SAGE.

SALVIA.

LABIATE.

DIANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

Salvia, from salvere to heal; on account of the healing qualities of these plants. Sage, from the French name, la sauge. Many of the species are also called Clary, or Clear-eye; because the seeds, powdered and mixed with honey, were supposed to clear the sight.French, la sauge: at Montpellier, saoubie.-Italian, salvia.

MANY of the Sages are cultivated for ornament. The following are some of the handsomest :

1. The Apple-bearing.
2. The Two-coloured.

3. The Indian.

4. The Nubian.

5. The Mexican.

6. The Fulgid.

7. The Shining-leaved.

8. The Scarlet-flowered.

9. The Gold-flowered. 10. Salvia Involucrata.

The first of these has blue flowers: on the branches protuberances as large as apples are produced frequently by the puncture of an insect: these are also formed on the Common Sage in the island of Crete, where they are carried to market under the names of Sage-apples.

The second is a native of Barbary; a handsome plant, with blue and white flowers. The third, which Mr. Curtis terms a magnificent plant, has also blue and white flowers; blowing from May to July. The Nubian and the Mexican have blue flowers, blowing also from May to July. The sixth, a native of Mexico; the seventh, a Peruvian; and the eighth, from East Florida, have beautiful scarlet .flowers, blowing most part of the summer. The ninth, a native of the Cape, has silver leaves and golden flowers; which are very large, and blow from May to November.

The tenth, a native of Mexico, produces an abundance of rose-coloured blossoms.

The Indian species should be in a very poor soil; so also should the seventh. The roots of the Indian Sage may be parted in spring or autumn, and both these must be sparingly watered.

The other kind may be increased by cuttings planted in spring or summer, and covered with a glass, which should be shaded from the mid-day sun. When they have taken root, they should be carefully removed into a pot of fresh earth, (a loamy soil is the best,) and again covered with the glass; as they take firmer root, the glass may be raised on one side to admit the air, and gradually withdrawn. They must all be housed in October. The Mexican kinds, in particular, must be guarded from damp. The earth should be kept moderately moist,-barely so in the winter months.

SAXIFRAGE.

SAXIFRAGA.

SAXIFRAGEÆ.

DECANDRIA DIGYNIA.

French, la saxifrage.-Italian, sassifragia; sassifraga.

Or the Pyramidal Saxifrage there are many varieties: the flowers are mostly white, dotted with red; and when the roots are strong, they will produce large and handsome pyramids of them, blowing in June, and making a showy appearance. If placed in the shade, and screened from wind and rain, they will longer preserve their beauty. This species is from the Alps and Pyrenees.

The Saffron-coloured Saxifrage grows on the mountains in Switzerland, Carniola, and Italy. They produce plenty

of offsets on the sides of the old roots, which should be planted in a fresh light earth: they should stand in the shade in the summer, and in the sun in winter. All the offsets should be removed, which will cause them to shoot a stronger flowering stem. These being planted in small pots, and removed the next year into larger, will then be in a condition to flower: the old roots perish after flowering. The Saffron-coloured must be sheltered from frost.

The Thick-leaved Saxifrage bears purple flowers: the stem changes every year into root; losing its leaves in the winter after flowering, turning to the ground, and changing black, where it puts out fibres for the succeeding plant. The foliage of this species is remarkably handsome: it is a native of Siberia, and flowers in April and May. A variety of this, called the Heart-thick-leaved, produces larger flowers. This species prefers a rich moist soil. The roots may be parted in spring or autumn: if the winds are cold when it is in flower, it should be removed into the house.

The species called None-so-pretty is a native of Ireland, and, as it is said, of England: but it was not known to be indigenous till long after it had been cultivated in our gardens, where it was much admired for its flowers, for which it obtained its familiar name. It has also been called London-pride, from thriving well in the smoke of London, which some of the Alpine Saxifrages will not do. The flowers are white or flesh-coloured, dotted with yellow and dark red: they blow in June and July.

The Purple-flowered Saxifrage grows naturally upon rocks, which, with its numerous trailing branches, it clothes with a rich tapestry, in the months of April and May. In gardens it blows in February or March. The flowers are large and handsome, and the more exposed the situ

ation, the greater number they produce. There is a variety of this kind called the Biflora, or Two-flowered; which, as this name implies, produces only two flowers on one stem, but those are of a beautiful rose-red. Towards the end of March divide a plant, which has filled the pot the year before, into many small pieces, observing that each piece has two or three fibres: plant half a dozen of these in the middle of a small pot, filled with bog-earth and loam, equal parts of each: water it, and place it in the shade for a week; then expose it to the morning sun, water it once a day in dry weather, and in the spring the pot will be covered with a profusion of bloom.

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This should be treated every year in the same manner. It is very hardy, and disdains all tender treatment.

The Round-leaved Saxifrage is a native of Austria, Switzerland, Piedmont, &c. "We know of no species," says Mr. Curtis, "belonging to this beautiful genus, whose flowers, in point of prettiness, can vie with these."

The roots should be parted in autumn: they require a stiff loamy soil and a shady situation, and must be kept moist.

White Saxifrage produces its flowers in April and May: the Double-flowered variety is very commonly planted in pots, to adorn halls, windows, &c. in the spring. It produces plenty of offsets; and in July, after the leaves have decayed, these should be taken off, and planted in fresh unmanured earth. Till autumn it should be placed in the shade, then removed into the sun, where it should remain till the end of winter.

DIPSACEE.

SCABIOUS.

SCABIOSA.

TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA.

French, la scabieuse des Indes; regardez moi [look at me]; fleur de veuve [widow's flower].-Italian, scabbiosa gentile; fior della vedova.

INDIAN or Sweet-scabious is chiefly valuable for its exceeding sweetness; yet its colours are often extremely rich. It is sometimes of a pale purple, sometimes so dark as to be almost black, but its finest hue is a dark Mulberry red.

If Scabious is sown in March, it blows in the autumn; but it will produce stronger flowers if sown in May, placed in the shade, and, when come up, removed into fresh earth; if well watered and shaded till it is again rooted, and always kept moderately moist, it will flower in the beginning of the summer; and by this management may be preserved in beauty from June till September.

Though this is frequently called the Indian Scabious, botanists are uncertain of its native country; hesitating between Spain, Italy, and India.

Many persons transplant Scabious a second time at Michaelmas, for it is one of those plants which are thought to be benefited by removal.