ZAUCHNERIA CALIFORNICA. 89 
all at the top of the bundle, because the stalks and roots are thicker 
than the flowers. These bundles, consisting each of ten fasciculi, may 
be covered by pieces of pasteboard tied by strings. The collection is 
kept on the shelves of a cabinet, or in a chest. To prevent the attacks 
of insects, it is necessary to keep beside it a piece of sponge soaked full 
of rectified oil of turpentine; and to ensure it against decay from 
damp, it ought to be kept in a dry and well ventilated place. 
The above is an orderly method of forming a herbarium; but many 
other expedients are resorted to. Most plants dry sufficiently well 
between the leaves of old books, and many collectors save themselves 
the trouble of forming a neat collection, by huddling up their specimens 
in the least expensive or laborious manner. 
Another method of putting up dried plants is the following :—The 
specimens are fastened to leaves of stout paper of uniform size; the 
species are then arranged in order, and all those of the same genus are 
placed within one or more sheets of paper, on the outside of which the 
generic name is written. The generic fasciculi are then collected into 
bundles, on which are written the names of the classes and orders. 
Some persons keep their specimens loose, within sheets of paper. This 
method is the most convenient for the minute examination of the plants, 
but has disadvantages which render it inexpedient in ordinary cases. 
ZAUCHNERIA CALIFORNICA. 
No plant can be more desirable for general cultivation in the flower 
garden than that, which is perfectly hardy, and continues in bloom 
constantly during summer and autumn, without the trouble even of a 
Verbena, which requires winter protection. 
It was first discovered by the late Mr. Menzies, during the latter 
part of the last century, who reported it to be a plant of extraor- 
dinary beauty, with brilliant scarlet flowers, resembling those of an 
old Fuchsia coccinea, but in an upright position. When the Horti- 
cultural Society sent Mr. Hartweg to California, he was instructed to 
seek out this plant, which he found on the mountains of Santa Cruz, 
beginning to flower in June, but afterwards on the outskirts of woods 
and open dry places, blooming from June to November, during which 
time scarcely a drop of rain falls. The summer heat, however, of 
Monterey is seldom more than from 62 to 65 degrees during the day- 
time ; and the rainy season commences in November, and continues 
for several days without ceasing, and finally terminates in March; 
shortly afterwards the prairies teem with floral beauty, and immense 
fields of such plants as Escholtzia, Collinsia, Nemophila, Leptosiphons, 
&c., appear in full bloom; but as the dry weather sets in soon after- 
wards, all soon becomes a dry barren waste, and only trees and shrubs 
remain green, except a few herbaceous ones in moist places, but the 
Zauchneria flowers in the greatest perfection. It grows freely in this 
country in any soil or situation in which a Verbena will grow, and is 
easily increased by the young shoots in spring or summer. It blooms 
from June to the end of the season. Seeds are freely produced too, 
and if they are sown and treated as half-hardy annuals are, the plants 
Vou. xvir. No. 28.—N.S. I 
