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Cineraria (From cinerea ash-coloured)

(from cinerea, ash-coloured; alluding to the grey down covering the surfaces of the leaves). ORD. Compositae. An extensive genus of mostly herbaceous plants. Pappus pilose; receptacle naked; involucre campanulate, of many equal sides. Several of the hardy species are excellent plants for the herbaceous borders, and may be easily grown in any ordinary garden soil. They may be propagated by divisions of the roots; or, better, by seed, sown in a cold frame or cool house, in spring. The florist's varieties which have originated from C. cruenta are among the most ornamental and useful plants that can be grown for greenhouse or conservatory decoration. As a packet of seed will produce a great variety of colours, including all shades of blue, and the plants are of tolerably easy culture, and do not require much heat, they should be grown by every one possessing a house where frost is excluded during winter. Named sorts must be propagated by division of the roots; but, as seedlings are more vigorous, and those of a good strain equal to many named kinds, the general plan is to sow in succession annually, and when the plants have flowered, throw them away. They are best grown in pits or frames, until frost sets in, and then removed to a light, airy position in the greenhouse, for winter blossoming.

Seed should be sown under glass, those intended for autumn flowering in April and May, those for spring in July and August. Some light leaf mould should be sifted, and about an equal quantity of fresh sifted loam and sharp sand added; the whole being well mixed. After having drained the pans or pots, and placed some of the rough siftings over the crocks, fill up with fine soil, pressing tolerably firm, and afterwards finishing with a smooth surface on which to sow the seed. This should be scattered thinly and regularly over the surface, and very slightly covered with some more of the sifted mixture, afterwards watering it carefully with a fine-rosed can. The pans may be covered with sheets of glass, and placed in a shady position in the greenhouse or cold frame. The glass should be tilted when the young plants appear, and finally removed, to afford requisite light and air. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, they should be placed separately in small pots, or pricked off in other pans. They should be kept rather close for a time after potting, to encourage root action, but must not be exposed to much heat at any time. The best place for them in summer is an ordinary garden frame, or cold pit, facing north. They delight in plenty of atmospheric moisture and a cool bottom, such as that afforded by a layer of coal ashes. After Cultivation. As the plants progress, they should be shifted on in suitable sizes until placed in the flowering pots, as anything like starvation in the younger stages of growth is very detrimental to their well-being afterwards. Small decorative plants may be flowered in 5in. pots; but for larger specimens, those of 7in. or 8in. in diameter are required. The final shift must be determined at the outset, and the smaller-sized pots selected so as to give about an equal amount of soil each time. A much richer and rougher compost may now be employed, consisting of about half loam, with an addition of equal parts of leaf soil and tolerably dry cow manure. The plants must be again placed on ashes in a cool frame, and plenty of air admitted in mild weather, at the same time avoiding draughts, which are very injurious. Cinerarias like plenty of water at the roots at all times, and frequent syringings in summer and autumn. A thin shading will be required in bright weather, as the plants will not bear exposure to sun; it should not, however, be permanent, or sufficiently thick to exclude light. The plants soon become weak and drawn in a dry atmosphere, consequently only enough fire heat should be applied, even in winter, to exclude frost. The spring-sown plants will flower in autumn and early winter; but those sown in July or August, and grown on during winter, to flower the following spring, are invariably of the best quality. Named varieties that are to be perpetuated by cuttings, should be cut down after flowering, and be afterwards propagated by division. Insects, &c. Cinerarias are especially liable, in all stages of their growth, to the attacks of green fly. The frames should be fumigated frequently, but not strongly, with tobacco paper, as, although the fly may not be detected at first, the plants may be infested underneath the young leaves. Fumigation is a certain cure, but is best used as a preventive. Red spider is sometimes troublesome, but this is a sign of insufficient moisture, and the remedy is of course suggested. Mildew is often caused by draughts, or a confined, close atmosphere. The affected parts should be dusted with flowers of sulphur. Double-flowered Cinerarias. These are similar in growth to the single varieties, but have their flowers quite double, like miniature rosettes. Seeds are not produced in anything like the quantity obtained from single ones, and the varieties cannot be depended upon to reproduce themselves true from seed. Neither will any more than a proportion of double-flowered plants be guaranteed. This entails the necessity of perpetuating any variety by cuttings, which is, with many of them, a very slow process. Although useful for buttonhole and other bouquets, and for cut-flower purposes, this section will probably never supersede the single-flowered one for beauty and general utility. All Cinerarias are benefited by applications of manure water, from the time the flower-heads are formed until they open. C. alpestris (alpine). fl.-heads yellow, corymbose. June. l. pinnate; terminal pinnae large, cordate, cut-toothed; lateral ones cuneate, toothed at the end. h. 2ft. South and Eastern Europe, 1683. Hardy herbaceous perennial. C. aurantiaca (orange-coloured).* fl.-heads orange, corymbose. May. l., radical ones elliptic, repandly toothed; stem ones lanceolate, entire. Stem simple, rather woolly. South and Eastern Europe, 1819. Hardy perennial. (S. B. F. G. iii. 256.) C. cruenta (purple-leaved).* fl.-heads reddish-purple, cymose. Spring and summer. l., radical ones cordate lobed, purplish beneath; cauline ones sessile, ovate, auricled at base. h. 2ft. Canary Islands, 1777. Greenhouse perennial. (B. M. 406.) C. c. Webberiana (Webber's). This is a garden hybrid, with bright blue flower-heads, raised in 1842. At the present time, it would be regarded as very inferior. The ray-florets are too narrow to allow it to be placed in a selection of florists' varieties, judged by the now accepted standard. C. geifolia (Geum-leaved). fl.-heads yellow; peduncle branched. April to August. l. long-stalked, reniform, narrowed, somewhat lobed, downy; petioles auricled at end. h. 2ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1710. Greenhouse evergreen shrub. C. lobata (lobed). fl.-heads yellow, sub-corymbose; involucre calyculate. June. l. roundish, many-lobed, smooth; petioles auricled at base. h. 3ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1774. Greenhouse evergreen.

C. longifolia (long-leaved). fl.-heads yellow, in corymbose umbels. July. l. somewhat toothed; radical ones spathulate; cauline ones oblong-lanceolate. Stem simple. h. 2ft. South and Eastern Europe, 1792. Hardy perennial. C. maritima (sea).* fl.-heads yellow, panicled; involucre downy. July to September. l. pinnatifid; segments blunt, about threelobed, silvery, downy beneath. h. 2ft. South Europe, 1633. Hardy evergreen. (S. F. G. 871.) Varieties. The single varieties being so exclusively grown from mixed seed, it is hardly desirable to give a selection of named kinds. These are most important to the seed raiser only, to constitute and fix his strain. A list of the most desirable double-flowered kinds is appended: ADA, deep blue, very full; KATE, pure white, tinted with pink, of excellent form; MARY, light magenta-rose; MR. THOMAS LLOYD, deep blue-purple, tipped with lake, very double and floriferous; ROSSINA, carmine, very double; SOPHIA, rich magenta, very large and full. Additional new ones are: ECLIPSE, JUNO, LILACINA, MR. R. H. VERTGANS, ROSETTA, ROSY GEM, ROYAL PURPLE, and STANSTEAD RIVAL.