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BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
rivals. Many poets have celebrated it, but perhaps the most beautiful lines that it has inspired are those of 
Mrs. Robinson : — 
“ All weak and wan, with head inclined, 
Its parent breast the drifted snow, 
It trembles while the ruthless wind 
Bends its slim form ; the tempest lowers, 
Its emerald eye droops crystal showers 
On its cold bed below.” 
The Wild Snowdrop, with its single flowers, is much more elegant than the Snowdrop of the gardens, the 
flowers of which are generally double. The blossoms generally open in February, but this year (1846) I 
gathered snowdrops in our little garden at Bayswater the 16th of January, and on the 1st my daughter 
gathered a very pretty nosegay of snowdrops and crocuses, with a few flowers of Hepatica. 
•• jl ne snow-arop—winter s timia cnua, 
Awakes to life, bedewed with tears, 
And flings around its fragrance mild ; 
And where no rival flow’rets bloom 
Amidst the hare and chilling gloom, 
A beauteous gem appears. 
GENUS II. 
THE SNOWFLAKE. (Leucojum, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. LIEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Perianthium with a short tube, and a campanulate, equal limb, formed of six pieces, which are thickest at the apex. 
Stigma simple. ( Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —Only the summer Snowflake (L. cestivum , Lin.,) is a native of Great Britain. It has a 
very elegant flower, looking like a large Snowdrop, but growing on a very long stem. The name of Leucojum is 
taken from two Greek words, which signify a white violet. 
GENUS III. 
THE NARCISSUS. (Narcissus, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Perianthium funnel-shaped, with a spreading, six-parted limb, surrounded at the orifice of the tube by a cup. Stamens 
six, inserted in the tube, and concealed within the cup. {Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —The genus Narcissus is a very extensive one, but only three of the species 
are natives of Great Britain. The name of Narcissus, according to some botanists, is derived from 
a Greek word, signifying stupor, in allusion to the heavy smell of the Jonquil and other sweet-scented species. 
The story of Narcissus is well known ; and the unfortunate youth who fell in love with himself is well imaged 
by these plants, which by a fanciful imagination may be easily supposed to be looking down at, and admiring 
themselves. 
1. —THE POET’S NARCISSUS. (Narcissus poeticus, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 275 ; 2nd ed., t. 469. I depressed ; membranous and crenate at the margin. Leaves bluntly 
Specific Character. —Flowers mostly solitary. Crown very short, | keeled, their edges reflexed. {Lindley.) 
Description, &c.— This very elegant plant is called the Narcissus of the poets, because it is feigned to be 
the plant into which the unfortunate Narcissus was changed, and it is certainly one of the most beautiful of all 
the species. It is by no means common, in a wild state, in England, but it is found occasionally in heathy ground 
