BUCK-BEAN. 
93 
BUCK-BEAN. 
CALM REPOSE. 
Do you observe, along tbe extended banks of 
that lake, whose silvery mirror reflects an un¬ 
clouded sky, those clusters of flowers as white 
as snow ? A roseate hue colours the under side 
of these beauteous flowers, while a tuft of fibres 
of extraordinary delicacy and dazzling whiteness 
rises out of their alabaster cups, giving them 
the appearance of fringed hyacinths. Expres¬ 
sion fails to do justice to the elegance of this 
plant. To remember it for ever, you need but 
to have once seen it gently waving on the brink 
of the water, to which it seems to impart in¬ 
creased coolness and transparency. The Buck- 
bean never opens in stormy weather. Tran¬ 
quillity is requisite to the development of its 
blossoms ; but the calm that it enjoys itself it 
seems to diffuse on all the objects around it. 
The original name of the Buck-bean was Bog- 
bane, or Bog-plant, from its place of growth. 
