XXIII 



ON HYACINTHS 



THE Hyacinth is a truly domestic flower, for do we not 

 grow it in glasses and bowls for the adornment of our 

 rooms as well as in pots for our greenhouses? The 

 village widow loves it, and puts it in tall, slender glasses, 

 which she stands on the narrow ledge of the window 

 that she would not open, summer or winter, if she could, 

 and could not if she would. The odour of Hyacinths 

 conceals the mustiness of many a cottage parlour in 

 spring, but for the remainder of the year the latter reigns 

 supreme, a source of criticism in the drawing-rooms of 

 the rectory and the hall, but not of vigorous protest to 

 owners of cottage property, and to ignorant village folk 

 who love " snugness" better than pure air. 



The home Hyacinth is an Eastern flower, and is not 

 native, as those might suppose who think of the wild 

 Hyacinths. The truth is, that the " Bluebells," which 

 grow wild in some districts, and are often called 

 Hyacinths, are not members of the genus Hyacinthus 

 at all, but are Scillas. The "azur'd Harebell," men- 

 tioned by Shakespeare in " Cymbeline," is Scilla nutans, 

 and not Campanula rotundifolia^ the " Harebell " of plant 

 dictionaries. 



The full name of the garden Hyacinth is Hyacinthus 

 orientalis, or the Eastern Hyacinth. It came from Syria 

 in 1596, a year which the diligent plant student will find 



