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CYTISUS. 
189 
DAHLIA. 
CyriLua. — Ericdcee. — Green- 
house shrubs with very small white 
flowers. For an account of the 
beautiful plant sometimes called 
Cyrilla pulchélla, see Trevira‘Na. 
Cyrta/ntuus.—Amaryllidicee.— 
Cape bulbs, with heads of showy 
tube-shaped flowers. For culture 
see Amary’LLIs. 
CyrtocurLum. — Orchidaceae. — 
Splendid Mexican Epiphytes ; which 
are generally grown on part of the 
branch of a tree, or in the husk of 
a cocoa-nut, hung up from the 
rafters of a hothouse, or damp stove. 
When planted, the roots should be 
wrapped up in wet moss, and tied 
on the branch, or placed in the 
husk; and the plants should be 
kept in a damp atmosphere, and 
frequently watered. Sometimes 
these epiphytes are grown in pots, 
in which case the soil should be 
peat, mixed with lime rubbish. 
Cy’ tisus— Leguminose.— There 
are above fifty kinds of Cytisus ; 
but the kinds best known are the 
Laburnums, the common Broom, 
(C. scopdrius,) and the Portugal 
Broom, (C. aibus.) The common 
Laburnum, C. Labirnum, is a well- 
known tree, which if it were less 
common would be thought extreme- 
ly beautiful. There are only three 
or four distinct varieties, but the 
plant varies very much in the size 
of its flowers, in their colour, and | 
the length of the racemes in which 
they are disposed, and in their fra- 
grance. The Scotch Laburnum, C. 
alpynus, is much more beautiful 
than the common kind; both the 
flowers and leaves are larger, and 
the flowers are more frequently 
fragrant. They are also produced 
much later in the season, not com- 
ing into flower till the others are 
quite over. ‘This is the plant which 
the Italians call May, as we do the 
Hawthorn. ‘The French call both 
species False Ebony, from the black- 
ness of the wood ; which, however, 
is much darker in C. Labirnum 
than in C. alpinus. Both kinds will 
grow in any soil and situation, but 
they do best in a deep sandy loam, 
and a sheltered situation. 
D. 
Dasa@ cia. — Ericdécee.— Profes- 
sor Don’s name for Andromeda 
Dabe cia, L., Irishworts, or St. 
Dabee’s heath. It is quite hardy, 
but requires a moist peaty soil. 
The species has purple flowers ; but 
there is a beautiful variety, the flow- 
ers of which are white. 
Darropiu.—See Narer'ssus. 
Da'uLia.—Composite.—The im- 
portance that has within the last 
few years attached to this genus 
would render it easy to fill a volume 
with descriptions of its various 
species and varieties, and the de- 
tails of their culture. Its history 
is also somewhat curious, as, 
strange to say, though it has be- 
come so great a favourite, and is so 
universally cultivated, the history 
of its introduction is very obscure. 
It is generally said to have been 
introduced by Lady Holland in 
1804; but the fact is, it had been 
introduced many years before that 
period, and was only brought from 
Madrid in 1804 by Lady Holland, 
who apparently did not know that 
it was already in the country. The 
first kind of Dahha known to Eu- 
ropeans, D. supérflua, Cav., (D. 
variabilis, Dec., Georgina pinnata, 
W.,) was discovered in Mexico by 
Baron Humboldt in 1789, and sent 
by him to Professor Cavanilles of 
the Botanical Garden, Madrid, who 
gave the genus the name of Dahlia, 
in honour of the Swedish professor 
Dahl. Cavanilles sent a plant of it, 
the same year, to the Marchioness 
of Bute, who was very fond of flow- 
ers, and who kept it in the green-. 
house. From this species nearly 
