C E N 



C E N 



which spread horizontally on every side, and 

 have a smooth greenish bark : the leaves are 

 about an inch and halt* long, and nearan inch 

 broad, inrliiiing to a heart shape, but oblique, 

 one side of the base being smaller and lo« er 

 than the other; they are of a thicker texture 

 than those of the common sort, and of a paler 

 green, alternate as they are, and on short foot- 

 stalks : the fruit is oval and yellow, but w hen 

 fully ripe turns to a darker colour. The wood 

 is very white. 



The fourth is a shrubby tree, which seldom 

 rises above ten or twelve feet, and throws out a 

 s;reat number of loose branches. It is a native 

 of Jamaica, flowering in August and Sep- 

 tember. 



Culture. — All the sorts are capable of being 

 increased by seeds. 



These should be sown as soon as they can be 

 procured (if in the autumn the better) either in 

 pots, boxes, or in a warm rich border, covering 

 them lightly in. When the plants appear they 

 should be occasionally sheltered by mats in cold 

 nights, and in dry hot weather, while very small, 

 have shade in the middle of hot sunny days 

 during summer, and frequent waterings should 

 likewise be given; and in autumn and winter be 

 protected from frost by occasional coverings. In 

 the early spring months, when of one or two 

 years' growth, "they should be pricked out in 

 rows in a sheltered situation, afoot asimder: 

 they require no further trouble but occasional 

 weeding. In two, three, or more years they 

 are ready for planting out in the shrubbery or 

 other plantations. 



Their early growth may be greatly promoted 

 by the aid of a hotbed. 



The variegated varieties should be continued 

 bv laving down the young shoots in the autunm, 

 being taken off and planted out when well 

 rooted. 



These trees are sufficiently hardy to prosper 

 here in the open ground, in any exposure or 

 soil. 



They are well adapted for plantations, on the 

 boundaries of extensive lawns, wilderness-walks, 

 and the most conspicuous parts of parks, either 

 placed in clumps or singly. 



The two first sorts may also be employed as 

 forest-tiees, as they are of free growth, and 

 their wood tough and pliable. 



CENTAUREA, a genus containing plants of 

 the herbaceous annual and perennial kinds. 



It belonffs to the class and order Si/ngeiiesia 

 Polijaamin Fiusiranea, and ranks in the natural 

 order of Compns'ilce. 



The characters arc : that the calyx is common 

 imbricate, rouudislij scales oftcii variously termi- 



nated: the corolla is compound, fiosculous, dlf- 

 form : corollules hermaphrodite, very many in the 

 disk. Females fewer, larger, lax, in the ray : proper 

 of the hermaphrodite monopetaious; tube filiform; 

 border ventricose, oblong, erect, terminated by 

 five divisions, which arc linear erect: of the 

 females monopetaious, funnel-form; tube slen- 

 der, gradually enlarged, recurved; border ob- 

 long, ^oblique, unequally divided: the stamina 

 in the hermaphrodites have five capillary fila- 

 ments, very short : ant|iers cylindric, tubular, 

 length of the coroUule : the pislillum in the 

 hermaphrodites is a small germ : style filiform, 

 length of the stamens : stigma very obtuse, 

 projecting in a point, which in many is bilid : 

 in the females, a very small germ : style scarce 

 any : there is nd stigma or pericarpium : calyx 

 unchanged, converging: the seeds in the ber- 

 maphrodites solitary: down or egret in most 

 plumose or pilose: in the females none: the re- 

 ceptacle is bristly. 



The species are very numerous, but those 

 most commonly cultivated are: 1. C. Centaw 

 ritim, Great Purple Centaury; 2. C. mo7ita?ia. 

 Perennial Blue-Bottle, or Blue Bachelor's But- 

 ton; 3. C. Cyaniis, Annual Blue-Bottle, or 

 Bottles of all Sorts; 4. C. nwscliata, Purple 

 Sweet Centaury, or Sweet Sultan. 



The first has a strong perennial root, and a 

 great number of long pinnate leaves, of a lucid 

 green, spreading wide on every side, proceeding 

 from it : the peduncles are slender, but very stiff, 

 and divide at top into many smaller peduncles. 

 These, together with the stalks, rise five or six 

 feet high, having at each joint one small pin- 

 nate leaf of the same form with the others : 

 each of the peduncles is terminated by a single 

 head of purple flowers, considerably longer than 

 the calyx. They come out in July, and in very 

 warm seasons produce ripe seeds in this climate. 

 It is a native of the mountains of Italy, &c. 



The second species has a perennial root, run- 

 nincr deep into the ground : the stem is com- 

 iTionlv sin<ile, upright, one-flowered; sometimes, 

 especially in a cultivated state, it puts forth a 

 branch or two : the leaves are quite entire, to- 

 mentose: the flower large and specious. Ills 

 a native of the South of Europe. 



There are varieties, with broad leaves, with 

 narrow leaves, and Dwarf Perennial Blue-Boitle. 



In the third species the stem is from one to 

 two feet high, angular, slightly tomentose, 

 branched at top : the leaves are numerous, white 

 underneath, wich three parallel ribs : the branches 

 are one-flowered. It flowers from June ;o 

 Autiust. The wild flower is usually blue, but 

 sometimes w bite or purple. 



It varies with blue flowers, with blue and 

 7 



