Part 4

word rose is derived, according to some authors, from the Celtic _rhos_, which is in turn derived from the adjective _rhodd_, red; while others affirm that it descends to us from the Latin _rosa_, itself deduced from the Greek _rodon_, derived from _erythros_, red; but we are unable to give any satisfactory clue to the meaning of the prefix “dog” in the familiar English name, the same idea being also evidently expressed in the specific word _canina_, in the French _rose de chien_, and the German _Hundrose_. Some writers, however, imagine it to refer to the uselessness of the plant, and quote the scentless or dog-violet as another illustration in support of their theory. Even on the lowest utilitarian ground this theory is scarcely tenable, since the plant is largely used by gardeners as a stock for grafting, while the fruit is also considerably employed in medicine. The rose, though commonly met with in ornament throughout the whole of the Decorated and Perpendicular periods of Gothic, is more especially found in the latter, since it was then employed not merely on its own merits, but also as the badge of the Tudors; hence, as an heraldic form, we frequently meet with it in secular no less than in ecclesiastical work. It is also, we need scarcely say, the badge of England, as the shamrock and thistle are of Ireland and Scotland respectively. It was also the personal badge of Edward I., and the family device of the De la Warres. Examples of the heraldic use of the rose are very numerous; it may merely suffice to mention Hampton Court and Henry VII.’s Chapel at Westminster as abounding in illustrations. In the church at Hawton, Nottinghamshire, in a sculptured representation of the Resurrection, there is as a background a very elaborate and beautiful diaper of the rose--its leaves, flowers, and buds being all employed; this, as the Rose of Sharon, may be considered as introduced in a symbolic sense, though we must here mention that the plant ordinarily known as the Rose of Sharon is not a true rose at all botanically. It is one of the Hypericums. A golden rose has from time to time been given by the popes to those whom they more especially desired to reward for services rendered to the Church: Henry VIII. of England received, together with his title “Defender of the Faith,” this mark of honour from Pope Alexander VI. The dog-rose will be found in flower in early summer, the colour of the blossoms varying on different shrubs from pure white to a deep pink; the brilliant scarlet fruit, an equally ornamental feature, being met with as the season advances. Illustrations of the natural growth of the plant will be seen in M. B. 139, S. C. 100, P. F. 7, 90, 96; and T. N. O. 51.

Examples of its use in decorative art occur at Winchester, where a hollow moulding is filled with a waved line of rose leaves and flowers; in a boss in Beverley Minster; in a glass quarry at Yaxley, Suffolk; in a more conventionalised treatment in a panel of Perpendicular period, East Harling Church, Norfolk; a very good example as a glass quarry, Milton Church, Cambridge; in a piece of oak-carving in the stalls at Wells; in the carving of a tomb in Bourges Cathedral; a capital at Miraflores; a hollow moulding wreathed with alternate flowers and leaves in one of the doorways of Notre Dame, Paris. Many other instances might be given, but these will suffice to show how favourite a plant the rose has been in past ornament. The following extract from the old herbalist Gerarde, though the adulation is, from its implied reference to Elizabeth, somewhat fulsome, is a further illustration of its association heraldically with the Tudors: “The plant of roses, though it be a shrub full of prickles, yet it had bin more fit and convenient to have placed it with the most glorious flowers of the world, than to insert the same here among base and thorny shrubs” (this allusion refers to Gerarde’s system of classification), “for the rose doth deserve the chief and prime place among all flowers whatsoever, being not only esteemed for his beauty, vertues, and his fragrant and odoriferous smell, but also because it is the honour and ornament of our English Scepter, in the uniting of those two most Royall Houses of Lancaster and Yorke.”

The subject of our next illustration is derived from the FEVERFEW (_Chrysanthemum parthenium_), a plant widely distributed over Britain, but at the same time with doubtful claims to be considered a true native; it is, however, thoroughly at home in those places in which it is to be met with, and from the clear white daisy-like flowers and the delicate green of its handsome foliage it merits the attention of designers of ornamental art. From its lightness and the deep cutting of the leaves, the feverfew would be found of more service in painted or engraved ornament than in any kind of relief work. The feverfew has a reputation among herbalists as a bitter and tonic; and no doubt, before the introduction of quinine and such-like more powerful remedies, would possess a valued and considerable remedial virtue. The familiar English name implies this, and is one of the numerous class of names, as eyebright, goutweed, lungroot, livelong, wormwood, &c., given to plants in recognition of their real or fancied medicinal use. Drawings of the natural growth of the feverfew may be seen in E. B. 715; M. B. 249; P. F. 39.

FOOL’S PARSLEY. We have selected this plant, the _Æthusa cynapium_, as a good representative of the very large order of plants known botanically as the _Umbelliferæ_. The whole of the plants of this order, as the name implies, have their flowers growing in umbels, that is to say, all the flower-stalks start from one point on the stem, and radiate from the common centre. Many of the _Umbelliferæ_, as the parsley, carrot, fennel, and celery, must be familiar to our readers, though they may not have noticed particularly this umbellate mode of flowering. Several of the species are exceedingly poisonous: of these we may instance the hemlock, the water-dropwort, and the present plant. With very few exceptions, the flowers of the whole of the plants of this order are either white or yellow. The fool’s parsley is so called from a slight resemblance which the plant bears to the common parsley of the kitchen-garden. Though the differences are not difficult to detect--the flowers, for instance, of the fool’s parsley being white, and those of garden-parsley yellow; the leaves of the first giving a disagreeable odour when bruised, and those of the second a rich aromatic scent--the want of a little circumspection has frequently led to serious and even fatal results. The plant is the more dangerous from its being rarely met with except on cultivated ground. The generic name, _Æthusa_, is given to it in allusion to its acrid nature, being derived from a Greek word signifying to burn, while _cynapium_ means dog’s parsley. Though as yet we have said nothing but evil of it, it is but just to add in its favour that, ornamentally, it is a very desirable plant for insertion in our list, the leaves, flower-buds, and general growth being very graceful, and well suited for the decoration of any delicate fabric. For illustrations of the plant we would refer you to F. L. vol. i. 18; S. C. 8; S. B. 139. It will be found in flower during July and August.

The GROUND-IVY (_Nepeta glechoma_), the subject of our next two illustrations, is so commonly distributed throughout Britain, that there can be but little need of our dwelling at any great length upon a description of it, though, from its habit of trailing on the ground and among the roots of larger plants, it is not so conspicuous to the eye as many others. Its English name, ground-ivy, refers to its slight resemblance in mode of growth to the common ivy, though in every other respect they are very dissimilar, the ground-ivy having rounded or reniform leaves growing in pairs up the stem, the flowers large and of a brilliant colour, tubular and bisymmetrical, while in the ivy the leaves terminate in an acute point, and spring singly from the stem, the flowers small, pale green, multisymmetrical in form, and composed of five distinct petals. The generic name, _Nepeta_, is derived from _nepa_, a scorpion, from an old belief that the bite of the scorpion was rendered harmless if treated by means of a recipe of which a preparation of our present plant was the leading ingredient. The flower of the ground-ivy, though generally of a deep purplish blue, may sometimes be met with of a pure white. This variation from a given colour to white is comparatively not uncommon in many of our wild plants, though more especially noticeable in

plants of normally blue or purple flowers: thus the purple foxglove, blue Jacob’s ladder, pink herb-robert, purple snapdragon, blue harebell, and many others, are occasionally to be found with white blossoms. The ground-ivy, from its abundance, and also from its past and present medicinal use, may be met with in the works of various authors under a great choice of synonyms: of these alehoof is the most common; others, almost equally familiar, being creep-by-ground and cat’s-foot. When not in flower the general appearance of the marsh pennywort (_Hydrocotyle vulgaris_) is, to a casual observer, not altogether unlike that of the ground-ivy; but the pennywort is only met with on swampy ground, the leaves are peltate or shield-like, the stalk rising from the centre of the under side of the leaf, as we see it in the more familiar garden nasturtium (_Tropæolum majus_), differing in these respects from the ground-ivy. When in blossom, the contrast between the greenish-yellow flower of the pennywort and the deep purple of the flowers of the ground-ivy is too marked to permit of any chance of error. The only examples of the use of the ground-ivy

with which we are acquainted in the ornament of the past are in a small spandrel in one of the doorways at Rheims Cathedral, and on some of the flooring tiles from the ruins of the Abbey of Chertsey, Surrey. In the latter case the leaves are four in number, in a cruciform arrangement within a quatrefoil--a very simple yet true and effective treatment of the plant; for as the leaves grow, as we have already mentioned, in pairs, and as each pair of leaves is placed upon the stem at right angles to the pairs immediately above and beneath it, the effect produced in looking down upon the plant is necessarily cruciform in character. A great variety of these Chertsey tiles may be seen in the South Kensington Museum: though very simple in design, they afford excellent examples of the true application of the principles which should govern the introduction of natural forms, and are well worthy of the attention of the student of decorative art. In both these cases, Rheims and Chertsey, the leaves alone are employed, as the flowers, from their intricacy of detail and position upon the plant, would require the aid of colour to bring them out with due effect; hence, while the ground-ivy, during its period of flowering, is admirably adapted for surface decoration, muslins, wall-papers, and many other such-like purposes, it is but ill suited to relief-work in stone or wood. Refer to S. B. 172; E. B. 1055; F. L. vol. ii. 44; M. B. 28, for illustrations of the natural growth of the ground-ivy.

GROUNDSEL, though a plant exceedingly likely to be overlooked, is on that account the more deserving of a place in our list, as it really possesses qualities which fully entitle it to the consideration of the student of ornamental art, the general growth of a good specimen being very vigorous and characteristic, and the variety of beautiful forms seen in the leaves a further recommendation. The botanical name is _Senecio vulgaris_. _Senecio_ is derived from _senex_, an old man, in allusion to the grey heads of seed-down which succeed the blossoms. The groundsel may be met with abundantly almost everywhere, and may at all times of the year be found in flower. Drawings of the plant may be seen in E. B. 749; F. L. vol. i. 61; P. F. 2.

The HAREBELL (_Campanula rotundifolia_). This graceful little plant may generally be found in profusion on dry and hilly pastures and heaths, though by no means in such localities exclusively, as the roadside hedge-bank is another favourite spot. There are ten species indigenous to England, most of them of great beauty and adaptability to art-requirements: of these we may in particular mention the _C. hederacea_, the ivy-leaved campanula, a little plant by no means uncommon in moist shady pastures and swampy low-lying ground. The present species is abundant everywhere throughout Europe and Northern Asia. The Canterbury bell (_C. medium_) is an allied and familiar garden species.

The generic name, _Campanula_, means a little bell, and from the shape of the corolla is aptly applied to these plants. _Rotundifolia_, meaning round-leaved, seems at first sight a misnomer, as the leaves most easily visible on a cursory glance at the plant are thin and strap-shaped. The lower leaves of the plant, however, are rounded in form; and, as we study the foliage, we shall see a delicate ascending gradation of form, from the rounded leaves at the lower end of the stem, to the thin, almost grass-like leaves of the upper part. Drawings of the harebell will be found in T. N. O. 80; P. F. 12.

The HAZEL-NUT (_Corylus avellana_) is so familiar a shrub that any lengthened description of it must be needless, or, to quote our old writer, Gerarde: “Our hedge-nut, or hazel-nut tree, which is very well knowne, and therefore needeth not any description, whereof there are also sundry sorts, some great, some little, as also one that is in our gardens, which is very

great, bigger than any filberd, and yet a kinde of hedge-nut; this then that hath beene said shall suffice for hedge-nuts.” The smaller twigs of the hazel afford an excellent charcoal for artistic purposes, and the long straight shoots, thrown up with such rapidity and vigour, are largely employed in the manufacture of the crates in which earthenware is packed--a use for which their size and flexibility combined with great strength admirably fit them, as the rods, when the wood is still green, may be bent almost double before they will give way. There is a pleasing appropriateness in its English name, hazel-nut, derived from the Anglo-Saxon _haesel_, a hat, and _hnut_, a nut or ball, which we notice and appreciate when we see the fruit in its natural state, surrounded by the foliaceous and cap-like partial envelope formed by the scales of the involucre. The generic name also, _Corylus_, refers to this peculiarity of growth, being derived from a Greek word signifying a covering for the head. The natural order to which the hazel belongs includes several trees of great value to man, either on account of their timber or their fruit--such, for example, as the beech, Spanish chestnut, and the oak; and in the olden time, when a belief in the use of the divining-rod, as an indicator of subterranean springs, was common, the mystic virtue was sought in the forked twigs of the hazel. The size of the leaves and the striking character of the fruit alike combine to render it a plant admirably fitted for the purposes of ornamental art, though the only example of its use, so far as we are aware, may be seen in a hollow moulding in the cathedral at Winchester, where, upon a continuous scroll running along the centre of the moulding, both foliage and fruit are introduced. The leaves are deeply serrated, and the nuts grow in clusters of two, three, or four, the general treatment being very naturalistic. Among the many extraordinary remedies in use by our ancestors, hazel-nuts occupied a place, being employed in complaints affecting the chest, though, even then, when scarcely any reputed remedy seems to have been thought too fanciful and absurd, some appear to have ventured to doubt the efficacy of the medicine, bringing down upon themselves the scathing rebuke of the faculty, as we find in the following extract from an old medical work, where, after the setting forth of the benefits to be derived from the use of the hazel as a remedial agent, he goes on to say:--“And if this be true, as it is, then why should the vulgar so familiarly affirm that eating nuts causeth shortness of breath? than which nothing is falser. For how can that which strengthens the lungs cause shortness of breath? I confess the opinion is far older than I am; I know tradition was a friend to error before, but never that he was the father of slander; or are men’s tongues so given to slandering one another, that they must slander nuts too to keep their tongues in use? And so thus have I made an apology for nuts, which cannot speak for themselves.” For illustrations of the growth of the nut, see W. H. H., Plate B, Fig. 1; T. N. O. 127.

Our next illustration is derived from the HAWTHORN, WHITETHORN, or MAY (_Cratægus oxycantha_), a plant familiar to every one, from its being so extensively used for hedgerows; its strength, closeness of growth, and spiny character, admirably adapting it to the purpose. The wood is very hard, and will take a high polish; the generic name, _Cratægus_, from a Greek word signifying strength, being an allusion to this characteristic of the plant. Its use as a hedgerow plant in England dates, according to Sowerby, from the time of the Romans, and of this there can be but little doubt, as its most common name--hawthorn--is, literally, the hedge-thorn, from the Saxon word _hage_. The second name--white-thorn--has been given to it in contradistinction to the black-thorn (_Prunus spinosa_), a somewhat similar, and, in a wild state, almost equally common plant; the

stems of the latter being very dark in colour, while in the hawthorn or white-thorn they are comparatively light. The third name, May, has obvious reference to the time of flowering. The leaves of the plant are exceedingly varied in form, affording a great choice for the selection of the ornamentist; some being very simple in character, while others are deeply cut, and very rich and beautiful in outline. A permanent variety may be occasionally met with, in which the leaves, instead of being of the ordinary deep and bluish green, are in addition irregularly blotched with varying and intermingling tones of yellow. The flowers also of the hawthorn are subject to considerable variation in colour: the typical state is a pure milky white; but owing to the nature of the soil in which the plant is found, the blossoms may occasionally be seen varying from a pale pink to almost crimson. The berries, also, though generally of a deep crimson colour, are sometimes of an intensely golden yellow. An old writer, Culpepper, in his “British Herbal,” a treatise partly astrological and partly medicinal, having first stated that the plant is under the dominion of Mars, thus defines the medicinal properties of the hawthorn:--“The seeds in the berries, beaten to powder, being drank in wine, are held singular good against the dropsy. The seed, cleared from the down, bruised and boiled in wine, and drank, is good for inward tormenting pains. If cloths and sponges be wet in the distilled water, and applied to any place wherein thorns and splinters, or the like, do abide in the flesh, it will notably draw them forth. And thus you see the thorn gives a medicine for its own pricking, and so doth almost everything else.”

Though to a certain extent foreign to our subject, we may perhaps be permitted to say that, to the naturalist, as well as to the botanist and the designer of ornamental art, the tree possesses considerable attractions, the berries being the favourite fruit of many of our birds, and the foliage being sometimes completely stripped by the larvæ of various butterflies and moths, such as the small Ermine, the Brimstone moth, and many others; while among the poets, Chaucer, Milton, Shakspeare, Wordsworth, Goldsmith, Bampfylde, and Tennyson, have all found in it a source of beauty and inspiration. It has also been one of the favourite plants of the ornamentists, occurring very commonly in the works of the Middle Ages. It would be both tedious and unnecessary to give anything like an exhaustive catalogue of its use in past art: as good examples out of many, we would merely cite its occurrence in a finial in the Lady Chapel, Exeter; as a stone-diaper alternating with oak, at Lincoln; in two fine spandrels, and a beautiful capital, very full and rich in its wreathing, in the Chapter-house, Southwell. Other examples occur in the cathedrals at Ely, Wells, and Winchester. Wherever met with in ornamental art, the leaves and berries are the parts selected: to the best of our knowledge the flowers have never, in any instance, been introduced, no doubt from the fact of the minuteness and delicacy of each individual blossom, and its habit of growing in clusters, which, though extremely beautiful in nature, are, from their intricacy of detail, unsuited to the purposes of the ornamentist. Similarly, though the plant in its natural growth is often exceedingly spiny, it is, in ornamental art, represented as almost or entirely without this characteristic feature, as there would be a great practical difficulty, in any kind of relief-work at least, in the satisfactory introduction of forms so minute and fragile, yet requiring so high a relief. Drawings of hawthorn will be found in P. F. 68; T. N. O. 52.

The HERB-ROBERT (_Geranium Robertianum_) is one of the numerous family of cranesbills, so called from a supposed resemblance between the form of the fruit and the bill of that bird, a resemblance also indicated in the generic name, _Geranium_, derived

from the Greek _geranos_, a crane. The herb-robert is one of the most abundantly distributed plants of the genus, being met with throughout the whole of Britain and in many other parts of the world, growing upon all kinds of soils, and flourishing equally well upon hedge-banks, waste ground, and old walls. Owing to the foliage turning a brilliant crimson in autumn, the plant becomes very striking and conspicuous as the year advances, a peculiarity which will greatly aid its identification by those of our readers who are not acquainted with it. The flowers are of a delicate pink colour, though they may occasionally be met with of a pure white: this variety grows abundantly near Nutfield, in Surrey, for instance. The whole of the cranesbill family will well repay the attention and study of the ornamentist, the dove’s-foot cranesbill (_G. molle_), and the blue meadow cranesbill (_G. pratense_), being especially suited to the requirements of the designer. The latter is a very striking plant, and when once seen cannot well be mistaken, each flower being almost two inches in diameter, of a deep purple blue, and veined with lines of reddish purple: the leaves also are very deeply cut, and of a highly ornamental character. An illustration of the ornamental treatment of the herb-robert may be seen in an elaborate specimen of embroidery, last-century work, in the South Kensington Museum; while drawings of the natural plant can be referred to in T. N. O. 38; V. W. 412; F. L. vol. i. 52; P. F. 34.