CULTURE OF THE GENUS BANKSIA. 
122 
CAPPARIDEiE (Genus Cleome). 
Cleome dendroides. Tree-like Cleome. Though the colour of the flowers I 
is rather singular than brilliant, this is a very striking plant, with its curious cande- I 
labrum-like flower-spike, and handsome foliage. It was raised from seeds imported 
in 1828, from the Brazils, by Mrs. Penfold of the Achada. For the first two years, 
it has quite the appearance of an annual or biennial herbaceous plant ; rising with a 
single erect stem to the height of from one to two or three feet, and producing, in 
the summer of the second year, a single terminal spike of purple flowers. But after 
this, it puts forth one or two branches below the first spike, and the stems become 
more woody, brown, and decidedly shrubby : yet even in this state, the plant attains 
no greater height than four or five feet, has seldom above two or three straggling 
branches at a time, (the rest dying away,) and rather bears the aspect of an herba- 
ceous plant, become by accident perennial, than of a really shrubby one ; and, in 
fact, it rarely lasts altogether more than four or five years. — Dot. Mag . 
The shrubby species of Cleome thrive best in a rich light soil, and ripened 
cuttings root freely under a hand glass in a moderate heat; but as most of the 
species seed freely, this will be unnecessary. The seeds of the annual species require 
to be sown on a hot-bed frame, early in the spring; and when the plants are of 
sufficient size they should be planted out into the open border, but this should never 
be done before the middle of May. The biennial species require to be kept in the 
stove : cuttings of these will strike root freely under a hand-glass, in a moderate heat. 
VIOLA. 
Viol arieas, genus viola. Almost every species of violet deserves to be 
cultivated in gardens, the greater part for the beauty of their flowers, and others for 
their scent, such as the varieties of Viola odorata. The hardy perennial species 
are well adapted for ornamenting rock work, or the front of flower borders, but the 
smaller species should be grown in small pots, in a mixture of loam, peat, and plenty 
of sand. 
The American species do best in vegetable mould or peat ; those species which 
are natives of woods are well adapted for growing under trees, and those natives ol 
bogs or marshes should be planted in moist situations. 
They are all readily increased by seeds or parting the plants at the roots. The 
annual species may be sown in the open borders or on rock work. The green-house 
and stove species should be grown in a mixture of loam and peat ; the herbaceous 
kinds of them should be increased by dividing at the root or by seeds, and the shrubby 
kinds should be propagated by cuttings, which will root freely if planted under a 
hand-glass ; those of the stove species in heat. The frame species should always be 
preserved in pots, that they may be protected during winter with a frame. 
The Neapolitan violet , a variety of V. odorata , forces well, and where there is a 
stove, or warm pit, may be had in flower throughout the winter and early part oi 
spring: — Dons Miller s Diet . 
