712 



CENTAUREA 



CENTAUREA 



and coming up in the spring from self-sown seed. The 

 following are varieties of this: Pure White; Victoria, a 

 dwarf, for pots and edgings (Gn. 40, p. 147) ; Emperor 

 William, fine dark blue; fiore plena, with the outer disk- 

 fls. converted into ray-fls.; nana compacta, dwarf. (Gt. 

 44, p. 150.) Centaurea Cyanus is one of the "old-fash- 

 ioned flowers," everywhere well known and popular. 

 It often escapes from gardens. 



AAA. SWEET SULTANS. Straight-growing smooth an- 

 nuals or perennials, with dentate Ivs., grown for 

 the large fragrant heads. 



6. moschata, Linn. (C. suaveolens, Linn. C. odordta, 

 Hort. C. Amberbdii, Mill. Amberboa moschata, Less.). 

 SWEET SULTAN. Fig. 872. 



Annual : sts. 2 ft. high, branch- 

 ing below, erect: whole plant 

 smooth, bright green: Ivs. pin- 

 natifid, the lobes dentate: fl.- 

 heads long-peduncled; invo- 

 lucre round or ovate, smooth, 

 only the innermost of the 

 involucral scales with scarious 

 margins: fls. white, yellow or 

 purple, fragrant. Orient. Mn. 

 4, p. 149. Gn. 54 : 372. I.H. 

 42, p. 106. Gng. 4:147. G. 5: 

 289; 16: 267; 25: 71. 



Var. filba, Hort. (C. Mar- 

 garitss, Hort.). Fls. white. Gn. 

 19, p. 337; 54:372. A.G. 13: 

 607. This form, known as C. 

 Margaritas, is pure white and 

 very fragrant. It was intro. 

 by an Italian firm in 1891. 

 Var. rubra, Hort. Fls. red. 

 Gn. 54:372. A popular, old- 

 time garden fl., with long- 

 stalked heads; of easy cult. It 

 does not bear transplanting 

 well. C. imperidlis, Hort., is 

 said to be the offspring of C. 

 moschata and C. Margaritas, 

 intro. into the American trade 

 in 1899. Gn.M. 13:74. Plants 

 are said to inherit the vigorous 

 free growth of C. moschata, 

 being of the same easy cult, and 

 forming clumps 3-4 ft. high. 

 The fls. resemble C. Margaritas. 

 but are twice as large and 

 abundantly borne on long sts. 

 from July until frost. They 

 range through white, rose, lilac 

 and purple, are fragrant, and 

 if cut when first open will keep 

 10 days. C. Marias, Hort., intro. 

 1899, resembles C. imperialis, 

 but the fls. open sulfur-yellow, 

 become lighter, and are tipped 

 with rose. All sweet sultans do 

 best if the bloom is secured before very hot weather. 



7. glastifolia, Linn. A strong-growing border peren- 

 nial with a rough much-branched and winged st. : Ivs. ob- 

 long, entire, decurrent, the basal Ivs. petiolate, sometimes 

 divided : fls. yellow, the heads solitary, without bracts, 

 and quite smooth. Cent. Eu. B.M. 62. June-Sept. 



AAAA. OTHER CENTAUREAS of various kinds, occasion- 

 ally grown in hardy borders, for their fls. or im- 

 posing stature. See page 3567. 



B. Foliage green on both sides. 

 c. Lvs. pinnate or bipinnate. 



8. splendens, Linn. (C. Margaritdcea, Ten.). Peren- 

 nial: sts. erect, branched: Ivs. smooth, the lowest bi- 



871. Centaurea Cyanus. 



pinnate, the upper pinnate, all with very narrow, linear, 

 entire, acute lobes: fl.-heads subglobpse; scales of the 

 involucre with a rounded almost entire rather lax tip; 

 fls. purple. Spain, Italy. 



9. ruthenica, Lam. Hardy perennial about 3 ft.: 

 st. erect, branching, smooth: Ivs. pinnatisect, the lobes 

 linear-toothed, sharply narrowed at both ends, the 

 base often somewhat decurrent: fl.-heads usually 

 solitary, the pale-yellow rays about %in. long; pappus 

 double: achenes glabrous. Cent. Eu. July. G. 26:630. 



cc. Lvs. entire or dentate, not pinnatisect. 



10. americana, Nutt. (Plectocephalus americdnus, 

 Don). BASKET FLOWER. Fig. 873. Hardy annual, 



nearly smooth: sts. stout, 

 simple or sometimes a little 

 branched, 2-5 ft., thickened 

 under the naked head: Ivs. 

 mostly entire, oblong - lance- 

 shaped, mucronate: involucre 

 H-l/^ in. diam., its bracts all 

 with fringed scarious appen- 

 dages: fls. rose or flesh-colored, 

 sometimes purplish; disk 1-3 

 in. diam.; narrow lobes of the 

 ray-fls. often 1 in. long. Mo. 

 and Ark. to La. and Mex. F.S. 

 4:327. S.H. |2:223. A.F. 16: 

 1644 (alba). Gng. 9:341 (alba). 

 Very attractive. 



11. macrocephala, Puschk. 

 Perennial: sts. simple, erect, 

 swollen below the fl.-head, 

 leafy, 2>-3 ft. high: Ivs. ovate- 

 lanceolate, slightly decurrent, 

 scabrous, acute, somewhat ser- 

 rate, gradually diminishing up- 

 wards to the base of the single 

 terminal head: head subglo- 

 bose, larger than a hen's egg, 

 often 3-4 in. diam.; involucre 

 of 8-12 rows of appressed, scari- 

 ous-margined, rusty, fringed 

 scales; fls. yellow, the marginal 

 and disk alike. Armenia. B.M. 

 1248. J.H. III. 33:331; 52: 

 547; 63 : 319. Often grown 

 from seeds. 



12. nigra,Linn. KNAPWEED. 

 HARDHEADS. Perennial, 1-2 

 ft. high: sts. branching, rough 

 pubescent: Ivs. lance-shaped 

 and entire or lower sparingly 

 toothed or lobed, but not pin- 

 natifid: involucral bracts with 

 pectinate-ciliate-fringed black 

 appendages: fls. all alike, the 

 disk and marginal ones of the 

 same size. Eu. Var. variegata, 

 Hort. Lvs. edged with creamy 

 white, tufted. A very striking 



border plant; useful in dry or open places. 



BB. Foliage white or tomentose, at least beneath (often 



green above). 

 c. Sts. low, weak, not strict. 



13. leucophylla, Bieb. (C. declindta, Bieb.). Peren- 

 nial: sts. short, decumbent, with very few Ivs.: root- 

 Ivs. petioled, tomentose-woolly on both sides, pinnate, 

 the ovate lobes undulate, sparsely cut-lobed or sinuate- 

 toothed: fl.-head with few bracts, solitary, terminal; 

 scales of the ovate involucre lanceolate, acuminate, 

 brown, long-ciliate; fls. purple. Caucasus. 



14. montana, Linn. MOUNTAIN BLUET. Perennial: 

 sts. low, stoloniferous, unbranched, 12-16 or rarely 20 



