PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
171 
an unripe state. In the ‘ Gartenflora ’ Dr. Regel says, in some 
remarks on Japanese fruit trees, that the Japanese regard a ripe 
Peach as rotten.” 
There are a few varieties of the Medlar, differing in the 
size and flavour of the fruits, which were also cultivated in 
Shakespeare’s time. 
/Dints. 
(1) Here’s flowers for you ; 
Hot Lavender, Mints, Savory, Marjoram. 
Winter’s Tale , iv. 4, 103. 
(2) Armado. I am that flower, 
Dumain. That Mint. 
Longaville. That Columbine. 
Love's Labour s Lost, v. 2, 661. 
The Mints are a large family of highly-perfumed, strong- 
flavoured plants, of which there are many British species, but 
too well known to call for any further description. 
/iMstletoe. 
The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean, 
O’ercome with Moss and baleful Mistletoe. 
Titus Andronicus , ii. 3, 94. 
The Mistletoe was a sore puzzle to our ancestors, almost as 
great a mystery as the Fern. While they admired its fresh, 
evergreen branches, and pretty transparent fruit, and used it 
largely in the decoration of their houses at Christmas, they 
looked on the plant with a certain awe. Something of this, no 
doubt, arose from its traditional connection with the Druids, 
which invested the plant with a semi-sacred character, as a 
plant that could drive away evil spirits; yet it was also looked 
upon with some suspicion, perhaps also arising from its use 
