Verbena 



other — that was used in sacred rites. It may have 

 such a meaning in our first passage. 



It does not appear what quality in the vervain won 

 for it this remarkable reverence. The Druids are 

 said to have valued it as highly as the Romans did, 

 and in medieval times it had an equal renown as a 

 charm against witchcraft and a remedy for most 

 ailments. In fact, its only property seems to be a 

 slight astringency. 



Flower, June to September. 



Italian names, Verbena and Vervena. 



Viburnum. 



' lenta . . . inter viburna cupressi ' (Ec. i. 26). 

 The plant here is assumed to be the wayfaring 

 tree (Viburnum Lantana), apparently on the ground 

 that its ItaHan name is still ' vavorna.' It is true 

 that the branches of this shrub are flexible, but they 

 hardly look it ; in fact, as it grows in the hedges of 

 an English limestone district, it is almost aggres- 

 sively upright. A kindred species is the wild guelder 

 rose (V. Opulus), which affects damper places. In 

 flower and berry it is much the finer shrub, and 

 from it has sprung the guelder rose, in which the 

 blossoms are barren and the cyme has become 

 globular. Both species are common in Italy. I 

 have an Opulus growing under a tall pine, and like 

 to think that they are as near Virgil's picture as 

 English conditions will allow. 



Flower, April to June. 



Italian names, Vavorna and Lantana. 



