HYACINTHS 59 



Long ere the trampling of fruit-gathering time the 

 plants are safely ensconced below the surface. 

 "The plentifull root, being ministred medicine- 

 like remedieth the serpents sting ; " at least Maplet 1 

 says it does. We trust that none of our readers 

 may ever have to put it to the test. On Plate XXVI. 

 we have a very curious member of the family the 

 Narcissus cyclamineus. This came to us from 

 Portugal. The vigorous throwing back, cyclamen- 

 like, of the perianth, naturally suggests its specific 

 name. It has a distinct and quaint originality that, 

 with its early appearance and rich golden colour, 

 makes it very attractive. 



The daffodil naturally suggests to one its sister 

 bulb, the hyacinth. The one flowers in rich pro- 

 fusion, clothing the woodlands in a robe of gold : 

 the other, in equal profusion, with a mantle, no less 

 beautiful, of purple. There is scarcely a more 

 charming Spring sight than the soft haze of violet 

 colour extending in every direction beneath the 

 overhanging boughs when the hyacinths, in count- 

 less thousands, deck the ground. 2 A few plants in 



1 " A Greene Forest," 1567. 



2 "Groves that looked a perfect paradise 



Of blossom, over sheets of hyacinth, 

 That seemed the heavens upbreaking through the earth." 



TENNYSON. 



There is no finer Nature-poet than Tennyson ; his word- 

 pictures are not only poetic in their setting forth, but 

 absolutely true to the hard facts, 



