132 



GLADIOLUS. 



Pelargonium ; and of these there are 

 nearly six hundred distinct species, 

 besides innumerable cross-breeds, 

 hybrids, and varieties. 



Germa'nder, — See Teu'crium. 



Geropo^gon. — Corapositce. — Old 

 Man's Beard. — The best known 

 species of this genus, G. glaber, is 

 a native of Italy, and is a very 

 curious plant. It is an annual, 

 having a smooth stem and leaves, 

 and growing about a foot high. 

 The flowers are fresh-coloui-ed, and 

 expand in the form of a star only 

 when the sun shines upon them. 

 The seeds are very curious, and it is 

 from them that the plant takes its 

 English name. They should be sown 

 in the open border, in any common 

 soil, in March or April, and the 

 plants will flower in July and August. 



Gesne'ria or Ge\snera. — Ges- 

 neracecB. — Showy hothouse plants, 

 generally with scarlet flowers. They 

 require a light rich soil, and are 

 propagated by cuttings struck in 

 sand under a bell-glass with the 

 aid of bottom -heat. 



Ge'um. — EosacecB. — Avens, or 

 Herb Bennet. — Perennial plants, 

 natives of Europe and America, 

 with very handsome flowers. G. 

 Quellyon Swt. {G. cocdneimi Bot. 

 Reg.) is a splendid plant, a native 

 of Chili, with large orange -scarlet 

 flowers. All the species are hardy, 

 and require a light rich soil ; they 

 are propagated by seeds, or by 

 dividing the roots. Some of the 

 species are now called Sieversia ; the 

 seed vessels of <Teum being hooked, 

 and those of Sieversia ending in a 

 straight feathery point. 



Gi'lia. — PolemoniacecB. — Beau- 

 tiful annual flowers, natives of Cali- 

 fornia, which only require sowing 

 in spring or autumn in the open 

 border. This genus is now (1857) 

 united with Leptosiphon. See Cali- 

 FORNiAN Annuals, and Annuals. 



Githa^go. — Silendcece, or Caryo- 

 \ phyllacece. — The Com Cockle. — A 

 British weed, sometimes cultivated 

 in flower-gardens. 



Glades are open spaces of turf 



among shrubs or trees of irregular 



shapes, without definite boundaries, 



so as to give the idea of something 



beyond them, of which the extent 



cannot be guessed. They should 



vary in width, and be of the most 



irregular shapes ; the types being 



I the open glades which appear in 



I forest or copse -wood scenery. Their 



i beauty in pleasure-grounds depends 



much on the smoothness or high 



' keeping of the turf, and on the 



varied ground outline of the branches 



of the trees or shrubs which repose 



on it. 



Gladi'olus. — Iridacece. — The 

 Com Flag. — The Gladioli or Com 

 Flags are bulbous plants with long 

 spikes of showy bell-shaped flowers ; 

 and they are nearly all natives of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. The bulbs or 

 rather corms, are solid, and do not 

 require taking up if they can be kept 

 dry during winter. The best mode 

 of doing this is by fixing a frame 

 with sashes over them, as this 

 allows of giving them air when fine. 

 When grown in pots, the soil should 

 be very sandy loam enriched with 

 decayed leaves, and the bulbs should 

 be kept entirely without water, 

 from the time the leaves decay in 

 autumn, till they begin to grow the 

 following spring. Many cultivators 

 take the bulbs out of their pots 

 every September, and renew the 

 soil ; but others only take them up 

 every third year. At Spofforth, 

 Yorkshire, whei-e the soil is a rich 

 yellow loam, there are clumps of 

 Gladioli which have been left undis- 

 turbed in the open ground for more 

 than twenty years, and which flower 

 magnificently every summer. The 

 only protection given, is covering 



