263 pfant "bore, "begel^/, ani. Isijrie/. 



open columns of one of the most delicate orders of archited^ure. 

 Rapin, the French Jesuit poet, alludes to this flower in his poem 

 on Gardens, and briefly gives the mythology of Thlaspis in the 

 following lines : — 



" Now, on high stems will Matricaria rear 

 Her silver blooms, and with her will appear 

 Thlaspis, a Cretan youth, who won the fair: 

 Happy if more auspicious Hymen's rites 

 Had with pure flames adorned their nuptial lights." 



CANNA. — ^The Burmese esteem as sacred the Bohdda Tha- 

 ranat (Canna Indica, or Indian Shot), so named from its seeds, which 

 are used for the beads of the rosary. The flowers are red, or some- 

 times white. The Burman believes that it sprang from Buddha's 

 blood ; and the legend relates that his evil-minded brother-in-law 

 and cousin Dewadat, enraged that he was not allowed to have a se- 

 parate assembly of his own, went to the top of a hill, and rolled 

 down a huge stone, intending to destroy the most excellent payah. 

 But the boulder burst into a thousand pieces, and only one little 

 piece bruised Buddha's toe, and drew a few drops of blood, whence 

 sprang the sacred flower, the Bohdda Tharanat. The renowned 

 physician Zaywaku healed the great teacher's wound in a single 

 day. The earth soon afterwards opened and swallowed up the 

 sacrilegious Dewadat. 



CANTERBURY BELLS.— The Nettle-leaved Bell-flower, 

 Campanula Trachelium, was so called by Gerarde from growing 

 plentifully in the low woods about Canterbury, and possibly in 

 allusion to its resemblance to the hand-bells which were placed on 

 poles, and rung by pilgrims when proceeding to the shrine of 

 Thomas a Becket — St. Thomas, of England. There is, however, 

 a tradition extant that the name of Canterbury Bells was given to 

 the Campanula in memory of St. Augustine. 



CARDAMINE. — The faint sweet Cuckoo-flower, common m 

 meadows and by brook sides, is the Cardamine pratensis. It was so 

 called, says Gerarde, because it flowers in April and May, " when 

 the cuckoo doth begin to sing her pleasant notes without stammer- 

 ing." The flower is also called Lady's Smock, and Our Lady's 

 Smock, from the resemblance of its pale flowers to little smocks 

 hung out to dry, as they used to be once a year, at that season 

 especially. Shakspeare alludes to it in these lines : — 



" When Daisies pied and Violets blue, 

 And Lady-smocks all silver white, 

 And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, 



Do paint the meadows with delight. 

 When shepherd's pipe on oaten straws, 



And maidens bleach their Summer smocks," &c. 



The Cuckoo-buds here alluded to are supposed to be a species of 

 Ranunculus; and, perhaps, as the Cavdamim pratensis is rather a 

 pale blue than a silver-white flower, Shakspeare alluded in these 



