CU'PHEA. 



69 



CUTTINGS. 



getable mould, sand, and peat, and 

 the pots must be well drained ; as, 

 though it requires frequent watering, 

 no plant suffers more from the effects 

 f water being allowed to remain in a 

 stagnant state about its roots. When- 

 ever the leaves turn yellow, and the 

 flowers drop off without expanding, 

 the cultivator may feel assured that 

 there is some fault in the drainage, 

 and the plant should be repotted. It 

 is increased by cuttings. 



Crown Imperial. — See Fritil- 



LARIA. 



Crucianf/lla. — Rubiaceoe, or Ga- 

 iacece. — The very beautiful little 

 plant called C. stylosa, has brought 

 this somewhat neglected genus again 

 into notice ; though Dr. Lindley 

 doubts its belonging to the genus at all. 

 As, however, it is generally so called 

 in gardens and nurseries, nothing 

 further will be said here on the sub- 

 ject. It is a hardy perennial, a na- 

 tive of mountains in Persia, growing 

 about a foot high in any good 

 garden soil, and well adapted for beds 

 in a geometric flower-garden, from its 

 profusion of bright pink flowers which 

 it continues producing from June to 

 September. It is well adapted for 

 rock-work, and it is increased by di- 

 viding the roots. 



Crvptogamous Plants. — Mosses, 

 ferns, lichens, and other plants, which 

 do not produce any visible flowers. 



Cuckoo-flower. — Several spring- 

 flowering British plants are known by 

 this name, but that most commonly 

 so designated is Carddmine pra- 

 tensis. 



Cucu^balus. — Caryophyllacece. — 

 Wild British flowers, resembling the 

 Silene, or Catchfly. 



Cu'phea Lythracecs. — South 



American plants, with very curious 

 flowers, some of which are half-hardy 

 annuals, and some stove-shrubs. They 

 require a moist rich soil, and a shaded 

 situation. 



Cuscu x ta. — Convolvulacece.—Thc 

 Dodder. Parasitical plants, wliich are 

 sometimes grown in greenhouses ; are 

 objects of curiosity. When this is the 

 case, the seeds should be sown in a 

 pot, in which is growing a common 

 horse- shoe geranium (Pelargonium 

 zonale). As soon as the seed of the 

 Cuscuta begins to germinate, it sends 

 out a delicate thread-like stem, which 

 is leafless, and which soon coils itself 

 round the stem and branches of the 

 poor geranium, adhering to them by a 

 number of wart-like protuberances, 

 or suckers, which appear at intervals 

 along its stem. The root of the pa- 

 rasite now withers, but the plant itself 

 continues to thrive, as it feeds, vam- 

 pire-like, on the sap of the poor ge- 

 ranium ; and it grows vigorously, 

 producing abundance of leaves and 

 flowers, while the geranium appears to 

 sicken, its leaves turn yellow and 

 drop off, and it finally wastes away. 

 The geranium should be tall and 

 much branched ; and when this is the 

 case, the Cuscuta forms avery or- 

 namental object, hanging down in 

 graceful festoons, and producing abun- 

 dance of its glossy pale blush-coloured 

 flowers, which are very fragrant. 

 Sometimes this parasite is propagated 

 by shoots, which should be wrapped 

 in wet moss, and tied on the plant to 

 which they are to adhere. Two spe- 

 cies of Cuscuta are natives of Britain, 

 and are very troublesome in oat- 

 fields ; but the other kinds are na- 

 tives of the South of Europe and the 

 tropics. The handsomest species, C. 

 verrucosa, is from Nepal. 



Custard Apple. — See Anona. 



Cuttings. — It may be received as 

 a general principle, that all plants 

 which produce shoots may be pro- 

 pagated by cuttings ; though some 

 plants are much more difficult to pro- 

 pagate in this manner than others. 

 Generally speaking, all the soft- 

 wooded succulent plants, which have 



