FLOWERS. 37 



CHAPTER III. 



THE AMERICAN ALOE THE PASSION FLOWER ORCHIDS 

 TRUMPET FLOWER MORNING GLORY THE ROSE BLACK- 

 BERRY DAISY COMPOUND FLOWERS. 



F all the forms in which flowers 

 appear, there is perhaps none more 

 wonderful than that of the Aloe. Its 

 peculiar habits, and its gigantic 

 dimensions, may well entitle it to 

 the name of king of flowers. 

 It is commonly known by the name of 

 " The Century Plant," from the fact that it 

 was formerly supposed to bloom only once in 

 a hundred years. This is, however, an error 

 which time has corrected, as many specimens 

 have been known to flower in conservatories in much 

 shorter periods ; and it is probable that in its native 

 climate it occurs at an early age. In the United States 

 the Aloe is probably the best known, and most fre- 

 quently kept as an ornament to our hot-houses. It is 

 a native of tropical America, where it is a plant of 

 great utility to the Indians. 



The singular fact that it blooms but once, and that 

 its existence terminates with the decay of its flowors, 

 has rendered it particularly interesting ; and as the 

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