CHAP. 39.—THE SUMMER FLOWERS—THE LYCHNIS: THE TIPHYON. TWO VARIETIES OF THE POTHOS. TWO VARIETIES OF THE ORSINUM. THE VINCAPERVINCA OR CHAMÆDAPHNE—A PLANT WHICH IS AN EVER-GREEN.
The summer flowers come next, the lychnis[2087] the flower of Jove, and another kind of lily,[2088] as also the tiphyon[2089] and the amaracus, surnamed that of Phrygia. Put the most remarkable flower of all is the pothos,[2090] of which there are two varieties, one with the flower of the hyacinth,[2091] and another with a white flower, which is generally found growing about graves, and is better able to stand bad weather. The iris,[2092] also, blossoms in summer. All these flowers pass away, however, and fade; upon which others assume their places in autumn, a third kind of lily,[2093] for instance, saffron, and two varieties of the orsinum[2094]—one of them inodorous and the other scented—making their appearance, all of them, as soon as the first autumnal showers fall.
The garland-makers employ the flowers of the thorn[2095] even for making chaplets; the tender shoots, too, of the white thorn are sometimes preserved as a choice morsel[2096] to tempt the palate.
Such is the succession of the summer flowers in the parts beyond sea: in Italy, the violet is succeeded by the rose, the lily comes on while the rose is still in flower, the cyanus[2097] succeeds the rose, and the amaranth the cyanus. As to the vincapervinca,[2098] it is an evergreen, the branches from which run out like so many strings, the leaves surrounding the stem at each of the knots: though more generally used for the purposes of ornamental gardening, it is sometimes employed in chaplets when there is a deficiency of other flowers. From the Greeks this plant has received the name of “chamædaphne.”