DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERS. 313 
was of considerable size, but it had been so often robbed 
of its leaves that there were none on the bush much 
larger than my finger nail. I took the liberty to help 
myself to one of these small leaves. It is against the 
regulations of the prison to hold any conversation with 
the prisoners; but in this case, the owner of the plant, 
by the expression of his countenance, gave me to under- 
stand, more forcibly than he could in words, the satisfaction 
he felt, in the notice I took of his plant. He looked me 
full in the face, with an air of thankfulness and pleasure, 
to find that there was one in the world to sympathize 
with him in his love for this solitary plant, which, no 
doubt, was a great solace to him in his confinement. I 
thought how terrible must be, the punishment to one 
who has a taste for these beautiful creations of God, to 
be restrained from the liberty of roaming abroad to view 
them in all their delightful variety and profusion. “Poor 
prisoner,” I inwardly exclaimed, “were it not for your 
crimes and the sins of others, earth would indeed be a 
paradise once more.” 
A bouquet can hardly be called complete without a few 
leaves of the Rose-Geranium. There are quite a number 
of varieties of the sweet-scented Geranium, such as the 
rose, lemon, musk, and many others. 
PENTSTEMON. 
[From Greek words, signifying five and a stamen, because of the conspicuous 
imperfect fifth stamen.] 
Beautiful, herbaceous plants, peculiarly American, 
abounding in the West and South-west of our vast coun- 
try, and in Mexico. The flowers of all the species are more 
or less bell-shaped, racemes or spikes. The colors are scare 
let, purple, blue, lilac, and parti-colored. Some of the spe- 
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