Calandrinia
(in honour of L. Calandrini, an Italian botanist, who lived in the beginning of the eighteenth century). ORD. Portulaceae. A rather large genus of fleshy, glabrous, annual or perennial, herbaceous plants, some fourteen or fifteen species growing in Australia, the rest occurring in the New World. Flowers usually rose or purple, solitary, or in terminal umbels or racemes. Leaves quite entire, radical or alternate. Only four or five species are cultivated in this country; these are treated as half-hardy annuals--with the exception of C. umbellata, which is best treated as a biennial--and as such they are extensively grown in small gardens, with most satisfactory results. They should be sown in the spots where they are intended to flower, as transplantation, unless performed with more than ordinary care, will considerably check their growth or result in loss. Their flowers only expand during bright sunshine, and, consequently, they are less grown than they otherwise would be. The plants thrive in a light sandy soil. C. umbellata may be sown in a pan, placed in a cold frame, in May or June; and when the plants are large enough to handle, they should be potted off, or placed out in colonies where they are to flower.
C. discolor (two-coloured). fl. bright rose, with a yellow tuft of stamens in the centre, 1 1/2in. across; raceme long. July, August. l. fleshy, obovate, attenuated at the base, pale green above, purple beneath. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Chili, 1834. (B. M. 3357.) C. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl. rosy, about 2in. across; calyx spotted; raceme simple, loose. Summer. l. fleshy, rhomboid, acute, petiolate. Stem suffruticose. h. 1ft. Chili, 1826. (B. R. 1194.) C. Menziesii (Menzies').* fl. deep purple-crimson, from 1/2in. to 1in. across, terminal and axillary, solitary. June to September. l. elongated, spathulate, much attenuated at the base. Stems much branched, prostrate. California, 1831. SYN. C. speciosa. (B. R. 1598.) C. nitida (shining). fl. rose-coloured, about 2in. across; raceme leafy, many-flowered. Summer. l. oblong-spathulate, sub-acute, glabrous, attenuated at the base, 1in. to 2in. in length. h. 6in. Chili, 1837. A very pretty hardy annual, forming a tuft from 4in. to 6in. across.
C. speciosa (showy). A synonym of C. Menziesii.
C. umbellata (umbellate).* fl. of a dazzling magenta-crimson, about as large as a sixpence; corymb cymose, terminal, many-flowered. Summer. l. radical, linear, acute, pilose. h. 6in. Peru, 1826. A very charming half-hardy biennial. (P. M. B. 12, 271.) Other species occasionally met with are: compressa, micrantha, and procumbens; they are, however, inferior to those described above.