The Abromia Umhellata. SOT 



California and the Northwest coast have enriched our 

 gardens with more' beautiful annuals than almost any other 

 country of equal extent. Through the labors of Douglas, 

 the lamented botanist, a great number of fine plants were 

 sent to England, and from thence to our country. Hartweg 

 afterwards explored Mexico and part of California, and also 

 sent home, among other things, a quantity of fine annuals ; 

 among the latter, was the Abromia umhellata, which we 

 now have under notice. 



This pretty plant (Jig. 22^ he found near Monterey, where 

 it grows upon the seashore, in a sandy soil, whose glittering 

 particles adhered to all its parts, favored by the viscidity with 

 which it is covered. Dr. Lindley describes it as a branching 

 plant, throwing out long velvetty shoots, which strike root 

 at the joints ; with ovate-obtuse leaves, succulent, fringed 

 with soft hair, and with long petioles. The peduncles are 

 longer than the petioles, supporting erect the compact umbels 

 formed of numerous tubular flowers, violet colored, exhaling 

 an extremely sweet odor towards evening. The limb of 

 each flower is cut into fine segments, and each of these is 

 regularly biparted. 



The first aspect of the plant is that of a verbena ; it has 



