xvi 



FLORA ODOR ATA 



There are many common flowers to be found growing in 



our meadows which diffuse a gentle fragrance most gratifying 



to the senses : and, much as we are concerned with the odour 



of those flowers and shrubs which are to be met with in our 



gardens and gTcenhouses, the wild forms are a source of the 



keenest pleasure to all. It is a lamentable fact, as the poet 



Gray says that : 



* Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

 And waste its sweetness on the desert air. ' 



And why should they be scattered where there are none to 

 enjoy them ? After all, some of these simple flowers are the 

 most pleasing; they are closely associated with memories 

 of the past, and furnish a distinctness of reality peculiar to 

 the rich, cool, green, unrivalled meads of Britain. Beyond 

 this, too, many have come gradually to appreciate the simple 

 flowers most, and it is a relief, even in the homes of the 

 wealthy, to return to solne of the sweet simplicities of Nature, 

 and nothing aff"ords this refreshing change so agreeably as 

 a few well-chosen common flowers. We cannot, indeed, 

 dispense with the glorious Eose, the fragrant Stephanotis 

 and exquisite Gardenia, the strangely-formed and gorgeously- 

 tinted Orchids, or all the more elaborate floral compositions ; 

 but they can be supplemented by scores, nay hundreds, of 

 others possessing, perhaps, a quieter and less obtrusive beauty, 

 but not less pleasing on that account. There has, in fact, 

 been somewhat of a revolution of late years in this as in 

 other matters relating to taste, such as frequently follows a 

 great elaboration of art, and it is pleasant to observe this 

 return to simpler methods. 



As national emblems, as gifts in the language of friendship 

 and love, they gleam in original hues and odours ; they are 

 even frequently hallowed by associations far sweeter than 



