THE PIvANT WORLD ^ 45 



Poinsettia. — For some weeks past the florists' windows and flower 

 stalls have been bright with the gorgeous vermilion-red leaves of the 

 Poinsettias, or Euphorbia piilcherrhna as it should properly be called. It 

 is a native of tropical or subtropical portions of Mexico, where it forms 

 under favorable conditions bushes 10 or 15 feet in diameter and 5 to 10 

 feet in height. It was introduced into cultivation about 1833 by one 

 Dr. Poinsett, of Charleston, S. C, whence of course its common name. It 

 is grown very successfully out of doors in many parts of the world, as 

 Southern California, the Mediterranean region, and is said to have attained 

 its maximum development on the mountains of South India at an eleva- 

 tion of 6,000 feet, where there is an average rain-fall of about 50inches. The 

 leaves are from 4 to 6 inches long, ovate-elliptical or lanceolate and often 

 toothed or lobed below, but becoming narrower above and bright vermilion- 

 red in color. The flowers are small and rather inconspicuous, being of the 

 well-kown Euphorbia type. As the plant is a native of warm countries 

 it is necessary with us to grow them in greenhouses where they ordinarily 

 flower from November to March. They may be propagated in a variety 

 of ways, but principally by cuttings of hard wood, struck in bottom heat 

 and potted off in small pots or plunged in benches or even in soil out of 

 doors during the summer. Small plants 6 or 8 inches high with leaves 

 to the pot, may be struck as late as August, and prove very effective. 

 In England they are preferred of small size, but in this country they are 

 perhaps most frequently grown to 2 or 3 feet in height. A closely allied 

 species is known as the Mexican Fire Plant or Fire-on-the-Mountain 

 {.Euphorbia heierophylla) . It is an annual plant 2 or 3 feet high, native 

 from the Eastern and Central United States to Peru. 



Calla Lilies. — California is beyond question the paradise for this plant 

 in this country. There they remain out of doors the year around and 

 produce a mass of bloom that seems incredible when compared with the 

 ordinary pinched specimen one sees in the East. The Calla is withal a 

 fairly successful house plant when well cared for and may give a number 

 of good blooms during a winter, but it is of course much more responsive 

 when grown in a cool greenhouse. It requires a rich soil and a plenti- 

 ful supply of water, and when about to bloom is benefited by a weekly 

 watering with liquid manure. It is a great favorite with the red spider and 

 should be frequently sponged off with water, which will keep them down. 

 After blooming it is usually recommended that the plants be dried off com- 

 pletely and allowed to so remain for some months, but I find that they 

 served as well when simply set aside and supplied with just enough moisture 

 to keep them fresh and green. About the first of September they are re- 

 potted and are then in position to start growing at once without the necessity 

 of making a wholly new set of roots. Some two dozen plants treated in this 

 manner have been blooming profusely for two months in the greenhouse, 



