CLERODENDRtTM. 



64 



CLIANTHUS. 



are frequently ripened plentifully. 

 C. moniana is very ornamental and 

 quite liardy. It is also of very rapid 

 growth. C. fiorida, "with, white 

 flowers ; C. Sieholdti or bicolor, 

 Avitli white and purple flowers, and 

 C. azurea or cceridea, with beauti- 

 ful violet-blue flowers, are among 

 the handsomest of conservatory 

 climbers ; and under glass they 

 frequently come into blossom early 

 in March. In the open air, they do 

 not flower till May or June. C. 

 Sieholdti and C. azurcus Avill flower 

 and grow well in the open air, but 

 they are sometimes killed to the 

 ground by frost. C. Viticella, and 

 its varieties, C. Fldmmula, C. Hen- 

 dersonii, and C. cylindrica, are all 

 quite hardy, and form most beauti- 

 ful objects when trained over lat- 

 tice work, or baskets in the flower- 

 garden ; and no garden, however 

 small, ought to be without one or, 

 more of these species, -.i yfx»t.f .-^^f-' 



Cleo'me. — Capparidece.^—%^\QJi- 

 did stove shrubs, annuals and Ijien- 

 nials, with one or two half-hardy 

 annuals, with white, rose, and pur- 

 ple flowers, of easy culture in any 

 light rich soil. 



Clerode'ndrum. — Verhenacea:. 

 — Very ornamental stove shrubs, 

 chiefly natives of the Tropics. 

 They all grow freely in a light rich 

 soil, composed of two parts of 

 loam, one of rotten dung, and one 

 of peat. They require frequent 

 shifting from small pots to larger 

 ones, to make them flower freely. 

 They strike readily from cuttings 

 of the young wood planted under a 

 hand-glass ; or cuttings of the roots 

 planted in a pot, with their tops 

 just above the surface of the mould, 

 and plunged in a hot-bed, Avill root 

 readily. The most desirable species 

 are C. fragrans, with pink flowers; 

 C. panicidatum and C. squamatum, 

 with scarlet flowers ; and C. macro- 



phyllum, with white flowers. Seve- 

 I'al of the species were , formerly 

 called Volhameria. .\i . /• / - 



Cle'thra. — Ericaced. — Hardy 

 and half-hardy shrubs, with white 

 flowers ; of which C. arhorea forms 

 a very handsome small tree, when 

 planted out in free soil in a conser- 

 vatory, or in a sheltered situation 

 in the open air, producing a great 

 profusion of spikes of white flowers 

 from August to October. C alni- 

 folia and some other species are 

 quite hardy. All the species thrive 

 well in a mixture jf loam and peat, 

 and they are all readily increased by 

 layers, cuttings, or seeds. 



Cli'anthus. — Leguminbsce. — 

 C. pmnlceus, the crimson Glory 

 Pea, is a magnificent half-hardy 

 shrub, with bright crimson flowers, 

 a native of New Zealand. It grows 

 very freely in rich loam, if its roots 

 are allowed sufficient room ; and it 

 generally thrives most when planted 

 against the back wall of a conserva- 

 tory or against a, south wall in the 

 open air, requiring only the protec- 

 tion of a mat in winter. Cuttings 

 planted in pots in the autumn, and 

 kept in a shady part of the green- 

 house, will be rooted by the spring, 

 when they may be planted in the 

 open border. It is a plant that 

 rarely flowers well in a pot ; as it 

 requii-es abundance of room for its 

 roots, and grows rapidly with 

 rather succulent shoots, requiring 

 abundance of water during the 

 growing season, and very little at 

 any other time. When grown in the 

 open ground, the juicy nature of its 

 roots renders it a favourite food for 

 snails ; and when kept in the con- 

 servatory or green-house, it is very 

 apt to be attacked by the red 

 spider. If these enemies be kept 

 away, and the plant be grown in 

 rich soil, composed of equal parts of 

 loam and thoroughly rotten manure, 



/ 



