JULY 159 



In these calm retreats live also the old 

 flower-names which "express their relation to 

 humanity, while the scientific names are a 

 necessity for schoolmen." Not every gardener 

 has the same nomenclature. What is larkspur 

 in your garden may be lark's heels in mine, 

 and Elijah's chariot across the way. Your 

 monkshood may be my Cupid's car, or my 

 sister's dumble-dore's delight. Forget-me-not 

 appeals beseechingly to us under half-a-dozen 

 guises. Ragged robin and bachelor's button 

 are names borne by at least twenty widely 

 differing plants, and honeysuckle and pinks 

 masquerade under at least as many. That 

 which we are apt to call cornflower has, it is 

 said, over fifty nommes de plume, ranging from 

 the Old English hawdod to the rustic break- 

 your - spectacles. Almost every nook and 

 corner of the land from whence our speech 

 came to us has been remembered by its home- 

 sick children in connecting it with some beloved 

 plant, and every holy season and saint in the 

 calendar has its emblem. To " Our Lady 

 the Virgin " whole floras have been dedicated 

 Marybuds, Marygold, Maidenhair, Virgin's 

 bower, Dame's rocket, Madonna lilies, Annun- 



