104 HARDY PERENNIALS 
varieties and one that claims to be sulphur yellow, 
but is often more of a greenish white. They are 
plants of easy culture, and as such are useful for 
filling up spaces that would otherwise be difficult 
to cope with ; but they do not favourably compare 
with many plants that may be used in well-situated 
borders or gardens of restricted area. C. dealbata 
is a Cornflower in form, but of a lively rose-pink 
colour, and its blossoms are produced with freedom 
over a fine mass of handsomely cut silvery foliage. 
This is quite a useful plant, but the real treasures 
of the family are found in the majestic C. macro- 
cephala, a noble plant with huge foliage and strong 
upstanding stems surmounted by large golden 
thistle heads, and the equally handsome C. pulchra 
major, with rosy heliotrope thistle heads with 
globular calyces coated over with straw-coloured 
scales. C. glastifolia has smaller yellow flower 
heads on branching stems, and C. ruthenica is an 
elegant tall-growing plant with lemon yellow flowers 
like a large Sweet Sultan. All the Centaureas may 
best be propagated from root cuttings, but both 
seed and division are other methods. 
Centranthus. — Comparatively speaking a neglected 
plant, probably because it is known to be a British 
wildling, Centranthus ruber, in its coral pink, 
brick-red, and pure white varieties is a plant that 
should be welcomed with open arms by all whose 
gardens are on chalk, gravel, hungry sand, or are 
situated on sun-scorched, over-drained hill-sides. 
