GARDEN FLOWERS

THE YEAR.

Forwonderful indeed are all His works,

Pleasan t t o know, and worthiest t o be allHad in remembrance always with delight .

L O ND ON

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY :

Insula ted 1 799 .

P R E F ACE .

THE Author of the following pages , in treating

of the Garden Flowers,has acted on the same

p rinciple a s tha t adopted in the volume on

Wild Flowers,which preceded it. In selecting

a few from the thousands of flowers which

nave been in troduced in to Britain , those are

chosen which are most common ly seen in the

garden , rather than those which are of more

choice culture . No in struction s have been

added a s to the mode of rearing them,as many

inexpens ive and va luable treatises are a lready

before the public,which are well calculated to

aid the amateur garden er in his pursuit. A

few s imple th ings respecting cultivated flowers ,

somewhat of their history, their uses , and

their relations to scriptural a llusions, are here

stated .

iv PREFACE.

The writer has also sought,as occasion

presen ted itself, to poin t the reader to the

connexion existing between the kingdom of

n ature and the kingdom of heaven

our kn owledge would be but of little worth ,

though we could name every herb of the field,

or rear every flower of the garden,or cla ssify

each tree of the forest,if we were ign oran t ot

the living “ Plan t of Ren own .

C ON T E N T S.

JANUARY .

R osemary O l d uses of this plant Snowdrop—Snowflake—Cyclamen Candy tuft Early flowering CressS cented Colt’s-foot—Winter Aconite

FEBRUARY .

Crocus—Mezereon—Pontic Daphne—Lace bark treeh Hepatica—Lilac Primrose—Japan ! uin ce—Verna l Bulbocodium—Corydalis

MARCH .

A lmond Tree—Coron illa—Garden Dafi'odils—Polyan thusAn emone—Star oi Bethlehem—Dog’s Tooth VioletWallflower—Flowers on Carmel Tulip—Crown Imperia lPen stemon Periwinkle Violets—C lan destin e VioletPansy—Iris—Bulbous Plants—Cardamine

APRIL .

Flowers of Fruit Trees—Apple—Ornamental Pear and

Cherry—Perfumed Cherry—Hyacinth—Garden of Hyacin ths—Grape Hyacinth—Feathered Hyacinth—GardenDaisies—Pyramida l Saxifrage—Round- leaved Saxifra g eDouble Furze—Onosma—Dragon Flower—Dumb CaneH orn Flower—Spira a—Bridewort—l talian May

—BladderNut—Auricula Greek Va lerian Flowering CurrantS nowy-flowered Gooseberry—Berberry—C lustered Ber

berry—Venus’s Looking G lass—MesembryanthemumIce Plants—Lilac—Persian Lilac

MAY.

Labumum—Red Valerian—Ancient Spikenard—LobeliaCardina l Flower- White Lobe lia—SpiderWort—BuglossPe largonium Myrt le Heliotrope Marigold RainyMarigold Mulleins Mallow of Scripture MallowPaper—Mallow use d as food by Ancients—LavateraHeaths—Andromeda—C limbing Cobaza—Tiger FlowerB ox Edgings—Box Shrub of Scripture—Gino theraEvening Primrose—Various species of Clema tis— JapanCorchorus—Bachelor’s Butt on—Rue - leaved R anun culus—Asphodel—Regard of Ancients for the AsphodelHonesty—Perennia l Adonis—Colmnbines—Paeony—TreePaeony Rhubarb Honeysuckle Trumpet Honeysuckle Rhododendron Garlic Garlic priz ed by t heAncients—Syringa Persicaria—Monkshood AconitesB ose Acacia Locust Tree—True Acacia—Charles’sSceptre—Escholt z ia

VI CONTENTS.

JUNE .

Rose of Scripture- Proven ce Rose—Musk Rose—FrenchRose Damask Rose—China Rose Bourbon RoseScarlet Lychnis—Cat chfly—Fraxin e lla—Fuchsia—Fren chHoneysuckle—Carnation Poppies—Minor ConvolvulusMajor Convolvulus—Fitches of Scripture- NasturtiumCanary Bird Flower Ca lceolaria Verbena—Lemon

scen t ed Verbena—Lupin—An cient uses of Lupin seedTree Lupin—Scented Scabions— Lily—Lily of ScriptureMartagon Lily—Lily of Australia— Stock—CampanulaDane’s Blood—Sweet Pea—Tangier Pea—White Jes sa

mine—Yellow Jessamine— Jessamine of MauritiusN igh t -fiowering Jessamine—Monkey Flowers—Hop Mar

joram— Larkspurs—Gum Cistus—Blue Pimpernel - Flowerin g Ras pberry—Potentil la—Span ish Broom spart o of

Spaniards—Petunia—Prickly Poppy— Foxglove—MadeiraFoxglove w 1 05

JULY.

Lavender—Phl ox—Day Lily—Hibiscus— Various uses ofHibiscus— Bladder Ketmia—Gladiolus—Bladder SennaCommelina—Sweet Basil—Hollyock—French WillowNemophila—Carnation—Pink—Tree Pink—Groundse lCoreopsis—Sa lvia Clary—Bles sed Thistle—Purple and

Yellow Sultans Yucca Z innia African Marigol dFren ch Marigol d—Globe—Balsam—Hop Grass—RibbonGrass - Feather Gras s—Tobacco Flower

AUGUST .

Dahlia—Sun -fiower—Sun ~fiower of Peruvian s—Hydrangea— B lue Hydrangea—Everlasting flowers—Gnapha liumHelichrysum Xeranthemum Globe AmaranthPrin ce ’s Feather Coxcomb Strawberry B liteRudbeckia—M ilfoil—Golden rod

SEPTEMBER .

Oriental Arbutus China As t er Michaelmas DaisyAutumn flowering Gentians—Yellow Gentian—AuturnnalCrocus—Colchicum

OCTOBER .

Chrysanthemum Feverfew Cotoneaster MignonetteTree Mignonette

N OVEMBER AND DECEMBER .

M onthly Rose3 Winter Cherry Anemones - ChristmasRose Evergreen s Laure] Portuga l Laurel SweetB ay—Rhododendron—Evergreen Thom s

JANUARY.

Here spreads a range of level plots ,O f box- fringed beds , where lurkin g knotsO f buried flowers repose , t o brin gKind greeting t o the early spring .”—Brsxor MART.

VEGETATION makes little progress now,for the

earth seems waiting for the breath of spring.

The seeds lie dorman t till some access of heatsha ll cause them to germ inate

,and the roots

abide underground , till the com ing thaw shallenable them to put forth their fibres

,and t o

send their young green shoots in to the light ofthe upper world .

Yet,even a t this time of the year, the garden

is n ot absolutely forsaken of leaves and blossom s , for God has given us win ter flowers

,and

,

like those cheering hopes of future joy, whichspring up in the heart a t the bidding of our

heavenly Father, during the season of gloom,

they sm ile even on darkest days,and give

a ssurance of fulness and beauty , such as we

should deem impossible if we looked only on

the presen t appearances of earth and sky.

The buds gradually in crease in number,and

grow larger on the branches of the trees. The

evergreen s , with their many dark green leaves ,or with their lighter hue

,like the laurel , re

fleet, on their shin ing surfaces, the n oonday

8 GARDEN FLOWERS.

sunbeams, and the laurustinus and the rose

mary bring their flowers to form the wintern osegay.

There is a sweet fragrance in the rosemary.

So thought our forefa thers when they used ita t table , and infused it in their ale . GeorgeHerbert con sidered it a good addition to cookery , for while he says that the coun try parsonshould be well skilled in the kn owledge of

plan ts , he recommends this and other herbs .

As for spices ,”says he

,the parson doth not

only prefer this and o ther homebred thingsbefore them ,

but condemn s them for vani ties ,and so shuts them out of his fam ily , esteemingthat there is n o Spice comparable for herbs , t orosemary

,thyme

,savory, and m in t and for

seeds,to fenn el and carraway seeds .

”The

troubadours,t oo

,prized the win ter fragrance

of the rosemary,and regarded both this flower

and the v iolet a s emblem s of constan cy. In

m any parts of Germany it is still grov'

vn in

large pots,that small sprigs of it may be sold

during winter and the commen cemen t of spring,

as it is used there for some religious ceremo

nies .

From the cottage ma iden , who wore a wreathof this plan t to the a ltar

,to the royal bride of

the king , the rosemary was once the customaryornamen t of the wedding ceremony ; and in

fun era ls it wa s often used . It s sprigs m ingled inthe corona l which bound the ha ir of Anne ofCleves , on the day when she became the wifeof the tyrannic Hen ry ; and it was in tended

JANUARY. 9

as an emblem of a happin ess which she was

no t destined to enj oy,with that in con stan t

monarch .

The flowers of the rosemary (Rosmarz'

nus

oficz’

na lz’

s ) are of a bluish lilac colour, and are

on the shrub from this mon th un til April . The

plan t has been from time immemoria l commonin the English garden , and grows wild in the

south of Europe. It is found,too

,on some

parts of the dry deserts of Afri ca . Dr . Shawsaw the rosemary

,and the dried stems of the

myrtle,u sed by the Moors in Barbary

,for

heating oven s and was reminded of the wordsof our Saviour respecting the flower of the

field,which to - day is , and to-morrow is cast

in to the oven .

If the weather be m ild during January, the

sn ow- dr 0p (Galan tlzus niva lz'

s) droops it s headover the earth . The Ita lian s call it snow- bell.It is a wild flower in our land . The Russiansnow - drop (Ga lan thus p lica tus ) is n o t found inour native fields

,but is common

’

on the landsof the Crimea . This species is sma ller thanthe English sn ow- drop , and con tinues in blossom later in the year .One or two of the various species of snow

flake,especia lly the spring kind

, (Leucojumvernum,) are a lso common n ow. They are

pretty bulbous - rooted plan ts , natives of variousparts of Europe

,and abundan t in Switzerland .

This flower was formerly known as St . Agnes’

flower.With a blossom of a reddish purple colour ,

A 3

GARDEN FLOWERS.

the round- leaved cyclamen (Cyclamen Coum)often sa lutes the open ing year. The name ofthis genus

,taken from the Greek

,and s ignify

ing circular , is express ive either of the leaves,

or,more probably , of the numerous serpen t

like co ils,into which the frui t st alks en twine

themselves . The bulbs of this and the otherspecies of cyclamen are a s large as a Guineafowl’s—egg . They con ta in a great degree ofa cridity. In the n orth of Italy swine feed uponthem , hence the name by which this plan t isoften ca lled of sow- bread . It is n o t till thebeautiful flowers of the cyclamen wither away

,

tha t the stalks assume the co iled form beforealluded t o ; when ,

screwing themselves round,

they inclose the rudimen ts of the fruit in thecen tre

,and lying down among the foliage , re

ma in in tha t position till it comes to ma turity.

This ea rly cyclamen is very genera l in the

south of Europe .

The Pers ian cyclamen , (Cyclamen P ers z'

cum,)

which blooms two mon ths la ter,and is far less

hardy than this,is a na tive of the is le of

Cyprus,and was in troduced in to this coun try

ra ther more than a cen tury since . On e rarerspecies , the ivy - leaved (Cyclamen hedercefolz

'

um,)

has a most fragran t odour,and sometimes en

liven s the window among the white and l ilacprimroses , which are cherished in flower- potsa t this season .

Large pa tches of the broad- leaved candytuft (Iberis semp erflorcns) are now on the gar

den - plot, with clusters of pure white cross

JANUARY. 1 1

shaped blossoms . Most of the species werebrought hither from Spain

,and their Latin

name, from it s old appella tion of Iberia

,re

m inds us of their origin . All the species are

common on the n orthern shores of the Medit er

ranean . Some of the later bloom ing kinds areabundant on the rocks of Gibra ltar

,and afford

a relief to the eye, wearied with gazing on theirbarren surfaces . The early flowering cress

(Arabis albida) 1 s not unlike these plan ts , andblooms from this period till autumn . It 1 s anative of Cauca sus .

Win ter is not the season for odours , and fewbreathe their sweetness in the frosty air ;but there is one plan t in flower

,which is so

powerqy fragran t as to fill a small gardenwith it s perfume . This IS the scen ted colt’sfoot

,

(Tussz’

layo fragrans . It s stem rises but a li ttleheight from the ground, and it has many and

large leaves . If the growth be not restrained,it sends out so many young suckers from it s

root,that it will cover the garden and overrun

the m ore delicate flowers . The blossoms are

white,and their scen t is like that of a lmonds .

It is very abun dan t on some lands of Ita ly,

and flowers in that lovely climate during thewin ter months .

The brightest flower of the win ter garden ,the very gem of January

,till the crocus comes

to riva l it, is the win ter acon ite , (E ranthz'

s hyemalz

'

s .) It s glossy yellow cups , growing nearthe earth , gave it it s name , which , taken fromthe Greek , imports earth -flower. It s leaves

1 2 GARDEN FLOWERS .

are much like those of the acon ite orwolf’Sbane .

This flower belongs to the ranunculus tribe ; and,like all plan ts of that order , it is very acrimo

n ious and a lso poison ous . A person known to thewriter

,on ce thoughtlessly a te a sma ll piece of

this pretty blossom ,and experien ced so violen t

a burn ing sen sa tion in his throat for somehours aft erwards , as to be seriously a larmed .

It is a frequen t flower in the shady woods of

Ita ly,and is found in wooded spots very gene

ra lly in the m idland coun tries of Europewhile a species very similar

,but which has

not yet found a place in our garden s,the Sibe

rian eran this,grows most plen tifully in Siberia .

The old writers cal led it yellow Wo lf’sbane,

and win ter wolf’Shane. Clare well describesthis flower

The winter acon ite ,With buttercup- like flowers , that shut at night ;It s green leaf furling roun d it s cup of goldLike tendermaiden muffled from the cold.

FEBRUARY.

A t ale of Spring aroun d the distant hazeSeems muttering pleasures with t he len gt hened daysMorn waken s , mottled oft with May

-day s t ains ,And shower- drop s hang t he grassy sprouting plainsO r on t he naked thorn of brassy hue ,Drip glistening , like a summer stream of dew ;T he woodman in h is pathway , down t he wood ,Crushes with hasty s t ep ful l many a budOf early primrose yet if t 1mely Spied ,Sheltered some old hal f-rotten stump beside,The sight will cheer h is solitary hour ,And urge his feet t o strive and save t hedower.” - CLARE .

NOTWITHSTANDING the usually dreary aspect ofthis month , yet still there are days on which

FEBRUARY. 1 3

nature seems to t ell a ta le of spring . And

cheering it is , a t such brief interva ls to welcome it s approach

,and to persuade ourselves

that snow and ra in and fros t have left us,and

that the early flowers will soon cluster abou tus . But aga in the clouds return after the

ra in ; the white fleeces from heaven descend ,a s God sen deth forth his sn ow like morsels

,

”

and we find we have yet to wa it longer beforethe leaves sha ll cover the boughs

,and the

herbs , with all their myriads of blossoms,

shall s ilen tly praise the hand of Him whomade them .

But by the end of the mon th the snows aregenera lly di sappearing

,and then we see how ,

under their covering,the young leaves and

buds have found a Shelter from the frosts .

Many a green thing has been thriving ben eaththe snow . In the n orthern coun tries of Europe ,the gra ss no t only lives , but daily grows underit ; and the Norway peasan t , who longs tha tthe verdan t land shall yield him food for hiscattle

,scatters the a shes over the white surface ,

that the young blade may rise to the sun shine .

And mercifully has the grea t Crea tor thusorda ined it

,for in those more rigorous climates

the snow seldom leaves the earth till the sun ofApril has , in our warmer region s

,sm iled out

upon the fields , and made them gay with manycolours .

First and brightest of February flowers wemus t ha il the crocus

,standing forth in it s deep

bright raimen t of “ cloth of gold .

” Severa l

1 4 GARDEN FLOWERS.

species of yellow crocus bloom now,but the

kind especia lly termed the spring crocus

(Ch’ocus vernus ) whi ch often open s in January,has usua lly white flowers tinged with purple ,or is s triped with purple and gold , or wi th a

delicate tinge of lilac,soften ing in to pure white .

This flower , which is a n ative of Switz erlandand Ita ly

,is ca lled by the Fren ch le safran

p rin tanz'

er. The true saffron crocus , however ,blooms in autumn . The species which bloomsearlies t in the spring

,is the Scotch crocus ,

(Crocus biflorus ,) striped with white and pur

ple . The beautiful kinds of fea thered crocus ,are varieties a ltered m ore or less by cultivation , but all included under the names of pa rtyco loured crocus

, (Crocus s emicolon ) Thisflower is a n ative of southern Europe

,and very

abundan t on the hills of Greece. Rich saw

both pink and yellow crocuses growing wild inKoordis tan , all over the roads . Gardenersenumerate about a hundred kinds of the

crocus . It was in troduced in to England aboutthe time of ! ueen Elizabeth . Gerarde saysof it

,“ Tha t pleasan t plan t that bringeth forth

yellow flowers, was sen t unto me from Robinus

of Paris .

”

Then the mezereon, (Daphne mez ereum,)

though a shrub of our native woods,is rare

enough to be plan ted in our garden s , becauseit flowers a t this early season . The Pon ticDaphne, too , (Dap hne P ontica ,) with it s darkevergreen shin ing leaves , and its wreath of

green win ter flowers,often finds a place there.

FEBRUARY. 1 5

It is a native of Asia Minor, and is supposedto be on e of the plan ts which

,with the rhodo

dendron,poisoned the honey of the bees

, and

caused the death of - the soldiers ln the famousretreat of the “ t en thousand recorded byXenophon .

It is remarkable that the nectar of someflowers should yield a honey poison ous to thosewho eat it

,but qu ite in n oxious to the bees ;

yet it is undoubtedly the case . Professor Lindley observes of the rhododendron

,ka lmia

,and

andromeda,tha t they have n ot on ly n ox ious

leaves and branches,but that their very honey

is poison,

as has been too fa ta lly experien cedby those who have fed on the produce of thehives of Trebizonde .

”

There are in our garden s two varieties of thecommon mezereon , one with red, the other withwhite flowers and the twin - flowered spurgelaurel

,though a wild plan t of Brita in

,is com

mouly cultivated . The sweet- scen ted mezereon

(Dap hne odora) is a pretty shrub , bu t n eedsthe shelter of the greenhouse.

Severa l kinds of daphne are used in the

south of Europe to dye wool yellow ; fromother kinds cordage is made and a soft paperis manufactured from the bark of a speciescommon in Ni al. The inner bark of one

kind,called the lace bark tree of Jamaica ,

(Daphne laget to) is so beautifully formed in toa n etwork

,tha t it is worn as lace. It has a

white shin ing surface , like s ilk,and when taken

carefully from the plan t, the hand may be put

1 6 GARDEN FLOWERS .

in to it as in a stocking. Sir Thomas Lyn ch ,who Was governor of Jama ica in the time of

Charles I.,presen ted that m onarch with a

cravat made of this materia l . The shrub willno t grow in the English garden.

The highly- po ison ous berries of the mezereonare given in Sweden to kill wild an ima ls . The

women of Taht ary rub them on their cheeks ,and by caus ing an irritation

,produce the t em

porary effect of rouge . Some writers thinktha t the scen t of every species of daphne isdeleterious

,and tha t if kept in rooms it will

cause head- ache and fa in ting .

The two varieties of hepa tica are among theprettiest flowers of the win ter mon ths . Some

are of a deep rose pink,o thers of a brillian t

blue colour ; and they bloom very brightlyamong their ivy- shaped leaves . This plan twas on ce ca lled n oble liver - wort

,and herb

Trin ity The co lour of the buds is very deep ,but the outs ide tin t of the peta ls of the bluevariety is a pa le grey .

“ The hepatica ,”says

the author of the “ Backwoods of Can ada ,”

“ is the first flower of the Canadian spring ; itgladden s us with it s tin ts of azure

,pink

, and

white , as early as April, soon after the sn ows

have melted from the earth . The Can adian sca ll it snow-flower, from it s com ing so soonafter the snow disappears . We see it s greyflowers in the open clearings

,and the deep

recesses of the forest : it s leaves are a lso an

enduring ornamen t through the open mon thsof the year : you see them on every grassy

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1 8 GARDEN FLOWERS.

A very pretty little Spring flower is not nu

common even ih this mon th . The bulbocodium

(B ulbocodz'

um vernum) is l ike a smal l darkpurple crocus . It is a n ative of Spain . Twoor three species of the elegan t coryda lis bloom ,

too,as early as February They are very

sim ilar to“ the fum itory . The bean - leavedspecies (Corydalz

’

s fabacea) has purple flowers,

and is a native of Germany ; and the solidrooted kind

,with it s pink flowers , grows wild

in’ British woods

,but it s s ize is in creased by

culture. The most common species is the

glaucous corydalis : it is a North American ,an

annua l , and may be sown so as to flower at

a lmost any season of the year.The list of February flowers 1 5 short indeed .

A few more weeks and they will have increasedtenfold

, yet we Shall scarcely va lue them morethan we do these few and early blossoms

, forthese come

,with the voices of the robin and

the thrush,to whisper of brighter days in store

for the lover of n ature. These come to rem indus that God’s hand is yet working gradually ,even a s it did when the earth was firs t robedwith verdure

,and when each success ive day

witnessed the fresh and luxurian t growth ofprimeva l vegetation .

MARCH . 1 9

MARCH.

Howmany a thing that pretty is , delaysThe wanderer’8 steps beneath the sun ’

s soft rays .

Gay daffodils bend o ’er t he watery gleam ,

Doublin g their flickered 1m age in t he stream ;T he woody nook , where be lls of brightest blueHave clothed the groun d with heaven ’

s etherea l hue ;The lane’s high s loping bank , where pale primrose ,With hundreds of i t s gentle kin dred blows ;And Speckled daisies , that on uplan d bare ,Their roun d eyes opening , scatter gladness thereMan looks on nature with a grateful smile ,And thinks of nature's bounteous Lord t he while .

JOANNA B AILL i E .

WHEN the fruit- trees are covered with flowers,

when the peach on the wa ll puts forth it s lilacblossom s

,and the apricot’s fa in t blush , and the

dark red s treaks on the apple - bloom,.

attractour n otice , then we feel fully that Spring hasa rrived . Not yet , however , can we mark theseblooms . The sun must have grea ter power

,

and the winds be gen tler , too , before thesetoken s of spring sha ll revisit the ga rden .

Mean time the a lmond- tree becomes clad withit s rose- like flowers

,and it s sweet fragran ce is

delightful in the open air. Like the blossomsof many other of our fruit - trees , it s scen t is farfrom innocen t : a poison lurks , no t on ly in thejuices and leaves of the plan t , but even in it s

odour and,as it is with many of the a ttract

ive pleasures which open to the spring- time oflife , a snare lies hid in it s dangerous beauty .

Cou ld we a t this season visit the land“ beloved for the fathers’ sake

,

”the beautiful

Pa lestin e , we should find the a lmond—blossomcovering the trees in every part of the coun try ,

20 GARDEN FLOWERS .

on both s ides of the Jordan . Even as we see itin our spring garden

,the m ind involuntarily

adverts to the pla ce and period when Aaron ’

s

rod “ brought forth buds,and bloomed blos

soms, and yielded a lmonds and when '

the

bowls used in the Holy Temple were made inthe shape of the a lmond ; or where Joseph

’

s

bre thren carried up in to Egypt, as a presen t toPharaoh

,it s sweet—flavoured kernels T The

early—com ing flower is spoken of by their pro

phet s a s emblema tic of has te,or of the head of

age t o the an cien t Hebrew it to ld of things ofwhich we take little cogn izan ce ; yet s till wemay listen to it s s ilen t voice of remembran ce ,and be led by the a lmond- flower to thoughts ofGod .

The common almonde tree (Amyga’a lus com

mum'

s) and the bitter a lmond, (Amygda lus

amara,) especia lly the former

,are the Species

chiefly cultivated in our garden s and shrubheries for the sake of their flowers . Theirfruits n eed a warmer climate to bring them tomaturity , bu t in France and Spain

,as well as

in the Mediterranean isles , these shrubs are

plan ted for the kernels . We receive our sweeta lmon d of commerce chiefly from Ma laga and

the bitter from Magadore. These two speciesare so alike in their form and flowers , that theyare dis tinguished chiefly by the flavour of theirfruits but the bitter a lmond con ta ins the

larger portion of hydrocyan ic or prussic acid

Numbers xvu. 8. f Gen . x liii. l l .

MARCH. 2 l

and a distilled water made from it is as injuriousa s the laurel water.The profuse flowering of the almond - tree

was formerly con s idered as indica tive of an

abundan t harvest. This is a lluded to byVirgilMark well the flowering almond in the wood ;If odorous blooms t he bearing branches load ,The glebe will answer t o t he sylvan reign ,Great heats will follow, and large crop s of grain .

But if a wood of leaves o’ershade t he tree ,Such , and so barren , will t he harvest be ;In vain the hin d shall vex the threshing floor,For empty straw and chaff sha l l be t hy store .

”

In Egypt a pa ste made of almonds is used,through which to filter the wa ter of the Nile ,when muddy , a t the time of the annual flood

,

and by this m ode of filtration it is renderedsweet and pleasan t , even to those who , but forsome process of this kind , could n o t drink it .At the Cape of Good Hope the wood of thealmond- tree is made into heels for shoes .

One or two pretty flowering shrubs,of the

genus coron illa , are da ily putting forth m oreblossoms . The nine - leaved species (Coronz

'

lla

valen tina) is a great ornamen t of the greenhouse, with it s pretty yellow ,

but terfly- shaped

flowers ; and,like the seven - leaved species ,

(Corom'

lla glauca ,) blooms both in win ter andsummer

,though it flowers most freely in this

and the following mon ths . The la tter plan thas bluish green leaves

,a nd it s flowers are

fragran t during day , though scen tless a t n ight .The mos t frequen t of our garden kinds is thescorpion senna , (Corom

'

lla emerus,) which

22 GARDEN FLOWERS .

blooms in April , and is a native of most partsof the ‘

con tin en t . A dye is obta ined from thisplan t which is lit le inferior to indigo . The

sma ll tufted corona ls of flowers gave to thisgenus of plan ts the name of coron illa .

The daffodil is now n odding to the breeze,and sending it s strong scen t on the air. The

old writers called it Lent lily, chalice flower,

and daffy—down - dilly. Our garden s have a

grea t variety of this flower,a s the Tradescan t’s

daffodil,which is the handsomest kind ; the

n on such ; the yellow in comparable , and manyothers . They are all in blossom during thismon th some of them remain through April

,

and they all growwi ld in the fields of southernEurope . Our old writers appear to have ihcluded under the genera l name of daffodil , thesmaller j onqui ls , and indeed all the narcissustribe . Some of those which we call n arcissusare very pretty flowers of the early spring, butthe j onqui ls are m ost fragran t the la tter weresometimes ca lled , in former times , by the n ame

of rush daffodil . The narcissus was muchesteemed by the ancien ts

,and is s till grea tly

adm ired by the Asiatics,being foun d through

out Syria , as far as In dia . The common n ame

of two of our species , Ba z elman m inor,and

major,is eviden tly of Ea stern origin . The

polyan thus narcissus is much celebrated in the

eas t , as is a lso the poets’narcissus . The former

(N arcissus taz et ta) derives it s name from the

Italian tazza , a cup and is ca lled in FranceLe narcz

'

sse dc Constantinop le. It s scent is plea

MARCH . 23

san t, and it is used in China in some religi ousceremon ies

,and it s flowers are annually sen t

to various parts of that kingdom ,fi‘

ODl Can tonwhere it is cultivated for sa le . The poetsn arcissus , called in France Janet te des con toz

’

s,

is a wild flower,too

,in some parts of England .

And some faint odours o’er the vernal dewSha ll tempt t he wanderin gs of t he earliest beeHither, with muS 1c sweet as poetry ,To woo t he flower whose verge is wiry gold.

Thus Elliott describes the polyan thus , which ,with it s red, or clar et- coloured , or

‘

lilac bloom s,

decks every cottage garden , and looks up , too ,from the choicest flower border . The polyan thus much resembles the auricula

,and is

s imply a variety of our common wild primrose .

Thomson Speaks of it asThe po lyan t hus of unnumber’d dyes .

”

It differs from the primrose,not only in hue ,

but in flowering in clusters,in stead of having

each flower on a stalk . The leaves and rootsof this and other species of primrose are sometimes gra ted and used a s snuff

,or taken in ter

n al ly a s a medicine.

The bright flowers of the garden anemonies

have a very gay and cheerful aspect , dazzlingthe eye by their brillian t scarle t, or pleas ingit no less by their softer purple or lilac tin ts ,fading into white . These flowers have beenbrough t us from the east ; and some of thefields of the Levan t are , in early spring , qui teradian t with their varied and beautiful tin ts .

In the soft climate of Provence some most

24 GARDEN FLOWERS .

lovely anemonies are scattered thickly over thelands . Our handsome garland

,or poppy

an emon e , (Anemone coronarz’

a) is the paren t ofthe finest florist s’ flower

,and comes from the

hot and dry plains of Syria and Asia Minor .The flower is white

,with a red ring round it s

cen tre . The star anemone (Anemone s tella ta )is purple and the kind called garden anemone

(Anemone hortense’

s) is purple , with’

a whitecen tre ; and all the numerous varieties whichwe have in our garden s spring from one ofthese three kinds . The anemone is anotherflower much prized in the eastern bouquet .D

’

Herbelo t men tion s a Persian work , a col

lection of mora l essays , which was ca lled , inthe figurative language of tha t people , “ TheGarden of Anemonies .

”In former days this

flower was believed to possess such magica lvirtues

,that the sag es of old times recom

mended every person to gather , in spring,the

earlies t anemon e he saw,and keep it as a pre

servation from pestilen ce . For this purposeit was carefully wrapped in scarlet

,till spring

again brought the fresh anemone , to a llure tohope

,and often to lead on to disappoin tmen t.

And well is it for us tha t our destiny in thislife is n ot thus placed in our own keeping forman

,blind m an , should choose the evil some

times when he sought the good and while hecarefully shielded him self from Sickness and

every affliction,Should perhaps put far from

him the very means of m ora l improvemen t,the very tria l which might be sen t in mercy to

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26 GARDEN FLOWERS .

oft en eaten raw. They were , t oo, in formerages , the common food of the peasan try of

Ita ly and Southern Europe . The Fren ch termthe Star of Bethlehem Ep z

'

de lait , (milkyblade .) The yellow kind is a pretty and com

mon flower. One Spec1 es of this plant, theofficinal squill , (Ornithogalum squz

'

lla ,) is themedicin al plan t men tioned by the ancien tGreeks

,and one of the very few n amed by

them which is used in modern times . It bloomsin April and May it has white blossoms

,and

is comm on in the Greek islands . It s root is of

a great Siz e,'

and is sa id by London t o be oftenas large a s the human head , and shaped like a

pear . The leaves—often a foot long— con tinuegreen all the win ter , and die away ‘ in spring ;after wh ich rises the tall stem with it s pyram idof white blossoms

,that con tinue in flower two

or three mon ths .

That pretty little favour ite flower,the dog’s

tooth vio let,is n ow open ing in the garden

border . Un like the violet in all but it s earlyappearance , it is a lovely little verna l bulb,with petals of deep lilac , reddish stem

,and

twin spotted leaves . The species n ow in floweri t the common kind , (E rythrom

'

um dens cant'

s .)It s drooping flowers are sometimes quite of adeep purple , but sometimes vary to white ;and a species with yellow flowers , (E rythronz

’

um

Americanum) is found in our gardens a mon thlater. This latter flower requires sk ill and

managemen t with us'

,but in it s native forests

it is very luxurian t and beautiful. There its

MARCH. 27

pendan t yellow blossom is described as delica tely dashed

‘

with crimson spots within, and

marked with fine purple lin es on the outerpart of the peta l ;

” while a variety of thisspecies is of a pa le crimson colour

,without

any spots or lines ; and a second is of a deepglowing yellow, its an thers of a reddish orangecolour, and thickly strewed with fine powder .These flowers grow freely in Can ada , and coverlarge tracts of land

,m in gling their fa in t odour

with tha t of the sweet wild roses which growthere

,and wi th the fragran ce of the flower

called by the colon ists the m ilk weed, whichhas the delicious perfume of a stock , and

which,with a few other powerfully scen ted

blossoms,compen sate , in some measure , for

the wan t of odours in'

the Canadian violets ,which grow in profus ion in their forests .

The dark brown or ye llow wallflower (Chelranthus chez

'

m‘

) has been cultivated for manycen tur ies in our gardens

,and furnished many

an a llus ion for the songs of the troubadours .

The Alpine wallflower is gen era lly thoughthandsomer than our common species

,on ao

coun t of it s larger and m ore compact flowers ,but it must yield to the former in sweetness ofscen t . This plan t is a native of Fran ce and

Spa in . The wallflower grows Wild on the

old walls of many an ea stern city,whose

proud palaces are crumbling to dust. Lamartine marked its blossom s

,too

,on Carmel

,whose

“excellen cy ”

st ill remains,for it reta in s it s

beaut ifirl vegetation to a greater degree than ,

28 GARDEN FLOWERS.

perhaps , any other moun tain in Syria . Growing wild upon it s heights , may yet be s een the

bright blue hyacin th,the yellow j onquil , the

va ried anemone,and the golden cup of the

poets ’ narcissus ; while thyme and wallflower ,and a variety of odoriferous herbs , yield toevery pressure of the traveller’s foot an exquisite perfume ; and the luxurian t vine, tra ilingit s broad leaves over it s slopes , con tributes ,with the flowers and shrubs

,to render it yet

worthy of it s Hebrew name of Carmel , whichsignifies , a country of vineyards and garden s .

It s laurels are ever green ; its olive- trees everfruitful, from the rivulets which wander ' down

it s heights ; while on it s very summits growthe ta ll dark pin es of the n orth

,and the hardy

oak of our climates .

The wallflower is prized highly by Asiatics ,especia lly by the Pers ian s . It will ever be a

favouri te flower with us,for the fragrance

which it yields before the rose and o thersummer flowers yet please us with their odours .

It s pungent leaves are very wholesome for cattle ,and on this accoun t it is often plan ted in pastures destined for their food . It bears the

smoke of cities better than some other flowers,

and is , therefore, frequen tly seen in the littleplot of ground which in the large towns isdevoted to the culture of flowers . The botan icn ame— taken from the Greek— signifies handflower , because it was ga thered so often forn osegays ; and as we see it in the pen t- upgarden , or the balcony which fronts the city

MARCH 29

window,where smoke somewhat impa irs it s

lustre , we are reminded of E lliott’s lines

But mourning better days , the widow hereStil l tries t o make her little garden bloom ,

For she was country born . No weed s appearWhere her poor pinks deplore their prison - tomb ;To them, a las , no second sprin g sha l l come !

And there in May t he lilac ga sps for breath ;And mint and thyme seem fain their woes t o speak,Like saddest portraits painted aft er deathAnd spindling wallflowers in t he choking reekFor life

, for life lift up their bran ches weak .

”

The magn ificen t tribe of tulips , so oft en thepride of the cottage garden , will n ow be com ingforth

,one after an other

,as the spring advances ,

but it will no t be un til May tha t the florist canexhibit them in all their varieties , and con

gratulate himself on their perfect forms and

clear colours . On e of the earliest blowingspecies

,is that which is now found in many

a cherished garden plot,and is called by

gardeners Van Thol . (Tulz'

p a suaveolens .) It s

red and yellow streaked cup glows in the fieldsof southern Europe .

The French formerly called this flower Tulip an ,which , a s well as our own name

,is derived

from the Persian Thoulyban , the word usedin Persia for the turban . The tulip was in troduced in to England about the year 1 557 , andwas

, for the n ex t cen tury,a source of con s ider

able t raffic in the Netherlands , a s w ell as an ob

ject of gambling . Growers of tulips , during theTulipoman ia

,purcha sed the bulbs at en ormous

prices , and m os t remarkable speculations werecarried on by merchants with the tulip - roots .

30 GARDEN FLOWERS .

The flower is still much cultivated in Holland,

from which coun try all the rest of Europe'

are

supplied with bulbs . The varieties of tulip,

and the n ames given to them by florists , are ,like the differen t anemonies

,n early endless .

The kind which is considered as the king offlorist s

’ flowers ,” is the common tulip

, (Tulz'

p a

Gesnerz’

ana,) which was n amed after Con rad

Gesner, the celebrat ed Swiss botan ist ; and

which has had more culture bestowed on it ,than perhaps any other flower in the world , ifwe except such a s are cultivated for the foodor other usefu l substan ces their plan ts may fur

n ish . Though this flower grows wild in the

Levan t and Syria,and is occa siona lly seen in

the fields of Con stan tinople, yet the Turks have

for many cen turies cultivated it in garden s . Itwas brought to us from a garden of Turkey, byBusbequius , and was first described by Gesn erin 1 559 . It appears

,however, to have reached

England two years earlier , for Gerarde , a t tha ttime

,m ention s the pa in s taken by one of his

“ loving friends , a curious searcher of simplesand learned apothecary ,

”who undertook , if

possible,to find out the number of sorts

but,

”adds the writer , he had not don e this

aft er twen ty years , not being able to atta in t o

the end of his trava il ; for that each n ew yearbringeth forth ~

n ew plants of sundry colours ,not before seen ; all which t o describe part icularly , were t o roll Sisyphus

’stone, or to num

her the sands .

”

An anecdote which is recorded of an occur

MARCH. 3 1

rence during the prevalence of the tulipomania ,Shows the value which was attached to theirbulbs at that time . A merchan t having givena herring to a sai lor, who had delivered somegoods

,left him to his breakfast . The man

seeing some tulip - roots lying near him ,mis

took them for on ion s, and a te a part of one ofthem with . his fish . The narrator observes ,that this s ingle root was so va luable , tha t thesa ilor’s mea l cost the merchan t more moneythan if he had entertained a prince .

The tulip is much admired in the ea st, andas it grows wild in Pa lestine , it is on e of the

flowers which have been con sidered a s the

lilies of the field” of Scripture . The Turks ,as wel l as the Persians

,hold annually a feast

of roses ; and the former people have a lso a

yearly festiva l of tulips , when the grandseignior exhibits a display of orien ta l magnifi

cen ce .

And now the large drooping bells of thecrown imperia l (F rit z

'

llarz’

a imp erialis) hangin garlands under the coron a l of leaves whichsurmoun ts the stem . It wa s formerly ca lledPers ian lily

, as it is a n a tive of Persia . It s

sweet honey is sa id to be poison ous to bees .

The light purple bells,too

,of the ea rly bloom

ing Pen stemon (P ens temon camp anula ta) are

coming into flower. This species is a n ativeof Mexico

,and all the kinds of this plan t have

reached us from the various parts of America ,where they are common flowers .

The bright blue flowers of the periwinkle

32 GARDEN FLOWERS.

Vmca major) have been open here and thereall through the win ter , but are much -moreabundan t now,

and during the summermon ths .

They are the common o rnamen ts of cottagegarden s , and sometimes grow wild by streamsor in woods . Hurdi s describes them

See where the sky-blue periwinkle ClimbsE

’en t o the cottage eaves , and hides the wal l

And dairy lattice , with a thousan d eyesPentagonally formed, t o mock the skillOf proud geometer.

This species is wild in all the coun tries ofsouthern and m iddle Europe .

But some of our garden periwinkles are not

blue . There is the Madagascar periwinkle,(Vinca rosea ,) of a beautiful pink co lour ;which

,like our common species , blooms during

the greater part of the year , and bears . it s twinflowers

,and twines luxurian tly among the

trees and bushes of Hindoostan . Then thereare the s i lver- striped , gold—striped , whiteflowered, and severa l others , s ome of theirvarieties produced by cultiva tion from our com

mon blue species , and others in troduced fromIndia . The n ame of oinca is

,derived from vin

eulam,a bond . The Fren ch term the flower

p ervenche. It s old Anglo - Saxon name wa s

p eruz’

nce, and Chaucer calls it by another ;thus

,he says ,

“ There sprange the violet a! newe,And fresh pewinke rich of hewe .

”

It wa s supposed,in the olden times

,to cure the

cramp , and wreaths of its twigs were woundround the limbs for this purpose.

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36 GARDEN FLOWERS .

emetic property. Botan ists have stated that alarger number of species of violets are found inNorth America , than in any other portion of

the globe .

Besides the tuft s of violets of various kindswhich are found in our spring garden s , wem ight enumera te the large tribe ofh eartseaseor pansy , which flower is , in fact, a violet , andis the Viola tricolor of the botan ist . A. few

on ly of these flowers are found within the

tropics . Many are from America,and severa l

from Siberia . Some very pretty pan s ies growon the Cliffs of Northern Europe . Linnmus

,in

his work on the flowers of Lapland,says ,

Here and there,among the rocks , small

patches of vegetation were to be seen,full of a

va riety of herbaceous plan ts ; among others,

Viola tricolor, of which some of the flowerswere white others

,with the upper peta ls blue

and yellow ,and the latera l and lower on es blue ;

while others , aga in ,had a m ix ture of yellow in

the Side petals . All these were found within a

foot of each other, sometimes on the same

sta lk .

”

The striped flowers of the Chalcedon ian iris(Iris Susiana ) now wave gaily over the borders .

It s flowers are the larges t and handsomest ofthis most beautiful genus , and it was ca lled bythe old writers , the Turkey flower de luce .

The various species of iris are chiefly European .

Severa l are from differen t parts of As ia , and a

few from America . The pretty Persian iris , (IrisPersica ,) with it s fragran t and bright - coloured

MARCH. 35

blossoms , is a native of the coun try which it sn ame denotes We have a lso some prettyChinese species . The dark purple

, a lm ostblack kind of iris

,ca lled snake’s head

, (Iristuberosa ,) is common in the Levan t . The verylovely white species

,the Floren tin e iris (Iris

F loren t z'

na) is ca lled by the Fren ch la flambeblanche. It grows wild in the south of Europe.

Milton describes these flowers, with their

various colours , asIris all hues .

”

Among the ancien ts an iris was the symbol ofeloquen ce .

Some species of iris have large bulbous roots ,and many of the Afr ican kinds are commonlyea ten a s food by t he Hotten tots .

“ The Iris

edulz’

s ,”says Thunberg when speaking of the Cape

of Good Hope ,“a plan t whi ch grew here in

grea t abun dance , and decora ted the fields witha variety of white and yellow and blue flowers

,

was brought in grea t quan tities by the s laves .

These bulbs were eaten either roasted and

boiled , or s tewed with milk,and appeared to

me to be both pa la table and n ourishing.

”

The Hotten tots live n ot only upon this root,

but on a grea t variety of bulbous - rooted plan ts,

wi th the bright blossoms of which the desertis s trewn . Bulbous plan ts are very genera llyfoun d in spots

,which , a t some parts of the

yea r , are dried up, and which would produceno vegetation were i t n o t for some such provis ion as is con ta ined in the bulb . Thus

,

”

B 2

36 GARDEN FLOWERS .

says Professor Lindley, in places like the harddry Ka rroos of the Cape of Good Hope , wherera in fa lls on ly for three m on ths in the year ;in the parched plain s of Barbary, where the

groun d is rarely refreshed by showers,except

in the win ter and on the most burn ing shoresof tropica l India

,beyond the rea ch of the tide

,

and buried in sand , the tempera ture of whichrises to bulbous - rooted plan ts are en abledto live and enliven such scenes with periodica lbeaut The succulen t stems and leaves ofother plan ts of the sandy deserts afford a s im ilar provision , by their power of absorbing and

reta in ing the dews which water the desert ;and shall we n ot say with the psalm ist

,

“ Ohthat men would pra ise the Lord for his goodn ess

,and for his wonderful works 1” The igno

ran t Hotten tot knows n o t how to till his land,

nor will it s arid soil admit of culture . He caresno t to provide beyond the morrow , yet is he

cared for by the God who feeds the fowl of

the air,and in structs the bird of the Wilder

ness .

And now every day the garden - trees seem t oproduce m ore young buds , and the buds are

expanding so fa st,notwithstanding the eas terly

winds,and the blights which they bring with

them,tha t there will be shade enough by the

time when the sun Sha ll drive us to seek it . Thewinds yet whistle shrilly through some ha lfclad bran ches , bu t Nature seem s to be rej oicing,and to be gradua lly putting on her strengthand beauty ; and the green of the half expanded

APRIL . 37

foliage , though exhibiting less variety than thehues of la ter season s

,has a beauty of its own

a beauty of youth and freshness . It seems likethe un tried feelings and hopes of the young lifeof human beings ; and were we n o t certa in thatit should aga in bloom in an other spring, weshould s igh a s we remembered tha t it mustturn to the withered leaf

,as surely as the ea rly

hope sha l l change to disappoin tmen t . But

there are hopes which may grow brighter andbrighter a s seasons and years move onward ;and bloom in freshness through a long etern ity ;and bring forth tha t joy which fadeth n o t

away— hopes which shall be con summa ted man eterna l Spring

,for they are founded on those

p romises of God which are immutable .

APRIL.

“ Is there a heart that beats and lives ,To which nojoy t he spring-time gives ?Alas , in that unfee lin g heartN0 love nor kindliness hath partOr chilling want

, or pining care,Must brood

, or comfortles s despairBlest, who without profane al loy ,Can reve l in that blameless joy ;More blest in every wel come hourIf spring -time smile , or winter lower,Who round him scattered , hears and sees

What still the excursive sen se may please ;Who roun d h im finds , perchance un sought,Fresh matter for improving thought ;And more , t he more he looks abroad ,Marks , owns , and loves , t he present God.

—B 1 sn or MAN'r .

THE white and blushing blossoms of the fruittrees render the April garden a grove of flowers .

38 GARDEN FLOWERS.

Among the most abundan t and the brightestin tin t

,are the apple- blossom s

, which thickenand redden un til by the close of the mon th theirredness turn s to paleness . The apple whichthey produce is among the most va luable ofBritish fruits ; and as

; the tree may be grown inany soil or climate , and will bear its brightblossoms and it s ruddy store for many years , itis not surprising that it should be so genera llycultivated . Though only twenty—two kinds ofapple were known to the Roman s , severalhundred varieties are now reared in this land.

The blossoms of n on e are more beautiful thanthose of the Siberian crab , (Pyrus p rumfolz

'

a )which is n ow in flower , and the sma ll cherrylike fruits of which , though harsh to the ta ste ,are the most deeply coloured and ornamen ta l ofany of the species .

Tha t th is tree wa s cultivated by the ancien tBritons in the earlier days of this coun try,there is little doubt. Our English name for th e

fruit seem s to have been derived from the

Sax on aeppel, While the cider made from it s

juice is a s light abbreviation of the name ofseider

,given by the early Briton s to some

beverage which they had in common use . In

later days the apple juice has been used as acosmetic

, and the old physician s estimated it sodour so highly that they often directed theirpatien ts to ho ld in their hand a sweet apple

,

”

a s a remedy in some of those alarming infection s , which , like the plague , on ce preyed uponthe inhabitan ts of this land.

APRIL . 39

The apple is familiar to us as a plan t namedin Scripture . Thus the prophet Joel

,describing

the mournful condition of the land of the

patriarchs , when lying under the wrath ofJehovah , says ,

“ The vine is dr ied up , and thefig

- tree langui sheth,the pomegranate - tree

,the

pa lm - tree a lso,and the apple - tree, even all the

trees of the forest are withered , because j oy iswithered away from the son s ofmen .

” Some ofour best commen tators

,however , are of opinion ,

that the word tran slated apple,ought rather to

have been rendered Citron,as the handsome

appearance of this latter tree,both while in

flower and fruit, seems

.particularly suited to

the a llus ion s ofthe in spired writers . The frui t,too , is highly va lued, while the apple of Pa lestine is of an in ferior qua li ty .

Some very ornamen tal trees of the pear kindare now putting forth their blossoms , and are

cultivated by our gardeners for their beautifulflowers . A species of pear (Pyrus salm

’

folz'

a )with downy leaves

,something like those of the

sage,and wi th white flowers , is one of the

prettiest kinds . Severa l of these plan ts havelong Silvery

‘

white leaves , others n arrow s ilkyleaves

,like the willow while one species

(Pyrus nioalz'

s) ha s round leaves , as white as

it s snowy flowers . These trees are beautifulin form ,

but their fruits are not fit for eating.

The ornamen ta l plum - trees , too , are numerous ,with their white flowers ; and the pretty flowering shrubs of the cherry- tree tribe , have a goodeffect in the garden or shrubbery. Several of

40 GARDEN FLOWERS .

them have large double flowers . One kind ofcherry

,the perfumed cherry- tree , (Cerasus

M aha leb,) often found in garden s , has a sweet

scen t,like that of the clema tis

,which is percept

ible a t a considerable distan ce . It s hard roundfruit is used for beads by Catholics , and the

wood is scen ted by the Fren ch , and manu

factured in to various articles of furn iture . The

manufacture is carried on chiefly a t the villageof St. Lucie

,n ear Commercy , and hence this

wood is ca lled by the French , bois de S t . Lucie.

With us the tree is plan ted for its profuse and

fragran t flowers .

Shade - loving hyacinth , t hdu comes t again ,

And thy rich odours seem t o swe l l th e flowOf the lark’s song, the redbreast’s lovely strain ,And the stream’

s tune .

”

Thus sang Ellio tt to our woodland hyacin th ,which now is bloom ing . Our garden hyacin thsare much like the wild species , but are double ,and have a variety of tin ts . Some are darkblue or pa le a zure

,others are of pink , amethys t ,

white,or primrose colours . This flower is

the eastern hyacin th, (Hyacin thus Orienta le.)

It has long shed it s beauty on the in - doors ’

room , from the water vase, and now flourishesfreely in the open air . It has one advantagewhen grown in the wa ter above it s growth inthe ground, inasmuch as we can there see the

fibres from the root,which are a lmos t a s beau

tiful as the flower itself,while

,in the garden ,

these are concealed from our View . A varietyof names have been given by florists to these

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42 GARDEN FLOWERS .

the garlic assumes a size and beauty whichmight render it worthy of becom ing an ornamen ta l plan t in our gardens .

”

In Russia the hyacin th has been found wild,with bells of deep yellow . The roots of allspecies of hyacin th are more or less poison ous .

This flower is much adm ired in the east,and

some years sin ce,the favourite apartmen t of

the Sultan a t Con stan tin ople wa s ca lled the

chamber of the garden of hyacinths . Dr.

E . D. Clarke con trived to gain adm ittan ce intothis retired spot . He describes it as a smallgarden , nea tly arranged in a number of oblongborders , edged with porcela in or Dutch tiles .

Not a flower wa s to be seen in this cherished

parterre, save the eastern hyacin th , and thiswaved it s thousands of bells but

,by it s mo ;

n o tony , the garden was rendered less pleasingthan gardens in gen era l . and had a drea ryand unvaried a spect. One would have ima

gin ed tha t the powerful odours from a gardenof hyacin ths

,borne upon the warm air of the

south,would have rendered the n eighbouring

apartmen t neither hea lthful nor agreeable ; yethere

, gazing upon the flowers , the Sultan spenta great part of his time .

The starch hyacin th , ca lled a lso grapehyacinth or grape flower , (Muscarz

'

racemosum,)

received its former n ame from Curtis,

on

accoun t of its strong odour of starch , and the

quan tity of thick mucilage which exists in the

plan t. The old writers termed it tasselhyacin th ,

“ because,

”says Parkinson ,

“ the

APRIL . 43

whole sta lk , with the flowers upon it , dothsomewhat resemble a long purse tassel and

thereupon divers gen tlewomen have so namedit.” It is in some parts of Fran ce ca lled Wildon ion , on accoun t of it s ovate

,bulbous root.

The flowers are composed of a thick compactcluster of small purple or a sh - coloured bells .

The species ca lled musk - grape hyacinth , is a

handsomer flower than the starch kind . It hasnarrow leaves

,more than a foot long , and grows

wild in southern Europe. The feathered hyacin th (Muscarz

’

comosum mons trosum) is an

exceedingly pretty border flower . It blowsduring April and May . Several kinds havean odour of musk , hen ce their Latin names

from museus . This substan ce is called m iskby the Arabs . The flower is very gen era l inthe east

,and one of the common est in the

Syrian field .

In spite of nipping Sheep and hungry cow,

The lIt t le daisy finds a place t o blow .

”

Clare writes thus of our field flower , and thegarden da isies keep pace with it. Indeed all

the double,and quilled , a n

"hen and chicken

dais ies , which have , for cen t uries , orn amen tedthe edges of flower beds , are merely varietiesof the common daisy

, (Bellz'

s p erennis .) The

Germans have raised a grea t number of

varieties of this flower,differing especia lly in

all the shades of red and white ; but the darkcrimson da isy

, so often clustering with the

London pride around the cottage garden bed,is the most beautiful in hue . There is a

44 GARDEN FLOWERS.

garden species called the annual daisy, (Bellisannua

,) which is much like our British da isy,and which grows wild as common ly as that ,in the fields of Italy, Spa in , and Fran ce . The

large white Portuga l da isy (Bellz'

s sylves tm’

s) isthe common ornamen t of the meadows in the

land from which it derives it s name .

Some of our most elegan t spring borderflowers are the saxifrages . They are chieflyA lpine plan ts , growing wild on rocky or stony

places. One of the most common kinds is thatwhich is in flower during this mon th , and

sometimes a s early as February. It is thethick leaved saxifrage

, (Sawz'

fraga crass zfolz'

a .)It has pale purple blossoms

,and large showy

foliage. During autumn the leaves of thisplan t wither

,and the stem turn s quite black ,

and forms fibres, which constitute the root of

the plan t which is , in the following spring,

to en liven the garden . This flower is a nativeof Siberia , growing among the sn ows of thatin clemen t clime

,and bloom ing far up the hills

of those dreary region s . The variety calledthe thick heart- leaved saxifrage bears largerblossoms . The London pride (Samfragaumbrosa) is the hardiest and most common ofthe genus . It grows wild on some of ourmoun ta in s . The Fren ch term it Amouret te.

Nearly s ixty species of saxifrage bloom in

the English garden . Though moun tain flowers,

they wi ll flourish on pla in and valley ; and

many , like the London pride, will bloom amidthe impure a irs of the great metropolis . A

APRIL . 45

few are difficult to rear . They can bear thecold spring winds , for their native haun ts are

the high peak s of the moun ta in s,and the

Alps and Pyrenees are made beautiful by theirblossoms

, which open even on the lim its of per

petual sn ow but our win ter , with it s frosts ,injures them

,for they have not at all times a

thick covering of sn ow over their roots,and a

wet sea son renders them still m ore s ickly .

On their ice- clad region s they bloom unhurt,and the snow gradually makes room for theirblossoms to show themselves . Mrs . Sigourn eyhas some lines addressed to mountain flowerswell suited to them

Man,who panting toils

O’er s lippery steeps , or trembling treads the vergeO f yawn in g gu lfs , o’er which t h e headlong plungeIs t o eternity, looks shuddering up,And marks ye in your placid love liness ,Fearless yet frail , and clasping his chill hands ,Blesses your penculed beaut y ’

Mid t he pompOfmountain summits rushing on the sky ,And chaining the rapt soul in breathless awe,He bows and binds you droopin g t o his breast,Inhales your spirit from t he frost-winged gale ,And freer dreams of heaven .

”

The pyramida l saxifrage (Saxzifraga cotyledon) is by no mean s an un common gardenflower, but it s large handsome spikes of flowersdo not open till June . They are white

,spotted

with rose colour,and grow on the Pyrenees .

The saffron coloured saxifrage (Samz'

fragamuta ta ) \with it s yellow flowers

,requires

shelter from the frost,and is among the least

hardy of the tribe . It grows wild on the highlands of Switzerland and Italy .

46 GARDEN FLOWERS.

One of the prettiest species is the roundleaved , (Saarifraga which bloomsla ter in the summer , and is most abundan t onthe rocks and in the va lleys of Piedmon t ;those va lleys made deeply in teresting , not onlyby natura l scenery, but by the faith of many,who have in these seclus ion s died martyrs forthe truths of the gospel . A flower a llied to thesaxifrages , and called golden saxifrage , growsthere too , and is eaten by the Piedmon tese.

The purple flowers of the opposite- leavedsaxifrage , and the white- flowered granulatedkind

,often bearing double flowers

,are very

common in the garden during April . The

former was much adm ired by Dr . Clarke 1n

Norway. The most beautiful and scarceplan ts were

,he says , here pendan t among the

cliffs : this species of saxifrage especia lly , anda kin d of gen tian peeping above the snow.

The clustered Alpine,the starry , the larger

moun ta in,and the oppos ite- leaved species , a lso

grew in great beauty and n othing,

” he adds ,can be more elegan t , than the hanging clusters

of the last,like penden t pearls upon the

rocks .

”

The bright flowers of the double furze

(Ulea: E urop eans) are very fragran t n ow. Itis merely a variety of our common moorlandfurze. It is not often that double flowers arefound wild in this coun try

, but this was discovered some years ago to be growing on someun cultivated moors of Devon shire , and has

s ince been propagated by cutting in the nursery

APRIL. 47

groun d . The larger kind,called Irish whin

, isa very luxur iant plan t for the garden or shrubbery. It has no spines

,and is often eight feet

high . It mus t be propagated by cuttings , as

it has never been kn own to ripen it s seeds .

The Wild fla me is common on our Englishheaths , and Stephens saw it growing in grea tprofus ion in central America

,on the ruin s of

some of those in teresting ancien t c ities,on

whose history books throw little light, yet

whose origin and decay are deeply interestingto the philosopher.In many gardens we n ow find m flewer one

or two species of arum,a s the purple and

Virginian arums . All kinds of this plan t are

sufficien tly like our wild flower , Called lordsand ladies

,to be recogn ised without difficulty

as belonging to the same genus . They all

have a cen tra l column , ca lled by botanists a

spadix,on which the flowers are found. The

roots of all, like those of the wild arum , are

pungen t and acrid ; but some of them are

milder,and

,as well a s the leaves , are nutritive

,

when cooked . The celebrated yam of theis les of the southern ocean is the root of on eof them. They are very abundan t , and ofvarious species in hot climates , and are usedas common food by the natives of the WestIndies . One species cultivated in our gardens,and growing wild in many parts of southernEurope

,is the common dragon flower (Arum

dracunculus) called by the French la ser

pen taire. It is a remarkable plan t, and

4S GARDEN FLOWERS.

reminds one of a snake , by it s leaves spottedwith purple and brown . The flower has so

strong an odour of carrion , that few person scan bear to approach it . Still more offen s iveis the odour

_from a species of arum which

grows in ditches , abou t the Stra its ofMagellan .

This plan t ha s the appea rance of an ulcer, andso powerful is it s odour of decayed meat, thatthe flesh -fly depos its her eggs on it s flowers .

Dr. Lindley, treating of the acridity whichex ists in the roots of the arum tribe

,n ames

on e which has a s ingular and dangerous poison .

This is the celebrated dumb cane of the WestIndies and South America . This plan t growsto the height of six feet. “ It has

,

”says this

writer,

“ the property, when chewed , ofswelling the tongue and destroying the powerof speech . Dr. Hooker relates an accoun t ofa gardener

,who in cautiously bit a piece of

the dumb cane , when his tongue swelled tosuch a degree that he could n ot move it. He

became utterly incapable of speaking , and wasconfined to the house for some days

,in the

m ost excruciating t 0 1 men t .Mo1 e than a dozen species of arum have

been introduced in to the garden s of England,

but they are,on accoun t of their unpleasan t

odour,but little in gen era l cultivated

, and

chiefly left to the garden s of those who valueth em a s curiosities . One very lovely kind

,

however , is often found gracing the hall orparlour , and has a sweet fragrance. It 1 s sometimes ca lled the horn flower

, (Calla E thiop ica .

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50 GARDEN FLOWERS.

species,with it s large bunches of small white

flowers , among it s dark green leaves , and it isan under- shrub in the tall American forest,bloom ing with us in the mon th from which ithas it s familiar name. About the same time

,

too, we see the bridewort or queen

’

s embroidery,

with it s spikes of pinkish lilac flowers,looking

much like some piece of finely- wrought needlework and a little later. the Virginian Guelderrose

,and the Ca liforn ian species , with it s

loose clusters of fea ther- like white flowers ,floating up and down to every summer breeze

,

may be seen decking the summer bed,delight

ing most in a moist soil,and flourishing to

fullest perfection in the garden th rough whicha stream meanders .

Nor is this genus destitute of those herbaceous plan ts

,those lowlier flowers

,which

sometimes find room on beds which could not

adm it of the more Spreading shrub . The mea

dow sweet (Sp ircea ulmaria) is often broughtfrom our wild fields in to the garden ; the goat

’

s

beard, (Sp ircea aruncus ) a Siberian speci es

,IS

very ornamen ta l with its white flowers in the”

mon th of Jun e ; and the dropwort of our

meads (Sp ircea filipendula) is very pretty in

the garden , when it s blossoms have, by cultui e,b een rendered double.

The bladder- nut (S taphylea‘

p inna ta) is a

hai dy plan t of North America , now in bloomIt s flowers are white

,and the brown seeds are

enclosed in a large inflated capsule or bladder .The hard smooth nuts

,bitter as they are

,are

APRLL. 5 1

eaten in some coun tries , and in Ca tholic lands ,are strung a s necklaces and rosaries .

During this and next mon th we may see the

flowers of the numerous varieties of auricula,

(Auricula p rimula .) Most of them are kept inpots , but some common kinds are found in thegarden , bloom ing beside the early hyacin thand

' other spring flowers . This flower hasreceived great a tten tion from florists

,and in

numerable varieties , differing both in blossoms

and foliage from each other,have been the

result of their pa ins . Several volumes havebeen written solely upon it s culture , theirauthors recommendin g a great number of

modes of treatmen t . The artisans of Lancashire have long been celebrated for the beautyof their auriculas , and Loudon observes , that itis no un common thing for a m echanic of tha tcoun ty

,who earns from eighteen to thirty

shillings per week , to give two guineas for a

fresh variety, in order to ra ise seedlings from

it. This flower was long known as the m ountain or French cowslip . It deserves its formername, for_ it blooms above the sn ows of manyalpine regions of Italy

,Switzerland , and .Ger

many. It is also found wild in the neighbourhood of Astracan . The old botan ist stermed it bear’s ear (Auricula ursi) from the

shape of it s leaves , and gardeners have manyfanciful names for the varieties they havera ised . In it s wild state the auricula is generally of a red or yellow, sometimes of a purplecolour, and occas ionally variegated , or scattered

52 GARDEN FLOWERS.

over with a-mea ly powder. In the garden the

darker kin ds have usually more or less of thiswhite powder on their blossoms , and sometimes

,too

,on their foliage, as Thomson de;

scribes themAuriculas enriched

With shining meal o’

er all their velvet leaves .

The expressed juice of the leaves of theauricula , was , in former days , a va lued medicine ; and Ray gravely says of it, that if mingled with the milk of a red cow, it will curethe most in tense headache .

A pretty flower,called Greek va lerian , (Po

lemon z'

um rep tans ,) is already in bloom . It haslight blue flowers

,and is a n ative of America .

A much more frequen t kind is the speciesgenera lly ca lled Jacob’s ladder, (Polemom

'

um

cwruleum,) which blooms

'

in a lmost every garden ih the mon th following this . It has numerous blossom s

,either of a light blue

,or varying

in all the shades of blue and bluish white,to a

pure sn ow- white tin t. This flower is in Staffordshire ca lled charity and the fam iliar nameof Jacob’s ladder was probably suggested bythe farm of it s leaves , which con sist of a num

ber of leaflets , oppos ite to each other, on the

stem , and n o t un like steps . This was suflicien tto lead our forefathers to adopt it as an emblemof something scriptural

,a t a period when monks

and friars were the chief cultivators of plan ts ,and the great discoverers of their virtues . The

ancien t writers held in great repute a plantwhich they termed p olemom

'

um. The name is

APRIL . 53

taken from the Greek word signifying war,and

P liny relates , that it received this design ationfrom it s having been the cause of war betweentwo kings , each of Whom claimed the merit ofhaving discovered some medicina l propertieswhich it was supposed to possess . Grea t indeed must it s virtues have been ,

if it s good tomankind could have a t all compen sated for theills brought on by war

,and it s a ttendan t

m iseries ; but if the plan t we now call Greekva lerian

,is the same as that which occupied so

much a tten tion in an cien t days,the di scovery

was indeed of little va lue, and it s remedia leffects of small power . It is not improbable ,however , that the old n ame ha s descended , inthis instan ce, to an other flower than that towhich it was origina lly given .

And now severa l of those ornamen ta l plan tsof m odern gardens

,the flowering curran t and

gooseberry bushes , are hanging their abundan tblossoms to the sun shine . These shrubs wereunkn own to us a cen tury sin ce, though now so

many species are common . One of the mostgenera l of them all is now in blossom . This isthe red-flowered black curran t

, (Ribes sangui

neum.) Severa l varieties of this species are

cultivated , distinguished chiefly by the colourof their blossoms . The dark- tin ted variety isthe prettiest . This plan t was brought hitherfrom Ca lifo rn ia

,where it grows wild

,be

neath the shade of the wood. It is found wild ,too, most frequen tly , and in greatest luxuriance

,in the neighbourhood of streams . Mrs

54 GARDEN FLOWERS.

Loudon observes, that“ the colour of the

flowers varies very much according to the soilon which the shrub is grown the darkest andbrightest hue has been observable in those plan tswhich are grown on calcareous soils , and the

pa lest and least brillian t are those grown on

sandy soils . All the differen t species of flowering curran t are hardy plants , and bloomearly in the year .Perhaps the most ornamen tal of all the com ;

mon species of ribes , is the snowy- flowered

gooseberry, (Ribes niveum,) with it s hanging

bells a s white a s the purest wax , and it s darkpurple fru its of the later season , which are

very agreeable to the pa late. Then there are

other species , with red bells and long stamen s,

like the fuchsia ; and others with pa le greenor gold- coloured blossoms ; While one beautifulkind , the wax—leaved curran t, (Ribes cereum

,)has round leaves covered with a thin layerof a wax—like substan ce , and well deserves it sdistinctive n ame . The fruits of these floweringcurran t bushes are all wholesome , and some of

them agreeable to the taste. They are purple ,scarlet

,or black in colour. Several of them

,

however , will not ripen in this coun try, ando thers have a harsh and crude flavour .

Many species of berberry are daily becominggayer with their pretty yellow flowers

,nor will

they be less ornamen ta l to the garden,when , in

the autumna l season,their dark red pendulous

fruits will glitter among the branches . Our

common kind (Berberz’

s vulgaris) is well known ,

APRIL . 55

but it is in very 1 11 repute with the farmer, asit is believed to be injurious to corn . How

far this reproach is merited, is a question still

much discussed by botan ical writers . The

injury is supposed to originate with an insect,

which is very fond of the berberry tree , andvery generally found upon it

,and this is thought

to cause a kind of powder , which , being scatt ered over the n eighbouring cornfield

,alights

Upon the wheat and barley,and

' produces a

sor t of fungus,rendering the plan t unhealthy

,

and giving it the appearance of m ildewed corn .

Severa l n aturalists of em inence have advoca tedthis popular opin ion . The flowers of the com

mon species possess stamen s of so irritable a

nature , that Linnaeus observed them all to tendtowards the cen tra l column

,or pistil

,if touched

ever so lightly by the bee ; and their s ingularsen sibility may be easily seen , by touching one

of the stamen s with a pin , when they all immediat ely curve and meet a t the poin t. There isa great degree of acidity in the red fruits of

this plan t,and they are con sidered to afford

a good medicine in cases of fever ; while theyhang un touched by the birds , which do n o t

relish their sour flavour . These fruits are

used for preserves,for garn ishing dishes , and,

enclosed in sugar,are prepared as comfit s by

confection ers . A great degree of the acidity isa lso found in the bluish green leaves of the

berberry . The roots yield a yellow colour,which is much used in Poland for dying leather ; and the astringen t bark and stem are

56 GARDEN FLOWERS.

valuable to our manufacturers in the1r colouring preparations . Sometimes the fruits of thecommon berberry are of a yellow colour

,and

Occasionally they are purple in hue.

Tha t pretty little border flower,the Venus

’s

looking- glass , (Camp anula speculum) wi th it swhite or purple circular blossoms

,is very com

mon . From its shape, like that of the ancien tmirror

,this flower derived it s fam iliar n ame ;

and as the astron om ica l sign of Venus ( ! ) wasa figure of the old m irror , and the handle bywhich it was held

, so the flower bears,t oo, the

name of the fabled goddess . The root of thisplan t

,like those of most other species of cam

p anula , con ta in s a m ilky juice. The flowergrows very freely in the cornfields of southernEurope

,and is very common in France and

Ita ly,though on the former lands it is n ot

usua lly quite so large a s we see it in our gar

dens . A new species ofVenus’s looking- glass

(Camp anula L orez’

) has lately been in troducedinto the English nursery grounds . The floweris called in France la doucet te, and it was formerly known in this coun t ry a s the corn - pinkand corn -

gilliflower.

Some of the more hardy kinds of that singular flower the fig -marigold , are, by the end

of the month , glittering on the stone or rockwork of the garden

,and are the hera lds of the

hundreds,which shall

,as the season advances ,

put forth their s tarry flowers . This handsomet ribe has been brought to us from the Capeof Good Hope, and with it s singular beauty

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GARDEN FLOWERS.

geran iums , which preside there. These are

those curious species,the ice plan ts , Which

even on the warm summer day , seem a s ifwin ter had conden sed his icicles on their suc

culen t stem s and leaves . One of these , theice plan t (M esembrg/an tbemum crysta llinum) isa bienn ial plan t. The common frozen plan t

(M esembryantlzemum glacia le) is an annual.They have both white flowers

,but it is for the

beauty of the crysta llization on their foliage,

that they deserve culture . They were broughtin to our garden s from Greece.

The leaves of severa l species of this plan tcon tain soda . One kind especially , the kn otflowered fig

—marigold,which is a native of

some of the dry pla in s of Egypt , is burned forthe great quan t ity of potash to be found in it sa shes . This plan t , as well as another species

,

burned for the barilla or soda which they con

ta in , are , by the Arabic writers comprehendedunder the genera l n ame of ghasool, sign ifyingthe wa sher or washing herb , and they are

common no t on ly in the deserts of Arabia , buta lso in various parts of Syria . The a shes ofthis and a s im ilar species

, y ielding a lkal inesubstan ces , are supposed to be referred to inScripture under the word tran slated soap” inour version .

“ Though thou wash thee withn itre

,and take thee much soap , said the

prophet Jeremiah ,“

yet thine in iquity is

marked before me , saith the Lord God .

”For

the evil heart of Israel had led him a strayfrom God

,so that he had become polluted in

APRIL. 59

the eyes of Jehovah, and no appliance of

man ’

s device could clean se him ,til l he turned

and subm itted himself to God . As it is inour day , so it was then , man could not atonefor past pollution or presen t sin , and the on lymean s of purification and forgiveness was thatwhich the Holy Scriptures reveal.

The roots of some of these flowers , especia llyone termed the edible fig marigold (fil es embryanthemum edulc) are very va luable to the Hot

t en t o t s,who often pull them up from their

sandy soils . One species of this plan t isabundan t in the very differen t clima te of the

Can adian woods . When the so i l is sandy itcovers the ear th like a thick ma t

,and when it

encroaches on the spot which the colon ist ha sappropriated for a garden , it is a most troublesome weed . It is a variety of the hourblowing fig marigold

,and sends forth a con

stan t succession of yellow star- shaped flowersfrom among it s thick green trailing stalks and

it s ju icy foliage .

Kitto speaks of these flowers on the Arabiandeserts a s exceedingly numerous

,and as ex

hibit ing every playful variety in the form ofthe leaves . He says that “ their aspect oftenpresents a deligh tful con trast to the comfortlesswaste around , and the arid soil ben eaththem .

"

Not the less beautiful , because i t is verycommon

,is the lilac tree, (Syringe uulgarz

'

s,)

which graces a like the poor man’

s cottagedoor

, and the highest cultured garden of his

60 GARDEN FLOWERS .

rich neighbour . The old name of this plan twas pipe- tree , and pipe - privet

,by either of

which it was kn own to the botan ists of queenElizabeth’s days and it was called privet because it was usually graft ed on stocks of thatshrub, while it s n ame of pipe originated withthe Turks , as the stems were often used bythem ,

for their,long pipes . It is ca lled in

Barbary by the name of sirz'

nx,and hence we

have probably the n ame of syringa . Thisflower is a na tive of Persia and other parts oft he east

,as well a s of Hungary and the shores

of the Danube . The Turks,who

,in addition

to the love of flowers which they possess incommon with all the people of the east

,have

an en thus iastic regard for a flowering tree , werethe people from whom we first received thisbeautiful addition to our garden s . It wasbrought from the gardens of Constantin ople ,in the s ix teen th century , by the ambassadorBusbequius , and plan ted in the gardens ofVienna . Being a plan t which will bear a con

siderable degree of smoke , it was soon a

favourite in the London gardens ; nor is anyshrub or tree more common than this , now,

in

the plots which lie around the dwellings in thesuburban villages of our metropo lis , where itflourishes exceedingly well . Even the courtsand back yards of the crowded s treets are

often en livened by it s green leaves , though itspurple clusters refuse to bud in an atmosphereso laden with fog and soot . It probably wasin troduced during the reign of Henry V111 ,

APRIL . 6 1

as when Cromwell caused an inven tory t o bemade of the plan ts which grew in the gardenof the pala ce of Non such

,there were enume

rated “six lilackes

,trees which have no fruit,

but only a pleasan t smell .” Gerards , in 1 597 ,

says of the white and blue lilacs,

“ I havethem in my garden in grea t plen ty. Our

common English name is merely a corruptionof that by which this shrub is usually ca lledin it s n ative Persia

,where it is kn own a s the

lilag , which word sign ifies a flower . The

Fren ch,too

,term it le lilas . There are severa l

common varieties of this species , a s the bluelilac

, (Syringe v. ccerulea) and the purple li lac ,(Syringa v. uz

’

olacea) called the Scotch lilac ; andas beautiful as e ither are the large thickclusters of the white lilac , now con trastingwith the darker- coloured species

,and which

unfolds it s fa ir flowers a week or two earlierthan even it s deeper - tin ted compan ion . Thereare also two varieties with reddish purpleflowers

,called by the Fren ch gardeners

,le lilas

dcM arly. Cowper had n oticed it s many hues .

Various '

m array , now whiteNow sanguine , and her beauteous head now set

Wit h purple Spikes pyramida l ; as ifStudious of orn ament, ye t unresolvedWhich hues she most approved

,she chose them all.

Scarcely less frequen t in our gardens , and

easily di stinguished from the common kind,is

tha t Species termed the Persian lila c , (Syrz'

nga

P ersz'

ca . ) It is on the hills and pla in s of the

lovely Pers ia still more genera l than is thelarger kind . It s leaves are long and pointed,

62 GARDEN FLOWERS .

while those of the common lilac are broad andheart- shaped . It s clusters of flowers are lesscompact

, but blow loosely about in the

southerly winds of April,diffusing an odour ,

delicious in the outer air, but which would

render the atmosphere of an apartmen t fa in tand sickly. In Persia it s delicate lilac flowersare much admired and it often m ingles withthe rose

,the narcissus

,and the jonqui l , in those

bouquets which are sen t by eastern letters asexpress ion s of sent imen t .The Persian lilac was , long after it s intro

duction in to Europe,termed Persian jessamine ,

and the Italian s ca lled it German j essamine .

This plan t is sometimes grown in pots,and

made t o flower a t Chris tmas , but by this processit quite loses it s fragrance .

There are , in our garden,two or three

varieties of the Pers ian,bes ides some other

species of lilac. The Chinese lilac,with purple

flowers , is , as it s name implies , a plan t growingwi ld in the celestial empire : while an otherspecies is found wild on the moun tain s aboutPekin ; and a third smiles in beauty in

Kumaon , near the lofty moun tains of theHima laya . These will

,probably

,some day

grace our English garden s,as they seem likely

to bear our climate.

MAY. 68

MAY.

All the flowers that gil d the spring,Hither their still music bringIf Heaven bless them , thankful , theySmell more sweet, and look more gay.Though their voices gentle be

,

Streams have t oo theirmelody ;Night and day they warblin g run ,Never pause , but still sin g on .

Wake , for shame , my s luggish heart,Wake and gladly sing t hy part ;

Learn of birds , and streams , and fl owers ,How t o use t hy nobler powers .

” —Hrc s .

HOW wonderful appears the change which a

few weeks have n ow made on the face of

Na ture , if we compare this m on th, and it s

aspects and production s,with the comparatively

bare and gloomy appearan ce of the gardendur ing February and March ! How has the

Almighty’s word been working a s surely inbringin g fo rt h the bright verdure and radian tflowers from their wintry darkness

, as it didwhen he framed this beautifully organ izedworld out of chaos . In the n orthern coun triesof Europe , where the change is greater and

more rapid , the effect is less pleasing than in

the gradual transition of our win ter to Spring .

La ing , speaking of this in Norway , says , thesnow is painfully bright to the eyes under “ thesunshine . When it melts , vegeta tion burstsforth a t once ; but the pa tchy , unpicturesqueappearance of the coun try , with a knob ofa rock here , and a corner of a field there ,appea ring through the white covering , deprivesus of the pleasing impression s of an Englishspring . The rapid advance of vegetation is

64 GARDEN FLOWERS.

more aston ishing than pleasing. It is n ot

agreeable to step thus , all at once,from dead

Win ter to living summer , and to lose the charmand in terest of the gradua l reviva l of all thathas leaf or wing .

In many tropica l coun tries the change fromthe win ter t o the early season is little marked

,

for when the trees are evergreen,and the

flowers a lways bright,there is less variety in

the aspect of the season . The gradua l com ingof leaves and flowers in our climate , and theirno less gradua l decline

,is t o the year what the

morn ing and even ing twilight are to the day .

We should never estimate the shortn ess of lifewere it not for the changing aspects of thingsaround us ; and whet-her this change be suddenor slow

,whether the flowers go and come in a

few hours , or a few weeks , yet as we markthese beautiful obj ects to which the Scripturehas compared our morta l lives , we shouldadopt the words of David : “ Lord

,make me to

know m ine end,and the measure of my days ,

that I may kn ow how frail I am .

’

May i s un iversally ha iled by the poets,as

the loveliest mon th of the year , and it s com ingseems to 1 evive in some the freshn ess of life

,

and to make them feel young aga in . Manysweet and fam ilia r flowers now spring up dayby day on the garden bed ; and some verybeautiful shrubs are dressed in their garlandsof blossoms . The scarlet hawthorn blusheslike the rose

,and it is merely a variety of our

Wilding May . The dark lilac still con tends with

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66 GARDEN FLOWERS.

a powerful influence on the human constitution .

Happily they have not the pleasan t flavourwhich m ight render them attractive to children ; yet the writer of these pages once sawtwo little ones rendered very ill by having eatenlaburnum seeds , a nd it required the promptuse Ofmedica l remedies to preven t more lastingeffects on the con stitution .

An other species of the laburnum ,common ly

ca lled in our country the pigeon pea , producesseeds which are much eaten by the n egroesand poor people of the Wes t Indies , While theya re often given to horses and other cattle

,

which thrive ex ceedingly well on them . In

the island of Martin ico they are served a t

table as a dish for the rich,who prefer them

even to the green peas of our coun try. Bothour wild and cultured broom plan ts are bymany writers con sidered as species of the

cytisus . The Scotch laburnum (Cytz’

sus

alp inus) has larger leaves and flowers than thecommon kind . It is frequen t in our garden s ,and blossoms a mon th later than that The

Ita lian s name it after this mon th,as we do

our hawthorn ; for with them it blooms inMay .

A very common flower,to be found indeed

in a lmost every garden,is the red spur flower,

or red va lerian,common ly termed Pretty

Betty. It has long been known to botanists as

Va leriana rubra,bu t is n ow called Centrant ims

rubra . It varies in all shades of red,from

crimson to palest pink,and is sometimes of a

MAY. 67

pinkish or yellowish white. It s large clustersof blossoms are composed of a great numberof small flowers , and they are to be seen

through all the summer mon ths, as late as

September . It blooms on the heights of

Moun t Vesuvius , and en liven s the ashy soil ofthe barren spot by it s cheerful tin t. It hasbeen seen t oo by the British traveller in

n orthern Africa,and awakened rem in iscences

of the garden plots of his native land . The

scen t of this species,as well a s that of some

other kinds,is very fragran t .

Another Species ca lled the Celtic n ard,or

nard valerian , (Valeriana Celt ica ,) has a root farmore odorous than this , and which is strongerwhen the plant is growing on it s n ativeAlps than in the moister soil of our gardenground . It is a native of Fran ce , Ita ly , andSwitzerland . It s roots

,which , are black , are

imported from the mounta in s of Austria in toEgypt, whence it

’

has been carried both in toAfrica and Asia . It is va lued by the orien ta lsa s a sweet- smelling drug

,and much used,

especially in Egypt,for perfuming the ba ths

in which the people of tha t country spend so

much of their time . There seem s much reasonto believe that the spikenard of the an cien ts , aswell a s the fragran t root ca lled by the m odernHindoos nard or Jat aman si, is the roo t ofa plan tof the Valerian fam ily , and thus this plan t is bysome writers con sidered to be the Spiken a rd ofScripture

,which Solomon describes a s sending

forth a pleasan t smell ,”and which was on e ofc 2

68 GARDEN FLOWERS.

the sweet essen ces with which Mary anoin tedthe dead body of our Lord and Redeemer .The root of our common wild va lerian

(Valerz’

ana oficz’

na lz’

s) possesses very great medicinal power

,and it s odour is very strong , but

disagreeable . It is cultivated in Derbyshirefor medicinal purposes , but the root is preferable in it s wild sta te to that under cultivation .

Some very pretty species of lobelia are in

blossom in May ; severa l of this genus are

among the handsomest of our garden flowers .

Some are lowly—looking,

simple blossoms,

scarcely peeping from above their leaves ;others are ta ll and showy . A few of them are

blue but the greater number are of a brightscarlet or pink colour, while some among theirnumber are of a full yellow. One of the mos tcommon

, and a lso of the most striking beauty,is tha t called the cardin al flower , (L obelz

'

a car

dina lz'

s,) with it s long s lender leaves , and spike

of blossoms, so brigh t in hue a s to have re

minded the originator of it s n ame , of the scarletcloth ofRome ; while it s Shape is not a ltogetherdissim ilar t o the ha t of the Romish ecclesias tic .

It is a na tive ofVirgin ia , and was described byParkin son

, in his Garden of Flowers ,” where

he ca lls it a“ brave plan t .” The species

brought from Mex ico, the fulgen t lobelia , (L 0

belz'

a fulgens ,) and tha t brillian t flower ca lledthe splendid or shiny lobelia

, (Lobelz’

a sp len

dens,) with a tin t outriva lling that of the

brightest poppy, and it s fo liage marked with

purple spots , is an other Mexican species , and

MAY. 69

these are the handsomest of the tribe to befound in our garden s .

Almost all the lobelias are natives of tropica lclimates , many of them being the wild flowersof the West Indian islands . Severa l of themhave been brought from the Cape of GoodHope, and others grow in the warmer regionsof South America . A. few of their numberrequire to be kept in the greenhouse .

A m ilky fluid,in grea ter or less quan tity

,

ex1 sts in every individua l of this species ofplan t, and it is of so acrid a qua lity tha t thewhole tribe may be con s idered as of a dangerous nature . On e species , (Lobelz

'

a tup a ,) a

native of Chile , yields a virulen t poison ; and

one of the most powerful medi cines used inNorth America , is the juice of the infla tedlobelia , which , unless given on ly in small doses ,proves fatal

“

. So deleterious is the beautifulwhite lobelia , (L obelz

’

a longiflora ,) tha t whentaken interna lly it causes death ; while if thehand which has touched it, be unguardedlyplaced on the eye , it produces a violen t inflammation This flower grows wild on m oistplaces , and by stream s ides in the Wes t Indies .

Like the common reed of our n ative lan d ,(Arundo it s presence is

,most

probably , indicative of an unhea lthy a tmosphere , a s the moist spots in the West Indiesare a lways un favourable to hea lth . It addsmuch

,however , to the beauty of the lands

where it flourishes,and delights the lover of

flowers by it s beauty , but it also renders thepasture very dangerous to horses , which are

7 0 GARDEN FLOWERS.

sometimes a llured by the verdure around it togra ze upon these plan ts , and soon fa ll victims

to it s powerful poison . This is so often the

case,tha t the Span ish American s give it a

name sign ifican t of it‘

s destructive effect on

those an ima ls . Our beautiful cardina l flowerconta in s a dangerous poison . One species oflobelia is smoked by the n egroes , and termedIndian tobacco .

A very common border flower now,18 the

Spider wort, (Tradescantia which

,

a s it s name implies,is a na tive of North Ame

rica,and very genera l in several parts of that

coun try . It is there often ca lled by the name

of the “ life of man because,like tha t

,though

beautiful it is brief,for it soon withers . It s

bo tan ic name stands as a record of John Tradescan t

,garden er t o Charles L

, who in troducedseveral plan ts in to England

,and this among

others ; and whose museum of curiosities iscelebrated as the earliest collection of that kind

,

made in our land. It is n ow in the Ashmoleanmuseum of the Un iversity Of Oxford .

We have severa l garden species of spiderwort . Non e are foun d wild either in Europeor Northern Asia

,but severa l are brought

from the East Indies and Ceylon,and others

from Am erica .

’ Some of them have rosecoloured blossom s

,but they chiefly vary in all

the Shades of blue . They are no t a very handsome tribe of flowers

,and our common Species

is as orn amen ta l as any , it s dark blue petalsand yellow an thers showin g to advantage amongit s glossy green leaves .

MAY. 7 1

During May , and the following mon ths , thedifferen t species of viper’s bugloss exhibit the irhandsome purple

,violet- coloured

,or pa le blue

flowers . None are more beautiful than our

wild kind , (E chz'

umvulgare,) but many are veryornamen tal. The red viper’s bugloss , which ,however

,is not yet in flower , is a showy plan t

,

though the stems and leaves are rough withbri stly hairs . It grows on the steppes of Russia

,

for those vast region s approaching the Bla ck Sea,

though dreary from the absence of trees , areenlivened with a variety of flowers , of whichthis is among the most con spicuous . Dr.

Clarke says he saw it here , and it was in otherparts of Russia more comm on . It growschiefly among corn . The women of the Donuse it in pa in ting their cheeks

“

,the root

,while

fresh,yielding a bright vermilion tin t . Gmelin

recommends it s tran splan ta tion and the appli~

cation of it s colour ing properties to obj ects ofmore importan ce . The reddish brown substan ceconta ined in this plan t , is now much used bydyers ; and one species of the viper’s bugloss

,

which has been naturalized in Brazil, is used,

like our wild borage , t o give cooln ess to liqu idsin which it s leaves are steeped . Some specieswere used by the Roman s for dyeing .

We have more than twen ty species of bugloss in garden s . Blue is the preva iling colourof their flowers

,but some which have reached

us from the Cape of Good Hope , the Cana ryand Madeira islands , have red or white blossoms .

7 2 GARDEN FLOWERS.

The geran iums , or, as they are more properlyca lled

,the pelargon iums

,flower throughout the

summer . We have about six hundred distinctspecies , but mos t of them are grown either inthe greenhouse or in the in - doors apartmen t .We received the plan t from the Cape of GoodH0pe , where their handsome flowers are in

great profusion but n ew varieties are,

everyyear raised from seed in England . The myrtle ,t oo (Myrtus commzmz

’

s) is open ing it s fragran twhite blossoms. It has severa l varieties , of

which one of the best is the Roman myrtle .

This shrub grows wild in the south of Franceand Spain

,in Italy and Greece , and in n orth

ern Africa while in many parts of Syria it isvery abundan t

,as we m ight infer from the

numerous a llusion s made to it in th e sacredwritings . All travellers in the east n oticeit s luxuriance . On the hills which lie aboutJerusalem

,form ing it s n atura l protection

,and

which were t o suggest to the Hebrew the re

membrance that God was thus round about hissain ts , the white myrtle spray is seen in profus ion , am id it s dark green boughs . Banks ofrivers , hill Sides , wide pla in s

,and va lleys

among moun ta in s , are all rendered sweet by it sodour . Mrs . P iozzi adm ired the beauty of thisShrub too , near P isa in Ita ly , where , she says ,the m oun ta in s are moun tains of marble , andthe bushes on them bushes of myrtle , as largeas the hawthorn . In Devon shire the myrtlethrives well in the open air : Carrington thusn otices it

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7 4 GARDEN FLOWERS .

dula stella ta .) The common species grows wildin fields and vineyards in Italy , and prettygenera lly in cu ltivated lands throughout thecoun tries a t the south of Europe. It is calledby the Fren ch , souci da jardz

'

n,and by the

German s goldblume. It is still m ingled byco ttagers with soup and broth , but was oncemuch m ore gen erally used for tha t purpose .

The idea tha t it tended to “ comfort the heartand spirits ,

” recommended it not on ly as a

m edicin e , but induced good housewives t o dryit s yellow petals a s a s tore for win ter. It s

p roperties are sudorific,and it was deemed a

preven tive to infection . A distilled water,a

con serve , and a kind of vinegar,are still ob

t a ined from it s blossom s,but it s young leaves

are n ot now eaten as they formerly were forsa lads .

Our old poets ca ll this flower golde and marybudde

,a s well a s marigo ld . This last name it

received from the absurd and popular traditionthat the virgin Mary wore the flower in herbosom .

Elliott alludes to the use which the cottagersmake of the ma rigo ld .

There is a flower, the housewife knows it well .

And thus describes it s closing during wet

weather

It hoards no dew-drops , like the cups of May,Bu t l'lCl‘l a s sunset, when the ram is o

’er,

Spreads flaming petal s from a. burning coreWhich. ifmorn weep , their sorrowing buds upl

’

oldT o wake and brighten when bright noon is near.

MAY. 7 5

This closing of the flower during the rain, a s

well as it s habit of folding up it s petals early inthe aftern oon , while it does no t open them til lafter n ine in the morn ing

, was remarked no t

on ly by Linnaeus , but had rendered the flowera theme of various comparisons to the olderpoets . Thus Herrick

,alluding to the approach

ofevening,says

“No marigolds yet closed are ,No shadows yet appear ;

Nor doth t he early shepherd's starShin e like a spangle here .

The marigolds received their n ame on ao

coun t of thei r flowering during the ca lends ofeach m on th The common marigo ld

,indeed

,

is in bloom in every season,except when sn ow

covers the ground,and is often

.

am ong the

brightest flowers of the garden in December andJanuary .

The Cape marigolds are natives of that partof Africa after which they are n amed, The

small Cape marigold, (Ca lendula

which is the common est of them,was ca lled the

ra iny marigold,byLinnaeus

,becau se it is a lways

closed,not on ly during ra in , bu t under a cloudy

sky . The rays of this flower are white inside ,and of a dark purple on the outer surface . Itblooms from June till August.The French term the marigold soucz

’

, (care ,)but in the reign of Henry Vm. it was ca lledsouven ir , and ladies wore wreaths of theseflowers , intermixed with the pan sy, whose name

,

76 GARDEN FLOWERS .

derived from the Fren ch word pensee, (thought)was a lso indicative of remembrance .

And now in this pleasan t month we see the

differen t mallows assume their tin ts of deep red

or purple , pink or white , and more rarely , ofyellow or orange . They are beautiful flowers ,and all possess more or less the mucilagin ousproperty which renders some so useful inmedicin e . They are of easy culture , and someso hardy as t o grow on any soil, in any s ituation . Severa l of the most handsome speciesare brought from the Cape of Good Hepe

,and

the fields of southern Europe have supplied uswith others .

The Egyptian s , Chinese , and Syrians , are

said by travellers to use some kinds of mallowas food. Thus Biddulph

,an old writer quoted

by Dr. Royle,says , We saw many poor peo

ple collecting m allows and three- leaved gras s ,and asked them wha t they did with it , and theyan swered tha t it was all their food

,and that

they boiled it and did eat it.” The leaves ofthe common ma llow of our road—sides , (M a lva

sylves trz’

s,) a plan t which is found wild from

Europe t o the n orth of India,is still used in

Hindostan for food . It is well known that a tthe table of the an cien t Roman s , some kinds ofmallow were served up as vegetables . No t

withstanding,however

,that mallows have been

,

and still are eaten,in many parts of the east,

yet , for various rea son s , most of those writerswho are best acqua inted with orien tal botany

,

have arrived a t the conclusion,that the plan t

MAY 7 7

named in Scripture , and which is renderedma llow in our vers ion , is no t referable to oneof the mallow tribe . The patriarch

,when

describing the former stra i ts and necess ities ofsome , who now when sorrow had fa llen on him ,

prided them selves on their worldly prosperity ,says

,They cut up mallows by the

Authors have arrived a t various conclusionsas to the plan t in tended. The Scripture wordma lluach, is thought to denote a saltish plan t

,

and severa l herbs whose ashes con ta in soda ,have been adduced by writers . The learn edBochart is of opin ion that a shrubby species oforache , or atriplex

,is intended ; an other sug

gests that it may be a species of fig -ma rigoldwhile a third con siders it to be the Jews’

ma llow, (Corchorus which is plan ted

in great quan tity in the n eighbourhood ofAleppo for food , and of which the Jews boilthe leaves t o ea t with their meat. It is wel lfor us that we do n ot live in those times whensuch discussions would render us liable toecclesia s tica l cen sure , and that we n eed n ot

fear such blame as St. Augustine denouncedupon a bishop of his times , who having , as

he con sidered,wrongly tran slated the n ame of

a plan t men tioned by the apos tle John , wasdeclared t o be “

a f alsifier of the Holy Scripture .

” Stil l it is most importan t tha t we rightlydiscern the correct rendering of the inspiredword .

Many of our common garden ma llowsJob xxx . 4 .

7 8 GARDEN FLOWERS.

produce, in autumn,very beautiful Specimen

of skeleton leaves and ca lyxes , the green part shaving withered away

,and left bare the bundles

of vessels which form the framework . Of themacerated fibres of some of these plan ts , a clo thand stuff have been made

,superior even to

those made of flax . This is the case especiallywith the ivy- leaved mallow, (M alva maurit iana

,)whose pink flowers are sometimes found in

English gardens,and were brough t from the

south of Europe. The curled ma llow (Jlfa lvacrisp er) of Syria

, and the Peruvian ma llow,

(JIIa lva P eruviana ,) both ofwhich are cultivatedin England

,have been used for the same pur

pose . The former species was once plan tedin kitchen garden s for food . It affords re

markably s trong fibres , which have beenmanufactured , no t on ly in to thread for spinn ing,but a lso in to cordage for vesse ls . The Frenchchem ist , De Lis le , gave great atten tion to thema llows , and recommended that the fibres ofvarious kinds should be used in stead of rags inmaking paper . SO in terested was he in thisproject

,that he had a vo lume prin ted on paper

made wholly of the fibre of the ma llow ,and

presen ted it to “ L’Académie des Scien ces .

But the members of the academy , while theyadm ired the skill and science of the experimen t,did n ot con sider the ma llow paper as likely tobe genera lly useful.These plan ts , boiled as food

,were formerly

cons idered so wholesome , that Horace commendsthem for their salutary properties . They were

MAY . 7 9

eaten by the Roman s and Greeks with lettuce,

and “ were used ,”says Baxter

,

“t o decorate

the graves of our ancestors .

” “ So indispensable ,

”adds this writer , “ were they deemed

to each domicile of the living,that as a matter

of ill omen,the poet exclaims z

Alas when mallows in t he garden die !

This plan ting the grave with flowers was al

luded'to not only by profane writers , but may

a lso be inferred from the Scripture . Job spokeof the clods of the valley which should besweet about him . This beautiful practice

,of

high an tiqui ty,is supposed to have origin ated

in the belief of the’ resurrection of the body

,

a doctrine,which

,if n ot so plain ly taught in

the O ld a s in the New Testamen t, ye t is in

various passages pla in ly indica ted in the formerpart of the volum e . Thy dead men sha ll live

,

together with my dead body sha ll -they arise .

Awake and s ing, ye tha t dwe ll in dust ; for thy

dew is as the dew of herbs , and the earth sha llcas t out her dead .

” This was the prom iseuttered by the evangelica l Isa iah ; and the Rev .

Samuel Burder thinks that the cus tom ofdecking the grave with flowers , was likely tohave it s origin from this pa ssage ; or , if praet ised earlier , suggests tha t this custom m igh thave been presen t to the m ind of the prophet,when , directed by the Holy Spirit , he thust aught the consoling doctrine , that in the fleshwe shall see God.

Isa . xxvi. 1 9 .

80 GARDEN FLOWERS.

The plan ts termed lavatera , are very sim ilarto the mallows in genera l appearance Thereare some showy annua l species common in

gardens , and the shrubby kinds are veryornamen tal . The species which is most generally cultiva ted is the sea—s ide lavatera , (Lavatera maritima ,) which is a n ative of Spain and

the south of Fran ce , and will bear the openair of this coun try if slightly guarded fromfrost . The tree -ma llow (L ava tem arborea) hasa magn ificen t appearance when covered withit s large purple rose - coloured flowers .

The beautiful delicate flowers of'

the largenumber of exotic hea ths are

,during this and

the n ext month,unfolding their bells on their

brittle stems,and the greenhouse is quite gay

with their flowers . They are , with few exceptions

,n atives of the Cape of Good Hope

,where

they grow chiefly on the tops and s ides ofmoun tain s

,and in the crevices of rocks . This

genus of flowers is quite of m odern in troductionin to this coun try . Miller

,in 1 7 68, enumerates

but five species . They are n ow very numerous .

Till the la tter end of las t cen tury,

”says

London,

“ this genus consis ted of three or fourhumble British shrubs , and the hea th of Spa in ,(E rica M editerranea

,) a s low - growing tree ; butwhen the Cape of Good Hope fell in to thehands of the Brit ish

,co llectors were sen t out

,

and soon brought t o light some hundreds ofspecies . It may serve as an ea sily recollectedda te

,to say , tha t all of them were sen t home

during the reign of George III. Some of the

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82 GARDEN FLOWERS.

bright red colour before expan sion , and whenfull grown of a flesh colour . Scarcely anypa in ter’s art can , he says , so happily imitatethe beauty of a fine complex ion . This greatbotan ist portrays in a very in teresting manner,in his “ Flora Lappon ica ,

”his discovery of an

other species , (Andromeda tetragona) which hefoun d on the celebrated moun tain Wallivari, in

the district of Lulea .

“Whilst I was walkingquicklya long

,facing the cold wind , at m idn ight, if

I may call it n ight, when the sun was shin ingwithout setting a t all

,still anx iously inquiring

ofmy in terpreter how n ear I was to a Laplanddwelling

,which I had for two hours been ex

pecting , though I knew no t its precise situation ,casting my eager eyes around me in all direc

tion s,I perceived a s it Were the shadow of this

plan t,but did not stop to examin e it , taking it for

the empetrum , (Crow- berry .) Bu t after goinga few s teps farther

, an idea of it s being something I was un acqua in ted with

, ,came a cross

my m ind , and I turn ed back , when I shouldhave again taken it for the empetrum ,

had n ot

it s greater height caused me to con sider it withmore atten tion . I know not what it is tha t sodeceives the sight on our Alps

,during n ight,

as to render objects far less dist in ct than in themiddle of the day , though the sun shinesequa lly bright . The sun being near the horizon

,

spreads it s rays in such a horizonta l direction,

tha t a ha t can scarcely protect our eyes ; besides ,the shadows of plan ts are so infin itely extended

,

and so confounded with each other, from the

MAY. 83

tremulous agita tion caused by the blusteringwinds , that obj ects , very differen t in themselves , are scarcely to be dis tinguished fromeach other . Linnaeus describes the flower a s

shaped like a lily of the valley,but with five

sharper division s . Barren and dreary as are

some lands in the n orth of Europe, yet m any

beautifu l flowers are found on their hills,or in

their dark pine forests . Linnaeus speaks withrapture of the verdure and flowers of his nativeland

,and Olaus Rudbeck was so wel l sa tisfied

with it s beauty,that

,in s tead of thinking that

the garden of Eden lay am id the palm—trees,

and the roses and j essamines of ea stern lands,

he discovered that one part of Sweden had

certain ly been the scene of the origin a l Paradise .

And n ow the large dark purple bells of theclimbing cobaea (Cobaza scandens) hang overthe trellis of the arbour

,and it s foliage helps to

cover the garden wa ll . The Mexican s,among

whom this handsome plan t grows wild , ca l l itby a Span ish word , sign ifying the violet- bearingivy . It received it s botan ic name from Bar

nardes Cobo , a Span ish Jesui t and natura list ofthe seven teen th cen tury . It is very remarkable for it s rapid

“growth . Even in the openair this is very striking ; while in a con servatory

,it has been known to increase in length ,

two hundred feet in the course of a summer .This was long the only species cultiva ted inGreat Brita in ; but in 1 840 , the seeds of twoothers were sen t to England from Mexico , by

84 GARDEN FLOWERS.

one of the collectors of plan ts for the LondonHorticultural Society.

And n ow if the border be tolerably wellsheltered from the north and east winds , theSplendid tiger flower P acom

'

a) willspread it s handsome peta ls to the sun shine. It s

colours,so like the skin of a tiger , originated

it s n ame,and this plan t with it s variety , (Tz

'

grifidia P leona ,) and the Tz

'

gridz'

a conchiflora , are

among‘

the m ost magn ificen t flowers of thismon th . They are all n atives of Mexico

,and if

the bulbs are kept dry , they m ay remain in the

ground all the win ter . Their tints are red and

orange,and their flowers very abundan t

, buta lso very fra il , la sting but a few hours . The

edging to the garden plots , which are composedof thrift

,are n ow very gay with the pink tufts

of blossom .

The box too has n ow it s green flowers,so often

sa id to be poison ous to the bee which suckstheir n ectar

,and it is a far better plan t for

the garden border than either thrift,Virgin ian

stock , Or any other substituted for it. In addition to it s being an evergreen , it is very hardy,and when once a good edging is made , it willlas t for many years , n eeding little a tten tionfrom the gardener

,ex cept the annua l midsum

mer clipping. If we wander through the de

sert ed garden s of some an cient castle or man

sion,whether in England or a lmost any other

part ofEurope,where the flowers of the Olden

time waved their peta ls to the summer wind,

we find some of their hardiest successors , a s

MAY. 85

the Wall- flower, the pansy, and the columbine.

And there too we see the wide box edgings,

planted by hands which have long since mingled in the dust

,and their borders perhaps

,

though they are not in such trim order, are

a s hea lthy and as verdan t as they were a cen

tury ago , when the dwarf box was extolled for“ bordering up a kn ot

,

”and was con sidered “

a

marvellous fine orn ament to a flower garden .

”

The species used by gardeners for this purposeis the dwarf box

, (Bur ns sempervirens nana,)

being merely a variety of the hardy box treeof our n ative woods

,which too seems to have

been in the gardens of England from the earliestperiod . It was formerly cut

,especially by the

Roman s,in to these various figures in which

the gardeners of the olden times so much delighted . Few of them apparen tly would haveagreed with Lord Bacon :

“ I,for my part,

”says

he ,“ do n ot like images cut out in jun iper or

other garden s tufi’

e ; they be for children .

”

Modern taste,justly preferring the graceful

wi ldness of n a ture,rejects the custom of clip

ping trees in to the shapes of birds or an ima ls,

or of cones and pyram ids , yet the old yew or

box,which still reta in s it s place on the terrace

of the an cien t dwelling , has a charm of it s own,

whispering to the heart of other days , and leading the m ind to dwel l on England in the oldenyears

,and to muse on the changes of things

andfeelings , which time is ever making , as hemarches onwards to mingle in to etern ity.

The box g rows wild , not on ly in England ,

86 GARDEN FLOWERS.

but a lmost throughout Europe . It atta in s a

great height in Switzerland , and is abundan tin Fran ce . It is found t oo in America , and

many parts of Asia,growing wild on Moun t

Caucasus,and ex tending even to the Hima

layan moun ta in s . On the slopes of the loftyLeban on it s green stiff leaves exhibit themselves , when the sun has melted the snow fromits boughs . The names of various places inour own land rem ind us

,that it was even

much more gen era l and abundan t than it nowis . Boxley in Ken t, Boxwell in Gloucestershire

,and Boxhill in Surrey, were all named

from the quan tity of this plan t which was

formerly found in the neighbourhoods . The

ancien ts used it s wood for musical in strumen ts ,and Virgil men tion s that i t was often in la idwith ivory. It is still of great va lue to theturner and engraver on wood .

The box is often a lluded to in Scripture.

In the beautiful description given by the

prophet Isa iah,of the glory of the latter days

of the church of God— a glory yet rema in ingto be looked and longed for

,we find the in

spired writer declaring in the powerful imageryof holy writ

,tha t “ the glory of Leban on shal l

come un to thee,the fir t ree , the pine tree , and the

box together , t o beautify the place of my sanctuary ; and I will make the place of my feet

The prophet a lso enumerates itamong the myrtle and other trees which are toflourish in the waste places of the wilderness ,

Isaiah IX . 1 3.

MAY. 87

in those happy days , when “ the desert shal lrejoice and blossom a s the rose . It is wellkn own n ow to the Arabs .

May and the three following mon ths,are the

season a t which the differen t species of theeven ing primrose tribe make their appearan ce .

On ly the yellow and white kinds truly deservethe fam iliar name , but these seem to give welcome to a cloudy day , or t o the even ingtwilight

,by open ing jus t at the period when

o ther flowers are clos ing . The common evening primrose (CE nothera bienm

'

s) expands it spa le yellow flowers a t about six o’clock in the

even ing. It was termed by Parkin son the

primrose of Virgin ia, and is now often called

even ing star. It s roots are eaten in the same

way as olives , and m ake wine m ore agreeable,

thereby adding drunkenness to thirst . In

many coun tries the plan t is cultiva ted for theseroots

,which are boiled and eaten a t table .

The great flowered species (CEnotkera grandiflora) is delightfully frag ran t. It was in troduced into England from America , by Dr . JohnFothergill , and has a lso pale yellow blossoms .

The evening . primroses are annual , bienn ial,or perennial plan ts , and th ere is a great varietyof them in common cul ture . The purple flered kinds , still called by gardeners a mothera

,

are by botan ists n ow termed godet z'

a : some ofthem are showy ta ll plan ts , the handsomest ofwhich are the annuals , int roduced from pal ifornia . Their colours are mos t brillian t when

grgwn in a poor soil .

88 GARDEN FLOWERS.

And now the garden bower is covered noton ly with numerous sprays of green leaves ,but odours from the sweet scen ted clematisinvite us to linger near it , though as yet the

sun is scarcely so warm as to make the shadeva luable . The commonest and most fragran tgarden species

,is that called the sweet- scen ted

Virgin ’

s bower , (Clema tisflammula ,) which is

very s imilar in the appearance of it s flowers tothe Wild traveller’s j oy of our woods . Thisplan t is remarkably acrid in it s nature

,and

indeed some portion of acridity exists in everyspecies of the genus . Millar says of this

,that

if a leaf be gathered on a hot day , and afterbeing bruised

,be pu t to the n ostrils

,it has the

scen t of a flame,and will produce in the per

son who smells it the sen sation of having beenscorched . The bruised leaves applied to theskin

,will a lso ra ise a blister on it s surface .

The large- flowered species, (Clema tis florida ,)

with White flowers,is common ly admired and

the more hardy clema tis az urea , with beautifulviolet blue flowers , though well fitted to bearthe open air

,is still often found ornamen ting

the conservatory . Some of the comm on spe

cies are of a dark dull purple others brightblue

,or white While the evergreen Virgin ’s

bower, (Clema t is cirrlzosa ,) which is a native of

Spa in,has green flowers , which bloom very

early in the year, and a few have yellow blossoms . The common ‘ Japan corchorus

, (KerriaJap onica ,) which is still very genera lly calledby ga rdeners corchorus Japonicus , is a good

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90 GARDEN FLOWERS.

is often called Fair Ma id of France, and it hasbeen sa id it was so named by our gardeners ,because the French emigran ts who were in thiscoun try during the revolution were very fondof the plan tSome of the t all and showy asphodels are

con spicuous flowers in May and June. Thisflower is common ly called king’s spear or

king’s rod the Fren ch term it, verge de Jacob,or ba ton royal. The most ornamen ta l speciesare the yellow asphodel , (Asp hodelus luteus )which grows wild in the fields of Sicily

, and

now blossoms in our garden s ; and the uprightasphodel, (Asphodelus a lbus ,) a lso bloom ing nowwith it s Spike of white flowers , and which isalso common in the south of Europe . St.P ierre quotes a touching inscription from an

ancien t tomb,around which the hand of afi

'

ec

tion had plan ted the favourite flowers : “Without

,I am surrounded with mallow and aspbo

del ; within , I am but a corpse : and the corpseto the an cien ts , was but the name of a decayedand withered remains of what was on ce lovely

,

and no t,a s with us

,the seed of the more glo

rion s resurrection body which is sewn in hope .

The yellow flower of the peren n ia l adon is(Adonis vernalis ) deserves a place in anygarden . It begins to bloom as early as March

,

and is still bright . It is a wild flower in manyparts of the con tinen t of Europe , and especia llyabundan t on the coun tries on the shores of theMediterranean , and it is of very easy culture.

The dark crimson flowers of the flos adon is, or

MAY. 9 1

pheasan t’s eye (Adonis autumnalis) are equallyhardy. This last Species is generally kn ownin France by the name of gout te de sang , and isthe flower fabled by ancien t poets to haveSprung from the blood of Adonis

,which

, ac

cording to their legends , had a wonderfulfaculty of giving a red tinge to natural objects

,

and was sa id to have coloured the river ofLebanon , called Adon is , whose waters are redfrom the soil over which it flows .

Common as the humblest flower of our

garden ground,is the columbine , (Aquilegia

vulgaris ,) which sometimes grows also in our

native woods,and wears it s hues of blue or

pink , or purple or white , at this pleasan tseason . In the wild state it is generally blue

,

and is called by coun try people,blue starry .

Our fathers fancied tha t the lion was fond ofit , and hence it s old name of Izerba leonis .

The double- flowered variety is almost as

gen era l a s the single flower . The prettiest ofthe garden species is the Alpine columbine ,which also n ods it s head to the winds as theyrush through the valleys of the high Swissmoun ta in s . It has blue flowers tipped withyellowish green , and is , probably , but a varietyof the common columbine .

A syrup is sometimes made for children ofthe flowers of the columbine , but it has beendenounced by Linnaeus as highly dangerous ;and he even asserts i t to have proved fatal tochildren . This plan t was called culverwort byold wri ters.

92 GARDEN FLOWERS.

The paeony is now bursting forth in to con

Spicuous beauty , with it s red rose—like flowers .

The double red variety of the common paeony

(P ceonia ofiicina lis) is that most frequen tly cul

t ivat ed ; bu t the double white and the delicateblush - coloured , are by n o mean s rare, and one

variety, the rose- scented , is sweetly fragran t.The common species grows wild in Chin a and

Siberia , as well as in various parts of Europe,and is sa id to be very beautiful on Moun t Ida .

The handsome flower called the Chin ese treepaeony

, (Paeonia moutan ,) the flowers of whichexpand during this m on th , and are

,in the dif

ferent varieties , of various tin ts , is sufficien tlyhardy to bear the open air ofour win ters . The

mos t beautiful variety of the flower is the

s ingle poppy- flowered tree -paeony,which has

large white peta ls with a dark purple mark a t

the base . From it s com ing out of the groun dSo early in the year , this plan t is liable to beinjured by frosts

,and

,therefore

,requires to be

plan ted in a sheltered part of the garden , whereit is

‘

n o t much exposed to the morn ing sun .

The tree- paeony is a cherished flower in China,

and is sa id to have been cultiva ted in the

Chinese garden s for fourteen hundred years . Itis believed to have been brought originally fromsome of the moun ta ins of that empire. A few

years s ince it was so choice a flower in thiscoun try

,that the price of a plan t was six

guinea s ; but it is now to be procured at a smallexpense .

The more slender species of paeony (Pa onia

MAY. 93

edulis,) is much used by the Mongolian Tartars

as food . These people bo il the roots in theirbroth , and grind the seeds to a powder

,which

they mix with their t ea .

And now,if we wander through green lanes

white with hawthorn clus ters,we find them

fragran t with the odours of the honeysuckle .

In the garden also,

The creeping honeysuckle weavesIt s yel low horns and verdant leaves .

Our common kind (Cap rifolium P eryclymenam) is a lso called woodbine ; and this isone of it s oldes t English names . Milton ca llsit too by our common n ame

I sate me down t o watch upon a bankWith ivy canopied , and interwovenAnd flaun t ing honeysuckle.

"

But besides tha t our lovely Wilding flower isoften cherished in the garden ,

we have hereseveral other species . On e of the m ost gen eralis the Ita lian honeysuckle , (Cap rifolium I ta li

cum,) which throws it s long bran ches luxu rian t ly over the hedges of southern Europe , anda variety of which , ca lled by garden ers the red

honeysuckle , is very beautiful .Another very handsome and common garden

species is the trumpet honeysuckle , (Cap ri

folium sempervirens ,) which , though it equals ,or perhaps exceeds in beauty , any other ofthe common kinds , yet wan ts their fragrance.

This elegan t shrub is a n ative of NorthAmerica , and flowers very freely with us fromthis mon th un til August. The sweet and

94 GARDEN FLOWERS.

pretty plan t called Chinese honeysuckle, and

the gold and silver honeysuckles , are muchmore tender . They are na tives of China , and

are among the many flowers on which the

Japanese bes tow so much regard. The barkof most of the species 1 s very astringent, and

that of one kind is used in China for dyeingblack .

The French term the honeysuckle mairesauvage. It s old English names were sucklingand eaprifoly ; and with the Germans thisclimber is so grea t a favourite , that they havebestowed upon it a t least a dozen fam iliarn ames . Cap rifoliu

-m is a poetic word used forit by old bo tan ists , because the leaf, or ra therstem ,

climbs over the high places where thegoat fears not to tread. It must he confessedthat this origin is ra ther remote but the wordchevre feuille, (goa t leaf,) by which the pea

sant ry of France often call the plant, has thesame origin .

And now those handsome plan ts the rosebay or rhododendrons , come . in to blossom,

and

deck both garden and shrubbery with theirhandsome flowers and hard evergreen leaves .

Numerous kinds blossom during this and the

com ing mon th , but by far the greater numberare varieties of the common species

, (Rhododendron P onticzlm,) which is found wild on the

coasts of the Black Sea , from the range of

Caucasus through Armenia and Georgia to thewestern parts of Pers ia . This species grows inmois t woods

, but no t on high m oun tains , and

MAY. 95

is said to be that which,by the nectar in its

flowers , poisoned the honey of As ia Minor,

though some writers ascribe this rather t o a

species of a zalea . Another hardy species , theCa tawba rhododendron

,is very abundan t in

America . Some species of rose bay are de

scribed to be a s abundan t as the furze of our

native island,growing in clumps on the grassy

pla in or hill,and

, wi th their purple flowers,

gladden ing many a dreary and lon ely place .

Then we have severa l very pretty dwarfspecies

,hardly more than a foot high . Two of

these , the rusty- leaved rose bay , (Rhododendronferrugineum,) and the ha iry kind , (Rhododendron liirsutum

,) with rose—coloured flowers,

abound on the high moun ta in s of Switzerlandand Dr. Gilly records the beauty of the rhododendron s in the in teresting valleys of Piedmon t.In Dauphine they are very luxurian t and

beautiful ; and near the lofty summ its of themagn ificen t Alps

,they bloom in profusion , and

are the highest woody plan ts of these region s ,term inating all vegetation but tha t of lowliestherbs and mosses . To them the moun ta inherdsman is often indebted for his on ly f uel ,and their branches crackle on the hearth of thesolitary chdlet . The lofty trees gradua llydim in ish or dwindle n ear the heights of themountain s . They will grow in the va lleysbelow

,but cannot bear the sn ow - storm and

bleak hurricanes , which leave these plan tsun injured . And on the hills of some of theseAlps

, the lonely Piedmon tese, as he gathers

96 GARDEN FLOWERS.

them for his fire , or s its by it s light, ponderson the days when his fathers were rolled overthe

'

craggy heights , t o join the“n oble army of

martyrs,because their en lightened Spirits

forbade them to j oin in idol worship . The

white hares of the moun ta in s , whose coats weregiven them of the snowy colour to help themto elude the pursuer

,often feed on the hard

bark of these plants,when the severe weather

has covered up the green things of lowergrowth

, but the leaves and branches are

thought t o be poisonous t o an imals in genera l.Though a large number of the rhododen

dron s are American plan ts,in the warm

regions of Asia they are a lso often found ingreat beauty , with crim son

,purple

,white , or

rose - coloured flowers . The Ban rian species

(Rhododendron Dauricum) is a lmost peculia r tothe suba lpine tracts of ea stern Asia , and is

common in the pine woods . One of the mostbeautiful plan ts in the British con servatory isthe Nepaul species

, (Rhododendron arboreum,)which is sometimes twen ty feet high , with largebun ches of flowers

,of a dark crimson or

scarle t hue,and the blossoms are so full of

liquid hon ey , that when the tree is shaken , itfa lls down in showers . This species has largeleaves , with glossy under surface

,a s white as

s ilver , and has a variety with white wax - likeflowers . The n ame of rhododendron , takenfrom the Greek , sign ifies rose and t ree ; and

the French term it la rosage.

And now, when the clouds seem literally “ to

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98 GARDEN FLOWERS.

-We have several other species in the‘garden ,

resembling the common kind both in scen t andappearance; They are chiefly North Americanshrubs . Those called the myrtle - leaved and

sweet syri nga , are both natives of the thicketsof New Z ealand. The young sheet s of one ofthem were made in to a t ea by the sa ilors ofCapta in Cook

’s crew

,and the infusion taken as

a remedy for some of those complain ts engendered by long voyages . It was , while fresh ,very pleasan t to the taste. The dwarf varietyo f the mock orange ha s been found in Caro lin a .

The garden persicaria (P olygonum orienta le)i s a common flower

,with it s spike of dark red

b looms . From it s bearing so we ll the smoke ofcities , it is often ca lled London persicaria . Itwa s brought origi na lly from the garden of themonks of Moun t Ararat

,where it is cultivated

,

n ot on ly a s an o rn amen t to the parterre, but

also for it s medicina l properties . One or twospecies of this plan t are sewn in China for dyeing cloth of a beautiful blue or green colour.An other species yields a yellow dye , and one ofthe stronges t a stringen ts of the vegetable kingdom is yielded by some plan ts of this genus.

The roots of severa l kinds are eaten in Laplandand Tartary ; and about the n eighbourhood . ofMan chester the young leaves and shoots ofOne wild species , termed patien ce dock , are

boiled and caten a s food.

The dark blue flowers of the common monkshood (Aconitum nap ellus) ought not to be welcomed in the garden , as person s unacquain ted

MAY. 99

with their properties frequently bind them upwith the n osegay, and their scen t is very delet erious . Linnaeus says that the leaves are fa ta lto many animals , and men tion s the case of theirpoison

,recorded in the Stockho lm Acts

,in

which a surgeon,little acqua in ted with the

nature of plants,prescribed the use of this as a

medicine to a patien t . The inva lid refused t otake it

,and the medical adviser

,in order to

convin ce his patien t of the safety of the remedy,

took them him self,an d fell a victim to his

experimen t. Orfila states that the juice of theleaves occasion s death in a very short time ; andthe root of the plan t is still more powerful ;while in stan ces are on record

,in which long

fa in ting fit s have been the result of merelysmelling the flower . It would be well if thispoisonous plan t were quite ban ished from the

garden , but garden ers should certain ly be carefulnot to throw it with other refuse , from the groundin to the public road , as the lives of children are

often thus endangered . This flower was formerly ca lled purple helmet flower . The Englishname of wolfsbane is given to some of thegenus . They grow on the lofty pastures of theSwiss moun tains , as well as on many othermoun tainous region s of Europe and NorthAmerica . The roots , when pounded, are m ixedwith food , to form a bait for wolves and otherammals . The yellow monkshood (Aconituman thora ) is a more ornamental flower than thepurple kind , and a very pretty species ; thehairy wolfsbane (Aconitum barba tum,)with pale

D 2

1 00 GARDEN FLOWERS .

Yel low flowers , a n ative of Siberia, is a frequen tflower of the garden border.The acon ites are regarded as a highly poi

sonous tribe of plants , but no other species , noteven the purple monkshood , can be comparedfor it s virulence to an Indian kind , (Aconitum

ferox .) The root of this is the celebrated substance ca lled bikh, or bish, and is a poison ofthe most deadly nature . The grea t yellowacon ite

, (Aconitum lycoctonum,) which growswild on the A lps , and is very common in Lapland , is said by Linnaeus t o be boiled and

eaten as green s in tha t coun try , bu t it cann otbe recommended . It grows in some districts ofLapland

,he tells us in his Flora 'Lappon ica ,

”

as common ly as heath or ling. It is called bythe Laplanders gislce, and n ot being eaten byany kind of ca ttle , it

'

thrives luxurian tly , andin creases in proportion a s other herbs are

devoured. The wife of a clergyman of Lulea ,on whose accuracy the great bo tan is t says hecould place the grea test dependen ce , as suredhim tha t a t a post- house where she dined , shesaw grea t quan tities of this aconite collected andbrought to table cooked as greens . As she

knew the plan t to be used as a poison to flies ,she expressed some surprise that it should beeaten . The ma id- servan t of the house

,how

ever,laughed a t her fears , and told her it was

too good to be slighted .

Many very pretty species of stellaria, some

of them much like our common “

stitchwort,

adorn the garden beds at this season, and

“by

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1 02 GARDEN FLOWERS .

bran ches reach the height of a hundred feet‘

.

It grows well in the n eighbourhood of London ,and is , with the lilac and the laburnum ,

amongthe commonest flowering trees in the garden s ofthe villages around the metropolis . It is one

of the first trees which reached us from the

American forests,and it ha s always been valued

there for its hard and durable wood. Cattleare very fond of the young shoots , and somebotan is t s have recommended the culture of the

plan t for forage. Their nutrimen t is owing t oa saccharin e prin ciple , which exists a lso in the

roots . With us it s flowers are ornamenta l , andvery pleasing by their fragran ce, while the

na tives of St . Domingo make from them a dis

tilled liquor , said to have a very agreeableflavour .

The false acacia has so long been termedacacia , that it is Often confounded with the trueplan ts of that n ame

,which

,however , are very

differen t in appearan ce . These latter flowersare called in Australia by the genera l name ofwatt les . More than three hundred kinds havebeen in troduced in to England, but few speciesremain in cul ture. The greater number ofthese are natives of New Holland ; they are

n early all evergreen s , and their flowers are littleyellow balls or tufts , like down . The gum

arabic of commerce is derived from the acaciavera , a plan t found in every part of Africa . In

our coun try they nearly all require to betreated as greenhouse plan ts , and severa l arecommon ly planted in pots and kept in rooms.

MAY.

The author of “ The Picture of Australia” remarks , that the acacias in all their varieties arevery elegant , and says that “ they are among thefew plants in the Australian forest which an

European would be disposed to con sider ornamen ta l . There are more than one hundredspecies scattered over Australia , and of these a

con siderable number belong t o the leafless kind.

Their flowers are very beautiful,and the leaf

less variety is probably not found in any otherpart of the world .

”

Some pretty species of the flower calledlousewort , are now Opening in garden s , butthey m ostly require con siderable care in theirculture. Their leaves are cut in to fine segmen tslike those of our wild kin ds ; and their flowersare chiefly pink or purple , but sometimes yellow. When the white

,red

,and yellow colours

mingle in their blossoms , they are said byLoudon to give to the flower the tin ts of flames

offire . They genera lly grow on very elevatedsituation s

,and are found more than a thousand

toises above the level of the sea . Notwith

standing their acridity them oun ta in goats browseon them in the pa stures where they are plen tiful.One species of this plan t will n ot grow in theEnglish garden

,though some pa ins have been

taken to ra ise it from seeds sen t from the n orthof Europe to the botan ic garden of Cambridge.

It wa s a flower which much interested Linnaeusand other Swedish botan is t s . This is theflower ca lled Charles’s sceptre , (P edicularisscep trum Carolinum,) a name given t o it by

1 04 GARDEN FLOWERS.

Rudbeck, in 1 697 , in honour ofCharles XII. ofSweden . This monarch having visited Torneato observe the appearance of the solstitial sunabove the horizon a t m idn ight , was so struckwith the beauty of the plan t , that he carried itabout in his hand . It s large golden flowers ,with ruby lips

,are described a s ris ing in tiers

one above an other,to the height of four or five

feet from the ground . It is abun dant inNorway

,and found in Lapland

,though less

luxurian t in the latter coun try .

By the latter end of this mon th on e of thegayest of our garden flowers

,the escholt z ia , is

expanding it s large yellow or orange- colouredupright bells . It wa s

,a t it s first in troduction

in to this coun try,termed Ca lifornian poppy.

This flower is,among severa l others

,in cluded

by gardeners in the n ame of Ca liforn ian annuals,

and they were brought from Ca liforn ia,on the

north -west coast of America . Many of themwere sen t home by the indefa tigable botan ica lcollector , Douglas , who was sen t out by the

Horticultura l Society of London,and who , in

the en thusiastic pursuit of his object,lost his

l ife by fa lling in to a bull pit. The escholt z ra

has pa le sea - green leaves , covered with a fine

bloom and the flowers are very brillian t,

though destitute of fragran ce . When the blossom open s , the calyx , or flower cup , instead ofgradua lly unfolding a t the summ it

,like the

calyx es of flowers in gen era l,separates a t it s

base from the flower,and comes off in the form

of an extinguisher . This is on e of the mos t

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1 06 GARDEN FLOWERS.

flowers of her pre- em inence. In the east

genera lly , and in Persia especially, it points themora l of the sage

,and in spires the song of the

‘

m in strel. Not on ly did Hafiz and Khusroo

s ing of it s beauty and odour, and‘

t ell how’

then ightinga le

,

“ the bird of a thousandutters her plaintive lamen t when it is gathered ,but even to the presen t day , the Pers ian songwould seem incomplete did it make no referenceto “

the garden ofGul in its bloom .

”

It would be va in,in so sma ll a volume as the

presen t, to a ttempt t o enumera te the variousroses under culture in our coun try . More thana hundred dis tin ct species are kn own ,

and

about two thousand varieties are sa id t o be theobjects of care to the British gardener. The

rose,in some one or other of it s species , is a

wild flower in almost every coun try of the

n orthern hem isphere of the globe ; from Swedento n orthern Africa from Kamschatka to Ben

gal ; and from Hudson ’

s Bay to the loftymoun ta in s of Mexico but n either SouthAmerica nor Austra lia can boast the rose - bush ,either on moun ta in height

,or in deepes t va lley.

In the coun tries a t the n orth of Europe,the

flower,in it s wild state, i s Single , l ike our

Wilding rose ; but in Italy , Spa in , and Greece,it is often double.

The two species of rose which were earliestcultivated in the British garden , appear to bethe cabbage or Provence rose

,and the musk

rose. The former (Rosa cen tifolz’

a ) is we llknown by it s numerous petals , closely folded

JUNE . 1 07

over each other , like the leaves of a cabbage:Every cottage plot can show a bush of thissweetest of roses . It was ‘

long thought to be a

native of France , but this seems doubtful . Insome low woods on the ea stern parts of Caucasus , it is certain ly wild , and it s odour perfumes the air. Dr. Clarke speaks of it s fragranee and profus ion in the isle of Rhodes .

Upwards of seven ty kinds of thi s rose only, areunder culture , and our pretty moss roses , whichblush so beautifully from under their verdan tmossy veil , are varieties of the Proven ce rose.

It is remarkable of these flowers,tha t , when

removed to the milder atmosphere of southernEurope , they lose the mossy covering , whichseem s so suited

,in our climate, to preserve the

delicate young bud from the morning or evening chills . The cabbage rose is plan ted bothin England and France for the sake of it s petals ,which are gathered

,when fully blown , for

making rose water,and a lso for the con serve of

roses sold by the druggist.The musk rose (Rosa moscha ta.) is foun d

wild in the n orth of Africa , and the warmerportion s of Spa in . It bloom s in autumn

,and

it s musky odour is most powerful in the evening . It s large bunches of flowers would weighdown the s lender branches , were they not supported . The kin ds of musk rose are n ot nu

mercus , as there are n o t above a dozen sorts.

This flower is thought to be the rose repre

sen ted by the Pers ian poet a s the delight of then ightingale of the east, whose songs , sweet

1 08 GARDEN FLOWERS.

though they are to orien ta l ears , are describedby English travellers as far inferior to those ofour bird ofnight.The French rose (Rosa Gallz

'

ca) i s also a

common flower in our garden s . It has largeopen flat flowers , on stiff stalks . It grows wildin some parts of France , and a t Geneva and is

found in Austria and P iedmon t . This rose iseasily scattered by the winds , and forms a

grea t con tras t to the compact, closely- foldedcabbage rose . Though wild in France , it iscultivated at the little town of Provins ,

‘

and

a lso a t Fon ten ay aux Roses , n ear Paris , for theconserve made of it s petals . The York and

Lan caster , with it s flowers variegated with red

andwhite , is one of the varieties of the Frenchrose . It delighted our forefa thers , by bloom ingat a season when they deemed it an auspicioustoken that the civil wars should cease, and theun ion of the two emblematic roses

,in the per

son s of Hen ry VII. and Elizabeth of York ,should bring peace and happiness to the longdistracted nation . It is said that the sign ifican tcolours of red and white , were never , till thisperiod, seen un ited in the symbolic flower ofEngland , and grea t crowds wen t from the cityto witness this n atura l prodigy.

The damask rose too, (Rosa Damascena ,) is

common with us , and if it is not a n ative ofthe neighbourhood of Damascus

, yet it wasplan ted many cen turies since in that ancien tcity , whose n ame it bears ; and n ow,

both in itsred and white varieties , it stil l decks the gar

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1 1 0 GARDEN FLOWERS.

P erla , which blooms allEurope Over, andwhichawakened feelings of deep emotion in Rich ,when he saw it flowering wild in Koordistan ,

just as it did in the hedges whence he hadgathered it near his home . But we mus tpause in the list of the sweetest of flowers , andleave unn oticed many others , fam iliar to thosewho

,like Eve , tend the plants , as Milton de

scribes our first mother a s doing in eart h’sfa irest garden .

“ Veiled in a cloud of fragran ce , where she s toodHalf spied , so thick the roses blushing roun dAbout her glowed ; oft stooping t o supportEach flower of t ender stalk , whose head , though gay ,Carnation , purple , azure , or specked with gold,Hung drooping, unsustained.

The rose is much cultiva ted both in Egyptand Syr ia . It is in many parts of the Ho lyLand found Wild in abundan ce

, yet it is n ot so

gen era l a s to render it an Object of so frequen treference a s the myrtle , the ,

palm,and the

olive,which are far more Widely distributed

in that coun try: There exis t s,however , a

tradition that the name of Syria is a cor

ruption of Surist an ,the land of roses , which it

was on ce called, from the profusion of a speciesof rose termed Suri

,that grew in some part of

the land .

Very beautiful yellow roses have been foundflourishing among the ruin s of Baalbec, and

the hills which lie on the road fr om Joppa toJerusa lem ,

are still gay with the white or pinkrose . In the desert of St . John

,the garden s of

the little villa ge of that name abound with

JUNE. 1 1 1

these flowers , and the bushes are described as

forming small forests in the garden s .

” Burckhardt found roses in plen ty among the ruins ofBozra

,beyond the river Jordan .

There seems little doubt"

that the is le ofRhodes derived its name from Rhodos

,the

Greek word for this flower, on accoun t of it slovely roses . Dr. Clarke speaks with delightof the frag ran t atmosphere of this island

,and

says that , in addition to the odours of the rose ,every ga le is scen ted with citron and orangetrees

,and that numberless aromatic herbs ex

ha le a t the same time such profuse fragran ce,that the whole a tmosphere seems to be im

pregna ted with its spicy perfume. The paganwriters sa id of this island , that Jupiter pouredon it a golden shower .

And now, when the sun shines brightly,the

eye is absolutely dazzled a s i t gazes on the

glowing flowers of the scarlet lychnis, (Ly/ ohms

cha lcedonica .) P liny observes that this flowerwas in his time ca lledflammea , from its colourso like t o the flame of fire . He speaks of it shaving been brought from Asia . It appears tohave been in troduced hither from the Russ iangarden s , in the year 1 596 , and it is gen era llythought to have been sen t in to Europe fromAsia , during the period of the crusades . The

large clusters of this brillian t flower , growingon a stem often three feet high , render it avaluable addition to the garden . It bloom s a lsofor three or four mon ths . The White and

double-flowered varieties are equally handsome,

1 1 2 GARDEN FLOWERS.

and are much cultivated in Holland, but arenot so frequen t in our garden s as the commonscarlet kind .

Two other very beautiful species of lychn isare n ot ra re . The red flowers of the Chineselychn is (Lychm

’

s corona ta ) are much valuedin China and Japan and the splendid lychn is

(Lychm'

s fulgens) is a n ative of Siberia ; - Bothplan ts are well worth the care which the gar

dener must bestow on them during the frost.Severa l smaller ki nds of border flowers , as

the ragged robin , the pink bachelor’

s button ,and others , are species of lychn is ; and the

flowers termed catchfly are very n early a lliedto them . Of these we have a great number inthe garden , and several grow wild in our fields .

As Dr. Clarke observes, the weeds of‘

one

coun try are the flowers of. an other “accord~

ingly,”

says he,in his accoun t of Sweden ,

“ we found the common poppy and the n ightflowering ca tchfly cultivated with great care,as orn amen ts of the little garden of the innwhere we rested .

”

More than seven ty kinds of catchfly are in

British garden s , and they are all more or lesscovered with a glutin ous substance , whichhaving a sweet taste

,is attractive to in sects ,

and preven ts their escape from the flower .The old writers ca lled the plan t limewoort .Lobels ca t chfly (Silene armeri

’

a ) is common inm os t garden s , and the clammy species

, S z'

lene

viscosa , well deserves it s n ame .

The flowers of the two species of- fraxinella

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1 1 4 GARDEN FLOWERS.

a lbus)‘

are natives of Germany. The root i s

used in medicine , and contains a powerfulopiate . They are hardy perenn ia l plan ts , andwill thrive in a lmost any situation , or on anysoil .Sixt years since , the lovely tribe of fuchsias

were unknown in Great Brita in , and now theyhang their crim son bells in our gardens , or

bloom among the flowers which deck the win

dow- sill, sm iling even in the dim atmosphereof London

, but looking greener and gayer inthe l ittle garden—pot of the coun try cottageparlour. We have n ow several species , and

many others will probably yet be brought fromthe wild places of Peru and Chili . The mostin teresting as well a s the earliest introduced , isthe scarlet fuchs ia

, (F uchsia coccinea) which iswild in Chili

,and was brought in to this country

and presen ted to the roya l garden a t Kew,in

1 7 88 the remain ing species of the genus not having been in troduced before 1 823 . This fuchsiawas long considered a very delicate plan t , andwas kept in the greenhouse , and known on ly t othe rich bu t it is found to be so hardy as to

be now a lso the poor man’s flower . The richly

coloured tints of it s crimson calyx , and the‘

purple corolla within,rolled up like a ribbon

,

enable the scarlet fuchsia to vie in beauty evenwith the brighter scarlet of the splendid fuchsia(F uchsia fulgens) and others recen tly imported ;while it is far superior in beauty to the pa le fleshcoloured and green varieties

,now cherished by

the curious. The slender fuchsia , (Fuchsia

JUNE. 1 1 5

gracilz’

s ,) which is a crimson and purple flower ,is one of the best for the garden bed. It is ahan dsome s lender shrub

, about four feet highits leaves , like most of the fuchsias , veined withred. T his was in troduced from Chili in 1 823 ,and though usual ly a shrub

,may be t rain ed

’ to

a single s tem . The smaller plan t,the globe

fuchs ia, (F uchsia globosa ,) is also very hardy.

The fuchsias were named after LeonardF uchs , a well- kn own “ German botanist

, who

published some va luable works in the sixteen thcentury. Their fru it is a dark berry

,which

when ripe is agreeable to the taste . Theseplan ts are often

, when in the garden,five feet

high while in the greenhouse it is no uncom a

mon thing to see them n ine or t en feet in height.The Fren ch hon eysuckle has long been an

ornamen t to our garden s . Parkin son , whopublished his “ Garden of Flowers ” in 1 596 ,calls it the red satin flower

,and the red-fl ow

ered fitchling and adds ,“some foolishly call

it the red or Fren ch hon eysuckle .

” The nu

moron s species of hedysarum are all hardyflowers , and one which grows wild in variousparts of Asia

,the prickly- stemmed species ,

(Hedysarum Alhagi,) is celebrated as being theshrub which produces manna .

Many beautiful poppies are expanding theircrumpled petals t o the sun shine , and thoughtheir unpleasin g odour renders them littlesuited for n osegays , yet they are very brillian taddition s to the parterre . The brightes t ofthem all is the large scarlet eastern poppy,

1 1 6 GARDEN FLOWERS.A

,

(Pap aver orz’

en tale,) which wa s first found byTourn efort in Armen ia , and soon dispersedthroughout Europe , by the seeds which he sen tto the Garden of Plan ts at Paris . It is of themost dazzling colour, and on summer even ingsbright flashes of light have been seen to ema

nate from it s fire- co loured flowers . The largebracted poppy (P ap aver bra ctea tum) is no lessSplendid a plan t, and is now very genera llycultivated . It is a n ative of Siberia .

Some pretty delicate poppies , called carnationpoppies

,are in flower by the end of the mon th

,

and con tinue blooming till August ; So fra ilare they

,that it seems as if a shower or a rude

wind would scatter them all away, yet , like the

delicate cobweb with which the spider en

wreaths the hedges , the light shower of summeron ly brighten s them by it s spangles , and the

soft winds on ly ruffle them to display theirbeauty. Still

,however

,they are frail flowers ,

even where all are fra il and a long- con tinuedra in will so beat them down

,that they cann ot .

rise after it. Sometimes they are like whitegauze ; aga in they glow in brightest sca rlet, ordeepest crim son or their white peta ls are

traced with a blush - co loured s treak,or edged

with a rim of rose colour . These are all varieties

,produced by culture

,from the common

poppy of our cornfield .

The yellow poppy,often ca lled Norway poppy

,

(P ap aver nudicaule,) with it s bright orange- cc

loured flowers , is very handsome,andhas a sweet

fragrance. It is a native of Siberia andRussia .

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‘

1 1 8 GARDEN FLOWERS.

produces , in the Mauritius , an immense profusion of scarlet flowers

,which hang about t he

shrubs , and render them so bright , that it hasobta in ed the name of fire- in - the~bush .

- The

scammony, the ja lap , and other medicines arethe produce ofplan ts of the convolvulus tribe,and t he sweet potato (Convolvolus ba ta ta) is awell—known food in tropical coun tries . Backhouse

,when in the Mauritius

,saw some of the

poor people collecting the long stems of thisplan t

,and binding them together in bundles .

This formed a simple n et , which, when thrownin to the sea , and presen tly drawn ashore

, Wasfull of small fishes . The stems extended manyyards a long the sandy coast , and produced avery

'

pret ty convolvulus flower in great abundance .

The various kinds of nasturtium ,or Indian

cress , make a grea t show in the garden . Lin

naeus n amed the flower from trop oeam,a trophy ,

because of it s helmet- like shape, and because ,like t oo many -of the trophies of man

,it wore

the dark red sta in of blood . The round leaf,t oo , is like a buckler . The Fren ch term the

flower la capucine, and the Ita lian s, caprivola .

Until the year 1 823 , two kinds of nasturtiumon ly were kn own in this coun try. These werethe large and small-flowered common species ;and owing to the more showy flowers of thelarger kind , the smaller has been little cultiva t ed. Severa l varieties have

,of late years,

been ra ised from seed,and one of the most

handsome and generally known is the dark red~

JUNE .

‘

1 1 9

brown nasturtium , (Trop a olum major a t'

rosanq

g uineum.) A flower which, un til the last few

years , was deemed unfit for the open air,is n ow

a common and beautiful climber on the Wire ortrellis -work of the garden . This is the can arybird flower , (Trop a’olum peregrinam,) the littledelicate fringed floweret s of which seem ho

vering over the green sprays , as if some pale“

yellow bird were a lighting there beneath theirchequered shadows . The n asturtium is quitea Peruvian genus . The flowers of our commonspecies are sometimes eaten as sa lad

, and boththese and the young succulen t leaves and shootshave a pungen t property

,which renders them

very wholesome . The seeds are very com

m ouly pickled and used in s tead of capers .

During this and the two following mon ths,

the plan ts called s lipper wort,but more gene

ra lly known by their botan ica l n ame of Ca lceolaria , are e ither flowering in the greenhouseor on the garden plot. They are half hardyplants

,requiring care in the winter . The

grea ter number have yellow blossom s,and in

all, the lower lip of the flower is inflated like a

bag , and the form of the whole suggests theidea of a slipper . A few of the species havepurple or pink flowers

,and sometimes the dark

brown tin t m in gles wi th the yellow ,as in the

common wallflower, or they are of a dark richbrown . The differen t species grow as wildflowers in a lmost every variety of climate,owing to the various elevation s on which theyare found . TheWhole family are natives ofSouth

1 20 GARDEN FLOWERS.

America , and abound, either on the westerns ide of the Cordillera s , or the southern parts ofthe con tin en t, or in the con tiguous islands .

Some grow a t such a height on the Andes , thattheir yellow flowers va ry the somewhat mon oton ous tin t of grey lichens and green mosseswhich are found in these elevated region swhile some smile am ong the flowers of the lowliest va lleys . In Chili

,and on the moun ta in s

of Peru , they grow in thick profusion , so thatthey are said to give a peculiar character to thevegetation . In 1 820 , six Species on ly werekn own out of the number n ow to be found inBri ta in . The species most common in garden s

,

and the most hardy , is the little shrubby rugoseslipperwort , (Calceolaria rugosa .)Severa l pretty kinds of veron ica

,with blue

or White flowers,all in some degree resembling

the wild speedwells of our meadows,are blowmg

in the garden s in the m on th of June,while the

eye is almost unable t o gaze on the bright scarlet patches of the

‘

verva in,which now cluster

in glowing Colour . These flowers are betterknown by their n ame of verbena

,and though

the botan ist may perceive that they bear muchresemblance to our wild verva in

, yet theunpractised eye m ight n ot discern the resemblance . The scarlet species

, (Verbena a trosan

guinea ,) is the most intense in colour, and

absolutely pa in s the eye by it s brightness butthe most common species

,the scarlet verbena ,

is,in some of it s varieties , little less brillian t

than this . Severa l of the species have purple

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GARDEN FLOWERS.

Ornamen t of our gardens, so old that we known ot whence it came originally , though it is gen erally thought to be a

‘

nat ive flower of somepart of India .

The l ily,interesting to us by it s historical

association s , and leading us by it s very namet o think of the tender charge of our Saviour to“

the trembling disciples ,“ Con sider the lilies ,

”

the lily,the tall white lily, (Lilium candidum,)

may now be seen in it s beauty and purity,

towering above all the o ther’

flowers ; and we

can say wi th Bernard Barton ,Ye loftier lilies , bathed in morn ing dewOf purity and inn ocen ce, renewEach love ly thought.”

Dr. Royle quotes Dr. Bowring’s descriptionof a lily, which that writer terms the lily ofPa lestine , and heard ca lled Lilia Syria ca , andwhich grew in grea t profusion about Galilee .

Yet our white lily is n o t likely to be the lilyof the field , or the lily of the Song of Solomon ,or the prophets of the older Scriptures. The

white lily is not kn own to exist as a wildflower in Syria . None of the natives of Palestine can give any accoun t of it s growing wildthere , but it is cultivated in pots , and regardedas a rare exotic . The fields of Pa lestine are ,

however, full of liliaceous plan ts , and Sir J. E .

Sm ith and Dr. Kitto both cons ider that a

species of amaryllis was in tended , the goldenflowers of which are common in fields of Palest ine

,or the Levan t . Dr. Bowring plain ly

indicatesthe scarlet martagon lily ,which was in

JUNE . 1 23

ibrmer“

days called the Byzan tium lily, and

which grows from the Adriatic to the Levan t.It is common ly ca lled Turk’s cap , or turn againgentlemen , and is the L ilium chalcedonicum ofbotanists . This species of lily is in flowerduring this mon th in our garden s

,and a s it is

in bloom a t the season when our Saviour Spokehis sermon on the moun t

,Dr . Royle con cludes

that this is most probably the l ily of the field,

of which the disciples were to learn a lesson offa ith , and this invests this flower with fresh int erest . The common white lily has been plan tedfrom time immemoria l in the English garden s

,

and it s mucilagin ous roots boiled in milk forman old remedy for wounds .

As long s ince as the days of Dioscorides,the

martagon lily has been kn own as a flower ofAsia

,and he men tion s it s having been found at

An tioch,in Syria . The lily of the O ld Testa

men t has shared with the lily of the field , inhaving a variety of flowers assigned as the lilyin tended by the Hebrew name Shushan . The

violet, the rose , the ja sm ine , and many othersweet flowers of the Holy Land , have been saidto be the lily. Whatever it may have been , itwas doubtless a flower much esteemed in theeast .The sweet flowers of the white and purple

s tocks are fragran t now. The old favourite red

or carmine stock , ca lled queen’s s tock , (M a thi

ola incana) is ca lled by the French giroflée des

jardins by the old writers , purple gilliflower.

It s rosettes are sometimes of a pale pink, or

1 24 GARDEN FLOWERS.

variegated hue The Brompton stock is a.

variety of this , and was probably improved bythe skill of some Brompton florist. The Wildflower , from which many botan ists consider thegarden stock to ‘have been -derived , is , indeedy ablossom very inferior in beauty to this , and fewwould detect, in the sma ll purple flower of oursea- side cliffs , the paren t of this beautiful ornamen t of the cultivated ground. The annual , ort en - week stock , is ca lled by the French , laviolet te d

’

e’

te. It is gen era lly about two feethigh

,wi th white , red, and variegated varieties,

both single and double . It grows on the cliffsof Southern Europe , and

,like all the species ,

flourishes best n ear the sea .

There are , besides , some cinnamon - colouredstocks , and the n ight-blowing stock is of a dingybrown . The bright pinkish lilac annual

,called

Virgin ian s tock , which is plan ted round thegarden bed, is n ot a species of this plan t . Itgrows Wild in the Mediterranean isles

,and is

ca lled by the French , giroflée dcM ahon . Someof our most beautiful stocks are reared fromseeds brought from Germany and Russia , andare hence ca lled German or Russian stocksSevera l species of campanula bloom now

from the various pretty litt le flowers,which

,

with their blue and white bells,cover the rock

work - to the tall pyram ida l campanula,or the

Can terbury bell, and throatwort. One of thekinds frequen tly seen in gardens

,is the peach

leaved bell -flower, (Camp anula persiczfoliaooftenca lled paper flower

,with blue andwhit e spread

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1 26 GARDEN FLOWERS.

be converted to Christian ity, for they fanciedthat it s severa l parts indicated the variousaccompan imen ts of the crucifixion . In the five

an thers , the monks saw a resemblance to theWounds on the body of our Lord ; the triple‘

style , they con sidered emblematic of the threena ils by which he was fix ed to the cross the

cen tra l column,

‘

Of the pillar to which he wasbound while the rays of the flower figured totheir m inds the rays of light which the old

pain ters a lways represen ted as

"

surrounding theSaviour or were by some regarded as the signof the crown of thorns

,which s inful man

placed around the brow of man’s Redeemer.

Exaggerated descriptions and figures of the

marvellous passion flower were soon circulatedthroughout Europe and “ there are cuts

,says

Sir J. E . Sm ith,

“ to be found in some old

books , apparen tly drawn from description s,

like the hog in armour upon our sign s,to

represent the rhinoceros,in which

“

the flower ismade up of the very things themselves .

The common passion flower grows veryrapidly. It s shoots are sa id

,by Loudon

, t o

make fifteen feet in the summer . The fruit isabout a s large as a mogul plum ,

but it s flavouris no t agreeable . The species first cultivatedin Europe, was the rose- coloured passionflower, which is a native of Virgin ia . All the

species are very handsome flowers,and their

fruits are much valued in trop ical coun tries .

A. very popula r flower of this mon th is thecommon sweet pea , (La thyrus odoratus,) which

JUNE. 1 27

equals in fragrance almost any flower in theBritish garden .

_

It s but t erfly- like blossoms

are streaked with white and red in the kindcalled pa in ted lady ; but an other variety haspetals of a dark rich purple . Linnaeus says thatthe pink and white sweet pea is to be foundin Sicily, while the purple kind grows wild inthe magnificen t hedges and woods of Ceylon .

The everlasting sweet pea (La thyrus la tifoZius ,) is con sidered a wild flower of GreatBritain

,but it is a doubtful native . It s large

rich blossoms , growin g on stems sometimesseven or eight feet high

,add much t o the

beau ty of the shrubbery,while the s till larger

flowers of the perenn ia l pea (L a thyrus grandzflorus

,) are remarkably showy . Gerarde calls theformer kind

,pease everla sting

,tare everlasting

,

and chickling.

A very pret ty border annual is the ' Tangier

pea , (La thyrus Tingitanus ,)which is said to be anative of Barbary . It is a tal l—growing plan t,with sma ll dark purplish brown flowers . The

light blue pea , n ow sometimes seen in garden s,

is a perenn ia l plan t,remarkable , not on ly for

the co lour of it s flowers,but a lso for it s beau

tiful foliage . It is to be regretted that it isno t more common ly cultivated .

The odour of the sweet pea , delicious as it is ,is injurious to a close apartmen t ; and an in

stan ce occurred in Fran ce , in which a person ,owing t o carrying a sma ll bunch of theseflowers in the mouth

,on a warm summer’s

day , was seized with convuls ions .

1 28 GARDEN FLOWERS.

An other sweetly

'

fragran t flower is the com

mon white jessam ine, (Jasminum ofic-inale.) Itis a very old garden flower , and Gerarde says ,in 1 597 , that it was in common use for coveringarbours . The white flowers are often used formaking a fragran t oil . Cowper well describes it :

Th e jasmin e , throwing wide her elegant sweets ,The deep dark green of whose unva rn ished leafMakes more con spicuous , and il lumines moreThe bright profusion ofher scattered stars .

”

A few,besides the common species

,bear the

open air, but many j essam ines require the hothouse. The Ita lian yellow jessamine (Jasminum humile,) is a border flower , and the curledyellow j essam ine , a native of Nepaul, growswell aga in st wa lls. The sweet night- blowingAr abian jessamine is most fragran t durin gnight. It s powerful fragran ce renders it a favourite flower

,both in the East and West

Indies . Loudon remarks Of this plan t, that itgrew in the Hampton Court garden a t the closeof the seventeen th cen tury, but being lost there,it was kn own in Europe only in the garden ofthe Grand Duke of Tuscany

,a t P isa

,where the

plan t was placed under guard, that no cuttingsmight be stolen .

But no species of the jasm ine tribe is morein teresting than that called the tree of mourning , (Nyctan thus arbor tristis ,) which , however,requires to be grown in a stove in this coun try.

It is an Indian tree, and the Hindoo womenuse it s flowers to decorate their hair. It isdeliciously fragran t, the blossoms having the

scent of fresh honey,but the brightness of day

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1 30 GARDEN FLOWERS.

marj oram which grows there, and which theSpan iards term origano.

‘

The sweet or knottedmarjoram

, (Origanum majorana ,) cultivated forseason ing dishes , is a na tive of Portuga l . The

hep marj oram (Origanum dictamnus ,) has pinkflowers

,on green cones

,something like those of

the hops it is a native of Candia, and though

more frequen tly grown here in pots than on the

garden bed,is quite hardy This plan t - is the

celebrated dittany of Crete of t he an cien twriters . It clothes , in profusion , the rocks ofCandia . It is an excellen t stomachic

, and the

ancien t physician s con sidered the air of Candia’

especially healthful , on accoun t of the fragrancewith which it is imbued by the marjoram . It s

ba lsamic odour is very lasting .

The tribe of larkspurs which now arise , ofalmost every colour except yellow

,the blue

,

white,pink , and even scarlet larkspurs

,have a

gay effect on the flower bed. The double larkspur has

,however, a somewhat formal appear

an ce , and must , perhaps , yield in grace andbeauty to the more simple s ingle blossom . Itis to the latter kind on ly that the fam iliarn ame of larkspur can be applied

,for the spur

becomes lost in the mul tiplied petals of the

double flower. The common blue larkspur(Delp hinium consolida ,) grows wild a lmostthroughout Europe , and is very frequent insome of the fields in Cambridgeshire . It is saidto be an ingredien t in those cosmetics used byFren ch ladies , the frequen t application of whichproves so destructive to the skin . These

flowers received their Latin name from theirresemblance to the imaginary dolphin

,which

,

with griffins and other strange an imals,figure

in heraldic inscriptions . It was formerly ca lleda lso lark’s heel or lark’s foot . It is probablyfrom the sceptre- like appearance of the doubleflower

,that the Italian s cal l it (F ior regio)

king’s flower . It is an old inhabitan t of theBritish garden

,and is men t ioned by the herb

alist s of queen E lizabeth’s time .

Far more beautiful than the common species,

are the handsome Siberian larkspurs,with ta ll

stems,dark green leaves

,and deep blue flowers ;

which,as Mrs . Loudon observes

,seem to have

a metallic lustre , the hue of which resemblesthat of silver that has been tarn ished by fire .

These,both in their single and double varieties ,

are now in bloom . The bee larkspur (Delp hi

nium intermedium) is a lso a flower of greatbeauty , with blossoms of in ten se blue, and petals so curiously fo lded , that they presen t theappearance of a bee or blue - bottle fly .

Another of the Ca liforn ian annuals , which ,like the escholt z ia

,has of late yea rs become

very common in garden s , is the clarkia , withrose - coloured , white , or lilac flowers

,of a very

s ingular shape : and the.

differen t kinds of

cis tus are now very handsome and frequen tplan ts . There is the frai l gum cis tus , (Cistusladaniferus ,) smiling for a day , with it s whitepetals

,each ornamen ted with a dark crimson

spot a t the cen tre. Both this and the manyflowered gum cistus , (Cis lus ledon ,) furn ish the

1 32 GARDEN FLOWERS .

odoriferous drug termed ladanum ,so much

employed in the east'

. This ladanum is of old

repute, and is thought by many writers , t o bethe substance called myrrh in Scripture.

But besides the gum cistus ,we have a varietyof plan ts of this genus n ow in full flower.There are severa l shrubs covered with blossoms , while clumps of lovely flowers of the

cistus kind , nod to every brea th of wind whichruflies the leaf. The pretty purple-flowered

species, (Cis tus p urp ureus ,) is quite a popular

shrub from the south of Europe. This flowerblooms no t on ly during this and the nex tm onth

,but , if the autumn be mild

,will bloom

aga in a t tha t period . The lower"

growingcistuses , of orange , red, yellow, or other colours ,are often seen on the bed. The old writersca lled the larger cistuses Rosa a 7p in a andRosa

montana,while Parkin son terms them holly

roses . Severa l of the herbaceous species are

used as ornamen ts to the rock -work,and have

evergreen leaves . The differen t plan ts of thisgenus were well known to our old botan ists andgardeners

,and Gerarde men tions tha t

,in his

day , there were thirty- eight kinds cultivated inEngland . They are all natives of the southerncoun tries of Europe , where even if the wint er brings some chilly days

, yet the summerseason is hot and dry . Their perfume existsrather in their leaves and young buds

,than in

the flowers . A beautiful greenhouse species ,the oblong- leaved cistus

, (C’is tus

often grows five feet high , and has rose- coloured

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1 34 GARDEN FLOWERS.

as it s name implies , a native of the same landas the one- seeded species . Bo th in France and

Spa in it is cultivated as fodder for sheep , andit s fibres are woven in to a kind of cloth , andstill more often made in to cordage. It s handsome flowers are often double , and are of thesame bright golden hue as the broom of ourheath lands , which Cowper describes a s

Yel low and bright, as bullion unal loyed.’

The handsome petun ias , now so general , havebeat en but recen tly objects of culture in thiscoun try . When firs t in troduced they weretrea ted as greenhouse plan ts ; now some are

found to be quite hardy,and o thers

,which must

be ra ised on a hot bed,may yet flower in the

open air. The pet unia earliest brought toEngland , was the white flower

, (Petunia nycta~

giniflora ,) now so common in garden s and

flower—pots , and whose odour is so sweet in theair of the summer even ing. This is a n ative ofBrazil

,whence it was brought in 1 823. It was

thought to resemble the tobacco plan t, and as

the “ fragran t weed” of America is known inBra zil by the name of petun , so this flowerga ined it s name. About seven years after thein troduction of the white species , the equa llycommon purple kind (Petunia viola cea) wasbrought from Buenos Ayres . Since that periodthe British gardeners have produced from thema grea t variety of flowers

,of white

,of all shades

of purple and red, and streaked with manybeautiful tin ts . The dwarf shrubby petun ia

,

JUNE . 1 85

which will thrive on ly in a greenhouse,is a

native of Panama .

The white and yellow prickly poppies are

now blowing freely. They are fit on ly for a

large garden bed,for their showy flowers and

spreading foliage occupy much room . The

yellow Mexican poppy (Argemone M exicana) isa most ann oying weed in the West Indies

,

springing up in the plan ta tion , and attain ing aluxurian ce of growth which it requires constan tcare to check . It s fruit is something like a

fig,closely beset with prickles . It abounds

,in

a thick white juice,and con tain s seeds which

are sa id to be even more powerfully narcoticthan opium . The thick juice , when exposed tothe air

,becomes hard and yellow

,and can

scarcely be distinguished from gamboge .

Besides the common fox - glove , we havesome other handsome species on the gardenbed. The yellow fox—glove (Digitalis ambigua)grows wild on the hills of Switzerland , and isless genera l than the smaller yellow species ,(Digita lis lutea ,) which is as common in the

woods of Fran ce and Germany,as is our purple

species with us . Then we have the iron foxglove

, (Digita lis ferruginea ,) which has shortglobular bells of rust colour , and is common inthe coun tries a t the south - east of Europe

, and

a lso in many parts of Asia .

The handsome Madeira fox - glove (Digitalisscep trum) requires to be kept in the greenhouseduring win ter. It grows wild in the woods ofMadeira , and when cultiva ted by florists in the

1 36 GARDEN FLOWERS.

neighbourhood of Ghen t , has been known togrow to the height of t en feet . It has largeyellow bells , sometimes varying to a brightorange.

JULY.

The cottage garden , most for use designed,Is not of beauty destitute . The vineMantles the little casement, and the briarDrops fragrant dew among t he July flowers ;And pansies rayed , and freaked with mottled pinks,Grow amon g balm , and rosemary , and rue ;There hon eysuckles flaunt, and roses blow ,Almost un cultured —some with dark green leavesContra st their flowers of pure un sul l ied white ;Others like ve lvetrobes ofrega l state,Of richest crimson ; while in thorny moss

En shrined and cradled , the most lovely wearThe hues of youthful beauty’s glowing cheek.

CHARLOTTE SM ITH .

HOW beautiful , in this season , are the dew

drops which a t morn and even ing glitter on

half- opened flowers , or twinkle on every bladeof grass , or bestrew every leaf with their pearls !Truly the dew of heaven , even if it brought notwith it the “ fatness of eart h

,

” would at leastdelight the eye with it s lustre . In our own

land we see the appropriateness of the numerouscomparison s which are made to thedew by theinspired writers ; While in the hotterregions ofthe earth , it s greater copiousness renders themstill more striking. Some lands

,like Egypt,

would not be habitable but for the dews , andthe driest deserts of earth are watered by thedews of heaven .

“He shall be as the dew

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1 38 GARDEN FLOWERS.

both of Asia and Africa , diffusing it s inost

welcome odour when little expected by the t raveller. It grows wild too in southern Europe .

In our garden s i t is too well kn own to n eeddescription , and it is still brought to market forthe purposes to which Shen stone describes hisschool—m istress as applying it.

And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom,

Shal l be ere“ hile in an d bun dles boun d ,T o lurk amidst t he labours of t he loom ,

And crown her kerchiefs clean , with mickle rare perfume .

Fields of lavender are cultivated a t Mitcham,

and Hen ley- on - Thames , a s well as in Ken t,

for the oil of commerce. An ounce of oil issa id t o be yielded by six ty oun ces of theblossoms .

There is no summer mon th from May toSeptember

,in which we may n o t find some

species of phlox decking the garden . On the

pra iries of America,as well ' as in the woods of

Canada , it grows to a grea t height, and is veryabundan t ; but most of the purple kinds , likemany flowers of the

‘

American forest, are scen tless . The large white - flowered or scented phlox

(P hlox suaveolens) is now ,however , in bloom ,

and has a very pleasan t odour . A very prettyvariety of this species has pure white flowers

,

with a pink star in the cen tre,gradua lly fading

as it approaches the edges .

All the species of these handsome borderflowers are n atives of America . The fine

leaved phlox, (Phlox setaceaa,) with flesh

coloured blo ssoms , and it s sn ow-white variety ,are among the earliest blooming species . They

JULY. 1 39

are low tra iling perenn ials,bloom ing in April

and May . The Can ad ian species has pale blueflowers , and grows about a foot high and the

ovate phlox has purple flowers , and is , like theformer

,a Spring flower .

The pan icled phlox (Phlox panicula ta) isone of the most popular species . It is a tallplan t

,sometimes four feet in height

,with

numerous clustered flowers of pa le lilac ._

Thisflower is very con spicuous on the pla in s ofAmerica . It has been an inhabitan t of the

British garden for more than a hundred years,

and blooms in autumn .

And now tha t fra il and beautiful flower,which

bloom s but for one day , then droops and dies,

the lovely day lily, m ay be seen open ing it s

yellow vase to receive the dew- drops of the

morn . The French term it L a belle d’

imejaw ,

and some of their writers call it the asphodellily . Fra il a s it is

,it is long orn amen ta l to the

garden,for though one flower may die t o

- n ight,

yet to - morrow’

s sun shall gi ld an other,and the

root will bloom for one or two m on ths . Bo ththe yellow lily

, (Hemerocallis flava ,) and the

copper- coloured species, (Hemeroca llis fulva )

were kn own in Englan d in queen Elizabeth 8time . The la tter species is a na tive of the

Levan t , and is a much ta ller flower than theyellow kind

,being sometimes four feet high .

The flowers genera lly ca lled Japan lilies , aren atives of China and Japan . They bear theOpen air well , and are handsome , and most ofthem fragran t flowers . The blue Japan lily is

1 40 GARDEN FLOWERS.

quite hardy the white species require someprotection .

Severa l species of hibiscus are in bloomdur ing this and the next mon th . They are

very nearly allied to the ma llow . The shrubbykind

,called Althaea frutex , (Hibiscus Syriacus ,)

is very gen erally cultivated. A large numberof species of hibiscus are kn own to botanists ,and they are an in teresting tribe of plan ts , n oton ly because of the beauty of their flowers , buton accoun t of the various uses to which theyare applied in the lands where they are native .

Abounding in the tropica l regions,they are of

great va lue to the people of those lands , butmany of them ,

when tran splan ted to our coun try,

need protection from it s climate . In the hotterregion s of the con tinen t of Asia , in India and

Ceylon,some of the most beautiful species aie

abundan t. In Africa and South America theyare a lso wild

,and even in North America a few

are found : while in the Wes t Indies , as well asin other tropica l islands

,a great ‘varie ty exist.

Like the ma llow,they are remarkable both for

the mucilage which they con tain,and for the

fibres which their stalks yield on macera t ion .

One species,the esculen t hibiscus

,called ochro

,

in the West Indies,is cultivated as an esculent

vegetable , and is a lso used for thicken ing soups ;but the English residen ts rarely like it as diet.In France it is plan ted for the pods

,which are

gathered while green,and either eaten in soups

,

or pickled like capers,and they are often spiced

and made into a rich dish. In an other species,

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1 42 GARDEN FLOWERS .

this colouring matter the women also blackentheir ha ir and eyebrows .

One of t he very few plants of the hibiscustribe which is quite hardy , is the commonbladder ketm ia

, (Hibiscus trionum,) or Venicemallow

,sometimes ca lled buff- coloured ma llow,

from it s flowers , which are a lso striped withbrown vein s . It is a native of Italy and Austria ,and was called by the old writers ,

“ Good n ighta t noon .

”If we are to believe Gerarde , hew

ever,still shorter than this name would imply ,

is it s little hour of beauty,for he says ,

“ it open sa t eight in the morning

, and closes aga in a t

n ine Many persons who have had i t ,in their

garden s have n ever seen it flower , for though itis sometimes open so late as three o’clock in theday , yet , un les s the

“ weather be clear and

bright,m any days will pass by , and it will

rema in folded up , wa iting for the sunshine .

The common corn flag (Gladiolus communis)is too ta ll a flower to be overlooked , and it hasa long spike of bells , of elegan t shape and

bright pink colour. Severa l varieties of thisspecies are in cult iva tion

,but some of the less

genera l kinds are more brillian t in colour . Thesuperb corn flag (Gladiolus cardina lis) hasrich scarlet flowers

,spotted with white , and the

differen t orange - co loured species are veryshowy . Almos t all our garden gladioli aren a tives of the Cape of Good Hope ; but theseflowers are n ot limited to tha t part of Africa ,but are to be found sca ttered over the vastdeserts of that coun try. Backhouse describes

JULY. 1 43

one which he saw in Caffraria,which had den se

spikes of flowers , of a dingy hue,covered with

minute purple spots ; and other travellers havenamed them as bloom ing in a ll shades ofyellow,

pink , and brown colours , among the brillian tblossoms which en liven these arid lands . Theyhave bulbous roots and long sword- shapedleaves ; the latter suggested their botan ic n ame ,from gladius , a sword .

The common bladder senn a (Colutea a rbor

escens) is a pretty shrub,now covered wi th it s

clusters of bu t t erfly—shaped yellow flowers ; n oris it less orn amen ta l in autumn

,when it s large

inflated pods stand thickly among its fo liage .

It is remarkable as growing and flowering on

Moun t Vesuvius , even on spots qui te n ea r tothe crater . It is wild in many pa rts of Fran ce

,

and it s leaves afford a grateful food to ca ttle .

Both seeds and leaves are used m edicinally .

The sma ller species , the orien ta l bladder senn a ,(Colutea cruenta ,) is a much prettier shrub thanthis . It s flowers are of a reddish colour

,and it

is a n ative of the Levan t.The blue commelina , (Oommeliiia cwles tis ,) as

well as the other species of this flower , is a

n a tive of South America . And very brillian tis the tin t of it s blossoms

,which are now open .

Far less showy are the flowers of the ba s il ,but the air is quite perfumed with the odoursof this plan t . The blossoms are shaped likethose of the lavender , but are e ither purple or

white . The common sweet ba sil , (Ocymumbasilicum,) notwithstanding that its native soil

1 44 GARDEN FLOWERS.

is Persia or India , is a hardy annual. In Persiathe basil is plan ted on graves , and is a favouriteaddition to the bouquet . Both in India and on

the con tinen t of Europe it is much,used as a

culinary aroma tic plan t. The Hindoos attacha superstitious ven era tion t o some of the species ;they use them in religious ceremon ies ; and one

kind , known in Ca lcutta by the name of toolsy,is much cultivated there . The an cien t Greeksheld the strange superstition that this plan tflourished best when plan ted am id ra ilings andangry words ; and it seem s strange , that as bothGreeks andRoman s so highly prized it s fragrance ,a malign an t cus tom should have been connectedwith it . In former days many person s in our

own land refused t o plan t it in their garden s ,from the absurd n otion that smelling it infectedthe bra in

,and that it produced scorpions . This

idea was so preva len t,that sir Thomas Browne

though t it worthy of his n otice,and attempted

to refute it in his “ Inquiry in to Vulgar Errors ,where he aflirms tha t the African s deemed it aremedy aga in s t the bite of a scorpion

,and that

if any one has ea ten ba sil he is safe from dan

ger, should a scorpion inflict a wound . And

thus this learned writer displaces one error toadvance another.Although the stately hollyock (Alikma rosea)

is to o large a flower for the smaller garden , yeton a large space of ground it well repays it sculture . It is said to be a n ative of China

,and

is undoubtedly of eas tern origin . The Frencht erm it rose d’

outre mer, and it was long known

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1 11 6~

GARDEN FLOWERS.

young shoots . This flower is occasiona lly foun dwild in Great Brita in , and is a n a tive of mos tparts ofEurope , from Lapland to Italy. In no

coun try,however , is it so luxurian t a s in Lap

land . Dr . Clarke says , that it there a tta ins amagn ificence , compared with which it seems in

other lands but a stun ted plan t and adds ,that among the many gay flowers which deckedthe river sides of that land , it s gaudy blossomsshon e pre -eminen tly . It s high clusters ofpurplelilac flowers acquire a prodigious s ize amongthe rocks and stones . This traveller observes ,that it may. be con s idered as the garland ofLapland ; often a tta ining the greates t magn itude

,when every other sign of vegeta tion di

m in ishes . The Lapps ca ll it a lmolce,and

among the inhabitan ts of Da lecarlia,the flower

is fam iliarly termed heaven ’

s grass .

The French n ame this flower laurier de S t .Antoine. It s young shoo ts may be ea ten , and

the pith , bitter a s it is in it s fresh state , becomes,

when dried, very sweet, and, by a certa in pro

cess , is m ade in to ale while , by a far ther process , the Kamscha tctales derive vinegar fromit. It is also used as fodder for ca ttle , and thegoat is glad to come to the cliffs by the river,t o ea t it s foliage . The great quan t ity of downwhich exists in the pods , has been mixed withfur or cotton

,and made in to stockings and other

articles of wearing apparel . The little redAlpine willow herb is a pretty ornamen t forrock- work , and several species are among our

wild flowers .

JULY. 1 47

A very pretty Californian annua l is now

blooming. This is the shady nemophila, (N e

mophila phacelioides .) It s flower is of brightes tblue , and its name , taken from the Greek words ,to love , and shade , indicate tha t this genus is tobe found chiefly where trees and bushes cas ttheir shadow .

Among the many odours of this season,few

are more pleasan t than that of the pinks , whichflowers are now in perfection . It was

,perhaps

,

for it s fragran ce,

still more than for it s

beauty, that the pi nk was ca lled the divineflower. The carn ation (Dianthus ca ryophyllus)is thought to have had it s origin in the wildclove pink of our land

,and which a lso grows

on the Alps of Switzerland . At the commen cemen t of the eighteen th cen tury

,four hundred

varieties of the carn a tion were enumerated,

and their numbers are now increa sed . Theyare all sweet and beautiful flowers

,and their

leaves,which gardeners term grass

,are , from

their evergreen nature , ornamen ta l to the bedin winter or early spring . The plan t calledtree pink (D ianthus arboreus) is merely a kindof ca rnation

, with a woody stem ,and it s pink

flowers are foun d in the isles of Greece .

Many writers have con sidered the pink (D ianthus p lumarius ) a s merely a variety of thecarna t ion ; and a s it does n o t appea r to be foundin a wild s tate

,it is probably derived , if no t

from the carnation , yet from some of the smallerpinks

,which grow wild in various countries .

Our native pinks are few,and chiefly inconspi

1 48 GARDEN FLOW ERS.

cuous flowers , but a great variety bloom in thelands of southern Europe , and grow on the

moun ta ins of Germany and Switzerland at a

great height. The kind of pink ca lled lacedpinks

,is tha t cultivated so much by florists ,

and their flowers should be about two inchesand a ha lf in diameter, with white peta ls,rose—coloured edges , and a da rk purple ringin the cen tre. It does no t appear tha t thistribe of flowers was kn own to the ancients ,for no poet of Greece or Rome has sung of

their perfume or beauty ; and they are not

men tion ed by Pliny, or any other natura list ofthose dis tan t ages .

The sweet- William (Dianthus barba tus) is a

clustered species of pink , and is called by theFrench

,n osegay of pinks . It grows wild in

Germany,and a lso on the hills of Normandy

,

but with much smaller flowers than it has inour garden s .

The China pink, (D ianthus Chinensis ,) which

seems neither exactly like a pink nor a sweetW illiam

, is of a beautiful red colour,each

blossom growing on a single stalk . It appea rsto have been in troduced from China

,in to our

garden s,about the m iddle of the last cen tury .

The numerous species of groundsel haveamong them a few handsome flowers . One

common and very orn amen ta l species is now

in bloom . The purple ragwort , or jacobaea ,(Senecio elegans ,) has sometimes double flowers

,

of rich velvet surface , and beautiful dark hue.It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. One

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1 50 GARDEN rLowEns.

blooming during this and the following mon ths.The we ll—known sage (Sa lvia oficinalis) of the

kitchen garden , would give little idea of thebeauty of many of the exotic kinds of salviawhich thrive with us ; yet there is so muchs im ila rity in all

,not on ly in the shape Of the

blossom ,but in the wrinkled foliage and aro

m atic odour , that the sage plan ts are pla in lydistinguished . Our common sage was formerlyin great repute a s a medicin e . Eating a quantity of it s leaves was supposed to avert sickn ess , and hen ce the Old La tin proverb ,

“ How

can a m an die that has sage in his garden?”

The Chinese have a high Opin ion of the

virtues of the common sage, and prefer it

to the t ea,whose stimula ting properties are

deemed so refreshing in our land . Indeed , theDutch appear a t on e time to have been engagedin a very profitable commerce

,for it is said

tha t they carried a cargo of the sage leaf toChina , and returned to their own coun tryfreighted with four times the quan tity of t ea .

But though the Chinese thus va lued the sage,

yet they had a high opinion of t heir t ea a lso,

a s a remedy. So early as the n in th cen tury,

travellers in China men tion their custom ofdrinking an infusion of the leaves of a plan t

,

which they termed sali, that was reputed as a

medicine for all diseases,and which is proved

to be the t ea , which , from having been a t first a.luxury , seems now to have become a necessarya rticle in the diet of an Englishman . I Vith

us the sage is much used as a condiment

JULY.

for dishes . It grows wild in the south or

Europe.

There are between one and two hundred distinct species of sage in garden s , and the tin ts oftheir blue , purple , sca rlet

,white

,or yellow

flowers , are very bright. The apple - bearingsage, (Salvia p omifera , ) with large a z ure blossoms

,is among the handsomest kinds . This

plan t is subj ect to the punct ure of an in sect,

which produces ex crescen ces as large as oak

galls,and which con ta in an acid aromatic juice .

These apples are much va lued as food in the

isle of Crete , where they are sold in the mar

kets . Our common garden sage is a lso,in

tha t island , covered with these substances , andthey are ca lled sage- apples . In all the Mediterranean isles

,differen t kinds of sage are

abundan t. Dr. Clarke observes , too , tha t theyflourish on the south coast of Crimea

,and says

that there the sage of our kitchen garden is

the principa l spon taneous production of the

rocks and m oun ta in s . He observed , that here ,a s in t he isles of the Archipelago

,the sage

plan ts atta ined to a very considerable si ze,being tal l en ough to be ranked as shrubs .

Severa l of our cultivated species are shrubs ,as is the case in the brigh t scarlet kind termedthe shin ing- leaved sa lvia , (Sa lvia formosa ,)which is a native of Peru . Some lovely spe

cies , as the tooth - leaved sage , have white flowers . One of the most ornamen ta l is the fulgidsage , (Sa lvia splenclens ,) which is a n ative ofMexico . The go ld-flowered sage , a native of

1 52 GARDEN FLOWERS.

the Cape ofGood Hope , has pale silvery leaves ,and deep yellow flowers, and blossoms fromspring

'

to autumn .

The plan ts which we term clary, are alsoSpecies of sage

,and are cultivated not so much

for their flowers , as for the deep red, purple, orvio let co lour , which some of their young shootsexhibit. The common clary, (Sa lvia sclarea

,) an ative of Ita ly , has a most powerfu l odour , andwas once much used medicina lly. Our commonwild clary (Sa lvia verbenaca) has a still strongerfragrance

,andis found in a lmost every land ofthe

globe . It s Seeds con ta in a mucilagin ous sub

stan ce,which

,if it be placed under the eyelid , en

velopes any gra in of dust which may have settledon the eye , and brings it away. Itwas this whichgave the plan ts the n ame of clary or clear - eye.

A win e i s made of the common clary , which ,when boiled with sugar

,is said to have the

flavour of Fron tignac, and is remarkable for it s

narcotic qualities . This plan t grows wild inSyria , Ita ly, and Bithynia , and is one of theexotic herbs of longes t standing in the Britishgarden . An other species of salvia is used inHolland

,to flavour Rhen ish wines .

And n ow the awn ing is spread to keep thesun from injuring the full—blown ranunculus

,

(Ranzmculus Asia ticus ,) which glitters in everycolour of the ra inbow

, and is streaked witheach hue of nature . This is the mon th in

which florists usually display them in a mass,

and for this purpose they are plan ted late inautumn ; but when plan ted in January, they

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1 54 GARDEN FLOWERS.

idea that this plan t yielded the true jalap of

commerce. The forked marvel of Peru is a

smaller flower , of a reddish purple colour . Itis called , in the West Indies , the four o

’clockflower, as it open s a t tha t time of the day.

The white sweet- scen ted marvel of Peru ex

pands on ly a t n ight and it s odour Ofmusk is sopowerful , as to be disagreeable to many person s .

A large number of plan ts are bloom ing inthe garden , of the genus Cen taurea , with flowers many of them something like thistles.

Two very common flowers,long in cluded in

this genus , but n ow removed in to an other, arethe purple and yellow sultan s . The purplesultan (Amberboa moscha ta) grows wild in

corn—fields in the Levan t, and is also a nativeof Persia . Parkin son , who wrote his work in1 629 , thus men tion s it : “ As a kind of corneflowers

,I must needs adjoyn e another stranger

of much beauty,and but la tely Obta ined from

Con s tan tinople ; where, because it is sa id the

grea t Turk , as we call him, saw it abroad

,

liked it, and wore it himself, all his vassalshave had it in great regard , and it hath beenobta ined from them

,by some that have sen t it

from these parts ” He adds,tha t it was a lso

ca lled the blackamoor’s flower. The tin t ofthis sultan is purple

,white , or flesh - colour

,and

it s odour of musk very strong . The Frenchterm itfieur da grand seigneur.

The common yellow sultan (Amberboa sua

veolens) has a much more pleasan t fragrance,

but differs little, except in colour,from the

155

purple kind , and is wild in the corn—fields ofthe same coun tries .

The tall flower, termed y ucca , or Adam’

s

needle , ( Yucca gloriosa ,) with it s pyramids oflarge penden t bells , is now very conspicuous .

It s blossoms arc green ish -white,and it s ever

green leaves,like those of the a loe

,are long

and poin ted. The natives of St. Dom ingo callthe plan t guca . It grows both in these islandsand on the con tinen t of America . It s pointedleaves have been compa red to a n eedle ; but ,as Dr. Lindley

‘ observes,it better deserves the

name of needle and thread plan t,for “ by soak

ing in water , the fibres of the leaves may be

separated from the pulp,without being torn

from the hard sharp poin t, so that when properly prepared

,the leaves do rea lly become

needles,ready provided with a skein of thread .

”

Two other hardy species of yucca are com

monly cultivated in England . They flourishwell by the sea - side , and are very suitableornamen ts to the grounds ofm arine dwellings .

The dark rich velvet zinn ias unfo ld thei rstars . They are annuals . The red zinn ia

(Z innia multiflora ,) is a n ative of North Ame

rica,and it s purple - red blossoms seem a s if a

shower of gold had alighted on it s peta ls . The

whorl—flowered zinn ia, (Z innia vert icilla ta

,)and the elegan t zinn ia , (Z innia elegans ,) are

both wild flowers of Mex ico . The formerspecies has double red blossoms , and the latterhas red flowers , which change as they decay

,

to a deep violet hue. The zinnias have very

1 56 GARDEN FLOWERS.

thick stems . They were named by Linnaeus , inhon our ofJohn Godfrey Z inn ,a German botan ist.Somewhat similar in colour to these flowers ,

are the African and F rench marigolds ; butthe latter have been much longer in the Britishgarden .

'

The very unpleasan t odour of theseplan ts , is hardly compen sated by the velvetsuit of yellow and brown in which they are

a ttired ; but on e of the African marigolds

(Tagetes lucida) has a pleasan t fragrances.

Parkinson remarks of the flower,that it “ smells

like a hon eycomb,and has not that poysonful

scen t of the other kinds .

”

The Fren ch ma rigo ld (Tagetes p a tula) iscalled in France p etit oeillet d

’

Inde, but it isnot , as it s n ame would import , a n ative eitherof France or India : Bo th this and the Africanmarigold are cultivated in the garden s ofIndia

,China

,and Japan . This species has

grea t brilliance of colours,varying from a

bright yellow to a deep orange tint.The Ita lian s term these plan ts garofano

M essicano, and also death flower, fior di morto.

All the species are American,and the Italian

n ames have both probably a referen ce to thetradition which ex ists respecting them . It issaid that these flowers sprung up on groundson which had been spilled the blood of the

unfor tun ate Mexican s who fel l victims to the

love of gold,and the thirst of power

,which

induced the Span iards to destroy these unof

fending people . And truly has the Scripturesaid , that

“ the love ofmoney is the root of all

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1 58 GA RDENFLOWERS.

cane , (Arundo donax ,) and which“

they use for

fen ces , for supporting the graceful festoons ofthe vine

,or for fishing - rods . In Spa in and

Portuga l it forms an importan t part of com

merce,being used in those coun tries in looms ,

and for numerous purposes . The striped variety

‘of this plant is well known by the name of

ribbon - grass,and in Scotland is ca lled garden

ers’ garters . The roots of several species of

arundo are used in dyeing. And now as the

soft wind blows , and the beautiful plumes of

the feather—gra ss (S t ipa p innata) wave up and

down,we do n o t wonder that the Russian poet

celebra te s it in his songs,and finds comparison s

t o it in the movemen ts of femin ine gracefuln ess .

It grows freely on a lmost all the steppes ofRussia

,and waves t o the winds which play

around some a lpine rocks of our na tive land .

Ladies of former days wore it as an ornamen tto the hair

,and it is n ow often used to adorn

the man tel- piece, but , un less ga thered just be

fore the seeds ripen,it will fall into shreds ; n or

can it s beauty be long preserved under anycircumstances . A species of stipa is one of thegrasses so much used by the Span iards , underthe genera l name of esp arto .

The large handsome flowers and magn ificen tfoliage of the sweet—scen ted or Virgin ian tobacco plan t, (Nicotian taboeum,) may be seen

in many gardens . The tubular flowers are of

a purplish rose- co lour. It grows wild in the

Wes t Indies , as well as in some coun tries of

America .

AUGUST. 1 59

AUGUST.

A drowsy indolence now hangs on all ;Each creature seeks some place ofrest, some shelterFrom t he Oppres swe heat : S i len ce preva ils ,Nor low , nor bark , nor chirp of bird is heard ;In shady n ooks the Sheep and kin e convene :Within the narrow shadow of the co tThe s leepy dog lies stretched upon his side ,Nor heeds t he footsteps o f the pas ser by ,O r at t he sound but ra ises half an eyelid ,Then gives a feeble grow] and s leeps a g ainNo sound is heard but hummin g of th e bee

,

For she a lone retires not from her labour,Nor leaves a meadow flower unsought for gain .

JOANN A B A I LL IE .

IF there is less variety in the flowers whichduring this mon th expand afresh

, yet there isas great an amoun t of brillian t colouring in thegarden

,as in the more pro lific season of mid

summer ; for dahlias , sun - flowers,and ama

ran ths,wear hues m ore deep and glowing than

the rose or lily of Jun e . A magnificen t floweris the dahlia

,and it is pleasan t to think that it s

culture affords an innocen t recrea tion to manya florist of humble life . The autumnal flowershows in which it is exhibited

,give evidence

how wonderfully the skill of the florist hasimproved the s tately flower

,which

,when i t

grows in it s n ative land,is n eith er so bright

n or so beautifully formed , as the blossom to beseen in the humblest garden . The dahliagrows wild on the sandy pla in , as wel l a s on

the moun ta ins of Mexico and wa s introducedinto Europe by the grea t n aturalist BaronHumboldt. He

,in the year 1 7 89 , sen t it to

Professor Cavanilles,of the Botan ic Garden of

Madrid, who in that year presen ted it to the

1 60 GARDEN FLOWERS.

Marchioness ofBute . This lady kept it in thegreenhouse, and from this species (Dahlia na

riabilis) nearly all the numerous varieties havebeen obtained. In the field of Mexico it is as ingle flower, not remarkable for the brightness of it s purple or lilac tin t, and growin g tothe height of about eight feet. Few flowersvary more in colour when under cultivation ,and we have n ow the da rk purple and richest puce , with every shade of scarlet

,crimson ,

and pink ; while the dahlia of pure white ,or delica te yellow ,

grows bes ide others s treakedwith the variegated hues Of the tulip or ranunculn s though tha t great desire of florists hasn ot yet been fulfilled in any approach towardsa blue dahlia , nor is it often of unmingledwhi More than two hundred varieties havebeen ra ised from the seeds of the commonpurple flower .In 1 802 , two other species of dahlia were

added to that already in the garden . Theywere both procured from Mexican lands . The

barren,rugged dahlia

, (Dahlia frus tranea ,) andthe scarlet flower , (Dahlia coccinea

,) both , however

,produce smaller blossoms and fewer va

riet ies and the variable dahlia , which was firstbrought in to our land

,is still the favourite

flower of the florist. A species of recen t introduction , (Dahlia excelsa ,) ca lled the tree dahlia ,is said to a ttain

,in Mex ico

,the height of

thirty feet , with a stem proportionably thick .

The Mexican s boil and ea t the tuberousroots of the dahlia ; but even could we spare

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1 62 GARDEN FLOWERS .

observed these magn ificen t flowers on hilland valley, by wood and river side

,Peru

must have seemed to them a lan d of glowinggold .

The seeds of the sunflower are recommendedas an excellen t food for ca ttle , and the settlerin the woods of Canada gathers and stores themfor a win ter supply for his poultry. In the

Un ited States the flower is cultivated to a greatexten t for the oil procured from it s seeds , whichis as good as Floren ce oil. The whole plan t,and especially the golden blossom

,exudes a

thin,clear, resinous substan ce,the strong odour

ofwhich resembles that Of Ven ice t urpen tine .

The sunflower is not found wild in any part ofsouthern Europe , but in As ia and Africa a few

species are to be met with . Severa l doublevarieties are cultiva ted in the garden .

The numerous clusters of the garden hydran

gea (Hydrangea hortensia ) bloom in the autumna lsea son . This flower is often called the Chineseguelder rose , a s it is much cultivated in the

garden s of China , as well a s in those of Japan ,but it s n ative place of growth is unknown .

The flowers are usually of a pa le rose colour,

but are sometimes blue . Grea t pain s have beent aken by cultivators to discover under whatcondition s of the soil the blue colour may be

insured . T he yellow loam ofHampstead heathwill produce it , as does a lso the peat of the bogsn ear Edinburg h , and the soi l in the neighbourhoods ofBerlin and of St . Pe tersburgh . Wa terimpregnated with a lum , steel filings

,carbonate

AUGUST . 1 63

of soda , or common salt,has been kn own to

give the blue to the hydrangea but on n o one

of these can any certa in dependence be placed .

Inglis says tha t this tinge is very genera l in theflowers of this plan t in the isle of Jersey . The

hydrangea is there seen growing a s a shrub a t

every cottage door, or in on e of those garden s

which are a lways plan ted by the houses of thatisland . It is often twelve feet in circumferen ceand five in height, and is ta ll and bran chingen ough t o form a shade , under which on e mightfind shelter from the sun of August . “ Thesebeautiful shrubs , says Inglis here almost a strees

,form the avenues in the n eighbourhood

and a t the season in which they are covered withtheir large blue flowers

,the effect is indeed most

captiva ting . I have n owhere seen the hydrangea so luxurian t in growth a s in the chann elislands

,and the flowers are most comm on ly

blue , not pink , as we are accustomed to see

them in England .

”

As the differen t flowers,ca lled everla sting

flowers , bloom during this and the two followingmon ths , they may here be n oticed together .The yellow flower

,called love everlasting , ha s

been long known to botan ists as t he ea sterneverlas ting

, (Gnapha lium orientale) bu t it isnow very generally included in the genushelichrgsum. It grows wild in abundance on

some of the m oun ta in s of Asia, and the pilgrims

who visit the flowery Carmel,and the lofty

Lebanon , gather it from their sunny s lopes , asmemoria ls of their pilgrimage . Another kind

F 2

1 64 GARDEN FLOWERS.

which has been in troduced in to England , theblood everlasting , (Gnaphalium sanguineum,) isgenera lly gathered by those who

,when tread

ing the Moun t of Olives , wish t o carry thencesome record of a vis it t o so sacred a spot and

the durable nature of the chaffy petals of thelowly floweret

'

, render it a very suitable one.

Few flowers , indeed , preserve their beauty likethis , when brought from a warmer climate ; andto these blossom s the description of the poet isapplicable

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

A species of cudweed grows in great profus ion on the s teppes of Taht ary , and the COS

sacks drink an infusion of it s yellow flowers as

a cure for the jaundice .

The brillian t everlasting flowers,which

, as

they have n o English n ame, we must call bytheir botan ic one of helichrysum, are so namedfrom two Greek words sign ifying sun and gold.

They are chiefly n a tives of Africa , especiallyof the southern parts of tha t con tinen t. The

handsomes t , as well a s the hardiest kind , isthe waved- leaved species , (Helichrysum bracte

a tum,) which grows wild in New Holland .

This has yellow flowers . Some species are

white , and one beautiful kind has it s flowerstipped with pink

,and is brought from the

colony of the Swan River . Backhouse writesthus Of on e species

,which he saw at Cape

colony : “ In the course of the day I wa lked tothe top of a hill

,on which the helichrysum

p roliferum, a beautiful crimson everlasting,

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1 66 GARDEN FLOWERS .

peculia r to our great poet . Homer had longbefore told how,

a t the buria l of Achilles , theThessa lian s wore it in hon our of the warrior,and it appears to have been often worn a t funera ls

,in t he early ages of Greece . In Sumatra ,

where this flower grows wild,it s purple globes ,

which seem as if Sprinkled with gold, are worn

a s garlands around the head and both in Portuga l and in Paris , these flowers are mingledwith the wreaths m ade t o deck the Shrine of thesain t

,or the tomb of the dead . In the former

coun try, churches are adorned with this flower,

and the Fren ch term it violet te immortelle The

plan t,though separa ted by modern botan ists

from the amaran th genus , is very n early a lliedto it.A large number of amaran ths are cultivated

in this coun try , on e of the most common ofwhich

,is the flower ca lled love - lies ebleeding ,

(Amaran thus cauda tus ,) the flower gen tle of theold writers . It was known to Gerarde by thisn ame

,and a lso by tha t of florimor. He

'

says

of it,

“ It has ex ceeded any skill of m ine todescribe the excellen cy and beauty of this rareflower .

” It ha s variega ted leaves . It growsWild in Persia , China , and India .

The prince’s feather , (Amaran thus hyp ochon»driacus ,) with it s long velvet plume- like flowers

,

is equa lly common,and blooms a lso a t this

season and the three- coloured amaran th,

which bloom s from June to September , and is

ca lled by the Fren ch fleur dcjalousie, is a verypretty species . It is a native of the East Indies ,

AUGUST. 1 67

and was known to the Old English gardener bythe n ame of p asscvclom s The leaves of someSpecies are ea ten , and the foliage of severa l isboiled a s spinach

,in the East Indies .

The coxcomb amaran ths are very curiousflowers

,and n o tw1 thst anding a certain formali ty

of appeai ance , are much prized for the deep

pmple or red of their s ilky or velve t blossoms .

The crested amaran th (Celosia cris ta ta ) is a

n a tive of m any parts of As ia,and is sa id by

Thunberg t o be cultivated to such perfection inJapan

,a s tha t the heads of flowers are often a

foo t long,and of equa l breadth . There are

many varieties of this amaran th , and the scarletspecies are extremely beautiful . Severa l are

natives of China .

The strawberry blite , or In dian spinach,is

n ow red with it s juicy frui ts,by which it is

known to us,rather than by it s less con spicu

ous greenish flowers,which bloom in April .

These fruits are something sim ilar t o our woods trawberries

,but are n e ither so han dsome nor

so pa la table . Their juice flows very freely,

Often s ta ining with it s deep red the hand whichtouches them

,and the juice wa s formerly used

by cooks in colouring puddings The berryheaded species (B litu

o

m cap ita tum) is the mOs t

ornamen tal ; it is a n ative plan t of southernEurope . There are three species in our gar

dens ; they are common ly called strawberryspinach . Their n ame

,blitum

,taken from the

Greek,

and sign ifying fit on ly to be thrownaway

,would suggest the thought that they were

1 68 GARDEN FLOWERS.

not ornamental , yet their berries render themso in a good degree , n or is their handsomespinach - like foliage unworthy of admiration .

The crimson berries are covered, like those of

the strawberry, with sma ll seeds .

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

The hiccory , the sumach , and the red maple ,T he fringe-tree, and t he acacia triple-thorned,Temper t he ardour of the burnin g sun ,

An d on t he locust’s violet-breath ing _flowers

Cast t he pale yellow of it s meekened fire .

”

The author of the “ Backwoods of Canadamen tion s having ga thered bran ches a foot inlength , thickly studded with it s crimson ber

ries,and regrets that the beautiful fruit should

,

by it s in sipidity , be unfit for eating she adds,

tha t on the banks of creeks and in rich groundit grows luxuriantly

,

“sending up twen ty or

thirty bran ches,drooping with the weight of

their magn ificen t burden . As the m iddle and

superior stems ripen and decay, the latera lon es come on

,presen ting a success ion of fruit

,

from July till the frosts nip them off,in Sep

tember.The Canadian Indian s are said to be fond of

these unpa latable berries,and they use the

juice a s a dye , and make it in to ink. The

writer before quoted , states , however , tha t thisink is liable to fade un less m ixed with a lum .

She m en tions the circumstan ce of a lady, who

sen t a letter from Canada , crossed with the red

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1 7 0 GARDEN FLOWERS .

of the year of his death,and that which pre

ceded it.If we were to go now into the fields , we

should see the m ilfoil, or yarrow ,scattered in

plen ty over their gra ssy surface,and the garden

yarrows are bloom ing too on the border. Theyare a vigorous fam ily

,with yellow ,

red,or

white flowers,the ornamen ts of the pasture

lands of southern Europe . One of the pretties tkinds

, which is a lso one of the most general,is

the woolly m ilfoil, (Achillea. t omentosa ,) which

has pa le yellow flowe1 s,and blooms from May

to October . The red flowered kind (Acizilleais a lso a pretty flower

,and grows

on the Swiss moun ta in s while the double va

riety of our wild m ilfoil is no less ornamen tal .The musk - scented yarrow is the gem

'

p z'

of theSwiss

,who use the plan t medicinally ; while

the herdsmen of the hills va lue it much for

their cattle . The Laplanders and Finn s mixsome species of yarrow with their tobacco , forsmoking . The golden yarrow of our garden s ,which is n ot more than six in ches high , and hasan abundance of rich yellow clusters

,is a bean

tiful plan t f0 1 the edging of a bordei .

The sweet scen ted golden rod, (S olzdago

odom ,) i s an othei of the few flagran t flowerswhich we find in the garden a t this sea son .

The odour is diffused from the leaves , and iscompa red to the m ingled scen t of sa ssafra s and

an ise . It is often plan ted in the garden orshrubberies , and is sometimes ca lled Aaron’

s

rod.

SEPTEMBER . 1 7 1

SEPTEMBER.

Whither be the violets gone ,Those that bloomed of late so gay ,

And in fragrant garlands s t rewn ,

Decked the blooming flower-queen '

s way?Youth , alas , th e spring must fly,Yonder violets withered lie.

Whither me the roses fled ,

We so gaily s ingmg boun d ,‘Vhen t he brow of shephei d maid .

And t he herdsman’s ha t was crowned

Maiden , summer days must fly,Yonder roses withered lie .

”

JAco s r.

ALMOST all the flowers of the last mon th blooma lso during September , yet now,

as their number will seem gradually to dim in ish

,we are

pleased to mark the bright foliage of the evergreens

,and to look on t he pa le green ish flowers

which hang among the branches of the arbutusor s trawberry tree. The comm on arbutus isn ow genera lly enumerated among British plan ts ,bii t severa l others , as we ll a s this species , arecultivated in this coun try . The orien ta l arbut us (Arbutus a ndrachne) is scarcely less gen era lthan the common kind

,though requiring more

care . It blooms some mon ths earlier thantha t

,and m ay be distingui shed by the greater

beauty of it s foliage and flowers,it s broader

leaves,which are a lso less n o tched a t the edges ,

and by it s red bark which peels off, and leavesmuch of the trunk smooth and brown .

This arbutus is a n a tive of the Levan t. In

the isle of Cyprus it attains an enormous Size.

1 72 GARDEN FLOWERS.

In a great part of this island, no other tree islarge enough to cast any exten t of Shadow,

and

the inhabitan ts sit in parties ben eath it s boughs .

Both this and our common arbutus are abund

an t in many parts of Pa lestine , and growingto a much larger s ize

,they are very pic

turesque obj ects,the orien ta l species flowering

in spring,and our common kind in autumn .

The arbutus,in the lovely valleys , is often

found with a stem six feet in circumference,and

,with the oak and the fir

,is said to be

on e of the trees which principally give a woodedcharacter to the hills of Gilead and Bashan ;So too

,in southern Judea , these shrubs form

an importan t part of the woodland scen ery,m ingling with the Scotch fir and the oak and

a lthough the olive still is , a s it ever was , thecharacteristic tree of Pa lestine , yet the arbutusis so gen era l as to attract the atten tion of alltravellers who observe the scenery of the HolyLand . It s frui ts

,too

,are more beautiful and

con spicuous than it s flowers , and they may be

safely eaten . A very showy species from the

Canary isles is kept in the greenhouse , and wehave a lso a handsome Peruvian kind .

And now clumps of the China aster , (Callis tep lzus ,) with their large stars of white, lilac,pink , purple, or variegated blossoms , are amongthe most a ttractive of the autumna l flowers .

This is on e of the flowers which the Chineseprize and cultivate so highly

,and in China it

is much larger than in our gardens . Severalkinds of starry flowers , under the general name

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1 7 4 GARDEN FLOWERS.

beautiful flower grows in profusion on the

Welsh mergi tain s , and has been found on someof the highes t of the Swiss Alps . It s largeflowers are of the colour called mazarin e blue,and they are sometimes used as an edging forthe border. It is less difficult to cultivate thanm ost of the gen tian s . These flowers

,inhabit

ing n atura lly the high moun ta in region s , requirecondition s of a tmosphere no t t o be foun d in thelowland garden . A pure and rarefied a ir

blows over the lofty height where they growwild , and the bright light of the summer seasonon the moun tain can n ever be rivalled on the

pla in . The effect of a bright light on colour,

has been well ascerta in ed by dyers , who cannotproduce the most bril lian t tin ts under a cloudysky while it is equa lly eviden t in it s effects onthe plan ts which exist under it s influen ce .

Our win ters t oo are Often unfavourable to moun

ta in flowers ; for though the cold of elevatedregion s is far more severe , yet the sn ow re

ma in s much longer on the earth,and thus the

plan ts are not subj ected to the a lternate frostsand thaws to which they are exposed in the

win ter and early spring of our coun try .

We have in our fields a pretty gen tian,

(Gentiana camp es tris ,) which , however , atta insa greater degree of perfection in some othercoun tries

,and in the mon th of October covers

the tops of the hills of Norway . In Swedentoo it is abundan t a t the same season

,and it is

described as one of the m ost beautiful flowersof the a lpine pastures of that land

,it s blossoms

SEPTEMBER . 1 75

clustering among the short grass, and studding

all the surface of the moun tain .

“ The wholeplan t,

”says Dr. Clarke

,

“ was scarcely an inchin height , and seemed to con s ist of little elsethan the peta ls of it s flowers

,which

,in s ize and

luxuriance , were out of all proportion to it sdim inutive leaves and bran ches .

”

The taller yellow gen tian (Gent z'

ana lutea) isalso a species which can be well cultiva ted inthe British garden . This flower , besides beinghandsome

,is valued for the bitter m edicine

afforded by it s root. " It grows wild on the

m oun ta in s of all the cen tra l pa rts of Europe,and is gathered for the French and Englishmarkets . The root also con ta in s an abundan ceof sugar

,and a spirit is distilled from it ca lled

enz z’

angez’

s t,or bitter sn aps , which the peasan ts

of the Swiss Alps drink , under the idea tha t itwill preserve them from the injurious effects ofthe fogs and damps sometimes preva len t on

these region s . Wherever this bitter plan tabounds

,the pastures are un touched by ca ttle

,

and large tracts of land which the herdsmanwould value , rema in unused

,because of it s

bitterness . It is this prin ciple , however , whichrenders it so useful in m edicine

,and it is on e of

the medicines of g rea test an tiquity . In the

West Indies , where the European con stitutionbecomes languid by the hea t of the climate , itis customary t o take a preparation of gen tianbefore mea ls

,in order to assist the appetite.

Some other gen tian s may a lso be seen

common ly in the garden . The smal l Alpine

1 7 6 GARDEN FLOWERS.

species, (Gentiana nivalis

,) which delightedLinnaeus when on the Pyrenees by it s blue blossoms

,is tolerably hardy and the kind termed

Ca lathian violet, succeeds well . These have

both blue flowers . The n ame of Gen t ius , a

king ofIllyria , is preserved t o memory by theseflowers

,as this monarch is said

,by Pliny , to

have discovered their ton ic virtues .

The differen t kinds of autum na l crocus opena s the season advances . The purple species ,which is so gen era l in this and the n ext mon ths

,

is the saffron crocus , (Crocus sa tivus ,) the stigmas of whose flowers form the saffron of thedruggist . This flower has long been cultiva tedin m any parts of Asia , as well a s in Greece .

In Persia and Cashmere,large plan ta t ion s of

this crocus are general, and some of the landsof Smyrna are sa id to be quite purple with it,while it s flowers are in grea t abundance in the

garden s of Aleppo. In Europe it seems togrow wild on the south of the Tyrol , and on theAlps of Savoy but it s occasion al appearancein our British meadows does n ot prove that itis indigen ous there . Dr. Clarke found the

pla ins of Taht ary covered with it s gay flowers ,and it s bulbs were deeply seated in the blackvegetable mould which forms the soil of thesewide pla in s . Notwithstanding that the saffroncrocus is cultivated in England , yet we receiveour chief supply of the drug from France and

Spa in . In the latter coun try the cultivator ofthis flower is much annoyed by a fungus foundupon it

, and which the French call mort de

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1 7 8 GARDEN FLOWERS.

from Hungary and Russia . They were termedcolchicum from the ancien t Colchis , in terestingto the classic 1 eader , by it s association ,

in the

legends of an cien t Greece , with the expeditionof the Argonauts .

OCTOBER .

The little bird , yet t o salute t h e mom ,

Upon th e n aked branches sets her foot,1 he leaves n ow lying on the messy root ;And there a silly chirrupin g doth keep ,As though sh e fain would sing , yet fain woul d weepPraising fair summer, that so seen is gone

,

Ormourning winter, t oo fast coming on .

”

M TCHAE L DRAYTON .

EVERY gust which blows thin s the scan ty foliage

yet left on the boughs , and the leaf is broken as

it waveth to and fro , while each bright sunbeamseems to leave it s red or yellow tinge on the

leaf ere it qu its it . The humble flowers which

yet rema in of the summer are pa le and wan

even the ta ller dahlia s are drooping ; and wereit not for the Michaelmas da isies and the

Chinese Chrysan themum s, and the verdure of

the evergreen s , the scen e would be a lreadydesolate . Of these

,however

,it may even now

be sa id,

“ They are green before the sun,and

their bran ch shooteth forth in the garden

yet still we can see that our Saxon forefathershad appropriately designated this mon th

,when

they termed it winter fyllith—Winter beginn ing.

But though no straggling flower n eeds to be

Job viii. 1 6 .

OCTOBER. 1 7 9

tied to it s support,and no luxurian t growth

has to be restra ined by the hand of the cultiva t or

,still this month too brings it s work t o

the gardener . It is n ow tha t the autumna ltran splanting of the shrubs takes place

, and

mos t practica l garden ers seem to prefer thisseason t o the

‘

spring for these rem ova ls . Suckersof the rose

,the l ilac

,an d other trees are to be

taken , and a pleas ure is felt in the culture of

these plan ts,

Which , save himsel f who trains t hem ,none can feel .

Much has now to be don e too in the greenhouse“ The surplus bran ch

Must fly before the knife ; t he withered leafMust be detached , and where it strews t h e floorSwept with a woman

’

s n eatness , brea t hing e lseContagion , and dissemin ating death .

”

The in teres t which has in all periods of timebeen taken in the cul ture of plan ts , would ofits elf prove that the care of a garden is ca leulated to afford to many person s a source ofdelightful enjoymen t . This is confirmed

,too

,

when we remember that when God plann ed theearthly happiness of man

,he placed him in a

garden,in which were made to grow

,n o t on ly

every tree tha t was good for food ,”but such

also as were “ pleasan t to the s ight ;” while the

employm en t of our first paren ts in their stateof innocen ce

,wa s to “ dress the garden and to

keep it.”

The odour of the Chrysan themum is now

very sweet , and it seem s as expressive of theautumn

, as the violet is of spring . Severa l

1 80 GARDEN FLOWERS.

star- shaped flowers are by botan ists placedunder the genera l name of chrysan themum ,

but our win ter flower is the Chinese chrysan

themum , (Clzrysan themum S inense) which , however , most m odern botan ists termpyrethrum .

The most aromatic of all the species is the oldfashioned small red kind, which was the firstcult iva t ed

'

in the garden s of this coun try ; butthis has little beauty compared with those ofmodern introduction ,

the flowers of which are

very large, and have an odour like hon ey. The

chrysanthemum is brought to great perfectionin the Chinese garden ; and figures there inevery variety of garden pe t , from the elegan tvase

,to the un couth little round pot which we

often see figured on their pa in tings ; while thepoet of China sings the praise of thechrysanthemum ,

as the m in strel of Pers ia tells the

delights of the rose . The Japan ese va lue theflower equa lly with the Chinese

,and it is a

favourite ornamen t of their sa loon s and garden s .

In the year 1 7 95 , the chrysan themum was

brought in to the English garden,though it

appears to have been cultiva ted here a t an

earlier period, but to have been lost . Receivingit from a warm region

,our cultivators n aturally

thought tha t it would require grea t care in our

colder climate , and it was long deemed unfit forthe open air. Now every garden sends forthit s sweet fragrance , a t a time when it is almostthe on ly fragran t flower of the border The

Chinese are sa id t o cultivate more than fiftvarieties of this plan t

,for each of which they

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1 82 GARDEN F LOWERS .

The cotoneasters are now assum ing their red,or in some species , their purple berries . Theirpretty white or red blossom s come out in earlyspring

,but they are so small as to be little con a

spicuous , and the plan t is far better kn own tous by the beads of cora l with which it is studdedduring autumn and win ter . The common ki nd

(Cotoneas ter vulgaris) often grows in garden s .

It is a frequen t shrub in southern Europe,and

was in troduced in to this land in 1 656 . The

other Species are of comparatively recen t in troduction

,and are natives of India . The plan t

was named from the cottony down whichinvests the young Shoots and fruits . Some ofthe Nepa l species are handsome

,especially the

taper poin ted and the downy kinds . They are

all hardy,and may be grafted on the quince or

hawthorn .

A lthough the sweet m ignonette (ResedaOdora ta ) 1 s truly a summer flower

, yet i t m ayby a l ittle managemen t

,and without the aid of

the greenhouse , be made to flower a lmostthroughout the year . Indeed

, the hardy plan tswhich are self- sown

,are often numerous a t this

Season . If the m ignonette be wan ted for a

win ter flower it should be sewn in July , and

kept well watered . It i s very fragran t,and the

Parisian s and the inhabitan ts of our own metropolis a like va lue its odoui s

,for it may be seen

in both cities whereThe sash es ran ged

Of orange , myrtle , or t he fragrant weed ,The Frenchman

’s darling ,”

send forth sweet odours on the air .

OCTOBER. 1 83

It is rather remarkable that we in Englandshould cal l this flower so exclusively by it sFrench n ame , from mz

'

gnonne, l ittle darling,

when the Fren chman terms it la resede

d’

E gyp te. The Spania rds,who are a lso fond of

this flower , reta in for it the endearing name ofminoneta . This plan t is much cultivated bythe gardeners who supply the London markets ,on accoun t of it s use for balcon ies ; and it s de licate scen t is rarely di sliked . It is gen era llythought t o be a n ative of Egypt

,and to have

been firs t sown in the garden s of the south ofEurope

,when ce it wa s sen t in to England abou t

the year 1 7 52 , when it was cultiva ted by Miller in the Botanic Garden of Chelsea , and soonbecame a popular flower . The m ignon ette hasbeen found apparen tly wild in some parts ofBarbary

,but it seems probable that it may

have sprung up from seeds born e by winds orother mean s from the Moorish garden s , wheremany flowers are cultiva ted . The plan t wastermed

,by the ancien ts

,reseda , from resedo, to

ca lm or appease because it was in formertimes applied to allay the irrita tion aecompanying wounds . P liny tells tha t it was regarded as a charm

,and gives an accoun t of a

superstitious form of words which preceded it suse as a remedy .

The tree m ign onette (Reseda odora ta fra tes0671 3) was long con sidered a s a species distinctfrom the fragran t herb , but it is merely a varietyproduced by the cultivator . This perenn ia lshrub retain s it s sweet odour dining win ter, and

1 84 GARDEN FLOWERS.

is obtained in the following mann er . Avigorous

plan t of the annua l mignonette is , duringApril ,tran splan ted in to a garden pot, and the youngblossoms n ipped off while in the bud. A stickis then placed in the pot , to which the plan tmay be attached ; and in the autumn all the

lower shoots and leaves are stripped ofi“,so as

to give the plan t the appearance of a m iniature tree . It must then be removed to a

warmer room . As win ter advances the stemgradua lly becomes more woody ; and if theplan t be a llowed during summer a free accessof air

,it may thus be grown for severa l years

i n a room.

The a ttempt to render this plan t a perenn ia l ,renders it n ecessary to prune away the seedvessels as soon as they appear

,as , if a llowed to

perfect it s seeds,the tree mignonette would

soon lose it s vigour .

We have a number of species of the m ignonette in the garden , but the common fragran tone is by far the most va luable . Most kindsgrow wild in the south of Europe

,and a few of

them in the sands ofAfrica .

And n ow some sweet violets bloom aga in a t

the close of the year . This is often the ca sewith the common purple March violet

,and it s

double variety while the sweetly—scen tedNeapolitan vio lets and the Russian violets area t this season in full perfection . The Paris ianscon trive to obta in a t a lmost all season s the

flowers of the common violet,which they so

much prize. This is done by checking the

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1 86 GARDEN FLOWERS .

He “ who giveth ra in upon the earth , and

sendeth waters upon the fields , calls too for“ the whirlwind out of the south , and cold out

of the n orth .

“ 6 Even the crysta l brooks are

n ow, in the descriptive words of the patriarch ,“ blackish by rea son of the ice

,wherein the

sn ow lies hid and of a great portion of theday it may be sa id

,

“ Now men see n ot the

bright ligh t by rea son of darkn ess .

”The pro

gress of the early year seems to breathe a ca llto energy and exertion but it s gradua l declineseem s to bid us

“s tand s till and consider the

wonderful works ofGod.

”

The Chin ese or m on thly rose (Rosa indz'

ca)yet puts forth it s delicate and odorous blooms

,

which , if they have n o t qu ite so bright a tin tor so powerful a perfum e as in m idsummer

,

are n o t less va lued n ow,when gayer roses have

left us . Like all o ther species of rose it requiresa pure air , andwill n o t thrive well in the crowdedcity . More than two hundred varieties of theChina rose are known

, and Villaresi,the roya l

garden er a t Mon za , is sa id by London , to haveraised upwards of fifty varieties of this species

,

which have n ever reached Brita in . The Chin arose flourishes much better in France and a t

the south of Europe than in our coun try , andsome of the varieties a lluded to are describedas quite black , others much resembling a ra

nunculus,and many of them as highly odori

ferous . The pretty~

n oisette,or t ea - scen ted

roses, varieties of the Chin a rose, are sold at

Job xxxvn . 9 Job vi. 1 6 .

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. 1 87

Pa ris in sma ll bouquets, wrapped roun d wi th

coloured papers . The mon thly rose , as it s

name m ight import,is in bloom a lmost through

out the year , but ha s most beauty and vigourin the mon ths of Jun e and July . The s temand leaves are of a ligh t green

, and. the flowerssemi—double

,and it s colour varies from a blush

colour to a deep red. In order to secure a

good number of autumna l blossoms, the young

flower buds should be cut from the tree inJune .

The W in ter cherry (Pkg/salts a l/cekengi) isnow in full lustre , a s it s bright red, glossy fruitshines through the thin

,fibrous

,bladder- like

ca lyx which en circles it. The white flowers ofthis plan t open in July , and a re orn amen tal ,but it is for the sake of the beautiful fruitstha t the plan t is valued . When the ca lyx ismacerated

,either by exposure to the ra ins

of the winter season , or by s teeping in

wa ter,it forms a very pretty addition t o the

everla sting flowers,and the evergreen s which

are placed in the win ter va se. The fruit,

which is slightly acid,is wholesom e

,and wa s

esteemed by the an cien ts for some valuablemedicin a l properties which they con sidered itto possess . In Spain

,Switzerland , and Ger

many, it is a comm on frui t of the dessert. In

all these coun tries it grows wild, as it does a lsoin China . The frui ts of the eatable wintercherry , (P laysalz

'

s P eruviana ,) a n a tive of Southerica, are sometimes cultivated in this

country for tarts .

1 88 GARDEN FLOWERS.

The win ter cherry was known by it s Arabicn ame of Alkekengi to the botan ists of queenE li zabeth’s time . Gerarde says of it ,

“ The

red winter cherrie groweth upon old brokenwa lls

,about the borders of fieldes and in moist

shadowie places , and in most garden s , wheresome con serve it for the beautie of the berries ,and others for the great and worthy vertuesthereof.” Modern physician s think little ofthe properties ascribed to these plan ts .

Sometimes the bright stars of the anemonesen liven the borders , even in December

,while

the laurustinus , and the Christmas rose , are thecommon flowers of every par terre . The formerplan t (Viburnum tinus) is a shrub of muchbeauty, and justly prized for it s win ter blossoms , which are of a purplish red colour

,when

ha lf expanded , and which grow in large whiteclusters among it s evergreen leaves . Darkblue berries succeed the flower . The shrubwas in troduced in to the English garden in theyear 1 596 , and though so hardy a s to bloomam id win ter winds and n ipping frosts

,is a

n ative of the soft climates Of the south of

Europe, and an ornamen t to the hills and pla in sof n orthern Africa . It was kn own to the

ancien ts by the n ame of Tinus,and

,because it s

leaves , like those of the laurel , are evergreen ,it wa s ca lled laurus tinus while the n ame ofViburnum

,from viere

, to t ie, was applied to iton accoun t of the flex ible bran ches of manyspecies

,which are used for binding boughs

together Our wild,wayfaring tree, which

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190 GARDEN FLOWERS .

is very similar t o our common win ter flower,except that it s blossoms are purple .

Many superstition s were conn ected by the

an c ien ts with the Christmas rose . In theirdread of the presen ce and powe r of demon s ,they had a number of charm s , which they con

sidered effectua l in guarding them from ill , andwhen the win ter covered the ground with thewhite flowers of the hellebore , they strewedthem over their floors

,that thus they m ight

hallow their dwel lings and so they in troduceda real evi l in to their homes

,in stead of an

imagin ary on e , for the perfume of this plan t ishighly injurious to hea lth . When the an cien tsbrought in these roses , and scattered them thus ,they sung a loud hymn s of pra ise t o their pagandeities— the gods whom their own hands hadmade

,while they en trea ted their aid

,to keep

them from the devices of evil men . The rootof this plan t was formerly powdered and takenas snuff, and the an cien t Gauls are sa id t o havebeen accustomed t o dip their a rrows in the

herb . All the species of hellebore con ta in an

en ergetic medicina l prin ciple .

The mo is t climate of our island agrees wel lwith the evergreen s . Enabled , a s they are

,by

a peculiar s tructure,to withstand a moderate

proportion of heat and drought , yet the hot anddry summers of the grea ter part of the con tin en t of Europe are unfavourable t o them . The

thick tough leaves of the evergreen shrubs andtrees , are covered with a harder cuticle or skinthan those Cf most other plan ts ; and are a lso

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER . 1 91

characterised by having fewer evap0 1 atingpores on the surface . The old leaves of thisenduring fo liage do not drop from the trees tillthe spring or summer

,when the thicken ing

n ew leaves of the well- clad bran ches are so

many, that we are n o t con scious of the fa ll ofthe leaf. To our garden s the evergreen s givea cheerfu l appearan ce , a s con trasted with co ldnaked boughs bu t in coun tries a s in Austra lia

,

where the trees are a lmos t all evergreen,the

traveller wearies of their mon otony, and longs

for the changing tin ts which variega te our

foliage with the changing season s .

Our mo st common and hardy evergreen isthe holly

, (Ilar aquifolium) which is n ow glistening on the wild hedge , as well a s in the

garden . We have , however , under culture,severa l varieties of thi s plan t , some of whichhave yellow berries ; others , leaves variega tedwith pa le yellow

,or severa l tin ts of green but

n on e is more beautiful than the common kin d .

The laurel , too , (Cerasus lauro cerasus ,) looksbright under the clear sky of a frosty n oonday .

Both this and the Po rtuga l laurel (Cerasus L us itam

'

ca ) blossom early in the spring . The firsta ccoun t which we find of the laure l in England ,s tates

,tha t it was plan ted in the garden of a

London merchan t,who used

,in win ter

,to cover

it with a blanket. It is a n ative of the southof Europe . The leaves are some t imes used toflavour custards , but it should n o t be forgottenthat they are very po ison ous in the ir na ture .

The laurel of the poet is the sweet- bay,

1 92 GARDEN FLOWERS.

(L aurus nobilis .) In former days it s bran chesenwreathed the head of the priestess ofDelphi ,and were hung abou t the gates of the Roman

emperors : - The victorious general , too , Whohad carr ied the proud eagle to the con quest,was congra tula ted by letters wrapped in the

fragran t bay leaves ; and the soldiers who foughtunder him ,

en tered the imperia l city, carryingtriumphan tly the branches of the bay tree. Itis a n a tive of Ita ly

,and of the southern parts of

Asia . The perfume of it s bruised leaf is verypleasan t

,and was once supposed effectua l in

rel ieving the symptoms ofmany diseases .

The handsome evergreen thorn , (Cra tceguspyracan tha ,) With it s profusion of scarlet berries ,vies with the moun ta in ash in win ter splendour

,

and it s dark foliage brighten s in the sun . Itis a n ative of North America . Some of thegarden species of broom ,

too,reta in their ver

dure,and the rhododendron s are still green ;

and the hardy a laternus (Rhamnus ala ternus)glows with a s bright a tin t , and looks as fresh ,even in the m iddle of the smoky city

, as if itwere flourishing under the clearest sky .

And. thus am id all the changes of nature,God has given to earth , to it s wild woods , andit s sheltered gardens

,a voice to pra ise him .

“ For who kn oweth not in all these tha t thehand of the Lord hath wrought this?” Job xii . 9 .

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT so cm rr : 1NST 1 TUTED 1 799 .

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P RE FACE .

IN giving some accoun t of the Wild Flowersof each mon th, the author has selected those

which are mos t common , and most likely to be

known by n ame t o the general reader . To

have enumerated each flower of each mon th,would have occupied so much space, as t o

render these few pages no more than a floral

dictionary . The writer would regard the work

as a little guide-book t o the fields, and. lanes,

and woods ; des igned t o direct the atten tion of

the lover of coun try walks, t o the lowly flowers,

which he may be most likely t o find in his

path .

For not t o uweil a t large , on things remoteFrom use , obscure and subtle ; but t o knowThat which before us lies , in common life,1 8 t he chief wisdom .

”

The scien tific name of each flower is added,

in order to as sis t any who may wish t o study

iv PRE FACE .

Botany. The author however, is not one of

those

t o a llium cal l the ir onions and their leeks ,

andwould rather recommen d t o the un scientific

t heir s imple English names . Many of these

are conn ected with old times and old customs

or convey some idea of the uses of the plan ts

t o which they belong . Our pretty English May,

or Hawthorn , gain s n othing by it s Botanic

name of Cra tcegus oxyacan tfia ; nor can the

expressive Day’

s - eye, bring t o us a pleasan ter

idea, even by it s Latin name of B ellis p erennis .

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0

VI INDEX ;

JUNE .

Prolific vegetation Pond-weeds—Aquatic vegetables—WaterFlag Fleur-de- luce—Forget-me-no t Bulrush FloweringR ush—Water Viol et—Bog B ean— B irdsfoo t Trefoil—Honeysuckl e —Wayfaring Tree—Cot ton - tree Bladder CampionConvolvulus—YellowAgrimony—Y ellowAven s—Globe Flower—Hound’s ton gue—Ye l low Rattle—Dwarf R ed Ratt le—Butterwort - Cinquefo il—Viper’s Bugloss Corn Gromwe l l R ed

Poppy—White Poppy—Phenomenon of R ed Flowers— Pli os~phorescen t light in Roots— Corn - cockle—Pim pern e l—FlaxSton e—crop—Orpine —Nettle—Shepherd ’s N eedle—FoxgloveBurn et—Mal lows—Bitter Sweet— Sweetbrier Ros e—Burnetleave d Rose - ~Trailing Dog Rose—Broom—Dyer’s Weed 99

JULY .

Beauty of Nature—Heath—Ling—Wil d Thyme—Harebel lB og

- pimpern e l—B 0 g -Aspli odel—Sundew—S t . John's Wort

Broom Rape— Scotch This t le - Carline Thistle—Swee t. Marjoram—Corn Bluebottle - Scabious —B1ue Succory—Sow Thistle—Burdock—Water Li ly—Meadow Sweet—Wil low H erbsWater Arrowhead—Wa t er- cres s —Water Parsnip ThriftSea Lavender—Tamarisk —Sea Holly- Sea Weeds— Ta l l Tease]- R ed Centaury Woodsage

—Betony—Hedge Wound -wortB lack Horehoun d—Mints— Rock R ose— Rose of SharonSnapdragon—Yellow Toad -flax—Yarrow—Knapweeds GreatMullein—Ye llow Hoary Mul lein—Thorn Apple—HenbaneHorsetails—E lder-a Bramble— Raspberry 1 32

AUGUST .

Hawkweeds Camomile Cudweeds Spurge Corn -fiel dsCorn—Wil d Marigold—Spurrey M ignon e t t e—Tan sy—Southernwood E lecampane May Weed Hemp Agrim onyGrass of Parnassus—R eed Mace—Sea Sout li ernwood—HornedPoppy—Salt-wort—Samphire—Sand -worts— Sea- side Convol

vulns—Sea Purs lane—Goosefoots 1 59

SE PTEMBE R .

Golden Rod—Flea -ban e—Marsh Ma llow—Michaelmas DaisySea Wormwood—Mugwort—Meadow Gras ses—Dam e l—Mea

dow Saffron 1 74

OCTOBE RSigns of Autumn - Ivy—Irish Ivy— Strawberry- tree - Shepherd’sSpikenard Dwarf Green Weed Crocus—Winter greenMosses 1 8]

NOV EMBER AND DECEMBER .

Sign s ofcoming Winter—Leafiess Woods- Mushrooms—Fungu:1 9

WILD FLOWERS OF THE YEAR.

IN watching the progres s of vegetation , as,

mon th by mon th, it expands before us , we are

s truck with the regularity with which the

flowers and fruits of earth visit us at their appoin ted times . More than five thousand yearssince, the prom ise of God was recorded, thatwhile the earth remaineth , seed- time and har

vest, and cold and heat, and summer and win ter,and day and n ight, sha ll no t and everyseason attes ts it s fulfilmen t . They who markm os t closely the changes of n ature, kn ow bes thow fully and faithfully God has kept his word .

As said the in spired psalmis t, “Whose is wise,and will observe these things, even they shallunderstan d the lovingkindness of the Lord .

”

1‘

Nature presen ts to us , even in the his tory o ia s imple blossom, some s trikingmarks of God’sskill and goodnes s . The devout Fuller has toldus in what way we should look upon the flowers .

“ A flower,”says he, “ is t he bes t complexioned .

gras s, as a pearl is the bes t complexioned clay ;Gen . viii. 22 . f Psalm evn . 43.

8 WILD FLOWERS

and daily it weareth God’

s livery, forhe clo theththe grass of the field . Solomon himself is no toutbraved therewith , as whose gallan try on lywas adopted, and on him ; theirs innate, and inthem . In the morn ing when it growet'h up, itis a lecture ofDivine Providence : in the evening, when it is cut down , and Withereth, it is alecture of human mortality .

”

The argumen t so often applied t o the variousworks of creation , that an in stance of designn ecessarily implies a designer, is so obvious , thata child can understan d it . That there is a Godwho created, and hourly regulates this world ofours , with all it s changing season s , it s com ingflowers, and falling leaves , seems so direct a

conclus ion , that the morewe exam in e the worksof nature, the more en tirely we feel the truthof the declaration of the psalm is t, that it is thefool who “ hath said in his heart, There is no

Let us con sider on ly the s tructure of the verycommones t plan t in the world ; the meadowgrass, which trembles at the touch of the but

t erfly, and bends before the sweeping wind .

Destined for every soil and every s ituation , it isprovided with a root composed of numerouss lender fibres, so that it can pen etrate, not on lyinto the solid ground of the field, but can find

it s way in to the scan ty portion of earth a t the

t 0p of the cliff, in the crevice of the wall, or onthe loose san d . It s slight and hollow stemmigh t be snapped by the high winds which pass

Psa. xiv. l .

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1 0 WILD FLOWERS

gone, since Adam first looked out on the flowersof Eden .

The wonderful fertility of plan ts in the

immense number of seeds which they produce,and the plan s by which they are scattered,affords another remarkable in stan ce of goodnessand skill Sharon Turn er states that “

a

common scarlet bean yielded a hundred pods ,with five full formed bean s in each ; making insuch s talks , from three t o five hun dred fromthe s ingle bean sown .

” What is the end of all

t hese numerous seeds Why this profusion?Is it that five hundred plan ts may be pro

duced by each one, and so the earth be overrun with a luxurian t vegetation , that man mayfind no room for himself arid his home?No .

The great Crea tor ha s provided the seeds , n oton ly for the reproduction of the plan t, but forthe food ofman and an imals , and for the birds

yea, even for the meanes t . He giveth t o thebeas t his food, and to the young raven s whichcry .

”He, in preparing for their wan ts ,

kn ew how many of his creatures should liveupon seeds : how the corn should be even thevery staff of life how the apple, and the cherry,and a thousand other fruits , in which the seedslie embedded, should refresh his frame, and

gratify his appetite : how the silky this tle- downand the black ivy-berry should give food forthe birds and how “

the cattle upon a thousan dhills should be nourished by the grass of hisfields . He kn ew

“

that the rains would des troymany seeds that many would be blown by the

OF THE YEAR . 1 1

winds on unkindly soils that myriads wouldlose their germinating powers , by falling 0 11 thewaters ; and he has thus enriched the plan t,tha t after all that are eaten and that are

was ted, there may yet be en ough left t o sow

the eart h with fruits t o feed us , and flowers todelight us . How many, as the seeds of the

pea, or bean , are in clos ed in pods as imperviousto rain , as if they were little bags of canvas s ;yet drying up as the seeds ripen , and

,jus t at

the time when they are fit for sowin g, rollinground like a crumpled parchmen t, and lettingtheir seeds fall out upon the lan d See the

hard shell of the cocoa- nut— so hard that,when we wi sh for the fruit within ,

we mus temploy the sharpes t and firmes t in s trumen t t oobtain it ; yet it lies in the ground, and, after awhile, the shell open s , an d a ten der green sproutrises in to the air, and grows in to a goodly tree ;giving it s shadow to the land, and the mus ic ofit s waving leaves to the ocean . And why hasthe cocoa it s hard shell, but that, growing as itdoes n ear the sea , it may be fitted t o swim awa

to a dis tan t con tinen t ; or t o the islan d of the

ocean , or the coral reef, which as yet is um

clothed with vegetation but , in the progress ofyears , is to presen t a green spot in the was teof wa ters , where the birds of song shall findshelter, and m an shall come to eat t he fruits oft he land? So light is the down that fills theth is tle- tuft , that the very fa intest summer breezeraises it s m illion s of fea thers i nto the air ; and

let a s tronger blast arise, and away the numerous

1 2 WILD FLOWERS

seeds of the ash are scattered far and near .Un der the bough of the horse- ches tnut tree, liesthe nut Wrapped in it s green and pricklyvoring, till sun and rain have decayed it s outercoat, and left it free to find it s place in thesoil ;and the autumnal damps rot the hard woodycon es of the fir- apple, and the seed, so carefully

guarded till it is matured, finds it s way in t othe land, and the dark fores t Of the n orth risesand thickens with it s thousands Of trees . In

numerable are the mean s which the grea tCreator employs in spreading fertility ; from the

gen tle summer wind which ripples the waters ,t o the Storm which lashes the waves into fury ;from the humble and unin ten tional min is try of

the fowl of the air, to the thoughtful plan and

the unwearied pursuit of it, which characterisesthe works Of his great mas terpiece— man .

There are fewwho are disposed t o resis t theseevidences of a Supreme Being, or t o deny hispower and ben eficence as shown in creation .

Though on looking around we see so much pract ical infidelity; thoughmany areliving anddying,and God is

‘

n ot in all their thoughts yet mos twould acknowledge the fact of his exis ten ce,and welcome the proofs of his omn ipoten ce.Far more general is the n otion , that we can

learn so much ofGod in his works, as that weneed not s tudy his HolyWord . We may listent o the sweeping winds wi th solemn awe, and a

rapt and subdued feeling may take pos sess ionof our souls, and we may fancy it is devotion ;yet not one holy or spiritual emotion may be

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14 WILD FLOWERS.

might have everywhere monumen ts of his

doctrine ; remembering in gardens , his mustards eed and lilies ; in the fields, his seed- corn and

tares and so no t t o be drowned a ltogether inthe works of their vocation , but sometimes liftup the mind t o better things in the mids t oftheir pains .

”

JANUARY.

And not a leaf or sprig of greenOn ground orquaking bush is seen ,Save grey-vein ’d ivy’s hardy pride,Round old trees by the common sideT he sparrow t oo , a daily guestIs in t he cottage eaves a t rest ;And robin sma ll , and sma l ler wren ,Are in their warm holes safe againFrom fa lling snows , that winn ow byThe hovels where they nightly lie ;And ague winds that shake t he treeWhere other birds are forced t obe .

"—CLARB

IN the cold and fros ty January, where are we

t o look for the wild flowers? Their roots and

seeds are safely covered by the sn ow, and if abright clear sky, and a fros ty air, should spreadtheir influences, yet few will open t o a Januarysun . Man has, by skill

,brought the flowers of

other lands t o enliven our win ter ; even at thatseason when the Almighty “

scattereth his hoarfros t like ashes , and n one “

can s tan d beforehis cold the golden clus ters Of the w1n t eracon ite (E ran t / n

’

s fiyemalis) have been broughtus from the moun tain s of Italy, and theirbuttercup - like blossom s are bright as goldthe Chris tmas rose (H elleborus m

‘

yer) s tandsl ike a flower of snow among it s dark shinmgleaves ; and the bright pink, and deep blue

1 6 WILD FLOWERS .

blos soms’

of the hepatica, are already puttingforth their buds and the laurustinus , so plentiful in the south of Europe, is almos t as common in our garden s as in the wild hedges there .

Not m ore than three or four kinds of wildflowers can be found, even as occasional visitan tsOf the English field, at this season . In our

southern coun ties , indeed— in the warm and

mois t climate of Devon shire, for example—a

few flowers, elsewhere con sidered a s belongingt o the spring, are in bloom in win ter . ThusCarrington speaks of our vernal blossom, as the

flower “ that cheers Devonia’s fields,”and

In hermat ernal clime,

Scarce shuts it s eye on Austra l sun s—and wakesAnd smile s in Winter oft—t he primrose—hail’dBy all who live.

”

The daisy tha t “never dies, is the flower

which we are mos t likely t o find on a Januaryday, when the sun has melted the sn ow fromthe grass . . In the n orth of England, thisblossom is distinguished from the large ox- eye

daisy, by the name Of dog - daisy ; from amotionthat a decoction of it s juice, if given t o youngdogs , preven ted their growth . The s impledaisy was on ce a flower of great ren own , and

was called in England, either herb Margaret, orDay’s - eye ; and it s till bears the n ame ofM ar

guerite, in Fran ce . It was the device of the

unfortun ate Margaret of Anj ou, and when that

queen was in prosperity, her n obles wore it inwreaths in their hair, or had it embroidered on

their robes . That n oble-m inded woman Mar

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18 WILD FLOWERS .

The grass lands look less beautiful in Decemberand January than in any other mon ths . As

soon as February has commenced, the leaves ofsevera l spring plan ts unfold, and trail over thehedge-bank, or shoot am ong the gras s , and theverdure begins t o show a gradual increase . But

the -January grass is almost s tation ary, and, if

we are t o believe the Old proverb, it ought not

t o grow at all during the mon th .

If the grass grows in Jan iveer,It grows the worse for it all t h e year.

The fact is , that a premature spring is injurion s , n ot on ly t o pasture land, but to vegetation generally .

The common chickweed (S t ellarz’

a media) isan other little blossom which may be found inthis early mon th , when the sn ow is Off the

ground . It is too commonly ga thered for thetame bird to need any description . It s smallwhite flowers may be seen , on richly cultivatedlands , a t a lmos t any season . Our song birds,especially the tribe of finches, are much indebted t o this plan t for food ; as they eat , n oton ly it s numerous seeds , but it s young topsand leaves .

Thus small is January’s wreath ! The trees,as yet , are leafless but the shin ing dark budsOf the horse- ches tnut prom ise us a speedyfoliage . One would wonder where the littlebirds foun d shelter, but the sparrow is twittings till, and the robin , though s ilen t during thefros t , will have a merry song t o greet us on a

JANUARY . 1 9

mild day . The thrush is commen cing his tune ;t he storm, or mis sel thrush , s ings loudly fromthe m is tletoe the wren un ites her voice ; and

that sweetest Of birds , the lark, is far up in theblue sky , pouring out a strain of melody froma j oyful heart .But we cannot, in noticing the vegetation Of

January, Om it the holly and the mistletoe ; forthough their flowers are not now in bloom, yet

they are so much m ore n oticeable from theirberries than their blos soms , that they seem t o

belong to the win ter . The holly (Ilex aquifolz

'

um) in tersperses it s dark leathery leaves ,sharp with spin es , among the bare branches ofmany a hedge- row . Whole fores ts and woodsOf this beautiful evergreen , flourish in severa lparts of our coun try ; and some fin e spots ofclus tering hollies may be seen in M edwood

Park, in St afl'

ordshire . This plan t was on cecalled scarlet oak ; and our presen t word, holly,is a corruption of holy- tree, by which n ame itwas formerly kn own , on accoun t Of it s Old use

in decking churches at Chris tmas time. In

many parts Of Englan d it is very common inthe hedges ; and Carrington , among the otherplants of Dartmoor, n otices

The ho lly pointing to the moorland storm ,

It s hardy fearles s leaf.”

The flowers Of this shrub appear in April .They are . white, and look as if out out Of

wax . The holly wood, which is very hard andwhite, is used by turners ; and the boxes and

20 WILD FLOWERS .

screens on which pain tings are so often made,are formed of it . In the pre t ty Tunbridgeware, which is ingen iously made Of variouswoods , the holly is exten s ively used . The

viscous subs tance foun d in the bark, is used forbirdlime : and the tough leaves afford food forthe caterpillars of one Of our lovelies t butterflies— the azure blue in sec t , which is kn own t onaturalis t s as the P ap ilz

'

o Arg z’

olus .

The si lverym odes t m is tletoe (Vis eum a lbum)cheers the wood, and with the holly adorns ourhouses . The Druids , probably, first used theseplan ts as the indoor win ter ornamen t ; and wedress our houses now, because the cus tomreminds us Of the Olden days and on the sameprin ciple

As th e earM ay love th e ancient poet’s simple rhyme ,

Or fee l t he secret charm of min ster’s distant chime.

We use the m is tletoe chiefly at Chris tmas ;but , even a few cen turies ago , it s bran ches werecarried about from house to house, on the firs tday Of January, by youngmen andmaiden s, as anewyear’s gift Of friendship ; and t o the presen ttime, the Fren ch preserve a relic Of this practice .

Our forefa thers , a t a very early period, che

rished the m istletoe as a plan t which, whengathered with some supers titious rites , wouldcure disease, avert the influen ces Of the evileye, and preserve from many dangers ; and

earlier s till,when our coun try lay in all the

darknes s and ign orance Of Druidical supers t it ion , this plan t was reverenced and almos tworshipped, and associated with practices at

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22 WILD FLOWERS ,

seems scarcely propitious t o the growth Of

flowers , yet shows some little token Of comingspring , by a small in crease in their number .The leaves 0 11 the gooseberry- bush un foldthemselves , and the purple- tinged leaves of thehoneysuckle may be seen . The an cien ts ac

coun ted the mulberry as the wises t Of t rees,because it n ever put forth it s foliage till win tersn ows , a nd spring blas ts , were fairly over ; and

the oft -n ipped young green leaves of the eldertree, in this mon th , shows that an early leafingtree is subject to a few injuries from the weather.But He who made everything beautiful inhis time ,

”the God who made summer and

win ter,”has given Nature such abundance,

that though a few young shoots may be n ippedby fros ts , yet the leaves on the main bran chesare un injured, and the shoots which the earlywinds had withered, are no t mis sed in the

plentiful canopy Of the summer tree.

The banks which border the lan es and roads,are n ow putting forth the leaves Of manyflowers

of spring . The fol iage of the early speedwellis daily growing larger. The deeply- crim sonedstems and young shoots Of the Robert- leavedcran esbill, brigh ten the hedge ; and the five

fingered leaves Of the creeping cinquefoil, areclothing their long trailing stem s . The fragran tleaves Of the ground- ivy may be gathered now,

and are often collected by coun try people as a

cure for the coughs so common in this mon thof alternate sn ow and thaw.

The snow-drop (Ga lanflms nivalz'

s) is the

FEBRUARY . 23

herald of the flowers . It is n ot , strictly speaking,a wild plan t ; but it has , for so many cen turies ,established itself in many orchards and greenlan es , that it is commonly enumerated amongBritish flowers . A lane n ear Newport, in the

I s le OfWight 1 5 so full Of it s pure white blossoms , that it IS well -kn own as Snow- drop lane .

The red dead n ettle (Lamium p urp ureum)is comm on on sheltered hedge-banks in February . It s leaves are of a dull green , slightlytinged with purple , and it s reddish purpleflowers are n o t beautiful . It is an Old re

medy for s topping the effusion of blood, and

a very good on e . This plan t is in blos somall the summer, un til October, throughoutEngland ; though it is little n oticed by any,but those who, in taking cogn izan ce Of the

flowers , om it not the humbles t . It s foliage hassome little sim ilarity to those s tinging plants ,the true n ettles ; and this and the other speciesare termed dead, or blind - n ettles , because theyhave no t the venom ous powers Of their n eighbours , the s tinging - nett les .

The dandelion , (Leon t odon Taraxacum, )“ the

Sunflower Of the Spring,”

as Elliott calls it,illumines the moors and pastures of the earlyyear, and holds a s tore Of honey for the bee,and those o ther in sects which soon will gli t ter“ with wings Of sunbeams ,

”

acros s our path .

The dandelion root is a m edicine used in

England, but s till more generally in Fran ce and

Germany . The leaves are s old in the marketsof theformer coun try for salad, and, at Gottingen,

24 WILD FLOWERS .

the young roots are roasted for coffee. The

Scotch call the dan delion , t he hawkweed gowan .

Every one must have n oticed it s dow ny ball Ofseeds, which are so well adapted for flying inthe air, though they n eed the breeze to s catterthem ; for if the plan t be gathered, and broughtin to the house, the little shuttlecock- shapeds eeds remain firmly fixed in their place . The

Fren ch term this flower, Couronne de p rét re .

The dandelion s eeds are eaten by birds and

an other plan t s till more valuable t o them, is now

bloom ing . It is the common groundsel, (Senecz

’

o vulg aris ; ) this not only affords food t obirds , by it s feathered seeds , but they eat alsothe young foliage : and as few berries , exceptthose Of the ivy, are n ow in perfection , it is ofmuch service . And who that delights in the

woodland walk, and listen s t o the full - heartedsong which is poured forth in varied n otes , andcon siders their inn ocen t enj oymen t, but mustfeel glad that a provis ion is made for the neces sities Of the birds?What would our springand summer woods be, if the birds were wan t ing ,and we lacked the spirit- s tirring influences oftheir mus ic and mo t ion? As Hurdis says ofthe songsters

I love t o see t he little goldfinch pluckThe groun dsel’s fea ther’d seeds , and twit and twit,And soon , in bower of apple blos som perch

’d ,

Trim his gay suit, and pay us with a s ongI would not hol d him prison er for the world .

The groun dsel is one of those plan ts whichseem t o fellow man wherever he sets up his

habitation . It was originally a native of some

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2 6 WILD FLOWERS .

and the neglected field, are gay with the brightyellow rays of the coltsfoot, (Tussz

'

lag o F a r

fara .) I t is almos t the only in s tance Of a wildflower which appears long before it s leaves areun folded . This plan t is a cei tain in dication Ofa clayey soil, and it s large angular leaves sometimes abound on the mois t clay groun ds in the

m iddle of summer . Loudon says Of this plan t,that “ it covers the clay s oils on t he pestilen tialMaremmas , in Tuscany, where scarcely any otherplan t will grow and the traveller on thesedesolate scen es , mus t rejoice even at this SignOf vegetation . We can , indeed, hardlyfind a spotof earth on which s ome plan t peculiar t o thesoil will no t take root .”

The coltsfoot is , in some coun try places , calledbull’s - foot, or horse - foot . The cottony down ,under the leaves , is Often gathered in villagesfor tinder ; and the feather Of the seeds , whichis Of a more woolly texture than that Of the dandelion , is used by the Highlanders for s tuflingmattres ses . The coltsfoot leaves , previouslydried in the sun , will, if dipped in a solution Ofsaltpetre, burn like linen rag . The flowers areinfused as a remedy for coughs , andwere smokedthrough a reed by the ancien t Greeks , as a curefor asthma . The leaves are, in m odern tim es,

the chief ingredien t Of the British herb tobacco,and are Often smoked by coun try people .

By the cold river- s ide may be found theflowers Of the marsh marigold, (Ce lt / mp alus t ris ; ) it s s turdy s tem unbroken by the winds ,which make wild music, on the harp of reeds,

MARCH , 27

flinging the edge of the wat er . Un less theweather be unusually fine , we must not expectit t o blow before the end Of the mon th , but bythat time it is very common on marshy grounds .

I t is Often the flower which en liven s the

moun tain streams of Scotlan d in the early year,and is very common in Fran ce, where it iscalled s ouci d

’

eau. I t is wel l kn own in villagesas the water blob and wa ter-boot . In Laplan dand Sweden , whole plain s are y ellow with i t ,

and it s Open ing is eagerly watched , as it is thefirs t flower which bloom s wild in the n orthernfields, from which the sn ows are scared by thespring ; t hough it is no t till May that it expandsthere . Few flowers are mo re abundan t on themarshy lands Of Holland, than this . It is no ta good plan t for the pasture, as the cattle rej ectthis and the other species of ranunculus , exceptwhen herbage is so scarce that they have littlechoice . The blos soms Of the marsh marigold,when boiled in alum, give a good dye t o paper.

MARCH .

Wh at though th e opening spring be chill.Although t he lark , ch eck'

d in his airy path ,Eke out h is song. perch

'

d on the fa llow clodThat s t il l o'ert ops t he blade ! Although no branchHave Spread it s foliage save the p illow wandThat d ips it s pale leaves in the swo llen s tream !What though t he cloud s oft low er ! t hes e t hreats but andIn sunny showers , t hat scarcely l l l the foldsO f m o s s -couch

'd vio le t , o r in t errupt

T he merle’s dulcet pipe , me lodio us hird 'He . hid behind t he m i lk white s lo e - t lmrn spray ,Whose early flowers an t icipate t he lea f,Wel comes the time of buds , the in fant year. - GRA H AM E.

The old proverb that March comes in like

28 WILD FLOWERS .

a lion , and goes out like a lamb, though helonging part icularly t o the mon th un der the olds tyle, is y et generally true . There is scarcelyany time of the year, in which a few weeks effecta greater change in the appearance of nature,and the s tate Of the atmosphere, than at thistime ; when , both in mom and eve, the stillin creas ing day

” grows on the darkness , at thecomman d ofHim who causeth “ the day

- springt o kn ow his place ; tha t it might take holdOf the ends Of the

The vegetation Of this mon th is n o t on lyrapidly as sum ing the brighter colours Of Spring,but daily becomes less thin and s cattered . The

winding sprays Of the hon ey suckle are prettywell covered ; the spiry bran ches Of the Lombardy poplar look quite green , and the flowe1 s

Of the ash are coming out on it s leafless boughs .

The well- cased foliage which has been hid inthe res inous buds Of the horse- chestnut tree,bursts out from it s win ter shield , and the greenflowers of the gooseberry invite the bee t o theirn ectar . The blos soms of the apricot treeslowly unfold on the garden wall, and thatbeautiful plan t, the almon d tree, is putting forthit s delicate blushing flowers so quickly, and so

much in advan ce Of all the other trees in thegarden , as to remind us of the has te and vigi

lan ce ofwhich it was an an cien t symbol . “Whatsees t thou?” said the word of the Lord t o theprophet Jerem iah, and he said, “ I see a rod

ofan almond- tree . Then said the Lord —ThouJob xxxviii. 1 2, 1 3.

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30 WILD FLOWERS .

s ister, who died in con sequence of eat ing buta small number of these bright fruits . Yet ,poison ous as they are t o man and an imals , ingen eral, the Great Creator has adapted them t o

t he use of some of his creatures , for t o the

birds they are palatable and n ourishing ; and

the thrush and the blackbird search for themeagerly, and haun t the n eighbouring trees andhedges where these bushes abound .

A smal l piece of the mezereon bark , boun ddown upon the skin with a plan tain leaf above it,is used in villages to raise a blister . In Fran ce,the use ofplan ts , in their s imple forms, is muchmore common than with us and the phys iciandirects his patien t t o gather his remedy fromthe wood or field ; and the herbalis t collects aquan ti ty of plan ts, which are hung , dried on

s trings, and sold in the shops of Paris . Therewe may find the mezereon bark, for the blister ;and the mullein , the melilot, the mallow, and

fifty others , ready for medicinal or surgical purposes . Both in France and Englan d, themezereon - root is used for toothache , and a yellow dyehas been obtained from it s bran ches .

This plan t, and the severa l kinds of Daphne,are often termed laurel, from the s im ilarity of

the leaves of some species t o those of the

shinmg laurel tree . Our old names for the me

z ereon , are olive spurge and moun tain pepper,and t he Fren ch call it la zu'

eole g e nt ille . In

Italy, it is a favourite flower, and called Biondella , (Little fair one .)Our other wild Daphn e is much more gen eral

MARCH . 3 1

than the mez ereon in our woods , and, like theformer plan t, bloom s very early in the year .This plan t, the spurge laurel, (Daphne lau

reole, ) is about t hree feet high , and having ciron lar rows of leaves aroun d it s s tem, it s modeof growth somewhat resembles that of a palmtree . I t has pale yellowish drooping flowers ,which hang in clusters un der it s dark glos syleaves . Like the mezereon , it has an acridproperty, and it s bluish black berries are poi

son ous It is also an evergreen , and looks asbright in the win ter wood, a s when summer’ssun shines upon it .The bright celandin e (Rammculusficaria) is

showing it s golden glossy stars by the middleof this mon th . A large number of flowersspring from on e root, and it s heart - shaped leavesare spotted with a whi t ish green colour . Verybeautiful i t is, but very injurious to most lands .

Linnaeus thought that agriculturists shouldendeavour to extirpate this pretty flower, as hecon sidered that it injured all the plan ts growingnear it . It s blossoms shut up before rain , and,even in fine weather, are late in un closing, forthey never look out upon the sun before n ineo’clock ; and by five in the even ing, they are

folded up for the n ight . The roots are highlyvalued as a medicine, in Cochin China ; but theyare very bitter and acrid, and mus t requirecaution .

On old walls , and on pas tures where the soilis of a rocky nature, may now be found the

smal l white blossoms of the common whitlow

3 2 WILD FLOWERS .

grass, (Draba verna .) It s little flowers are

cross - shaped, it s s tem about two in ches high,with a small circle of s lender leaves around it sbase . Each individual plan t is so very small,tha t flower and foliage might all be hidden bya shilling piece, but it grows in patches , and istherefore conspicuous above the low green mos s,which so often protects it s roots . The old

writers on herbs commended it as a cure forwhitlows , and it was also called nailwort . The

Swede is interes ted in observing this plan t, forhe waits for it s appearance to sow his barley,as he judges that

,when it s flower open s , the

spring is sufficien tly advanced t o favour thegermination of his seeds .

A small flower which blooms throughout thesummer, begin s t o blossom in March . Perhapsfew but botan ists , would call it a flower ; mos tpersons would speak of it as a weed, yet likeall the works ofHim who m ade it, it s s tructureis beautiful when seen through a magnifyingpower . It is familiarly kn own by the n ame ofshepherd’s purse, (Cap sella bursa p as t oris , ) onaccoun t of the little heart- shaped seed-vessels ,which are closely set upon it s s tem , and somewhat resemble the old- fashioned purses . It mayeasily be kn own by these pouches , and is alsocommon ly called pick -

p urse . Insign ifican t asthe plan t seems , it appears to have attractedsome n otice in the olden times , for it was calledshepherd’s scrip, case weed, St . James

’

s wort ;and it s name of poorman

’

s parmacet ie,”would

suggest the idea that it was deemed of some

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34 WILD FLOWERS .

in a small apartmen t, have, in several in stances,caused convuls ion s . The leaves of the violetare frequen tly applied to bruises and the flowerwas so highly esteemed as a remedy for weaklungs , that a con serve, called violet sugar, orviolet plate, was, in the time of Charles I I ., soldby apothecaries , and con tinually recommendedby phys icians, t o their con sumptive patien ts .

A decoction of the heartsease, which is a speciesof violet, is s till much used as a medicine onthe con tinen t . The violet imparts it s colouralso t o liquids, and vin egar derives not on ly a

brillian t tin t, but a sweet odour, from havingviolets s teeped in it . It is , however, from it sbeauty and scen t as a wild flower, that the violetwill ever derive it s chief attraction . I t hasbeen said, that “ the wise read nature as the

manuscript of Heaven ,”and we may trace a

legible han dwriting of the Great Creator, evenin the lowlies t blossom that the Divine Han dhas streaked and pencilled .

The coy anemone that n e’er un close’

s

Her leaves until they’re blown on by the wind, ”

is now coming in to blossom . The wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa) is generally com

mon in Englan d, yet unkn own in many partsof Essex, and some other coun ties . The

old name of wind-flower is s t ill retained in

France, where it is called l’

herbe au ven t and

it s English name is taken from anemos , whichthe an cien ts gave it, because it s delicate flowersquivered in the fierce breezes of March

, andit s shin ing seeds were carried about on the air.

MARCH . 35

It is s till more abundan t in the April woodsthan now ; and though frail when gathered

,

and dying quickly, yet it con t inues in bloomduring a longer period than many other flowers .

The blos som of the wo od an emone is white and

s tar- shaped, and it s s tem has about it s m iddle,three dark sm ooth green leaves , ofa very beautiful form , with t he veins tinged with crimson .

This flower is poison ous to cattle, and, if bruised,will rais e a blis ter on the skin .

The daffodil (N arcis sus p seudo na rcis susl

bloom s in March , n o t on ly in gardens , but a lsoin a few m ois t woods , and in meadows wa teredby s tream s . This flower, th ough admired byus chiefly for it s early appearan ce, was a greatfavourite with the old poets and it was one of

the flowers , called by Spen ser, Michael Drayton ,and other early writers , by the n ame of lily .

”

The poets’ narcis sus , also,grows wild ln some sandy fields of England,especially in Ken t and Norfolk, but does not

flower till May . l t s colour IS pure white ;former days it was called “ primrose peerles s .

”

It is the flower so celebrated by the an cien tGreek writers .

The scen t of both these, as well as of everyother species of narcis sus , is s trong and deleterion s . In Holland

,where this flower, a s well

as many others , receives a grea t degree of at tention , some of t he m ore delicate species of t he

narcis sus tribe are cultivated in room s , and t he

odour from these room s is a frequen t cause of

s icknes s . This scen t is probablvmore powerful

36 WILD FLOWERS .

in the damp air of that coun try, than it would bein our lan d ,

a fact Ofwhich we may form a goodidea, by obse1 ving how s trong are the odoursfrom t he field, or wood, jus t ref1 eshedby a heavyshower, and which floa t upon the damp air thenevapora ting from the surface of the earth .

But the dafl’

odil is a rare wild flower, compared with one which we now find in bloomun der hedges and in woods . The commonarum, (Arum macula tum)— better kn own by it sfamiliar n ames of lords and ladies, wake robin ,or cuckoo pin t - has large broad glos sy leaves ,Often marked with black spots . From the

cen tre of these leaves , rises a kind of column ,

s ometimes of a green , or Often of a rich violetcolour . On this is the blos som , and on thisclus ter, the bright orange berries which in

win ter make so con spicuous an appearan ce, andwhich

,though highly poison ous, are relished

by birds . The root of this plan t is about thesize of a nutmeg, and con tains a farinaceouspowder, which has been applied t o a variety of

purposes . In former times , when not on ly ladiesbut gen tlemen also , were attired in rufl

'

s, so

s tarched and s tiff, that on looking at their portraits we wonder how they con trived to bowtheir heads , a thick s tarch was much valued ;and clear- s tarchin g wa s regarded as an elegan tfem in in e accomplishmen t, in which gen tlewomen

liked to excel, and for the teaching of whichthey often paid a great price . The s tarch foundin the arum root, was , in those days, highlyprized as an excellen t stiffener of linen , but the

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38 WILD FLOWERS .

And now, as an Old poet s ings , the palms

put forth their braverie,”and the earlywi llows

are covered with their grey, or yellow ca tkins ,around which , on a bright day , the bees hum

perpetually . The willow common ly called

palm, is the great round - leaved willow, (Sa limcap rea , ) and it s golden balls are a beautifulornamen t t o the woodlan d scenery . They arecalled by coun try children yellow goslings ; and

the old custom of decking the houses with thewillow bran ch, in the week succeeding PalmSunday, is s till retained in villages . It isoften , also, carried about a t this season of the

year, as a represen tation of the palm bran ches ,which the children s trewed in the way whenour Saviour en tered Jerusalem . It is not easyto g uess why this tree should have been selectedto represen t the orien tal palm , as it is altogetherun like it . If we except the weeping willow,(Sa limB aby lonica)— which, though common inthis coun try

, is not indigenous ,— there is littlebeauty in the willows gen erally ; but they are

very useful trees t o the tanner and basketmaker, and are valuable for poles and fences .

The hazel (Corylus avellana) is now deckedwith it s hanging tas sels

,and the wind, as it

rushes on , in playful gusts, through the woods ,s tirring up the s treams , waves also the boughsof the alder, which are becoming covered withtheir dark gloomy foliage . The alder (Alnusg lut inosa) is a sombre tree . It s leaves are sin

gularly glutin ous ; so much so , that if placedbetween the teeth, one might fancy, on biting

APRIL . 39

them, that a coating of Indian rubber laybetween their two surfaces .

APRIL.

The smooth sweet air is blowin g round,It is a spirit of hope t o all :

It whispers o'er the dewy ground ,And countless daisies hear the call .

It mounts and sings away t o heaven ,

And’

m icl each light and lovely cloud ;T o it , the lark's loud j oys are given ,And young leaves answer it aloud .

It skims above the flat green m eadow ,And darkening sweeps t h e shining stream ;Along the h ill it drive s t he shadow ,

And sports and warm s in t he skyey beam

The “showers that water the earth , alter

nating with the sun shine and soft airs , renderthis a mon th of spring flowers . Primroses,anemonies , and violets are spread like a gayvariegated carpet over the woods , and the scen tles s dog violet, (Viola canina , ) with larger blossoms than the darker tin ted sweet violet, bloomsin great profus ion . It s flowers do not , likethose ofour Old emblem ofmodesty, hide amongthe leaves , but flaunt gaily on their longer s talksbefore the breeze .

And n ow God “ quieteth the earth by thesouth wind,

”

and all nature looks calmlybeautiful . The swallow kn oweth the time of

his com ing, and the voice of the dove is heardin the wood The hedges are white with the

Job xxxvu. 1 7.

40 WILD FLOWE RS

blossoms of the early s loe, or black - thorn,(P r unus sp inosa .) It s dark brown bran ches aret hick with the sn owy wreath , long before theleaves appear, and, as the spring advan ces, theleaves take the place of flowers . The whitebloss oms are very beautiful, and very common inthe English coppice . The little harsh fruit, inflavour something like the un ripe damson ,

is

relished, perhaps, by n one but the school-boyit is, however, often gathered in to j ars and

bottles , and after lying buried un der-groun d tillwin ter, makes a very tolerable preserve . The

sloe is much used in the adulteration of portwine, and the leaves are said to be sometimesmingled with the t ea - leaf, and sold as Chineset ea . An infusion of the flowers , m ade bypouring boiling water on them, is a commonvillage medicin e .

But leaving the woodlan d boughs , with theirhalf un folded beauty, we may pas s on t o the

green lan es where many flowers already gracethe hedge - bank . Foremos t of these, as m os tcommon and conspicuous , are the bright blueflowers of the germander speedwell, (Veronicacfiamoeclrys , ) sometimes called eyebright and

ca t’

s - eye. Ebenezer Elliott calls it by the

former name.

Blue eyebright ! love l iest flower of all that growIn flower- loved Englan d ! Flower whose hedge- side gazel s like an in fant's ! What heart doe s no t knowThee , clus t er‘d smiler of t he bank , where playsThe sunbeam on th e em era ld snake , and straysThe dazzlin g rill, companion of t he road ."

The old English names of this flower, were

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42 WILD FLOWE RS .

As summer progresses, the remain ing speedwells come in to blossom . One Species, thecommon speedwell, (Veronica ofi cinalis) is inflower in May, and is very frequen t in dry woodsand pastures . It grows upright, and has a paleblue spike offl owers . The leaves are bitterand astringen t, and are often made in to t ea,especially on the con tin en t . Indeed the Frenchcall this flower, The de l

’

Europe . An old

Darfish writer on ce con tended very warmly, thatthis plan t was the iden tical t ea of China ; and

before the Chinese t ea had acquired a Settledreputation for it s superior flavour and s t imu

lating qualities, this, as well as several otherplan ts, were recommended by herbalis ts as a

more safe and pleasan t beverage . The Swedishand German writers of the presen t day, have a.very high opin ion of the speedwell t ea .

A small flower, the lamb’

s lettuce, (Va lerianella olit oria , ) is now very abundan t on banksand in corn -fields , especially on a light soil .

_

As

t his flower blooms when flowers are few, it ismore likely t o be observed than if a blos somof the summer . It has very thick compactclus ters of tiny lilac flowers , it s s tem is abouthalf a foot high, and the bran ches spread out

over a good Space of ground . The leaves areof a pale green , and they are con sidered bymany people to have, if eaten when young, theflavour of lettuce . The plan t was formerlycultivated for salad, and is s till called by theFren ch , monk

’

s salad, (s a lade ale cit anoine .) It sEnglish name sugges ts the idea of it s growing at

APRIL . 43

the season when these beautiful spring animals,lambs , are seeking their food on the mead . Our

forefathers called it white pot-herb and Gerarde, the old botan ist of queen Eliz abeth

’

s time,says of it, In win ter and the firs t mon ths of

spring, it serves for a salade herbe, and is wi thpleasure eaten with vinegar, sal t and oile, as

other salades be, among which it is n one of

the wors t .”

One would scarcely suppose that a plan t soin sign ifican t as to be overlooked by many whomus t often pass it, could have been a t all im

portan t as food ; but vegetables, either for cooking , or salad, were, in those days , little cultivatedin our coun try, and brought t o so little perfection , that the lamb

’

s lettuce would be a lesscon temptible dish then than n ow.

The fragran t leaves of the ground- ivy (Gleclzoma fierleracea) are winding now on theirlong s tems by every way s ide, and, if bruised,diffus ing their sweet odour, while their whorls ofpurplish lilac flowers are daily becom ing moreabun dan t . This is an other plan t which was

more highly valued some cen tur ies Since, thanin modern days , though it is s till used in

making a t ea‘ for the cure of coughs . The

“ herbe women of Cheaps ide,”

who, in queenElizabeth ’

s time , were very numerous on thatspot, walking up and down the street with theirbaskets Of “

s imples ”on their heads , had, a t

all seasons , either t he n ewly-

ga thered, or driedground - ivy

, and regularly cried it for sale aboutthis and other streets ofLondon . They called

44 WILD FLOWERS .

it by the now almos t- forgotten names of ale

hoof, tun -hoof, cat’

s -hoof, hay-maids , and gillby

- the-ground ; and the latt er n ame is s tillused for it in some coun ties . Ray m en tionsseveral cures wrought by the groun d- ivy, and

warmly recommends it s use .

One can nowhardly walk in to the corn -field,without finding the spray of fum itory, (Fumarz

’

a oficinalis .) The flower is of a deeppurplish rose- colour, with a small black spotupon it, and a number of these small tubularblossoms growon the upper portion of the stem,

forming a spike of flowers about an inch long .

The leaves are divided in to s lender segmen ts,and are so like those of the bright yellow gardenescholt z ia, that the gardener scarcely distin

guishes the young leaves of the weed fromthose of the flower . They are of a pale sea

green colour . In summer the n eglected cornfield is often quite red with the blos som s of

this plan t . This plan t retain s all it s propertieswhen dried . I t has a very s trong salin e flavour,and is particularly wholesome for cattle It is

called in the n orthern coun ties earth - smoke .

The dark red stems and leaves of the herbRobert, or Rober t - leaved cranesbill, (GeraniumR obert ianum, ) are gay with it s pretty pinkflowers, which mingle on the hedgebank withthe blue germander speedwell . The cranesbillsreceived their name from the Greeks , becausethe seed- ves sel is long and poi nted like thebill of a crane . The differen t species are now

becoming numerous ; and a less con spicuous

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4 6 WILD FLOWERS .

it was, of old, called “cook

’s head.” and

honey- suckle .

”

The white Dutch clover is no less commonthan the purple species ; and it is in teresting,as being mos t common ly con s idered t o be the

shamrock, the na tional emblem of the Irish ;though some writers con s ider that t o be theleaf of the wood - sorrel .In the beautiful valley ofSharon , so ren owned

in Holy Scripture, Mon ro found the Dutchclover t o be most abundan t, covering the gras syplain with it s white blossoms, and there, as

with us, inviting swarms of bees t o gatherover i t .Bes ides the white and purple clovers , we have

several other species of trefoil, though many ofthem bloom rather later in the summ er . The

little common yellow trefoil, (Tmfb lz'

um fili

forme, ) with it s small flowers, not larger thana green pea, meet our eye in every coun trywa lk, bloom ing on every pasture land and

ways ide . The hop trefoil, (Trifolium p rocumbens , ) a yellow flower, somewhat larger thanthe las t-n amed species , is less common thanthat kin d, but readily distinguished from itby it s oval, hop - shaped blossoms . We have bes ides, on gravelly heaths, and on banks and pastures, some very pretty downy purple trefoil,one ofwhich , the hare

’

s - foot t refofl, (Trifolz

‘

um

arvense, ) took it s n ame from the soft silkywh itish tuft of which it s flowers con s ist, and

which resembles the foot of the hare . Thisis very common on pastures, and in corn -fields,

APRIL . 47

during July andAugust . Aless frequen t but verySingular species , is the s trawberry-headed t re~foil, (Trg

'

foliumfragiferum) which has purplishred flowers an inch in diameter, and is often so

coloured as t o bear a con s iderable res emblan cet o a s trawberry . I t may, a t a glance, be dis tin

guished, by this circums tance, from the othertrefoils ; it is found in meadows during the

middle of summer . A calcareous soil is thaton which clovers flourish bes t ; and it is wellkn own that, if lime be s trewed on some soils ,a crop of clover will arise on lands from seedswhich were scattered over them by the wildwinds ages since, and which on ly needed thisstimulus t o arise and cover the earth .

The leaves of all trefoils are very sen sitiveto a mois t atmosphere, and close their leafletswhen the sun goes down , drooping low beneaththe drops of even ing dew . They a lso close and

droop when the rain is coming on , and the

clover field presen ts a s ingular appearan ce during a heavy shower . The ancien ts remarked,that they closed and trembled before a tempestbut , probably, themovemen t ofgradually en folding leaves was regarded as a trembling ; or,

perhaps , the fierce winds , which precede thes torm,

shook them so much as t o originate thisidea .

On dry soils , in warm climates , several speciesof clover attain a great degree of luxuriancethough clovers generally are bes t adap ted t otemperate regions . In Buenos Ayres clovergrows to such a height, that “ men and cattle

48 WILD FLOWERS .

cannot see each other while passing through a

plain covered with it s flowers .

”

Bloom in g bes ide t he clover, and n odding farabove it, we may find the fragrant dweller ofthe lea,

”the yellow cows lip, or paigle, (P rimula

veris, )and also the yellow Oxlip (P rimula ela t ior.)This latter plan t is les s common than the cow

slip, and much like it, but it has larger flowers .

The leaves of both are like those of the primrose . The cowslip was formerly called “ pettymullein ,

”

and palsy wort and as the Fren chstil l term it, herbede lap ara lys ie, it probably hadsome old ren own as a medicin e . An oin tmen tof cowslip leaves has long been used t o removet an and freckles from the sun - burn t complexion .

The cowslip is a great ornamen t t o our springmeadows . Nightingales are affirmed by someorn ithologis ts , t o have a peculiar predilectionfor these flowers . I t has been said that theyare on ly found where cowslips are plen tiful .Certain ly,

”says Mr . Jacob, in his Flora

‘

of

Devon and Cornwall,” “ with regard t o these

coun ties , the coincidence is jus t but the writerof these pages knows a copse, much frequen tedby n ightingales, and from which a chorus of

their songs issues in Spring, but around whichcows lips cann ot be found for some miles .

An other meadow flower, the cuckoo -flower,

(Cardamine p ra t ens is , ) with it s pale lilac blossom s and pungen t leaves, is now abun dan t inmois t meadows as are als o several other speciesof cardam in e, t oo closely allied t o each othert o be easily discriminated . The little dark

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50 WILD FLOWERS.

as the leaves are larger than those of any

other wild flower .By the latter end ofApril almos t every wood

lan d displays it s s tores of blue wild hyacin ths,(Hya cin thus non scrip tus .) Some of the Oldherba lists , a s Gerarde, term this beautifulflowerthe harebell ; but the n odding blue-bell of theheath- land is the harebell of modern poets,and probably, also , of mos t of the older ones .

The German s call our woodland flower the

E ng lisclze hyacin th ; but it is a n ative not

on ly of every county of England, but of everyland of Europe . The roots con tain a great

quan tity of s tarch , which , in former times , was

used, not on ly by the laundres s, but also ins tead of gum for pasting books and settingfeathers on arrows . The fresh root is saidt o be very poisonous . Our garden hyacin ths,called eas tern hyacin ths , (Hya cin t /zus orien t ale, )are very abundan t in Palestine . Lamartinefound them in great beauty on the plains , a t

the foot ofMoun t Leban on . Kitto, in his Pic

t orial Pales tine,”says , the narcis sus , the hyap

cin th , and the violet are in flower in the HolyLand in the beginn ing of February . One

Species of narcissus is cultivated in the openfields , by the people ofAleppo, and towards theend of win ter, certain Arab women are seen in

the s treets , carrying baskets of the flowers forsale, and chan ting a s they walk along ‘How

delightful it s s eason ! it s Maker is boun tiful.’

The Holy Land has also the grape hy acin th andthe blue grape hyacin th in it s corn -fields .

APRIL . 5 1

The starch grape hyacin th (Muscari race

mosum) is sometimes found in gra s s fields, and

among ruin s , in this coun t ry,but many botan iststhink tha t it is no t indigenous The circum s t ance that a flower is found among ruins

,

renders it probable that a garden was formerlyin the n eighbourhood, and that the flower wasonce cultiva ted there . This flower is well -kn ownby being so common in gardens . It resemblesa bunch of dark purple grapes , and when bruiseda quan tity of clammy s tarch - like substan ceissues from i t The flower has also the Odourof wet s tarch . I t has a large bulbous root .Very n early allied to t he hyacin th is the

verna l squill, (Scilla verna , ) which is n ow in

flower on rocks by the sea - side . It is aboutfour or five in ches high , with blue bells and

long s lender leaves . It is common on the coastsof t he n orthern and wes tern parts of GreatBritain , and frequen t in the Orkn ey and Shetland isles , where the bleak Winds are so un

favourable t o vegetation that few flowers willflourish . The bulbous root con tain s a veryuseful medicine, but a s it is also a powerfulpoison , it should n ever be taken but under thedirection of a medical adviser .

The large green ish yellow blossoms of the

two species of wild hellebore now s tand out

boldly under t he hedges . These are the greenhellebore , (H elleborus viridus , ) and the s tinking hellebore, (Helleborus foelz

'

dus t he la tterspecies is clearly dis tinguished from the other,by the purple colour a t the edge of it s green

52 WILD FLOWERS .

cup . They have both large leathery leaves,and, as well as the garden hellebores , amongwhich is the Chris tmas - rose, are extremelypoison ous .

The white balls of the guelder- rose Vi

burnum opulus) now thicken on the shrub, it sSilver globes , light as th e foamin g surf,Wh ich t he wind severs from the broken wave ;

being ornamen tal both t o the shrubbery and thehedge-row. These flowers, however, are not so

globular in their wild as in their cultivateds tate when in the garden they con tras t with thebloom of the lilac- tree, and well deserve theircommon name of snowball . The guelder- rosederived it s n ame from having been plan ted and

flourishing profusely in Guelder- land, in the LowCoun tries ; but the plan t is a native of almos tevery coun try of Europe , and quite common inour wild hedges . The berries are among themost beautiful of our autumn al fruits . Theyare of an elliptical shape, very juicy and brillian tly red. They have a very nauseous tas te,so much so, that on e can on ly wonder how theycan be so pala table t o the Swedes yet the

people of Sweden relish them greatly whenmade into a pas te with flour and honey . In

Siberia , they are not on ly eaten thus , but a spiritis dis tilled from them by fermen ting the berrieswith flour . The young shoots are made intotobacco - pipes and whip - handles .

The box shrub, (Bum s s emp ervirens , ) so wellkn own in it s dwarf s tate as an edging t o the

garden border, puts"

forth it s green flowers in

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54 WILD FLOWE RS .

said to‘

have driven the ancien t philosopher tomadn

’

ess ,—yet if any British flower m ight be

called a sen s itive plan t, it is this . No t on lydoes it s foliage close and droop at the approachof the even ing dews , but at the com ing ra in ,

even before the storm s ings i’ the wind,

”the

wood- sorrel compres ses it s leaves , and evenwhen handled roughly in gathering, it shrinksfrom the touch . The wood - sorrel grows es

pecially aroun d the trunks of decayed trees .

That pleasing poet Charlotte Smith , describesthe flower-gatherer,

Who from t h e tumps with bright green mosses cladPlucks th e wood - sorre l , with i t s light green leavesHeart—shaped , an d triply—folded and It s rootCreeping like beaded cora l

The plan t is gen erally most plentiful in thethickes t part of the wood.

Wood- sorrel is abundan t on the Alps and

other moun tain s , and is foun d as far t o the

n orth of our globe a s travellers have ever ye t

penetrated . In Lapland, it is so plen t iful andso much used, that Linnaeus says the natives oft hat coun try take scarcely any other vegetablefood than sorrel and angelica . The great bo tanis t adds

,that it is in Norway the p rimula , or

firs t flower of spring .

The old herbalis ts had a variety of names forthe woodland flower . I t was called wood - sower

,

s tubwort, wood trefoil, cuckoo’

s meat, and alleluya . Gerarde says of it, Apothecaries andherbalis ts call it alleluya and cuckowe

’

s mea t

either because the cuckowe feedeth t hereon, or

APRIL . 55

by reason when it springeth forth the cuckowe

s ingeth mos t a t which t ime also alleluya was

won t to be sung in our churches .

” I t is s tillkn own both in Spain and Italy by the n ame Of

alleluya . It is much used on the con tinen tas a fish - sauce, and was , among our an ces tors,in great repute , as the chief ingredien t in the“ green sauce,

”which

, in former days, alwaysaccompan ied fish on the table .

The acid flavour of the sorrels , renders themgen erally pa latable to chil dren , and, if takenon ly in small quan tities, they are no t pern iciousbut no one should, at one time, eat more than ahandful of wood- s orrel . The expressed juiceOf this plan t is used to remove spots and ironmoulds from linen . I t is also di luted with m ilkand given as a febrifuge in our English villages ,and s till more common ly in Russia .

A yellow species of the wood -sorrel (Oxa liscornicula t a) is occas ion ally found in shadyplaces , but i t is rare . The plan t which is mos tcommon ly known a s sorrel, and which may be

seen in any summer meadow, is the field docksorrel , (Rumeze acet osa .) It is mos t abundan ton the sandy soil . It s acidity is less thanthat of the wood- sorrel, and it s spikes of darkred flowers Often rise above the gras s, and maybe seen very plainly on the pas ture land . The

sheep’s sorrel, too, (Rumex acet os ella , ) is scarcelyless frequen t on Open places , and it s flowers are

s im ilar t o those Of t he field- s orrel, but muchsmaller These two sorrels are no t in bloomun til June and July . They resemble the wood

56 WILD FLOWE RS .

sorrel in their acid flavour on ly : botan ist sclas s them among the dock plan ts . A red

dye is procured from the field- sorrel . The

smaller species is an invariable indication of a

dry soil . Bo th kinds ar e very nutritious t o

cattle .

From the old wall, the sweet wallflower (Oketran thus cheiri) now greets us with it s odour.Many are the flowers which we value for theirfragrance, but scarcely on e is sweeter than this .

I t is much prized in the east .The comm on white bryony (B ryoma dioica)

is now abundan t, it s large vine - shaped leavescovering the hedges , and twin ing among thebushes, both by their twis ting form and by thenumerous and long curling tendrils which growon every s tem . I t is often called wild hop but

those who live in the coun ties in which hOpsare cultivated, know it t o be very differen t fromthat plan t . We have no wild t railing plan t,which better than this merits the Old name of

white vine . The flowers aremarked with greenvein s, and though not showy, are when ex

amined found t o be very beautiful ; but it is theluxurian t growth Of the bryony, which rendersit an elegan t plant . The stems Often extendfour or five feet, and grow much fas ter thanthose of plan ts in gen eral . Their rapid growthis attributed, by Linnaeus , t o the immen se s izeof it s white branching root, which was formerlymuch used as a medicine . It is very acrid,while fresh, but , when dried, it yields a flourwhich has often supplied food t o the poor in

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58 WILD FLOWERS .

This food was a t olerably wholesome one,

and formed a far better subs titute for corn thanthe diet to which many of the French peasan trywere reduced in 1 8 1 7 . At this season , theheavy ra in s which fell over the greater part OfFrance, had, in some departmen ts especially,preven ted t he ripen ing of the corn , and it hecame so dear as that the rich on ly could purchase it . The poor were compelled t o live on

wild sorrel, nettles , this tles , and even on the

boiled leaves of trees . This food sufiieed topreserve life but a large number of those wholived on it, were afflicted both with dropsy and

other complain ts . During the disas trous cam

paign of Napoleon ’

s army a t Moscow, the nu

fortunate soldiers boiled and a t e the commongrass of the field, and delirium was the conse

quence of this wretched foodOur wild bryony abounds with a fetid juice,

which is mos t abundan t in it s berries . Thesemay well be termed coral - berries , for they

‘

are

no t clear like those of the n ightshade, nor do theyglis ten like them but they are perfectly round,smooth , and unpolished, and of the mos t beautiful red colour . Notwiths tanding their poisonous n ature, they are eaten by birds and whileno other an imal but the goat will feed on the

bran ches of the bryony, these are t o him a de

licious repas t he will leave un touched all

other vegetables t o feed on this . Several kindsOf bryony are much used in India, and othercoun tries, as medicines .

may . 59

MAY .

Grateful ’t is ,

Ah pas sin g sweet, t o mark t he cautious paceOf slow-returning Sprin g, e'en from t he timeWhen first t he mat ted apricot un fo ldsIts tender bloom , til l t he ful l orchard glowsFrom when t he gooseberry first shows a leaf,Till the high wood is clad , and th e broad oakYie lds t o t he fly- stung ox a shade a t noon ,Sun proof. Hua nrs .

From about the middle of March un til summer is fairly ushered in , vegeta t ion makes suchrapid progress that we every day Observe some

changes . This is particularly the case if wewalk among the woods , for n ever are the woodsso bright n or so full of those flowers which lovethe shade, as during April and May . The

spring colouring of the trees, t oo, has it s ownemerald beauty, though differing from that of

the richly variegated autumn .

There is also something peculiar in the lifeand activity of the spring woodlan ds, whichcon trasts with the s tillnes s of the autumnalseason in the same Spots— when no birds ares inging, and when the winds are s till, the influence of their shade and s ilence is like that ofthe s tarry sky , soothing and calming t o the

mind ; but the spring wood is all so j oyous andso full ofvoices, that they who wan der thither,leaving their hearts open to the impression s Ofnature, feel that it s songs and soft green light,and delicate shadows in spire to gladness . A

wild thrill of delight is among the trees . The

storm s ofMarch have left behind, the lilac cloudsand the bright gleams of sun shine, and, as yet,

6 0 WILD FLOWERS .

thequivering leaves hide not the light, and a

thousan d mingled voices ha il the coming ofsummer. Happy are they to whom God has givenhearts attun ed to the utteran ces of n ature, andwhom the cares and follies of the world have n ot

weaned away from it s teachings ! Happy t oo,ifin the seclusion of the woodland, their heartscan be lifted up to God, with wonder and ad

mirat ion of his providen tial goodness t o thoseofhis inferior creatures which sport and s ing inthe woods and m ore blessed s till, if they can

recogn ise that God, n o t on ly as t heir Creatorand the Father of their spirits , but communewith him as their Friend and their Guide

,and,

like Adam in the brighter bowers Of Eden , hearthe voice of God among the trees .

The turf which enamels the groun d of thewood is rich with a variety of flowers ,

As if the rainbows of t he fresh wild SpringHad blossom

’

d where they fel l .”

The hyacin th , the anemon e, the violet, andthe wood- sorrel, are as beautiful as during las tmon th, and many of the large tribe of orchisflowers are coming in to bloom . A very s ingularone is thebrownbird

’

s - n es t orchis, or tway-blade,(Lis t era nidus a vis .) One might see it growing,and on pass ing it has tily, take it for a witheredflower but on gathering it, we see that, brownas it is , it yet has life and freshn ess . It is jus tof the colour of some drooping oak- leaf, whichis fading on the autumn bough , or strewedamong multitudes on the win ter earth . I t isnot , however, on accoun t of it s colour, that it

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62 WILD FLOWERS .

two or three species of the orchis plan t , whichcertain ly much resemble the insects from whichthey are named . These are the bee, the fly,and the Spider orchises . The latter, however,is s o s im ilar t o the bee orchis , that many writersconsider it merely f a variety of the same plan t .The bee- orchis (Upkrg/ s ap ifera) is abundan t

on some chalky and clayey soils , yet is so con

fined t o peculiar Spots, that it can hardly becalled a common wild flower in Scotland it isalmos t unkn own . In many parts of Ken t andthe Isle ofWight, it flourishes in profusion .

The blos som is n early as large as an humblebee, and so like that in sect in form and colour,tha t it might mislead the passer-by in to thebelief that a bee was hovering on it s stem . I tnever deceives the bee him self, for, on a warmday of June or July, a number of these busycreatures settle upon it, and rob it s n ectary of

the swee t juice which it con tains in abundance .

The fly- orchis , t oo, (Op / ”ye mus cg

’

fera) growsOn s imilar spots , and as n early resembles the flyas this does the bee .

The resemblance of in sects is far mores triking in the orch ideous plan ts of tropicalcoun tries . One species, the but t erfly - orchis

,

(Oneidz'

ump ap ilio, ) is so s im ilar t o our tortoiseshell butterfly, as con tinua lly to deceive the eye

of the traveller . There is something so remarkable in these resemblances that the lovers of

flowers usually feel much interes ted in the orchi stribe, and many exotic orchises have been of lateyears in troduced in to this coun t ry .

MAY. 63

Our native orchises , which though not inbloom till n extmon th , are now sending up fromthe earth their long glos sy leaves . There are

more than thirty species of our wild flowers,no t all called orchis , but all of the orchideoust ribe, and allmuch alike . The two most common species , which are found in almos t everyEnglish coun ty, are the early purple orchis,(Orcl n

'

s mascula , ) and the green -winged meadoworchis , (Ore/1 2

'

s maria .) The former has it sleaves marked with dark purple spots , and isvery frequen t in the woods in M ay . The latteris foun d in meadows at the same season . Theyare both Of a pinkish -purple colour, and the

wood species is sometimes deliciously fragran t .The m eadow orchis often grows pretty thicklyamong the grass , and has been found with fawncoloured blos som s . The roots of both theseflowers are perfectly wholesome and nutritious .

The marsh orchis , (Ore/1 2'

s la t g'

folia ) and the

spotted palmate orchis , (Ore/1 2'

s macula t a , ) arealso common , but on mois t places on ly . Theyhave pale tin ted lilac, or white flowers , and are

thus quite dis tin ct from the two kinds justmen tion ed . They are also taller and moreslender, but by n o means so general . In Essexand Cambridgeshire, they are abundan t . On

the bogs about Tunbridge YVells , they are among

the mos t common flowers yet in many districtsin Ken t, fam ous as it is for orchis plan ts ,and po sses sing peculiarities of soil n eces saryfor their production ,

no t a s ingle plan t Of thesetwo Species can be found .

64 WILD FLOWERS .

The but t erfly- orchis (Habenam

'

a bifoli'

a) isanother flower which by it s beauty and fre

queney claims our n otice . I t has white fragran tblos som s , the scen t of which is con s iderablyincreased In the even ing . I t blooms in Jun ein the mois t copse, and though much like a

butterfly, yet resembles some smaller and mores lender winged in sect . N O hothouse flower ismore delica tely beautiful than this s imple ten an tof the woods , which so often lives and dies nuseen by the eye Of man .

A very pretty but very small species of orchis ,called ladies’ tres ses, (Neo t t ia sp ira lis , ) is common on dry hilly- pastures , but so un certain in

it s app earance, that we cann ot depend on findinga single plan t ' in the n ext summer on a fielddecked this year with thousands . A field inthe n eighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells, was, inthe summer of 1 843, so full of it, tha t one

might ga ther it a t almos t every step . In the

Augus t fo llowing, not a s tem or leaf in dicatedthat it had ever grown there . This flower hadseveral old nam es . It was called sweet- cods,sweet- cullin s , and s tander grass .

In con s idering the orchises we have ratheran ticipated the season of the year, as several ofthem grow in the later mon ths . We may, how

ever, with tolerable certainty expect t o find inthe Maywoods , a pretty andwell-known blos somthe wiid st rawberry - flower, (F rag a rz

'

a zresca , )which blows bo th now and in June . The patchesof this meek white flower lie among it s leaveson the grassy bank which skirts the wood, and

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66 WILD FLOWERS .

grows in several ofo ur wild woods and hedges,and is reckoned among British plan ts, yet it canbe scarcely con s idered in digen ous . It is , bymos t writers , thought t o .be a n ative of the American woods, but it was common ly cultivatedbefore the time of Hen ry V I I I . period inwhich few fruits were reared in England, un tilafter Catherine of Arragon had had them imported . The beauty both of the fruit and

flower of the s trawberry had attracted the n oticeof lord Bacon . Speaking of a flower-gardenTrees , says he, I would have n one in it,

but some thicket made of sweetbrier and honeysuckle, and some wild vine amongst ; and the

ground set with violets, s t rawberries,'

and primroses ; for these are sweet, and prosper in theshade .

How beautiful now are the delicate bells Ofthe lily of the valley, (Conva llam

'

a maja lis, ) asthey grow, half-hidden in the shade of their twobroad green leaves ! These flowers are now

brought in baskets for sale, in to the town s, andOften plan ted in town garden s, there t o pineaway far from their n ative shades . The rootof this flower is bitter, and has medicinal pro

pert ies, and th e juice Of it s leaves , prepared withlime, yields t o themanufacturer a beautiful dye.

By it s s ide may sometimes be seen the wax- likedrooping blossom s of the Solomon ’

s seal, (Conva llaria mnlt z

’

jlora , ) with their delicate greenedges . It s root, called whitewort, is used forbruises , and cert ain ly removes theirSuperst it ion s people, a few years ago, thorght

MAY. 6 7

that the great botanis t and naturalist, Solomon ,had given this virtue to the plan t, by stampingit with his seal in proof ofwhich , the herbalist would poin t t o the marks which are to befound on t he kn otted root, and claim for hisremedy a wondrous efficacy .

The sweet woodruff, (Asp ernla odora t a ,) with

it s clear white cluster Of small flowers , and it srings Of green leaves , is now in bloom aroundthe roots of trees . It s fresh leaves are almos tscen tles s , but we have no n ative flower whichso long retain s it s odour when dried . \Vitheringsays of it, that it s s trongly aromatic flowers ,in fused in water, make a beverage which farexcels all the teas of China . The dried leaves,when m ixed with snuff, are also said to give t oit the sweet odour of the Tonquin bean— without being, as that seed is , prejudicial to theeyes ight— while the scen t is more lastin g .

A very s ingular flower, called herb Paris,(P a ris quadrifolia flnow grows in mois t shadywoods . From the summit of the s talk proceedfour broad leaves , which form a cros s . The

flower, which is green , con sis ts of four petals ,and the leaves of the calyx , or cup, are four ;this arrangemen t is so peculiar, that the flowermay ea s ily be kn own by this description . On

accoun t of it s four cross leaves , it has the

n ame Of true- love knot . Green flowers are

always of a suspicious n ature ; a poison oftenlurks in their blossoms , leaves , or fruit nor is

the herb Paris an exception . It has , however,been used medicinally, and Linnaeus recom

68 WILD FLOWERS .

mends it to the atten tion of the faculty The

leaves and berries partake of the narcotic principle of opium, and the juice of the berry isapplied t o remove pain in the eye . As a flower,the herb Paris i s rather s ingular than beautiful,but we admire it as an in s tance of the wonderful variety which exis ts in “ the flowers of thefield .

”

The common bugle (Ayug a rep t ans) is anOt her flower gen erally found In the woods In May .

A hardy plan t it is , it s purple blossoms somet imes ven turing forth in January, though lessvigorously than a t their proper season . I t also

grows on mois t hedgebanks, and varies with a

pale lilac, or even white blossom, the shape of

which is much like that of the groun d ivy . It

was formerly called s icklewort, or carpen ter’sherb for, in former times , when the labourerwas cut by the s ickle, or other sharp in s trumen t,some plan t which grew near him was employedt o cure the wound, and this was foun d veryserviceable, and 1 5 s till a common remedy. Aproverb was very common in France con cern ingthis and an other wood plan t, “ He n eedethneither phys ician n or surgeon who hath bugleand san icle .

” This latter flower, however, isknown to be a pos itively Injurious application ,especially if it grow in a mois t place, which,indeed, i s the situation in which it flourishesmos t .The white flowers of the holly are now in full

beauty, and the spindle tree (Euonymus Europeens) is covered with it s small green blos som .

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70 WILD FLOWERS .

lust re . But the sain tfoin , though cultivat ed infields, is an English wild flower it is not , however, common in Scotland . I t springs up naturally, ou dry and chalky soils on ly, it s longroots penetrating between the crevices in the

rock , or cha lky cliff ; and it is upon this kind ofsoil that it can be cultivated to mos t perfection .

On several of our moors, as Royston Heath andSalisbury Plain , it is plen tiful . I t is no t t ill thelatter end of May that the sain tfoin is in fullflower on the field, and it then con tras ts beaut ifully with the light green of the corn -field,and the deeper tin t of the meadow . It wasformerly called cock’s head grass , and Fren chgrass . Fuller, commen ting on the vegetableproductions of the differen t coun ties ofEngland,says of it, It is

“

called sain tfoin , or holy hay.

Superstition may seem in the name, but thereis n othing but good husbandry in the s owingthereof. It was firs t fetched out of Fran ce fromabout Paris, and s in ce is sown in divers placesin England, especially at Cobham -park, in Ken t ,where it thriveth extraordinary well on dry,chalky banks, where n othing else will grow .

”

The plan t is , in the presen t day, very plen tifulas a wild flower, and decks the hedge-banks ofsome of the lovely green lanes which lie aroundthe an cien t hall of Cobham .

A m os t s ingular in s tance of spon taneous mo

tion is exhibited by a species of sain tfoin calledthemoving plan t, (Hedys arum gyrans .) This isa handsome flower of a purplish pink colour.

It grows on the banks of the Ganges, and is

MAY. 7 1

called by the nat ives of India, B a rram ckanda lz’

.

No sooner do it s young leaves shoot out of theground than they begin moving up and down ;now with sudden jerks , n ow with a gen tle waving motion . By day or n ight, in sun or shower

,

the plan t is n ever at res t and if the beholdergrasp it with his hand, and compel it to be s tillfor a momen t, it is no sooner released thanit recommen ces it s action with more rapiditythan before, as if trying to regain the timeit had los t while under pressure . The leavesare composed of three leaflets . Sometimes cneleaflet will wave up and down while the o thersare motion les s , and sometimes the three leafletsmove s imultaneously ; but it has been observedthat the Whole plan t is seldom agitated a t on e

time. This flower is a un iversal wonder, nobotan ist being able to accoun t for it s volun tarym ovemen t . The well -kn own irritability of the

s en sitive plan t, the Venus’

s fly- trap, the sun

dew, and others , is caused by the touch , and iscon sidered by botan is ts as s imilar to the actionofmuscular an imal fibre, under the influence ofgalvan ism .

_

But this plan t n eeds no approachof external objects to impel it s action , nor is itinfluenced by electricity in the air, or by anyperceptible cause . In our hothouses , the plan tloses some of it s acting power, and has only a

fain t tremulous motion . I t is also, in India,sometimes nearly quiet during them iddle of theday, but it s agitation is , in it s own climate, generally as unceasing as that of the heavingocean , or the beating heart .

72 WILD . FLOWERS .

The singular movemen t of this plan t , andthe others jus t referred t o , has Often been ad

duced in support Of the theory, that vegetablesare endowed with sensation . Wordsworth has

“ It is my faith that every flowerEnjoys t he air it breathes .

”

In modern times, this belief seems almostleft t o the poet ; but a few years s ince, it washeld by t he philosopher .We can n ow scarcely walk a step from the

aved ways of the city, without seeing the smallreddish -white blossoms Of the kn otgrass , (P olyg onum aviculare .) This little plan t is as fa

miliar t o our view, as the meadow grass . Forming green patches by every ways ide, on the

borders of the public highway ; shooting upunder the walls of the crowded city, or evenbetween the ston es of the s treet . Commonert han even that common flower, the daisy ; yetit is scarcely kn own by name, t o any but the

botan is t . Milton speaks of it, asThe kn otgras s dew besprent

and George Herbert, in giving his advice t o thecoun try parson , on the choice ofwholesome andmedicinal herbs, enumerates this . Notwith

s tanding it s former repute, no“s impler ” of

modern times would gather it ; and t he loverof wild flowers Oft en treads over it daily, without any regard . This plan t, though calledgrass , has little more affin ity t o the true grasses ,tha n that elegan t white flower, which, from it s

beauty, has been termed the grass of Parnassus .

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74 WILD FLOWERS .

gras s, (P oa aqua t ica , ) is Often six feet high . It

has a long creeping root, and grows eitherby the s ides of ditches , or on other m ois t lands .

In the fenny dis tricts of Cambridgeshire and

Lin coln shire, it is a very valuable plan t of

pas turage but when it grows in rivers , it st angl ing roots and luxurian t growth make itvery troublesome, and it soon fills up a riverwhich has no t a rapid curren t .Meadows are, at all seasons , pleasan t spots .

In the drearies t m on ths of the year, theirfain ter greenn ess is agreeable t o the eye,which has lately looked but on the cold plain of

snow, or the leafles s trees . But when Maycomes , and the grass twinkles in the sun shineand the daisies Open their round eyes by thousan ds among it and the buttercups gleam in

rich profus ion , then is the tirr e fully to enj oythe meadow . These s imple flowers give delightt o the m any who long in populous citiespen t,

”n ow wander forth in to the fields . .Nor

would we forget the j oy which they afford tochildren . Children spring up, like t he butterscup, everywhere, and are linked by s trong tiest o almos t every human heart and those whocan look back to rural walks of early life, whenThoughts t hemse lves were birds , and stars , and flowers ,

are disposed to sympathize with the j oy of thelittle ones , as they gaze on the yellow field .

The buttercup is a species of ranun culus .

The kind which blooms a t this early season , isthe bulbous crowfoot, (Ranunculus bulbosus)andmay be distinguished from the other flower

MAY. 7 5

ing kinds , by it s bulbous root . The Maybuttercups have n o t pas sed away, before thecreeping buttercup, (R ammculccs rep ens ) andthe acrid crowfoot, (Ranunculus a ert

'

s , ) maketheir appearan ce . These bloom on , till the endof Augus t, and here and there, a few Of thelatter species may be found under the hedges ,till time, with his autumn al scythe, has m oweddown every flower, and the s tormy winds proclaim the win ter .In the hedges ‘which border the field, or

afford their shade to the green coun try lane,the flower which receives it s n ame from thismon th— the May, or hawthorn , (Cra t aegus0 xyacan t /za)— is radian t in beauty . Very rarelyis it in bloom by the firs t of May though bythe firs t ofMay of the Old s tyle , which is twelvedays later, the hedge is often white with it spearly blossoms . A decoction of the fragran tflowers of the May is said t o coun teract poison .

The hawthorn bough was formerly hung overevery door Of England, on the May morn ing ;and brought in from the woods with May

- dayrej oicings and i t s till, i nAthen s , on tha t day,graces every doorway of the cla ss ic city . The

cus tom Of going on May morn ings, a t break or

day, in to the woods, to bring away the boughsand flowers , was much discoun tenanced by our

reformers . They regarded it as the remain s Ofanevil supers tition ; for it hadit s origin in t he springrites paid by t he heathen to Flora ; and theyalso disapproved of the n oisy andprofliga te revelling with which it was often accompanied . They

7 6 WILD FLOWERS .

preached con tinually again s t“ doing Observance

t o a morn ofMay, and were greatly the mean sof suppressingMay

- sports, andMay-gatherings.

The firs t day of this mon th was also calledRobin Hood’s day ; and the s in cere and earnes tbishop Latimer complained, that on ce when hewas about t o preach in a town on that day, hecould get no audien ce because all the youngmen and maiden s , “ were gone a maying .

” Ifound,

”said he, the churches fas t locked . I

t arryed there half an houre or more, and at

las t, the keywas found on e of the parish came

t o me and says , Syr, this is a busy day withus, we cann ot hear you ; it is Robin Hood

’

s day.

The parish are gone abroad t o ga ther for RobinHood . I pray you let them n ot .

’So,

”as the

good bishop Observes , he was fain t o give placet o Robin Hood, and his men .

”

An infus ion of the hawthom—bark gives a

yellow dye and, if m ixed with copperas, yieldsa fine black colour .

The common hawthorn was the dis tinguishing badge of the royal house of Tudor . MissStrickland thus s tates it s origin When the

body of R ichard I I I . was s lain at Redmore

Hea th , it was plundered of it s armour and ornamen ts .

"

The crown was hidden by a soldierin a hawthorn bush but was soon found, andcarried back t o lord Stan ley ; who placed it onthe head of his son -in - law, saluting him by thet itle of Henry VII . while the victorious armysang Te Deum, on the blood- stained hea th .

oh Redmore , then it seem’

d thy name was not in vain t

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78 WILD FLOWERS .

many glit tering butterflies upon the spinybran ches .

The furze is used for hedges , and its . youngtops are eaten by an imals .

‘To the poor it furn ishes win ter firing, and is Often gathered fromthe heath, and s tacked by the cottage- door forthat purpose . In former times , large tracts ofcommon were cultivated with the shrub, invarious parts of Devonshire, to supply the

win ter fuel . The numerous pods which hangon the summer bush, are soon cleared away bythe birds, and a store of honey is furn ished t othe bees by their fragran t pea - shaped flowers .

The summer wind bears t o the traveller a de~lightful odour from the common covered withthe furze and so beautiful is it that we haven ot a wild flower which better deserves thepraises that the poets have lavished upon it .The Fren ch call this plan t, jonc marin, becauseit bears the s ea-breeze so well . The name Of

Ulex is derived from a Celtic word, s ign ifying a sharp poin t ; in Scotland, it is usuallytermed gorse, or whin . The Rus sian cultiva tesit in a green - house, as one ofhis rares t flowers .

A double variety of furze grows wild on the

heaths Of Devon shire, and is a handsome and

fragran t addition t o the bushes and trees of

the shrubbery .

On many a hedge may now be seen the

graceful flowers Of the plan t, called, familiarly,traveller’s joy, or Virgin ’

s bower, or wildclematis . I t is the clema t is vit alba of the

botan ist . The Greek word from which it s

MAY. 79

n ame is taken , s ign ifies the young shoot of a

vine, or t endril, and indicates it s twin ing nature .

The clema tis , though rare in t he n orthern portion s of this coun try, is very abundan t in the

greater part of England, especially in the south,and on limes ton e, or chalky soils , where , in May,or June, it s clusters Of green ish white are

thickly scattered over the hedges . The flowersare succeeded by a quan tity of seeds , crownedwith tufts of s ilvery down

,which look very

beautiful through the grea ter part of the win ter .and the plan t may well be abundan t , for thesefeathered seeds are exactly suited for flying on

the air, and are Often carried about by birds .

In win ter these little tufts of down are s trippedofl

'

by the harves t m ice, which make of themand other materials , soft little nests, as warmas a feather bed, and no t un like t he nes ts of

a bird, and there, leaving their cheerless l ittledwellings in the earth, they come and spend a

part of their time .

The s tems of the clematis Often exten d morethan twen ty feet over the hedge and, althoughit is des titute of the curling tendrils , which,like those of the vine, support the plan t, yetit s flexible branches an swer the purpose morefully . The young stems are , in this mon th , ofa purplish green co lour, but become brownand hard in t he course of t he summer ; and

then they serve the cottagers in s tead Of pipes ,for they are Often smoked by coun try people .

Bi shop Man t has some lines on this prettyflower

80 WILD FLOWERS .

The Travel ler's Joy,Moat beauteous when it s flowers as sumeTheir autumn form Of feathery plume

The Traveller’s Joy ! name we l l bes t ow’d

On that wild p lant, which by t h e roadOf Sout hern En gland , to adornFails no t t he hedge ofprickly thorn ,

On Wildin g rose-bush , apt t o creepO

'er t he dry limestone’s craggy steep,There stil l a gay companion nearT o the way

- farin g travel ler.

”

The old herbalist, Gerarde, gave the flowerthis name . He says, This is common lycarled, Viorna quasi via ornana , of decking andadorning waies and hedges where people travel,and therefore I have named it the Traveller’sJo

{bowing in small groups , on hedgebanks , oron heaths or woods , the whortleberry bush isnow com ing in to blos som . There are four wildspecies of this plan t, but the mos t common isthat called the bilberry (Vaccinium myrt illus .)This shrub is low and s traggling, seldom foundalone, but gen erally clustering on differen t spotsof the land on which it appears . Indeed, thistribe Of plan ts is n ever found growing singl

We do not meet with an individual plan t, but Italways grows in numbers , and generally aboundsin the n eighbourhood for some miles . Thisspecies is an elegan t little plan t, it s leaves are

of a beautiful green , and it s small red flowershang among them like so many waxen cups .

Children are fond Of the bilberry, or hurtleberry,as i t is often called ; and, in some of the n ortherncounties , this fruit is sold in the markets fort arts . The people of Devon shire eat the her

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82 WILD FLOWERS .

it is one of the mos t delicate and t ender plan t sin it s structure . It is very brittle, and oftensaid t o have no root but the fact is, that thes tem is so frail, that on attempting to pull upthe root, it separates itself jus t above the fibre,leaving that in the ground . The flower iswhite as the driven sn ow, and not much smallerthan a primrose . Then the periwinkle (Vincamajor) lends it s graces to the May hedge,t hrowing it s bright blue flowers on bush or

bramble, and it s large glos sy leaves , glisten ing inthe sun with so bright a green as t o deserve it sn ame of little laurel, by which it was formerlykn own .

Springing from out the crevices of the wall,and throwing it s many leaves and blossomsover the gray ruin , the ivy- leaved toad-flax,

(Linaria cymba la ria , ) is n ow very frequen t .It may easily be described . It s blos som s are

shaped like those of the snap- dragon , of a delicate lilac, marked with a small portion of

yellow and the leaves are thick and fleshy, andhave their under surfaces coloured with a

purplish crimson hue . It is often hung up ina flower-

po t from t he cottage ceiling, and thelong s tems hang down all around it . I t sometimes , t oo, m ingles with the house - leek and

s tone- crops which grow upon the cottage roof.The wall- pellit ory (P ariet aria ofi eina lis) isnow in blossom on old ca s tles , churches , and

walls . I t was formerly called p erdiceum, be

cause partridges are said to feed upon it ; andthe housewives of old times knew it by the

MAY. 83

name of vitraria , because, says an Oldwri ter, i t serveth t o scour glas ses, pipkin s,and such like .

”

Severa l very rough - leaved plan ts bloom dur

ing this mon th, and are much allied t o eachother, n o t on ly by their prickly foliage, but bytheir medicin al properties . The small bugloss ,(Anclms a arvensis

, ) with it s bright blue flowers ,is not uncommon in corn -fields and on hedgebanks . Every hair, or bris tle, on it s leaves isseated on a white tubercle, and is very strongand sharp . The flowers Of this plan t are part icularly attractive to bees, and the roots con

tain a grea t quan tity of mucilage . With us ,

this flower is little used but in China, whereit is abundan t, the roots form an importan tmedicine . An other species (Anclmsa t inct oria)was formerly used for pain ting the face, byladies who were n o t con ten t with t he beautywhich God had given them and it mus t haveimparted a more perman en t stain than the

rouge ofmodern times . I t is s till cultivated inthe south of Fran ce for it s red dye, and is usedby druggis ts for colouring various salves, and

by Vin tners for adulterating port wine .

Mos t closely a llied to this plan t, thoughblooming some mon ths later in the year, is thecommon borage, (Borag o ofi

'

cina lis , )which growson waste places , and on heaps of rubbish , andwhich bears beautiful blue flowers . It hasbeen discovered by a chem is t that a decoctionof the leaves Of this plan t, evaporated t o a

syrup, and kep t for some days , yields salt

84 WILD FLOWERS .

crystals, partly in form of n eedles , and partlycubical and that the n eedle crystals were foundt o be perfect n itre, and the cubical ones sea sal t .If a dried piece of this plan t be held in a flame,it emits , while burn ing, a kind of corusca tion ,accompan ied by a slight detonation . This iscaused by the n itre which it con tains , and

which renders it suitable for match-paper, of

which it is sometimes an ingredien t . We see

something Of those small sparks in burn ing thedried s talks of laven der ; and on e of our wildreed plants,— the great bur cat’s tail, (Typ liala t ifolia)— will produce a flash of light if a

can dle be held near it .The borag e grows round about Aleppo in

such profus ion as t o attract the a tten tion of

travellers ; and it s flowers are, in the eas t,larger and of a deeper blue than ours . Thisplan t was on ce thought t o s trengthen the frame,and give courage and Spirit to those who partookof it . The old English bowl, called a cool tankard, and made of cider, lemon -juice, and water,was con s idered to derive it s refreshing powersfrom t he borage-blossoms which were s teepedin it ; and as may eas ily be ascertained, theycert ain ly posses s the power Of imparting coolnes s t o liquid . Any part of the plan t will alsogive it s peculiar flavour to water in which it isplaced ; though few,

perhaps, would relish it ss trong tas te . The leaves are very rough, but ,when young, are s ometimes eaten as salads ; andwere once highly es teemed as improving theflavour of cresses and chervil . Indeed the

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86 WILD FLOWERS .

aceous , or but terfly- shaped ; and as it is always

found that plan ts whose flowers are of this form,

bear their seeds in a legume, or pod, they are

also termed legumin ous . The s tructure is remarked by Dr. Paley, as a beautiful in s tan ce 01con trivan ce on the part Of the great Creator ofthe un iverse . After having adverted t o the

importance of preserving from injury the partsof fruct ificat ion in a plan t, which are usuallylodged in the centre of a blossom ,

he s ays ,The pea, orp apilionaceous tribe, in close thes eparts within a beautiful folding of the in terna lblos som , sometimes called, from it s shape, theboat, or keel, itself also protected under a pen thouse formed of the external petal . Thiss tructure is very artificial, and what adds t o thevalue of it, though it may diminish the curiosity, very general . It has also this fartheradvan tage, and it is an advan tage s trictly me

chamical, that all the blos soms turn their backst o the wind whenever the gale blows stronglyenough t o endanger the delicate parts on whichthe seed depends . I have observed this a hunlred times , in a field Of peas in blos som . It isan aptitude which results from the figure Of theflower, and as we have said, is s trictly mechan ical, as much so as the turn ing of a weatherboard, or t in cap, upon the top of a chimney .

”

The flowers of the rest-barrow are usuallypink, but sometimes white, and the plan t isusually very spiny, but the number Of spinesseem s affected by the na ture of the soil onwhich it grows . On calcareous soils these

MAY. 87

prickly appendages are few and small ; wh ileon the plants which flourish on a soil whosesubs tratum is gravel, they are very strong andsharp .

On s imilar places to that on which the res tharrow flourishes , the low jun iper is Oftenfound . The common jun iper (Junip erus comc

ma nia) n ow bears it s bloom . In England, itgrows on sandy, or chalky soils, or on Opendown s but it is a plan t common to the wholeofNorthern Europe, and, in some coun tries, isabundan t on high m oun tain s . In Sweden and

Norway, it is applied t o a variety of domesticpurposes . In Norway— that land Of goodhousewifery w the bowls of the dairy are dailywashed with a decoction of the jun iper branch ,which is remarkably effectual in keeping themsweet . Then t he Norwegian dame strews theyoung tops of the jun iper over her floors, a sour coun try people s trew the sand on theirsand the jun iper is regularly sold in the s treetsfor this use . Wh en about to consign to t he

dust the remain s of t he dead, the jun iper twigsare s cattered plen tifully from their h ouses tothe church -yard, and a number Of it s greenSprigs throw n on and aroun d the grave ; and

the twigs may be seen lying on many a tomb,

s till keeping their greennes s long after theywere s trewn there by the hand of love and

friendship . The Swedes make a con serve ofthe berries , and ea t it in their meals : theyalso drink juniper beer, and take the plan tmedicinally. In Germany, the berries are used

88 WILD FLOWERS .

t o flavour the sauer lfraa t , which is so unpalatahle

'

a dish t o all but German s ; and in tha ta nd they are burned in s ick rooms and hos

pitals for the purpose of fumigation . In our

coun try, they are chiefly used for giving theflavour t o gin ,

and large quan tities are importedfrom Holland, Germany, and Italy, for makingthis liquor . The jun iper bush is , with us , low

and small, seldom so large as the furze ; butwhere it a ttains some s ize, the wood is veryfirm and compact . In former times , spits anddrinking ves sels were made of it, as it

'

was

thought to impart a pleasan t flavour to meat,or liquid . The san darach, or poun ce, whichis used t o Strew over manuscripts , is madefrom a gum which oozes from the old jun iperplan ts .

We read in ‘

the firs t book of Kings, xix . 4,that the prophet Elijah lay and s lept undera jun iper tree but the word so tran slated isthought by recen t commen tators to be a speciesof broom . Three kinds Of jun iper, however,are said byKitto, in the Pictorial Palestine,

”

t o be common in the Holy Land . On Moun tHor,

”on Which Aaron died, says this Writer,

and where his tomb is still hon oured, it

grows even to the summ it ; nor is it Wan t ingin the ren owned valley below, in which the

metropolis of Seir is en tombed .

” Many writersthink tha t on e species of juniper, (Juniperusoxycedrus) rather than that of the s o - calledcedar Of L eban on , is the cedar wood so famed,in former times, for it s durability, and ofwhich

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90 WILD FLOWERS.

that a very small quan tity of the cormeille willenable them t o repel hunger and thirs t formany hours . In some parts of Scotlan d, theroots are bruised and made in to a fermen tedliquor They are very nutritive, and havebeen used, when boiled, both in England andScotland, a s fOUd in times of scarcity . In

Holland and Flan ders , they are common lyroasted as ches tnuts , and have a very similarflavour to that Of this fruit yet in our country they are scarcely known t o be of any value,and are quite neglected by villagers , thoughthe flower is often gathered for the wild n ose

gay . I t is kn own by the names of Wood-

pea

and heath -

pea , and, in Scotlan d , generally calledby the n ame ofkn appert s .

During this mon th and the next, a numberof vetches and vetchlings come in to flower.They may be gen erally described a s plan tswith but terfly

- shaped blossom s , mostly of a

purple, or red colour, though a few of them haveyellow flowers . They have slender leaves , andtwin ing, or s traggling s tems , some of themwithten drils . The pretty crimson vetchling , or

gras s -vetch, (La thyrus nissolia , ) with it s slen

der gras s - like leaves , is in bloom this mon th,on the green borders of fields ; and the springvetch (Vicia s a t iva) is not unfrequen t now on

roads and pastures ; but these are diffi cult t odescribe without the use of botan ical terms .

Several Species Of vetch yield good herbageforcattle ; and as they all have legumes, or pods !full of seeds, they afford food for birds . The

MAY. 9 1

vet ches were formerly called fetches : thus , inMilton ’

s Comus ,”

the lines which now stand,If all the worl d

Should , in a fit oftemperan ce , feed on pulse ,”

s tood originally, feed on fetches .

”

The red pottage, for which the weary hun ter,Esau, sold his birthright to his brother Jacob,was made of the seed of a species Of vetch , ortare, the len tile, (E rvum lens .) The len tile iss till highly prized in eas tern lands ; and in

Egyp t, and throughout Syria, the bean is

parched in frying-pans , and sold in shops . The

mess of red pottage is s till an esteemed dish ,as it was when Esau coveted it, and s inned, byundervaluing his birthright, in order t o procure it and it is now, as it was then , a veryimportan t article of diet to the labouringclasses , and often cooked, t oo, for the rich .

Dr . Shaw relates , that len tiles dissolve eas ily,in boiling, in to a mass , and form a pottage of

a red, or chocolate colour, much valued in

Egypt andWes tern Asia .

”The yellow flowers

of the plan t called familiarly kidney vetch , orlady’s finger, (An thyllis vulneraria , ) are blooming on dry pas tures by the latter end of thismon th , and con tinue in bloom till Aug us t .These flowers grow in heads , or clusters , twoclus ters on each s tem , and may be known fromany other of our papilionaceous plan ts by thequan tity of white s ilky wool in which they lie a s

in a nest . The flower, which , in Ken t andmost

Gen . xxv. 81 . 34.

92 WILD .FLOWEBS.

o ther coun ties, is a lways yellow, grows in Devon shire, and in Wales , with cream - coloured,white, or red blossoms . Linn aeus Observed oft his plan t, that in (Eland, where the soil is a

red calcareous clay, the flowers are red ; but

that on the white chalky soil ofGothland, theyare white .

From every hedge we may now gather theflower called treacle mustard, (E rys imum a lli

aria .) It grows t o the height Of two or threefeet, has small white flowers of the shapet ermed by botan is ts, cruciferous, and forminga cros s , like those of the wallflower. The

leaves are as large as those of the n ettle ; and,when broken , yield a most powerful odour of

garlic, which renders the plan t very Offen s ivein a n osegay, and which even scen t the driedspecimen s in an herbarium . It was formerlycultivated in kitchen gardens , as a salad plan t .A large number ofyellow cruciferous flowers,

as the wild cabbage, or coleseed, (B rass icanap us , ) the common turn ip, (B rassica

and the various kinds of mustard, now showthemselves among the young spires of the greencorn -field ; and in n eglected fields, threaten des truction t o the blade . The charlock, or wildmus tard, (Sinap is arvensis , ) is , t oo , common onthe cultured land, and gives much trouble tothe farmer. It s seeds are pungen t and acridand are often mixed with those of the speciescultiva t ed especially for mus tard . It is calledin the differen t coun ties , charlock, garlock, orchadlock ; and inYorkshire is common ly known

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94 WILD FLOWERS .

becometh a tree so that the birds of the air

come and lodge in the bran ches thereof.A grea t variety of Opin ion has been en tertainedas t o the species in tended in this text . The

eastern mus tard, (Sinap is orien t a lis , ) has beenOften cons idered as t he S cripture mustard . Itis very common in Pales tine, and very s imilarin it s appearan ce t o our charlock . The warmthof the climate, however, renders it far moreluxurian t ; and it attains the height of a shrub,or even a tree but a s it has no t a woody stem,

or bran ches , and it dies down to the groundevery win ter, it can s carcely be called a tree .

Here again , we must refer to that valuable work,the Pictorial Pales tine .

”The author of this

book quotes from the travels Of captains Irbyand Mangles . Speaking of vegetable production s in the n eighbourhood of the Dead sea,

thes e travellers say,“ There wa s one curious

tree, which we Observed in grea t plen ty ; and

which bears a fruit in bun ches , resembling inappearan ce t he curran t, with the colour of theplum . I t has a plea san t, although s trongly aromatic taste, exactly resembling mustard ; and,if taken in any quan tity, produces a s im ilarirritability of the n ose and eyes , to that whichis caused by taking mustard . The leaves of thetree have the same pungen t flavour as the fruit,although no t so s trong . We think it probablethat this is the tree our Saviour alluded t o, inthe parable Of the mus tard- seed, and not the

plan twe have in the n orth for al though, in ourMatt. xiii. 31 , 32.

MAY. 95

journey from Bysan t o Adjeloun , we met withthe mustard plan t growing wild, as high as our

horses ’ heads s till, being an annual, it did no tdeserve the appellation of a tree ; wherea s theother is really such , and birds might eas ilyand actually do , take shelter under it s shadow .

Kitto, commen ting on this quotation , remarks ,“ The Jewish writers speak of a mus tard- treecommon among them, in quite correspondingterms ; seem ing t o Show that a species Of thesinap ie or some analogous genus , existed in Pales t ine, with which we are no t well acqua in tedand which may very probably prove t o be thatwhich captain Mangles has poin ted out .One of our wild species ofmus tard, the broad

hedge mustard, or London rocket, (Sisymbriumirio, ) is exceedingly common on was te grounds ,in the n eighbourhood of themetropolis and is

remarkable as having sprung up immediatelyaft er the grea t fire of London , in 1 6 66 , and

quickly covered the ground where the city hads tood . SO profuse was this flower, in a few

weeks after the fire, that it was supposed by thebotanis ts of those days, that a greater quan tityexisted on that one spot, than could have beencollected from over the whole surface Of Europe ;and it is a singular instance of vegetable growth,for which no naturalist has ever been able t oaccoun t .A peculiar circums tan ce connected with a

flower of this, and the coming mon th , is , that ithas bloomed- for cen turies on a lon e place in thesea, and is almost unknown as a wild flower

‘

in

9 6 WILD FLOWERS .

everyot her part ofEngland, this is thewild peony,(Pceom

'

a cora llina , ) which lifts it s red blossomon the island in the Severn , called Steep Holmes .

I t is s ta ted by Gerarde, t o have been found, inhis time, n ear Gravesend ; but if it grew therein those days , it has disappeared s ince . The

rev. W. Lisle Bowles thus n otices it

The clifl’

abrupt and high ,And desolate , and cold , and bleak , upl ift sIt s barren brow barren but on it s steepOne native flower is seen—the peonyOne flowerwhich sm iles in sunshine and in storm.

There stil l companion less , but ye t no t sad,She has n o sister of t he summ er fie ld

,

None t o rejoice with her, when spring return s ;Non e , that in sympathy may bend it s headWhen evenin g win ds blow hollow o

’

er t he rockIn autumn

’

s gloom !”

This flower is dis tinguished by the name ofthe en t rre- leaved peony, because it s leaves,un like those of the garden species, have s traightun cut edges ; the bloss om s t oo are s ingle .

The dark purpleflag , or iris , (Irisfoet idiss ima , )called, when plan ted by gardeners , the gladwyniris, may be foun d in May and June, on meadowlands and in th lcket s , in the south and wes tof Englan d . In Devonshire it is a very com

mon flower it is n ot un frequen t in some partsofKen t . In the n orthern and midlan d count ies , it is rare, and has not been known to growwild in Scotland. This flower has a s trongOdour of roas t beef the leaves and roots s teepedin beer, are taken as a m edicine .

One or two species of Lyci mis are. n ow in

bloom and in meadows and corn -fields, the

bright flowers of the red lychn is, or campion,

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9 8 WILD FLOWERS .

Wh ich cons is ts ofa numberofsmallknobs, strungt ogether, and of so bright a red as t o resemble as tring ofcoral beads . But the bes t kn own speciesis the flower called London pride, or n one so

pretty, which is so Often the ornamen t of thecottage garden border, and which, perhaps,received the former n ame because i t will growon the little soil which borders the paved yardsof the city, and is uninjured by sm oke or

fog . In Ireland it is called St . Patrick’s cabbage, and it s old n ame of queen Anne’s n eedlework” Is expres sive Of It s flower, which 1 esemblesa most beautiful embroidery, and well repaysexam in ation with a m icroscope .

The flowers of May may be con cluded withsome accoun t of a plan t, so fragran t and u seful,t hat although it has n o t ornamen tal blos soms,

it s flower being on a catkin , or cone, ye t it welldeserves the n otice of all who value our wildplan ts . The sweet gale, or Dutch myrtle,(Myrica g a la ) grows on boggy, or moorygrounds it s fragrance resembles tha t of a myrt le, but is much more powerful, and n ot on lys cen ts the airwhile growing , but , when gathered,perfumes the room . The Highlan ders lay it sbranches in their lin en ches ts, t o scent theirclothes, and to drive away the moth . The

Welsh place it under their beds ; and, in some

parts of Scotland, it is s trewed with the heatherfor the n ightly couch . In Sweden i t is usedfor a variety of purposes a dye is made fromit, and a common medicine, and i t serves ins tead Of hOps t o give the preserving principleto beer ; but it is less wholesome than the hop .

JUNE . 99

In some part s where this plan t is common i t isused for brooms, and in the Isle of Ely it isso very abundant, that it is burn ed in s tead of

common fagots .

The sweet ga le is generally con s idered muchlike the myrtle in appearan ce ; but the lightergreen of it s leaves , and the more crowdedgrowth Of the s tem , lessen the resemblan ce .

Like tha t plan t, it is a smal l shrub . I t isplentiful in Devon shire, and is common ly calledt he Devon shire myrtle ; it grows in quantities on the dreary Dartmoor . When the

sweet gale is boiled, a kind of wax, like'

bees’

wax, rises t o the surface of the water, and maybe collected in large pieces . Tapers are some»times made of this wax, and are so fragran twhile burning, that they are very agreeableand salutary in a sick room . These candlesare so much used in Prus sia, that they are

burned con stan tly in the royal household . The

berry is about the s ize of a pea, and has , bothwhen fresh and dried, a most grateful perfume.

JUNE .

Forwho would sin g the flowers ofJune,Though from grey mom t o blazing noon,From blazing n oon t o dewy eve

The chaplet of his son g he weave ,Would find h is summer daylight fail ,And leave ha lf told t he pleasing ta le .

The presen t mon th has a differen t characterfrom tha t of the las t . The flowers are evenmore numerous , the leaves thicker, the gra ssand foliage of a deeper green . Spring has quiteyielded to summer. Nature, t oo, wears a

1 00 WILD FLOWERS .

calmer and more settled aspect ; and, at noon

time, on a June day , the birds s ing but little,and few sounds are heard in the wood, savethe humm ing of that busy little chemis t, the

bee, which is dis tilling honey from the flowers .

And n ow, on the Open land, we see that cleartrembling vapour, which the Scripture describesas

“the clear heat upon herbs,

”and which

quivers and dan ces in the sun shine till the eye

aches with gazing upon it ;There is no mon th in the year in which the

early morn ing and even ing are m ore delightfulthan in this . It is in June that we see the

appropriaten ess of the beautiful s im ile of the

psalmist, when he spoke of the Hope of

Israel :” He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth , even a morn ing withoutclouds ; as the tender grass springing out of theearth by clear shin ing after rain .

”He shall

come down like rain upon the mown grass as

showers that water the earth .

”

1'

Every part of a rural lan dscape in June isprofuse in leaves and flowers . Even the sur

face of the s tream is covered over with the

green leaves of various plan ts . The whitecrowfoot still adorn s the s ilver curren t ; theduckweeds , (lemna , ) which con s is t of thick andsucculen t green pieces, like leaves— called bybotan ists fi ona

’s— and of threads which de

scend from them , and hang floating in the

water, form a thick herbage on the stagnan tpool . The ducks and waterfowl, as they glideamong it, gather plen tiful meals from it s juicy

2 Sam. xxiii. 4. 1' Pee . lxxii. 6 .

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102 WILD FLOWERS .

be differen t from those which inhale atmosphericair, as the breathing Of fishes is from thatof birds .

“ Accordingly,”

adds this writer,they are of a differen t texture, pellucid, like

oiled paper, harsh and ribbed, but Often verybrittle ; and their surfaces, like that of aquatican imals, destitute of down , or hair of any kin d .

”

This remark applies t o those plan ts which livewholly in the water, and no t fully t o thosewhich grow t o some height above it s surface.

Waving it s bright yellow petals above thestream,

and forming in and aroun d it a thicksedgy mas s, with it s sword—like leaves, theyellow iris (Iris p seudacorus) is a beautifulflower in June . It is often called flag - sedge,and corn -flag , and, in Scotland, is n amed waterskeggs . The French term it la flambe aquat igue. Coun try people value it s long acridroot as a cure for the tooth- ache . It is a ls oused for dyeing a black colour, and for makingink, and is dried and ground for snuff. It s

juice is made in to a cosmetic, and it s seedsroasted for coffee . This flower is sometimesfoun d in moist woods .

We have but two wild species of iris , andthe other was n amed on a preceding page . Our

common purple iris is the fleur ole la ce, and it

derives the name from Louis VIL , king of

Fran ce, who , when setting forth on his crusadet o the Holy Land, chose this flower as his

heraldic emblem . F leur de luce is merely a

corruption of flour de Louis , and it is now

more Often calledfleur a’e lie, or lily flower.

JUNE . 1 03

The forget-me-not , or water scorpion - grass,(Illyoso t is p a lus t ris, ) is in blos som in June, andcon tinues flowering till Augus t . Two or threeof our Wild flowers are occas ionally hon ouredwith this sen timen tal name . In queen E liz abeth’s time , it was often applied to the groun dpine, a small yellow flower foun d on sandybanks,or gravelly fields , with it s blossoms so hiddenamon g a profus ion Of leaves, as somewhat t oresemble a pine . In our days the german derspeedwell is sometimes designated as the forgetme- n o t ; but it is seldom so called by personswel l acquain ted with flowers , and it probablyoriginates in it s beingm is taken for the myosotis .Whether the species of myosotis which growsin the fields, (Illyoso t z

'

s a rvensis) the smallbrillian t blos som of which looks like a clusterof blue turquoise, or the large kind, whichgrows on the s tream , be the true Olden forgetme- not , may be disputed . Botan is ts , however,in Fran ce, Germany, and England, seem t o

agree that it is the latter kind . The waterscorpion - gras s grows plen tifully in mos t coun trys treams . It s long cluster Of pinkish - colouredbuds, bending n early into a circular form, beforeexpanding, procured for all the species, theirn ame of scorpion -grass . Our forefa thers, actingupon their usual principles ofanalogies , i nferred,from the shape of the young shoots, that it wasa remedy agains t the bites of scorpion s ; underwhich name they seem to have included snakes ,adders , and various other reptiles . The old

legend 0 1 the knight who was drowned, while

1 04 WILD m own as .

a t t empting t o gather for a lady some of the

flowers from a s tream in which the curren t wasrapid, and whose dying words are said t o havegiven the name t o the flower, must now yieldt o an apparen tly more authen tic accoun t of itsorigin . Miss Stricklan d, in her late work on

the queen s of England, has given us a statemen t of the cause of the nam e, forget-me -not ,

scarcely less poetical than that wh ich has , forcen turies, been sung by poets of all the landsof Europe . Speaking of Hen ry of Lan cas ter,she says , “ This royal adven turer— the ban

ished and aspiring Lancas ter— appears t o havebeen the person who gave t o the myosot is a r

vensis , or forget-me-n o t , it s emblema t ical and

poetical mean ing, by un iting it a t the period of

his exile, on his collar of S . S . , with the in itia lletter of his mo t , or watchword, Sozwez

'

g ne w a s

de may : thus rendering it the symbol of re

membrance, and, like the subsequen t fatal rosesof York, and Lan cas ter, and Stuart— the lilyof Bourbon , and the violet of Napoleonan his torical flower. Few of those, who, a t

parting, exchange this s imple touching appealt o memory, are aware of the fact , that it wasfir s t used as such by a roya l Plan tagenet prince,who was , perhap s, in debted t o the agen cy of

t his myst ic blos som for the crown of England .

It was with his hostes s, at that time wife of theduke of Bretagne, that Henry exchanged thistoken of good-will and remembran ce .

”

Can the rush grow up without m ire?canthe flag grow without water?

”was thequestion

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106 WILD FLOWERS.

leaf. The cus tom of s trewing floors on fes t ivaldays is s till retain ed at Norwich and

.the old

cathedral is , on certain days , scen ted with the

perfume of the sweet flag, profusely s trewn overit s floors . This plan t is abundan t in the fennydistricts of Englan d . The root is— especiallywhen dried— so powerfully aromatic, as that itmight be used in stead of spice, for dishes . The

Turks make a sweetmeat of this root, and thinkit valuable as a preserva tive again s t the plague .

The sweet flag root, which is sold by druggis ts,is imported from the Levan t ; but our n ativespecies is quite as aromatic as that which isbrought from afar . It is one of the oldes tmedicines kn own , and is much used in the presen t day . Linn aeus says , that it is the on lynative aromatic plan t of n orthern climates ; thehot spices of foreign lands being invariably theproduct of the plan ts grown in the hot region sof the world .

The lovely flowering rush , (But omus amdella tus , ) often called water- gladiole, is n ow in

bloom . The old writers t ermed it grass ierush ;

”and one of them says , I t is of all

others the faires t and m os t pleasan t t o behold,and serveth very well for the decking and

trimm ing-up of houses , because of the beaut ie

and braverie thereof.” It s flowers grow in a

clus ter a t the summit of it s s tem, and are of a

delicate rose- colour, tinged with purple. The

sharp edges of the leaves cut like a raz or, andoften wound the mouths of cattle».That beautiful aquatic flower, the water

JUNE . 1 07

violet , or feather-foil, (Hot t om'

a p a lus t ris) isa great ornamen t to s tream s , bu t i t is , in somecoun t ies , very rare . It s white thread - like rootss ink deep in to the soil, a t the bottom of the

pond, and it s leaves are all under water . The

flowers rise above the s tream , and seem t o reston it s surface and their han dsome clus ters areeither ofa pale l ilac orwhite colour . It affords acovert t o several small shell-fish ; among others,to the fresh -water periwinkle . I t is to be re

gret t ed that it is no t more general, as i t is easilycultivated for if the seeds be thrown one

summ er in to the stream, the flowers will appearin the en suing season .

On the marshy sides of the river, grows thatvery pretty flower, the buck -bean , or bog- bean ,

(M ew/un ifies t rifolia t a .) I t may easily bekn own by it s triple- leaf, resembling in colourand shape that of the field bean . It s flowersgrow in bun ches , and are white, tipped withred, and m os t beautifully bordered with a d elicate fringe . It s roots are so numerous , and so

matted, that on bogs on which this plan t growsin plen ty, the groun d is rendered firm by theirin ters tices . I t con tain s a bitter principle, andis used by the Swedes in stead of hops . The

roots , when ground t o flour, are eaten by theLaplanders , but form a poor food .

But quitting the river s ide for the greenlanes and fields , we find n ature equally profuse . The bird’s - foot trefoil, (Lo tus cornica

lo t us) with it s pretty yellow papilionaceousblossoms , is scattered all over the mead,

1 08 WILD FLOWERS .

scarcely taller than the grass , but not hiddenby it . Every hedge is now white with the

flowers of the privet, (Ligus t rum vulg are, ) a

plan t which is green all the year, and, in win ter,is covered with it s numerous purple berries ,which the birds leave un touched on the trees ,and which are used by dyers . The hon eysuckle (Capmfolz

‘

um p ericlymenum) m inglesit s sweet breath with that of the hay

-field.

On calcareous and limes tone soils , the flowersof the wayfaring tree (Viburnum lan t ana) are

a very con spicuous feature of the hedgerow .

This plan t is also called the mealy guelderrose, and it is well n amed by Mrs . Howitt, thewild hydrangea, for it s general appearan ce isvery s im ilar t o that of the garden plan t . It s

young shoots are covered with a cottony down ,and it s stems and leaves are thick and heavy .

It s flat bunches of scarlet berries turn black indrying, and are used for making ink.

- In the

Crimea, _

the young shoo t s are valued for thet ubes of tobacco-pipes and in Germany, basketsare made of the pliable bran ches . This beaut iful shrub is called, in Ken t, the cotton tree.

The young shoots of the bladder campion

(Silence infla t a) peep up on the hedgebank, as

early as April, and, in this -mon th , the flower isblooming . The shoots are of a pale green ,and have a powerful odour of green peas and

they are sometimes gathered while young, andeaten at table . There is, however, a bitterflavour m ingling with the sweet t aste, whichrenders them less palatable than the green pea ;

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1 1 0 WILD FLOWERS .

an cien t s, arg emon and Pliny says, it t akes it sname from Eupat or, the

“ finder of it out , andbath a royal and princelie

~authorit ie .

”

The yellow avens , (Geum urbanum) thoughrare in Scotland, is so frequen t in rural placesin England as t o have obtained many fam iliarn ames . It is called herb Benn et, s tar of the earth ,goldy flower, and it s oldes t name was , blessedherb : I t probably received this because it:wasonce much used by phys ician s as a febrifugeDr. Thorn ton thought highly of it s virtue .

It is a pretty flower, growing on a bran chedstem, and has large leaves at the root . It s

root is prized on accoun t of it s sweet odour,and, in several parts ofEngland, is collected andlaid in

'

drawers and chests , t o give it s scen t tolinen . I t is also put in to wine or ale, to im

part t o it a spicy flavour, and a water is dist illed from it . I t is remarkable that whent his flower grows in damp places , the root doesno t possess this peculiar aroma . The wateraven s (Geum riva le) is the on ly other wildspecies, and is a much larger and thicker plan tt han this , with it s flowers each about the size ofa shilling, and of a deep purplish orange colour.

In the n orthern coun ties of England, and in

Scotland, especially in the neighbourhood of

moun tain s, the large round yellow blos soms of

the globe flower (Trollius Europ eans) are a veryhandsome ornamen t t o the green lands . In

the south , they deck our garden borders, but inScotland, they are very general as wild flowers,and are called lucker-gowans, and Cabbage

J UNE .

daisies . This is a common plan t on all the chainof the Alps , and seems by universal consen t ,t o be used on the Con tinen t as a flower ofwhicht o make garlands , on all rural fes tive occasion s,and with which t o dres s houses on holidays .Miller says of the globe flower, “ In Wes tmoreland, these flowers are collected with greatfestivity, by the youth of both sexes , at the

beginn ing of June ; about which time, it is

usual t o see them return ing from the woods inan even ing, t o adorn their doors and cottageswith wreaths and garlands .

The hound’s tongue (Cg/nog lossum aficinale )would attract our n otice in the coun try lane,rather by it s great number Of leaves , than by-it s flowers . The dark crimson -brown tin t oftheir blos soms is so rare among our Wildingplan ts, that this alone may serve t o dis tinguishit from others . This flower is altogether of amost sober aspect, and has n othing gay or

bright about it . I t rarely grows on pas turelands ; but when it springs up there , the cattlemost carefully avoid it . This is probably Owingt o it s peculiar Odour, which has been comparedt o that of mice.

The yellow rattle (Rhinan tfius cris t a g allz)in trudes itself in many pas tures , but is ratherlocal . In some parts of Ken t, it is almos t unkn own but around TunbridgeWells , the fieldsare full of it . In the summer of 1839 , it wasunusually abundan t in Essex, and found on

many lands on which it had never before appeared. It not on ly grows in the meadows,

l 1 2 win ) FLOWERS .

but even among the corn , and was a source

of great annoyan ce t o the Essex agriculturists .

The newspapers of the coun ty descan ted on theunusual quan tity of this plan t ; which was rendered the more troublesome, as it yields a greatabundance of seeds . The coun try people of

Essex had a remarkable prejudice against it,as they thought that it s roots emitted somesecretion of the plan t, which burned the rootsof the corn . This flower is about a foo t high ;the stem branched, and often spotted withpurple . The plan t is very con spicuous , whenit s flowers are over for the flat seed - ves sels are

particularly large . When the seeds are ripe,they rattle in their large husks , when ever thewind blows , or they are shaken by the pass ingfootstep andwhen they rattle thus on the fieldsof Sweden , the peasan t concludes that it istime t o cut down his grass, and commen cethe labours of the hay field . This 1 3 not however, a guide t o the English farmer for his hayis generally out while t he flower is in blossom,

and is stacked by the time it s seeds are ripened .

The dwarf red sylva t ica , )and the taller red Species ,are both much prettier flowers than t he yellowrattle . Their manner ofgrowth , and the shapeOf

_

their leaves , as well as the delicate rose- tin tof their large blossoms , render them very ornamen tal, either t o the heath- land, or the wet

marshyground, onwhich they are very abundan t .It is also on mois t boggy s oils that that

lovely flower, the butterwort, (P inguz’

cula vul

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1 1 4 WILD FLOWERS.

themselves backwards, andnow conceal the rootby their revolution .

”

The creeping cinquefoil (P o t en t illa rep t ans)weaves it s tapes try of pretty leaves and yellowvelvet blossoms over the mead, or on the hedgebank ; and now, t oo, we may find the smallerblossom s of the whichare very nearly allied t o the poten tilla, and the

roots Ofwhich are used by the n atives ofthe Orkneys and the Hebrides in tann ing, and are con

sidered t o yield a better tann ing material thaneven the bark of the oak. Loudon states, thatin the isles of Tirey and Col, so much lan d hasbeen des troyed by digging for these roots , thatthe inhabitan ts have been prohibited the use of

t hem . In many coun tries, they are used fordyeing red.

And now, t oo, some of the flowers of the cornfield spring up, and tower above the daily lengthcuing corn . The viper’s bugloss (E chium

vulg are) is seen from a distance on the chalkyhill, the barren wall, or the heap of rubbish ;and t oo Often on the corn - lands .

"

Crabbe, whennam ing the wild flowers , which are so unwelcome

in the s terile corn -fields n ear the sea, gives tothe bugloss a prom inen t place

Rank weeds which every art and care defyReign o

'

er the land , and rob the blighted rye ;Here thistles stretch their p 1 ickly arms afar,And t o the ragged infan t threaten warHere poppies , nodding, mock the hopes of toilHere t he blue buglos s paints the sterile soilHardy and high above the s lender sheafT he shining ma llow waves her silky leafO'er the young shoot, t he charlock t hrows a shade,

And clasping tares cli ng round the sickly blade."

JUNE . 1 1 5

That the bugloss paint s the st erile soil,”is

very eviden t from it s places of growth ; yetLoudon says truly, it is perhaps the handsomes tof our native flowers . About Cambridge, wherethe coun try, by it s barren soil and s tun ted veget at ion , rem inds us of the s e a- coast, the buglossis very comm on , and is called by coun try people,cat’s tail .The foliage of this flower is so thickly beset

with prickles , that even those an imals , which ,like the donkey, browse on the this tle- tops ,shrink from it s spiny leaves and s tems ; and

profes sor Martyn observes , that when the beespause in their flight, t o suck the honey from it s

rich blue bells , their delicate wings are torn ,before they can make their escape from the

plan t . The same writer, speaking of it s fre

queney in Cambridge, among the spring- corn ,says , “ that the agricul turists of that land,have remarked, that it appears mo s t plen tifulevery third year, when the fields arequite bluewith it s flowers .

”

The general name of viper’s bugloss is common t o the plan t in several countries ofEurope .

Thus the Span iard calls it ber-6a de la vibora

and the Frenchman la vip erine and it isamusing to trace the odd fan cies which led t oit s being thus designated . The Spotted stem re

sembles the skin of a snake, and the s eeds areeach like a viper’s head ; and our forefathers ,who looked upon these marks as the s igns of

s ome corresponding virtues , inferred that the

plan t must heal the bite of a viper. On the

l 1 6 WILD FLOWERS .

same principle the con sumptive patien t hopedfor relief from the lungwort because of it s spott ed leaves and who, in those hopeful, trustingdays , doubted that the pretty hepatica of the

garden , with it s lobed leaves, so like the liver,was created for the ben efit of the sufferer underthe gloomy liver- complain t? In looking overthe works on plan ts , written a few cen turiesago, on e might infer that snakes , vipers, andserpen ts aboun ded in our rural districts ; and

so many specific remedies are given again s ttheir bites , that surely n one but the ignoran tneed have suffered fi'

0m their effects . The verys ight of the viper’s bugloss would, according t oGerarde, drive vipers away from the spot, andthe seed of the larkspur had, he says , a stillmore powerful influen ce . It s vertues,

”says

he, are so forcible, that the herbe on ly thrownbefore the scorpion , or any other venemousbeas t, causeth them to be without force and

s trength t o hurt ; insomuch that they‘

cannot

move or s tir un til the herbe be taken away .

”

Yet Gerarde was a good botan is t and an in t elligen t man , and these strange n otion s belongedrather t o people of those times in general , thant o an indivi dual .The corn gromwell, (Lithosp ermum arvens e, )

a plan t about a foot high , with narrow- poin tedleaves , covered with white hairs, and seeds hardas fl in t, is n ow very general in the corn -field

and a plan t called the shepherd’s needle, (Scandz

'

x p ect en, ) attracts observation by it s peculiarseed-vessels . This plan t is about a fo ot high,

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1 1 8 WILD FLOWERS.

All the poppies possess the narcotic principlein a greater or les s degree, and the white poppyespecially (P ap aver s omniferum) partakes it .I t is now common in corn -fields . It is thoughtthat this flower was origin ally brought us fromsome parts of As ia . It is , in several eastern coun tries , cultivated for the purposes of

Opium . Upon breaking the s tern of this flowerit may eas ily be seen t o con tain a quan tity of

thick white m ilk ; and the Opium is made bywounding the poppy- stem, and leaving the m ilkt o harden in the sun . I t is then formed in toflat cakes , and covered with leaves , and in thisstate we receive it from the east . The Turksmingle in their opium - cakes a variety of syrupsmade from several fruits , and stamp thesesweetmeats with the words “ M ash Allah,

”the

work of God. Alas, that pious words shouldhave so little real mean ing, and should be usedas a s an ction t o that degrading in toxication , and

des truction of bodily andmen tal faculties, whichis the sad result of opium eating !The white poppy is plan ted in many fields of

England for it s seed-vessels , which are used inmedicine and surgery . I t was formerly calledJoan silver pin .

Poppy seeds , in the eas t, are commonlysprinkled on the tops of cakes and sweetmeats .Several seeds are, indeed, used in this way, aswe should use carraway- seeds , and even the

bread is thus adorned with the seed of the

poppy or some other plan t . The cracknelsspoken of in the first book of Kings, when

JUNE . 1 1 9

Jeroboam,who caused Israel t o sin , sen t them as

a presen t to the prophet Ahij ah, when he askedof the fate Of his s ick child, are supposed byKitto t o have been a kind of cake, sprinkledove1 in this way with poppy- seeds , as t he origin al word implies a spotted cake .

Poppies are found in all coun tries, andunderall climates , from t he n orth pole t o the sandydeserts ofAfrica . Brillian t as is our wild scarlet flower, it is much brighter in some otherlands . In the corn -fields , in some parts of

France, it has a much richer tin t than in theEnglish field .

An in teres ting phen omen on is sometimes exhibit ed by red and o range- coloured flowers , andalso, in a les s degree, by yellow- tin ted blossoms .

I t is that of a light of their own colour playingabout the plan t . This is n ot the result of an

inflammable vapour igniting on the approach of

a candle, but seems rather, a s Sharon Turnerhas remarked, an actual secretion of light addit ional t o their usual Show .

”The cause of

this phen omen on has no t been discovered, buti t seems depen den t on an electrical s tate of the

atmosphere . I t ha s no t been seen during thebright sun shin e, but has been Observed aftersun set, in several flowers, as the marigold , thedifferen t species of poppy, the scarlet geran ium,

and even in the heartsease .

A bright light is given out not by the blossom s alone of plan ts several roots show a brilliance in the progress Of decay this , however,is of a phosphorescen t nature. A luminosity so

1 20 WILD FLOWERS .

powerful as t o enable the byst an der t o readbyit,issues from the common potato, when in a

s tate Of putrefaction ; and profes sor Lindleymen tion s tha t an officer who was on guard at a

barrack near Strasburg, during n ight, thoughtthat the building was on fire, and, upon exami

nation , foun d that the vivid light which hadalarmed him proceeded from a heap of potatoescon tain ed in a cellar . The vas t coal-m ines ofDresden are said almost t o realiz e, by their lustrous illum in ation , the appearan ces described inthe fairy tales of the eas t . In those spots , in towhich the sun

’

s rays n ever penetrate, some spe

cies of fungus of the genus Rlziz omorp lza , growing ove r the roofs, pillars , and other parts ofthese subterran eous places , emit a light so

brillian t and powerful as almos t t o dazzle theeye of the beholder ; though it is sometimes sosoft and subdued as t o resemble a fain t m oonlight . This fungus is foun d in many othercavern s bes ides those of Dresden , and addsgreatly t o the in teres t which such scenes excitein the traveller.

Among theflowers which , during this mon th ,ann oy the farmer, though they please the

botan is t, the corn cockle (Ag ros t emma g it /log o)is very frequen t in the field ; the corn cockle isnamed in the book of Job thus the patriarchsays , “ Let thistles grow ins tead of wheat, andcockle ins tead of but as the wordwhich our tran slators have rendered cockle isexpress ive of an unpleasan t odour, the poppy

0 Job xxxi. 40.

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1 22 WILD FLOWERS .

the fibrous strings from the more fleshy sub

s tan ce, and they are laid under water, eitherin tanks or ponds , or they are s trewn over thegrass field, for the dews and sun shine t o pre

pare them for use . Fields of flax have beencultivated from the earlies t an tiquity, for mak

ing linen ; and it appears from the Scrip tures ,that a numerous class of people were engagedin the manufacture , among the an cien t He

brews and Egyptian s . The prophet Isaiah,when predicting the wrath of God, and the

com ing desolation of the land of Egypt, foret ellstha t “ they who work in fine flax, and theythat weave networks , shall be confoun dedand the “ fine twin ed linen , wrought with needlework,

”

was ordered for many purposes , in the

ornamen t and s ervice of the tabernacle, whichthe Lord comman ded that the children of Israelshould make . The mucilagin ous seeds of the

flax are much employed in surgery, and the

flower is so elegan t, that it is frequen tly plan tedin gardeThe small common white flax (Linum ca tlmr

t icum) is abundan t by road- s ides, both in

Englan d and Fran ce, and grows in such profusion about Versailles , that, small as are it s

pretty flowers , they make the field quite whiteby their number . It is often called mill-mountain coun try people gather and dry it, as a curefor rheumatism ; and profes sor Martyn says,that it is an excellen t medicine in that pain

ful complain t .Even the barren wall bears an aspect of

JUNE. 1 23

gaiety now, for it is thickly covered with patchesof the bright yellow flowers of the s tonecrop

,

(Sedum, ) which clus ter both here and 0 11 the

cottage roof. The Latin name of the stonecrop isderived from the word sedére, t o sit , becausemany Of the species may be said t o sit on the

walls, clothing them like mos ses . The yellowbiting s ton ecrop, (Sedum acre, ) now in blossom, grows also on sandy hills , and is oftenplan ted on rock work in gardens it is veryacrid, and when bitten , it s juice leaves on the

tongue a flavour as pungen t as that of pepper,hen ce it is frequen tly called wall- pepper . Ithas also the old familiar n ames of gold dus t

,

and gold chain . In former days , t oo, it waskn own as j ack of the buttery, coun try pepper,pricket, and bird

’

s bread . It is given in beeror m ilk to invalids if laid on the skin , it will

quickly raise a blis ter .We have eleven wild kinds of s tonecrop,

which are, with one exception , very s imilar t oeach other in nature and habit , though severalhave red or white flowers . The plan t com

monly termed orpine, or livelong, (Sedum t ele

plrium) differs much from the other s tonecropsit has a spotted s tem, and in s tead of the closelyimbricated foliage Of the other s tonecrops, hasbroad leaves ; it s purple flowers appear i nJuly,on was te places, or field borders it s leaves areoccas ional ly boiled and eaten . One would wonder a t the taste of those who selected them forthis purpose, as even after boiling, they retaina considerable portion of acridity and though

1 24 WILD FLOWERS .

wholesome, are no t m ore so than hundreds Ofcommon plan ts, some ofwhich, like the chickweed and n et t le, are used at the poor man

’

s

t able .

One species of s ton ecrop , the white orpine,(Sedum a lbum l s pickled as samphire . A largewhite kind, called English s ton ecrop, (Seduma ng elicumfis very ornamen tal t o the rocks onthe Highlands and Hebrides , scattering it s

white s tars by thousands on their else barrensurfaces, and supplying their wan t Of verdure byit s thick green leaves .

On the summi t of the wall, or rock, or s tillmore often at it s base , we may n ow find the

small n ettle, (Urt ica w ens ) full of it s greenbloom ; we have three n ative species, eas ily dist inguished, even by person s unacquain ted withbotany, by the circum s tan ces respecting them .

The lesser n ettle is seldom above two feet high,it s leaves are small, and it is not a con spicuousplan t , but the great n ettle (Urt ica dioica)cann ot be Overlooked, and grows by every ways ide, often to the height Of three feet . The

Roman n ettle (Urt i’

ca p ilulq'

fera) is not muchunl ike it, but is comparatively rare, and foundchiefly n ear the sea ; this is by far the -mos tvirulen t Of our s tinging n ettles , a nd the paininflicted by it s venom remains for several hours .

The Old Engl ish writers had a legend, con cerning the in troduction of this n ettle in to our

coun try, which was very gen erally believed,though , as Ray observes , ,

it i s not very likelyto be true. Our great antiquary, Camden.

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1 26 WILD FLOWERS .

n ettle, and in Sweden , it is plan ted in rows fo1forage . The roots furn ish a beautiful yellowcolour t o the dyers of Russia, and are veryextens ively employed by them for this purpose .

It is a s ingular fact , that steel dipped in the

juice of the nettle becomes flexible .

But there are s till further uses t o which thisneglected and despised plan t may be applied .

Dr. Thorn ton , who ha s made the medicin alproperties of our wild plan ts his peculiar

'

s tudy, states , that lin t dipped in nettle juice,and put up the n os tril, has been kn own to staythe bleeding of the n ose, when all other I cme

dies have failed ; and adds , that foui teen or

fifteen of the seeds, ground in to powder, andtaken daily, will cure the swelling in the n eck ,kn own by the name of goitre, without in anyway injuring the gen eral health .

The English word, n ettle, is supposed t ohave been derived from the Anglo- Saxon word,noedl, or needle . The pain caused by the

s ting of this plan t arises from the poison ousjuice, which lies in a small bag , a t the base ofeach s ting, or hair t he fine hair penetrates theskin , and the juice flows through an aperturea t the poin t, in to the woun d which it has made,and thus gives a degree of pain , which wouldnot be caused by the mere puncture.

The wild n ettles are foun d everywhere, on

the n eglected garden , or field, on the crumblingwall

, or t owe1 ing cliff, or in the dim and gloomyforest . Like the evil pass ions ofman, they n eedno cherishing ; we have on ly t o leave them

JUNE . 1 27

undisturbed, and they will t ake root and grow,and bear fruit abundan tly .

The white dead n ettle (Lamium a llmm) is inappearance something like the true n ettle, butit s rings Of white flowers at once distinguish it

,

as the blossoms of the true n ettles are allgreen ;it s odour is very disagreeable, but Linnaeusstates, that, in Sweden , it is much employedas a vegetable for the table .

The flower so often praised as the handsomestof our native flowers , the tall and showy fox

glove, (Dig it alispm'

purea) graces the banks andhedges, during JuneandJuly . The spike oflargepurple, or white freckled bells , and it s largeleaves , ren der it so s triking an object, that theartis t frequen tly selects it to adorn his pain tedlandscape i t con tains a virulen t poison , but is,when properly admin istered, a mos t valuablemedicine . In some coun tries , the foxglove leafis made in to t ea, for the Sinful purpose of producing in toxication , and degrading the being, t owhom God has given an immortal spirit, and

a clear in tellect, t o a condition beneath that or

the brutes which perish . This showy floweris peculiar to hilly and rocky s ituation s , and isbut little kn own as a wild flower in some partsof England, as in Norfolk and Suffolk .

On the dry chalky soils, the burnet, (P olerz

’

um s anguis orba) is blooming, with it s heads ofpurplish - green flowers . It is called the saladburnet, because it s leaves have the scen t andflavour of the cucumber, and are con sequen tlyoft en used in salad ; it is also, as wel l as the

1 28 WILD FLOWERS .

borage, an ingredient in the drink, called a cooltankard .

Few person s could be found in the rural dist rict s of Englan d who are unacquain ted withthat common flower the mallow, (M a loa syl

ves t ric.) It grows by our every road s ide, andin almost every meadow, and it s handsome lilacflowers and large and numerous leaves form a

picturesque object . Common as it is with us,however, it is rarely found in Scotland . The

flowers con tinue through this and the two

following mon ths , and it s clumps of leavesremain in the hedges till win ter has swept allthe remnan ts of summer beauty before his

rain s and snows . There are few who have no t ,during childhood, picked the circular seeds ofthe mallow, and called them cheeses, and m os tcan sympathize with the remin iscences of Clareon the subject

“ The sittin g down when school was o’er,1r

pen t he t hreshold of the door,Picking from mallows , sport t o please ,The crumpled seed we ca ll a cheese .

”

Nor is this play peculiar t o the English child,for the Fren ch children call them also lea p et ite

fromay eons . Like all the other parts of the

plan t, they are used in medicin es , not on ly bythe cottager, but by the regular practitioner,though the greater power of the m arsh mallowcauses it t o be m ore gen erally selected for use

than this . The word mallow is derived from a

Greek word, sign ifying soft, on accoun t of theemollien t properties of the plan ts of this tribe .

An other kind of mallow, not quite so gene

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130 WILD FLOWERS.

rally believed by coun try people . These fruit sare t o the birds a con tinual feas t , un til thefrost has rendered them tasteless, or the windhas scattered them under the hawthorn or

brier. In the time of queen Eliz abeth, thewild brier hips were made, “ by cooks and

gen tlewomen ,” in to tarts and con serves ; and

t he con serve made from the scarlet fruits of

the common dog rose (Rosa comma) is s till soldby the druggis t, and con s idered better thanthat which is the produce of the garden flower.From this flower, t oo, an excellen t rose wa t er isdistilled .

The sweet brier rose, (Rosa rubiy z'

uosa , ) theeglan tine of the poets, is common in some partsof Englan d, on open bushy places . It mayeasily be known from the dog rose by it s

smaller flowers, of a deeper pink colour, and

especially by it s fragran t foliage .

The several other Wild roses , with the ex

cept ion of two kin ds, are so alike in gen eralappearan ce, as that they cann ot be eas ily described in a popular work, so as that the readermay distinguish them . Two common species,however, may be recogn ised . The little whiteflowers of the burnet- leaved rose (Rosa sp ina

sz'

ssz'

ma, grow plen tifully on chalky or sandysoils . It is tinged wi th cream colour . It s

leaves are much smaller than those of the

deg rose, Of a darker green , and n ot so glossy ;and it s stems are so thickly set both with longand short prickles , that it is difficult t o gathera bran ch Of it s s lightly scen ted flowers . The

JUNE . 13 1

hip is not scarlet, but of a brown , or purplishblack colour, and full of a sweet purple juice .

The tall Scotch rose of the garden is verysimilar t o this flower, and probably on ly a cul

t ivat ed variety of i t .The trailing dog rose (Rosa a rvens is ) is also

very common in the southern coun ties of England . The bush is seldom more than threefeet high, but it s long winding s tems extend t othe distan ce of several feet . The flowers growin large bun ches , and are quite white . The

prickles are n ot numerous on the bran ches, andthe little round buds which cluster upon themare almos t destitute of them . This flower isvery common in Yorkshire, and has the reputeof being the white rose of the Yorkis ts , a t thetime when civi l wars desolated our lan d .

The broom ,

“ the bonnie broom ,

”

(Genis tascop a ria , ) with it s myriads of golden flowers , isglittering on the dry hill, or heath - land . The

farmer eyes it with complacen cy, for when thebroom flowers freely it is generally regarded as

a promise of a good harvest . It is an exceedingly beautiful flower, and one over which thebees hover in cessan tly, and bes ide which the

wanderer on the heath is glad t o make hiscouch , that it s odour may sweeten his s leep .

The Fren ch term it lo yené'

t a ba laz’

, for, likeus , they make brooms of it s branches . I t issaid that t he house of Plan tagenet derived it sname from this flower, and various traditionsrecord the circums tance The one mos t commouly believed is , that the name was assumed

132 WILD FLOWERS .

by Geoffrey, earl of Anj ou, the husband of

Matilda, the haughty empres s of Germany ;who, having placed a Sprig of the broom in hishelmet on t he day of battle, acquired the sur

name, andbequeathed it t o his descendan ts . Per

chance, before engaging in the con test, he hadlain down among the fragran t broom, and had

been s truck by it s beauty . Yet flowers seemill suited t o accompany the horrors of war.

Bring flowers ,”says Mrs . Heman s, t o deck

the bride, and t o crown the feas t but bringthem “ to die in the conqueror’s path .

”

The dyer’s weed, or woad—waxen , (Gem'

s t a

t inct orz'

a , ) has bloss oms very much like thoseof the broom, but they are n ot in flower till amon th later . It is common on pastures and

field-borders, and is used by dyers in giving a

yellow colour t o yarn . It is much valued inRuss ia as a cure for hydrophobia .

JULY .

In the breezeThat waft s the this t le’s plumed s eed a long ,Blue be lls wave tremulous . Themountain thymePurples the hassock of the heaving mole ,And the short turf is gay with t orm entils ,And bird’s foot trefoil , and the les ser tribesO f hawkweeds ; spanglin g it with frin ged stars .

How often do a few lin es, like those whichare placed at the head of this chapter, bringbefore us the pleasan t scenes of the coun try !The W1def spread open down the upland moor ;the flowers; which are springing in the freshgrass or on the brown summer turfof the heath

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134 WILD FLOWERS .

quant ity of ale, made it of the young heathshoots . Carrington has some lines on thisflower

Howmany a vagrant win g light waves aroundThy purple bells , Erica ’

Tis from t heeThe hermit birds , that love t he desert, findShel t er and food . N or these a lon e delightIn the fresh heath . Thy ga llant mountaineers ,Aul d Scotia , smile t o see it Spread imm ense

O’er their un cultured hills and a t t he closeOf th e keen borea l day, t h e un daunted raceContented on the rude Erica sinkTo healing s leep .”

The ling (Ca lluna vulg aris) is includedamong the plan ts which compose the heather ;it is m ore like a small shrub, and has lightercoloured and smaller flowers than the heaths .

The strong sweet scen t of the wild thyme

(Thymus serpyllum) comes up now t o the wan

derer over the moor, and it is one of the sweetes t Of wild odours . Among the Greeks , thisflower wa s an emblem of activity . The highes tflavoured ven ison is furn ished by the deerwhich feed on thymy lands, and sheep, t oo,thrive well on these places .

The bluebell, or harebell, (Camp amila ro tandifolz

’

a) ben ds it s azure drooping blossoms t othe win ds, on the chalky cliff or barren hill ofEngland, or Scotlan d, and graces the solitaryridges . Professor Lin dley remarks On the

moun tain s of Switzerlan d there are species of

harebell, with corollas of a pale yellow, spottedwith black . On the Alps of India are othersof the deepes t purple that can be con ceived.

On the rocks of Madeira lives one which was,formerly, not uncommon in our gardens, (Mus

JULY. 1 35

chia aurea , ) whose corollas are of a rich goldenyellow an d, finally, on the pastures of the

Cape of Good Hope, are Roellas , the flowersof which are elegan tly ban ded with streaks ofviolet or rose, passing in to white .

”

A little white harebell, sometimes cultivatedin pots, is very common in the meadows ofFran ce and from it s modes t and pure appearan ce is called “

the nun of the fields .

”

On the m ois t bog, or heath, we should nowsearch for the bog-

pimpem el, (Anag a llis t enella , ) with very tiny leaves , and comparativelylarge rose- coloured blossom s and we mayalso find the bog or Lancashire asphodel (Nar

tfiecium osszj i'

agum) growing n ear it . The

latter plan t bears a spike of pretty yellow flowers , and is very s imilar t o the true asphodel,

ren owned as the a sphodel of t heGreek poets , and as the flower with which the

an cien ts plan ted their graves , and which theyused in funeral ceremon ies . This plan t coverslarge tracts of land in Apulia .

That s ingular and in teresting flower, the

sun dew, (Drosera ro tundifolz’

a ) grows com

mouly on mois t heathy grounds , and it s whiteblos soms may be gathered in July . The curiouss tructure of the leaf is well worth observation .

I t is covered with hairs tipped with pellucidglands , which exude a clear liquid these glis tenin the sun shine

,giving the leaf the appearance

of being sprinkled with dew,and by their

sweet ta ste are very attractive to insects . Thesehairs are not on ly thick on the surface, but

1 36 WILD FLOWERS .

around the edge of the leaf. The in sect on

alighting on the plan t is held a prison er by theseclammy ha irs, and the leaf immediately closesover it . Dead fl ies and other small insectsmay thus often be foun d captured by this irrit able leaf. The foliage of this flower is verymuch tinged wi th crim son , and on drying it forthe herbarium, this red hue colours the pagethrough several sheets . The plan t is so smallas that the whole of it m ight be covered by thepalm of the hand . I t is very frequen t on thedowns n ear Tunbridge Wells .

The sun dew is used as an ingredien t in thecelebrated Italian liqueur, termed Bos soli ; itis, n evertheles s , very acrid and caus tic in it sn ature ; when dis tilled with lime, it makes a

highly s timulating drink, and, in former times,was much used as a tin cture . The practiceof expres s ing the juice, for the removal of thefreckles and t an which the summer sun givest o the rustic maiden , has long been a commonone it s juice

'

is also said t o curdle m ilk .

The various species of St . Johms wort(Hyp ericum) are n ow common everywhere,and their bright yellow flowers , with the scen tof ros in , are very pretty . The yellow bed

s traw, (Ga lium ver um, ) with it s hon ey likeodour, is, when growing in any quan tity, a verygrea t ornamen t to the heath .

The tall broom rape, (Orobanche major, )though no t very beautiful

, is t oo large and sin

gular a flower t o escape n otice . This plan tis a parasite, growing on the roots of the

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1 38 WILD FLOWERS .

for common as it is in England, it is very rare

in Scotland almos t the on ly spot of that count ry in which it is kn own t o grow is on the

rocky cliffs n ear Dunbarton castle ; and tradition tells , that the unhappy Mary, queen of

Scots , plan ted it there with her own hand .

The beautiful cotton thistle, (Onop ordum acan

t lzz'

um, ) which grows by Scotia

’

s highways , iscultivated by Scotsmen , as the Scottish thistle ; itseems t o have some claim t o be regarded as the

national in sign ia, for the hard and Sharp spineswell accord with the proud defian t motto whichaccompan ies it . The adoption of this flower a sthe n ational emblem is said t o have arisen fromthe following circum s tan ce : the Danes wereinvading the Scottish nation , and, accordingt o their usual practice, attacked them duringn ight, when they were sleeping ; they had jus treached the Scottish camp, when a Dane placinghis n aked foot on the sp iny leaves of a

‘

thistle, in stinctively uttered a cry, which roused thes lumbering warriors, who quickly chased theinvaders .

Several thistles have a large quan tity of cottony down on their s tems and leaves , which,is picked off by coun try children for tinder ;and their large number of seeds are eaten bybirds , especially by the goldfinches, which feedalmos t en tirely on the downy grain s of flowers .

One of our wild this tles , the musk thistle,(Carduus met ans , ) has beautiful purple blossoms, mos t powerfully fragran t in the even ing ;and a more common species, the carline thistle,

JULY. 1 39

(Carlina vulgarz'

s , ) which is about a foo t high,may easily be dis tinguished from all the othersby it s yellow flowers it is frequen t on dry and

hilly pas tures .

The sweet marj oram (Orig anum vulg are) isnow putting forth it s clus ters of chocolate~coloured blossom s

, and Shedding a sweet odourover the heath, or chalky bank ; a very usefulplan t it is t oo, for the dried leaves .

make a

wholesome t ea, and are used medicinally . A

piece of cotton dipped in the s trong oil whichmay be expres sed from it will often cure the

toothache ; and the youn g tops are used t o

dye cloth of a purple colour, and t o give t olinen a reddish brown . It s s cen t is very s im ilar t o that of the wild thyme, and the flowersare much like those of that plan t, but theygrow on a s tem , on e or two feet high, in s teadofforming tufts on the ground .

The corn is n ow fa s t ripen ing for the s ickle,and very often the corn -field is covered withthat bright flower, the corn bluebottle, (Con.

t aurea Cyanus , ) verging from a deep blue t o a

pale az ure, or a fain t blue tin t ; it s colour isalways beautiful and s triking . In Scotland itis called blue bon net, in France, bluet in former times, it was termed in our own land, hurtSickle, “ because, says an old writer, “ it hin~

dereth and ann oyeth the reapers , by dullmgand turn ing the edge of their s ickles , in reaping of corn A brillian t blue juice is Obtainedby expres smn from this plan t, which gives Its

t in t t o linen , but the dye is not permanen t.

140 WILD FLOWERS .

This flower is a great favourite with Germanladies, and they frequen tly wear it in their hair ;it is the compan ion of the ripen ing and ripenedcorn in all the coun tries of Europe .

The several kinds of scabious are also

pretty and comm on flowers now ; the fields cabious , (Scabiosa arvens is , ) termed by botanis t s, field kn autia, is very frequen t on dry fields ,and has large convex heads of flowers, of a

beautiful purplish lilac ; these flowers , if heldin the smoke of tobacco, become of a delicategreen colour .The devil’s bit scabious (Scabiosa succisa)

grows in meadow lands , and is remarkable forit s abrupt root, which seems as if bitten Off ;the fact is, that the top of the root actuallydies away, and then a horizon tal root is formedbut as no philosophy has ye t accoun ted for thes ingular fact Of th is decay, we n eed n ot be sur

prised that, in olden times , it was believed tha tthe great enemy ofmankind bit it Off in enviebecause i t had so many excellen t vertues .

”

Unhappily ,”says Sir J . E . Smith , “ this malice

has been so succes sful, that n o virtues can be nowfoun d in the remainder of the root or herb .

”

The blue succory, sometimes called chicory,

or blue endive, (Ciclzorz’

am In tybus) growsa like in corn—fields and hedges , n ot on ly inEngland, but very gen erally on the con tinen t .The German s had an»old name for it,

‘whichs ignified “ keeper of the ways .

”It has large

flowers, the size of half- a - crown , pale blue, andcomposed of rays, so as that it may truly be

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1 42 WILD FLOWE RS .

the large leaves of the common burdock (Arct ium Zapp a) are spreading themselves out , and

it s dull purple flowers, something like those ofa thistle, seem small when compared with it sfoliage . A few weeks later, and these flowerswill have changed t o balls of seeds, coveredwith spin es, and these fruits well deserve the

name Lappa, taken from the Celtic llap , a han d,for they catch at every passer by .

But it is pleasan t, in these days of sun shine,t o turn from the open and dry lands t o thecrys tal s tream , which wan ders by the wood,giving the sweet tones of it s ripplings t o all

who will listen .

The glas sy pool reflects on it s bosom someof our handsomes t aquatics . The white waterlily, (Nymphaea a lba , ) it s rose- like flower s ittingon the water, has for it s compan ion the yellowwater lily , (Nup lza r la t ea , ) and both have largeoval leaves , so smooth and shiny that the waterrun s over them as if their surfaces were oiled .

Then by the s ide, and almos t down in the wa ter,the meadow sweet, ’s

°

rrca ulmaria , ) which , asa Ken tish poet, Mr. Merritt, has said, has a

flower of “ lace- like embroidery,”is SO beauti

ful and so graceful that the win d which is t oosoft t o stir the stream, bids it nod and riseup again , so prettily, that one might watchit s motion s and dream tha t it was some creature of gen tle heart and elegan t manners . It s

odour is very fragran t, but it has t oo much or

the n ature of prussic acid t o be wholesome ina close apartmen t . An in s tan ce of the dang er

JULY. 143

ous properties of the meadow sweet occurredin Ken t, a few years s ince . Two young men ,

who had gone thither from London to spenda day in rov ing among hills and glades , andto gather the wild flowers from some of the

sweetes t n ooks of that beautiful coun ty, wen t ,in the even ing, laden with their n osegays , t o a

village inn . They had been struck with the lovelin ess of the meadow sweet, and had gathereda large s tore to take away with them . In the

night both became ill, and the surgeon who

wa s sen t for detected, immediately on en teringtheir chamber, a s trong scen t of prus s ic acid.

This he foun d t o proceed from a quan tity of thewithering flowers of the meadow sweet, whichthey had incautiously laid aroun d and undertheir beds . Both suffered s everely, and one of

them so much so , that he remain ed ill for several weeks . This flower is sometimes calledqueen of the meadows, and the French t oo

term it la reine des p res . The s tems are usedin some coun tries for dyeing .

We have several very pretty willow herbs,which with their purplish red

blossoms deck t he summer hedges t he han dsomest of the tribe growing near stream s .

The Kamschatdales are very fond of an in c

t oxicat ing liquor made from some species , andthey also prepare vinegar from them, and eat

the young shoots as food .

The flowers of the willow herb are seatedupon long pods , which con tain a number of

seeds crow ned each with a tuft of down . These

1 44 WILD FLOWERS .

s eeds are most frequen tly the produce ofrayedflowers , like the dandelion and this tle but

Some few flowers , as the willow herb and cle

matis , send them forth also by thousan ds .

The latter plan t is so covered with them, thatif in win ter it grow n ear a town , the hedge looksas if t he spiders had been diligently weavingtheir tapestry about the bran ches , and produceda drapery of cobwebs ; or if it be far awayamong the wild woods , where the smoke cann o trea ch it, it seems as if the swan had bes towedit s down upon it . The great quan tity of down

yielded by the seeds of the willow herbs hasinduced some writers t o recommen d their cultivation for manufactures . The down has beenmingled with fur or wool, and made in to stock.

ings , with very good succes s .

A very pretty aquatic, the water arrowhead,(Sag it t aria sag z

'

t tg’

folia) eas ily kn own from all

our other water plan ts by it s arrow- shapedleaves , is frequen tly found in the pools in July.

It has white flowers , and it s leaves lie in largemasses on the surface of the s tream . The

root is m os t nutritious , and m ight well be usedin this coun try as food ; but in warmer climates,where the whole plan t is more luxurian t, it slarge s ize renders it very valuable .

The cres ses, which grow where no man maysee them,

”n ow often lie in abundance on the

secluded s tream . Our rural flora does no t furn ish a more wholes ome salad herb than the

water- cres s (Nas turt ium ofi cz’

na le .) The on lydanger which arises from eating this plan t, is

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146 WILD FLOWERS .

The roots have a pleasan t taste, and are oftencandied for a sweetmeat, being con sidered s t i

mulat ing and restorative in their proper t ies .

Linnaeus says that the young shoots of thisplan t are eaten in Sweden, after being blanched,and are scarcely inferior t o asparagus . He re

commends their use in other coun tries .

The sea—weeds (Fuci) are always scatteredover the Shores, for they are little affected bythe changing season s . The bed of the oceanbeing less exposed t o changes of temperaturethan the land, and the great body of waterbeing never either completely hot , or cold, theplan ts growing in the sea do n ot experien cethat change of season s which so determinesthe growth of lan d vegetation . In some seas,

however, marine plan ts are much more luxurian t than aroun d our island . In all coun tries ,the base of the ocean is con tinually rismg bythe in crease of plan ts, just as the s ite of thecity rises in progres s ive years by the accumu

lation of soil .Sea-weeds afford soda and colour for dyeing ;

and their gelatin ous nature renders many of

them nutritious and medicinal . Iodine, so

often adm in istered in cases of glandular en ,

largemen t, is procured from several species of

sea -weed .

The woodland scenery is not so brightlygreen as during las t mon th . Although autumnhas no t yet touched the leaves with brown , yet

their verdure is of a duller cas t, and here and

there the slight tinge of v ellow may be seen .

JULY. 1 47

The flowers in the wood are also few now,compared with those of the earlier mon ths .

The tall teasel (Dip sacus fullonum) Showsitself almos t like a young shrub ; and thatpretty low flower, the red cen taury, (E ry tfiraea

cen t aurimn , )— it s red blossom s growing in clusters , and shaped something like those of the

garden jes samine, though smaller —is very common , both in woods , and on dry pastures . It s

bitter principle is said to be equal t o tha t ofthe gen tian . This flower closes so early thaton ly those who walk in the former part of theday see it s beauty . By twelve O’clock it begin st o shut up, and if a cloud is on the sky , itdoes no t Open at all. This is eviden tly becauseof the mois ture of the atmosphere, even whenit is no t perceptible to us ; for if the flower betaken in - doors and placed n ear a fire, it willexpand fully .

The wood sage, (Teucrium scorodonia , ) a

common plant with spikes of green flowers,tinged with a brown hue, is n ow very plen tifulon dry grounds . It has leaves wrinkled likethose of the garden sage, and so bitter thatthey are very suitable for the purpose of

m ingling with h0ps in making beer— a use

to which they are continually applied by theSwede, and sometimes by the English cottager.The betony, too , (B et onica oficina lis) is verygenerally in flower in this month . This flowerhas somewhat the appearance of the red deadnettles , though it s purp lish red blossoms are

lighter and brighter than theirs . In some

1 48 W I LD FLOWE R S .

parts of Ken t it is common ly gathered inbundles and hung up around the ample fireplace Of the farm kitchen , or suspen ded fromthe cottage ceiling ready

'

for use . The wholeplan t gives a yellow colour t o wool, and the

root is extremely bitter .The hedge wound-wort (S t aclzys sylva t ica)

is also very common in the hedge from Junetill Augus t . I t has around it s s tern a number

of purplish red flowers s treaked with white,and leaves something like those of the s tingingn ettle in shape, but very s ilky and downy . It s

old familiar n ame distinguishes it as a plan toften used for s taying the effusion of blood .

This flower was also called clown ’s -all—heal .

When compounds and extracts from plan ts andminerals were les s common than at presen t, anacquain tance with the virtues of plan ts was ormore value than in modern days .

The common black horehound, (Ba llo tan igra , ) with it s whorls of dull, cheerless red

flowers , and it s dus ty- looking foliage, was oncethought a very useful plan t, and is s till sometimes made in to a candied sweetmeat . Coun trypeople s ay, that the plan t has an odour of

graves , but it s frequen t growth in churchyardsprobably con t ributed t o this idea . The catmin t

(Nep et a ca t aria) is an other common plan t, andit is really amusing t o see how cats are excitedby it, and with what avidity they devour it .It s s cen t is t oo s trong to be agreeable .

The num erous tribe of min ts (M eri t/La) allflower, either in this, or the following mon th,

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1 50 WILD FLOWERS .

always turned t o meet the sun . ProfessorRenn ie says of the rock rose, If you take asmall probe, or hog

’

s bris tle, and irritate any ofthe numerous s tamen s of this flower

, you willsee them fall back from the central column , and

spread themselves upon the petals , exhibiting a

very pretty example ofvegetable irritability littleless s triking than that of the sen s itive plan t .This s imple flower has another poin t of in

t eres t , which is, that the rose of Sharon is

t hought by Linnaeus, and many travellers inthe east, t o be merely a variety of our commonrock rose The cis tus roseus , differing littlefrom our wild flower, except in colour, is re

garded as the rose ofSharon , because it aboundsin that valley, and is scattered in such richprofus ion , that it is one of the mos t s trikingobjects of it s vegetation ; while n one of those

plan ts which are termed roses are found there,or in the n eighbourhood .

In the old churchyard, or garden wall, thepurple, pink, or white snapdragon (An t irrlzinummajus) now waves t o the soft wind . Childrencall it bull dogs and rabbit’s mouth, and it sflower has really an odd resemblan ce t o the

mouth of the latter an imal . The author of

the “ Journal of a Naturalis t, remarks, thatthese flowers are perfect insect traps ; and“ multitudes of small creatures , he adds ,seek an en tran ce in to t he corolla, through

the closed lips , which , upon a s light pres sure,yield a passage, attracted by the sweet liquorwhich is found at the bottom of the germen ;

JULY . 1 5 1

but when so admitted there is no return , thelips are closed, and all advance to them is im

peded by a den se thicket ofwoolly matter, whichinvests the mouth of the lower jaw. But the

snapdragon is more merciful than mos t of our

in sect traps . The creat ure receives no injuryfrom confinemen t, but having con sumed the

n ectareous liquor, and finding n o egress , breaksfrom it s dun geon by gnawing a hole at the

bottom of this tube, and return ing to libertyand light . The extraordinary manner in whichthe corolla is formed, the elastic force withwhich the lower limb closes and fit s upon theprojection of the upper, manifes t the obviousdesign of the great Architect .The Fren ch call the snapdragon mufle de veaa ,

and the Russ ians highly value it s seeds, whichare very numerous . From these they expressan oil li ttle inferior inquality t o that obtainedfrom the olive .

A very common flower, with blossom s shapedlike those of the snapdragon , the yellow toad-flax,

(Linaria vulg aris , ) is now con spicuous in hedgesby waysides for though it scarcely blooms tillAugus t, yet it s s tem of crowded s lender leavesof a greyish green , cannot escape n otice .

Coun try people term this pretty wi ld flower,butter and eggs . The juice of the toad-flax

is Often expres sed, andwhen mingled with m ilk,is set in an Open dish , to attract flies, and it ssweet flavour proves t o them poison .

The vervain , once so renowned by the Romans, and praised by our forefathers as the

152 WILD FLOWERS .

holy herb, now shows it s small lilac flowersnear houses ; and the tall yarrow, (Achillazamillefolium) is t o be foun d in every meadow.

This was formerly called nose bleed , but isnow better kn own by the name of old man

’

s

pepper . It s leaves are very pungen t .The Highlan ders make of it an oin tmen t,

and it was used for this purpose by the an cien tGreeks who told that Achilles discovered andapplied it s virtues .

Then the tall brown ' knapweeds and the

handsome mullein are showy flowers n ow.

The former are often called iron weeds , fromthe hard brown ball or cup, on which the pur

ple florets are set . The flower of the knapweeds is much like that of the this tle, but itmay always be kn own from a thistle, by it shaving 11 0 spines nor prickles upon it ; exceptin on e Species, t he common s tar this tle, whichis indeed very n early allied to the former tribe .

The common black knapweed (Cen t aurea m'

g ra)is a very frequen t weed in m eadows , and it isrefused by cattle, bo th while it is growing, andwhen made up in to hay . This plan t s tain slinen of a bright blue colour, and it s juice isexpressed for ink. The common s tar this t le,(Cen t aurea ca lcit rap a , ) or Jersey this tle, as it isoften called. is found n ear the sea, and also onchalky or gravelly banks . It is singular fromhaving on it s calyx a number of large greenspines , which, as t he plant grows older, turnin to hard wood . Hence this flower receivedit s Latin name from the cal trops, or iron ball

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1 54 WILD FLOWERS .

rulen tum) has it s hundreds of flowers so lightlyset upon it s s tem,

that a small blow given t o itwith a s tick, will scatter them all on the ground .

It has a quan tity of mealy down on it s leaves ,which comes off on the hand if it is passedover them . The little moth mullein , (Verbascum bla t t aria) rare in most coun ties, but oftenfoun d in Ken t, received it s n ame from it s virtue,whether real or imagin ed, of driving from it s

neighbourhood the blat ter or cockroach .

Two very poison ous flowers bloom duringJuly and Augus t on waste groun ds, and n eart o houses or ruins . The thorn - apple and the

henbane are both t o be dreaded for their dan

gerous properties ; yet the narcotic principlefound in both, is useful when carefully administ ered, and will give s leep t o the sufferer

whose eyes have long waited for it in vain .

The them—apple (Da tura s t ramonium) israther a naturaliz ed than , s trictly con s idered, awild flower ; for our great herbalist Gerarde,having received a presen t from Con stan tin opleof some of it s seeds , dispersed it, as he says,t hrough the land . I t is one of the mos t common and troublesome weeds in America, andthe colon is ts are a t cons iderable pain s t o ex

t irpa t e it, before they can tran sform the wildwas tes or crowded forests of that c0 1m t ry in tofertile lands . Whenever any plan ts are broughtin to England from America, it s seeds are con

veyed in the soil, and it springs up plen t iqy

around them . It s bell- shaped flower is veryhandsome, and it s delicate beauty is shielded

JULY . 155

from the dews of night by it s leaves, which,when darkness comes on , rise close around theflower, and pro t ect

'

it from the damp air.

The henbane, (Hyoscg/ amus m'

y er, ) so oftensmoked by coun try people for tooth- ache, andso useful a lso t o the phys ician , has a green ishyellow flower, pen cilled all over with purplelines . The seeds found in it s “ belted pod

”

are often a plaything for children ; and profes

sor Martyn says he has eaten them withoutany ill effects , while other botan is ts affirm thatthe seeds have deprived persons of the use of

their limbs, and even of reasOn . To all the

inferior an imals, except swine, they are poisonous . The whole plan t is covered with hairs ,and the peculiar odour that proceeds from itwould a t once poin t it out t o the botan ist as a

poison ous flower.Those curious plan ts the horsetails , (Equise

tum, ) now put forth their cones or catkins,some Of them by river—s ides, many underhedges, or in fields . They have long leaves,set in whorls roun d the s tem , each leaf notthicker than a common cord . We pay but

little regard t o these plan ts , but t o the hous ewives of olden times they were of great service .

The pewter kitchen uten s ils were daily s couredin to brightness with thi s plan t, which was on cecalled pewterwort . It was sold in the Londons treets, both for this purpose and also forclean ing those wooden platters and bowls,almos t unkn own in modern kitchen s, but which,in other days, held the roast beef of Old Eng

1 56 WILD FLOWERS .

lan d . Sometimes the plan t was called shavegras s ; and comb -makers and other workmen

who wanted a polish to the articles they made,rubbed them with it s rough hard subs tan ce ;but it was n o t kn own till recen tly that thishardness was caused by an abundance of flin tin this plan t . One species of horsetail (Equisetumhyema le) is s till much used by whitesmithsand cabinet-makers in their work, and also bythe Northumbrian dairymaids in clean ing theirmilk-pails . It grows in our bogs, but not verygenerally ; and as the swampy grounds of

Hollan d furn ish it in great quantities, it isimported hither from that coun try, and calledDutch rushes . Our great water horsetail,(Equis etum fluvia t ile, ) very frequen t in ponds,was a common article of food among the

Roman s . The reindeer, which will not feedupon hay, will eat this plan t .And n ow the white buncheS '

of flowers on

the elder tree, are gradually giving way t o the

green elder- berries , which in a few weeks willbequite black . The elder (Sambucus nig ra) isvery common in woods and hedges , and it s

wood is so hard that Pliny said of the plan tthat it was all skin and bones . The berries arepoison ous t o poultry, y et they make an excellen t wine . The Roman s were accustomed t os tain their hair black with their juice ; and

these fruits, as well as the bark and leaves , areused medicinally. So highly did the celebratedphys ician of Leyden , Boerhaave, es timate the

properties of this plan t, that he never pas sed

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1 58 WILD FLOWERS .

to receive it s red colour from the blackberry ;and in several parts of the south of Fran cethis fruit is so large and juicy, that it iscommon ly called, p in t e a

’e vin . The bramble

leaves and s tems are used in dyeing, and theyoung tops and leaves were a common salad atthe tables of the an cien t Greeks .

One common use of the bramble s tem musthave often attracted our atten tion , when we

have wandered in thequiet village churchyard.

It s young shoots serve t o bind down the sods,un der which repose the “ young men andmaidens, old men and children .

”

O’er some of these

The flight of centuries has pas sed—alasAbove t he wept remain s of others , yetThe fresh -reared hillock waves not in the windIt s friendly robe of green .

”

The bramble was , of old, used for this pur

pose ; for Jeremy Taylor, when commen ting onthe certa in ty of man

’

s mortality, says, The

autumn , with it s fruits, prepares disorders forus, and the win ter’s cold turn s them in tosharp diseases ; and the spring brings flowerst o s trew upon our hearse ; and the summergives green turf and brambles t o bind uponour graves .

”

The thorny branches of this plan t exhibitmany a reddish green spray of leaves in win ter.

I t is a native both of cold and ho t climates, andfoun d wild in every coun try in Europe . Severalspecies of rubus, kn own by the name of dew

berry, cloudberry, and bilberry, are common inBritain ; and the raspberry (Rubus idceus) is

AUGUST . 1 59

occasionally found wild in our woods, and wasknown to the older writers as the raspis, orhindberry . The Arctic bramble, (Rubus a rc

izena, ) so common in Sweden , bears a fruitmuch ea ten by the people of that coun try.

The bramble is the subject of the oldes tapologue extan t, when Jotham, bitterly re

proaching the men of Shechem for their ingrat itude t o his father’s house, narrated t o them,

in the eastern manner, the parable of “ the

t rees choos ing a

AUGUST .

The scarlet pimperne l creeps here and there,Amid t he corn t he crimson poppies blush ,Stil l on th e brooks gleam wa t er- l i lies rare ,And purple loosestrife and t he flowering rushStil l honeysuck le blooms perfume the ga le ,Where bryony leaves adorn t he hedgerows green ,Where peep t h e scabious and t he campion pa le,With trumpet- l ike convolvuli between ;

The blue campanula and chicory wil d ,And ye l low toad- flax , variegate t he plain .

And wit h a thankful heart and s en se beguiled ,We look upon t he fields of ripening grain .

”

H . G. Anams .

Augus t, with it s flowers and fruits, wears arich and plen teous aspect . The brown corn ,now ready for the s ickle, is waving over thefield ; the broad and leafy branches of t he treesafl

'

ord a shade to the tired cattle ; the goldencones of the hop are twin ing round the tall

poles ; and the orchard trees are laden withJudges ix. 8—1 5.

1 60 WILD FLOW ERS.

ruddy fruits . The flowers look gay and brillian t, for autumn flowers are m os tly yellow, and

they seem to cluster in such abundance tha tn one would suspect that they are far fewer invariety than in the preceding mon ths . Per

haps , twice the number of species of wildflowers m ight be found by the botan is t during the mon th of June than he could findnow and though many summer blossoms s tilllinger, yet those s trictly peculiar t o Augustare comparatively so few that we can but re

mark that the year is making rapid progres s t oit s close .

One of the tribes of the plan ts mos t likely t oattract our eye during this mon th , by the grea tnumber of it s flowers, is the hawkweed . Theyform a family of plan ts very puzzling t o the

botan is t, by the resemblance of the species t oeach other . The hawkweeds may be described

genera lly as flowers shaped like the dandelion ,their leaves are also often s imilar in form, but the

whole s tructure of the flower is lighter andmoredelicate . Some of the blossoms are very small,o thers as large as a marigold, and they vary inall shades of yellow,

from a deep bright orangecolour to the pale lemon tin t which dis tinguisheson e of our commonest and pretties t kinds .

This species is the mouse—ear hawkweed, (Hieracium p ilosella , ) and i t may a t once be knownfrom the others by it s paler hue, scarcely deeperthan that of the primrose, and also by it s creepingscions . It grows on dry pas tures, and un less

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1 62 WILD FLOWERS .

upon , the fast er it grows The whole plan t isvery bitter, and it s old name is derived from a

Greek word sign ifying apples , because it wast hought t o have the scen t of that fruit .We have five Wild species of cam omile, and

three -of these are very common flowers . One

kind, the stinking camom ile, (An t lt emis co tula , )has, indeed, the mos t disgus ting Odour . I t

grows by road- s ides and was te places , and Oftenblisters the han ds Of those who gather it .A very pretty fam ily of plan ts, the cudweed,

is abun dan t in August . One species is wellkn own , and may serve t o guide t o the others,t hough n on e of our wild kinds are so handsomeas this . It is the flower called, everlasting love,and is fam iliar to thosewho have vis ited the celebrat ed cemetery ofPere la Chaise,where wreathsof it s blossoms, dyed of a deeper yellow, and

in termingled with others dyed of a jet black,are thrown upon the tombs of the beloved, orcelebrated, and sold in all the ways which leadt o the ground . The Parisian s term this flowerl’

z’

mmor t elle. It is a native of Africa, and theGnaphalzium Orien t ale of the botan is t . Our

wild cudweeds are Smaller than this, and theirs tem s and foliage generally covered with woollyand Cottony down . Mos t of the wild cudaweeds grow on sandy or gravelly heaths, or

pastures some on moun ta in s , and a few on

bogs . One of the mos t frequen t, the commoncudweed, (Gnap lza lium Germanicum, ) is foundon dry places , and as it s m ode of g rowth isvery s ingular, itmay, by this , be kn own from t he

AUGUST. 1 63

remainder of the species . The stem is abouteight inches high, terminated by a globularhead of blos soms, from beneath which springtwo or three more bran ches, each havin g a headof flowers a t the poin t, and these all rise abovethat which terminates the main s tem . The Old

botan is ts called this flower, wicked herb, (Herba

imp ia , ) because i t conveyed the idea that childrenwere undutifully disposed t o exal t themselvesabove the paren t flower . It was also called, livelong, chaff-weed , cotton -weed, and dwarf cotton .

The various kinds of spurge mos tly producetheir yellowish green flowers in this and the

following mon th The sun - spurge (Euphorbiakelioscop ia) is common everywhere, and is a

good example of our native species , for theyare all very s im ilar in gen eral appearance. It

is found on was te- groun ds , as a garden weed,and in corn -fields . It s s tem is so full of thickwhite m ilk tha t it is often called churn - staff ;and as this liquid is a common cure for warts,it will poin t out the plan t t o the reader . We

have fourteen wild kinds of spurge, and a num

ber of exotic species have been imported, butthey have l ittle beauty. The juice of all is

acrid, and almos t all our wild spurges are poisonous . One species , the caper- spurge, (Eu

phorbia la t /zyrus , ) is rare in woods , but it isoften plan ted in shrubberies . It has grey greenleaves , and much resembles the true caper- plan t .Indeed it s seeds , which are about the s iz e and

colour of the caper-bud, are pickled and used inParis as capers ; but there is reason to 'believe

1 64 WILD FLOWERS .

that, if eaten m any quan tity, they are very p81 “n icious . A very common kin d, the cypressspurge, (Euphorbia cyp a z issius ) readily dis

t inguished from the res t by it s long, s len der,numerous leaves, was formerly called, “ Wel

come t o our house though on what accoun tso dangerous a herb was so gratefully welcomed

on e cann ot guess . The gum- resin , termed, Eu

phorbium, which is diluted for medicinal purposes , is obta ined by in cis ion from a commonAfrican species . It s fresh juice raises blis terson the skin ; and the poor people employed inco llecting it are so affected by the n oxious pro

pert ies of thewithered branches ofthe plan t, thatthey are obliged t o cover their faces with a linencloth when they approach it . One British species, the Irish spurge, (Euphorbz

'

a H ibernian)is said by Dr. Hooker t o be much used by thepeasan ts of Irelan d for poison ing, or rather s tu

pifying fish . He adds, that it s qualities are

so powerful as that a small creel, or basket,filledwith the bruised plan t, will suffice t o pois onthe fish for several m iles down the river .

The corn -fields, which are now ripe and

brown , add much t o the beauty of the lands cape of August . The healthful toil of thereaping peasan t, and the busy employmen t of

the rus tic maid and matron , are in teresting t oevery on e fond of the coun try . To thosewhose min ds are well stored with Scriptures t ory, and who have as sociation s formedbetween the scenes of nature and the descript ion s of holy writ, the corn field 1 5 connect ed

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1 66 WILD FLOWERS .

the field, ofwheat, or rye, of oats, or barley, aswell as the maize and m illet- crops of otherlands, attes t, wherever they are foun d, thatman

has been there, not as the roving Arab or the

res tles s Indian , but as the tiller of the soil andthe settled inhabitan t of the coun try . The

corn -plan ts are termed the cereal gras ses and

t hat species by which the people of the land ismainly supported is called pre- eminen tly corn .

Thermost showy flower of the corn -field, in

this mon th , is the wild marigold, (Chrysanflzemum s eg etum.) The old writers , and evenour earlies t British poet, Chaucer, kn ew it bythe name of gold ; and it is s till called goules ,or goulans, in some coun ties of Englan d .

“

It isquite as large, or even larger, than the gardenmarigold yvhich flower also grows wild in thecorn -fields of Southern Europe, and is called bythe It al ian s , the flower of every mon th . The

corn marigold blos soms as early as July, and itbears the cold of win ter better than many of

our flowers ; for if the autumnal and win terseasons are no t very severe, it may be foundbright and bloom ing as late as December, and

Cheering through the shortening dayIs autumn with her weed s of ye l low .

This flower is rather local in it s haun ts it isby no mean s common in Ken t, though abund

ant in some of the n eighbouring coun ties . In

the corn -fields, wi thin a few m iles of Paris, itgrows so profusely, that the lan d is as gay withit s golden flowers as . our fields are with thecharlock, or our spring meads with the butter

AUGUS 1 6 7

cup . In Denmark , it is so common and troublesome a weed, that a law was made, some

years s ince, compelling the farmer t o eradicatert . The deep yellow juice of this flower isused, by the Germans , for giving a permanen tdye t o s tuffs . The corn -marigold was for.

merly called St . John ’

s bloom, yellow-bottle,and ruddes .

Early in this mon th we find that unwelcomein truder in the corn - lands , the spurrey, (Sp ergula arvensz

'

s .) This pretty little flower maybe thus described . It s s tem is from six t o

twelve inches high . The leaves are slender,scarcely th icker than coarse threads, and theys tan d in circles all aroun d the stem . At the

summ it is a cluster ofwhite flowers, each hardlylarger than that of the chickweed . Thisplan t, though an ann oyan ce in the corn -fields,is so eagerly eaten by cattle, that when it growsoccasion ally on san dy heaths and pas tures, itis a useful herb ; and, in Holland, i t is sown infields , for pasturage . It is named from ap argo,t o scatter, because it scatters an abundan ce ofseeds . In Scotlan d it is called yarr but the

Norfolk farmers , jealous of their corn - lands,term it pick-pocket .In every hedge may n ow be seen the pale

yellow spike of the wild mignon ette, (Resedalut eola , ) which is Often called dyer

’

s weed, asit has been used for dyeing, especially in France.

The whole plan t affords juice for this purpose,and it s colour is good and permanen t . The

co loured pain t, called by artists Dutch pink, is

1 68 WILD FLOWERS .

obtained from it . Linnaeus remarked, of thisflower, that it s spike of bloom always followsthe course of the sun , even on a cloudy dayturning, a t sun - rise, to the eas t ; at n oon - day,looking up to the south in the afternoon ,marking the wes t ; and, with it s half- closedflowers , s tanding at n ight, poin ting duly t o then orth . I t is very similar in appearan ce t o

that sweetly- fragran t plan t, the garden mignonette, (R esea

’a odora t a .) This latter flower is

a native ofEgypt, andwas kn own , long after it sin troduction in to England, by the name of theEgyptian ’

s m ign onette .

The t an sy (Tanacetum vulg are) grows wildin some fields . I twas formely called Athanasiaby botan is ts, and the French still dedicate itt o the sain t of that name . The flowers of

the tan sy are in thick yellow clusters . It s

s trongly aromatic and bitter prin ciple render ita useful plan t in medicine and it s young leavesare made into puddings, cakes, and omelets ,though the flavour is t oo strong t o be generallypalatable . A distilled water is obtained fromthis plan t . This flower was .formerly very gen eral in garden s, but is left n ow for the cottage

groun d, where, in t he rustic plot, it still takesit s place with the flowers which the poet Claredescribes,

And where the marjoram on ce , and sage a nd rue ,And ba lm and mint, W l t ll curl’d- lea f pars ley grew,

And double marigolds , and silver thyme ,

And pumpkin s ’neath the win dow used t o climb

And where I often ; when a child , for hoursTried through the pales t o get t he tempting flowers :

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1 70 WILD FLOWERS .

conspicuous . The tall hemp agrimony (Eup at orium canna liinum) is often five feet high . It s

flowers grow in crowded clus ters of a pale fleshcolour,

_

and are not un like those of the gardenvalerian , which is sometimes seen wild a lso 0 11

walls . The hemp agrimony is slightly fragran t,and has been used medicinally . Indeed it isof Old ren own , for Mithridates , king of Pon tus,firs t discovered it s good properties .

That very lovely flower, the grass of Par

nassue, (P arnassz’

a p alus trz'

s, ) blooms now in

marshy grounds , and n ear s tream s, but , thoughcomm on in Scotlan d, is rather a rare plan t inthe south . I t is a large flower, of a yellowishwhite tin t, s ituate on an angular s tem, a few

inches high, it s leaves proceeding from the

root on long foots talks , and heart- shaped . It s

beauty may be inferred from the name withwhich it is hon oured, and which it obtain edno t on ly because of it s growing so often on

hilly places, but also because it was deemed a

fit flower for the muses .

One of the handsomest reed plan ts is now inflower, and it is common not on ly in England,but in almos t every part of the world wheres treams are t o be found . This is the greatcat’s tail, or reed-m ace, (Typha la t ifolz

'

a) and

it is very flourishing along the borders ofmanypon ds and lakes . It s long catkin s are of a

green ish brown colour, and it s greyish greenleaves are Often an in ch wide, and a yard long .

The downy seeds of the reed-mace are used in

stuffing pillows and mattresses, and they are a

AUGUST . 1 7 1

good substitute for the feathers of the bird .

It s leaves , besides being eaten by cattle, are

useful for thatching cottages , and for makingmats and baskets . Loudon also men tion s thatthis is the plan t which Ruben s, and the la terIta lian pain ters, have represen ted in their pictures as the reed which was borne by the

Saviour, when , in cruel mockery, it was givenas a s ceptre . An other writer says of thisplan t, “ A weaver of velvet told me that, at

Spit alfields and other places , the head of thisrush is used for clean ing their work in preference to a common brush . Since then , beingin the n eighbourhood of Blackheath, I met a

man carrying a large bun dle of them ,and upon

inquiry, he told me tha t they would be sold t othe poor at on e penny each, for the purpose of

a hat -brush . I see n o reason t o doubt theirutility in either case, for their softness and elast icity render them very app licable to these purposes .

” This recd is very abun dan t in the

swamps of New Z ealand, and much used bythe n atives for thatching roofs .

The flowers which find their places by theshores of the ocean , though never numerous ,are as many as in the former mon ths . The

horned poppy (Glaucium lut eum) yet showersdown it s frail yellow petals on the mass of s eaweed . The s evera l kinds of sea southernwood

(Ar t emis ia) are dressed in their green flowersthe thrift s till lends it s pink tufts to adorn the

crevices of t he rocky cliff ; and the saltwort

(Ba ézcoz'ma herbacea) is so general on our

1 72 WILD FLOWERS .

coas t as t o be kn own by most who vis it thesea - s ide . The I talian s call it E rba Ka li. I t isus ed in making glass and salted as a pickle .

The samphire (Crithmum marit imum) is an

excellen t pickle, but this flower grows on ly on

the southern coas t of England . As it flourisheson cliffs and walls n ear the sea, the gatheringof samphire is often a dangerous occupation .

It s flower is of a green ish white colour, and isin bloom during August .Some of the l ittle sandworts blos som now

by the sea- s ide . They are all much alike,excep t one species , which is Often called sea

pimpem el, or sea sandwort, (Arenaria p ep loides .) Large patches of this plan t grow on

several parts of our coas t . At Sheerness, inKen t, it is very abundan t . It has stems , a

few in ches high , much bran ched and thicklycrowded with succulen t leaves . It has smallwhite flowers , growing two or three in a clus ter.

The whole plan t is pretty from it s shiningglossy appearan ce .

The sea- s ide convolvulus, (Calys t eg ia solder

nella , ) with it s pretty rose- coloured bells , flowersall the summer ; and a less showy but verycommon plan t, the sea -beet, (B et a marit ima , )with it s green blooms and large root, is n ow

found n ear the sea . It has thick wavy greenleaves, which , when boiled, are a good vegetable.It is very much like the beet of the garden ,

(B et a vulg aris , ) which 1 5 well kn own as a culinary root, and as a pickle ; and which is so

often cut in to the flowers used for ornamen ting

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1 74 WILD FLOWE RS .

SEPTEMBER.

Summer ebbs—each day that fol lowsIs a reflex from on high ,Ten ding t o t he darksom e hol lows,WheIe t he frosts of winter lie.

He who govern s t he creation ,

In his providen ce as sign ’d,

Such a. gradual declinationTo t heme of hum an kind.

Yet we mark it n ot —fruits redden ,Fresh flowers blow as flowers have blown ,

An d t he heart is loth t o deadenHopes that she so long hath kn own .

WORDSWOR'r n .

The September landscape is very beautiful,for though the changing tin ts of the leavesrem ind us that summer is going, yet they add

to the glory and richn es s of the presen t s cen e.

It is chiefly in remarking the flowers that wesee the rapid advan ce of the com ing winter.The flowers are now eviden tly les sen ing in

number . One by one the blossoms of mid

summer have disappeared ; and though some,like the golden ragwort, are as bright as ever,and though others , m ore delicate than this , stillbloom for us in some sheltered n ooks , yet itwould be an easy matter to coun t the species offlowers which Open , for the firs t time, t o the sunof September .The tall and handsome golden rod, (Solid ago

virg aurea , ) with it s ei owded clus ters of flowers ,does not unfold for the firs t time in this mon th,for it begin s to bloom even a s early as the end of

July but it may be found in great perfect ion

SEPTEMBER . 1 75

from now till the end of the year. It grows inwoods and thickets, and is often plan ted inshrubberies . It was on ce supposed t o be a

cure forwounds . It was brought, in a dried s tate,from the woods of other lands , and sold in theLondon markets by the herb -women of queenElizabeth’s days ; and, about that time, it wasfirs t discovered t o grow wild in Hamps teadwoods . Botan is ts were no t so numerous thena s they are n ow ; and this mus t accoun t for thefact, that a flower which grows wild in severalEnglish coun ties had n ever previously beensupposed t o be indigen ous . Fuller— who, inenumerating the Worthies of England,

” in troduces them to his readers , by an accoun t of thevegetable production s of their native coun ties—fispeaks very highly Of the golden rod, and cen

sures it s disuse Some main tain ,

”says he,

“ that every coun ty cures the diseases whichit causes , and bringeth remedies for all the

maladies bred therein . An opin ion which gran tnot true, yet may have much of truth, seeingthat every coun ty of Englan d especially affordeth excellen t plan ts, were it no t partly for men

’s

lazines s that they will n o t seek them ; partlyfor their ignoran ce, that they will n ot knowthem ; and partly for their pride and peevishness , that because, when they are found, theydisdain to use and apply them .

”He adds ,

that while the golden rod was brought, at greatexpense, from foreign coun tries , it was highlyvalued : but that it was no sooner discovered t obe a native plan t, than itwas discarded from use.

1 76 WILD FLOWERS .

It s bright yellow flowers have found for it an

in troduction in to our garden s , and several ofthe Species which we cultivate grow wild on

the few green spots which lie about the rockyis land of St . Helena .

The common flea - bane, ( Inula dys en t erica , )a star- shaped flower, as large as a guinea, andof as bright a hue, is very frequen t n ow on

mois t lands throughout England ; and we maybe sure, when we find this in our coun try walk,that some quiet river, or s tream, is glidingthrough the landscape . This flower is com

monly called wild marigold , and it receivedboth it s fam iliar and scien tific names from the

belief that it s odour was repuls ive t o fleas ,gnats, and other in sects . It seems s trange thatit was con s idered as obnoxious t o insects, andworn about the person , or hung aroun d the bedas a terror t o them , while, in our days , it s ethciency is totally den ied . The Arabs extol this

plant very highly, as a remedy for wounds .

One of those tradition s which a wanderingpeople tran smit from generation t o generationrecords that this bruised flower was used byJob, as an application t o those grievous diseaseswhich lie so pathetically lamen ts . Hen ce theflea - bane is called by the men of the desert“ Job’s tears .

”It s stems and leaves are of a

woolly texture, and of a whitish -green colour.But directing our atten tion t o the san dy

shores , or the s alt-marshes of the sea, we shallfind a few autumnal flowers . The marsh mallow, (Althaea oficina lis) formerly called moor

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I78 WILD FLOWERS.

was te places and hedge banks . The uppersurface of it s leaf is of a green as dark as thatof the old ivy leaf, but it is quite white andcottony un dern eath .

The mugwort had, according t o old writers,so powerful a spell, that the wayfaring man

,

who bore a bran ch of it about him, felt no

fatigue . A species of wormwood is cultivatedin some parts of Surrey for it s seed, which isused by the rectifiers of British spirits ; and

our common mugwort is used, ins tead of hops,in the beer of Sweden .

And now, again , the fields are green withthe after- gras s, which springs up after the hayis cut down . The exquis ite verdure given bythe gras ses t o the fields— making the pas torallandscapes ofEnglan d among the most lovelyspots of earth

,would lead us highly t o value

this importan t tribe of plan ts , even were theyof n o other use. The ben eficence of the greatCreator, in adorning the earth , is t oo littlethought of. His goodnes s is recogn ised inproviding us with plan ts for food and clothing,for shade and shelter ; yet how seldom do we

thank him that he has made themeadow green ,and scattered the blos soms ofbeauty on everypath . And yet how much real enjoymen t isderived from

“

the loveliness of the landscape !God might have provided for all our wan ts , and

yet have placed us in a land des titute ofbeauty ;and, surely, the profusion of the summer-flowersand the bright verdure of earth should make usnot on ly glad, but grateful t oo .

In the grass tribe are included all the corn

SE PTEMBER . 79

plant s, the sugar- cane and the useful bamboo.

When we cons ider that, in every land in whichthe corn -field exists, the flour procured from it

con s titutes the s taple food of man , we formsome idea of t he value of this tribe and thoughthe South Sea I slan der m ay live on his breadfruit tree, and the New Hollander, too idle t ocultivate his land, may enj oy the produce ofhis

native sago -palm, or the large root of the arum ;

yet this food can be procured in few climates,while corn can be cultivated on the greater partof the globe . When we see the multitude ofcattle enj oying the liberal supply offood spreadover the green pas tures , and when “ the hayappeareth , and the ten der grass showe th itself,and the herbs of the mountain s are gathered,

”

we see again , though indirectly, that the grassroweth for t he service of man . When we

behold how the gras s, by it s matted roots,binds down the sands which else would befloating far and wide, we have an other ins tan ceOf it s value . In the Hebrides, the shore gras s

(Am ado a renaria) is made in to ropes , and

bags , and hats . The grass oil of India ishighly valued for it s aromatic properties , andthe fragran t scen t of our n a t ive meadowgrasses , when they lie withered in the sun

,

is delightful to the wanderer in the hay -field.

The sugar- can e Of the wes t, and the bamboo of

the eas t, are alike valuable . The n ative of

As ia ea ts the. soft shoots of the bamboo as weea t asparagus . The ho llow j oin ts yield hima refreshing drink ; it s seeds are ea t en as a

180 WILD FLOWERS .

delicacy and a decoction ofit s leaves furnisheshim with a medicin e . The large s tem s are

used for baskets and pipes . It s leaves are

made in to fan s and coverings for roofs ; and

from the plan t, in various ways, are procuredpaper, writing-pen s , furn iture for houses , andevery variety of domestic implemen ts .

It is a circum stan ce worthy of remark, inour meadow gras ses, that they pos sess the same

properties for food as those which we cultivatein our corn -fields . The smaller size of the seedsrenders them un suitable for culture or bread

,

or malt , m ight be made from seeds of the com

mon gras s . There is , indeed, a great s im ilarityin all the plan ts of the gras s tribe . Every on eof them con tains sugar, and each one has on

it s s tem a coat of flin t . After the burn ing of

a hay- stack, pieces of glas s have been foun d

lying on the groun d around it, which the fusingproperties of fire have converted from flin t tothis subs tan ce . The s traw of barley is sa id,by profes sor Lin dley, to be m elted by fire in toa gla s s of a topaz yellow colour and a whea tstraw is s tated t o furn ish a colourles s glass ,when fused by a common blow-pipe . On e grasson ly is deleterious . The darn el, (Lolium t emu

len tum, ) when m ingled with flour, is unwholesome but Lindley con s iders that it s injuriouseffects may have been greatly exaggerated .

That s ingular flower, the meadow saffron ,

(Colcliieum autumna le, ) may be found both inthis mont h and in October . I t is a purpleblossom, in shape resembling the common

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182 WILD FLOWE RS .

than in flowers, and the wild nosegay gatherednow is , indeed, a small one . Yet the pastorallandscape has n ot los t it s charms , for it s gras sis s till bright and fresh . I t is not the decreaseof flowers alone, however, which warn s of

autumn . The trees are now yellow, red, or of

a withered brown,with his touches . Some,

like the ash, and the great white poplar, aredaily dropping so many showers of leaves, thatwe are an ticipating that their n aked

gbranches

will soon s tand boldly out 0 11 the landscape.The swallows are congregating for their departure t o other and warmer lands and the

loud twittering which they make 0 11 the grea toak, or elm, has , t o the naturalist, a sound peculiarly autumn al . All at once we m iss the sound,and they are gon e ; and we are reminded of

the allus ion made by the prophet Jerem iah t o

the m igration of birds , and the melan cholycomparison which he draws between t he wildbird and the in structed man . Yea,

”says the

prophet, the s tork in the heaven kn oweth herappoin ted times ; and the crane and the swallowobserve the time of their coming ; but my peoplekn ow no t the judgmen t of the Lord .

”Alas i

it is not alon e t o an cien t Israel that the reproofbelongs . The voice of n ature, and the vorceof Providence, and the voice of God’s word, ares till unheard by un thinking man !

The cultiva ted fruits of earth are now chieflygathered in . The corn is brought in to the

garner, the fragran t hops are ly ing in the storeIer. viii 7.

OCTOBER . 1 83

house, the cherries are gathered and consumed,and the s tore of apples

,des t ined for win ter use,

are ei ther taken from the tree, or are ready forharvesting . But the wild berries grace thehedges by thousan ds , and glimmer among therain - drops like jet and ruby m ingled withcrys tal . The clear berries of the n ightshadeare outshone by the beautiful red clus ters of theberries e f the guelder rose, and con tras t withthe deep opaque red fruits of the bryony, or

the more orange- tin ted bran ches of the mountain ash . The scarlet haws andhips , the blackberries , the rose- tin ted fruits of the spindletree, lying open and displaying the brighto range- coloured seeds, are all plen tiful now in

the good greenwood ; and when we con siderthe fruits of earth which are laid up for man ,and mark the preparation of food for the f

'

owlsof heaven , may we not say with the psalmis t,Thou crownes t the year with thy goodnes s?”I t has been observed of our native fruits,

that white berries are common ly sweet, red

ones sour ; blue, of a sour, m ixed with a swee tflavour ; and black are either almos t tas teles s ,or poisonous . But several of our scarlet berriesare poisonous too, and should n ever be tastedby any who do no t understan d their properties .

The ivy, (Hedera helix) which man tles overthe old ruin s , or climbs to the highes t bough ofthe oak of the forest, is now displaying itsclusters of green blossoms and the bees whichs till ven ture t o leave their retreats , when the

morn ing sun shines out brightly, seem highly

WILD FLOWERS .

t o prize them . The French t erm this plan tla lierre, and the Span iards give the name Of

yedra , not only t o the ivy, but t o every plan twhich, like this , has a propens ity t o climb .

Sheep are very fon d of ivy, and it s greyveined leaves oft en yield them a win ter repas t .The Irish ivy, (Helix veg et a , ) so Often cultivat ed under the n ame of the gian t ivy, has verylarge leaves ; but in other respects difl

'

ers littlefrom our wild plan t .The question , whether ivy is des tructive t o

t rees , has been much discussed by botan ists,but it seem s the gen eral Opin ion , that it is n ot

so . Loudon con s iders that the ivy is the on lyplan t which may be reared agains t houses,without rendering the walls damp , and the soleobjection t o be raised again s t the picturesquecovert which it affords t o the house wall is ,that it harbours spiders and other in sects , whichwill sometimes find theirway in to the dwelling .

That very han dsome shrub, the s trawberryt ree, or bear berry, (Arbutus unedo, ) is now

gay with it s green ish white flowers , which hangamong it s thick evergreen foliage like so manywaxen bells . This shrub is very common in

gardens, but it is usually enumerated amongour wild plan ts , for it has been kn own t o growfor many cen turies in the s outh of Ireland ;s ome writers, however, think tha t it was in troduced there from Spain , by the monks of

Mucross Abbey ; and when we con s ider howmany flowers and shrubs , as well as esculentvegetables, were brought in to Britain , for the

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1 86 WILD FLOWERs .

The shepherd’s spikenard (Couyz a squarrosa)is among our lates t bloom ing wild flowers . Ithas hairy leaves , and as it s s tem is often a yardhigh, it is not likely t o be overlooked on the

chalky or clayey pas tures , where it abounds .

It s radiate, or star- shaped flowers are yellow,and grow in clus ters . It was, in former days ,hung up in rooms t o drive away gnats and otherinsects , and bran ches of it are s till suspendedfrom the cottage ceiling in the Fren ch village,for the same purpose . The spikenard is oftencultivated in garden s, and the s trong odour of

camphire, which some exotic species emit, mayprobably have suggested it s n ame, as manywriters cons ider that camphor is the spikenardof the ancien t writers and the substance alludedt o, under that name, ln the Song of Solomon .

And now,when few flowers appear, we are

glad t o gather the second bloom of the purpleviolet from under it s broad can opy of leaves ,and t o detect something like the spring odourin it s flowers . Tha t pretty bright yellow flower,with it s pea - shaped blos soms , the hairy dwartgreen weed, (Gam

'

et a p ilosa , ) very generallyblooms, for the second time, on the gravelly or

sandy heath, during the lates t mon ths of theyear . Severa l kinds of crocus t oo appear latein the autumn , and on e Species, the nakedflowering crocus, (Crocus uudg

’

florus , ) does not

Open it s bright purple flowers un til October,when it may be foun d in the meadows of somecoun ties . How far any of the crocus tribemay be con sidered as truly indigen ous, is a

OCTOBER . 1 87

poin t on which botan ists differ . Some writersthink that they are all natives of Asia, andhave been naturaliz ed in those spots where wefind them growin g wild . Dr. Hooker enume

merat es five species ‘ln his British Flora .

”

The larges t of those pretty white flowers,the win ter green , or pyrola, may s till be gathered from ben eath the shade of the autumn alwood ; for though these plan ts begin t o blooma s early as July, they are quite vigorous tilln ow. The species which blooms the lates t isthe round- leaved win ter green , (Pyrola ro tundi

folia .) I t cann ot be said of on e of the win tergreen s that it is a common flower of England,though it is less rare in the n orth and in

Scotland . The round- leaved species has whiteSpreading flowers, and grows on moist copses .

I t is Often found in Yorkshire, and, occas ionally,in the Ken tish woods . All the plan ts are

exceedingly pretty, and are called win ter-greenfrom their unfading foliage . They all possesst onic properties .

And n ow, when flowers are few, the mossesattract the atten tion of the botan is t, and are

flourishing particularly on moist places . Theseminute plan ts are found in damp climates , in allparts of the globe, but are far more numerousin cold and temperate, than in hot regions .

They are of little value in medicine, or manufactures , nor can we use them for domes ticpurposes . One species, the fir club-moss,(Irycop odium s elago, ) is used in the Isle ofSkyeinstead ofalum to fix the colour in dyeing.

1 88 WILD FLOWERS .

Another species , the common club-moss,(Lycopodium clava tum, ) which is a large mossfrequen t in Englan d, and which covers immen se

tracts of moss land in Lapland, is’

used in themanufacture of fireworks»It Often grows twoor three feet in length, on heathy moun tainouslands, and it s seeds are remarkably inflamma

ble . It is probable that this mos s will befound Of more service in dyeing than has hithert o been supposed ; for it has been s tatedby a Fren ch botan is t t o have the property of

imparting a brillian t blue t o woollen cloths , if,aft erwards, they are passed through an infusionof Brazil wood .

But though no s ingle mos s is Of any very

great value t o man , yet the mosses in genera lare by n o mean s useless plan ts . It would reflect no dishonour on their great Creator, couldwe discern no service which they render to us,and no particular purpose which they an swer inthe econ omy of n a ture . En ough it m ight bet o claim our grateful admiration , that their softgreen subs tance adds t o the smoothn ess of thegrassy path ; that their scaly stems , or theirsmall leaves , forming 4 lit tle s tars Of verdure,beautify the landscape. En ough it would bethat they en liven the grey s tem of the old oak

t ree, and furn ish us with a cushion ed seat a t it sfoot . But mos ses perform an importan t partin the vegetable kingdom . But for them, the

moun tainous regions would be barren indeed ;for their patches of verdure cover up the seedsand root s of the Alpine flowers, and, as they

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1 90 WILD FLOWERS.

beauty. Unlike the -works of man , the worksof

_

God are always perfeet , and most admirablewhen mos t exam ined. The fines t cambrics,when seen through a magn ifying power, willbe discovered t o have specks , and flaws , andun even threads ; but the smalles t moss will befoun d full of symmetry and beauty .

There is something inexplicable in the growthof mosses and lichen s on n ewly- formed soils .

We can comprehend how the seeds of plan tsmay have reached the summit of the highes truin , but how can we accoun t for them on new

islands , where little specks of moss are seen

s truggling into exis ten ce, on barren and lifeles ssoils . Their seeds were n ever plan ted there byman ; the waters cann ot have borne thitherthese minute particles, for so much mois turewould have des troyed the vital power of the

seeds ; the birds of the air can hardly havecarried them so far ; one would think they hadlain in the earth since the creation , and werenow burs ting in t o light from their long n ight ofdarkness : it is mys tery, all ! But Hewho madethe earth, and the dews which wa ter it, hasplan ted them there

,and daily vivifies them with

his fresh airs , and the Showers kof heaven .

And while we see how unable we are t o com

prehend these his works, shall we wonder thatsome of the great mysteries of Spiritual truthShould be incomprehen s ible t o fin ite m inds ;and if a l ittle moss on a rock can sufficeto make us feel our ign oran ce, n eed we, on

the sublime thing s of the kingdom of heaven ,

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER . 1 9 1

hes itat e t o say with Job,“ Lo, these are part s

of his ways : but how little a portion is heardof him

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER.

Where is the pride of Summer— th e green prime,Theman y many leaves , all twinkling l—ThreeOn t he moss

’d elm ; three on the n aked lime ,

Trembling —and one upon t he old oak tree —HO0 D.

We may even yet cull a good n osegay fromthe garden , but our fields and lan es put forth nonew blossom s for the dreary November, or the

frosty airs of the closing mon th not that thecoun try is absolutely des titute of flowers , for afew autumnal blos soms , as the ragwort, are yetleft and the win ter flowering furze is bright ;and the pale yarrow s till s tays with us and the

s tarry da isy yet sparkles in the grass . Not only,in our rural walk, do we m is s the many flowers ,but the voice of the tuneful bird now rarely bidsus pause t o listen . The robin , however, thathousehold bird, with the red s tomacher,

”

sings every day m ore regularly, and with loudernote the sky

- lark warbles a parting song, andthe thrush has not yet forsaken the almos tleafless woods , but on a bright frosty morn ingwill cheer us with a song, as loud and swee t aseven the s tra in s of summer . The countryman

finds employmen t in tending his farm but

the field labour is little now, for the Almighty'4 Job xxvi. 1 4 .

1 92 WILD FLOWERS .

“saith to the sn ow, Be thou on the earth

likewise t o the small rain , and t o the great rainof his s trength . He sealeth up the hand ofevery man that all men may kn ow hisThe mushroom, or fungus tribe, with their

leathery, or spongy textures , are some of themcommon on the decayed tree, or putrid subs tance .

Some are of a grey green , others of lemon or

orange colour, or red, or spotted with chocolatecoloured spots, and bright mulberry- coloureds tain s . Though several are poison ous, yetmany are beautiful, and display, by their greatvariety, the A lmighty skill .Spring, and summer, and autumn , with

their flowers, and fruits , and leaves , pass rapidlyaway . O ther springs shall arise, but which of

us can tell that we shall mark it s flowers ; thevoice of the changing season s is , to us , the voiceofGod ; and well may the prayer of the psalmist suit us all

,

“ So teach us t o number our

days , that we may apply our hearts un to Wis

.lob XXXVII. 6 , 7 fPsa. xc . 12 .

m ic ron s TRACT soc'rY : IN STITUTED IN ) .