HIHISCUS COCCI\r:US. AMKRICW SrAKI.i:r KOS!-M.\I.I.fi\V. 3 



bird and the plant which thus dwelt to-^ctlu r. 'I'hc s|)cTific 

 name, cocciiicus, signifies "of a scarlet color," and nec-ds no 

 argument to explain it. 



In most European works our species is called //idiscus spc- 

 ciosiis, under which name it is figured in the tenth volume of 

 Curtis's " Botanical Magazine," and described by Aiton in 

 " Hortus Kewensis." Torrey and Gray have, however, shown 

 that the name //. coccincus, as given by T. Walter, who in i jSS 

 published the " Flora Caroliniana," existed prior to //. spcciosus, 

 and in botanical nomenclature i)riority rules. Walter's name is 

 therefore in universal use by the American botanists of our 

 time. 



Hibiscus cocc incus is probablx' the most gorgeous of all the 

 plants indigenous to the United States. It is very little inferior 

 in the brilliant show it makes to the celebrated Chinese Rose 

 Hibiscus, not uncommon in our green-houses. Curtis was i)ar- 

 ticularly struck by its gay appearance, and in the volume above 

 referred to he says: "Those who 'admire nature's clocks more 

 than her watches' will view% wc presume, with some i)leasure 

 our representation of this very superior species of Hibiscus, a 

 native of North Carolina, and cultivated here by Dr. John I-'oth- 

 ergill in 1 7S8." It is probable, however, that the plant was 

 introduced into England some time before the date just men- 

 tioned, for in a letter by Peter Collinson to W^m. Bartram, 

 dated Feb. 16, 176S, and published in Darlington's "Memorial," 

 we read: "The crimson Hibiscus is a charming llower. I could 

 have no perfect idea of it but from thy elegant i)ainting. Pray 

 desire thy father (John Bartram) to spare no pains to get us 

 seeds from Charleston, where I dare say it ripens seeds." 



Like many other jilants which are naturally found in swampy 

 places, the Hibiscus cocc incus not only does not object to, but 

 indeed rather enjoys a transfer to drier legations. In the para- 

 graj)h from the " Botanical Magazine," we have read that it 

 gi-ew in I'^nglish gardens in the last century, although it does 

 not seem to be common there now. The writer ol thi> has seen 



