1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
61 
The Entire-Leaved Cleome. 
Several years ago a person “out-west” ad¬ 
vertised with considerable flourish the seeds of 
“ prairie flowers,” and published a catalogue of 
them which fairly bristled with long botanical 
names, which no doubt gave to many the im- 
ceme of showy pink or purplish-pink flowers, 
which keeps on elongating, the flowers opening 
in succession for a long time, so that when the 
pods from the first flowers are ripe, new buds 
are just appearing above to prolong the bloom. 
Those who examine the structure of flowers 
will find these of considerable interest, as the 
found it. Later, Prof. Gray, finding that the 
plant was not different from an earlier genus 
of De Candolle, Leptosyne, (from a Greek word 
meaning slenderness), called it Leptosyne mari¬ 
tima, but now, worse than all, here come 
Hooker & Bentham, who say that the thing is 
not sufficiently distinct to be kept out of Core- 
extire-leaved cleome.— (C. integnfolia.) 
sea-side coreopsis.—( Leptosyne maritima.) 
pression its author must be very learned, and 
the plants very fine. It came in our way to 
let the gas out of this bag, and to show that it 
was an attempt to pass off the veriest possible 
trash, (horticulturally speaking), upon those 
unfamiliar with botanical names, and we are 
glad to know that by putting unsuspecting 
seedsmen on their- guard, they were prevented 
from selling the seeds, and thus disappointing 
their customers. Still, amongst all this rubbish, 
there could not help being some desirable 
things, one of which was the Entire-leaved 
Cleome, a very showy plant found from Ne¬ 
braska southward to New Mexico, and west¬ 
ward to Oregon. The plant does not seem to 
have any common name; Cleome is an ojd name 
from a Greek word, meaning closed, which was 
long ago applied to a species found in the south 
of Europe, and though no one is able to see 
how it applies to these plants, it is a pleasant 
sounding, easily remembered name, and will 
answer quite as well as any. The genus, 
Cleome, belongs to the Caper Family, of which 
the majority of our representatives are annuals; 
there are three or four species in this country, 
the best known of which is the one here fig¬ 
ured, the Entire-leaved Cleome, ( C. integrifolia). 
This is a much branching annual three or four 
feet high, with compound leaves of three entire 
leaflets. Each branch is terminated by a ra- 
pistil is raised up in the center of the flower in 
a manner quite unusual. The foliage of this, 
as well as in other plants of the family, has, 
when bruised, a peculiarly pungent odor which 
is not pleasant. Seeds of this and of a related 
plant, Polanisia, were at one time offered as 
remarkable honey producing plants, but we 
have not heard that they have been cultivated 
to any extent to afford pasturage for bees. 
The Sea-side Coreopsis. 
In noticing desirable plants, we as a general 
thing confine ourselves to those which are 
readily obtained from either the seedsman, 
florist, or nurseryman, and if we depart from 
this rule it is when, as in the present case, a 
demand for the seeds can be readily supplied, 
and if the seedsmen do not have them, they 
can easily procure them. We have called this 
plant a Coreopsis, but it has had considerable 
trouble in the way of names ; it was discover¬ 
ed over 30 years ago by Nuttall, near San 
Diego, Cal., on rocks overhanging the sea, and 
considering it a new genus, he named it Tuck- 
ermannia, in honor of Prof. Tuckerman, now 
of Amherst, but then a young botanist of great 
promise, and gave it the specific name, mari- 
lima. on account of the locality in which he 
ops is, and if they have their way it will be 
neither Leptosyne nor Tuckermannia, but Core¬ 
opsis maritima. It will be seen in another ar¬ 
ticle, that Prof. Gray sticks to Leptosyne, and 
doesn’t follow Bentham & Hooker, and we 
shall leave these giants to fight it out, though 
in this Centennial year we shall take the say of 
an American botanist for an American plant, 
so far as the scientific name is concerned, and 
hold to Leptosyne, but as a sort of compromise, 
we will use Coreopsis, which is sufficiently 
common to be regarded as English, for the 
popular name, and call it Sea-side Coreopsis. 
The plant is especially noticeable for its elegant 
habit; its smooth, handsomely and finely di¬ 
vided leaves are all near the base of the stem; 
the flower stems, only about a foot high, bear 
heads of yellow flowers, much like those of a 
large Coreopsis, which are over two inches in 
diameter, and are produced in continued suc¬ 
cession all summer long, and if placed in the 
greenhouse, will bloom all winter. The plant 
is rather fleshy, and does not like wet, and like 
some other California plants, it thickens up 
the base of the stem to form a sort of a tuber, 
which should be taken up and treated like a 
Dahlia root. This species was introduced into 
cultivation by Nuttall, soon after he discovered 
it, but it was lost for many years, but has re¬ 
cently turned up again, and the seeds may be 
