CHEIRANTHUS, STOCK-GILLIFLOWER, or Wall-flower

CHEIRANTHUS, STOCK-GILLIFLOWER, or Wall-flower; a genus of the siliquosa order, belonging to the tetradynamia class of plants. The species are 13, but the following three are most worthy of notice. 1. The cheiri or common wall-flower, with ligneous, long, tough roots; an upright, woody, abiding stalk, divided into many erect angular branches, forming a bushy head from one to two feet high, closely garnished with spear-shaped, acute, smooth leaves, and all the branches terminating in long erect spikes of numerous flowers, which in different varieties are yellow, bloody, white, &c. 2. The incanus, or hoary cheiranthus, with ligneous, long, naked, white roots; and upright, strong, woody, abiding stem, from one to three feet high, branchy at top, adorned with long, spear-shaped, obtuse, hoary leaves; and the top of the stalk and all the branches terminated by erect spikes of flowers from one to two or three feet long, of different colours in different varieties. 3. The annuus, or ten-weeks-stock, with an upright, woody, smooth stalk, divided into a branchy head, 12 or 15 inches high, garnished with spear-shaped, blunt, hoary leaves, a little indented, and all the branches terminated by long erect spikes of numerous flowers of different colours in different varieties.—The two first sorts are very hardy evergreen biennials or perennials; but the last is an annual plant, so must be continued by seed sown every year; and even the two first, notwithstanding their being perennial, degenerate so much in their flowers after the first year, that it will be proper also to raise an annual

annual supply of them. The feeds are to be sowed only from the plants with single flowers; for the double ones bring no feeds to perfection. The feeds are to be chosen from such flowers as have five, six, or more petals, or from such as grow near to the double ones. They may be sown in the full ground in the spring, and may be afterwards transplanted. When fine doubles of the two first kinds are obtained, they may be multiplied by slips from the old plants.