4 



TURNERA ELEGANS. 



being Prebendary of York, Canon of Windsor, and Dean of Wells. He published 

 " A New Herbal " in the reign of Edward the Sixth, and has been looked upon 

 as the father of English botany. A passage in his work (which is worth quoting 

 for its curiosity) may serve to give some idea of the state of Natural History at 

 that period in England, and even in the universities. " Being then," says he, 

 " a student of Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, where I could learn never one Greke, 

 neither Latin, nor English name, even among the physicians, of any herbe or tree, 

 such was the ignorance at that time ; and as yet there was no English herbal, but 

 one, all full of unlearned cacographies, and falsely naming of herbes." He had a 

 botanic garden at Wells, and another at Kew, and continued to devote himself 

 with undiminished ardour to the study of plants till the close of his life in 1568. 



The genus Turnera contains about fifty species, many of which bear flowers of 

 considerable beauty; our present species, however, is not excelled by any of them. 

 The petals are of a pale yellow or sulphur colour, elegantly shaded with orange 

 towards their base, while their claws are of a rich purplish brown. They are 

 exceedingly delicate in texture, and are seen in the greatest perfection before 

 eleven in the morning, after which time they begin to droop, closing early in the 

 afternoon. In this respect they somewhat resemble the Cistacese (the Pock-rose 

 tribe), with which order these plants very much agree in habit, and to which they 

 are certainly very nearly allied. Although the flowers of T. elegans are of such 

 short duration, yet their appearance in almost daily succession during the months 

 of April, May, June, and July, renders it a most valuable acquisition to the stove. 

 They are natives exclusively of South America and the West Indies. Of their 

 properties nothing is yet known. The present species was introduced in 1821. 



They require the protection of the stove, particularly during the winter. Some 

 of them, however, will admit of being placed out in the spring in a warm, well 

 sheltered border; where, should the season prove favourable, they will flower 

 freely during the summer. The requisite soil is a mixture of peat and loam, with 

 a little sharp sand, and plenty of drainers. May be propagated by seeds, which 

 are frequently ripened with us ; and by cuttings taken in the spring from near 

 the root of such as are not likely to flower for some time. The tender extremities 

 of the branches will also root freely, but will seldom make good plants. 



