LILY OF THE VALLEY. 



LILY OF THE VALLEY, (Convailaria.) 



THE Lily of the Valley, Convailaria majalis, is a plant 

 so well known, and such a universal favorite, that little 

 need be said by way of description, unless we add that of 

 Gerarde in 1596, which is as follows : " The Lilly of the 

 Vally hath many leaves like the smallest leaves of Water 

 Plantaine, among which riseth vp a naked stalke, halfe a 

 foot high, garnished with many white floures, like bels, 



with blunt and turned 

 edges, of a strong 

 savour, yet pleasant 

 enoughf, which being 

 past, there come 

 small, red berries, 

 much like the berries 

 of asparagus, wherein 

 the seed iscontained." 

 A modern writer in 

 the "Treasury of Bot- 

 any "says: "Without 

 poetical or fanciful 

 conventionalities, the 

 Lily of the Valley is 

 as perfect an emblem 



(Convollaria Majalis.) Q{ ^^ modesty> 



and humility as the floral world can afford. It may 

 seem idle to observe that a flower of this description 

 cannot be that referred to in the Sermon on the 

 Mount ; but as that opinion is frequently broached in 

 popular works, it may simply be observed that it never 

 grows in the open field, and that there is nothing in its 

 array to which the term ' glory ' is applicable. Not a 

 litlte unprofitable commentary might have been spared if 



