upper side, and keeled on the lower, furrowed on each
side, thickly clothed with bristly hairs: leaves on the
flowering stems sessile, smooth and glaucous, more
acute, concave, lower ones opposite, the upper ones alternate.
Racemes terminal, sometimes panicled. jBrac-
tes lanceolate, acute, concave, keeled at the back, smooth
and glaucous. Pedicles long and slender, smooth, transparent
at the base, nodding before flowering, erect when
in bloom, afterwards reflexed. Calyx of 5 smooth, glaucous
sepals, the 2 outer ones very small, subulate :
inner ones cordately ovate, acute, concave, with sca-
riose, membranaceous margins. Petals 5, obovate,
slightly crenulate, distinct and widely spreading, of a
bright light yellow, darker near the base. Stamens
about 50, inner ones overtopping the stigma, outer ones
much shorter : filaments smooth, light yellow : pollen
orange-coloured. Germen downy. Style very short,
scarcely any. Stigma large, capitate, granular.
A handsome herbaceous perennial plant, which succeeds
best in rock-work in sandy so il; as it is a native
of the South of Europe, it is rather tender, and should
be planted in a southern aspect, but it will suffer more
from too much moisture than from cold, for if planted
out in the common borders it thrives well all the Summer,
but will seldom survive the Winter, as its roots
get rotten with too much wet.
Plants of it grown in pots, and kept in frames through
the Winter, may be turned out in the borders in Spring,
where they will flower profusely, and will ripen their
seeds; they succeed well in an equal mixture of turfy
loam and peat, or any other light sandy soil, and are
increased freely by seeds, which ripen in abundance.
Our drawing was taken from a plant that we received
from the Nursery of Mr. Joseph Knight, last Summer.
We have a drawing of a very curious nearly related
species, but quite shrubby, and of a hard woody texture,
which we received from the collection at the Apothecaries’
Company’s Garden at Chelsea.