204 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



colored flowers, and continuing all the summer in bloom. It is 

 frequently known by the name of the African Rose. The odor 

 of the flower renders it unpopular; nothing can exceed the 

 beauty and delicacy of the flower. 



P. somniferum. Opium Poppy. The true Opium Poppy 

 has very large capsules^ The flowers are white, of extra size. 

 Another variety has dull-purple flowers. The double varieties 

 are handsome, and, were it not for their bad odor and sleepy 

 properties, would be more highly appreciated in the flower- 

 garden. A bed of full double Poppies, of scarlet, crimson, 

 purple, white and variegated, makes a grand show. 



Picotee Poppies are improved varieties with white flowers, 

 spotted or splashed with crimson or scarlet, and very hand- 

 some. All the varieties are easily cultivated. None of them 

 can be transplanted with success.' 



PETUNIA. 



Petunia Phoenicia. An ever-blooming hardy annual, now 

 well known, but not many years an inhabitant of our flower- 

 gardens. Flowers purple ; from June to November. 



P. nictagynajlora has large white flowers, coarser in its 

 growth than the last, but of the same spreading habit. 



From these two species have been produced innumerable 

 improved varieties, which can be perpetuated only by cuttings 

 or layers, and kept in the green-house through the winter. 

 Seedlings will vary essentially from the parent plant. 



These varieties are various shades of white, rose or light- 

 purple, beautifully veined, striped or shaded with crimson or 

 purple, with dark throats. 



Single plants should be trained to a trellis or frame-work, 

 and will grow three or four feet high. Planted in masses, 

 they present an ever-blooming, beautiful sight. The plants 

 are repulsive to the smell, and unpleasant to the touch, as the 

 stems and leaves are covered with a viscid substance. 



