116 DORONICUM PARDALIANCHES. [^Apvil, 



least in England) annuals^ but biennials or perennials^ with one 

 or two rather questionable exceptions^ and these last not deni- 

 zens of cornfields. It would therefore require the thistles to be 

 in previous possession of the soil, just as much as the thorns, to 

 suit the language of the parable. Thorns and thistles are asso- 

 ciated, in the authorized version of the Scriptures, in Gen. iii. 18, 

 Hos. X. 8, and Matt. vii. 16; and in each case ^ thorn' is given 

 as the representative of the Greek ctKavOa, and ' thistle' of 

 Tpi/3o\o^. To these might be added Heb. vi. 8, where our trans- 

 lation has ' thorns and briers,' instead of the more usual ' thorns 

 and thistles.' I am not aware of more than one place in which 

 any lexicographer has proposed to translate aKavOa by ' thistle :' 

 but it admits of doubt whether such translation does not destroy 

 the force of the original. Those who are curious may look at 

 lines 328-9 of the fifth book of Homer's Odyssey, and judge 

 for themselves. 



DOEONICUM PAEDALIANCHES. 



This plant was first observed four years ago, growing on a 

 shaded bank in the King's Wood, near the site of a rustic build- 

 ing which formerly existed, called the Hermitage. There was 

 but one solitary cluster, of about two yards in diameter, and as a 

 specimen it scarcely reached the general average. Till the spring 

 of 1858 it was not noticed elsewhere ; but one day of the last 

 week in May, another group was discovered on the margin of a 

 gravel walk in the same wood, that skirts the lake, which in 

 point of excellence far exceeded what might be termed the ori- 

 ginal plant, the flower-stalks averaging about three feet six inches 

 in height, and literally covered with bloom. This superiority 

 was doubtless the result of its more favourable position, being 

 open to the lake and the rays of the morning sun ; in the former 

 case both these advantages were denied by the density of the 

 forest trees by which it was surrounded. The distance in a direct 

 line from the two habitats is about three hundred yards, and the 

 question to be solved is the manner of its introduction. 



Thirty years ago, I am told, the plant was grown in great 

 quantities in the gardens here, being confined, as a rule, to the 

 marginal beds of shrubberies, which its distinctive, showy cha- 

 racter would assist much in enlivening. From that time it has 



