for a common stable-door; but the covering might have been an ornament to the entrance of a royal garden."

That this plant is injurious to trees is well known, and hence, though often praised, it has as often been vilified, and that to a degree much beyond its desert. We can scarcely condemn it so decidedly as is done by Langhorn in one of his Fables of Flora.

No flower can bear the Ivy's shade,

No tree support its cold embrace.
The oak that rears it from the ground,
And bears its tendrils to the skies,
Feels at his heart the rankling wound,
And in its poisonous arms he dies.

remov

An error, however, is often committed in ing Ivy from trees which have been long covered with it, for they are apt to perish by exposure to sudden colds, being no longer protected by their accustomed clothing. The roots of Ivy make beautiful cups, boxes, and even tables.†

I shall conclude our slight sketch of this first order of the PENTANDRIA class with the following beautiful and appropriate lines; for the insertion of which I am sure I need make no apology

TO, THE IVY.

Oh! how could fancy crown with thee,

In ancient days, the god of wine,

And bid thee at the banquet be

Companion of the vine?

* Voyage, p. 24.

+ See Evelyn.

IVY.

Thy home, wild plant, is where each sound
Of revelry hath long been o'er,

Where song's full notes once peal'd around,
But now are heard no more.

The Roman on his battle plains,
Where kings before his eagles bent,
Entwined thee with exulting strains
Around the victor's tent.

Yet there, tho' fresh in glossy green,
Triumphantly thy boughs might wave,
Better thou lov'st the silent scene
Around the victor's grave.

Thou o'er the shrines of fallen gods
On classic plains dost mantling spread,
And veil the desolate abodes

And cities of the dead.
Deserted palaces of kings,

Arches of triumph long o'erthrown,
And all once glorious earthly things,
At length are thine alone.

Oh! many a temple, once sublime,
Beneath the blue Italian sky,
Hath nought of beauty left by time,

Save thy wild tapestry:

And, rear'd midst crags and clouds, 'tis thine

To wave where banners waved of yore;

O'er mould'ring towers, by lovely Rhine,

Cresting the rocky shore.

High from the fields of air look down
Those eyries of a vanished race,
Homes of the mighty, whose renown
Hath pass'd and left no trace.

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265

But thou art there-thy foliage bright
Unchanged the mountain-storm can brave,
Thou that wilt climb the loftiest height,
And deck the humblest grave.

The breathing forms of Parian stone,
That rise round grandeur's marble halls,
The vivid hues by painting thrown
Rich o'er the glowing walls;
Th' Acanthus, on Corinthian fanes,
In sculptured beauty waving fair;
These perish all-and what remains?
Thou, thou alone, art there!

'Tis still the same where'er we tread,

The wrecks of human power we see,
The marvels of all ages fled,

Left to decay and thee!

And still let man his fabrics rear,

August in beauty, grace, and strength,

Days pass - thou Ivy, never sere,
And all is thine at length ! *

2. Digynia.

This Order, though not nearly so numerous as the first, contains some important plants, among which I may mention the Gentian, useful as a bitter; the beet, whose roots afford a large quantity of sugar; and the elm, which serves better for the keels of ships, and the naves of carriage-wheels, than wood of any other description. This Order also contains the copious tribe of umbelliferous plants, to describe which would require a volume. Some of them are aromatic and esculent, but many nauseous and extremely poisonous. It is said that the latter grow in watery places, the former in dry, but this rule, I believe, is not infallible.

Mrs. Hemans.

UMBELLIFEROUS PLANTS.

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Sir James E. Smith observes that "Botanists in general shrink from the study of the Umbelliferæ, nor have these plants much beauty in the eyes amateurs; but they will repay the trouble of a careful observation. The late M. Cusson, of Montpellier, bestowed more pains upon them than any other botanist has ever done; but the world has as yet been favoured with only a part of his remarks. His labours met with a most ungrateful check, in the unkindness, and still more mortifying stupidity of his wife, who, during his absence from home, is recorded to have destroyed his whole herbarium, scraping off the dried specimens for the sake of the paper on which they were pasted!" *

3. Trigynia.

In this Order stands the poisonous genus Rhus (Sumach or Poison-oak), one species of which, Rhus Vernix, is said to be the true Varnish-tree of the Japanese. It is so deadly that a swarm of bees which alighted on a branch of it was destroyed by its effluvia. The smooth sumach (Rhus glabrum), which is not unfrequent in gardens, has a most beautifully feathered leaf that in autumn becomes of a bright crimson colour. In this order also is the beautiful Laurustinus (Viburnum Tinus), which renders itself extremely valuable by blooming through most of the winter. It is a native of the south of Europe and exhibits many varieties. Here also

* Smith's Intr. 317.

+ Mease's description of the Productions of America,

are the elder (Sambucus); the Tamarisk (Tamarix); the common species of which (Tamarix gallica) is rendered of a fine glaucous colour by a hoary down covering its leaves and branches; the bladder-nut tree (Staphylea), remarkable for its inflated capsules; and several others.

4. Tetragynia contains only two genera, Parnassia and Evolvulus.

5. Pentagynia. Of the plants in this Order, there are two with which I think you must be acquainted; the sea-pink, or thrift, (Statice Armeria,) and flax (Linum). The former is remarkable for growing in almost any soil or situation, from which circumstance, the name thrift is supposed to have been given to it. It is a good example of a simple scape bearing a capitulum, or head of flowers. There are many species of flax, but the most important is the common (Linum usitatissimum), to which we are indebted for that valuable commodity, Linen, and the still more useful article, Paper. Materials of various kinds had from the earliest ages been used by mankind on which to commit their thoughts and observations; but the discovery of the mode of manufacturing paper, from a plant growing in the Nile, formed a new and important æra in the affairs of literature. This plant was named Papyrus. It is the Cyperus Papyrus of modern botanists, is contained in the TRIANDRIA class, Monogynia order, and may be considered as a gigantic species of grass. From it the word paper is derived, and