54 TORENIA SCABRA. 
has since been found at Moreton Bay, and other warm districts of the same 
country. 
Among the early cultivators, it was considered an annual or biennial plant, 
and it now appears to be qaite an annual in habit. In its treatment, the common 
mixture of heath-soil and loam is found a suitable compost, attention being of course 
paid to drainage. • 
It can be increased by cuttings, in the usual manner, and likewise, more cer^ 
tainly by seeds, which it will generally ripen, if the upper flowers are abstracted, 
and only the lowermost ones left to bear seed. Plants which are wished to be 
ornamental ought not to be suffered to produce seed. 
Torenia was named by Linnaeus after Olof Toren, a Swedish clergyman, who 
discovered F. asiatica, and other plants, in China. The species, scabra, is only 
scabrous on the under side of its leaves. 
