COMMELINA — CO.^AXTHERA — CONVALLARIA. 61 



OOMMELTNA. 

 Day Flower, 



A genus of very pretty native plants, annuals and 

 perennials, hardy and greenhouse trailers ; common 

 throughout the Southern States. The only species of 

 value as a flowering plant is 0. cmlestis, which makes an 

 excellent border plant. Its flowers are blue, and of 

 more intensity than perhaps can be found in any other 

 vegetable form. The tubers should be taken up in 

 autumn, and given the same attention as is paid to the 

 Dahlia, only that in spring they may be planted without 

 first being started into growth. 



CONANTHERA. 



Cummingia. 



A very rare bulb, native of Chili, and of difficult 

 culture. The plants grow in winter, flowering in April, 

 after which they require rest the entire summer. In 

 their native habitat the natives use the roots — which 

 taste, when cooked, not unlike sweet chestnuts — as an 

 article of food. . The flowers are blue, but are not of 

 sufficient importance to compensate for the room they 

 would require in the greenhouse. 



C ON VALLAEIA. 



Lily of the Valley. 



Of this genus there is but one species, Convallaria 

 majalis, so common in our gardens, and one of the 

 most important in the list of florists' flowers. The 

 species is widely disseminated, being found plentiful in 

 England, but by far the most common in the province 

 of Hanover, Germany, where it completely covers the 

 ground, in the woods, and will rignt for possession in 

 the cultivated fields. At the time of flowering, the air is 

 scented for a considerable distance by the agreeable per- 



