flower of a day, nor does the passing of a cloud occasion any difference, but its sweets continue, and even 
emit a richer perfume when the heavy shower is descending. One more simile and I have done. It will 
apply to our two mothers. Do they not resemble the lavender. It is beautiful in youth, fragrant in old age, 
sweet and delightful, when all its early bloom has faded. 
It is delightful thus to connect the characters of those we love with shrubs and flowers, they bring to mind 
that happy land, where the names of the great and virtuous are fabled to be engraven on the blossoms of the 
trees. 
It has been customary from the earliest times to dedicate certain stars and flowers to the honour of dis- 
tinguished individuals. The latter were also frequently affixed as symbols to their portraits ; thus, to instance 
a familiar example, the lily is introduced in the oldest paintings of the Madonna, and in pictures of the an- 
nunciation it is placed in the hand of the archangel, thereby denoting the advent of the Messiah. The 
original consecration of this flower is of high antiquity. In the Song of Solomon it is mentioned with the 
rose as an emblem of the church. “ I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley.” This alone is 
sufficient to explain its appearance upon religious painting. There is however, another circumstance, which 
renders its connexion with pictures of a sacred nature peculiarly appropriate. The word Nazareth, in Hebrew, 
signifies a flower, and St. Jerome, who mentions the circumstance, considers it to be the cause of the frequent 
allusion made to a rose and lily in the prophecies respecting our Lord. Hence illuminated missals are often 
beautifully decorated with these distinguished flowers. The lily is also used as an heraldic emblem, a custom 
evidently derived from the Crusades. In the crown of Edward the Confessor it formed a conspicuous or- 
nament, as appears from a coin engraved both in Speed and Camden. 
The scientific botanists of antient and modern times have preserved the memory of benefactors to their 
science, by associating them with flowers of various descriptions. Thus the brilliant gentiana, an Alphine 
plant, which opens its bright blue petals in the summer months, and is confessedly one of the richest orna- 
ments of the garden ; commemorates a King of Illyria, as the pale euphrobia , the physician of Juba, a moor- 
ish prince. 
Linnaeus particularly delighted in drawing fanciful analogies between botanists and their appropriate 
plants. Thus the delicate Bauhinia with its two-lobed or twin leaf, designates two distinguished brothers, 
celebrated for their science and affection. Magnolia, with its noble leaves and flowers, and Dillenia, with its 
beautiful blossom and fruit, commemorates the most meritorious and industrious among botanists. Scheuch- 
zeria, a grassy Alpine production, perpetuates the name of the two Scheuchzers, one of whom excelled in the 
knowledge of mountain plants, the other in that of grasses. 
Linnaeus himself is represented by theLinn<ea-borealis,&n abject Lapland plant, flowering at an early period, 
but long unknown. This celebrated botanist who never deigned to notice the calumnies of his enemies, 
thought himself sufficiently revenged by giving their names to obnoxious plants, the qualities of which ap- 
peared consonant with their characters. Thus the henbane would have presented to his lively imagination 
the mental portraiture of a treacherous man, concealing, under the semblance of virtue and humility, a cruel 
and perfidious heart. On the contrary, plants of opposite qualities celebrated the virtues of his friends. 
The Murroea exotica was named after one of his favorite pupils, a foreigner of distinguished talents. In 
pursuance of the same idea, the Brpwallia demissa and elata preserve the memory of a botanist of humhle 
origin, who afterwards became a bishop, in whose work upon water, Sir James Smith discovered the following 
quotation from Seneca, in the hand-writing of Linnaeus : “Many might obtain wisdom, if they did not sup- 
pose that they had already reached it.” 
Dicksonia, a beautiful and curious fern, is well devoted to the late great cryptogamist. Knappia, a small 
and singular grass, to an author celebrated for his minute and curious drawings of that tribe. Buffonia tenui- 
Jolia is well known to be a satire on the slender botanical pretensions of the great French zoologist. 
The elegant Monsonia speciosa was named in honour of Lady Ann Monson. The Buddlea globosa, so 
much admired for its beautiful clustered yellow blossoms, and strong scent of w'ax, commemorates Mr. Adam 
Buddie, the ingenious friend of Petiver, whose collection of dried plants is preserved in the British Museum, 
and still resorted to in doubtful cases. 
The brilliant Tradescantia Virginica preserves the name of Tradescant, who first transplanted it from 
Virginia to the gardens of this country. 
A magnificent and gigantic flower has been discovered in Sumatra, called the Rafflesia Arnoldi, in 
honour of Sir Stamford Raffles, and his lamented companion Dr. Arnold. The Corolla was nine feet in cir- 
cumference, it measured one yard across, and the nectary alone was calculated to hold twelve pints. This 
strange corolla emerged from the earth with only a floral leaf, and before expanding bore some resemblance 
to a cabbage. 
The Calceolaria Father gilla was brought by Dr. John Fothergill, with several other rare plants, from the 
Falkland Islands, where it is a native. Hence the trivial name of Fothergilla, in honour of that truly great 
and excellent physician, who was an ornament to his profession, age, and country, and indeed to human 
nature. 
