.*.. 



that like that flower, he nas a countenance all on fire, and a 

 heart reduced to a coal. 



" Whose leaves, with their ruby glow, 



Hide the heart that lies burning and black below." 



TULIP TREE. 



Ldriodendron Tulipifera. 



LAriodendron, from the Greek AI^IOV, or AKJIOV, alily, 

 and jsvJjovj a tree; the Tulip-tree. The Encyclopedia has 

 it Liriodendrum, Nuttall, and other Botanists, write it 

 Liriodendron. 



The L. Tulipifera, American Tulip-tree, or yellow Pop- 

 lar, bears flowers resembling a small tulip, variegated with 

 pale green, yellow, and orange standing solitary at the end 

 of the buds of the branches. The flowers have a calyx of 

 three leaves, inferior. Corolla, bell-shaped, of six petals. 



The young bark of this tree is very aromatic; and the 

 remarkable shape of the leaves cannot fail to strike the most 

 careless observer; they seem as if cut off with scissors at the 

 ends. The elliptical obtuse deciduous stipulas, which cu- 

 riously enfold the young leaves, are also remarkable. The 

 tree is celebrated for its size and beauty. Botanists indicate 

 two varieties of it. 



Our attention has lately been drawn to this tree by the 

 public prints, which tell us, the root has been discovered to 

 be a sovereign antidote to the venomous bite of snakes. The 

 bark to be chipped from the root and made into a decoction; 

 of which half a pint is to be drunk every half hour the 

 wound frequently bathed with the fluid, and the bark applied 

 in the form of a poultice to the part. 



Of this genus there are two other species in China, and 

 one in the Mountains of Amboina. 



VENUS' LOOKING-GLASS. 

 Campanula speculum. 



Campanula, Latin, for a little bell. 



Speculum, Looking-glass, a name bestowed upon it, as 

 some suppose, on account of the glossy nature of the seeds; 

 others, from the corollas seeming to reflect the rays of the 

 sun. 



The flowers are purple, inclining to violet, solitary. Ca- 

 lyx, perianth, superior, five-cleft, its segments the length of 

 the corolla. Corolla, monopetalous, flat, wheel-shaped, deep- 

 lydivided; segments egg-shaped; valves of the nectary scarcely 

 discernible. Leaves small, sessile, oblong, slightly scolloped. 

 Stem, from six to ten inches high. Root, annual. A native 

 of corn-fields in the south of Europe, common in English 

 gardens. 



Towards evening the corollas fold up into a pentagonal 

 figure, and open, again, with the rays of Aurora. 



VERBENA, OR VERVAIN. 



Verbena, De Theis derives it from the Celtic ferfaen, 

 to remove; alluding to one of its supposed medicinal vir- 

 tues. 



Some derive verbena from verro, to sweep or cleanse. 

 The Greeks called it the sacred herb and it was with this 



plant alone that they cleaned the festival table of Jupiter, be- 

 fore any great solemnity took place. 



Verbena, among the Romans, was the name of some 

 evergreen aromatic shrub, esteemed sacred, and employed in 

 various solemn ceremonies. 



It was, also, one of those plants dedicated to Venus. 

 Venus the victorious, wore a crown of myrtle interwoven 

 with vervain. The Roman Ambassadors, or heralds at arms, 

 were crowned with vervain, when they went to denounce 

 war. 



A wreath of vervain heralds wear, 

 Amongst our gardens named, 



Being sent the dreadful news to bear, 

 Offensive war proclaimed. 



Drayton. 



From its reputed medicinal and divine properties, it was 

 sometimes worn as an amulet around the neck; and the Ro- 

 mans, in the beginning of the year, made a present of this 

 herb to their friends. 



The common Verbena officinalis, grows wild in Eng- 

 land seldom found above a quarter of a mile from a house, 

 which occasioned its being called sampler's joy, because it 

 denoted a house to be near, for the relief of the weary travel- 

 ler. This species is without fragrance. 



The general character of the flower of the Verbena is 

 a calyx with five teeth, inferior. Corolla, funnel-shaped, 

 rather unequal, curved; limb spreading, cloven half way 

 down into five, more or less, unequal rounded segments. 



VIOLET. 



Viola. 



Viola, the common Latin name for Violet, etymology 

 uncertain. [SeeJ&es' Cj/cZo.] 



Violet, Latin, viola, is, by Ainsworth, derived from via, 

 a way where men go: so, he says, the Greek for the Violet, 

 which is joi/, is derived from the Greek verb i<v, which sig- 

 nifies to go: possibly, from its being found wild on road- 

 sides. 



Some etymologists trace the name of this flower to la, 

 daughter of Midas, who was changed by Diana into a Violet, 

 to hide her from Apollo. And the beautiful modest blossom 

 still retains the bashful timidity of the nymph, partially con- 

 cealing itself amidst its foliage, from the gaze of Phoebus. 



The trembling violet, which eyes 

 The Sun but once, and unrepining dies. 



H. Smith. 



Another fabulous account of the violet, is that it sprung 

 up on purpose to be the food of the metamorphosed Jo, 

 daughter of Inachus, who had been changed by Jupiter into 

 a beautiful white heifer, but fed by Juno's order upon bitter 

 herbs. 



"On leaves of trees, and bitter herbs she fed." 



Dryden's Ovid. 



