302 



that's it; 



favourite over a 

 great part of the 

 world. It derives 

 its name from 

 || prima, bein£ the 



first to flower. 

 The ox-lip, cow- 

 slip, and auricula, 

 belong to this 

 interesting tribe, 

 whose flowers are 

 83L of various colours, 



yellow, pink, orange, red, blue, 

 purple, &c, and generally grow 

 on scapes, in some cases solitary, 

 in others umbelliferous. Those 

 beautiful and varied flowers, the 

 auriculas, are natives of the 

 Alpine regions of Italy, Switzer- 

 land, and Germany, from which 

 they were introduced and esta- 

 blished upon British soil. 



What beautiful flowers are 

 those of the convolvulus, 3, and how 

 graceful are the twining stems, 



3 



and variously shaped leaves. The 

 name is derived from convolvere, 

 to entwine ; and there are nume- 

 rous species, bearing white, pink, 

 flesh-colour, blue, purple, striped, 

 and variegated flowers. One of 



them, the convolvulus batatus, has 

 a tuberous root, which in the 

 sixteenth century was sold in 

 England as the potatoe, of which 

 a kind of sweet confection was 

 made with oil and wine. It was 

 afterwards superseded by the 

 potatoe from Virginia, but is still 

 cultivated in tropical climates, 

 like our potatoe, and the young 

 leaves and tender shoots eaten, as 

 wej.1 as the tubers. 



Azaleas, 4, are very ornamental 

 plants, introduced chiefly from 

 North America and China, in 

 various 4 

 years, sub- 

 sequent to 

 1793. They 

 take their 

 name from 

 a Greek 

 word mean- 

 ing arid, 

 which re- 

 fers either 

 to the dry spots where the plants 

 grow naturally, or to the dry and 

 brittle nature of the wood. The 

 flowers generally grow in corymbs, 

 and are of rich colours, varying 

 from light pink to double purple. 



Balsams, 5, are among the 

 most beautiful of popular annuals; 



the stalks 

 are clustered 

 with flow- 

 ers, which 

 range over 

 every shade 

 of orange, 

 purple, scar- 

 let, lilac, 

 pink, and 

 carnation. 

 834. There are 



833. 



