FLOWERS. 45 
ing heat, than the flower thereof falleth, and the grace 
of the fashion of it perisheth.” 
The common sweet potato is a species of Convol- 
vulus, and was originally brought from South Ame- 
rica. Its blossoms are bright purple, but are so 
hidden beneath the leaves, as to attract but little 
attention. 
Most varieties of Convolvulus, or Ipomzea, are an- 
nuals, and are grown from seed, but there are some 
whose roots are perennial, and in their native climates 
they are constantly clothed with verdure. One of 
these, which, in this latitude, requires the protection 
of the green-house during the winter, extends its 
branches to a great length, sometimes forty feet in 
one season, and over four hundred flowers have been 
counted at one time upon a single vine, each flower 
being four inches in diameter. 
But foremost among the flowers of the garden 
stands the rose, a general favorite on account of its 
softand delicate colorings, and its delightful fragrance. 
The rose was undoubtedly well known, and its 
qualities appreciated, at a very early period. In the 
Scriptures, it is alluded to, where the idea of great 
beauty and excellence is intended to be conveyed. 
Solomon, in Canticles, speaks of the “Rose of Sha- 
ron;” and the prophet Isaiah, in ch. xxxv. 1, thus 
inakes use of it in a beautiful comparison: “The 
wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for 
them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the 
rose.” 
We are greatly indebted to cultivation for the per- 
