in fabulous history, the son of the river Cephissus and Liriope the daughter of Oceanus, was a youth of great beauty. Tireless foretold that he should live till he saw himself. He despised all the nymphs of the country; and made Echo languish till she became a mere sound, by refusing to return her passion: but one day coming weary and fatigued from the chase, he stopped on the bank of a fountain to quench his thirst: when, seeing his own form in the water, he became so in love with the shadowy image, that he languished till he died. On which the gods, being moved at his death, changed him into the flower which bears his name.

a genus of plants belonging to the hexandria clas; and in the natural method ranking under the 6th order, Spouhaceae. See Botany Index.