360 BRECK’S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 
beautiful. A rich, velvety, dark, reddish-brown, is the 
most common color. This, when striped and variegated 
with yellow, is still more beautiful; then there are flowers 
of a plain lemon or orange-yellow color, or dark-brown, 
edged with yellow, and variously shaded; these, when 
full double like the Ranunculus, are superb. Some of the 
single varieties with brown and yellow-striped petals, 
are also fine. The only drawback to this beautiful flower 
is the odor, which is disagreable to many persons. This 
species is sometimes called the Velvet or Ranunculus 
Marigold. It is in flower from July to October, and in 
rich ground, if planted singly, or two or three feet distant 
from any other plant, will make quite a large bush before 
it is cut down by frost. All the varieties of this and the 
African Marigold are apt to degenerate, even when the 
seed is saved from the most perfect flowers, unless the 
single varieties in their neighborhood are pulled up and 
thrown away as soon as they show flower. 
T. erécta.—African Marigold.—This is also one of the 
old inhabitants of the flower-garden, and although called 
African, it, with the preceeding, came from South America.” 
The large double varieties of this species are very rich; 
the colors from a pale citron-yellow to deep-orange. The 
seed may be sown any time in May. The plants should 
be transplanted when large enough, into patches of four 
or five plants each; all inferior sorts should be pulled up 
as soon as the flowers appear. One plant is enough for 
one place, which, if tied up to a support and trimmed oc- 
casionally, will give good satisfaction and will continue to 
flower till frost. 
T. signata.—This species of Marigold is of recent in- 
troduction, and, when properly cultivated, forms a strik- 
ing ornament of the flower-garden. The variety called 
T. signata pumila, is not more than one foot in height, 
forming a compact hemispherical bush from one to two 
