THE FLORIST. 17 



THE CINERARIA. 



The Cineraria belongs to the natural order of Composites, 

 one of the most extensive families of the vegetable kingdom ; 

 hence it has been found difficult to settle satisfactorily the 

 various genera included in the order. In accordance with the 

 views of modern botanists, therefore, various plants once con- 

 sidered to be Cinerarias have been removed to other genera, 

 leaving the genus under consideration comparatively small as 

 regards species. The name Cineraria itself, signifying ashes, 

 seems ill applied to a genus which at this time contains so 

 many beautiful flowers ; and we are doubtful whether bo- 

 tanists would not hesitate before they applied it to the race 

 of plants which has sprung up under the title in our own 

 day. It, however, alludes to the powdery appearance of the 

 leaves, not to the flowers. 



Taking a retrospective view of the genus, we are struck 

 with the paucity of its members until within the last few 

 years ; and this is more remarkable when we recollect that 

 few plants ripen seeds more freely than the Cineraria. Eng- 

 lish florists, who are stated to have been the first to turn their 

 attention to the hybridisation of this flower, must have been 

 long in commencing operations in good earnest ; for though 

 the materials they had at command, it must be acknowledged, 

 were few, yet they w r ere not only enough for the work, but 

 have at length proved themselves amply sufficient. 



If we look into gardening books of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury, we find the Medeira Cineraria aurita (a variety in the 

 way of Populifolia), which flowered at Kew in 1790, highly 

 praised. The same authorities speak of Cineraria cruenta, from 

 the Canaries, as being " a showy plant, having few equals ;" 

 and the woolly-leaved African Cineraria lanata, which blos- 

 somed first in this country about 1 793, is stated to " far eclipse 

 all the others cultivated in our gardens." Yet these are all 

 purple sorts of the most starry and open description imagin- 

 able. What would the admirers of such flowers have said 

 to the beautiful productions of the present day, for which 

 we are chiefly indebted to the industry of Messrs. Hender- 

 son, Ivery, Kendall, and Gaines ? and how would their small 

 (with the exception of Lanata) starry flowers stand the test 

 of Mr. Kendall's properties laid down at p. 131 of our May 

 Number ? But it is not in form alone that the Cineraria has 

 been improved. On account of the different sorts hybridising 

 freely with each other, the most exquisite colours that it is 

 possible to conceive have been infused into it. Indeed, so 



VOL. II. no. xix. o 



