(EXOTHJSKA SPECIOSA. 97 



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(ENOTHEHA SPECIOSA. 



Showy Evening Primrose. 

 Linnean Class— Octandkia. Order— Monogtnia. Natural Order — Onagraceje. 



In the list of hardy perennials whose merits entitle them to a place in every 

 garden, few deserve to occupy a more prominent position than the perennial 

 species of the genus Oenothera. Their flowers are, it is true, individually short- 

 lived, hut for this disadvantage there is ample compensation in their long 

 succession, as well as in the hardiness, showy character, and easy culture of most 

 of the species, nor must we forget the pleasant fragrance emitted in the evening 

 by their blossoms. 



In our previous volume several of the most desirable members of the genus 

 were noticed under the head of Oenothera prostrata ; and of one of the species 

 then referred to we now give a figure, which, although very inadequate from its 

 reduced dimensions to convey a correct idea of the beauty of the plant when 

 in flower, will yet serve, aided by a few remarks, to bring its merits more 

 effectively before the reader than any mere description. 



The CE. speciosa may, without the slightest reserve, be termed perfectly hardy ; 

 if any evidence of this were required, it would be found in the fact that it not only 

 out-lived, unprotected, the very unfavourable winter and spring of 1853, but 

 does not appear to have suffered the least injury. There are soils in which it 

 will not flourish, and in these it is just possible that it would not resist long or 

 severe frosts ; but wherever it thrives in summer, we have no doubt that it will 

 endure in winter any amount of cold we are likely to experience in these 

 latitudes. 



Its habit is quite erect, the stem at the base being somewhat shrubby; in 

 ■ favourable soil, such as a mixture of peat and light loam, which it prefers, it will 

 grow nearly three feet high, but does not generally exceed two feet, and in dry 

 soils and seasons may be even less. The stem, and also the foliage, in a less 

 degree is covered with a short white pubescence. The leaves are lanceolate, blunt, 

 more or less toothed, and near the base they are rather deeply cut ; the upper 

 surface is often spotted here and there with brown. The flowers are produced at 

 the extremities of the shoots, both terminal and lateral, in drooping racemes 

 composed of a considerable number of buds, which are developed in succession. 

 The calyx tube, which in several of tho species forms so conspicuous an object, 

 is in this plant very short. When first expanded the fiower is pure white, with 

 a clear yellow eye, and, unlike those of most of tho genus, they are usually 

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