282 FLORA DOMESTICA, 



" Here also sprang that goodly golden fruit. 

 With which Acontius got his lover true. 

 Whom he had long time sought with fruitless suit. 

 Here eke that famous golden apple grew. 

 The which emong the gods false Ate threw 

 For which th' Idsean ladies disagreed. 

 Till partial Paris dempt it Venus' due. 

 And had (of her) fair Helen for his meed. 

 That many noble Greeks and Trojans made to bleed." 



Spenser's Fairy Queen. 



-" her lover's genius formed 



A ghttering fane, where rare and alien plants 

 Might safely flourish : where the citron sweet 

 And fragrant orange, rich in fruit and flowers. 

 Might hang their silver stars, their golden globes. 



On the same odorous stem ." 



Mason's English Garden. 



Mrs. C. Smith speaks of the Orange-tree in her lines 

 addressed to the humming-bird ; a beautiful little creature, 

 which, when stript of its plumage, is not bigger than a 

 bee ; and, like the bee, it delights in hovering over the 

 sweetest flowers, and sipping their juice, without doing 

 them the least injury by its visit. Mr. Lambert, in his 

 Travels in Canada, says, " that they may be seen there in 

 great numbers, and that their plumage is as beautiful as 

 that of the peacock." It is frequently called the bee bird : 



" There, lovely bee-bird ! may 'st thou rove 

 Through spicy vale, and citron grove. 

 And woo and win thy fluttering love 



With plume so bright ; 

 There rapid fly, more heard than seen. 

 Mid orange-boughs of polished green. 

 With glowing fruit, and flowers between 



Of purest white." 



