SWEET-SMELLING PLANTS 



7 



Amygdalus communis {Almond). — Although a tree of commerce in 

 Southern Europe, it finds a place in our gardens on account of its 

 ornamental character, and the fact that it produces a mass of 

 beautiful white to rosy red fragrant bloom early in the season 

 before the leaves appear, forming a most enchanting harbinger of 

 spring. Oils and essences are largely extracted from its fruits in 

 those countries where they mature. 



' Yesterday on the boughs 



The bloom hung scented and fair, 

 To-day they are scattered, 

 The breeze best knows where.' — Miss Landox. 



Amyris acuminata. — An Indian tree, the younger growth when 

 bruised emits an odour resembling orange-blossoms. 



Andira retusa. — A Brazilian leguminous tree with purple flowers, 

 having an odour of oranges. 



Andromeda floribunda [Arctic Heather). — A North American heath- 

 like shrub of compact habit, and bearing spikes of bell-shaped 

 flowers that are highly scented. This genus is named in allusion to 

 the virgin Andromeda, the beautiful daughter of the Ethiopian king, 

 Cepheus, and represented as a girl of most exquisite and unrivalled 

 charms ; but these charms remain only so long as she retains her 

 virginal purity. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy 

 hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was 

 chained to a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as the fresh 

 water does the roots of this plant. Dragons and venomous serpents 

 surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles frequent the abode of 

 her vegetable resembler, and when they pair in the spring, throw 

 mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the distressed 

 virgin cast down her blushing face through excessive afiiiction, so 

 does this rosy- coloured flower hang its head, growing paler and 

 paler till it withers away. ... At length comes Perseus, in the 

 shape of summer, dries up the surrounding w^ater, and drives away 

 the monsters, rendering the damsel a fruitful mother, who then 

 carries her head (the capsule) erect. They bear with impunity the 

 severest winters in any part of Great Britain, and, when fully estab- 

 lished, nothing can be more beautiful during the months of March 

 and April than these tiny shrubs, covered with pretty bell-shaped 

 flowers. Other American sorts are A. coriacea, pink; A. speciom, 

 white ; and A. mariana, commonly called the Lily of the Valley 

 shrub. There are other species, A. hypnoides and A, tetragona, 

 from the frigid climate of Lapland. 



Andropogon. — A genus of scented plants known as grasses^ largely 

 cultivated in India, Ceylon, and the Straits Settlements, for their 



