152 THE WILD TULIP. 



And in V Allegro : * 



" Meadows trim with daisies pied." 



THE TULIP. 



" The pied windflowers and the tulip tall." 



SHELLEY. 



It is probable that, for the majority of floral amateurs, the 

 name of the tulip is inseparable from a plant which, with the 

 hyacinth and the lily, becomes, in the merry spring-time, the 

 ornament of our gardens. Yet, towards the end of March, 

 the observer will occasionally discover, in the woods and 

 groves, the wild tulipjr the Tulipa sylvestris of Linnaeus, which 

 may, perhaps, be very properly taken for the type of a small 

 tribe of the Liliaceae. It is easily recognised by its flower, 

 which resembles a large yellow campanula, slightly green on 

 the exterior. Like all plants of the same family, it has but 

 a single floral envelope or perianth, which may be either 

 a corolla or a calyx as you will. The initiated protest and 

 asseverate that it is a calyx ; but the profanum vulgus, who 

 compose the majority, will have it to be a corolla, on account 

 of its colouring. To cut the knot, and please all parties, our 

 beautiful floral envelope has been denominated a petaloid 

 perianth. 



The divisions of this perianth, six in number, may, in truth, 



* See also Shelley's " Sensitive Plant," &c. 



V This is common enough in Germany and France, especially in the 

 vineyards, but very rare in England. 



