7» FAMILIAR GARDEN ^FLOWERS. 



when an American gentleman, Mr. R. Wheelwright, pre- 

 sented a plant obtained from Concepcion, Chili, and very 

 shortly thereafter it was talked about, as it deserved to be, as 

 one of the wonders of botanical discovery. Messrs. Veitch, 

 about the same time, secured it through their successful 

 collector, the late Mr. Thomas Lobb ; and, as a matter of 

 course, it was cultivated by them for commercial purposes. 



At this point we wish to mention an incident in the 

 history of the lapageria of interest much greater, even if less 

 attractive, than any possible association of the unknown 

 thing with human loves or inhuman follies in Greek or 

 Roman poetry might be. The plant was figured in the 

 Botanical Magazine in 1849 (t. 4,447), and reference thereto 

 will enable any one who knows the flower to say that the 

 figure is admirably lifelike. But read the story that accom- 

 panies it, and you will learn that the artist, Mr. Walter 

 Fitch, had no living flowers at command, for none had then 

 been seen in this country. The story declares that " our 

 flowers are taken from dried specimens, aided by coloured 

 figures made in the native locality. " Thus we leave the 

 overworn "classic" groove; we are not to consult the 

 ancients about a flower that for them did not exist, but we 

 have forced upon our attention the fact that a botanical 

 draughtsman may, by means of dried specimens and secon- 

 dary helps, produce a portrait that shall have, for both 

 pictorial and scientific purposes, the value of a drawing 

 from the life. To this remark it should be added that very 

 much of botanical draughtsmanship in recent years has been 

 founded on dried specimens and descriptions, and, generally 

 speaking, technical accuracy has been secured thereby. 



The lapageria belongs to the Smilax family, and there- 

 fore, by a little adroit management, it may be dragged 



