MYSTIC PLANTS. 427 



of the saint fell lilies of the valley sprang up, where 

 they still grow wild in the forest of St Leonard. 

 The lily of the valley was introduced early into 

 England from Southern Europe, and was largely 

 employed in the decoration of churches in the twelfth 

 and thirteenth centuries. When the devotion of the 

 rosary was instituted by St. Dominic, the " Lady 

 Chapels " erected in honour of the Virgin Mary were 

 adorned in the season with lilies of the valley.i 



The " Rose of Sharon " was not the rose of Eng- 

 land, but the yellow-flowered Narcissus, common 

 in Palestine and in the East generally, of which 

 Mahomet said, " He that hath two cakes of bread, 

 let him sell one of them for some flowers of Narcissus, 

 for bread is the food of the body, but Narcissus is 

 the food of the soul." It had been the flower-crown 

 of the goddesses long before the period of its fame 

 and high esteem. The Scripture " rose " is some- 

 times the oleander, sometimes the rhododendron.^ 



There is a curious monkish legend extant of the 

 origin of the rose, although there is a prior one which 

 dates from classic times. Sir John Mandevillc relates 

 that "a Christian maid of Bethlehem, blamed with 

 wrong and slandered, and about to be martyred, 

 prayed the Lord to spare her, and immediately red 

 roses grew from the burning brands, and white roses 



^ "Gardener's Chronicle," July i, 1876, p. 7. - Ibid., p. 8. 



