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phpfisant's eye (Adonis aidumnalis) are equally 

 hardy. This last species is generally known 

 in France by the name of gontte de sang, and is 

 the flower fabled by ancient poets to have 

 sprung from the blood of Adonis, which, ac- 

 cording to their legends, had a wonderful 

 fliculty of giving a red tinge to natural objects, 

 and was said to have coloured the river of 

 Lebanon, called Adonis, whose waters are red 

 from the soil over which it flows. 



Common as the humblest flower of our 

 garden groimd, is the columbine, (Aquilegia 

 vulgans,) which sometimes grows also in our 

 native woods, and wears its hues of blue or 

 pink, or purple or white, at this pleasant 

 season. In the wild state it is generally blue, 

 and is called by country people, blue starry. 

 Our fathers fancied that the lion was fond of 

 it, and hence its old name of herha Iconis. 

 The double-flowered variety is almost as 

 general as the single flower. The prettiest of 

 the garden species is the Alpine columbine, 

 which also nods its head to the winds as they 

 rush through the valleys of the high Swiss 

 mountains. It has blue flowers tipped with 

 yellowish green, and is, probably, but a variety 

 of the common columbine. 



A syrup is sometimes made for children of 

 the flowers of the columbine, but it has been 

 denounced by Linna;us as highly dangerous; 

 and he even asserts it to have proved fatal to 

 children. This plant was called culverwort by 

 old writers. 



