4 
PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
blue, A. paniculatum, A. Japonicum , and A. autumnale. All 
the species grow well in shade and under trees. In Shake¬ 
speare's time Gerard grew in his London garden four species— 
A. lycodonum, A. vciriegatum , A. Napellus , and A. Pyrenaicum. 
Bcont, see ©aft* 
Hlmonth 
A, (?©& 
!rA!RIR©Y 
The parrot will not do more for an Almond. 
Troll us and Cress Ida, v. 2, 193. 
u An Almond for a parrot" seems to have been a proverb 
for the greatest temptation that could be put before a man. 1 
The Almond tree is a native of 
Asia and North Africa, but it 
was very early introduced in¬ 
to England, probably by the 
Romans. It occurs in the 
Anglo-Saxon lists of plants, and 
in the “Durham Glossary" (nth 
century) it has the name of the 
“ Easterne nutte-beam." The 
tree was always a favourite both 
for the beauty of its flowers, 
which come very early in the 
year, and for its Biblical associ¬ 
ations, so that in Shakespeare's 
time the trees were “in our 
London gardens and orchards in great plenty" (Gerard). 
Before Shakespeare’s time, Spenser had sung its praises thus— 
“ Amygda la Britannica. 
&c.,” 1647, by Withers. 
Almonds for Parrots—a dish of stone fruits, 
