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inferiority, “ that you will be astonished to hear tiiat 
I am one of that family of splendid flowers so care¬ 
fully cultivated in hot-houses. But it is true. Like 
the children of men, our race is wonderfully im¬ 
proved by cultivation. I believe there are as many 
as sixty of my relations highly prized by all lovers 
of beautiful things, and their fragrance is oftentimes 
as delicious as their colors are variegated and bril¬ 
liant. I suppose they love hot-houses as well as I 
do the fresh air and open sky. One would surely 
think so, to see how much they improve in beauty 
there, and in health too, for their colors are more 
brilliant than mine, and their leaves more vigorous, 
and filled with spicy odors 
If you examine my stamens you will see that they 
are all united at the base into one tube, encircling 
the germ. From this circumstance, botanists call us 
of the Monodelphia class, meaning one brotherhood. 
