MAETYNIA FRAGEANS. 41 



somewhat sheltered situation; and its habit being succulent, it will be further 

 desirable to support it by a neat stick. The fragrant flowers are produced for two 

 months in succession, generally from the end of June to the end of August, or even 

 later. 



According to a statement of Mr. "Weaver, of "Winchester College, in the Cottage 

 Gardener, the seed will vegetate in the open ground ; and as a considerable amount 

 of trouble would be thus saved, the experiment is well worthy of trial. "We 

 fancy that it would, in this case, be better sown in pots of earth than in the open 

 ground, as the seed might then be put in at a very early period, and be kept from 

 frost in a cold frame, or even on a window. If the seeds were not sown in the 

 borders until April, the plant would hardly be able to ripen its capsules before 

 the setting in of the autumnal frosts. 



The flowers merit an examination not only for their beauty, but also for their 

 interesting structure ; and, indeed, what plant exists from which some pleasurable 

 instruction may not be gained ? The blossoms, which are terminal and axillary, 

 are furnished each with two bracts, or leafy appendages, situated immediately 

 beneath the true calyx, this latter being divided at its border into five nearly equal 

 segments. "Within the inflated throat of the corolla will be found four stamens, in 

 two pairs, of which one is longer than the other, and also the rudiment of a fifth 

 stamen ; the two cells of the anthers are united by a connective, which is prolonged 

 beyond the cells, and terminated by a gland, the use of which it is impossible to 

 conjecture. The large black seeds are enclosed in a capsule with a hooked beak, 

 which opens when mature by two valves. 



The genus includes six other known species, in addition to fragrans now figured ; 

 Craniolaria, with spotted white flowers; proboscidea, light blue; longiflora, pale 

 purple ; diandra, red ; lutea, yellow ; and angular is, a recent introduction ; all 

 annuals, and, with the exception of longiflora, which is from the Cape of Good Hope, 

 all natives of tropical America. 



The section Pedaliece of the Bignoniacem in which the genus Martynia, with 

 several others, is included, is by some botanists regarded as a distinct order ; but by 

 Lindley, than whom we can scarcely have a safer guide, the differences between tbe 

 true Bignoniads and the Pedaliese, are not considered sufficiently important to 

 justify this separation, the chief distinctions being in the herbaceous character and 

 wingless seeds of the latter. 



The Bignoniacece are remarkable, in general, for the great beauty of their flowers ; 

 but the order being almost exclusively tropical, only a few of the shrubby and 

 arborescent genera will endure the open air in our climate. Among these are the 

 noble Catalpa, with its fine foliage, and large erect racemes of spotted white 

 flowers ; the two allied genera, Eccrcmocarpus and Calampelis, the species of which 

 are often mistaken for each other; and the well known orange Trumpet-flower, 



