2 COLLINSIA MULTICOLOR. 



teeth; the vipper ones quite abortive. The flowers are on rather long pedicels, 

 which, as well as the calyx, are almost free from glands. The segments of the 

 calyx are very narrow, shorter than the corolla, and three -ribbed. The lower 

 lip of the corolla is lilac, but the pouch-like cavity of the middle lobe is crimson, 

 though externally this tint is hardly visible. The upper lip of the flower is also lilac, 

 but with a large quadrangular white spot in the centre, speckled with bright 

 rosy purple. 



The pouch dike cavity of the lower lip is an interesting feature in the Collinsias, 

 and distinguishes them from the Bartsias and Euphrasias, to which they are 

 allied. "Within this cavity lie concealed the stamens and style ; when irritated by 

 heat, it is said, in some of the species, to open occasionally for an instant. 



The cultivation of the Collinsia multicolor is, as may be inferred, of the easiest 

 description. It is only necessary to sow the seed thinly, in patches, in the open 

 border where the plants are to bloom ; and this may be done any time between the 

 beginning of March and the end of April. As the seeds are comparatively small, 

 they must not be too thickly covered with earth, especially if of a heavy, adhesive 

 nature. In soils of this character, it is a good plan to cover the seed with a little 

 pulverized sandy loam. 



The very unfavom-able springs of the last few years have, however, rendered 

 autumn sowing more than ever desirable ; most of the hardy annuals, such as the 

 Clarkias, Collinsias, Leptosiphons, Godctias, Limnanthes, and others, if sown in 

 September in poor thin soil, will stand the winter, make finer plants, and flower 

 much earlier than any sown in spring. .For this purpose, a small patch of reserve 

 ground is necessary, and the poorer and drier it is the better, because in soil of this 

 description the growth of the plants will not be so luxuriant, and they -will be less 

 liable to receive injury from severe frosts. In any case, they will need in hard 

 weather the protection of a few bushes, and in spring they may be transferred in 

 patches to the richer soil of the beds or borders. To many cultivators, however, 

 spring sowing may be more convenient, and in favourable seasons the results are 

 nearly as satisfactory, though the flowers arc necessarily produced at a later period. 

 Many of the failures with annual seeds are due, we believe, to their being sown at 

 too great a depth ; and in other cases, to the sharp frosts which often occur during 

 their germination, and which effectually arrest all further growth. In most 

 instances, a few furze bushes over each patch would be sufficient to obviate this 

 cause of failure, and every garden should have a supply of this very useful protector. 

 The bushes must, however, be removed as soon as the growing plants are an inch 

 or two high, or their growth will be weak ; and at that stage of their progress there 

 is little or nothing to be feared from frost. 



Besides the C. bicolor, that most generally met with, there are several very pretty 

 species deserving cultivation. One of these, the C. verm, we desire especially to 



