CENTAUEBA 



DAISY OBDER 



CAKBENIA 551 



leaves. Flowers in early summer, blue 

 or lilac, large ; florets deeply 4-5-oleft. 

 There is a white variety alba, and a rosy 

 one called rosea. Also others called 

 carnea, purpurea, rubra, and sulphurea. 



Culture dc. as above. Increased by 

 division or seed. 



, C. moschata (Amberboa moschata). — 

 Sweet Sultan. — A. pretty Persian annual 

 lJ-2 ft. high, with lyrate-toothed leaves, 

 and roundish, long-stalked heads of violet- 

 purple, more or less musk-scented flowers. 

 There is a variety with white flowers. 



Culture amd Propagation. — Seeds of 

 this annual may be sown at intervals 

 from the beginning of April to the end of 

 May, and the plants may be thinned out 

 9-12 in. apart. It does not succeed on 

 wet or heavy soils, and is best sown in 

 dry chalky, sunny spots (lime or brick 

 rubble will supply the want), where it is 

 to bloom. 



C. ragusina. — A handsome half-hardy 

 perennial, about 2 ft. high, native of S.E. 

 Europe, with beautiful sUvery-haired 

 leaves, pinnately cut into ovate entire 

 segments. Flowers in summer, yellow, 

 in large heads, with fringed involucres. 



Culture and Propagation. — • This 

 species requires similar treatment to C. 

 Cineraria. Where large specimens are 

 wanted, the old plants may be taken 

 up in autumn, and wintered in a cool 

 greenhouse until the end of May. 



C. suaveolens {Amberboa odorata). — 

 Yellow Sweet Sultam. — A pretty bright 

 green annual, about 1^ ft. high, native of 

 the Levant, with leaves pinnately cut into 

 toothed lobes. ■ Flowers in July, citron- 

 yeUow, fragrant. 



Culture dc. as for C. moschata above. 



Other species met with occasionally 

 are orientalis (straw -yellow), pulchra 

 (bright purple), Phrygia (violet - red), 

 ruthenica (pale yellow), and uniflora 

 (purple), but those described are best. 



CARBENIA (Blessed Thistle).— A 

 genus closely allied to Cnicus and Cen- 



taurea, and containing at present only 

 one species. 



C. benedicta (Cnicus benedictua). — A 

 handsome hairy annual or biennial, native 

 of S. Europe and N. Africa, with large 

 deep green wavy leaves pinnately out into 

 spiny-toothed lobes, and blotched and 

 marbled with white. Flowers yellow, in 

 rather large ovoid-globose heads, the outer 

 involucral bracts of which are leafy and 

 spiny-toothed. (See Silybum maria/num, 

 p. 549.) 



Culture and Propagation. — This plant 

 is grown chiefly for its ornamental foliage, 

 and may be used with effect in borders. 

 It likes rich loamy soU to grow luxuriantly, 

 but will also succeed in rough soil. Seeds 

 may be sown in April in the open, or in 

 autumn, to make stronger plants the- 

 following season. 



CARTHAMUS (Safflowek). — A 

 genus containing 20 species of rigid, 

 smooth, glandular or somewhat woolly 

 Thistle-like annuals, with alternate spiny- 

 toothed and lobed leaves. Flower-heads 

 at the tips of the branches or in corymb -like 

 clusters. Involucre ovoid or roundish, 

 with outer leafy and spiny-toothed bracts. 

 Disc flat, with chaffy bristles. Achenea 

 smooth, obovoid, 4-angled or flattened. 

 Pappus chaffy, hairy, or none. 



C. tinctorius {Saffron Thistle). — A 

 showy Indian and Egyptian annual 2-3 

 ft. high, with stiff whitish stems, and 

 lance-shaped, toothed, spiny leaves, veined, 

 with white. Flowers in July and August, 

 deep orange and red, with florets usually 

 hermaphrodite. 



Culture and Propagation. — Tho 

 Saffron Thistle thrives in light rich soil 

 in sunny situations, and its remarkable 

 flowers have a pleasing effect in beds or 

 borders. Seeds may be sown in the open 

 in April, where the plants are to bloom ; 

 or in March in gentle heat, the seedlings 

 being transplanted to the border about the 

 end of May. Other species not so well 

 known but requiring the same treatment 

 are C. lanatus and G. arborescens, both 

 with yellow flower-heads. 



Tribe XII. M0Tisiacb.e. — Leaves radical or alternate, rarely opposite. Flower- 

 heads heterogamous or homogamous, florets equal. Involucre bracts in many series, 

 rarely spiny. Achenes various. Pappus bristly, chaffy, or none. 



MUTISIA.— A genus with about 36 

 species of erect or climbing smooth or 

 woolly shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire, 

 pinnately divided or cut, the midrib often 



produced into a tendril. Flower-heads 

 large, heterogamous, sometimes very long, 

 solitary at the ends of the branches. 

 Involucre ovoid-bell-shaped or oblong. 



