64 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
diameter, and so deep as to contain three gallons. The petals 
are also very thick; and the weight of this particular specimen 
was computed to be fifteen pounds, which is probably the heaviest 
flower on record. The colour is a lurid red, and the petals and 
margin of the nectary are beset with warty excrescences. They 
are five in number, and recurve backward at their extremities, 
which are oval. The odour of the flower is peculiarly offensive, 
resembling that of flesh in a putrid state; and like the Phalli , 
and other offensively scented fungi, it appears to attract vast 
numbers of flies. 
The others vary considerably from this one : some having pretty 
long stems, and others, Rhizoma, creeping under ground; but 
all of these have fibres, by which they attach themselves to other 
plants. It is not known whether, like the fungi, any of them are 
poisonous, but they are all astringent, and some of them styptic : 
and the Maltese one is still used in continental medicine, though 
not now, as it once was, sent as a precious gift to kings. 
IMPROVEMENT OE WILD FLOWERING PLANTS. 
BY JAMES MAIN, F.L.S. 
Among the many feats of floriculture, that of domesticating and 
improving the wild gems of the brake and uncultivated common, 
is one of the most satisfactory. In their native bed they are 
diminutive, inconspicuous, and neglected, because they are accom¬ 
panied by thorns, thistles, and other repulsive denizens of the 
barren waste ; but when introduced into the garden, they soon 
become amplified in all their parts, and striking objects of our 
regard. 
The very remarkable changes which wild plants undergo when 
transferred to the ranks of civilized vegetation show how very 
versatile they are. The general form is altered; the flowers 
become enlarged, doubled, and proliferous ; the colours become, 
more intense, or entirely changed, within certain limits ;—lively 
yellow is the least variable ; dull yellow, in general, becomes white, 
or red, or dark brown, but never blue. These changes are, for 
the most part, accidental; but there are^fnany cases in which the 
tints of the blossoms may be changed by art. Invested with this 
power, the florist may originate many new beauties ; his and his 
