

CHAPTEE XL 



THE CARNATION, AND PICOTEE PINKS. 



" Ye are the Scriptures of the earth, 

 Sweet flowers, fair and frail ; 

 A sermon speaks in every bud, 

 That woos the summer gale.'* 



The Carnation has been cultivated from time immemorial in Europe, 

 and from Gerard, the herbalist of Queen Elizabeth's time, we learn some 

 of its quaint old English names, such as " Sops in Wine " (very expres- 

 sive of the variegated red and white flower), " Pagaiants," " Horseflesh," 

 " Blunkets," etc. 



The most common varieties of the Carnation sprung from the Clove 

 Gilliflower, or Clove Pink, and in former days was much used to distil 

 Clove Gilliflower Water, which was in great repute as a restorative. 

 The florists divide them into three classes now flakes, bizarres and 

 picotees. 



The flakes, on a pure yellow or white ground, have only one color, 

 disposed in broad flashes or stripes, and extending the length of the 

 petal. 



The bizarres, on a pure white or yellow ground, have two or more 

 colors in irregular stripes of pink, or scarlet and purple, sometimes 

 running from the base to the margin of the petal, sometimes broken 

 irregularly into spots. 



The Picotee was formerly spotted with purple, red or scarlet spots, on 

 a white or yellow ground; modern improvements have changed its 

 character ; it is no longer a spotted carnation, but one with the colorings 

 confined to a bordering of each petal. 



