tube of the calyx: filaments paler; germ and style pubes- 

 cent at bottom; stipules linear and very deeply serrate. 

 Its native country Africa. 



ALTHJEA. 



Hibiscus Syriacus. 



Hibiscus, a name given by Linnaeus to designate a 

 genus of the Mallow tribe, which had hitherto received 

 only barbarous, or ill-constructed appellations. 



The Greek word iSio-xo?, from which it is derived, is 

 translated " a species of wild or woodland Mallow Al- 

 thaea." 



Althsea Greek x*<, from the Gr. x%,, or axd*., 

 to heal, a remedy, from its many excellent qualities. The 

 A. Officinalis, common Marsh Mallow, a perennial plant of 

 about three feet high; the whole herb clothed with a very 

 soft wool or velvet; purple Jlowers; leaves simple, undivi- 

 ded, angular, and cottony, alternate, serrated: is a native of 

 temperate climes, and has been used medicinally in all coun- 

 tries. 



The Hibiscus Syriacus, popularly called Althsea fru- 

 tex, is a native of Syria and Carniola; a hardy shrub in 

 our gardens, growing to the height of a small tree; leaves 

 ovate, somewhat wedge-shaped, three-lobbed, cut, smooth; 

 calyx double, the outer permanent, consisting of about 

 eight leaves, as long as the inner; the blossoms are hand- 

 some, rose coloured, with a crimson eye: liable to variations 

 in colour, and sometimes double; scentless. It is, perhaps, 

 the last shrub that comes into leaf with us, and one of the 

 latest flowering. 



The fable of Althxa and her unfortunate son, being 

 read in my hearing, at the time that the shrub Althaea was 

 in bloom, and finding that it had been overlooked in the as- 

 semblage of speaking flowers, I determined to introduce it, 

 if possible, and the fate of the poor youth who had lost his 

 life, in consequence of his love for the beautiful nymph 

 Atalanta his consuming 1 away, as the fatal brand was 

 burned by the power of association, suggested the em- 

 blem of " Consumed by Love." 



ALOE. 



Jlloe L,, Greek axo*. 



All Aloes are natives of hot climates; the Cape of 

 Good Hope, 8>tc. Some of the species furnish the stimulat- 

 ing bitter medicine of our shops, which is made by boiling 

 the leaves to a suitable consistency, and exposing the de- 

 coction to such heat as will evaporate its fluid parts. The 

 Africans make ropes of the leaves, which are not apt to rot 

 in the water; fishing lines, bow strings, &tc., and manufac- 

 ture it into stockings, hammocks, &.C. 



The tree Aloe, Jlloe Dichotoma, growing on the moun- 

 tains of the Cape of Good Hope, with an erect stem, two 

 fathoms high, and as thick as a man's leg, is hollowed out 

 by the natives to make quivers for their bows. Several of 

 the species are used for hedges. The A. D. has leaves 

 sword-shaped, and serrate; flowers paniculate; corolla mo- 

 nopetalous. 



Our green-houses abound with the Aloes of diminutive 

 growth. The flower of the Aloe has no calyx: corolla one- 



pe tailed, erect; border spreading and small; nectarious at 

 the bottom; seeds angular; leaves fleshy. 



Among the Mahometans, and particularly in Egypt, 

 the Aloe is a kind of symbolic plant, and dedicated to the 

 offices of religion. Pilgrims, on their return from Mecca, 

 suspend it over their doors, as an evidence of their having 

 performed that holy journey. The superstitious imagine 

 that it has the virtue of keeping off evil spirits from theit 

 houses. Even the Christians and Jews of Cairo, hang it 

 over their doors for this purpose. 



The Aloe was used by the ancients in embalming bo- 

 dies. Of this Aloes, interpreters understand that to have 

 been which Nicodemus brought to embalm the body of our 

 Saviour . John six. 39. 



AMARANTH. 



Amaranthus. 



Amaranthus, L. Greek /.* f *i-To;, formed from , 

 (not,) .uxfxna,, (to fade,) and avd-o;, (a flower,) or from *, 

 not, and ft X f*iv<a, to fade unfading, ever fair, ever young. 



Milton mentions this flower as forming the diadem of 

 the angels: 



" With solemn adoration down they cast 



Their crowns inwove with Amaranth and gold; 



Immortal Amaranth, a flower which once 



In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, 



Began to bloom; but soon, for man's offence, 



To Heaven remov'd, where first it grew, there grows 



And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life; 



And where the river of bliss, through midst Heaven 



Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream; 



With these, that never fade, the spirits elect 



Bind their resplendent locks, inwreath'd with beams." 



The Amaranth has been placed among the funereal 

 flowers. Homer has described the Thessalians as wearing 

 crowns of Amaranth at the funeral of Achilles. Milton, 

 also, in his Lycidas, classes it among the flowers " that sad 

 embroidery wear:" 



" Bid Amaranthus all his beauty shed, 



And daffodillies fill their cups with tears, 



To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies." 



The unfading nature of the flower, we may suppose, 

 the emblem of lasting grief, the immortality of the soul, &c. 



The Amaranth has no corolla: the calyx is coloured, 

 five or three-leaved, permanent; the leaflets lanceolate and 

 acute: native of Asia, Africa, and America. 



The A. Tricolor, native of the East Indies, is admir- 

 ed on account of the variegated colours of its leaves, re- 

 sembling, as Gerard tells us, the splendid and beautiful 

 feathers of a parrot, with its stripes of red, yellow, white, 

 green, &c. 



There are several American species. The Prince's 

 Feather, A. Hypochondriacus, is a native of Virginia, as 

 are several others. The leaves of most of the species of 



