50 WILD FLOWEES. 



as the leaves are larger than those of any 

 other wild flower. 



By the latter end of April almost every wood- 

 land displays its stores of blue wild hyacinths, 

 (Hi/acinthus non script.us.) Some of the old 

 herbalists, as Gerarde, term this beautiful flower 

 the harebell ; but the nodding blue-bell of the 

 heath-land is the harebell of modern poets, 

 and probably, also, of most of the older ones. 

 The Germans call our woodland flower the 

 Englische hyacinth ; but it is a native not 

 only of every county of England, but of every 

 land of Europe. The roots contain a great 

 quantity of starch, which, in former times, was 

 used, not only by the laundress, but also in- 

 stead of gum for pasting books and setting 

 feathers on arrows. The fresh root is said 

 to be very poisonous. Our garden hyacinths, 

 called eastern hyacinths, {Htjacinthus orieiitale,) 

 are very abundant in Palestine. Lamartine 

 found them in great beauty on the plains, at 

 the foot of Mount Lebanon. Kitto, in his " Pic- 

 torial Palestine," says, " the narcissus, the hya- 

 cinth, and the violet are in flower in the Holy 

 Land in the beginning of February. One 

 species of narcissus is cultivated in the open 

 fields, by the people of Aleppo, and towards the 

 end of winter, certain Arab women are seen in 

 the streets, carrying baskets of the flowers for 

 sale, and chanting as they walk along ' How 

 delightful its season ! its Maker is bountiful.' " 

 The Holy Land has also the grape hyacinth and 

 the blue grape hyacinth in its corn-fields. 



