Centaurea* 113 



Centaurea Clementei. — A plant of robust growth 

 (resembling C. ragusina, but much larger in every part), 

 with broad crowns of leaves, which are deeply serrated 

 and cut into lobes. To the elegance of the foliage must 

 be added its beauty of colouring, the leaf in a young state 

 being covered with down as white as snow, and when fully 

 matured and developed still retaining a silvery appear- 

 ance. This plant, which I first saw in M. Boissier's 

 garden, near Lausanne, I have no experience of as a 

 hardy plant in this country; but whatever its value in this 

 respect may be, there can be no doubt that for the 

 summer garden it will prove as effective as either C. 

 gymnocarpa or C. ragusina, both exceptionally fine and 

 useful plants. The same treatment will suit it. 



Centaurea dealbata is a dwarf hardy species 

 from the Caucasus, with elegant foliage, white under- 

 neath, and rosy flowers : suitable among dwarf hardy 

 subjects. 



Centaurea gymnocarpa. — A half-shrubby plant 

 from the South of Europe, nearly 2 ft. high, with hard, 

 branching, bushy stems, and elegantly cut, arching leaves, 

 which are covered with a short, whitish-satiny down. A 

 variety (C. plumosa) has the leaves much more divided, 

 and not so white. This plant is somewhat hardier than 

 C. ragusina, but both require greenhouse treatment in 

 winter. Same soil, positions, and treatment as for C. 

 ragusina. Useful as this is as an edging or bedding 

 plant, it is when grown as fine single specimens that its 

 beauty is most seen. 



Centaurea ragusina. — This fine and distinct plant, 

 which has lately become one of the most popular of our 



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