OF FLOWERS. 295 



variegated, and many of the colored sorts have been pro- 

 duced by the art of the florist. 



RUE. In your presence there is no danger of witchcraft. 

 Mercury gave rue to Ulysses, as an antidote to the bewitch- 

 ing beverage of the enchantress, Circe. 



SAGE. I would prolong your finite joys. Sage was formerly 

 believed to be the means of extending the thread of ex- 

 istence. Hence says an ancient poet, " With sage in his 

 garden how think you a man can die ?" 



SNOWBALL. Were all like you this earth would become a desert. 

 That species of Viburnum called the snowball, has its sta- 

 mens changed into petals ; hence it is a vegetable mon- 

 ster, producing no seed. 



SNOWDROP. Though in chains, hope has not forsaken me. 

 This little plant is often kept close to the earth by the ice 

 and snow of spring, through the crust of which it has no 

 strength to penetrate. But the moment the sun uncovers 

 it by removing these impediments, it opens its petals as 

 though nothing had befallen it. 



STOCK-JILLY-FLOWER. By cultivation the rustic may at- 

 tain the highest distinction. This was originally a mean 

 little straggler, which grew on the barren cliffs of England, 

 but by the constant attention of the gardener, for a series 

 of years, it has become one of the noblest of ornamental 

 plants. Its flower, from being an inch in diameter, has at- 

 tained nearly the size of the rose. 



SUNFLOWER. You are valued for what you do not possess 

 This noble annual is supposed to turn its disk constantly 

 towards the sun. Says Barton : 



Uplift, proud Sunflower, to thy favorite orb, 



That disk whereon his brightness seems to dwell. 



And as thou seem'st his radiance to absorb, 

 Proclaim thyself the garden's sentinel. 



And yet any one may satisfy himself that no popular no- 

 tion is more false, than that this flower turns to the sun. 



TANSEY. / declare war against you. This is a bittei 

 herb, which in some countries people present to those they 

 intend to insult. 



THORN-APPLE. Thy poisonous charms are only for the 

 night. In hot climates the flowers of this genus droop 

 and languish during the day, but on the approach ot 

 night, unfold, and display their enormous bells, afford- 

 ing a most gorgeous and interesting spectacle. The 

 flowers of a South American species are two feet long. 



