ce'rasus. 



50 



ce'rcis. 



Celsia. — Solanacece, or Verbasci- 

 nce. — Half-hardy annuals and bienni- 

 als, with showy yellow flowers, and 

 nearly allied to the genus Verbascum. 

 They are generally raised on a hotbed, 

 and the biennials are kept in the green- 

 house during winter, as they are killed 

 by a Blight frost. C. linearis, and 

 C. urticcefolia, with scarlet flowers, 

 are now included in thcgenus Alonsoa. 



Ckntaurea. — Composite. — The 

 common perennial species are known 

 by the English name of Knapweed ; 

 and the only quite hardy annual one, 

 C. Cyanus, by the name of Corn 

 Bluebottle. The most beautiful spe- 

 cies, C. Crocddylium, L., is a half- 

 hardy annual, which should be raised 

 on a hotbed, and planted out in May. 

 C. benedicta, L., Cnicusbenedictvs, 

 Dec, the Blessed Thistle, is a hardy 

 annual, which may be sown in March 

 or April, and will flower all the sum- 

 mer ; and C. suavedlens, and C. 

 moschata, L., the yellow and purple 

 Sweet Sultans, have been formed into 

 the genus Amberboa by Professor De 

 Candolle. 



Ce'rasus. — Rosacea. — The Cher- 

 ry. Hardy trees and shrubs, for the 

 most part deciduous, and all more or 

 less ornamental on account of their 

 flowers. The common double Cherry, 

 and the French double Cherry, de- 

 serve a place in every garden ; and 

 equally so do the Chinese Cherry. 

 C. Pseudocerasus ; the All-Saints 

 Cherry, C. semppiflbrens ; the Bird 

 Cherry, C. Pddus ; the Virginian 

 Bird Cherry, C. virginiana : the 

 Mahaleb Plum or Cherry, C.Mahd- 

 leb ; arid the Japan Cherry, C. ja- 

 )>6nica, known in the nurseries as the 

 double Dwarf Almond. Many of the 

 plants here enumerated are known at 

 some of the nurseries by the name of 

 Prunus ; as P. Mahnlvb, P. Padus, 

 &c. ; but in others they ate called 

 Cerasus. It is necessary to know this 

 to avoid buying the same plant under j 



different names. All the species grow 

 in common soil, and are propagated 

 by grafting or seeds. The common 

 Laurel, Cerasus Laurocerasus, and 

 the Portugal Laurel, Cerasus lusi- 

 tdnica, which also belong to this 

 genus, have showy spikes of flowers, 

 and deserve culture on that account, 

 independently of their shining ever- 

 green leaves. 



Cerato x nia. — Leguminosce. — An 

 evergreen greenhouse shrub, a native 

 of the south of Europe and Asia. The 

 pod is fleshy, like that of the tama- 

 rind, and it is said to have been the 

 food St. John fed on in the Wilder- 

 ness, the seeds being called "lo- 

 custs," and the pulp "wild honey." 

 Hence the popular name of St. John's 

 bread. It is also called the Carob 

 tree. The tree is of very slow growth, 

 and the flowers have no beauty ; but 

 the plant is worth cultivation for its 

 dark green leathery leaves. It should 

 be grown in a mixture of equal parts 

 of loam and peat, well drained, and 

 frequently watered ; and it is propa- 

 gated by cuttings of the old wood 

 stuck in sand. 



Ce'rcis. — Leguminosce. — The 

 Judas tree. Few trees are more or- 

 namental in a shrubbery than the two 

 species of this genus ; but Cercis Si- 

 liqudstrum, the common kind, is 

 decidedly the handsomest. The leaves 

 are curiously shaped, and the flowers, 

 which are of a beautiful pink, grow out 

 of the bark of the stem, and branches, 

 and not like those of other plants, 

 among the leaves. These flowers have 

 an agreeably acid taste, and when 

 fried in batter make excellent fritters. 

 The common Judas tree is a native of 

 the Levant, and it is frequently grown 

 against a wall, producing its flowers in 

 April ; but the American kind, C. 

 canadensis, is quite hardy. They 

 both produce abundance of seeds, and 

 grow best in a deep sandy loam, ra- 

 ther rich than poor. 



