CARNATION. 
OO 
nobilis (1 to 2 feet), violet, creamy, or white ; persici- 
folia (1 to 3 feet), a first-rate garden plant, with 
several fine white varieties, the best being grandiflora, 
and a double one ; pyramidalis (4 to 6 feet), with a 
white form, often grown in greenhouses ; rapunculoides 
(2 to 4 feet) ; Rapuncidus, the Rampion (2 to 3 
feet) ; rhomboidalis (1 to 2 feet) ; Trachelium (2 to 3 
feet), also a white form and a double one. 
CARBENIA benedicta ( Blessed Thistle). — This dis- 
tinct-looking plant is a native of both sides of the 
Mediterranean. It is chiefly remarkable for its large 
wavy leaves, which are pinnately cut into spiny lobes, 
being blotched and marbled with white, rather than 
for its roundish yellow flower heads. Owing to its 
ornamental aspect it is used with effect in the flower 
border, when less choice plants will not flourish. It 
is easily raised from seeds in spring. 
CARNATION. — The Carnations, Cloves, and Pico- 
tees are double-flowered forms of Dianthus Caryo- 
phyllus, and for many centuries have been popular 
garden plants. Careful selection and cultivation have 
brought the Carnations proper to a very high level, 
and three main groups called Bizarres, Flakes, and 
Selfs are now recognised by gardeners. The “ Bi- 
zarres ” have distinct spots or stripes of 2 or 3 shades 
on a ground of a different colour ; the “ Flakes ” have 
large stripes or flakes of one colour on a pure ground 
of another colour ; and the “ Selfs ” have the blossoms 
of a uniform shade throughout. The best forms 
are those in which the colours are distinct and clear, 
and harmonise with each other; and the individual 
flowers should be circular in outline with a calyx 
