270 FLORA DOMESTICA. 



they may be gradually inured to the open air. They are 

 esteemed annual plants, but may, with care, be preserved 

 through the winter: they only require protection from 

 frost. There are the Great and the Small Nasturtium, 

 and a double-flowered variety of each. Their colour is 

 a pale yellow, or a deep orange, inclining to red. 



The Great Nasturtium, being, from its size, much 

 handsomer than the other, has caused that to be com- 

 paratively neglected ; and, for a time, it was almost lost to 

 English gardens. 



This plant begins to flower in July, and continues till 

 the approach of winter. The blossoms are frequently 

 eaten in salads, and are used for garnishing dishes : the 

 seeds are pickled, under the false name of capers, and, by 

 some persons, are much esteemed. The stalks of the 

 Great Nasturtium will sometimes grow six or eight feet 

 high, and should be trained to some kind of frame for 

 support, if there are several together : where there is only 

 one, a simple stick will suffice. 



We are told by Linnaeus, that his daughter, Elizabeth 

 Christina, observed the flowers of the Great Nasturtium 

 to emit spontaneously, at certain intervals, sparks, like 

 electric ones, visible only in the evening. 



Notwithstanding the glowing and sunny beauty of this 

 well-known flower, it has, I believe, been almost over- 

 looked by those immortal bestowers of immortality, the 

 poets: yet it deserves their attention, no less from the 

 elegance of its foliage, than from the brilliancy of its 

 blossoms, and a certain originality, as it were, in its whole 

 character. Many agreeable things might be said about 

 it, with an allusion, by the way, to the very poetical 

 discovery of Linnaeus' s daughter. Singular leaves, fire- 

 coloured flowers, a lady, sparks of light, and an evening, 

 what might not a poet make of all these ! 



