Annuals and Biennials. 6 i 7 



season, and are consequently suited for the same purposes as 

 those of essentially annual duration. Several orders are par- 

 ticularly rich in annual plants, just as certain regions favour 

 an annual or perennial vegetation, according to climate. 1 The 

 principal orders represented by annual plants, are the Ranun- 

 culaceae, Papaveraceae, Cruciferae, Caryophyllaceae, Malvaceae, 

 Geraniaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Compositae, Polemoniaceae, Con- 

 volvulaceae, Scrophularineae, and Amaranthaceae. Many other 

 orders are represented in gardens by annual species, and indeed 

 by some of the most ornamental, such as the Portulacaceae and 

 the Campanulaceae ; but by far the greater number are referred 

 to the orders above enumerated. For practical purposes 

 annual herbs may be divided into several different classes, 

 according to height, colour, degree of hardiness, etc. Climbing 

 and trailing annuals are referred to at p. 613, where climbers 

 with annual stems are reviewed. The most important division 

 of plants belonging to this group depends upon their compara- 

 tive hardiness. They may be roughly classed as hardy and 

 half-hardy. The first will bear frost, more or less, and are 

 usually sown in the open ground, where it is intended they 

 shall bloom ; and those belonging to the second class will not 

 bear frost, and must be raised under glass, if desired that they 

 should flower early and ripen seed. 



The following is a selection of desirable hardy annuals : 

 Lychnis Coeli-rosa, rose or white, one to two feet high ; Amar- 

 anthus caudatus (Love-lies-Bleeding), deep dark red, one to 

 two feet high ; A. speciosus (Prince's Feather) ; Centaurea 

 moschata (Purple Sweet Sultan) ; C. odorata (Yellow Sultan), 

 twelve to eighteen inches high ; Anagallis indica, a trailer, 

 with deep blue flowers ; Bartonia aurea, yellow, one to two 

 feet high ; Centaurea Cjanus (Cornflower), various colours, 

 two to three feet high ; Chrysanthemum carinatum, varieties, 

 about two feet high ; Clarkia elegans and C. pulchella varie- 

 ties, one to two feet high ; Delphinium Ajacis and D. Con- 

 solida varieties (Larkspur), two feet high ; Erysimum Peroff- 

 skianum, orange yellow, one to two feet high ; Eschscholtzia 

 Californica varieties, one foot high ; Gilia, several species ; 

 (Enothera (G-odetia), spp. ; Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) ; 

 Iberis umbellata, odorata, and ainara (Candytuft), crimson, 

 purple, and white ; Lavatera trimestris, rosy-purple and white, 



1 For further observations on this point, see the paragraph on Geographical 

 Botuiy in the Introduction. 



