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The entire collection of this plant now in possession of the 

 author exceeds 60 species. The general characters of the 

 flower, which are well known, and considered as emblematic 

 of the Passion, or Crucifixion of our Saviour, prevail in all 

 the species. The leaves vary to every form in the different 

 kinds, and many of them are most singular : the flowers are 

 also of every colour Among the most admired are the 

 Common Blue, the Purple, the different shades of Red and 

 Scarlet, the Blue and Scarlet, the Orange, the Rose Colour- 

 ed, the Yellow, the Cluster Flowered, the Laurel Leaved, 

 Sec. Taking the whole collection together, they form as 

 curious a combination as it is possible to conceive in one 

 class of plants, and the flowers are of every size, from one 

 to five inches in diameter. They are all vines, and can be 

 trained on stakes or small lattices attached to the pots, or 

 up the pillars and rafters of the Green-house, and many of 

 them can be kept in a common cellar, or in any room free 

 from frost in winter, and be used during the summer season 

 to train over the piazza, or to ornament bovvers, arbours, Sec. 



Scirfius tuberosusi and Trafia natans. These plants 

 have been enumerated in the list of Desiderata by the Agri- 

 cultural Society of South-Carolina, as worthy of introduction 

 and culture as articles of food. The Trapa natans, or Eat- 

 able Water Chestnut, has already been cultivated with suc- 

 cess in England. The following description is from the 

 London Horticultural Society's Catalogue : u This is an 

 aquatic floating plant, producing a singular kind of nut with 

 four horns, which is esteemed in the south of Europe, where 

 it is a native. The kernel resembles a chestnut in flavour, 

 and is eaten either raw, broiled, or roasted." In England it 

 requires artificial heat to bring it to perfection ; but I have 

 little doubt that, on account of the intensity of our sun, it 

 could be made to flourish in our ponds even as far north as 

 New-York, by its being planted at a depth below the ac- 

 tion of freezing, especially as the Nelumbium luteum has 

 been found flourishing in the ponds of Connecticut. 



Green and Bohea Tea. These are very hardy Green- 

 house plants, and would no doubt withstand the winters of 

 any part of the Union south of Wilmington, North-Carolina. 

 The leaves of the Green Tea are more than double the size 

 of the Bohea, and both produce fine flowers in abundance 

 during the autumn and winter, and are cultivated with as 

 much ease as any of our most common trees. It is said that 

 all the finer teas are perfumed by the Chinese with the de 



