72 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



all the winter in the conservatory. S. Betkeli has bril- 

 liant scarlet flowers ; S. splendens Bruanti also has scarlet 

 flowers; S. Hovei/i has flowers of an exquisite tone of violet 

 or satiny purple. These four may be considered the most 

 useful of all the salvias in cultivation. 



A few other kinds deserve mention. S. tricolor is a sweet 

 little gem, with white tube and mouth, and the upper lip 

 purple, the lower lip scarlet a bit of Nature's fancy work 

 in painting- that appears intended to mock the human 

 painters of flowers. Thirty years ago we used to see in 

 the gardens two curious salvias, named respectively S. 

 bracteata and S. horminum, which are remarkable because 

 their conspicuous features are their coloured bracts, the 

 flowers of both being blue. 



