them were in full bloom, towering above the thicket, and one more perfect than the rest was brought into the waggon. The flower consisted of seven branches, one in the centre, and six surrounding it at regular distances. The centre branch was a foot and a half long, the rest about thirteen inches, all thickly covered with a succession of long, bellshaped flowers, each orange-coloured at the stem, and passing into bright vermilion towards the top. The brilliant appearance of this huge flower, or mass of flowers, disposed like a chandelier, and mounted on a stem six feet in height, with a capital of massive leaves, spreading above three feet in diameter, is beyond conception grand*." He mentions another, of smaller growth, extremely beautiful also: "The waste produces some beautiful plants, among which I particularly noticed the Fahlblar, a species of Aloe, the leaves of which are round, of a pale blue colour, and spreading near the ground; the stalk about a foot long, and the flowers, which are bell-shaped, and of a deep scarlet, hanging down in clusters+." A lover of flowers will sympathize with this author in the regret he describes himself to have felt, in the course of preparation for building a new church: "By the grubbing up, and removing these stones, which may have lain there since the deluge, many flowers, much beautiful shrubbery, and a great quantity of Aloes were destroyed. I defended them as long as I could, but was obliged to submit to the necessity of using the stones. The ground was strewed with flowers and bulbs, shattered Aloe-leaves and beautiful plants, but I was assured for my comfort, that, after a short rest, the earth would bring forth abundantly, and the Aloes and Fahlblar again adorn the spot ‡.” *Latrobe's Visit to South Africa, p. 273. AMARANTHACEA. AMARANTH. AMARANTHUS. MONECIA PENTANDRIA. Italian, amaranto, fior veluto [velvet flower].—French, amaranthe; passe-velours [pass-velvet]; fleur d'amour [love-flower].—English, amaranth; flower-gentle; velvet-flower. The botanical name is derived from the Greek, and signifies unfading. THE species of Amaranth most cultivated in English gardens are the Two-coloured Amaranth, which flowers late in the autumn, with purple and crimson flowers ;— the Three-coloured Amaranth*, with variegated flowers, which continue to blow from June to September; "there is not," says Millar, “a handsomer plant than this in its full lustre;"-the Prince's-feather Amaranth (amar. hypochondriachus), which also varies in colour, and which flowers at the same time; the Spreading or Bloody Amaranth, with flowers of a red purple, blowing from June to September ;the Pendulous Amaranth, or Love-lies-bleeding, (Fr. discipline des religieuses, the nun's whipping rope,) with flowers of a red purple, blowing in August and September ;the Cock's comb, or Crested Amaranth [Celosia in pentandria monogynia], of which the flowers are red, purple, white, yellow, or variegated, flowering in July and August ; -and the Globe Amaranth [Gomphrena in pentandria digynia; but, like Celosia, still belonging to the same natural family of Amaranthacea], of which there are several varieties, white, purple, striped, &c. The purple resembles clover raised to an intense pitch of colour, and sprinkled with grains of gold. The flowers, gathered when full grown, and dried in the shade, will preserve their beauty for * French, fleur de jalousie, jealous-flower; Italian, maraviglia di Spagna, the Spanish wonder; papagallo, the parrot; the Spanish and Portuguese also call it papagayo. A years, particularly if they are not exposed to the sun. friend of the writer's possesses some Amaranths, both purple and yellow, which he has had by him for several years, enclosed with some locks of hair in a little marble urn. They look as vivid as if they were put in yesterday; and it may be added, that they are particularly suited to their situation. They remind us of Milton's use of the Amaranth, when speaking of the multitude of angels assembled before the Deity: "to the ground With solemn adoration down they cast Their crowns in wove with amaranth and gold; In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, Began to bloom, but soon for man's offence To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life, And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven With these that never fade, the spirits elect Bind their resplendent locks enwreathed with beams; The following occurs in Shelley's Rosalind and Helen : "Whose sad inhabitants each year would come, And hang long locks of hair, and garlands bound With amaranth flowers, which, in the clime's despite, Such flowers as in the wintery memory bloom Of one friend left, adorned that frozen tomb." Moore too speaks of them as being used for the hair, a purpose for which they are peculiarly well adapted: "Amaranths such as crown the maids That wander through Zamara's shades*." * "The people of the Batta country, in Sumatra, or Zamara, when not engaged in war, lead an idle inactive life, passing the day in play From a passage in Don Quixote one may suppose that Amaranths were sometimes worn by the Spanish ladies in the time of Cervantes; but the chief value of such passages consists in showing us the probable taste of the author. It is where he speaks of a set of ladies and gentlemen who were amusing themselves by playing shepherds and shepherdesses in the woods, and who had hung some green nets across the trees. And as he (Don Quixote) was going to pass forward and break through all (he took it for the work of enchanters) " unexpectedly from among some trees two most beautiful shepherdesses presented themselves before him: at least they were clad like shepherdesses, except that their waistcoats and petticoats were of fine brocade, their habits were of rich gold tabby, their hair, which for brightness might come in competition with the rays of the sun, hanging loose about their shoulders, and their heads crowned with garlands of green laurel and red flower-gentles interwoven." The delicate and sunny-coloured bay leaves of the south, and the red or purple Amaranth, interwoven, would make a beautiful mixture, especially as the Amaranth is deficient in leaves. In Portugal, and other warm countries, the churches are, in winter, adorned with the Globe Amaranth. Cowley and Rapin, in their Latin poems on plants and gardens, make honourable mention of the Amaranth; but the translations of those poems are too unworthy of their originals to admit of quotation, and a friend who would have supplied me with better is on a distant journey. The Cock's comb Amaranth is a very showy and remarkable plant. The appellation was given it from the form of its crested head of flowers resembling the comb of a ing on a kind of flute, crowned with garlands of flowers, among which the Globe Amaranth, a native of the country, mostly prevails." cock. Sometimes the heads are divided like a plume of feathers. It is said that in Japan these crests or heads of flowers are often a foot in length and in breadth, and extremely beautiful. The colour of the scarlet varieties is highly brilliant. The Amaranths are all annual, must be raised in a hotbed, and may be had from a nursery when strong enough to bear removal, which, for the last three kinds, will not be earlier than the middle of June: the others may be placed abroad earlier. In dry weather they should be watered every evening. Such flowers as are intended to be preserved should be cut before they run to seed; and should be observed daily after they are blown, that they may be taken in full beauty. The Amaranth is recommended, among other flowers, as a food for bees: "Il timo e l' amaranto Dei trapiantare ancora, e quell' altr' erbe Che danno a questa greggia amabil cibo.”: LE API DEL RUCELLAI. Thyme and the amaranth Also transplant, and all such other herbs One of the most popular species of the Amaranth is the Love-lies-bleeding. The origin of this name is not generally known; unless we are to suppose it christened by the daughter of O'Connor, in her tender lamentations over the tomb of Connocht Moran : "A hero's bride! this desert bower, It ill befits thy gentle breeding: And wherefore dost thou love this flower This purple flower my tears have nursed; I love it, for it was the first That grew on Connocht-Moran's tomb." |