THE FLOWER SYMBOLISTS 25 



and my flowers are the fruit of honour and 

 riches.' 



In the second place, those flowers and plants 

 which are beneficial to man, as the wheat and 

 the ohve, were decided to be good, and those 

 that were hurtful to man, as the tare and the 

 thistle, were evil. Here herbalism and magic 

 step very close to symbohsm, for heahng plants, 

 or those which were useful as a charm against 

 the devil, were good; those which were poisonous, 

 or used for evil purpose, such as raising a spirit, 

 were bad. Thus the nettle, which, when used 

 with due ceremony, dissipates fear, becomes a 

 symbol of courage, and myrrh, which is an anti- 

 dote to love-philtres and drives away voluptuous 

 thoughts, is held to be a plant of chastity. Of 

 this particular species of symbolism Albertus 

 Magnus,' Master of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and 

 Saint Hildegarde," Abbess of Rupertsburg, were 

 the principal exponents. 



Also a plant's habit of growth was taken 

 as an indication of its character. The cedar. 



^ Author of Liher aggregationis, sen Liber mirabilium de 

 virtutibus herbarum, lapidum et animalium. 

 Authoress of The Garden of Health. 



