86 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



The almost innumerable named sorts are divided into 

 five classes green edged, grey edged, white edged, 

 selfs (i.e. those of one colour), and alpines; the last 

 have the edge of the petal shaded by a mixture of two 

 colours, not separated into distinct bands of colour as 

 in the edged ones, and they are yellow in the paste, 

 whereas the others are white. There are technical 

 terms used by auricula fanciers : the group of stamens 

 in the tube is called the thrum ; the part next the tube, 

 which is yellow in the alpines, and white in the rest, 

 is the paste or eye ; the next colour on the petal, and 

 the distinctive colour, is the ground colour ; the outer 

 colour or border is the edge. As in all flowers of this 

 kind, a single flower is called a pip, and the whole group 

 on the stem the truss. Pin-eyed is when the style is 

 higher than the anthers an unpardonable fault in an 

 auricula. A fine auricula should be large and circular, 

 and the petals should be equal, firm, fleshy, smooth at 

 the edges, and quite flat. The centre or tube should 

 not be more than a fourth of the diameter of the flower, 

 quite round, well filled with the thrum, and with the 

 -edge standing a little above the eye. The paste or eye 

 should be circular, smooth, and of a dense pure white, 

 without crack or blemish, forming a band not less than 

 half the width of the tube. The ground colour should 

 be dense, unbroken, and forming a perfect circle. The 

 brighter, darker, or richer the colour, the better the 

 flower. The edge should be clear unchangeable green, 

 .grey, or white, about the same width as the ground 

 colour. The more exactly the flower is divided into 

 four in the breadth of its circles the better the tube, 

 the eye, the ground colour, and the edge. The ground 

 colour may be a little wider; and the edge may feather 

 into it a little. The colour should not be changeable. 

 The stem should be strong, firm, round, and upright, 

 from four to seven inches long, and the flowers of the 

 truss should all bloom out at once, forming then a com- 

 pact semi-globular truss of five or seven flowers, of 

 equal size, perfect form, and standing out distinct and 

 apart. It looks well if some of the leaves grow up 



