c 



be fown foon after they are ripe, in boxes or pots fillo,! 

 with light kkchcn-gardcn earth, mixed with a little 



CYC C 



fingle foot-ilalks, which are fix or feven inches long-, 

 thefe leaves are marked with black in their middle; 



the flowers appear before the leaves, rifing immedi- j fand, and covered about half an ^inch deep, placing 

 atcly from the root, with long flefliy foot-ftalks ; 

 .they appear in Augufl; and September, and foon after 

 the leaves come out, continue growing all the winter 

 and fpring till May, when they begin to decay, and 

 ij\ June they arc entirely dried up. After the flow- 

 ers are fallen, the foot-ftalks twill up like a fcrew, 

 inclofing the germen in the center, and lay down 





clofe to the furfaceof the ground between the leaves, 

 which ferve as a proteftion to the feed. This ger- 

 men becomes a round flelhy feed-veffel with one cell, 

 inclofing feveral angular feeds. The feeds ripen in 

 June, and Ihould be fown in Auguft. There are two 

 varieties of this, one with a white and the other with 

 a purplidi Hower, which appear at the fame time. 

 The fecond fort flowers in autumn : this is at prefent 

 very rare in England ; the leaves of this fort are large, 

 orbicular, and heart-fliaped at their bafe, and ot a 

 purple colour on their under fide ; the leaves and 

 flowers of this come up from the root at the fame 

 ' time v the flowers are or a purplifh colour, and their 

 bottoms are of a deep red. It flowers late in the au- 

 tumn, and requires proteftion from the frofl: in 

 winter. 



The third fort hath fl:ifF heart-fhaped leaves which 

 are fawed on their edges ; thefe have ftrong flefliy 

 foot-ftalks near fix inches long, of a purple colour, 

 as are alfo the veins of the leaves on their under fide, 

 but the upper fide is veined and marbled with white. 

 The flowers rife with fingle foot-ftalks from the root •, 

 thefe are pure white with a bright purple bottom ;' the 

 petal is divided into nine fegments to the bottom, 

 which are twifted and reflexed backward like the other 



March and AoriL and the feeds 



them where they may have only the morning fun till 

 the beginning of September, when they may be re- '. 

 moved to a warmer expofurc. Thofe oi: the tiril fort 

 may be plunged into die ground ciofe to a foutli wall 

 a pale, or Reed hedge, in O£lober, where, if i'r 

 fliould be very fcvere froft, it will be proper to cover 

 them either with mats or Peafe-haulm, but in com- 

 mon winters they will not require any coverlnp-. Xhe 



' ■ ■ j_ 



ripen in Auguft. 

 The fourth fort is commonly called the Perfian Cy- 

 clamen, -f This hath large, angular, heart- fliaped 

 leaves, whpfe edges are entire y they are veined and 

 marbled with white on the tipper fide, and ftand up- 

 on pretty long foot-ftalks ; the flowers are large, of 

 a pale purple colour, with a bright red or purple bot- 



"■; "torn. Thefe appear in March and April, and the 



, feeds ripen in Auguft. . . - 



' The fifth fort hath a fmall irregular root not larger 

 than a Nutmeg -, the leaves are orbicular and fmall ; 

 the flowers are of a flefli colour, fmall, and have p\ir- 

 ple bortoms. They appear in the autumn, but rarely 

 produce feeds in England. 



The fixth fort is not fo tender as the four laft: men- 

 tioned, fo may be planted in warm borders, where, 

 if they are covered in hard froft, they will thrive and 

 flower very well. This hath plain orbicular leaves, 

 which have ftiorter and weaker foot-ftalks than either 

 of the other ; their under fides are very red in the be- 

 ginning of winter, but that colour goes off^ in the 

 Ipring ; their upper fides are fniooth, of a lucid green, 

 and fpread open flat ; " whereas" the other forts are 



' hollowed, and reflexed at theit bafe. The flowers 



' are of a very bright purple colour, and appear in the 



middle of wiriteV, at a time' when there are few other 



■ flowers, which renders the plants more valuable. The 

 feeds of this fort ripen in the end of June. 

 There are feveral other varieties of this plant, which 



: chiefly difier in the colour of their flowers, parricu- 



larly among the Perfian kind, of which there is one 



-with an entire white flower, which fmells very fweet ; 



- but as thefe are accidental variations, I have not enu- 

 merated them here, thofe which are here'mentioned 

 being undoubtedly diftinfc fpecies ; for I have many 

 years propagated thern from feeds, and have not 

 found them vary, nor have I heard that any other 

 perfon has obfervcd either of them alter farther than 

 varying of their colours. Though Dr. Linnreus fup- 

 pofes them but one fpecies, it is well known that the 

 firft fort will endure the greateft froft in the open air, 



whereas all the Perfian forts are" tender, and require 

 Ihelter in winter. • ^. 



All the forts are propagated by feeds, which fhould 



pots or tubs in which the Perfian kinds are fov/n 

 fliould then be placed under a common hot-bed frame, 

 where they may be proteiled from froft and hard 

 rains, but in mild weather the glaflles may be takea 

 off^ every day to admit frefl:i air to them. The f.rft 

 fort will come up about Chriftmas, if the feeds were 

 fown in Auguft, and their leaves will continue green 

 till May ; and thofe of the Perfian kinds will come up 

 early in the fpring, and continue green till June, 

 when they will begin to decay ; then ihcy fnould be 



1 



^ I 



emoved to an caft afpeft, where they will have only 

 the morning fun, in v/hich fituation they may remain 

 till the middle of Auguft; during which tinie they 

 fliould have very little water, for then the roots are in 

 an inactive ftate, when much wet will rot them. The 

 pots and tubs in which they are Town, muft be con- 

 ftantly kept clean from weeds ; for if the weeds are 

 permitted to grow, their roots will clofely entangle' 

 with thofe of the Cyclamen; fo that in pulling out 

 the weeds, the other roots will be drawn out with 

 _ them'. In the bep-inning: of 06lober, there fliould be 



f-i fome frefti earth Ipread over the tubs or pots, which 



'' fliould be removed again into flicker, in the fame man- 



* "ner as before ; and the follov/ing fumm.er they niuft 



be managed alfo in the fame way till their leaves cle- 



y. cay, when they fliould be carefully taken up, and 

 thofe of the firft fort placed in a warm border at three 

 or four inches 4ift^nce, but the other forts muft be 

 planted in pots to be flickered in winter. 

 The third, fourth, and fifth forts, are more impatient 

 of cold and wet than the other three -, thefe muftcon- 

 ftantly be preferved in pots filled with fandy light 



earth, and houfed in winter, but fliould be placed 

 near the glafles, where they may enjoy as much free 

 open air as poflible, v/hcn the weather v/i!l permit; 

 for if they are crowded under other plants, and are 

 ■ kept too clofe, they are very fuLijedt to mould and rot-, 

 nor fliould they have much Vv'ater In winter, which is 

 alfo very injurious to them, but whenever they want 

 water, it fliould be given them fparingly. - In fam- 

 mer thefe plants may be expofed to the open air, when 

 their green leaves will decay; at which time you 

 fliould remove them to a place, where they may have 

 the morning fun until eleven o'clock-; but during the 

 time that the roots are deftitute of leaves, they 

 fliould have very little water given them, becaufe at 

 that feafon they are not capable of difcharging the 

 moifture. This is alfo the proper feafon to tranfplant 

 the roots, or to frefli earth them ; and as the autunin 

 comes on, that the heat decrcafes, they may be re- 

 rnoved into places more expofed to the fun, w.hcre 

 they may remain until October before they need be 

 houfed. . ,' ; .:^ ■ ■ " 



Toward Chriftmas, if the roots are in good healtn, 

 the fixth fort will begin to flower, and continue pro- 

 ducing frefti flowers till the middle of February, and 

 thefe will be fucceeded by the Perfian forts, which 

 continue till May ; but if you intend to have any 

 feeds, you muft let the pots be placed io as to receive 

 a great fliare of frcfh air, for if their flowers arc 

 drawn up in the hoiife, they feidom produce any feeds. 

 Thefe feeds are ripe about July, when they fliould be 

 Immediately fown in pots or cafes of good light un- 

 dunged earth, which fliould be flickered in winter 

 under a frame, and expofed in fummer in the fame 

 manner as is direfted for the' older roots, obferving 

 . to remove them into pots at a wider diftance when 

 they are two years old ; and fo from time to time, as . 



their roots increafc in bulk, you muft give them more 



room j 



) 



