JO' 



pfant Isore, "begcT^/, ani. Ist^riq/'. 



ache more than ever. In Cornwall, if Groundsel is to be used as 



an emetic, they strip it upwards; if for a cathartic, downwards. 



Groundsel is a herb of Venus. 



GUABANA. — The Guabana or Guarabana, which is pre- 

 sumed to be the wild Pine Apple, Ananas sativtis, first became known 

 to Europeans in Peru some three centuries ago. In the Mythologie 

 des Plantes, we read that the dead were, according to a ghastly 

 popular tradition, believed to rise and eat the Guabana fruit every 

 night. This fruit of the dead is described as tender and sweet as a 

 Melon, of the shape of a Pine-apple, and of a splendid appearance. 



GUELDER ROSE. — The Viburnum Oj!'?//ms has been called the 

 Snowball-tree, but is more generally known as the Guelder Rose, 

 from its Rose-like balls of white blossom. The shrub is a variety of 

 the Water Elder, introduced from Gueldres. In England, its flowers 

 are dedicated to Whitsuntide. 



HiEMANTHUS.— The HcBmanthis, or Blood-flower, is a 

 native of Brazil, where H. mtiltiflorus is the Imperial Flower — the 

 especial flower and blazon of the Emperor. 



HAG-TAPER. — The Verbascum Thapsiis was called Hedge- 

 taper, High-taper, or Hig-taper, because it was used as a torch on 

 funeral and other occasions. These names became corrupted 

 into Hag-taper during the period when the belief in witchcraft 

 existed, from a notion that witches employed the plant in working 

 their spells. Probably this superstition was derived from the 

 ancients, for we read in Gerarde's ' Herbal ' — " Apuleius reporteth 

 a tale of Ulysses, Mercuric, and the inchauntresse Circe using 

 these herbes in their incantations and witchcrafts." (See Mullein). 



HALLELUJAH.— The Wood-Sorrel {Oxalis Acetosella) bears 

 the name of Hallelujah, not only in England, but in Germany, 

 France, Spain, and Italy, because it blossoms between Easter and 

 Whitsuntide — the season at which those Psalms are sung which end 

 with that pious ejaculation, viz., the 113th to the 117th inclusive. 



HAREBELL. — Gerarde, in his ' Herbal,' Parkinson, in his 

 * Pavadisus,' and other old herbalists, term the Hyacinthus non 

 scriptus, or English Jacinth, the Hare-bell or Hare's-bell. This is 

 probably the " azure Harebell " alluded to by Shakspeare, and is 

 the flower referred to by Browne, in his ' Pastorals,' as only to be 

 worn by faithful lovers: — 



" The Harebell, for her stainless azured hue, 

 Claims to be worn of none but who are true." 



The nodding Blue-bell of the heath-land {Campanula rotundifolia), 

 however, is the Hare-bell of modern poets ; but both plants are 

 called by that name in different parts of England. The original 

 word is said to have been either Air-bell or Hair-bell, appellations 

 which might most appropriately be applied to the graceful and airy 

 Campanulas, whose slender stems have sufficient elasticity to rise 



