168 FLORA'S LEXICON. 



YRUS JAPONICA. Pyrus Japonica. Class 

 12, ICOSANDRIA. Order: TRIGYNIA. The 



brilliant colours and woody growth of the 

 Pyrus Japonica make it contrast strikingly 

 with the pale and fragile snow-drop, near 

 whose modest bells this superb native of Ja- 

 pan may often be seen. The buds and flow- 

 ers of brightest crimson, with their golden-coloured anthers, come 

 peering out through the snow-wreaths that lie lightly upon their 

 trained stems. The white and pink varieties of the Pyrus Japo- 

 nica are also very beautiful, but have not the rich and glowing 

 splendour of the crimson, which, from its hardiness, is more wor- 

 thy of our esteem than most of our foreign acquisitions, that 

 generally require the shelter of the green-house. 



THE FAIRIES' FIRE. 



Ha ! are they out ? 



My summer friends, the fairies? Surely not; 

 Yet who but they have lit these tiny fires, 

 That gleam and glow amid the wintry scene? 

 Yes, here they are, aweary of the storms, 

 And wrecking winds, and pinching frosts, that keep 

 Within their darksome prison-house of earth 

 The gay and spendthrift flowers; here they are, 

 Lighting their ruddy beacons at the sun 

 To melt away the snow. See, how it falls 

 In drops of crystal from the glowing spray, 

 Wreathed with deep crimson buds the fairy fires. 

 And now that there is something bright on earth, 

 The clouds are driven from the clear blue sky, 

 And heaven is bright'ning too. Serene and calm, 

 The very air is hushed into repose, 

 That not a breath may ruffle the young flowers, 

 Now gently waking into life and light. 



TWAMLKV. 



