Rosemary 



decorations among the ceremonies due on Candlemas 



Eve, says, 



" Down with the Rosemary and Bayes ; 



Down with the Mistletoe. 

 Instead of Holly now upraise 

 The greener Box (for show)." 



Although the Rosemary has been bound up in such 

 intimate fashion with English life for many centuries 

 it is not a native plant, but has come to us from 

 South Europe, where it abounds in any locality no 

 matter how dry or exposed. For it is what is known 

 as a xerophyllous plant a plant specially adapted to 

 an environment of drought. Witness the white hairs 

 which form such a thick coat over the tender skin and 

 protect it from the drying, shrivelling effect of hot sun 

 or cutting winds, and prevent undue transpiration of 

 moisture from the tissues beneath. Witness, too, the 

 curious and interesting structure of the leaves. When 

 one comes to analyse it one finds that their needle 

 shape is due to the fact that the edges of each leaf 

 are turned back sharply so that almost the whole of 

 the back of the leaf, all but a narrow strip, is covered 

 by them. Thus the leaf exposes the minimum amount 

 of surface possible, and even this back strip is covered 

 by a white felting of hairs. It is this light felting in 

 contradistinction to the dark face of the leaf, that gives 

 the foliage the colour contrast characteristic of the 

 Rosemary. Again the leaves are all set on the stem 



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