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Agrostemma Coronaria. Rose Cockle, or Campion.
❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈
Class and Order.
Decandria Pentagynia.
Generic Character.
Specific Character and Synonyms.
Grows spontaneously in Italy and Siberia; Linnæus informs us that the blossom is naturally white, with red in the middle.
"The single Rose Campion has been long an inhabitant of
" the English gardens, where, by its seeds having scattered,
" it is become a kind of weed. There are three varieties of
" this plant, one with deep red, another with flesh-coloured,
" and a third with white flowers, but these are of small esteem,
" for the double Rose Campion being a finer flower, has turned
" the others out of most fine gardens. The single sorts pro-
" pagate fast enough by the seeds, the sort with double flowers
" never produces any, so is only propagated by parting of the
" roots; the best time for this is in autumn, after their flowers
" are past; in doing of this, every head which can be slipped off
" with roots should be parted; these should be planted in a
" border of fresh undunged earth, at the
distance of six inches,
" observing to water them gently until they have taken root,
" after which they will require no more, for much wet is inju-
" rious to them, as is also dung. After the heads are well
" rooted, they should be planted into the borders of the
" Flower-Garden, where they will be very ornamental during
" the times of their flowering, which is in July and August." Miller's Gard. Dict. ed. 6. 4to.
Miller, by mistake, calls this plant Cœlirosa.