BIENNIAL AND PERENNIAL FLOWERS. 29 



adapted for propagation at the footstalks, from their yielding 

 little or no seed at the top of the plant. This is particularly 

 the case with choice double-flowering plants, the roots of 

 which, in .many cases, constitute the seed; these, consequently, 

 must be perpetuated by root offsets, cuttings, &c. 



The annexed Catalogue embraces a great proportion of 

 the most desirable of what are termed fibrous-rooted herba- 

 ceous plants ; the seed or roots of which may be obtained at 

 seed stores and nurseries. The estimated height applies to 

 plants of a year's growth; some will arrive to more than 

 three times that height when cultivated in a greenhouse, and 

 even in open ground culture the same plants will vary con- 

 siderably, according to the soil or situation in which they are 

 grown ; the specified height however, although unavoidably 

 imperfect, may serve as a guide to the gardener in arranging 

 his flower beds. Those marked thus t, be^ng tender and half 

 hardy, will need protection in the winter; those marked thus j| 

 are Biennial ; those marked thus * yield little or no seed. 

 There are also many other species of which the seed is un- 

 attainable, from its being suffered to scatter by the wind, and 

 in some cases, from the climate being unfavourable to its 

 ripening ; these, as will be shown hereafter, may be perpetu- 

 ated by other methods. 



3 



