The plant grows spontaneously in the more southern parts of Europe, especially in Italy and the Levant; in its wild state it forms a shrub of low growth, having numerous, spreading, spinous branches, somewhat thickly beset with smooth roundish leaves; the blossoms grow alternately on the branches, and when the plant begins to flower, one opens generally every other morning, but so delicate are its parts, that on a hot summer's day it fades before noon: the petals are white; the filaments, which are extremely numerous, are white below, and of a rich purple above; in these the beauty of the flower chiefly consists, as in the pistillum or pointal does its great singularity; at first view, one would be led to conclude, that the part so conspicuous in the centre of the flower was the style terminated by the stigma in the usual way; but if we trace this part of the flower to a more advanced state, we shall perceive, that what we took for the style, was merely an elongation of the flower-stalk, and what we took for the stigma, was in reality the germen placed on it, crowned with a minute stigma, without any intervening style; this germen swells, turns downward, and ultimately becomes the seed-vessel, rarely ripening in this country. Miller observes, that these plants are with difficulty preserved in England, for they delight to grow in crevices of rocks, and the joints of old walls and ruins, and always thrive best in an horizontal position; so that when they are planted either in pots or the full ground, they rarely thrive, though they may be kept alive for many years. It flowers in May and June, and is usually raised from seeds. Mr. Aiton regards it as a greenhouse plant, and informs us that it was cultivated by Gerard in 1596. [292] Passerina Grandiflora. Great-Flowered Passerina. _Class and Order._ Octandria Monogynia. _Generic Character._ _Cal._ 0. _Cor._ 4-fida. _Stamina_ tubo imposita. _Sem._ 1. corticatum. _Specific Character and Synonyms._ PASSERINA _grandiflora_ glaberrima, foliis oblongis acutis concavis extrinsecus rugosis, floribus terminalibus sessilibus solitariis. _Linn. Suppl. Pl. p. 226._ [Illustration: N^o. 292] The _Passerina_ here figured, distinguished from all the other known species by the largeness of its flowers, is described in the _Suppl. Pl._ of the younger Linnaeus, but not enumerated in the _Hortus Kewensis_ of Mr. Aiton: it is indeed a plant recently introduced to this country from the Cape; we saw it last Summer in great perfection, at Messrs. Lee and Kennedy's, Hammersmith; it forms a small neat shrub, somewhat like the _Phylica ericoides_, is a hardy greenhouse plant, flowering in May and June, and increased without difficulty from cuttings. [293] Catananche Caerulea. Blue Catananche. _Class and Order._ Syngenesia Polygamia AEqualis. _Generic Character._ _Recept._ paleaceum. _Cal._ imbricatus. _Pappus_ aristatus, caliculo 5 seto.