COCK'S-COMB

cock's-comb, in botany, a cultivated form of _celosia cristata_ (natural order amarantaceae), in which the inflorescence is monstrous, forming a flat "fasciated" axis bearing numerous small flowers. the plant is a low-growing herbaceous annual, bearing a large, comb-like, dark red, scarlet or purplish mass of flowers. seeds are sown in march or april in pans of rich, well-drained sandy soil, which are placed in a hot-bed at 65° to 70° in a moist atmosphere. the seedlings require plenty of light, and when large enough to handle are potted off and placed close to the glass in a frame under similar conditions. when the heads show they are shifted into 5-in. pots, which are plunged to their rims in ashes or coco-nut fibre refuse, in a hot-bed, as before, close to the glass; they are sparingly watered and more air admitted. the soil recommended is a half-rich sandy loam and half-rotten cow and stable manure mixed with a dash of silver sand. the other species of _celosia_ cultivated are _c. pyramidalis_, with a pyramidal inflorescence, varying in colour in the great number of varieties, and _c. argentea_, with a dense white inflorescence. they require a similar cultural treatment to that given for _c. cristata_.