ROCKET TRIBE 79 



"Thus waudeiiug o'er the clilTs one day, a wayside plant I saw, 

 Which from my unacenstomed lips did joyful welcome draw ; 

 A "-ush of perfume, at the sight, around me breathed, — but when 

 I sprang and pluck'd the ilowers, ah me ! where was the fragrance then ? 



" ' It is the Mignonette,' quoth I ; ' yet odour there is none !' 

 Abundant o'er the chalky hills its blossoms met the suu ; 

 A deeper yellow on them lay than clad my garden flowers, 

 And yet there was no soothing scent, the semblance only ours. 



" Oh false, but fair, Wild Mignonette ! thou art the typo of all 

 Who promise fairly to the eye, but answer not the call 

 Of such as seek to soothe the sense with sweetness rich and clear, 

 As wind harps, wanting air, deny all sweetness to the ear." 



Oui' Wild Mignonette is a common flower during June, July, and August, 

 especially on chalky hilly lands. It is more bushy than the Dyer's AVeed, 

 and its spikes are shorter, thicker, and of a yellower tint ; while its oblong 

 wrinkled capsules are much more like those of the Fragrant Mignonette. 

 This latter species is a native of Egypt, and is one of the most valued, 

 though one of the most common, of our garden flowers ; its sweet odour 

 often greeting us from the city, when the box is placed in the balcony, or 

 when its clusters flourish on some little inclosure. To many a one who 

 passes with hurried footstep, intent on the business of the day, it brings a 

 sweet remembrance of country scenes and summer odours ; and its fragrance 

 is borne in by the breeze, perchance, to some who lie on the sick-couch, and 

 tells of gardens far away, and sweet spots of sunshine and flowers. 



It is not a century and a half since this well-known plant was introduced 

 into this country, but, like the fuchsia, it so easily accommodated itself to 

 our soil and climate, and became so general a favourite, that no garden is 

 now without it. The famous Tree Mignonette is merely this species rendered 

 shrubby, by preventing the early development of the blossoms. In France, 

 where the plant has been much treated in this way, instances have occurred 

 in which the woody stems have attained an inch in cii'cumference. 



3. Shrubby Rocket (E. fndimiUsa). — Leaves all pinnate, waved, glau- 

 cous ; calyx 5-parted ; petals 5, 3-cleft, nearly equal. Plant biennial or 

 perennial. This plant is not truly wild, but is occasionally found in waste 

 places in Cornwall, Somersetshire, and other counties, and is planted in 

 gardens. It flowers in June, and may be distinguished by its sea-green tint, 

 and its 5-cleft flowers. 



Order VIII. CISTINEiE-ROCK-ROSE TRIBE. 



Sepals 5, the three inner ones twisted spirally while in bud ; petals 5, 

 twisted when in bud, in a direction contrary to the sepals, soon falling off; 

 stamens numerous ; ovary single, 1 or many -celled ; style and stigma simple ; 

 capsule 3, 5, or rarely 10-valved. The plants of this order are chiefly shrubby, 

 ])ut sometimes herbaceous, with imdivided leaves, and yellow, red, purple, or 

 white flowers, which are peculiarly ephemeral in their nature. Many of the 

 species are exceedingly ornamental to gardens, for though falling off" after 

 one day's bloom, yet the buds are so thickly crowded on the shrubs, that on 

 the next day the boughs are again covered with a magnificent display of 

 expanded flowers. Several of the herbaceous species are also planted in 



