Flowers of Mystery 441 



The name is from the French Pervenche, which 

 suffers sadly by being changed into the clumsy Peri- 

 winkle. Everywhere it is a flower of mystery ; it 

 is the " Violette des Sorciers " of the French. Sad- 

 der is its Tuscan name, " Flower of death," for it is 

 used there as garlands at the burial of children ; 

 and is often planted on graves, just as it is here. A 

 far happier folk-name was Joy-of-the-ground, and 

 to my mind better suited to the cheerful, healthy 

 little plant. 



An ancient medical manuscript gives this descrip- 

 tion of the Periwinkle, which for directness and 

 lucidity can scarcely be excelled : — 



" Parwyke is an erbe grene of colour, 

 In tyme of May he bereth blue flour. 

 Ye lef is thicke, schinede and styf, 

 As is ye grene jwy lefe. 

 Vnder brod and uerhand round, 

 Men call it ye joy of grownde." 



On the list of the Boston seedsman (given on 

 page 23 et seq.) is Venus'-navelwort. I lingered this 

 summer by an ancient front yard in Marblehead, 

 and in the shade of the low-lying gray-shingled 

 house I saw a refined plant with which I was wholly 

 unacquainted, lying like a little dun cloud on the 

 border, a pleasing plant with cinereous foliage, in 

 color like the silvery gray of the house, shaded with 

 a bluer tint and bearing a dainty milk-white bloom. 

 This modest flower had that power of catching the 

 attention in spite of the high and striking colors of 

 its neighbors, such as a simple gown of gray and 



