Book II. 



CARNATION. 



855 



and from the cowslip, by the Hat border of the corolla. It is 

 found in woods, thickets, hedges, and sometimes in pastures ; 

 but is by no means so common as the primrose and cowslip. 

 It flowers in April and May. Sir J. E. Smith is inclined to 

 think that the oxlip is a hybrid production from a primrose, im- 

 pregnated by a cowslip ; its habit, the contraction towards the 

 middle of the leaf, and the umbellate flower-stalk, indicating 

 the father, whilst in the corolla, its form, color, and scent, it 

 most resembles the mother. (Eng. Bot. 513.) 



6404. Varieties. There are a few ; but the plant has not been much cul- 

 tivated with a view to that object. 



6405. The propagation and culture of these three species is 

 the same as for the polyanthus : 



Subsect. 17. Carnation. — Diantkus Caryophyllus, L. (Bot. 

 Mag. 39.) Decand. Trigynia, L. and Caryophylleee, J. 

 Voeillet des Fleuristes, Fr. ; Gartennelke, Ger. ; and Garofano 

 ortense, Ital. (Jig. 610.) 



6406. The carnation is little known in its wild 

 state, though it has been found in England on rocks 610 

 and walls. It was unknown to the ancients in its 

 cultivated state ; but has been a favorite flower in 

 Europe for an unknown length oftime. It is generally 

 supposed to have been introduced from Germany or 

 Italy, in which countries it is more cultivated than in 

 England; Gerrard, in 1597, received it from Poland. 

 " Of all the flowers that adorn the garden," Hogg ob- 

 serves, " whether they charm the eye by their beauty, 

 or regale the sense of smelling by their fragrance, the 

 carnation may be justly said to hold the first rank. 

 The stateliness of its growth, the brilliancy and di- 

 versity of its colors, and the sweetness of its per- 

 fume, never fail to attract our regard and admir- 

 ation. The tulip, though styled the queen of the 

 garden, cannot boast of more admirers : they may 

 with propriety be considered the two master-pieces of nature ; and, though rival beauties, 

 maybe said to share the sovereignty of the garden equally between them. Yet it must 

 be admitted, that the carnation, independent of its fragrance, has this advantage over its 

 rival, that it continues longer in bloom; and that when planted in pots, it can be removed 

 to decorate the green-house, the conservatory, or the drawingroom." 



6407. Varieties. Parkinson (in 1629) has forty-nine sorts, which he divides into carnations, or " the 

 greatest sorts in leaf and flower," and gillyflowers, or such as are smaller in both respects. One Tuggre, 

 in Westminster, was the most remarkable man at that time for the culture of these flowers. Ilea (in 

 1702) has 360 good sorts of carnation ; a number scarcely exceeded, by the catalogues of modern British 

 florists. The varieties of this flower are now arranged in three classes : flakes, bizarres, and picotees. 

 flakes have two colors only, and their stripes large, going quite through the leaves ; Bizarres (Fr. odd. 

 irreg.) are variegated in irregular spots and stripes, and with not less than three colors: Picotees (Fr. 

 piqnettee, pricked or spotted) have a white ground, spotted or pounced with scarlet, red, purple, or other 

 colors. Of each class there are numerous varieties, arranged under the farther subdivisions of scarlet 

 flake, pink flake, purple flake, yellow flake, &c. scarlet bizarre, crimson bizarre, &c. and purple picot^e, 

 yellow picotee, &:c. Hogg gives a catalogue of nearly 350 sorts, so arranged, named after great personages' 

 all of which were in his possession at the time he published his Treatise on the Carnation, in 1820. Only 

 double varieties are in esteem. As an oddity may be mentioned the double dwarf carnation of Leige, with 

 sessile flowers. 



6408. Criterion of a fine double carnation, (fig. 610. c and d) "The stem should be strong, tall, and 

 straight ; not less than thirty or more than forty-five inches high ; the foot-stalks, supporting the flowers, 

 should be strong, elastic, and of a proportionate length. The flower, or corolla, should be at least three 

 inches in diameter, consisting of a great number of large well formed petals ; but neither so many as to 

 give it too full and crowded an appearance, nor so few as to make it appear too thin and empty. The pe- 

 tals should be long, broad, and substantial, particularly those of the lower or outer circle, commonly 

 called the guard-leaves ; these should rise perpendicularly, about half an inch above the calyx, and then 

 turn otf gracefully, in a horizontal direction, supporting the interior petals, and altogether forming a 

 convex, and nearly hemispherical corolla. The interior petals should rather decrease in size, as they ap- 

 proach the centre of the flower, which should be well filled with them. The petals should be regularly 

 disposed alike on every side, imbricating each other in such a manner as that both their respective and 

 united beauties may captivate the eye at the same instant : they should be nearly flat, however a small 

 degree of concavity, or inflection, at the lamina, or broad end, is allowable ; but their edges should be 

 perfectly entire, that is to say, free from notch, fringe, or indenture. The calyx should be at least one 

 inch in length, terminating with broad points, sufficiently strong to hold the narrow bases of the petals, 

 in a close and circular body. Whatever colors the flower may be possessed of, they should be perfectly 

 distinct, and disposed in long regular stripes, broadest at the edge of the lamina, and gradually becoming 

 narrower as they approach the unguis, or base of the petal, there terminating in a fine point. Each pe- 

 tal should have a due proportion of white, i. e. one half, or nearly so, which should be perfectly clear, and 

 free from spots. Bizarres, or such as contain two colors upon a white ground, are esteemed rather pre- 

 ferable to flakes, which have but one, especially when their colors are remarkably rich, and very regularly 

 distributed. Scarlet, purple, and pink, are the three colors most predominant in the carnation ; the two 

 first are seldom to be met with in the same flower, but the two last are very frequently. When the scai- 



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