PETUNIA, 



210 



pha'ius. 



Salpiglossis linearis, is a dwarf I 

 shrub, a native of Panama, introduced 

 in 1832, which requires to be kept 

 in a greenhouse in England. 



A great confusion has arisen about 

 the name of the purple-flowered Pe- 

 tunia, as, when it was first raised at 

 Glasgow from the seeds sent home by 

 Mr. Tweedie, it was supposed, by Sir 

 W. J. Hooker, to be a Salpiglossis ; 

 and it was figured and described by 

 him under the name of Salpiglassis 

 integrifolia in the Botanical Maga- 

 zine, t. 3113. It was afterwards 

 figured and described by Professor 

 Don, in Sweet's British Flower Gar- 

 den, second series, t. 172, under the 

 name of Nierembergia phozmcea ; 

 and lastly, by Dr. Lindley in the 

 Botanical Register, t. 1626, as Pe- 

 tunia violacea. It is very remark- 

 able that there should have been so 

 many doubts among botanists as to 

 the genus of the purple Petunia, as 

 it appears to common observers to 

 differ from the white only in colour ; 

 and it is also remarkable that it 

 should have been first called phce- 

 nicea, which signifies crimson, when 

 it is decidedly of a violet-coloured 

 purple. The flowers of the white 

 Petunia, and of all the hybrids raised 

 from it, are fragrant, particularly at 

 night ; while the few hybrids raised 

 between P. violacea and P. bicolor, 

 and the numerous seedlings of the 

 former species, have no fragrance. P. 

 bicolor does not hybridize so freely 

 as the other kinds, and it is more 

 tender ; but all the dark-mouthed and 

 streaked kinds are raised partly from 

 it, and they are generally hybrids be- 

 tween it and the white Petunia ; the 

 latter kind producing the seed, as P. 

 bicolor rarely ripens seeds. No plants 

 are more easily trained than the 

 Petunias ; and, with a little care and 

 attention, they may be made to cover 

 trellis-work or wire-frames of various 

 different forms. 



Peyro'usia. — Irideas. — A genus of 

 bulbous-rooted plants with rather 

 small flowers, generally in corymbs,, 

 which require the usual treatment of 

 Cape bulbs. — See Ixia. 



Phace x lia. — HydrophyllecB. — > 

 Very curious plants, which produce 

 their flowers in one-sided fascicles- 

 which unroll themselves slowly. The 

 flowers are rather pretty in them- 

 selves, but are half hidden by their 

 bracts and coarse-growing leaves. All 

 the species are natives of America, 

 but some are found in California, some 

 in Peru, and some even as far south 

 as the Straits of Magellan. Some of 

 the species are perennials, and others- 

 biennial or annual. The Californian 

 species are annuals with blue flowers, 

 but the South American kinds are 

 biennials or perennials with pink 

 flowers. They all grow freely in any 

 common garden soil. 



Pha'ius.- — Orchidacece. — P. al~ 

 bus, which is an exceedingly beauti- 

 ful East Indian epiphyte, is remark- 

 able for the dry and withered appear- 

 ance which it presents when it enters 

 into its dormant state. At this period 

 it sheds its leaves, and its stems be- 

 come covered with a dry brownish 

 skin, which makes them look exactly 

 as if they were dead. It should then 

 be removed to a cool situation, where 

 the heat is not greater than 40° or 

 45° of Fahrenheit, and kept with only 

 enough water to prevent it from dying. 

 In the course of a few weeks, a young 

 shoot will begin to push out from the 

 crown of the root ; and as soon as 

 this is perceived, the plant should be 

 repotted in sandy peat, (the pot being 

 first nearly half-filled with potsherds,) 

 and removed to the orchideous house, 

 where it should be exposed to a strong 

 heat and syringed tw T ice a day with a 

 copious supply of water to the roots 

 till the appearance of the flowers, 

 when it should be removed to a 

 cooler atmosphere, say that of a 



