THE LANGUAGE OF VLOWERS. 
69 
liquor which Medea prepared to make old JEson young. 
This caused it to be regarded as a preservative against 
all sorts of maladies. It is still used in gout and rheuma¬ 
tism. The seed does not ripen until the following 
spring. The melancholy nymph weaves herself a crown 
of its pale violet flowers, and consecrates it to the 
happy days which have fled to retiirn no more. 
FOUR O’CLOCK, or MARVEL OF PERU (Mirabilis 
jalapa). Timidity. 
This plant, known also as jalap, princess’s leaf, and 
belle-de-nuit, is a native of the Malay Isles, and in its 
own climate is an elegant shrub. It opens its timid 
bells at four in the afternoon, closing them again at four 
in the morning. 
We cannot refrain from transcribing here the fol¬ 
lowing graceful lines of Constant Dubos : — 
“ Solitaire amante des nuits, 
Pourquoi ces timides alarmes, 
Quand ma muse au jour que tu fuis 
S’apprete a reveler tes cliarmes ? 
Si, par pudeur, aux indiscrets 
Tu caches ta fleur purpurine, 
En nous derobant tes attraits, 
Permets encore qu’on les devine. 
Lorsque l’aube vient reveiller 
Les brillantes filles de Flore, — 
Seule tu sembles sommeiller, 
Et craindre l’eclat de Paurore. 
Quand l’ombre efface leurs couleurs, 
Tu reprends alors ta parure, 
Et de l’absence de tes soeurs, 
Tu viens consoler la nature. 
