CHEIRANTHUS 59 



Cheira'nthus — Wallflower, Wall Gilliflower (from Gr. 

 cheir, a hand, and anthos, a flower). Nat. Ord. 

 Crucifei'ce. 



These charming old-fashioned, yet always 

 popular, flowers are very welcome in the spring 

 time, not only for their rich colours, but also for 

 their delightful fragrance. A well-arranged bed of 

 Wallflowers is a " thing of beauty " ; but they are 

 just as happy growing on an old wall, and in that 

 position enjoy a long life among the stones and 

 rubble, whereas those in a bed will sometimes, if 

 the situation is exposed, be cut down by frost and 

 cold winds. Naturalised on a wall they are 

 practically perennial, but for bedding out they are 

 always treated as biennials, except the variety 

 Parisian Eai^ly. The double German strains are 

 very fine, both the tall and dwarf forms, while of 

 the single kinds there are many to choose from. 



C. alpi'nus. See Erysimum ochroleucum. 



C. Clie'iri. The common single Blood-Red Wall- 

 flower in old times shared the name of 

 Heartsease; while a dark-red variety was 

 known in the West of England as Bleeding 

 Heart, This was the ancestor of the im- 

 proved garden forms originally brought from 

 the South of Europe as long ago as 1573. 

 The cultivated kinds include : — 



The improved German strains of double 

 golden yellow and red-brown Wallflowers pro- 

 duce large spikes, some with a branching habit, 



