OUR LADY'S FLOWERS 133 



Holy Virgin came and placed a garland on his 

 head, and at each Ave she set a rose in the gar- 

 land that was so bright that all the wood shone 

 thereof." 



He was himself ignorant of it, but the thieves saw 

 the vision, and allowed him to pass unharmed. 



The Rose of Jericho has been called " Mary's 

 Rose," and tradition affirms that when Joseph 

 and Mary were fleeing into Egypt, one of these 

 flowers sprang up to mark every spot where they 

 rested. 



Tradition says that the clematis owes its name 

 of '' Virgin's Bower " to the fact that several times 

 this plant afforded Our Lady grateful shade and 

 shelter during the flight into Egypt. 



" When Mary left us here belowe 

 The Virgin's Bower was full in blowe." 



A legend of Tuscan origin condemns the broom as 

 a traitor. For as Our Lady, with the Holy Child 

 in her arms, was crossing an exposed pathway, 

 fearful of being seen by Herod's soldiers, she sought 

 refuge among the brushwood. 



But as she stooped for shelter the broom and the 

 chickpeas set up such a crackling and rustling that 

 they must have betrayed her if she had not observed 

 a juniper, who immediately opened its friendly 

 branches, closing them again at once upon the 

 Holy Mother and Child, thus affording them sure 

 concealment and protection. 



A legend of the rosemary, not so well known as 

 many other plant legends, tells us how the plant 

 came by its blue flowers. It is said that Our Lady 

 threw her linen over a white-flowered shrub to 



