BUCK-BEAN. 101 
BUCK-BEAN. 
CALM REPOSE. 
Do you observe along the extended banks of that 
lake, whose silvery mirror reflected an unclouded 
sky, those clusters of flowers as white as snow 1 
A roseate hue colours the under side of these beau- 
teous flowers, while a tuft of fibres of extraordinary 
delicacy, and dazzling whiteness rises out of their 
alabaster cups, giving thern the appearance of fringed 
hyacinths. Expression fails to do justice to the 
elegance of this plant. To remember it for ever, 
you need but to have once seen it gently waving on 
the brink of the water, to which it seems to impart 
increased coolness and transparency. The Buck- 
bean never opens in stormy weather. Tranquillity 
is requisite to the development of its blossoms ; but 
the calm that it enjoys itself it seems to diffuse on 
all the objects around it. 
The original name of the Buck-bean was Bog- 
bane, or Bog-plant, from its place of growth. 
