Tussy-mussies 297 



My favorite tussy-mussy, if made of flowers, 

 would be of Wood Violet, Cabbage Rose, and Clove 

 Pink. These are all beautiful flowers, but many 

 of our most delightful fragrances do not come from 

 flowers of gay dress ; even these three are not 

 showy flowers ; flowers of bold color and growth 

 are not apt to be sweet-scented ; and all flower per- 

 fumes of great distinction, all that are unique, are 

 from blossoms of modest color and bearing. The 

 Calycanthus, called Virginia Allspice, Sweet Shrub, 

 or Strawberry bush, has what I term a perfume of 

 distinction, and its flowers are neither fine in shape, 

 color, nor quality. 



I have often tried to define to myself the scent of 

 the Calycanthus blooms ; they have an aromatic fra- 

 grance somewhat like the ripest Pineapples of the 

 tropics, but still richer; how I love to carry them in 

 my hand, crushed and warm, occasionally holding 

 them tight over my mouth and nose to fill myself 

 with their perfume. The leaves have a similar, but 

 somewhat varied and sharper, scent, and the woody 

 stems another; the latter I like to nibble. This 

 flower has an element of mystery in it — that inde- 

 scribable quality felt by children, and remembered 

 by prosaic grown folk. Perhaps its curious dark red- 

 dish brown tint may have added part of the queer- 

 ness, since the " Mourning Bride," similar in color, 

 has a like mysterious association. I cannot explain 

 these qualities to any one not a garden-bred child; 

 and as given in the chapter entitled The Mystery 

 of Flowers, they will appear to many, fanciful and 

 unreal — but I have a fraternity who will understand, 



