hess] THE SUNFLOWER 231 



The sunflower was held in reverence by people of past ages. In 

 the mythology of the ancient Peruvians, it occupied an important 

 place, and was employed as a mystic decoration in ancient Mexican 

 sculpture. Like the Lotus of the East, it is equally a sacred and an 

 artistic emblem figuring in the symbolism of Mexico and Peru, 

 where the Spaniards found it rearing its aspiring stalk in the fields, 

 and serving in the temples as a sign and decoration, the sun-god's 

 officiating hand; maidens wearing upon their breasts representa- 

 tions of the sacred flower in beaten gold. In the unfortunate 

 Cathedral at Rheims they formed the aureoles of both the Virgin 

 and St. John, the flowers turning toward the figure of Christ on the 

 cross as toward their true sun. 



We find Gerard the great English botanist of the sixteenth cen- 

 tury, a great enthusiast over this great flower of gold. He said, 

 "The Indian Sun or the golden floure of Peru is a plant of such 

 stature and talnesse that in one summer being sown of seede in 

 Aprill, it hath risen up to the height of fourteen foot in my garden, 

 where one floure was in weight three pounds and two ounces and 

 crosse overthwart the floure by measure sixteen inches broad. 

 The stalkes are upright and straight, of the bignesse of a strong 

 man's arme, beset with large leaves ever to the top of the stalke 

 cometh forth for the most part one floure, yet many times there 

 spring out sucking buds which come to no perfection; this great 

 floure is in shape like to the cammonil floure, beset around about 

 with a aple or border of goodly yellow leaves in shape like the 

 leaves of the floures of white lillies; the middle part whereof is 

 made as it were of unshorn velvet or some curious cloth wrought 

 with the needle ; which brave worke if you do thorowly, view and 

 marke well, it seemeth to be an innumerable sort of small floures, 

 resembling the nose or nozell of a candle-stick, broken from the 

 foot thereof; from which small nozell sweat eth forth excellent fine 

 and cleere turpentine, in sight, substance, savour, and taste. The 

 whole plant in like manner being broken, smelleth of turpentine; 

 when the plant groweth to maturitie, the floures fal away, in place 

 whereof appeareth the seed, blacke, and large, much like the seed 

 of Gourds, set as though a cunning workeman had of purpose placed 

 them in very good order, much like the honiecombes of Bees : the 

 root is white and compact of many strings." 



