flowers expand. Calyx of 5 sepals: the two outer ones
very small, green, and hairy: the three inner ones,
ovate, blunt, concave inwards, membranaceous, strongly
3 or 4-nerved, smooth and glossy, the nerves slightly
hairy. Flowers very double or full of petals, that are unequal
in size and form, of a pale straw-colour, marked
with orange at the base, and more or less veined with
green.
Our drawing of this pretty double variety was made
from a plant at the Nursery of Mr. Lee, at Hammersmith
; it is not so strong a grower as the single variety,
but makes a very pretty plant for a pot, or for the ornamenting
of rock-work, thriving well in a light sandy
soil, mixed witha proportion of peat; and when covered
with its pretty double flowers, it makes an elegant appearance,
particularly when intermixed with some of the
brighter flowered and more brilliant species ; it is not
quite so hardy as some of the sorts, and some pots of it
should be preserved in frames through the Winter ; or
if planted in rock-work, should be covered in severe
frost, by an empty pot being placed over each root, or
a little hay or straw, or some other covering, when it
will succeed very well: young cuttings, planted under
hand-glasses in August or September, soon strike root.