The language of flowers The floral offering ; a token of affection and esteem ; comprising the language and poetry of flowers
31. Tick-seed, fennel-leaved, _Coreopsis ferulafolia_. St. Quintin,
287.
NOVEMBER.
1. Laurustinus, _Laurustinus sempervirens_. St. Fortunatus.
2. Cherry, winter, _Physalis_. St. Marcian, 387.
3. Primrose, _Primula vulgaris_. St. Flour, 389.
4. Strawberry tree, _Arbutus_. St. Brinstane, bishop of Winchester,
931.
5. Cherry, common winter, _Physalis alkakengi_. St. Bertille,
abbess of Chelles, 692.
6. Yew tree, common, _Taxus baccata_. St. Leonard, sixth century.
7. Furcræa, _Furcræa gigantea_. St. Willebord, first bishop of
Utrecht, 738.
8. Aletris, Cape, _Veltheimia_. The four crowned Brothers, martyrs,
304.
9. Aletris, glaucous-leafed, _Veltheimia glauca_. St. John Lateran.
10. Fir, Scotch, _Pinus sylvestris_. St. Nympha, fifth century.
11. Pine, Weymouth, _Pinus strobus_. St. Martin, bishop, 397.
12. Aloe, great orange-flowering, _Veltheimia_, or _Aletris
uvaria_. St. Nilus, 390.
13. Bay, _Laurus poetica_. St. Homobonus, 1197.
14. Laurel, Portugal, _Cerasus Lusitanica_. St. Lawrence, bishop of
Dublin, 1180.
15. Colt’s foot, sweet-scented, _Tussilago fragrans_. St. Gertrude,
abbess, 1292.
16. Hemp, African bow-string, _Sanseviera Guineensis_. St. Edmund,
archbishop of Canterbury, 1242.
17. Stramony, or Thorn-apple tree, _Datura arborea_. St. Gregory,
Thaumaturgus, bishop, 270.
18. Passion-flower, notch-leafed, _Passiflora serratifolia_.
Dedication of the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome.
19. Passion-flower, apple-fruited, _Passiflora maliformis_. St.
Elizabeth of Hungary, 1231.
20. Stapelia, red, _Stapelia rubra_. St. Edmund, king and martyr,
870.
21. Sorrel, wood, _Oxalis grandiflora_. Presentation of the Virgin
Mary.
22. Sorrel, wood, tube-flowered, _Oxalis tubiflora_. St. Cecilia,
martyr, and patroness of music, particularly of sacred music;
supposed to be the inventress of the organ, 230.
23. Sorrel, convex, _Oxalis convexula_. St. Clement, pope, 100.
24. Stapelia, starry, _Stapelia radiata_. St. John of the Cross,
1591.
25. Butterbur, sweet, _Tussilago fragrans_. St. Catherine,
patroness of spinsters, third century.
26. Sorrel, linear, _Oxalis linearis_. St. Conrad, bishop of
Constance, 976.
27. Sorrel, lupine-leafed, _Oxalis lupinifolia_. St. Virgil, bishop
of Salzburg, 784.
28. Stapelia, variegated, _Stapelia variegata_. St. Stephen the
younger, 764.
29. Sphenogyne, _S. piloflora_. St. Saturninus, bishop, 257.
30. Sorrel, three-coloured, _Oxalis tricolor_. St. Sapor, bishop.
DECEMBER.
1. Stapelia, dark, _S. pulla_. St. Eligius, bishop of Noyon, 659.
2. Geodorum, lemon, _Geodorum citrinum_. St. Bibiania, 363.
3. Indian tree, _Euphorbia tirucalle_. St. Francis Xavier, 1552.
4. Gooseberry, Barbadoes, _Cactus pereskia_. St. Chrysologus, 450.
5. Hibiscus, long-stalked, _H. pedunculatus_. St. Crispina, 304.
6. Heath, nest-flowered, _Erica nudiflora_. St. Nicholas,
archbishop of Myra, 342.
7. Achania, hairy, _Achania pilosa_. St. Ambrose, 397.
8. Arbor Vitæ, American, _Thuga occidentalis_. Blessed Virgin Mary.
9. Spruce, Corsican, _Pinus laricio_. St. Leodocia, 304.
10. Cypress, Portugal, _Cupressus pendula_. St. Eulalia.
11. Pine, Aleppo, _Pinus halapensis_. St. Damascus, pope, 384.
12. Heath, crowded, _Erica abietina_. St. Eadburga, 751.
13. Arbor Vitæ, African, _Thuga cupressoides_. St. Lucy, martyr of
Syracuse, 304.
14. Pine, swamp, _Pinus palustris_. St. Spiridion, archbishop, 348.
15. Pine, pitch, _Pinus resinosa_. St. Florence, abbot.
16. Arbor Vitas, Chinese, _Thuga orientalis_. St. Adelaide,
empress, 999.
17. Cedar, white, _Cupressus thyoides_. St. Olympias, 410.
18. Cypress, New-Holland, _Cupressus australis_. St. Winebald, 760.
19. Heath, two-coloured, _Erica bicolor_. St. Samthana, abbess,
738.
20. Stone-pine, _Pinus pinea_. St. Philogonius, bishop of Antioch,
322.
21. Sparrow-wort, _Erica passerina_. St. Thomas, apostle.
22. Heath, pellucid, _Erica pellucida_. St. Cyril, 881.
23. Cedar of Lebanon, _Pinus cedrus_. St. Victoria, 250.
24. Pine, frankincense, _Pinus tæda_. Sts. Thrasilla and Emiliana.
25. Holly, _Ilex aculeata baccifera_. Nativity of our Saviour.
26. Heath, purple, _Erica purpurea_. St. Stephen, first martyr.
27. Heath, flame, _Erica flammea_. St. John, the Evangelist.
28. Heath, bloody-flowered, _Erica cruenta_. The Holy Innocents,
who suffered from Herod’s cruelty.
29. Heath, _Erica genistopha_. St. Thomas, archbishop of
Canterbury, 1170.
30. Ponthieva, glandular, _Ponthieva glandulosa_. St. Anysia, 304.
31. There is no flower appropriated to this day.
The Dial of Flowers.
’Twas a lovely thought to mark the hours,
As they floated in light away,
By the opening and the folding flowers
That laugh to the summer’s day.
Thus had each moment its own rich hue,
And its graceful cup and bell,
In whose coloured vase might sleep the dew,
Like a pearl in an ocean shell.
To such sweet signs might the time have flowed,
In a golden current on,
Ere from the garden, man’s first abode,
The glorious guests were gone.
So might the days have been brightly told--
Those days of song and dreams--
When shepherds gathered their flocks of old
By the blue Arcadian streams;
So, in those isles of delight, that rest
Far off in a breezeless main,
Which many a bark with a weary guest
Has sought, but still in vain.
Yet is not life, in its real flight,
Marked thus--even thus--on earth,
By the closing of one hope’s delight,
And another’s gentle birth?
Oh! let us live so that, flower by flower,
Shutting in turn, may leave
A lingerer still for the sunset hour,
A charm for the shaded eve!
_Hemans._
When a plant is approaching its state of perfection, when its organs of
nourishment are completely developed, and its vegetation is most
luxuriant, then arrives the time of flowering, which has been aptly
termed “the joy of plants.” The most superficial observer must have
noticed how different is the season of flowering of individual plants,
and how each month is adorned with its particular flowers. When the
intense cold of January confines us to our houses, the Black Hellebore,
or Christmas Rose, unfolds its dazzling white blossoms; in February, the
innocent Snowdrop presents to us her elegant cup. In the same month the
Hazel puts forth its catkins, and not rarely the early-blooming Crowfoot
shows the blue tips of its clusters of blossom. March boasts a richer
Flora; then the Violet delights us with its fragrance; the Mezereon
offers its peach-coloured flowers, and the Primrose leads on a long
train of the charming children of Spring. These now continue to advance
in increasing numbers, displaying, especially in May and June, their
highest splendour; till at length the Meadow Saffron takes leave of
inclement Autumn, and, saturated with rain, the Mosses acquire fresh
vigour, and open to the botanist a new field for investigation.
Not less different than the period of flowering is the time of the
opening and shutting of flowers. Some plants habitually open and close
their flowers by turns; others are governed in these respects by the
weather; others again, by the length or shortness of the day: while some
open and shut at certain hours, and thus furnish materials for composing
the Dial of Flowers.
According to the observations of later botanists, the flowery crown of
plants serves, among other things, to envelop the tender organs of
fructification, and to protect them from the pernicious influence of
external agents. Those organs of fructification are the chief objects of
the maternal care of Nature; while shut up in the flower-bud, they
acquire that strength and perfection of parts which enable them to
endure the light of the sun, and to perform the functions for which they
are designed. It is not till they are capable of fulfilling these
functions that the flower unfolds itself; but it again closes at such
times when external influences might be injurious to the delicate organs
of fructification. Many flowers can bear only the refreshing morning air
and the first rays of the sun, but remain shut all the rest of the day.
This may be particularly observed in the different species of
Convolvulus, Ipomæa, and Goat’s Beard. We find these, in general, open
only till about eleven o’clock. In like manner, the Mallows and the
Mesembryanthemums unfold their flowers about noon: and precisely at that
time, in serene weather, open the singularly-formed Drosera, and the
common Purslain, which shut again in an hour. Others unfold themselves
only in the evening, and continue open all night, probably because their
delicate organs would be injured by the sun. The Œnotheras, the Gauras,
and the different species of the Mirabilis, furnish examples of this
kind. Thus, too, the Cactus opuntia opens its magnificent blossoms at
night only, and towards morning shuts them up for ever. The flowers of
many plants of the nineteenth class are observed to hang their heads
during night--the Camellia, for example--by which means the rain, or
dew, which might injure the tender organs of fructification, can run off
the more easily. In other plants of this class, the flower shuts up
against rain, and on the approach of evening, as is the case with the
Marigolds.
The periodical change of colour in some flowers is also worthy of
remark. Thus, the flowers of the speckled French Honeysuckle (_Hedysarum
maculatum_) are purple in the morning and green at noon. The changeable
Hibiscus (_Hibiscus mutabilis_) is white in the morning, flesh-coloured
at noon, and rose-red in the evening. Thus, too, the great Corn-flag
(_Gladiolus grandis_) changes its colour several times in the course of
the day.
Neither is the scent of flowers equally strong and agreeable at all
hours of the day: many, even of our indigenous flowers, have the
strongest scent at night. The _Ixia cinnamomea_ gives out its fragrance
in the evening only; the highly-scented Lesser Orpine (_Crassula
odoratissima_) only in the night; the _Epidendrum fragrans_, morning and
evening; another species of Epidendrum, hung up in a room, without earth
or water, yields an agreeable perfume for years. The flowers of the
_Hebenstreitia dentata_ are scentless in the morning, have a
disagreeable smell at noon, and give out in the evening a fragrant
odour, not unlike that of the Hyacinth.
These properties of flowers, and the opening and shutting of many at
particular times of the day, led to the idea of planting them in such a
manner as to indicate the succession of the hours, and to make them
supply the place of a watch or clock. Those who are disposed to try the
experiment may easily compose such a dial by consulting the following
table, comprehending the hours between three in the morning and eight in
the evening.
+-------------------------------------------+--------+---------+
| Names of Plants. |Hours of|Hours of |
| |Opening.|Shutting.|
+-------------------------------------------+--------+---------+
|Yellow Goat’s Beard (_Tragopogon | | |
| luteum_) | 3 | |