•52 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



ill SO regarding it, for if a bed on the south side of a house 

 be planted with convolvuhis minora very few of the lovely 

 flowers will ever be seen from the windows. But, on the 

 other hand, a similar bed on the north side will display its 

 flowers to the windows freely, for nine-tenths or more of 

 the whole number produced will be found to face the S(juth 

 and the south-east. 



The major convolvulus belongs to another section of the 

 great family of eonvolvulaceie, of which there are four con- 

 sjjicuous genera in cultivation. The genus Calyistefjia in- 

 cludes our great white hedge bind- weed [Caljjstegla sepiuni) 

 and the pink-flowered C. puhescens, of which there is a 

 double variety in cultivation, the flowers of which, though 

 poor, may be likened to roses. The genus Ijiomoia com- 

 prises Ipomcea purpurea, the major convolvulus, and a 

 number of resplendent species, some of which are hardy, 

 but others require strong heat to start the seeds and 

 green-house culture to produce the flowers. One of the 

 most beautiful of this section is /. rabru-Cicrulea , with 

 large fl(jwers of a brilliant sky-blue colour. It is a green- 

 house perennial, native of Mexico. The genus Concol ruins 

 includes the subject of our plate; also C. scaiiiiiionia, which 

 produces the scammony of commerce, and the little wayside 

 convolvulus, that makes a fairyland of many a mile of dusty 

 English roadside and railway bank — this pretty pink-flower- 

 ing species being known as C. arcciiais. The genus FJiar- 

 Ijilh consists for the most part of American annuals, some 

 of which are usually classed under Ipniuiva. 



One of the most impurtant members of this order is the 

 Sweet Potato {Coiivol riiJuf On/ii/ux). This is largely calti- 

 vated in the tropics and the south of Europe for its ediiile 

 roots, which are sometimes of a club shape, or that of 



