. 
290 BRECK’S. NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 
The general habit of the plant when left to itself, is weak 
and trailing. It is, therefore, a very pretty plaut for a 
hanging vase. The shoots will push rapidly, and hanging 
gracefully down the sides with its numerous yellow flow- 
ers, presents a very pleasing appearance, perfuming the 
air to a considerable distance. 
All the varieties and species require the same care in 
cultivation as has been described; always remembering 
that in our climate the mid-summer’s sun is most too pow- 
erful for them if fully exposed to its influence. A situa- 
tion, therefore, should be selected where the plants will 
have sun only in the morning a few hours, and in the af 
ternoon the same, 
i gece 
MIRABILIS,—Marvet or Peru 
(Latin word, signifying wonderful] 
Mirabilis Jalapa, or common Four-o’clock of the gar- 
dens, is a very ornamental plant for borders, When cul- 
tivated it sports into many agreeable varieties. It is con- 
sidered and treated as a tender annual. It may, how- 
ever be planted the last of April, and bears a profusion 
of flowers in August and September. Although treated 
as an annual, it is, in its native country, a perennial, with 
the rest of the genus. Its large tuberous roots, which, if 
taken up and preserved during winter, like the Dahlia, will 
flower perennially. The flowers are red in its native 
country, the West Indies; but in the garden are to be 
found white, yellow, various shades of red, and variegat- 
ed, in the same flower. Stem from two to three feet high. 
M. longiflora, like the last, is handsome and fragrant. 
The flowers are pure white, with purple below, standing 
on long tubes; in. July and August. This species is not 
so common as M. Jalapa. The hybridization of these 
two species has brought forth new varieties most remark- 
