The tea-tree in China, from its marked effect on the human constitution, has long been an agent of superstition, and been associated with the following legend, quoted by Schleiden.  It seems that a devout and pious hermit having, much against his will, been overtaken by sleep in the course of his watchings and prayers, so that his eyelids had closed, tore them from his eyes and threw them on the ground in holy wrath.  But his act did not escape the notice of a certain god, who caused a tea-shrub to spring out from them, the leaves of which exhibit, “the form of an eyelid bordered with lashes, and possess the gift of hindering sleep.”  Sir George Temple, in his “Excursions in the Mediterranean,” mentions a legend relative to the origin of the geranium.  It is said that the prophet Mohammed having one day washed his shirt, threw it upon a mallow plant to dry; but when it was afterwards taken away, its sacred contact with the mallow was found to have changed the plant into a fine geranium, which now for the first time came into existence.

Footnotes: 

1.  “Plant-Lore Legends and Lyrics.”

2.  Folkard’s “Plant Lore Legends and Lyrics,” p. 430.

3.  “Sacred Trees and Flowers,” Quarterly Review, cxiv. 239.

CHAPTER XXIII.

MYSTIC PLANTS.

The mystic character and history of certain plants meet us in every age and country.  The gradual evolution of these curious plants of belief must, no doubt, partly be ascribed to their mythical origin, and in many cases to their sacred associations; while, in some instances, it is not surprising that, “any plant which produced a marked effect upon the human constitution should become an object of superstition.” [1] A further reason why sundry plants acquired a mystic notoriety was their peculiar manner of growth, which, through not being understood by early botanists, caused them to be invested with mystery.  Hence a variety of combinations have produced those mystic properties of trees and flowers which have inspired them with such superstitious veneration in our own and other countries.  According to Mr. Conway, the apple, of all fruits, seems to have had the widest and most mystical history.  Thus, “Aphrodite bears it in her hand as well as Eve; the serpent guards it, the dragon watches it.  It is the healing fruit of the Arabian tribes.  Azrael, the Angel of Death, accomplishes his mission by holding it to the nostrils, and in the prose Edda it is written, ’Iduna keeps in a box apples which the gods, when they feel old age approaching, have only to taste to become young again.’” Indeed, the legendary mythical lore connected with the apple is most extensive, a circumstance which fully explains its mystic character.  Further, as Mr. Folkard points out,[2] in the popular tales of all countries the apple is represented as the principal magical fruit, in support of which he