The Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening

Every genus a Victorian gardener could grow — Abelia to Zygopetalum across four volumes, with each plant's history, species, and culture, by the Curator of Kew.

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Caryophyllus

(from karuophyllon, Clove-tree; literally nut leaf, from karuon, a nut, and phyllon, a leaf). Clove-tree. The Arabs, who have been acquainted from all antiquity with the Clove, called it Qarumfel, which the Greeks altered to Caryophyllon. ORD. Myrtaceae. A stove evergreen tree, now generally referred to genus Eugenia. Cymes terminal, or sub-corymbose, in the forks of the branches. Leaves opposite, coriaceous, dotted. It grows best in a mixture of loam and peat. Cuttings of firm shoots, with the leaves left on, will root if planted in a pot of sand, with a hand glass over them, and placed in a moist heat. It is difficult to preserve this tree through the winter. C. aromaticus (fragrant).* fl., petals pale purple; calyx dark purple; cymes many-flowered. l. ovate-oblong, acuminated at both ends. h. 20ft. to 40ft. Moluccas, 1796. The flowers of this tree are the cloves of commerce.

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