Aran, 43 



whole stalk, ^vitll the flowers upon it, doth 

 somewhat resemble a long purse tassel, and 

 thereupon divers gentlewomen have so named 

 it." It is in some parts of France called wild 

 onion, on account of its ovate, bulbous root. 

 The flowers are composed of a thick compact 

 cluster of small purple or ash-coloured bells. 

 The species called musk-grape hyacinth, is a 

 handsomer flower than the starch kind. It has 

 narrow leaves, more than a foot long, and grows 

 wild in southern Europe. The feathered hya- 

 cinth [Miiscari comosnm monstrosiirn) is an 

 exceedingly pi-etty border flower. It blows 

 during April and May. Several kinds have 

 an odour of musk, hence their Latin names 

 from milieus. This substance is called misk 

 by the Arabs. The flower is very general in 

 the east, and one of the commonest in the 

 Syrian field. 



" In spite of nippins; sheep and hungry cow, 

 The little daisy finds a place to blow." 



Clare writes thus of our field flower, and the 

 garden daisies keep pace with it. Indeed all 

 the double, and quilled, av hen and chicken 

 daisies, which have, for ceuuines, ornamented 

 the edges of flower beds, are merely varieties 

 of the common daisy, {Bellis jjerennis.) The 

 Germans have raised a great number of 

 varieties of this flower, differing especially in 

 all the shades of red and white; but the dark 

 crimson daisy, so often clustering with the 

 London pride around the cottage garden bed, 

 is the most beautiful in hue. There is a 



