THE RUDBECKIA. 47 



and flowers in July ; the flowers are of a golden-yellow 

 colour. R. Drummondi is of dwarf habit, rising only two 

 feet, flowering from June to September, the flowers rich 

 deep yellow with a band of purplish- brown and a curious 

 brown centre ; this is a fine plant. R. fulgida rises two 

 feet ; the flowers appear in July, they are orange-yellow, 

 the disk purple ; a fine plant. R. hirta grows two to 

 three feet in height, the flowers appear from July to 

 September; they are of a rich orange-yellow, the disk 

 purplish-brown. R. laciniata is of compact habit, height 

 three feet, flowers pale yellow, the leaves elegantly cut; 

 a fine plant. R. speciosa is of medium growth, rarely ex- 

 ceeding two and a half feet in height ; the flowers appear 

 late, they are orange-yellow with blackish-purple disk. 

 About a dozen more may be found by those who want 

 them at all events, their names may but it might be 

 difficult to obtain the plants. 



The American continent is somewhat profusely sprinkled 

 with composite plants that flower in the later summer and 

 autumn, and prove perfectly hardy with us. We want 

 the best of them for our gardens, and perhaps there are 

 not many remaining to be introduced, for the botanists 

 have not been idle on the " boundless prairies." It is the 

 peculiar characteristic of a large majority of -these plants 

 that they flower at a season when our native plants are for 

 the most part in a seedy state; and thus they help us 

 through the autumn, when out-door pleasures obtain more 

 of our attention than at any other time. 



The botanist in whose honour the Rudbeckia was 

 named by Linnaeus was the son of John Rudbeck, a 

 learned Swedish bishop, who aided very materially in the 

 publication of the Swedish Bible, commonly called the 



