The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-10-13
LITERARY NOTES.
Ola English wild Flowers.


The London publishing house of wafne & Co.
mas Just publish ned an Interesting volume called
Oiu English Wild Flowers by Mr.. j. T. Bur
CESS. The author treats OF some disputed q aes.
tlons In Dotany, and incidentally mentions tue
introduced water weed called water THYME or
Canada weed, which was first seen i'm the Dnusr
Loch IN ls42 next in the Grand Junction Canal
near Market Marlborough, then in the Trent and
IN the Can, and now it is found in nearly
every river and stream. ut has been largely
propagated by boatmens ignorance OF Its habits
Tor each of its tnree-lobed whorls has the DO
Of growing even when floating do 9n stream:
and the toothed foliage enables it to catch any
blament OF conierV1 or weed, and anchor itself
to begin new life.' In araoe land in England
an almost kindred nuisance is the dodder q
parasite weed spreading Iom plant to plant, and
leaving red threads around the stems OF lucern
clover, vetches, and other like crops. Atintsrvas
1t shows small pink btsdlike flowers, and 1t de-
stroys all vegetation with which it comes in con-
tact. Mr.. Burgess mentions two varieties OF this
plant, the Europ@a and the Eplthymum, which
seem to be Indigenous.
Speaking OF the derivations of flower names.
Mr. Burgess hnds some suggested by the an,
pearance OF the plants. Fumitory, or "Fume de
Terre," is named from the vapor-like appearance
which its pale green leaves give to the naked
soil. The name Dandelion, and its botanical
synonym, Leontodon, point to the resemblance
Of that plants deep cut leaves and back turned
lobes TO the Lions tooth, "dent de llon.n The
Fritlary gets its name from "fiitillus," dice
box because OF the chequcred reddish.purple
squares on the tulip.shaped bell of that flower.
fairy's glove, by the use of the names "fary
thmbles" and "fairy BELLS" to designate the
same flower in Munster. 'Carduus,n the generic
Latin name of the thistle tribe, is from the
Celtic "ard," point Oher names have refer
ence to virtues supposed to be inherent. "Bo-
rage" is supposed to be a corruption of "corn
or courage because of the cordial quail
ties with when it is credited. Piny said
that it dispeled sadness, and If taken with claret
cup or cool tankard we partly believe him. Such
names as SALIVA verbenaca, Old English clarv,
tell their own tale. The names Centaurea and
Achillea, applied to the Corn Bluebottle aud the
Miloil, are abusive to the connection of Chiron
and his heroic pupil with the gifts of healing.
Other names such as Sanioln, st. Johns wort
ginate in superstition. The samphire never
grows but on the seashore, yet never gro VS.
within reach of the waves. No one who has
CHANGED on Professor Burnets anecdote of a
castaway sailor finding new heart and hope
when he grasped samphire root on a ledge of
roCB, will not forget the association of this plant
with Peter and Petra " ''Lady's Bedsraw," AS
Mr.. Burgess claims to have discovered from the
fact that 1Iish peasant girls use the regular
whorls o. this plant for rosary, is really
"Our Lady's Beadstraw." There Is something
curious about the name Juniper. IL we cannot
trace IL up to its source, we can establish it
nameglver to the spirit which is favored by its
berries. Gin is an abbrevlation OF Geneva" !"
our Anel elicism for "Genievre," the French name
of Juniper"
The poetical and legendary associations of
Wild flowers are interesting, such as that of the
wood-sorrel with st. Patrick, the white dog-rose
with the House of York. and of the perennial
daisy with the unfortunate Margaret of Anjou,
and perhaps with a more lovable Margaret
Marguerite of Valois, the friend of Calvin and
Erasmus. The thistle which originated the
Scotch order and emblem was the beautiful
cotton thistle, on which the Danish invader trod
to his cost, when his cry of pain awoke the
Scots to defense and to victory. The milk
thistle (Cdrduus MdridnuS) has white veins
running down its larger leaves, which are said
to have originated in drop ofthe Virgins milk,
and a KINDRED fancy ascribes the black spot on
the Leaf of the spotted perscaria to drop of our
Saviour's blood as He toiled up the Via Dolo-
rosa. Danewori, or dwarf elder, IS said only to
| spring up where blood was split in the Danish
| wars. "Premorse Scabious" is so called because
| of the fable that the Deville begrudged man
| so good herb and bit away part of the root"
Upon this part OF his subject Mr.. Burgess has
| bestowed considerable pains, as he has also in
| tracing home the inmates of gardens to the sea-
shore and the hedgerow. Celery, beet, aspara-
! gus, cabbage, kale, and fennel have left tor
homes of civilization the coasts and salt
marshes where their wild originals exist to tell
| of what they we're. Lavender and the Peeny,
| too, have their elder brethren by the seaside.
And we may any day at the right seasons
| chance upon The earlier types of the Saponaria,
| Apagalis, Dianthus, and PiGotee OF our gardens,
ii we keep our eyes open in our walks afeld.