It was customary to strew Rushes on the Church floor on all high days. Newton, in his ‘Herbal to the Bible’ (1587), speaks of “Sedge and Rushes, with which many in the country do use in Summer time to strewe their parlors and Churches, as well for coolness and for pleasant smell.” Cardinal Wolsey in the pride of his pomp had the strewings of his great hall at Hampton Court renewed every day. Till lately the floor of Norwich Cathedral was strewn with _Acorus Calamus_ on festal days, and when the _Acorus_ was scarce, the leaves of the yellow Iris were used. At the church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Rushes are strewn every Whitsuntide. The parish of Middleton-Cheney, Northamptonshire, has a benefaction to provide hay for strewing the Church in summer, the rector providing straw in the winter. In Prussia _Holcus odoratus_ is considered Holy Grass, and is used for strewing purposes. The Rush-bearings which are still held in Westmoreland, and were until quite recently general in Cheshire, would appear to be a relic of the custom of the Dedication Feast. At these Rush-bearings young men and women carry garlands in procession through the village to the Church, which they enter and decorate with their floral tributes. Besides giving the Church a fresh strewing every feast day, it was in olden times customary to deck it with boughs and flowers; and as the flowers used at festivals were originally selected because they happened to be in bloom then, so in time they came to be associated therewith. On PALM SUNDAY, it was customary for the congregation to carry Palm branches in procession, and deposit them on the altar of the Church to be blessed, after which they were again distributed to the people. Various substitutes for the Eastern Palm were used in England, but the most popular was the Sallow, because its lithe green wands, full of sap, and covered with golden catkins, were at that season of the year the things most full of life and blossom. Yew branches were also employed for Palm, and some Churches were decked with boughs of Box. White Broom and white flowers of all descriptions are applicable to the great festival of EASTER, as well as purple Pasque flowers and golden Daffodils. The peasants of Bavaria weave garlands of the fragrant Coltsfoot (_Nardosmia fragrans_) on Easter Day, and cast them into the fire. In ROGATION WEEK processions perambulated the parishes with the Holy Cross and Litanies, to mark the boundaries and to invoke the blessing of God on the crops: on this occasion maidens made themselves garlands and nosegays of the Rogation-flower, _Polygala vulgaris_, called also the Cross-, Gang-, and Procession-flower. On ASCENSION DAY it is customary in Switzerland to suspend wreaths of Edelweiss over porches and windows,--this flower of the Alps being, like the Amaranth, considered an emblem of immortality, and peculiarly appropriate to the festival.