284 BKECK'S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



the Gentian Family. A very pretty flowering annual 

 from California, one foot high. The plant produces a 

 profusion of showy flowers, of a fine golden-yellow color. 

 Each bloom about two and one-half inches across. It de- 

 lights in a sheltered sunny situation, and, if grown in a 

 rich light soil, will bloom profusely. The plant requires 

 to be raised as a frame annual, and to be planted in the 

 border in June. 



MERTENSIA. SMOOTH LUNGWORT. 



[Named for a German botanist, Prof. Mertens.l 



VirgSnica, Virginian Cowslip or Lung- 

 wort. An indigenous, hardy perennial, which occurs 

 pretty commonly in the shady woods of Pennsylvania, 

 and most of the southern and western States. Its flow- 

 ers, which appear early in May, look like so many small, 

 bright blue, pendulous funnels, each springing out of a 

 prismatic, pentagonal, five-tooth calyx ; flower-stems from 

 one to one and one-half foot high. After flowering, the 

 plant to appearance dies, and it is not seen until the fol- 

 lowing spring. This is one of the most elegant orna- 

 ments of the flower-garden in May. It is propagated by 

 divisions of the roots, which are thick, fleshy, or tuberous. 

 M. maritima and M. Sibirica, are elegant perennials, 

 greatly resembliug each other and considered by some as 

 only varieties. They are among the most elegant orna- 

 ments of the flower-garden, in dry springs ; but they re- 

 quire some care in keeping, unless in a soil almost entirely 

 of sand. These species are sometimes placed under Pul- 

 monaria, to which they are closely related. Pulmonaria 

 officinalis the Medicinal Lungwort is sometimes cul- 

 tivated. It is a native of Europe, in bloom from April to 

 June, with clusters of red and blueish purple flowers, 

 with spotted leaves ; six inches high. 



