282 Associations with Plants. 



fidence in the Universal Parent with which its contemplation 

 inspired the breast of the weary traveller : and this, again, 

 brings to our remembrance that delightful saying of the meek 

 and lowly Jesus of Nazareth about the lilies of the field. In- 

 deed, such an associating of plants with feelings, places, and 

 circumstances, is one of the most important pleasures expe- 

 rienced by the botanical student. I never breathe the deli- 

 cious incense of the Fiola odorata, nor meet, with my corporeal 

 or mental eye, its deep rich purple blossoms nestling among 

 green leaves, without an accompanying landscape of romantic 

 beauty ; where I have spent many a happy hour in the com- 

 pany of friends I love, and in the contemplation of objects I 

 admire. A time-worn castle among trees, an ancient church- 

 yard, a clear stream, a sparkling cascade, a one-arched bridge, 

 and a rugged dell, bright with verdure and flowers, are the 

 principal features of that landscape ; and these seem to me im- 

 printed on the sweet purple violets, for there I first gazed with 

 rapture on their humble charms. When I see the Drosera 

 rotundifolia, there is also present a fac-siniile of the beautiful 

 Lake of Forfar in a calm summer evening, with a boatful of 

 pike-fishers floating gently on its smooth waters, from whose 

 jolly faces are reflected the rosy tints of the setting sun. A 

 plant of Jungermann/fl epiphylla always suggests a little mossy- 

 margined spring, offering freely to every one that thirsteth its 

 pure crystal treasures; and a cowslip, though seen in a her- 

 barium at mid-winter, breathes of the fragrant woods, with their 

 glorious luxuriance of foliage, their fresh airs, and their soul- 

 thrilling bursts of vernal melody. Unaffected purity is linked 

 with the snowdrop and lily of the valley ; graceful modesty 

 with the daisy; cheerful humility with the violet; disinterested 

 benevolence with the rose: lasting constancy with the hya- 

 cinth ; unfading friendship and warm affection with the little 

 blue forget-me-not ; and, in the Scottish bosom, love of home 

 and of country, with the purple heather. 



" Flower of the wild ! whose purple glow 



Adorns the dusky mountain's side : 

 Not the gay hues of Iris' bow, 



Nor garden's artful varied pride, 

 With all its wealth of sweets could cheer, 

 Like thee, the hardy mountaineer." 



In short, plants being thus associated with our best feelings 

 and purest pleasures, and the loveliest scenes of our country, 

 are, independently of their own attractive graces, talismans that 

 conjure up within the bosom multitudes of delightful thoughts 

 and recollections, whose cheering influence fadeth not with 

 the lapse of years. — Wm. Gardiner, jtm. 



