CROTON. 



CRUCIANELLA. 



they may be planted either in vovis or 

 beds ; or they may be made to form 

 a kind of arabesque pattern in the 

 borders. 



In whatever way the Crocus may 

 be planted, the leaves should never 

 be cut off till they begin to wither, as 

 ■^-ithont their assistance the plant 

 cannot accumulate matter to form its 

 new corm for the ensuing season. 

 The new corm always forms above 

 the old one ; so that in four or five 

 years they will have almost pushed 

 themselves out of the ground ; and 

 from this habit of growth, Crocuses 

 are generally planted three or four 

 inches deep. Crocuses, when in 

 flower, are frequently destroyed by 

 sparrows, which peck at them, and 

 the corms are often eaten by mice. 

 They ripen abundance of seed, but 

 the seedlings do not flower till the 

 third or foui-th year. 



Ckocks or Potsherds. — Broken 

 pieces of flower-pots, bricks, or tiles, 

 used for draining flower pots contain- 

 ing plants. 



Crossbreds difi"er from hybrids in 

 being produced by plants more nearly 

 allied to each other ; as two varieties 

 of one species, two nearly allied, 

 species, &c. For the mode of ob- 

 taining these crosses, see Gera^nium 

 and Hybrid. 



Crotala'ria. — Lerjuminbsce. — 

 Herbaceous plants, natives of the 

 East and West Indies, and a few 

 shruljs, natives of the Cape, with 

 showy pea-flowers, generally either 

 pxu-ple or yellow. There are a few 

 annual species, the hardy ones of 

 which are natives of North America, 

 but the species most commonly culti- 

 vated are greenhouse shrubs. They 

 should be grown in sandy loam and 

 peat, well drained ; and they are 

 propagated by cuttings of the young 

 wood and by seeds. 



Cro'ton. -EuphorihacecB. -Mostly 

 stove-shrubs, natives of the East 



Indies and Soiith America. C. picta 

 {Codice'um jnctv.m Juss.) Is a very 

 remarkable and ornamental plant, 

 from the brilliant colour of its leaves 

 which are variegated with blotches 

 of scarlet, yellow, and dark purple. 

 This species should be grown in lime- 

 rubbish and peat, or in sand only, 

 and the pots must be well drained, or 

 the leaves will soon become green, 

 and lose their beauty. The Croton 

 oil is made from an annual species, 

 C. Tiglium, a native of the East 

 Indies. The shrubby kinds are pro- 

 pagated by cuttings, which should not 

 have their leaves shortened, and which 

 must be struck in a moist heat. 



Crowfoot. — See EAXu'^•cuLI:s. 



Cro'wea. — Rutacece. — A very 

 pretty New Holland shrub, which 

 wiU flower nearly all the year. It 

 should be grown in a compost of 

 vegetable mould, sand, and peat, and 

 the pots must be well drained ; as, 

 though it requires frequent watering, 

 no plant suffers more from the effects 

 of water being allowed to remain in 

 a stagnant state about its roots. 

 Whenever the leaves turn yellow, 

 and the flowers drop off M-ithout 

 expanding, the cultivator may feel 

 assured that there is some fault in 

 the drainage, and the plant should be 

 repotted. It is increased by cuttings. 



Crowx Imperial. — A very showy 

 bulbous rooted plant, formerly in- 

 cluded in the genus Fritillaria ; but 

 it has lately been placed in another 

 genus. It is quite hardy, and when 

 the bulb is once planted in any com- 

 mon garden soil, the plant needs no 

 other culture. 



Cruciaxe'lla. — Failiacece or 

 Galiacece. — The very beautiful little 

 plant called C. sfylosa, has Ijrought 

 this somewhat neglected genus again 

 j into notice ; though Dr. Lindley 

 I doubts its belonging to the genius at 

 all. As, however, it is generally so 

 called in gardens and nurseries. 



