OF ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 
10 
hardy annuals, is by making a hole with a dibber, or planting-stick, the form of which is conical, then inserting 
the plant, and holding it with the left hand, while with the right another hole is made about an inch from the 
first, and the dibber moved in such a manner as to close the first hole, and in so doing to press in the earth 
against the root of the plant from the bottom to the top : the second hole is then closed by a little earth drawn 
into it by the point of the dibber. In this way a great number of annuals may be transplanted in a comparatively 
short time; but as it requires some dexterity, which can only be acquired by practice, to avoid bruising the 
tender stem and root of the young plant with the dibber, the novice in gardening had much better use the first 
method we have described, and make the roots firm with the hands. "When a plant is transplanted in wet 
weather, it does not require so much care as when the weather is dry. As soon as the young plant is fixed 
in its new situation, unless the weather bo wet, it should be watered ; not only to wash the small particles 
of earth in amongst the fibrils, but to afford nourishment to the plant; as when there is abundance of moisture 
it is absorbed by every part of the root, instead of being only taken up by the spongioles. "When a plant 
is transferred to a dry soil without watering, the spongioles wither up, and the plant dies, unless a sufficient 
quantity of water is afterwards given to the root to enable it to form new spongioles. If the weather be 
dry, the newly-transplanted plant should be shaded from the sun for a day or two, by a flower-pot, put on 
in the morning and taken off at night, to prevent the evaporation from the leaves being greater than the 
moisture taken up by the root. When a plant is firmly established in the soil, the quantity of moisture absorbed 
by the root, and that carried off by the leaves, is exactly proportioned ; but transplanting of course weakens the 
root, and renders it incapable for a day or two of performing its usual functions. 
The Spanisli Nigella is so handsome a flower that it may be planted in any garden ; and when the dark-blue 
kind is combined with the white variety, a splendid effect may be produced. Could the following species, 
N. orientalis , be procured and planted in the same group, its yellow blossoms would form a striking contrast 
with the above. The seeds of the Roman, dwarf, and Spanish Nigellas, may be purchased in any seed-shop. 
4.—NIGELLA ORIENTALIS, Lin. THE ORIENTAL, OR YELLOW-FLOWERED NIGELLA. 
Engravings. —Bot. Mag. t. 1264, and our fig. 6, in Plate 2. straight. Seeds flat, orbicular, and girded with a membranous 
Specific Character. —Carpels from 5 to 10, smooth, connected margin — ( G. Don.) 
together from the base almost to the middle, hardly diverging. Styles 
Description, &c.— This species is remarkable for the colour of its flowers, and the long styles that stand up 
in their centre. The flowers themselves are small, but their colour is a bright yellow, and thus they form a 
striking contrast to those of the other species of the genus. The carpels are very remarkable when the flowers 
have fallen, though they are not so ornamental as those of N. hispanica. The carpels of N. orientalis are quite 
distinct, except at their inner edge, where they are slightly attached from the base to about the middle. This 
species is a native of Asia Minor, and Syria, and it is common in the corn-fields near Aleppo, and in Eastern 
Caucasus, and Middle Iberia. It was introduced in 1699, and was grown in Lee’s nursery, and other places, 
within the last twenty years ; but it appears to have gradually fallen out of cultivation for want of a demand, 
and it is probably now lost. It might however be easily again procured if it were much asked for ; and it is 
worth growing, for the sake of the effect it would produce in patches with the white and blue Spanish Nigella. 
