190 
THE MORAL OF FLOWERS. 
lively Frenchman ; yet the more sober language of the 
philosophic Humboldt conveys nearly the same idea, 
and almost overwhelms the mind with the astonishing 
luxuriance of these gigantic climbers. He describes 
Bauhinke, Passion-flowers, &c. clinging round the 
forest-trees, till it is difficult for the naturalist to trace 
the different stems, leaves, and flowers. A single tree 
thus profusely decorated, he observes, “ forms a mass 
of vegetation, which, if separated, would cover a con¬ 
siderable space of ground.” 
The species of the genus Passiflora, chosen to illustrate 
the present work (Passiflora caerulea), is now so far 
naturalised as to bear, with very little attention, our 
ordinary winters, and is a most elegant appendage to 
whatever it may attach itself. But to the imaginative 
florist, its beauty and elegance do not form its main 
attractions; to him it derives, along with its name, its 
greatest interest from the prevalent notion that all the 
instruments of Christ’s passion are represented in it, 
and 
“ Whatever impulse first conferr’d that name, 
Or fancy’s dream, or superstition’s art, 
Pie freely owns its spirit-touching claim, 
With thoughts and feelings it may well impart — 
