40 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1881. 



or the stripes with which He was scourged, the ten petals the 

 ten Apostles who deserted Him, the pillar in the centre of the 

 flower the cross, the stamina the hammers, the styles the nails, 

 the inner circle ahout the central pillar the crown of thorns, the 

 radius around it the nimbus of glory, the white in the flower is 

 an emblem of purity, the blue a type of Heaven. It keeps open 

 *three days and then dies — denoting the death, burial and resur- 

 rection of our Lord." 



There have been several traditions as to what particular tree 

 furnished the wood of which the cross was made. One tradition 

 ascribed it to the Aspen, whose leaves have been since the cruci- 

 fixion in constant agitation in remembrance of that dreadful 

 event. Another ascribes it to the wood of several trees: 



t " Nailed were His feet to Cedar, to Palm His hands, 

 Cypress His body bore, Title on Olive stands." 



The scourges with which our Lord was beaten were made from 

 the Weeping-Willow. The Purple Orchis, also called Geth- 

 semane, is supposed to have grown at the foot of the cross and 

 to have been stained with the blood which flowed from it. 



Many flowers were named from the Virgin Mary — the Mari- 

 gold, Lady's fingers. Dame's Violet, Lady's Mantle, Lady's 

 Slipper, Maiden Hair and matiy others. The Marigold is so 

 named because in bloom on all festivals held in honor of the 

 Virgin. 



Many flowers were also dedicated to the Saints. Feather- 

 grass was dedicated to St. Albaii, the first martyr of England. 

 The Daffodil to St. Perpetua, martyred during the reign of the 

 Emperor Severus. The poet Herrick says : 



*♦ When a daffodel I see 

 Hanging down its head towards me 

 Guesse I may what I must be. 

 First I shall decline my head, 

 Secondly I shall be dead, 

 Lastly, safely buried." 



The flower of St. Duntsan was Monkshood ; of St. Augustine, 

 Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rhododendron ; of St. Bartholo- 

 mew, the Sunflower ; and so the list might be indefinitely ex- 

 tended. 



But the development of gardening as a fine art can hardly be 

 80 well illustrated by the life of individual plants as by noting 



* A devotional spirit seems to have strained a point here. The varieties 

 oT the passiflora generally known to us, remain in bloom but a single day. 



t Pes Cedrum est truncus Cupressus 

 Oliva supremum palmaque transversum 

 Christi sunt in cruce lignum. 



