Plate 214. 
LINUM CHAMISSONIS. 
Amongst the many collectors sent out by our chief nursery¬ 
men, few have had the good fortune to send home prettier and 
more generally useful plants than Mr. Pearce, the indefatigable 
collector of Messrs. Veitch and Son, of Chelsea. Our pages 
have already been enriched by drawings of some of his plants, 
Ourisia Pearcii , Mhnulus capreus , etc., and we now have the 
pleasure of adding another to the list, in the very pretty orange- 
yellow Linum which, under the name of L. Chamissonis , he sent 
home in 1860. 
Many collectors visit the warmer portions of our globe; and 
although in grandeur of foliage, and singularity and splendour 
of flowers, Borneo, Madagascar, and Brazil may justly claim the 
pre-eminence, yet their productions are such as only the wealthy 
can hope to cultivate ; not so, however, such countries as Japan, 
North China, and the higher ranges of the Andes,—there, owing 
to the low temperature, their flora is such as will either bear 
transferring to our gardens, or at most will require the protec¬ 
tion of a greenhouse, so that all persons of moderate means may 
be benefited by the researches of those who visit them; hence 
their much greater value in the eyes of the floricultural public. 
Take, for example, the very curious Ouvirandra fenestralis , or 
Lattice-plant of Madagascar,—in how few places is that to be 
found! while Lilium aurcitum will in a very short time find 
a home in every greenhouse in the kingdom: one is the plant 
of the select few, the other, that of the many. 
Many of the species of Linum are exceedingly ornamental. 
The little Alpine Flax is a very pretty plant; even the common 
Flax of commerce is highly ornamental, with its delicate foliage 
and pale-blue flowers, amongst annuals there are few more 
