246 WILD FLOWERS. 



COLUMBINE. 



Aquilegia. 



Welsh, Madwysg cyffredin. Irish, Gillum bawn. French, 

 Ancolie, Galatine. German, Akelen. Italian, Colombina, 

 Perfetto amore. 



NATURAL. 



Polyandria. Ranunculacece. 



Pentagynia. Aquilegece. 



Aquilegia. 



IF the qualities possessed by this plant are as oppo- 

 site as the significations of its different names, it 

 must be as remarkable as it is beautiful. The Latin 

 name of A quilegia is derived from the words aqua 

 (water), and legere (to collect), from the water it is 

 supposed to collect. Its modern English name of 

 columbine refers to the figure of a hovering dove 

 with expanded wings, which we obtain by pulling 

 off a single petal with its attached sepals ; and the 

 olden name of " culverkeys " * evidently referred 

 to the same things. This peculiarity (alluding to 

 the Holy Spirit which had appeared in the form of 

 a dove) probably influenced the choice of it for 

 decking churches at Whitsuntide, a custom so uni- 

 versal, that the flower is still considered emblematic 

 of that season. The same idea is shewn in the 

 pretty Irish name of Gillum baivn, or white dove ; 



* As "pale gander-grass, and azure culverkeys" IZAAK 

 WALTON. 



