Persian Lily growing in the European gardens, Alphonsus Paucius, physician to the Duke of Florence, when he sent a drawing of it to M. John de Brancion, named it Corona Imperialis. Madame de Genlis thinks the name originated from the celebrated Guirlande de Julie, Chapelain having under the painting of this flower written a poor metamorphosis in compliment to Julie, who was a great admirer of Gustavus Adolphus the King of Sweden, who lost his life in the battle he gained in the plains of Lutzen. The poet says, that had this monarch gained the Imperial Crown, he would have offered it with his hand to Julie; but, as the Fates have metamorphosed him into this plant, it is given to her under the name of Couronne Impériale. This title appears to have been adopted in all the European languages, the German name being Kaiserkrone, Danish Keiserkrone, Swedish Keisarkrona, Italian La Corona Imperiale, Spanish La Corona Imperial, French La Couronne Imperiale ; but in later days these ingenious people, like the Greeks of old, named it after the resemblance which the flowers have to a familiar object; and as they have none more ready at hand than their dice-box, it was called Fritillaire Imperiale, from fritillus, the Latin for dice-box. Modern botanists have since bestowed the name of Fritillaria on a family of plants, of which this is, from its noble

deportment and brilliancy of colouring, considered

the sovereign.

The Lily's height bespoke command,

A fair imperial flower;

She seem'd design'd for Flora's hand,

The sceptre of her power.

The Crown Imperial is therefore made the emblem of majesty, and the representative of power, in floral language.

In the Turkish language this flower is called Tusai or Tuschai, as well as Turfani or Turfanda; and as it was obtained from the Turks under this name, it ought, in justice, to have retained its original appellation.

This Lily of the turbaned countries towers above all the flowers of our vernal parterres, throwing up its tall stem amidst the dwarf flowers of April, like the tall Palm amongst trees, or a pagoda arising out of a Chinese town. At the top of its stem is supported a circle of Tulip-shaped corollas turned downwards, which have the appearance of so many gay bells, the stigma answering for the clapper. The whole being crowned by a coma, or a tuft of green leaves, gives it a singular and agreeable effect; and when the bulbs are suffered to remain two or three years in the earth, which should be a light dry soil free from dung, they frequently send up a stem that carries two or three whorls of pen

dulous flowers above each other: it is then called

the Triple Crown.

Numerous varieties of this flower have been raised from seed by the patient perseverance of the Dutch florists; but the most desirable varieties are those of the gayest colours, such as the bright yellow and the brilliant red, as the dingy colours and variegated kinds make less show in the garden. This imperial flower is not without its body-guard, to keep its admirers at a proper distance; for it possesses so strong a scent of the fox, combined with that of garlic, as to ensure its protection from meddling fingers, and its safety from the saloon vase. It is the same property of the plant, we may presume, that defends it from being rifled of its nectareous juices, which are not only rejected by the bees, but refused by all kinds of insects. But the beauty and splendour of this magnificent flower will ever secure it a situation in pleasure-grounds, as it is equally adapted to decorate the centre of large flower borders, or to intermix with dwarf shrubs in more sylvan scenes; and it is one of the few flowers which, like noble personages, is seen to the best effect when planted singly.

The more closely we attend to the natural history of plants, the more are we delighted with the works of Nature. To the Crown Imperial a large flower is bestowed, that has not the gift of closing

its petals, like the Tulip and most other flowers, to secure the parts of fructification from the wet and inclement season in which it flowers; but, to counteract this apparent inconvenience, a pendulous position is given to the corolla, which effectually protects the important parts of the flower, like a bell-glass, until impregnation has taken place, when the peduncles change to an upright position, in order to facilitate the ripening of the seed. The singularity of the nectary of this flower is too peculiarly conspicuous to have been overlooked by the curious: it is a white glandular cavity, at the base of each petal; and as long as the flower remains in vigour, a large drop of limpid nectareous juice is hung to each nectary; and thus we are struck with other important uses of the petals, in addition to that of a covering to the stigma and anthers, for they appear to be organs by which the polarised primitive matters are directed to their evolution, and to their different attractions. We have consulted with some of the first botanists of the age on the use of the nectareous juice in nourishing the parts of fructification, and assisting the impregnation of the seed, and we have met with that diversity of opinion which we could hardly have expected on a subject that seems so clearly developed. The ingenious authoress of "Sketches of the Physiology of Vegetable Life" tells us, that she made

an experiment upon the flower of the Crown Imperial, "to observe the effect upon the fructification when deprived of the nectareous juice. I robbed," says this lady, "the petals of this delicate fluid at about ten o'clock in the morning, and seven every evening, during which period it became usually replaced in the degree of about one third of the natural quantity when suffered to remain undisturbed. Those bells from which the honey was regularly taken morning aud evening did not produce any seed: two bells, wherein this operation was less closely attended to, formed very poor seed-vessels; while the bells on the same plant, which remained in their natural state, brought their seeds to perfection. The anthers and stigmas seemed to wither sooner in those flowers which were deprived of their nectareous juice, and the germ certainly appeared to suffer essentially; but whether the effect produced upon the seed by the honey being taken away, was in consequence of the anthers and stigmas losing their wonted nutriment, or of the seed itself being deprived of its sustenance, is a question of importance to be determined."

Decandolle says, "the return of the sap to a more oxydized condition, and the evident evacuation of hydrogen and azote, appear to have as essential an influence on fructification as the deposition