256 THE LADIES' FLOWEll-GARDEN. 
2.— PETUNIA VIOLACEA, Lindl. THE PURPLE PETUNIA. 
Specific Character. — Prostrate, clothed with clammy haire oi 
down. Leaves ovate, on short petioles, acute. Corolla ventricose, 
with ovate, acute segments. Flowers solitary, axillary, pedunculate. 
— (G. Don.) 
Synonymes. — Salpiglossis integrifolia, Hook, ; Nierembergia phas- 
nicea, D. Don ; Petunia pheenicea, Hort. 
Engravings Bot. Mag. t. 3113, and t. 3556; Bot. Reg. t. 
1626; Swt. Brit. Flow. Card. 2nd Scr., t. 193; and our J?y. 2, in 
Plate 47, under the name of P. phanicea. 
Description, &c. — Perhaps no flower ever became a greater favourite in a short time than this. Only a few 
years ago, in the autumn of 1830, Mr. Tweedie, a botanical collector, discovered it in Buenos Ayres, growing on 
the banks of the river Uruguay, and sent seeds of it to the Botanic Garden at Glasgow. It flowered there for 
the first time in Great Britain in July 1831 ; and it was soon after figured in the Bot. Mag. under the name of 
Salpiglossis integrifolia. As it was found to propagate readily both by cuttings and seeds, it soon spread over 
England, and became a general favourite. Not so strong in its stems as Petunia nyctaginijlora, it was more 
manageable ; and it was found to succeed equally well in a greenhouse and in the open air. So that its fine hair- 
like roots were permitted to grow in light fine soil, and that they were kept moist, without being suffered to get 
too wet, the plant might be trained in any form the grower pleased ; and so that it was allowed plenty of light 
and air, it was sure to reward its cultivator with a profusion of rich dark purple blossoms. The common modes 
of training this Petunia are against a trellis or wire frame, which it will soon cover, or over a bed in the open 
ground j the latter being the mode now most generally adopted. When the Petunia is wanted for covering a 
bed in a geometrical flower-garden, the seeds are generally sown in autumn, or early in February ; and the young 
plants are kept in pots till they are ready for planting out in May. In planting the balls of earth out of the 
pots, they are generally laid on one side, so that the plants are ready for pegging down without bending them. 
In about a fortnight, the bed over which the Petunias were pegged down, will be covered with a number of 
upright shoots, each rising only a few inches from the ground, and each producing a succession of blossoms. As 
the old flowers drop off, fresh ones will expand, and the bed will continue to present a splendid mass of rich dark 
purple from May or June till the plants are destroyed by frost. There are many hybrids and varieties of this 
species, as it is found to hybridize freely with the white Petunia, and as new kinds are being continually raised 
from seed. Some of these hybrids, or varieties, are very large, of a pale lilac, and very fragrant ; and others 
(particularly that generally called Petunia splendem) are of a rich dark crimson shade of purple. They are all 
of the easiest culture, and merely require scattering the seeds on any common garden soil, to grow and flower 
freely ; though no plant better repays care bestowed on its cultivation. The Petunias with a dark centre are 
generally partly derived from P. bicolor, the flowers of which have a dark centre, and are curiously streaked and 
veined ; but all these are much more tender than the others, and more difficult to propagate by seed. All the kinds 
strike readily from cuttings, without any artificial heat. 
OTHER ANNUALS BELONGING TO THE ORDER SOLANACE.aE. 
The Tomatoes {Lycopersicum), some of the kinds of Capsicum, several of the kinds of Winter-cherry 
{,Physalis), and the Egg-plant (Solanum Melongena), are all more or less ornamental in their fruit, though they 
are seldom cultivated solely on that account. Very beautiful preparations may be made from the fruit of the 
winter-cherry, the common thorn-apple, and the kite-flower, by macerating them ; that is steeping them in water, 
till only the fibrous part of the calyx remains, which looks like a net enclosing the fruit. 
