The blossom of the Privet, when exposed to the noonday sun, withers almost as soon as it blows: in the shade it not only lasts longer, but is much larger. The leaves, too, like those of the Laburnum, are much larger and finer when so placed.

PROTEA.

PROTEACEE.

TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

From Proteus; so named from the great variableness in the fructification.

THE Proteas are elegant shrubs, chiefly natives of the Cape, and requiring protection from our winters. The placing them within doors at that season will generally be sufficient; but care must be taken to water them very sparingly at that time, and to preserve them from damps.

Many of the species are in estimation; among the handsomest are the Grandiflora, the Speciosa, the Cynaroides, the Linearis, the Nana, &c.; the flowers of the latter very much resemble a rose.

RANUNCULUS.

RANUNCULACEE.

POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA.

Ranunculus is the diminutive of Rana, a Frog, some of the species growing in the water. It is also familiarly called Gold-cup.

SINCE the introduction of the Persian Ranunculus, the other kinds have been generally neglected; and it has been so much improved by culture, as to vie with the Carnation itself in beautiful varieties. These are of every colour, and combination of colour, that Flora paints with.

As this plant strikes very deep roots, it must be allowed room; though not so much as it will take when in the open ground, where it will often run to the depth of three or four feet. On this account it is better to plant several in one vessel: they may be four or five inches apart, and two deep. The best time to plant them is in October; but, for a succession, they may be continued at intervals even till February. Those first planted will flower in May. When planted in pots, they should be housed in the winter; the roots should be removed every year, cleaned, and dried, and put in a dry place till wanted: they should be removed immediately after the leaves have decayed. A proper soil should be obtained for them, which should be renewed every year. They must be often, but sparingly watered in dry weather.

Many species of the Ranunculus are also familiarly called Crowfoot.

The Aconite-leaved is often cultivated in gardens by the name of White Bachelors'-buttons, or Fair Maid of France; and the Upright Meadow-crowfoot, with double flowers, by the name of Yellow Bachelors'-buttons.

The double-flowered variety of the white ones are very delicate and pretty: they blow in May; the yellow in June and July. They may be increased by parting the roots in autumn.

Shakspeare's Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue are supposed to be the Butter-cup, or King-cup-called by the French, renoncule; grenouillette; bassinet; pied de coq [cock's foot]; pied de corbin [crowfoot]; bouton d'or [gold button]: in the village dialect, piapau; flor de buro [butter-flower]: by the Italians, ranuncolo; boton d'oro; pie corvino-which belongs to this genus: as also does Wordsworth's Celandine, which has been noticed by that name.

The King-cup is frequently introduced in Clare's poems;

he delights in celebrating wild flowers. It is a curious fact, that notwithstanding the polished beauty of garden flowers, poetry generally prefers to celebrate the wild. The following is a pretty rustic picture :

"Before the door, with paths untraced,
The green-sward many a beauty graced;
And daisy there, and cowslip too,
And butter-cups of golden hue,
The children meet as soon as sought,
And gain their wish as soon as thought;
Who oft I ween, the children's way,
Will leap the threshold's bounds to play,
And, spite of parent's chiding calls,
Will struggle where the water falls,
And 'neath the hanging bushes creep
For violet-bud and primrose-peep.
And sigh with anxious eager dream
For water-blobs* amid the stream;
And up the bill-side turn anon,
To pick the daisies one by one;
Then, anxious, to their cottage bound,
To show the prizes they have found,

Whose medley flowers, red, white, and blue,
As well can please their parents too;
And, as their care and skill contrive,

In flower-pots many a day survive."

VILLAGE MINSTREL, &c. vol. i. page 76.

He has, in the same volume, another pretty description of flower-gathering, which may find a place here:

"Some went searching by the wood,
Peeping 'neath the weaving thorn,
Where the pouch-leaved cuckoo-bud +
From its snug retreat was torn.

* Marsh Marygolds.

+ Clare's cuckoo-buds are neither the lady's-smock nor the kingcup; neither does he mean the ragged-robin, for that is here expressly distinguished from them: probably he means the arum, or lords and ladics.

X

Where the ragged robin stood

With its piped stem streaked with jet,
And the crow-flowers, golden-hued,
Careless plenty easier met.”

Page 137.

In his descriptions of Rural Life and Scenery, he gives this flower for a goblet to the fairies:

This name is of Greek origin, and signifies Rose-tree.

THE Rhododendrons are handsome flowering shrubs, hardy enough to bear the open air in this country. When in pots, however, if the winter be severe, it may be well to cover the roots with a little moss; and some keep them always so covered, to shelter them from frost in the winter, and to preserve the earth moist in the summer. The kind most commonly cultivated here is a native of North America. The flowers are generally rose-coloured or purple; there is a variety with yellow, and one with white flowers.

There is a shrub called Rhodora, a native of Newfoundland, very similar to this, which may be treated in the

same manner.

The best time for transplanting these shrubs, when they require removal into a larger pot, is in September or April; and when they do not need this removal, it will be

well, at that season, to renew the earth as far as can be done without disturbing the roots; or even occasionally to take them out of the pot, and pare away the decayed roots on the outside of the ball of earth adhering to them.

Mr. Moore quotes a passage from Tournefort, in his notes to Lalla Rookh, informing us that about Trebizond there is a kind of Rhododendron, on the flowers of which the bees feed, and that their honey drives people mad:

"E'en as those bees of Trebizond,

Which from the sunniest flowers that glad
With their pure smile the gardens round,
Draw venom forth that drives men mad."

ROBINI A.

LEGUMINOSA.

DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA.

THE Rose-acacia, so called from the colour of its blossoms, is a beautiful shrub: it is a native of Carolina, where it will grow twenty feet high: here it does not exceed six or eight, and will produce flowers when not more than a foot high: the flowers are large, showy, and numerous, and the shrub is of ready growth. It is not very nice as to soil and situation, but prefers a light, moist soil, and a situation rather sheltered than exposed. It blossoms in June.

The Siberian species of Robinia have mostly yellow flowers. The Salt-tree Robinia, of which the blossoms are purple, is an exception. This, and the Thorny Robinia are, at their full growth, about six feet high; the Shrubby, ten feet; the Shining, five; the Daurian and the Dwarf, three feet.

The Salt-tree grows naturally in salt fields, and will