d^SXa^; 



164 



ANNUALS, AND TIIKIU llLTIVATloN. 



wec«ls, nn<l tho qronrnl iiiell<^w. When any flower of extraordinary beauty is pro- 

 ihi.cd, it ni:»y W i>rnj):iiratf(l l.y cuttiiii^s, which must be kept in a warm room during 

 the winter, and planted «»ut in the spring. 



GoLi>EN Bakioma — Barlonia aurcu. — The Golden Bartonia was introduced into 



England, from California, in 

 'I the year 18;]o, by the botanist 

 l^^orcLAS. Mr. D. introduced 

 I niaiiy beautiful flowers as tho 

 j result of his botanical tour in 

 /j California, and this is one of 

 \^ the most beautiful of them all. 

 This excellent botanist was 

 killed a few years after, by fall- 

 ing into a pit made to entrap 

 wild cattle, iu the Sandwich 

 Islands. He introduced into 

 England more ornamental an- 

 nuals than any other collector. 

 "It is only beneath the 

 bright sunshine," Dr. Lixdley 

 observes, "that its splendid 

 flowers unfjld. In the early 

 morning tho plant is a shabby 

 bush, with pale greenish-grey 

 branches, and weedy leaves; 

 but as the sun exercises his in- 

 fluence, the petals gradually 

 unroll, as if in acknowledgment 

 of his power, till every branch 

 is radiant with gold : and so metallic is the lustre of the inside of its petals, that one 

 would really think tbey must be composed of something more solid and enduring 

 than the delicate and perishable tissue of a flower." 



The seed should be sown in a sheltered situation, (as the branches are very brittle, 

 and easily broken by the wind,) in a rich, moist soil. 



CoxvoLvuLus. — The Dwarf Convolvulus (^Convolvulus minor) is a beautiful flower, 

 with three distinct colors, blue, yellow, and white ; the blue being of every shade 

 from purple to a delicate azure blue. We have also the white and striped. The 

 species is a native of Spain, Portugal, Sicily, and the north of Africa, and was intro- 

 duced into England from Portugal early in the seventeenth century. Some botanists 

 suppose this species to have been originally only found in Barbary ; but whether 

 introduced or indigenous, it is now a common weed both in Spain and Portugal. 

 The flowers always fold in gloomy weather and at night. The French call it Belle- 



GOLDEN- BAETONIA. 



