ADO'NIS VERNA'LIS. 



SPRING ADONIS. 

 Class. Order. 



POLYANDRIA. POLYGYNIA. 



Natural Order. 



RANUNCULACE*:. 



No. 27. 



Adonis, whom this flower has been named after, 

 was the favourite of Venus. Vernalis, from the 

 Latin, belonging to the spring. 



Some of our fabulists have a pleasant conceit re- 

 specting these 'personages :' we relate it as being in 

 some degree explicable. They say that when Ve- 

 nus and Proserpina contended before Jupiter, which 

 should have Adonis, Jupiter referred them to Cal- 

 liope, whom he appointed to be judge of their quar- 

 rel. Calliope gave this sentence; that Adonis 

 should live with Venus six months, and the remain- 

 ing six he should reside with Proserpina. The fa- 

 ble is thus explained: Venus represents the earth, 

 and Adonis the sun. During half the year his re- 

 splendent beams reign over all our varied plains, 

 attired with beauteous flowers, and enriched with 

 fruit and corn ; the other half he seems to lose his 

 influence, and goes as it were to rule in the darker 

 regions with Proserpina. 



To encourage a good blossom, the Adonis Verna- 

 lis should not be frequently removed. If it be per- 

 formed in the autumn, the flowering of the following 

 spring may, possibly, receive but little inj ury. 

 Hort, Kew. 2, v. 3, 350. 



