4 i8 



CREPIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWED GARDEN. 



CRlNUM. 



2oth May. The drooping crimson fruits 

 ripen early in September, and fall towards 

 the end of the month ; when just matured 

 their effect is very striking, but the birds 

 soon find them out. The leaves are large, 

 oval, and dark green. 



C. FERENTARIA. A tall, handsome shrub 

 of 15 to 1 8 feet, with hairy clusters of 

 flower, open towards the end of May. The 

 small fruits of a glowing crimson hang in 

 broad drooping clusters, fully coloured 

 from about the middle of September. The 

 leaves turn to a fine yellow in the autumn, 

 and fall early. 



C. FORMOSA. A tall, branching shrub of 

 12 to 15 feet, with a spreading head. 

 The large showy flowers come into bloom 

 about the last week in May, and the 

 glaucous fruits ripen in October. The 

 foliage is of a distinct yellowish-green. 



C. HOLMESIANA. A tree 30 feet in 

 height, with upright branches and a broad 

 compact head. The cup-shaped flowers, 

 with purple-red anthers, open about the 

 middle of May. The bright crimson lus- 

 trous fruits ripen and fall early in Septem- 

 ber. The leaves are yellowish-green in 

 colour, with prominent lobes and long 

 sharp teeth. 



C. LANEYI. A tall shrub with slender, 

 spreading branches, rare even in its own 

 country. The large flowers on stems 

 covered with shaggy hairs, come into 

 bloom during the first week of June, and 

 the orange-red fruits ripen in October. 



C. PEDICILLATA. Bears flowers with 

 rose-coloured anthers, which expand about 

 24th May. The bright scarlet fruits ripen 

 early in September and fall about the 

 middle of the month. The leaves are 

 broadly-oval and rich dark green in 

 colour. Prof. Sargent regards this as 

 " one of the largest and most beautiful 

 thorn- trees of the northern United States." 

 C. PRINGLEI. Forms a dense oval head, 

 branching from near the ground and 

 reaching a height of 20 to 30 feet. The 

 white flowers, with reddish anthers, open 

 about the middle of May, and the dull-red 

 fruits occasionally marked with yellow- 

 ish freckles ripen about the end of August 

 and fall about three weeks later. This 

 Hawthorn is readily distinguished by its 

 drooping leaves of convex form, this being 

 due to the infolding of the sides towards 

 the mid-rib. 



C. SPISSIFLORA. A shrub or low tree in 

 which the flowers, with ten stamens and 

 purple-red anthers, are borne in dense 

 short clusters, and come into beauty just 

 after the middle of May. The bright 

 scarlet, almost pear-shaped fruits are 

 borne in dense clusters, which began to 

 colour in August, but are not fully ripe till 

 the middle of September. The foliage is 

 ample, and the fruit remarkably handsome 

 when ripe. 



CREPIS (Hawk's-beard). Of this 

 genus of Composite, few save B. 



rubra, the Reel Hawk's-beard, are 

 worthy of culture. It is a hardy 

 Italian annual, bearing pretty pink 

 flowers about the size and form of the 

 Dandelion, and should be sown in 

 spring or autumn like other hardy 

 annuals in any ordinary garden soil. 

 It flowers from June to September, anel 

 is suitable for borders or beds of annual 

 flowers. There is also a variety with 

 white flowers. C. aurea is a perennial, 

 6 to 12 inches high, with small orange 

 blossoms, but seldom more than one 

 to- each slender stem. C. incisa is a 

 good species for borders, owing to its 

 compact habit and large showy light 

 purple flowers, as is also indica, a 

 dwarf species, free-flowering and 

 pretty. Division and seed. 



CRINUM. A few S. African species 

 of these are hardy and very beautiful. 

 One of the best known is C. capense, 



2 to 3 feet high, flowering late in 

 summer, the large funnel-shaped pink 

 blossoms in umbels of ten or fifteen 

 blooms on a stout stem. There are 

 several varieties album, pure white ; 

 riparium, deep purple ; fortuitum, 

 white ; and striatum, striped pink and 

 white ; and fine hybrids have also been 

 raised all good in borders or with 

 groups of hardy plants that flower in 

 early autumn ; or for grouping near 

 water. 



C. CRASSIFOLIUM. Grows well in warm 

 soils, such as in the Cambridge Botanic 

 Garden. It flowers earlier than C. capense, 

 in June and July, with compact heads of 

 flowers nine to twelve in number ; many 

 of them open at the same time. They are 



3 inches long, white turning to deep rose, 

 and very fragrant. 



C. POWELLII. The best o.f hardy 

 Crinums, raised as a cross between 

 C. Mooreanum and C. capense. It bears 

 smaller flowers than Mooreanum, but is 

 hardier, and with a little care in severe 

 winters will grow well in almost any part 

 of Britain. It makes a large club-shaped 

 bulb 2 to 3 feet long, with spreading leaves 

 many feet in length and massive spikes of 

 fragrant flowers during August. Strong 

 bulbs will give three spikes in one season, 

 eack spike bearing twelve to twenty pink 

 flowers 6 inches across, with buds a deeper 

 red, and opening in succession, so that the 

 display lasts for some weeks. The bulb 

 should be so deeply planted as to show only 

 the upper part of the neck, the whole being 

 surrounded with clean sand and the crowns 

 covered up with leaves and bracken during 

 winter. In cold places a spot at the foot 

 of a south wall is best, and shelter for the 

 leaves from cutting winds should be con- 

 sidered even where the extra warmth is 



