. SPUR VALERIANS 257 
corymbs. The structure of these flowers is peculiar. Before the corolla 
falls, the calyx is represented by a mere thickened margin to the ovary, 
but as the fruit matures this unrolls and discovers it as a whorl of 
feathery appendages. The corolla is tubular with a five-lobed spreading 
limb—one lobe standing out by itself. The tube is continued past its 
attachment to the ovary as a hollow spur containing honey. There is 
but one stamen, and the fruit is one-seeded. The species are natives of 
Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. 
Spur Valerians have been known in British gardens 
throughout a very long period. At what date 0. ruber, 
the Red Valerian, was introduced is not known, but it has long been 
naturalised in the South of England and in Ireland. Its favourite 
habitat is on old walls, where it has a very fine appearance. In 
Southern Italy it is said to be eaten as a salad, and possibly it may 
have owed its introduction here to that fact, or to the sweet-scented 
roots being used in medicine, as are those of the Cats’ Valerian 
(Valeriana officinalis). C. calcitrapa was introduced from Portugal in 
1683 and C. angustifolius from Southern Europe in ‘1759. 
CENTRANTHUS CALCITRAPA (Caltrops-like). Stems 
6 to 12 inches high. Lower leaves oval, entire or lobed ; 
upper ones lobed in a pinnate manner. Flowers white with a reddish 
tinge; May to July. Annual. 
C. MACROSIPHON (large-tubed). Large Spur Valerian. Stems 
hollow, 2 feet. Leaves broad-oval, entire or lobed pinnately, glaucous. 
Flowers rosy, in very large corymbs; July. Annual. Native of Spain. 
There is a var. alba. 
C. RUBER (red). Red Valerian. Stem with woody base and erect 
branches, 2 to 3 feet high, hollow. Leaves leathery, oval or lance- 
shaped, lower stalked, upper stalkless, entire, or toothed at the base. 
Flowers red, smaller than those of C. macrosiphon, spur slender; in 
somewhat pyramidal panicles composed of dense cymes; June to 
September. There are several varieties, including albus with white 
flowers. 
History. 
‘e 
Principal Species. 
The species of Centranthus are readily propagated by 
seed sown in March outside, or in the case of the perennial 
_ kinds by division of the tufts. They are not particular as to soil, but 
_ they like a dry situation. They make handsome clumps in a sunny 
border or on the higher parts of the rock-garden. OC. ruber is a 
grand plant when grown on chalky soil. It is not nearly as largely 
Cultivated as it deserves. On sloping banks facing south it makes a 
brilliant picture in the early summer. 
I.—24 
Cultivation. 
