142 THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN 



after him. His name is also bestowed on the 

 Lilium conv allium. 



The herb of St. George is the Valeriana sativa ; 

 his root, Dentaria major; his violet, Leucoium luteum ; 

 and his fruit Cucumis agrestis. 



Senecio Jacohcea is the St. James' wort, used in 

 veterinary practice, as St. James is the patron saint 

 of horses and colts. 



The cowslip is dedicated to St. Peter, from its 

 resemblance to his emblem, a bunch of keys. Among 

 the old Sicilian legends there is a very curious 

 one about the mother of the holy Apostle St. Peter, 

 in which she is portrayed as being very mean and 

 niggardly. The only thing that she ever gave away 

 was a leek leaf, which she flung to a beggar who 

 worried her one day as she was washing her pots 

 and pans. When she died, it is said that hell 

 received her. Years afterwards St. Peter, the 

 doorkeeper of Paradise, heard a piteous voice saying : 

 " Son Peter, see what torments I am in; go and ask 

 the Lord to let me out." So St. Peter went and 

 asked. But the Lord said: *' She never did a 

 nailparing of good. Except this leek leaf, she 

 never once gave a scrap away. However, here is a 

 leek leaf: this angel shall take it, and shall tell her 

 to lay hold of the other end while he pulls her up." 



So St. Peter's mother grasped the leek leaf, but 

 all the souls in torment ran after her, and clung 

 to her skirts, so that the angel was dragging along 

 quite a string of them. Her evil disposition, 

 however, would not permit her to keep quiet. It 

 grieved her avaricious temperament that anyone 

 besides herself should be saved; so she struggled 

 and kicked in order to shake the poor souls off, and 



