FLOWERS. Sif 
CHAP THR: PE. 
THE AMERICAN ALOE—THE PASSION FLOWER — ORCHIDS— 
TRUMPET FLOWER—MORNING GLORY—THE ROSE—BLACK- 
BERRY — DAISY — COMPOUND FLOWERS. 
F all the forms in which flowers 
appear, there is perhaps none more 
wonderful than that of the Aloe. Its 
peculiar habits, and its gigantic 
dimensions, may well entitle it to 
the name of king of flowers. 
It is commonly known by the name of 
© <The Century Plant,” from the fact that it 
was formerly supposed to bloom only once in 
a hundred years. This is, however, an error 
which time has corrected, as many specimens 
have been known to flower in conservatories in much 
shorter periods; and it is probable that in its native 
climate it occurs at an early age. In the United States 
the Aloe is probably the best known, and most fre- 
quently kept as an ornament to our hot-houses. It is 
a native of tropical America, where it is a plant of 
great utility to the Indians. 
The singular fact that it blooms but once, and that 
its existence terminates with the decay of its flowers, 
has rendered it particularly interesting; and as the 
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