522 



CYANANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CYCLAMEN. 



■do. Unhappily, it is not generally hardy in 

 England, though it has some chance near 

 the sea in mild districts. 



C. THYOIDES (Southern White Cedar). — 

 This is a tree of the North American woods, 

 sometimes reaching nearly loo feet high in its 

 best state, inhabiting wet places and swamps 

 in New England, westward and southward, 

 rather near the coast, and forming very dark 

 woods. Gaming from a very cold country it is 

 hardy, and may be planted in wet and marshy 

 places. There are several varieties, one varie- 

 ^^ated and of no value. W. R. 



Cupressus thyoides. 



CYANANTHUS {Lobed C.).—A pretty 

 Himalayan rock-plant, about 4 in. high, 

 flowering in August and September ; C. 

 lobaius has purplish-blue flower, with a 

 whitish centre, and thriving in sunny 

 chinks in the rock-garden. It grows best 

 in a mixture of sandy peat and leaf-mould, 

 ■with plenty of moisture durmg growth, 

 and is increased by cuttings. The seed 

 requires a dry season ; in wet weather the 

 large, erect calyx becomes filled with 

 -water, which rots the seed-vessel. Cam- 

 panulacea;. 



C. incanus. — This flowers more freely 

 than C. lobaius ; like that species, it 

 should be planted in a dry, sunny, well- 

 drained position, as, if the situation be 

 too damp, the fleshy root-stock is liable 

 to rot. It is even a good plan to place 

 something over the plant during the 

 resting season. The flowers are not so 

 large as those of the other species, but 

 are more charming in colour, their beauty 

 enhanced by the white tuft of silky hairs 

 in the throat of the corolla. Campanu- 

 lacca'. 



CYATHEA {Silver Tree-fern).— T\-<\i 

 A'cry handsome Fern, C. dealbala, known 

 in N. Zealand as the Silver Tree-fern, has 

 a slender, almost black stem, 4 to 8 ft. 

 high, ending in a fine crown of fronds, 

 dark-green above and milk-white below. 

 It may be placed in the open air, in the 

 southern and milder districts, from the 

 end of May till the end of September. 



CYCAS. — C. revoliila is a tropical 



plant, with a stout stem, sometimes 6 to 

 10 ft. high, from the top of which issues a 

 beautiful crown of superb dark-green 

 leaves 2 to 6 ft. long. It is one of the 

 most valuable greenhouse plants, that 

 may be placed out from the end of May 

 till October, and is particularly graceful 

 in the centre of a bed of flowering plants, 

 or isolated with the pot or tub plunged to 

 the rim in the turf, always in a warm 

 position. It is increased by seeds, or 

 separation of suckers, which are occa- 

 sionally thrown up. 



CYCLAMEN {SoTvbread). — Except 

 the Persian, Cyclamens are as hardy as 

 Primroses ; but they love the shelter and 

 shade of low bushes or hill copses, where 

 they may nestle and bloom in security. 

 In the places they naturally inhabit there 

 is usually the friendly shelter of Grasses 

 or branchlets about them, so that their 

 large leaves are not torn to pieces by 

 wind or hail. The Ivy-leaved Cyclamen 

 is in full leaf through winter and early 

 spring, and for the sake of the beauty of 

 the leaves alone it is desirable to place it 

 so that it may be safe from injury. It is 

 easy to naturalise the hardier Cyclamens 

 in many parts of the country. Good 

 drainage is necessary to their open-air 

 culture, as they grow naturally among 

 broken rocks and stones mixed with 

 vegetable soil, grit, &c., where they are 

 not surrounded by stagnant water. Mr. 

 Atkins, of Painswick, who paid much 

 attention to their culture, thought that 

 the tuber should be buried, and not ex- 

 posed like the Persian Cyclamen in pots. 

 His chief reason was that in some species 

 the roots issue from the upper surface of 

 the tuber only. They enjoy plenty of 

 moisture at the root at all seasons, and 

 thrive best in a rich, friable, open soil, 

 with plenty of well-decayed vegetable 

 matter in it. They are well suited for the 

 rock-garden, and enjoy warm nooks, 

 partial shade, and shelter from dry, 

 cutting winds. They may be grown on 

 any aspect if the conditions above men- 

 tioned be secured, but an eastern or south- 

 eastern one is best. We have seen them 

 under trees among Grass, where they 

 flowered profusely every year without 

 attention. 



They are best propagated by seed sown, 

 as soon as it is ripe, in well-drained pots 

 of light soil. Cover the soil after sowing 

 with a little Moss, to ensure uniform 

 dampness, and place them in shelter out- 

 of-doors. As soon as they begin to 

 appear, which may be in a month or six 

 weeks, gradually remove the Moss. 

 When the first leaf is fairly developed. 



