OP ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 
87 
was a farmer, and one day while standing on the headland in one of his fields, superintending some farming opera¬ 
tions, which were carrying on in the centre, he gathered a heartsease which grew at his feet, and thoughtlessly 
began to pull off its petals, while he was speaking to his men. We have already mentioned that the stamens and 
pistil of the heartsease are very curiously constructed; the mass of stamens without filaments huddled together, 
looks something like the body of some small animal ; the two that are furnished with tails, resemble arms ; and 
the style with its round knob-like top, and the hole in its side, bears considerable resemblance to a head. The 
curious appearance thus formed, caught Bertram’s attention ; and he took it home with him to examine it more 
attentively. From this slight circumstance Bertram became a botanist ; he gave up farming to study / physic, as 
being more congenial with his new pursuits ; he entered into correspondence with Linnaeus, and all the first 
naturalists in his time ; and he died loaded with honours received from almost every scientific society in Europe 
The heartsease, though long a favourite garden flower, was not valued by florists, till about 1810 or 1812, 
when the present Lady Monck, “ then Lady Mary Bennet, had a little flower-garden in the grounds of her father 
the Earl of Tankerville, at Walton-upon-Thames. In this little garden was the figure of a heart, in which this 
amiable lady used to plant the varieties of Pansies, which she accidentally discovered growing in her father’s 
garden. Aided by the industry and zeal of Mr. Richardson, then, and still gardener at Walton, several pretty varie¬ 
ties were raised and transplanted to this little parterre.”—( Gard. Mag. vol. xi. p. 427.) From this small beginning 
may be traced the rage which has since prevailed for cultivating this flower. Mr. Richardson soon became 
extremely fond of raising new varieties from seed ; and in the year 1813 or 1814, some of his new kinds attracted 
the attention of Mr. Lee, of the Hammersmith nursery. Mr. Lee instantly perceived the advantage that might 
be derived from the culture of this flower; and a number of new and beautiful varieties were soon raised in the 
Hammersmith nursery. Other nurserymen followed his example, and in the course of a few years, the hearts¬ 
ease took its place as a florist’s flower. 
The names of the heartsease are very numerous. Besides Heartsease and Pansy, by which names it is 
generally designated in books, it is called Herb Trinity, Love and Idleness, Love in Idleness, Live in Idleness, 
Kiss behind the garden gate, Three faces under a hood, Kit run in the streets, Call me to you, Jump up and 
kiss me, Look up and kiss me, Pink of my John, Flower of Jove, Flamy, &c. The French call it Herbe de la 
Trinite, and Pensee, which last name is no doubt the origin of our word, Pansy. The Spaniards also name it 
Yerba de la Trinidad. The Italians call it Little Flame, Winged Violet and Butterfly Violet (viola farfalla). 
They also call it Mother and Daughter-in-law ; and this strange name accords with that given to it by the 
Germans, who call it Step-mother. 
Culture. —It is the habit of the Heartsease to ripen a succession of seed during the whole of its flowering 
season. As soon as the petals of a flower drop, its seed-pod swells and ripens, while other flowers are expanding ; 
and thus the plant generally bears ripe fruit and flowers at the same time. The seed may be sown of the 
common sorts in the common soil; but for the finer kinds it is usual to make a bed in some shady part of the 
garden. The soil of this bed should be about eighteen inches deep, and it should consist of loam mixed with 
sand and vegetable mould, and highly manured. The seedlings will flower in about two months from the sowing 
of the seed, whether the time of sowing be autumn, summer, or spring; and as soon as they have flowered, the 
plants should be all taken up, the best replanted eighteen inches apart, and the others thrown away. It must 
be remembered that though these plants are very liable to be scorched by the excessive heat of the sun, and 
