CROCUS. This flower derives its name from Crocus, a young man who, as Heathen mythology informs us, pined away into a flower, which has since bore his name. This flower, as affording saffron, is mentioned in Scripture in Solomon's Song, iv. 14, which was much esteemed as a medicine and as an aromatic, and entered largely into the cookery of our forefathers. NARCISSUS. This flower derives its name from the following mythological circumstance. Narcissus, son of Cephisus and Liriope, was so handsome that all the nymphs fell in love with him; but he slighted them all. Echo, among the rest, could not influence him to regard her; returning, however, one day from the chase, he looked into a fountain, and was so enamoured of his own beauty, that he languished away, and was metamorphosed into a flower, which from that time bore his name. ACANTHA. Acantha, a young and beautiful nymph, who, for having given a favourable reception to Apollo, was changed into a plant of the same name. THE COWSLIP. "Cowslip, of all beloved, of all admired; Thee let me sing, the homely shepherd's pride; Gladdening the sight of man; a sweet pe fume, Thy sovereign beauties, or thy sovereign use?" The Cowslip derives its name from a very old and fanciful, but now exploded idea-that this flower was generated from the saliva of the cow's lip; to corroborate which, it has been stated, that it is only found in pastures where milch cows have grazed. It is, however, known as the Yellow-bell, and is classed with the blue and hare bell, and has made its appearance where the cow was never known to have been. Genial weather at the commencement of the year, dresses the meadows and pastures with this favourite of Flora. THE DAISY. Passing the eye from the hedgerow to the earth, it lights on the "wee-tipp'd" emblem of modesty-the daisy, sung by poets of every clime where it blows, and so sweetly by our own Montgomery, who has designated it the Companion of the Sun. "But this small flower, to nature dear, That modest little flower, the daisy, derives its name from day's eye, arising from the circumstance of unfolding its simple beauties at the "peep o' day," and earlier than any other of Flora's tribe. -Flora's Guide. "There is a flower Haste far away. THE VIOLET. "At early morning How sweet to rove, O man, like me!" J. E. Stablschmidt. Violet, violin, violoncello, are all derived from viol, signifying sweet, applicable to either sound or smell: the latter syllables being merely to distinguish, or harmonize. TULIPS. "So beauty fades, so fleets its showy life, As droops the tulip, clad in all its pride This beautiful but short-lived flower, was first introduced into this country by Lord Arlington, in the reign of Charles II. The tulip opens with the rising, and shuts with the setting sun. The bulb is termed by Linnæus the hybernacle, or winter lodge of the young plant, and closes the infant in its folds, which "In some lone cave, secure pavilion, lies, And waits the courtship of serener skies."-Darwin. Tulip-fancying has been carried to great excess. It is related that a connoisseur in the fancy, hearing of a person having in his possession a black tulip, instantly ordered his carriage, and, proceeding to the possessor's residence, expressed a desire to see this rara avis, which was instantly shown him; upon which he immediately offered 100 guineas for the same! This was refused: two hundred was offered, but refused also; whereupon three hundred was bid, and the bargain struck. The virtuosi, on getting the tulip in his possession, immediately cut it in piecemeal before the astonished grower of it, exclaiming at the same time," Now, I am the only possessor of a black tulip in the whole country!" 1 It turned out that he had one in his own garden, but as he could not endure another to possess a similar freak of nature, he took this means to insure it. WEEPING WILLOWS. The first Weeping Willow supposed to have been planted in England, was by Pope, which for a long time was known as Pope's Weeping Willow. Martyn says, "The famous and admired weeping willow, planted by Pope, which has lately been felled to the ground (1801), came from Spain, enclosing a present for Lady Suffolk. Mr. Pope was in company when the covering was taken off; he observed, that the pieces of stick appeared as if they had some vegetation; and added, perhaps they may produce something we have not in England. Under this idea he planted it in his garden, and it produced the Willow Tree that has given birth to so many others." PASSION FLOWER. This flower, says the elegant author of the "Flora Domestica," derives its name from an idea, that all the instruments of Christ's Passion are represented in it, viz.,-the five wounds, the column or pillar of scourging, besides the three nails, the crown of thorns, &c. Most of the Passion flowers are natives of the hottest parts of America. DAMASK ROSE. The Damask Rose was brought into England in the year 1522, from Italy, by Dr. Linacre, physician to Henry VIII. LILY, &c. The Lily came from the Levant, the Jessamine from the East Indies, the Tube-rose from Java and Ceylon, the Carnation and Pink from Italy, and the Auricula from Switzerland. Introduced in the reign of Charles II. HOLLYHOCK. This is merely a corruption from Holy-oak, a tree or flower held in much estimation by the Lady Abbesses and Nuns of old; and which abounded in the gardens of convents, it being considered by them as possessing sacred and protecting qualities. ROSEMARY. "Come, funeral flower! who lovest to dwell, With the pale corse in lonely tomb, And throw across the desert gloom A sweet decaying smell. R Come, press my lips, and lie with me And we will sleep a pleasant sleep, So peaceful and so deep." Rosemary is a small, but very odoriferous shrub; the principal use of it is to perfume chambers, and in decoctions for washing. Its botanical name is rosmarinus, so called from ros, dew, and marinus, alluding to its situation on the seashore. It is seen mantling the rocks of the Mediterranean in winter, with its grey flowers glittering with dew. It was used to stick around the coffin of the dead, probably not only from its fragrance and funereal character, but also for some antiseptic qualities it was supposed to possess. Shakspeare alludes to it in Romeo and Juliet, act iv. scene 5. "Fairest blossoms drop with every blast, But the brown beauty will like hollies last.”—Gay. The Holly, or Ilex, is supposed to derive its name from the season in which it particularly flourishes (Christmas), being kept as holy by all who profess the faith of Christ. Of this tree there are several species, some of which produce yellow berries and some white. SALADS. Oil for salads is mentioned in the Paston Letters in 1466, in which year Sir John Paston writes to his mother, that he has sent her "ij potts off oyl for saladys, whyche oyl was goode as myght be when he delyv'yd it, and schuld be good at the reseyving yfitt was not mishandled nor mycarryd." This indicates that vegetables for the table were still cultivated in England, although the common opinion is, that most of our fruits and garden productions were destroyed during the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster. A good salad, however, had become so scarce some years afterwards, that Katherine, the queen of Henry VIII., is said, on a particular occasion, to have sent to the continent to procure one. Salad herbs were common some years afterwards. POTATOES. The Board of Agricultural Report tells us (of this most useful and now universally well-known root), that it is a native of America, and was familiar to the Indians before the conquest of Mexico and Peru. It was called by them, amongst other names, "openauk ;" and in the History of the New-Found-land Virginia, by Heriot (a follower of Sir Walter Raleigh, and printed in 1588), is described as "a kinde of root of round form, some of the bigness of wallnuts, some farre greater, which are found in moist and marish grounds, growing many together one with the other in ropes, as if they were fastened by a string. Being boyled," he says, 66 or sodden, they are verie good meate." Gerarde, in his "Herbal," is the first author who gives the figure of the potato plant. He calls it by the name of "Solanum tuberosum," which name has been followed by Linnæus and his disciples. Sir Walter Raleigh, after returning from America in 1586, is said to have first given it to his gardener in Ireland, as a fine fruit from America, and which he desired him to plant in his kitchen garden in the spring. In August this plant flourished, and in September produced a fruit, but so different from the gardener's expectation, that in an ill-humour he carried the potato-apple to his master. "Is this," said he, "the fine fruit from America you prized so highly?" Sir Walter either was, or pretended to be ignorant of the matter, and told the gardener, since that was the case, to dig up the weed and throw it away. The gardener soon returned with a good parcel of potatoes. It was cultivated in the gardens of the nobility and gentry, early in the seventeenth century, as a curious exotic, and towards the close of it (1684) was planted out in the fields in small patches in Lancashire, from whence it was gradually propagated all over the kingdom, as well as in France. In the year 1847, a formidable disease broke out both in England and in Ireland in this valuable plant. It appeared first in the leaves and stalk, about the end of the summer, which looked as if struck by lightning, faded, dead, and emitted a nauseous smell. The attack was sudden, and the effects permanent; as the disease in a few days affected the root, which became full of black specks, and quickly decayed, so as to render all storing impossible: a total famine in Ireland was the consequence, and great distress was experienced in England from the same cause. The disease is so inveterate, that it is still severely felt at the present time of writing, and though many theories have been broached as to its cause, and numerous methods adopted for its cure, it still resists all efforts for its removal. CABBAGES. According to Evelyn in his Sylva, even so ordinary but useful a legume as a cabbage, was in 1539 first imported from the Netherlands. Many years after this, it seems that England was still supplied with cabbages from Flanders. Bullein, in his Boke of Simples, written in 1562, observes on this vegetable, that "it is good to make pottage withall, and is a profitable herbe in the common wealthe, which the Fleminges sell deare, but we have it |