228 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
In the Floral games at Toulouse, the principal 
prize was a golden Amaranth for the best lyric 
composition. 
The species of Amaranth called Tricolor, a native 
of the East Indies, is admired on account of the 
variegated colours of its leaves, resembling, as 
Gerard tells us, the splendid feathers of a parrot, 
with its stripes of red, yellow, white, green, &c. 
The Amaranthus hypocondriachus, one of the 
American species, is better known by the name of 
Prince's Feather. The leaves of most of the species 
of this plant are used in hot countries as culinary 
vegetables ; but they are not equal to the spinach, 
which they somewhat resemble. 
