brewing in England. Kent and Surrey are the chief means of supply,
though those grown in the rich soil of the Vale of Severn, in the
neighbourhood of Worcester, are by no means inferior to the best
Kentish. The crop is a very speculative one, the dangers which surround
it being legion; the profits are, however, so great that the grower is
reimbursed if one crop in three should turn out well. The hops grown in
the neighbourhood of Farnham command the highest prices. The etymology
of the word is unknown; the Germans term it _Hopfen_. Hops have been
cultivated in Germany from time immemorial, and it is from thence that
we derive both the plant and its name. Drawings of the natural growth
will be found in E. B. 1284, S. C. 41; T. N. O. 125; and P. F. 4.
[Illustration: Yellow-horned Poppy.]
The YELLOW-HORNED POPPY (_Glaucium luteum_) will no doubt have attracted
the attention of many from the peculiarity of its habitat, growing and
flourishing as it does by the seashore, where little else appears to
thrive, and by the delicate green of its foliage, the brilliant yellow
of its blossom, and its spreading growth, covering large expanses of the
shingly beach with a very striking and beautiful carpet. The pods, a
highly ornamental feature, may occasionally be found almost a foot in
length, and, together with the form of leaf and locality of growth,
effectually distinguish it from the yellow Welsh poppy (_Meconopsis
Cambrica_). The scarlet-horned and the violet-horned poppies, allied
species, are both exceedingly rare in England: the latter, from its
finely-cut leaves and size of the flowers, is well adapted to
art-purposes. The yellow-horned poppy will be found in flower from June
to October. Drawings of it occur in E. B. 66; P. F. 91.
[Illustration: _Ivy._]
IVY (_Hedera helix_). We have already, in speaking of the ground-ivy,
dwelt to a certain extent upon the characteristics of the present plant,
and, from its abundance and conspicuous appearance, any lengthened
descriptive details must be unnecessary, as there can be but few to whom
the ivy is not perfectly familiar. We meet with it upon old buildings,
rocks, and in the woods and hedgerows, running over the surface of the
ground, or covering the trunks and main branches of the trees with its
interlacing stems and masses of rich foliage. Opinions have been very
varied as to whether the luxuriant growth of the ivy is detrimental or
not to the trees which it embraces; for while some have considered that
its presence is a benefit, and particularly in severe winters, others
have held that the compression caused by the long and closely adhering
branches impairs the vigour and stunts the growth of the tree. The
belief that the ivy, like the mistletoe, draws its nourishment from the
tree is now no longer held, as it has been satisfactorily proved that
the so-called rootlets (or, as they are perhaps more expressively termed
by De Candolle, _crampons_) which we see thrown out from the clinging
stems do not drain the sap of the supporting tree, but must be regarded
as a beautiful mechanical contrivance to aid, by their support and
grasp, the ascent of the ivy. We find that these little bodies are
equally developed where masses of rock
[Illustration: _Ivy_.]
have to be scaled, and that the plant thrives with equal vigour where
support is clearly their sole function; and if, on the other hand, the
ivy runs upon the ground, the _crampons_ are not developed, as no such
supporting members are then needed. The ivy is one of the plants
indigenous to Britain, and derives its familiar name from the
Anglo-Saxon _ifig_. Considerable differences of opinion have been held
as to the meaning of the generic name, _Hedera_: the best derivation
appears to us to be that which assigns as its origin the old Celtic word
for rope or cord, _hedra_, as it exactly expresses the characteristic
appearance of the growth. The ivy flowers during October and November, a
time of the year when but few other plants are in blossom; hence it
becomes the favourite resort of various insects, while the berries are
fully ripe by March, and afford a welcome food for the blackbird,
missal-thrush, wood-pigeon, and many others, at a season when, from the
scarcity of other food, they become peculiarly acceptable. The Romans
dedicated the ivy to Bacchus, and in their sculpture he is generally
represented as crowned by an ivy wreath, from an old belief, mentioned
by Pliny and others, that the plant thus worn neutralised the
intoxicating effects of wine. The leaves of the ivy vary very
considerably in form, a feature which the ornamentist will appreciate.
The leaves upon the flowering branches are somewhat egg or heart shaped,
with a very acute point, the more familiar ornamental form of the
five-lobed leaf not being found upon this portion of the plant; hence it
is perhaps scarcely legitimate to employ the berries with the
five-pointed form of leaf, though in the introduction of the plant in
the ornament of the Middle Ages this was entirely disregarded. The ivy
was one of the favourite plants of the mediæval ornamentist. Examples of
its use are very numerous: of these we need mention but a few. We find
the leaves and branches alone introduced, for instance, in wood-carving
in the stalls of the choir of St. Margaret’s Church, Lynn; in stonework,
as a crocket, in the Chapter-house, Wells; as the foliage of one of the
capitals in the choir of Lincoln Cathedral; and in a beautiful example
at the springing of an arch at the Minster, Southwell. We find the
berries introduced with the leaves (in every case the leaf having five
points) in a hollow moulding in the cloisters at Burgos in a
particularly beautiful manner; and in Paris on one of the capitals of
the Sainte Chapelle, and again in a similar position in the chancel of
Notre Dame--the first of these being twelfth-century work, and curious
from the very acute form of leaf employed; the second dating from the
fourteenth century. A very good English example may be seen in a
spandrel in the Chapter-house, Southwell. In ancient art we find the
Egyptians representing Osiris as bearing an ivy-wreathed _thyrsus_; and
upon the Greek and Etruscan vases preserved in the British Museum we
frequently see running bands of ornament which we can have little doubt
are based upon the ivy: in most of the examples the berries are
introduced together with the heart-shaped form of leaf, though in a few
cases a three-pointed or a rounded form of leaf, still distinctly
ivy-like in character, is substituted. Refer to T. N. O. 71; G. O. 93.
Our next illustration is derived from the IVY-LEAVED SPEEDWELL
(_Veronica hederifolia_), a plant of frequent occurrence, but which,
from its weak trailing habit and small size, may very easily be
overlooked. It may generally be met with on hedge-banks, and flowers
freely from March to August with a delicate pale blue bi-symmetrical
blossom. Drawings of the ivy-leaved speedwell will be found in E. B.
970; S. B. 184.
Several of the veronicas are well adapted, from their grace and delicacy
of form, to the purposes of ornamental art, the brooklime (_V.
beccabunga_) and the germander speedwell (_V. chamædrys_) being
especially good. The flowers of all the species are bisymmetrical in
form. The germander speedwell is by some writers supposed to be the true
forget-me-not.
[Illustration: _Ivy-leaved Speedwell._]
The MUSK MALLOW (_Malva moschata_), and the COMMON MALLOW (_M.
sylvestris_), the subjects of our next illustrations, are both common
plants, the musk mallow being frequently met with, and more especially
on gravelly soils, while the common mallow, though rare in Scotland, is
abundant throughout England on all kinds of ground. The flower of the
common mallow is of a pale purplish tint, with the veins of a darker
purple: a very rare variety has been met with, having the flowers of a
pure blue. The leaves are round in general outline, but deeply lobed
into five or seven divisions, and in olden time, before the introduction
of many of our present vegetables into England, were a common article of
diet. This, together with the musk mallow and the marsh mallow (_Althæa
officinalis_), possesses considerable medicinal repute, the whole plant
being mucilaginous and demulcent in character. The roots of the Althæa,
boiled in water, will yield
[Illustration: _Common Mallow._]
[Illustration: _Musk Mallow._]
one half their weight of a glutinous matter, of great value from its
emollient qualities; the leaves and fruit will also yield it, but in a
lesser degree. The virtues of the family have long been recognised.
Pliny held that whosoever should take a little of the extract should
throughout that day be free from all fear of disease. Dioscorides
considered it a sure antidote in cases of poisoning; while Hippocrates
taught that its soothing action especially fitted it as a vulnerary. The
flowers of the musk mallow are very large, and of a pure and delicate
pink, the leaves very deeply divided, a feature distinguishing it from
all the other British species of mallow. Its English name is suggested
by the slight musky smell of the foliage if pressed in the hand. The
_Malvaceæ_ are chiefly tropical plants; about six hundred species are
known, almost all possessing the mucilaginous character of our British
species, many yielding in addition a valuable fibre, and some American
and Asiatic species producing the well-known cotton, a filamentous
substance enveloping the seeds. The hollyhock of our gardens also
belongs to this family. The generic name, _Malva_, is derived from a
Greek word signifying to soften, in allusion to the soothing effect of
the greater number of the genus, while the English name has clearly
descended from the Anglo-Saxon _malu_. Drawings of the common mallow may
be seen in F. L. vol. ii. 51; M. B. 54; P. F. 1; V. W. 393. The musk
mallow will be found in F. L. vol. iv. 50; T. N. O. 23.
[Illustration: _Maple._]
The MAPLE (_Acer campestre_) is generally met with as a small hedgerow
tree throughout England, but it is not common in either Scotland or
Ireland. The wood, though small in section, is often very beautifully
veined, and thus becomes of service for furniture, inlay, &c. The bark
is exceedingly rough, full of deep furrows, and very much resembling
cork in its appearance. The fruit is winged. The specific name,
_campestre_, refers to the localities in which the plant may be found,
the open fields; while the generic name, _Acer_, sharp or hard, in
Celtic _ac_, has been bestowed upon it from the toughness of the wood.
It was extensively used by the ancient Britons in the fabrication of
weapons of war--spikes, spears, and lance handles. The English name
evidently descends from the Saxon _mapul-dre_. We thus in these few
words, _Acer campestre_, the maple, learn where the plant is to be
found; one of its striking features, the hardness of the wood; and also,
from its Saxon name, the fact of its being one of our indigenous shrubs.
This has, from the beautiful forms of the leaves and fruit, been largely
introduced in mediæval work. It occurs, for instance, very beautifully
treated, as one of a series of small spandrels in the stalls of Lincoln
Cathedral, and again in a spandrel in the choir of Winchester. On the
Continent two very beautiful examples of it are seen in hollow mouldings
in the cathedrals of Evreux, and of Notre Dame, Paris. All these
specimens are of the fourteenth century. Drawings of the natural growth
may be seen in T. N. O. 30; P. F. 26; G. O. 94.
KING-CUP, or MARSH MARIGOLD (_Caltha palustris_), a plant by no means
uncommonly met with in marshy ground, water-courses, and such-like
localities. It may frequently be found in tidal streams, growing in such
a position that at high tide it is completely covered; we have thus seen
it by the side of the Thames, flourishing in great vigour and beauty,
and at full tide swaying with the force of the stream at a depth of from
one to two feet from the surface. In such situations the plant grows
with luxuriance, and from the large size and brilliant yellow of its
star-like flowers, the vigorous growth of the rich green foliage, and
the long succulent stems, it becomes a striking feature even in the mass
of bold healthy vegetation so commonly found by the edges of a
water-course: these, therefore, are the characters which, in embodying
the plant in any design, we must endeavour to enforce. We are
unacquainted with any early examples of the use of the marsh marigold,
except in one page of a fifteenth-century illustration. This is the more
curious since the name marigold has reference to its use in the
church-decorations of the Middle Ages, upon those days more especially
devoted to the festivals associated with the Virgin Mary; we should
naturally, therefore, have thought that, thus brought before the
attention, its ornamental features would have been perceived and
permanently embodied in some capital or spandrel. The generic name,
_Caltha_, is derived from a Greek word signifying cup, and expressively
points out a beautiful feature in the form of the flower; while the
specific name, _palustris_, is drawn from the Latin _palus_, a marsh,
and clearly indicates the localities naturally chosen by the plant. The
plant will be found in flower in the spring, remaining for a
considerable time in full bloom, and from its perennial nature will,
when once established in any locality, soon become a permanent addition
to the flora of the district. Representations of the natural growth of
the marsh marigold will be found in E. B. 40; P. F. 54.
The MISTLETOE--Anglo-Saxon, _mistelta_ (_Viscum album_)--is so well
known that it would appear strange that so familiar a plant has been but
little employed in mediæval art, did we not remember that its pagan
associations had placed it under a ban. The only example of its use that
has come under our observation is in one of the spandrels of a tomb in
Bristol Cathedral. The natural growth will be found portrayed in M. B.
270; W. H. H., Plate A, Fig. 3; P. F. 88. The lightness of the plant,
and its association with Christmas, seem features that render a
knowledge of it desirable to the ornamentist. It appears to us a plant
capable of very extensive use in the various developments of decorative
art. We need only mention a few--the backs of playing-cards,
earthenware, muslins, chintzes, wall-papers. Many other uses will, no
doubt, readily suggest themselves to our readers.
[Illustration: _Mistletoe._]
The OAK (_Quercus robur_), while perhaps our best-known indigenous tree,
from its wealth of legendary, religious, and historic associations, has
also been one of the favourite subjects of the ornamentist, being
abundantly found in carving, stencilling, draperies, glass, &c., both in
England and on the Continent,
[Illustration: _Oak._]
throughout the whole range of the Decorated and Perpendicular styles of
Gothic, and the corresponding periods in France, Spain, and Germany, and
also afterwards in the various modifications of the Renaissance. To
refer at any length to the varied associations surrounding it would be
foreign to our present purpose, though its sacred character in the
Druidical rites of the ancient Britons, the importance of its timber for
the purposes of the shipwright and architect, the commercial value of
the bark for use in tanning, leading to the felling of thousands of
trees every year, its use in medicine, the bark being a powerful
astringent, and an infusion from the galls so frequently found upon the
oak being an excellent antidote in cases of poisoning by the tartrate of
antimony, are all points of interest or utility in connection with it.
It has also been one of the favourite trees of the poets--Dryden, Pope,
Cowper, Wordsworth, and many others, having referred to it in their
writings; while to the artist the rugged majesty and vigour of the
branches in winter, the brilliant bronze red of the early spring
foliage, the deep mass of dark green leaves in summer-time, or the fiery
glow it bears when touched by the frosts of advancing winter, render it
at all times a beautiful and striking object in the landscape. The galls
so generally met with upon the leaves of the oak are caused by a small
insect, the _Cynips Quercus-folii_, which, by puncturing the leaf and
laying an egg in the wound, causes a diseased and abnormal growth of the
part: on cutting one of these galls open the grub will generally be
found within. The galls chiefly used in medicine and commerce, though
similar in their origin, are the work of another little insect on a
different and foreign species of oak.
Though the oak is so familiar a tree in our woods and hedgerows, it must
at one time, when England was extensively covered by forests, have been
still more abundant. We are led to this conclusion from the great number
of places whose names, handed down to us from our early history, derive
their force and meaning from this abundance: thus Ockham, in Surrey, is
literally Ocham, the place of oaks, a title which it still well
deserves. Ockley, Acton, Acworth, and many more examples, might be
cited. Superstition, too, with its usual fertility of invention, has not
failed to detect the strange and marvellous in the oak. Of this, did
space permit, and were it not somewhat foreign to our subject, we could
quote many curious instances.
In the works of the ornamentist, to the best of our knowledge, the _Q.
robur_ form of the oak has been exclusively used. To give an extended
list of the places where illustrations of its use in design occur would
be to devote far more space to it than is really needful: as an example
of its use in stonework, we would instance a small, but good capital at
Ely, where one pleasing, natural, and ornamental feature, the empty cup
of the acorn contrasting with the other forms, is very well introduced.
We see this same attention to natural detail in some flowing foliage in
a hollow moulding at Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster: the leaves are so
deeply cut into lobes, and so modified in form, that except for the
presence of the acorns, we should not recognise the foliage as being
that of the oak at all. A very clear and good piece of oak is introduced
in some wood-carvings at the ends of the stalls at Wells Cathedral;
again, in crockets at Exeter, in the Lady Chapel; in a stone boss, St.
Cuthbert’s screen, St. Alban’s Abbey Church; in wooden spandrels at
Winchester, and Northfleet Church, Kent; as a diaper in glass quarries
at Fulbourne and Waterbeach Churches, in Cambridgeshire; and as a
carving at the arch-springing at Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire. On
the Continent, in Burgos Cathedral, we meet with several exceedingly
beautiful carvings of the maple, plane, vine, and many other
plants--among them a square panel filled with oak, and a very graceful
running band of leaves and acorns round the tomb of Don Juan II.; and in
Paris, in the Sainte Chapelle, we also find a hollow moulding filled
with running oak foliage. In the South Kensington Museum many excellent
fragments of wood-carving are preserved, and among these the oak is very
often visible; while in the ceramic collection we frequently see the
borders of the Majolica dishes and plates entirely composed of
interlaced branches of oak. The oak is, in this latter series of
examples, of heraldic significance as the badge of the Dukes of Urbino.
Representations of the natural growth of the oak may be seen in E. B.
1288; M. B. 126; P. F. 9; S. C. 151; G. O. 95; T. N. O. 127.
OX-EYE DAISY (_Chrysanthemum leucanthemum_). The impressions we at once
derive on seeing the natural plant are--first, the size and brilliant
star-like character of the flowers, as we view it growing amidst the
long grass; secondly, the beautiful contrast of form, colour, and light
and shade between the deep yellow, convex central portion and the
brilliant white and concave rays surrounding it; and thirdly, the
comparative smallness and insignificance of the leaves: hence it appears
to us that in any adaptation of the plant to the purposes of the
designer, these are salient points to be observed. We find it growing
very freely in meadows, on the sunny side of railway banks, &c., and,
where found at all, generally in great profusion. During the past
summer, by the side of the river Wey, we came across a plant that had
firmly established itself, and was growing and flowering in full health
and vigour in the crown of a pollard willow tree, about eight feet from
the ground. It is one of the plants regarded by the farmer with dislike,
as it generally indicates great dryness of soil, and,
[Illustration: _Ox-eye Daisy._]
from its abundance and the perennial nature of the root, can scarcely be
dislodged where it has once fairly taken possession. The whole plant
varies from one to two feet in height, blossoming in June and July. The
garden chrysanthemum is a Japanese allied species, considerably modified
by cultivation. It may be seen painted on Japanese plates, screens, &c.
So far as we are aware, the ox-eye seems to have been but little used in
ornamental art, the following examples being the only cases of its
occurrence with which we are acquainted:--On a label termination to one
of the windows in the presbytery, Winchester, where we find the flower
in the centre of the boss very clearly and unmistakably rendered, but
surrounded by the ordinary type of leaf of the Early English Gothic
period; in some twelfth-century glass at Rheims, where it is introduced
as the flower dedicated to St. John, and where, by a poetical symbolism,
all the flowers turn towards our Saviour on the cross, as the Sun of
Righteousness, the true Light of the world; again met with in the
celebrated MS., “The Hours of Anne of Brittany,” now in the
_Bibliothèque du Roi_, Paris. This illumination dates from the close of
the fifteenth century, the flowers introduced being very naturalistic in
character, and with their shadows thrown upon a golden ground--a marked
characteristic of the illumination of that time. It also occurs in a
missal in the Library of the Arsenal, Paris, where, on a golden ground
similar to that last cited, detached flowers are scattered over the
borders--the pea, iris, heartsease, and many others being represented,
and among them the ox-eye daisy. Drawings of the natural plant will be
found in S. B. 158; E. B. 714; P. F. 42.
The CAMPION (_Lychnis diurna_) is another plant well adapted to the need
of the ornamentist, the form of the flower and the sheathing of the stem
by the pairs of leaves being valuable and characteristic ornamental
features. The _Lychnis diurna_ is to be met with in moist hedge-banks,
and more especially those that are shaded by overhanging trees; the
flowers are of a delicate pink, scentless, and opening in the early
morning; differing in all these respects from the _Lychnis vespertina_,
a very similar plant in general appearance, but having the flowers
white, with a slight odour, and opening in the evening. The white
campion has generally a more robust and coarser character of growth than
the pink campion, and appears to delight in more open situations. By
many botanists, however, these two plants are considered as closely
allied, the pink campion being regarded as merely a variety of the
white, and both referred to as the _Lychnis dioica_. The specific names,
_diurna_ and _vespertina_, refer to the times of flowering, the morning
and evening respectively; while the generic name, _Lychnis_, common to
all the species, is derived from the Greek word for lamps, the thick
downy covering on the leaves of the white campion having at one time
been employed in the manufacture of wicks for use in lamps. Refer to F.
L. vol. ii. 32; T. N. O. 69; P. F. 53.
[Illustration: _Campion._]