate, hatred being said to have eyes like the basilisk. 
 Poverty is sometimes figured as a woman covered with rags, 
 seated beside a plant of basil. 
 
 Healing, Balm of Gilead, 
 
 The true balm of Gilead, produced by the Amyris Oile- 
 adensis, is never to be met with pure, except in the East j and 
 therefore its place is usually supplied by the American balm 
 of Gilead, which exudes from a beautiful species of fir, and 
 resembles the Oriental balm in most of its essential qualities, 
 
 Heart left to desolation, Clirysanthemum. 
 
 The pretty flowers that enliven the autumn with their varied 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 125 
 
 hues ought surely to be emblems of some more cheerful senti- 
 ment than this. China is the native country of the chrysan- 
 themum, as of many other of our most valued flowers, whence 
 it was introduced into Europe in 1789. It is a favorite with 
 gardeners throughout India, and very beautiful dwarf plants 
 of it are reared for in-door decoration. 
 
 Hidden merit. Coriander, 
 
 The aromatic seeds of this plant are much used by confec- 
 tioners and physicians ; but the odor of fresh coriander is 
 insufferable, as the name horis expresses. 
 
 Hope, Hawthorn. See p. 23. 
 
 Horror, Serpent Cactus. 
 
 Hospitality, Oak. See p. 73. 
 
 Humility, Bindweed, 
 
 1 adore you. Heliotrope, See p. 62. 
 
 I am your captive. Peach JiloBsom, 
 11* 
 
126 DICTIONARY OF TBE 
 
 I cling to thee, Vetch, or CMch Pea. 
 
 I die if neglected, Laurestine. See p. 80. 
 
 1 feel your l>eiielits. Flax. 
 
 Linen, lace, and paper remind us every instant of this 
 useful plant. The seeds are used in preparing poultices, and 
 also make a useful drink ; while the oil expressed from them 
 is invaluable to painters. 
 
 Illness, Garden Anemone. 
 
 In some provinces the anemone is thought to poison the 
 air, and cause various maladies. Ovid makes the anemone 
 spring from the blood of Adonis. 
 
 " ' Could Pluto's queen with jealous fury storm, 
 And Menthe to a fragrant herb transform? 
 Yet dares not Venus with a change surprise. 
 And in a flower bid her fallen hero rise?' 
 Then on the blood sweet nectar she bestows; 
 The scented blood in little bubbles rose. 
 Little as rainy drops which fluttering fly. 
 Borne by the winds along a lowering sky. 
 Short time ensued, till where the blood was shed 
 A flower began to rear its purple head; 
 Such as on Punic apples is revealed. 
 Or in the filmy rind but half concealed. 
 Still here the fate of lovely forms we see. 
 So sudden fades the sweet anemone. 
 The feeble stems to stormy blasts a prey. 
 Their sickly beauties droop and pine away ; 
 The winds forbid the flowers to flourish long, 
 Which owe to winds their name in Grecian song." 
 
 2V. by Eusden. 
 
 Immortality, Amarainth. See p. 74. 
 
 Impatience, Bal&amvne. 
 
 The impatient seed-vessels of the balsamine burst open 
 suddenly at the slightest touch. 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 127 
 
 Importttnity, Burdock, 
 
 The burdock takes possession of good ground, from which 
 it is very difficult to extirpate it. The attachment of the burrs 
 to clothing is famUiar to alL Unprepossessing as the burdock 
 appears, it seems to be a useful plant. The roots and stalks 
 are said to be eatable, either boiled or in salad. Snails feed 
 on its rough leaves, -which are also used as a poultice ; and 
 the seeds are recommended as good to fatten poultry. 
 
 Independence, WUd Plum. 
 
 This indocile tree dislikes to be pruned or transplanted. 
 
 Indifference, Candy Tuft. 
 
 I never tronble. Rose Leaf. 
 
 The well-known reply of Dr. Zeb to the academicians of 
 Amadan illustrates this sentiment. 
 
 Infidelity, YeUmo Rose. 
 
 Injustice, Hop. 
 
 Innocence, Innocence, or Houstonia ctBrulea. 
 
 •' It comes when wakes the pleasant spring. 
 When first the earth is green, 
 Four white or pale blue leaves it hathj 
 With yellow heart between. 
 
 It grows about a heap of stones, 
 
 For there the dew will stay; 
 It springs beside the dusty road. 
 
 Where children are at play. 
 
 It dots with stars the grassy bank 
 
 That slopes adown the brook, 
 And there it takes a deeper blue. 
 
 And there a fresher look. 
 
12^ DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 We call thoe Innocence, Bweet one; 
 
 And well it thee beseems, 
 For thou art cherished in the heart, 
 
 With childhood's sinless dreams." 
 
 Mrs. Seba Smith. 
 
 Inspiration, Angelica. 
 
 This beautiful plant, which grows in the remotest countriesi 
 of the north, forms a crown for the Lapland poets, who be- 
 lieve that its sweet odor gives inspiration. 
 
 The Flora Medica says, " The leaf and seeds, when recent, 
 and the root, both fresh and dried, are tonic and carminative, 
 and may be considered the most elegant aromatic of our 
 northern climes. By the Laplanders and Icelanders angelica 
 is much in request, both as an article of food and for medi- 
 cinal purposes. The former use it for many catarrhal and 
 pectoral affections ; the stalks, roasted, are used by them as 
 an article of food ; and we are told by Sir George Mackenzie, 
 that the Icelanders eat the stems and roots raw with butter. 
 In this country [England,] the tender stems are cut in May, 
 and made into an agreeable sweetmeat. By Gerarde angelica 
 is extolled as a panacea for all the ills of life." 
 
 Intemperance, Grape. 
 
 Pliny mentions a vine six hundred years old. 
 The vine at Hampton Court, in the yeat 1816, produced 
 a ton of grapes. 
 
 Intrinsic wortli, Gentian. 
 
 The name is said to be derived from Gentianus, a king 
 of lUyria. Some varieties of the gentian are used in medi- 
 cine, the root being an excellent bitter. Bryant has sung 
 the praises of the beautiful fringed gentian, and we quote 
 
LANGVAOE OF FLOWERS. 129 
 
 a sonnet, new, perhaps, to some of our readers, on this most 
 lovely flower. 
 
 SONNET 
 
 TO THE FRINGED GENTIAN. 
 
 ** Oft had I heard thy beauty praised, dear flower, 
 
 And often soug^ht for thee through field and wood; 
 Yet could I never find the secret bower 
 
 Where thou dost lead, in maiden solitude, 
 A cloistered life, until, tliis autumn day, 
 
 Beside a tree that shook her golden hair 
 And laughed at death, flaunting her rich array, 
 
 I found thee, blue as the still depths of air 
 Seen leagues away, between the pine-wood boughs, 
 
 O, never yet a gladder sight hath met 
 These eyes of mine ! Depart, before the snows 
 
 Of hastening winter thy fringed garments wet I 
 Thine azure flowers should never fade nor die. 
 But bloom, exhale, and gain their native sky." 
 
 TlM Xew rath, Oct., 1865. 
 
 I prefer yow. Rose Geranium. 
 
 Irony, Sardonia. 
 
 This plant, of the ranunculus famUy, has some resemblance 
 to parsley. It contains a poison, which contracts the mouth 
 so strangely, that the person appears to laugh while dying. 
 Hence the expression, a sardonic laugh. 
 
 I shall not snrvlve yon, BJfiek Mulberry. 
 
 The reader is referred to the history of Pyi-amus and Thisbe, 
 in La Fontaine. 
 
 I share yonr feelings. Double Daisy. See p. 90. 
 
 I gnrmonnt everything, Mistletoe. See p. 78. 
 
 I iTlll think of it. Single Field Daisy. See p. 88. 
 
130 
 
 DICTIONAMT OF TEE 
 
 Joy, Wood Sorrel, or Oxalis. 
 
 Justice shall toe done yoix, Fragrant Coltsfoot. Sieep. 70. 
 
 (^\ ■:& * ^i-^ 
 
 Keep your promises, Plum Tree. 
 
 This tree blossoms profusely every year ; but unless some 
 of this useless ornament is removed, it bears fruit only ever)' 
 third year. 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 131 
 
 ^A'^-sT t 
 
 Iiasting beauty, Common Gillyflower. See p. 54. 
 
 Xicvity, Xiiglituess, Larkspur. 
 
 Juife, ittcem. 
 
 liOTe, Myrtle. Bed Damasli Ease. See pp. ii, 36. 
 
 liiixury, Horse-chestnut. See p. 18. 
 
 majesty, TPftite L«jf. See p. 53. 
 
132 DICTIONARY OF TEE 
 
 Maternal love, Moss. See p. 79. 
 
 meanness. Dodder. 
 
 The seed of the dodder germinates in the ground ; but as 
 soon as its stem encounters that of another plant, it fastens 
 itself to it; the root dries up, and it lives entirely at the 
 expense of the other. Like a vile parasite, it absorbs all 
 the juices of its supporter, and soon kills it. 
 
 Melancholjr, Weeping Willow. Dead Leaves. See p. 18. 
 
 " The melancholy days are come, 
 The saddest of the year, 
 Of walling winds, and naked woods, 
 
 And meadows brown and sere. 
 Heaped in the hollows of the grove, 
 
 The withered leaves lie dead; 
 They rustle to the eddying gust, 
 And to the rabbit's tread." 
 
 Bryaiit. 
 
 A modern French poet, V. de Laprade, has also written a 
 beautiful poem, beginning Feuilles, tombez. 
 
 Message, Common Garden Iris. 
 
 There are more than thirty varieties of the iris. Its vaiied 
 and beautiful colors have caused it to be named from the 
 lovely messenger of the gods. Orris root is the root of the 
 Florentine iris. The Persian iris is very fragrant. 
 
 Misantliropy, Teasel. 
 
 Mistrust, La/vender. 
 
 It was formerly believed that asps had their lurking-places 
 under lavender, and therefore this plant was approached 
 with mistrust. Lavender is a grateful perfume, and a specific 
 for headaches and nervousness. 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 13S 
 
 Modest Wortb., Primrose. See p. 24. 
 Modesty, Blue Violet. See p. 92. 
 
 Monmiitg, Purple ScabUms, or Mourning Bride. Cypress. See p. 71- 
 M!nsic, Reeds, 
 
 Pan formed the Arcadian pipe from the reeds into which 
 Syrinx was transformed. 
 
 My best days are past, Meadow Saffron. See p. 68. 
 
 My gratitude exceeds yoiu- cares, 2?aAZia. See p. 55. 
 
 IValvet^, Silver Weed. 
 
 JVatxTe ^ace, Cowslip. 
 
 Shakspeare makes the servant of the fairy queen say, - 
 
 "The cowslips tall her pensioners be; 
 
 In their gold coats spots you see: 
 
 Those be rubies, fairy favors; 
 
 In those freckles live their savors : 
 I mnst go seek some dew-drops here, 
 And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear, 
 
 12 
 
134 
 
 DICTIONAEY OP TBE 
 
 Neatness, Broom. 
 
 The broom is found wild in Europe. It is a fragrant, papil- 
 ionaceous, yellow ilower. Burns says in his Caledonia, — 
 
 *' Their groves of sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon, 
 "Where bright beaming summers exalt the perfume; 
 Far dearer to me yon lone glen o* green breckan, 
 Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yellow broom." 
 
 And Shakspeare mentions 
 
 " broom groves. 
 Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves. 
 Being lass-lorn." 
 
 iVovelty, Dahlia, See p. 35. 
 
 Obstacle, Rest-harrow. See p. 27. 
 
 Occupation, Foxglove. 
 
 Rhind says, "The beauty of this plant has recommended 
 it to the notice of the florist, and it is accordingly often found 
 in the garden parterre. It also forms an ornamental and 
 conspicuous object in many woodland and mountain scenes 
 in Scotland and Wales. Among the country people it has 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLbWEBS. 135 
 
 received various names. In the south of Scotland it is still 
 called ' bloody fingers ; ' in the north, ' dead man's bells.' 
 Ill Wales it is called ' fairies' gloves.' Fairies were often called 
 'folks;' hence, no doubt, the origin of the common name 
 'foWs glove,' and not, as misspelled, foxglove." The foxglove 
 has very powerful medicinal qualities, especially in dropsy, 
 and to retard the circulation. It requires to be administered 
 with great caution, being a violent poison. The Italians 
 value it so highly that they have a proverb, " Aralda tutte le 
 piaghe sana" (Foxglove cures all hurts). There are two kinds, 
 the purple or red, and the white. A poet WTites, — 
 
 " Here the spotted foxglove dwells, 
 Ringing oft its fairy bells; 
 And its sister, purely white, 
 Makes the shady places bright. 
 Like that maiden mild and young 
 ^Y Spenser's magic numbers sung." 
 
 Oracle, Bandelian,. 
 
 The dandelion is used as a salad, as greens, as a bitter, and 
 to prepare a kind of coifee. Its feathery seed-globes are 
 made to give various prophecies ; hence its meaning, oracle. 
 
 Ornament, Sbrnbeam. 
 
 Under the name of cliarmille, this iine tree was formerly the 
 principal ornament of the great gardens of France ; and one 
 can still see at Versailles how the famous Le N6tre employed 
 it in his compositions. Father Rapin has eulogized it in 
 
 verse. 
 
 Ostentation, Peony. 
 
 The peony was called ii-om the Greek Pseon, who is said to 
 have used.it in medicine, and cured Pluto, by its means, of a 
 
136 
 
 BICTIOSABY OF THE 
 
 wound inflicted by Hercules. There are two kinds of the 
 peony. The herbaceous one is found native in Europe and 
 Asia ; the shrubby one comes from China and Japan. 
 
 Faliiliil recollections, Flos Adanis. See p. 52. 
 Patience, Patience. 
 
 A kind of dock. 
 
 Patriotism, Nasturtium, 
 
 Peace, Olive, 
 
 Neptune disputed with Minerva about naming the new city 
 of Athens, and it was agreed that the one who gave the best 
 gift to man should give the name. Neptune produced the 
 horse, Minerva the olive tree, and she was victorious. 
 
 An English author says of the olive tree, "It has been 
 compared to a willow; it differs, however, very materially 
 
LANGUAGE. OF FLOWERS. 137 
 
 in its color, having none of that sickly hue of bluish green 
 which gives such a peculiar coldness to the landscapes of 
 some of the Dutch painters. The upper side of the leaf has 
 precisely that tint familiarly known by the name of olive. 
 The under side is of shining whiteness, and as the foliage is 
 turned up by the lightest breeze, its progress over the valleys 
 covered with olive gardens becomes visible in the form of a 
 silver cloud gliding across the landscape. The inhabitants 
 of the south of Europe employ the oil expressed from the 
 fruit of this tree for the same purposes as we employ 
 butter, and feel at least as much dislike to the produce of the 
 dairy, as an article of food, as we may feel to the use of oil." 
 Ruffini has set this last fact charmingly before his readers in 
 the beautiftd story of " Doctor Antonio.'' 
 
 Pensive lieality, Laburnum. 
 Peusiveness, Cowslip. 
 
 Perfect excellence, Strawberry. See p. 33. 
 Perpetual pleasure, Everlasting Pea, 
 Perseverance, Magnolia. 
 
 The magnolia grandiflora is the most superb vegetable 
 production of the New World. Its region is from South 
 Carolina to the Isthmus of Darien. We are also told that it 
 is found in China. The peculiar and fascinating odor of the 
 magnolia flower can never be forgotten if once inhaled. 
 
 Petulance, Barberry. 
 
 The flowers of this shrub are so irritable, that at the slight- 
 est touch the stamens contract around the pistil. 
 12* 
 
138 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 Platonic love, Locust. See p. 62. 
 
 Pleasantry, Jialm Mint, or Lemon Balm. 
 An infusion of it tends to exhilarate. 
 
 Poetry, Eglantine. See p. 45. 
 
 Po'iver, Crown Imperial. 
 
 Preference, Apple Blossom. 
 
 Psesagc, Mainy Marigold. 
 
 This ilower, in dry weather, opens at seven and closes at 
 four. If it does not open, or closes before its hour, it is 
 considered a sure sign of rain. 
 
 Presumption, Snapdragon. 
 
 Pretension, Willow Herh. 
 
 This pretty plant seems to take delight in viewing itself 
 in the water ; like a pretentious woman enamoured of her 
 own charms. 
 
 Pride, Amaryllis. 
 
 Gardeners call this beautiful plant proud, because it often 
 refuses to flower under careful culture. The name of these 
 plants is derived from a Greek verb signifying to shine. 
 
 Privation, Indian Plum, or Myroholan. 
 
 The fruit has the color and look of a iine cherry, but 
 contains only an insipid, sickening juice. Even the birds 
 refuse to eat them. 
 
 Profit, Cabbage. 
 
 Froliibitiou, Privet, or Prim. See p. 31. 
 
LAS GV AGE OF FLOWERS. 139 
 
 Promptness, Stock Gillyflower. 
 
 Prosperity, Beech. 
 
 Gilbert White calls the beech " the most lovely of all forest 
 trees, whether we consider its smooth rind or bark, its glossy 
 foliage, or graceful, pendulous boughs." Old Evelyn says, 
 " They make spreading trees, and noble shades with their 
 well-furnished and glistering leaves." And Miller writes, 
 " Xot that the color of the oak is be compared to the rich 
 orange hue of the beech, which is, beyond question, the most 
 beautiful of all autumnal colors to an eye that loves a deep 
 blaze." In the olden times, beds, %ht and fragrant, were 
 made from beech leaves. The oil from beech nuts is said to 
 be but little inferior to olive oil. 
 
 Prudence, Service Tree. Lemon. See p. 77. 
 
 The lemon tree is proverbial for its fertility. In 1812, a wager 
 was laid between a gentleman of Massa and the Marchese 
 Calani of Spezzia, that a lemon tree at Cresullo, half a mile 
 from Massa, would produce fourteen thousand lemons. It 
 exceeded that number. 
 
 Ptire and deep love, Carnation. See p. 49. 
 
 Pure love, Med Pink. 
 
 Pnxity, Star of Bethlehem. White Violet. White Idly. See p. 6.3. 
 
140 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 Barity, Mandralce. 
 
 " Not poppy, nor mandragora, 
 Nor all the drowsy sirups of the world 
 Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep 
 Which thou ow'dst yesterday." 
 
 Shakspeare. 
 
 The ancients attributed great virtues to the mandragora ; 
 
 but as they have left us no exact description of the plant, we 
 
 are ignorant to -what species they gave the name. Charlatans, 
 
 by a gross artifice, sometimes make several roots assume the 
 
 shape of a man, and tell the credulous that they are true 
 
 mandrakes, found only in an almost inaccessible part of China. 
 
 They are fabled to utter cries when pulled up, and the person 
 
 who uproots them is supposed to die soon after. To procure 
 
 this root, they say it should be carefully uncovered, and 
 
 pulled up by means of a string attached to a dog, which then 
 
 bears the penalty of the impious deed. 
 
 Reason, Goat's Hue. 
 
 This plant is thought useful in oases of disordered, intel- 
 lects. 
 
LANOUAOE OF FLOWERS. 141 
 
 Reconciliation, Basel. 
 
 " Ye Bwains, now haBten to the hazel bank, 
 Where down yon dale the wildly winding brook 
 Falls hoarse from steep to steep. In close array. 
 Fit for the thickets and the tangling shrub, 
 Ye virginB, come. For you their latest song 
 The woodlands raise; the clustering nuts for you 
 The lover finds amid the secret shade, 
 And where they burnish on the topmost bough 
 With active vigor crushes down the tree. 
 Or shakes them ripe from the resigning husk." 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 The hazel was said to have been imported into Italy from 
 Pontus; hence the Roman name, nitx pontica, -which was 
 changed later to nux avellana, from a Neapolitan city where 
 it was cultivated. The filbert is not a distinct species, but 
 a mere variety of hazel. 
 
 Gower tells us, — 
 
 " Phillis 
 Was shape into a nutte-tree, 
 That all men it might see; 
 And after Phillis, PMWerd 
 This tree was eleped." 
 
 But Rhind says filbert is a corruption of full-beard, a. word 
 applied to designate the large, fringed husk. As the wood 
 of the hazel is very flexible, it is applied to various uses. 
 Of it are made hoops for barrels, hurdles, fishing-rods, crates, 
 poles, and walking-sticks. In Italy the chips are used to clear 
 turbid wine. Withering informs us that in some places the 
 twigs take the place of yeast. Hazel charcoal is prized by 
 artists, as it draws freely, and rubs out easily. The caduceus 
 of Mercury was supposed to be a hazel wand, given him by 
 Apollo. 
 
 Begret beyond tlie tomb, Asphodel. 
 
 The ancients planted this flower beside tombs, and believed 
 
1^2 DICTIONARY OF TBE 
 
 that beyond Acheron the spirits walked in a vast field of 
 asphodel, drinking the water of Lethe. 
 
 Remembrance, Rosemary. 
 
 " There's rosemary — that's for remembrance; pray you, 
 love, remember." 
 
 " For you, there's rosemary and rue ; these keep 
 Seeming and savor all the winter long^; 
 Grace and remembrance be to you both." 
 
 *' Stick your rosemary 
 On this fair corse." 
 
 Slmkspeare. 
 
 Rosemary is used at christenings, weddings, and funerals. 
 It blossoms about Christmas, and our ancestors used to stir 
 up with a branch of rosemary the spiced Christmas tankard. 
 Herrick, in allusion to its different uses, says that it 
 
 ** Grows for two ends ; it matters not at all 
 Be it for my bridal, or my burial." 
 
 This aromatic plant has had a merited reputation, from the 
 most ancient times, as a remedy in headaches and nervous 
 disorders. It forms the principal ingredient in the celebrated 
 Eau de la Reine de Hongrie, or Hungary Water. 
 
 Henry Kirke White wrote, — 
 
 TO THE HERB EOSEMAEY. 
 
 "Sweet-scented flower! who 'rt wont to bloom 
 
 On January's front severe, 
 
 And o'er the wintry desert drear 
 To waft thy waste perfume! 
 
 Come, thou shalt form my nosegay now. 
 
 And I will bind thee round my brow; 
 And as I twine the mournful wreath 
 
 I'll weave a melancholy song; 
 
 And sweet the strain shall be and long, 
 The melody of death. 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 143 
 
 Come, funeral flower, who lov'st to dwell 
 
 "With the pale corse in lonely tomb, 
 
 And throw'st across the desert gloom 
 A sweet decaying smell,— 
 
 Come, press my lips, and lie with me 
 
 Beneath the lowly alder tree ; 
 And we will sleep a pleasant sleep, 
 
 And not a care shall dare intrude 
 
 To break the marble solitude, 
 So peaceful and so deep." 
 
 Remorse, Raspherry. 
 
 RendezTons, Pimpernel. 
 
 Its punctuality in opening and closing makes it a fit emblem 
 for an appointment. 
 
 Repose, Euckbean. See p. 21. 
 
 Reserve, Maple. 
 
 The maple has been made the emblem of reserve, because 
 its flowers are slow to open, and very long in falling. 
 
 Resistance, Tremella Nostoc, or Nostoc Commune, 
 
 Nothing positive is known about this gelatinous plant, which 
 seems a link between the animal and vegetable kingdoms. 
 It was celebrated among the alchemists, who thought it an 
 emanation from the stars, and used it in searching after the 
 philosopher's stone and the universal panacea. 
 
 Retirement, Harebell. 
 
 The Lady of the Lake says, as she plucks a harebell, — 
 
 " This little ilower, that loves the lea. 
 May well my simple emblem be; 
 It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose 
 That in the king's own garden grows ; 
 And when 1 place it in my hair, 
 Allan, a bard is bound to swear 
 Ho ne'er saw coronet so fair." 
 
144 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 " Have ye ever heard, in the twilight dim, 
 
 A low, soft strain, 
 That ye fancied a distant vesper hymn. 
 
 Borne o'er the plain 
 By the zephyrs that rise on perfumed wing. 
 When the sun's last glances are glimmering ? 
 
 * * * * 
 
 The source of that whispering strain I'll tellj 
 
 For I've listened oft 
 To the music faint of the blue harebell. 
 
 In the gloaming soft; 
 'Tis the gay fairy folk the peal who ring 
 At eventime for their banqueting. 
 
 And gayly the trembling bells peal out 
 
 With gentle tongue. 
 While elves and fairies career about, 
 
 'Mid dance and song: 
 O, roses and lilies are fair to see. 
 But the wild bluebell is the flower for me." 
 
 Wild Flowers. 
 
 Return of happinegs, Lily of the Valley. See p, 30. 
 
 Reverie, Osmunda, 
 
 No one can form an adequate idea of the beauty of the 
 osmunda regalis, according to Curtis, who has not seen this 
 fern growing in the southern pai't of England, where, sheltered 
 by alders, it grows to the height of five feet, bearing at the 
 extremities a mass of fructification so conspicuous as to have 
 caused it to be commonly known as flowering fern. Its virtues 
 are highly extolled by ancient authors. " Osmonde," says the 
 translator of Dodonseus, " is hoate in the first degree, and dry 
 in the second. The harte of the root of osmunde is good 
 against squattes or bruises, heavie or greevous falles, and 
 whatever hurt or dislocation soever it be." 
 
 Riches, Corn. 
 
 Roughness, Scratchweed, 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 145 
 
 Rnptnre, Greek Valerian, or Polemony. 
 
 The name is from Polemos, -which means war, because, as 
 Pliny assvires us, several kings disputed for the honor of 
 having discovered it. 
 
 Sadness, Tew. See p. 88. 
 
 Sensibility, Verbena. 
 
 The original of aU the numerous verbenas now cultivated 
 was the verbena melindres, or common scarlet, carried from 
 South America to England. These flowers are of such varied 
 and beautiful tints, and so easy of cultivation, that we could 
 ill spare them from the flower bed or window. 
 
 SensitiT-eness, Sensitive Plant, or Mimosa, 
 Serenade, Dew Plant. 
 
 The resemblance to dew-drops of the little transparent 
 vesicles in the leaves of this plant probably caused the con- 
 oection of ideas with evening music. 
 
 Sigliing, Aspen. 
 
 13 
 
146 , DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 Silence, White Rose. See p. 43. 
 Silliness, Scarlet Geranium, See p. 70. 
 Simplicity, Wild Single Rose. 
 
 Sincerity, Fern. 
 
 Thomas Miller says, " The very name of the fern calls 
 up the forest, where it still lives on, though ages ago the 
 mighty oaks have heen felled — there it still spreads, true 
 to its native soil, the hardy image of deep-rooted sincerity. 
 It is associated Vfith our oldest fairy legends, and our simple 
 ancestors believed that they had hut to find the true fern 
 seed, and carry it about with them, to become invisible." 
 
 Slcill, Spider Orchis. 
 
 This flower resembles the insect into which Arachne was 
 transformed by Minerva, and which, under its hideous form, 
 has lost nothing of her skill. 
 
 Sleep, Willie Poppy. 
 
 The palace of Sqmnus was a cave near the Cimmerians. 
 Poppies grew before the entrance, and Morpheus, his prima 
 minister, watched over his couch, a vase in one hand and 
 poppies in the other. The poets have drawn many fin» 
 similes from this flower, as for instance, — 
 
 " As full-blown poppies, overcharged with rain, 
 Decline the head, and, drooping, kiss the plain, 
 So sinks the youth." 
 
 Papers Homer. 
 
 "But pleasures are like poppies spread; 
 You seize the flower, its bloom is shed." 
 
 Bums. 
 
 Solitude, Heath. See p. 31. 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 147 
 
 Sorcery, jSnclianted Nightshade. 
 Sonrnega, Barberrj. 
 Stoicism, Box, 
 
 Strengtli, Fennel. 
 
 The gladiators mixed it with their food to give them 
 strength; and after the games of the arena, the yictor was 
 crowned with fennel. 
 
 Milton speaks of the " smell of sweetest fennel ; " and Long- 
 fellow says, in the " Goblet of Life," — 
 
 " Above the lowly plants It towers, 
 The fennel, with its yellow flowers ; 
 And in an earlier age than ours 
 Was gifted with the wondrous powers 
 I^ost vision to restore." 
 
 Superior merit, Moss Rose. See p. 44. 
 
 Surety, Cistus. 
 
 Aristotle assures us that this plant preserves those who 
 hold it in their hands from spirits and phantoms. 
 
 Suspicion, Miisliroom. 
 
 Some kinds of mushrooms are edible, and others, resembling 
 them closely, are very poisonous. 
 
 Sfveet disposition, Lavatera. 
 
 The lavatera is an extremely delicate and lovely garden 
 mallow. It is called after the celebrated physiognomist 
 Lavater. 
 
 Sweet memories. Periwinkle. See p. 20. 
 
 Sympathy, Thrift. 
 
148 
 
 DICTIONABY OF THE 
 
 Taste, Fuchsia, 
 
 This graceful plant is a native of Mexico, and was named 
 from L. Puchs, a German botanist. 
 
 Tears, JSlecampane, or Selenium. 
 
 It was fabled to have sprung from tlie tears of Helen. 
 
 TemptatioiL, Quince. 
 
 The quince is found in a wild state in Austria. Pliny says 
 it was brought into Italy from Cydon, in Crete ; hence its 
 botanical name, malus cydonia. It is also described under 
 the names of pyrus cydonia and cydonia vulgaris. The far- 
 famed apples of the Hesperides were most probably quinces- 
 The French call the quince tree coignassier, because, according 
 to Du Hamel, the unpleasant odor of the fruit caused it to be 
 planted in a remote corner (coin) of the orchard or garden. 
 In New England, the smell is generally considered rather 
 pleasant than otherwise. In the south of France, the marma- 
 lade called cotignac is prepared from this fruit The word 
 

 lull i].iY.r^e\ir i- I>'i}iit Pi.^Jdy h rie;ir,'',Pins 
 
 njELISHED BYDE VRIES, IBARRA ETC" BOSTON. 
 
LAXGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 149 
 
 marmalade is said to come from the Portuguese name of the 
 quince, marmdo. The seeds are used for jelly, handoline, and 
 mucilage, though these last preparations do not keep long. 
 
 Quince pie was anciently esteemed a delicacy. In Romeo 
 and Juliet, the nurse tells Lady Capulet, — 
 
 " They call for dat«s and quinces in tlie pastry." 
 
 The Graces, Sundred-Leaved Rose, 
 
 When the Grraces attend the Muses, they wear wreaths of 
 this rose. 
 
 Tlionglit, Pansy, 
 
 "And there is pansies; that's for thoughts." 
 
 Shakspea/re, 
 "Lilies for a bridaL bed, 
 Eoses for a matron's head, 
 Yiolcts for a maiden dead; 
 Fansies let my flowers be." 
 
 There is no end of fanciful names for this flower, such as, 
 three faces under a hood, heart's-ease, kiss-me-quick, ladies'- 
 delight, love-in-idleness, and, among the Germans, little step- 
 mother. Shakspeare's famous compliment to Queen Eliza- 
 beth gives us its origin : — 
 
 " That very time I saw (but thou couldst not), 
 Flying between the cold moon and the earth, 
 Cupid all armed: a certain aim he took 
 At a fair vestal, throned by the west, 
 And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow. 
 As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts. 
 But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft 
 Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon ; 
 And the imperial vot-aress passed on. 
 In maiden meditation, fancy free. 
 Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell. 
 It fell upon a little western flower, 
 Before, milk-white; now, purple with love's wound, 
 And maidens call it love-in-idleness," 
 
 13* 
 
150 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 Time, Wvite I'oplav. 
 
 This was made the emblem of time, because its leaves, 
 dark on one side and bright on the other, represent day 
 and night. 
 
 Timiaitjr, Four o'Clooli, or Marvel of Peru. See p. 69. 
 
 Tranquillity, GoW, Basket. 
 
 This plant has been supposed to have the power of curing 
 madness. 
 
 Treacliery, Wkorfleherryy or Huclcleb&rry. Monkshood, or Aconite. 
 
 ffinomaiis, father of the fair Hippodamia, had for a groom 
 Myrtilus, the son of Mercury. Proud of this advantage, he 
 required all the pretenders to his daughter's hand to compete 
 with him in a, chariot race. Pelops, who wished to obtain 
 Hippodamia, promised Myrtilus a great reward if he would 
 take out the pin which held his master's chariot wheels. He 
 did so ; the car was upset, and ffinomaiis was killed ; but, ex- 
 piring, he besought Pelops to avenge him, which he did by 
 throwing Myrtilus into the sea. Thrown back on the shore, 
 Mercury changed him to this shrub, which resembles a little 
 myrtle. Its pretty, bell-shaped flowers are succeeded by dark 
 berries of an agreeable flavor. 
 
 Professor Burnett says of aconite, " Its deleterious efiects 
 were well known to the ancients, who regarded it as the 
 most violent of all poisons, — being unacquainted with those 
 of mineral origin, — and fabled it to be the invention of Hecate, 
 who caused it to spring from the foam of Cerberus. Aconite 
 is said to have been the principal ingredient in the poisonous 
 cup that was mingled by Medea for Theseus ; and it was the 
 
LAXGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 151 
 
 poison employed to execute the barbarous law in the island 
 of Ceos, which condemned to death all who were no longer 
 useful to the state." It is now used as a powerful remedy 
 in gout, rheumatism, paralysis, and intermittent fevers. 
 
 Trutli, Bittersweet, or Woody Nightshade. 
 
 ITiicertainty, MocJ;; Orange. 
 TJncliaiiging friendsliip. Arbor Vitx. 
 United liearts, PhZox. 
 
 TJselessuess, Queen of the Meadow, Meadow Sweet, or Spirxa. 
 
 Uselessijess is the universal signification of this pretty flower; 
 but Mr. MiUer well suggests that it be changed to Neglected 
 Beauty. 
 
 UtUlty, Grass.. See p. 17. 
 
152 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 Vainglory, Hydrangea, or Hortenxia, 
 
 A shrub from the East Indies, whose showy corymbs of 
 changeable flowers, and handsome green leaves, formerly made 
 it a great favorite. 
 
 Vaiii is beauty witliout merit, Coclcle, and jRose Campion, 
 
 Pretty, but scentless flowers, growing in or near corn- 
 fields. We read in Job xxxi. 40, " Let thistles grow instead 
 of wheat, and cockle instead of barley." 
 
 Variety, Double German Aster, See p. 61. 
 
 Vice, Tares, See p. 51. 
 
 Victory, Laurel, See p. 81. 
 
 Volaptwottsmeas, Tuberose. Moss Rose, See pp. 61, 44. 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
 
 153 
 
 War, MUfoil, or Yarrow. 
 
 Achilles, whose name this plant bears in botany, used it to 
 heal the wounds of Telephus. 
 
 Warmth of feeling, Peppermint. 
 
 Proserpina surprised Mentha in the arms of Pluto, and, 
 justly irritated, changed her to a plant, whose double savor 
 seems to contain the chill of fear and the warmth of love. 
 
 TVeakness, Musk Plant. 
 
 Wealth, Wheat. See p. S5. 
 
 Welcome, TraUing Arbutus, Mayflower, or Ground Laurel. 
 
 " Art thou not dearer in Spring's first prime 
 Than the fairest rose of the Summer time ? " 
 
 " A charm hast thou no forest flower can boast, 
 Thou little heaming; herald of the Spring ! 
 How thrilled thy smile when on our rock-bound coast 
 The wearied pilgrims found thee blossoming ! 
 
154 
 
 DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 A blessing on thy graceful, perfumed bell, 
 
 That bloomed in roseate tints for years unknown, 
 And peered above the withered leaves to tell 
 How in the wilderness God's love is shown." 
 
 M. X. Jenks, 
 Wisdom, Wliite Mulberry, 
 
 TVitliout pretension, dnnamon Rose. 
 
 There is a peculiar look of incompleteness and want of 
 finish about this rose. Its color is very dull, compared with 
 the rest of its glowing sisterhood, and the bush has an 
 irregular, ragged growth. Yet it is often quite fragrant, and 
 the leaf is sometimes very pretty. It should always be gath- 
 ered in bud. 
 
 TTorcls, tliough sweet, may deceive, American Laurel. 
 
 The great beauty of this shrub does not prevent farmers 
 from exterminating it on their lands, because it is so poisonous 
 to their sheep. 
 
 Ton are perfect, Pme-Apple. 
 
 This fragrant fruit was introduced into Holland, from South 
 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWEUS. 155 
 
 America, about the middle af the seventeenth century; and 
 the Earl of Portland carried it to England in 1690. 
 Thomson thus apostrophizes it : — 
 
 " Thou, the pride 
 Of vegetable life, beyond whate'er 
 The poets imaged in the golden age, — 
 Quick, let me. strip thee of thy tufty coat, 
 Spread thy ambrosial stores, and feast with Jove." 
 
 You are radiant vritli. cKarms, Garden Sanunculus. 
 
 Ilowt beauty is vain, Hibiscus. 
 
 " I would be fair, but see the fair and proud, 
 Like the bright sun, oft setting in a cloud." 
 
 JVoiton. 
 
 " Only a sweet and virtuous soul, 
 Like seasoned timber, never gives. 
 But, when the whole world turns to coal, 
 Then chiefly lives." 
 
 Jjterbert, 
 
 " The body subject is 
 
 To fickle Fortune's power, 
 And to a million of mishaps 
 
 Is casual every hour; 
 And death in time doth change 
 
 It to a clod of clay ; 
 Whereas the mind, which is divine, 
 Runs never to decay." 
 
 Zord Vaux. 
 
 The African hibiscus is a well-known annual in the flower 
 garden, and those who have ever seen in some conservatory 
 the superb variety rosa sinensis, or Chinese hibiscus, will not 
 be likely to forget its exquisite richness of color. The Chinese 
 are said to use the petals for blacking shoes. 
 
 Tour cliarms are graven in my heart, Spindle Tree. 
 
 The spindle tree makes pretty hedges. Its wood is used 
 for spindles and pencils. Sculptors and turners also prize it. 
 
156 LANG UA GE OF FLO WEES. 
 
 Tour looks freeze me, Ice Plant. 
 
 Tour presence revives me, Rosemary. 
 
 The Hungary Water, so refreshing a toilet article, is made 
 from rosemary. 
 
 Tour qualities surpass your cliarnks, MigTwnette. See p. 58. 
 
 Touth, White Lilac. 
 
 By its purity and short duration, this flower typifies youth. 
 
 Toutlifuluess, Crocus, 
 
 " The spendthrift crocus, bursting- from the mould, 
 Naked and shivering, with his cup of gold." 
 
 Holmes. 
 
DICTIONARY 
 
 TRANSLATING A BOUQUET 
 
 Acacia (Common), . . . v. Locust. 
 
 Acacia (Rose), Elegance. 
 
 Acanthus, Art. 
 
 Adonis (Flos), Painful recollections. 
 
 Agnus Castus, Coldness ; life without lore. 
 
 Agrimony Gratitude. 
 
 Almond, Gid(Mness; heedlessness. 
 
 14 (157) 
 
158 DICTIONARY FOR 
 
 Aloe, Bitterness. 
 
 Amaranth, Immortality. 
 
 Amaryllis, .... . . Pride. 
 
 Anemone (Garden), . . Illness, 
 
 Anemone (Windfiower), . . Desertion. 
 
 Angelica, Inspiration. 
 
 Apple Blossom, . . . Preference. 
 
 Arbor Vitse, Unchanging friendship. 
 
 Ash, Grandeur. 
 
 Aspen, . Sighing. 
 
 Asphodel, Regret beyond the tomb. 
 
 Aster (Double German), . . Variety. 
 
 Aster (Large-flowered), . . Afterthought. 
 
 Bachelor's Button, . . . v. Bluebottle. 
 
 Balm Mint, Pleasantry. 
 
 Balm of Gilead Healing. 
 
 Balsaniine Impatience. 
 
 Barberry, ... . . Petulance ; sourness. 
 
 Basil, . . Hatred. 
 
 Bay, V. Laurel. 
 
 Beech, Prosperity. 
 
 Bee Orchis, v. Orchis. 
 
 Bindweed, Humility. 
 
 Birch, Grace. 
 
TRANSLATING A BOUQUET. 159 
 
 Bittersweet Nightshade, . . Trjith. 
 
 Black Bryony, ....!>. Bryony. 
 
 Black Mulberry, . . . v. Mulberry. 
 
 Black Poplar, . . . . v. Poplar. 
 
 Blackthorn, or Sloe, . . . Difficulties. 
 
 Bladder Tree, . . . . Frivolous amusement. 
 
 Bluebottle, Delicacy. 
 
 Blue Passion Flower, . . v. Passion Flower. 
 
 Blue Violet, v. Violet 
 
 Borage, Abruptness. 
 
 Box, Stoicism^ 
 
 Briers, Envy. 
 
 Brompton Stock, . . . v. Gillyflower. 
 
 Broom, Neatness. 
 
 Bryony (Black) Be my support. 
 
 Buckbean Calmness ; repose. 
 
 Bugloss Falsehood. 
 
 Burdock, . Importunity. 
 
 Buttercup, v. Crowfoot. 
 
 Cabbage Profit. 
 
 Calla Feminine delicacy. 
 
 Camellia, Gratitude. 
 
 Camomile, Energy in adversity. 
 
 Candytuft, Indiflference. 
 
160 DICTIONARY FOB 
 
 Canterbury Bell Constancy. 
 
 Cardinal Flower, .... Distinction. 
 
 Carnation, Pure and deep love. 
 
 Celery Crowfoot, . . . ». Crowfoot. 
 
 Cherry A good education. 
 
 Chestnut, Do me justice. 
 
 Chiccory, Frugality. 
 
 Chickpea, v. Vetch. 
 
 Chickweed (Red), . . , v. Pimpernel. 
 
 Chrysanthemum, .... A heart left to desolation. 
 
 Cinnamon Tree Forgiveness of injuries. 
 
 Cinquefoil, A beloved daughter. 
 
 Circe, v. Nightshade. 
 
 Cistus, Surety. 
 
 Clematis Artifice. 
 
 Cockle, Vain is beauty without merit. 
 
 Coltsfoot, Justice shall be done you. 
 
 Columbine, Folly. 
 
 Coreopsis, Always cheerful. 
 
 Coriander, Hidden merit. 
 
 Corn, Riches. 
 
 Corn Flower, v. Bluebottle. 
 
 Corn Poppy, ». Poppy. 
 
 Cornelian Cherry, .... Continuance ; duration. 
 
 Cowslip, Native grace ; pensiveness. 
 
 Crocus, Youthfulness. 
 
 Crowfoot, Ingratitude. 
 
 Crown Imperial, .... Power. 
 
 Cypress, Mourning. 
 
TBAXSLATING A BOUQUET, J 6 
 
 f My gratitude exceeds your cares 
 
 Dahlia < 
 
 I novelty. 
 
 Daisy (Garden), I share your feelings. 
 
 Daisy (Single Field), . . I will think of it. 
 
 Dandelion, Oracle. 
 
 Datura, Deceitful charms. 
 
 Dew Plant, Serenade. 
 
 Dittany of Crete, .... Birth. 
 
 Dodder, Meanness. 
 
 Ebony Tree, Blackness. 
 
 Eglantine, Poetry. 
 
 Elder Compassion. 
 
 Elecampane,, Tears. 
 
 Enchanter's Nightshade, . v. Nightshade. 
 
 Everlasting Always remembered. 
 
 Everlasting Pea, Perpetual pleasure. 
 
 14* 
 
162 
 
 DICTIONARY FOB 
 
 Fennel, Force ; strength. 
 
 Fern, ... .... Sincerity. 
 
 Filbert, v. Hazel. 
 
 Fir, Elevation. 
 
 Flax, ... .... I feel your benefits. 
 
 Flos Adonis, Painful recollections. 
 
 Forget-me-not, . ... Forget me not. 
 
 Four o'clock, ...... Marvel of Peru. 
 
 Foxglove Occupation. 
 
 Fraxinella, Fire. 
 
 Fuchsia, Taste ; fragility. 
 
 Gentian, 
 
 Geranium (Oak), . . 
 Geranium (Rose), . . 
 Geranium (Scarlet) , . 
 Gillyflower (Common), 
 Gillyflower (Stock), . 
 Goats' Rue, .... 
 
 Intrinsic worth. 
 
 A melancholy mind. 
 
 I prefer you. 
 
 Silliness. 
 
 Lasting beauty. 
 
 Promptness. 
 
 Reason. 
 
TRANSLATIXG A BOUQUET. 
 
 Gold Basket Tranquillity. 
 
 Grape Vine, Intemperance. 
 
 Grass Utility. 
 
 Greek Valerian Rupture. 
 
 Golden Rod, Encouragement. 
 
 Gorse, or Furze, .... Anger. 
 
 163 
 
 Harebell, . . 
 Hawthorn, 
 Hazel, . . . 
 Heart's-ease, 
 Heath, . . . 
 Heliotrope, 
 Henbane, . . 
 Hibiscus, . . 
 HoDy, . . 
 Hollyhock, 
 Honesty, . . 
 Honeysuckle, . 
 Hop, . . . 
 Hornbeam, 
 Horse-chestnut, 
 Houstonia, 
 Hyacinth, . 
 Hydrangea, . 
 
 Retirement. 
 
 Hope. 
 
 Reconciliation 
 
 Pansy. 
 
 Solitude. 
 
 Intoxication ; I adore you. 
 
 Blemish; fault. 
 
 Beauty is vain. 
 
 Foresight. 
 
 Fecundity ; ambition. 
 
 Satin Flower. 
 
 Bonds of love. 
 
 Injustice. 
 
 Ornament. 
 
 Luxury. 
 
 Innocence. 
 
 Benevolence. 
 
 Vain-glory; heartlessness. 
 
164 DICTIONABT FOB 
 
 Ice Plant Your looks freeze me. 
 
 Indian Plum Privation. 
 
 Innocence, Innocence. 
 
 Iris (Common Garden), . . Message. 
 
 Iris (German), Flame. 
 
 Ivv, Friendship. 
 
 Jasmine (White), .... Amiability. 
 
 Jonquil Desire. 
 
 Juniper, Asylum ; aid. 
 
 Laburnum, Pensive beauty. 
 
 Larch Boldness; audacity. 
 
 Larkspur, Lightness; levity. 
 
TliAXSLATIXG A BOUQUET. 16, 
 
 , ,. . ^ fWcrds, though sweet, may dea 
 
 Laurel (American), . . . { 
 
 L ceive. 
 
 Laurel, Glory; victory. 
 
 Laurestine, 1 die if neglected. 
 
 Lavatera, Sweet disposition. 
 
 Lavender, Mistrust. 
 
 Lemon, . Prudence. 
 
 Lettuce, Coolness. 
 
 Lilac (Purple) First emotion of love. 
 
 Lilac (White), Youth. 
 
 Lily (Water), . . . . Eloquence. 
 
 Lily (White) Majesty ; purity. 
 
 Lily of the Valley Return of happiness. 
 
 Linden, or Lime, .... Conjugal love. 
 
 Liverwort, Confidence. 
 
 Locust Platonic love. 
 
 Lucern, Life. 
 
 Lupine, Dejection. 
 
 /^ 
 
 Madder, Calumny. 
 
 Magnolia, Perseverance. 
 
 Maiden Hair, Discretion. 
 
 Manchineel Tree Falseness. 
 
 Mandrake, Rarity. 
 
 Maple, Reserve. 
 
166 
 
 DICTIONARY FOR 
 
 Marigold (Garden), 
 Marigold (Rainy), . 
 Marigold and Cypress, 
 Marshmallow, 
 Marvel of Peru, . 
 Mayflower, . . 
 Meadow Saf&on, 
 Mezereon, . . . 
 Mignonette, . . 
 
 Milfoil 
 
 Milkweed, . . . 
 Mistletoe, . . 
 Mock Orange, 
 Monkshood, . . 
 Morning Glory, . 
 Moss, .... 
 Mugwort, . . 
 Mulberry (Black), 
 Mulberiy (White), 
 Mushroom, . . 
 Musk Plant, . . 
 Myrtle, .... 
 
 Grief; chagrin. 
 
 A storm. 
 
 Despair. 
 
 Beneficence. 
 
 Timidity. 
 
 Welcome. 
 
 My best days are past. 
 
 Desii-e to please.- [charms. 
 
 Your qualities surpass your 
 
 War. 
 
 Hope in misery. 
 
 I surmount everything. 
 
 Uncertainty. 
 
 Treachery. 
 
 Coquetry. 
 
 Maternal love. 
 
 Good luck ; happiness. 
 
 I shall not survive you. 
 
 Wisdom. 
 
 Suspicion. 
 
 Weakness. 
 
 Love. 
 
 Narcissus, Egotism. 
 
 Nasturtium, Patriotism. 
 
TRANSLATING A BOUQUET. 167 
 
 Nettle Cruelty. 
 
 Nightshade (Enchanter's), . Sorcery. 
 
 Oak Hospitality. 
 
 Oleander Beware. 
 
 Olive, Peace. 
 
 Orange Flower, Chastity. 
 
 Orchis (Bee), Error. 
 
 Orchis (Spider), Skill. 
 
 Osier, Frankness. 
 
 Osmunda, . Reverie. 
 
 Oxalis, V. Wood sorrel. 
 
 Pansy, Thought. 
 
 Parsley Festivity. 
 
 Passion Flower Devotion ; faith. 
 
 Patience, Patience. 
 
 Peach Blossom, I am your captive. 
 
 Peony, » . Ostentation. 
 
168 DICTIOSART FOB 
 
 Peppermint, Warmth of feeling. 
 
 Periwinkle, Sweet memories. 
 
 Phlox ... Our hearts are united. 
 
 Pimpernel, Rendezvous ; change. 
 
 Pine, Endurance. 
 
 Pine-apple, .... . You are perfect. 
 
 Pink (Red), Pure love. 
 
 Plane, or Platane, .... Genius. 
 
 Plum Keep your promises. 
 
 Plum (Indian), ...... Indian Plum. 
 
 Plum (WUd), Independence. 
 
 Polemony (Blue), . . . w. Greek Valerian. 
 
 Pomegranate, Conceit 
 
 Pompion, or Pumpkin, . . Crossness ; coarseness. 
 
 Poplar (Black), ... . Courage. 
 
 Poplai- (White) Time. 
 
 Poppy (Corn), Consolation. 
 
 Poppy (White), Sleep. 
 
 Potato, Benevolence. 
 
 Primrose, Modest worth. 
 
 Privet, or Prim, Prohibition. 
 
 Purple Scabious, .... Mourning, 
 
 Queen of the Meadow, , . Uselessness. 
 Quince Temptation. 
 
;.". v^j^ay ilf I'uiiin.c-- 
 
 ill Tfjir J I'sni 
 
 PUBLISHED BYDE VRIES, IBARRA ETT°, BOSTON, 
 
TRANSLATING A BOVQVET. 16£ 
 
 Ranunculus (Garden), . . . You are radiant with charms. 
 
 Reeds, Music. 
 
 Rest-harrow, Obstacle. 
 
 Rhododendron, Agitation. 
 
 Rose Acacia, v. Acacia. 
 
 Rosebud, Confession of love. 
 
 Rose (Cinnamon), .... Without pretension. 
 
 Rose (Guelder), ... i. Snowball. 
 
 Rose (Hundred-leaved), . . The Graces. 
 
 Rose Leaf, . .... I never trouble. 
 
 Rose (Monthly), .... Beauty ever new. 
 
 Rose (Moss), Superior merit ; voluptuousness. 
 
 Rose (Musk), Capricious beauty. 
 
 Rose (Red Damask), . . . Love. 
 
 Rose (White), Silence. 
 
 Rose (Wild Single), . . . Simplicity. 
 
 Rose (Yellow), Iniidelity. 
 
 f Remembrance ; your presence 
 
 Rosemary ■! 
 
 I revives me. 
 
 Rue, Disdain. 
 
 Rush, Docility. 
 
 15 
 
170 DICTIONARY FOB 
 
 Saffron Crocus, .... Do not abuse me. 
 
 Sage, Esteem. 
 
 Saint John's Wort Animosity. 
 
 Saidonia, Irony. 
 
 Satin Flower, Forgetfuluess. 
 
 Scratchweed, Roughness. 
 
 Sensitive Plant, Sensitiveness ; modesty. 
 
 Serpent Cactus, ...._. Horror. 
 Service Tree, or Sorb, . . . Prudence. 
 Silverweed, ... . . Naivete. 
 
 Snapdragon, Presumption. 
 
 Snowball, Goodness. [sity. 
 
 Snowdrop, Consolation ; a friend in adver- 
 
 SpeedweU, Fidelity. 
 
 Spider Orchis v. Orchis. [heart. 
 
 Spindle Tree, Your charms are graven on my 
 
 Spiraea, v. Queen of the Meadow. 
 
 Star of Bethlehem, .... Purity. 
 
 Stock, 0. Gillyflower. 
 
 Strawberry, Perfect excellence. 
 
 Succory, r. Chiccory. 
 
 Sumach Splendid misery. 
 
 Sunflower, False riches. 
 
 Sweet Basil v. Basil. 
 
TRANSLATING A BOUQUET. 171 
 
 Sweet Brier v. Eglantine. 
 
 Sweet Pea, . .... Departure. 
 
 Sweet Sultan, Happiness. 
 
 Sweet William, Finesse. 
 
 Syringa, Fraternal love. 
 
 Tare, Vice. 
 
 Teasel, Misanthropy. 
 
 Thistle, ... ... Austerity. 
 
 Thorn Apple, . . . Disguise. 
 
 Thi-ift, Sympathy. 
 
 Thyme, Activity. 
 
 Trailing Arbutus, . . . v. Mayflower. 
 
 Tremella, Resistance. 
 
 Tuberose Voluptuousness. 
 
 Tulip, .... ... Declaration of love. 
 
 Valerian (Common), . . . Accommodating disposition. 
 Valerian (Red), Facility. 
 
172 
 
 BICTIONAUr FOB 
 
 Venus's Looking-glass, . . Flattery. 
 
 Verbena, .... . . Sensibility. 
 
 Veronica, . . .v. Speedwell. 
 
 Vervain, Enchantment. 
 
 Vetch, I cling to thee. 
 
 Vine, . . . n. Grape Vine. 
 
 Violet (Blue), Modesty. 
 
 Violet (White), Purity ; candor. 
 
 Virgin's Bower, . . . . v. Clematis. 
 
 Wall Flower, . 
 Water Lily, . 
 Weeping Willow 
 Wheat, . . . 
 White Lily, . 
 White Mulberry, 
 White Poplar, 
 White Poppy, 
 White Rose, . 
 White Violet, 
 Whortleberry, 
 Wild Plum, . 
 Wild Rose, . 
 Willow (Basket), 
 Willow (Common), 
 
 . Fidelity in misfortune. 
 
 w. Lily. 
 
 . Melancholy. 
 
 . Wealth. 
 
 ». Lily. 
 
 V. Mulberry. 
 
 B. Poplar. 
 
 V. Poppy. 
 
 V. Rose. 
 
 V. Violet. 
 
 . Treachery. 
 
 ». Plum. 
 
 z). Rose. 
 
 «. Osier. 
 
 . Forsaken. 
 
TSAXSZATIKG A BOUQUET. 173 
 
 Willow Herb Pretension. 
 
 Windflower, v. Anemone. 
 
 Wood Sorrel, Joy. 
 
 Wormwood, Absence. 
 
 Yarrow, v. Milfoil. 
 
 Yew, Sadness. 
 
 Yoke Elm, v. Hornbeam. 
 
 Zinnia, I mourn yom- absence. 
 
 15* 
 
" I must fill up this osier cage of ours 
 With baleful weeds and precious juiced flowers. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Many for many virtues excellent, 
 None but for some, and yet all different," 
 
 Shakspea/re. 
 
 " Flowers fresh in hue and many in their class, 
 Implore the pausing step, and with their dyes 
 Dance in the soft breeze in a fairy mass." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 (174) 
 
E introduce under this head 
 a few plants, which, although 
 they have not a meaning as- 
 signed them as yet in Flora's 
 vocabulary, are stiU worthy 
 of mention on account of 
 their beauty, usefulness, or 
 the allusions made to them by various authors. 
 
 (175) 
 
176 APPENDIX. 
 
 American, or False Cowslip. Dodecatlieon media. 
 
 The name signifies twelve divinities, and the flower is so 
 beautiful that a botanist might well fable that the whole circle 
 of the Grecian gods conspired to create it. Another plant, the 
 caWia palustris, is also called the American cowslip, but its 
 more general name is marsh marigold. It is a brilliant yellow 
 flower growing in wet places, but quite unlike our elegant 
 dodecatheon, which blooms a little later. 
 
 Apples of Sodom. Solanum nodovieum. 
 The famous 
 
 " Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye, 
 But turn to ashes on the lips," 
 
 mentioned by Josephus, yet often regarded as fabulous, are 
 at last ascertained to be a kind of purple egg-plant. An 
 insect usually punctures the skin of the fruit, causing it, while 
 outwardly fair, to gangrene and turn to dust within. In the 
 Diary of Henry Teonge, an English fleet chaplain, he writes 
 in December, 1675, " This country (around the Dead Sea) 
 is altogether unfruitfull, being all over full of stones, which 
 looke just like burnt syndurs. And on some low shrubbs 
 there grow small round things, which are called apples, but no 
 witt like them. They are somewhat fayre to look at; but 
 
APPENDIX. 177 
 
 touch them, and they moulder all to hlaok ashes, like soote, 
 boath for looks and smell." 
 
 Milton makes the fallen angels, changed to serpents, when 
 their penance was aggravated by an image of the forbidden 
 tree, pluck greedily 
 
 " The fruitage fair to sight, like that which grew 
 Near that bituminous lake where Sodom flamed; 
 This, more delusive, not the touch, but taste 
 Deceived; they, fondly thinking to allay 
 Their appetite with gust, instead of fruit 
 Chewed bitter ashes, which the offended taste 
 With spattering noise rejected; oft they essayed. 
 Hunger and thirst constraining; drugged as oft. 
 With hatefulest disrelish writhed their jaws, 
 With soot and cinders filled; so oft they fell 
 Into the same illusion.*' 
 
 Par. Lost, Book X, 
 
 Anun, IVakerobin, Wild Tmrmip, Jack-inthe-Falpit. Arum 
 macuZatum, 
 
 This curious plant, found blooming in May in wet, shady 
 places, bears spikes of scarlet berries late in the summer. 
 The name arum is said to come from its leaves, shaped like 
 an arrow or dart. The root, when fresh, contains a milky 
 juice, very acrid, which is used in medicine as a stimulant. 
 The acrimony is dissipated by drying and the application of 
 heat, when the substance of the root becomes a bland farina- 
 ceous matter resembling arrow-root. Powdered it is said to 
 have a saponaceous quality. It is also used by the Parisians, 
 under the name of cypress powder, as a cosmetic for the 
 skin. 
 
178 APPENDIX. 
 
 JSelladoiuia, or l>eadly IViglitsliade, Atr<ypa beUadouTM. 
 
 It is called Atropa, from Atropos, the goddess of destiny, in 
 allusion to its fatal effects ; and belladonna, because the fair 
 ladies of the Continent formerly made use of it as a cosmetic. 
 As a medicine it has great repute among the homoeopathic 
 practitioners. Sauvages supposes it to be the plant which 
 produced such strange and dreadful effects upon the Roman 
 soldiers, during their retreat, under the command of Antony, 
 from the Parthians. A Scotch historian relates that the Scots 
 treacherously mixed its juice in the bread and drink with which 
 the conditions of a tnice bound them to supply the Danes. They 
 were so intoxicated by it that the Scots killed the greater part 
 of them before they had recovered consciousness. Dr. Wood- 
 yille quotes the passage in Shakspeare where Banquo says, — 
 
 ** Or have we eaten of the inenne root 
 That takes the reason prisoner .' " 
 
 Blaclcljerry. Jiubus irivialis or villosus. 
 
 Pliny speaks of a " mulberry growing upon briers," by which 
 the blackberry is thought to be intended. The delicious flavor 
 of this fruit, and the virtues of the cordial made from it, are 
 known to every good housekeeper ; and the plant, if attentively 
 examined, will be found very beautiful. Although they may 
 be familiar, we cannot resist giving here the lines of Elliot. 
 
AFPEKDIX, 
 
 TO THE BRAMBLE FLOWER. 
 
 " Thy fruit full well the schoolboy knows. 
 
 Wild brfimble of the brake I 
 So put thou forth thy small white rose; 
 
 I love it for his sake. 
 Though woodbines flaunt and roses glow 
 
 O'er all the fragrant bowers. 
 Thou need'st not be ashamed to show 
 
 Thy satin-threaded flowers; 
 For dull the eye, the heart is dull. 
 
 That cannot feel how fair, 
 Amid all beauty beautiful. 
 
 Thy tender blosHoms are ! 
 How delicate thy gauzy frill ! 
 
 How rich thy branchy stem ! 
 How soft thy voice when woods are still, 
 
 And thou sing'st hymns to them 1 
 When silent showers are falling slow, 
 
 And 'mid the general hush, 
 A sweet air lifts the little bough. 
 
 Lone whispering through the bush 1 
 The primrose to the grave is gone; 
 
 The hawthorn flower is dead. 
 The violet by the mossed gray stone 
 
 Hath laid her weary head; 
 But thou, wild bramble ! back dost bring, 
 
 In all thy beauteous power. 
 The fresh, green days of life's fair spring, 
 
 And boyhood's bloomy hour. 
 Scorned bramble of the brake ; once more 
 
 Thou bidd'st me be a boy. 
 To gad with thee the woodlands o'er, 
 
 In freedom and in joy." 
 
 "When Titania gives Bottom iu charge to the fairies, i 
 commands them to 
 
 " Feed him with apricocks and dewberries." 
 
 Dewbemes are the fruit of one species of the bramble 
 the rvhus ecesius, according to Brande. 
 
180 APPENDIX. 
 
 Bnckthorn. Jihamvus caiharticus. 
 
 The juice from the berries of the buckthorn, mixed with 
 alum and gum arabic, makes the sap green used in water colors. 
 These berries are a violent medicine, and have a very unpleasant 
 taste. The bark produces a fine yellow dye. 
 
 Calceolaria. 
 
 There seems to be an infinite variety of calceolarias, and 
 they are favorite florists' flowers. They are all natives of 
 Chili and Peru. The name comes from calceolus, a slipper, 
 owing to the shape of the flowers. 
 
 Canary -tiird Flo"«ver. Tropssolum peregrinum. 
 
 This graceful climber, known to the Spaniards as " pajaritos 
 amarillos," also comes from Peru. It blossoms profusely, 
 and, twisted around slender columns, makes a charming 
 effect. 
 
 Carrot. Daucus carota. 
 
 The ancient Greeks seem to have cultivated the carrot, and 
 it has appeared on the tables of all the civilized nations ever 
 since their time. Parkinson, who was botanist to King 
 James I., tells us that in his time ladies wore the delicate, 
 feathery leaves of the caiTot in their head-dresses, instead 
 of plumes. 
 
APPENDIX. 181 
 
 Catalpa. CaiaXpa cordifolia. 
 
 The name catalpa is of Indian origin. The showy flowers 
 of this elegant tree grow similarly to those of the horse- 
 chestnut. We have but one species indigenous to America. 
 
 Celaudine, or STvallow "Wort. Clielidonium mnjus. 
 
 This acrid plant was long considered a most effectual remedy 
 for jaundice. It was also recommended for other diseases ; 
 but an eminent author says, " We have little doubt but that 
 the virtues of celandine have been greatly exaggerated ; in 
 certain cases, however, we should expect to find it a useful 
 remedy, for it evidently possesses active powers." It grows 
 commonly along the roadside, and wherever the stem is broken 
 sends out a yellow, milky juice, which stains like iron rust all it 
 falls upon. The celandine which Wordsworth has compli- 
 mented with a poem, was not this plant, but a flower, known 
 as the lesser celandine. {Ranunculus Jicaria.) 
 
 Ceutaiiry^. Cliironea centaurea, or Erytlirxa centaurium, 
 
 " Wormwood and centaury their bitter juice 
 To aid digestion's sickly powers refine." 
 
 Dodsley. 
 
 The centaur Chiron is said to have cured a wound in his 
 foot with this plant ; hence its name. It is inodorous, but so 
 bitter that it was called by the ancients /eZ terroe, or gall of the 
 earth. It has antiseptic properties, and before the discovery 
 of the Peruvian bark, was in great esteem as a febrifuge. 
 
 Cbristmas Rose, or Slack Hellebore. Melleborus niger. 
 
 A native of Austria and Italy. It was introduced into 
 Britain in 1596, and is called the Christmas Rose, because, 
 in mild weather, it usually blooms at the end of the year. 
 16 
 
182 APPENDIX. 
 
 The blossom is very handsome, having five large white petals, 
 tipped with rose. The root was used by the ancients as a 
 remedy for madness. 
 
 ColFee. Coffea araiica. 
 
 The coffee berries, which we roast to make a beverage, grow 
 on an evergreen, fifteen or twenty feet high, which is a native 
 of Arabia and Ethiopia. The flowers are white and sweet- 
 scented. The use of coffee as a drink is said to have begun 
 in Constantinople in 1554. It was used in Marseilles in 1644. 
 The first coffee-house in Paris was established by an Armenian 
 named Pascal, in 1672 ; but he met with so little encouragement 
 that he removed to London, where it had been previously 
 'introduced in 1652. According to a recent traveller, Mr. 
 Palgrave, we can never know the real excellence of coffee — 
 the nectar in its perfection — tiU we go to Arabia. 
 
 Cuckoo Sud, 
 
 Simply the old name for the buttercup. 
 
 ]>eatzla. 
 
 Early in spring every greenhouse displays this pretty plant 
 covered with a profusion of white blossoms. It is a native of 
 China and Japan, and was called by Thunberg after John 
 Deutz, a senator of Amsterdam, who furnished him with means 
 for exploring those oountiies. 
 
APPENDIX. 183 
 
 iEnplirasyf or Eyebrigbt. Euphrasia oj 
 
 Milton wrote that, — 
 
 " Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed 
 Which that false fruit that promised clearer sight 
 Had bred; then purged with euphrasy and rue 
 The visual nerve, for he had much to see." 
 
 Eyebright was foi-meily applied externally and taken inter- 
 nally, as a sovereign remedy for all affections of the eyes. 
 As it is clearly impossible that one thing could cure so many 
 different diseases, arising from various causes, endeavors have 
 been made to ascertain the real virtues of the plant. The 
 result seems to be, that it is valuable in cases of weakness 
 of the eyes, produced by over-exertion, or in old age. 
 
 Fennel Flo-^ver, Ljove in a Mist, Ijady in tbe Green. Nigella 
 damaacetm. 
 
 The seeds of this curious flower (which gave it the name of 
 nigella, from their blackness) are very pungent in the East, and 
 
184 APPENDIX. 
 
 are used instead of pepper. We are told that they were 
 probably the cumin, to which our Lord alluded when re- 
 proving the Pharisees. 
 
 ruclisia-flo'wered Oooseberry. liibes speciosum. 
 
 Among the wonderful vegetable productions of California 
 is this magnificent gooseberry. It grows to the height of five 
 feet, and is sometimes covered for six weeks with brilliant 
 scarlet ilowers, whose long, drooping stamens have caused it 
 to receive the appellation of fuchsia-flowered. 
 
 Criaut Fennel. Fenda villoaa. 
 
 Prometheus is fabled to have brought fire from heaven in a 
 stalk of this plant. Its stems grow ten or twelve feet high, 
 and contain a pith, which, in the interior of Sicily, is stiU used 
 for tinder. A Persian species of ferula produces the assqfcetida 
 of medicine. 
 
 Ground jVnt, or ]i^artl> ]Viit. Bunium bulbocastanum. 
 
 This is an umbelliferous plant, with a. root resembling a 
 chestnut. Another kind of ground nut, the apios tuberosa, 
 or glycine apios, is common in America, and very nutritious. 
 The Indians made great use of them in theii- simple diet. 
 
APPElfDIX. 185 
 
 Hemlock. Conium macutatum and Cicuta virosa. 
 
 Both the common hemlock and the water hemlock were 
 probably known to the ancients, and both are poisonous. 
 W'e are ignorant which kind was given to Socrates. The 
 Greek and Arabian physicians were in the habit of using the 
 hemlock juice externally for swellings and pains in the joints. 
 Baron Stoerck, among the moderns, has recommended it for 
 cancers, &c. 
 
 Horseradisb. CocMearia armoracia. 
 
 Horseradish is a most excellent and wholesome condiment. 
 It is a strong stimulant, and has sometimes been used in place 
 of mustard, in poultices. A sirup of this root is an excellent 
 remedy for hoarseness and sore throat. Dr. Withering says, 
 that an infusion of horseradish in mUk is one of the safest 
 and best cosmetics. 
 
 Jerusalem Artlclioke. 3elianthus tuberosus. 
 
 The word Jerusalem is, in this case, a curious corruption 
 of the Italian girasole, turning to the sun. It is a kind 
 16* . 
 
186 APPENDIX. 
 
 of sunflower, and was very common in old-fashioned gardens. 
 The roots, about the size of a potato, are thought to resemble 
 artichokes in their taste. 
 
 Judas' Tree, or Bed-toud. Cercis canadensis. 
 
 The brilliant clusters of crimson flowers which adorn this 
 tree in the spring, and its large heart-shaped leaves, render 
 it a very attractive object. A botanist tells us, " I have often 
 observed hundreds of the common humble bees lying dead 
 under these trees while in flower." Its fatality to insects gives 
 it the appellation of Judas' tree. There is also a tradition that 
 Judas hung himself upon it. ^ 
 
 liadies' Slipper. Cypripedinm. 
 
 A great many varieties of this curious and beautiful orchid 
 are found wild in America. Some are yellow, some white, 
 some purple. 
 
 Iiady's Smock. Cardamine. 
 
 Frequent allusions to this flower are found in the early 
 English poets. The name was given from the pure whiteness 
 of the flowers, in the variety most common. It was also, for 
 the same reason, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and called 
 Our Lady's Flower. Another name is Cuckoo-flower. 
 
APPENDIX. 187 
 
 This family of plants comprises several with handsome 
 flowers ; as the scarlet lychnis, or London pride, the ragged 
 robin, &c. The cottony leaves of some varieties have been 
 used as substitutes for lamp-wicks. 
 
 Maijoram. Origanum inUgare and Tiut^oranum. 
 
 The common wild marjoram is found native here; ,the 
 
 sweet marjoram, used in cookery, came originally from Portugal. 
 
 This herb is supposed to be the amaracus of the ancient poets. 
 
 Thus Virgil: — 
 
 " ubi mollis amaracus ilium 
 FloribuB et dulci aspiraua complectitur umbra." 
 
 ^neid, Book I., I. 698. 
 
 And Catullus: — 
 
 ' Cinge tempora floribas 
 Suave olentis amaraci." 
 
 Mountain Asb. Pyrus aucuparia, and Sorbus americana. 
 
 The Scotch call this brilliant tree the rowan. In some 
 places the peasantry use its branches to avert witchcraft. 
 The elegant clusters of orange-red berries which succeed the 
 white flowers, and the handsome pinnate leaves, render it 
 one of the greatest ornaments to a shrubbery. Words- 
 worth, in the Excursion, speaks of 
 
188 APPENDIX. 
 
 " file mountain ash 
 No eye can overlook, when 'mid a g:rove 
 or yet imfaded trees she lilts her head, ' 
 
 Decked witli autumnal berries that outshine 
 Spring's richest blossoms ; and ye may have marked, 
 By a brook-side or solitary tarn, 
 How she her station doth adorn ; — the pool 
 Glows at her feet, and all the gloomy rocks 
 Are brightened round her." 
 
 JUulleiu. Verbascum thapsus. 
 
 Every reader is probablj' familiar with the white, soft, 
 downy leaves, and slightly fragrant yellow flowers, crowded 
 together on a large, clumsy stalk, which distinguish the 
 mullein. It is emollient and gently astringent, and great use 
 is made of the leaves in the country for fomentations and 
 cataplasms. Gerarde calls it " Cow's Lungwort," as it was 
 thought to be of great use in pulmonary complaints of cattle. 
 One species of mullein is said to be a strong anodyne, and 
 to intoxicate fish. 
 
 Onion. Allium cepa. 
 
 There is evidence to show that the onion was known and 
 esteemed in Egypt two thousand years before Christ. Rhind 
 says, " Hasselquist, in a panegyric on the exquisite flavor 
 of the Egyptian onion, remarks that it is no wonder the 
 Israelites, after they had quitted their place of bondage, should 
 have regretted the loss of this delicacy. The Egyptians 
 divide them into four parts, and eat them roasted together 
 
APPENDIX. 1 89 
 
 with pieces of meat; which preparation they consider so 
 delicious that they devoutly wish it may form one of the 
 viands of Paradise." The onions of warm countries are 
 immeasurably superior to those of colder climes, being larger 
 and milder in flavor. This vegetable possesses healing 
 qualities, and many a mother can testify to the efficacy of 
 onion sirup. 
 
 Petunia. 
 
 The diflferent varieties of this showy flower, so ornamental 
 in the house or garden, come to us from South America 
 They are annuals out of doors, but perennial under shelter. 
 
 Purple XiOosestrUe. Ltjihrum sallcaria. 
 
 In July, around the edge of wet meadows, we find a tall 
 plant with long, loose spikes of very delicate and brilliant 
 flowers. The color is a fine purple, tinged with red, which 
 has obtained for it in some places the name oi fireweed. This 
 is the purple loosestrife. Transplanted to the garden, it is 
 a fine perennial border flower. 
 
190 APPENDIX. 
 
 Rice. Oryza 
 
 Rice was cultivated from the earliest times in Asia and 
 Africa. Its introduction into America is of very modern date. 
 According to one account, Mr. Ashby, an English merchant, at 
 the close of the seventeenth century, sent a hundred weight 
 of rice from India to Carolina, which was the seed of all the 
 future harvests. Another authority says, " A brigantine from 
 the island of Madagascar, happened to put in at Carolina, having 
 a little seed rice left, which the captain gave to a gentleman of 
 the name of Woodward. From part of this he had a very good 
 crop, but was ignorant for some years how to clean it. It was 
 soon dispersed over the province, and by frequent experiments 
 and observations, they found out ways of producing and man- 
 ufactui-ing it to so great perfection, that it is thought to exceed 
 any other "in value. The writer of this has seen the said 
 captain in Carolina, where he received a handsome gratuity 
 from the gentlemen of that country, in acknowledgment of the 
 service he had done the province.'' 
 
 On the Importance of the British Plantations in America. 
 {London, 1701.) 
 
APPENDIX. .191 
 
 Samphire. Crithmum maritimum, and Salicornia herbacea. 
 
 The first of these is the English samphire ; the second the 
 American. Both grow on the sea-coast, and are used as 
 pickles. The salicornia is also found in great quantities on 
 the coast of the Mediterranean, where its ashes are used in 
 the manufacture of soda. The word samphire is a corrup- 
 tion of the French Saint Pierre. On Dover heights Edgar 
 exclaims to Gloster, — 
 
 " stand still. — How- fearful 
 And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low I 
 The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air. 
 Show scarce so gross as beetles. Half way down 
 Hangs one that gathers samphire — dreadful trade ! 
 Methiuks he seems no bigger than his head." 
 
 Sassafi'as. Laurus sassafi'as. 
 
 This fragrant shrub or tree Ijecame known to the old world 
 on the discovery of Florida, and was sold at enormous prices 
 when first introduced into Europe, on account of the great 
 medicinal virtues attributed to it. It was cultivated in Eng- 
 land before 1633. A tincture of the bark is still in vogue for 
 the cure of rheumatism, gout, &c., though it is generally used 
 in a combination with sarsaparilla. 
 
192. APPENDIX. 
 
 Snakeroot, Seneca and Virginia. Polygala senega, and Aristolo~ 
 cMa serpentaria. 
 
 Very dangerous consequences have sometimes ensued from 
 confounding these two plants. Dr. Tennent first called the 
 attention of physicians to the fact that the Indians possessed 
 a specific for the bite of the rattlesnake, which was ascertained 
 to be the Seneca snakeroot. It is also prescribed in pleurisy 
 and dropsy. The Virginia snakeroot is likewise considered 
 a remedy for the bites of serpents. It is strongly aromatic, and 
 was at one time thought to be of marvellous efficacy in various 
 diseases ; but its fame has declined in modern practice. 
 
 Solomon's Seal. Convallaria hi/oUa, racemosa, mutiijtora, &c. 
 
 The name of Solomon's seal was given on account of 
 certain marks on the root. There are many varieties of it 
 found in the spring in shady woods. The mucilaginous roots 
 make an excellent poultice for tumors, bruises, &c. 
 
 Old Gerarde says, " The root of Solomon's seal, stamped, 
 while it is fresh and greene, and applied, taketh away in one 
 night, or two at the most, any bruse, black or blew spots 
 gotten by fals, or woman's wilfulness in stumbling upon their 
 hasty husband's fists, or such like.'' 
 
 Sugar-cane. Saccharum officinarum,. 
 
 Sugar, like that which appears every day upon our tables, 
 seems to have been a luxury unknown to the old Greeks and 
 Romans, though some have thought they found an allusion 
 to it in Theophrastus. Father Hennepin found this priceless 
 cane growing near the mouth of the Mississippi, and Ximenes 
 mentions that it grew wild near the Rio de la Plata. The 
 plants introduced from Java, Isle of Bourbon, &c., ai-e said 
 
APPENDIX. 193 
 
 to be superior to the native variety. Before the Indies were 
 discovered, sugar was made in considerable quantities in the 
 islands of Sicily, Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus, where it was 
 supposed to have been carried by the Saracens. 
 
 Snude^v, Drosera. 
 
 The word drosera means dewy. It is found in blossom late 
 in the summer, in moist gi-ound. In Crabbe's Borough, — 
 
 '• Our busy streets and sylvan walks between 
 Fen, marshes, bog, and heath, all intervene; 
 Here pits of crag, -svith spongy, plashy base, 
 To some enrich th' uncultivated space; 
 For there are blossoms rare, and curious rush. 
 The gale's rich balm, and sundew's crimson blush, 
 Whose velvet leaf, with radiant beauty dressed. 
 Forms a gay pillow for the plover's breast." 
 
 Tansy. Taruicetum vulgare and crispum. 
 
 The French anciently called this plant by the name of 
 Athanasie, which became by corruption tansy. The curled 
 leaves are not destitute of beauty, and send forth a strong but 
 pleasant odor. On account of its iatense bitterness, it was 
 formerly eaten in puddings and otherwise at Easter, to sym- 
 bolize the bitter herbs which the Jews were commanded to eat 
 at the Passover. 
 
 17 
 
194 APPESBIX. 
 
 Tea. Thm, viridis and bohea. 
 
 Tea is a small evergreen shrub, belonging to the same 
 family as the camellia. Owing to the Chinese policy in regard 
 to foreigners, we know very little about the plant, or the 
 method of preparing the leaves ; as one may ascertain by 
 reading various elaborate accounts, which are very far from 
 agreeing with one another. It was first introduced into 
 England, in 1666, from Holland, and sold at a very high 
 price. In view of the present enormous consumption of tea, 
 it is a curious question what people drank before it came 
 into use. 
 
 Thorn Apple, Apple of Pern, or Jamestown TVeed. Datura 
 stramonium. 
 
 Almost every one must know this peculiar looking plant 
 as a violent narcotic poison. Even the odor of it is said to 
 induce dizziness and stupor. Yet, in skilful hands, it proves 
 a most valuable medicine. The old Greek physicians appar- 
 ently knew its properties ; and in our time it is used in 
 epilepsy and mania. The root is smoked for asthma, and 
 an extract of the leaves is sometimes applied to burns and 
 inflamed tumors. Such dangerous remedies, however, should 
 be given only by physicians. 
 
 Toad Flax. AntirrMnum Hnaria. 
 
 A common flower in summer, with rather fine bluish leaves, 
 and yellow and orange flowers, shaped like those of its brother, 
 the snapdragon. Country people give it the descriptive name 
 of butter-and-eggs. Linnseus says it was used to poison flies. 
 Like many common plants, it has healing virtues. An infu- 
 sion of the flowers is highly recommended for skin diseases, 
 
APPENDIX. 195 
 
 and the leaves in dropsy. Both leaves and flowers are used 
 in compounding ointments and poultices. 
 
 Tobacco, Nicotiana tdbacum. 
 
 Tobacco was imported into Spain ana Portugal from 
 America, by Hernandez de Toledo, about the middle of the 
 sixteenth century. Nicot, .who was ambassador of France 
 at Lisbon, carried it to Catherine de Mddicis, in 1560, as a 
 plant possessing wonderful virtues. The generic name was 
 given in his honor ; and the English name, tobacco, is either 
 from Tobago in the West Indies, or Tobasco in Mexico, 
 or, as one authority says, from a South American word for a 
 pipe. In spite of the hundred or more volumes written 
 against its use, smoking, and, we regret to say, chewing, are 
 still practised, though snuff-taking seems to have gone out of 
 fashion, except with a few old women. 
 
 Burnett says, "It is supposed that the 'juice of cursed 
 hebenon,' by which, according to Shakspeare, the king of 
 Denmark was poisoned, was the essential oil of tobacco." 
 Hebenon undoubtedly meant hevhane, and as our author con- 
 tinues, " it appears from Gerarde that tobacco was commonly 
 called 'henbane of Peru.' No preparation of hyoscyamus 
 with which we are acquainted, would produce death by an 
 application to the ear ; whereas the essential oE of tobacco 
 might without doubt occasion a fatal result.'' 
 
 Trumpet ITlo-wer. Bignonia radicans. 
 
 The elegant climbing plant which produces this brilliant 
 flower is the pride of southern gardens, though rarely seen 
 at the north. The name Bignonia is in honor of the Abb6 
 Bignon. 
 
196 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Tulip Tree. Jjiriodendron tuUpifera. 
 
 A magnificent flowering tree, known also as white-wood 
 and canon-wood, which surpasses almost every other in 
 America in height as well as beauty. The flowers are fragrant, 
 and the bark, which has an aromatic odor, has been used as a 
 tonic and febrifuge. The wood is valuable for many purposes. 
 The name liriodendron signifies a lily tree. 
 
PJBLISHED B7 DE VRIESJEAERA EF f:^ BOSTON. 
 
HE air of cities, heavy with 
 smoke and poisonous exhala- 
 tions, is fatal to many flowers ; 
 and all true poets have sung 
 the charms of country life. 
 Cowley prayed, — 
 
 " Ah, yet, ere I descend to the grave. 
 May I a small house and large garden have ! " — 
 X7* (197; 
 
198 APPENDIX. 
 
 And longingly cried, — 
 
 " fields, O woods ! when, when shall I he made 
 The happy tenant of your shade ? 
 Here's the spring-head of Pleasure's flood. 
 Where all the riches lie, that she 
 
 Has coined and stamped for good." 
 
 Anne, Countess of Winchelsea, sings, — 
 
 " Give me, indulgent Fate, 
 
 Give me yet, before I die, 
 A sweet but absolute retreat 
 
 'Mong paths so lost and trees so high. 
 That the world may ne'er invade. 
 Through such windings and such shade. 
 
 My unshaken liberty. 
 
 Fruits indeed would Heaven bestow. 
 
 All that did in Eden grow. 
 
 All but the forbidden tree 
 
 "Would be coveted by me: 
 
 Grapes with juice so crowded up, 
 
 As breaking through the native cup; 
 
 Figs yet growing, candied o'er 
 
 By the sun's attracting power ; 
 
 CheiTies, with the downy peach, 
 
 All within my easy reach ; 
 
 While creeping near the humble ground 
 
 Should the sti'awberiy be found. 
 
 Springing wheresoe'er I strayed 
 
 Through those windings and that shade." 
 
APPENDIX. 199 
 
 We find Pope writing, at a very early age, — 
 
 " Happy the man, whose wish and care 
 A few paternal acres hound, 
 Content to breathe his native air 
 
 In his own ground. 
 
 Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread. 
 
 Whose flocks supply him with attire; 
 Whose trees in summer yield him shade, 
 In winter fire. 
 
 Blessed who can unconcernedly find 
 
 Hours, days, and years, slide soft away, 
 In health of body, peace of mind, 
 Quiet by day, — 
 
 Sound sleep by night ; study and ease 
 
 Together mixed, sweet recreation, 
 And innocence, which most does please 
 With meditation." 
 
 A poem by Warton runs as follows i — 
 
 " On beds of daisies idly laid, 
 The willow waving o'er my head. 
 Now morning on the bending stem 
 Hangs the round and glittering gem. 
 Lulled by the lapse of yonder spring. 
 Of nature's various charms I sing : 
 Ambition, pride, and pomp, adieu. 
 For what has joy to do with you ? 
 
200 APPENDIX. 
 
 Joy, rose-lipped dryad, loves to dwell 
 In sunny field or mossy cell ; 
 Delights on echoing hills to hear 
 The reaper's song, or lowing steer. 
 Or view, with tenfold plenty spread, 
 The crowded cornfield, blooming mead; 
 While beauty, health, and innocence 
 Transport the eye, the soul, the sense. 
 
 Nymphs of the gi-oves, in green arrayed, 
 Conduct me to your thickest shade. 
 Deep in the bosom of the vale, 
 Where haunts the lonesome nightingale ; 
 Where Contemplation, maid divine. 
 Leans against some aged pine, 
 Wrapped in solemn thought profound, 
 Her eyes fixed steadfast on the ground. 
 
 0, Virtue's nurse, retired queen. 
 
 By saints alone and hermits seen. 
 
 Beyond- vain mortal wishes wise. 
 
 Teach me St. James's to despise ; 
 
 For what are crowded courts but schools 
 
 For fops, or hospitals for fools ? 
 
 Where slaves and madmen, young and old, 
 
 Meet to adore some calf of gold ! " 
 
 In a similar strain Dyer says, — 
 
 " Be full, ye courts, be great who will ; 
 Search for Peace with all your skill ; 
 Open wide the lofty door, 
 Seek her on the marble floor ; 
 
APPENDIX. 201 
 
 In vain you search ; she is not there ; 
 In vain you search the domes of Care ! 
 Grass and flowers Quiet treads, 
 On the meads and mountain-heads ; 
 Along with Pleasure, close allied. 
 Ever by each other's side." 
 
 But perhaps one of tlie best things of this kind 
 is Cunningham's Town and Country Child. He be- 
 gins, — 
 
 " Child of the country ! free as air 
 Art thou, and as the sunshine fan- ; 
 Bom like the lily, where the dew 
 Lies odorous when the day is new ; 
 Fed 'mid the May-flowers, like the bee ; 
 Nursed to sweet music on the knee ; 
 Lulled on the breast to that glad tune 
 Which winds make 'mong the woods of June ; 
 I sing of thee ; — 'tis sweet to sing 
 Of such a fair and gladsome thing. 
 
 Child of the town, for thee I sigh ; 
 A gilded roof's thy golden sky, 
 A carpet is thy daisied sod, 
 A naiTow street thy boundless road. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Through smoke, and not through trellised vines 
 And blooming trees, thy sunbeam shines ; 
 I sing of thee in sadness ; where 
 Else is wreck wrought in aught so fair ? " 
 
202 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 And ends, — 
 
 " Fly from the town, sweet child ! for health 
 Is happiness, and strength, and wealth. 
 There is a lesson in each flower, 
 A story in each stream and bower ; 
 On every herb on which you tread 
 Are written words, which, rightly read, 
 ■Will lead you from earth's fragrant sod 
 To hope, and holiness, and God." 
 
r we should begin to expatiate on 
 the subject of gardens, it would be 
 difficult to stop ; for, as Sir Thomas. 
 Browne has said, " Gardens were 
 before gardeners, and but a few 
 hours after the earth ; " and from 
 the earliest days descriptions, in 
 prose and verse, of gardens real or imaginary, have 
 come down to us. We shall confine ourselves, then, 
 
 (203) 
 
204 APPENDIX. ' 
 
 to three descriptions, not so hackneyed as many others 
 The first is from Giles Fletcher. 
 
 " All suddenly the Iiill his snow devours, 
 
 In lieu whereof a goodly garden grew, 
 
 As if the snow had melted into flowers, 
 
 Wliich their sweet breath in subtle vapors threw. 
 
 That all about perfumed spirits flew. 
 
 For whatsoever might aggrate the sense, 
 
 In all the world, or please the appetence, 
 Here it was poured out in lavish affluence. 
 
 The garden like a lady fair was cut, 
 That lay as if she slumbered m delight. 
 And to the open skies her eyes did shut ; 
 The azure fields of heaven were sembled right 
 In a large round, set with the flowers of light ; 
 The flowers-de-luce, and the round sparks of dew 
 That hung upon their azure leaves, did shew 
 Like twinkling stars, that sparkle in the evening blue. 
 
 Upon a. hilly bank her head she cast. 
 On which the bower of Vain-delight was built. 
 White and red roses for her face were placed. 
 And for her tresses marigolds were spilt; 
 Them broadly she displayed, hke flaming gilt. 
 Till in the ocean the glad day were drowned : 
 Then up again her yellow locks she wound. 
 And with green fillets in their pretty cauls them bound.' 
 
APPENDIX. 205 
 
 The next is from Langhorne : — 
 
 " A bower he framed (for he conld frame 
 What long might weary mortal wight, 
 Swift as the lightning's rapid flame 
 Darts on the unsuspecting sight). 
 
 Such bower he framed with magic hand, 
 
 As well that wizard bard hath wove 
 In scenes where fair Armida's wand 
 
 Waved all the witcheries of love. 
 
 Yet was it wrought in simple show ; 
 
 Xor Indian mines nor Orient shores 
 Had lent their glories here to glow, 
 
 Or yielded here their shining stores. 
 
 All round a poplar's trembling arms 
 The wild rose wound her damask flower 
 
 The woodbine lent her spicy charms, 
 That loves to weave the lover's bower. 
 
 The ash that courts the mountain air. 
 
 In all her painted blooms arrayed. 
 The wilding's blossom blushing fair, 
 
 Combined to form the flowery shade. 
 
 With thyme that loves the brown hill's breast. 
 
 The cowslip's sweet reclining head, 
 The violet of sky-woven vest. 
 
 Was all the fairy ground bespread." 
 
 18 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 Andrew Marvell's exquisite Garden comes last, — 
 unabridged, — though we think the last stanza but 
 one contains a heresy against truth. 
 
 THE GARDEN. 
 
 " How vainly men themselves amaze 
 To win the palm, the oak, or bays. 
 And their incessant labors see 
 Crowned from some single herb or tree, 
 "Whose short and narrow-verged shade 
 Does prxidently their toils upbraid ! 
 While all the flowers and trees do close, 
 To weave the garlands of repose. 
 
 Fair Quiet, have I found thee here, 
 And Innocence, thy sister dear ? 
 Mistaken long, I sought you then 
 In busy companies of men. 
 Your sacred plants, if here below. 
 Only among the plants will grow ; 
 Society is all but rude 
 To this delicious solitude. 
 
 No white nor red was ever seen 
 So amorous as this lovely green. 
 Tond lovers, cruel as their flame. 
 Cut in these trees their mistress' name ; 
 Little, alas ! they know or heed 
 How far these beauties her exceed ! 
 Fair trees ! where'er your barks I wound. 
 No name shall but your own be found. 
 
APPENDIX. 207 
 
 When we have run our passion's heat, 
 Love hither malces his heat retreat. 
 The gods, who mortal beauty chase, 
 Still in a tree did end their race. 
 Apollo hunted Daphne so, 
 Only that she might laurel grow; 
 And Pan did after Syrinx speed, 
 Not as a nymph, but for a reed. 
 
 What wondrous life is this I lead ! 
 Ripe apples drop about my head ; 
 The luscious clusters of the vine 
 Upon my mouth do crush their wine ; 
 The nectarine, and curious peach, 
 Into my hands themselves do reach ; 
 Stumbling on melons, as I pass 
 Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass. 
 
 Meanwhile the mind from pleasure less 
 
 Withdraws into its happiness; 
 
 The mind, that ocean where each kind 
 
 Does straight its own resemblance find ; 
 
 Yet it creates, transcending these. 
 
 Far other worlds and other seas. 
 
 Annihilating all that's made 
 
 To a green thought in a green shade. 
 
 Here at the fountain's sliding foot. 
 Or at some fruit tree's mossy root. 
 Casting the body's vest aside, 
 My soul into the boughs does glide ; 
 
208 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 There, like a bird, it sits and sings. 
 Then whets and claps its silver wings, 
 And till prepared for longer flight. 
 Waves in its plumes the various light. 
 
 Such was the happy garden state. 
 While man there walked without a, mate: 
 After a place so pure and sweet, 
 What other help could yet be meet ! 
 But 'twas beyond a, mortal's share 
 To wander solitary there : 
 Two paradises are in one. 
 To live in paradise alone. 
 
 How well the skilful gardener drew 
 Of flowers and herbs this dial new ! 
 Where from above the milder sun 
 Does through a, fragrant zodiac run ; 
 And, as it works, th' industrious bee 
 Computes its time as well as we. 
 How could such sweet and wholesome hours 
 Be reckoned, but with herbs and flowers ? " 
 
c &r(3^iyf^S-S^ = 
 
 Page 
 
 Acanthus, 25 
 
 Aconlto, 150 
 
 AgnuB CaBtus, ... 84 
 
 Agrimony, 12.3 
 
 A Heap of Flowers, . . 76 
 
 Almond, 19 
 
 Aloe, ... . 84 
 
 Amaranth, . ... 71 
 
 Amaryllis, 138 
 
 American Cowslip, . . 176 
 
 Anemone, Garden, ... 126 
 
 18*- 
 
 Anemone (Windflower), 
 Angelica, 
 
 Appendix 
 
 Apple of Pern, . 
 Apples of Sodom, . 
 
 April, 
 
 Artichoke, Jerusalem, . 
 
 Anim, 
 
 Ash, 
 
 Ash, Mountain, . 
 
 Asphodel, .... 
 
 Aster, China or German, 
 
 Aster, Large-flowered, . 
 
 August, 
 
 Autumn 
 
 (209) 
 
210 
 
 
 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Carnation, *^ 
 
 i 
 
 Carrot 
 
 Catalpa, 
 Celandine, . 
 
 
 
 180 
 181 
 181 
 
 Balm Mint, . ... 138 
 
 Centaury, . 
 
 
 
 181 
 
 BalmofGilead, . . 
 
 
 . 124 
 
 Cherry, Cornel, . . 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 Balsamine, . 
 
 
 
 . 126 
 
 Chiccory, . 
 
 
 
 122 
 
 Barberry, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 137 
 
 Christmas Kose, 
 
 
 
 181 
 
 Basil, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 12i 
 
 Chrysanthemum, 
 
 
 
 124 
 
 Bay, . 
 
 
 
 
 81 
 
 Cinnamon Eose, 
 
 
 
 154 
 
 Beech, . 
 
 
 
 
 . 139 
 
 Cinnamon Tree, 
 
 
 
 121 
 
 Bee Orchis, 
 
 
 
 
 . 117 
 
 Cistus, . . • 
 
 
 
 147 
 
 Belladonna, 
 
 
 
 
 . 178 
 
 Clematis, ' . 
 
 
 
 107 
 
 Birch, . 
 
 
 
 
 '" - 123 ■ 
 
 Cockle, . . . 
 
 
 
 152 
 
 Blackberry, 
 
 
 
 
 . 178 
 
 Cockscomb, . 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 Black Hellebore, 
 
 
 . 181 
 
 Coffee, . . ■ 
 
 
 
 182 
 
 • 
 
 Black Mulberry, 
 
 
 . 129 
 
 Columbine, . 
 
 
 
 . 120 
 
 Black Poplar, . 
 
 
 . . 112 
 
 Coriander, . 
 
 
 
 . 125 
 
 Bogbean, 
 
 
 
 . •. 21 
 
 CorneUan Cherry, 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 Broom, . 
 
 
 
 . . 133 
 
 Country Life, . 
 
 
 
 . 197 
 
 Buckbean, 
 
 
 
 . . 21 
 
 Cowslip, 
 
 
 
 . 133 
 
 Buckthorn, . 
 
 
 
 . . 180 
 
 Cowslip, American 
 
 or F 
 
 alse 
 
 , 176 
 
 BuglOSB, 
 
 
 
 .' . 20 
 
 Crocus, ... 
 
 
 
 . 156 
 
 Burdock, 
 
 
 
 . . 127 
 
 Cuckoo Bud, 
 
 
 
 . 182 
 
 Butter ana Eggs, 
 
 
 . . 194 
 
 Cuckoo Flower, . 
 
 
 
 . 186 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cypress, 
 
 
 
 71 
 
 Calceolaria, . 
 Camellia, 
 Camomile, . 
 Canary-Bird Flower, 
 Cardinal Flower, 
 
 180 
 123 
 117 
 180 
 114 
 
 Dahlia, 55 
 
 Daisy, Single, .... 88 
 
 Daisy, Double, .... 90 
 
 Dandelion 135 
 
INDEX. 
 
 •ill 
 
 Darnel, . 
 
 Datura, . 
 
 Dead Leaves, 
 
 December, . 
 
 Deutzia, 
 
 Dewberries, . 
 
 Dew Plant, . 
 
 Dictionary of the Language 
 
 of Flowers, . 
 Dictionary for Translating 
 
 Bouquet, . 
 Directions, . . .^ . 
 Dittany of Crete, . .. 
 Dodder, - . ■ 
 
 132 
 77 
 182 
 179 
 145 
 
 157 
 101 
 109 
 132 
 
 Eglantine, 45 
 
 Elder, .111 
 
 Elecampane, .... 148 
 
 Endive, 122 
 
 Euphrasy, or Eyebright, . 183 
 
 February, 86 
 
 Fennel, ...... 147 
 
 Fennel, Giant, .... 184 
 
 Fennel Flower, . ... 183 
 
 Fern, . . . 
 
 Firewced, 
 
 Flax, . . . 
 
 Floral Games, . 
 
 Flos Adonis, 
 
 Forget-me-not, .. 
 
 Four o'clock, . 
 
 Foxglove, . 
 
 Fragrant Coltsfoot, 
 
 Fraxinella, .. . 
 
 Fringed Gentian, 
 
 Fuchsia, 
 
 Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry, 181 
 
 Furze, . . . ... 106 
 
 148 
 
 189 
 
 126 
 
 95 
 
 52 
 
 60 
 
 69 
 
 134 
 
 70 
 
 120 
 
 128 
 
 148 
 
 Gardens, 202 
 
 Garland of Julia, . . 99 
 
 Geranium, Scarlet, . . 70 
 
 German Iris 120 
 
 Gentian, .... 128 
 Giant Fennel, . . .184 
 
 Gillyflower, . . . . ■ . 54 
 
 Goat's Eue, ..... 140 
 
 Gold Basket, .... 150 
 
 Golden Rod, .... 117 
 Gooseberry ,Fuchsia-FIowercd, 184 
 
 Gorse, 106 
 
 Grape, 128 
 
 Grasses, 17 
 
 Greek Valerian, ... 145 
 
 Ground Nut, .... 184 
 
21-2 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Harebell, 
 
 
 
 143 
 
 Hawthorn, . 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 Hazel, .... 
 
 
 
 141 
 
 Heart's-ease, 
 
 
 
 149 
 
 Heath, . 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 Heliotrope, . 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 Hellebore, Black, 
 
 
 
 181 
 
 Hemlock, . . 
 
 
 
 186 
 
 Hibiscus, 
 
 
 
 155 
 
 Holly, . . . 
 
 
 
 83 
 
 Hollyhock, . 
 
 
 
 119 
 
 Honesty, 
 
 
 
 121 
 
 Honeysuckle, . 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 Hornbeam, . 
 
 
 
 . 135 
 
 Horse-Chestnut, 
 
 
 
 . 18 
 
 Horseradish, 
 
 
 
 . 185 
 
 Houstonia, . 
 
 
 
 . 127 
 
 Huckleberry, . 
 
 
 150 
 
 Hundred-Leaved Rose, 
 
 
 . 149 
 
 Hyacinth, . 
 
 
 . 108 
 
 Hydrangea, . . 
 
 
 
 . 1S2 
 
 Indian Plum, 
 
 Innocence, . 
 
 Introduction, 
 
 Iris, 
 
 Iris, German, 
 
 Ivy, 
 
 138 
 127 
 7 
 132 
 120 
 66 
 
 Jack-in-the-Pulpit, ... 177 
 
 Jamestown Weed, ... 194 
 
 January 81 
 
 Jasmine, 48 
 
 Jerusalem Artichoke, . . 183 
 
 Jeux Floraux 95 
 
 Jonquil, H* 
 
 Judas Tree, 186 
 
 July « 
 
 June, 36 
 
 Juniper, 87 
 
 lialmia, . 
 
 Ladies' Slipper, . 
 Ladies' Smock, . 
 Lady-in-the-Green, . 
 Larch, .... 
 Large-Flowered Aster, 
 Laurel, Bay, 
 Laurel, Mountain, . 
 Laurestine, . 
 
 186 
 186 
 183 
 110 
 106 
 
 81 
 154 
 
 80 
 
INDEX. 
 
 213 
 
 Lavatera, 
 
 . 147 
 
 Mistletoe, . . . 
 
 78 
 
 Lavender, . 
 
 . 132 
 
 Monkshood, 
 
 150 
 
 Lemon, . 
 
 139 
 
 Morning Glory, 
 
 62 
 
 LUac, .... 
 
 . 18 
 
 Mosses, .... 
 
 79 
 
 Uly, Water, 
 
 . 115 
 
 Moss Rose, . 
 
 . 44 
 
 Liiy, White, . . 
 
 . S3 
 
 Mountain Ash, . 
 
 187 
 
 Lily of the Valley, . 
 
 . 30 
 
 Mountain Laurel, . 
 
 . . 154 
 
 Lime, or Linden, 
 
 . 33 
 
 Mugwort, . 
 
 . . 47 
 
 Locust, .... 
 
 . 52 
 
 Mulberry, . 
 
 129 
 
 London Pride, . 
 
 . 187 
 
 Mullein, 
 
 188 
 
 Love In a Mist, . 
 
 . 1S3 
 
 Mushroom, . 
 
 147 
 
 liOve-lies-bleeding, . 
 
 . 75 
 
 Musk Kose, . 
 
 . . Ill 
 
 Lupine, .... 
 
 . 113 
 
 Myrtle, . . . 
 
 . . 24 
 
 Lychnis, 
 
 . 187 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nettle, .... 
 
 . 112 
 
 Magnolia, . ... 137 
 
 Nightshade, Deadly, 
 
 . 178 
 
 Manchineel Tree, 
 
 
 
 119 
 
 November, . 
 
 . 73 
 
 Mandrake, . 
 
 
 
 140 
 
 
 
 Maple, . . . 
 
 
 
 143 
 
 
 
 March, . 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 Marigold, . 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 © 
 
 
 Marigold, Eainy, 
 
 
 
 138 
 
 
 Marjoram, . 
 
 
 
 187 
 
 
 
 Marshmallow, . 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 Oak, .... 
 
 . 73 
 
 Marvel of Peru, 
 
 
 
 69 
 
 October, 
 
 66 
 
 May, . . . 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 Olive 
 
 . 136 
 
 Mayflower, . 
 
 
 
 153 
 
 Onion, .... 
 
 188 
 
 Meadow Saflron, 
 
 
 
 68 
 
 Orchis, Bee, . . 
 
 . 117 
 
 Meadow Sweet, . 
 
 
 
 151 
 
 Orchis, Spider, . 
 
 . 146 
 
 Mignonette, 
 
 
 
 58 
 
 Osmunda, . 
 
 144 
 
 Milfoil, . . . 
 
 
 
 153 
 
 Our Tiady's Flower, 
 
 . 186 
 
214 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Pansy 
 
 
 
 149 
 
 Eagged Robin, ... 
 
 187 
 
 Parsley, 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 Eainy. Marigold, . . . 
 
 138 
 
 Passion Flower, 
 
 
 
 118 
 
 Red Bud, 
 
 186 
 
 Patience, 
 
 
 
 136 
 
 Red yalerian, . . . . 
 
 35 
 
 Peony, .... 
 
 
 
 135 
 
 Reeds, 
 
 133 
 
 Peppermint. 
 
 
 
 163 
 
 Eest-Harrow, . . . . 
 
 . 27 
 
 Periwinkle, 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 Rhododendron, . . . . 
 
 106 
 
 Petunia, 
 
 
 
 189 
 
 Rice, . . . V . . 
 
 190 
 
 Pimpernel, . . 
 
 
 
 111 
 
 Rosea, . .... 
 
 36 
 
 Pine, .... 
 
 
 
 117 
 
 ■Rosebud, 
 
 42 
 
 Pine- Apple, . 
 
 
 
 154 
 
 Rose Campion, . . . . 
 
 152 
 
 Plum, . . . 
 
 
 
 130 
 
 Rose, Cinnamon, 
 
 154 
 
 Plum, Indian, . 
 
 
 
 138 
 
 Rose, Hundred-Leaved, . , . 
 
 149 
 
 Plum, Wild, 
 
 
 
 127 
 
 Rose Leaf, . . 
 
 127 
 
 Poet's Narcissus, 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 Rose, Moss, 
 
 44 
 
 Polemony, . 
 
 
 
 . 145 
 
 Rose, Musk, 
 
 111 
 
 Pomegranate, . 
 
 
 
 . Ill 
 
 Rose, White, . . . 
 
 43 
 
 Poplai-, Black, . 
 
 
 
 . 112 
 
 Rose, Wild Brier, . . 
 
 43 
 
 Poplar, White, . 
 
 
 
 150 
 
 Rosemary, . . 
 
 142 
 
 Poppy, . • • 
 
 
 
 . 146 
 
 Rue 
 
 lit 
 
 Potato, . . . 
 
 
 
 . 108 
 
 
 
 Preface, . 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 - 
 
 
 Primrose, . . ; 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 Privet, . 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 (^ 
 
 
 Purple Loosestrife, 
 
 
 
 . 189 
 
 
 
 
 Sage,.or Salvia, . 
 
 . 117 
 
 /i\ 
 
 Samphire, .... 
 
 . 191 
 
 w 
 
 Sardonia, 
 
 . 129 
 
 ^ 
 
 Sassafras, .... 
 
 . 191 
 
 
 Satin Flower, . 
 
 . 121 
 
 Queen of the Meadow, . . 151 
 
 Scarlet Geranium, . 
 
 . 70 
 
 Quince, . . . 
 
 . 
 
 
 . 148 
 
 Scarlet Lobelia 
 
 . 114 
 
INDEX. 
 
 215 
 
 Scarlet Lychnis, 
 Scarlet Pimpernel, 
 September, . 
 Service Tree, 
 Sheep Lanrel, 
 Snakeroot, Seneca 
 
 ginla, . . 
 Snowdrop, . 
 Splomon's Seal, 
 Speedwell, . 
 Spider Orchis, 
 Spindle Tree, 
 Spiraea, . 
 Spring, . . 
 Strawberry, 
 Succory, 
 Sngar-Cane, 
 Summer, 
 Sundew, 
 Sunflower, . 
 Sweet Basil, 
 Sweet Brier, 
 Sweet Mai;ioram, 
 Sweet Pea, . 
 Sweet Sultan, 
 Syringa, 
 
 and 
 
 Vir- 
 
 187 
 111 
 60 
 77 
 154 
 
 192 
 119 
 146 
 155 
 151 
 
 17 
 
 33 
 122 
 192 
 
 30 
 193 
 
 63 
 124 
 
 45 
 187 
 113 
 124 
 121 
 
 Tansy, 193 
 
 Tares, 51 
 
 Tea, 194 
 
 Thorn Apple, .... 194 
 
 Thyme 34 
 
 Toad Flax, 194 
 
 Tobacco, ... .195 
 
 Trailing Arbutus, . . 153 
 
 TremeUa, 143 
 
 Trumpet Flower, . . . 195 
 
 Tuberose 61 
 
 Tulip, 20 
 
 Tulip Tree, 196 
 
 Valerian, .35 
 
 Venus' Looking-Glass, . . 120 
 
 Verbena 145 
 
 Veronica, 119 
 
 Vervain, 50 
 
 Violet, 92 
 
 Virgin's Bower, ... 107 
 
 m 
 
 Wallflower, 
 
 64 
 
 Water Hemlock, 
 
 185 
 
 Water Lily, 
 
 115 
 
 Water Trefoil, . 
 
 21 
 
 Weeping Willow, . . 
 
 IS 
 
 Wheat, . . . . 
 
 55 
 
 White Jasmine, 
 
 48 
 
216 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 White Lilac, 
 White Lily, 
 White Poplar, 
 White Poppy, 
 White Bose, 
 Whortleberry, 
 Wild Plum, . 
 Wild Turnip, 
 Willow, 
 Willow Herb, 
 
 156 
 53 
 160 
 146 
 43 
 150 
 127 
 177 
 IS 
 138 
 
 Windflower, .... 113 
 Winter, 77 
 
 Yarrow, 
 Yew, . 
 
 153