CALCEOLARIA. 



CALCEOLARIA. 



open ground, but most of which. 



I will live two or three years in a 



greenhouse. There is some confusion 



about the specific names ; the plants 



figured in the Botanical Magazine 



' as C. sjjecibsa, and C. grandiflora, 



\ being quite different from those 



figured tmder these names in the 



Botanical Begistev, and known by 



them in the London nurseries. Of 



; the kind sold in the London seed- 



] shops, C. arenaria has small 



i flowers, and is not worth growing ; 



j C. speciosa Lindl. {TaVinum cilia- 



I turn Ruiz et Pavon), is a Califoruian 



I annual, with beautiful rich crimson 



I flowers which seem reclining on 



their bed of dark green leaves, and 



which have no fault but that of 



closing at four o'clock in the day ; 



C. granclifiora Lindl. has flowers 



which, notwithstanding its name, 



are much, smaller than those of the 



C. discolor Lindl., the latter being 



one of the most splendid flowers 



that will grow in the open air in 



1 England. The seeds of the latter 



1 two species (both of which grow 



rather tall) are generally raised on 



a slight hot-bed, but they may be 



sown in a warm border in the open 



air in April, when they will flower 



in June. 



Calcareous Soils. — Soils con- 

 taining a considerable portion of 

 lime or chalk, mixed with sand or 

 loam, and decaying vegetable and 

 animal matter. Calcareous soils 

 are generally very productive ; and 

 Avhen manured, they retain and give 

 out slowly the nourishing parts of 

 the manure longer than any other 

 kind of soil. 



Calceola'ria. — ScropJnddrince. 

 — Perhaps no plants hybridise more 

 freely than the diflerent species of 

 this genus ; and what is remark- 

 able is, that the shrubby kinds 

 appear to unite freely vdih those 

 that are herbaceous. In 1S20, only 



half a dozen species were known, 

 only one of which, C. corymhbsa 

 Cav., vrith large yellow flowers, had 

 any pretensions to beauty. In the 

 next ten years, five or six more 

 species were introduced from Chili, 

 two of which, C. arachnoidea and 

 C. imrpurea Grab., had purple 

 flowers. The latter closely re- 

 sembled C. corymhosa in its habit 

 of growth ; and about April, 1S30, 

 the happy idea struck the late Mr. 

 Penny, of the Milford Nm-sery, to 

 attempt to hybridise them. The re- 

 sult was the hybrid, C. Gellaniana, 

 the flowers of which were orange and 

 dark-brown. Mr. Penny then tried 

 C. arachnoidea as one of the parents, 

 instead of C. purpurea, and he pro- 

 duced the magnificent Calceolaria 

 Avhicli he called C. Yoiingii, and 

 which is still common in collections. 

 In 183], the spotted-flowered Cal- 

 ceolaria, C. crenatiflijra Cav. {C. 

 pendida D. Don), was introduced, 

 and from this several splendid 

 hybrids were raised. Some culti- 

 vator was then induced to try to 

 hybridise one of the shrubby kinds, 

 C. licolor, the flowers of which 

 were pale-yellow and white, with 

 the herbaceous kinds having dark- 

 yellow and purple flowers, and some 

 beautiful plants were the result. 

 From that time to the present, in- 

 numerable hybrids have been raised 

 every year, varying through every 

 possible shade of crimson, brown, 

 orange, purple, pink, and yellow, 

 sometimes spotted, and sometimes 

 delicately melting into white. One 

 or two have been raised which were 

 pure white, and others white with 

 clearly marked and distinct spots. 

 They are all half-hardj^, only requir- 

 ing protection from frost ; and they 

 should be grown in a compost of 

 equal parts of turfy loam and peat, 

 with a little sand. They all re- 

 quire a good deal of water, as evea 



