ROSMARINUS 



449 



clusters of two or three in the leaf-axils of the previous year's shoots. 

 Corolla two-lipped, pale violet-blue and white ; calyx darker and purplish, 

 very downy. 



Native of Europe and Asia Minor; cultivated in Britain for four 

 hundred years, probably much longer. It is the only species of the 

 genus, but there are 

 some distinct forms. 

 Nearly related to the 

 lavender, this shrub is 

 also much associated 

 with it in gardens. Its 

 aromatic odour suggests 

 nutmeg. A fragrant oil 

 is extracted from the 

 plant. The rosemary, 

 which likes a sunny 

 spot and not too heavy 

 a soil, is scarcely so 

 hardy as the lavender, 

 although it is rarely 

 injured. During the 

 peculiarly trying winter 

 of 1908-9, however, 

 most of the old plants 

 at Kew were killed, 

 whilst two-year-old 

 plants were not injured. 

 It is readily increased 

 by cuttings placed in a 

 cold frame. Old speci- 

 mens form short, rugged 

 trunks, and are very 

 picturesque. 



Both in S. Europe 

 and in Britain the rose- 

 mary fills a notable 

 place in folk-lore. At 

 one time it was believed 

 to possess a stimulat- 

 ing influence on the 

 memory, and was even 



known as " herb of ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS. ROSEMARY. 



memory." The well- 

 known line of Ophelia, "There's rosemary, that for remembrance," gave 

 the text and the title for a delightful play performed many times in 

 London by Sir Charles Wyndham and Miss Mary Moore some years ago. 

 The same idea has also given it a significance in association with the 

 dead. In the old Chanson de Malbrouk we find the lines : 



" A 1'entour de sa tombe, romarin Ton planta, 

 Sur la plus haute branche, le rossignol chanta." 



