200 
INDEX OF THE 
IMMORTALITY Amaranth. One of the flowers which 
was fabled to grow in the gardens of the gods. Milton 
mentions it among those which blow in heaven, and 
makes the angels in their adoration cast down 
“ Their crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold : 
Immortal amaranth,—a flower which once, 
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, 
Began to bloom,—but soon, for man’s offence, 
To heaven removed.” 
IMPATIENCE— Balsam. Which when touched is said 
to throw the seeds out of the capsules with great force ; 
and from this quality it is selected to express irritation 
or ingratitude. 
INDEPENDENCE— Wild-plum Blossom.. One of the 
oldest and hardiest of our English forest fruits, which 
grows wild in hundreds of hedges, and cannot be 
trained in gardens or orchards. It seems to love best 
those rugged and solitary nooks which have never been 
cultivated by the hand of man since the creation, and 
is well chosen as an emblem of Independence. 
INDIFFERENCE— Candy-tuft. So it stands in all floral 
alphabets, because its blossoms are scentless. 
ING-RATITUDE— Buttercup. So called in the Language 
of Flowers, because it is supposed to injure the cattle 
that feed upon it; and no honey can be gathered from 
the gaudy gold of its flowers. 
INNOCENCE— Daisy. See “Daisy of the Dale,” page 
115, and Poem, 119. 
