"
Footnotes:
1. "Dictionary of English Plant Names," by J. Britten and Robert
Holland. 1886.
2. "English Plant Names," Introduction, p. xiii.
3. See Folkard's "Legends," p. 309; Friend's "Flowers and Flowerlore,"
ii. 401-5.
4. See "Flower-lore," p. 74.
5. Friend's "Flower-lore," ii. 425.
6. _Garden_, June 29, 1872.
7. Johnston's "Botany of Eastern Borders," 1853, p. 177.
8. Lady Wilkinson's "Weeds and Wild Flowers," p. 269.
CHAPTER XIV.
PLANT LANGUAGE.
Plant language, as expressive of the various traits of human character,
can boast of a world-wide and antique history. It is not surprising that
flowers, the varied and lovely productions of nature's dainty handiwork,
should have been employed as symbolic emblems, and most aptly indicative
oftentimes of what words when even most wisely chosen can ill convey;
for as Tennyson remarks:--
"Any man that walks the mead
In bud, or blade, or bloom, may find
A meaning suited to his mind."
Hence, whether we turn to the pages of the Sacred Volume, or to the
early Greek writings, we find the symbolism of flowers most eloquently
illustrated, while Persian poetry is rich in allusions of the same kind.
Indeed, as Mr.
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