72 
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
The cypress is a tall, straight, evergreen tree, of a 
fragrant smell — the leaves bitter. Its wood is almost 
imperishable. The Romans devoted it to funereal uses, 
and the Orientals plant it in their cemeteries. Spenser 
tells us that in the garden of Proserpina — 
“ There mournfull cypresse grew iu greatest store.” 
