“A flow’r that first in this sweet garden smiled,To virgins sacred, and the Snowdrop styled.”—Tickell.It is also dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and a monkish tradition asserts that it blooms on the second of February, or Candlemas Day, the day kept in celebration as that on which the holy Virgin took the child Jesus to the Jewish Temple and there presented an offering. Hence the flower is called the Fair Maid of February; as on the Day of the Purification of the Virgin Mary her image used to be removed from the altar, and Snowdrops strewed over the vacant place.——The legendary account of the flower’s creation is as follows:—“An angel went to console Eve when mourning over the barren earth, when no flowers in Eden grew, and the driving snow was falling to form a pall for earth’s untimeous funeral after the fall of man; the angel, catching as he spoke a flake of falling snow, breathed on it, and bade it take a form, and bud and blow. Ere the flake reached the earth Eve smiled upon the beauteous plant, and prized it more than all the other flowers in Paradise, for the angel said to her:—“‘This is an earnest, Eve, to thee,that sun and summer soon shall be.’”The angel’s mission being ended, away up to heaven he flew; but where on earth he stood, a ring of Snowdrops formed a posey.”——An old name for the plant was the Winter Gilliflower. Dr. Prior thinks that the name Snowdrop was derived from the GermanSchneetropfen, and that the “drop” does not refer to snow, but to the long pendants, or drops, worn by the ladies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, both as earrings and hangings to their brooches, and which we see represented so often by Dutch and Italian painters of that period.——In some parts of England it is considered by the peasantry unlucky to take the first Snowdrop into a house—the flower being regarded as a death-token, inasmuch as it looks like a corpse in its shroud.SOLANUM.—To this family belong the Love Apple, the Mad Apple, and the Bitter-Sweet. Several species of the genusSolanumare poisonous and highly dangerous plants. It is related that when Sweno, king of Norway, was besieging Duncan of Scotland in the town of Betha, Macbeth, his cousin, managed to leave the town, whereupon Duncan began to treat with the enemy as to the terms of a surrender, promising them a supply of provender. The Danes accepted the terms, and Duncan sent them their provisions, which they duly partook of; but soon after they were overcome by a profound lethargic sleep, for their wine and ale had been drugged withSolanum. In this condition they fell an easyprey to Macbeth, who attacked them and utterly routed their forces. Ten only of the soldiers, who had entertained suspicions with regard to Duncan’s gift of supplies, remained in their senses, and these carried off King Sweno, in a lifeless condition, to the mouth of the river Tay, and thence conveyed him home in a fishing-boat.SOLOMON’S SEAL.—The appellation of Solomon’s Seal has been given to theConvallaria Polygonatum, because, on cutting the roots transversely, some scars are seen resembling the device known as Solomon’s Seal—a name given by the Arabs to a six-pointed star, formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting each other. To the old herbalists these marks (according to the doctrine of signatures) were an indication of the plant’s virtues or uses: it was sent to seal or consolidate wounds. Gerarde says: “That which might be written of the herbe as touching the knitting of bones, and that truely, would seeme with some incredible; but common experience teacheth that in the world there is not to be found another herbe comparable to it for the purposes aforesaid; and therefore, in briefe, if it be for bruises inward, the roots must be stamped, some ale or wine put thereto, strained, and given to drink. It must be given in the same manner to knit broken bones, against bruises, black or blew marks gotten by stripes, falls, or such like; against inflammation, tumours, or swellings, that happen unto members whose bones are broken, or members out of joynt, after restauration: the roots are to be stamped small, and applied pultesse or plaister wise, wherewith many great workes have been performed beyond credit.”——The plant is also known by the name of Lady’s Seal, Seal-wort, White-root, Ladder-to-heaven, and Jacob’s-ladder.——By astrologers it is held to be under the rule of Saturn.SOMA.—The Soma, or Moon Plant, is one of the most sacred plants of India. It is supposed to be theSarcostemma viminale, orCyanchum viminale(Asclepias acida), which grows on the Coromandel hills and in the Punjâb. According to Dr. Haug, the plant at present used by the sacrificial priests of the Dekhan is not the sacred Soma of the Vedas, although it appears to belong to the same order. In the Hindu religion, by a truly mystic combination, Soma represents at once the moon or moon-god, the genius presiding over the Soma, and the plant itself. In the Vedic hymns to Soma, the notion of the plant predominates, but intermixed are references which are only applicable to the lunar character of the divinity. The description of the plant given in Garrett’s ‘Classical Dictionary of India’ is as follows:—“It grows to the height of about four or five feet, and forms a kind of bush consisting of a number of shoots, all coming from the same root; their stem is solid, like wood, the bark greyish, they are without leaves, the sap appears whitish, has a very stringent taste, is bitter but not sour; it is avery nasty drink, but has some intoxicating effect. The sap referred to is sharp and acid, and, according to Decandolle, would be poisonous if taken in large quantities; in many cases the nerves are affected by it, as if by a narcotic; but it is benumbing in its influence, as it hinders the activity of the nerves, without inducing sleep.” From this sacred plant, which has the mystic five white petals, is obtained a milky exudation (symbolising the motherhood of Nature), out of which is made the VedicAmrita, a divine beverage that confers immortality; and, probably on this account, the plant itself is worshipped as a god. Thus we find it so addressed in a hymn from the Rigveda, translated by Muir:—“We’ve quaffed the Soma bright,And are immortal grown;We’ve entered into light,And all the gods have known.What mortal now can harm,Or foeman vex us more?Through thee beyond alarm,Immortal god! we soar.”The Soma sap is used as the Soma drink for the initiation of the Djoga; it is said to produce the magical condition in which, raised above the universe to the great centre, and united with Brahma, the seer beholds everything.——In the Hindu worship, libations to the gods were of three kinds—butter, honey, and the fermented juice of the Soma-plant. The butter and honey were poured upon the sacrificial fire; the Soma juice was presented in ladles to the deities invoked, part sprinkled on the fire, part on the Kusa, or Sacred Grass, strewed upon the floor, and the rest invariably drunk by those who had conducted the ceremony. The exhilarating properties of the fermented juice of the Soma filled the worshippers with delight and astonishment; and the offering of this sacred liquid was deemed to be especially pleasing to the Hindu gods.——In the lunar sacrifices, the Soma drink was prepared with mystical ceremonies, with invocations of blessings and curses, by which the powers of the world above and below were incorporated with it. According to their intended use, various herbs were mixed with the principal ingredient. Windischmann remarks that the use of the Soma was looked upon in early ages as a holy action, and as a sacrament, by which the union with Brahma was produced; thus, in Indian writings, passages similar to the following, often occur: “Prâjapati himself drinks this milk, the essence of all nourishment and knowledge—the milk of immortality.”——The Gandharvas, a race of demigods, are represented in certain of the Vedic legends as custodians of the Soma or Amrita, and as keeping such close watch over the divine beverage, that only by force or cunning can the thirsty gods obtain a supply of the immortalising drink.——One of the Hindu synonymes of Soma ismadhu, which means a mixed drink; and this word is themethuof the Greeks, and the mead of our own Saxon, Norse, and Celtic ancestors.SORREL.—From May to August the meadows are often ruddy with the Sorrel (Rumex Acetosa), the red leaves of which point out the graves of the Irish rebels who fell on Tara Hill, in the “Ninety-Eight;” the popular and local tradition being that the plants sprang from the blood of the patriots shed on that occasion.——Sorrel is under the planetary influence of Venus.SOW-THISTLE.—Theseus, king of Athens, is said to have received as a gift from the hands of Hecate, the Sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) and the Sea Fennel (Crithmum maritimum). Like the Sesame, the Sow-thistle, according to tradition, sometimes conceals marvels or treasures; and in Italian stories are found the exclamation, “Open Sow-thistle,” used with the same magical results as attend the invocation of the Sesame. A Russian legend states that the Devil considers the Sow-thistle to be peculiarly his property, although in so doing he is in error (seeOatsandReed).——The Sow-thistle is considered by astrologers to be under the dominion of Venus.SOUTHERNWOOD.—TheAbrotanum(Southernwood) is a species of Wormwood, to which the Greeks and Romans, and in more recent times the Germans and French, attributed wonderful magic properties. According to Pliny, it should be classed as an aphrodisiac plant, for, if it be placed under a mattress, it will evoke sensual passions. Gerarde says the same thing; and adds that “it helpeth against the stinging of scorpions,” and that, “being strewed upon the bed, or a fume made of it upon hot embers, it driveth away serpents.” Lucan refers to this latter quality in the following lines (Book 9):—“There the large branches of the long-lived hart,With Southernwood their odours strong impart;The monsters of the land, the serpents fell,Fly far away, and shun the hostile smell.”Macer Floridus states that it will drive away serpents; and Bauhin narrates that it used to be employed against epilepsy.——From an ointment made with its ashes, and used by young men to promote the growth of a beard, the plant obtained the name of Lad’s Love.——Astrologers place Southernwood under the rule of Mercury. (See alsoMugwortandWormwood.)SPEEDWELL.—TheVeronica Chamædrysappears in olden times to have been called “Forget-me-Not,” a name that has since been universally applied to the Myosotis. Now-a-days it is sometimes called by country folk Cat’s-eye. The plant derives its name of Speedwell from the fact of its corolla falling off and flying away as soon as it is gathered; “Speedwell” being the old-fashioned equivalent of “Good-bye!” The bright blue blossom of the Germander Speedwell is in some places better known as Veronica, an appellation derived fromVera(Latin) andIcon(Greek), and signifying “true image.”——When our Saviour was on his way to MountCalvary, bearing his cross, he passed by the door of Veronica, a compassionate woman, who beholding with pity the Lord’s distressed condition, and the drops of agony on His brow, wiped His face with a kerchief, or napkin, and the features of the Redeemer remained miraculously impressed upon the linen. The kerchief itself was styled theSudarium, and from some resemblance of the blossom of the Germander Speedwell to this saintly relic, bearing the features of Christ, the plant received the name of Veronica.——Francus wrote an entire work on the virtues of theVeronica orientalis, which is said to have cured a King of France of the leprosy and to have given children to a barren wife. R. Turner calls the plant Fluellin, or Lluellin—a name, he remarks, “the Shentleman of Wales have given it because it saved her nose, which disease had almost gotten from her.”SPIGNEL.—Spignel (Meum athamanticum) is also known as Mew, Bear-wort, or Bald-money. The latter name is of obscure etymology, but we may safely reject the derivation which some writers have suggested from the name of the god Baldr, the Scandinavian Apollo.——Spignel is held to be under the rule of Venus. (SeeBaldmoney).SPIKENARD.—We read in Canticles: “While the king sitteth at his table, my Spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.” And again: “Thy plants are an orchard of Pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; Camphire, with Spikenard, Spikenard and Saffron.” The true nature of Spikenard has for ages been the subject of much controversy; but it is now generally accepted that it was obtained from theValeriana Jatamansi. Ptolemy notices these odoriferous plants, the best of which grew at Rangamati, and on the borders of the country now called Bootan. Pliny says there are twelve varieties of it—the best being the Indian, the next in quality the Syriac, then the Gallic, and in the fourth place, that of Crete. He thus describes the Indian Spikenard: “It is a shrub with a heavy thick root, but short, black, brittle, and yet unctuous as well; it has a musty smell, too, very much like that of the Cyperus, with a sharp acrid taste, the leaves being small, and growing in tufts. The heads of the Nard spread out into ears; hence it is that Nard is so famous for its two-fold production, the spike or ear, and the leaf.” The price of genuine Spikenard was then one hundred denarii per pound, and all the other sorts, which were merely herbs, were infinitely cheaper, some being only worth three denarii per pound. Galen and Dioscorides give a somewhat similar account of Spikenard orNardostachys, but the latter states that the so-called Syrian Nard came in reality from India, whence it was brought to Syria for shipment. Mr. E. Rimmel, in his ‘Book of Perfumes,’ points out that “the ancients appear to have confounded Spikenard with some of the fragrant Grasses of India, which would account for the report that Alexander the Great, whenhe invaded Gedrosia, could smell from the back of his elephant the fragrance of the Nard as it was trod upon by the horses feet. This error was shared by Linnæus, who did not attempt to classify the plant, but was inclined to think it was the same as theAndropogon Nardus, commonly called Ginger Grass. Sir William Jones, the learned orientalist, turned his serious attention to this question, and after a laborious investigation succeeded in establishing beyond doubt that the Spikenard of the ancients was a plant of the Valerianic order, called by the ArabsSumbul, which means ‘spike,’ and by the HindusJatamansi, which signifies ‘locks of hair,’ both appellations being derived from its having a stem which somewhat resembles the tail of an ermine, or of a small weasel. He, consequently, gave it the name ofValeriana Jatamansi, under which it is now generally classed by botanists. It is found in the mountainous regions of India, principally in Bootan and Nepaul. Its name appears to be derived from the Tamil language, in which the syllablenárdenotes any thing possessing fragrance, such asnártum pillu, ‘Lemon Grass;’nárum panei, ‘Indian Jasmine;’nártum manum, ‘Wild Orange,’ &c. It is highly probable,however, that the word Spikenard was often applied by the ancients as a generic name for every sort of perfume, as the Chinese now designate all their scents by the name ofhëang, which properly meansincense, it being for them the type of all perfumes.”——In an Indian poem, the hero, compelled to go upon his travels immediately after wedding the girl of his heart, takes leave of her in his garden, and showing her a Spikenard of his own planting, enjoins her to watch over it with loving care; for as long as it thrives all will go well with him, but should it wither some fatal misfortune will certainly befall him. Years pass away before he can turn his steps homewards. Then he assumes the garb of a mendicant, goes to his home, gains admission to the garden, and there sees his faithful wife weeping over the precious Spikenard, grown into a mighty plant, telling its own tale. The finish can well be guessed.SPRINGWORT.—The Springwort, or Blasting-root, is famed in German legends for its magical power of opening locks, however strong, hidden doors, rocks, and secret entrances to caves where are stored inexhaustible treasures. In Kelly’s ‘Indo-European Tradition,’ we read that as a rule the Springwort has been regarded as an unknown species of plants, and therefore most difficult to find; but some few accounts specify known plants, and Grimm mentions theEuphorbia Lathyris, which he identifies with theSferracavalloof the Italians, so named because it acts so potently on metals, that horses, if they tread on it, have their shoes drawn off. (TheSferracavallo, however, was stated by Mentzel in 1682 to be a Vetch now known as theHippocrepis). The Springwort is procured by plugging up the hole in a tree in which a green or black woodpecker has its nest with young ones in it. As soon as the bird is aware of what has been done, it flies off in quest ofa wondrous plant, which men might look for in vain, and returning with it in its bill, holds it before the plug, which immediately shoots out from the tree, as if driven by the most violent force. But if one conceals himself before the woodpecker returns, and scares it when it approaches, the bird will let the root fall; or a white or red cloth (representing water or fire) may be spread below the nest, and the bird will drop the root upon the cloth after it has served its own turn. This is Grimm’s version of the matter, and Pliny’s account coincides, except that he adds that the plug is driven out with an explosion, caused, as one may conclude, by the electricity contained in the plant which is applied to it by the bird. Now it is worthy of remark that the woodpecker is mythically alleged to be a fire- or lightning-bearer; and so is called by the RomansPicus Martius, after the god Mars, andPicus Feronius, from the Sabine goddess Feronia, who had a certain control over fire. In the Sanscrit, a species ofEuphorbiais called the Thunderbolt Thorn, and some others are termed Thunderbolt-wood. It is curious to notice, by the way, that the Indian name of the Sesame-flower,Vajrapushpa, connects with the thunderbolt the flower that opens treasure-caves. In Swabia, they say that the hoopoe brings the Springwort, and lets it fall into water or fire to destroy it: to obtain it, therefore, one must have in readiness a pan of water, or kindle a fire; the original notion having been that the bird must return the plant to the element from which it springs,—that being either the water of the clouds, or the lightning-fire enclosed therein. The connection between the Springwort and the lightning is also manifested in an old Swabian tradition, that when the plant is buried in the ground at the summit of a mountain, it draws down the lightning, and divides the storm, causing it to pass off to right and left.——In the Oberpfalz, the Springwort is calledJohanniswurzel, because it is there believed that it can only be found among the Fern on St. John’s Night. It is said to be of a yellow colour, and to shine in the night like a candle, resembling in this respect the Mandrake. Moreover, it never stands still, but darts about continually to avoid the grasp of men. Here then, in the luminosity and the power of rapid movement attributed to the Springwort, we see the embodiment of electricity in the plant.——In Switzerland, theSpreng-wurzelis carried in the right pocket, to render the bearer invulnerable to dagger or bullet; and in the Harz mountains it is said to reveal treasures.——With regard to this magical property of disclosing concealed treasures, a story is related by Kuhn in his North German Legends, from which we learn that a shepherd who was driving his flock over the Ilsenstein, having stopped to rest, leaning on his staff, the mountain suddenly opened, for there was a Springwort in his staff without his knowing it. Inside the mountain he discovered an enchanted princess, who bade him take as much gold as he pleased; so he filled his pockets, and then prepared to retire; but hehad forgotten his staff with the Springwort in it, which he had laid against the wall when he stepped in; so that just as he was on the point of stepping out of the opening, the rock suddenly slammed together, and cut him in two. In this version of the German legend, the Luckflower is identified with the Springwort.SPURGE LAUREL.—The Spurge Laurel, called in DenmarkTy-ved, is sacred to Tyr, the god of war. This plant is the badge of the Scottish Clan Graham.SQUILL.—TheScilla maritima, or Sea Onion, was of old consecrated in Egypt to the god Typhon. The mummies of Egyptian women often hold the Squill in one hand, probably as an emblem of generation. The Egyptians planted the Squill in groves, and hung it in their houses to preserve them from evil spirits. In Arcadia, at the festival of the god Pan, the statue of the deity was decorated with Squills.STAR OF BETHLEHEM.—TheOrnithogalum umbellatumis called the Star of Bethlehem on account of its white stellate flowers resembling the pictures of the star that indicated the birth of the Saviour of mankind. As the plant is abundant in the neighbourhood of Samaria, it was thought by Linnæus and also by several biblical commentators to be the “dove’s dung” mentioned as the food of the famished inhabitants of that city during the siege recorded in the Book of Kings. The Star of Bethlehem is horological—it never unfolds its petals before eleven o’clock, and hence has acquired the nickname of the Eleven o’Clock Lady.STOCK.—The Stock, or Stock-Gilliflower (Mathiola), was one of the earliest inmates of English gardens, where it was known as the Gilliflower, a word corrupted from the French name of the flower,Giroflée.“The white and purple Gillyflowers, that stayIn blossom—lingering summer half away.”The principal kinds grown in gardens are the Queen’s Stock-Gilliflower, of which the Brompton Stock and the White Stock are varieties, and the annual, or Ten-weeks’ Stock (M. annua). The old English name of Gilliflower was familiarly given to several other plants dear to early English gardeners: thus we find it applied to the Carnation, the Pink, the Rocket, the Wall-flower, the Ragged Robin, and some others. Parkinson (who is the first writer to mention the double Stock) remarks of the flower: “We call it in English generally Stock-Gilloflower (or as others do, Stock Gillover), to put a difference between them and the Gilloflowers and Carnations, which are quite of another kindred.” The word Gilliflower afterwards became corrupted to July-flower, and was so written by the poet Drayton.——Baron Cuvier had a great partiality for the double Stock: it had been the favourite flower of his mother, and the great naturalist, on that account, always prizedthe fragrant plant, and whilst it was in season made it a rule to have a bunch on his table, that he might inhale its grand perfume.STONECROP.—Like the House-leek, the Stonecrop was supposed to be a protective against thunder and lightning, and hence was planted on the roofs of cottages, stables, &c. The old herbalists valued the small Houseleek, or Stonecrop, as a cure for ague and expeller of poisons. It was used as an outward application, and, when boiled in beer, was considered good for pestilential fevers. Among country folks the plant was known as Wall Pepper (from its pungent flavour), Jack of the Buttery, Gold Chain, and Prick Madam, the last name being a corruption of the FrenchTrique Madame.——Stonecrop is held by astrologers to be under the dominion of the Moon.STORAX.—The Styrax, or Storax-tree, has been held in great estimation from the time of Dioscorides and Pliny, both of whom described it. Although the tree is indigenous to many of the southern parts of Europe, yet the precious and deliciously fragrant gum that exudes from it, known as Storax-tears, can only be obtained in perfection from Asiatic Turkey. Old Gerarde says “of this gum, there are made sundry excellent perfumes, pomanders, sweet waters, sweet bags, sweet washing-balls, and divers other sweet chains and bracelets.”——Storax-tears are still used as incense in the churches and mosques of Asia Minor.STRAW.—In theHávamál, or the ‘Divine Discourse of Odin,’ who gave these precepts of wisdom to mankind, it is stated that “Straws dissolve enchantment.” Hence, probably, was derived the custom of laying two Straws crosswise in the path where a witch was expected to pass, under the belief that by stepping over Straws, arranged so as to form the sign of the Cross, a witch was rendered powerless. In Ireland, on May-eve (neen na Beal tina), the ceremony is practised of making the cows leap over lighted Straw or faggots.——In Cornwall, lasses desirous of knowing when they are to be married, are accustomed to repair either to Madron Well, or to a well at St. Austell: there two pieces of Straw, about an inch long, are crossed and fastened by a pin. This Straw cross is then dropped into the water, and the rising bubbles carefully counted, as they mark the number of years which will pass ere the arrival of the happy day.——In Devonshire, to charm warts away, they take a Wheat Straw with as many knots as there are warts on the hand to be dealt with, name over the Straw the person afflicted, and then bury it: as it decays, the warts will disappear.——In the county of Donegal, Ireland, a sufferer from warts procures ten Straws, ties a knot in each, throws the tenth away, and carefully rubs the warts with the other nine knotted Straws; this done, he makes a white paper parcel of the Straws, and throws it upon the high road, sure that the person who picks up and opens the parcel will become the possessor of the warts.——Anold German cure for sleeplessness was to place beneath the pillow a “composing wisp,” that is Straw which workwomen put under the burdens on their backs; but taken from people unknown to them.——If a hen wants to sit, the German peasants make her nest of Straw out of the bed of the husband and wife: if cock chickens are wished, from the man’s side; if hen chickens, from the wife’s side.——A Swedish popular tale narrates how a king’s son, passing a cottage one day, saw a pretty girl sitting on the roof spinning. Curious to know why she chose so unusual a place, he enquired of the girl’s mother, who told him that she sat there to let the people see how clever she was; adding, “She is so clever that she can spin gold from clay and long Straw.” The truth was, the girl, although good-looking, was idle in the extreme, and had been set to spin on the roof of the cot so that all the world might judge of her sloth. The king’s son, however, knew naught of this, and being captivated by the girl’s pretty face, he resolved, if she could really spin gold from long Straw and clay, to take her to the palace, and make her his consort. The mother having given her consent, the girl accompanied the prince to the royal residence, where she was given a bundle of Straw, and a pailful of clay, in order to prove if she were so skilful at spinning as her mother had said. The poor girl, knowing her incompetence, soon began to weep when left by herself in her chamber; whereupon suddenly a little ugly and deformed old man stood before her, and demanded to know the cause of her grief. The girl told him; and forthwith the old man produced a pair of gloves, which he gave to the girl, saying, “Fair maiden, weep not: here is a pair of gloves; when thou hast them on, thou wilt be able to spin from long Straw and clay. To-morrow night I will return, when, if thou hast not found out my name, thou shalt accompany me home, and be my bride.” The brave girl shuddered, but agreed to the old man’s condition, and he went his way. Then she pulled on the gloves, and, without difficulty, soon spun up all the Straw and clay into the finest gold. There was great joy in the palace, and the king’s son was delighted that he had obtained so charming and so skilful a wife; but the young maiden did nothing but weep at the dread prospect of being claimed by the ugly, undersized old man. Late in the day, the king’s son returned from the chase, and seeing his bride so melancholy, began to tell her of an adventure he had just met with in the forest. Said he: “I suddenly came upon a very little ugly old man dancing round a Juniper-bush, singing a curious song, at the end of which he loudly bawled, ‘I am calledTitteli Ture.’” Then the pretty maid’s face brightened up, for she knew that she had learnt the name of her mysterious visitor. So she set to work to spin more gold from Straw and clay alone in her chamber, and kept repeating the old man’s name, so that she might not forget it. At midnight the door of her room noiselessly opened, and thehideous old man entered with beaming eyes. On beholding him the girl sprang up, and said: “Titteli Ture, Titteli Ture, here are thy gloves.” When the dwarf heard his name pronounced, he was overcome with passion, and bursting through the roof of the apartment, hastened away through the air. The maiden was espoused by the king’s son the following day, and nothing more was ever seen of Titteli Ture.STRAWBERRY.—Strawberries were reputed to be the favourite fruit of the goddess Frigg, who presided over marriages. In German legends, Strawberries symbolise little children who have died when young. According to one of these legends, before St. John’s Day mothers who have lost their little ones take care not to eat Strawberries, because they think that young children ascend to heaven concealed in Strawberries. Mothers who eat Strawberries are considered to have wronged the Virgin Mary, to whom the Strawberry is dedicated, and who would assuredly refuse an entry into heaven to those children whose mothers had defrauded her of the fruit specially set apart for her.——A representation of the leaf of the Strawberry is set in the gold coronets worn by certain of the English nobility: a duke’s coronet has eight leaves, an earl’s eight, and that of a marquis four. Strawberry-leaves and the Flower-de-luce are used in the coronets of the younger members of the royal family. Don John, son of King John I. of Portugal, adopted the Strawberry as his device, to show his devotion to St. John the Baptist, who lived on fruits. It is mentioned by Hollinshed, and the fact has been dramatised by Shakspeare, that Glo’ster, when he was contemplating the death of Hastings, asked the Bishop of Ely for Strawberries.“My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn,I saw good Strawberries in your garden there.”Linnæus was cured of frequent attacks of gout by the use of Strawberries, and the fruit is accounted an excellent remedy in putrid fevers.——To dream of Strawberries is reputed to be a good omen: to a youth they are supposed to denote that “his wife will be sweet tempered, and bear him many children, all boys.”——A legend of the Fichtelgebirge (a mountain range at the junction of Saxony, Bavaria, and Bohemia) records that one Midsummer Day a woman went with her child to look for Strawberries in a wood. She chanced to light upon some plants, which when plucked in the night, were not to be exhausted; and after awhile she perceived a cavern which she entered with her child. Here, to her astonishment, lay heaps of gold scattered about; and three white maidens gave her permission to take as much of the treasure as she could collect with one grasp. Her greed, however, induced her to make three swoops, and then, fearful of the consequences, and forgetting her child, she rushed out of the hollow, when the entrance was immediately closed upon her, and a warning voice informedher that she could not regain her child until the next St. John’s Day. When this day arrived, the woman repaired to the cave, and found to her joy the entrance once more open, and her little one awaiting her with a rosy Apple in its hand. Disregarding the treasures scattered in the cave, the mother rushed with outstretched arms towards her child, and the white maidens finding that the mother’s love was stronger than her greed handed over the little one to her.——There is, in this district, another legend anent the gathering of Strawberries, which will be found under the head ofClub Moss.SUGAR-CANE.—In the Sugar plantations of the Indies, several superstitious ceremonies are preserved. It being customary to reserve a few plants, it sometimes happens after the fields are planted, that there remain several superfluous canes. Whenever this happens, the husbandman repairs to the spot on the 11th of June, and having sacrificed to the Nagbele, the tutelar deity of the Sugar-cane, he immediately kindles a fire, and consumes the whole. If a Sugar-cane should flower again at the end of the season, and produce seeds, it is looked upon as a funereal flower, and as portending misfortune to the owner of the estate or his family. If, therefore, a husbandman sees one of these late-flowering canes, he plucks it up, and buries it without allowing his master to know anything of the unfortunate occurrence, willingly taking to himself any ill-luck which may accrue.——The bow of Kâmadeva, the Indian Cupid, is sometimes represented as being formed of Sugar-cane, sometimes of flowers, with a string composed of bees. His five arrows were each tipped with a blossom, presented to Kâmadeva by Vasanta (Spring).“He bends the luscious cane, and twists the stringWith bees; how sweet! but ah! how keen their sting.He, with five flow’rets tips thy ruthless darts,Which through five senses pierce enraptured hearts;StrongChampa, rich in odorous gold;WarmAmer, nursed in heavenly mould;DryMakeser, in silver smiling;HotKitticumour sense beguiling;And last, to kindle fierce the scorching flame,Love Shaft, which gods brightBelaname.”—Sir W. Jones.SUNFLOWER.—TheHelianthus annuusderived its name of Sunflower from its resemblance to the radiant beams of the Sun, and not, as is popularly supposed and celebrated by poets, from its flowers turning to face the Sun—a delusion fostered by Darwin, Moore, and Thompson, the latter of whom tells us that unlike most of the flowery race—“The lofty follower of the Sun,Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves,Drooping all night, and, when he warm returns,Points her enamour’d bosom to his ray.”The Helianthus has also been falsely identified with the Sunflower of classical story—the flower into which poor Clytie was transformedwhen, heart-broken at the desertion of her lover Phœbus, she remained rooted to the ground, and became, according to Ovid, metamorphosed into a flower resembling a Violet. “Held firmly by the root, she still turns to the Sun she loves, and, changed herself, she keeps her love unchanged.” Now the Helianthus, or modern Sunflower, could not have been the blossom mentioned by Ovid, inasmuch as it is not a European plant, was not known in his day, and first came to us from North America. In its native country of Peru, the Helianthus is said to have been much reverenced on account of the resemblance borne by its radiant blossoms to the Sun, which luminary was worshipped by the Peruvians. In their Temple of the Sun, the officiating priestesses were crowned with Sunflowers of pure gold, and they wore them in their bosoms, and carried them in their hands. The early Spanish invaders of Peru found in these temples of the Sun numerous representations of the Sunflower in virgin gold, the workmanship of which was so exquisite, that it far out-valued the precious metal of which they were formed. Gerarde, writing in 1597, remarks:—“The floure of the Sun is called in LatineFlos Solis; for that some have reported it to turn with the Sunne, which I could never observe, although I have endeavoured to finde out the truth of it: but I rather thinke it was so called because it resembles the radiant beams of the Sunne, whereupon some have calledCorona SolisandSol Indianus, the Indian Sunne-floure: othersChrysanthemum Peruvianum, or the Golden Flower of Peru: in English, the Floure of the Sun, or the Sun-floure.” (SeeHeliotrope.)SYCAMORE.—Sycamore is properly the name of an Egyptian tree, the leaves of which resemble those of the Mulberry and the fruit that of the wild Fig; whence it was named from bothSukomoros;sukonsignifying a Fig, andmorosa Mulberry-tree.——Thevenot gives an interesting tradition relating to one of these trees. He writes:—“At Matharee is a large Sycamore, or Pharaoh’s Fig, very old, but which bears fruit every year. They say, that upon the Virgin passing that way with her son Jesus, and being pursued by the people, this Fig-tree opened to receive her, and closed her in, until the people had passed by, when it re-opened; and that it remained open ever after to the year 1656, when the part of the trunk that had separated itself was broken away.” The tree is still shown to travellers a few miles north-east of Cairo.——Another version relates that the Holy Family, at the conclusion of their flight into Egypt, finally rested in the village of Matarea, beyond the city of Hermopolis, and took up their residence in a grove of Sycamores, a circumstance which gave the Sycamore-tree a certain degree of interest in early Christian times. The Crusaders imported it into Europe, and Mary Stuart, probably on account of its sacred associations, brought from France and planted in her garden the first Sycamores which grew in Scotland.——From the wood of this Egyptian Fig-tree or Sycamore(Ficus Sycomorus), which is very indestructible, the coffins of the Egyptian mummies were made.——By a mistake of Ruellius the name Sycamore became transferred to the Great Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), which is the tree commonly known in England as the Sycamore or Mock-Plane. This mistake, Dr. Prior considers, may perhaps have arisen from the Great Maple having been, on account of the density of its foliage, used in the sacred dramas of the Middle Ages to represent the Fig-tree into which Zaccheus climbed on the day of our Saviour’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem—theFicus Sycomorusmentioned above.“Here a sure shadeOf barren Sycamores, which the all-seeing sunCould not pierce through.”—Massinger.In Scotland, the most remarkable Sycamores are those called Dool-trees or Grief-trees. They were used by the powerful barons in the west of Scotland for hanging their enemies and refractory vassals on.——The Great Maple is called in France, as with us,SycomoreorFaux Platane(Mock-Plane); the Italians call the same treeAcero Fico(Fig-Maple); but in both these countries there grows theMelia Azadirachta, or False Sycamore, which is called the Sacred Tree in France, and the Tree of Our Father in Italy. In Sicily, it is known as the Tree of Patience, and is regarded as emblematic of a wife’s infidelity and a husband’s patience.——To dream of the Sycamore-tree portends jealousy to the married; but to the virgin it prognosticates a speedy marriage. (See alsoMaple).SYRINGA.—The Arcadian nymph Syrinx pursued by Pan, who was enamoured of her, fled to the banks of the river Ladon. Her flight being there stopped, she implored relief from the water-nymphs, and was changed into a Reed, just as Pan was on the point of catching her. Ovid thus describes her transformation:—“Now while the lustful god, with speedy pace,Just thought to strain her in a strict embrace,He filled his arms with Reeds, new rising on the place;And while he sighs his ill-success to find,The tender canes were shaken by the wind,And breathed a mournful air, unheard before;That much surprising Pan, yet pleased him more.Admiring this new music, ‘Thou,’ he said,‘Who can’st not be the partner of my bed,At least shall be the consort of my mind;And often, often to my lips be joined.’He formed the Reeds, proportioned as they are,Unequal in their length, and waxed with care,They still retain the name of his ungrateful fair.”—Dryden.ThePhiladelphus coronariusis the shrub into which, according to Ovid, the nymph Syrinx was metamorphosed. The stems of this shrub are used in Turkey for making pipe-sticks. Evelyn applied the name Syringa also to the Lilac, which for the same reason was called “Pipe-tree.”TAMARIND.—TheTamarindus Indicais in Ceylon dedicated to Siva, as the god of destruction. The natives of India have a prejudice against sleeping under the Tamarind, and the acid damp from the tree is known to affect the cloth of tents that are pitched under them for any length of time. So strong is the prejudice of the natives against the Tamarind-tree, that it is difficult to prevent them from destroying it, as they believe it hurtful to vegetation. It is chiefly cultivated for its seed-pods, which are used medicinally, and for food.——Dreams connected with Tamarinds are of ill omen, portending trouble, loss, and disappointment.——The Tamarind is held to be under the dominion of Venus.TAMARISK.—TheTamarix orientalisis also known as the Tamarisk of Osiris. The ancient Egyptiansbelieved that at the commencement of the world Osiris was born from the midst of chaos, from whence also proceeded his wife Isis, the Queen of Light, and Typhon, the Spirit of Darkness. Osiris was the ruler of all the earth; but Typhon, being jealous of him, seized him by strategy, nailed him in a chest, and cast it into the Nile, that it might float out to sea. Isis in despair wandered all over the country, searching for the dead body of her husband, and at length heard that the chest had been cast on shore at Byblos, and had there lodged in the branches of a Tamarisk-bush, which quickly shot up and became a large and beautiful tree, growing round the chest so that it could not be seen. The king of the country, amazed at the vast size of the Tamarisk-tree, ordered it to be cut down and hewn into a pillar to support the roof of his palace, the chest being still concealed in the trunk. Here it was discovered by Isis, who cut open the pillar, and took the coffin with her to Egypt, where she hid it in a remote place; but Typhon found it, and divided the corpse of Osiris into fourteen pieces. After a long and weary search, in which Isis sailed over the fenny parts of the land in a boat made of Papyrus, she recovered all the fragments except one, which had been thrown into the sea.——TheTamarix Gallicais called the Tamarisk of Apollo: the Apollo of Lesbos is represented with a branch of Tamarisk in his hand. Nicander called the Tamarisk the Tree of Prophecy. In Persia, the Magian priests (who claimed supernatural power) arrived at a knowledge of future events by means of certain manipulations of the mysticbaresma, or bundle of thin Tamarisk twigs, the employment of which was enjoined in the Zendavesta books as essential to every sacrificialceremony.——Herodotus informs us that the Tamarisk was employed for a similar purpose by other nations of antiquity; and Pliny states that the Egyptian priests were crowned with its foliage.——According to tradition, it was from Tamarisk-trees that the showers of Manna descended on the famishing Israelites in the desert.——At the present day, the Manna of Mount Sinai is produced by a variety ofTamarix Gallica: it consists of pure mucilaginous sugar.——Astrologers state that the Tamarisk is under the rule of Saturn.TANSY.—The herb Tansy (Tanacetum) has derived its name from the Greekathanasia, immortality, it being supposed that this herb was referred to in a passage in Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods, where Jupiter, speaking of Ganymede, says to Mercury, “Take him away, and when he has drunk of immortality [athanasia], bring him back as cup-bearer to us.” In the Catholic Church the herb is dedicated to St. Athanasius, and in Lent cakes are flavoured with it. Gerarde says that the nameathanasiawas given to the plant because the flowers do not speedily wither: he also tells us that “in the Spring time are made with the leaves hereof newly sprung up, and with egs, cakes or tansies, which be pleasant on taste, and good for the stomacke.”——In some country places, it is customary to eat Tansy pudding at Easter, in allusion to the “bitter herbs” at the Passover. In Sussex, a charm against ague is to wear Tansy leaves in the shoe.——In some parts of Italy, people present stalks of the Wild Tansy to those whom they mean to insult.——The Tansy is held to be a herb of Venus.TEA.—A Japanese Buddhist legend attributes the origin of the Tea-plant (Thea Sinensis) to the eyelids of a devotee, which fell to the ground and took root. The legend relates that aboutA.D.519 a Buddhist priest went to China; and, in order to dedicate his soul entirely to God, he made a vow to pass the day and night in an uninterrupted and unbroken meditation. After many years of such continual watching, he was at length so tired, that he fell asleep. On awaking the following morning, he was so grieved that he had broken his vow, that he cut off both his eyelids and threw them on the ground. Returning to the same spot on the following day, he was astonished to find that each eyelid had become a shrub. This was the Tea-shrub (until then unknown in China)—the leaves of which exhibit the form of an eyelid bordered with lashes, and possess the gift of hindering sleep.—One Ibn Wahab, who travelled in China some time in the ninth century, makes the first authentic mention of Tea as a favourite beverage of the Chinese. He describes it as the leaf of a shrub more bushy than the Pomegranate; and says that an infusion is made by pouring boiling water upon it.TEREBINTH.—The Terebinth (Pistacia Terebinthus) is a tree much venerated by the Jews. Abraham pitched his tent beneath the shade of a Terebinth at Mamre, in the valley of Hebron, and an altar was afterwards erected close by. The spot whereon the tree of Abraham had flourished was in the time of Eusebius still held in great reverence and sanctity, and a Christian church was erected there. Josephus, in his ‘History of the Jews,’ recounts that the Terebinth of Abraham had flourished ever since the creation of the world; but a second legend states that it sprang from the staff of one the angels who visited Abraham. At Sichemis shown the Terebinth of Jacob, near which Joshua raised an altar. The angel appeared to Gideon to encourage him to engage in battle near a Terebinth-tree at Ophra, and on this spot, after the victory, Gideon raised an altar. The Jews, by preference, bury their dead beneath the shadow of a Terebinth.THISTLE.—The Thistle (Carduus), in the first days of man, was sent by the Almighty as a portion of the curse passed upon him when he was made a tiller of the soil. God said, “Thorns and Thistles shall it bring forth to thee (Gen. iv.). One species, the Milk Thistle (Carduus Marianus), is distinguishable by the milky veins of its leaves, which were supposed to have derived their peculiar colour from the milk of the Virgin Mary having fallen upon them. This is sometimes called the Scotch Thistle, but it is not so: it grows on the rocky cliffs near Dumbarton Castle, where, if tradition be true, it was originally planted by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. The Thistle of Scotland is believed to be theOnopordum Acanthium, the Cotton Thistle, which grows by the highways: this is the national insignia, and its flower-cup and bristling leaves accord well with the motto, “Nemo me impune lacessit.” Tradition says that the Thistle, with the motto rendered in homely Scotch, “Wha daur meddle wi’ me?” was adopted as the symbol of Scotland from the following circumstance:—A party of invading Danes attempted to surprise the Scotch army by night. Under cover of darkness, they approached the slumbering camp, but one of them trod upon a prickly Thistle, and his involuntary cry of pain roused some of the Scots, who flew to arms, and chased the foe from the field. TheOnicus acaulis, or stemless Thistle, is by some considered to be the true Scotch Thistle, as it accords best with the legend of the defeated Norsemen, and is, besides, the Thistle seen in the gold bonnet-piece of James V.Carduus acanthoidesandC. nutansare by others supposed to be the
“A flow’r that first in this sweet garden smiled,To virgins sacred, and the Snowdrop styled.”—Tickell.
“A flow’r that first in this sweet garden smiled,To virgins sacred, and the Snowdrop styled.”—Tickell.
“A flow’r that first in this sweet garden smiled,
To virgins sacred, and the Snowdrop styled.”—Tickell.
It is also dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and a monkish tradition asserts that it blooms on the second of February, or Candlemas Day, the day kept in celebration as that on which the holy Virgin took the child Jesus to the Jewish Temple and there presented an offering. Hence the flower is called the Fair Maid of February; as on the Day of the Purification of the Virgin Mary her image used to be removed from the altar, and Snowdrops strewed over the vacant place.——The legendary account of the flower’s creation is as follows:—“An angel went to console Eve when mourning over the barren earth, when no flowers in Eden grew, and the driving snow was falling to form a pall for earth’s untimeous funeral after the fall of man; the angel, catching as he spoke a flake of falling snow, breathed on it, and bade it take a form, and bud and blow. Ere the flake reached the earth Eve smiled upon the beauteous plant, and prized it more than all the other flowers in Paradise, for the angel said to her:—
“‘This is an earnest, Eve, to thee,that sun and summer soon shall be.’”
“‘This is an earnest, Eve, to thee,that sun and summer soon shall be.’”
“‘This is an earnest, Eve, to thee,
that sun and summer soon shall be.’”
The angel’s mission being ended, away up to heaven he flew; but where on earth he stood, a ring of Snowdrops formed a posey.”——An old name for the plant was the Winter Gilliflower. Dr. Prior thinks that the name Snowdrop was derived from the GermanSchneetropfen, and that the “drop” does not refer to snow, but to the long pendants, or drops, worn by the ladies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, both as earrings and hangings to their brooches, and which we see represented so often by Dutch and Italian painters of that period.——In some parts of England it is considered by the peasantry unlucky to take the first Snowdrop into a house—the flower being regarded as a death-token, inasmuch as it looks like a corpse in its shroud.
SOLANUM.—To this family belong the Love Apple, the Mad Apple, and the Bitter-Sweet. Several species of the genusSolanumare poisonous and highly dangerous plants. It is related that when Sweno, king of Norway, was besieging Duncan of Scotland in the town of Betha, Macbeth, his cousin, managed to leave the town, whereupon Duncan began to treat with the enemy as to the terms of a surrender, promising them a supply of provender. The Danes accepted the terms, and Duncan sent them their provisions, which they duly partook of; but soon after they were overcome by a profound lethargic sleep, for their wine and ale had been drugged withSolanum. In this condition they fell an easyprey to Macbeth, who attacked them and utterly routed their forces. Ten only of the soldiers, who had entertained suspicions with regard to Duncan’s gift of supplies, remained in their senses, and these carried off King Sweno, in a lifeless condition, to the mouth of the river Tay, and thence conveyed him home in a fishing-boat.
SOLOMON’S SEAL.—The appellation of Solomon’s Seal has been given to theConvallaria Polygonatum, because, on cutting the roots transversely, some scars are seen resembling the device known as Solomon’s Seal—a name given by the Arabs to a six-pointed star, formed by two equilateral triangles intersecting each other. To the old herbalists these marks (according to the doctrine of signatures) were an indication of the plant’s virtues or uses: it was sent to seal or consolidate wounds. Gerarde says: “That which might be written of the herbe as touching the knitting of bones, and that truely, would seeme with some incredible; but common experience teacheth that in the world there is not to be found another herbe comparable to it for the purposes aforesaid; and therefore, in briefe, if it be for bruises inward, the roots must be stamped, some ale or wine put thereto, strained, and given to drink. It must be given in the same manner to knit broken bones, against bruises, black or blew marks gotten by stripes, falls, or such like; against inflammation, tumours, or swellings, that happen unto members whose bones are broken, or members out of joynt, after restauration: the roots are to be stamped small, and applied pultesse or plaister wise, wherewith many great workes have been performed beyond credit.”——The plant is also known by the name of Lady’s Seal, Seal-wort, White-root, Ladder-to-heaven, and Jacob’s-ladder.——By astrologers it is held to be under the rule of Saturn.
SOMA.—The Soma, or Moon Plant, is one of the most sacred plants of India. It is supposed to be theSarcostemma viminale, orCyanchum viminale(Asclepias acida), which grows on the Coromandel hills and in the Punjâb. According to Dr. Haug, the plant at present used by the sacrificial priests of the Dekhan is not the sacred Soma of the Vedas, although it appears to belong to the same order. In the Hindu religion, by a truly mystic combination, Soma represents at once the moon or moon-god, the genius presiding over the Soma, and the plant itself. In the Vedic hymns to Soma, the notion of the plant predominates, but intermixed are references which are only applicable to the lunar character of the divinity. The description of the plant given in Garrett’s ‘Classical Dictionary of India’ is as follows:—“It grows to the height of about four or five feet, and forms a kind of bush consisting of a number of shoots, all coming from the same root; their stem is solid, like wood, the bark greyish, they are without leaves, the sap appears whitish, has a very stringent taste, is bitter but not sour; it is avery nasty drink, but has some intoxicating effect. The sap referred to is sharp and acid, and, according to Decandolle, would be poisonous if taken in large quantities; in many cases the nerves are affected by it, as if by a narcotic; but it is benumbing in its influence, as it hinders the activity of the nerves, without inducing sleep.” From this sacred plant, which has the mystic five white petals, is obtained a milky exudation (symbolising the motherhood of Nature), out of which is made the VedicAmrita, a divine beverage that confers immortality; and, probably on this account, the plant itself is worshipped as a god. Thus we find it so addressed in a hymn from the Rigveda, translated by Muir:—
“We’ve quaffed the Soma bright,And are immortal grown;We’ve entered into light,And all the gods have known.What mortal now can harm,Or foeman vex us more?Through thee beyond alarm,Immortal god! we soar.”
“We’ve quaffed the Soma bright,And are immortal grown;We’ve entered into light,And all the gods have known.What mortal now can harm,Or foeman vex us more?Through thee beyond alarm,Immortal god! we soar.”
“We’ve quaffed the Soma bright,
And are immortal grown;
We’ve entered into light,
And all the gods have known.
What mortal now can harm,
Or foeman vex us more?
Through thee beyond alarm,
Immortal god! we soar.”
The Soma sap is used as the Soma drink for the initiation of the Djoga; it is said to produce the magical condition in which, raised above the universe to the great centre, and united with Brahma, the seer beholds everything.——In the Hindu worship, libations to the gods were of three kinds—butter, honey, and the fermented juice of the Soma-plant. The butter and honey were poured upon the sacrificial fire; the Soma juice was presented in ladles to the deities invoked, part sprinkled on the fire, part on the Kusa, or Sacred Grass, strewed upon the floor, and the rest invariably drunk by those who had conducted the ceremony. The exhilarating properties of the fermented juice of the Soma filled the worshippers with delight and astonishment; and the offering of this sacred liquid was deemed to be especially pleasing to the Hindu gods.——In the lunar sacrifices, the Soma drink was prepared with mystical ceremonies, with invocations of blessings and curses, by which the powers of the world above and below were incorporated with it. According to their intended use, various herbs were mixed with the principal ingredient. Windischmann remarks that the use of the Soma was looked upon in early ages as a holy action, and as a sacrament, by which the union with Brahma was produced; thus, in Indian writings, passages similar to the following, often occur: “Prâjapati himself drinks this milk, the essence of all nourishment and knowledge—the milk of immortality.”——The Gandharvas, a race of demigods, are represented in certain of the Vedic legends as custodians of the Soma or Amrita, and as keeping such close watch over the divine beverage, that only by force or cunning can the thirsty gods obtain a supply of the immortalising drink.——One of the Hindu synonymes of Soma ismadhu, which means a mixed drink; and this word is themethuof the Greeks, and the mead of our own Saxon, Norse, and Celtic ancestors.
SORREL.—From May to August the meadows are often ruddy with the Sorrel (Rumex Acetosa), the red leaves of which point out the graves of the Irish rebels who fell on Tara Hill, in the “Ninety-Eight;” the popular and local tradition being that the plants sprang from the blood of the patriots shed on that occasion.——Sorrel is under the planetary influence of Venus.
SOW-THISTLE.—Theseus, king of Athens, is said to have received as a gift from the hands of Hecate, the Sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) and the Sea Fennel (Crithmum maritimum). Like the Sesame, the Sow-thistle, according to tradition, sometimes conceals marvels or treasures; and in Italian stories are found the exclamation, “Open Sow-thistle,” used with the same magical results as attend the invocation of the Sesame. A Russian legend states that the Devil considers the Sow-thistle to be peculiarly his property, although in so doing he is in error (seeOatsandReed).——The Sow-thistle is considered by astrologers to be under the dominion of Venus.
SOUTHERNWOOD.—TheAbrotanum(Southernwood) is a species of Wormwood, to which the Greeks and Romans, and in more recent times the Germans and French, attributed wonderful magic properties. According to Pliny, it should be classed as an aphrodisiac plant, for, if it be placed under a mattress, it will evoke sensual passions. Gerarde says the same thing; and adds that “it helpeth against the stinging of scorpions,” and that, “being strewed upon the bed, or a fume made of it upon hot embers, it driveth away serpents.” Lucan refers to this latter quality in the following lines (Book 9):—
“There the large branches of the long-lived hart,With Southernwood their odours strong impart;The monsters of the land, the serpents fell,Fly far away, and shun the hostile smell.”
“There the large branches of the long-lived hart,With Southernwood their odours strong impart;The monsters of the land, the serpents fell,Fly far away, and shun the hostile smell.”
“There the large branches of the long-lived hart,
With Southernwood their odours strong impart;
The monsters of the land, the serpents fell,
Fly far away, and shun the hostile smell.”
Macer Floridus states that it will drive away serpents; and Bauhin narrates that it used to be employed against epilepsy.——From an ointment made with its ashes, and used by young men to promote the growth of a beard, the plant obtained the name of Lad’s Love.——Astrologers place Southernwood under the rule of Mercury. (See alsoMugwortandWormwood.)
SPEEDWELL.—TheVeronica Chamædrysappears in olden times to have been called “Forget-me-Not,” a name that has since been universally applied to the Myosotis. Now-a-days it is sometimes called by country folk Cat’s-eye. The plant derives its name of Speedwell from the fact of its corolla falling off and flying away as soon as it is gathered; “Speedwell” being the old-fashioned equivalent of “Good-bye!” The bright blue blossom of the Germander Speedwell is in some places better known as Veronica, an appellation derived fromVera(Latin) andIcon(Greek), and signifying “true image.”——When our Saviour was on his way to MountCalvary, bearing his cross, he passed by the door of Veronica, a compassionate woman, who beholding with pity the Lord’s distressed condition, and the drops of agony on His brow, wiped His face with a kerchief, or napkin, and the features of the Redeemer remained miraculously impressed upon the linen. The kerchief itself was styled theSudarium, and from some resemblance of the blossom of the Germander Speedwell to this saintly relic, bearing the features of Christ, the plant received the name of Veronica.——Francus wrote an entire work on the virtues of theVeronica orientalis, which is said to have cured a King of France of the leprosy and to have given children to a barren wife. R. Turner calls the plant Fluellin, or Lluellin—a name, he remarks, “the Shentleman of Wales have given it because it saved her nose, which disease had almost gotten from her.”
SPIGNEL.—Spignel (Meum athamanticum) is also known as Mew, Bear-wort, or Bald-money. The latter name is of obscure etymology, but we may safely reject the derivation which some writers have suggested from the name of the god Baldr, the Scandinavian Apollo.——Spignel is held to be under the rule of Venus. (SeeBaldmoney).
SPIKENARD.—We read in Canticles: “While the king sitteth at his table, my Spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.” And again: “Thy plants are an orchard of Pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; Camphire, with Spikenard, Spikenard and Saffron.” The true nature of Spikenard has for ages been the subject of much controversy; but it is now generally accepted that it was obtained from theValeriana Jatamansi. Ptolemy notices these odoriferous plants, the best of which grew at Rangamati, and on the borders of the country now called Bootan. Pliny says there are twelve varieties of it—the best being the Indian, the next in quality the Syriac, then the Gallic, and in the fourth place, that of Crete. He thus describes the Indian Spikenard: “It is a shrub with a heavy thick root, but short, black, brittle, and yet unctuous as well; it has a musty smell, too, very much like that of the Cyperus, with a sharp acrid taste, the leaves being small, and growing in tufts. The heads of the Nard spread out into ears; hence it is that Nard is so famous for its two-fold production, the spike or ear, and the leaf.” The price of genuine Spikenard was then one hundred denarii per pound, and all the other sorts, which were merely herbs, were infinitely cheaper, some being only worth three denarii per pound. Galen and Dioscorides give a somewhat similar account of Spikenard orNardostachys, but the latter states that the so-called Syrian Nard came in reality from India, whence it was brought to Syria for shipment. Mr. E. Rimmel, in his ‘Book of Perfumes,’ points out that “the ancients appear to have confounded Spikenard with some of the fragrant Grasses of India, which would account for the report that Alexander the Great, whenhe invaded Gedrosia, could smell from the back of his elephant the fragrance of the Nard as it was trod upon by the horses feet. This error was shared by Linnæus, who did not attempt to classify the plant, but was inclined to think it was the same as theAndropogon Nardus, commonly called Ginger Grass. Sir William Jones, the learned orientalist, turned his serious attention to this question, and after a laborious investigation succeeded in establishing beyond doubt that the Spikenard of the ancients was a plant of the Valerianic order, called by the ArabsSumbul, which means ‘spike,’ and by the HindusJatamansi, which signifies ‘locks of hair,’ both appellations being derived from its having a stem which somewhat resembles the tail of an ermine, or of a small weasel. He, consequently, gave it the name ofValeriana Jatamansi, under which it is now generally classed by botanists. It is found in the mountainous regions of India, principally in Bootan and Nepaul. Its name appears to be derived from the Tamil language, in which the syllablenárdenotes any thing possessing fragrance, such asnártum pillu, ‘Lemon Grass;’nárum panei, ‘Indian Jasmine;’nártum manum, ‘Wild Orange,’ &c. It is highly probable,however, that the word Spikenard was often applied by the ancients as a generic name for every sort of perfume, as the Chinese now designate all their scents by the name ofhëang, which properly meansincense, it being for them the type of all perfumes.”——In an Indian poem, the hero, compelled to go upon his travels immediately after wedding the girl of his heart, takes leave of her in his garden, and showing her a Spikenard of his own planting, enjoins her to watch over it with loving care; for as long as it thrives all will go well with him, but should it wither some fatal misfortune will certainly befall him. Years pass away before he can turn his steps homewards. Then he assumes the garb of a mendicant, goes to his home, gains admission to the garden, and there sees his faithful wife weeping over the precious Spikenard, grown into a mighty plant, telling its own tale. The finish can well be guessed.
SPRINGWORT.—The Springwort, or Blasting-root, is famed in German legends for its magical power of opening locks, however strong, hidden doors, rocks, and secret entrances to caves where are stored inexhaustible treasures. In Kelly’s ‘Indo-European Tradition,’ we read that as a rule the Springwort has been regarded as an unknown species of plants, and therefore most difficult to find; but some few accounts specify known plants, and Grimm mentions theEuphorbia Lathyris, which he identifies with theSferracavalloof the Italians, so named because it acts so potently on metals, that horses, if they tread on it, have their shoes drawn off. (TheSferracavallo, however, was stated by Mentzel in 1682 to be a Vetch now known as theHippocrepis). The Springwort is procured by plugging up the hole in a tree in which a green or black woodpecker has its nest with young ones in it. As soon as the bird is aware of what has been done, it flies off in quest ofa wondrous plant, which men might look for in vain, and returning with it in its bill, holds it before the plug, which immediately shoots out from the tree, as if driven by the most violent force. But if one conceals himself before the woodpecker returns, and scares it when it approaches, the bird will let the root fall; or a white or red cloth (representing water or fire) may be spread below the nest, and the bird will drop the root upon the cloth after it has served its own turn. This is Grimm’s version of the matter, and Pliny’s account coincides, except that he adds that the plug is driven out with an explosion, caused, as one may conclude, by the electricity contained in the plant which is applied to it by the bird. Now it is worthy of remark that the woodpecker is mythically alleged to be a fire- or lightning-bearer; and so is called by the RomansPicus Martius, after the god Mars, andPicus Feronius, from the Sabine goddess Feronia, who had a certain control over fire. In the Sanscrit, a species ofEuphorbiais called the Thunderbolt Thorn, and some others are termed Thunderbolt-wood. It is curious to notice, by the way, that the Indian name of the Sesame-flower,Vajrapushpa, connects with the thunderbolt the flower that opens treasure-caves. In Swabia, they say that the hoopoe brings the Springwort, and lets it fall into water or fire to destroy it: to obtain it, therefore, one must have in readiness a pan of water, or kindle a fire; the original notion having been that the bird must return the plant to the element from which it springs,—that being either the water of the clouds, or the lightning-fire enclosed therein. The connection between the Springwort and the lightning is also manifested in an old Swabian tradition, that when the plant is buried in the ground at the summit of a mountain, it draws down the lightning, and divides the storm, causing it to pass off to right and left.——In the Oberpfalz, the Springwort is calledJohanniswurzel, because it is there believed that it can only be found among the Fern on St. John’s Night. It is said to be of a yellow colour, and to shine in the night like a candle, resembling in this respect the Mandrake. Moreover, it never stands still, but darts about continually to avoid the grasp of men. Here then, in the luminosity and the power of rapid movement attributed to the Springwort, we see the embodiment of electricity in the plant.——In Switzerland, theSpreng-wurzelis carried in the right pocket, to render the bearer invulnerable to dagger or bullet; and in the Harz mountains it is said to reveal treasures.——With regard to this magical property of disclosing concealed treasures, a story is related by Kuhn in his North German Legends, from which we learn that a shepherd who was driving his flock over the Ilsenstein, having stopped to rest, leaning on his staff, the mountain suddenly opened, for there was a Springwort in his staff without his knowing it. Inside the mountain he discovered an enchanted princess, who bade him take as much gold as he pleased; so he filled his pockets, and then prepared to retire; but hehad forgotten his staff with the Springwort in it, which he had laid against the wall when he stepped in; so that just as he was on the point of stepping out of the opening, the rock suddenly slammed together, and cut him in two. In this version of the German legend, the Luckflower is identified with the Springwort.
SPURGE LAUREL.—The Spurge Laurel, called in DenmarkTy-ved, is sacred to Tyr, the god of war. This plant is the badge of the Scottish Clan Graham.
SQUILL.—TheScilla maritima, or Sea Onion, was of old consecrated in Egypt to the god Typhon. The mummies of Egyptian women often hold the Squill in one hand, probably as an emblem of generation. The Egyptians planted the Squill in groves, and hung it in their houses to preserve them from evil spirits. In Arcadia, at the festival of the god Pan, the statue of the deity was decorated with Squills.
STAR OF BETHLEHEM.—TheOrnithogalum umbellatumis called the Star of Bethlehem on account of its white stellate flowers resembling the pictures of the star that indicated the birth of the Saviour of mankind. As the plant is abundant in the neighbourhood of Samaria, it was thought by Linnæus and also by several biblical commentators to be the “dove’s dung” mentioned as the food of the famished inhabitants of that city during the siege recorded in the Book of Kings. The Star of Bethlehem is horological—it never unfolds its petals before eleven o’clock, and hence has acquired the nickname of the Eleven o’Clock Lady.
STOCK.—The Stock, or Stock-Gilliflower (Mathiola), was one of the earliest inmates of English gardens, where it was known as the Gilliflower, a word corrupted from the French name of the flower,Giroflée.
“The white and purple Gillyflowers, that stayIn blossom—lingering summer half away.”
“The white and purple Gillyflowers, that stayIn blossom—lingering summer half away.”
“The white and purple Gillyflowers, that stay
In blossom—lingering summer half away.”
The principal kinds grown in gardens are the Queen’s Stock-Gilliflower, of which the Brompton Stock and the White Stock are varieties, and the annual, or Ten-weeks’ Stock (M. annua). The old English name of Gilliflower was familiarly given to several other plants dear to early English gardeners: thus we find it applied to the Carnation, the Pink, the Rocket, the Wall-flower, the Ragged Robin, and some others. Parkinson (who is the first writer to mention the double Stock) remarks of the flower: “We call it in English generally Stock-Gilloflower (or as others do, Stock Gillover), to put a difference between them and the Gilloflowers and Carnations, which are quite of another kindred.” The word Gilliflower afterwards became corrupted to July-flower, and was so written by the poet Drayton.——Baron Cuvier had a great partiality for the double Stock: it had been the favourite flower of his mother, and the great naturalist, on that account, always prizedthe fragrant plant, and whilst it was in season made it a rule to have a bunch on his table, that he might inhale its grand perfume.
STONECROP.—Like the House-leek, the Stonecrop was supposed to be a protective against thunder and lightning, and hence was planted on the roofs of cottages, stables, &c. The old herbalists valued the small Houseleek, or Stonecrop, as a cure for ague and expeller of poisons. It was used as an outward application, and, when boiled in beer, was considered good for pestilential fevers. Among country folks the plant was known as Wall Pepper (from its pungent flavour), Jack of the Buttery, Gold Chain, and Prick Madam, the last name being a corruption of the FrenchTrique Madame.——Stonecrop is held by astrologers to be under the dominion of the Moon.
STORAX.—The Styrax, or Storax-tree, has been held in great estimation from the time of Dioscorides and Pliny, both of whom described it. Although the tree is indigenous to many of the southern parts of Europe, yet the precious and deliciously fragrant gum that exudes from it, known as Storax-tears, can only be obtained in perfection from Asiatic Turkey. Old Gerarde says “of this gum, there are made sundry excellent perfumes, pomanders, sweet waters, sweet bags, sweet washing-balls, and divers other sweet chains and bracelets.”——Storax-tears are still used as incense in the churches and mosques of Asia Minor.
STRAW.—In theHávamál, or the ‘Divine Discourse of Odin,’ who gave these precepts of wisdom to mankind, it is stated that “Straws dissolve enchantment.” Hence, probably, was derived the custom of laying two Straws crosswise in the path where a witch was expected to pass, under the belief that by stepping over Straws, arranged so as to form the sign of the Cross, a witch was rendered powerless. In Ireland, on May-eve (neen na Beal tina), the ceremony is practised of making the cows leap over lighted Straw or faggots.——In Cornwall, lasses desirous of knowing when they are to be married, are accustomed to repair either to Madron Well, or to a well at St. Austell: there two pieces of Straw, about an inch long, are crossed and fastened by a pin. This Straw cross is then dropped into the water, and the rising bubbles carefully counted, as they mark the number of years which will pass ere the arrival of the happy day.——In Devonshire, to charm warts away, they take a Wheat Straw with as many knots as there are warts on the hand to be dealt with, name over the Straw the person afflicted, and then bury it: as it decays, the warts will disappear.——In the county of Donegal, Ireland, a sufferer from warts procures ten Straws, ties a knot in each, throws the tenth away, and carefully rubs the warts with the other nine knotted Straws; this done, he makes a white paper parcel of the Straws, and throws it upon the high road, sure that the person who picks up and opens the parcel will become the possessor of the warts.——Anold German cure for sleeplessness was to place beneath the pillow a “composing wisp,” that is Straw which workwomen put under the burdens on their backs; but taken from people unknown to them.——If a hen wants to sit, the German peasants make her nest of Straw out of the bed of the husband and wife: if cock chickens are wished, from the man’s side; if hen chickens, from the wife’s side.——A Swedish popular tale narrates how a king’s son, passing a cottage one day, saw a pretty girl sitting on the roof spinning. Curious to know why she chose so unusual a place, he enquired of the girl’s mother, who told him that she sat there to let the people see how clever she was; adding, “She is so clever that she can spin gold from clay and long Straw.” The truth was, the girl, although good-looking, was idle in the extreme, and had been set to spin on the roof of the cot so that all the world might judge of her sloth. The king’s son, however, knew naught of this, and being captivated by the girl’s pretty face, he resolved, if she could really spin gold from long Straw and clay, to take her to the palace, and make her his consort. The mother having given her consent, the girl accompanied the prince to the royal residence, where she was given a bundle of Straw, and a pailful of clay, in order to prove if she were so skilful at spinning as her mother had said. The poor girl, knowing her incompetence, soon began to weep when left by herself in her chamber; whereupon suddenly a little ugly and deformed old man stood before her, and demanded to know the cause of her grief. The girl told him; and forthwith the old man produced a pair of gloves, which he gave to the girl, saying, “Fair maiden, weep not: here is a pair of gloves; when thou hast them on, thou wilt be able to spin from long Straw and clay. To-morrow night I will return, when, if thou hast not found out my name, thou shalt accompany me home, and be my bride.” The brave girl shuddered, but agreed to the old man’s condition, and he went his way. Then she pulled on the gloves, and, without difficulty, soon spun up all the Straw and clay into the finest gold. There was great joy in the palace, and the king’s son was delighted that he had obtained so charming and so skilful a wife; but the young maiden did nothing but weep at the dread prospect of being claimed by the ugly, undersized old man. Late in the day, the king’s son returned from the chase, and seeing his bride so melancholy, began to tell her of an adventure he had just met with in the forest. Said he: “I suddenly came upon a very little ugly old man dancing round a Juniper-bush, singing a curious song, at the end of which he loudly bawled, ‘I am calledTitteli Ture.’” Then the pretty maid’s face brightened up, for she knew that she had learnt the name of her mysterious visitor. So she set to work to spin more gold from Straw and clay alone in her chamber, and kept repeating the old man’s name, so that she might not forget it. At midnight the door of her room noiselessly opened, and thehideous old man entered with beaming eyes. On beholding him the girl sprang up, and said: “Titteli Ture, Titteli Ture, here are thy gloves.” When the dwarf heard his name pronounced, he was overcome with passion, and bursting through the roof of the apartment, hastened away through the air. The maiden was espoused by the king’s son the following day, and nothing more was ever seen of Titteli Ture.
STRAWBERRY.—Strawberries were reputed to be the favourite fruit of the goddess Frigg, who presided over marriages. In German legends, Strawberries symbolise little children who have died when young. According to one of these legends, before St. John’s Day mothers who have lost their little ones take care not to eat Strawberries, because they think that young children ascend to heaven concealed in Strawberries. Mothers who eat Strawberries are considered to have wronged the Virgin Mary, to whom the Strawberry is dedicated, and who would assuredly refuse an entry into heaven to those children whose mothers had defrauded her of the fruit specially set apart for her.——A representation of the leaf of the Strawberry is set in the gold coronets worn by certain of the English nobility: a duke’s coronet has eight leaves, an earl’s eight, and that of a marquis four. Strawberry-leaves and the Flower-de-luce are used in the coronets of the younger members of the royal family. Don John, son of King John I. of Portugal, adopted the Strawberry as his device, to show his devotion to St. John the Baptist, who lived on fruits. It is mentioned by Hollinshed, and the fact has been dramatised by Shakspeare, that Glo’ster, when he was contemplating the death of Hastings, asked the Bishop of Ely for Strawberries.
“My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn,I saw good Strawberries in your garden there.”
“My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn,I saw good Strawberries in your garden there.”
“My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn,
I saw good Strawberries in your garden there.”
Linnæus was cured of frequent attacks of gout by the use of Strawberries, and the fruit is accounted an excellent remedy in putrid fevers.——To dream of Strawberries is reputed to be a good omen: to a youth they are supposed to denote that “his wife will be sweet tempered, and bear him many children, all boys.”——A legend of the Fichtelgebirge (a mountain range at the junction of Saxony, Bavaria, and Bohemia) records that one Midsummer Day a woman went with her child to look for Strawberries in a wood. She chanced to light upon some plants, which when plucked in the night, were not to be exhausted; and after awhile she perceived a cavern which she entered with her child. Here, to her astonishment, lay heaps of gold scattered about; and three white maidens gave her permission to take as much of the treasure as she could collect with one grasp. Her greed, however, induced her to make three swoops, and then, fearful of the consequences, and forgetting her child, she rushed out of the hollow, when the entrance was immediately closed upon her, and a warning voice informedher that she could not regain her child until the next St. John’s Day. When this day arrived, the woman repaired to the cave, and found to her joy the entrance once more open, and her little one awaiting her with a rosy Apple in its hand. Disregarding the treasures scattered in the cave, the mother rushed with outstretched arms towards her child, and the white maidens finding that the mother’s love was stronger than her greed handed over the little one to her.——There is, in this district, another legend anent the gathering of Strawberries, which will be found under the head ofClub Moss.
SUGAR-CANE.—In the Sugar plantations of the Indies, several superstitious ceremonies are preserved. It being customary to reserve a few plants, it sometimes happens after the fields are planted, that there remain several superfluous canes. Whenever this happens, the husbandman repairs to the spot on the 11th of June, and having sacrificed to the Nagbele, the tutelar deity of the Sugar-cane, he immediately kindles a fire, and consumes the whole. If a Sugar-cane should flower again at the end of the season, and produce seeds, it is looked upon as a funereal flower, and as portending misfortune to the owner of the estate or his family. If, therefore, a husbandman sees one of these late-flowering canes, he plucks it up, and buries it without allowing his master to know anything of the unfortunate occurrence, willingly taking to himself any ill-luck which may accrue.——The bow of Kâmadeva, the Indian Cupid, is sometimes represented as being formed of Sugar-cane, sometimes of flowers, with a string composed of bees. His five arrows were each tipped with a blossom, presented to Kâmadeva by Vasanta (Spring).
“He bends the luscious cane, and twists the stringWith bees; how sweet! but ah! how keen their sting.He, with five flow’rets tips thy ruthless darts,Which through five senses pierce enraptured hearts;StrongChampa, rich in odorous gold;WarmAmer, nursed in heavenly mould;DryMakeser, in silver smiling;HotKitticumour sense beguiling;And last, to kindle fierce the scorching flame,Love Shaft, which gods brightBelaname.”—Sir W. Jones.
“He bends the luscious cane, and twists the stringWith bees; how sweet! but ah! how keen their sting.He, with five flow’rets tips thy ruthless darts,Which through five senses pierce enraptured hearts;StrongChampa, rich in odorous gold;WarmAmer, nursed in heavenly mould;DryMakeser, in silver smiling;HotKitticumour sense beguiling;And last, to kindle fierce the scorching flame,Love Shaft, which gods brightBelaname.”—Sir W. Jones.
“He bends the luscious cane, and twists the string
With bees; how sweet! but ah! how keen their sting.
He, with five flow’rets tips thy ruthless darts,
Which through five senses pierce enraptured hearts;
StrongChampa, rich in odorous gold;
WarmAmer, nursed in heavenly mould;
DryMakeser, in silver smiling;
HotKitticumour sense beguiling;
And last, to kindle fierce the scorching flame,
Love Shaft, which gods brightBelaname.”—Sir W. Jones.
SUNFLOWER.—TheHelianthus annuusderived its name of Sunflower from its resemblance to the radiant beams of the Sun, and not, as is popularly supposed and celebrated by poets, from its flowers turning to face the Sun—a delusion fostered by Darwin, Moore, and Thompson, the latter of whom tells us that unlike most of the flowery race—
“The lofty follower of the Sun,Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves,Drooping all night, and, when he warm returns,Points her enamour’d bosom to his ray.”
“The lofty follower of the Sun,Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves,Drooping all night, and, when he warm returns,Points her enamour’d bosom to his ray.”
“The lofty follower of the Sun,
Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves,
Drooping all night, and, when he warm returns,
Points her enamour’d bosom to his ray.”
The Helianthus has also been falsely identified with the Sunflower of classical story—the flower into which poor Clytie was transformedwhen, heart-broken at the desertion of her lover Phœbus, she remained rooted to the ground, and became, according to Ovid, metamorphosed into a flower resembling a Violet. “Held firmly by the root, she still turns to the Sun she loves, and, changed herself, she keeps her love unchanged.” Now the Helianthus, or modern Sunflower, could not have been the blossom mentioned by Ovid, inasmuch as it is not a European plant, was not known in his day, and first came to us from North America. In its native country of Peru, the Helianthus is said to have been much reverenced on account of the resemblance borne by its radiant blossoms to the Sun, which luminary was worshipped by the Peruvians. In their Temple of the Sun, the officiating priestesses were crowned with Sunflowers of pure gold, and they wore them in their bosoms, and carried them in their hands. The early Spanish invaders of Peru found in these temples of the Sun numerous representations of the Sunflower in virgin gold, the workmanship of which was so exquisite, that it far out-valued the precious metal of which they were formed. Gerarde, writing in 1597, remarks:—“The floure of the Sun is called in LatineFlos Solis; for that some have reported it to turn with the Sunne, which I could never observe, although I have endeavoured to finde out the truth of it: but I rather thinke it was so called because it resembles the radiant beams of the Sunne, whereupon some have calledCorona SolisandSol Indianus, the Indian Sunne-floure: othersChrysanthemum Peruvianum, or the Golden Flower of Peru: in English, the Floure of the Sun, or the Sun-floure.” (SeeHeliotrope.)
SYCAMORE.—Sycamore is properly the name of an Egyptian tree, the leaves of which resemble those of the Mulberry and the fruit that of the wild Fig; whence it was named from bothSukomoros;sukonsignifying a Fig, andmorosa Mulberry-tree.——Thevenot gives an interesting tradition relating to one of these trees. He writes:—“At Matharee is a large Sycamore, or Pharaoh’s Fig, very old, but which bears fruit every year. They say, that upon the Virgin passing that way with her son Jesus, and being pursued by the people, this Fig-tree opened to receive her, and closed her in, until the people had passed by, when it re-opened; and that it remained open ever after to the year 1656, when the part of the trunk that had separated itself was broken away.” The tree is still shown to travellers a few miles north-east of Cairo.——Another version relates that the Holy Family, at the conclusion of their flight into Egypt, finally rested in the village of Matarea, beyond the city of Hermopolis, and took up their residence in a grove of Sycamores, a circumstance which gave the Sycamore-tree a certain degree of interest in early Christian times. The Crusaders imported it into Europe, and Mary Stuart, probably on account of its sacred associations, brought from France and planted in her garden the first Sycamores which grew in Scotland.——From the wood of this Egyptian Fig-tree or Sycamore(Ficus Sycomorus), which is very indestructible, the coffins of the Egyptian mummies were made.——By a mistake of Ruellius the name Sycamore became transferred to the Great Maple (Acer pseudoplatanus), which is the tree commonly known in England as the Sycamore or Mock-Plane. This mistake, Dr. Prior considers, may perhaps have arisen from the Great Maple having been, on account of the density of its foliage, used in the sacred dramas of the Middle Ages to represent the Fig-tree into which Zaccheus climbed on the day of our Saviour’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem—theFicus Sycomorusmentioned above.
“Here a sure shadeOf barren Sycamores, which the all-seeing sunCould not pierce through.”—Massinger.
“Here a sure shadeOf barren Sycamores, which the all-seeing sunCould not pierce through.”—Massinger.
“Here a sure shade
Of barren Sycamores, which the all-seeing sun
Could not pierce through.”—Massinger.
In Scotland, the most remarkable Sycamores are those called Dool-trees or Grief-trees. They were used by the powerful barons in the west of Scotland for hanging their enemies and refractory vassals on.——The Great Maple is called in France, as with us,SycomoreorFaux Platane(Mock-Plane); the Italians call the same treeAcero Fico(Fig-Maple); but in both these countries there grows theMelia Azadirachta, or False Sycamore, which is called the Sacred Tree in France, and the Tree of Our Father in Italy. In Sicily, it is known as the Tree of Patience, and is regarded as emblematic of a wife’s infidelity and a husband’s patience.——To dream of the Sycamore-tree portends jealousy to the married; but to the virgin it prognosticates a speedy marriage. (See alsoMaple).
SYRINGA.—The Arcadian nymph Syrinx pursued by Pan, who was enamoured of her, fled to the banks of the river Ladon. Her flight being there stopped, she implored relief from the water-nymphs, and was changed into a Reed, just as Pan was on the point of catching her. Ovid thus describes her transformation:—
“Now while the lustful god, with speedy pace,Just thought to strain her in a strict embrace,He filled his arms with Reeds, new rising on the place;And while he sighs his ill-success to find,The tender canes were shaken by the wind,And breathed a mournful air, unheard before;That much surprising Pan, yet pleased him more.Admiring this new music, ‘Thou,’ he said,‘Who can’st not be the partner of my bed,At least shall be the consort of my mind;And often, often to my lips be joined.’He formed the Reeds, proportioned as they are,Unequal in their length, and waxed with care,They still retain the name of his ungrateful fair.”—Dryden.
“Now while the lustful god, with speedy pace,Just thought to strain her in a strict embrace,He filled his arms with Reeds, new rising on the place;And while he sighs his ill-success to find,The tender canes were shaken by the wind,And breathed a mournful air, unheard before;That much surprising Pan, yet pleased him more.Admiring this new music, ‘Thou,’ he said,‘Who can’st not be the partner of my bed,At least shall be the consort of my mind;And often, often to my lips be joined.’He formed the Reeds, proportioned as they are,Unequal in their length, and waxed with care,They still retain the name of his ungrateful fair.”—Dryden.
“Now while the lustful god, with speedy pace,
Just thought to strain her in a strict embrace,
He filled his arms with Reeds, new rising on the place;
And while he sighs his ill-success to find,
The tender canes were shaken by the wind,
And breathed a mournful air, unheard before;
That much surprising Pan, yet pleased him more.
Admiring this new music, ‘Thou,’ he said,
‘Who can’st not be the partner of my bed,
At least shall be the consort of my mind;
And often, often to my lips be joined.’
He formed the Reeds, proportioned as they are,
Unequal in their length, and waxed with care,
They still retain the name of his ungrateful fair.”—Dryden.
ThePhiladelphus coronariusis the shrub into which, according to Ovid, the nymph Syrinx was metamorphosed. The stems of this shrub are used in Turkey for making pipe-sticks. Evelyn applied the name Syringa also to the Lilac, which for the same reason was called “Pipe-tree.”
TAMARIND.—TheTamarindus Indicais in Ceylon dedicated to Siva, as the god of destruction. The natives of India have a prejudice against sleeping under the Tamarind, and the acid damp from the tree is known to affect the cloth of tents that are pitched under them for any length of time. So strong is the prejudice of the natives against the Tamarind-tree, that it is difficult to prevent them from destroying it, as they believe it hurtful to vegetation. It is chiefly cultivated for its seed-pods, which are used medicinally, and for food.——Dreams connected with Tamarinds are of ill omen, portending trouble, loss, and disappointment.——The Tamarind is held to be under the dominion of Venus.
TAMARISK.—TheTamarix orientalisis also known as the Tamarisk of Osiris. The ancient Egyptiansbelieved that at the commencement of the world Osiris was born from the midst of chaos, from whence also proceeded his wife Isis, the Queen of Light, and Typhon, the Spirit of Darkness. Osiris was the ruler of all the earth; but Typhon, being jealous of him, seized him by strategy, nailed him in a chest, and cast it into the Nile, that it might float out to sea. Isis in despair wandered all over the country, searching for the dead body of her husband, and at length heard that the chest had been cast on shore at Byblos, and had there lodged in the branches of a Tamarisk-bush, which quickly shot up and became a large and beautiful tree, growing round the chest so that it could not be seen. The king of the country, amazed at the vast size of the Tamarisk-tree, ordered it to be cut down and hewn into a pillar to support the roof of his palace, the chest being still concealed in the trunk. Here it was discovered by Isis, who cut open the pillar, and took the coffin with her to Egypt, where she hid it in a remote place; but Typhon found it, and divided the corpse of Osiris into fourteen pieces. After a long and weary search, in which Isis sailed over the fenny parts of the land in a boat made of Papyrus, she recovered all the fragments except one, which had been thrown into the sea.——TheTamarix Gallicais called the Tamarisk of Apollo: the Apollo of Lesbos is represented with a branch of Tamarisk in his hand. Nicander called the Tamarisk the Tree of Prophecy. In Persia, the Magian priests (who claimed supernatural power) arrived at a knowledge of future events by means of certain manipulations of the mysticbaresma, or bundle of thin Tamarisk twigs, the employment of which was enjoined in the Zendavesta books as essential to every sacrificialceremony.——Herodotus informs us that the Tamarisk was employed for a similar purpose by other nations of antiquity; and Pliny states that the Egyptian priests were crowned with its foliage.——According to tradition, it was from Tamarisk-trees that the showers of Manna descended on the famishing Israelites in the desert.——At the present day, the Manna of Mount Sinai is produced by a variety ofTamarix Gallica: it consists of pure mucilaginous sugar.——Astrologers state that the Tamarisk is under the rule of Saturn.
TANSY.—The herb Tansy (Tanacetum) has derived its name from the Greekathanasia, immortality, it being supposed that this herb was referred to in a passage in Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods, where Jupiter, speaking of Ganymede, says to Mercury, “Take him away, and when he has drunk of immortality [athanasia], bring him back as cup-bearer to us.” In the Catholic Church the herb is dedicated to St. Athanasius, and in Lent cakes are flavoured with it. Gerarde says that the nameathanasiawas given to the plant because the flowers do not speedily wither: he also tells us that “in the Spring time are made with the leaves hereof newly sprung up, and with egs, cakes or tansies, which be pleasant on taste, and good for the stomacke.”——In some country places, it is customary to eat Tansy pudding at Easter, in allusion to the “bitter herbs” at the Passover. In Sussex, a charm against ague is to wear Tansy leaves in the shoe.——In some parts of Italy, people present stalks of the Wild Tansy to those whom they mean to insult.——The Tansy is held to be a herb of Venus.
TEA.—A Japanese Buddhist legend attributes the origin of the Tea-plant (Thea Sinensis) to the eyelids of a devotee, which fell to the ground and took root. The legend relates that aboutA.D.519 a Buddhist priest went to China; and, in order to dedicate his soul entirely to God, he made a vow to pass the day and night in an uninterrupted and unbroken meditation. After many years of such continual watching, he was at length so tired, that he fell asleep. On awaking the following morning, he was so grieved that he had broken his vow, that he cut off both his eyelids and threw them on the ground. Returning to the same spot on the following day, he was astonished to find that each eyelid had become a shrub. This was the Tea-shrub (until then unknown in China)—the leaves of which exhibit the form of an eyelid bordered with lashes, and possess the gift of hindering sleep.—One Ibn Wahab, who travelled in China some time in the ninth century, makes the first authentic mention of Tea as a favourite beverage of the Chinese. He describes it as the leaf of a shrub more bushy than the Pomegranate; and says that an infusion is made by pouring boiling water upon it.
TEREBINTH.—The Terebinth (Pistacia Terebinthus) is a tree much venerated by the Jews. Abraham pitched his tent beneath the shade of a Terebinth at Mamre, in the valley of Hebron, and an altar was afterwards erected close by. The spot whereon the tree of Abraham had flourished was in the time of Eusebius still held in great reverence and sanctity, and a Christian church was erected there. Josephus, in his ‘History of the Jews,’ recounts that the Terebinth of Abraham had flourished ever since the creation of the world; but a second legend states that it sprang from the staff of one the angels who visited Abraham. At Sichemis shown the Terebinth of Jacob, near which Joshua raised an altar. The angel appeared to Gideon to encourage him to engage in battle near a Terebinth-tree at Ophra, and on this spot, after the victory, Gideon raised an altar. The Jews, by preference, bury their dead beneath the shadow of a Terebinth.
THISTLE.—The Thistle (Carduus), in the first days of man, was sent by the Almighty as a portion of the curse passed upon him when he was made a tiller of the soil. God said, “Thorns and Thistles shall it bring forth to thee (Gen. iv.). One species, the Milk Thistle (Carduus Marianus), is distinguishable by the milky veins of its leaves, which were supposed to have derived their peculiar colour from the milk of the Virgin Mary having fallen upon them. This is sometimes called the Scotch Thistle, but it is not so: it grows on the rocky cliffs near Dumbarton Castle, where, if tradition be true, it was originally planted by the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. The Thistle of Scotland is believed to be theOnopordum Acanthium, the Cotton Thistle, which grows by the highways: this is the national insignia, and its flower-cup and bristling leaves accord well with the motto, “Nemo me impune lacessit.” Tradition says that the Thistle, with the motto rendered in homely Scotch, “Wha daur meddle wi’ me?” was adopted as the symbol of Scotland from the following circumstance:—A party of invading Danes attempted to surprise the Scotch army by night. Under cover of darkness, they approached the slumbering camp, but one of them trod upon a prickly Thistle, and his involuntary cry of pain roused some of the Scots, who flew to arms, and chased the foe from the field. TheOnicus acaulis, or stemless Thistle, is by some considered to be the true Scotch Thistle, as it accords best with the legend of the defeated Norsemen, and is, besides, the Thistle seen in the gold bonnet-piece of James V.Carduus acanthoidesandC. nutansare by others supposed to be the