PORTULACA THELLUSONII -THELLUSON’S PORTULACA. 
Class XI. DODECANDRIA. Order I. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, PORTULACE^E. 
Stem annual, or at most biennial, round, branched, smooth, from about one foot to a foot and a half high, 
and more or less of a deep pink colour. Leaves alternate, fleshy, somewhat cylindrical, smooth, about an 
inch long, having in the axils tufts of long white filamentous hairs. Floral leaves numerous, arranged in 
the form of a whorl, and in length and form similar to those of the stem. Flowers one or more at the apex 
of the branches. Calyx leaves two, ovate, acute, skinny, about three lines long, externally of a pinky colour. 
Corolla about two inches and a half in diameter, of a most brilliant crimson colour, with a yellow star in the 
centre, with blotches about the star of a still darker crimson. Petals five, ovate, obtuse, concave, two- 
lobed, having the margins recurved. Stamens numerous, of a dark purple colour, smooth, shorter than the 
style. Anthers round. Pollen yellow, roundish. Style longer than the stamens, of a lightish purple 
colour, increasing in size from the base upwards, smooth. Stigma five-cleft, divisions more or less recurved, 
the under side smooth, the upper side strongly pubescent. Ovarium roundish, five or six angled, one-celled 
ovaria numerous, rather reniform, granulose, arranged round a central columella, on a placenta. 
Popular and geographical notice. This is a truly brilliant plant, and when in perfection, its crimson 
flowers are dazzling to the eye ; as an annual (or little more) it is an attractive addition to the stove. At 
first this plant was considered, by Dr. Lindley, as a hybrid between Portulaca grandiflora, and Portulaca 
Gilliesii, but subsequent observation has convinced Dr. Lindley that it is a true species, and distinct from 
its congeners by its two-lobed petals. Its native country is not stated by the above author, who first de- 
scribed it in the Botanical Register, for 1839, but most probably it is a native of tropical America, as that 
country contains most of the species of the genus, few being found in the temperate or warm parts of the 
old world. 
Introduction ; where grown ; culture. This plant, according to Dr. Lindley, was sent from Florence 
to the London Horticultural Society, by Lord Rendlesham. The genus may be easily propagated by 
cuttings, and the species Portulaca Gilliesii, grandiflora, and the one now figured, may be rapidly increased 
by the leaves, which, if suffered to remain on the soil of the pot after they have fallen, will soon strike 
root, and, in a short time, produce vigorous plants. The soil should be peat, loam and sand. 
For the following long, but agreeable quotation, we are indebted to William Howitt’s Work on the 
Seasons. 
“Autumn is dark on the mountains ; grey mist rests on the hills. The whirlwind is heard on the heath. 
Dark rolls the river through the narrow plain. The leaves whirl round with the wind, and strew the grave 
of the dead.” I commence this month with a quotation from a bard who, more than all others, abounds in 
that wild and sombre imagery congenial to the season. Ossian is a book to be read amid the gloomy silence, 
or the loud gusty winds of November. There is an ancient dwelling, in a sylvan and out-of-the-world part 
of the country, which I frequent about as often as there are months in the year. In the summer it is sur- 
rounded by out-of-doors delights — woods, green fields, sweet songs, and all the pleasantness of flowers, 
breezes, and sunshine, which tempt me to loiter among them ; but in the autumnal and wintry months, I 
habitually cast my eyes upon a small recess, filled with books, and amongst them, upon Ossian ; and if I 
remember any hours of peculiar enjoyment, I do those thus occupied. The days and feelings of my boy- 
hood are at once brought back again. I connect the scenes and the heroes of the “Voice of Cona,”in some 
mysterious manner with the memory of those with whom I was wont to admire them ; and am snatched 
from a world of cold calculation and selfishness, in which we all too willingly participate, to one of glory 
and generosity. We are often asked wherein consists the peculiar charm of Ossian. It is in the graceful 
delicacy and refined affection of his female characters ; the reckless bravery, lofty sentiment, and generous 
warmth of his warriors, and the wildness of the scenery in which they dwell, We are delighted to find his 
lovely and noble beings on their rude heaths, or in their rude halls, exhibiting a poetical refinement of mind 
far transcending the tone of modern society, with all the beautiful set-off of the simplicity of ancient 
manners. And then, what a pathos is in their sorrows ! The harp of Ossian is truly a “ harp of sorrow.” 
It breathes perpetually of melancholy tenderness. It is the voice of age lamenting over departed glory — 
over beauty and strength cut down in their prime ; and it comes to us from the dimness of antiquity, and 
from a land of hills and woods, of mists and meteors, — from the heath of mossy and grey stones, the roaring 
