Stamens numerous, about 150, filaments smooth, pale
yellow: pollen orange-coloured. Germen densely clothed
with close-pfessed Silky halts. Style very short.
Stigma large, capitate, 5-lobed, papillose.
This very fine species is generally known in the collections
about London by the name of C. creticus; but
that is a very different plant, and one that we have not
met with in any collection last Summer; that is readily
distinguished from any other, by its dwarf bushy
growth, and generally bearing only one or two flowers
on each peduncle, which terminates the branches ; the
petals are much imbricate, and the colour of a reddish
purple, without any dark spots at the base; it is much
nearer related to C. villosus than to the present plant,
and we have seen specimens of C. villosus in Mr. Latn-
bert’s Herbarium that were received from Crete, under
the name of C. creticus.
According to M. Decandolle, the present species is
a native of the Levant, and is rather too tender to endure
our severest Winters without protection; but it
will succeed well against a wall, so as to be covered up
with mats in severe frost; and in the warmer counties,
such as Devonshire, we believe it would survive without
any protection whatever: plants of it, if kept in
pots, and preserved in frames all the Winter, and then
turned in the borders in Spring, will make a fine appearance,
as it grows very fast, and makes a handsome
shrub ; it will succeed well ill the common garden
soil, or if grown in pots, a mixture of salidy loam and
peat will suit it very well. Young cuttings, planted
under hand-glasses in August or September, will soon
strike root; but the glasses must not remain on them
long after they are rooted, or they will be liable to damp
off; they will succeed best if potted off, and preserved
in frames through the Winter. Drawn at Mr. Colvill’s
Nursery, last Summer.