200 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



strong Oak. As we have been taught by tradition and mythology that 

 Juno was the wife of Jupiter, who was the chief of all the gods and 

 reigned over the heavens as well, claimed this king of the forest as the- 

 tree which suited his power and strength, the " brave old Oak." 



Now the theory of the vine and the Oak must have had its birth 

 in the brain of some modern Jupiter, for Juno, his wife, loved the Lily^ 

 and Venus, the clinging Myrtle, was the spouse of one of the lesser 

 deities, who would have objected to the familiarity of such a position, 

 Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and skill, claimed the Olive and the 

 Violet. Mars, the god of war, the Ash. Hercules, the Poplar. Myth- 

 ical history has her people thoroughly identified with nature and 

 especially the flowery kingdom. 



The Sunflower, which was thought to be indispensible in the gar- 

 dens of our grandmothers as a very showy plant and for the quantity 

 of brown seeds so useful for chickens when troiibled with the gapes, 

 has become one of the things of the past. This curiosity became so 

 from the habit it has of turning its head and following the sun from the 

 rising to the setting thereof. Tradition says tiiat Clytia, daughter of 

 Orchamas, king of Babylon, was beloved by Apollo, famous for his 

 beauty and said to be the brightest of the ancient gods. He seems to 

 have tired of the lovely Clytia and deserted her. She pined away with 

 continually gazing at the sun, which she believed to be her hero- 

 Apollo, until she changed to the Sunflower, which continues to this 

 day to follow the track of the sun across the heavens. And the lan- 

 guage of this wonderful flower with its sad history is " God of my 

 heart's idolatry." 



The Evergreen, as we learn from the prophet Isiah, has been con- 

 sidered a leading factor in all church festivities. The sacred calender 

 of all churches have their emblematic flowers ; particularly is this so 

 with the Church of England- With them Holly is used for Christmas- 

 day. The language of this evergreen is "Am I forgotten !" The Palm 

 is used for Palm Sunday, which means " Victory." On All Saints day 

 will be seen the beautiful Amaranthus with their many glowing colored 

 foliage and flowers, that is said to be very charming and the language 

 is very suggestive and meritorious, " Will you meet me in Paradise '?"' 

 where we believe the home of the saints will be in the true flowery 

 kingdom, far more beautiful than has ever been seen on this earth. 



Through the medium of flowers the lads and lasses of all ages owe 

 much of the progress of their love affairs. A decade or two ago we 

 remember what importance was attached to a small nosegay ; it told a 

 tale of joy or disappointoient ; a boquet of Sweet Pea, Canteberry Bell 



