The Botanical Magazine/Volume 2/53

by William Curtis

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[53] Cineraria Lanata. Woolly Cineraria.

Class and Order.

Syngenesia Polygamia Superflua.

Generic Character.

Receptaculum nudum. Pappus simplex. Calyx simplex, polyphyllus, æqualis.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

CINERARIA lanata caule suffruticoso, foliis subquinquelobis, subtus tomentosis; foliolis ad pedunculos lanatis.

N^o53

In the beauty of its blossoms, this species of Cineraria, lately introduced from Africa, by far eclipses all the others cultivated in our gardens; its petals exteriorly are of a most vivid purple, interiorly white; this change of colour adds much to the brilliancy of the flower.

What renders this plant a more valuable acquisition to the green-house, is its hardiness, its readiness to flower, and the facility with which it may be propagated.

It flowers early in the spring, and, by proper management, may be made to flower the whole year through; it is sometimes kept in the stove, and may be made to flower earlier by that means; but it succeeds better in a common green-house, with no more heat than is just necessary to keep out the frost, indeed it may be preserved in a common hot-bed frame through the winter, unless the weather prove very severe.

Certain plants are particularly liable to be infested with Aphides, or, in the vulgar phrase, to become lousy, this is one: the only way to have handsome, healthy, strong-flowering plants, is to procure a constant succession by cuttings, for there is no plant strikes more readily; these should be placed in a pot, and plunged into a bed of tan.