as, which in so many of the
ancient Hindu hymns is depicted as the symbol of power and majesty. [3]
The aroka, or _Saraca indica_, is said to preserve chastity, and is
dedicated to Kama, the Indian god of love, while with the negroes of
Senegambia the baobab-tree is an object of worship. In Borneo the
nipa-palm is held in veneration, and the Mexican Indians have their
moriche-palm (_Mauritia flexuosa_). The _Tamarindus Indica_ is in Ceylon
dedicated to Siva, the god of destruction; and in Thibet, the jambu or
rose-apple is believed to be the representative of the divine
amarita-tree which bears ambrosia.

The pomegranate, with its mystic origin and early sacred associations,
was long reverenced by the Persians and Jews, an old tradition having
identified it as the forbidden fruit given by Eve to Adam. Again, as a
sacred plant the basil has from time immemorial been held in high repute
by the Hindus, having been sacred to Vishnu. Indeed it is worshipped as
a deity itself, and is invoked as the goddess Tulasi for the protection
of the human frame. It is further said that "the heart of Vishnu, the
husband of the Tulasi, is agitated and tormented whenever the least
sprig is broken of a plant of Tulasi, his wife."

Among further flowers holding a sacred character may be mentioned the
henna, the Egyptian privet (_Lawsonia alba_), the flower of paradise,
which was pronounced by Mahomet as "chief of the flowers of this world
and the next," the wormwood having been dedicated to the goddess Iris.
By the aborigines of the Canary Islands, the dragon-tree (_Dracoena
draco_) of Orotava was an object of sacred reverence; [4] and in Burmah
at the present day the eugenia is held sacred. [5]

It has been remarked that the life of Christ may be said to fling its
shadow over the whole vegetable world. [6] "From this time the trees and
the flowers which had been associated with heathen rites and deities,
began to be connected with holier names, and not unfrequently with the
events of the crucifixion itself."

Thus, upon the Virgin Mary a wealth of flowers was lavished, all white
ones, having been "considered typical of her purity and holiness, and
consecrated to her festivals." [7] Indeed, not only, "were the finer
flowers wrested from the classic Juno and Diana, and from the Freyja and
Bertha of northern lands given to her, but lovely buds of every hue were
laid upon her shrines." [8] One species, for instance, of the
maiden-hair fern,