82. For consider a little what each of those five tribes* has been to
the spirit of man. First, in their nobleness, the lilies gave the lily
of the Annunciation; the asphodels, the flower of the Elysian fields; the
irids, the fleur-de-lys of chivalry; and the amaryllids, Christ's lily of
the field; while the rush, trodden always under foot, became the emblem
of humility. Then take each of the tribes, and consider the extent of
their lower influence. Perdita's "The crown imperial, lilies of all
kinds," are the first tribe, which, giving the type of perfect purity in
the Madonna's lily, have, by their lovely form, influenced the entire
decorative design of Italian sacred art; while ornament design of war was
continually enriched by the curves of the triple petals of the Florentine
"giglio," and French fleur-de-lys; so that it is impossible to count
their influence for good in the middle ages, partly as a symbol of
womanly character, and partly of the utmost brightness and refinement of
chivalry in the city which was the flower of cities.


* Take this rough distinction of the four tribes: lilies, superior ovary,
white seeds; asphodels, superior ovary, black seeds; irids, inferior
ovary, style (typically) rising into central crest; amaryllids, inferior
ovary, stamens (typically) joined in central cup. Then the rushes are a
dark group, through which they stoop to the grasses.


Afterwards, the group of the turban-lilies, or tulips, did some mischief
(their splendid stains having made them the favorite caprice of
florists); but they may be pardoned all such guilt for the pleasure they
have given in cottage gardens, and are yet to give, when lowly life may
again be possible among us; and the crimson bars of the tulips in their
trim beds, with their likeness in crimson bars of morning above them, and