WILD, OR NATIVE FLOWERS. 69 



Evening Primrose — CEnothera biennis (L.) var. grandiflora, (Lindl.) 



" A tuft of Evening Primroses 



O'er which the mind might hover till it closes, 

 But that it's ever startled by the leap 

 Of buds into ripe flowers. "—Keats. 



In common with the Northern and Eastern States, Canada owns 

 many native flowers of this fine family. Our largest variety of (E. biennis 

 is deliciously fragrant, with large showy flowers of a deep sulphur colour 

 — of all the shades of yellow the most beautiful and satisfying to the 

 eye — so full, so soft, and delicate is the hue. Some species of the 

 Evening Primrose, true to their descriptive name, only open their 

 blossoms at sun-set ; others bloom during the day-time and endure the 

 light and heat of a July or August sun. Some, as our variety grandiflora^ 

 are from three to four feet high, with stout branching stems and many- 

 flowered spikes ; others are low in stature, with rough hoary leaves and 

 smaller flowers. CE. pitmila, a dwarf species, about six inches in height, 

 has small flowers of pale colour and of little floral beauty. ffi". biennis 

 (L.) var. ?niiricata, (Gray), which is common in open fields and plains, 

 is a large branching species with smooth, red-veined leaves, a red bristly 

 stem, and smaller flowers than grandiflora. It is less fragrant but is a 

 handsome species, and continues flowering all through the summer, till 

 cut off by early frosts. But by far the finest and most interesting of our 

 Evening Primroses is the large flowered, fragrant, grandiflora under 

 consideration : no sooner has the sun set, than one after another may 

 be heard, in quick succession — the bursting of the closely shut sepals 

 of the calyx. One by one the petals begin to unfold — slowly, slowly, you 

 notice a slight movement in the corolla : first one petal is loosened from 

 Its plaited folds, then another, till in a few seconds the whole flower 

 expands and opens its beautiful deep sulphur-coloured cup with its eight 

 stamens and yellow anthers, giving out its delightful scent upon the 

 dewy air. What an object of interest is this flower to children as they 

 gaze with watching, wondering, eyes, upon its fair unfolding flowers. 

 One little fellow, almost a baby, cried out, " Oh look ! it's waking now," 

 ■when he saw the first pure petal softly rolled back as the blossom com ■ 

 menced opening. The diagonal lines which cross the surface of the 

 flower are caused by its twisted aestivation, or folding in the bud, and 

 this gives it a crimped appearance, which is singularly pretty as well as 

 curious. It has been stated that a flash of phosphorescent light has been 

 noticed at the instant the flower opens, but I think a tiny flash of such 

 pale light would hardly be perceptible during the daylight; besides, the 

 petals unclose gradually ; the only sudden motion is the unclasping of 

 the enfolding calyx leaves which emprison the corolla. Nevertheless 



