The Botanic Garden. Part II. | Page 7

mourn;?100 And, if she smiles, with rival raptures burn.
So, tun'd in unison, Eolian Lyre!?Sounds in sweet symphony thy kindred wire;?Now, gently swept by Zephyr's vernal wings,?Sink in soft cadences the love-sick strings;?105 And now with mingling chords, and voices higher,
Peal the full anthems of the aerial choir.
[Chondrilla. l. 97. Of the class Confederate Males. The numerous florets, which constitute the disk of the flowers in this class, contain in each five males surrounding one female, which are connected at top, whence the name of the class. An Italian writer, in a discourse on the irritability of flowers, asserts, that if the top of the floret be touched, all the filaments which support the cylindrical anther will contrast themselves, and that by thus raising or depressing the anther the whole of the prolific dust is collected on the stigma. He adds, that if one filament be touched after it is separated from the floret, that it will contract like the muscular fibres of animal bodies, his experiments were tried on the Centauréa Calcitrapoides, and on artichokes, and globe-thistles. Discourse on the irratability of plants. Dodsley.]
Five sister-nymphs to join Diana's train?With thee, fair LYCHNIS! vow,--but vow in vain;?Beneath one roof resides the virgin band,?110 Flies the fond swain, and scorns his offer'd hand;
But when soft hours on breezy pinions move,?And smiling May attunes her lute to love,?Each wanton beauty, trick'd in all her grace,?Shakes the bright dew-drops from her blushing face; 115 In gay undress displays her rival charms,
And calls her wondering lovers to her arms.
When the young Hours amid her tangled hair?Wove the fresh rose-bud, and the lily fair,
[Lychnis. l. 108. Ten males and five females. The flowers which contain the five females, and those which contain the ten males, are found on different plants; and often at a great distance from each other. Five of the ten males arrive at their maturity some days before the other five, as may be seen by opening the corol before it naturally expands itself. When the females arrive at their maturity, they rise above the petals, as if looking abroad for their distant husbands; the scarlet ones contribute much to the beauty of our meadows in May and June.]
Proud GLORIOSA led three chosen swains,?120 The blushing captives of her virgin chains.--
--When Time's rude hand a bark of wrinkles spread?Round her weak limbs, and silver'd o'er her head,?Three other youths her riper years engage,?The flatter'd victims of her wily age.
125 So, in her wane of beauty, NINON won
With fatal smiles her gay unconscious son.--
[Gloriosa. l. 119. Superba. Six males, one female. The petals of this beautiful flower with three of the stamens, which are first mature, stand up in apparent disorder; and the pistil bends at nearly a right angle to insert its stigma amongst them. In a few days, as these decline, the other three stamens bend over, and approach the pistil. In the Fritillaria Persica, the six stamens are of equal lengths, and the anthers lie at a distance from the pistil, and three alternate ones approach first; and, when these decline, the other three approach: in the Lithrum Salicaria, (which has twelve males and one female) a beautiful red flower, which grows on the banks of rivers, six of the males arrive at maturity, and surround the female some time before the other six; when these decline, the other six rise up, and supply their places. Several other flowers have in similar manner two sets of stamens of different ages, as Adoxa, Lychnis, Saxifraga. See Genista. Perhaps a difference in the time of their maturity obtains in all these flowers, which have numerous stamens. In the Kahnia the ten stamens lie round the pistil like the radii of a wheel; and each anther is concealed in a nich of the corol to protect it from cold and moisture; these anthers rise separately from their niches, and approach the pistil for a time, and then recede to their former situations.]
[Illustration: Gloriosa Superba]
Clasp'd in his arms she own'd a mother's name,--?"Desist, rash youth! restrain your impious flame,?"First on that bed your infant-form was press'd,?130 "Born by my throes, and nurtured at my breast."--
Back as from death he sprung, with wild amaze?Fierce on the fair he fix'd his ardent gaze;?Dropp'd on one knee, his frantic arms outspread,?And stole a guilty glance toward the bed;?135 Then breath'd from quivering lips a whisper'd vow,
And bent on heaven his pale repentant brow;?"Thus, thus!" he cried, and plung'd the furious dart, And life and love gush'd mingled from his heart.
The fell SILENE and her sisters fair,?140 Skill'd in destruction, spread the viscous snare.
[Silene. l. 139. Catchfly. Three females and ten males inhabit each flower; the viscous material, which surrounds the stalks under the flowers of this plant, and of the Cucubulus Otites, is a curious contrivance to prevent