750 



CHIRITA 



CHLORIS 



species and is Well worth cult. It has bright green Ivs. and scapose 

 cymes of blue and white fls., the yellow anthers of which add 

 attractiveness. B.R. 30: 59. A variegated form is known. 



N. TAYLOR.f 



CHIRONIA (classical mythological name). Gen- 

 tianacese. A dozen or so soft perennial herbs or shrubs 

 of Afr., rarely seen in collections of greenhouse mate- 

 rial. Fls. in shades of red and purple, terminal, with a 

 salver-form corolla and short tube: Ivs. opposite, ses- 

 sile, on single or branching sts. Most of them are from 

 the Cape region. 



CHIVE, or CHIVES (written also Give). Allium 

 Schoendprasum, Linn., a perennial plant native to 

 Europe and the northern borders of the United States 

 and northward. See Allium. The leaves of chive 

 are used green as seasoning in soups, salads and 

 stews. Chive grows 6 to 8 inches high, making 

 dense mats of narrow hollow leaves, and bloom- 

 ing freely in violet- 

 colored heads, which 

 scarcely overtop the foli- 

 age; bulbs small, oval. 

 The plant makes an ex- 

 cellent permanent edg- 

 ing, and is worth growing 

 for this purpose alone. 

 It is easily propagated 

 by dividing the clumps; 

 but, like other tufted 

 plants, it profits by hav- 

 ing the stools broken up 

 and replanted every few 

 years. It rarely seeds. 

 It thrives in any garden 

 soil. The leaves may be 

 cut freely, for they 

 quickly grow again. 

 L. H. B. 



CHLIDANTHUS (del- 

 icate flower, from the 

 Greek) . A maryllidacese. 

 Tropical American sum- 

 mer - flowering bulbs. 

 Allied to Zephyranthes. 



Flowers erect, yellow, 

 fragrant, in a small 2- 

 bracted umbel, termina- 

 ting a solid scape, long- 

 tubed, with wide-spread- 

 ing segms.; stamens 6, 

 inserted at the throat, 

 the filaments unequal 

 and dilated at base : fr. a 

 3-valved caps. : Ivs. long 

 and strap-shaped: bulb 

 tunicate. Three or four species. Mex., and S. Amer. 



Chlidanthuses are increased by offsets or by seeds. 

 The bulbs should be kept dry and cool during winter 

 and in spring started in a moderately warm house. 

 After flowering, care must be taken to have the bulbs 

 make their annual growth. They may either be grown 

 in pots plunged in ashes, or planted out where they 

 can be watered occasionally during dry weather. Like 

 other similar plants, they will benefit by a mulching 

 of spent hops or rotted manure. (G. W. Oliver.) 



fragrans, Herb. (C. liiteiis, Voss). Bulb large and 

 ovoid: Ivs. about 6, appearing in spring or early sum- 

 mer with the fls., narrow, glaucous, obtuse: fls. 4 or 

 less in each umbel, 3 in. or less long, nearly sessile, 

 erect, on a 2-edged scape or peduncle 10 in. or less high. 

 Andes. B.R. 640. F.S. 4:326. A good summer-bloom- 

 ing plant. 



Ehrenbergii, Kunth. Somewhat taller: fls. yellow, 

 nearly horizontal, distinctly stalked, the 3 outer segms. 



wider than the inner, 

 above. 



Mex. Perhaps a form of the 

 L. H. B. 



923. Chloris elegans. 

 CXH) 



CHLORANTHUS (green flower). Chloranthdcex. 

 Tropical herbs, shrubs or trees, one of which is some- 

 times grown under glass in the North. 



Perennial aromatic herbs or evergreen shrubs, with 

 jointed sts. opposite simple Ivs., and small, inconspic- 

 uous fls., in slender terminal spikes: perianth repre- 

 sented by a single scale, in the axil of which is the 

 1-loculed ovary and mostly 3 united stamens (the side 

 stamens sometimes obsolete). Some 10 species in the 

 eastern tropics. Two other genera (Ascarina and 

 Hedyosmum) comprise the family Chloranthaceae, of 



the pepper-like series 

 of plants. 



brachystachys, 

 Blume. Shrub used 

 for pot-growing, reach- 

 ing a height of 1-2 ft., 

 bearing glossy foliage 

 and small yellow ber- 

 ries: stamen single in 

 each fl.: Ivs. long- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, 

 serrate. Tropics and 

 sub tropics, Ceylon 

 eastward. There is a 

 variegated- leaved 

 form. L. H. B. 



CHLORIS (the god- 

 dess of flowers). Gra- 

 minese. FINGER-GRASS. 

 Annual or usually per- 

 ennial grasses, some- 

 times grown for decoration. 



Plants with flat blades, compressed sheaths 

 and digitate unilateral spikes: spikelets with 

 1 perfect fl. and 1 or more rudimentary sterile 

 lemmas on the prolonged rachilla. Species 

 about 40, in the warmer regions of the world. 

 A few are cult, for ornament on account of 

 the attractive infl. Of simple treatment. 



elegans, HBK. Fig. 923. Annual, 1-3 ft.: 

 uppermost sheaths usually inflated around 

 the base of the infl.; spikes 6-12, pale or dark, 

 1-3 in. long; lemma fusiform, 1 line long, 

 short-pilose at base and along the lower half 

 of the keel, long-pilose on the margins near 

 the apex, the awn about 5 lines long; rudi- 

 ment cuneate, twice as long as broad, the 

 single awn somewhat shorter than the awn of 

 the perfect floret. Mex. Dept. Agric., Div. 

 Agrost., 7: 192; 20: 102. 



polydactyla, Swartz (C. barbata, Nash). Fig. 

 924. Perennial, 1-3 ft.: spikes several; awns 2-3 lines; 

 rudiment triangular-truncate, the 2 awns about as 

 long as the awn of the perfect floret. Tropics of both 

 hemispheres. 



verticillata, Nutt. WINDMILL -GRASS. Perennial, 

 4-15 in.: spikes several, slender, in 1-3 whorls, 2-4 in. 

 long; awns 2-3 lines; lemma 1 line long, nearly glabrous; 

 rudiment oblong-truncate, 1-awned. Dept. Agric., 

 Div. Agrost. 7:191. Kan. to Texas. 



radiata, Swartz. Perennial, 2-3 ft.: spikes several, 

 about 3 in. long; spikelets slender; lemma slightly cili- 

 ate on callus and near apex, the awn 6 lines long; 

 rudiment narrow, acute, the single awn about half 

 as long as the awn of the perfect floret. W. Indies. 



gayana, Kunth. RHODES-GRASS. Robust perennial, 

 with abundant foliage and terminal umbels of 6-15 

 spikes. An African species at present under experi- 

 mentation in U. S. in dry regions. Cult, in Austral. 

 (See Agr. Gaz. New S. Wales 19:19, 118, 389 [1908]). 



924. Chloris poly- 

 dactyla. 



