404 



CROTALARIA 



CRYPTOGAMS 



species is C. retusa, a hardy, yellow-fld. rnnual, which 

 has been compared to a dwarf sweet pea. For best re- 

 sults, the seed should be started early indoors, after be- 

 ing soaked in warm water. The name is commonly mis- 

 spelled Crotolaria. Greenhouse kinds are subject to red 

 spider. O.juncea, yields the Sunn hemp of India. 



A. Lvs. simple. 



retusa, Linn. Annual, \% ft. high: branches few, 

 short: Ivs. entire, very various in shape, but typically 

 obovate with a short mucro, clothed beneath with short 

 appressed hairs : -fls. about 12 in a raceme, yellow, 

 streaked or blotched with purple; standard roundish, 

 notched. Cosmop. June-Aug. Introduced 1896, as a 

 novelty and called "dwarf golden yellow-flowering pea," 

 "golden yellow sweet pea," etc. The flowers are mu r ;h 

 less fragrant than the true sweet pea. 



AA. Lvs. foliolate. 



longirostrata, Hook. & Arn. Greenhouse plant, her- 

 baceous or somewhat shrubby, much branched, 3 ft. 

 high: branches long, slender, glabrous; petioles IK in. 

 long; leaflets 3, oblong, with a minute mucro, glabrous 

 above, hoary beneath, with very short, appressed, silky 

 hairs: racemes erect: calyx with 2 upper lobes ovate, 

 the 3 lower ones lanceolate: tts. as many as 25 in a ra- 

 ceme, yellow with reddish stripe along the back of the 

 unopened flower; standard wider than long, reflexed, 

 notched. W. Mex., Guat. B.M. 7306. F.R. 1:809. 



CapSnsis, Jacq. Stout, much branched shrub, 4-5 ft. 

 high: branches terete, appressedly silky; stipules when 

 present petiolulate, obovate and leaf-like, obsolete or 

 wanting on many petioles; leaflets broadly obovate, ob- 

 tuse or mucrbnulate, glabrous or minutely pubescent on 

 one or both sides: racemes terminal or opposite the 

 Lvs., loose, many-fld.: calyx and pod pubescent; wings 

 transversely wrinkled and pitted. S. Afr. Cult, in Fla. 

 toy Reasoner Bros. \\r ]\j_ 



CROTON (Greek name of another plant). Eiiphorbi- 

 aceoe. Some 500 species of trees, shrubs, or herbs, 

 widely distributed. They are sometimes dioecious, but 

 commonly the fls. are monoecious and mostly in terminal 

 spikes or racemes. Calyx of sterile fls. 4-6 (usually 5) 

 parted, the stamens 5 or more; petals usually present, 

 but small. Calyx of fertile fls. 5-10 parted, petals none 

 or mere rudiments, the ovary 3-loculed. Lvs. usually 

 alternate. A few species are native to the U. S. ; they 

 are mostly annual herbs of no horticultural value. The 

 Crotons of florists are Codiwums, which see. 



C. Tiglium, Linn., is the only species known to be in 

 the Amer. trade. The seeds yield the Croton oil of com- 

 merce, one of the most powerful of purgatives. It is a 

 small tree of Southeastern Asia. Lvs. ovate-acumi- 

 nate, serrate, stalked, varying in hue from metallic green 

 to bronze and orange. Offered in South Cal. as an orna- 

 mental and curious plant. L t jj. g. 



CROWFOOT. See Ranunculus. 



CROWN, or CORONA. Any outgrowth from the throat 

 of the perianth, as the trumpet of a Narcissus, or the 

 fringe of a Passion Flowei\ Crown is also applied to 

 the top of a bulb, corrn, or upright rootstock: also that 

 part of a plant at the surface of the ground. 



CROWN BEARD. Verbesina. 



CROWN IMPERIAL. Fritillaria Imperialis. 



CROWN OF THORNS. Euphorbia splendens. 



CROWN-TUBER. A tuber of which the top is stem 

 and the lower part root, as the radish. 



CRUCIANELLA (Latin, a little cross ; from the ar- 

 rangement of the Ivs.). Hubiacece. CROSS-WORT. This 

 genus contains a hardy rock plant of minor importance. 

 Not more than 21 species, of herbs often woody at the 

 base; branches usually long, slender, 4-cornered: upper 

 Ivs. opposite, without stipules: lower Ivs. or all in 

 whorls of 3 or more, linear or lanceolate, rarely ovate or 

 obovate: fls. small; white, rosy or blue. Natives of the 



Mediterranean region and western Asia. The genus is 

 closely related to Asperula, and is distinguished by tne 

 flowers having bracts, not an involucre, and the style 

 branches distinctly unequal instead of nearly equal. 

 The species below has lately been referred to Asperula. 

 It is of easy culture, preferring light, moderate loam and 

 partial shade. A delicate plant for the front of borders, 

 and capital for the rockery. Prop, chiefly by division, 

 and also by seeds. 



styldsa, Trin. (Asperiila cilidta, Rochel). Pros- 

 trate, 6-9 in. high: Ivs. in whorls of 8 or 9, lanceolate, 

 hispid: fls. small, crimson-pink, in round terminal heads 

 half an inch in diam.; floral parts in 5's; style club- 

 shaped, long exserted, very shortly twice cut at the top. 

 June-Aug. Persia. j R KBLIjEB and w M 



CRUEL PLANT. Same as Mosquito Plant, Cijnan- 

 chum acuminati folium . 



CRYPTANTHUS (Greek, for hidden flower: the 

 flowers concealed beneath the bracts). Bromeliacece. 

 Brazilian epiphytal Bromeliads, differing from ^chmea 

 and Billbergia (which see for culture) in the tubular 

 calyx and the dense heads of fls. nearly sessile amongst 

 the Ivs. Mongr. by Mez (who recognizes 8 species) in 

 DC. Monogr. Phaner. 9 (1896). 



A. Lvs. not narrowed or petiolate above the sheath. 



acaulis, Beer (Tilldndsia acaulis, Lindl. G. undula- 

 tus, Otto & Dietr.). A few inches high, suckering 

 freely: Ivs. sea-green, long-pointed and spreading, weak- 

 spiny: fls. white, nestling deep in the foliage. B.R. 

 14:1157. A very variable plant, of which Mez recog- 

 nixes the following leading types : 



Var. genuina, Mez. Stemless or very nearly so : Ivs. 

 sub-elliptic-lanceolate, strongly undulate, gray-scurfy 

 beneath, scurfy above. 



Var. discolor, Mez ( C. discolor, Otto & Dietr. ) . Stem- 

 less or nearly so: Ivs. elongated, scarcely undulate, sil- 

 very-scurfy below, glabrous or nearly so above. 



Var. ruber, Mez ( C. riiber, Beer) . Produces a branch- 

 ing stem or trunk : Ivs. short, strongly undulate, reddish. 



Var. bromelioides, Mez (C. bromelioides, Otto & 

 Dietr. ) . Stem tall : Ivs. much elongated, scarcely undu- 

 late, remotely sDinulose. 



Var. diversifdlius, Mez (C. diversifolius , Beer). Stem- 

 bearing: Ivs. elongate -Ungulate, deep green above, sil- 

 very-scurfy beneath. 



zonatus, Beer. Lvs. oblong-lanceolate, the margin 

 undulate and densely serrate-spinulose, marked with 

 transverse bands of white: fls. white. 



bivittatus, Regel (BillUrgia bivittdta, Hook. B. 

 vittata, Hort. ). Nearly or quite stemless: Ivs. long-ob- 

 long, curving, long-pointed, somewhat undulate, spiny, 

 dull brown beneath, green above and with two narrow 

 buff or reddish bars extending the length of the leaf: 

 fls. white. B.M. 5270. 



AA. Lvs. narrowed or petiolate above the sheath. 



Beuckeri, Morr. Lvs. 10-20, oblong, pointed, canalicu- 

 late at base, very finely spiny, brownish green or rosy 

 and spotted or striped with light green : fls. white. 



L. H. B. 



CRYPTOGAMS are flowerless plants, and they produce 

 not seeds but spores. The whole vegetable kingdom has 

 been split into two vast classes, the flowering plants or 

 phanerogams and the flowerless ones or cryptogams. 

 Cryptogam means "concealed nuptials, "and phanerogam 

 means "visible nuptials." These names were given when 

 it was thought that the sexual parts of the flowerless 

 plants were very minute or even wanting. The word is 

 now falling into disfavor with botanists. Cryptogams 

 are of less horticultural interest than the flowering 

 plants, although they include the Ferns, and some inter- 

 esting smaller groups, as Selaginellas, Lycopods or Club 

 Mosses. Two other vast groups are the Seaweeds or 

 Algae, and the Fungi. For the edible Fungi, see Mush- 

 rooms. For parasitic Fungi, see Diseases and Fungus. 

 For a general sketch of the Ferns and their allies, see 

 Ferns. 



