"But be thy blood a flower. Had Proserpine
The power to change a nymph to mint ?—Is mine
Inferior? or will any envy me

For such a change? Thus having utter'd, she
Pour'd nectar on it, of a fragrant smell;
Sprinkled therewith, the blood began to swell,
Like shining bubbles that from drops ascend;
And ere an hour was fully at an end,

From thence a flower, alike in colour, rose,
Such as those trees produce, whose fruits enclose
Within the limber rind their purple grains ;
And yet the beauty but awhile remains ;
For those light-hanging leaves, infirmly placed,
The winds, that blow on all things, quickly blast."
SANDYS' OVID, book x.

"By this, the boy that by her side lay killed,
Was melted like a vapour from her sight;
And in his blood, that on the ground lay spilled,
A purple flower sprung up chequered with white,
Resembling well his pale cheeks, and the blood
Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood."
SHAKSPEARE'S VENUS AND ADONIS.

The Spanish poet, Garcilasso, attributes the red colour only of the Anemone to the blood of Adonis:

"His sunbeam-tinted tresses drooped unbound,
Sweeping the earth with negligence uncouth;
The white anemonies that near him blew
Felt his red blood, and red for ever grew."

WIFFIN'S Translation, p. 273.

The Greek poet, Bion, in his epitaph on Adonis, makes the Anemone the offspring of the goddess's tears.

Mr. Hor. Smith, in his poem of Amarynthus, supports the first reason for naming this flower the wind-flowerthat it never opens but when the wind blows:

"And then I gather'd rushes, and began

To weave a garland for you, intertwined
With violets, hepaticas, primroses,

And coy Anemone, that ne'er uncloses

Her lips until they're blown on by the wind."

AMARYNTHUS, p. 46.

It seems more usual, as well as in character, for the presence of the sun to unclose the lips of the Anemone, which commonly close when he withdraws; but when he shines clear,

"Then thickly strewn in woodland bowers,

Anemones their stars unfold."

Sir W. Jones has translated an ode from the Turkish of Mesihi, in which the author celebrates several of the more sweet or splendid flowers :

"See! yon anemones their leaves unfold,

With rubies flaming, and with living gold."

"The sweetness of the bower has made the air so fragrant, that the dew, before it falls, is changed into rose water."

"The dew-drops, sweeten'd by the musky gale,

Are changed to essence ere they reach the dale."

The only poetical allusion, which I have met with, to the fragility of the Anemone, is in the poems of Sir W. Jones:

"Youth, like a thin anemone, displays

His silken leaf, and in a morn decays."

Pulsatilla is a name common to several of the Anemones; one is specifically distinguished by that name; it is a handsome purple flower, blowing in April, a native of most parts of Europe, growing upon chalky downs. It grows wild in several of our counties, but not near to the metropolis. It is frequently called Pasque-flower, or Easter-flower; by some Flaw-flower, and Hill-tulip. There is a variety with double, and another with white flowers.

ANTHOLYZA.

IRIDEÆ.

TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

The name of this flower is from two Greek words, signifying a flower and madness. Why they are so applied I do not know, unless it has been used in hydrophobia.

THE Antholyzas being chiefly from warmer countries, will not bear the open air in this: they are usually kept

The best time to

within doors from October, until they have ceased flowering; when, if it is intended to save the seeds, they are set abroad to perfect them; but the better mode of raising them in private gardens is to part the offsets from the bulbs, which furnish them in plenty. Those raised from seed do not flower till the third year. plant the roots is in August; they should be housed at the end of September, and will continue growing all the winter. In April, or early in May, the flowers appear: when these and the leaves have decayed, the bulbs should be taken up, dried in the shade, and cleaned, and preserved as directed for other bulbs. In August they may be replanted: the offsets may be planted three or four in a pot, the first year; the second, they should be separated to flower. In winter, they should be gently watered once or twice a week; in the spring, they will require it oftener, perhaps every evening, but sparingly.

The principal species are the Plaited-leaved Antholyza, with red flowers; the Scarlet-flowered, which is very beautiful; the Broad-leaved, which has also scarlet flowers; and the Red-flowered [or Antholyza Meriana, Fr. la merianelle, so named by Dr. Trew, from Sybilla Merian, the celebrated female Dutch botanist; but placed by some in the genus Gladiolus; and by others in Watsonia], of which the flowers are of a copper-red colour outside, and of a deeper red within. They are all handsome plants; having, in addition to the beauty of their flowers, large dark green leaves, some of them a foot in length: they are natives of the Cape of Good Hope.

LEGUMINOSE.

ANTHYLLIS.

DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA.

Kidney-vetch; ladies-finger; Jupiter's beard; silver bush. Lambtoe. The name Anthyllis is derived from the Greek, and signifies a downy-flower; from the down on its leaves.-French, barbe de Jupiter [Jupiter's beard].—Italian, barba di Giove, signifying the same.

THE Silvery Anthyllis, which is the only species necessary to mention here, is so called from the whiteness of its leaves : it is a handsome shrub, bearing yellow flowers which blow in June. This Anthyllis is a native of France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and the East. It must be sheltered in winter; but the more air it enjoys in mild weather, the better it will thrive in dry weather it should be gently watered every evening; in winter once a week will suffice.

Cuttings planted in any of the summer months in a pot of light earth, and placed in the shade, will take root, and may then be treated in every respect as the older plants.

Linnæus observes of the common Anthyllis, that the colour of the flowers varies with that of the soil: in Poland, where the soil is a red calcareous clay, the flowers are red : in Gothland, where the soil is white, the flowers are the same here they are yellow.

"The yellow lambtoe I have often got,

Sweet creeping o'er the banks in sunny time."

CLARE, vol. ii. p. 198.

PERSONEEÆ.

ANTIRRHINUM.

DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA.

Toad-flax; snap-dragon; from the resemblance of its flowers to an open mouth.-French, mufle de veau.-Italian, antirrino; Bocca di Leone.

THESE flowers are many of them large and handsome, but some persons consider them coarse; which, indeed,

is the case with many of the most splendid flowers, as the hollyhock and the sun-flower. They are, however, very magnificent, particularly the great snap-dragon, or calve's snout; called by the French, le muflier commun; mouron violet [violet pimpernel]; œil de chat [cat's eye]; gueule de lion; &c. The flowers of this species are red, white, purple, yellow, or a combination of any two of these colours. They are single or double. It is a native of the south of Europe, and blows in June and July. The Russians express an oil from the seeds, little inferior to the oil of olives. This species is increased by cuttings planted in the summer in a dry soil: and this and the following are the kinds most commonly cultivated in gardens:

2. The three-leaved; Valentia and Sicily; purple

or yellow;

3. The branching; Spain; yellow;

4. The violet-flowered; France and Italy.

5. The many-stalked; Sicily and the Levant ;

yellow;

6. The hairy; Spain; yellow;

7. The common yellow; Europe;

8. The brown-leaved; Siberia, Piedmont, &c.;

yellow.

9. The purple, or Vesuvian ;

10. The Montpelier; sweet-scented; blue;

July and August.

May and June.

July.

July.

June to August.

July to September.

June to the end of

autumn.

11. The dark-flowered; Gibraltar; flowers most of the summer. 12. The Alpine; very elegant; a fine violet-colour,

with a rich gold-colour in the middle; many
growing close together;

all the summer.

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, are annual plants, and must be increased by seeds, which may be sown in the spring;-or in autumn, sheltering them in the winter; with the exception of the last, which should be sown in March, and will require no shelter. 3, 4, in five-inch pots: 6, three or four seeds in an eight-inch pot.

7, 8, 9, 10, are perennial plants; they may be sown as