3IO COMiMELINACEiE. 



seen outside botanic gardens in this country. They are easily 

 propagated by division and by seed, which should be sown as 

 soon as it is ripe ; or if to be transported from their habitats in 

 America, it should be bottled in water. It is best sown in 

 pots — small ones — which may be dropped either to the bottom 

 of the water in the position they are intended to occupy, or in- 

 to any tank in a stove or greenhouse, to facilitate germination, 

 afterwards to be transferred to their permanent quarters. 

 Division may take place in autumn, winter, or spring. Water 

 from 1 8 inches to 3 feet deep is the depth they like best. 



P. angustifolia {Nai-row-leaved P.) — This species produces 

 narrow lance-shaped leaves, with a cordate base, and bluntish- 

 pointed. The stalks clasp the stem, which varies in length 

 according to the depth of the water. The flowers are small 

 bright blue, in close spikes, and appear in summer and 

 autumn. 



P. cordata {^Heart-shaped-leaved P.) — This species is very 

 similiar to the last, but is larger in all its parts. The leaves 

 are oblong, heart-shaped, or nearly arrow-shaped at the base, 

 and the flowers are larger than, but about the same colour as, 

 the last, and appear about the same time. 



COMMELINACE^. 



This is a peculiar and interesting group of plants, some of 

 which are very ornamental. The family abounds most in 

 tropical or warm regions, and furnishes only a few species of 

 Tradesca?itia and Cominelijia that are capable of enduring our 

 climate. As the hardy species in both genera are all very 

 much alike in colour, blue being the prevailing tint, and as 

 there is no great diversity of habit or other characters, a limited 

 selection from each will suflice. 



Commelina coelestis {Sky-blue C.) — A very pretty, free, and 

 continuous -blooming plant from South America. It forms 

 dense masses of much-branching stems, clothed with lively 

 green leaves, oblong lanced-shaped, and sheathing the stems 

 with their stalks. The corolla is composed of three oval bright 

 azure petals, and the filaments are furnished with glands. 

 There is a beautiful pure-white-flowered variety named C. c. 

 alba^ and both produce masses about 18 inches high, more or 

 less profusely covered with blossoms from -early summer till 

 frost cuts them ofl". It delights in light, sandy, rich, well-drained 



