CYANANTHUS. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. CYCLAMEN. 425 



Cypress, but a hardy and useful one. 

 Syn. Retinospora. 



C. SEMPERVIRENS (Eastern Cypress). 

 One of the most graceful of all evergreen 

 trees, giving distinct and good effects in 

 many parts of the East and N. Africa, 

 spreading into N. India also. In some 

 N. Italian gardens it grows well over 

 100 feet, as in the Giusti Garden at Verona. 

 In Algeria and Tunis I have seen it form- 

 ing noble shelters for the orange gardens, 

 far better than any clipped tree could do. 



C. THYOIDES (Southern White Cedar). 

 This is a tree of the N. American woods, 

 sometimes reaching nearly 100 feet high 

 in its best state, inhabiting wet places 

 and swamps in New England, westward 

 and southward, rather near the coast, and 

 forming very dark woods. Coming from 

 a very cold country, it is hardy, and may 

 be planted in wet and marshy places. 

 There are several varieties, one variegated 

 and of no value. 



CYANANTHUS (Lobed C.). 

 A pretty Himalayan rock plant, about 

 4 inches high, flowering in August and 

 September ; C. lobatus has purplish- 

 blue flower, with a whitish centre, and 

 thriving in sunny chinks in the rock 

 garden. It grows best in a mixture of 

 sandy peat and leaf-mould, with 

 plenty of moisture during growth, and 

 is increased by cuttings. Campanu- 

 lacecB. 



C. INCANUS. Flowers more freely than 

 C. lobatus ; and, like that species, it should 

 be planted in a dry, sunny, well-drained 

 position, as, if the situation be too damp, 

 the fleshy root-stock is liable to rot. It is 

 even a good plan to place something over 

 the plant during the resting season. The 

 flowers are not so large as those of the 

 other species, but are more charming in 

 colour, their beauty enhanced by the 

 white tuft of silky hairs in the throat of 

 the corolla. Campanulaceee. 



CYATHEA (Silver Tree-fern). This 

 very handsome Fern, C. dealbata, 

 known in New Zealand as the Silver 

 Tree-fern, has a slender, almost black 

 stem, 4 to 8 feet high, ending in a fine 

 crown of fronds, dark green above and 

 milk-white below. It may be placed 

 in the open air, in the southern and 

 milder districts, from the end of May 

 till the end of September. 



CYCAS. C. revoluta is a tropical 

 plant, with a stout stem, sometimes 

 6 to 10 feet high, from the top of which 

 issues a beautiful crown of superb 

 dark green leaves 2 to 6 feet long. It 

 is one of the most valuable greenhouse 

 plants that may be placed out from 

 the end of May till October, always in 

 a warm position, 



CYCLAMEN (Sowbread). Except 

 the Persian, Cyclamens are as hardy as 

 Primroses ; but they love the shelter 

 and shade of low bushes or hill copses. 

 The Ivy-leaved Cyclamen is in full 

 leaf through winter and early spring, 

 and for the sake of the beauty of the 

 leaves alone it is desirable to place it 

 so that it may be safe from injury. It 

 is easy to naturalise the hardier 

 Cyclamens in many parts of the coun- 

 try. Good drainage is necessary to 

 their open-air culture, as they grow 

 naturally among broken rocks and 

 stones mixed with vegetable soil, grit, 

 etc., where they are not surrounded 

 by stagnant water. They are well 

 suited for the rock garden, and enjoy 

 warm nooks, partial shade, and shelter 

 from dry, cutting winds. They may 

 be grown on any aspect if the con- 

 ditions above mentioned be secured, 

 but an eastern or south-eastern one is 

 best. 



They are best propagated by seed 

 sown, as soon as it is ripe, in well- 

 drained pots of light soil. Cover the 

 soil after sowing with a little Moss, to 

 ensure uniform dampness, and place 

 them in shelter out of doors. As soon 

 as they begin to appear, which may 

 be in a month or six weeks, gradually 

 remove the moss. When the first 

 leaf is fairly developed they should be 

 transplanted about i inch apart in 

 seed pans of rich light earth, and 

 encouraged to grow as long as possible, 

 being sheltered in a cold frame, but 

 always allowed abundance of air. 

 When the leaves have perished in the 

 following summer, the tubers may be 

 planted out or potted, according to 

 their strength. 



There appears to have always been 

 great difficulty in defining the species 

 of Cyclamen, from the great variation 

 in shape and colour of the leaves, 

 both above and below. Too much 

 dependence on these characteristics 

 has caused confusion and an undue 

 multiplication of species. Some of the 

 varieties become so fixed, and repro- 

 duce themselves so truly from seed, 

 as to be regarded as species by some 

 cultivators. 



C. ATKINSI. A hybrid variety of the 

 Coum section. The flowers are larger 

 than in the type, varying in colour from 

 deep red to pure white, and are plentiful 

 in winter. 



C. COUM (Round-leaved Cyclamen). 

 This, like the others of the same section, 

 is perfectly hardy, and frequently in bloom 

 jn the open ground before the Snowdrop ; 



