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p f a n t b o f e , 'b eg c 'f^ /, a n i. Tsijric/ p f a n t T^oro, ISGgeQi)/, a n i. Tsijric/,
ache more than ever. In Cornwall, if Groundsel is to be used as
an emetic, they strip it upwards; if for a cathartic, downwards.------
Groundsel is a herb of Venus.
G U A B A N A .—The Guabana or Guarabana, which is presumed
to be the wild Pine Apple, Ananas sativus, first became known
to Europeans in Peru some three centuries ago. In the Mythologie
des Plantes, we read that the dead were, according to a ghastly
popular tradition, believed to rise and eat the Guabana fruit every
night. This fruit of the dead is described as tender and sweet as a
Melon, of the shape of a Pine-apple, and of a splendid appearance.
G U E L D E R R O S E .—The Viburnum Opulus has been called the
Snowball-tree, but is more generally known as the Guelder Rose,
from its Rose-like balls of white blossom. The shrub is a variety of
the Water Elder, introduced from Gueldres. In England, its flowers
are dedicated to Whitsuntide.
H o EM A N T H U S .—The Hamanthus, or Blood-flower, is a
native of Brazil, where H. multiflorus is the Imperial Flower—the
especial flower and blazon of the Emperor.
H A G -T A P E R .—The Verbascum Thapsus was called Hedge-
taper, High-taper, or Hig-taper, because it was used as a torch on
funeral and other occasions. These names became corrupted
into Hag-taper during the period when the belief in witchcraft
existed, from a notion that witches employed the plant in working
their spells. Probably this superstition was derived from the
ancients, for we read in Gerarde’s ‘ Herbal ’—“ Apuleius reporteth
a tale of Ulysses, Mercuric, and the inchauntresse Circe using
these herbes in their incantations and witchcrafts.” (See M u l le in ) .
H A L L E L U JA H .—The Wood-Sorrel [Oxalis Acetosella) bears
the name of Hallelujah, not only in England, but in Germany,
France, Spain, and Italy, because it blossoms between Easter and
Whitsuntide—the season at which those Psalms are sung which end
with that pious ejaculation, viz., the 113 th to the 117th inclusive.
H A R E B E L L .—Gerarde, in his ‘ Herbal,’ Parkinson, in his
‘ Paradisus,' and other old herbalists, term the Hyacinthus non
scriptus, or English Jacinth, the Hare-bell or Hare’s-bell. This is
probably the “ azure Harebell” alluded to by Shakspeare, and is
the flower referred to by Browne, in his ‘ Pastorals,’ as only to be
worn by faithful lovers:—■
“ The Harebell, for her stainless azured hue,
Claims to be worn of none but who are true.”
The nodding Blue-bell of the heath-land [Campanula rotundifolia),
however, is the Hare-bell of modern poets ; but both plants are
called by that name in different parts of England. The original
word is said to have been either Air-bell or Hair-bell, appellations
which might most appropriately be applied to the graceful and airy
Campanulas, whose slender stems have sufficient elasticity to rise
again when lightly trodden under foot. In some English counties
the flower is familiarly called Witches’ Thimble. In France, a
little white Hare-bell is common in the meadows, and from its
modest and chaste appearance is called the Nun of the Fields.
(See B lu e - b e l l and Campanula).
Hassocks.—See Grass.
H A W K W E E D .—The Hawk-weed or Hawk-bit [Hieracium)
was a name originally applied to several plants of the Dandelion
and Mouse-ear families, and in days when falconry was praflised,
these plants derived some importance from the notion entertained
by the ancients that with them hawks were in the habit of clearing
their eyesight—a notion endorsed by the later herbalists, for we
find Gerarde writing that hawks are reported to clear their sight
by conveying the juice hereof into their eyes. The old tradition
that the hawk feed upon Hawkweed and led her young ones early
to eat the plant, that by its juices they might gain acuteness of
vision, was believed some centuries ago not only in England but
throughout Europe. The Greeks considered the Hawkweed a holy
plant, inasmuch as it was dedicated to the use of a bird they held
sacred. One of these plants was, like the Scabious, called the
Devil’s-bit, on account of its root presenting the appearance of
having been bitten off short; another [Hieracium aurantiacum) bore
the familiar name of Grim the Collier, given it from the black hairs
which cover its stem and involucre. Hawkweeds were considered
good for strengthening the eyesight, and were deemed efficacious
against the bites of serpents and scorpions. The plant was
adjudged to be under the rule of Saturn.
H AW T H O R N .—The Hawthorn, according to ancient myths,
originally sprang from the lightning: it has been revered as a sacred
tree from the earliest times, and was accounted by the Greeks a
tree of good augury and a symbol of conjugal union. After the
rape of the Sabines, upon which occasion the shepherds carried
Hawthorn-boughs, it was considered propitious; its blossoming
branches were borne by those assisting at wedding festivities, and
the newly-married couple were lighted to the bridal chamber with
torches of the wood. At the present day, the Greeks garland their
brides with wreaths of Hawthorn, and deck the nuptial altar with
its blossoms, whilst on May-day they suspend boughs of the flowering
shrub over their portals. The ancient Germans composed their
funeral-piles of Hawthorn wood, and consecrated it with the mallet,
the symbol of the god Thor. They believed that in the sacred
flame which shot upwards from the Thorn, the souls of the deceased
were carried to heaven. In France, the Hawthorn is called
I'Epine noble, from the belief that it furnished the Crown of Thorns
worn by our Lord before the Crucifixion. Sir John Maundevile
has given the original tradition, which is as follows:—“ Then was
our Lord led into a garden . . . . and the Jews scourged
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