44 FLORA DOMESTICA. 



Daisy marguerite being their name for the daisy, which 

 this flower much resembles in form, though it is of a much 

 larger size, and of more brilliant colours ? 



The Amellus, or Italian Starwort*, has a large blue and 

 yellow flower. The leaves and stalks being rough and 

 bitter, are not eaten by cattle ; and thus remaining in the 

 pastures after the grass has been eaten away, it makes a 

 fine show when in full nWer. This is supposed to be the 

 Amellus of Virgil : 



" The Attic star, so named in Grecian use, 

 But call'd amellus by the Mantuan muse." 



GARDINER'S TRANSLATION OF RAPIN. 



" Est etiam flos in pratis, cui nomen amello 

 Fecere agricolae ; facilis quaerentibus herba ; 

 Namque uno ingentem tollit de cespite silvam, 

 Aureus ipse ; sed in foliis, quae plurima circum 

 Funduntur, violse sublucet purpura nigrse. 

 Ssepe DeAm nexis ornatee torquibus arse. 

 Asper in ore sapor : tonsis in vallibus ilium 

 Pastores, et curva legunt prope flumina melhe. 

 Hujus odorato radices incoque baccho ; 

 Pabulaque in foribus plenis appone canistris." 



VIRGIL, GEORGIC 4. 



" We also have a flower in the meadows which the country-people 

 call amellus. The herb is very easy to be found ; for the root, which 

 consists of a great bunch of fibres, sends forth a vast number of stalks. 

 The flower itself is of a golden colour, surrounded with a great num- 

 ber of leaves, which are purple, like violets. The altars of the gods 

 are often adorned with wreaths of these flowers. It has a bitterish 

 taste. The shepherds gather it in the open valleys, and near the 

 winding stream of the river Mella. Boil the roots of this herb in 

 the best flavored wine ; and place baskets full of them before the door 

 of the hive." MARTYN'S TRANSLATION, p. 390. 



The China Aster is an annual plant. It should be sown 

 in March or April, and kept in a tolerably warm room 



* Called in France 1'ceil de Christ [Christ's eye] ; in Italy, amello 

 or astern affico di fior turchino. 



