A History of Agriculture in India v2.c69.s2.2

v2.c69.s2.2

*Gurhal.* ‘In Hindustan there is great variety of flowers. One is the (D.) *jāsūn* (*Hibiscus rosa-sinensis*), which some Hindustanis call (Hindi) *gurhal*. It is not a grass; its tree is in stems like the bush of the red-rose; it is rather taller than the bush of the red-rose. The flower of the *jāsūn* is fuller in colour than that of the pomegranate, and may be of the size of the red-rose; but the red-rose, when its bud has grown, opens simply, whereas when the *jāsūn*-bud opens a stem on which other petals grow is seen like a heart amongst its expanded petals. Though the two are parts of the one flower, yet the outcome of the lengthening and thinning of that stem-like heart of the first-opened petals gives the semblance of two flowers. It is not a common matter. The beautifully coloured flowers look very well on the tree, but they do not last long; they fade in just one day. The *jāsūn* blossoms very well through the four months of the rains; it seems indeed to flower all through the year; with this profusion, however, it gives no perfume.