38 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



of spikenard" with which "Mary anointed our Lord in 

 Bethany. Let us suppose the two statements to be cor- 

 rect, and then what becomes of the protest against a 

 supposed act of extravagance " it might have been sold 

 for three hundred pence " ? The produce of a common 

 weed of the country could never have acquired such a 

 value, and the protest necessarily suggests that the oint- 

 ment of spikenard was the produce of some far-distant 

 land, and obtainable only with cost and difficulty. Such, 

 indeed, is the case. The spikenard of the New Testament 

 and of Canticles i. 12 and iv. 13 was imported into 

 Palestine from the far East, the plant producing it being 

 the Nardostachys Jatamansi of De Candolle, a plant spoken 

 of by Dioscorides as the Nard of the Ganges the Sumbul 

 or Sunbul hindac of the Arabs to this day. Lavender, in- 

 deed, grows in Syria, for the genus Lavandnla is essentially 

 Mediterranean, but it was not the spikenard of antiquity. 



The commonest uses of Lavandnla connect it with the 

 lavatory, both words deriving their origin from Invo, to 

 wash ; the plant being as much prized in ancient times as 

 now for its refreshing perfume and cleansing properties. 

 Herein is the secret of the commercial importance of 

 lavender, of which immense quantities are grown near 

 London for the purposes of the perfumer. 



The common lavender (Lavandnla vera] is the species 

 grown in the Mitcham and other districts, as the oil yielded 

 by its flowers, although not so large in bulk as that pro- 

 duced by the flowers of Lavandnla spica, is of much 

 finer quality, and is alone employed in the manufacture 

 of the finest perfumes. The oil obtained from the last 

 mentioned of the two species is rather green in colour, and 

 is commonly known as spike oil, or foreign oil of lavender. 



