The American Cowslip. 187 



beautiful delicacy and graceful formation make it deserving a 

 situation, even amongst the plants that are potted for the house. 

 It is easily propagated by offsets, which should be taken from 

 the o'ld plants in the month of August, that they may be well 

 fixed to the earth before the frost comes on. It is increased 

 more rapidly from seed which the plant generally produces in 

 plenty ; these should be sown, soon after they are ripe, either in 

 pots or in a shady border. If too much exposed to the sun 

 while young, they are almost sure to perish, so impatient are 

 they of heat. Many persons have lost their stock of these 

 plants, more especially in England, where they are much prized, 

 by placing them in dry soil in a sunny part of the garden with- 

 out thinking of their original home. It is the emblem of You 



ARE MY DIVINITY. 



Primula Veris — English Cowslip, is very different from the 

 false or American flower of that name ; they belong to the same 

 class and order, but are of a different genus. It is therefore this, 

 and not the one native with us, which has been for so long a 

 time the theme of the English poet Shakspeare celebrates it 

 in his Midsummer Night's Dream, where, in a few lines, he makes 

 it subservient to the Queen of the Fairies, describes the charac- 

 ter of the corolla, and alludes to the institution of tall military 

 courtiers which were pensioned by Queen Elizabeth. 



And I serve the Fairy Queen, 

 To dew her orbs upon the green : 

 The Cowslips tall her pensioners be, 

 In their gold coats spots you see. 

 v These be rubies, fairy favors ; 



In those freckles live their savors. 

 I must go seek some dew drops here, 

 And hang a pearl in every Cowslip's ear. 



The corollas of these are often gathered to make a kind of wine, 

 and sometimes also mixed with tea to give it a flavor ; or used 

 alone in infusion as an anodyne and antispasmodic. The name 

 originated from the Saxon Cuslippe, from the odor resembling a 

 cow's breath. Silk-worms can be kept alive on its leaves, but 

 will produce no silk except on mulberry diet. The leaves were 

 formerly eaten as salad, but lettuce and many others are so much 

 better that these are banished from the gardens for kitchen pur- 

 poses. 



