Trumpet Flower. 31 



lower orders of creation, we might suggest a similarity between 

 this operation of nature, and that which sometimes takes 

 place in certain of the delicate sex — " Dians of the times," — 

 who blush enchanting red on their first " coming out," but in 

 the course of seasons become blues of the most intense and 

 immeasurable tinU Female chemistry, however, seems to 

 offer a reason for this change, the reverse of that supposed in 

 the case of the flower, and makes it attributable, not to the 

 loss, but to the gain, of some ' acid principle.' In considera- 

 tion that the Borage is emblematic of bluntness, we hope to 

 be pardoned for so wicked a parallel, and will not risk a 

 second offence, by intruding our opinion as to the propriety of 

 giving it another signification, which we therefore leave our fair 

 readers to discover for themselves. 



BIGNONIA RADICANS— TRUMPET FLOWER. 



Natural Class, Dicotyledones ; Order, Bignoniacea? Linnsean Class, Didyna- 

 mia ; Order, Augiosperma. Generic Distinctions : — calyx, divided or entire ; 

 corolla, mouopetalous, usually irregular, four and five lobed ; stamens, five, 

 unequal, always one, sometimes three, sterile ; ovarium, seated in a disk, 

 two celled, many seeded ; style, one ; seeds, transverse, compressed, often 

 winged. 



B. Radicans. — Leaves, pinnate ; leaflets, opposite, ovate, acuminate, toothed ; 

 panicles, terminal ; flowers, scarlet ; stem, climbing. 



The genus Bignonia forms the type of the natural order 

 Bignoniaceae, the essential characters of which will be fully 

 explained when it is noticed in its proper place. The genus 

 derives its name from the Abbe Bignon, librarian to Louis 

 XIV., and is composed of beautiful plants, some of which are 

 trees or shrubs, and others are climbers. They are mostly 

 inhabitants of hot climates, from which, on the American con- 

 tinent, they extend northward to the Middle United States, and 

 southward to Chili. There is a strong family likeness between 

 them, though the petals of the different species are of various 

 colors. The knowledge yet obtained of their medicinal or 

 other properties, is very imperfect The natives of some 

 parts of South America use for painting their faces and bodies, 



