But it is unnecessary to give further instances of such familiar stories, of which early history is full.  At the same time it is noteworthy that many of these plants which acquired a sanctity from heathen mythology still retain their sacred character—­a fact which has invested them with various superstitions, in addition to having caused them to be selected for ceremonial usage and homage in modern times.  Thus the pine, with its mythical origin and heathen associations, is an important tree on the Continent, being surrounded with a host of legends, most of which, in one shape or another, are relics of early forms of belief.  The sacred character of the oak still survives in modern folk-lore, and a host of flowers which grace our fields and hedges have sacred associations from their connection with the heathen gods of old.  Thus the anemone, poppy, and violet were dedicated to Venus; and to Diana “all flowers growing in untrodden dells and shady nooks, uncontaminated by the tread of man, more especially belonged.”  The narcissus and maidenhair were sacred to Proserpina, and the willow to Ceres.  The pink is Jove’s flower, and of the flowers assigned to Juno may be mentioned the lily, crocus, and asphodel.

Passing on to other countries, we find among the plants most conspicuous for their sacred character the well-known lotus of the East (Nelunibium speciosum), around which so many traditions and mythological legends have clustered.  According to a Hindu legend, from its blossom Brahma came forth:—­

  “A form Cerulean fluttered o’er the deep;
  Brightest of beings, greatest of the great,
    Who, not as mortals steep
    Their eyes in dewy sleep,
  But heavenly pensive on the lotus lay,
  That blossom’d at his touch, and shed a golden ray. 
    Hail, primal blossom! hail, empyreal gem,
  Kemel, or Pedma, [1] or whate’er high name
  Delight thee, say.  What four-formed godhead came,
    With graceful stole and beamy diadem,
    Forth from thy verdant stem.” [2]

Buddha, too, whose symbol is the lotus, is said to have first appeared floating on this mystic flower, and, indeed, it would seem that many of the Eastern deities were fond of resting on its leaves; while in China, the god Pazza is generally represented as occupying this position.  Hence the lotus has long been an object of worship, and as a sacred plant holds a most distinguished place, for it is the flower of the,

 “Old Hindu mythologies, wherein
  The lotus, attribute of Ganga—­embling
  The world’s great reproductive power—­was held
  In veneration.”

We may mention here that the lotus, known also as the sacred bean of Egypt, and the rose-lily of the Nile, as far back as four thousand years ago was held in high sanctity by the Egyptian priests, still retaining its sacred character in China, Japan, and Asiatic Russia.

Another famous sacred plant is the soma or moon-plant of India, the Asclepias acida, a climbing plant with milky juice, which Windischmann has identified with the “tree of life which grew in paradise.”  Its milk juice was said to confer immortality, the plant itself never decaying; and in a hymn in the Rig Veda the soma sacrifice is thus described:—­