132 AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF 



hardly perceptible in a garden bed, but quite powerful when gro^Ti 

 in a large area, especially towards evening. 



* The tangled vetches purple bloom, 

 The odour of the Bean's perfume, 

 Be theirs alone who cultivate the soil. 



And drink the cup of thirst, and eat the bread of toil.' — Shenstoxe. 



Victoria Regia. — The royal member of the Water Lily family, native 

 of the tributaries of the great Amazon river. Since it was intro- 

 duced into cultivation in this country, its noble proportions and 

 the delicious fragrance of its gigantic flowers have delighted 

 thousands both at Kew and Eegent's Park. 



Virgilia capensis. — A tropical tree, bearing in boundless profusion 

 purple and white flowers that emit a most delightful fragrance. 



Virgin's bower. /S'ee Clematis. 



Vine. See Vitis. 



Viola odorata [Sweet Violet). — A perennial trailing plant. Probably 

 amongst scented flowers there is not one which can boast of such 

 universal popularity as does the Violet. Indigenous to om* own 

 country, it is often the subject of pleasing associations and re- 

 miniscences ; and the fine varieties which cultivation has given us 

 have served to greatly increase its value. 



According to mythological records the Violet undoubtedly took 

 its name from lo, owing to the tradition that when that lady was 

 transformed by Jove into a heifer, he caused Violets to spring up 

 among the grass in order to supply her with a herbage worthy of 

 her. In the transition into Latin the word became changed into 

 Viola, hence the French Violette and the English term Violet. 

 Other legends as to the origin of the Violet were current even in 

 classical times ; but that which connects the word with lo seems to 

 be the most natural, and it is certainly the most probable from an 

 etymological point of view. 



' To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, 

 To throw a perfume on the violet. 

 Is Avasteful and ridiculous excess.' — Shakespeare. 



Rapin declares that the Violet was a fair njanph who was changed 

 by Diana into this flower in order to rescue her from the attentions 

 of Apollo — an idea which, at best, seems to be a feeble imitation of 

 the story of Daphne and the Laurel in Ovid's 'Metamorphoses.' 

 Herrick, in his * Hesperides,' has a very quaint theory on the 

 subject. He says that Violets are the descendants of some un- 

 fortunate girls concerning whom Cupid had one day a dispute with 

 Venus as to whether she or they excelled in sweetness. The verdict 



