THE CUPHEA. 



Caphea platycentra. 



UPHEAS restore to us the light of 

 other days. Time was when all 

 the lovers of gardens, and more 

 especially the practitioners of chro- 

 , matic colouring, were at fever heat 

 P in discussing the relative merits 

 .,. of Cuphea platycentra and Cuphea 

 v eminens and Cuphea miniata, and 

 all other cupheas, known or un- 

 known, that might be located in 

 the parterre to the advantage of its 

 systematic artistic colouring. " But 

 now''' — the scene is changed; the 

 men are changed; the fashion is 

 changed ; cupheas &re unknown — 



" The light of other days is faded. 

 And all their glory past." 



But who shall say triey are less 

 beautiful than they were ? who shall appraise a plant in 

 the way of a broker, and value it by what it may fetch 

 in the money market? "A thing of beauty is a joy 

 for ever; its loveliness increases" where there are souls 

 to appreciate it, and therefore we shall claim the cuphea 

 as a "familiar garden flower," and in the fervour of 



