CELOSIA, Xat. Orel. Amarantacea. 



The Celosias are interesting and singular annuals, and when well grown, from seed of good 

 quality, never fail to please the grower and attract the attention of his friends. In Europe they 



are grown in pots for floral exhibitions and also for table decorations, but 



in most parts of America they grcrv so freely in the open ground that this 



treatment is not necessary to form most superb 



plants, though for exhibition purposes extra 



good plants in pots would be very convenient 



and useful. There are two desirable forms of 



the Celosia, the Cockscomb and the Feathery. 



the former being the most curious and far 



the most popular. When true, the latter 



forms a feathery head that is very pretty, but it 



is not always reliable, and we have discarded 



all but one or two varieties of this form that 



usually come good and true. Of the old- 

 fashioned Cockscomb, represented by the 



small engraving in the center, seed can now be 



obtained of excellent quality, that with good culture, in a rich soil, will 



give heads from six inches to a foot across, and some who read this article 



will, no doubt, be ready to say they have grown them nearly twice this 

 size, for in the rich soils of the West, and with comparatively good culture, they make combs of 

 wondeiful size. Four years ago we obtained a new Cockscomb from Japan, which we named the 

 I'ick' s Japan Cockscomb, and which far excels even* other variety in the brilliance of its color and 

 the beauty of its seed for sale. It 



comb. We kept it * j^^S^^fefew % not on ^' susta i ns i* 5 



on our own grounds v, J&lKiSSfipiw JM* X original character, 



on trial for two ^jjflaT^ -dnHK but seems to like * e 



years, and was so <?S$ia <*&*i*m?'^ -v^asSHll^' Amercan climate 



charmed with its 

 great beauty as well 

 as its distinctness of 

 character that in 

 187:-! we offered the 



and soil. Last sum- 

 mer it was more bril- 

 liant than ever be- 

 fore. The usual form 

 of the plant is shown 



in the first engraving at the left, while the cut on the right exhibits the usual form of the combs, 

 with a bright scarlet edging ruffled like the most delicate lace. In many specimens the comb is 

 so nicely cut as to resemble the finest coral both in form and color, and this appearance we have 

 endeavored to show in the lower engraving at the right. Some of the side branches also assume 



this square instead of the comb form. Oc- 

 casionally a plant has the form of the lower 



engraving at the left, being a mass of combs 



with scarcely a leaf. The branches from the 



roots to the smallest leaf-veins are scarlet or 



crimson. It flowers earlier than the old vari- 

 eties and keeps in bloom until frost. The 



seed germinates readily in the hot-bed, and 



will bear plenty of bottom heat, but needs 



abundance of air. The form of the feathered 



Celosia is shown by a drawing of a branch, 



found at the right of the central engraving- 



A spike of Celosia spicata rosea may also be 



seen at the left. These spikes are pinkish, three or four inches long, 

 and nearly an inch in diameter, and may be cut and dried like an Everlasting, revaluing both form 

 and color nearly as well as the Helichrysums. This flower is known in some locations as the 

 Lady's Finger. 



67 



