POETRY OF FLOWERS. 
123 
European Flora, and for some time it was only- 
possessed by the high and mighty. The follow¬ 
ing romantic story of its becoming more gene¬ 
rally known is related by Loudon : 
In 1699, the Grand Duke of Tuscany ob 
tained a specimen of jasmine of Goa, with largo 
double blossoms and of exquisite scent. Greedy 
of its beauties, he would not allow it to be pro¬ 
pagated; but his gardener contrived to carry a 
sprig of it to his betrothed on her birthday, and 
fully explained to her how to cultivate it. It 
grow rapidly, and being much admired, the girl 
was able to sell cuttings of it at a high price. 
By these means she soon amassed enough mo¬ 
ney to enable her to wed her lover, who had 
hitherto been compelled to remain in a state of 
single wretchedness, for want of means to alter 
his condition. In memory of this love-legend, 
Tuscan girls wear a nosegay of jasmine on their 
wedding-day ; and, says the proverb, “ she who 
is worthy to wear a nosegay of jasmine is as 
good as a fortune to her husband.” 
One of the shrubs of which Milton formed 
the bower of Adam and Eve in Paradise was 
jasmine; and Moore, in an allusion to night¬ 
blooming flowers, thus stveetly introduces this 
favorite blossom: 
“Many a perfume breathed 
From plants that wake when others sleep; 
From timid jasmine-buds that keep 
