








§2 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
Anemone has velvet leaves, deeply dentated, and 
of a delicate green; whereas, those of the Peri- 
winkle are always green, firm, and shining; its 
flower is blue, while that of the Anemone is of 
a pure white, tinged with rose colour at the 
edge; and, enduring but a day, it recalls to us 
the happy and fleeting hours of childhood. 
In France, the Periwinkle has been adopted 
as the emblem of the pleasures of memory and 
sincere friendship, probably in allusion to Rous- 
seaw’s recollection of his friend, Madame de 
Warens, occasioned, after a lapse of thirty years, 
by the sight of this flower, which they had ad- 
mired together. 
This plant is deeply rooted in the soil which 
it adorns. It interweaves the earth on all sides 
with its flexible shoots, and covers it with flow- 
ers which seem to reflect and imitate the azure 
of the sky: thus, our first affections, so warm, 
pure, and artless, appear to have a celestial 
origin. They mark our days with a moment’s 
happiness, and to them we owe our sweetest 
recollections. 

