216 LANGUAGE AND 
TUBEROSE. 
Polyanthus tuberosa . . . Class 2; G:\ler 6. 
Flowers white, sometimes tinged with pink—resembles 
a hyacinth—very odoriferous; corolla monopeta- 
lous ; no calyx ; root perennial. 
DANGEROUS PLEASURES.—A SWEET VOICE. 
There is a curious perversion of name in the 
designation of this flower, which has nothing to 
do with “tubes,” or “roses,” and is merely a 
corruption of its botanical title, Poliantlies tube¬ 
rosa, the latter word simply signifying tuber¬ 
ous, and the former word, from the Greek, ex¬ 
pressing city-flower. 
Its white blossom exhales the most exquisite 
perfume—a perfume, however, it is alleged, so 
powerful, that to enjoy it without danger it is 
necessary to keep at some distance from the 
plant. 
Shelley, in verses as inexpressibly beautiful 
as the object they celebrate, calls 
“ The sweet tuberose, 
The sweetest flower for scent that blows.” 
The Malayans style this floral belle, “ The 
Mistress of the Night;” a poetical idea that the 
Irish Anacreon makes use of in his fantastic 
poem of “Lalla Rookh : 
