the two have a close resemblance. The plants, however are very dissimilar; the evening primrose is a deciduous herbaceous plant, and grows to the height of four feet, displaying its bright yellow flowers in the open garden from June to September. Drummond's Enothera is an evergreen trailer, perennial, and requiring confinement to the frame, of which it is a great ornament, and where it blooms with yellow flowers in the months of August and September, rarely elevating itself more than six inches from the ground. They are both natives of the continent of America, the former having been imported from North America as early as 1629, the latter from Texas, so late as 1833.

Texas has within the last few years been annexed to the United States of America. The whole country has an inclination to the east, and numerous rivers traverse its surface in a south-easterly direction. Along the coast, which is washed by the waters in the Gulf of Mexico, is a level tract of land, varying in breadth from thirty to one hundred miles; this is free from the stagnant marshes so common to like localities, although the river banks are fringed with woods, inclosing wide pasture-lands of unusual richness. From one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles further inland, lie extensive prairies clothed with grassy verdure, interspersed with plots varying in extent, on which huge timber-trees rear their heads aloft in thick array. Beyond this lies the mountain district in the south-west; it includes the Sierra Guadaloupe, part of the Mexican Alps, and a desert tract at the base of the mountains.

A fertile soil and a healthy climate are claimed for

Texas. The grass grows luxuriantly, and includes several varieties; there is also wild rye and clover, so that the pasturage is said to be excellent. There is no lack of timber, whether for use or ornament. Live oak (Quercus sempervirens), of such value to the shipbuilder, is of better quality and more plentiful than that of any other part of America. The acacia, the elm, the ash, cypress, caoutchouc, etc., are among the common trees, and among the mountains are cedar and pine of superior quality. Nearly all the fruits of temperate climates are abundant, including oranges, lemons, and grapes. Shrubs and plants, of great value in medicine and the arts, as well as simply ornamental productions, render the flora of Texas as singularly interesting as it is extensive.

If we could believe all the glowing accounts which are given of the climate, the soil, and the productions of Texas, we should be disposed to recommend, with earnestness, to cultivators of the soil who do not object to a republican form of government, and who think all hope of prosperity in England must be abandoned, to migrate into that country, since it seems so peculiarly eligible for their purpose. A Mr. J. Kerr states, that the climate predisposes residents to luxurious indolence, and says that the settler "will have much greater reason to be on his guard against this agreeable poison, than against that of the anguis in herba.” The same author gives the following description of husbandry operations:-" The modes of husbandry in Texas are of the most simple description. The first object of the farmer, after building a small and temporary log-house, is to enclose a sufficient space of the

open land adjoining, by the erection of a rail-fence; he then proceeds to break up the land with a light plough, which is usually drawn by oxen. A yoke of large oxen, broken, is worth from thirty to sixty dollars; a horse, for general agricultural purposes, about twenty dollars. The Texan farmers generally content themselves with one ploughing previous to planting. Manuring is altogether dispensed with. The seedtime for maize, cotton, and most other crops, is in February and March. A few hoeings to destroy weeds, to thin and to earth up the young plants, is all that is required on the part of the farmer to bring them to perfection."

It is in this highly-favoured land, as regards climate and fertility, that this species of Enothera blooms in native beauty. It takes its place in the artificial system of Linnæus, in the class Octandria, and order Monogynia, and in the natural system it belongs to the order Onagrariæ.

LISIANTHUS.

THIS plant belongs to a genus whose species are not only ornamental, but possessed of medical properties of considerable value. Their generic name, indeed, is said to be formed from Avais, dissolution, and avos, a flower, because of its virtue in dissolving humours. The value of plants in medicine is acknowledged by all persons, but many of them have been rejected by the practitioner for other medicines, which he deems more powerful in producing like results. Yet, in remote parts of England, where medical skill is not very highly valued, we sometimes find great effects produced by the use of plants medicinally, especially in outward applications. It may be that the people have little confidence in modern science, and being sceptical as to the skill of their medical attendant, hesitate and then neglect to follow his instructions, when, it is not unlikely, the desired effect is not produced. Then they return to the known remedy, which, though slower in its operation, is yet more sure, because all, and perhaps more than all, the necessary care is taken in the use of it. Wonderful, indeed, is the value of the vegetable kingdom to man : the more we penetrate its mysteries, the greater is our amazement, and the higher our adoration of that

Infinite Power Who created and perpetuates the natural world. To those who undervalue nature, we would recommend the perusal of Sir R. Blackmore's poetical exhortation:

"Your contemplation farther yet pursue;
The wondrous world of vegetables view!
Observe the forest oak, the mountain pine,
The towering cedar, and the humble vine;
The bending willow that o'ershades the flood,
And each spontaneous offspring of the wood!
The oak and pine, which high from earth arise,
And wave their lofty heads amidst the skies,
Their parent earth in like proportion wound,
And through crude metals penetrate the ground;
Their strong and ample roots descend so deep,
That fixed and firm they may their station keep,
And the fierce shocks of furious winds defy,
With all the outrage of inclement sky.

But the base brier and the noble vine,

Their arms around their stronger neighbour twine.
The creeping ivy, to prevent its fall,
Clings with its fibrous grapples to the wall.
Thus are the trees of every kind secure,
Or by their own, or by a borrowed power.
But every tree from all its branching roots,
Amidst the glebes, small hollow fibres shoots;
Which drink with thirsty mouths the vital juice,
And to the limbs and leaves their food diffuse ;
Peculiar pores peculiar juice receive,
To this deny, to that admittance give.
Hence various trees their various fruits produce,
Some for delightful taste, and some for use.
Hence sprouting plants enrich the plain and wood,
For physic some, and some designed for food.
Hence fragrant flowers, with different colours dyed,
On smiling meads unfold their gaudy pride.
Review these numerous scenes, at once survey
Nature's extended face, then, sceptics, say,
In this wide field of wonders can you find
No art discovered, and no end designed ?"

The species of the genus Lisianthus which were