JTJLT. 153 



will bloom at an earlier season. Indeed, they 

 may be made to flower at almost any part of 

 the year. On the culture of this florists' flower 

 much has been written. At the end of the last 

 century, more than eight hundred varieties had 

 been enumerated, and it would now be difficult 

 to ascertain their number. These lovely flow- 

 ers grow wild on the mountains of Persia, and 

 are significant emblems in the eastern bouquet. 

 They are very general in the Levant, and in 

 many parts of Palestine ; and, like our common 

 buttercups, which are species of ranunculus, 

 they have very acrimonious properties. The 

 Turks cultivated them in their gardens for 

 many centuries before they were known in the 

 other parts of Europe. Gerarde speaks of 

 them as common in his time, and says, they 

 flourish here, as well as in their own country. 



The love of the marvellous, and the conse- 

 quent watchfulness for it, have so declined 

 in modern days, that the marvel of Peru 

 (Mirabilis jalapa,) now no longer excites any 

 degree of wonder. Gerarde thought it ought 

 to be called the wonder of the world, and its 

 changing hues, varying from white to red, 

 purple, or yellow, as well as the circumstance 

 of its opening at night, excited the astonish- 

 ment of the older botanists. This flower is not 

 a native of Peru only, but is also a common 

 wild flower in China and India, and grows both 

 in the West Indies and in Africa. Some of 

 the old writers called it the Mexican jasmine, 

 and the specific name was given to it from the 



