The Fritillaria is a native of Persia, and was, for some 

 time, called in Europe Lilium Persicum, but, as there was 

 already another Persian lily growing in the European gar- 

 dens, it was changed to Corona Imperialis, or Crown Im- 

 perial, by Alphonsus Paucius, Physician to the Duke of Flo- 

 rence. This title appears to have been adopted in all the 

 European languages. 



Modern botanists have since bestowed the name of Fritil- 

 laria on a family of plants, of which this is, from its noble de- 

 portment and brilliancy of colouring, considered the sovereign. 



" The Lily's height bespoke command, 



A fair imperial flower; 

 She seem'd design'd for Flora's hand. 



The sceptre of her power." 



The F. Imperialis has a large scaly bulb root Herb of 

 very quick growth, fetid, two or three feet high, succulent 

 or juicy, of a fine shining green, consisting of a thick, simple, 

 straight, leafy stem. Leaves scattered, linear-oblong, twisted. 

 Flowers a circle of tulip-shaped corollas turned downwards, 

 which have the appearance of so many gay bells, the stigma 

 answering for the clapper; the whole being crowned by a 

 coma, or tuft of green leaves, gives it a singular and agree- 

 able effect. The colours most admired are the orange, 

 lemon, and brilliant red. There is a variety with variegated 

 leaves, and one with a red stem. 



But to breathe fragrance on the morn, 

 Proud gorgeous flower, was never thine. 



Fables of Flora. 



Then heed ye not the dazzling gem 

 That gleams in Fritillaria's diadem. Evans. 



COMMON CYPRESS. 

 Cupressus sempervirens. 



Cupressus, from two Greek words, xua, to produce, and 

 T*i<ro; equal, alluding to the regularity of its branches. 



Cypress, E. L. cupressus, from the Greek xujr(;i<nro;. 



Or, according to Ovid, from Cyparissus, a Youth be- 

 loved by Apollo, who, in grief at having inadvertently killed 

 the favourite stag of his friend, requested of the Gods, that 

 his mourning might be made perpetual, and was by Apollo 

 changed into a Cypress Tree, the branches of which were 

 always used at funerals. 



Himself he would have slain thro' desp'rate grief: 

 What said not Phoebus, that might yield relief ! 

 To cease his mourning, he, the boy desir'd, 

 Or mourn no more than such a loss requir'd. 

 But he, incessant griev'd : at length address'd 

 To the superior pow'rs a last request; 

 Praying, in expiation of his crime, 

 Thenceforth to mourn to all succeeding time. 



* * # # 



Apollo sad look'd on, and, sighing, cry'd 

 Then, be for ever, what thy pray'r imply'd; 

 Bemoan'd by me, in others grief excite ; 

 And still preside at ev'ry fun'ral rite. 



Congreve's Ovid. 



Amid the throng of this promiscuous wood, 

 With pointed top, the taper Cypress stood; 

 A tree, which once a Youth, and heav'nly fair, 

 Was of that deity the darling care, 

 Whose hand adapts, with equal skill, the strings 

 To bows with which he kills, and harps to which he 

 sings. Congreve's Ovid. 



" The Cypress is the emblem of mourning." Shaks. 



The Cypress, that darkly shades the grave, 

 Is sorrow that mourns its bitter lot. 



Percival. 



On account of the gloomy hue of its leaves, especially in 

 winter, it was esteemed by the ancients a suitable ornament 

 of their burial places. It was held sacred to Pluto and 

 Proserpine. 



The common European Cypress, C. sempervirens, has 

 two varieties, the pyramidal, and spreading, or horizontal. 

 It is said to be a long-lived tree. According to an assertion 

 of Pliny's, there were, in his time, cypress trees growing at 

 Rome, which were more ancient than the city itself. We 

 are told, that the gates of St. Paul's church at Rome, made of 

 cypress-wood, had lasted from the time of Constantine, 1100 

 years, as fresh as new, when Pope Eugenius IV, ordered 

 gates of brass in their stead. Many of the chests which en- 

 closed the Egyptian mummies, are made of Cypress, afford- 

 ing a decisive proof of its almost incorruptible nature. The 

 wood is capable of a fine polish, and, being fragrant, it is es- 

 teemed for some species of light cabinet work. Its little 

 branches are quadrangular. Leaves imbricated in four rows, 

 obtuse, depressed, convex; strobiles globular; scales a wnless. 



The American species of this genus in most estimation 

 is the C. Disticha, Deciduous Cypress sometimes called 

 Bald Cypress. It is one of the largest trees in North 

 America, being found, sometimes, seventy feet high, thirty 

 feet in circumference at the surface of the ground, and twenty- 

 six, at the height of six feet. Its branches extend almost 

 horizontally. Leaves acute, in two rows, and very near to- 

 gether on the little branches, whence they have been com- 

 pared to the leaves of Acacia. Cones larger, with stronger 

 scales than those of the common Cypress. Its wood is light, 

 fine grained, and, after being exposed to the light, of a reddish 

 colour, and very durable, Delaware, may be assumed as its 

 northern boundary. East Florida abounds in it. Cypress 

 shingles are in great estimation, and are said to last forty 

 years. 



DAFFODIL. 

 Great Yellow Daffodil. 



Narcissus Major. 



(For Narcissus, see note on that flower.) 

 Daffodil supposed, by Skinner, to be corrupted from 

 Jlsphodelus. And Jlsphodelus is defined by Ainsworth, to 

 be the Daffodil of two sorts, white and yellow. 



The Flora Historica tells us that " this flower was 

 evidently considered a kind of Lily by early writers, and wo 

 are of opinion that the name is a corruption of Dis's Lily, as 



