geropo'gon. 



120 



GLADIOLUS. 



stock should then be left two or three 

 days to bleed, that is, to suffer the 

 exuherant sap to escape ; after which 

 it may be grafted in the whip or side 

 manner, without a tongue ; care being 

 taken to choose " well-ripened shoots, 

 about three inches long, for scions." 

 The principal difficulty arises from 

 the succulent nature of the Geranium 

 shoots ; as, if the bark be bruised or 

 wounded during the operation, the 

 grafts will not take ; and they are 

 also very easily broken off after- 

 wards. 



The herbaceous and tuberous-rooted 

 Geraniums require a much more sandy 

 soil ; and, when they have done flow- 

 ering, they should be put on a dry 

 shelf, near the glass, and very spar- 

 ingly watered till the spring, when 

 they may be repotted, and treated as 

 above. These may be propagated by 

 cuttings, or division of the roots, in 

 rather dry and sandy soil, and they 

 rarely perfect their seeds in our green- 

 houses. 



The old genus Geranium has been 

 divided by modern botanists into fif- 

 teen genera ; three, of which are quite 

 distinct, and have been already men- 

 tioned under the head of Erodium. 

 The kinds usually grown in green- 

 houses belong to the genus Pelargo- 

 nium ; and of these there are nearly 

 six hundred distinct species, besides 

 innumerable cross-breds, hybrids, and 

 varieties. 



Germander. — See Teu v crium. 



Geropo'gon. — Compositce. — Old 

 Man's Beard. There is only one 

 species of this genus, G. glaber, a 

 native of Italy, and which is a very 

 curious plant. It is an annual, hav- 

 ing a smooth stem and leaves, and 

 growing about a foot high. The 

 flowers are flesh-coloured, and expand 

 in the form of a star only when the 

 sun shines upon them. The seeds 

 are very curious, and it is from them 

 that the plant takes its English name. 



They should be sown in the open 

 border, in any common soil, in March 

 or April, and the plants will flower 

 in July and August. 



Gesne v ria, or Ge'snera. — Gesne- 

 riacece. — Showy hothouse plants, 

 generally with scarlet flowers. They 

 require a light rich soil, and are pro- 

 pagated by cuttings struck in sand 

 under a bell-glass, with the aid of 

 bottom-heat. 



Ge x um. — Rosacea. — Avens. Per- 

 ennial plants, natives of Europe and 

 America, with very handsome flowers. 

 G. Quellyon, Swt. (G. cocc'meum, 

 Bot. Reg.), is a splendid plant, a 

 native of Chili, with large orange- 

 scarlet flowers. All the species are 

 hardy, and require a light rich soil ; 

 they are propagated by seeds, or di- 

 viding the roots. 



Gi'lia. — Polemoniacece. — Beauti- 

 ful annual flowers, natives of Cali- 

 fornia, which only require sowing in 

 spring or autumn in the open border. 

 See Californian Annuals, and An- 

 nuals. 



GithVgo. — Silenacece, or Caryo- 

 phyllacece. — The Corn Cockle. A 

 British weed, sometimes cultivated in 

 flower-gardens. 



Glades are open spaces of turf 

 among shrubs or trees, of irregular 

 shapes, without definite boundaries, 

 so as to give the idea of something 

 beyond them, of which the extent 

 cannot be guessed. They should 

 vary in width, and be of the most 

 irregular shapes ; the types being the 

 open glades which appear in forest or 

 copsewood scenery. Their beauty in 

 pleasure-grounds depends much on 

 the smoothness or high-keeping of the 

 turf, and on the varied ground out- 

 line of the branches of the trees or 

 shrubs which repose on it. 



Gladiolus. — Iridacece. — The 

 Corn Flag. The Gladioli or Corn 

 Flags are bulbous plants, with long 

 spikes of showy bell-shaped flowers ; 



