174 FLORA HISTORICA. 



the herbage of the fields, this hitherto neglected 

 flower, and wishing to inspire the then reigning 

 Sultan with a taste for plants similar to his own, he 

 decorated the gardens of the seraglio with this new 

 flower, which he soon found had attracted the notice 

 of his sovereign, upon which he caused it to be 

 brought from all parts of the East, where varieties 

 could be found. But enclosed within the inacces- 

 sible walls of the seraglio these flowers remained 

 unseen by the rest of the world, until bribery, 

 which surmounts the loftiest towers, and breaks the 

 strongest bolts, entered the palace of the Sultan, 

 and secured the roots of these highly-cherished 

 plants, which soon afterwards flourished in every 

 court in Europe. 



We are told (not in the land of Hibernia, but in 

 France) that this fine flower was one of the fruits 

 of the Crusades, and that St. Louis first brought 

 it into that country. This would make its intro- 

 duction into France as early as the middle of the 

 thirteenth century, which was about one hundred 

 years prior to the taking of Constantinople by the 

 Turks. 



Admitting that Louis IX. brought it from 

 Palestine into France, there can be no doubt but 

 that the plant was soon lost in that country, from 

 the imperfect state of gardening at that period ; 

 and we should have obtained it from thence instead 



