SOMETHING NEW. 151 



the seed of a rare Mexican plant. Five dollars a 

 package has been paid by unsuspecting amateurs 

 for these " truly wonderful " beans. 



Cocatel, or Lily of Mexico. Under this name a 

 thriving trade was conducted for a while by some 

 New York sharpers about 1878. The Cocatel was 

 described as a rare plant of unrivaled beauty, and 

 the seeds were sold at three for a dollar. They 

 proved to be those of the common okra or gumbo 

 of the gardens. 



Blue Roses. For several years a number of 

 Frenchmen, with headquarters in New York, were 

 engaged in selling various horticultural novelties, 

 such as asparagus which could be cut in ninety 

 days from seed, strawberries which grew upon 

 bushes, and other equally impossible vegetable 

 wonders. Among them were roses of an unheard- 

 of size and fragrance, including the " blue rose," 

 which gardeners have long sought for but never 

 found. 



American Velvet Plant. Under this name the 

 seed of our common mullein was at one time sold in 

 England, in large quantities, as a rare ornamental 

 plant. Of course the trick was soon exposed and 

 its sale generally discontinued, although the plant 

 still continued to be grown occasionally as a 

 curiosity. The seeds of sorrel have also been sold 



