AN ENCYCLOPAXDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 
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CUSHION PINE. See Silene acaulis. 
CUSPIDARIA. Included under Tenitis (which see). 
CUSPIDATE. When a leaf, &c., is suddenly nar- 
rowed at the top, and then more or less prolonged into 
an acumen or point. . 
CUSSONIA (named after Peter Cusson, 1727-1785, 
Jesuit and physician, a Professor of Botany in the Uni- 
versity of Montpelier; his writings were principally on 
umbeiliferous plants). ORD. Araliacew. А genus con- 
taining about a dozen species of greenhouse evergreen 
shrubs, natives of Eastern tropical and Southern Africa 
and the Mascarene Islands. Flowers greenish. Leaves 
glabrous, petiolate, palmate, with five to nine one-nerved, 
entire or lobed leaflets. Trunks thick, rather succulent. 
For culture, see 
c. (spiked). Л. spirally disposed along the rachis of the 
spike in five or six series. /. palmate ; leaflets petiolate, variously 
and acutely cut, often trifid at the apex. Л. 6ft. to 10ft. Cape 
of Good Hope, 1789. 
C. thyrsiflora (thyrse-flowered). Л. racemose, pedicellate along 
the rachis. 2 palmate; leaflets sessile, cuneiform, obtuse, trun- 
cate, tridentate. A. 6ft. to 12ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1795. 
CUSTARD APPLE. See Anona. 
CUTICLE. The outer pellicle of the epidermis. 
CUTTING-IN. A term applied to the shortening of 
branches in shrubs and trees. 
Fic. 574. Sort-woopED CUTTINGS PREPARED FOR INSERTING, 
These are portions of a plant, usually 
plants are kept true to , and rapidly increased, by 
means of Cuttings. distinct varieties 
Cuttings are necessary to insure success with many plants; 
but with others the season is a matter of little importance, 
so long as other conditions are suitable. As a rule, these 
conditions vary very considerably. Cuttings of most soft- 
wooded plants require a higher temperature, and invariably 
a much closer atmosphere, than that in which they grow 
when established, to induce a speedy formation of roots, 
and, in the meantime, prevent an undue evaporation of 
moisture. Many hard-wooded exotics also require similar 
treatment, but in a lesser degree; while others that are 
hardier, and inserted when the wood is firm and growth 
ive, require a longer time to form roots, and con- 
sequently a steadier temperature. Soft-wooded plants, to 
supply Cuttings in spring, should be placed in a little heat, 
to cause active growth, before they are inserted. Those of 
firmer growth are best when partially ripened, and side 
Cuttings—continued. 
shoots that may be removed with a heel attached are often 
to be preferred. Roots are formed, in the majority of 
cases, at the node or joint only, and the incision should 
Fic. 575. SOFT-WOODED CUTTING, VERBENA, 
be mad» immediately below. See Fig. 574. Some plants, 
however, emit roots at any part of the stem that may 
be of suitable texture, and these may be cut as shown at 
Fig. 575. All Cuttings should be selected from healthy 
plants, and all or the greater part of their leaves retained. 
It is very important, when inserting, that the base should 
be placed in contact with the soil; and a layer of sand 
on the top tends to hold all firmly, vntil roots are 
formed. Conifere, and hardy deciduous trees and shrubs, 
can generally be propagated by Cuttings. These are 
Fio. 576. HARD-WOODED CUTTING, EUONYMUS JAPONICUS. 
best prepared from the terminal shoot of а branch, as re- 
presented in Fig. 576, and inserted in early autumn, when - 
