Chapter XVI: Funeral Trees and Plants (13)

=LILY OF THE VALLEY.=--In mediæval days, the monks and nuns believed that the _Convallaria_ was the Lily of the Valley mentioned in the Canticles (ii., 17), and the flower alluded to by Christ when he bade his disciples “consider the Lilies of the field.” The Martagon Lily, however (_Lilium Chalcedonicum_), is now generally considered to be the Lily of Palestine; the Lily of the Valley, or Conval Lily, being quite unknown in the Holy Land.----Lilies of the Valley are called Virgin’s Tears; they are the flowers dedicated to Whitsuntide, but in some parts of England still retain their old name of May Lilies.----There exists in Devon a superstition that it is unlucky to plant a bed of Lilies of the Valley, as the person doing so will probably die in the course of the ensuing twelve months.----In France, Germany, and Holland, these Lilies are called May-flowers.----The blossoms possess a perfume highly medicinal against nervous affections. The water distilled from them was formerly in such great repute that it was kept only in vessels of gold and silver: hence Matthiolus calls it _aqua aurea_. It was esteemed as a preventive against all infectious distempers. Camerarius recommends an oil made of the flowers as a specific against gout and such-like diseases. His prescription is as follows:--“Have filled a glass with flowers, and being well stopped, set it for a moneth’s space in an ante’s hill, and after being drayned cleare, set it by for use.”----There is a legend in Sussex, that in the forest of St. Leonard, where the hermit-saint once dwelt, fierce encounters took place between the holy man and a dragon which infested the neighbourhood; the result being that the dragon was gradually driven back into the inmost recesses of the forest, and at last disappeared. The scenes of their successive combats are revealed afresh every year, when beds of fragrant Lilies of the Valley spring up wherever the earth was sprinkled by the blood of the warrior saint.----The Conval Lily is under Mercury.

=LIME-TREE.=--The origin of the Lime-tree, according to Ovid, is to be traced to the metamorphosis of Baucis, the good-hearted wife of an aged shepherd named Philemon. This old couple lived happily and contentedly in a humble cottage in the plains of Phrygia. Here they one day, with rustic hospitality, entertained unknowingly the gods Jupiter and Mercury, who had been refused admittance to the dwellings of their wealthier neighbours. Appreciating their kindness, Jupiter bade them ascend a neighbouring hill, where they saw their neighbours’ dwellings swept away by a flood, but their own hut transformed into a splendid temple, of which the god appointed them the presiding priests. According to their request, they both died at the same hour, and were changed into trees--Baucis into a Lime, and Philemon into an Oak. Ovid thus describes the transformation:--

“Then, when their hour was come, while they relate
These past adventures at the temple gate,
Old Baucis is by old Philemon seen
Sprouting with sudden leaves of sprightly green:
Old Baucis looked where old Philemon stood,
And saw his lengthened arms a sprouting wood;
New roots their fastened feet begin to bind.
Their bodies stiffen in a rising rind.
Then, ere the bark above their shoulders grew,
They give and take at once their last adieu.
At once, farewell, O faithful spouse! they said,
At once th’ incroaching rinds their closing lips invade.
Ev’n yet an ancient Tyanæan shows
A spreading Oak that near a Linden grows.”

Rapin, in his version of the tale, makes both of the old folks become Limes, male and female:--

“While these you plant, Philemon call to mind,
In love and duty with his Baucis joined--
A good old pair whom poverty had tried,
Nor could their vows and nuptial faith divide;
Their humble cot with sweet content was blest,
And each benighted stranger was their guest.
When Jove unknown they kindly entertained,
This boon the hospitable pair obtained,
Laden with years, and weak through length of time,
That they should each become a verdant Lime
And since the transformation Limes appear
Of either sex; and male and female are.”

In honour of its descent from the worthy old couple, the Lime became the symbol of wedded love.----In Scandinavian mythology, Sigurd, after having killed the serpent Fafnir, bathes himself in its blood: a leaf of a Linden or Lime-tree falls on him between his shoulders, and renders that particular place vulnerable, although every other portion of his body had become invulnerable.----In Germany, during May-day festivities, they often make use of the Linden. Around the Linden dance the villagers of Gotha. In Finland and in Sweden, the Linden is considered as a protective tree.----In the cemetery of the hospital of Annaberg, in Saxony, there is a very ancient Linden-tree, concerning which tradition relates that it was planted by an inhabitant, with its top in the ground; and that its roots became branches, which now overshadow a considerable portion of the country.----At Süderheistede, in Ditmarschen, there once stood a Linden which was known throughout the country, as the “Wonderful Tree.” It was much higher than other trees, and its branches all grew crosswise. Connected with this tree was an old prophecy that, as soon as the Ditmarschens lost their freedom, the tree would wither; and so it came to pass. But the people believe that a magpie will one day build its nest in its branches, and hatch five young ones, and then the tree will begin to sprout out anew, and again be green, and the country recover its ancient freedom.----According to an old legend current in Berlin, the youngest of three brothers fell in love with the daughter of an Italian, who was the Elector’s chief kapellmeister. The Italian refused the hand of his daughter, and forbade any further intercourse. Some time afterwards the three brothers met the kapellmeister on the occasion of a public execution; when, suddenly, the assembled crowd were horrified at seeing the Italian fall with a loud shriek, and pointing to a knife which had been plunged into his bosom. The brothers were all three arrested on suspicion of the murder; and the eldest, who had been standing nearest the deceased, was speedily sentenced to death. The two other brothers, to save him, however, each declared he was the real murderer, whereupon the perplexed judge referred the case to the Elector, who resolved upon a curious ordeal to ascertain the truth. He ordered each of the three brothers to carry a Linden-tree to a certain churchyard, and plant it with its head downwards, adding, that the one whose tree did not grow should be executed as the murderer. Accordingly, the brothers proceeded to the churchyard, accompanied by the clergy, the magistrates, and many citizens; and, after hymns had been sung, they planted their trees; after which solemn act, they were allowed to return home, and remained unguarded. In course of time, the upper branches of the Lindens all struck root, and the original roots were transformed into branches, which, instead of growing upwards, spread horizontally, in rich luxuriance, and, in thirty years, overshadowed the churchyard. They have since perished, but the brothers were ennobled by the Elector as Lords of Linden, and bore the effigy of the marvellous trees on their escutcheon. The youngest afterwards married the Italian’s daughter.

LING.--See Heather.

=LIVELONG.=--The name of Livelong, or Liblong, is supposed to have been given to the _Sedum Telephium_ from its remaining alive when hung up in a room. Parkinson, in his ‘_Paradisus_,’ states that the ladies of his time (1629) called the plant Life Everlasting; and remarks that “they are also laid in chests and wardrobes, to keep garments from moths, and are worne in the heads and arms of gentiles and others, for their beautiful aspect.” The plant is much esteemed for divining purposes. (See ORPINE).

=LONDON PRIDE.=--A speckled Sweet John had formerly the honour of being called London Pride, and a red Sweet William, London Tufts. _Saxifraga umbrosa_ now bears the title of London Pride, not, however, because, like the speckled Sweet John, it was the pride and ornament of old London gardens, but because it was introduced by Mr. London, a partner in the firm of London and Wise, Royal Gardeners in the early part of the eighteenth century. (See SAXIFRAGE.)

LONG PURPLES.--See Orchis.

LORDS-AND-LADIES.--See Arum.

=LOOSESTRIFE.=--The word Loosestrife is a translation of the plant’s Latin name _Lysimachia_ (from the Greek _lysis_, dissolution, and _mache_, strife). Gerarde, who calls the plant, also, Willow-herb, says of it:--“Lysimachia, as Dioscorides and Pliny write, tooke his name of a speciall vertue that it hath in appeasing the strife and unrulinesse which falleth out among oxen at the plough, if it be put about their yokes; but it rather retaineth and keepeth the name _Lysimachia_, of King Lysimachus, the sonne of Agathocles, the first finder-out of the nature and vertues of this herbe.” He adds that the smoke of the herb when burnt will drive away gnats, flies, all manner of venomous beasts, and serpents; and says that Pliny reports that snakes will crawl away at the smell of Loosestrife.

=LOTOS-TREE.=--Lotis, the beauteous daughter of Neptune, was unfortunate enough to attract the notice of Priapus, who attempted to offer her violence. Flying terrified from the deformed deity, the nymph invoked the assistance of the gods to save herself from his odious importunities: her prayers were heard, and she was transformed into the Lotos-tree. Dryope, the wife of Andræmon, passing the tree one day, in company with her sister Iole, stopped to pluck the fruit to please her infant son Amphisus, whereupon she became suddenly changed into a Lotos-tree. Iole afterwards recounted her fate to Alcmena--

“But, lo! I saw (as near her side I stood)
The violated blossoms drop with blood;
Upon the tree I cast a frightful look,
The trembling tree with sudden horror shook,
Lotis, the nymph (if rural tales be true)
As from Priapus’ lawless lust she flew,
Forsook her form; and, fixing here, became
A flow’ry plant, which still preserves her name.
This change unknown, astonished at the sight,
My trembling sister strove to urge her flight;
Yet first the pardon of the nymph implored,
And those offended sylvan powers adored:
But when she backward would have fled, she found
Her stiffening feet were rooted to the ground.”--_Ovid._

The tree into which the nymph Lotis was transformed must not be confounded with the Lotus Lily, or Sacred Bean, a totally distinct plant: it was the _Rhamnus Lotus_, the Lotos of the Lotophagi, a people inhabiting the coast of Africa near the Syrtes. Pliny states that not far from the lesser Syrtis is the island of Menynx, surnamed Lotophagitis on account of its Lotos-trees; but Strabo affirms that the lesser Syrtis, in addition to the adjacent isle of Menynx, was thought to be Lotophagitis, the land of the Lotos-eaters. In this country, he says, there are certain monuments to be seen, and an altar to Ulysses, besides a great abundance of Lotos-trees, whose fruit is wonderfully sweet. According to Homer, the Lotos-eater became oblivious of the world and its cares; and he relates how the seductive fruit of the Lotos-tree possessed of old so potent a charm, that Ulysses, when returning from the Trojan war, dreaded it would lure his companions to give up home and friends for ever. In the ninth book of the Odyssey, the poet sings--

“And whoso tasted of their flowery meat
Cared not with tidings to return, but clave
First to that tribe, for ever fain to eat--
Reckless of home return--the tender Lotos sweet.”

Gerarde describes the Lotos-tree as being as big as a Pear-tree, of a “gallant greene colour tending to blewnesse,” with leaves similar to the Nettle, dashed here and there with stripes of a yellowish-white colour. “The beries be round, and hang upon long stalks like Cherries, of a yellowish-white colour at the first, and afterwards red, but being ripe they are somewhat black.” The Lotos-eaters were held to have immunity from all stomachic complaints. The fruit which formed their food is described by Theophrastus as being of the size of a Bean, which changed its colour when ripening, like the Grape. In flavour it was sweet, pleasant, harmless, and perfectly wholesome; the most agreeable sort being that which had no kernel. Whole armies were reported to have been fed with the nutritious food afforded by the Lotos, when passing through Africa. The Lotophagi obtained a wine from their beloved fruit, which, however, Cornelius Nepos says would not endure above ten days. The Lotos and its fruit is dwelt upon by Tennyson, who tells how

“The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came,
Branches they bore of that enchanted stem,
Laden with flowers and fruit, whereof they gave
To each; but whoso did receive of them
And taste, to him the gushing of the wave
Far, far away did seem to mourn and rave
On alien shores.”

The Lotos was considered by Theophrastus to be by nature everlasting. Pliny enumerates several very ancient trees growing in Rome, notably one in Vulcan’s temple built by Romulus, which was reputed to be as old as the city.----It was under the Lotos-tree, beyond which there is no passing, that Mahomed saw the angel Gabriel.

=LOTUS.=--The Lotus, as described by Herodotus, is the “Water Lily that grows in the inundated lands of Egypt”: it is the _Nymphæa Lotus_ of Linnæus, and, according to Grecian mythology, owed its origin to a young girl who was deeply in love with Hercules, and who, dying of jealousy, was transformed into the Lotus. With the Greeks, the flower was the symbol of beauty and of eloquence, perhaps because it was reputed to flourish in the fields of Helicon. Young girls twined these flowers into garlands. Theocritus writes of maidens carrying a crown of Lotus for the Princess Helen on her marriage with Menelaus. In a painted temple at Pompeii, the Lotus-flower is represented above a geni or winged god.----The Grecian god of silence (Harpocrates), who was of Egyptian origin, is represented sometimes with a Lotus-flower in his left hand; sometimes seated on a Lotus.----But it is in the East where the Lotus is supreme--a sacred plant not merely revered as a symbol, but even the object of worship in itself, and notably in Hindostan, Thibet, and Nepaul, where it is believed that from its mystic blossom came forth the all-powerful Brahma. In the Hindu theology, OM is the one Supreme Being from whom proceed the great deities Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver), and Siva (destroyer). Before the creation of this world, there existed an immense sea covering its surface; on this vast sea moved the spirit of OM, and quickened into life a golden Lotus, resplendent as the sun, from which emanated the four-formed creative god Brahma, who by the radiance of his countenance dispelled the pervading gloom, and by the light and warmth of his divine presence evoked the earth from the surrounding waters. Vishnu, the pervader or preserver, is represented with four arms: from his umbilicus springs a Lotus-plant, in the beautiful calyx of which Brahma appears seated, ready to accomplish the work of creation. The breath of Vishnu is like the perfume of the Lotus, and he rests and walks, not on the earth, but on nine golden Lotus-plants, carried by the gods themselves. The heaven of Vishnu is described in the _Mahâbhârata_ as blazing with golden edifices studded with innumerable gems. Descending from the superior heaven the waters of the Ganges flow through this Paradise, and here are also lovely diminutive lakes of water, upon the surfaces of which myriads of red, blue, and white Lotus-flowers, with a thousand petals, are seen floating. On a throne glorious as the meridian sun, seated on Lotus-lilies, is Vishnu, and on the right hand is his wife, the goddess Lakshmî, also seated in a Lotus, shining like a continued blaze of lightning, while from her beauteous form the fragrance of the Lotus is diffused through the heaven. Siva, the destroyer (the third member of the Hindoo triad), is represented in many ways, but generally with three eyes; his favourite seat is a Lotus. Buddha, an emanation from Vishnu, like Brahma, first appeared on this hemisphere floating on an enormous Lotus, which spread itself over the ocean. Buddha had for his symbol a Lotus, surmounted by a trident (typical of the Sun with a flame, or the superior heaven).----The emblem of the Sun was called _Sûramani_ (the jewel of the Sun), but when the _Svâbhâvikas_ adopted the Lotus as their symbol of spontaneous generation, they called this ornament _Padmi Mani_ (jewel of the Lotus), and inscribed their temples with these words:--

AUM MANI PADMI HOONG.
_Jehovah_ _The Jewel_ _Lotus_ _Amen._

This sentence forms the Alpha and Omega of Lama worship, and is unceasingly repeated by the devotees of Thibet and the slopes of the Himalayas. For the easy multiplication of this prayer, that extraordinary contrivance, the praying-wheel, was invented. In accordance with the principles of this belief, Jin-ch’au represents all creation as a succession of worlds, typified by Lotus-flowers, which are contained one within the other, until intelligence is lost in the effort to multiply the series _ad infinitum_.----A legend connected with Buddha runs as follows:--In an unknown town, called _Bandnumak_, Bipaswi Buddh arrived one day, and having fixed his abiding place on a mountain to the east of _Nâg-Hrad_, saw in a pool a seed of the Lotus on the day of the full moon, in the month of _Chait_. Soon afterwards from this Lotus-seed sprang a Lotus-flower, in the middle of which appeared Swayambhû, in the form of a luminary, on the day of the full moon in the month of _Asvins_.----Another Buddhist legend relates that the King Pându had the imprudence to burn a tooth of Buddha, which was held in high reverence among the Kalingas: but a Lotus-flower sprang from the middle of the flame, and the tooth of Buddha was found lying on its petals.----In Eastern India, it is popularly thought that the god Brahma first appeared on a sea of milk, in a species of Lotus of extraordinary grandeur and beauty, which grew at Temerapu, and which typified the umbilicus of that ocean of sweetness. To that flower is given eighteen names, which celebrate the god’s different beauties; and within its petals he is believed to sleep during six months of the year.----Kâmadeva, the Indian Cupid, was first seen floating down the sacred Ganges, pinioned with flowers, on the blossom of a roseate Lotus.----The Hindus compare their country to a Lotus-flower, of which the petals represent Central India, and the eight leaves the surrounding eight divisions of the country. The sacred images of the Indians, Japanese, and Tartars are nearly always found seated upon the leaves of the Lotus.----The sacred Lotus, as the hallowed symbol of mystery, was deemed by the priests of India and China an appropriate ornament for their religious structures, and hence its spreading tendrils and perfect blossoms are found freely introduced as architectural enrichments of the temples of the East.----Terms of reverence, endearment, admiration, and eulogy have been freely lavished by Indian writers on the flowers of the Lotus, dear to the sick women of their race from the popular belief of its efficacy in soothing painful feelings. Nearly every portion of the human body has been compared by Indian poets to the Lotus; and in one of their works, the feet of the angels are said to resemble the flowers of that sacred plant.----The Persians represent the Sun as being robed with light and crowned with Lotus.----By the Japanese, the Lotus is considered as a sacred plant, and pleasing to their deities, whose images are often seen sitting on its large leaves. The blossom is deemed by them the emblem of purity because it is unsullied by the muddy waters in which it often grows: with the flowers of the Mother-wort it is borne aloft in vases before the body in funeral processions.----The Chinese make the Lotus typical of female beauty: their god Puzza is always represented as seated upon the leaves of the plant.----The Lotus is stated to be held sacred by the Egyptians because it conceals the secret of the gods; from the throne of Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys, it rises in the midst of the waters, bearing on the margin of its blossom the four genii. It is the “Bride of the Nile,” covering the surface of the mighty river, as it rises, with its fragrant white blossom. Like the Indians, the ancient Egyptians represented the creation of the world under the form of a Nymphæa that floated on the surface of the waters. The Lotus was consecrated by the Egyptians to the Sun, and the dawn of day was figured by them as a youth seated upon a flower of the Nymphæa. The god Osiris (the Egyptian Phœbus) is represented as having his head decorated with the sacred Lotus. Oblations of flowers were common among the offerings of the Egyptians to their gods. A papyrus in the British Museum (lent by the Prince of Wales) represents the altar of the god Re or Ra piled up with Lotus-blossoms and other offerings. Upon approaching a place of worship, the ancient Egyptian always held the flower of the Lotus or Agrostis in his hand. A single flower was sometimes deemed a suitable oblation, or a bouquet of the Lotus or Papyrus, carefully arranged in a prescribed form, was offered.----The Lotus typified Upper Egypt; the Papyrus, Lower Egypt. In the British Museum are several Egyptian statues with sceptres of the Lotus; and a mummy with crossed arms, holding in each hand a Lotus-flower. In the mummies of females the Lotus is found, placed there probably to typify regeneration or purification. A bust of Isis emerging from a Lotus-flower has often been mistaken for Clytie changing into a Sunflower.----The Egyptians cultivated three species of Nymphæaceæ--the _Nymphæa cerulea_, or blue-flowered Lotus; the _Nymphæa Lotus_, a white-flowered variety, which still grows profusely in Lower Egypt, and which is the flower represented in the mosaic pavement at Præneste; and, lastly, the _Nelumbium speciosum_, or Sacred Bean--the “Rose Lily” of Herodotus--the true Lotus of the Egyptians, whose blossoms are of a brilliant red colour, and hang over broad peltated leaves: its fruit is formed of many valves, each containing a Nut about the size of a Filbert, with a taste more delicate than that of the Almond. It has been thought that the use of the seeds in making bread, and the mode of sowing them, by enclosing each seed in a ball of clay, and throwing it into the water, may be alluded to in the text, “Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.” The Nelumbo maintains its sacred character in Africa, India, China, Japan, Persia, and Asiatic Russia; it has, however, disappeared from Egypt.----The Arabians call the Lotus, _Nuphar_; and the Syrians regard it as a symbol of the cradle of Moses, and typify, also, the Ark of Noah by the same flower.----The collar of the order of the Star of India is composed of the heraldic Rose of England, two Palm-branches crossed, and a Lotus-flower, alternating with each other.

=LOVE PLANTS.=--The _Clematis Vitalba_ was formerly called Love, because of its habit of embracing; from its clinging to people, the _Galium Aparine_ has obtained the name of Loveman; _Levisticum officinale_ is Loveage; the _Solanum Lycopersicum_ is the Apple of Love; _Nigella damascena_ is Love-in-a-mist; the Pansy is called Love-in-idleness and Love-and-idle; and _Amaranthus caudatus_ has been named Love-lies-bleeding, from the resemblance of its crimson flowers to a stream of blood.

=LUCK-FLOWER.=--There is in Germany a favourite legend of a certain mystical Luck-flower which possesses the extraordinary power of gaining admittance for its owner into the recesses of a mountain, or hidden cave, or castle, wherein vast treasures lie concealed. The legend generally runs that the fortunate discoverer of the receptacle for wealth is a man who has by chance found a beautiful flower, usually a blue one, which he sticks in his hat. Suddenly the mountain he is ascending opens to admit him; astounded at the sight, he enters the chasm, and a white lady or fairy bids him help himself freely from the heaps of gold coin he sees lying all around. Dazzled at the sight of so much wealth, he eagerly fills his pockets, and is hastening away when she calls after him, “_Forget not the best!_” He thinks, as he feels his stuffed pockets, that he cannot find room for any more, but as he imagines the white lady wishes to imply that he has not helped himself to enough, he takes his hat and fills that also with the glittering gold. The white lady, however, alluded to the little blue flower which had dropped from his hat whilst he stooped to gather up the gold coins. As he hurries out through the doorway the iron door shuts suddenly behind him with a crash of thunder, and cuts off his right heel. The mountain side instantly resumes its old impenetrable appearance, and the entrance to the treasure hall can never be found again. As for the wonderful flower, that has vanished, but is to this day sought for by the dwellers on the Kyffhäuser, on the Quästenburg, and even on the north side of the Harz. It was from this legend that, according to Grimm, the little blue flower “Forget-me-not” originally received its name, which at first was indicative of its magic virtue, but afterwards acquired a sentimental meaning from the tale of the drowning lover of the Danube and his despairing death cry.

LUNARY.--See Moonwort and Honesty.

=LUPINE.=--The Romans cultivated the Lupine (_Lupinus_) as an article of food, and Pliny declared that nothing could be more wholesome than white Lupines eaten dry, and that this diet imparted a fresh colour and cheerful countenance.----The eating of Lupines was also thought to brighten the mind and quicken the imagination. It is related of Protogenes, a celebrated painter of Rhodes, that during the seven years he was employed in painting the hunting piece of Ialysus, who was the accredited founder of the State of Rhodes, he lived entirely upon Lupines and water, with an idea that this aliment would give him greater flights of fancy.----Virgil called the Lupine, _Tristis Lupinus_, the Sad Lupine, and this expression has given rise to much discussion--the only tangible explanation being that when the Lupine pulse was eaten without preparation to destroy the bitter, it was apt to contract the muscles and give a sorrowful appearance to the countenance.----The seeds are said to have been used by the ancients, in their plays and comedies, instead of pieces of money: hence the proverb, _Nummus Lupinus_, a piece of money of no value.----The Bolognese have a tradition that during the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, the Lupine received the maledictions of the Virgin Mary, because, by the clatter and noise they made, certain plants of this species drew the attention of Herod’s minions to the spot where the tired and exhausted travellers had made a brief halt.

=LYCHNIS.=--The scarlet _Lychnis Coronaria_ is, in the Catholic Church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and the text in which he is described as “a light to them which sit in darkness,” being taken in a literal sense, the flame-coloured flower was said to be lighted up for his day, and was called _Candelabrum ingens_. This flower is also called Rose-Campion, and, on the Continent, Cross of Jerusalem and Cross of Malta. By old writers it was known as Flower or Campion of Constantinople, Flower of Bristow, and Nonsuch.

=MAGNOLIA.=--The _Magnolia grandiflora_ is one of those shrubs the baneful emanations from which have procured for them an ill name. It is a native of Carolina, and has large white blossoms of powerful fragrance. When wafted to a distance upon the air, the scent is delicious, but when inhaled in the immediate neighbourhood of a group of Magnolias in flower, it becomes overpowering. The Indians carefully avoid sleeping under a Magnolia in blossom, and it is stated that so powerful is the perfume of the flower, that a single blossom placed in a bedroom suffices to cause death in one night.

MAGHET.--See Mayweed.

=MAHWAH.=--The _Bassia latifolia_, or Mahwah, is esteemed a sacred tree in India, and is, besides, interesting as being one of the few plants whose flowers are used as food by the human race. They are eaten raw by the poor of India, and are also employed largely in the distillation of a spirit somewhat resembling Scotch whiskey. A kind of flour is produced from them when dried, and so valuable are they to the Indians, that the prosperity of some parts of the country depends largely on their abundance. The Almond-like fruit is eaten, and an oil is obtained from it: the wood is hard, and is used by the Indians in constructing their huts. Among certain uncivilised hill tribes, the Mahwah is regarded as equal to a deity, so great is their affection for this tree, under whose branches they hold their assemblies and celebrate their anniversaries; on whose boughs they suspend, when not in use, their spears and their ploughshares, and beneath whose shadow they exhibit those mysterious circles of flint which take the place of idols with them. So, when attacked by the Hindus, the wild tribes fight with desperation for the defence of their Mahwahs, which their enemies, when at war with them, make a point of seizing and destroying.

=MAIDENHAIR FERN.=--_Adiantum_, or _Capillus Veneris_, derived its name from the Greek _adiantos_, unmoistened, in relation, doubtless, to its property of repelling water--a peculiarity noticed by Theophrastus, and also by Pliny, who says it is in vain to plunge the _Adiantum_ in water, for it always remains dry. This property of remaining unmoistened by water was attributed to the hair of Venus, when she rose from the sea; and hence the _Adiantum_ obtained the name of _Capillus Veneris_. Nevertheless, _Adiantum_ was specially dedicated to Pluto and to Proserpine. Maidenhair is called _polytrichon_, because it brings forth a multitude of hairs; _callitrichon_, because it produces black and fair hair; _Capillus Veneris_, because it produces grace and love.----According to Egyptian symbolism, _Adiantum_ indicated recovery from illness.----In the Catholic Church, the Maidenhair Fern is known as the Virgin’s Hair.

=MAITHES or MAIDS.=--The _Pyrethrum Parthenium_ was formerly known by the name of Maithes (Maids), because by the old herbalists it was considered efficacious in hysterical and other irregularities of the system to which maidens are subject. In the same category are the plants formerly known as Maghet, Mather, or Maydweed (_Anthemis Cotula_), the Maydweed (_Matricaria Chamomilla_), Maudlein, or Costmary (_Balsamita_), Maudlin-wort or Moon Daisy (_Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum_), the Maudlin, or _Herba divæ Mariæ_ (_Achillea Ageratum_), the Marguerite (_Bellis perennis_), and some others. These plants, bearing flowers with white ray florets, were thought to resemble the Moon, which, as it regulated the monthly periods of the year, was supposed, says Dr. Prior, to have an influence over female complaints. By the ancients these plants were consecrated to Isis, Juno Lucina, and Artemis, or Diana, the virgin goddess of the night; but were transferred by the Catholics to St. Mary Magdalene and St. Margaret of Cortona.

=MAIZE.=--The American aborigines worshipped Maize as a divinity. Children were kept to watch the precious grain as it grew, and guard it from the ravages of birds; but some of the tribes protected the thievish crow because of the legend that a crow had brought them the first seed of the sacred plant.----At the present day, the Indians regard it with superstitious veneration. They esteem it, says Schoolcraft, so important and divine a grain, that their story-tellers invented various tales in which this idea is symbolised under the form of a special gift from the Great Spirit. The Ojebwa-Algonquins, who call it Mon-da-min, or the Spirit’s grain or berry, cherish a legend, in which the stalk in full tassel is represented as descending from the sky, under the guise of a handsome youth, in response to the prayers of a young man offered up at his fast of virility.----Among the American colonists, the husking of the Maize was always accompanied with a rustic ceremony and gathering of the villagers.----Longfellow tells us how--

“In the golden weather the Maize was husked, and the maidens
Blushed at each blood-red ear, for that betokened a lover;
But at the crooked laughed, and called it a thief in the cornfield.
Even the blood-red ear to Evangeline brought not her lover.”

=MALLOW.=--The ancient Romans had some kind of Mallow (_Malva_) served up as vegetables, and the Egyptians, Syrians, and Chinese also use them as food. In Job’s days, these plants were eaten by those wandering tribes who, as the patriarch says, “cut up Mallows by the bushes, and Juniper-roots for their meat.” The Mallow formed one of the funeral flowers of the ancients, with whom it was customary to plant it around the graves of departed friends. The plant yields a fibre capable of being woven into a fabric; and there is an Eastern tradition that Mahomed was so delighted with the texture of a robe made of this material, that he forthwith miraculously turned the Mallow into a Pelargonium. The seeds of the Mallow are called by country children, cheeses. Clare recalls the days of his childhood, when he and his playmates sat--

“Picking from Mallows sport to please,
The crumpled seed we call’d a cheese.”

Pliny ascribes a magical power to Mallows. He says, “Whosoever shall take a spoonful of any of the Mallows shall that day be free from all the diseases that may come unto him;” and he adds, that it is especially good against the falling sickness. The same writer, quoting Xenocrates, attributes to the seed of Mallows the power of exciting the passions. Gerarde, writing of the _Malva crispa_, commends its properties in verse:--

“If that of health you have any speciale care,
Use French Mallowes, that to the body holsome are.”

=MANCHINEEL.=--The Manchineel-tree (_Hippomane Mancinella_) is one of ill repute. Its exhalations are stated to cause certain death to those who sleep beneath its foliage. It abounds in a white milky juice, which is highly poisonous; a single drop causing instant pain if it touches the human skin.

=MANDRAKE.=--The _Atropa Mandragora_ derives its name from Atropos, the eldest of the all-powerful Parcæ, the arbiters of the life and death of mankind. Clothed in sombre black robes, and holding scissors in her hands, Atropos gathers up the various-sized clues of thread which, as the chief of the inexorable Fates, it is her privilege to cut according to the length of the persons’ lives they represent.----Another name bestowed by the Greeks upon the Mandrake was that of Circeium, derived from Circe, the weird daughter of Sol and Perseis, celebrated for her witchcraft and knowledge of magic and venomous herbs.----From the earliest ages, the _Atropa Mandragora_ appears to have been deemed a mystic plant by the inhabitants of Eastern countries, and to have been regarded by them as stimulating the passions; on which account it is still used for preparing love potions. It is generally believed that the Mandrake is the same plant which the ancient Hebrews called _Dudaim_; and that these people held it in the highest esteem in Jacob’s time is evident from the notice in Genesis (xxx., 14) of Reuben finding it and carrying the plant to his mother Leah. From the remotest antiquity the Mandrakes were reputed in the East to possess the property of removing sterility; hence Rachel’s desire to obtain from Leah the plants that Reuben had found and given to his mother. It is certain that the _Atropa Mandragora_ was looked upon by the ancients as something more than a mere vegetable, and, in fact, as an embodiment of some unquiet or evil spirit. In an Anglo-Saxon manuscript of the tenth or eleventh century, the Mandrake is said to shine in the night like a candle. The Arabs call it the Devil’s Candle, because of this nocturnal shining appearance; and in allusion to this peculiarity, Moore says of it in ‘Lalla Rookh’:--

“Such rank and deadly lustre dwells,
As in those hellish fires that light
The Mandrake’s charnel leaves at night.”

From times long past has come down the legend that the Mandrake is a dweller in the dark places of the earth, and that it thrives under the shadow of the gallows, being nourished by the exhalations or flesh of the criminals executed on the gibbet. Amongst other mysterious attributes, we are told by old writers that the Mandrake has the power of emitting sounds, and that when it is pulled out of the ground, it utters dreadful shrieks and groans, as if possessed of sensibility. Shakspeare thus describes these terrible cries:--

“Would curses kill, as doth the Mandrake’s groan,
I would invent as bitter-searching terms,
As curst, and harsh, and horrible to hear.”

And Moore relates in verse another tradition--

“The phantom shapes--oh touch them not--
That appal the maiden’s sight,
Lurk in the fleshy Mandrake’s stem
That shrieks when plucked at night.”

These screams were so horrible and awe-inspiring, that Shakspeare tells us the effect was maddening--

“And shrieks like Mandrakes, torn out of the earth,
That living mortals, hearing them, ran mad.”

One other terrible attribute of this ill-omened plant was its power, by its pestilential effects, severely to injure, if not, indeed, to strike with death, the person who had the hardihood to drag the root from its bed. To guard against these dangers, therefore, the surrounding soil was removed, and the plant securely fastened to the tail of a dog, which was then driven away, and thus pulled up the root. Columella, in his directions for the site of gardens, says they may be formed where

“The Mandrakes flowers
Produce, whose root shows half a man, whose juice
With madness strikes.”

The Romans seem to have been very superstitious as to the manner of taking up the root. According to Pliny, those who undertook the office were careful to stand so that the wind was at their back; and before commencing to dig, they made three circles around the plant with the point of the sword; then, turning to the west, they proceeded to take it up. Probably the plant’s value as a narcotic and restorative alone induced the gathering of so dangerous a root.----In mediæval times, when ignorance and credulity were dominant in Europe, the mountebank quack doctors palmed on the credulous fictitious Mandrake-roots, which were largely sold as preventives against mischief and dangers. Speaking of this superstition, Lord Bacon, in his ‘Natural History,’ says, “Some plants there are, but rare, that have a mossie or downie root, and likewise that have a number of threads, like beards, as Mandrakes, whereof witches and impostours make an ugly image, giving it the forme of a face at the top of the root, and leave those strings to make a broad beard down to the foot.”----Madame de Genlis speaks of an author who gravely gives a long description of the little idols which were supposed to be roots of the Mandrake, and adds that they must be wrapped up in a piece of sheet, for that then they will bring unceasing good luck. The same author, she says, gives this name _Mandragora_ (Mandrake) to certain sprites that are procured from an egg that must be hatched in a particular manner, and from which comes forth a little monster (half chick and half man) that must be kept in a secret chamber, and fed with the seed of Spikenard, and that then it will prophesy every day. Thus it can make its master lucky at play, discover treasures to him, and foretell what is to happen.----The credulous people of some nations have believed that the root of the Mandrake, if dislodged from the ground, becomes the good genius of the possessor, and not only cures a host of maladies, but discovers hidden treasures; doubling the amount of money locked up in a box, keeping off evil spirits, acting as a love charm, and rendering other notable services. According to Pliny, the Mandrake was sometimes conformed like a man, at others like a woman: the male was white, the female black. In the mountain of Pistoia, the peasants think they can trace the form of a man in the leaves of the Mandrake, and of the human face in the roots.----In Germany, since the time of the Goths, the word _alruna_ has borne the double meaning of witch and Mandrake. Considering the roots to possess magical properties, the Germans formed from them little idols, to which they gave the name of _Alrunen_. These images were regularly habited every day, and consulted as oracles; their repute becoming very great, large numbers were manufactured and sold in cases: in this state they were brought over to this country during the reign of Henry VIII., and met with a ready sale. Fraudulent dealers used to replace the Mandrake-roots with those of the White Briony, cut to the shape of men and women, and dried in a hot sand bath.----In France, under the names of _Main de gloire_ or _Maglore_, the Mandrake became a species of elf; and, till the eighteenth century, there existed a wide-spread superstition among the peasantry connected therewith. Sainte-Palaye writes: “When I asked a peasant one day why he was gathering Mistletoe, he told me that at the foot of the Oaks on which the Mistletoe grew, he had a Mandrake (_Main de gloire_); that this Mandrake had lived in the earth from whence the Mistletoe sprang; that he was a kind of mole; that he who found him was obliged to give him food,--bread, meat, or some other nourishment; and that he who had once given him food was obliged to give it every day, and in the same quantity, without which the Mandrake would assuredly cause the forgetful one to die. Two of his countrymen, whom he named to me, had, he said, lost their lives; but, as a recompense, this _Main de gloire_ returned on the morrow double what he had received the previous day. If one paid cash for the _Main de gloire’s_ food one day, one would find double the amount the following; and so with anything else. A certain countryman, whom he mentioned as still living, and who had become very rich, was believed to have owed his wealth to the fact that he had found one of these _Mains de gloire_.”----The Chinese physicians assert that the Mandrake has the faculty of renovating exhausted constitutions.

=MANGO.=--The Indian mythologists relate that the daughter of the Sun, persecuted by a wicked enchantress, plunged into a pool, where she was transformed into a golden Lotus. The king became enamoured of the beautiful flower, so the enchantress burnt it; but from its ashes rose the Mango (_Mangifera Indica_). Then the king fell in love, first with the Mango-flower, and next with the fruit, which he ordered to be carefully preserved for his own use. At last, just as the fruit was ripe, it fell from the bough, and out of it issued the daughter of the Sun, whom the king, after having lost and forgotten, now recognised as his former wife.----The Indian poets are never tired of singing the praises of the Mango, the beauty of its flowers, and the sweetness of its fruit. The Indian Cupid Kâmadeva is represented as having five arrows, each tipped with the blossom of a flower which pierce the heart through one of the five senses. A young maiden once plucked one of these blossoms, and offered it to the god, saying:--

“God of the bow, who with Spring’s choicest flowers
Dost point the five unerring shafts; to thee
I dedicate this blossom; let it serve
To barb thy truest arrow; be its mark
Some youthful heart that pines to be beloved.”

Kâmadeva accepted the offering, and tipped with the Mango-flower one of his darts, which, from that time, was known as the arrow of love, and is the god’s favourite dart. Along with Sandalwood, the wood of the Mango is used by the Hindus in burning their dead. Among the Indian jugglers, the apparent production and growth of the Mango-tree is a performance executed in such a marvellous manner as to excite the astonishment of those who have most determined to discover how the illusion is effected.

=MANNA.=--Some naturalists consider that the Manna miraculously provided for the sustenance of the Children of Israel in the Desert was a species of Lichen--the _Parmelia esculenta_. Josephus, however, describes it as a kind of dew which fell, like honey in sweetness and pleasant taste, but like in its body to Bdellium, one of the sweet spices, but in bigness equal to Coriander-seed. The origin of the different species of Manna or sugary exudations which cover certain trees, has at all times been a subject of wonder, and for a long time it was thought that these saccharine tears, which appear so quickly, were simply deposits from the atmosphere. The Manna used in medicine is principally procured from the flowering Ash (_Fraxinus ornus_), which is cultivated for the purpose in Sicily and Calabria: the puncture of an insect of the cochineal family causes the sap to exude. The Manna of Mount Sinai is drawn from the Tamarisk by puncture of the coccus: it exudes in a thick syrup during the day, falls in drops, congeals in the night, and is gathered in the cool of the morning. The Larch-tree furnishes the Manna of Briançon. A sweet substance resembling Manna exudes from the leaves of the _Eucalyptus resinifera_, dries in the sun, and when the leaves are shaken by the wind, falls like a shower of snow. In some countries, even herbs are covered with an abundant sugary exudation similar to Manna. Bruce observed this in Abyssinia. Matthiolus relates that in some parts of Italy the Manna glues the grass of the meadows together in such a manner as to impede the mowers at their work.----To dream of Manna denotes that you will be successful through life, and overcome all troubles.

=MAPLE.=--The wood of the Maple (_Acer_) was considered by Pliny to be, in point of elegance and firmness, next to the Citron itself. The veined knobs of old Maples, known as the _bruscum_ and _molluscum_, were highly prized by the Romans, and of these curiously-marked woods were made the famous Tigrine and Pantherine tables, which were of such immense value, that when the Romans reproached their wives for their extravagance in jewels, they were wont to retort and (literally) “turn the tables” upon their husbands. Evelyn tells us, that such a table was that of Cicero, “which cost him 10,000 sesterces; such another had Asinius Gallus. That of King Juba was sold for 15,000; and yet that of the Mauritanian Ptolemy was far richer, containing four feet and a half diameter, three inches thick, which is reputed to have been sold for its weight in gold.”----Some centuries ago, Maple-wood was in great request for bowls and trenchers. The unfortunate Fair Rosamond is reputed to have drunk her fatal draught of poison from a Maple bowl; and the mediæval drinking-vessels, known as mazers, were chiefly made of this material--deriving their name from the Dutch _Maeser_, Maple.----On May-day, in Cornwall, the young men proceed, at daybreak, to the country, and strip the Maple (or Sycamore) trees--there called May-trees--of all their young branches, to make whistles, and with these shrill musical instruments they enliven their way home with “May music.”----In Germany, the Maple is regarded with much superstitious reverence. There existed formerly, in Alsace, a curious belief that bats possessed the power of rendering the eggs of storks unfruitful. When once a stork’s egg was touched by a bat, it became sterile; and so, in order to preserve it, the stork placed in its nest some branches of the Maple, and the wonderful power of this tree sufficed to frighten away every intruding bat.----De Gubernatis relates a Hungarian fairy tale, in which the Maple plays a conspicuous part. According to this legend, a king had three daughters, one of whom, a beautiful blonde, was in love with a shepherd, who charmed her with delightful music he produced from a flute. One night, the king, the princess, and the shepherd, were disturbed by disquieting dreams. The king dreamt that his crown had lost its diamonds; the princess that she had visited her mother’s tomb and was unable to get away from it; the shepherd that two fallow deer had devoured the best lamb in his flock. After this dream, the king called his three daughters to him, and announced to them that she who should first bring to him a basket of Strawberries should become his pet daughter, and inherit his crown and seven kingdoms. The three daughters hastened to a neighbouring hill to gather the Strawberries. There, setting down their baskets, each one in turn wished that her basket might be filled with fruit. The wishes of the two elder sisters were unheeded; but when it came to the blonde’s turn, her wish was no sooner expressed, than her basket was filled with Strawberries. At this sight, the two sisters, mad with envy, fell upon the poor blonde, and slew her; then, having buried her under an old Maple-tree, they broke her basket in two, and divided the Strawberries between them. On their return to the palace, they told the king that their sister had been devoured by a fallow deer. On hearing this sad news, the unhappy father exclaimed: “Alas! I have lost the most precious diamond of my crown.” At the approach of the new moon, the shepherd took up his flute to play a tune; but it was mute, for the fair princess was no longer there to listen to its tuneful notes. Meanwhile, on the third night, there sprang from the stem of the old Maple on the hill a new shoot, on the spot where the poor princess had met her cruel death. The shepherd, happening to pass by, saw this fresh shoot from the Maple, and thought he would make from it a new flute. So he cut the Maple-shoot, and from it fashioned a flute; but the moment he placed it to his lips, the flute sang, “Play, play, dearest. Once I was a king’s daughter; then I was a Maple-shoot; now I am a flute made from the Maple-shoot.” The shepherd rushed off with the flute to the king, who put it to his lips, when instantly it sang, “Play, play, my father. Once, &c.” Then the two wicked sisters approached, and each in turn put the flute to her lips--only, however, to hear it hiss, “Play, play, murderess. Once, &c.” Then the king, becoming aware of the sisters’ wickedness, cursed them, and drove them with bitter reproaches from his palace into the wide world.----The Maple has been made the emblem of reserve, because its flowers are late in opening, and slow to fall.----A curious belief exists in some parts of England, that the Maple can confer longevity on children, if they are passed through its branches. In West Grinstead Park, Sussex, was an old Maple much used for this purpose, and, upon a rumour reaching the parish, that the ancient tree was to be felled, many petitions were made that it might be spared.----Pliny says that Maple-root, pounded, is a remedy for pains in the liver, and Gerarde states that, steeped in wine, it is useful in stopping pain in the side. He quotes a verse from Sammonicus, which he thus translates:--

“Thy harmless side if sharp disease invade,
In hissing water quench a heated stone:
This drink. Or Maple-root in powder made,
Take off in wine, a present med’cine known.”

=MARGUERITE.=--The Daisy (_Bellis perennis_), which Chaucer called “douce Margarette,” derives its French name of Marguerite from its supposed resemblance to a pearl. In Germany, indeed, it is known as the Meadow-pearl, and Chaucer, in describing the flower, says:--

“And of a perle fine orientall,
Her white croune was imaked all.”

The Greek word for pearl, _Margarites_, became in Latin _Margarita_, remained the same in Italian, and in French was spelt _Marguerite_; the same word in each language indicating both the pearl and the flower we call Daisy. This flower was formerly employed in the treatment of certain female complaints, and on that account, perhaps, was dedicated by the Monks to St. Margaret of Cortona. Chaucer, in error, referred the name Margaret, as bestowed on the Daisy, to St. Margaret of Hungary, who was martyred in the thirteenth century; but in an old legend it is stated

“There is a double flowret, white and red,
That our lasses call Herb Margaret,
In honour of Cortona’s penitent,
Whose contrite soul with red remorse was rent;
While on her penitence kind Heaven did throw
The white of purity surpassing snow;
So white and red in this fair flower entwine,
Which maids are wont to scatter at her shrine.”