6 8 Gary op hy I lea: Dia nth us. 



supposition suggested by the long duration of the flowering 

 season of the species in question. This is invariably sterile, and 

 the new varieties obtained from it one white and one striped 

 were simply accidental sports, which have been perpetuated 

 by propagation from pipings. Sterility, however, it should be 

 observed, is not necessarily a proof of hybridity, because this is 

 no infrequent consequence in double flowers. The Pink Flon 

 is herbaceous and somewhat woody, forming thick spreading 

 tufts, which throw up erect stems from a foot to a foot and a 

 half high, terminated by large corymbs of double purple odori- 

 ferous flowers of medium size. It is very hardy. 



An English gardener has described another hybrid, the issue 

 of D. fulgens impregnated by pollen from a double Carnation. 

 This hybrid is remarkable for its immense corymbs of very 

 double flowers of the most beautiful carmine. More recently, 

 several French florists have offered a third hybrid for sale, the 

 result, it seems, of a cross between D. superbus, female, and a 

 Japanese species, perhaps D. Chinensis, male. 



2. TtTNICA. 



Small slender rigid herbs resembling small Pinks. They 

 differ from Didnthus in the few-nerved calyx. About ten 

 species are known, all inhabiting the Mediterranean region; but 

 only one species is at all generally cultivated. The name is 

 from the Latin, .signifying a jacket or covering. 



1. T. Saxifraga, syn. Gypsophila Saxifraga. A dwarf 

 trailing plant with slender wiry stems and linear rigid leaves. 

 The bright pink flowers are small, but being produced in 

 copious panicles they are very effective. It is a native of the 

 Pyrenees and Alps, and continues blooming all the Summer. 



3. GYPSOPHILA. 



Elegant perennial often glaucous herbs with small usually 

 flat leaves and very small paniculate flowers. The species of 

 this genus are remarkable for their graceful habit and nume- 

 rous small flowers on slender pedicels. The reniform seeds 

 and curved embryo, together with the .different habit and small 

 often minute flowers, distinguish this from the allied genera. 

 There are nearly fifty species described, mostly from the South 

 of Europe. From yvtyos, lime or chalk, and (jtaX/co, to love, 

 because many of them grow in this soil. 



1. G. paniculata. This is one of the best for bouquets and 



