CALCEOLARIA. 



42 



cale'ndula. 



Calcareous Soils. — Soils contain- 

 ing a considerable portion of lime or 

 chalk, mixed with sand or loam, and 

 decaying vegetable and animal matter. 

 Calcareous soils are generally very 

 productive ; and when manured, they 

 retain and give out slowly the nou- 

 rishing parts of the manure longer 

 than any other kind of soil. 



Calceolaria. — Scrophuldrince . 

 — Perhaps no plants hybridize more 

 freely than the different species of 

 this genus ; and what is remarkable is, 

 that the shrubby kinds appear to unite 

 freely with those that are herbaceous. 

 In 1820, only half a dozen species 

 were known, only one of which, C. 

 corymbbsa, Cav., with large yellow 

 flowers, had any pretensions to beauty. 

 In the next ten years, five or six more 

 species were introduced from Chili, 

 two of which, C. arachnoidea, and 

 C. purpurea, Grah., had purple 

 flowers. The latter closely resembled 

 C. corymbbsa in its habit of growth ; 

 and about April, 1830, the happy 

 idea struck the late Mr. Penny, of the 

 Milford Nursery, to attempt to hy- 

 bridize them. The result was the 

 hybrid, C. Gellaniana, the flowers 

 of which were orange and dark brown. 

 Mr. Penny then tried C. arachnoi- 

 dea as one of the parents, instead of 

 C. purpurea, and he produced the 

 magnificent Calceolaria, which he 

 called C. Youngii, and which is still 

 common in collections. In 1831) 

 the spotted-flowered Calceolaria, C. 

 crenatijibra, Cav., (C. pendula, D. 

 Don,) was introduced, and from this 

 several splendid hybrids were raised. 

 Some cultivator was then induced to 

 try to hybridize one of the shrubby 

 kinds, C. bicblor, the flowers of 

 which were pale yellow and white, 

 with the herbaceous kinds having dark 

 yellow and purple flowers, and some 

 beautiful plants were the result. Prom 

 that time to the present, innumerable 

 hybrids have been raised every year, 



varying through every possible shade 

 of crimson, brown, orange, purple, 

 pink, and yellow, sometimes spotted, 

 and sometimes delicately meltmginto 

 white. One or two have been raised 

 which were pure white, and others 

 white, with clearly marked and dis- 

 tinct spots. They are all half-hardy, 

 only requiring protection from frost ; 

 and they should be grown in a com- 

 post of equal parts of turfy loam and 

 peat, with a little sand. They all re- 

 quire a good deal of water, as even 

 the little hardy shrubby-kind, C. 

 rugbsa, with small, dark yellow 

 flowers, will flag, if water should be 

 neglected even for a single day. The 

 herbaceous kinds are still more sus- 

 ceptible in this respect, and when 

 grown in pots, should stand in saucers 

 of water ; the water being changed 

 every day, and never given to them 

 till it has been warmed by standing 

 for a little time in the same tempera- 

 ture as the plants. 



Calceolarias are propagated by cut- 

 tings, which strike readily in the same 

 soil as that in which the plants are 

 grown ; and which do not even re- 

 quire the aid of a bell-glass, though 

 they will certainly strike sooner under 

 one than without. The seeds ripen 

 in great abundance, and they should 

 be sown as soon as they are ripe. The 

 young plants should be pricked 

 out as soon as they come up, and then 

 transplanted into larger and larger 

 pots, increasing gradually in size, and 

 each being only a little larger than 

 the preceding one, till they begin to 

 show flower-buds ; and when thus 

 treated, they will flower the following 

 summer. When the seeds are not sown 

 till spring, they will not flower till 

 the second summer. There is only 

 one annual Calceolaria, C. pinnata, 

 and it is not worth growing. 



Cale'ndula. — Compositae. — The 

 Marigold. There are several hand- 

 some species, some of which are 



