98 CHAPTER XIII. 



"meadow" in Genesis, where those fat kine of 

 Pharaoh's were feeding. As to "flag" we cannot 

 be certain that the Iris is meant, even if the plant 

 be indigenous in Egypt, for some species of Iris will 

 grow on the very driest ground, as for instance the 

 beautiful Dwarf Iris (/. Itahca], on the sunny rocks 

 of Gairaut near Nice. The rank growth by the 

 river's brink, where the infant Moses floated in 

 his little ark, is called " flags " in Exodus ii. 3 ; 

 and the self-same word is translated " weeds " in the 

 book of Jonah, chapter ii. 5, where " the depth closed 

 the prophet round about, and the weeds were wrapped 

 about his head." 



The fact is that one-half of the Bible names of 

 plants are quite unknown to us, and the English 

 translations are mere guesses. This point is well 

 illustrated by the water plants just mentioned, and 

 by the Eeed from which we started. All these 

 various species, genera, and orders are inextricably 

 confused. 



The Arundo is probably the " Keed shaken by 

 the wind " of Matthew xi. 7, for it abounds by the 

 Jordan banks, where it forms impenetrable thickets, 

 and the great Teacher painted for us in his parables 

 the pictures which Nature had impressed upon his 

 mind from childhood's early days. 



Perhaps the Prophet was thinking of the nod- 

 ding plume of the Arundo when he wrote of 

 '' bowing the head like a bulrush " (Isaiah Iviii. 5). 

 This plume, "panache," or, to use the botanical 

 term, " Panicle," does not always crown the helmet 

 of the Giant Keed. The plant often passes years 

 without flowering ; in fact Hooker says that it 



