i86 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



What a delightful idea Parkinson gives of the 

 conscious dignity of the flower! How vividly he 

 brings the Great Harwich before us and makes us 

 love its green husk, its mottled leaves, its rich scent, 

 and its curling horns! 



"Gilloflowers," Parkinson continues, "grow like 

 unto Carnations, but not so thick set with joints and 

 leaves. The stalks are more, the leaves are narrower 

 and whiter, for the most part, and in some, do as 

 well a little turn. 1 The flowers are smaller, yet very 

 thick and double in most; and the green husks in 

 which they stand are smaller likewise. The ends 

 of the leaves are dented and jagged. Some also have 

 two small white threads, crooked at the ends like 

 horns in the middle of the flower ; others have none. 



"Most of our later writers do call them by one 

 general name, Caryophyllus sativus and Flos 

 Caryophyllus, adding thereto maximus when we 

 mean Carnations, and major when we would ex- 

 press Gilloflowers, which name is taken from Cloves 

 in that the scent of the ordinary red Gilloflower es- 

 pecially doth resemble them. Divers other several 

 names have been formerly given them, as Vetonica^ 

 or Betonia alt era or Vetonica altibus and coronaria, 

 Herba Tunica, Viola Damascena, Ocellus Damas- 



1 "Do a little turn" is charming, suggesting a quaint little waltz. 



