xl PREFACE. 



Wilson describes the desolate appearance even of a cottage 

 garden entirely neglected : 



" O'er the green, 



Once smooth before the porch, rank weeds are seen, 



Choking the feebler flowers : with blossoms hoar, 



And verdant leaves, the unpruned eglantine 



In wanton beauty foldeth up the door. 



And through the clustering roses that entwine 



The lattice-window, neat and trim, before, 



The setting sun's slant beams no longer shine. 



The hive stands on the ivied tree, 



But murmurs not one single bee. 



Frail looks the osier seat, and gray, 



None hath sate there for many a day ; 



And the dial, hid in weeds and flowers, 



Hath told, by none beheld, the solitary hours." 



To an attentive observer of their habits, flowers may be 

 made to answer the purposes of the clock, the calendar, and 

 the barometer. Some persons have calculated, to a day, 

 the time of the year when certain trees resume their foliage 

 in a given situation ; the same calculations may be made as 

 to the blowing of flowers, and the hour of the day is indi- 

 cated by many. " Those who are but in a small degree 

 acquainted with botany," says Thunberg, " need not be 

 told that, by the opening and closing of flowers, one may 

 frequently know with certainty, as from a watch, what hour 

 of the day it is, as well as if the weather will be fine or 

 rainy. Plants of this kind are common on the African 

 hills. The Mor&a undulata never opens before nine in the 

 morning ; and before sunset, at four in the afternoon, it 

 closes again. The Ixia cinnamonea opens every evening at 

 four, and exhales its agreeable odours during the whole 

 night. The approach of rain is announced by various 

 bulbous plants, such as the Lvias, Mortzas, Irises, and 

 Galaxias ; the tender flowers of which do not open in the 



