836 



COMMELINA 



AA. Plant tender or only half-hardy. 



tuberdsa, Linn. Diffuse and branching, from a 

 tuberous root: Ivs. narrow-lanceolate, 2-3 in. long: 

 spathe-lf. cordate-ovate to lanceolate, conduplicate, 

 more or less hairy; sheaths pubescent: fls. rich blue. 

 Mts. of Mex. The plant sold under this name is 

 recommended as a free-flowering border plant in Eng- 

 land, the tubers to be lifted in autumn and stored in 

 dry sand for the winter. 



coelestis, Willd. Fig. 1042. Erect, root more or less 

 tuberous, 10-18 in. high, branching, with clasping, 

 long, broad-lanceolate pointed Ivs. and blue fls. (2-10 

 together) on elongating axillary pubescent peduncles: 

 spathe-lf. ovate, folded; sheaths ciliate. Mts. of 

 Mex. Runs into several forms. Var. alba, Hort., 

 has white fls. Var. variegata, Hort., has fls. blue and 

 white. C. ccelestis is a half-hardy plant, in the N. 

 requiring protection of a greenhouse, although it may 

 be planted out. Prop, by seed, cuttings and tubers. 



L. H. B. 



COMPARETTIA (Andreas Comparetti, 1746-1811, 

 Italian botanist). Orchiddcese. A small group of 

 graceful epiphytes. 



Pseudobulbs, 1-3-1 vd.: racemes simple or branched; 

 fls. small, lateral sepals united in a single piece, length- 

 ened at the base into a conspicuous horn; lateral petals 

 converging; labellum large, produced into a double 

 spur, which is hidden in the horn made by the sepals; 

 column free, semi-terete, erect; pollinia 2. Four spe- 

 cies, Mex. to Brazil. Grown on blocks or in baskets in 

 a light intermediate or warmhouse. 



coccinea, Lindl. Pseudobulbs small, bearing lanceo- 

 late, coriaceous Ivs., purple beneath: racemes several- 

 fld.; fls. 1 in. across; petals and sepals light yellow, mar- 

 gined orange-red, labellum large, broader than long, 

 crimson. Brazil. B.R. 24:68. I.H. 13:472. 



falcata, Poep. et Endl. (C. rosea, Lindl.). Similar in 

 habit to C. coccinea: fls. 1 in. across, deep crimson; 

 labellum broad; racemes pendent. Peru. B.M. 4980. 

 A.F.6:609. Lind. 4:163. F.S. 2:109. 



macroplectron, Reichb. f. Fls. 10 or more, 2 in. 

 across, dorsal sepal whitish, often spotted with purple; 

 midlobe of labellum cleft, suborbicular, magenta-rose, 

 dotted at the angled base; spurs conspicuous. Colom- 

 bia. B.M. 6679. Var. punctatissima, Hort., has the fls. 

 copiously rose-spotted. C.O. 1. GEORGE V. NASH.f 



COMPASS PLANT: Silphium. 



COMPOST. Mixed and rotted vegetable matter, 

 particularly manure and litter, used as a fertilizer and 

 amendment. 



The mixture of bulky fertilizing materials known as 

 compost, while of little importance to the general 

 farmer, plays an important part in garden practices. 

 Many of the garden crops must be made in a very short 

 time, or are of delicate feeding habits. Their food, 

 therefore, must be easily assimilable. It is good practice 

 to pile all coarse manures, sods, weeds, or any rubbish 

 available for the purpose, in big flat heaps (Fig. 1043), 

 to ferment and rot before being applied to the garden 

 soil. If desired, chemical manures, especially super- 

 phosphate (dissolved bone or South Carolina rock) 

 and potash (muriate or kainit), may be added to make 

 the compost the richer. By spading or forking the 

 heaps over a few times at reasonable intervals, a homo- 

 geneous mass is easily obtained, which can be applied 

 in greatest liberality without fear, or more sparingly, in 

 accordance with the needs of the particular crop. Of 

 equal, if not still greater importance, is the compost 

 heap which gives soil for greenhouse benches, flats, 

 hotbeds and coldframes. This compost is principally 

 made of sods shaved off a rich pasture or meadow and 

 piled in alternate layers with stable manure, more of 

 the latter being used for forcing succulent crops, and 



CONANDRON 



less in growing plants which should be short and stocky, 

 like cabbage or tomato plants. Garden litter may be 

 added to the pile, as leaves and trimmings. All com- 

 post . heaps, during dry weather, need frequent and 

 thorough moistening with water, or, better, with liquid 

 manure. Turn several times during the year, to ensure 

 thorough rotting of the materials. x. GREINER 



COMPTERIS. The only published reference to this 

 generic name and species is in G.C. III. 29: May 21, 

 1901, suppl. 2, where its introduction to cultivation by 

 L. Linden is noted. The name Compteris may be a cor- 

 ruption, or the plant may have been a young form of 

 some known form. The description below is quoted 

 from The Gardeners' Chronicle. 



C. Brazzaiana, Hort. Intro, in Eu. about 1900, as a 

 remarkably distinct large fern with long bipinnate 

 fronds narrow at base and broad across the middle and 

 tapering to a narrow point; barren pinnae oval or 

 oblong and simple; fertile pinnae distinctly lobed. 



R. C. BENEDICT. 



COMPTONIA (Henry Compton, Bishop of Lon- 

 don, patron of horticulture, died 1713). Myricacese. 

 A small native shrub, useful for covering banks and to 

 grow on sterile sandy and stony soil. 



1043. A compost heap 



The genus is allied to Myrica, and by some not 

 regarded as sufficiently different in botanical characters 

 to justify separate generic rank: branching brown- 

 twigged bush, dioecious or monoecious, with globular 

 fertile catkins, the 1-celled ovary surrounded by 8 

 linear persistent scales or bractlets: Ivs. long-oblong, 

 pinnatifid: fr. a bur-like axillary head of few small nuts. 

 The only species is C. asplenifolia, Gsertn. (C. pere- 

 grina, Coulter. Myrica asplenifdlia, Linn.) SWEET FERN. 

 In dry, sterile soil in the E. and N. U. S.; also 

 in the trade. It is an attractive undershrub (1-3 ft.) 

 with fern-like, scented foliage and brownish heads of 

 imperfect fls.: roots long and cord-like: staminate cat- 

 kins 1 in. or less long, slender, in clusters at the ends of 

 the branchlets. L. H. B. 



CONANDRON (cone-shaped anther). Gesneriaceae. 

 Almost stemless herb with radical glabrous rugose 

 Ivs. Differs from Streptocarpus, its nearest horticul- 

 tural relative, in having a straight, not twisted pod. 

 For cult, see Streptocarpus. It should be grown in 

 shade and is hardy only south of N. C. 



C. ramondioides, Sieb. & Zucc., of Japanese moun- 

 tains, is the only species. It is an interesting little 

 tuberous-rooted herb, with oblong, rugose, irregularly 

 toothed root-lvs. and scapes bearing 6^12 white or 

 purple, dodecatheon-like fls. : cymes nodding or droop- 

 ing pubescent; corolla 1 in. diam.: seeds very minute. 



