52 CELSIA 



CE'LSIA (named after Professor Celsius, of Upsal). Nat. 

 Ord. Scrophulariacece. 



C. crdtica, The Cretan Mullein is a fine stately 

 plant, about 5 or 6 ft. high, that should be 

 associated with such flowers as the Foxglove, 

 Hollyhock, and Chimney Campanula, at the 

 back of the mixed border. Though a biennial, 

 it is best treated as a half-hardy annual, because 

 it is not very robust in this country, and is 

 often killed by late frosts if planted out too 

 soon. The tall spikes which it throws up in 

 June and July are a mass of yellow blooms, 

 1^ ins. across, with two brown spots near the 

 centre of each. It is botanically very like the 

 Verbascums and differs in the flowers only by 

 the absence of the fifth stamen. Native of 

 Crete, 1752. Syn., Verbas'cum lyra'tum. 



C. linea'ris. See ALONSOA linearis. 



C. u'rticcefo'lia. See ALONSOA indsifolia. 



Sow the seeds T V in. deep in pans in gentle heat, 

 say 65 in March, and prick off the seedlings as 

 soon as they are ready to handle into other pans. 

 Shift into small pots later on, kept in cold frame, 

 and plant out about the middle of May. Or it may 

 be sown in July and kept in pots in a frame during 

 the winter and planted out in the following May, 

 thus treating it as a half-hardy biennial. 



CENTAU'REA Centaury (from L. centaur eum, herb 

 centaury). Nat. Ord. Composite^. 



A very large family, many of which are 



