LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 189 



tials. This plant is always fixed on some 

 little turfy hillock in the midst of the 

 swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained 

 to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, 

 as the fresh water does the roots of the 

 plant. Dragons and venomous serpents 

 surrounded her, as toads and other rep- 

 tiles frequent the abode of her vegetable pro- 

 totype, and, when they pair in the spring, 

 throw mud and water over its leaves and 

 branches. As the distressed virgin cast 

 down her blushing face through excessive 

 affliction, so does the rosy-coloured flower 

 hang its head, growing paler and paler till 

 it withers aw^ay. Hence, as this plant 

 forms a new genus, I have chosen for it 

 the name oi Andromeda^ . 



Every where near the road grew the 

 Mesomora or Herbaceous Cornel (Cornns 



* Linnseus has drawn this fanciful analogy further 

 in his Flora Lapponica. " At length," says he, 

 ** comes Perseus in the shape of Summer, dries up 

 the surrounding water and destroys the monsters, 

 rendering the damsel a fruitful mother, who thea 

 carries her head (the capsule) erect." 



