86 



The Botanical Renaissance 



[ch. 



beautiful maiden, daughter of a mighty lord called Parisa- 

 taccho. This maiden loved the Sun, but the Sun forsook 

 her because he loved another. So, being scorned by the 

 Sun, she slew herself, and when her body had been burned, 

 according to the custom of that land, this tree sprang from 

 her ashes. And this is the reason why the flowers of this 

 tree shrink so intensely from the Sun, and never open in 

 his presence. And thus it is a special delight to see this 

 tree in the night time, adorned on all sides with its lovely 

 flowers, since they give forth a delicious perfume, the like 

 of which is not to be met with in any other plant, but no 



Text-fig. 45. "Arbor Malenconico" or "Arbor tristis" 

 = Tree of Sorrow [Durante, Herbario Nuovo, 1585]. 



sooner does one touch the plant with one's hand than its 

 sweet scent vanishes away. And however beautiful the 

 tree has appeared, and however sweetly it has bloomed at 

 night, directly the Sun rises in the morning it not only fades 

 but all its branches look as though they were withered and 

 dead." 



Much more famous than Durante was Fabio Colonna, 

 or, as he is more generally called, Fabius Columna (Plate 

 IX), who was born at Naples in 1567. His father was a 

 well-known litterateur. Fabio Colonna's profession was 



