DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERS. 291 



ably and singularly colored. The same plant and even 

 the same branch produces very different flowers, some- 

 times of one color only, and others striped or parti-color- 

 ed. In some of the rarer varieties, that are distinguished 

 by the elongated tube of the flower, are recognized the 

 traits of M. longiflorcc. These produce but very few 

 seeds, and yet they give us too perfectly distinct kinds, 

 which are very remarkable, and, perhaps, an exceptional 

 example of the fruitful products obtained by hybridization. 

 Among other names for this admirable flower, it is known 

 as World's "Wonder, Evening Beauty, Afternoon Ladies, 

 and Four-o'clock, because the flowers open about that 

 time in the afternoon. The French call it Belle de nuit, 

 or the Beauty of the Night. The flowers continue 

 through the night and perish before noon, the next day, 

 if very warm. This is an old-fashioned border-plant, but 

 none the less beautiful on that account. If planted three 

 feet apart, they will grow into quite a bush before cold 

 weather ; but, if huddled together, as we often see them, 

 into a small space, they loose half their beauty. 



MOMORDICA. 



[From mordeo, to bite ; its seeds having the appearance of having been bit- 

 ten.] 



Momordica Balsamfna, or Balsam Apple, is cultivated 

 as an object of curiosity, and for its fruit, which is some- 

 times used for curing wounds. It has fleshy, ovate fruit, 

 remotely tubercled in longitudinal rows ; smooth in the 

 other parts ; red when ripe, bursting irregularly, and dis- 

 persing the seeds with a spring. 



The fruit is used in Syria for the same purpose that it 

 is here. It is cut open when unripe, and infused in sweet 

 oil, and exposed to the sun for some days, until the oil has 

 become red. This, dropped on cotton, is applied to a 



