SCABIOUS. 391 



SCABIOUS. 



SCABIOSA. 



DIPSACE.E. TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



French, la scabieuse des Indes ; regardez-moi [look at me] ; fleur 

 de veuve [widow's flower]. Italian) scabbiosa gentile ; fior della ve- 

 dova; vedovina. 



INDIAN or Sweet Scabious is chiefly valuable for its 

 exceeding sweetness ; yet its colours are often extremely 

 rich. It is sometimes of a pale purple, sometimes so dark 

 as to be almost black, but its finest hue is a dark mulberry 

 red. 



ft What white can match the lily's virgin snows ? 



What red the crimson of the blushing rose ? 



What regal purple with the scabious vie ? 



Or scarlet match the poppy's flaming dye ? 



What yellow lovely as the golden morn, 



The lupine and the heliotrope * adorn ? 



How mixt a hue the streaky tulip stains ! 



How curious the carnation's marbled veins ! 



Etherial blue the silky violets wear, 



And all unite their sweets in mingling air." 



MOSES BROWNE. 



If Scabious is sown in March, it blows in the autumn ; 

 but it will produce stronger flowers if sown in May, placed 

 in the shade, and, when come up, removed into fresh earth ; 

 if well watered and shaded till it is again rooted, and always 

 kept moderately moist, it will flower in the beginning of 

 the summer ; and by this management may be preserved 

 in beauty from June till September. 



Though this is frequently called the Indian Scabious, 

 botanists are uncertain of its native country ; hesitating 

 between Spain, Italy, and India. 



* Heliotrope is here used for helianthus, both the words having 

 the same signification ; they are sometimes confused in this way, but 

 the two genera are very different. 



