G. Petals three, concave. Nectary three; smaller petals notched at the end. Summit undivided.

Only one pair of leaves, blunt, keeled, glaucous, sheathed at the base. Stalk cylindrical, naked, bearing one flower. Sheath cylindrical, often cloven at the edge. Flower on a fruit-stalk, nodding, scentless. Blossom white, with nine semi-transparent streaks on each petal. Nectary white, with green streaks, and a green border on the outside.Withering.

NARCISSUS, nature's hardy child,

"The winds of March with beauty takes;"

But e'er the suns of March have smil'd,

'Mid snowy wreaths Galanthus wakes;

And, waving on the icy gale,

We bid her silvery banner hail.

Uncheck'd by storms, unchill'd by cold, "Wan herald of the coming year," We see her pennon fair unfold,

While yet the skies are dark and drear; And streaming on the wintry gale, We bid her spotless banner hail.

Her hardiest veteran Flora sends,
The green and pensile staff to bear,
And while his ramparts frost defends,
To plant her standard firmly there :
Till, like some shallop's snow-white sail,
It floats upon the icy gale.

Soon, numerous as the countless train,
That wak'd the Persian monarch's tear,
The welcome conquerors of the plain,
Shall Flora's flowery bands appear:
Pledge of her coming, lo! we hail
Her banner waving in the gale.

Come then, thy signal-flag display,

And on the breeze thy streamers fling, Fair as the flowers of sorrow's day,

That in the mourner's pathway spring, To cheer him while the storm prevails, » And bring the hope of milder gales.

Primula vulgaris. Common Primrose.
Pentandria Monogynia.

Blossom tube cylindrical. Mouth open. Stem within the tube. Capsule one-celled, cylindrical, many-seeded, opening with ten teeth. Leaves wrinkled, toothed. Border of the blossom flat.- Withering.

TO AN EARLY PRIMROSE.

KIRKE WHITE.

MILD offspring of a dark and sullen sire!
Whose modest form, so delicately fine,
Was nursed in whirling storms,

And cradled in the winds.

Thee, when young Spring first question'd winter's sway, And dared the sturdy blusterer to the fight;

Thee on this bank he threw,

To mark his victory.

In this low vale, the promise of the year,
Serene, thou openest to the nipping gale,
Unnoticed and alone,

Thy tender elegance.

So virtue blooms, brought forth amid the storms
Of chill adversity, in some lone walk

Of life she rears her head,

Obscure and unobserved;