CHAP. 23.—THE AMARANTH.
There is no doubt that all the efforts of art are surpassed by the amaranth,[2011] which is, to speak correctly, rather a purple ear[2012] than a flower, and, at the same time, quite inodorous. It is a marvellous feature in this plant, that it takes a delight in being gathered; indeed, the more it is plucked, the better it grows. It comes into flower in the month of August, and lasts throughout the autumn. The finest of all is the amaranth of Alexandria, which is generally gathered for keeping; for it is a really marvellous[2013] fact, that when all the other flowers have gone out, the amaranth, upon being dipped in water, comes to life again: it is used also for making winter chaplets. The peculiar quality of the amaranth is sufficiently indicated by its name, it having been so called from the circumstance that it never fades.[2014]
CHAP. 24.—THE CYANOS: THE HOLOCHRYSOS.
The name,[2015] too, of the cyanos[2016] indicates its colour, and so does that of the holochrysos.[2017] None of these flowers were in use in the time of Alexander the Great, for the authors, we find, who flourished at a period immediately after his decease, have made not the slightest mention of them; from which circumstance it is very clear that they only came into fashion at a later period. Still, however, who can entertain any doubt that they were first introduced by the Greeks, from the fact that Italy has only their Greek names by which to designate them?
CHAP. 25.—THE PETILIUM: THE BELLIO.
But, by Hercules! it is Italy herself that has given its name to the petilium,[2018] an autumnal flower, which springs up in the vicinity of thorny brakes, and recommends itself solely by its colour, which is that of the wild rose. The petals of it are small, and five in number; and it is a remarkable circumstance in this plant, that the head of it droops at first, and it is only after it becomes erect that the petals make their appearance, forming a small corolla of various colours, enclosing a yellow seed.
The bellio,[2019] too, is a yellow flower, formed of[2020] fifty-five filaments circularly arranged, in the shape of a chaplet. These are, both of them, meadow flowers, which are mostly of no use whatever, and consequently without names: even the flowers just mentioned are known sometimes by one name, and sometimes by another.