130 GARDEN FLOWERS. 



marjoram wliich grows there, and which the 

 Spaniards term origano. The sweet or knotted 

 marjoram, (^Origanum 7najorana,) cultivated for 

 seasoning dishes, is a native of PortugaL The 

 hop marjoram (^Origmmm didamnus,) has pink 

 flowers, on green cones, something like those of 

 the hops : it is a native of Candia, and though 

 more frequently grown here in pots than on the 

 garden bed, is quite hardy. This plant is the 

 celebrated dittany of Crete of the ancient 

 writers. It clothes, in profusion, the rocks of 

 Candia. It is an excellent stomachic, and the 

 ancient physicians considered the air of Candia 

 especially healthful, on account of the fragrance 

 with which it is imbued by the marjoram. Its 

 balsamic odour is very lasting. 



The tribe of larkspurs which now arise, of 

 almost every colour except yellow, the blue, 

 white, pink, and even scarlet larkspurs, have a 

 gay effect on the flower bed. The double lark- 

 spur has, however, a somewhat formal appear- 

 ance, and must, perhaps, yield in grace and 

 beauty to the more simple single blossom. It 

 is to the latter kind only that the famihar 

 name of larkspur can be applied, for the spur 

 becomes lost in the multiplied petals of the 

 double flower. The common blue larkspur 

 {Delphinium consolida,) grows wild almost 

 thi'oughout Europe, and is very frequent in 

 some of the fields in Cambridgeshire. It is said 

 to be an ingredient in those cosmetics used by 

 French ladies, the frequent application of which 

 proves so destructive to the skin. These 



