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LILAC — SYKINGA. 



Natural order , Sepiarice ; Jasminece, Juss. A 

 genus of the Diandria Monogynia class. 



u The lilac, various in array, now white, 



Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set 



With purple spikes pyramidal, as if 



Studious of ornament, yet unresolved 



Which hue she most approved, she chose them all." 



Cowper. 



The delightful sensation which the lovely 

 tints of this elegant flower, and its fragrance, 

 produce on us in the month of May, has been 

 compared to the first emotions of love, for 

 nature seems to have ordained that mortals 

 should not be permitted to see the one or 

 feel the other with indifference ; tor who can 

 behold the flexible and modest, yet dignified 

 clusters of this charming flower, whose colours 

 vary at every movement, and so sweetly de- 

 scend from the finest violet down to the 

 silvery white, without regretting the short 

 duration of so divine a gift. 



Perhaps we have no flower that gives, or 

 an imagination strong enough to conceive 



