TAGE'TES PAT'ULA. 



FRENCH MARYOOLD. 

 Class. Order. 



SVNGENESIA. POLYGAMIA SDPBRFLDA. 



Natural Order. 



CORYMBIFER*. 



No. 56. 



Apuleius, a celebrated platonic philosopher of 

 the second century, is said to have used this term ; 

 its derivation must therefore be doubtful. De Theis 

 has derived it from Tages, an Etruscan deity, 

 grandson of Jupiter and teacher of divination. 

 Patula, from the Latin> spreading. 



Why this plant is called French Marygold is now 

 somewhat difficult to determine ; but it is more than 

 probable that it received this appellation in conse- 

 quence of its seed having been first imported to this 

 country from France* 



Its cultivation is so generally known, that nothing 

 need be said respecting it ; except to warn our 

 readers against a formidable enemy to the young 

 plants. If they be much eaten, a single exami* 

 nation, late at night, with the assistance of a light, 

 will show the depredators to be young earwigs, 

 (Forficula auricularia) . Woollen cloth, loosely 

 folded ; hollow bean stalks ; or two small boards, 

 placed upon each other, with one edge of the upper 

 one raised sufficiently to admit their creeping be- 

 tween them, will form useful traps, and the insects 

 may be destroyed every morning. 

 Hort. Kew. 2, v. 5, SB. 



