LILY OF THE VALLEY. 127 



doubt descended from mediaeval days. The old monkish 

 herbalists often based their nomenclature on associations 

 of a religious character, and united their plant-names 

 with the legends of the saints, or the services of the 

 Church's calendar. 



" To the curious eye 

 A little monitor presents her page 

 Of choice instruction, with her snowy bells 

 The lily of the vale. She not affects 

 The public walk, nor gaze of noonday sun ; 

 She to no state or dignity aspires, 

 But silent and alone puts on her suit, 

 And sheds her lasting perfume, but for which 

 Wo had not known there was a thing so sweet 

 Hid in the gloomy shade." * 



As an ornamental plant few of our species have a greater 

 claim to a place in the garden, for few others can boast of 

 so delicate a beauty, so rich a fragrance. It is most easy of 

 cultivation, requiring only to be placed in a shaded corner. 



The generic name, Convallaria, is from the Latin word 

 for a valley, and is bestowed in obvious reference to the 

 sheltered woodland dells in which the convall-lily finds a 

 congenial home. 



The root of the lily of the valley is fibrous and perennial, 

 extending a little below the surface of the ground, and 

 reaching to a considerable distance. The leaves grow in 

 pairs, their stalks sheathing one within the other. One of 

 these leaves is often larger than the other, and both are 

 very simple in form, and deeply ribbed. The flower-stalk 

 springs from the root, and is about equal in length to the 

 leaves. It bears a loose raceme of drooping, bell-shaped 

 flowers of a pure white ; hence, in Beaumont and Fletcher's 



* Hurdis. 



