102 FLORA DOMKSTICA. 



common in English hot-houses. This plant, if not cut 

 down, will grow forty feet high ; but wherever the stems 

 are cut, they put out others from the angles immediately 

 below the wounded part. The flowers are white, and as 

 large as those of the hollyhock. It does not often flower ; 

 when it does, it is generally in July. It is a native of Su- 

 rinam, and may be preserved in the same manner as di- 

 rected for the Pink-flowered species. The cochineal insect 

 feeds chiefly upon plants of this genus, and the Indians fre- 

 quently propagate them for the sake of those insects ; par- 

 ticularly that which is called the Cochineal Indian-Fig *. 



Maximilian, in his Travels, found these plants frequently 

 in the woods of Brazil, and speaks of them as particularly 

 dangerous to the mules and horses ; the thorns running into 

 their hoofs and laming them. 



CERINTHE. 



HYDUOPHYLLE.*:. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



Cerinthe is derived from the Greek, and signifies honeycomb, which, 

 as well as the name of honeywort, has been given to this plant on ac- 

 count of the quantity of honey-juice it contains. French, le melinet. 

 Italian, cerinte or cerinta. 



THE Great Honeywort has a purple flower, with a 

 yellow tube : the Small, a yellow flower. They will con- 

 tinue in blossom the greater part of the summer. As it 

 injures the seeds to remain long out of the ground, they 

 should be sown in autumn, soon after they are ripe : sow 

 the seeds singly, in four or in five inch pots ; house them 

 during frost, and keep them moderately moist. They are 

 both annual plants ; pretty while they last, and of an agree- 

 able scent. The honey-juice contained in the tube of the 

 flowers is a great attraction to bees ; and it is for this reason 

 recommended as proper to plant near apiaries. 



