6 
the stream and pined to death; when he was changed to 
this flower with the drooping head in remembrance of 
his bending over the stream. The narcissus has six tall 
' stamens around a long slender Carpel, all within the nec¬ 
tary or honey cup, which in the Poetic-narcissus is yellow 
tipped with red. The contrast with the six white petals has 
the country name of the flower to be Butter and Eggs, 
caused where it grows wild in hedgerow banks, but it is 
chiefly a garden flower. It is strange that it should be cal¬ 
led the Poetic narcissus, when far more verses have been 
written about its bright brother the DAFFODIL; whose 
pale petals are a beautiful contrast to the rich gold of 
the fringed nectary. The texture of this nectary is so 
peculiar that it seems covered with sparkles of light, and 
the two yellows blend together as only the colouring of 
nature can accord. One great charm of these flowers is 
the multitude in which they fill the copses. Truly they 
are well described as “continuous as the Stars that shine 
and twinkle in the milky way”, shining out on the banks 
among the early budding green wood, and nodding their 
graceful heads in the spring breeze. Gather and gather as 
happy children may, they cannot carry otf all the daffodils; 
but many have carried away the recollection of the merry 
day, fresh with early spring, and at the thought, 
“My heart with pleasure thrills 
And dances with the daffodils”. 
Side by side with them grow the PRIMROSE (e) and her mea¬ 
dow brother the COWSLIP (/). The name of both is Pri¬ 
mula, meaning the first, for the primrose’s pale blossom 
often unfolds on the sunny hedgerow as early as the 
snowdrop: though the stems are then very short, and the 
leaves very small. The Primula belongs to a numerous 
race of exogens, all with corollas with a single petal, 
with a deep throat or tube, spreading into five regular 
divisions, and almost concealing five stamens and a pin 
headed carpel. The distinction of the primrose is that 
the blossom is large, and the flower stalk rises straight 
from the ground, unbranched. The stem and the midrib of 
the leaf, are of a pale pink tint and downy, as is also the 
deep-five cleft calyx. The flower is of the exquisite light 
hue that can only be called primrose colour, but which 
loses its delicacy as soon as it is transplanted into a gar¬ 
den, and there is a little pentagon of rich deep yellow 
round the summit of the throat. To see a primrose rightly, 
you should visit a sunny bank near the end of April, and 
look beneath some mossy stump, at the profusion of fair 
meek pale starry blossoms, among their spreading leaves, 
with endless buds growing up to succeed them, and their 
looks seeming to smile modestly in the sunshine. The 
Cowslip comes a little later, in meadows, where it grows 
profusely in most counties of England, though not In all. 
The flowers grow in clusters of bells, all parting toge- 
f rom the top of the straig’ht stalk, the calyx is deeper 
than that of the primrose, the tube of the corolla longer, 
the star smaller. The colour is a deep bright soft velvet 
yellow, with five bright red spots, “fairy favours”, around 
the opening of the tube ; but the colours so gentle, though 
so bright, that there is no glare no gaudiness. The scent 
is most delicious, with all the rich pure fragrance of a 
cow’s breath} which must be the cause of the name, redo¬ 
lent of all the sweet thoughts of spring and 
“Sunny meadows wide 
Gemmed with cowslips in their pride”. 
Cowslip gathering is one of the prettiest and most delight¬ 
ful of the pleasures of spring, and all children who have 
ever made a cowslip ball will agree that there is no play¬ 
thing ever bought in a shop to compare with that fresh, 
soft, sweet-smelling cluster of beautiful flowers. Old 
fashioned housewives often make cowslip wine, and chil¬ 
dren sometimes enjoy the brewing of cowslip tea. In 
the midland counties, these flowers are called “paigles”. 
They are the parents of all the rich dark handsome po¬ 
lyanthus race, which are grown in gardens. 
Dear to lovers of spring are likewise 
“Violets shy 
Betraying where they lowly lie 
By the soft airs they breathe”. 
They are the favourite emblems of lowliness, shrinking 
out of sight and yet loved by all who trace them out and 
prized most highly for their delicious perfume. They follow 
the great rule of five, with five stamens devoid of fila¬ 
ments, but the orange anthers closely united together 
round the pistil, forming the little bright eye of the flow¬ 
er, in the midst of the five petals, the two uppermost of 
which stand upright, the two next spread on either side, 
and the lowest hangs down in front like a lip, with a cu¬ 
rious little horn or spur behind. Each petal has near the 
centre, a crest of delicate little white hairs, which add 
much to the grace of the flower. They are the longest 
and handsomest in the DOG-VIOLET ( d ), the grey or 
lilac blossom streaked with black, which grows in pro¬ 
fusion in coppices, in beautiful contrast with the primrose 
and does not deserve to he despised as it generally is, for 
its want of scent. Yet the sweet violet, blue, white or 
red, well merits the delight with which country children 
go “violetting” along shady lanes, or in corners of fields, 
charmed with each bud they can turn out from among 
their nest of heart shaped leaves; and the fragrance is 
such as to increase after the flower is gathered, so that a 
violet is often more sweet in the late evening, than when 
first gathered. It may thus put us in mind of the memory 
of a kind deed, or gentle word, perhaps not so much thought 
of at the time, as prized afterwards in recollection. 
The WOOD ANEMONE or Wind flower ( g ) spreads her frail 
delicate white stars over the copses in the haunts of the 
primrose. The stalk, like that of the other early spring 
flowers, is simple, with two leaves springing from it, like 
wings, spreading and dividing into five leaflets, which 
form a pretty setting for the white blossom, just touched 
enough with pink to give it a pearly hue, and often in 
later spring becoming quite a deep pink. There is no ca¬ 
lyx, the petals are five, and the stamens and carpels too 
many to be counted. When ripe, the styles of the car¬ 
pels become little cottony wings, on which the seed is 
borne away by the winds to the ground where it may 
take root. This delicate woodland blossom is the English 
species of a numerous race. The pink and blue HEPA- 
TICA, which adorns cottage gardens here, but grows wild 
all over the islands of the Baltic Sea, and pierces through 
Swedish snows, is another species; and the grand scaidet 
or purple poppy anemone prized by gardeners was brought 
from the East. There it grows in profusion on the hills 
of Judea, concealed by longer grass, which when waved 
aside by the wind, discloses for a moment the blossoms 
beneath, like a river of crimson seen in flashes. 
PLATE III. SUMMER-FLOWERS. 
Summer brings such a host of delightful blossoms that it is 
hard to choose between them. The vegetable world is in 
the full flush of beauty, each plant fed by the dew, and 
led on by the sunbeams to put forth all their glory, and 
finish their task before autumn shall bring death to the 
annual, or sleep to the perennial. Two nosegays are 
here set before you, gathered from the choicest gardenbeds, 
the very queens and princesses of the world of flowers. 
To begin with the WHITE LILY ( b ). Look at her portrait, 
and you will see six petals, and six stamens, whence you 
may perceive that she is an Endogen, and has a bulbous 
root, but it is not one in coats, like that of the crocus, 
but in scales one above the other, not very unlike the 
small straight veined leaves which grow at regular dis¬ 
tances up the stalk, and of which snails are far too fond. 
There is no Calyx, for the corolla is of such solid thick¬ 
ness as to need no protection. The style rises from a 
green germ and bears a triple ornament on the summit, 
and most beautiful is the aspect of the six graceful fila¬ 
ments bearing their large caskets of pollen. The size 
of the anther makes the form more evident than usual, 
and you may see the double case, which when ripe, parts 
asunder and discharges the pollen on the style. The 
whiteness of the Lily, the beautiful shape of the flower, 
the graceful arrangement of the grand looking blossoms 
on the wandlike stalk, have made it one of the most admi¬ 
red and prized of all the flowers grown for beauty. It 
was brought to European gardens from Palestine, where 
it grows wild on the hill sides and many believe it to be 
the very Lily of the field of which it was said that ‘Solo¬ 
mon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.’ 
The ROSE (a) is by all aknowledged as queen of flowers, 
but to see her before her royalty begins you should 
