COL 



C O .L 



very beautiful, whitish, with deep blue or purple 

 Spots. It is rather tender, and blows about 

 October or November. It is a native of the 

 Greek islands. 



Culture. — These plants are increased by divid- 

 ing the bunches of their roots at the time their 

 leaves decay, in the latter part of the summer ; as 

 from the latter end of June till the middle of 

 the following month, planting the separated bulbs 

 or off-sets to the depth of about three inches. 



They are sometimes planted in beds, in rows 

 at eight or ten inches asunder ; but they may 

 be dispersed in the fronts of borders and clumps 

 with success. 



It is of advantage to take up and divide the 

 bunches of root-bulbs every two or three years. 

 See Bulbous Roots. 



New varieties may lie raised from seed sown 

 iu boxes, or large pots, in autumn, covering it 

 a quarter of an inch deep, and placing them in 

 a warm situation till spring, when the plants 

 will appear, which should have only the morn- 

 ing sun during summer, giving water in dry 

 weather ; and in the second summer, when their 

 leaves decay, planting them out to flower, either 

 in beds, or other methods. 



They are of a hardy nature, and produce a fine 

 effect, by their curious growth, as well as 

 flowers, in the autumn and winter seasons. 



COLUTEA, a genus containing plants of 

 the hardy deciduous flowering shrubby kind. 

 Bladder Senna. 



It belongs to the class and order Diadelphia 

 Decandria, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Papilionacece. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianthium, bell-shaped, five-cleft, erect, 

 nearly equal, permanent : the corolla is papiliona- 

 ceous; standard, wings, and keel differ in figure 

 and various proportion ; wings pressed close to- 

 gether, lanceolate : the stamina have diadelphous 

 filaments, (single and nine-cleft) ascending : an- 

 thers simple : the pistillum is an oblong germ, 

 compressed, attenuated to each end : style ascen- 

 ding : stigma is a bearded line extended from the 

 middle of the style to its tip, from the upper 

 part: the pericarpium is a legume very large, very 

 broad, inflated, transparent and membranace- 

 ous, the upper suture erect, the lower gibbous, 

 one-celled, gaping on the upper suture at the 

 base: seeds several, kidney-shaped. 



The species cultivated are : 1 . C. arborescens, 

 Common Bladder Senna ; 2. C. cnienta, Ori- 

 ental Bladder Senna; 3. C. Pocnckii, Pocoek's 

 Bladder Senna ; 4 . C. frutesens, Scarlet Bladder 

 Senna. 



The first has several woody stems, which 

 grow to the height of twelve or fourteen feet, 



sending out many woody branches, with winged 

 leaves, composed of four or five pairs of oval 

 lobes, placed opposite, terminated by an odd 

 one; these are indented at the top in form of a 

 heart, and are of a grayish colour. The flowers 

 come out from the wings of the leaves upon 

 slender peduncles about two inches long, each 

 sustaining two or three yellow flowers, whose 

 standard is reflexed and large, with a dark-co- 

 loured mark on it. Native of the South of 

 France, &rc. 



The second species has a woody stem, which 

 sends out many branches on every side, which 

 do not rise above seven or eight feet high ; these 

 are not so strong as those of the first sort, and 

 the leaves are composed of five or six pairs of 

 small heart-shaped leaflets, terminated by an odd 

 one. The flowers proceed from the side of the 

 branches, standing upon peduncles, each sustain- 

 ing two or three flowers, shaped like those of 

 the first sort, but smaller; they are of a dark 

 red colour, marked with yellow, appearing in 

 June, the seeds ripening in autumn. It was 

 found in the Levant. 



The third is a shrub which seldom grows 

 more than six or seven feet high in this coun- 

 try. The branches are very slender, and much 

 more pliant than those of the common sort, and 

 therefore it grows less erect. The leaves are 

 composed of nine pairs of leaflets, and are much 

 smaller. The flowers are of a brighter yellow, 

 appear a month earlier than in the common sort, 

 and there is a succession of them till late in the 

 autumn, which renders it much more valuable ; 

 and thebranches not shooting so luxuriantly nor 

 so upright, it is in less danger of being broken 

 by strong winds in summer. It is a native of 

 the Levant. 



The fourth species is a hoary shrub, with to- 

 mentose leaflets, smooth on the upper surface. 

 It rises from two to four feet in height in fa- 

 vourable seasons and in a warm situation; plants 

 of three years standing will sometimes be six 

 feet high. The stem is weak, the side branches 

 grow erect, and the leaves have ten or twelve 

 pairs of leaflets. The flowers are sustained cm 

 axillary peduncles, three or four together, and 

 are of a fine scarlet colour, coming out in June. 

 It is a native of the Cape. 



Culture. — All these plants are capable of be- 

 ing increased by sowing the seed in the early 

 spring months, as in February for the three 

 first sorts, and the two following months for the 

 fourth, upon beds of common earth, covering 

 them in to the depth of about half an inch. 

 When the plants have attained sufficient growth, 

 as in the following spring for the former sorts, 

 and when thev are three or four inches high 

 S O 



