AC ROSTEMA, the garland of the field, in botany', a genns of the Decandria Pea tagynia class ancl order: the calyx is one leafeck the corolla has five petals; the stmnirde-are ten awl-shaped fikunents; the pistilltim an ovate germ, with erect styles and simple stygmas; the pericarpium is one-celled ; the seeds are numerous. There arc four species, viz. 1. A. githago, corn campion, or cockle : 2. A. corona ria, rose-campion: 3. A. flos jovis : and 4. A. ceeli rosa, smooth campion. The first species is a common annual weed in corn fields, and flowers in June or July; the seeds are black, with a smface like slia green, and appetu-s in the microscope like a hedge-hog rolled up. 'fhe second ape c;cs is biennial, a native of Italy, the Va lais, and Siberia; but so long. an inhabi tant of English gardens, that it is become a'kinci of e ed. Of this plant there are three varieties, one with deep red; another with flesh-coloured, and a thnvl with white flowers; but they :Ire not much esteem ed, as the double rose-campion, which is a fine flower, has excluded the others from most good gardens. The single
rose-campions are sufficiently propagated by the self-sown seeds. The variety with double flowers, hayinf; no seeds, is propa gated by parting the roots in autumn, and planting them in a border of fresh un (lunged earth, at the distance of about six inches ; they should be watered gently till they have taken root; afterwards wet, as well as dung, is injurious to them. In spring they should be removed into the borders of the Rower-garden, where they will be very ornamental whilst they flow er in July and August. The third species grows naturally on the Swiss and Pied montese mountains, and in the Palatinate, and was cultivated in 1739, by Mr. Mil ler. It flowers in July, and the seeds ripen in September. It will thrive best in a moist soil, and a shady situation. The fourth species is annual. It is a native of Italy, Sicily, and the Levant, but being a plant of little beauty, it is preserved in botanic gardens merely for variety.