CENOTHERA, (Evening Primrose,) Nat. Ord. Onagracece. 



ENOTHERAS are a very fine genus of showy plants, opening their 

 flowers suddenly in the 

 latter part of the day, 

 and making a most 

 brilliant exhibition du- 

 ring the evening and 

 early in the morning. 

 Some of the large va- 

 rieties will attract 

 much attention as any , 

 thing that can be' 

 grown. They certainly 



look like things of life, as they open with a nervous 

 motion that cannot only be seen but heard. The low, 

 white variety, acaulis alba, is a marvel of beauty, pro- 

 ducing flowers four inches across, pure white, and one 

 or more flowers appearing each successive evening. Most other varieties are primrose yellow. 



OBELISCARIA, Nat. Ord. Composites. 



The Obeliscarias are coarse plants with showy flowers. The best, O. pulcherrima, exhibits 

 a strange commingling of red, brown and yellow. The engraving gives a 

 very good idea of the form of this flower, with 

 its curious, acorn-like center, and drooping 

 petals, or rather, the ray-flowers. These ray- 

 flowers are of a rich, velvety crimson, edged 

 with yellow. The central cone, or disk, is 

 brown until the ray-flowers expand, and they 

 are bright yellow. The flowers are borne on 

 pretty long stems, and plants are about eigh- 

 teen inches in height. The Obeliscaria we cannot call beautiful, but it is interesting. 



OXYURA, Nat. Ord. Composite. 



Oxyura chrysanthemoides is a very pretty, free-flowering, little hardy annual, one of the very 

 many pretty things for which we are indebted to California. The plant 

 is neat in habit, branching, about eighteen 

 inches in height; the flower is daisy-like, 

 size and form being very well represented in 

 the engraving. The color is of the most 

 delicate lemon yellow, with a clear, white 

 edging. The effect of these two colors is 

 very pretty. The only possible objection to 

 this plant is the fact that it does not continue in flower all the summer, like the Phlox, Petunia, etc. 



PALAFOXIA, Nat. Ord. Composite. 

 ALAFOXIA HOOKERIANA is a fine, new 

 several species, but the best is the one we 

 describe, which is of a dwarf, branching 

 habit. The flowers are rosy crimson, 

 with a dark center, and continue in 

 flower well through the summer. We 

 have uniformly sown the seed of this 

 flower under glass, judging from its ap- 

 pearance and place of nativity. Texas 

 and Mexico, that this would be the best 

 treatment, but some of our correspondents 

 have succeeded by sowing in the open ground. Set the plants about ten inches apart. 



80 



annual. There are 



