; 
COLUTEA. 
“164 
COMPOSIT &. 
to form the basis of the celebrated 
eau médicinale. It is, however, 
poisonous if taken in large quaunti- 
ties 
Cotp Houses ror Puants are 
not generally in use, though it is a 
common practice with gardeners to 
remove plants from hothouses into 
the back sheds, in order to retard 
their blossoming or the ripening of 
their fruit. It is also the practice 
in some countries to place pots of 
fruit-bearing or flowering shrubs in 
ice-houses, so as to keep them dor- 
mant through the summer; and in 
autumn -to remove them to forcing- 
houses, where, in consequence of 
having been so long in a state of 
rest, they grow with great rapidity, 
and come into flower much sooner 
than if they had not been so long 
retarded. Bulbs are also retarded | 
in a similar manner ; and even nose- 
gays are placed in ice-houses in Italy | 
and other warm countries, when it 
is wished to retard their decay for | 
particular occasions. 
Cotui'Nsia.— Scrophularinee. — 
Californian annuals, of great beauty, 
and well deserving cultivation. The 
handsomest species are C. bicolor, 
nd C. heterophy'lla, which are very 
nearly allied ; and which, if sown 
in autumn, and grown in rich loamy 
soil, will grow two feet high, and 
will produce splendid spikes of flow- 
ers. C. grandiflora and C. vérna 
are also very nearly allied, if not the 
same, and they are smaller plants, 
with rather small, but bright-coloured 
flowers. They grow best in stiff clay. 
Cotxo'm1a. — Polemonidcee. — 
Hardy annuals, natives of California, 
but scarcely worth growing, from 
their coarse and weedy appearance. 
C. coccinea is, perhaps, the best. 
Couirsroot.—NSee Tussina‘eo. 
Co.tumeine.—See AquiLe'cta. 
Coxu‘rea. — Leguminose.—The 
Biadder Senna. Large deciduous 
hardy shrubs, growing and flowering 
freely in anycommon soil. ©. cru- 
| énta is the smallest and the hand- 
somest species. ‘They are all propa- 
gated by layers or cuttings. 
Comsre tum. — Combretacea. — 
Splendid climbing stove-shrubs, na- 
tives of Sierra Leone, where they 
support themselves by means of a 
very curious kind of hook, formed 
‘by the persistent footstalks of the 
| withered leaves. The principal kinds 
|are C. purpireum, C. comosum, and 
| C. grandiflorum. They are all very 
beautiful; and all require to be grown 
‘ina mixture of loamvand peat. They 
are propagated by cuttings or layers. 
Though generally grown in a stove, 
'they may be made to flower in a 
| greenhouse, or in the open air.—See 
| ALLAMA/NDA. 
| CommeLpna. — Commelinee. — 
| Perennial and annual plants, hardy 
and tender, with beautiful bright 
blue flowers. C. celéstis, L., has 
tuberous roots, but it may be raised 
from seed, by sowing it in a hotbed 
early in the season, and turning it 
| out into the open border in common 
_ garden soil, tolerably rich, durimg the 
/summer; and in autumn its tuberous 
roots may be taken up, and preserved 
_during the winter, to be replanted 
in the open ground in spring ; or 
they may be protected by covering 
the ground with ashes or sand. 
Cona'nTHERA. —Asphodeldcea.— 
Chilian bulbs, requiring the green- 
house ; useful from their small 
stature, which seldom exceeds six 
inches, and from their producing 
their blue flowers in ae 
Compo’sirz. —— The n posite 
flowers, such as the Daisy, are in 
fact heads of flowers, composed of 
hundreds of little flowers or florets, 
as they are called by botanists, each 
| of which has its corolla, stamens, 
'pistil, and fruit ; the whole being 
-surrounded by an involucre which 
looks like a calyx. The central part, 
which in the Daisy is yellow, is 
called the disk, and the florets com- 
posing it are tubular; while the outer 
