THE CARNATION. 



(DiantJius Coryophyllus.} 



WHEN Perdita said, 



"The fairest flowers of the season 

 Are our carnations," 



she was referring to that period of time which inter- 

 venes between the first and second efflorescence of 

 the rose, and she was aware, doubtless, that although 

 the object of her delight takes its name from Corona- 

 tion, it wears a coronet, and not a royal crown. It 

 may be a First Lady in Waiting, and most honourable 

 of all Maids of Honour, but the Queen of all Flowers 

 and Empress of all the Gardens brooks no rival 

 near her throne. 



Nevertheless, this dianthus is, as its derivation, 



to? avQos, implies, divinely fair, and, always the 



admiration of gardeners, was never so lovely and 



never more beloved than now. It is not only the 



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