FLORA'S LEXICON. 



49 



RYONY. Bryonca Dioicia. Class 21, Mo- 

 NCECIA. Order: TRIANDRIA. The name 

 Bryony, and the botanical one, Bryonea, are 

 derived from a Greek word meaning to push 

 forth, or grow rapidly. The root grows to 

 an enormous size ; in former times of igno- 

 rance and superstition, cunning impostors 

 made use of it in their pretended miraculous doings, and some- 

 times artfully contrived to make the root grow sufficiently like 

 the human figure to be supposed a magical resemblance. They 

 effected this by placing a mould of the shape required round the 

 roots of a healthy young Bryony plant, fastened with wires ; and 

 such is the rapid growth of the root, that the image would be 

 formed in one summer. 



PROSPERITY. 



The slender Bryony that weaves 



His pale green- flowers and glossy leaves 



Aloft in smooth and lithe festoons ; 



And crown'd compact with yellow cones, 



'Mid purple petals dropp'd with green, 



The woody nightshade climbs between. 



MANT. 



Nightshade's purple flowers, 



Hanging so sleepily their turban'd heads, 

 Rested upon the hedge; and Bryony, 

 So lavish of its vinelike growth, o'erhung 

 And canopied the flowers; while soften'd gleams 

 Of sunlight, falling through the leafy screen, 

 Shed a faint emerald tinge upon them all. 



TWAMLEY. 



L 



Prosperity doth bewitch men, seeming clear; 

 But seas do laugh, show white, when rocks are near. 



WEBSTER. 



