a highly attractive family, and the section of it 
now called Helianthemum, but formerly belonging 
to the genus Cistus, is so easily managed, and re- 
quires so small a space, that we recommend an 
extensive selection from its species and varieties to 
the especial notice of our readers. In the whole 
there are upwards of a hundred species, and of these 
about one half may be readily obtained, some single 
and others double, displaying numerous tints of yel- 
low, white, and crimson, and almost every variation 
that can be produced by compounding these colours. 
It is true the flowers of Helianthemum are evanes- 
cent, and remind us of the w'ords of the poet : 
“ Frail plant ! whose early buds display 
Their beauties to the opening day, 
And fade with its declining ray, 
To bloom no inore.” 
But the human mind is wont to seek relief from 
Hope, which in this instance consolingly tells us 
“ Fresh buds the morning will bestow, 
The cheering sun again will glow. 
And gentle zephyrs round them blow, 
Each changing day.” 
We cannot withhold a few lines of Mrs. Hemans,’ 
which appropriately present themselves as a moral : 
“ Yet is not life, in its real flight, 
IMark’d thus — e’en thus — on earth. 
By the closing of one hope’s delight. 
And another’s gentle birth ? 
O let us live, so that flower by flower. 
Shutting in turn, may leave 
A lingerer still for the sunset hour, 
A charm for the shaded eve.” 
Don’s Syst. Bot, 1, 313. 
