It is said that Cetewayo, the great African chief who was taken prisoner and carried to England, thought no flower of the many thousands cultivated in English gardens, exceeded in beauty the Salvia patens. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful flowers known. The roots are tuberous like the Dahlia and it is easily preserved through the winter, and yet its handsome blue flowers are seldom seen in these days of cut flowers; the fact that it drops from its cup almost as soon as gathered is perhaps against its popularity.'