The Catananche. 357 



CATANANCHE— THE CATANANCHE. 



Natural Order, Composite ; Linnasau System, Syngenesia, yEqualis. Gen- 

 eric Character : Receptacle, chaffy ; involucre, imbricated, scarious ; pap- 

 pus, bristly, each calyx having five bristles. 



C cerulea. Scales of the involucre, inferior, ovate ; flowers, blue. — Plate 

 48. Fig. 1. 



The derivation of the word Catananche appears to be very 

 uncertain. It was employed by Dioscorides to designate a 

 plant used by the women of Thessaly in philters and love po- 

 tions. The genus at present contains only two species, one 

 with yellow, and the other with blue flowers. The latter spe- 

 cies, C. cerulea^ is a native of the South of France, and has 

 been in cultivation in England for many years. In its native 

 country it grows among stones and rocks, on hills where it 

 would hardly seem able to obtain sufficient nourishment. In 

 cultivation a dry soil is best for it, as it is easily killed by wet. 

 Its showy blue flowers blossom from July to October. The 

 seeds should be sown in spring, and the plants removed in the 

 following autumn to the border where they are to flower. This 

 is said to be the best mode of culture ; as, though the plants 

 raised from seeds sown in autumn, will flower sooner, they are 

 so much injured by passing the winter in a comparatively fee- 

 ble state, as rarely to make good plants. After the first trans- 

 planting, the plants should not be taken up, as they are always 

 injured by removal. Indeed, some florists consider it best to 

 sow the seeds in the place where they intend the plant to 

 remain. It must be observed, that though the Catananche 

 should always be planted in a dry soil, and should be kept as 

 dry as possible during winter, it yet requires abundance of 

 water when about to flower. 



