MIMULUS. 197 



June. Thus treated, it will flourish, and ripen seeds in favor- 

 able seasons, and grow to a large size. 



This singular plant calls forth universal admiration. It has 

 been a puzzle to many a philosopher. The cause of its sensi- 

 tiveness has lately been more satisfactorily explained, yet it is 

 still shrouded in mystery. The plant is most irritable in the 

 greatest heat. Dr. Darwin thus characterizes it : 



" Weak with nice sense the chaste Mimosa stands, 

 From each rude touch withdraws her tender hands ; 

 Oft, as light clouds o'erpass the summer glade, 

 Alarmed, she trembles at the moving shade, 

 And feels, alive through all her tender form, 

 The whispered murmurs of the gathering storm ; 

 Shuts her sweet eye-lids to approaching night, 

 And hails, with freshened charms, the rising light." 



MIMULUS. 

 Monkey Flower. 



The species are showy plants, of the easiest culture, in 

 almost any soil or situation not over dry. 



They are perennials in the green-house, where they are 

 easily propagated from cuttings. In the open ground they 

 are annuals, flowering profusely the same season, from seed. 

 I have known them stand through the winter, in a moist place, 

 that was covered with ice the most of the season. 



The seeds are almost as fine as dust, and require consider- 

 able attention to get them up. 



I have found seeds, self-sown in the autumn, to come up 

 freely in the spring, commencing flowering in June, and con- 

 tinuing in bloom till October. 



They seem to succeed best in a moist and rather shaded 

 place. 



Mimulus rivularis has the reputation of producing a great 

 number of beautiful species, (as we are informed by an English 

 17* 



