CHAPTER XV.

Plant Symbolism and Language.

The antiquity of floral emblems probably dates from the time when the human heart first beat with the gentle emotions of affection or throbbed with the wild pulsations of love. Then it was that man sought to express through the instrumentality of flowers his love of purity and beauty, or to typify through their aid the ardour of his passionate desires; for the symbolism of flowers, it has been conjectured, was first conceived as a parable speaking to the eye and thence teaching the heart.

Driven, in his struggle for existence, to learn the properties of plants in order to obtain wholesome food, man found that with the beauty of their form and colour they spoke lovingly to him. They could be touched, tasted, handled, planted, sown, and reaped: they were useful, easily converted into simple articles of clothing, or bent, twisted, and cut into weapons and tools. Flowers became a language to man very early, and according to their poisonous, soothing, or nutritious qualities, or on account of some peculiarities in their growth or shape which seemed to tell upon the mysteries of life, birth, and death, he gave them names which thenceforth became words and symbols to him of these phenomena.

Glimpses of the ancient poetical plant symbolism have been found amid the ruins of temples, graven on the sides of rocks, and inscribed on the walls of mighty caves where the early nations of India, Assyria, Chaldæa, and Egypt knelt in adoration. The Chinese from time immemorial have known a comprehensive system of floral signs and emblems, and the Japanese have ever possessed a mode of communicating by symbolic flowers. Persian literature abounds in chaste and poetical allegories, which demonstrate the antiquity of floral symbolism in that far Eastern land: thus we are told that Sadi the poet, when a slave, presented to his tyrant master a Rose accompanied with this pathetic appeal:--“Do good to thy servant whilst thou hast the power, for the season of power is often as transient as the duration of this beautiful flower.” The beauty of the symbol melted the heart of his lord, and the slave obtained his liberty.

The Hindu races are passionately fond of flowers, and their ancient Sanscrit books and poems are full of allusions to their beauty and symbolic character. With them, the flower of the field is venerated as a symbol of fecundity. In their mythology, at the beginning of all things there appeared in the waters the expanded Lotus-blossom, the emblematic flower of life and light; the Sun, Moon, and Stars are flowers in the celestial garden; the Sun’s ray is a full-blown Rose, which springs from the waters and feeds the sacrificial fire; the Lightning is a garland of flowers thrown by Narada. _Pushpa_ (flower), or _Pushpaka_ (flowery), is the epithet applied to the luminous car of the god Kuvera, which was seized by Râvana, the royal monster of Lankâ, and recaptured by the demi-god Râma, the incarnation of Vishnu. The bow of Kâma, the Indian Cupid, darts forth flowers in the guise of arrows. The Indian poetic lover gathers from the flowers a great number of chaste and beautiful symbols. The following description of a young maiden struck down by illness is a fair example of this:--“All of a sudden the blighting glance of unpropitious fortune having fallen on that Rose-cheeked Cypress, she laid her head on the pillow of sickness; and in the flower-garden of her beauty, in place of the Damask Rose, sprang up the branch of the Saffron. Her fresh Jasmine, from the violence of the burning illness, lost its moisture, and her Hyacinth, full of curls, lost all its endurance from the fever that consumed her.”

It was with the classic Greeks, however, that floral symbolism reached its zenith: not only did the Hellenic race entertain an extraordinary passion for flowers, but with consummate skill they devised a code of floral types and emblems adapted to all phases of public and private life. As Loudon writes, when speaking of the emblematic use made by the Greeks of flowers:--“Not only were they then, as now, the ornament of a beauty, and of the altars of the gods, but the youths crowned themselves with them in the fêtes, the priests in religious ceremonies, and the guests in convivial meetings. Garlands of flowers were suspended from the gates of the city in the times of rejoicing ... the philosophers wore crowns of flowers, and the warriors ornamented their foreheads with them in times of triumph.” The Romans, although they adopted most of the floral symbolic lore of their Hellenic predecessors, and in the case of emblematic garlands were particularly refined, were still evidently not so passionately fond of floral symbolism as were the Greeks; and with the decadence of the Empire, the attractive art gradually fell into oblivion.

The science of plant symbolism may, if we accept the views of Miss Marshall, a writer on the subject,[16] be classified into five divisions. These are, firstly, plants which are symbols, pure and simple, of the Great Unknown God, or Heaven Father; and embrace those, the form, colour, or other peculiarities of which led the priests, the early thinkers to the community, the medicine-men, magicians, and others, to associate them with ideas of the far-distant, unknown, incomprehensible, and overwhelming--the destructive forces of Nature. Such plants were used as hieroglyphics for these ideas, and became symbols of the Deity or Supreme Power. To these visible symbols belong plants such as the Lily, Onion, flowers of heavenly blue colour (symbolising the blue sky), and leaves threefold or triangular, symbolising God the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer.

[16] ‘Plant Symbolism,’ in ‘Natural History Notes,’ Vol. II.

Secondly, the plants symbolising or suggesting portions or organs of the human body, internal and external, which to the earliest of mankind, and certainly to the Egyptian embalmers, were organs of mystery and importance; such is the heart, the first to beat in the fœtal, and the last to cease pulsating in the adult organism, &c. To this section belong heart-shaped leaves and petals; and where, as in the Shamrock, there is united the threefold emblem and the heart-shaped leaf, there is a doubly sacred idea united with the form. To this section belong also plants and fruits such as the Fig, Pomegranate, &c.

The third section comprises plants that were consecrated or set apart as secret and sacred, because those who possessed the knowledge of their powers made use of them to awe the ignorant people of their race. These plants were supposed to be under the control of the good or evil powers. They were the narcotics, the stupefying or the exciting vegetable drugs. The sacred incense in all temples was compounded of these, and their use has been, and still is, common to all countries; and as some of these compounds produced extraordinary or deadly effects, as the very dust of the burnt incense, when mixed with water, and drunk, brought on a violent and agonising death, while the fumes might merely produce delightful and enticing ecstacy, making men and women eloquent and seemingly inspired, the knowledge was wisely kept secret from the people, and severe penalties--sometimes even death--awaited those who illegally imitated, compounded, or used these drugs. To this section belong the plants used to make the Chinese and Japanese joss, as well as Opium, Tobacco, Stramonium, and various opiates now well known.

The fourth section comprises those plants which in all countries have been observed to bear some resemblance to parts of the human body. Such plants were valued and utilised as heaven-sent guides in the treatment of the ills flesh is heir to; and they are the herbs whose popular names among the inhabitants of every land have become “familiar in their mouths as household words.” To such belong the Birth-wort, Kidney-wort, Lung-wort, Liver-wort, Pile-wort, Nit-grass, Tooth-cress, Heart-clover, and many others known to the ancient herbalists. It was their endeavours to find out whether or no the curious forms, spots, and markings of such plants really indicated their curative powers, that led to the properties of other herbs being discovered, and a suggestive nomenclature being adopted for them, such as is found in the names Eyebright, Flea-bane, Canker-weed, Hunger-grass, Stone-break, &c.

Lastly, in the fifth section of symbolical plants we come to those which point to a time when symbols were expressed by letters, such as appear on the Martagon Lily--the true poetical Hyacinth of the Greeks--on the petals of which are traced the woeful AI, AI,--the expression of the grief of Phœbus at the death of the fair Adonis.

“In the flower he weaved The sad impression of his sighs; which bears _Ai_, _Ai_, displayed in funeral characters.”

In this section also are included plants which exhibit in some portion of their structure typical markings, such as the _Astragalus_, which in its root depicts the stars; the Banana, whose fruit, when cut, exhibits a representation of the Holy Cross; and the Bracken Fern, whose stem, when sliced, exhibits traces of letters which are sometimes used for the purposes of love divination. In Ireland, however, the _Pteris aquilina_ is called the Fern of God, because the people imagine that if the stem be cut into three sections, on the first of these sections will be seen the letter G, on the second O, and on the third D--forming the sacred word God.

In the science of plant symbols, not only the names, but the forms, perfumes, and properties of plants have to be considered, as well as the numerical arrangements of their parts. Thus of all sacred symbolical plants, those consisting of petals or calyx-sepals, or leaves, divided into the number Five, were formerly held in peculiar reverence, because among the races of antiquity five was for ages a sacred number. The reason of this is thus explained by Bunsen:--“It is well known,” he says, “that the numeral _one_, the undivided, the eternal, is placed in antithesis to all other numerals. The figure four included the perfect ten, as 1+2+3+4=10. So four represents the All of the universe. Now if we put these together, 4+1 will be the sign of the whole God-Universe.” _Three_ is a number sacred to the most ancient as well as modern worship. Pythagoras called it the perfect number, expressive of “beginning, middle, and end,” and therefore he made it a symbol of deity. _Three_ therefore plays its _rôle_ in plant symbology. Thus the _Emblica officinalis_, one of the sacred plants of India, was once the exclusive property of the priests, who kept its medicinal virtues secret: it was held in peculiar reverence because of its flowers possessing a six-parted calyx; three stamens, combined; three dichotomous styles; a fleshy fruit, tricoccous and six-seeded; these being all the sacred or double number of _Three_. In later days, the Shamrock or Trefoil, and the Pansy, or Herb Trinity, were regarded as symbolising the Trinity. Cruciform flowers are, at the present day, all regarded as of good omen, having been marked with the Sign of the Cross, and thus symbolising Redemption.

The presence of flowers as symbols and language on the monuments of Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, India, and other countries of the past, and the graceful floral adornments sculptured on the temples of the Græco-Roman period, demonstrate how great a part flower and plant symbolism played in the early history of mankind. The Jews, learning the art from the Egyptians, preserved it in their midst, and introduced plant emblems in their Tabernacle, in their Temple, and on the garments of the priests. Flowers with golden rays became symbols of the Sun; and as the Sun was the giver of life and warmth, the bringer of fertility, the symbolic flowers stood as symbol-words for these great gifts; and gradually all the mysterious phenomena connected with birth, reproduction, and fecundity, were represented in plant, flower, and fruit symbolism; for not only were flowers early used as a pictorial language, but the priests made use of fruits, herbs, shrubs, and trees to symbolise light, life, warmth, and generation. Let us take a few examples:--When in the Spring, church altars and fonts are piously adorned with white Lilies, which are, in some countries, carried about, worn, and presented by ladies to each other in the month of May, few of them, we may be sure, imagine that they are perpetuating the plant symbolism of the Sun-worship of ancient Egypt. Miss Marshall tells us that “in Catholic countries the yellow anthers are carefully removed; their white filaments alone are left, not, as folks think, that the flower may remain pure white, but that the fecundating or male organs being removed, the Lilies may be true flower symbols or visible words for pure virgins; for the white dawn as yet unwedded to the day--for the pure cold Spring as yet yielding no blossoms and Summer fruits.”

Of the flowers consecrated to their deities by the symbol-worshipper of India and Egypt, the most prominent is the sacred Lotus, whose leaf was the “emblem and cradle of creative might.” It was anciently revered in Egypt as it is now in Hindustan, Thibet, and Nepaul, where the people believe it was in the consecrated bosom of this plant that Brahma was born, and that Osiris delights to float. From its peculiar organisation the Lotus is virtually self-productive: hence it became the symbol of the reproductive power of all nature, and was worshipped as a symbol of the All-Creative Power. The same floral symbol occurs wherever in the northern hemisphere symbolic religion has prevailed. The sacred images of the Tartars, Japanese, and Indians are almost all represented as resting upon Lotus-leaves. The Chinese divinity, Puzza, is seated in a Lotus, and the Japanese god is represented sitting in a Water-Lily. The Onion was formerly held in the highest esteem as a religious symbol in the mysterious solemnities and divinations of the Egyptians and Hindus. In the first place, its delicate red veins and fibres rendered it an object of veneration, as typifying the blood, at the shedding of which the Hindu shudders. Secondly, it was regarded as an astronomical emblem, for on cutting through it, there appeared beneath the external coat a succession of orbs, one within another, in regular order, after the manner of revolving spheres. The Rose has been made a symbolic flower in every age. In the East, it is the emblem of virtue and loveliness. The Egyptians made it a symbol of silence; the Romans regarded it as typical of festivity. In modern times it is considered the appropriate symbol of beauty and love,--the half-expanded bud representing the first dawn of the sublime passion, and the full-blown flower the maturity of perfect love. The Asphodel, like the Hyacinth of the ancients, was regarded as an emblem of grief and sorrow. The Myrtle, from its being dedicated to Venus, was sacred as a symbol of love and beauty. White flowers were held to be typical of light and innocence, and were consecrated to virgins. Sombre and dark-foliaged plants were held to be typical of disaster and death.

The floral symbols of the Scriptures are worthy of notice. From the circumstance of Elijah having been sheltered from the persecutions of King Ahab by the Juniper, that tree has become a symbol of succour or an asylum. The Almond was an emblem of haste and vigilance to the Hebrew writers; with Eastern poets, however, it was regarded as a symbol of hope. Throughout the East, the Aloe is regarded as a religious symbol, and is greatly venerated. It is expressive of grief and bitterness, and is religiously planted by the Mahommedans at the extremity of every grave. Burckhardt says that they call it by the Arabic name _Saber_, signifying patience--a singularly appropriate name; for as the plant is evergreen, it whispers to those who mourn for the loved ones they have lost, _patience_ in their affliction. The Clover is another sacred plant symbol. St. Patrick chose it as an emblem of the Trinity when engaged in converting the Irish, who have ever since, in the Shamrock, regarded it as a representative plant. The Druids thought very highly of the Trefoil because its leaf symbolised the three departments of nature--the earth, the sea, and the heaven.

But of all plant symbols, none can equal in beauty or sanctity the Passion Flower, the lovely blossom of which, when first met with by the Spanish conquerors of the New World, suggested to their enthusiastic imagination the story of our Saviour’s Passion. The Jesuits professed to find in the several parts of the Maracot the crown of thorns, the scourge, the pillar, the sponge, the nails, and the five wounds, and they issued drawings representing the flower with its inflorescence distorted to suit their statements regarding its almost miraculous character. John Parkinson, in his _Paradisus Terrestris_ (1629), gives a good figure of the Virginian species of the plant, as well as an engraving of “The Jesuites Figure of the Maracoc--_Granadillus Frutex Indicus Christi Passionis Imago_.” But, as a good Protestant, he feels bound to enter his protest against the superstitious regard paid to the flower by the Roman Catholics, and so he writes: “Some superstitious Jesuites would fain make men believe that in the flower of this plant are to be seen all the markes of our Saviour’s Passion: and therefore call it _Flos Passionis_: and to that end have caused figures to be drawn and printed, with all the parts proportioned out, as thornes, nailes, spear, whip, pillar, &c., in it, and as true as the sea burns, which you may well perceive by the true figure taken to the life of the plant, compared with the figure set forth by the Jesuites, which I have placed here likewise for everyone to see: but these be their advantageous lies (which with them are tolerable, or rather pious and meritorious) wherewith they use to instruct their people; but I dare say, God never willed His priests to instruct His people with lies: for they come from the Devill, the author of them.”

In early times, it was customary in Europe to employ particular colours for the purpose of indicating ideas and feelings, and in France where the symbolical meaning of colours was formed into a regular system, much importance was attached to the art of symbolising by the selection of particular colours for dresses, ornaments, &c. In this way, flowers of various hues became the apt media of conveying ideas and feelings; and in the ages of chivalry the enamoured knight often indicated his passion by wearing a single blossom or posy of many-hued flowers. In the romance of _Perceforet_, a hat adorned with Roses is celebrated as a favourite gift of love; and in _Amadis de Gaule_, the captive Oriana is represented as throwing to her lover a Rose wet with tears, as the sweetest pledge of her unalterable faith. Red was recognised as the colour of love, and therefore the Rose, on account of its tint, was a favourite emblem. Of the various allegorical meanings which were in the Middle Ages attached to this lovely flower, a description will be found in the celebrated _Romaunt de la Rose_, which was commenced in the year 1620 by Guillaume de Lorris, and finished forty years later by Jean de Meung.

In France, during the Middle Ages, flowers were much employed as emblems of love and friendship. At the banquet given in celebration of the marriage of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, with the English Princess, Margaret, several ingenious automata were introduced, one being a large unicorn, bearing on its back a leopard, which held in one claw the standard of England, and on the other a Daisy, or _Marguerite_. The unicorn having gone round all the tables, halted before the Duke; and one of the _maîtres d’hôtel_, taking the Daisy from the leopard’s claw, presented it, with a complimentary address, to the royal bridegroom.

In the same country, an act of homage, unique in its kind, was paid to a lady in the early part of the seventeenth century. The Duke of Montausier, on obtaining the promise of the hand of Mademoiselle de Rambouillet, sent to her, according to custom, every morning till that fixed for the nuptials, a bouquet composed of the finest flowers of the season. But this was not all: on the morning of New Year’s Day, 1634--the day appointed for the marriage--he laid upon her dressing-table a magnificently-bound folio volume, on the parchment leaves of which the most skilful artists of the day had painted from nature a series of the choicest flowers cultivated at that time in Europe. The first poets of Paris contributed the poetical illustrations, which were written by the cleverest penmen under the different flowers. The most celebrated of these madrigals, composed by Chapelain on the Crown Imperial, represented that superb flower as having sprung from the blood of Gustavus Adolphus, who fell in the battle of Lützen; and thus paid, in the name of the Swedish hero, a delicate compliment to the bride, who was a professed admirer of his character. According to a statement published some years since, this magnificent volume, which was called, after the name of the lady, the Garland of Julia, was disposed of, in 1784, at the sale of the Duke de la Vallière’s effects, for fifteen thousand five hundred and ten livres (about £650), and was brought to England.

The floral emblems of Shakspeare are evidence of the great poet’s fondness for flowers and his delicate appreciation of their uses and similitudes. In ‘A Winter’s Tale,’ Perdita is made to present appropriate flowers to her visitors, symbolical of their various ages; but the most remarkable of Shakspeare’s floral symbols occur where poor Ophelia is wearing, in her madness, “fantastic garlands of wild flowers”--denoting the bewildered state of her faculties.

The order of these flowers runs thus, with the meaning of each term beneath:--

CROW FLOWERS. NETTLES. DAISIES. LONG PURPLES.

Fayre Mayde. Stung to the Her Virgin Under the cold Quick. Bloom. hand of Death.

“A fair maid, stung to the quick; her virgin bloom under the cold hand of death.”

Probably no wreath could have been selected more truly typifying the sorrows of this beautiful victim of disappointed love and filial sorrow.

The most noted code of floral signs, used as a language by the Turkish and Greek women in the Levant, and by the African females on the coast of Barbary, was introduced into Western Europe by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and La Mortraie, the companion in exile of Charles XII., and obtained in France and England much popularity as the “Turkish Language of Flowers.” This language is said to be much employed in the Turkish harems, where the women practise it, either for the sake of mere diversion in their seclusion, or for carrying on secret communication.

In France and Germany, the language of flowers has taken deep root, and in our own country the poetic symbolisms of Shakspeare, Chaucer, Herrick, Drayton, and others of the earlier bards, laid the groundwork for the very complete system of floral emblemism, or language of flowers, which we now possess. A great many works have been published, containing floral codes, or dictionaries: most of these, however, possess but little merit as expositions of old symbols or traditions, and have been compiled principally from modern sources.

An ancient floral vocabulary, taken from Dierbach’s _Flora Mythologica der Griechen und Römer_, and an approved modern English ‘Dictionary of Flowers,’ are appended, in order to make this portion of our subject complete.

Ancient Floral Vocabulary.

Absinth The Bitterness and Torments of Love. Acacia Love, pure and platonic. Acanthus Love of Fine Arts. Althea Exquisite Sweetness. Amaranth Fidelity and Constancy. Anemone Abandonment. Angelica Gentle Melancholy. Argentine Ingenuity. Aster Elegance. Balsam Impatience. Basil Poverty. Betony Emotion and Surprise. Bindweed Coquetry. Bluet Clearness and Light. Box Firmness and Stoicism. Bramble Injustice and Envy. Burdock Importunity. Buttercup Sarcasm. Calendula Anxiety. Camellia Constancy and Steadfastness. Carrot Good Character. Cinquefoil Maternal Love. Colchicum Bad Character. Cypress Mourning and Grief. Dahlia Sterile Abundance. Daisy (Easter) Candour and Innocence. Dandelion Oracle. Darnel Vice. Digitalis Work. Dittany Discretion. Elder Humility. Ephemeris Transient Happiness. Everlasting Flwr. Constancy. Fennel Merit. Fern Confidence. Forget-me-not Faithful Remembrance. Foxglove Adulation. Fuchsia Amiability. Fumitory Hatred. Geranium Folly. Hawthorn Sweet Hope. Heliotrope Eternal Love. Hellebore Wit. Hemlock Perfidy. Holly Defence. Honeysuckle Bond of Affection. Hyacinth Amenity. Hydrangea Coldness. Iris Indifference. Ivy Attachment. Jasmine Amiability. Jonquil Amorous Languor. Jujube-tree Relief. Larkspur Open Heart. Laurel Victory and Glory. Lavender Silence. Lilac First Troubles of Love. Lily Purity and Majesty. Maidenhair Bond of Love. Marjoram Consolation. Marvel of Peru Flame of Love. Mallow Maternal Tenderness. Mint Wisdom and Virtue. Milfoil Cure and Recovery. Moonwort Bad Payment. Myrtle Love. Narcissus Self-esteem and Fatuity. Nettle Cruelty. Olive Peace. Orange-tree Virginity, Generosity. Peony Shame. Periwinkle Unalterable Friendship. Pineapple Perfection. Pink Pure and Ardent Love. Poppy Sleep. Privet Youth. Rose Beauty and Love. Rosemary Power of Re-kindling extinct Energy. Rue Fecundity of Fields. Sage Esteem. Sensitive-plant Modesty. Solanum Prodigality. Spindle-tree Ineffaceable Memory. Strawberry Intoxication, Delight. Thyme Spontaneous Emotion. Trefoil Uncertainty. Tulip Grandeur. Valerian Readiness. Vervain Pure Affection. Viburnum Coolness. Violet Modesty.

A Dictionary of Flowers.

Acacia Friendship. ---- Rose Elegance. Acanthus The Arts. Achillea millefolia War. Adonis, Flos Painful Recollections. Agrimony Thankfulness. Almond-tree Indiscretion. Aloe Grief. Amaranth Immortality. Amaryllis Pride. Anemone Forsaken. ---- Field Sickness. Angelica Inspiration. Angrec Royalty. Apple-blossom Preference. Ash-tree Grandeur. Asphodel My regrets follow you to the grave. Aster, China Variety. ---- After-Thought. Balm of Gilead Cure. ---- Gentle Joking. Balsam Impatience. Barberry Sourness of Temper. Basil Hate. Beech Prosperity. Bilberry Treachery. Bladder-nut Frivolous Amusement. Borage Bluntness. Box-tree Stoicism. Bramble Envy. Broom Humility and Neatness. Buckbean Calm Repose. Bugloss Falsehood. Bulrush Indiscretion. Burdock Touch me not. Buttercup Ingratitude. Cactus, Virginia Horror. Canterbury Bell Constancy. Catchfly Snare. Champignon Suspicion. Cherry-tree Good Education. Chesnut-tree Do me Justice. Chicory Frugality. Cinquefoil Beloved Daughter. Circæa Spell. Clematis Artifice. Clotbur Rudeness. Clove-tree Dignity. Columbine Folly. Convolvulus (night) Night. Coriander Hidden Merit. Corn Riches. Corn-bottle Delicacy. Cornel Cherry Durability. Cowslip, Amer. You are my Divinity. Cress Resolution. Crown Imperial Power. Cuscuta Meanness. Cypress Mourning. Daffodil Self Love. Daisy Innocence. ---- Garden I share your sentiments. ---- Wild I will think of it. Dandelion The Rustic Oracle. Day Lily, Yellow Coquetry. Dittany Childbirth. Dock Patience. Dodder Meanness. Ebony-tree Blackness. Eglantine Poetry. Fennel Strength. Fig Longevity. Fir-tree Elevations. Flax I feel your kindness. Flower-de-Luce Flame. Forget-Me-Not Forget me not. Fraxinella Fire. Fuller’s Teasel Misanthropy. Geranium Deceit. ---- Oak-leaved True Friendship. ---- Silver-leaved Recall. ---- Pencilled-leaf Ingenuity. ---- Rose-scented Preference. ---- Scarlet Stupidity. ---- Sorrowful Melancholy Mind. ---- Wild Steadfast Piety. Grass Utility. Hawthorn Hope. Hazel Peace, Reconciliation. Heart’s Ease Think of me. Heath Solitude. Heliotrope, Peruvian Devoted Attachment. Hellenium Tears. Hepatica Confidence. Holly Foresight. Hollyhock Ambition. Honeysuckle Generous and Devoted Affection. Hop Injustice. Hornbeam Ornament. Horse-Chesnut Luxury. Hortensia You are cold. Hyacinth Game, Play. Ice-plant Your looks freeze me. Ipomœa I attach myself to you. Iris Message. Ivy Friendship. Jasmine Amiability. ---- Carolina Separation. Jonquil Desire. Juniper Protection. Larch Boldness. Larkspur Lightness. Laurel Glory. Laurustinus I die if neglected. Lavender Mistrust. Leaves, Dead Sadness, Melancholy. Lilac First Emotions of Love. ---- White Youth. Lily Majesty. Lily of the Valley Return of Happiness. Linden-tree Conjugal Love. Liverwort Confidence. London Pride Frivolity. Lotus Eloquence. Lucern Life. Madder Calumny. Maidenhair Secrecy. Mallow Beneficence. Manchineel-tree Falsehood. Maple Reserve. Mandrake Rarity. Marigold Grief. ---- Prophetic Prediction. ---- and Cypress Despair. Marvel of Peru Timidity. Meadow Saffron My best days are past. Mezereon Coquetry. Desire to please. Mignonette Your qualities surpass your charms. Milkwort Hermitage. Mistletoe I surmount all difficulties. Moonwort Forgetfulness. Moss Maternal Love. Mulberry-tree, Black I shall not survive you. ---- White Wisdom. Musk-plant Weakness. Myrobalan Privation. Myrtle Love. Narcissus Self Love. Nettle Cruelty. Nightshade, Bitter-sweet Truth. ---- Enchanter’s Spell. Nosegay Gallantry. Oak Hospitality. Olive Peace. Ophrys, Spider Skill. Orange Flower Chastity. ---- Tree Generosity. Orchis, Bee Error. Palm Victory. Parsley Festivity. Passion Flower Faith. Peony Shame, Bashfulness. Peppermint Warmth of Feeling. Periwinkle Tender Recollections. Pineapple You are perfect. Pink Pure Love. ---- Yellow Disdain. Plane-tree Genius. Plum-tree Keep your promises. ---- Wild Independence. Poplar, black Courage. ---- White Time. Poppy Consolation. ---- Sleep. ---- White My bane, my antidote. Potato Beneficence. Primrose Childhood. ---- Evening Inconstancy. Privet Prohibition. Quince Temptation. Ranunculus You are radiant with charms. Reeds Music. Rose Love. ---- 100-leaved Grace. ---- Monthly Beauty ever new. ---- Musk Capricious Beauty. ---- Single Simplicity. ---- White Silence. ---- Withered Fleeting Beauty. ---- Yellow Infidelity. Rosebud A Young Girl. ---- White A Heart unacquainted with Love. Rosemary Your presence revives me. Rue, Wild Morals. Rush Docility. Saffron Beware of excess. Sage Esteem. Sainfoin, Shaking Agitation. St. John’s Wort Superstition. Sardonia Irony. Sensitive-plant Chastity. Snapdragon Presumption. Snowdrop Hope. Sorrel, Wood Joy. Speedwell Fidelity. Spindle-tree Your charms are engraven on my heart. Star of Bethlehem Purity. Stock Lasting Beauty. ---- Ten Week Promptness. Stone Crop Tranquillity. Straw, Broken Rupture of a Contract. ---- Whole Union. Strawberry Perfection. Sunflower False Riches. Sweet Sultan Happiness. Sweet William Finesse. Sycamore Curiosity. Syringa Fraternal Love. Tansy, Wild I declare war against you. Tendrils of Creepers Ties. Thistle Surliness. Thorn Apple Deceitful Charms. Thrift Sympathy. Thyme Activity. Tremella Nostoc Resistance. Truffle Surprise. Tuberose Dangerous Pleasures. Tulip Declaration of Love. Tussilage, Sweet-scented Justice shall be done to you. Valerian An Accommodating Disposition. Valerian, Greek Rupture. Venus’ Looking-glass Flattery. Veronica Fidelity. Vervain Enchantment. Vine Intoxication. Violet Modesty. Violet, White Innocence, Candour. Wallflower Fidelity in Misfortune. Walnut Stratagem. Whortleberry Treachery. Willow, Weeping Mourning. Wormwood Absence. Yew Sorrow.

In the chapter on Magic Plants will be found a list of plants used by maidens and their lovers for the purposes of divination; and in Part II., under the respective headings of the plants thus alluded to, will be found described the several modes of divination. This practice of love divination, it will be seen, is not altogether unconnected with the symbolical meaning or language of flowers, and therefore it is here again adverted to.

In many countries it is customary to pluck off the petals of the Marigold, or some other flower of a similar nature, while certain words are repeated, for the purpose of divining the character of an individual. Göthe, in his tragedy of ‘Faust,’ has touched upon this rustic superstition, and makes Margaret pluck off the leaves of a flower, at the same time alternately repeating the words--“He loves me,”--“He loves me not.” On coming to the last leaf, she joyously exclaims--“He love me!”--and Faust says: “Let this flower pronounce the decree of heaven!”

“And with scarlet Poppies around, like a bower, The maiden found her mystic flower. ‘Now, gentle flower, I pray thee tell If my lover loves me, and loves me well; So may the fall of the morning dew Keep the sun from fading thy tender blue. Now must I number the leaves for my lot-- He loves me not--loves me--he loves me not-- He loves me--ah! yes, thou last leaf, yes-- I’ll pluck thee not for that last sweet guess! He loves me!’--‘Yes,’ a dear voice sighed, And her lover stands by Margaret’s side.”--_Miss Landon._

In some places, the following mode of floral divination is resorted to. The lover, male or female, who wishes to ascertain the character of the beloved one, draws by lot one of the following flowers, the symbolical meaning attached to which will give the information desired:--

1.--Ranunculus Enterprising. 2.--Wild Pink Silly. 3.--Auricula Base. 4.--Blue Cornflower Loquacious. 5.--Wild Orach Lazy. 6.--Daisy Gentle. 7.--Tulip Ostentatious. 8.--Jonquil Obstinate. 9.--Orange-flower Hasty. 10.--Rose Submissive. 11.--Amaranth Arbitrary. 12.--Stock Avaricious. 13.--Spanish Passionate. 14.--Asphodel Languishing. 15.--Tricolour Selfish. 16.--Tuberose Ambitious. 17.--Jasmine Cheerful. 18.--Heart’s Ease Delicate. 19.--Lily Sincere. 20.--Fritillary Coquettish. 21.--Snapdragon Presumptuous. 22.--Carnation Capricious. 23.--Marigold Jealous. 24.--Everlasting Flower Constant.

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