MARVEL OF PERU, OR FOUR O* CLOCK. 185 



MARVEL OF PERU, OR FOUR O'CLOCK. 



(MIRABILIS JALAPA.) 



" Wake, then, from thy sunset bower, 

 Spread thy leaves, my pretty flower ! 

 Spread thy leaves, unclose thine eyes, 

 For the silver moon doth rise, 

 And the golden stars are corning." 



This is quite a common perennial, and of considerable 

 beauty, but is generally treated as an annual. It is indi- 

 genous to the West Indies, and is known better as the 

 " Four o'Clock." There are several varieties, all bearing 

 handsome flowers. It is fusiform rooted (that is, tuberous), 

 flowering from June until the frost destroys it The flow- 

 ers are in clusters, stalked, and the leaves smooth, forming 

 a well shaped bush, about three feet high. The flowers 

 seldom expand before four in the afternoon, hence its name 

 Four o'Clock. The expanded flowers make a very bril- 

 liant and beautiful appearance in the cool of the evening. 

 It will grow in any soil, is easily cultivated, and will 

 flower the first season from seed. This is the reason why it 

 is treated as an annual. Like the Dahlia, when it is cut down 

 by the frost, the root should be taken up and preserved ; 

 and in the spring sprouted with the Dahlia. It will grow 

 readily from cuttings, and will produce much better flowers 

 than when produced by seedlings of one year's standing. 



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