BOMBAY CARDEiSS. 409 



be seen in flower to enable an\ liodv to conceive its great beaut \ 

 Among the many Ipomaxis or jMorning Glory, none are more striking 

 than the splendid dark-blue-flowered 1. Lrarii, though it is in 

 certain respects surpassed b}* the rather straggling pale rose-coloured 

 T. Carnea, and cannot vie in beauty with the splendid dark crimson 

 flowered T. Horxf<illia\ which is still very rare in Bombay. A 

 creeper which has flowered for the first time in Bombay this year, 

 Odontadenia speciosa (wrongly called Bignonia regalia in Bull's 

 catalogue), bids fair to rank next to Bignonia rcnmta in beauty. It 

 bears large clusters of Allamanda-shaped pale salmon-coloured 

 flowers and appears to be of a free-flowering habit. Nowhere 

 perhaps is a greater profusion of flowers met with than in the hand- 

 some Rangoon creeper, Quisqaa/is indica, a common inhabitant of our 

 gardens. Less effective but still attractive are the different kinds of 

 crimson and scarlet-flowered Combretums (Poivrea), the lovely sky 

 blue Jacquemontia, the sweet-scented May creeper ( Vallaris Heynii), 

 the snow-creeper (Derris scandcns), the bridal-wreath [Porana volubilis) 

 all with masses of white flowers, the well-known Stephanotis, the 

 several passion flowers, among which the scarlet Passiffora ritifolia 

 ought to be more commonly grown, the quaint but handsome mauve 

 Petrea rohibiUs, and numerous other creepers. It must, however, be 

 regretted that one of the commonest creepers of our jungles, the 

 brilliant Gloriosa sapcrba, is but rarely met with in gardens — a fact 

 that may perhaps be chiefly attributed to the small attention paid to 

 caterpillars by the malix, as no plant is more liable to the ravages 

 of these formidable enemies of our gardens. Other creepers are 

 equally effective by the grandeur or elegance of their foliage, and 

 none more striking or common than the magnificent Pothomnrea with 

 beautifully golden variegated leaves, increasing in size towards the 

 end of the shoots, or the beautiful Monstera didiciosa, with its large 

 curiously lobed and pierced leaves, none more graceful than the 

 charming Vitis discolor, with the dark purple, silver-blotched lca\ < -, 

 or the beautiful metallic bluish-green SclagineUa Iccrigata, which, 

 however, only succeeds in perfect shelter and shade. The Ficn.< 

 xtipulata, which is a good substitute for our English ivy, though 

 having much smaller leaves, is occasionally met with, but nothing is 

 in fact more suitable for covermp: the far too often unsightly com* 



