OF ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 287 
which is placed a tuft or bundle of flowers, which grow with the leaves, and expand about the time the latter 
have attained their full growth. The flowers are of a yellowish-brown tinged with blue, and they are covered 
with a dense wool. The species is a native of Switzerland, whence it was introduced in 1819. It flowers early 
in March, and only grows about six inches high. The plants are quite hardy, but they require some care, as the 
roots are very liable to rot in winter. The species is generally propagated by seeds, which ripen in abundance. 
Synonvme. — Atropa mandragora, Sib. et Smilh. 
Engiiavings. — Sweet's Brit. Flow. Gard., 2d ser., t. 325. 
3.— MANDRAGORA AUTUMNALIS, Bertol. THE AUTUMN-FLOWERING MANDRAKE. 
Specific Character. — Leaves oblong, very hairy ; calyx covered 
with dense woolly hairs ; segments lanceolate, acuminate ; segments 
of the corolla elliptic, obtuse ; berry oblong, mucronulate. 
Description, &c. — The root of this species is long and thick, forked, and generally of an ash colour. The 
leaves are very large, of a dark green, very much wrinkled, and furnished with numerous warty bristles ; they 
are also of a thick substance, and undulated at the margins. The flowers are of a dark violet ; they are large, 
and are produced one on each stalk ; the flower-stalks being of a bright pink, and growing four or five togetlier. 
In the centre of each flower is a tuft of white, woolly hairs, which entirely fills up the throat of the corolla. 
The berry is oblong, and of a bright orange. The species is a native of the south of Europe, whence it was 
introduced before 1548. Like all the other species, it thrives best in a rich deep soil, and it can only be increased 
by seeds, which hang on all the winter, and do not ripen till the spring. This species is supposed to be the 
Mandrake mentioned in the Scriptures. 
GENUS IV. 
VERBASCUM, Lin. THE MULLEIN. 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. — Calyx five-parted ; corolla rotate or funnel- I anthers lunate, that is, shaped like a half-moon; capsule with two 
shaped ; stamens five, all bearing anthers, and usually bearded ; the \ valves, the valves bending in. 
Description, &c. — All the species of Verbascum are strong, vigorous-growing plants, with broad, thick, 
woolly leaves, which are largest in size near the root. The flowers are disposed in long terminal racemes, and 
they are extremely showy. The whole plant, except the flowers, is generally covered with a kind of wool, which 
makes the leaves feel soft and thick to the touch, and hence one of the popular names of the British species is the 
flannel plant. The name of Verbascum is said to have been originally Barbascum, in allusion to the bearded 
filaments of the stamens. There are numerous species of Verbascum, but only a few of the most ornamental are 
common in British gardens. Most of the species are natives of Europe. 
1.— VERBASCUM PHCBNICEUM, Lin. THE PURPLE VERBASCUM. 
nearly naked ; raceme terminal, elongated ; pedicels of the flower* 
solitary, spreading, much longer than the bracteas. 
Synonymes. — Blattaria perennis, Moris. ; B. purpurea, Bauh. 
Engravings. — Bot. Mag., t. 885 ; and ouv fig. 2, in PI. 75. 
Specific Character. — Leaves ovate, pubescent beneath ; stem 
Description, &c. — This is a well-known and very handsome plant, which is quite hardy and continues in 
flower a long time ; the flowers in the upper part of the raceme opening gradually as those of the lower part 
