But, if a wood of leaves o'ershade the tree', 6. The following tribute from an English poet to the almond blossom is beautiful and appropriate : 7. Blossom of the almond trees, Almond blossom, sent to teach us That the spring-days soon will reach us, We die as the violets died- On the bravest bough is seen; Ah! when winter winds are swinging All thy red bells into ringing, With a bee in every bell, Almond bloom', we greet thee well.-EDWIN ARNOLD. 8. The mountain ash, a small but beautiful and popular tree, also belonging to the pear and apple family, and found wild in mountain woods in our Northern and Middle States, is often cultivated for its ornamental clusters of scarlet berries. The mountain ash, Deck'd with autumnal berries that outshine Springs richest blossoms, yields a splendid show Amid the leafy woods; and ye have seen, By a brook side or solitary tarn,5 How she her station doth adorn; the pool But while the Rose family comprehends all the most important of the fruits of the temperate regions, and is distinguished above all others for its floral charms, its medicinal properties are quite noted also. Thus the well-known Prussic acid, which, although a powerful poison, is also the basis of laurel water, exists in abundance in the leaves and kernels of the plums, cherries, and almonds; and many of the plants of this family yield a gum which is nearly allied to gum Arabic. 1 GEL-ID, cold; very cold. 2 GLEBE, the soil; the turf. SYL'-VAN, pertaining to the forest. 14 HIND, the servant or domestic of a hus bandman or farmer; a rustic. 15 TÄRN, a mountain lake. LES. VI.-CAMELLIA, MALLOW, AND CITRON FAMILIES. [EXOGENOUS OF DICOTYLEDONOUS; Angiosperms; Polypetalous.] 1. Camellia japon'ica, Japan rosc, xv. 12 (a tree in Japan), w. and or., My.-J., Japan. 2. Gossypium herba'ceum, Common cotton, xv. 12, y., 4 f., Jl., E. Indies. 3. Gossyp'ium Barbaden'se, Barbadoes cotton, xv. 12, y:, 5 f., S., W. Indies. 4. Althe'a ro'sea, Common hollyhock, xv. 12, r. and w., 8 f., Jl.-S., China. 5. Mal'va moscha'ta, Musk-mallow, xv. 12, pk., 2 f., Jl.-Au, Britain. 6. Hibiscus milita'ris, Louisiana hibiscus, xv. 12, pu., 3 f., Au.-S., Louisiana. 7. Citrus vulga'ris, Seville orange, xii. 1, w., 15 f., My.-J., W. Asia. 8. Citrus limo'num, Lemon, xii. 1, w., 15 f., My.-J., W. Asia. 9. Citrus limet'ta, Lime, xii. 1, w., 8 f., My.-JL, W. Asia. 1. THE large, beautiful, and rose-shaped flower called Japonica, the loblolly bay of Southern swamps, and the tea-plant of China belong to the Camellia family. "The chaste camellia's pure and spotless bloom, was brought from Japan about the year 1739, and is justly esteemed one of the choicest ornaments of the green-house. A great many varieties, ranging from the purest white through delicate blush, and striped, to deep red, have been produced by cultivation. The white camellia is often addressed by the poets, as in the following sonnet, as an emblem of perfected loveliness. 2. Say', what impels' me, pure and spotless flower', To view thee with a secret sympathy? Is there some living spirit shrined in thee'? That, as thou bloom'st within thy humble bower, Whose hallowed presence shared my lonely hour'? Nor all the charms thy velvet folds display';* That o'er my heart thus holds its silent sway.-W. ROSCOE. 3. The famous tea-plant of China, a drawing of a stalk of which is here given, of about one quarter the natural size, is regarded by many botanists as merely a species of the camellia, which it much resembles in the form of its leaves and blossoms. Some dried leaves of tea were first brought to Europe in the seventeenth century by a Russian nobleman; and now, out of China, the annual consumption of this one plant, as a beverage, is estimated at a hundred millions of pounds. 4. For this amount the Chinese people receive nearly thirty millions of dollars; and yet it is believed that they themselves consume twenty times more than the entire amount exported from their country! The different kinds and quality of tea depend chiefly upon the time of plucking the leaves, the mode in which they are prepared for use, and the soil on which they grow, rather than upon any specific differences in the plants themselves. Green Tea (Thea viridis). 5. In China and Japan tea is sold in shops and at the street corners, and borne about in kettles by itinerant merchants, who sell small cups-without sugar or milk, as it is universally taken in the East-at a trifling price. A tea-drinking in a rich man's house is, however, a very ceremonious affair. No tea-pots are used, but a portion of leaves is put into each cup, and boiling water poured on them. It would be highly indecorous to spill a drop out of the cups during the bowings which precede the drinking; and to prevent this they are but half-filled. The guests drink at many sips, and it is a point of politeness for all to empty their cups exactly at the same time, that they may put them down at once. * The downward inflection is appropriate here, because it is, really, the conclusion of the sentiment, the remaining three lines being merely a repetition of the sentiment previously expressed. If we had given only the last six lines, beginning with "Lovely flower"," "the rising inflection would have been required at "display." 6. Tea is served very hot; but it is a flagrant breach of etiquette in any one to notice this unpleasant fact. Should the weather be very warm, when the cups are emptied the master of the house says, "I invite you to take up your fans." But should any unlucky guest have forgotten his fan, the rest of the company do not permit themselves the liberty of using theirs, for fear of hurting his feelings. Finally, after innumer able tedious acts of politeness, in which each individual aims to produce the impression that, in his own opinion, his insig-. nificant person is by no means worthy the exalted honor of drinking with the illustrious company among whom he is infinitely surprised to be received, the signal for leave-taking is given by the highest in rank rising and saying to the host, "I have been troublesome to you a very long time"-which is probably the only true word spoken during the entertain ment. 7. We might speak of American tea-parties also, but they are too well-known and appreciated to need description here; for even the poetic muse has been evoked, on more occasions than one, to give them notoriety. "How they sit and chitter chatter', O'er a cup of scalding water', Of this one's dress or carriage', Of that one's death or marriage." 8. In the Mallow family, which contains a great variety of some of the finest flowers in nature, are found the various spe cies of the, altheas or hollyhocks, and the hibiscus, together with that famous plant, "King Cotton," avowedly the most valuable of all the vegetable products which man converts into materials for clothing. The common cotton plant grows from three to five feet in height, with fivelobed, blue-veined, dark green leaves. The flower is of a pale yellow, changing to a 3 pink color, purple spotted at the bottom, with five petals. On the falling of the flower a kind of pod or boll is developed, Cotton Plant.-1. The ri- which, in process of ripening, bursts and the morning. 3. Flower at discloses the snow-white cotton, which is the hairy covering of the seeds. pened boll. 2. Flower in evening. 9. The citron family embraces a number of species of handsome evergreen shrubs or small trees, mostly natives of the East Indies, and cultivated only in warm regions. They have odoriferous flowers, and bear some of the most brilliant, fra grant, and delicious fruits, among which may be enumerated the orange, shaddock, citron, lemon, and lime. As with apples, many varieties of each have been produced by cultivation. The golden apples of the heathens, and the forbidden fruit of the Jews, are supposed to belong to this family. The orange blossom, distinguished no less for its beauty than its delicious fragrance, has very appropriately been made the emblem of purity and loveliness. The land where the citron and orange grow is proverbially the land of balmy fragrance, of gentle breezes, and azure skies. Know'st thou the land, where groves of citron flower'? Where gentle breezes fan the azure skies, The myrtle still, and high the laurel rise'? Know'st thou it well, that land, beloved friend'? Thither with thee, oh, thither would I wend.-GOETHE. 1. 2. 3. 4. LESSON VII.-CHORUS OF FLOWERS. WE are the sweet flowers', (Think, whene'er you see us, what our beauty saith); Of some unknown delight, We fill the air with pleasure' by our simple breath': We befit all places'; Unto sorrow we give smiles'—and, unto graces, races Think of all our treasures', Every one a marvel, more than thought can say'; We thicken fields and bowers', And with what heaps of sweetness half stifle wanton May'; By the bee-birds haunted', And all those Amazonian plains, lone lying as enchanted. Trees themselves are ours'; Beech', and roughest nut', were blossoms' in the spring'; The lusty bee knows well The news, and comes pell-mell, And dances in the gloomy thicks with darksome antheming : Of planet-pressing ocean We wash our smiling cheeks in peace-a thought for meek devotion Who shall say that flowers Dress not heaven's own bowers'? Who its love, without us, can fancy-or sweet floor'? |