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Discovering Diverse Content Through
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or colour indicated its medicinal use, was firmly held; thus the colour and
shape of the flower of the foxglove, formerly called the throatwort, were
considered as indications of its service in complaints affecting the throat, as
its older name implies; and the deep red colour often assumed, as the
summer advances, by the leaves of the herb-robert and others of the
cranesbill family, was deemed conclusive proof of the value of the plants in
stanching the flow of blood from a wound; hence, in the case of the forget-
me-not, we find an old writer on medicine referring to the healing virtues of
the plant as shown by its mode of growth: “The whole branche of floures do
turne themselves round like the taile of the scorpion. The leaves of
scorpion-grass applied to the place are a present remedy against the stinging
of scorpions, and likewise boyled in wine and drunke, prevaile against the
said bitings, as also of adders, snakes, and such venomous beasts.”
Drawings of the comfrey may be seen on referring to F. L. vol. iv. 18; V. W.
432.
The Field Convolvulus (Convolvulus arvensis). This pretty little plant
is very commonly found on grassy banks, open downs, or in our corn-fields,
running up the stems of the standing corn, and flowering during June, July,
and August. It is one of the enemies of the farmer, from its spreading, to the
detriment of the crops, over so large an area of ground; and owing to the
great depth to which the roots descend, it is exceedingly difficult to get rid
of it when it has once taken possession. Its generic name, derived from the
Latin convolvo, I entwine, is very descriptive of the nature of the plant, and
its English name, bindweed, evidently embodies the same idea. Another of
its old English names, the withwinde, very beautifully expresses its
lightness and delicacy, unable to resist the force of the wind, but conquering
by yielding to its power. Where the plant occurs, it will generally be very
common, many square feet of ground being often covered by its long
trailing stems. When any suitable object, such as a grass stem, is met with,
the convolvulus, too weak to rise by itself, ceases to trail along the ground,
and twines round the support thus afforded, always ascending in a spiral
direction to the left, as do also the C. major of the flower-garden, the
scarlet-runner bean, and many others; while others, as the hop, invariably
ascend in a spiral direction from left to right. It may at first sight seem
difficult to establish this, but if the reader will imagine the plant in question
turning round his own body, he will at once be able to determine whether
the plant in ascending would cross in front of him from right to left, or from
left to right. In introducing this plant in ornament, it will be

Convolvulus.

Convolvulus.

necessary to remember, that though frequently represented as possessing

tendrils, it does not in nature acquire the needed support by such means, the
stalk itself being the part of the plant that entwines round other plants. The
means thus employed by climbing plants are very varied; the ivy, for
instance, throwing out root-like forms from the stems, which, by their grasp
and penetration into the hollows of brickwork or the bark of other trees,
amply suffice to support the plant; the bryony, passion-flower, and many
other plants throw out true tendrils from the stem; the goose-grass clings by
means of the small hook-like appendages with which the stems and under
sides of the leaves are furnished; while in the pea the tendrils spring from
the end of the leaf-petiole. The C. arvensis, like the silver-weed, the
pimpernel, and many other equally familiar plants, seem to be
cosmopolitan. De Candolle, in his “Géographie Botanique,” records its
occurrence in a truly indigenous state in localities so widely differing in
temperature, soil, &c., as Sweden, Siberia, China, India, Persia, Arabia,
Egypt, Abyssinia, New Holland, Mauritius, the Azores, Canada, Mexico,
and Chili. The only instances of the use of the plant in mediæval ornament
with which we are acquainted are in wood-carving on the ends of the stalls
in Wells Cathedral, and in a similar position in the Church of St. Gereon,
Cologne; in each case the leaves only are represented. Illustrations of the
natural growth will be seen in S. B. 166; E. B. 923; T. N. O. 97; and P. F.
93.
The Corn Blue-bottle (Centaurea Cyanus) from its delicacy of
growth, and the beauty of the flower-heads, would be a valuable plant for
the decoration of surfaces requiring a delicate treatment, such as muslins
and lace. It is one of the characteristic flowers of the corn-field, and, in
conjunction with the poppy, would be valuable in any floral grouping
symbolic of autumn. The plant was at one time held to possess great
remedial virtue, though its use is now abandoned. The generic name,
Centaurea, refers to an old legend that the Centaur Chiron, when wounded
by Hercules, recovered his strength by the use of this herb. A very
characteristic name in some parts of the country is hurt-sickle, in allusion to
its hard and wiry stems. An example of its use in ornamental art will be
found in a sixteenth-century MS. in the Library of the British Museum. The
treatment, as is usual at that period of the illuminator’s art, is very
naturalistic. Drawings of the natural plant may be seen in S. B. 159; E. B.
709; F. L. vol. vi. 62; and P. F. 8.
The Corn Marigold (Chrysanthemum segetum) is, like the last, one of
the characteristic and striking plants of the harvest-field, the intense scarlet
of the poppy, the rich blue of the blue-bottle, and the brilliant yellow of the
present flower, forming a very beautiful trio. The generic name,
Chrysanthemum, alludes to this brilliancy of colour seen in several of the
species, being derived from two Greek words signifying golden flower.
There is considerable quaintness in the forms of the leaves, and the general
growth of the plant renders it well adapted for art-treatment. We are unable
to refer you to any examples of its introduction in the ornament of the past,
but any of our readers desiring to remedy a neglect so unjustifiable will find
reliable drawings of it in E. B. 713; F. L. vol. vi. 60; P. F. 28.
The Daffodil (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus). This beautiful flower will
be found of value to the designer, both from its own inherent beauty, and
also more especially in combination with the primrose, wild hyacinth, or
cowslip, in any design where it is desirable to embody the idea of spring,
since it is one of the most striking plants of that season of the year. The
daffodil may be found in meadows and copses, and is generally abundant
throughout England, though in many cases probably as an escape from the
cottage-garden. In Ireland and Scotland it is never met with except under
such circumstances. Where the daffodil has once established itself it grows
with great freedom, and will generally be met with in profusion, though it is
so local in its growth, that even if abundant in any one spot, it may
frequently be sought for in vain throughout the rest of a district. The
flowers, of a pure and brilliant yellow, grow singly upon the stalks, each
rising directly from the root. The daffodil has a very wide area of
distribution, being met with throughout the greater part of Europe, and more
especially in the south-west; it is, for instance, one of the characteristic
plants of the meadows and hillside pastures of Spain, together with the two-
flowered narcissus (N. biflorus), a plant which, though abundant in
Southern Europe, has never been naturalised in England. It may be
frequently met with in cultivation, and will easily be distinguished from the
daffodil from the flowers being generally in pairs upon the stem, and from
their creamy white or straw colour. The generic name, Narcissus, is derived
from a Greek word signifying stupor, in allusion to the heavy and powerful
odour of another species, the N. poeticus.
Drawings of the daffodil will be met with in E. B. 1501, and P. F. 89.
The daffodil being like the daisy and eglantine, what we may perhaps be
allowed to term a poet’s flower, a further reason for intimacy with it is
furnished to the designer, as he may possibly be required to make a design
for a page border to some édition de luxe of Wordsworth or Herrick.
The Daisy (Bellis perennis). So many rural and poetic associations
cluster around this “wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower,” that our list
would be sadly incomplete did it not find a place in it. Leaving the
consideration of these associations, however, we would desire to point out
that on its own inherent merits it is a plant admirably adapted for art-work,
the forms of the leaves, buds, and flowers being all very ornamental in
character, and well suited to the decoration of any light fabric. The generic
name, Bellis, testifies to the general appreciation, being derived from the
Lat. bellus, pretty. Daisy is a corruption of its old English name, day’s eye.
 “As soon as ever the sunne ginneth west
To sene this flower, how it will go to rest,
For fear of night, so hateth she darkness.
Well by reason men it call maie
The Daisie, or else the Eye of the Daie.”

In France it is called Marguerite, from Lat. margarita, a pearl,—hence

ladies of gentle birth, of that name, frequently chose it in the days of
chivalry as their device. It may be seen carved in stone on the gateway of
St. John’s College, Cambridge, founded by Margaret, Countess of
Richmond. It also occurs in carvings at Cubberley, Gloucestershire; Coton,
in Cambridgeshire; and Culham, in Oxfordshire.

“The daisie, or flower white and rede,

And in French called la belle Marguerite,
To herne I have so great affectioun
As I sayd erst, when comen is the Maie,
That in my bedde there dawneth me no daie
That I n’am up and walking in the mede
To see this floure ayenst the sunne sprede,
So glad am I, that when I have presence
Of it to doue it all reverence,
As she that is of all floures the floure,
Fulfilled of all vertue and honoure;
And ever ylike faire and fresh of hewe;
And ever I love it, and ever ylike newe.”
Chaucer.

The family of Parr bore as one of their devices a tuft of daisies. The daisy
may be met with abundantly in pasture land and the grassy borders of
country roads, blooming freely from April to October. Illustrations may be
seen in E. B. 772; F. L. vol. i. 62; T. N. O. 76; P. F. 63.
The Dog-rose (Rosa canina). This is one of the commonest of our
numerous species of English wild rose—a family which, like the brambles,
willows, and others, has by some botanists been cut up into several species
from more or less obvious botanical marks, frequently of a nature, however,
which subjects them to be by other observers considered as mere variations
depending upon chance external influences; thus, while one writer reduces
the various rose forms to five specific types, another, of equally high
standing, mentions nineteen species as occurring in Britain. This refinement
of scientific observation will, however, be of no real service to the designer:
for his purpose the dog-rose, the most familiar of our English species, may
be accepted as a fairly typical flower. The garden varieties of roses are
derived from the Rosa sempervirens of Southern Europe, the R. Indica, an
Asiatic species, and many others. The sweet-briar, R. rubiginosa, one of our
wild English species, is also a favourite in many gardens from the fragrance
of its leaves when pressed in the hand. The

Dog-Rose.

word rose is derived, according to some authors, from the Celtic rhos,
which is in turn derived from the adjective rhodd, red; while others affirm
that it descends to us from the Latin rosa, itself deduced from the Greek
rodon, derived from erythros, red; but we are unable to give any satisfactory
clue to the meaning of the prefix “dog” in the familiar English name, the
same idea being also evidently expressed in the specific word canina, in the
French rose de chien, and the German Hundrose. Some writers, however,
imagine it to refer to the uselessness of the plant, and quote the scentless or
dog-violet as another illustration in support of their theory. Even on the
lowest utilitarian ground this theory is scarcely tenable, since the plant is
largely used by gardeners as a stock for grafting, while the fruit is also
considerably employed in medicine. The rose, though commonly met with
in ornament throughout the whole of the Decorated and Perpendicular
periods of Gothic, is more especially found in the latter, since it was then
employed not merely on its own merits, but also as the badge of the Tudors;
hence, as an heraldic form, we frequently meet with it in secular no less
than in ecclesiastical work. It is also, we need scarcely say, the badge of
England, as the shamrock and thistle are of Ireland and Scotland
respectively. It was also the personal badge of Edward I., and the family
device of the De la Warres. Examples of the heraldic use of the rose are
very numerous; it may merely suffice to mention Hampton Court and Henry
VII.’s Chapel at Westminster as abounding in illustrations. In the church at
Hawton, Nottinghamshire, in a sculptured representation of the
Resurrection, there is as a background a very elaborate and beautiful diaper
of the rose—its leaves, flowers, and buds being all employed; this, as the
Rose of Sharon, may be considered as introduced in a symbolic sense,
though we must here mention that the plant ordinarily known as the Rose of
Sharon is not a true rose at all botanically. It is one of the Hypericums. A
golden rose has from time to time been given by the popes to those whom
they more especially desired to reward for services rendered to the Church:
Henry VIII. of England received, together with his title “Defender of the
Faith,” this mark of honour from Pope Alexander VI. The dog-rose will be
found in flower in early summer, the colour of the blossoms varying on
different shrubs from pure white to a deep pink; the brilliant scarlet fruit, an
equally ornamental feature, being met with as the season advances.
Illustrations of the natural growth of the plant will be seen in M. B. 139, S.
C. 100, P. F. 7, 90, 96; and T. N. O. 51.
Examples of its use in decorative art occur at Winchester, where a
hollow moulding is filled with a waved line of rose leaves and flowers; in a
boss in Beverley Minster; in a glass quarry at Yaxley, Suffolk; in a more
conventionalised treatment in a panel of Perpendicular period, East Harling
Church, Norfolk; a very good example as a glass quarry, Milton Church,
Cambridge; in a piece of oak-carving in the stalls at Wells; in the carving of
a tomb in Bourges Cathedral; a capital at Miraflores; a hollow moulding
wreathed with alternate flowers and leaves in one of the doorways of Notre
Dame, Paris. Many other instances might be given, but these will suffice to
show how favourite a plant the rose has been in past ornament. The
following extract from the old herbalist Gerarde, though the adulation is,
from its implied reference to Elizabeth, somewhat fulsome, is a further
illustration of its association heraldically with the Tudors: “The plant of
roses, though it be a shrub full of prickles, yet it had bin more fit and
convenient to have placed it with the most glorious flowers of the world,
than to insert the same here among base and thorny shrubs” (this allusion
refers to Gerarde’s system of classification), “for the rose doth deserve the
chief and prime place among all flowers whatsoever, being not only
esteemed for his beauty, vertues, and his fragrant and odoriferous smell, but
also because it is the honour and ornament of our English Scepter, in the
uniting of those two most Royall Houses of Lancaster and Yorke.”

Feverfew.

The subject of our next illustration is derived from the Feverfew

(Chrysanthemum parthenium), a plant widely distributed over Britain, but
at the same time with doubtful claims to be considered a true native; it is,
however, thoroughly at home in those places in which it is to be met with,
and from the clear white daisy-like flowers and the delicate green of its
handsome foliage it merits the attention of designers of ornamental art.
From its lightness and the deep cutting of the leaves, the feverfew would be
found of more service in painted or engraved ornament than in any kind of
relief work. The feverfew has a reputation among herbalists as a bitter and
tonic; and no doubt, before the introduction of quinine and such-like more
powerful remedies, would possess a valued and considerable remedial
virtue. The familiar English name implies this, and is one of the numerous
class of names, as eyebright, goutweed, lungroot, livelong, wormwood, &c.,
given to plants in recognition of their real or fancied medicinal use.
Drawings of the natural growth of the feverfew may be seen in E. B. 715;
M. B. 249; P. F. 39.
Fool’s Parsley. We have selected this plant, the Æthusa cynapium, as a
good representative of the very large order of plants known botanically as
the Umbelliferæ. The whole of the plants of this order, as the name implies,
have their flowers growing in umbels, that is to say, all the flower-stalks
start from one point on the stem, and radiate from the common centre.
Many of the Umbelliferæ, as the parsley, carrot, fennel, and celery, must be
familiar to our readers, though they may not have noticed particularly this
umbellate mode of flowering. Several of the species are exceedingly
poisonous: of these we may instance the hemlock, the water-dropwort, and
the present plant. With very few exceptions, the flowers of the whole of the
plants of this order are either white or yellow. The fool’s parsley is so called
from a slight resemblance which the plant bears to the common parsley of
the kitchen-garden. Though the differences are not difficult to detect—the
flowers, for instance, of the fool’s parsley being white, and those of garden-
parsley yellow; the leaves of the first giving a disagreeable odour when
bruised, and those of the second a rich aromatic scent—the want of a little
circumspection has frequently led to serious and even fatal results. The
plant is the more dangerous from its being rarely met with except on
cultivated ground. The generic name, Æthusa, is given to it in allusion to its
acrid nature, being derived from a Greek word signifying to burn, while
cynapium means dog’s parsley. Though as yet we have said nothing but evil
of it, it is but just to add in its favour that, ornamentally, it is a very
desirable plant for insertion in our list, the leaves, flower-buds, and general
growth being very graceful, and well suited for the decoration of any
delicate fabric. For illustrations of the plant we would refer you to F. L. vol.
i. 18; S. C. 8; S. B. 139. It will be found in flower during July and August.
The Ground-Ivy (Nepeta glechoma), the subject of our next two
illustrations, is so commonly distributed throughout Britain, that there can
be but little need of our dwelling at any great length upon a description of
it, though, from its habit of trailing on the ground and among the roots of
larger plants, it is not so conspicuous to the eye as many others. Its English
name, ground-ivy, refers to its slight resemblance in mode of growth to the
common ivy, though in every other respect they are very dissimilar, the
ground-ivy having rounded or reniform leaves growing in pairs up the stem,
the flowers large and of a brilliant colour, tubular and bisymmetrical, while
in the ivy the leaves terminate in an acute point, and spring singly from the
stem, the flowers small, pale green, multisymmetrical in form, and
composed of five distinct petals. The generic name, Nepeta, is derived from
nepa, a scorpion, from an old belief that the bite of the scorpion was
rendered harmless if treated by means of a recipe of which a preparation of
our present plant was the leading ingredient. The flower of the ground-ivy,
though generally of a deep purplish blue, may sometimes be met with of a
pure white. This variation from a given colour to white is comparatively not
uncommon in many of our wild plants, though more especially noticeable
in

Ground-Ivy.

plants of normally blue or purple flowers: thus the purple foxglove, blue
Jacob’s ladder, pink herb-robert, purple snapdragon, blue harebell, and
many others, are occasionally to be found with white blossoms. The
ground-ivy, from its abundance, and also from its past and present
medicinal use, may be met with in the works of various authors under a
great choice of synonyms: of these alehoof is the most common; others,
almost equally familiar, being creep-by-ground and cat’s-foot. When not in
flower the general appearance of the marsh pennywort (Hydrocotyle
vulgaris) is, to a casual observer, not altogether unlike that of the ground-
ivy; but the pennywort is only met with on swampy ground, the leaves are
peltate or shield-like, the stalk rising from the centre of the under side of the
leaf, as we see it in the more familiar garden nasturtium (Tropæolum
majus), differing in these respects from the ground-ivy. When in blossom,
the contrast between the greenish-yellow flower of the pennywort and the
deep purple of the flowers of the ground-ivy is too marked to permit of any
chance of error. The only examples of the use of the ground-ivy
 Ground-Ivy.

with which we are acquainted in the ornament of the past are in a small
spandrel in one of the doorways at Rheims Cathedral, and on some of the
flooring tiles from the ruins of the Abbey of Chertsey, Surrey. In the latter
case the leaves are four in number, in a cruciform arrangement within a
quatrefoil—a very simple yet true and effective treatment of the plant; for
as the leaves grow, as we have already mentioned, in pairs, and as each pair
of leaves is placed upon the stem at right angles to the pairs immediately
above and beneath it, the effect produced in looking down upon the plant is
necessarily cruciform in character. A great variety of these Chertsey tiles
may be seen in the South Kensington Museum: though very simple in
design, they afford excellent examples of the true application of the
principles which should govern the introduction of natural forms, and are
well worthy of the attention of the student of decorative art. In both these
cases, Rheims and Chertsey, the leaves alone are employed, as the flowers,
from their intricacy of detail and position upon the plant, would require the
aid of colour to bring them out with due effect; hence, while the ground-ivy,
during its period of flowering, is admirably adapted for surface decoration,
muslins, wall-papers, and many other such-like purposes, it is but ill suited
to relief-work in stone or wood. Refer to S. B. 172; E. B. 1055; F. L. vol. ii.
44; M. B. 28, for illustrations of the natural growth of the ground-ivy.
Groundsel, though a plant exceedingly likely to be overlooked, is on
that account the more deserving of a place in our list, as it really possesses
qualities which fully entitle it to the consideration of the student of
ornamental art, the general growth of a good specimen being very vigorous
and characteristic, and the variety of beautiful forms seen in the leaves a
further recommendation. The botanical name is Senecio vulgaris. Senecio is
derived from senex, an old man, in allusion to the grey heads of seed-down
which succeed the blossoms. The groundsel may be met with abundantly
almost everywhere, and may at all times of the year be found in flower.
Drawings of the plant may be seen in E. B. 749; F. L. vol. i. 61; P. F. 2.
The Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia). This graceful little plant may
generally be found in profusion on dry and hilly pastures and heaths, though
by no means in such localities exclusively, as the roadside hedge-bank is
another favourite spot. There are ten species indigenous to England, most of
them of great beauty and adaptability to art-requirements: of these we may
in particular mention the C. hederacea, the ivy-leaved campanula, a little
plant by no means uncommon in moist shady pastures and swampy low-
lying ground. The present species is abundant everywhere throughout
Europe and Northern Asia. The Canterbury bell (C. medium) is an allied and
familiar garden species.

Harebell.

The generic name, Campanula, means a little bell, and from the shape of
the corolla is aptly applied to these plants. Rotundifolia, meaning round-
leaved, seems at first sight a misnomer, as the leaves most easily visible on
a cursory glance at the plant are thin and strap-shaped. The lower leaves of
the plant, however, are rounded in form; and, as we study the foliage, we
shall see a delicate ascending gradation of form, from the rounded leaves at
the lower end of the stem, to the thin, almost grass-like leaves of the upper
part. Drawings of the harebell will be found in T. N. O. 80; P. F. 12.
The Hazel-nut (Corylus avellana) is so familiar a shrub that any
lengthened description of it must be needless, or, to quote our old writer,
Gerarde: “Our hedge-nut, or hazel-nut tree, which is very well knowne, and
therefore needeth not any description, whereof there are also sundry sorts,
some great, some little, as also one that is in our gardens, which is very
 Nut.

great, bigger than any filberd, and yet a kinde of hedge-nut; this then that
hath beene said shall suffice for hedge-nuts.” The smaller twigs of the hazel
afford an excellent charcoal for artistic purposes, and the long straight
shoots, thrown up with such rapidity and vigour, are largely employed in
the manufacture of the crates in which earthenware is packed—a use for
which their size and flexibility combined with great strength admirably fit
them, as the rods, when the wood is still green, may be bent almost double
before they will give way. There is a pleasing appropriateness in its English
name, hazel-nut, derived from the Anglo-Saxon haesel, a hat, and hnut, a
nut or ball, which we notice and appreciate when we see the fruit in its
natural state, surrounded by the foliaceous and cap-like partial envelope
formed by the scales of the involucre. The generic name also, Corylus,
refers to this peculiarity of growth, being derived from a Greek word
signifying a covering for the head. The natural order to which the hazel
belongs includes several trees of great value to man, either on account of
their timber or their fruit—such, for example, as the beech, Spanish
chestnut, and the oak; and in the olden time, when a belief in the use of the
divining-rod, as an indicator of subterranean springs, was common, the
mystic virtue was sought in the forked twigs of the hazel. The size of the
leaves and the striking character of the fruit alike combine to render it a
plant admirably fitted for the purposes of ornamental art, though the only
example of its use, so far as we are aware, may be seen in a hollow
moulding in the cathedral at Winchester, where, upon a continuous scroll
running along the centre of the moulding, both foliage and fruit are
introduced. The leaves are deeply serrated, and the nuts grow in clusters of
two, three, or four, the general treatment being very naturalistic. Among the
many extraordinary remedies in use by our ancestors, hazel-nuts occupied a
place, being employed in complaints affecting the chest, though, even then,
when scarcely any reputed remedy seems to have been thought too fanciful
and absurd, some appear to have ventured to doubt the efficacy of the
medicine, bringing down upon themselves the scathing rebuke of the
faculty, as we find in the following extract from an old medical work,
where, after the setting forth of the benefits to be derived from the use of
the hazel as a remedial agent, he goes on to say:—“And if this be true, as it
is, then why should the vulgar so familiarly affirm that eating nuts causeth
shortness of breath? than which nothing is falser. For how can that which
strengthens the lungs cause shortness of breath? I confess the opinion is far
older than I am; I know tradition was a friend to error before, but never that
he was the father of slander; or are men’s tongues so given to slandering
one another, that they must slander nuts too to keep their tongues in use?
And so thus have I made an apology for nuts, which cannot speak for
themselves.” For illustrations of the growth of the nut, see W. H. H., Plate
B, Fig. 1; T. N. O. 127.
Our next illustration is derived from the Hawthorn, Whitethorn, or
May (Cratægus oxycantha), a plant familiar to every one, from its being so
extensively used for hedgerows; its strength, closeness of growth, and spiny
character, admirably adapting it to the purpose. The wood is very hard, and
will take a high polish; the generic name, Cratægus, from a Greek word
signifying strength, being an allusion to this characteristic of the plant. Its
use as a hedgerow plant in England dates, according to Sowerby, from the
time of the Romans, and of this there can be but little doubt, as its most
common name—hawthorn—is, literally, the hedge-thorn, from the Saxon
word hage. The second name—white-thorn—has been given to it in
contradistinction to the black-thorn (Prunus spinosa), a somewhat similar,
and, in a wild state, almost equally common plant; the
 Hawthorn.

stems of the latter being very dark in colour, while in the hawthorn or
white-thorn they are comparatively light. The third name, May, has obvious
reference to the time of flowering. The leaves of the plant are exceedingly
varied in form, affording a great choice for the selection of the ornamentist;
some being very simple in character, while others are deeply cut, and very
rich and beautiful in outline. A permanent variety may be occasionally met
with, in which the leaves, instead of being of the ordinary deep and bluish
green, are in addition irregularly blotched with varying and intermingling
tones of yellow. The flowers also of the hawthorn are subject to
considerable variation in colour: the typical state is a pure milky white; but
owing to the nature of the soil in which the plant is found, the blossoms
may occasionally be seen varying from a pale pink to almost crimson. The
berries, also, though generally of a deep crimson colour, are sometimes of
an intensely golden yellow. An old writer, Culpepper, in his “British
Herbal,” a treatise partly astrological and partly medicinal, having first
stated that the plant is under the dominion of Mars, thus defines the
medicinal properties of the hawthorn:—“The seeds in the berries, beaten to
powder, being drank in wine, are held singular good against the dropsy. The
seed, cleared from the down, bruised and boiled in wine, and drank, is good
for inward tormenting pains. If cloths and sponges be wet in the distilled
water, and applied to any place wherein thorns and splinters, or the like, do
abide in the flesh, it will notably draw them forth. And thus you see the
thorn gives a medicine for its own pricking, and so doth almost everything
else.”
Though to a certain extent foreign to our subject, we may perhaps be
permitted to say that, to the naturalist, as well as to the botanist and the
designer of ornamental art, the tree possesses considerable attractions, the
berries being the favourite fruit of many of our birds, and the foliage being
sometimes completely stripped by the larvæ of various butterflies and
moths, such as the small Ermine, the Brimstone moth, and many others;
while among the poets, Chaucer, Milton, Shakspeare, Wordsworth,
Goldsmith, Bampfylde, and Tennyson, have all found in it a source of
beauty and inspiration. It has also been one of the favourite plants of the
ornamentists, occurring very commonly in the works of the Middle Ages. It
would be both tedious and unnecessary to give anything like an exhaustive
catalogue of its use in past art: as good examples out of many, we would
merely cite its occurrence in a finial in the Lady Chapel, Exeter; as a stone-
diaper alternating with oak, at Lincoln; in two fine spandrels, and a
beautiful capital, very full and rich in its wreathing, in the Chapter-house,
Southwell. Other examples occur in the cathedrals at Ely, Wells, and
Winchester. Wherever met with in ornamental art, the leaves and berries are
the parts selected: to the best of our knowledge the flowers have never, in
any instance, been introduced, no doubt from the fact of the minuteness and
delicacy of each individual blossom, and its habit of growing in clusters,
which, though extremely beautiful in nature, are, from their intricacy of
detail, unsuited to the purposes of the ornamentist. Similarly, though the
plant in its natural growth is often exceedingly spiny, it is, in ornamental
art, represented as almost or entirely without this characteristic feature, as
there would be a great practical difficulty, in any kind of relief-work at
least, in the satisfactory introduction of forms so minute and fragile, yet
requiring so high a relief. Drawings of hawthorn will be found in P. F. 68; T.
N. O. 52.
The Herb-Robert (Geranium Robertianum) is one of the numerous
family of cranesbills, so called from a supposed resemblance between the
form of the fruit and the bill of that bird, a resemblance also indicated in the
generic name, Geranium, derived
 Herb-Robert.

from the Greek geranos, a crane. The herb-robert is one of the most
abundantly distributed plants of the genus, being met with throughout the
whole of Britain and in many other parts of the world, growing upon all
kinds of soils, and flourishing equally well upon hedge-banks, waste
ground, and old walls. Owing to the foliage turning a brilliant crimson in
autumn, the plant becomes very striking and conspicuous as the year
advances, a peculiarity which will greatly aid its identification by those of
our readers who are not acquainted with it. The flowers are of a delicate
pink colour, though they may occasionally be met with of a pure white: this
variety grows abundantly near Nutfield, in Surrey, for instance. The whole
of the cranesbill family will well repay the attention and study of the
ornamentist, the dove’s-foot cranesbill (G. molle), and the blue meadow
cranesbill (G. pratense), being especially suited to the requirements of the
designer. The latter is a very striking plant, and when once seen cannot well
be mistaken, each flower being almost two inches in diameter, of a deep
purple blue, and veined with lines of reddish purple: the leaves also are very
deeply cut, and of a highly ornamental character. An illustration of the
ornamental treatment of the herb-robert may be seen in an elaborate
specimen of embroidery, last-century work, in the South Kensington
Museum; while drawings of the natural plant can be referred to in T. N. O.
38; V. W. 412; F. L. vol. i. 52; P. F. 34.
Holly (Ilex aquifolium). This plant, from its association with winter,
should be one of those familiar to the student of ornamental art. Drawings
of it may be found in S. B. 184; W. H. H., Plate A, Fig. 4; P. F. 27; G. O. 95.
The holly is indigenous to most parts of Europe. Its influence may be traced
in the names of several places, as for example Holmwood, near Dorking;
the holly by old writers being also termed Holm and Hulver. Though
ordinarily met with as a hedgerow shrub, it will, if allowed to grow, attain
to no inconsiderable height—often thirty to forty feet; while a particularly
fine specimen at Claremont, in Surrey, is a little over eighty feet high, and
has a trunk six feet in circumference. The growth is very slow, the timber
close-grained and hard, the annual layers of woody fibre being exceedingly
compact. This fineness of grain, its whiteness and its beauty when polished,
render it of great service in carving and inlay work. It has also been
extensively used in the place of box for wood-engraving, and for the blocks
used for engraving the patterns of calicoes and wall-papers. It would no
doubt be still more extensively used than it is did not its rarity render it so
costly, as, though holly bushes are plentiful enough, the owner of a fine tree
is generally loath to have it cut down. The chief use of the holly is in the
formation of hedges, as its formidable spines, evergreen foliage, its slight
attraction for insects, and closeness of growth, are all valuable
recommendations; we often thus meet with it in old-fashioned gardens. “Is
there under heaven a more glorious and refreshing object of the kind than
an impregnable hedge, of 160 feet in length, 7 feet high, and 5 in diameter,
which I can show in my poor gardens at any time of the year, glittering with
its armed and varnished leaves? It mocks at the rudest assaults of the
weather, beasts, or hedge-breakers.” This hedge, the pride of John Evelyn’s
garden, did not prove so impregnable to the hedge-breaker as its owner
fondly thought, since one of the great amusements of the Czar Peter, during
his stay with Evelyn, was to trundle a wheelbarrow through it, to the
ultimate ruin of the hedge and the no small sorrow of its hospitable owner.
A variety of holly having yellow berries is sometimes met with. Some
little while ago, a branch with bright orange-coloured berries was exhibited
at one of the meetings of the Linnæan Society, a scion of the yellow-fruited
variety having been grafted on a scarlet-berried stock, with this curious
result. The holly may also sometimes be met with having variegated leaves,
the normal dark glossy green being blotched with a clear yellow or white.
The lower leaves of the tree are edged with sharp spines, while the upper
branches have the foliage quite free from these:—
 “Below, a circling fence, its leaves are seen
Wrinkled and keen;
No grazing cattle, through their prickly round,
Can reach to wound;
But as they grow where nothing is to fear,
Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear.”
Southey.

Ornamentally, the holly may be met with in a glass quarry in Brandeston

Church, Suffolk; also on a mediæval flooring-tile in the British Museum.
We are not aware of any other ancient examples of its use, though doubtless
those given do not exhaust the list. We trust, should another edition be
called for, to be able, by further investigation, to remedy this shortcoming.
The name holly is a corruption of holy, and alludes to its connection with
Christmas. In some of the old herbals it is written “holy tree,” while in
some countries this connection is rendered still more emphatic, the German
name being Christdorn, the Danish and Swedish, Christorn.
The next subject we have chosen as an illustration of the adaptability of
our native plants to the purposes of the ornamentist is the HOP (Humulus
lupulus). Though we do not recall any example of its use in the ornament of
the past, except in one of the capitals at Southwell Minster, it nevertheless
appears to us a plant well deserving of a place in our columns. Its climbing
habit, the beauty of the leaves, and the size of the cones, are all features
which in an especial manner seem to fit it for the service of the designer;
and it appears curious that, while so great a choice was at the disposal of the
old carvers, they practically left so large a field untouched. Our architecture,
for instance, abounds with details of oak, maple, and hawthorn; yet the nut
and the wild rose, plants at least as striking and as common, occur but
rarely, while the hop, bindweed, blackberry, and many others, seem to have
been almost entirely neglected. The hop is found in a truly wild state in our
hedgerows and copses, its weak stems,
 Hop.

powerless to support themselves, trailing a long distance, and running up

any tree or other support with which they may come in contact, and
wreathing it with their beautiful clusters of foliage and fruit. It is also
largely cultivated in England, France, Belgium, and Germany; its tonic
properties, and the fragrant bitter principle found in it, chemically termed
lupuline, being, it is almost needless to say, utilised in the making of beer. It
was thus first used in the reign of Henry VIII., before that time the fresh top
shoots of broom being employed to give the desired bitterness. The young
shoots are in some parts of the country cooked and eaten like asparagus.
Gerarde, writing in the reign of Elizabeth, says, “The hop joyeth in a fat and
fruitfull ground, also it groweth amongst briers and thornes about the
borders of fields. The flowers are used to season beere or ale with, and too
many do cause bitternesse thereof, and are ill for the head. The manifold
vertues of hops do manifest argue the wholesomnesse of beere, for the hops
rather make it a physicall drinke to keep the body in health, than an
ordinary drinke for the quenching of our thirst.” The leaves of the hop are
sometimes heart-shaped, at others divided into three very distinctly marked
lobes, in either case the margins being deeply serrate. The order to which
the hop belongs includes many plants useful to man, as, for instance, among
several others, the hemp, mulberry, fig, the Urostigma elasticum, yielding
india-rubber, and the bread-fruit tree.
About forty million pounds weight of hops are annually employed in
brewing in England. Kent and Surrey are the chief means of supply, though
those grown in the rich soil of the Vale of Severn, in the neighbourhood of
Worcester, are by no means inferior to the best Kentish. The crop is a very
speculative one, the dangers which surround it being legion; the profits are,
however, so great that the grower is reimbursed if one crop in three should
turn out well. The hops grown in the neighbourhood of Farnham command
the highest prices. The etymology of the word is unknown; the Germans
term it Hopfen. Hops have been cultivated in Germany from time
immemorial, and it is from thence that we derive both the plant and its
name. Drawings of the natural growth will be found in E. B. 1284, S. C. 41;
T. N. O. 125; and P. F. 4.

Yellow-horned Poppy.

The Yellow-horned Poppy (Glaucium luteum) will no doubt have

attracted the attention of many from the peculiarity of its habitat, growing
and flourishing as it does by the seashore, where little else appears to thrive,
and by the delicate green of its foliage, the brilliant yellow of its blossom,
and its spreading growth, covering large expanses of the shingly beach with
a very striking and beautiful carpet. The pods, a highly ornamental feature,
may occasionally be found almost a foot in length, and, together with the
form of leaf and locality of growth, effectually distinguish it from the
yellow Welsh poppy (Meconopsis Cambrica). The scarlet-horned and the
violet-horned poppies, allied species, are both exceedingly rare in England:
the latter, from its finely-cut leaves and size of the flowers, is well adapted
to art-purposes. The yellow-horned poppy will be found in flower from
June to October. Drawings of it occur in E. B. 66; P. F. 91.

Ivy.

IVY (Hedera helix). We have already, in speaking of the ground-ivy,

dwelt to a certain extent upon the characteristics of the present plant, and,
from its abundance and conspicuous appearance, any lengthened descriptive
details must be unnecessary, as there can be but few to whom the ivy is not
perfectly familiar. We meet with it upon old buildings, rocks, and in the
woods and hedgerows, running over the surface of the ground, or covering
the trunks and main branches of the trees with its interlacing stems and
masses of rich foliage. Opinions have been very varied as to whether the
luxuriant growth of the ivy is detrimental or not to the trees which it
embraces; for while some have considered that its presence is a benefit, and
particularly in severe winters, others have held that the compression caused
by the long and closely adhering branches impairs the vigour and stunts the
growth of the tree. The belief that the ivy, like the mistletoe, draws its
nourishment from the tree is now no longer held, as it has been
satisfactorily proved that the so-called rootlets (or, as they are perhaps more
expressively termed by De Candolle, crampons) which we see thrown out
from the clinging stems do not drain the sap of the supporting tree, but must
be regarded as a beautiful mechanical contrivance to aid, by their support
and grasp, the ascent of the ivy. We find that these little bodies are equally
developed where masses of rock
 Ivy.

have to be scaled, and that the plant thrives with equal vigour where support
is clearly their sole function; and if, on the other hand, the ivy runs upon the
ground, the crampons are not developed, as no such supporting members
are then needed. The ivy is one of the plants indigenous to Britain, and
derives its familiar name from the Anglo-Saxon ifig. Considerable
differences of opinion have been held as to the meaning of the generic
name, Hedera: the best derivation appears to us to be that which assigns as
its origin the old Celtic word for rope or cord, hedra, as it exactly expresses
the characteristic appearance of the growth. The ivy flowers during October
and November, a time of the year when but few other plants are in blossom;
hence it becomes the favourite resort of various insects, while the berries
are fully ripe by March, and afford a welcome food for the blackbird,
missal-thrush, wood-pigeon, and many others, at a season when, from the
scarcity of other food, they become peculiarly acceptable. The Romans
dedicated the ivy to Bacchus, and in their sculpture he is generally
represented as crowned by an ivy wreath, from an old belief, mentioned by
Pliny and others, that the plant thus worn neutralised the intoxicating effects
of wine. The leaves of the ivy vary very considerably in form, a feature
which the ornamentist will appreciate. The leaves upon the flowering
branches are somewhat egg or heart shaped, with a very acute point, the
more familiar ornamental form of the five-lobed leaf not being found upon
this portion of the plant; hence it is perhaps scarcely legitimate to employ
the berries with the five-pointed form of leaf, though in the introduction of
the plant in the ornament of the Middle Ages this was entirely disregarded.
The ivy was one of the favourite plants of the mediæval ornamentist.
Examples of its use are very numerous: of these we need mention but a few.
We find the leaves and branches alone introduced, for instance, in wood-
carving in the stalls of the choir of St. Margaret’s Church, Lynn; in
stonework, as a crocket, in the Chapter-house, Wells; as the foliage of one
of the capitals in the choir of Lincoln Cathedral; and in a beautiful example
at the springing of an arch at the Minster, Southwell. We find the berries
introduced with the leaves (in every case the leaf having five points) in a
hollow moulding in the cloisters at Burgos in a particularly beautiful
manner; and in Paris on one of the capitals of the Sainte Chapelle, and again
in a similar position in the chancel of Notre Dame—the first of these being
twelfth-century work, and curious from the very acute form of leaf
employed; the second dating from the fourteenth century. A very good
English example may be seen in a spandrel in the Chapter-house,
Southwell. In ancient art we find the Egyptians representing Osiris as
bearing an ivy-wreathed thyrsus; and upon the Greek and Etruscan vases
preserved in the British Museum we frequently see running bands of
ornament which we can have little doubt are based upon the ivy: in most of
the examples the berries are introduced together with the heart-shaped form
of leaf, though in a few cases a three-pointed or a rounded form of leaf, still
distinctly ivy-like in character, is substituted. Refer to T. N. O. 71; G. O. 93.
Our next illustration is derived from the Ivy-leaved Speedwell
(Veronica hederifolia), a plant of frequent occurrence, but which, from its
weak trailing habit and small size, may very easily be overlooked. It may
generally be met with on hedge-banks, and flowers freely from March to
August with a delicate pale blue bi-symmetrical blossom. Drawings of the
ivy-leaved speedwell will be found in E. B. 970; S. B. 184.
Several of the veronicas are well adapted, from their grace and delicacy
of form, to the purposes of ornamental art, the brooklime (V. beccabunga)
and the germander speedwell (V. chamædrys) being especially good. The
flowers of all the species are bisymmetrical in form. The germander
speedwell is by some writers supposed to be the true forget-me-not.

Ivy-leaved Speedwell.
 The Musk Mallow (Malva moschata), and the Common Mallow (M.
sylvestris), the subjects of our next illustrations, are both common plants,
the musk mallow being frequently met with, and more especially on
gravelly soils, while the common mallow, though rare in Scotland, is
abundant throughout England on all kinds of ground. The flower of the
common mallow is of a pale purplish tint, with the veins of a darker purple:
a very rare variety has been met with, having the flowers of a pure blue.
The leaves are round in general outline, but deeply lobed into five or seven
divisions, and in olden time, before the introduction of many of our present
vegetables into England, were a common article of diet. This, together with
the musk mallow and the marsh mallow (Althæa officinalis), possesses
considerable medicinal repute, the whole plant being mucilaginous and
demulcent in character. The roots of the Althæa, boiled in water, will yield

Common Mallow. Musk Mallow.

one half their weight of a glutinous matter, of great value from its emollient
qualities; the leaves and fruit will also yield it, but in a lesser degree. The
virtues of the family have long been recognised. Pliny held that whosoever
should take a little of the extract should throughout that day be free from all
fear of disease. Dioscorides considered it a sure antidote in cases of
poisoning; while Hippocrates taught that its soothing action especially fitted
it as a vulnerary. The flowers of the musk mallow are very large, and of a
pure and delicate pink, the leaves very deeply divided, a feature
distinguishing it from all the other British species of mallow. Its English
name is suggested by the slight musky smell of the foliage if pressed in the
hand. The Malvaceæ are chiefly tropical plants; about six hundred species
are known, almost all possessing the mucilaginous character of our British
species, many yielding in addition a valuable fibre, and some American and
Asiatic species producing the well-known cotton, a filamentous substance
enveloping the seeds. The hollyhock of our gardens also belongs to this
family. The generic name, Malva, is derived from a Greek word signifying
to soften, in allusion to the soothing effect of the greater number of the
genus, while the English name has clearly descended from the Anglo-Saxon
malu. Drawings of the common mallow may be seen in F. L. vol. ii. 51; M.
B. 54; P. F. 1; V. W. 393. The musk mallow will be found in F. L. vol. iv. 50;
T. N. O. 23.

Maple.

The Maple (Acer campestre) is generally met with as a small hedgerow

tree throughout England, but it is not common in either Scotland or Ireland.
The wood, though small in section, is often very beautifully veined, and
thus becomes of service for furniture, inlay, &c. The bark is exceedingly
rough, full of deep furrows, and very much resembling cork in its
appearance. The fruit is winged. The specific name, campestre, refers to the
localities in which the plant may be found, the open fields; while the
generic name, Acer, sharp or hard, in Celtic ac, has been bestowed upon it
from the toughness of the wood. It was extensively used by the ancient
Britons in the fabrication of weapons of war—spikes, spears, and lance
handles. The English name evidently descends from the Saxon mapul-dre.
We thus in these few words, Acer campestre, the maple, learn where the
plant is to be found; one of its striking features, the hardness of the wood;
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