FAVORITE FLOWERS. 
S OME of our llowers come from lands of perpetual 
summer, some from countries all ice and snow, 
some from islands in the ocean. Three of our sweetest 
exotics originally came from Peru; the camellia was 
brought to England in 1739, and a few years afterward 
the mignonette and heliotrope. Several came from Cape 
of Good Hope ; a very large calla was found there in the 
ditches, and some of the most beautiful geraniums, or 
pelargoniums. The verbena grows wild in Brazil; the 
marigold is a native African flower, and a great number 
of our most beautiful plants are natives of China and 
Japan ; the little daphne was taken to England by Cap¬ 
tain Ross from almost the farthest land he visited toward 
the North Pole. 
Many of these are quite changed in form by cultivation; 
some have become larger and brighter, while others fall 
short of the beauty and fragrance of their tropical growth, 
despite all care of florists and shelter of hothouses. When 
the dahlia was brought to England it was a very simple 
blossom, a single circle of dark petals surrounding a mass 
of yellow ones. Others were, a short time after, trans¬ 
planted from Mexico, with scarlet and orange petals, but 
still remaining simple flowers. Long years of cultivation 
in rich soil, together with other arts of skillful florists, 
have changed the dahlia to its present form. 
“ There is a curious perversion of name in the designa¬ 
tion of the tuberose, which has nothing to do with ‘ tubes ’ 
or ‘ roses ’ and is merely a corruption of its botanical title, 
Polianthes tuberosa , the latter word simply signifying 
tuberous, and the former word, from the Greek, expres¬ 
sing ‘ city flower.’ ” 
This glorious floral favorite grows naturally in India, 
whence it was brought into Europe in 1632. Its blossoms 
were originally single, and Monsieur le Cour, a celebrated 
Leyden florist, first produced a double variety. He was 
so tenacious of the roots of this flower, jhat after he had 
propagated them in such plenty as to have more than he 
could plant, he caused them to be cut in pieces, to have 
the vanity of boasting that he was the only person in 
Europe who possessed specimens of them. This device 
could not, however, long exclude so desirable an acquisi¬ 
tion from the gardens of Europe, and it is now common 
all over the world. 
For button-hole bouquets and funeral wreaths, the tube¬ 
rose is in great demand ; but its excessive sweetness ren¬ 
ders it not so desirable for the window-garden as less 
odorous plants. The Malayans style this floral belle 
“ The Mistress of the Night,” a poetical idea used in the 
poem of “ Lalla Rookh : ” 
“ The tuberose with her silvery light, 
That in the gardens of Malay 
Is called the Mistress of the Night, 
So like a bride, scented and bright, 
She comes out when the sun’s away.” 
It has been prettily remarked that we must remember 
that Moore is speaking of the lady’s habits when in her 
own native country; in our colder clime she waits for the 
sunshine before expanding her perfumed petals. 
When worn in the hair by a Malayan lady, it informs 
her lover, in a manner that words could never speak half 
so well, that his suit is pleasing to her. 
An exquisite little jeu d' esprit by Leigh Hunt, known 
as the “ Albanian Love-Letter,” prettily carries out this 
. idea of— 
“ Saying all one feels and thinks 
In clever daffodils and pinks ; 
Uttering (as well as silence may) 
The sweetest words the sweetest way.” 
There is a favorite legend in Germany of a luck- 
flower which admits its fortunate finder into the recess of 
a mountain or castle, where untold riches invite his 
grasp. Dazzled with so much wealth, with which he fills 
his pockets and hat, the favorite mortal leaves behind 
him the flower to which he owes his fortune, and, as he 
leaves the enchanted ground, the words, “ Forget not the 
best of all,” reproach him for his ingratitude, and the 
suddenly-closing door either descends on one of his heels 
and lames him for life, or else imprisons him forever. 
If Grimm is right, this is the origin of the word forget- 
me-not, and not the last word of the lover drowning in 
the Danube, as he throws to his lady-love the flower she 
craved of him. The tradition that the luck-flower, or 
key-flower, was blue is inconsistent with the fact that 
the primrose is the “ Schlusselblume ” (key-flower). 
Or we may believe as the poet says : 
“ When to the flowers so beautiful 
The Father gave a name, 
Back came a little blue-eyed one— 
All timidly it came, 
And, standing at the Father’s feet, 
And gazing in His face, 
It said, with meek and timid mien, 
Yet with a quiet grace : 
• Dear God, the name Thou gavest me, 
Alas ! I have forgot.’ 
The Father kindly looked on it 
And said, ‘ Forget-zwc-Not 1 ’ ” 
The ancient nations had each its emblematic flower. 
The special flower of the Hindoos, for instance, has al¬ 
ways been the marigold. The Chinese display as their 
national flower the gorgeous chrysanthemum. It is used 
as the peculiar emblem and badge of the mikados of 
Japan. The Japanese seem to think more of this flower 
than any other. One of the highest of their national 
honors is the “order of the chrysanthemum.” They 
have an annual festival at the time of its blooming, and 
even name their daughters after the flower. 
The history of the chrysanthemum goes far back into 
antiquity. It is not certainly known in what country it 
originated, but most of our varieties come from China 
and Japan. 
