N 



-■'- 'W are' oblique, one of the ears 



N 



. \> 



of "the bafe being 



fmaller and lower than the other; they are of a 

 «■ thicker texture than thofc of the conimon fort, and 

 ' '■ of a paler green, placed alrernate on the branches, 

 '/ and have fhort foot-ftalks. The flowers come out 

 * ^ from the foot-llalks uf the leaves, in the fame: manner 

 V - fts the former, and are fuccceded by oval yellow bcr- 

 '^-* lies, which, when fully ripe, turn of a darker co- 

 lour. The wood of this tree is very white,^ ' ' ; 

 '•^' yjiefe trees are all propagated by fecds,^which fhould 

 -^;^ be fown foon after they are ripe, when they can be 

 V ' procured at that feafon, for thefe frequently come up 

 •- the following fpring; whereas, thofe which are fown 

 in the fpring, will not come u^ till a twelvemonth 

 after : therefore it is the bell way to Tow them in pots 



/: 





'f 



•- _ ^ 





<)r tubs, that they'may be eafily removed, for thofe 

 '4^ which are fown in the fpring mould be placed in a 

 H * ihady fituation in fummer,'''and conftantly kept clean 

 , r from weeds ; but in autumn they Ihould be placed in 

 ;;^^ a warm fituation, plunging the pots into the ground ; " 

 "and if they are covered over with a little tan from a 

 decayed hot-bed, it will prevent the froft from pene- 

 trating the earth to injure the feeds ; and if thefe 

 pots are placed on a gentle hot-bed in the fpring, it 

 will greatly forward the vegetation of the feeds, 

 whereby the plant§ will have more time to get ftrength 

 before the winter : but when the plants appear above 

 ground they mufl have a large fhare of air admitted 

 to them, otherwife they will draw up weak ; and as 

 foon as the weather is warm, they muft be expofed 

 to the open air, and in fummer they tnuft be con- 

 ftantly kept clean from weeds ; if the leafbn proves 

 ^ry, they will require water two or three times a 

 Week. In autumn it will be prope/ to remove the 

 pots, and place them under a hot-bed frame, to fhel- 

 ter them in winter from fevere froft ; or where there 



M 





K 



P-* 



\ 



■S: 



is not that convcniency, the pots fhould be plunged 

 into 'the ground near a wall or hedge ; and as the 

 plants, when young, are full of fap,' and tender, the 

 early frofls in autumn frequently kill the upper part 

 of the flioots ; therefore tKe plants fhould be either 

 covered with mats, 6r a little flraw or Peafe-haulm 

 laid over thern to proted them. 

 In the following fpring the plants fhould be taken 

 out of the feed-pots, and planted in the full ground : 

 this fhould be done about the middle or latter end of 

 March, when the danger of the" froft is over ; there- 

 fore a bed Of two fhould ht prepared (according to 

 the number of plants i-aifed) in a fheltered fituation, 

 and, if poffible, in a gentle loanny foil. ' The ground 

 mud be well trenched, and cleared from the roots of 

 bad weeds, and when levelled, fhould be marked out 

 in lines at one foot diflance ; then the plants flaould 

 ' '^be cai^efully turned out of the pots and feparated, 

 * foas not'to tear their roots, and planted in the lines 

 : '-at fix inches afunder, preffing the earth down clofe to 

 ^^ tSe roots. If the ground is very dry when they are 

 planted, and there is no appearance of'^rain foon, it will 



be proper to water the beds, to fettle the ground to 





•I 



z f 



*-.. 



•; the roots of the plants; and after this, if the fur- 



* face of the ground is covered with fome old tan or 



rotten dung, it will keep it moift, and prevent the 



tliying winds from penetrating to the rbots of the 



plants. 



.' ^^^^ following fummer, the neceflary care mufl be to 



them conftantly clean from weeds •, but after the 

 plants are pretty well eftabliflied in the ground, they 



' will not require any v/ater, efpecially toward the lat- 

 ter end of fummer, for that will occafion their late 

 rowth, whereby they will be in great danger of fuf- 

 ering by the autumn frofts ; for 

 thefe young trees are ftopped in their growth by 

 drought towards autumn, the firmer will be their tex- 

 ture, fo better able to bear the cold. 

 I he plants may remain in thefe nurfery-beds two 



years by which time they will have obtained fuffici- 

 ent llrength to be tranfplanted where they are de- 

 Iigned to remain for good, becaufe thefe plants ex- 

 A^Vi ''oo^s wide every way, fo that if they 

 itand long m the nurfery, their roots will be Cut in 



the more any of 



* - ■» 



feeds to England. 



removing, which will be a great prejudice to their 

 future growth, 



Thefe forts are hardy enough to thrive in the open air 

 in England, after they are become ftrong; but for' 

 the two lirft winters after they come up from feeds, 

 they require a little protedion, efpecially the third 

 fort, which is tenderer than either of the former. The 

 young plants of this fort frequently have variegated 

 leaves, but thofe are more Impatient of cold than the 

 plain leaved. 



The fourth fort was firft difcovered by father Plumier, 

 in the French iflands of America ; and it was fo«nd 

 growing in Jamaica, by Dr. Houftoun, who fent the 



This rifes with a ftrait trunk 

 near twenty feet high, covered with a gray bark, di- 

 "yided into many branches upward, garnifhed with 

 .Reaves near four inches long, and two and a half 

 'broad, rounded at their extremity, of a thick texture, 

 " very fmooth on their upper furface, and on their un- 

 der fide are of a lucid gold colour, placed alternately 

 'on the branches. The fruit is round and red, but 

 the flowers I have notfeen. 



The feeds of this fort rarely come up the firft year, 

 fo they may be fowed in pots, and plunged into the 

 tan-bed in the ftove, where they fliould remain till 

 the plants corhe up. Thefe plants muft be conftantly 

 kept in the bark-ftove, and treated in the fame man- 

 ner as other tender exotics. 

 C E N T AU R E A? Lin. Gen. Plant. 880. Centaurium 

 majus. Tourn, Inft. R. H. 449. tab. 256. Jacea, 

 Tourn. 443. Cyanus. Tourn. 445. Greater Centaury, 

 Knapweed, Blue Blottle, &c. 

 The Characters are, 

 , // hatb a compound fower^ whofe dijk is compofed of manf 

 hermaphrodite florets^ and the borders or rays of female 

 florets^ 'which are larger and loofer \ thefe are included 

 in a common^ rcundifh^ fcaly empalement -, the herma^ 

 phrodite florets have narrow tubes^ fuelling at the top^ 

 . and cut into five parts '^ thefe have five fhort hairy fta- 

 mina^ terminated ty cylindrical fummits : the germen is 

 Jituated under the petals fupporting a fknder flyk^ crown^ 

 el with an obttifeftigma. i'he germen afterward becomes 

 a fingle feed fhut up in the empalement. The female 

 florets have a fender tube, but expands above, where 

 it is enlarged, and cut into five unequal parts -y thefe are 

 barren. 



This genus of plants is ranged in the third feftion 

 of Linri^us's nineteenth clafs, intitled Syngenefia Po- 

 lygamia Fruftanea; the flowers of this fe^iion have 

 their diflc and middle compofed of herm.aphrodite flo- 

 rets, which are fruitful, and their borders of female 

 abortive florets. 

 The Species arc, 



1. Cjentaurea [Jlpina) calycibus inermibus, fquamis 

 ovatis obtufis, foliis pinnatis glabris incegerrimis im- 

 parl ferrato. Hort. Clifi\ 421. Centaury with an em- 

 palement without fpines, oval obtufe fcales, and fmooth 

 winged leaves, ivhich are entire. Centaurium alpinum 

 luteum. C. B. P. 117. Yellow Alpine Centaury. 



2. Centaurea (Centaurium) calycibus Inermibus, fqua- 

 mis ovatis, foliis pinnatis, foliolis ferratis decurren- 

 tibus. Hort. Chtf. 421. Centaury with an empalement 

 without fpines, oval fcales, and winged leaves, whofe 

 lobes are f awed, and run along the midrib. Centaurium 

 majus, folio in lacinias plures divifo. ' C. B. P. 117, 

 Greater Centaury with a leaf divided into many parts. 



3. Centaurea {Glaftifolia) calycibus fcariofis foliis in- 

 divifis integerrimis decurrentibus. Hort. Cliff. 421. 

 Centaury with a fcaly empalement, and undivided entii'e 

 leaves running along theftalks. Centaurium majus orl- 

 entale ereftum, glafti folio, flore luteo, Tourn. Cor, 

 32. Com. Rar. Plant. '^(), Upright, eafiern, greater Cm-* 

 taury, with a Woad leaf and a yellow flower. 



4. Centaurpa {Stiebe) calycibus ciliatis oblongis, fo- 

 liis pinnatifidis linearibus integerrimis. Prod. Leyd. 

 1 40. Centaury with oblong hairy eynpakmcnts, and winged 

 pointed leaves, which are very narrow and entire. Stae-. 

 be incana, cyano fimilis tenuifolia. C. B. P. Hoary 

 Stcfbe tvith the appearance of Blue Bottle^ and a narro-w 



leaf 



I i i 



5, CCNTAV- 



