JANUARY 15 



portion always was the calyx, while the curious little 

 trumpet-shaped green parts which he calls * two-lipped 

 nectaries' are really the petals of the corolla, which 

 very soon fall off. I have met with one other poem 

 on the Christmas rose, by C. Mackay, but it is scarcely 

 worth quoting ; and about ten years ago there was in 

 Punth (Dec. 30, 1882) a very spirited set of verses 

 on the flower, too long to quote in extenso, but I shall 

 quote part of the first verse as a specimen : 



' Know ye the flower that just now blows, 

 In the middle of winter the Christmas rose 



Though it lack perfume to regale the nose, 

 To the eyes right fair is the Christmas rose 



A fiddlestick's end for the frost and snows ; 



Sing hey, sing ho, for the Christmas rose.' 



Of the Christmas rose proper there are several varie- 

 ties, chiefly differing in the size of the flowers and 

 their suitableness to different localities ; and there are 

 many species. We have two in England, both of which 

 grow in the Gloucestershire woods, //. fcetidus and 

 H. viridis, and both worth growing in the garden, 

 especially //. fa'tidus, for its handsome and lasting 

 foliage. For the same good character I grow and 

 admire //. arguiifolius from Corsica, which looks more 

 like a dwarf large-leaved holly than a Christmas rose. 

 I also grow and am fond of the many hybrids raised 



