140 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



P. pubescens produces purplish blue flowers in June ; one 

 and a half foot high ; leaves downy. 



P. Icevigatum is very similar, excepting it has smooth leaves 

 and paler flowers ; two feet high. 



P. pulchella has large, bell-shaped, pale-purple flowers in 

 autumn ; one foot high. 



P. atropurpurea has dark ruby-purple flowers from July to 

 October ; one and a half foot high. 



P. cceruleum is one of the finest of the genus, with beauti- 

 ful blue flowers in August and September ; one and a half foot 

 high. 



P. coccinnea is similar to P. atropurpurea, excepting the 

 flowers are scarlet. 



All the species may be propagated by dividing the roots, if 

 done with care ; or by cuttings, the most certain method ; or 

 by layers. They may also be raised from seed, which should 

 be sown in May, in the open ground, in a moist, shady place. 

 There are numerous varieties and species, besides those here 

 named. 



PHLOX. 



"Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers, 



Each cup a pulpit, and each leaf a book, 

 Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers, 

 From lowliest nook ! " 



It has been truly said that a collection of Phloxes, when 

 properly attended to, would of themselves constitute a beautiful 

 flower-garden. So numerous are the species, and so infinite the 

 varieties, that a continual bloom may be kept up, with a good 

 selection, from May to October. The genus is exclusively 

 North American, and, in the South and West, is one of the 

 most conspicuous ornaments of the prairies and woods. 



The late-flowering sorts are much to be prized on account of 

 their lively colors of purple, red and white, and form a fine con- 

 trast with the other autumnal flowers, which are mostly yellow. 



