Fifty-four species. Chiefly hardy and green-house herbaceous; but some green-house evergreen shrubs. It is a genus of florists' flowers, and the varieties which they have raised are very numerous. A good selection is the following: -

Eclipse; Gem; Nobilis; Perfecta; Queen Victoria; Rival King; Royal Blue; Sapphire; Splendida; Water-housiana; and Webberiana.

Characteristics Of Excellence

The cineraria does not exhibit so much improvement as most florists' flowers.

"The petals should be thick, broad, blunt, and smooth at the ends, closely set, and form a circle without much indentation. The centre, or yellow disk, should be less than one-third of the diameter of the whole flower; in other words, the coloured circle formed by the petals should be wider all round than the disk measures across. The colour should be brilliant, whether shaded or self; or if it be a white it should be very pure.

"The trusses of flower should be large and close, and even on the surface, the individual flowers standing together with their edges touching each other, however numerous they may be. The plant should be dwarf. The stems strong, and not longer than the width across the foliage; in other words, from the upper surface of the truss of the flower to the leaves where the stem starts from should not be a greater distance than from one side of the foliage to the other." - Hort. Mag.

Propagation By Seed

"Sow in May in the open border; thin out the plants where they are crowded, and transplant them when they have three good leaves, and pot them to remain in October." - Card. Chron.

Propagation By Cuttings

"After the bloom has perfected itself and decayed, cut down the stems, stir the earth upon the surface, then earth up with fresh compost, filling the pot rather full than otherwise; refresh the plants with a little water, and place them in the frame again; or if you have none convenient, in a dry and sheltered place in the garden.

"The growth of a few weeks will enable you to detect side shoots, some with roots, and some without roots, and leave only the main plant in the pot, which should be earthed up again, and set by. The shoots which have no roots to them should be stripped of two or three of the bottom leaves, that they may be placed in a pot of the usual sort of compost that the plant may have been growing in, with a little sand at top, say a quarter of an inch thick, and covered with a bell glass; or if there be enough, they may be placed a dozen or two in a large pan, and a glass that will fit inside the rim, covered over them. They must never be allowed to dry. The glasses should be occasionally wiped dry inside. Whether there be one cutting or a dozen, they should be so placed that the glass can be pressed into the sand to keep out the air until they have all struck.

"They can always be watered without disturbing the glass, if it be properly placed inside the rim, because by watering over the glass, the whole can be soaked; but the drainage must be good, or they will rot.

"If you happen to have a declining hot-bed in which there remains a little bottom heat, the pan or pots may be placed therein. It will rather hasten the striking. Those side-shoots which have roots to them may be immediately potted into sixty-sized pots, and treated the same as seedlings just potted off. In a few weeks the cuttings will have struck, which will be indicated by their beginning to grow; they may be potted off also, as seedlings are potted, in sixty-sized pots. Here the treatment is just the same as that directed for seedlings." - Hort. Mag.

After-Culture

"About the first week in June, the plants being removed from the green-house, and turned out of their pots, the old earth shaken from their roots, plant rather deeply, and about eighteen inches apart in light rich soil in the open garden, and water as often as they seem to require it. By the end of July, they throw up myriads of suckers; they are then taken up and parted, preserving the smallest atom that has a root to it. The largest plants are potted in pots proportionate to their size, in a compost consisting of leaf mould, rotten dung, and strong turfy loam, in about equal quantities, and placed in a shady situation. These will flower in September and October, and will do well either for the house, or for filling up beds, or vacancies in the flower garden. The other plants are replanted in the open garden, watered, and shaded until established, taken up with balls, and potted about the end of October, and protected from frost in a cold frame or pit through the winter. In this manner, and by keeping plants of various sizes, a regular supply of flowers may be Irad from September to the end of June. Single plants in thirty-two or twenty-four-sized pots are large enough.

No plants suffer so much from being crowded together; indeed, when short of room it is better to throw away a few plants than have the whole cramped for room." - Gard. Chron.

Winter-Blooming

"When the cinerarias have done flowering, cut off all the flower-stems and old leaves, and place them in a cold pit or frame, which must be kept rather close for two or three weeks to cause the plants to grow; afterwards admit air freely by day, but keep them close at night; then about the beginning of August divide the old plants into pieces, and put them into small pots filled with a mixture of good loam and sandy peat, to which may be added a small portion of well-rotted dung. When potted, return them to the pit or frame, and keep them close; afterwards, as they grow, shift them into larger pots, and use a little manure-water; and finally, as the danger of frost approaches, remove them to the green-house, where they will bloom well all the winter and spring, if kept free from insects." - Gard. Chron.