28 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
grey, or green ; the last being the most esteemed, when the flower 
is good in other respects. 
The colours in the disc or face, and more especially in the edges 
of the Auricula, are peculiar, quite different in character, and 
superior in brightness to those of any other flowers, of the same 
tint. Most flowers decompose the rays of light, more or less, 
according to the angle at which it falls upon them, and thus the 
visible part of the flower does not appear to be all of the same 
tint; in most of them, too, there is a reflection which deadens or 
changes the colour in every light; but neither of these imper¬ 
fections belong to the Auricula. Its colour is the same, at whatever 
light the angle falls upon it, and it is without glossy reflection, so 
that it always shows in the most absolute perfection. The reason 
is the following:— Common flowers display their colour by the 
parenchyma showing through the epidermis, as a continuous sub¬ 
stance, to which the latter gives a gloss, bearing some resemblance 
to that of a varnished picture, and, before the colour can be rubbed 
off, the epidermis must be destroyed. In the Auricula, again, 
the colour is given out by vesicles inserted upon, or outside, the 
epidermis. They are so very minute as to be microscopic, but 
they are there ; and, if they are rubbed off, the colour may be 
destroyed, without disruption of the epidermis. In this they bear 
a considerable resemblance to the tints of a painted butterfly, 
which may be rubbed off, without injury to the general covering 
of the wings ; besides these colouring tubercles, the flower, and 
often the stem, of the Auricula, are covered with a farina or 
powder, usually of a white colour, which gives peculiarity to the 
blooms, and also to the leaves and stems ; but it should neither be 
wanting, nor too abundant. 
Besides the particulars that have been mentioned, there is a 
proportion and symmetry in all the parts of a good Auricula 
which cannot easily be described in words, but which are more or 
less felt by everybody, and which, at once, strike the eye of an 
experienced florist. Perhaps the best general description is, that no 
part should be so superior to another as that that other shall appear 
to be made for and subservient to it. We have already spoken 
of the grass, the main stalk, and the peduncles, so that it only 
remains to say a few words respecting the truss, and the florets of 
which that is made up. The truss should be in proportion to the 
stem, so as not to overload it, or appear magnificent in comparison ; 
