29 



i< # * # Every varying hue, 

 Of every beauteous thing on earth, the tints 

 Of Heaven's own Iris." 



Some species are common in gardens. Our present plant is 

 to be met with all over the South of England, in ditches and on 

 river banks, the beauty of which situations is much increased 

 in June and July by its numerous, large, bright yellow flowers. 

 The leaves are sword-shaped the root white and tuberous. 



" How oft have I viewed thee, all glorious and bright, 

 In the pride of thy birth-place, thou vision of light ! 

 Like an angel of gladness, in mercy designed 

 As a token and herald of love to mankind. 



" There, too, where the floods of the desert resound. 

 Thou reignest unmoved by the tumult around ; 

 And the eye may repose on thy soft smiling beams, 

 And the fancy may hail thee the nymph of the streams ! 



" Oh! thus, when the moments of sorrow are nigh, 

 When the stern voice of nature shall call us to die, 

 At that thrilling hour, when in anguish and pain, 

 Our spirits return to life's pleasures in vain ; 



" May peace, with her soft silvery pinions, be there, 

 To chase from her bosom the phantom despair ! 

 May hope, gentle hope, with her sweetness illume 

 The darkness that shadows the depths of the tomb !" Anon. 



O. S. Stinking Iris, (a curious name, when it is considered that it smells 

 like roast beef,) is common in the South of England. 



CROCUS. CROCUS. 

 Plate 1, fig. 13. 



Who does not know the beautiful Crocuses ? One is of a fine 

 blue, ( Crocus vernus ;) another of a golden yellow, (Crocus 

 aureus ;) and others, most elegantly striped. They greet us 

 even in the winter before any other plant, except the Snow- 

 drop, dares to raise its head. Their bright and shining cups, 

 rising without a covering or even a leaf to shield them from the 

 cold blast, seem but emblems of imprudence. Their flowers 

 are indeed exposed, but the young seed vessel is still carefully 

 hidden by the earth, and does not rise above the surface till 

 the warmth and showers of a later season call it up, that the 

 seed may be perfected ; and in one species, which flowers in the 

 autumn, the seed vessel remains some inches deep during the 

 whole winter, wisely defended from the injuries of frost and 

 snow. 



