DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERS. 313 



was of considerable size, but it had been so often robbed 

 of its leaves that there were none on the bush much 

 larger than my finger nail. I took the liberty to help 

 myself to one of these small leaves. It is against the 

 regulations of the prison to hold any conversation with 

 the prisoners ; but in this case, the owner of the plant, 

 by the expression of his countenance, gave me to under- 

 stand, more forcibly than he could in words, the satisfaction 

 he felt, in the notice I took of his plant. He looked me 

 full in the face, with an air of thankfulness and pleasure, 

 to find that there was one in the world to sympathize 

 with him in his love for this solitary plant, which, no 

 doubt, was a great solace to him in his confinement. I 

 thought how terrible must be, the punishment to ono 

 who has a taste for these beautiful creations of God, to 

 be restrained from the liberty of roaming abroad to view 

 them in all their delightful variety and profusion. " Poor 

 prisoner," I inwardly exclaimed, " were it not for your 

 crimes and the sins of others, earth would indeed be a 

 paradise once more." 



A bouquet can hardly be called complete without a few 

 leaves of the Rose-Geranium. There are quite a number 

 of varieties of the sweet-scented Geranium, such as the 

 rose, lemon, musk, and many others. 



PENTSTEMON. 



[From Greek words, signify ing./?ue and a stanten, because of the conspicuous 

 imperfect fifth stamen.] 



Beautiful, herbaceous plants, peculiarly American, 

 abounding in the West and South-west of our vast coun- 

 try, and in Mexico. The flowers of all the species are more 

 or less bell-shaped, racemes or spikes. The colors are scar- 

 let, purple, blue, lilac, and parti-colored. Some of the spe- 

 14 



