104 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
MYRTLE. 
lOVE. 
The oak was from the remotest ages consecrated 
to Jupiter, the olive to Minerva, and the Myrtle to 
Venus, Its evergreen foliage and supple odorife¬ 
rous branches loaded with flowers, that appear 
destined to adorn the forehead of Love, have ren¬ 
dered this tree worthy of being dedicated to Venus, 
the goddess of beauty. At Rome the temple of the 
goddess was surrounded by a grove of Myrtles ; and 
in Greece she was adored under the name of Myr- 
tilla. When Venus rose from the bosom of the 
waves, the Houris presented to her a scarf of a thou¬ 
sand colours, and a wreath of Myrtle. After her 
victory over Pallas and Juno, she was crowned 
with Myrtle by the Loves. When surprised, one 
day, on issuing from the bath, by a troop of satyrs, 
she sought refuge behind a Myrtle bush; and it was 
with the branches of the same plant that she re¬ 
venged herself on the audacious Psyche, who dared to 
compare her transitory charms to immortal beauty. 
