Cerinthe
(from keros, wax, and anthos, a flower; bees are supposed to obtain wax largely from the flowers). Honeywort. ORD. Boragineoe. Glabrous, glaucous, hardy annuals or perennials, with terminal leafy racemes of tubularly campanulate, drooping, variegated flowers. All are of easy culture in common garden soil. Seeds should be sown in spring, in sunny spots. C. maculata, being a perennial, requires to be planted in a sheltered, dry situation, or the fleshy roots will be apt to rot.
C. aspera (rough). fl., corolla yellow, with a brownish-purple tube, cylindrical, five-toothed, twice as long as the calyx. July. l. oblong, denticulately ciliated, rough beneath. h. 1ft. to 2ft. South Europe, 1633. Annual. (S. F. G. 170.) C. glabra (glabrous). fl., corolla yellow at bottom and violaceous at top, five-toothed. June. l. ovate-lanceolate, quite entire. h. 1ft. European Alps, 1827. Annual.
C. maculata (spotted).* fl., corolla yellow, marked with five dark purple spots on the tube; ventricose, five-cleft to the middle. June. l. cordate-ovate, quite entire, glabrous. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. South and Eastern Europe, 1804. Perennial.
C. major (largest).* fl., corolla yellow at bottom and purple at top; ventricose at top, five-toothed. July. l. cordate-ovate, denticulately ciliated, all fleshy, stem-clasping, glabrous above, densely beset with white dots, rough beneath. h. 1ft. Switzerland, 1596. Annual. (B. M. 333.) C. minor (smaller).* fl., corolla yellow, sometimes with five brownish spots, five-cleft, with conniving segments. June. l. cordate-ovate, quite entire, glabrous, densely beset with minute white warts above. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Middle and South Europe, 1570. Annual. (J. F. A. 2, 124.) C. retorta (twisted).* fl., corolla with a yellow tube and a violaceous limb, retorted, clavately cylindrical, with a constricted five-toothed mouth. July. l. stem-clasping, somewhat spathulate, emarginate at top, with a short mucrone, beset with white warts on both surfaces. h. 1 1/2ft. Greece, &c., 1828. Annual. (S. F. G. 171.)