POMEGRANATE. 

 Punica. 



Punica, the malum punicum of the ancients, so called, 

 it is presumed, because the Romans first obtained this fruit 

 from the north of Africa. It was sometimes called malum 

 granatum, in allusion to its internal granulations whence its 

 English name Pomegranate. 



Punica L. from Pseni, the Carthagenians. 



Ainsworth defines punica 1. Of Africa 2. Red, scar- 

 let colour. 



Gen. cha. of the flowers calyx, superior of one leaf, 

 bell-shaped, coloured, permanent, in five acute segments. 

 Corolla of five petals, roundish, rather spreading, inserted 

 into the calyx. There is a beautiful double variety, valued 

 on account of their flowers. 



The punic granite op'd its rose-like flowers; 

 The orange breath'd its aromatic powers. 



Harte. 



POPPY. 

 Papaver. 



Papaver, according to the most learned etymologists, 

 because the flowers, or fruit, of this plant was formerly mixed 

 with the pap, or papa, given to children in order to procure 

 sleep. 



This genus is so variously diversified, that two plants are 

 seldom alike in their flowers. 



In the time of Gesner,* the village Damons and Phyl- 

 lises proved the sincerity of their lovers by placing a petal of 

 the poppy in the hollow of the palm of the left hand ; which, 

 on being struck by the other hand, gave a sound that denoted 

 true attachment, or faithlessness, when it failed to snap. 



" By a prophetic poppy-leaf I found 

 Your changed affection, for it gave no sound, 

 Though in my hand struck hollow as it lay, 

 But quickly withered, like your love, away." 



The largest heads of the single flowering white poppies 

 are preferred for the making of opium. These, being wound- 

 ed as they grow, yield a milky juice, which, by drying, be- 

 comes opium. 



Ceres is supposed to have given rise to the poppy to 

 assuage her grief, during her search after her daughter Pro- 

 serpine, who was carried away by Pluto. 



Indulgent Ceres knew my worth, 

 And to adorn the teeming earth, 

 She bade the poppy rise. 



Cowley. 



Sleep-bringing poppy, by the ploughman late, 

 Not without cause, to Ceres consecrate. 



W. Browne. 



* Gesner was pronounced to be " the greatest Naturalist the world 

 had seen since Aristotle; the first who ever collected a museum of natu- 

 ral history, and the discoverer of the only true principles of botanical 

 arrangement in the flower and fruit, to which the very existence of bo- 

 tany, as a science, is owing," born at Zurich, in 1516, and lived to the 

 age of forty-nine. 



The herb of the White Poppy, P. Somniferum, is 

 erect, branched, very glaucous, with broad, obtuse, simple, 

 wavy leaves, clasping the stem, the upper part of which is 

 clothed with coarse, spreading hairs; calyx smooth, of two 

 leaves; petals nearly globose; root annual. 



From a poppy I have taken 

 Mortals' balm, and mortals' bane: 

 Juice, that creeping through the heart, 

 Deadens ev'ry sense of smart; 

 Doom'd to heal, or doom'd to kill, 

 Fraught with good, or fraught with ill. 



Mrs. M. Robinson. 



JVoa; (or Night) daughter of Chaos, was crowned with 

 poppies. 



PRIDE OF CHINA. 



JYIelia Jlzedarach. 



Jftelia, a name adopted by Linnccus for this tree; appa- 

 rently because its leaves resemble those of the Jlsh, It is a 

 native of Syria: thrives well in our Southern States. 



The pulp which surrounds the nut is said to be poison- 

 ous; but the berries, when ripe, are eagerly sought for and 

 eaten by cattle and birds, particularly the red-breast, without 

 any ill effect. The bark of its roots and branches is esteem- 

 ed an effectual vermifuge. 



In the southern parts of Europe, the nuts are threaded 

 for beads, to assist the devotion of good Catholics; for which 

 purpose they are peculiarly suited, having a natural perfora- 

 tion through the centre. Hence the tree has been called Jlr- 

 bor Sancta; and by the Spaniards Jlrbol Parayso. It has, 

 also, the English names of Bead-tree, or Pride of India. 



The flowers have a reddish lilac hue: they form axillary 

 clusters at the extremity of the branches, and exhale a deli- 

 cious odour. Calyx of one leaf, five-toothed; petals five; nec- 

 tary cylindrical, toothed at its mouth, bearing anthers; drupa 

 a nut of five cells; leaflets ovate, notched, pointed, bright 

 green above, paler beneath, 



EVENING PRIMROSE. 



(Enothera. 



(Enothera, L., from the Greek oiws, wine, and 3->ij, a 

 searching or catching, bestowed upon the plant on account 

 of the root having caught the perfume of wine, from being 

 dried. 



The (Enothera Biennis, or Tree Primrose, is a North 

 American plant, with a stem two or three feet high, some- 

 times branched, leafy, angular, rough, with minute tubercles, 

 'hairy; leaves alternate, ovate, or lanceolate, toothed, downy; 

 the lowest stalked, longer, and somewhat waved; flowers 

 sessile in the bosoms of the upper leaves, so as to form a large 

 spike; of a fine pale yellow, delicately fragrant; expanding in 

 the evening. The unfolding of the petals is so sudden, as to 

 cause an audible sound, from the separation of the calyx- 

 leaves suddenly appearing in a cup shape, progressively ex- 

 panding, until they become quite flat; biennial. 



You Evening Primroses, when day has fled, 



Open your pallid flowers, by dew and moonlight fed. 



Barton. 



