74 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



answering well for the green-leaved varieties, but for the variegated form a .poorer 

 mixture, largely composed of sand, should be used, or the variegation may disappear. 

 Abundance of water is required by all the species, and the warmer part of a greenhouse 

 suits them best during the winter. 



cyrtanthus. — A small family of greenhouse bulbous-rooted plants, nearly allied to 

 Amaryllises. Those most generally grown are hybrid forms and C. sanguineus, the 

 flowering period varying from February to August. They can be raised from seed in the 

 same way as Amaryllises (see page 289, Vol. I.), and propagated by offsets taken off the 

 old bulbs when these are re-potted in the autumn. Deep, well-drained pots are recom- 

 mended for Cyrtanthuses, and a compost of two parts good fibrous loam to one of leaf 

 soil with sharp sand added. Arrange them on greenhouse shelves, and while growing 

 apply water freely, but from October to March they must be kept dry at the roots. 



CYTISUS. 



Three species of cytisus are suitable and desirable for greenhouse and conservatory 

 decoration. The best-known and most generally cultivated is C. racemosus, said to 

 have been brought from the Peak of Teneriffe. It is an evergreen shrub, of a branching 

 habit of growth, and affords a profusion of terminal spikes of yellow, pea-shaped, 

 sweetly scented flowers in the spring. C. r. elegans is of a neater and more compact 

 habit of growth, while C. r. Everestiana differs from the type only as regards the deeper 

 shade of yellow in the flowers. C. canariense, from the Canary Islands, is less robust 

 than C. racemosus, and is chiefly valuable on account of its being later in flowering. 

 In C. filipes we have a species altogether distinct from the foregoing, and more nearly 

 resembling the White Broom, C. albus. Grown as a standard it forms a very beautiful 

 conservatory plant, especially in March and April, when the elegant weeping growths 

 are studded with white flowers. 



Both C. racemosus and C. canariense are frequently raised from seed ; sowing, after 

 softening in warm water, in brisk heat in March. Better plants are, however, raised 

 from short cuttings of young wood taken off with a heel in March or April, in- 

 serted in sandy soil, covered with a bell-glass, and placed in a temperature of about 

 75°. When rooted slightly harden by exposure to more light and air and then top 

 them. Directly they break into fresh growth place them singly in small pots, and 

 arrange in a warm frame. Give one shift before they become root-bound and top a 

 second time. Thus treated and wintered on a greenhouse shelf, neat plants are had for 



