favorable to its growth : for, though a moist atmosphere sin- 

 gularly favors the rapid growth of this plant, yet, dry as 

 was the summer of last year, in my own private garden, it 

 came to great perfection. And this summer, there is a most 

 abundant crop of self-sown plants, which only require to be 

 thinned out, and thus an annual supply may without diffi- 

 culty be kept up. In the earlier stage of the plant, its 

 coarse dark foliage is very unpromising ; but when the 

 copious flowers come to perfection, it will be seen that few 

 annuals are better worthy of a place in every good-sized 

 flower garden. The flowers are in the greatest perfection 

 in autumn. 



Descr. An annual plant, six to ten or twelve feet high, 

 with a very thick somewhat hollow stem, and copious 

 branches and foliage. Leaves three to five inches long, 

 ovate, or between ovate and lanceolate, sharply serrated, 

 the serratures at the base glandular, and decurrent upon 

 the petiole. Stipules clothed with thick, glaudular hairs. 

 The peduncles, with their three or more flowers, are so 

 copious towards the top of the plant from the axils of the 

 leaves, that they may be said to form a large, leafy panicle. 

 Flowers large, dark purple, succeeded by the seed-vessels 

 of the same hue, which, when ripe, or nearly so, burst on 

 the slightest touch with a remarkably elastic force, and 

 disperse the seed far and wide. 



Fig. 1. Ripe Seed-vessel: — nat. size. 



