cowslip; flower-de-lices,[1] and lilies of all natures; rosemary-flowers; the tulippa; the double piony; the pale daffodil; the French honeysuckle; the cherry-tree in blossom; the dammasin[2] and plum-trees in blossom; the white thorn in leaf; the lilac-tree. In May and June come pinks of all sorts, specially the blush-pink; roses of all kinds, except the musk, which comes later; honeysuckles; strawberries; bugloss; columbine; the French marigold; flos Africanus;[3] cherry-tree in
- ↑ Flower-de-lices. Since both Bacon and Shakspere refer to the flower-de-luce as a lily, it is clear that for them the iris had not yet wholly appropriated the name. Their fleur-de-lis may have been the same as Chaucer's, the Lilium Candidum, the common white lily. "His nekke whit was as the flour-de-lys," Chaucer writes of the singing friar. The Prologue. 238.
"Now, my fair'st friend,
I would I had some flowers o' the spring that might
Become your time of -day;—and yours, and yours,
That wear upon your virgin branches yet
Your maidenhoods growing:—O Proserpina,
For th' flowers now, that, frighted, thou lett'st fall
From Dis's wagon! golden daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty; violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes
Or Cytherea's breath; pale primroses,
That die unmarried, ere they can behold
Bright Phoebus in his strength,—a malady
Most incident to maids; bold oxlips and
The crown-imperial; lilies of all kinds,
The flower-de-luce being one!"
Shakspere. The Winter's Tale. iv. 3.
- ↑ Dammasin. The damson plum-tree. The damson is a small black or dark purple plum, the fruit of Prunus Communis, or Domestica. The particular variety, Damascena, was introduced in very early times into Greece and Italy from Syria.
"Gloster. Mass, thou lovedst plums well, that wouldst venture so.
Simpcox. Alas, good master, my wife desired some damsons,
And made me climb, with danger of my life."
Shakspere. II. King Henry VI. ii. 1.
- ↑ Flos Africanus. The Latin translation reads Flos Africanus, simplex et multiplex, and omits "the French marigold." It would seem then that by Flos Africanus, or 'African flower,' Bacon meant the African marigold (Tagetes Erecta); the French marigold is Tagetes Patula. Or possibly, the French marigold was called the
