While each erect, aspiring stem
Clusters with stars thy diadem,
Till far and wide, by day and night,
Thy deep bed glows with purple light.
Yet better still I love to view

Those dear flowers dipt in autumn dew;
When low on earth their heads are seen,
Reposing soft in evergreen;

When tender shoots too weak to rise
No longer lift them to the skies,
And day by day themselves are laid
Beneath a deeper, colder shade:
Yet is their light not quenched so,
Nor sinks in gloom their vernal show,
But brightens still the darkling hours,
With drooping wreaths and trailing flowers.
Oh, this is joy indeed to see,

Emblem: of genuine piety!

No slave of sunshine vernal days,

An inward lamp she still can raise,

That puts the soul beyond the power
Of things that change with every hour,—
And let them come or let them part,-

Glad, light, and steadfast keeps the heart."

Where the soil is favourable, the Periwinkle forms with its stems and leaves a perfect matting upon the surface of the earth, a circumstance observed and alluded to by Smith

O'er Vinca's matted leaves below,

The orchis race with varied beauty charm,

And mock the exploring bee or fly's aerial form.

The fact mentioned in the quotation is well known to the experienced gardener, for this plant thrives even under the drip of trees or the eaves of houses, and Hurdis did not fail to notice this in his pleasing poetry. Where blooms now

The king-cup or the daisy? where inclines

The harebell or the cowslip? where looks gay

The vernal furze, with golden baskets hung?
Where captivates the sky-blue Periwinkle,
Under the cottage eaves?

In the "Sentiment of Flowers," the Periwinkle has been made the emblem of Sweet Remembrances. This sentiment was given to the flower from its having been the means of bringing to remembrance, after a lapse of thirty years, some of the most pleasurable incidents in the life of a celebrated French writer, with which it had been associated. In the "Bouquet des Souvenirs " these flowers are made to say—

Emblems are we of joy or woe,
And tender recollections glow,
Inspired by our name;

Our glossy leaves, with flowers entwined,
Were made the bridal robe to bind

In days of ancient fame.

And we are also "flowers of death,"

The mourning mother weaves a wreath
Of our dark shining sprays;
She twines it round the lovely head,
Ere in its cold and silent bed

Her child she sadly lays.

Whene'er our blossomed stars you view,

Bethink you of life's changing hue,

How joy and sorrow blend;

That though thy cup may now flow o'er,
Anguish may wring thy heart, before
Life's fitful day shall end.

The Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor) is in the Linnæan class Pentandria, and order Monogynia, and in the Natural order Apocyneæ.

The Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major) is a more common plant than the above, growing in woods and groves, but it is generally believed to have been naturalized.

SAFFRON CROCUS.

Crocus ; L. Le safran; Fr. Die safranpflanze; Ger. Saffran; Dutch. Zafferano; Ital. Azafran; Sp. Açafraco; Port.

Schafran; Russ. Szafran; Pol.

In March the vernal Crocus springs,

The harbinger of brighter skies;
And consolation sweet it brings,

Then cheering us with glad surprise.

One of its tribe, an autumn flower,

The Saffron Crocus, spreads its bloom,
Mindful of the chilling power

Zatiphra; Arab,

Of fogs, of frost, and winter's gloom.-MS.

THE genus to which this pretty flower belongs has for centuries received the attention of those who delight in a garden, on account of their ornamental character. Like the generality of flowers which have become favourites of the florist and the cultivator, the different species have been subdivided into numerous varieties, so that we are frequently unable to find characters for them. The texture of the root coats is thought to be

the best test of affinity.

The flowers and leaves of this plant rise amidst a series of membranous sheaths from a solid depressed bulb, which is covered with thin brown reticulated fibro-membranous coats. The leaves, which are longer than the flower, are radical and linear, and are enveloped at their base in a thin white sheath, and above are of a dark green, with a stripe of white along the middle. The flower is of a lilac or violet colour. The stamens are shorter than the corolla, but the style is

about the same length. The stigma is of a rich orange colour, and fragrant.

The Saffron Crocus, we are told, was first introduced into England during the reign of the third Edward, and was then cultivated at Walden, in Essex, which place became subsequently known as Saffron Walden, from the fact that it was chiefly grown there. It was also cultivated in the counties of Cambridge, Suffolk, and Hereford, in the early part of the seventeenth century. It is the saffron of commerce, the stigmata, the only fragrant parts of the flowers, being alone used; and for the purpose of procuring these, the plant is still grown to a considerable extent at Saffron Walden and Stapleford, Essex. The flowers are gathered at an early part of the day in September, when the stigmata, and a portion of the styles are carefully picked out of the flowers; these are then dried upon a kiln, under a pressure, to form cake saffron ; or loosely, and then it is called hay saffron. The virtue of saffron is supposed to reside in a peculiar extractive principle called "polychroite." Among the ancients it was considered to be a most efficacious remedy, by reason of its stimulating properties, but in modern practice it is found to possess few sensible qualities, beyond the orange colour which it imparts to water, alcohol, and other fluids. In addition to the localities previously mentioned, Saffron is found naturalized about Halifax and Derby.

The following quaint extract from Hollinshed's Chronicles relates how the name of Crocus became applied to this flower:

"A certaine young gentleman, called Crocus, went to plaie at coits in the field with Mercurie, and being

heedlesse of himself, Mercurie's coit happened by mishap to hit him on the head, whereby he received a wound that yer long killed him altogether, to the great discomfort of his friends. Finallie, in the place where he bled, saffron was after found to grow, wherevpon the people seeing the colour of the chiue as it stood, (although I doubt not but it grew there long before), adjudged it to come of the blood of Crocus, and therefore they gave it his name."

Miss Twamley makes the Saffron Crocus the medium whereby a young lady's sentiments became known to her lover, whereupon he is made to say in after years:―

"But ever does that humble flower

That gems the aging year,

Pale Autumn's purple Crocus, seem
Than other flowers more dear.

*

"Oh! many a glorious flower there grows
In far and richer lands:

But high in my affection e'er

The Autumn Crocus stands.

*

"But they are passing from us now,
And round each frail, white stem,
The purple petals faded droop;
Winter will chase e'en them.

"So, farewell to the Crocus, which

In amethyst is dight;

And may we live to welcome back

The Yellow and the White!"

The Saffron Crocus (Crocus sativus) is in the Linnæan class Triandria and order Monogynia, and in the natural order Iridea.