





(tt alent AR oe ses gs ee 

192 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
ferred his affections to Leucothoe, the daughter 
of King Orchamos, the jealous Clytia commu- 
nicated the affair to the father, who cruelly put 
his daughter to death. Helios was so indignant 
at the conduct of Clytia, that he could not for- 
give her, and wholly withdrew his affections. 
Overwhelmed with grief, she threw herself on 
the ground, and there lay for nine days and 
nights without taking any sustenance, and her 
eyes fixed on the sun, the type of her lover. 
At length the gods, moved with compassion by 
her sorrow and contrition, transformed her into 
a Sunflower, which was believed constantly to 
turn its face towards the sun, as if to imbibe 
life and warmth from his rays. 
In its native country, Peru and Mexico, the 
Sunflower is said to grow to the height of 
twenty feet or more, and to produce flowers 
about two feet in diameter. Gerard, the first 
English writer who notices this plant, which 
he calls “The Flower of the Sunne, or the 
Marigolde of Peru,” tells us that he had grown 
it in his garden at Holborn to the height of 
fourteen feet, and producing flowers that mea- 
sured sixteen inches over. 
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