AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF 



maiden's cultivation, that she was able to amass a fortune from the 

 sale of the precious gift which love had made her, when with a 

 sprig in her breast she bestowed her hand and her wealth on the 

 happy gardener of her heart. 



Ancient authors appear to have taken but little notice of its 

 charms. Dioscorides, however, tells us that the Persians obtained 

 an oil from a white flower with which they perfumed their apart- 

 ments during the repasts, and it is probable he only became 

 acquainted with the J essamine from his attendance as a physician 

 on Anthony and Cleopatra in Egypt, whose unbounded luxury would 

 naturally cull this essence from the land of odours. 



The Hindus, who use odoriferous flowers in their sacrifices, par- 

 ticularly value the Jessamine, and they are also largely employed 

 strung together as neck garlands, whilst in our own country it is a 

 common custom for the bride to wear a coronet of Jessamine and 

 Orange-blossom intermingled, as an elegant indication of chastity 

 and grace. 



The supple and pliant branches of the Jessamine accommodate 

 themselves to numerous situations, and run gaily wild over trellised 

 arches, dead walls, or over the shrubs in wilderness walks ; under 

 trained culture they make bushy shrubs for beds and borders where 

 in the morning and evening their star-topped tubes send forth a 

 shower of odours that embalm, refresh, and purify the surround- 

 ing air. 



There are several other beautifully-scented forms, amongst which 

 we may find a place for the following : — /. humile, the Italian 

 J essamine, with large yellow flowers, deliciously fragrant ; the 

 Spanish Jessamine, with tubular flowers, white within and blush- 

 red without ; the Arabian Jessamine, /. sambac, flowers single and 

 double, white, with a most exquisite fragrance ; the curled flowered 

 variety, /. revolutimi, with yellow flowers ; /. gracillimum, white ; 

 J. niidijiorum, with its dainty yellow blossoms that peep out in 

 winter and spring like a golden shower before the warmth of 

 spring has induced the leaves to show themselves ; /. grandiflorum, 

 both double and single forms, and this variety retains its delicate 

 odour when dried. 



The poets, of course, have a deal to say in its praises. Spenser, 

 in his happiest mood, writes : — 



* Young blossomed Jessamines ; 

 Sucli fragrant flowers do give most odorous smell. ' 



'The twining Jasmine and the blushing Rose, 

 With lavish grace their morning scent disclose,' — Prior, 



