mCOTIANA 



Calyx. — Downy, tubular, slightly swollen, five-angled, five-toothed; 

 teeth slender and pointed. 



Corolla. — Salver-shaped; border obUque, five-lobed, white, two inches 

 or more across. Tube three inches long, slender, white or greenish 

 outside, pubescent. 



Stamens. — Five inserted on the tube; anthers appearing at the throat. 



Ovary. — Oblong; style slender; stigma capitate. 



Seeds. — Minute. 



Nicotiana alata is a deservedly popular plant of easy culture 

 and beautiful bloom. It bears pure-white, star-shaped, tubular 

 flowers whose beauty is not apparent by day, as they are not at their 

 best until the sun is on the wane. By day a blooming plant is a 

 disheartened, dishevelled, 

 unhappy -looking creature; 

 the coming blossoms at mid- 

 day are greenish-yellow,, 

 flaccid, drooping, and im- 

 mature, but as nightfall ap- 

 proaches, their attitude 

 changes; they become white, 

 stiff, alert, expectant, and 

 pour forth a wealth of fra- 

 grance upon the evening air, 



from buds that keep 

 Their odor to themselves all day, 

 But when the sunlight dies away 

 Let the delicious secret out 

 To every breeze that roams about. 



Nicotiana. Nicolihna aldta 



The individual blossom has 

 the pure-white and something of the poise of Narcissus poeticus. 

 Nicotiana possesses two unexpected quahties. The blooming 

 stalks are admirable as cut flowers; they should be gathered by 

 day and kept in an abundance of fresh water; every bud will open 

 in time, and, curiously enough, will remain open all day if removed 

 from direct sunshine. 

 The second unexpected virtue is its value as a winter house- 



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