It is generally stated that the first Floral Dial, or clock, which showed the time by the opening or shutting up of blossoms throughout the day, was a fancy or invention of the great Swedish naturalist, Linnæus. But there is a distinct allusion to this poetical measurement of the "fleeting hours" in Marvell's poem on "The Garden:"-- "How well the skilful gardener drew By flowers and herbs this dial new! Where, from above, the milder sun Does through a fragrant zodiac run; And, as it works, the industrious bee Computes its time as well as we. How could such sweet and wholesome hours Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers?" Whether the idea first occurred to Englishman or Swede, poet or botanist, matters but little; it is a graceful, a suggestive, a beautiful idea, and might well be reproduced in some of our large public gardens. "'Twas a lovely thought to mark the hours, As they floated in light away, By the opening and the folding flowers, As they laugh to the summer's day. "Thus had each moment its own rich hue, And its graceful cup and bell, In whose coloured vase might sleep the dew, Like a pearl in an ocean shell." FLORAL DIAL. TIME AT WHICH THE FOLLOWING FLOWERS FOLD AND UNFOLD. Open. Close. H. M. H. M. P.M. A.M. Goat's Beard (Lat. syn. _Tragopogon luteum_), 9.10 3.5 Late-flowering Dandelion (_Leontodon serotinum_), 12.1 4.0 Hawkweed (_Picris echioides_), 12.0 4.5 Alpine Hawk's-beard (_Crepis Alpina_), 12.0 4.5 Wild Succory (_Cichorium intybus_), 7.0 5.0 Naked-stalked Poppy (_Papaver nudicaule_), 7.8 5.0 Copper-coloured Day-lily (_Hemerocallis fulva_), 11.12 5.0 Smooth Sow-thistle (_Sonchus lævis_), 12.0 5.0 Blue-flowered Sow-thistle (_Sonchus Alpinus_), 4.5 5.6 Field Bindweed (_Convolvulus arvensis_), 10.0 5.6 Common Nipplewort (_Lapsana communis_), 4.5 6.7 Spotted Cat's-ear (_Hypochæris maculata_), 5.0 7.0 White Water-lily (_Nymphæa alba_), 10.0 7.0 Garden Lettuce (_Lactuca sativa_), 3.4 7.0 African Marigold (_Tagetes erecta_), 2.0 8.0 Mouse-ear Hawkweed (_Hieracium piloscella_), 2.0 8.0 Proliferous Pink (_Dianthus proliferus_), 1.0 8.0 Field Marigold (_Calendula arvensis_), 3.0 9.0 Purple Sandwort (_Arenaria purpurea_), 2.3 9.10 Creeping Mallow (_Malva Caroliniana_), 12.1 9.10 Chickweed (_Stellaria media_), 9.10 9.10