261 



HOUSELEEK.- SEMPERVIVUM. 



Natural arder, Succulent ce. A genus of the 

 Dodecandria Dodecagynia class. 



It is often called Sengreen, from the old 

 herbalists having mistaken this plant and the 

 stone-crop, for a species of the sengreen or 

 Saxifraga grandulata; or because the Greeks 

 comprised all these plants under the name of 

 'Ai'£w«y, on account of their being always fresh 

 and green. 



Nature, whose slightest works cannot be 

 viewed without instruction, has given a lesson 

 in this plant, worthy of the deepest reflection. 

 It teaches us, by selecting the bare rock and 

 the sloping roofs of houses, as situations fa- 

 vourable to the growth of this vegetable, not 

 to repine at our lot, or complain of the 

 soil in which we are thrown ; for the house- 

 leek gathers its nourishment where other 

 plants would find none, and maintains the 

 cooling qualities of its pulpy leaves on the 

 burning tiles of our buildings. The lesson 



