CENTUREA. 77 



CENTUREA. 



This a large family of plants, natives of different parts of 

 the globe ; the greater part are considered ornamental, bear- 

 ing flowers from June to October. The neatest of this va- 

 rety is the Sweet Sultan, a native of Persia. Of this variety 

 there are three, white, purple, and yellow, growing about 

 eighteen inches high. The involucre roundish, smooth, 

 scales egg shaped, and the leaves lyrate and toothed ; will 

 grow in any garden soil, but thrive best in a sandy loam. 



CHINA ASTERS. 



(ASTER CHTNENSIS.) 



44 How lovely! how commanding! but through Heaven 

 In every breast hath sown their early seeds 

 Of love and admiration ; yet in vain, 

 Without fair culture's kind parental aid, 

 Without enlivening suns and genial showers, 

 And shelter from the blast ; in vain we hope 

 The tender plant should rear its blooming head, 

 Or yield the harvest promised in its spring, 

 Nor yet will every soil with equal stores 

 Repay the tiller's labor." 



This well known variety of Asters has been cultivated a 

 long time, and its incomparable beauty has established it as 



