THE AMERICAM BOTANIST. 
Apollo— the .i^od dispensinsr rays of Vyrht. Sol si<^nitied 
the sun, and was applied to tliese sua-flowers which were 
held sacred in th- sun-worship of the Indians. 
The common name of chrysanthemam is of Greek 
ori^^^n and si.<rniries "o-oia^n flo^ver." The.se Hoovers were 
known to Dioscorides in the time of Christ and could the 
merry kin<,^s of Cairo and poets ot Ionia behold the size of 
our chrysanthemuns, the flower show of to-day would 
seem a greater contest than ever did the games of Olym- 
pus ot the ancient Greeks. The plants of this composite 
family arc bitter as wormwood and of a disagreeable 
It is pleasant to follow such i)ungent Howers with the 
story of the fragrant roses and violets. The vcrv name 
Rosa, calls forth memories of the old gardens' of our 
childhood: It is associated with the tiner .-.notions of 
all nations, and is the Ho .ver of Cupid. The Gr.-eks called 
the roses Rh , 1 jn beeause of t.ieir fragranee, and Plutarch 
wrote that they were originallv all white, until Venus, 
while wandering through the tiekW of roses, wounded her 
sandaled feet on the thorns an.d sprinkled their snowy 
petals with her blood, thus changing some of the.se flow- 
rose is the flower of Cupid, anrl thrtt while the mischievous 
with wine, and overthrew the he:jvenly neet ir, s irinklint, 
the white roses adorning the table and there were ever 
afterwards pink or wine colored roses. 
Violets and hearts-ease were known to the Greeks as 
Ion in memc:.ry of that beautiful damsel lo loved of Jupiter 
who transfor.iied iier into a gentle heifer feeding upon the 
violets alv)ut I, -.ran uA Is. The Romans knew them as 
Violnc. P .p.-ie^ . .r -irt'- ea^e are somewhat simihar to 
"love-in-idlencss." 
The hvacinth was anciently known as white until 
Ovid's red" lily, Lilium rusum, <jf which he wrote that 
