1880 .] 
CASTILLEJA INDIVISA. 
1G1 
CASTILLEJA INDIVISA. 
[Plate 525.] 
f HE family of Scrophulariads furnishes 
to our gardens few more striking plants 
than the Castilleja indivisa. Certainly, 
among the annual members of the Order it 
stands unrivalled. The genus is probably but 
little known to the present generation of hor¬ 
ticulturists, though to many of the older ones 
the name, at least, of C. coccinea —a species 
temporarily under cultivation about thirty 
years since—may, perhaps, be familiar. From 
their close relationship to several parasitical 
genera of the same family, there were grounds 
for fearing that the absence of such ornamental 
plants from our gardens could only be due to 
the same cause as that which practically ex¬ 
cludes the handsome Gerardias from cultiva¬ 
tion—their being root-parasites, like the 
Orobanches or Broom-rapes of the Old World. 
So far, however, as the species under considera¬ 
tion is concerned, experience has happily proved 
that these fears are entirely groundless, and it 
may be confidently affirmed that to the horti¬ 
culturist of average skill, the cultivation of 
Castilleja indivisa will present no difficulty 
whatever. 
As in the case of some other interesting 
favourites—notably, the well-known Poinsettia 
■pulcherrima , Euphorbia splendens, and Salvia 
Horminwn —the attractions of the plant are 
due less to the beauty of the flowers, properly 
so called, than to the highly-coloured bracts or 
floral leaves, which accompany these, and 
which are of a brilliant crimson-scarlet, vary¬ 
ing slightly in intensity and shade, but always 
most effective in their ensemble. The plant 
grows to a height of from one to one and a 
half feet, being erect in habit, with rigid, pur¬ 
plish stems, more or less branched, with alternate 
strap-shaped strongly-nerved foliage, mostly 
entire, but often more or less pinnatifid, with 
linear acute lobes. The flowers are arranged in 
a dense terminal leafy spike, each flower being 
accompanied by a large ovate or obovate, 
mostly entire, strongly three-nerved bract, the 
lower half of which is of an agreeable green 
colour, the rest of the leaf being of a brilliant 
red. The flowers themselves, though less 
conspicuously coloured, being of a yellowish 
tint, are not without claims to attention, both 
calyx and corolla being of an unusually flat- 
No. 05. IMPERIAL SERIES, 
tened tubular form, the former being cleft at 
the margin, above and below, and including 
the tube of the corolla, the upper lip of which 
projects considerably, and by its form suggests 
that of a fish’s head. The green calyx is not 
unfrequently margined with bright red. 
The readers of the Florist will, however, 
probably feel greater interest in learning the 
details of its culture, than in the peculiar 
botanical features of this handsome plant. Its 
general treatment is that of the half-hardy 
annuals. But to obtain well-grown specimens, 
certain precautions are essential, which, how¬ 
ever, are equally so with most other plants of 
the same class. The great point to be guarded 
against is the tendency the plant sometimes 
shows to throw up its flower-stem prematurely, 
before the root and crown have attained 
sufficient strength. The seed, therefore, which 
is very small, must be thinly sown in light 
soil, in gentle heat or a warm greenhouse ; and 
the seedlings should be early transplanted, 
either singly into small pots, or two or three 
into one of larger size. If this is carefully 
effected, and the young plants kept near the 
glass, at common greenhouse temperature, a 
robust growth may be readily obtained. The 
time of sowing is not unimportant. It is not 
desirable to sow very early, as the seedlings 
would remain too long under glass, and pro¬ 
bably show flower-stems before planting out. 
It cannot be too strongly pointed out that 
the Castilleja indivisa is emphatically a plant 
for the open air. Under glass it will, perhaps, 
produce larger specimens, but the colouration 
of the bracts assumes a tawny hue, which is 
far less pleasing than that exhibited by the 
plant when fully exposed to the sun and air, 
in a rich and sandy soil. But beyond the 
diluting effect of shade upon the rich colour of 
the flower bracts, there is no difficulty in the 
pot-culture of the plant, and as it presents 
some obvious compensating advantages, doubt¬ 
less the attempt will be made, and cultivators 
will compare the results. Whether in pots or 
the open ground, the soil best suited to its 
requirements appears to be a sandy loam, fairly 
enriched with old and well-rotted manure or 
leaf-mould, but any light mixed compost will 
serve. Judicious pinching-inmay be tried with 
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