ZAUSCHNERIA CALIFORNICA. 



ZAUSCHNERIA CALIFORNICA. 



[FROM THE LONDON HORT. MAGAZINE] 



Zauschneria Californica, Presl (Californian Zauschneria.) — Onagracese § Epilobese. 



To the indifferent observer, there is not much resemblance between the Evening Prim- 

 rose and the Fuchsia; and yet, in fact, their structure so closely corresponds, that they 

 are ranged in the same natural family, — 

 that of Onagrace^. The resemblance, it 

 is true, is not so much in outward aspect 

 as in their internal structure, which, if 

 examined, will be found to present many 

 points of accordance. The Zauschneria, 

 however, to some extent, links them to- 

 gether even in outward aspect; the gene- 

 ral habit and appearance of this plant is 

 such as would be readily identified in ge- 

 ral character, by a slightly practiced eye, 

 with some of the forms of (Enothera, and 

 the blossoms are not unlike those of the 

 Fuchsia. 



It will be seen that the number four, or 

 some multiple of four, prevails in the flo- 

 ral parts of all these plants; thus, the 

 calyx has four lobes, whether it be the 

 colored calyx of the Fuchsia, or the green 

 calyx of the Evening Primrose; the pe- 

 tals, also, are four in either case. In some 

 plants the order of the stamens are four, 

 in a few instances half four, and in the 

 Fuchsia, and many others, twice four; 

 the stigma is more often four-lobed, and in one species of Fuchsia these lobes are so appa- 

 rent, that it has in consequence, been named tetradactyla, or four-fingered. Where this 

 kind of structure is present, the plants are said to be tetramerous, from the Greek tetra, 

 which signifies four. Among exogenous plants, this tetramerous structure is not by any 

 means so common as the pentamerous, in which the number five rules in some or all of 

 the floral organs; while, on the other hand, among endogens, the parts are usually arrang- 

 ed by threes. 



This Zauschneria has been for some time known and regarded as a desideratum for our 

 gardens. It has lately been obtained from the California fields, by Mr. Hartweg, the col- 

 lector for the Horticnltural Society of London, and proves to be, as was expected, a plant 

 of considerable beauty, and therefore a very interesting and valuable addition to our col- 

 lections. It is an herbaceous perennial, and quite hardy if planted in a situation where 

 it is not exposed to much damp about the roots in the winter season. Its habit is branch- 

 ing and bushy, and as it grows about three feet high, it forms, from its size, an object of 

 some attraction, e.sipecially as the blossoms are of large size, and very numerously produc- 

 The stems are furnished with ovate leaves, which are slightly toothed on the margin, 

 ttached without any intermediate stalk, or, as it called sessile. These stems become 



