OF ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 
155 
GENUS I. 
PHLOX, Lin. THE PHLOX. 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx deeply 5-cleft, connivent. Corolla salver-shaped; tube elongated; limb twisted in aestivation, with cuneated 
segments. Stamens inserted above the middle of the tube. Cells of capsule 1-seeded_(G. Don.) 
Description, &c.— The word Phlox signifies flame, and it is supposed to have been applied to this genus in 
allusion to the flame-like shape of the bud. The species are all beautiful, and .bear a great family likeness to 
each other. The only annual among them is Phlox Drummondi. 
PHLOX DRUMMONDI, Hook. DRUMMOND’S PHLOX. 
Engravings. —Bot. Mag. t. 3441 ; Bot. Reg. t. 1949 ; Swt. Brit. 
Flow. Gard. 2nd Ser. t. 316; Botanist, No. 15; and our Jig. 1, in 
Plate 27. 
Specific Character. —Stems erect, simple at bottom, but a little 
branched at top, beset with spreading hairs, as well as the edges of the 
leaves, calyxes, bracteas, &c.; leaves ovate-lanceolate, half stem- 
clasping, all mucronate and downy, lower ones opposite, upper ones 
alternate ; panicle trichotomously corymbose ; flowers on very short 
pedicels; calycine segments linear-subulate, mucronate, a little reflexed ; 
tube of corolla much curved, hairy, three times longer than the calyx ; 
segments of corolla imbricate, cuneate, obtuse, entire.—(G. Don.) 
Description, &c.— Nothing can be a stronger proof of the great beauty of this species than the great number 
of times that it has been figured in the botanical periodicals, notwithstanding its very recent introduction. It is 
indeed one of the most beautiful annual flowers that we have ; and it is remarkable, not only for the splendour 
of its colours, but for their very great variety. We have ourselves ten or twelve plants quite distinct in their 
colours, varying from a deep rose-colour velvet hue to a pale lilac-like pink, all raised from the seed of one plant, 
which ripened with us in the open air in the summer of 1838 at Bayswater. Two of these heads of flowers are 
copied in Plate 27- This splendid Phlox was discovered by Drummond, a botanical collector sent out by the 
Glasgow Botanical Society, at Texas in Mexico in 1835 ; and it is particularly interesting as it is one of the last 
plants that he sent over. Soon afterwards Mr. Drummond visited Cuba, where he was seized with fever, 
and died in the prime of life without completing half the researches which he had contemplated. For this 
reason Sir W. J. Hooker has very judiciously named this plant Phlox Drummondi , that it may “ serve as a 
frequent memento of its unfortunate discoverer.” Though the seeds were first sent to England only in 1835, 
the plant seeds so freely, and has become so great a favourite, that it is already common everywhere. It 
was at first supposed to require a greenhouse, but it is now found to flower much better in the open air, and a 
more splendid sight than a bed of seedlings can scarcely be imagined; every flower though of the deepest 
carmine has its petals of a pale blush colour on the under side, and every petal though of the palest pink has 
a dark carmine spot at its base. Thus the variety of colours displayed in a bed of these flowers almost exceeds 
description, and when they are seen under a bright sun, and agitated by a gentle breeze, the effect is extra¬ 
ordinarily brilliant. The culture of the Phlox Drummondi generally resembles that of the half-hardy annuals, 
though the plant itself is quite hardy. The seeds, which may be bought at any seed-shop, should be sown in 
pots in February, and placed in a gentle hotbed, or kept under shelter in the dwelling-house. Early in May 
the plants may be turned out into the open border, and in June they will be splendidly in flower; or by 
sowing the seed in pots and plunging the pots into a strong hotbed, or the tan-pit of a stove, flowers may be 
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