4 2 2 pfaat boro, begei^/, cmel bqric/,
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.
L O V E P L A N T S . — The.C/míííA 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 ; LemsUcum
officinale is L o v eag e ; the Solanum Lycopersicum is the Apple of L o v e ;
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.
L U C K - F L O W E R .—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 he
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 pne, which he sticks m 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 com 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 fiower, that has vanished, but is to
this day sought for by the dwellers on the Kyffhauser, on the
Ouastenburg, and even on the north side of the Harz. It was from
this legend that, according to Grimm, the little blue flower “ F o rget
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.
L u n a r y .— See Moonwort and Honesty.
L U P IN E .—The Romans cultivated the Lupine {Lupinus) as
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 eatmg
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 lalysus, 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, ihe 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 contraiil 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.
L Y C H N I S .—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 Jeru-
salem and Cross of Malta. B y old writers it was known as Flower
or Campion of Constantinople, Flower of Bristow, and Nonsuch.
M A G N O L IA .—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.
M a g h e t .— See Mayweed.
M A H W A H .—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
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