CLE 



CLE 



several, annual, a foot and half high or more, 

 striated, erect, a little fistulose, somewhat pubes- 

 cent at top, terminated by a nodding flower of a 

 blue colour, and sometimes branched in the 

 upper axils. The leaves are opposite, ovate, 

 sessile, quite entire, nerved, veined, acute, 

 smooth, except about the edge and on the dorsal 

 nerves, which are slightly villose. It is a native 

 of Germany, &c. flowering in July. 



Culture.— The PurpleVirgin's Bower, and its 

 different varieties, as well as the six following 

 sorts, are capable of being increased by layers, 

 and some of them even by cuttings of the young 

 •shoots. 



In the first method the layers should be made 

 from the shoots of the proceeding or the same 

 year, and be laid down in the summer before they 

 become woody, as in this way they succeed with 

 greater certainty. The branches should have 

 their tops left a few inches out of the earth, a 

 little water being given at the time. When they 

 are become well rooted, as in the following au- 

 tumn or spring, they may be taken off, and 

 planted out where they are to remain, or in the 

 nursery. 



The evergreen sort may however be laid down 

 at any season, but the above is the best. It is 

 also capable of being raised from cuttings of the 

 young shoots planted out in either the spring or 

 summer months in pots of good earth, plunging 

 them in a very moderate hot-bed. The suckers 

 from the roots may likewise be taken off and 

 planted out in the same manner as the layers, 

 when they will often produce good plants. 



The two last sorts are capable of being readily 

 increased by parting the roots, and planting 

 them out either in the autumn or the early spring 

 months. In this way every part which has 

 fibres preserved at the bottom, and a bud in the 

 upper end, will readily take root and become a 

 plant. 



These sorts, as well as some of the others, 

 mav also be propagated by sowing the seeds 

 cither where the plants are to remain, or in a 

 spot of good mould in the early autumn or 

 spring season, in the latter case removing the 

 plants into their proper situations when of suf- 

 ficient growth. In this mode the plants are, 

 however, longer in arriving at the flowering 

 slate. The roots may be divided every two or 

 three years, according to the number of divi- 

 sions that arc made. "Where the soil is dry, the 

 plants should be new planted in the autumn ; but 

 in the contrary circumstances, in the spring, in 

 order to make them flower strong. 



All these plants are of hardy growth, and ca- 

 pable of succeeding in almost any sort of soil. 

 The climbing sorts require proper support, to 



prevent their trailing upon the ground, and are 

 well adapted for ornamenting naked walls, ar- 

 bours, or other similar places, as well as for run- 

 ning upon treesor shrubs in particular situations. 



The two last sorts are well suited for ornament 

 in the clumps and borders of pleasure-grounds, 

 to be set out singly. 



CLEOME, a genus affording plants of the 

 herbaceous annual exotic kind for the stove. 



It belongs to the class and order Tetradyna- 

 mia Siliquosa, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Putamlnete. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a four- 

 leaved perianthium, very small, spreading; the 

 lower leaflet gaping more than the rest; deci- 

 duous : the corolla four-petalled : all the petals 

 ascending, spreading; the nearest intermediate 

 ones smaller than the others: nectareous glands 

 three, roundish, one at each division, except one 

 at the calyx : the stamina consist of six fila- 

 ments, (sometimes twelve or twenty-four,) subu- 

 late, declining : anthers lateral, ascending: the 

 pistillum is a simple style: germ oblong, de- 

 clining, the length of the stamens : stigmas 

 thickish, rising : the pcricarpium a long silique, 

 eylindrie, placed on the style, one-celled, two- 

 valved: the seeds are very many, and roundish. 



The species mostly cultivated are : 1. C.irl- 

 pliylla, Three-leaved Cleome; 2. C. penta- 

 pkylla, Five-leaved Cleome; 3. C. heptaphyllu, 

 Seven-leaved Cleome. 



The first is an annual plant which rises two 

 feet high, sending out many side branches, with 

 leaves, having one large spear-shaped lobe in the 

 middle, and two very small ones on the side; 

 these sit close to the branches : the flowers 

 come out singly from the sides of the branches, 

 upon long peduncles, and are large and flesh- 

 coloured. Procured from Jamaica. 



The second species is an annual, elegant but 

 fetid plant, upright, either wholly smooth or 

 with a few hairs at bottom ; the stem round 

 and branching : the leaves on the stem and 

 branches all quinate; the leaflets obovate, acute, 

 very finely serrate : floral leaves tcmate, obovate, 

 obtuse, quite entire ; the lowest on short petioles, 

 the rest sessile : the racemes of flowers very 

 long, formed by solitary, spreading, one-flow- 

 ered peduncles issuing from some of the axils, of 

 a white or flesh-colour. It is a native of both 

 the East and West Indies, 



The third has an herbaceous stem, from three 

 to five feet high, branched, upright, angular- 

 grooved : the branches sab-divided, spreading, 

 grooved, hirsute, viscid and prickly : the leaves 

 are alternate, scattered, spreading, digitate : 

 leaflets lanceolate, acuminate, nerved, patulous, 

 pubescent: the flowers white or flesh-coloured. 



