CENTRANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CHAM^I'EUCE. 



487 



yellow flowers, much resembling those of 

 Centaurea. 



CENTRANTHUS. C. macrosiphon, a 

 hardy Spanish annual of the Valerian 

 order with pretty rose-coloured flowers, is 

 useful for the rock-garden or flower 

 border. It may be sown in September 

 and pricked off into pots for winter for 

 transplanting in spring, or again in the 

 open ground in March and April, the 

 seedlings being thinned out about i ft. 

 apart. There are several varieties white, 

 red, and two-coloured, and a dwarf form. 



C. ruber (Red Valerian). A handsome 

 hardy border plant from the Mediter- 

 ranean, and an old inhabitant of gardens, 

 often also naturalised. There are two 

 or three varieties white, purple, and red 

 or crimson. It has stout stems, woody at 

 the base, and bold clusters of flowers, 

 blooming in June and through the 

 summer. It is often naturalised on walls, 

 ruins, and on rocky or stony banks. 

 Seeds, division, and cuttings. 



CEEASTIUM (Mouse-ear Chickiveed). 

 Dwarf herbaceous or alpine plants of the 

 Pink order, containing few garden plants 

 of value, and these mostly used as edgings, 

 among the best being Biebersteini, tomen- 

 tosuin, and grandiflorum, all hardy plants 

 of easy culture, and increase in ordinary 

 soil. 



Cerasus. See PRUNUS CERASUS. 



CERCIDYPHYLLUM.-A very beauti- 

 ful tree, so far hardy in Britain, and always 

 pretty for its graceful and distinct leaves. 

 It is a forest tree abundant in certain 

 parts of Japan on the slopes of hills and 

 mountains, reaching a height of between 

 80 and 100 feet, and forming a stately 

 and beautiful tree. We read that it can- 

 not be grafted, which is a blessing, as the 

 natural way of producing it is much better. 

 It is likely to make a beautiful lawn tree, 

 though the flowers are not conspicuous. 



CEECIS (Judas Tree}. Flowering 

 trees of much beauty of bloom and form 

 of tree. Of the three different kinds of 

 Judas Tree in gardens, the most beautiful 

 is C. Siliqiiastrum from South Europe, 

 which for nearly 300 years has been a 

 favourite in English gardens. It is from 

 15 ft. to 30 ft. in height, and thrives in 

 a light deep loam soil. There are several 

 varieties, differing chiefly in the colour of 

 the flowers. It is of slow growth, and 

 though young specimens flower profusely, 

 only very old ones show the picturesque 

 growth of the tree. Other kinds are C. Chi- 

 nenszs,and the better known canadensis, 

 or Red Bud, a handsome tree of the 

 American forests. These trees I have 

 found to perish in heavy clay soils. 



CERINT.HE (Honeywort). Annual or 

 biennial herbs of the Borage family. 

 C. aspera bears many yellow flowers, 

 the tube of which is black at the base. 

 In C. minor the flower-stems arch over, 

 so that at the apex of the stem the 

 delicate yellow tube-shaped bloom is 

 hidden by the pale-green leaves. C. retorta 

 is a beautiful kind, the floral leaves of a 

 purple tint, and from among them peep 

 the yellow purple-tipped flowers. They 

 are half-hardy annuals, and should be 

 sown in early spring on warm borders 

 or in frames, and afterwards planted out 

 in good soil. S. Europe. 



CETERACH (Stone Fern). This is 

 now placed with the Aspleniums, but is 

 known so well under the above name 

 that we retainit. C.officinarum is a distinct 

 and beautiful little native Fern, admirably 

 suited for rock or alpine gardens, as it 

 thrives best when planted between the 

 chinks of rocks or of stone walls. The 

 chinks and crevices should be filled with 

 a mixture of sandy peat and pounded 

 limestone. 



CILffiNOSTOMA. A small group of 

 the Figwort family, natives of the Cape. 

 They are naturally perennial, but in the 

 open air must be treated as half-hardy 

 annuals. C. fastigiatum is the prettiest. 

 It grows 6 to 9 in. high, forming a dense 

 compact tuft, with many small pinkish, 

 and sometimes white, flowers. The seeds 

 should be sown in warm frames in spring 

 or in August, when the seedlings require 

 to be wintered in a pit, and flowers are 

 borne from June to November. Other 

 species in cultivation are C. cordatum, 

 C. hispidum, C. linifolium, and C. poly- 

 anthum. 



CHA1VLEBATIA ( Tarweed}.C. folio- 

 losa is a little shrubby plant of the Rose 

 family, remarkable for the Fern-like 

 beauty of its leaves ; the flowers white and 

 something like those of a Bramble. It 

 grows about i ft. high, forming a dense 

 spreading tuft, and covering the ground 

 in California, its native country. I have 

 seen it growing in mountain districts often 

 covered with snow, and believe it to be 

 worth trial in our rock-gardens. W. R. 



CHAM JEPEUCE (Fish-bone Thistle}. 

 Spiny-leaved plants allied to the Thistle. 

 C. diacantha has foliage of shining green, 

 marking with silvery lines, and the spines 

 are ivory white. C. Casabontz has deep- 

 green white-veined leaves with brown 

 spines. Both kinds grow in compact 

 rosette-like masses about 9 in. high, till 

 the second year, when the flower-stems 

 grow 2 to 3 ft. high. They require light 

 well-drained soil and a warm position, 



