AURICULA* 203 



The art of floriculture has been so happily be- 

 stowed upon the Auricula aa to render it one of the 



flowers of highest esteem ; and it is deservedly 

 admired for its rich velvet corollas, some of which 

 are of the darkest purple, others of a fine blue, 

 bright yellow, delicate lilac, olive brown, pure white, 

 variegated, bordered or mottled as variously as the 

 Tulip ; and as it is a flower often exhibited for 

 prizes at Auricula-shows, we shall give what is now 

 considered as the criterion of a perfect and fine 

 flower of this kind. 



" The stem must be erect and strong, and of a 

 height to carry the bunch of flowers above the 

 foliage of the plant. The peduncles, or foot-stalks, 

 of the flowers, should also be strong and elastic, 

 and of a proportionable length to the size and 

 quantity of pips, which should not be less than 

 seven in number, that the bunch may be rather 

 round, close, and compact. The component parts 

 of the pip are the tube, (with its stamens and an- 

 thers,) the eye, and the exterior circle, containing 

 the ground colour, with its marginal edge : these 

 three should be all well proportioned, which they 

 are when the diameter of the tube be one part, the 

 eye three, and the whole pip six, or nearly so. All 

 the connoisseurs of the Auricula agree that the pips 

 should be round, but this seldom happens ; and if 

 they be so nearly round as not to deserve the ap- 



