156 THE LADIES' FLOWER-GARnEN 
produced early in May or even in April. We saw some beautiful flowers in the first week in May 1839, fully 
expanded, in the garden of Mr. Groom, florist, "Walworth, which had been treated in this manner. If raised in 
the open ground, the seeds should be sown in April, and the plants will not flower till July. When any very 
splendid flower is produced, it may be propagated by cuttings, which must be kept in heat all the winter and 
planted out in spring ; but as plants thus procured are very inferior to those raised from seed, it is better to 
take the chance of a bed of seedlings, and select the best, if any should be wanted of peculiar beauty. Seedlings 
flower very well, kept singly in pots, and placed in a balcony, or under a veranda. 
GENUS II. 
LEPTOSIPHON, Benth. THE LEPTOSIPHON. 
Lin. St/St. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Oknkric Charactfr. — Calyx tubularly-campanulate. Lobes linear, subulate. Corolla funnel-shaped. Tube Tery long, slender. Limb 
campanulate, with oval obtuse lobes. Stamens inserted at the throat. Cells of capsule many-seeded. — (G. Don.) 
Description, &c. — These are some of the Californian annuals sent home by Douglas, and they are valuable 
not only as being very pretty, but as being quite hardy. The name of Leptosiphon signifies slender tube. 
1.— LEPTOSIPHON ANDROSACEUS, Benth. THE ANDROSACE-LIKE LEPTOSIPHON. 
Engritings. — Hort. Trans, vol. i. New Set., fig. 1 in t. 18; Bot. 
Mag. t. 3491 ; Bot. Reg. t. 1710 ; Bot. Gard. t. 593 ; Paxt. Mag. of 
Bot. vol. i;i. p. 2l9 ; and om fig. 3, in Plate 27. 
Specific Character. — Leaves 5 — 7-cleft. Segments oblong-linear. 
Tube of corolla 2 — 3 times longer than the limb. Stamens 3 timet 
shorter than the limb of the corolla. — (G. Don.) 
Description, &c. — The lively colours and numerous flowers of this little plant make it a desirable addition 
to our flower-gardens, but it has the great fault, common to many of the Californian annuals, of closing its 
flowers at an early hour of the day. The flowers vary from diflPerent degrees of lilac and blue to white, but tliey 
have always a black eye, and bright yellow anthers and stigmas, and the tube is usually red. This species is a 
native of California, and is one of the plants sent home by Douglas, in 1833. It is quite hardy, but as the heat 
of the summer is apt to wither its roots, it does best when sown so as to flower in spring or autumn. Seeds 
may be procured at any seed-shop, and with regard to their culture, we cannot do better than copy some 
observations sent to us by the same intelligent and experienced gardener who assisted us with some remarks on 
flower culture at the commencement of this work. 
" An economical way of rearing these, and probably all annuals which require to be sown very thick to 
make masses, is to sow the seeds in the autumn, say about the first week in September, on any trodden path, or 
other very hard bottom, first covering it about an inch thick with light soil. Here the young plants will grow 
all the winter ; and as soon as the flower-beds are dug and prepared in spring, which is in February, March, or 
April, according to circumstances, the young seedlings should be taken up with the spade in patches, and laid on 
the flower-bed. All that remains is to fill up the openings between the patches with soil, and to press them 
gently down, so that the surface of the bed may be covered evenly. Of course by this process the beds may 
either be filled, each with one kind of flower, or with several kinds, according to the fancy of the gardener ; and 
as the plants will be in full bloom early in May, they will have every advantage of sowing themselves, combined 
