CHAP. IV. ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 305 



Calonyction. 

 TRAVELLERS' MIDNIGHT LILIES. 



1. C. muricatum. A plant with thick succulent stems, of very 

 luxuriant growth, and wide-spreading habit ; bears large, hand- 

 some, pale-purple, Convolvulus-like flowers, which only open 

 after dark, and fade away shortly after dawn the next morning. 

 Sow in October. The plants require a strong trellis for their 

 support. 



2. C. grandiflorum MOON-FLOWER. Similar in nearly all 

 respects to the preceding, except that the flowers are of more 

 expanded form, pure white, and fragrant. 



Ipomoea. 



1. I rubro-ccemlea. Native of Mexico; though of perennial 

 duration, becomes worn out after one season, and therefore can 

 be only cultivated successfully as an annual. A creeper of ex- 

 tensive growth, requiring a large trellis for its support ; with fine 

 dense foliage of large, smooth, heart-shaped, dark-green leaves ; 

 blossoms in the Cold season, opening its large clear azure-blue 

 flowers each morning early in countless numbers, and presenting 

 then as splendid an object as the eye could possibly rest upon. 

 The flowers fade in the after part of the day, turning first to a 

 reddish tint. It is essential that the seed be sown quite as early 

 as July for the plants to grow to perfection by the Cold season ; 

 they do not require a rich soil, but a change of locality each 

 year I have found to be all but indispensable to them. There 

 is a variety with white flowers, but not nearly so beautiful. 



2. I. hederacea. A remarkably beautiful Ipomoaa, bearing 

 very large pale-blue flowers. By sowings in succession it may 

 be had in blossom nearly all the year through. 



3. I. purpurea CONVOLVULUS MAJOR MORNING GLORY. 

 Nothing imaginable can rival in beauty a patch of this familiar 

 old creeper, producing each morning a profusion of flowers of 

 every shade of colour, ranging from white through blue and 

 crimson to dark purple. 



Quamoclit. 



1. Q. vulgaris. BARBADOES SWEET-WILLIAM CRIMSON 

 CYPRESS-VINE. A very pretty creeper of slender growth ; native 



