CINCHONA 



CINERARIA 



771 



when they are twice or thrice as high as when trans- 

 planted the shading may be gradually removed to harden 

 them for putting out in their permanent positions. 



The soil and subsoil should be free and open to insure 

 good drainage; newly cleared forest land on a hillside 

 is the best for Cinchona trees. In Jamaica, Cinchona 

 officinalis flourishes best at an elevation of about 5,500 

 feet, with a mean annual temperature of about 60 

 F., ranging from a minimum of 46 to a maximum of 75 

 and with a total annual rainfall of 120 to 150 inches. 



The distance when planted out in their permanent 

 positions is 3 by 3 feet, and as soon as they begin to 

 interfere with each other's growth they should be 

 thinned out just sufficiently at first to prevent this. 

 The bark of those cut down may be worth stripping if 

 the price of bark is high. 



Several methods have been used in taking the bark 

 from the trees. In South America, the tree is uprooted, 

 and the whole of the bark may be taken from both root 

 and stem. A second plan is used if shoots spring from 

 the root; the trunk is cut through above the ground, 

 the bark stripped, and the stump left to coppice, one 

 or two of the shoots being allowed to grow. The third 

 method is to make the same tree yield bark in succes- 

 sive seasons; for this purpose longitudinal layers of the 

 bark are removed from the trunk, and the exposed 

 surface is sometimes covered with moss; the bark 

 renews itself, and the "renewed bark" is as rich (or 

 richer) in alkaloids as the original. In this way, by 

 taking successive strips of bark in different years, the 

 tree yields a continuous supply of bark. L. fj. B.| 



CINERARIA (ash-colored, from the Latin, referring 

 to the gray foliage). Composilse. Herbs or under- 

 shrubs, closely allied to Senecio, from which they are 

 separated chiefly by technical 

 characters of the achene. The 

 genus is variously understood by 

 different authors. As limited by 

 Bentham & Hooker, and also by 

 Engler & Prantl, it comprises 

 about 25 South African species, 

 and the common garden Cineraria 

 becomes a Senecio (S. cruentus, 

 DC.). The genus Cineraria differs 

 from Senecio in having a cone- 

 like rather than branched 

 and a usually flattened 

 or many-angled rather 

 than terete achene; the 

 species are herbs or sub- 

 shrubs with 

 yellow fl.- 

 heads. 



The cine- 

 raria of the 

 florists (Fig. 

 964) is now 

 much modified by culti- 

 vation. There are two 

 views of its origin, one 

 holding that it is a 

 direct development of 

 C. cruenta, Mass. (Pericallis cru- 

 enta, Webb. & Berth.), B.M. 406; 

 the other that it is a hybrid, into 

 which C. cruenta, C. Heritieri, C. 

 populifolia, and perhaps others, have 

 probably blended. These are all 

 natives of the Canary Islands. For 

 important literature respecting the 

 origin of the garden cineraria, see 

 Nature, 51:461, 605; 52:3. 29, 54, 

 78, 103, 128; 55:341. G.C. III. 

 3:654, 657; 17:588, 655, 742; 18: 

 89, 186; 29:297. 



The florists' cinerarias run in white, and in shades of 

 blue, pink and purple-red. There is promise of yellow- 

 flowered strains by hybridizing with yellow senecios or 

 related plants. 



See Senecio for Cineraria acanthifolia, C. candidis- 

 sima, and C. maritima. To the garden or florists' cine- 

 raria (C. cruenta) belong the horticultural names C. 

 grandifldra, C. kewensis, C. nana, C. stellata, and others. 

 There are full-double forms (see R.H. 1874, p. 47; 1886, 

 p. 41. F.S. 22:2347-8. I.H. 32:556.) C. flavescens, 

 Hort., is a garden hybrid between Cineraria "Feltham 

 Beauty" and Senecio auriculatissimus. G.C. III. 45, 322. 

 Gn. 73:252. It is a compact grower, originating with 

 James Veitch & Sons, giving promise of a new strain 

 of winter -blooming plants: fls. creamy yellow, the 

 younger blooms almost canary yellow; If. peculiarly 

 constricted at the middle and much enlarged at the 

 top. C. hybrida, Hort., is a hybrid between Senecio 

 cruentus and S. tussilaginis, with white fls. having pale 

 blue tips on the rays and purplish centers. G.M. 55: 

 337. C. stellata, Hort., now a popular race of florists' 

 cineraria, has open spready panicles of star-like single 

 fls. Fig. 965. Most excellent. 



The true yellow-fld. South African cinerarias seem 

 not to be in cultivation, although C. pentactina, Hook. 

 f., has been recorded in horticultural literature within 

 recent years: slender and climbing, with lax paniculate 

 inflorescence, pale red flower-stems and five golden 

 yellows rays in each head. B.M. 7799. Elegant 

 greenhouse climber. L. H. B. 



Culture of the florists' cineraria. 



The single hybrid cinerarias are among the most use- 

 ful and beautiful of all greenhouse flowering plants. 

 The ease with which they 

 can be raised, the little heat 

 required, together with their 

 free-blooming qualities, 

 brilliant and various- 

 colored flowers, which last 

 for a considerable time in 

 blossom, make them popu- 

 lar with most people pos- 

 sessing even only a small 

 greenhouse. Though they 

 are herbaceous in character 

 and may be propagated by 

 cuttings or division of the 

 roots, the single varieties 

 are best treated as annuals, 

 raising them 

 from seed each 

 year and throw- 

 ing away the 

 plants after 

 flowering. Al- 

 though one may 

 save one's own 

 seed, the cine- 

 rarias, like most 

 hybrids, will de- 

 teriorate both 

 in size and 

 quality of the 

 flower after one 

 or two generations unless 

 they are crossed; there- 

 fore, unless one cares 

 to cross one's own plants, 

 it is best to purchase 

 fresh seed from some 

 reliable firm that secures 

 its stock [from hybrid- 

 ists. For florists use, 

 or when a succession of 



964. Small plant of the florists' cineraria. 

 Botanically Senecio cruentus. 



