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 lychnis2087 the flower of Jove, and another kind of lily,2088 as also the tiphyon2089 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 orsinum2094—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 thorn2095 even for making chaplets; the tender shoots, too, of the white thorn are sometimes preserved as a choice morsel2096 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 cyanus2097 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.”