Shamrock, is the Irish name for three-leaved grass, or 

 Trefoil. 



Saint Patrick, (the tutelar saint of Ireland,) is said, while 

 preaching to the pagan Irish, to have used the Trefoil, or 

 Shamrock, to explain the doctrine of the Trinity; which so 

 operated on their conviction, that a sprig of this grass is ever 

 since worn by the Irish, on the anniversary of the saint, com- 

 memorative of the event. 



The order of St. Patrick, was instituted by George III., 

 in 1783. The badge of this order is a saltier red, on a field 

 azure, surrounded with a Shamrock, or Trefoil vert, charged 

 with three imperial crowns, or within a garter; on which is 

 the motto quis separabit " who shall separate them." The 

 whole is surrounded by a star of silver, with eight points; all 

 which is embroidered, and worn on the outer garment of the 

 knights of the order. 



CRESTED AMARANTH; or, COCK'S COMB. 

 Celosia Cristata. 



Celosia, the generic name of this singular plant, is de- 

 rived from the Greek x>i xsc;, brilliant, or x >txea!, to entice, or 

 enchant. The English name Cock's comb, and the French 

 Crete de Coq, is given on account of the resemblance which 

 the crested head, or mass of flowers, bears to the crest, or 

 comb of a cock. 



It is a native of Asia: cultivated to such perfection in 

 Persia, China, and Japan, that the crests, or heads of the 

 flowers, are said to be frequently a foot in length and 

 breadth. 



It is an annual plant, with angular, striated st ems : leaves 

 alternate, acute, narrowed into a petiole at the base, some- 

 times a little curved: flowers so numerous and small, and so 

 closely set together, on an irregular, flattish surface, as to look 

 more like a piece of rich velvet, than a vegetable substance, 

 sometimes branched at the base. The form of the crests are 

 so variable as seldom to give two of the same shape. The 

 colours, orange-yellow, bright red, purple, white, and some- 

 times variegated. 



COLUMBINE. 



JlquUegia. 



Jlquilegia, from Jlquila, an Eagle; the nectaries being 

 fancied to resemble an Eagle's talon. 



Columbine, from Columba, a Pigeon from a supposed 

 resemblance the same parts of the flower bear to the head of 

 a Pigeon. 



Some etymologists are of opinion, that the name of Jlqui- 

 legia is given to this plant, because the leaves, when not fully 

 expanded, collect and gather a great deal of rain water. 



Darwin tells us that in Jlquilegia (or Columbine) the 

 nectary is imagined to be like the neck and body of a bird, 

 and the two petals standing upon each side to represent wings, 

 whence its name of Columbine, as if resembling a nest of 

 young pigeons fluttering whilst their parent feeds them. [See 

 his note upon Lonicera.] 



The roots are perennial. Flowers of various colours, 

 purple, blue, red, white, &c. 



The dark blue or purple-flowered, Jl. vulgaris, common 

 Columbine, about three feet high, is of European growth. 



The Jl. Canadensis, red flowering Columbine, is a na- 

 tive of North America, from Canada, to Carolina: and was 

 carried from Virginia to Europe by Tradescant. It is a more 

 graceful and delicate plant than the purple. Its very slender 

 stems are reddish. Corollas, yellow within, and red with- 

 out. Lower leaves biternate, irregularly divided, the extreme 

 lobes blunt; the upper lobes simply ternate, toothed, or per- 

 fectly entire: the uppermost, simple, lanceolate, acuminate. 



CONVOLVULUS; 

 Or, Bind Weed. 



Convolvulus, perhaps from Convolve, to wrap or wind 

 about, to envelope, to encompass as many of the species are 

 twining. 



Indigenous in Europe, America, and the Indies. 



The Convolvulus opens and closes its monopetalous 

 flower with folds similar to those of a parasol, and are never 

 expanded at night, or in wet weather, in order that the anthers 

 and stigma may be guarded from the humidity of the air. 



Convolvulus, expand thy cup-like flower, 

 Graceful in form, and beautiful in hue! 



Barton. 



u Flowers, which shrinking from the chilly night, 

 Droop and shut up; but, with fair morning's touch 

 Rise on their stems, all open and upright." 



The character of this genus is a five-cleft calyx, bell, or 

 funnel-shaped corolla, plaited border generally spreading, 

 more or less five lobed. Leaves, heart-shaped. 



ARKANSA. COREOPSIS. 

 Coreopsis tinctoria. 



Coreopsis, from the Greek xo ? i ; , a bug, and ejr;i ? , ap- 

 pearance; alluding to a fancied resemblance between the 

 seed and an insect. 



Tinctoria, from the Latin tinctura, a colour or dye. 



Jlrkansa, indicates the situation from whence it was 

 taken by Professor Nuttall. 



Mr. Pastie of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris, 

 advances the new hypothesis, that it is of more consequence 

 (in a medical point of view) to know the exact natural situa- 

 tion of a plant, than knowing the genus. He observes, that, 

 all plants which grow on high cold grounds have a tonic and 

 stimulating power, whilst those are found to have a contrary 

 quality, which are natives of opposite situations. 



(Sec Mauri's Botany.) 



The Jlrkansa Coreopsis, is a very pretty slender grow- 

 ing annual, of from two to three feet high. Flowers terminal. 

 Petals wedge-shaped, generally three-toothed at the point, 

 the middle tooth longest, and often notched, of a bright golden 

 colour, with a dark crimson spot at the base. Florets of the 

 disk black-purple; but the styles and stigma being yellow, 

 occasion the outer rim, when the florets are expanded, to ap- 

 pear yellow. 



