86 FLORA DOMESTICA. 



CERINTHE. 



HYDROPIIYLLEiE. PENTANDRIA MONOGYGNIA. 



Cerinthe is derived from the Greek, and signifies honeycomb, which, 

 as well as the name of honeywort, has been given to this plant on ac- 

 count of the quantity of honey-juice it contains. — French, le me'linet. 

 Jtalian, cerinte or cerinta. 



The Great Honeywort has a purple flower, with a 

 yellow tube : the Small, a yellow flower. They will con- 

 tinue in blossom the greater part of the summer. As it 

 injures the seeds to remain long out of the ground, they 

 should be sown in autumn, soon after they are ripe : sow 

 the seeds singly, in four or in five inch pots ; house them 

 during frost, and keep them moderately moist. They are 

 both annual plants ; pretty while they last, and of an agree- 

 able scent. The honey-juice contained in the tube of the 

 flowers is a great attraction to bees ; and it is for this 

 reason recommended as proper to plant near apiaries. • 



Virgil recommends the keepers of bees to sprinkle the 



fragrant juices of Balm and Honeywort, to entice them 



home. Cerinthe is one of the most common herbs in the 



fields of Italy ; which induces Virgil to term it ignobile 



gramen : 



" Hue tu jussos asperge sapores, 

 Trita melisphylla, et cerintha? ignobile gramen." 



Dryden translates meUsphylla and cerinthe, melfoil and 

 honeysuckle : 



" Then melfoil beat, and honeysuckles pound. 

 With these alluring savours strew the ground." 



But we have no plant named Melfoil. Milfoil is so called 

 from its great number of leaves. Rucellai, in his Italian 

 poem, translates the passage thus : 



