Collinsia
(named after Zaccheus Collins, once Vice-President of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia). ORD. Scrophularineae. A small genus of about a dozen species of very pretty hardy annuals. Flowers brightly-coloured; corolla tube saccate at the base on the upper side. Leaves entire, opposite, rarely verticillate. These are excellent subjects for growing in patches and clumps; and are of very easy culture in any ordinary garden soil. Seed should be sown in the open border, late in March, or in April, and the seedlings thinned out to about 2in. apart. For spring flowering, the seed should be sown in a sheltered place during autumn, and the young plants protected, if necessary, during the winter, with a handlight, or matting. C. bicolor (two-coloured).* fl. large; upper lip and tube of corolla white; lower lip rosy-purple; pedicels verticillate, racemose. August. l. glabrous, ovate-lanceolate, sub-cordate at the base. Stem erect, downy. h. 1ft. California, 1833.
C. corymbosa (corymbose). fl. numerous, disposed in an umbel-like manner; lower lip of corolla white, upper one grey-blue, very short. l. ovate, stalked; upper ones sessile. Habit dwarf much branched. Mexico, 1868. (R. G. 1868, 568.) C. grandiflora (large-flowerd).* fl., corolla pale purple, dilated, retuse; upper lip blue; pedicels verticillate. May to July. l., lower ones spathulate; superior ones oblong-linear. h. 1ft. Columbia, 1826. (B. R. 1107.) C. parviflora (small-flowered). fl. purple, blue. June. h. 1ft. California, &c., 1826. Trailer. (B. R. 1082.) C. sparsiflora (scattered-flowered). fl. violet. May. h. 1ft. California, 1836.
C. tinctoria (dyers'). fl. pale pink. May. h. 1ft. California, 1848. C. verna (spring).* fl., corolla white; lower lip blue; pedicels axillary, solitary. May. l. lanceolate. Stem erect, a little branched. h. 1in. Eastern United States, 1855. (B. M. 4927.) C. violacea (violet). fl., corolla bright violet; upper lip paler. l. ovate-lanceolate, and remotely denticulated. h. 3in. to 1ft. Arkansas, &c., 1871.