HERBACEOUS FLOWERS, 



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from annuals and biennials, which, after making their 

 flower-stem and ripening their seed, whether in the first 

 or second summer after having been sown, themselves 

 perish utterly. For gardening purposes, exotic plants 

 which in their own country would form permanent stems, 

 whether as standards or climbers, but which are killed 

 by our winters down to their root, although that may 

 survive either by its own vigour or by the gardener's 

 protective aid, — such plants may be practically regarded 

 as herbaceous here. There are even true shrubs, as 

 certain species of rose, which manifest an affinity to 

 herbaceous plants, by annually shooting young stems 

 from the original stool, which flower vigorously, while 

 the older stems languish and die. It will be seen, there- 

 fore, that the list of " Herbaceous Flowers" admits of 

 considerable latitude in its formation. It comprises very 

 many exceedingly useful as well as beautiful ornaments 

 of the parterre and pleasure-ground. The genera and 

 species composing it are very numerous, and the follow- 

 ing incomplete notice must necessarily be of the utmost 

 brevity. 



Alstroemeria. — A South American genus, fitter for the 

 greenhouse than the garden. A. psittacinus, the most 

 robust. A. versicolor resists our winters with a covering 

 over the roots ; has produced numerous varieties. Try 

 also A. palchella, A, aurea, and A. peregrina in the open 

 ground. Propagate by seeds, which will mostly flower 

 the second year ; more readily by division of the root, 

 carefully, for it is very brittle. Avoid excess of water- 

 ing. 



American Cowslip — DodecatJieon Meadia — i. e., Dr. 

 Mead's plant of the Twelve Divinities. Linnaeus has 

 been sneered at for giving such a name, for no better 

 apparent reason than that this exceedingly pretty plant 

 generally bears a bouquet of twelve rosy-lilac flowers 

 at the top of its flower-stem. But the great naturalist 

 was more learned than many of his critics. The Dode- 

 catheon, amongst the ancient Greeks, was a medicinal 

 herb, in great repute as an antidote, on which specific 



