gree of cold in winter; for at Shanghae, during the summer 
months, the thermometer ranges from 100° to 110°, and falls in 
winter sometimes as low as 13°; a degree of cold not much less 
than that of many of our winters. This being the first year of 
its general cultivation here, it is, as might be expected, praised 
by some and called “ worthless” by others; which no doubt 
arises from the different conditions and local influences under 
which the plants have been placed by cultivators. ‘These condi- 
tions, probably, all differ more or less from those which cause it 
to become an ornamental plant in its native country, and are 
such as we cannot well supply, especially the principal element, 
viz., solar heat of a longer duration and a greater degree than our 
climate affords. With respect to the degree of cold it will bear, 
we have observed that it is injured by a few degrees of frost. 
Although it may live in the open ground in moderate winters, in 
the character of an herbaceous perennial, yet our protracted cold 
weather in spring will retard its growth, and thus, with a defi- 
ciency of heat in summer, it will make but little progress. With 
such views we consider it best to treat it as a tender plant, 
keeping it under protection during winter. If intended for the 
flower-border, the young plants should be placed in a warm pit 
or frame early in the spring, so as to have them in a forward 
state by the end of May; if rfjuired for an ornamental plant in 
the greenhouse, it may be potted in a mixture of peat-soil and 
vegetable mould, mixed with siftings of lime-rubbish, the pot 
bemg well drained, so that any excess of water will pass off 
freely. J. 8S. : 
Fig. 1. Pistil, with the base of the stamens. 2. Ovary. 38. Flower :— 
magnified, 
