404 



CROTALARIA 



CRYPTOGAMS 



species is C. retusa, a hardy, yellow-fld. annual, which 

 has been compared to a dwarf sweet pea. For best re- 

 sults, the seed should be started early indoors, after be- 

 ing soaked in warm water. The name is commonly mis- 

 spelled Grotolaria. Greenhouse kinds are subject to red 

 spider. Cjunceu, yields the Sunn hemp of India. 



A. Lvs. simple. 

 retdsa. Linn. Annual, 1% ft. high: branches few, 

 short: lvs. entire, very various in shape, but typically 

 obovate with a short mucro, clothed beneath with short 

 appressed hairs : -fls. about 12 in a raceme, yellow, 

 streaked or blotched with purple; standard roundish, 

 notched. Cosmop. June-Aug. — Introduced 189fi, as a 

 novelty and called "dwarf golden yellow-flowering pea," 

 "golden yellow sweet pea," etc. The flowers are mush 

 less fragrant than the true sweet pea. 



AA. Lvs. foUolate. 



longirostrata. Hook. & Am. Greenhouse plant, her- 

 baceous or somewhat shrubby, much branched, 3 ft. 

 high: branches long, slender, glabrous; petioles 1% in. 

 long; leaflets 3, oblong, with a minute mucro. glabrous 

 above, hoary beneath, with very short, appressed, silky 

 hairs: racemes erect: calyx with 2 upper lobes ovate, 

 the 3 lower ones lanceolate: fls. as many as 25 in a ra- 

 ceme, yellow with reddish stripe along the back of the 

 unopened flower; standard wider than long, reflexed, 

 notched. W. Mex., Quat. B.M. 7306. F.R. 1:809. 



Cap^nsis, Jacq. Stout, much branched shrub, 4-5 ft. 

 high: branches terete, appressedly silky; stipules when 

 present petiolulate, obovate and leaf-like, obsolete or 

 wanting on many petioles; leaflets broadly obovate, ob- 

 tuse or mucronulate, glabrous or minutely pubescent on 

 one or both sides : racemes terminal or opposite the 

 lvs., loose, many-fld.: calyx and pod pubescent; wings 

 transversely wrinkled and pitted. S. Afr. — Cult, in Fla. 

 by Reasoner Bros. ^_ jj^ 



CK6T0N (Greek name of another plant). Euphorbi- 

 dcecp. Some 500 species of trees, shrubs, or herbs, 

 widely distributed. They are sometimes dioecious, but 

 commonly the fls. are monoecious and mostly in terminal 

 spikes or racemes. Calyx of sterile fls. 4-6 (usually 5) 

 parted, the stamens 5 or more; petals usually present, 

 but small. Calj'x of fertile fls. 5-10 parted, petals none 

 or mere rudiments, the ovary 3-loculed. Lvs. usually 

 alternate. A few species are native to the U. S.; they 

 are mostly annual herbs of no horticultural value. The 

 Crotons of florists are Codiwums, which see. 



C. Tiglium, Linn., is the only species known to be in 

 the Amer. trade. The seeds yield the Croton oil of com- 

 merce, one of the mostpowerful of purgatives. It is a 

 small tree of Southeastern Asia. Lvs. ovate-acumi- 

 nate, serrate, stalked, varying in hue from metallic green 

 to bronze and orange. Offered in South Cal. as an orna- 

 mental and curious plant. L_ jj. g, 



CROWFOOT. See Baimnculus. 



CROWN, or CORONA. Any outgrowth from the throat 

 of the perianth, as the trumpet of a Narcissus, or the 

 fringe of a Passion Flower. Crown is also applied to 

 the top of a bulb, corm, or upright rootstock : also that 

 part of a plant at the surface of the ground. 



CROWN BEARD. Verbesina. 



CROWN IMPERIAL. FritUlaria Imperialis. 



CROWN OF THORNS. Euphorbia splendens. 



CROWN-TUBER. A tuber of which the top is stem 

 and the lowt-r part root, as the radish. 



CRUCIANfiLLA (Latin, a little cross ; from the ar- 

 raii;;i-iiiciit of the lvs.). Jfiibidcem. Cross-wort. This 

 genus rout:iins a hardy rock plant of minor importance. 

 Not more than 21 species, of herbs often woody at the 

 base; branches usually long, slender, 4-comered: upper 

 lvs. opposite, without stipules: lower lvs. or all in 

 whorls of 3 or more, linear or lanceolate, rarely ovate or 

 obovate: fls. small; white, rosy or blue. Natives of the 



Mediterranean region and western Asia. The genus is 

 elosely related to Asperula, and is distinguished by the 

 flowers having bracts, not an involucre, and the style 

 branches distinctly unequal instead of nearly equal. 

 The species below has lately been referred to Asperula. 

 It is of easy culture, preferring light, moderate loam and 

 partial shade. A delicate plant for the front of borders, 

 and capital for the rockery. Prop, chiefly by division, 

 and also by seeds. 



stylbsa, Trin. {Asperula cilidta, Rochel). Pros- 

 trate, 6-9 in. high: lvs. in whorls of 8 or 9, lanceolate, 

 hispid; fls. small, crimson-pink, in round terminal heads 

 half an inch in diam.; floral parts in 5's; style club- 

 shaped, long exserted, very shortly twice cut at the top. 

 June-Aug. Persia. J. B. Keller and W. M. 



CRUEL PLANT. Same as Mosquito Plant, Cyiian- 

 chum a i'umiuati folium. 



CRYPTANTHUS (Greek, for hidden flower: the 

 flowers ci.ni'iHli.fl l>pm'ath the bracts). BromeliAcem. 

 Brazilian c|>i|iliytal Bromeliads, differing from ^chmea 

 and Billbergia (which see for culture) in the tubular 

 calyx and the dense heads of fls. nearly sessile amongst 

 the lvs. Mongr. by Mez (who recognizes 8 species) in 

 DC. Monogr. Phaner. 9 (1896). 



A. Zfi's. not narrowed or petiolate above the sheath. 



acatllis, Beer (Tilldndsia acaulis, Lindl. C. unduld,- 

 tus, Otto & Dietr. ). A few inches high, suckering 

 freely: lvs. sea-green, long-pointed and spreading, weak- 

 spiny: fls. white, nestling deep in the foliage. B.R. 

 14:1157.— A very variable plant, of which Mez recog- 

 nises the following leading types: 



Var. grenulna, Mez. Stemless or very nearly so : lvs. 

 sub-elliptic-lanceolate, strongly undulate, gray-scurfy 

 beneath, scurfy above. 



Var. discolor, Mez (C.dJsco^oj-, Otto & Dietr.). Stem- 

 less or nearly so: lvs. elongated, scarcely undulate, sil- 

 very-scurfy below, glabrous or nearly so above. 



Var. rillber, Mez {€'. ruber, Beer). Produces a branch- 

 ing stem or trunk: lvs. short, strongly undulate, reddish. 



Var. bromelioldes, Mez (C. bromeliotdes, Otto & 

 Dietr.). Stem tall: lvs. much elongated, scarcely undu- 

 late, remotely spinulose. 



Var. diversifdlius, Mez (C.diversifdlius, Beer). Stem- 

 bearing: lvs. elongate-lingulate, deep green above, sil- 

 very-scurfy beneath. 



zon&tus, Beer. Lvs. oblong-lanceolate, the margin 

 undulate and densely serrate-spinulose, marked with 

 transverse bands of white: fls. white. 



bivittitUB, Regel {Billbh-gia bivittdta, Hook. B. 

 vittdlii. Hurt.). Nearly or quite stemless: lvs. long-ob- 

 long, curving, long-pointed, somewhat undulate, spiny, 

 dull brown beneath, green above and with two narrow 

 buffi or reddish bars extending the length of the leaf: 

 fls. white. B.M. 5270. 



AA. I/iis. narrowed or petiolate above the sheath. 



Beilckeri, Morr. Lvs. 10-20, oblong, pointed, canalicu- 

 late at base, very finely spiny, brownish green or rosy 

 and spotted or striped with light green: fls. white. 



L. H. B. 



CRYPTOGAMS are flowerless plants, and they produce 

 not seeds but spores. The whole vegetable kingdom has 

 been split into two vast classes, the flowering plants or 

 phanerogams and the flowerless ones or cryptogams. 

 Cryptogam means "concealed nuptials," and phanerogam 

 means "visible nuptials." These names were given when 

 it was thought that the sexual parts of the flowerless 

 plants were very minute or even wantiug. The word is 

 now falling into disfavor with botanists. Cryptogams 

 are of less horticultural interest than the flowering 

 plants, although they include the Ferns, and some inter- 

 esting smaller groups, as Selaginellas, Lycopods or Club 

 Mosses. Two other vast groups are the Seaweeds or 

 Algae, and the Fungi. For the edible Fungi, see Mush- 

 rooms. For parasitic Fungi, see Diseases and Fungus. 

 For a general sketch of the Ferns an,l their allies, see 

 Ferns. 



