159 
in flowers as in stones; and often do their fair lips speak as 
eloquently as “ tongues in trees, or books in the running 
brooks.” 
The beautiful Commeline, whose bright celestial blue I 
have attempted to account for by a fanciful fairy-tale, well 
merits its name Ccelestis, for of all the blue flowers of garden 
or greenwood this wears the clearest and brightest tint. 
It is pure ultramarine, and the delicate cruciform anthers of 
vivid yellow, with the peculiar construction of the whole 
flower, give it a most elegant and gay appearance. The indi¬ 
vidual flowers are short-lived; opening at sunrise, they fade 
in the intense heat of noon, and shrivel away, bemg succeeded 
by others, closely hidden in the large gr'een sheath until 
ready to expand, and reminding one of little half-fledged 
birds in a nest. 
The small Convolvulus, represented in the same plate with 
the Commeline, is a very common species : it does not attain 
nearly the height of the large white Bindweed, hut creeps plen¬ 
tifully about banks, hedges, and fields, twining round bents 
of grass, or any thing capable of lending support to its circling 
stems. The small and graceful flowers are tinged with faint 
and deeper shades of pink, like the inside of some delicate 
tropical shells, which they almost resemble as they peep from 
the footpaths we are treading on. 
The splendid Passion-Flowers next demand our notice 
in these remarks on the subjects selected for ])ictorial and 
