CROCUS 



254 



CROTALARIA 



C. ve'rnus (spring). Purple. February and March. 



Europe (England). 1785. 



., .. albiflo'rus (white-flowered). White. Trieste. 

 ,. ,. leucorhy' 'nchus (white-beaked). Purple, tipped 



white. 



.. ., paruifto'rus (small-flowered). White. Splugen. 

 ,, Tcrsi' color (changing colour). Pale or dark purple. 



February, March. S. France. 1794. 

 ,, vitelli'nus (yolk-of-egg-coloured). Orange, tinted 



brown outside. N. Palestine. 1879. 

 ,, grave'olens (heavy-smelling). Orange, flushed 



black outside. Aleppo. 

 ,, ,, syri'acus (Syrian). Darker orange, feathered dark 



brown outside. 



,, Welde'ni (Welden's). See C. BIFLORUS WELDENI. 

 ,, xona'ius (zoned). Rosy lilac, veined purple, orange 



zone in throat. Autumn. Asia Minor. 1855. 



CROCUS CULTURE. Propagation: by Seed. Sow 

 the seed in October, in a prepared bed of light, rich earth, 

 in an open situation, covering it a quarter of an inch. 

 The seedlings will come up in the spring, and should be 

 kept well weeded. When the leaves decay, clear them 

 away, and spread a thin coat of fresh, light earth over 

 the roots. Allow them to remain another season, and 

 then, when the leaves decay, take up the bulbs carefully, 

 sifting the soil so as to find even the smallest. In August 

 prepare a bed of fresh, rich earth, turning it over two or 

 three times to mellow and pulverise. About the middle 

 of September, on a dry day, level the bed, and draw 

 drills across it four inches apart ; then plant the young 

 bulbs in the drills three inches asunder, pressing them 

 down gently into the soil ; and, when all are planted, 

 level the ridges of the drills with a rake carefully down. 

 In this bed they should remain two years. The second 

 year most of them will flower ; and, when in bloom, 

 the colours should be marked, to enable you to separate 

 them into their colours when they are taken up. Any 

 new fine varieties should be especially taken care off. 



By Offsets. When the leaves decay, in the summer, 

 take up the bulbs, keeping them in their various sorts ; 

 separate the large-flowering bulbs from the small off- 

 sets, and plant the latter in a bed by themselves, in the 

 same way as is described above for seedlings. In two 

 years take them up, sort the large roots out again, and 

 replant the small ones. 



Soil. The crocus delights in a dry situation, and a 

 rich, light, sandy soil. In such a place and soil it flowers 

 profusely, and produces large roots ; but in a wet, poor 

 soil it dwindles away. 



Culture. October is the best month for planting, 

 though it may be prolonged to the middle of December. 

 Take the roots up every second year, planting the offsets 

 as described above. 



Insects. Slugs are their chief enemy, which may be 

 destroyed by watering the beds or clumps with lime- 

 water. 



Diseases. The bulbs sometimes become like a mass 

 of starch or meal, and then will not grow. There is no 

 remedy for bulbs actually diseased, but they ought to 

 be carefully picked out, and not mixed with the general 

 stock, for fear of infection. It is caused by an internal 

 fungus, Bacterium Hyacinthi. 



CROPPING (MIXED) Is growing two or more crops 

 together, one of which may be either drawn young, so 

 as to be out of the other's way before it gets high enough 

 to be injured, or one of which benefits the other by shading 

 it. The object of mixed cropping is to obtain the largest 

 amount of produce in the shortest time from a given 

 space. The subject cannot be treated in detail within 

 these limited pages ; and we must, therefore, refer our 

 readers to an essay on the subject in The Cottage Gardener, 

 v. 274. See ROTATION OF CROPS. 



CROSSA'NDRA. (From krossos, a fringe, and aner, 

 an anther ; fringed anthers, or pollen-bags. Nat ord 

 Acanthads [Acanthacea?]. Linn. i^-Tetradynamia, 2- 

 Angiospermia. Allied to Justicia.) 



Showy stove evergreen shrubs ; peat and loam ; 

 cuttings root readily in sand, in bottom-heat, at any 

 season, under glass. 

 C. fta'va (yellow- flowered). $. Yellow. January. W 



Africa. 1852. 



,, guinee'nsis (Guinea). Lilac, white, pxirple. W Trop 

 Africa. 1877. 



C. infundibulifo'rmis (funnel-shaped). See C. UNDUL/IE- 



FOLIA. 



,, undulczfo'lia (wave-leaved). i*. Orange, scarlet. 

 March. E. Ind. 1800. 



CROSSOSO'MA. (From Crosses, a fringe, and soma, 

 a segment. Nat. ord. Dilleniaceas.) 



Greenhouse shrub. Cuttings of nearly ripe wood in 

 sand in a close frame. Fibrous loam, a little peat and 

 sand. 



C. califo'rnicum (Californian). White. S. California. 

 1902. 



CROSSY'NE CELIA'RIS. See BUPHANE CILIARIS. 



CROTALA RIA. (From krotalon, a castal net, or 

 hand-rattle ; the seeds rattle in the pod if shaken. Nat. 

 ord. Leguminous Plants [Leguminosse]. Linn. ib-Mona- 

 delpkia, 6-Decandria. Allied to the Lupines.) 



Notwithstanding the great number of Crotalarias, 

 with their gay-coloured pea-flowers, they are not much 

 prized by gardeners, owing to the difficulty of preserving 

 them from the attacks of the red spider. Seed ; perennial 

 kinds easily from cuttings in sand, under glass ; loam and 

 peat. 



STOVE ANNUALS, &c. 



C. acumina'ta (pointed-leaved). i. Yellow. July. 



Cape of Good Hope. 1820. Half-hardy. 

 ala'ta (winged), i. Pale yellow. July. Nepaul. 



1818. Biennial. 

 ,, angula'ta (angled), i. Yellow. June. Honduras. 



1700. 



angusiifo'lia (narrow-leaved). See LEBECKIA SERICEA. 

 ,, biala'ta (two-winged). See C. SAGITTALIS. 

 ,, bifafria (two-rowed). 3. Yellow. July. E. Ind. 



1817. 

 Burma'nni (Burmann's). i. Yellow. July. E. Ind 



1800. 

 ,, calyci'na (large- calyxed). i. Blue. June. Trop. 



Africa. 1816. 



,, cube'nsis (Cuba). See C. INCANA. 

 ,, fu'lva (tawny), i. Yellow. June. E. Ind. 1817. 

 ,, glau'ca (milky-green), i. Yellow. July. Guinea. 



1824. 



,, hirsu'ta (hairy), i. Yellow. July. E. Ind. 1818. 

 inca'na (hoary). Yellow. July. Trop. Amer. 1820. 

 ,, ju'ncea (rush-like). Tropics, Old World. " Sunn 



Hemp." 



,, Langsdo'rfii (Langsdorf's). r. Yellow. June. 1820. 

 ,, microphylla (small-leaved). \. Yellow. July. 



Arabia. 1820. Trailer. 

 ,, ova'lis (oval), i. Yellow. July. Carolina. 1810. 



Half-hardy. 

 ,, pu'mila (dwarf). . Yellow. June. Cuba 1823 



Trailer. 



,, purpura'scens (purplish), i. Purple. July. Mada- 

 gascar. 1825. 



,, purpu'rea (purple). Purple. S. Africa. 

 Pu'rshii (Pursh's). i. Yellow. June. N. Amer. 



1800. Half-hardy. 

 ,, sagitta'lis (arrow-like), i. Yellow. June. N. Amer. 



1820. 

 ., senegale'nsis (Senegal), i. Yellow. June. Senegal. 



1819. 



,, seri'cea (silky), ij. Purple. July. India. 1820. 

 specta'bilis (showy). See C. SERICEA. 

 ,, stipula'ris (large-stipuled). i. Yellow. July. 



Cayenne. 1823. 

 ,, tria'ntha (three-flowered). 2. Yellow. June. 



Mexico. 1824. 



,, tubero'sa (tuberous). See ERIOSEMA CHINENSE. 

 ,, verruco'sa (warted). i. Blue. June. W. Ind. 



I73i. 

 ,, ,, acumina'ta (pointed-leaved). i Blue Tulv 



E. Ind. 1731. 

 villo'sa (soft-haired), i. Yellow. June. Cape of 



Good Hope. 1824. Half-hardy. 



GREENHOUSE EVERGREENS. 

 C. arbore'scens (tree-like). See C. CAPENSIS. 

 ,, arge'ntea (silvery). See ARGYROLOBIUM PETIOLARE. 

 ,, axilla'ris (axillary). Trop. Africa. 

 ,, cape'nsis (Cape). Yellow. S. Africa. 

 dicho'toma (forked), i. Yellow. July. Mexico. 

 1824. 



