136 beeck's new book of floweep. 



ASTRANTIA. 



LFiom Greek words, signifying f-imilar to a star ; so called in reference to 

 the beautiful star-like dispositions of the involurum of all the species.] 



Astrantia major and A. minor. — Hardy herbaceous 

 perennials, with pretty green and pink, star-like flowers, 

 or clusters of flowers ; in bloom most of the season. 

 The flowers are fine for bouquets. 



AVENA.-OAT. 



Av^na St^rilis, the Animated Oat, is sometimes grown 

 as an object of curiosity, on account of its singular hy- 

 grometrical properties. After the seeds have fallen off 

 their strong beard is so sensible to alternations of dryness 

 and moisture in the atmosphere as to keep them in spon- 

 taneous motion, when they resemble some grotesque in- 

 sect crawling upon the ground ; or, if when dried, the 

 seed is moistened in the mouth and then placed upon a 

 table, will throw itself over as if it had life. 



BAPTISIA.— False Indigo. 



[From bapto, to dye ; in allusion to the economical properties of some species. 

 A blue dye may be extracted from the leaves.] 



Baptisia australis, formerly Sophora australis, is con- 

 sidered a handsome border-flower of the easiest culture, is 

 exceedingly hardy and indigenous to some parts of Nortli 

 America. It j^roduces its blue flowers in terminal spiked 

 racemes in June. Leaves ternate, stalked, leaflets cune- 

 ate-lanceolate , stipules longer than the stalk, lanceolate. 

 A variety has white flowers ; another, with brown and 

 yellow. They are hardy perennials of easy culture. 



