78 NIGHT-SCENTED FLOWERS. 



scent in the course of the day, smell power- 

 fully in an evening, whether the air be moist 

 or dry, or whether they happen to be exposed 

 to it or not. This is the property of some 

 which Linneeus has elegantly called jlores trim> 

 tes, melancholy flowers, belonging to various 

 tribes as discordant as possible, agreeing only 

 in their nocturnal fragrance, which is peculiar, 

 very similar and exquisitely delicious in all of 

 them, and in the pale yellowish, greenish, or 

 brownish tint of their flowers. Among these 

 are Mesembryanthemum noctiflorum. Dill. 

 Elth. t. 206, Pelargonium triste, Cornut. 

 Canad. 1 10, and several species "akin to it, 

 Hesperis tristis, Curt. Mag. t. 730, Chei- 

 ranthus tristis, t. 7^9, Daphne pontica, An- 

 drews s Repos. t. 73, Crassula odoratissima, 

 t. 26) and many others*. A few more, greatly 

 reseiirfelins: these in the green hue of their 



* These flowers afford the poet a new image, which 

 is introduced into the following imitation of Martial, 

 and offered here solely for its novelty. 



Go mingle Arabia's gums 



With the spices all India yields. 

 Go crop each young flower as it blooms. 



Go ransack the gardens and fields. 



I 



