316 PEOPASATIOir OS PLANTS. 



They should be taken ofi late in winter or early spiing and planted in 

 pure sand under glass, but they do not require a high temperature or a 

 very copious supply of water while the roots are being produced. A 

 temperature of sixty degrees will insure the production of roots, and 

 with l3ss danger of the cuttings damping off than if exposed to a higher 

 temperature. The cuttings should be from two to thi-ee inches long, 

 the base cut just below a joint, and the leaves from the lower part 

 removed, while those above are shortened to about one-half their orig- 

 inal length. Carnation cuttings will usually strike root very readily in 

 an ordinary greenhouse, without placing them in close frames or where 

 they will receive bottom heat. . It is well to shade the cuttings, or pro- 

 tect them fi'om the direct rays of the sun, for a few days after planting. 

 A few species of Cerastium (Mouse-ear Chickweed) ai-e cultivated in 

 greenhouses, and others for edgings of beds in summer or as border 

 plants. The same may be said of Lychnis and SUenes, and all ai'e readily 

 propagated by seeds, cuttings, or division of the roots. 



Cistacece (Cistus or Eock Rose Family). — ^A small order of elegant 

 shrubs or sub-shrubs, with very showy flowers of various colors, from 

 pure white to purple and yeUow. The best known genera are Cistas and 

 Selianthemum. There are many species and varieties of Cistus in culti- 

 vation, some of them quite hardy in our Northern States ; others ai-e 

 tender, requiiing the temperature of a cool greenhouse in winter. The 

 flowers aa'e very handsome, but seldom last more than one day ; conse- 

 quently ai-e of little value for cutting or using in bouquets. Tae Selian- 

 tliemums are very simUar to the E-ock Eose in general appearance, but 

 not usually of as strong and robust habit. Some of the species are 

 annuals, but there are many half shrabby perennials. Propagated by 

 seeds, division of the clumps, and by green cuttings planted under glass 

 and treated as usual with such cuttings. 



CommelinacP.tB (Spiderwort Family). — A large and widely distrib- 

 uted family of herbaceous plants, mostly tropical. Only a few genera 

 in cultivation, and the two most deserving attention are Commelina and 

 Tradescantia. The latter is usually represented in gardens by the vei7 

 common Spiderwort {T. Virginica), and in greenhouses by several varie- 

 ties of the Striped-leaved Spiderwort (T. zebrina). The Oommelinas are 

 only occasionally cultivated ; a few species are grown in greenhouses 

 for bedding out in summer, and among these there are several tuber- 

 ous-rooted kinds, which should be lifted in the fall and stored in a diy, 

 warm place until spring. AH readily propagated by seeds and divisions, 

 and the trailing kinds by cuttings and layers. 



Compositce (Composite Family). — This is the most extensive family 

 of the entire vegetable kingdom, containing between seven and eight 

 hundred genera, and fully ten thousand species. They are mostly 

 herbs, but a few being shrubs ; the flowers, collected in a head on a 

 common receptacle, usually surrounded by an involucre bract, as seen 

 in the common Sunflower, Ai-tichoke and single Zinnia. The genera 



