(Dracoena draco) of Orotava was an object of sacred reverence; [4] and in
Burmah at the present day the eugenia is held sacred. [5]
It has been remarked that the life of Christ may be said to fling its
shadow over the whole vegetable world. [6] "From this time the trees
and the flowers which had been associated with heathen rites and
deities, began to be connected with holier names, and not unfrequently
with the events of the crucifixion itself."
Thus, upon the Virgin Mary a wealth of flowers was lavished, all
white ones, having been "considered typical of her purity and holiness,
and consecrated to her festivals." [7] Indeed, not only, "were the finer
flowers wrested from the classic Juno and Diana, and from the Freyja
and Bertha of northern lands given to her, but lovely buds of every hue
were laid upon her shrines." [8] One species, for instance, of the maiden-
hair fern, known also as "Our Lady's hair," is designated in Iceland
"Freyja's hair," and the rose, often styled "Frau rose," or "Mother rose,"
the favourite flower of Hulda, was transferred to the Virgin. On the other
hand, many plants bearing the name of Our Lady, were, writes Mr.
Folkard, in Puritan times, "replaced by the name of Venus, thus
recurring to the ancient nomenclature; 'Our Lady's comb' becoming
'Venus's comb.'" But the two flowers which were specially connected
with the Virgin were the lily and the rose. Accordingly, in Italian art, a
vase of lilies stands by the Virgin's side, with three flowers crowning
three green stems. The flower is generally the large white lily of our
gardens, "the pure white petals signifying her spotless body, and the
golden anthers within typifying her soul sparkling with divine light." [9]
The rose, both red and white, appears at an early period as an
emblem of the Virgin, "and was specially so recognised by St. Dominic
when he instituted the devotion of the rosary, with direct reference to
her." [10] Among other flowers connected with the Virgin Mary may be
mentioned the flowering-rod, according to which Joseph was chosen for
her husband, because his rod budded into flower, and a dove settled
upon the top of it. In Tuscany a similar legend is attached to the
oleander, and elsewhere the white campanula has been known as the
"little staff of St. Joseph," while a German name for the white double
daffodill is
"Joseph's staff."
Then there is "Our Lady's bed-straw," which filled the manger on
which the infant Jesus was laid; while of the plant said to have formed
the Virgin's bed may be mentioned the thyme, woodroof, and groundsel.
The white-spotted green leaves of "Our Lady's thistle" were caused by
some drops of her milk falling upon them, and in Cheshire we find the
same idea connected with the pulmonaria or "lady's milk sile," the word
"sile" being a provincialism for "soil," or "stain." A German tradition
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