492 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS scabiosa 



and August, in deep crimson heads, very 

 fragrant. There are several very iine 

 varieties with all shades of crimson, 

 purple, yellow, and white, that called 

 groMcliflora being particularly handsome. 

 There is a variety with distinct yellow 

 leaves (foUis aureis), and a dwarf-strain 

 about 1 ft. high, called nana, which has 

 also much variation in the colour of the 

 flowers. 



Culture £c. as above. Seeds of this 

 species may be sown in the open border 

 from the end of April to the end of Sep- 

 tember, to obtain a good succession of 

 flowering plants. The seeds sown in the 

 earlier period of the year will produce 

 flowering plants in autumn, but it is better 

 to thin the seedlings out for this pur- 

 pose rather than transplant them. The 

 thinnings, however, may be transferred to 

 another part of the garden and will flower 

 the following season. The seedlings from 

 the later sowings should be pricked out 

 before the end of October so that they 

 may get established before the severe 

 weather sets in. 



The purple-crimson flowered S. mari- 

 tima and the white-flowered S. Metaxasi 

 (or S. palcEstina) may be treated in the 

 same way as S. atropurpurea, but they 

 are not so well known. 



S. caucasica. — A handsome perennial 

 or biennial, 1-3 ft. high, native of the 

 Caucasus. Lower leaves lance-shaped, 

 pointed, glaucous, entire. Flowers in 

 summer, pale blue, in a large head about 

 3 in. across. Corolla 5-cleft. Involucre 

 very hairy. The variety elegans has 

 whitish leaves ; alba has creamy- white 

 heads of flowers ; and heterophylla has 

 hairy pinnatisect leaves, and large pale 

 purple heads of flowers. 



CultLire dc. as above. Although this 

 species is a true perennial and may be in- 

 creased by division of the roots in early 

 autumn or spring, it is on the whole best 

 grown as a bieimial. If the seeds are 

 sown about July or August the seedlings 

 may be transplanted in mild showery 

 weather by the end of September, and 

 will produce flne dense masses for flower- 

 ing the following year. As the flower 

 stalks are very long this is an excellent 

 plant for cutting. 



S. correvoniana. — A handsome bushy 

 Scabious, native of the Trans-Caucasus. It 

 grows 6-9 in. high, and bears large heads 

 of pale yellow flowers from May to 

 August. 



Culture dc.a.s above. Easily increased 

 by seeds or division. 



S. graminifolia. — A graceful plant 

 lJ-2 ft, high, native of S. Europe. 

 Leaves linear lance - shaped, entire, 

 silvery-white. Flowers from Jime to 

 October, pale blue or rosy, in heads like 

 those of S. caucasica. 



Culture dc. as above for S. caucasica. 



S. Pterocephala. — An ornamental 

 tufted perennial 4-6 in. high, native of 

 Greece, with simple elliptic, lyrate, or 

 pinuately divided, crenate-toothed leaves. 

 Flowers in summer, purple, in heads 

 about 1| in. across, on stout stalks 2-3 in. 

 high. 



Culture Sc. as above for S. caucasica. 



S. webbiana. — A soft sUky-haired 

 plant, 6-10 in. high, native of Phrygia. 

 Lower leaves stalked, obovate, crenate ; 

 upper ones pinnatifid with ovate or 

 oblong entire lobes. Flowers in July, 

 creamy-yellow, on long stalks. 



Culture Sc. as above. 



LXII. COM POSITiE— Daisy Order 



This is the largest order of herbs, shrubs, or trees in the vegetable king- 

 dom, comprising between 700 and 800 genera, and about 10,000 species, 

 comparatively few of which are of any garden value. Leaves alternate, 

 whorled, or less frequently opposite, simple or compound, without stipules. 

 Flowers sessile on the expanded stalk or receptacle, and surrounded by a 

 number of more or less leafy bracts forming an involucre. Calyx superior ; 

 limb none, or feathery, or scaly, and technically known as a 'pappus.' 

 Corolla variable in different tribes of the order. Stamens 4 or 5, anthers 

 usually united (syngenesious), forming a tube through which the style passes. 



