Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-11-21

Curious, Studies in floral
Beauty.
Significance Of Some Flowers The Origin
Of Familiar Line


pretty tlower was Of divine origin. EN-
anating from the light OF the moon.
and a valuable cure. therefore. for cpl
lepsy, which was supposed to be a
moonstruck maIady. The peony was
thought to have power over the winds,
to protect the harvest from storms.
and to avert tempests.
The floral kingdom furnishes plants
which flower unfailingly on certain
days, and superstition has seized on
this fact and associated some with the
qualities Of great persons who hap
pened to be born on the day they plant
flowers The cyclamon opens in
Southern Europe on St. Romoalds
Day, and is dedicated to this romantic
recluse. who abandoned a noble career
for a monastery, because he witnessed
his father kill q kinsman in a duel.
The rose bay willow herb, the French
called st. Anthony's fire, because of
its red hue, and its having appeared
first in the eleventh century, when the
plague of erysipelas was raging. and
accord to it the powers of intercession
with disease which its patron, St An
thony, was believed to possess.
The early Christians, attracted to
some flowers by their peculiar beauty,
gathered number of these into her
barium, and dedicated them to the Vir-
gin Mary. Among these are the
snowdrop, the lily of the valley, white
! daffOdil, white rose, white hyacinth,
white clematis, lady's-fnger, lady's-
slipper, lady's-glove, marigold, lady's-
mantle, ETC., to all of which supersti.
ton attached qualities of purity and
goodness, and conferred these upon the
wearer of any of the symbolical flow
ers. The common hollyhock is a cor
ruption of holy oak. and is reverenced
in parts of rural England, where tradi-
tions percoIate through centuries, be-
cause crusaders brought il from the
Holy Land. The modest, shrinking
blue bell il, despite these most oppo-
site quail les, = plant Of war In the
superstitions belief Of the same people
It is dedicated to ST. George, their
patron saint. By the French the
white variety of this plant is, in Curl
Gus contrast. associated with the peace
full character of nun. and is called Ia
religiease DIES champs
The familiar line "balm of Gilead,'
is the name Of plant whose nearest
summer relation is our acacia In the
earliest ages it was celebrated by Pliny,
Strabo. Tacitus and Justin. not alone
for its medicinal qualities, but the
lofty spirit and dignity its meaning
was supposed to increase The Queen
of Sheba brought it to King Solomon,
and Cleopatra planted one species CT it
near Matrara, which ripened into a
shrub celebrated by travellers for ages
afterwards. The Eastern Christians
believed the plant would grow only
under the care of Christian garden
err, and that were the bark incised by
any instrument Of metal, the dow Of
baIsam would be corrupt. Under
their fostering care, the plant grew as
large as q fir tree, and such was the re-
spect that it exerted that when Chris
tianity spread into European courts
the balm Of Gilead came to be min
gled in the oil used at the coronation
Of monarchs. The Coptic Christians
had tradition that when the Holy
Family were leaving Egypt to return
to Judea, they stopped to rest at Mata-
"a and went from house to house beg
ging q cup Of water. and were every
where refused. Faint with thirst and
sorrow the Virgin Mary sat down
under balm Of Gilead tree. and I'm
mediately fountain sprang up beside
her, and the tree rustIed its leaves and
famed a gentle breeze as the Mother
and Child drank OF the water and rest
ed. Inter Ocean.
ScaIlop Fishing.