THE ORIGIN OF THE FLORIST'S CARNATION. 



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and this will make it 700 years old as a garden flower at the 

 present time. We may imagine its introduction coeval with the 

 crowning of Richard of the Lion Heart, and thereby obtain a 

 hint of the possible introduction of the flower by the Crusaders. 

 If conjectures are to be allowed on this solemn occasion, I will 

 beg you to note that the carnation was greatly valued by the 

 ancients, say, to be precise, by those of Italy and Spain, for the 

 flavouring of stimulating beverages. The Greeks and Romans 

 probably did not grow flowers, as we do, for the sake of their 

 beauty solely, but when a flower found favour by its usefulness it 

 became a subject of careful attention. Thus we seem to find a 

 clue to the reference by Pliny in his twenty-fifth book to the 

 Cantabrica, or carnation, which was discovered in Spain in the 

 days of Augustus, B.C. 50, and of which he says it was one of a 

 hundred herbs that were employed to flavour a kind of sweet 

 mead which Holland translates as " a certain wassell or Bragat." 

 Pliny, therefore, carries back the history at least 2,000 years, for 

 Augustus became consul in the year b.c. 33. Shall we say then 

 that in all probability the Romans brought the carnation into 

 this country to flavour their liquor, and the Saxons who suc- 

 ceeded them appreciated the boon and made " soppes in wine " 

 of the fragrant flower, securing for it thereby the cultivation it 

 required, not only to continue its services in conviviality, but for 

 the position it has since acquired in the world of sentiment as 

 the sweetest of garden flowers and a special favourite of the 

 florists. 



When Gerard published in 1597, carnations were plentiful 

 and various in gardens, and he records obtaining a yellow variety 

 from Poland through the agency of a friend . Parkinson , publishing 

 in 1629, speaks of them in number so great that " to give several 

 descriptions to them all were endless." Those he figures are far 

 removed from our modest Dianthus caryophyllus in size and 

 general appearance, but the essential characters are in them ; 

 for they were the same, however different, as the flowers we now 

 cultivate, and they afford valuable aid in measuring the influence 

 of man upon them. It is not of great importance that John Rea 

 in his " Complete Florilege," published 1676, gives the names 

 of a collection of 360 sorts of " Dutch July Flowers," adding 

 that they were then " raised in great numbers in Holland and 

 brought over to London." But it is of importance to note that 



