The Botanic Garden, a Poem in Two Parts. Part 1: the Economy of VegetationDarwin, Erasmus
History
The Botanic Garden, a Poem in Two Parts. Part 1: the Economy of Vegetation
Darwin, Erasmus
Natural history; Plants -- Poetry; Portland Vase
[_Fair Cyprepedia_. l. 505. The cyprepedium from South America is
supposed to be of larger size and brighter colours than that from North
America from which this print is taken; it has a large globular nectary
about the size of a pidgeon's egg of a fleshy colour, and an incision or
depression on its upper part, much resembling the body of the large
American spider; this globular nectary is attached to divergent slender
petals not unlike the legs of the same animal. This spider is called by
Linneus Arenea avicularia, with a convex orbicular thorax, the center
transversely excavated, he adds that it catches small birds as well as
insects, and has the venemous bite of a serpent. System Nature, Tom. I.
p. 1034. M. Lonvilliers de Poincy, (Histoire Nat. des Antilles, Cap.
xiv. art. III.) calls it Phalange, and describes the body to be the size
of a pidgeon's egg, with a hollow on its back like a navel, and mentions
its catching the humming-bird in its strong nets.
The similitude of this flower to this great spider seems to be a
vegetable contrivance to prevent the humming-bird from plundering its
honey. About Matlock in Derbyshire the fly-ophris is produced, the
nectary of which so much resembles the small wall-bee, perhaps the apis
ichneumonea, that it may be easily mistaken for it at a small distance.
It is probable that by this means it may often escape being plundered.
See note on lonicera in the next poem.
A bird of our own country called a willow-wren (Motacilla) runs up the
stem of the crown-imperial (Frittillaria coronalis) and sips the
pendulous drops within its petals. This species of Motacilla is called
by Ray Regulus non cristatus. White's Hist. of Selborne.]
[Illustration: _Cypripedium. London, Published Dec'r 1st 1791 by J.
Johnson, St. Paul's Church Yard._]
2. "Shield the young Harvest from devouring blight,
The Smut's dark poison, and the Mildew white;
Deep-rooted Mould, and Ergot's horn uncouth,
And break the Canker's desolating tooth.
515 First in one point the festering wound confin'd
Mines unperceived beneath the shrivel'd rin'd;
Then climbs the branches with increasing strength,
Spreads as they spread, and lengthens with their length;
--Thus the slight wound ingraved on glass unneal'd
520 Runs in white lines along the lucid field;
Crack follows crack, to laws elastic just,
And the frail fabric shivers into dust.
[_Shield the young harvest_. l. 511. Linneus enumerates but four
diseases of plants; Erysyche, the white mucor or mould, with sessile
tawny heads, with which the leaves are sprinkled, as is frequent on the
hop, humulus, maple, acer, &c. Rubigo, the ferrugineous powder sprinkled
under the leaves frequent in lady's mantle, alchemilla, &c.
Clavus, when the seeds grow out into larger horns black without, as in
rye. This is called Ergot by the french writers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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