Godey's Lady's Book, Vol. 48, No. XVIII, April, 1854Various
General
Godey's Lady's Book, Vol. 48, No. XVIII, April, 1854
Various
Fashion -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Women's periodicals, American
We now proceed to point out what spring flowers are likely to reward the
exertions of those who go in search of them among the woods and fields.
And first of all the primrose and the cowslip demand attention as general
favorites. The wild plant, with its modest flower of pale yellow hue
(which has given rise to the name of a tint known as primrose yellow), is
probably familiar to every one, but it may not be so well known that the
gay polyanthus of our florists, and the rich double-flowered primroses
of every hue which decorate our gardens, all owe their existence to
the wild plant as their original stock. The cowslip, although local in
its geographical distribution, is abundant in many localities, and is
associated right pleasantly with cowslip wine. Beneath the hedges in
early spring-time there is a pretty little plant which seldom catches the
eye of the passer-by; it is aptly styled the "gloryless," for its little
flowers are of greenish-yellow hue, and so small as to be inconspicuous
to any one save the botanical explorer. When examined, however, it is an
object of great, though simple beauty. It sends up a delicate stem, which
bears a little rosette of divided leaves, and from amidst this rises the
flower-stalk, pale and slender, bearing on its summit a compact head of a
few tiny showless flowers. Its botanical name is Adoxa Moschatellina.
It is summer time before the buttercups begem the pastures; but one
member of the family already welcomes us by hedge-rows; it is the Lesser
Celandine of Wordsworth, which received a special favor from his pen in
the dedication of a pretty little poem. The Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus
Ficaria) grows abundantly on wet shady banks, and produces a profusion of
its bright glossy golden flowers, which, in fading, assume a pure white
hue. This ranks as one of the economical plants of Britain; and humble as
it is, it has been brought forward as a substitute for that unfortunate
vegetable, the potato. Plants of the Lesser Celandine, raised from roots
which had been gathered in Silesia by the Rev. Mr. Wade in 1848, were
grown in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, and exhibited by Mr. M'Nab, the
curator of the garden, to the Botanical Society. These roots had been
exposed over a large extent of country in Austria by heavy rains, and the
common people gathered them and used them as an article of food. Their
sudden appearance gave rise to various conjectures as to their nature and
origin, and in the Austrian journals they were spoken of as if they had
fallen from the sky. The "small bodies" (roots) were used as peas by the
inhabitants. Either in a dried state, or when fresh, they are found, on
boiling, to be very amylaceous; that is, they contain much starchy matter.
There is no acridity in the roots even in a fresh state, which is a
remarkable fact when we take into consideration the acrid and poisonous
nature of the entire race of plants allied to it in structure, viz.,
the Ranunculaceæ, to which order it belongs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account