GARDEN AVKNS. 87 



i'reshuesSj which lasts but a short time^ we fail to find 

 the attractions which aj)paar to have satisfied the j)lant- 

 collectors of a former age. Its seeds are usually more 

 conspicuous than its flowers, in consequence of the awns 

 that bristle around the tiny ball. What it lacks in 

 beauty it makes amends for in sanctity, for the Herb- 

 Bennet, or Benedieta, was a favourite subject with 

 sculptors and painters engaged in church decoration. Its 

 importance arose out of the belief, as stated in " Ortis 

 Sanitatis/' that " where the rqot is in the house the 

 devil can do nothing, and flies from it ; wherefore it 

 is blessed above all other herbs." Naturally, this came 

 to be one of the amulet plants, that protected its wearer 

 against " venomous beastes.'"' The legend of St. Benedict 

 sets forth that a wicked monk offered the saint a glass 

 of poisoned wine for the purpose of destroying him. But 

 the saint blessed the wine, and the poison, being a sort 

 of devil, flew out of it with such force that the glass 

 was shivered to pieces. Those who cannot refer to " Ortis 

 Sanitatis,''^ which is a scarce old book, may have at hand 

 Mrs. Jameson's " Monastic Orders,'' wherein will be found 

 the story of St. Benedict. 



It is singular that in the arrangement of the rosaceous 

 order that prevails, the geums and potentillas come 

 between the brambles and the roses, being separated 

 from the spiraeas, to which, in general conformation, they 

 are so nearly allied. Not far removed is a plant that 

 bears a strong likeness to a potentilla, both in its divided 

 leaves and yellow flowers. This is the agrimony, a wood- 

 land plant of considerable interest, and not without beauty, 

 insomuch that if it chances to make an appearance in 

 the garden one has not the courage to pull it out. This 



