290 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



The following are a few of the handsomest of the passifloras now 

 in cultivation : — 



Fassiflora ccdrulea, flowers bine, quite hardy when grown against 

 a warm wall, and in hot summers (as in that of 1868) produces 

 abundance of handsome orange-coloured fruits. Suitable for con- 

 servatory and greenhouse. 



Fassiflora incarnata, flowers flesh-coloured, nearly hardy, of semi- 

 herbaceous habit, extremely pretty and well adapted for the pillars of 

 a conservatory, and for very favourable positions out of doors in the 

 south of England. 



Fassiflora edulis, white flowers, requires the stove, where it pro- 

 duces its eatable fruit freely. By some the fruit is esteemed as a 

 delicacy, and on that account it is worth growing, but it is one of 

 the least attractive in respect of its flowers. 



Fassiflora Kermesina, flowers crimson, but more beautiful than can 

 be described or painted. It thrives best in a damp stove, and is quite 

 at home in an orchid-house, where it answers well to produce shade. 



Fassiflora quadrangularis, flowers green and blue ; requires the 

 stove, and will thrive in the strongest heat of the pine pit. The 

 fruit of this is the much-prized " granadilla." To obtain fruit in 

 any quantity artificial impregnation must be resorted to.* As the 

 flowers are large and handsome, it is a desirable plant for those who 

 do not care about the fruits, which we have always regarded as 

 insipid and worthless. 



Fassiflora racemosa, flowers scarlet, a gorgeous and most inte- 

 resting stove climber ; one of the best. 



Tacsonia 2y'^nnai istipula, flowers pink, an extremely beautiful 

 plant, nearly hardy, and admirably adapted for the conservatory. 



Tacsonia manicata, flowers scarlet ; nearly hardy, a fine green- 

 house climber. 



Tacsonia Van-Volxemi, flowers brilliant red, borne on long hair- 

 like peduncles. This is an extraordinary plant, growing and 

 flowering most luxuriously in almost any position and circum- 

 stances, if only enjoying the shelter of glass and room to ramble 

 about ; even a few degrees of frost do it no harm. 



Tacsonia Buchanani, flowers brilliant red, hitherto known as a 

 stove plant only, but worth trying in a warm or even a cool green- 

 house, when it becomes clieap. 



All the passion-flowers are plants of easy culture, provided they 

 have a suitable temperature. As a rule, a border consisting of 

 rich loam is requisite, as their roots run almost as freely as their 

 branches, yet we have seen many kinds thriving with their roots 

 under pavements and hard gravel walks, and amongst mere brick 

 rubbish in stoves and conservatories. What is worth doing at all is 



* To impregnate the granadilla, proceed in the following manner :— Early in 

 the morning, as soon as the flower expands, remove by means of a pair of scissors 

 the calyx, the corolla, and the crown. Then cut off a few of the stamens with 

 great care, -to avoid shaking out the pollen, and with the stamen touch each stigma 

 in such a way as to leave a few grains of pollen upon it. If pressed for time, 

 remove stamens as required, and du^t the pollen on the stigmas without excising 

 the calyx and corolla j but the first plan is the surest. 



