DICTIONARY. 
303 
You ARE RADIANT WITH CHARMS, Ranunculus. 
Early in spring, the dazzling Ranunculus 
adorns our gardens with its brilliant flowers, 
glowing with a thousand colours, resplendent 
with a thousand charms. Scarcely any plant 
rewards the cultivator with such a striking 
diversity of tints, or affords so rich a view. 
Your charms are engraven on my heart, 
Spindle-tree. This shrub is thus named, be¬ 
cause its wood is used for making spindles. 
Crayons also are prepared from it. It is in 
request with sculptors and turners. If its 
wood is valuable to artists, the shrub which 
furnishes it ought to be esteemed by the 
farmer : the hedges formed with it appear in 
autumn loaded with red berries that produce 
a very pretty effect. 
Your looks freeze me, Ice plant. The leaves 
of this singular plant are covered with trans¬ 
parent vesicles full of water. When the plant 
is in the shade, it looks as if covered with 
dew; when in the sunshine, it seems to be 
powdered with frozen crystals, that give it a 
brilliant appearance, and hence it derives its 
name. 
