388 



CARYOPHYLLE^E. III. DIANTIIUS. 



dark blood colour, with the stigmas protruding beyond the 

 petals. 



Var. c, carduinus (Ser. mss.) leaves, calyx, and petals beset 

 with fistular prickles. D. caryophy'llus var. Tratt. in flora, 

 1821. p. 717. icon. 



The flowers of the Clove are very variable in size and colour, 

 the double varieties of which are called Carnations, and the 

 smaller flower of the latter are called Picolees. 



D. caryophyllus is considered the source whence have sprung 

 the numerous varieties of the Carnation and the Picotee. The 

 Carnation seems to have been unknown to the ancients, at least 

 in its cultivated state, not being mentioned by Pliny, or sung by 

 any of the Roman poets. It has, however, been cultivated from 

 time immemorial in Europe, and is in the highest favour for its 

 beauty and rich spicy odour. It is the principal florist's flower 

 in Germany and Italy, from which countries the British florists 

 procure their best Carnation seed, and also some esteemed 

 varieties. The varieties amounted nearly to 400 named sorts in 

 the beginning of the eighteenth century, and the number has 

 not since diminished. They are arranged in three classes, flakes, 

 bizarres, and picotees. Flakes have two colours only, and their 

 stripes large, going quite through the leaves of the flower. 

 Bizarres, (Fr. odd, irregular,) are variegated in irregular spots 

 and stripes, and with no less than three colours. Picotees, (Fr. 

 piquettee, pricked or spotted,) have a white ground, spotted 

 or pounced with scarlet, red, purple, or other colours. Of 

 each class there are numerous varieties, arranged under farther 

 subdivisions, according to the predominance of the colours, as 

 scarlet-flake, pink-flake, purple-flake, yellow-flake, &c. ; scarlet- 

 bizarre, crimson-bizarre, &c. ; and purple-picotee, yellow-pico- 

 tee, &c. Picotees are rather smaller flowers than Carnations, 

 and are distinguished by the serrated margins of their petals ; 

 the colours are principally yellow and white spotted, and the 

 plants are considered hardier than the other sorts. Whatever 

 colours the flowers may be possessed of, they should be per- 

 fectly distinct, and disposed in long regular stripes, broadest at 

 the edge of the lamina, and gradually becoming narrower as 

 they approach the claw or base of the petal, there terminating in 

 a fine point. Each petal 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 only contain two colours 

 upon a white ground, are esteemed rather preferable to flakes, 

 which have but one, especially when their colours are remark- 

 ably rich and very regularly distributed. Scarlet, purple, and 

 pink, are the three colours 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. New varieties are procured 

 from seeds, and thousands of seedlings are annually blown by 

 florists and amateurs, sometimes without one being found worth 

 keeping. Established or approved varieties are continued by 

 layering or cuttings, or as they are commonly called pipings. 

 The soil in which the Carnation thrives best is a rich loam 

 rather sandy than otherwise ; the climate should be free from 

 extremes of every kind, for which reason they are commonly 

 grown in pots, and protected by a frame during winter, and 

 covered by an awning while in bloom. Carnations grow ex- 

 ceedingly well in beds of properly prepared soil, over which 

 frames are placed in winter, and an awning of canvas or bunting 

 when the plants are in blossom. 



Propagation by layers. The time of performing this opera- 

 tion is when the plants are in full bloom. Layering, by the 

 wounds it inflicts, considerably impairs the bloom, and generally 

 kills the parent plant. The practical part of the operation has 

 nothing remarkable in it ; a sufficient quantity of hooked pegs 

 and of compost being provided ; the pot containing the plant to 

 be laid is placed on a table, and the layers prepared by cutting 



off their lower leaves, the earth is then stirred and the pot filled 

 up with light rich mould, not of too fine a grain. The incision 

 is made by entering a quarter of an inch below the joint, and 

 passing the knife up through the centre of it ; the shoot is then to 

 be pegged down, and buried not more than half an inch deep. 

 Maddock says it is adviseable to peg down the layers when in a 

 dry state, being then less brittle than when they are wet and 

 succulent ; for this after the layers have been dressed, the pot 

 should be placed half an hour in the sun, in order to render them 

 more flaccid and pliant than they otherwise would be. When 

 the layers have been properly rooted, which will be the case 

 with most sorts in about three weeks after laying, provided 

 due care be taken in keeping them regularly moist, and shading 

 them from the heat of the meridian sun ; they are then to be 

 cut off" from the old plant with about half of the stalk which 

 connects them with it, and be immediately planted in small 

 pots, three or four plants in each, placed round the sides. The 

 pots are to be placed under an arch of hoops, where they can be 

 covered with mats in case of excessive rains, till the severity of 

 the winter renders it necessary to remove them into their winter 

 repository, which is to be constructed as follows : there should 

 be a bed of coal-ashes formed in the place where it is to be 

 erected, six inches thick ; or a platform of square tiles, closely 

 fitted together, rows of bricks are to be placed in lines, 3 inches 

 asunder, which will allow a free circulation under and between 

 the pots placed upon them. Two rows of substantial stakes 

 should be stuck into the ground on each side, 3 or 4 inches dis- 

 tance from the outer pots, and have notches cut on their tops to 

 receive the edges of the shutters. Three shutters, which will 

 reach the whole length on one side, and three of the notched stakes 

 will be sufficient to support the shutters, and will give room to 

 move them backwards and forwards without any chance of slip- 

 ping. It is necessary that a row of stakes should be placed between 

 the two middle rows of pots to support the shutters when closed. 

 The south side should consist of frames of glass in severe weather, 

 so as to admit light when they cannot be opened. 



Hogg commences laying when the flowers are sufficiently 

 expanded to shew which are in colour or true to their kinds, or 

 which not; this 1 he finds to be about the 21st of July, and he 

 continues laying from that time to the 21st of August. The 

 plants receive a good watering the day previous to layering, 

 because they can receive it only through a fine rose of a watering 

 pot for some time after, for the purpose of preserving the earth 

 on the layered shoots. In performing the operation he cuts off 

 the extreme end of the tongue below the joint, because if left 

 on it is apt to decay and prevent the protrusion of the granu- 

 lous matter from which the fibres issue ; under favourable cir- 

 cumstances they will be fit to take off" in 6 or 7 weeks, and 

 may then be planted 2 or 3 in a no. 48 pot. The pots are then 

 to be set on tiles, slates, or boards, there to remain till the mid- 

 dle or end of October. Hogg's Treatise, p. 56. 



Propagation l>y pipings. This mode of propagating Carna- 

 tions is very precarious, as seldom so many as the half ever strike 

 root ; nevertheless some sorts succeed better by pipings than by 

 layers, and make healthier plants ; it requires attention to dis- 

 cover such sorts from the rest. Pipings, however, are a very 

 necessary resource, where the shoots are too short for laying, 

 or where the laying shoots are broken by accident. The first 

 thing to provide is a slight hot-bed, cover it 4 or 5 inches 

 thick with fine light mould, laid regularly and even. The 

 piping should have two or even three complete joints ; they are to 

 be cut horizontally, close under the second or third joint. Some 

 people recommend the shortening of the leaves, but this we 

 think is rather deleterious than otherwise, both in piping and 

 in laying. The earth of the bed where the pipings are to be 

 planted should be moderately moistened, then take a small 



