Though in its present state very unlike the common garden 
Cock’s-comb, it is more than probable'^that this plant is really a 
variety of the species from which that has sprung. In an early 
plate we shall offer an illustration of a feathered crimson Celosia 
which is strongly suggestive of such relationship ; and we have 
received from Mr. Thompson, of Ipswich, a branchlet of that 
now figured, in which the tail-like point has become dilated or 
crested after the manner of the common Cock’s-comb. The 
plant is common in India, where it is called Huldee Moorga. It 
has long been cultivated in gardens, but probably from un¬ 
skilful management has, till quite recently, remained compara¬ 
tively unknown. A more beautiful object, however, than a fine 
branched specimen, loaded with its golden plumes, as was the 
case with the plant from which the small branch we have 
figured was taken, it is scarcely possible to conceive; and flower¬ 
ing as it does in early autumn, when indoor flowers of effective 
colour are becoming scarce, it is an important decorative plant, 
adapted especially for warm conservatories, in which a dryish 
atmosphere is at that season maintained, and in which the plant 
may be kept for several weeks in an attractive condition. 
The culture is that of other tender annuals, such as the com¬ 
mon Cock’s-comb. The seed is to be sown in February or 
March, in a cucumber-frame or warm forcing-pit. The young 
seedlings, which come up in succession for some time, are to be 
potted into small pots as soon as large enough to be handled, 
and then shifted successively as fast as the roots begin to feel 
the sides of the pots; the principle to be kept in view being, 
never to let them get dry, or pot-bound, or to receive any other 
check, but to keep them growing on without intermission. They 
should be kept in a moist genial temperature of about 65° or 
70°, and potted in a compost of turfy loam, enriched by the 
addition of about one-third of well rotted manure or such 
fertilizing agents as deer or sheep droppings, with a moderate 
addition of sand. Good plants may be grown in eleven-inch 
pots. 
The chief enemy to contend with in the cultivation of the 
plant is the acarus, or red spider, which attacks this as it does 
other Cock’s-combs. The best remedy is good cultivation; that 
is, rich soil, a warm moist temperature, and no check. 
