46 PLANTS SUITABLE FOR ROOM CULTURE. [Nov. 



but no less interesting aquatics might easily be grown even without 

 the aid of an aquarium, such as the Duckweed {Lcinna minor), 

 AzoUa pinnata, the water violet {HoUonia p(dustrLs), and many other 

 kinds. Any vessel filled with water, from the size of a common 

 tumbler upwards, would be large enough for their requirements, so 

 that there is no real difficulty in suiting them. 



SUCCULENT PLANTS, 



such as Cacti and others, require very little water at all, and 

 for that reason are remarkably well suited for room cultivation. 

 The very smallest attention is all they need ; in fact, you might lock 

 up your house, and go off' to the country for six weeks if you liked, 

 and on your return find your succulent plants as well as when you 

 left — perhaps better. Throughout the summer they would rec[uire 

 a little water, but from November till March they should not get 

 auj'. Those quaint-looking plants have not been grown so largely 

 in this country in rooms as they might be. They thrive for a long 

 time in very small pots — for many kinds the smaller the better — 

 and therefore they take up very little room. On the Continent, 

 and even in London, large quantities of them are grown in the 

 smallest conceivable pots, and sold for room and other culture. 

 There are some hundreds of different kinds, and quite a large col- 

 lection might be grown on a small table or A^iiidow-sill by selecting 

 the small growing sorts. Of course others of them attain a con- 

 siderable size, such as the prickly pear Cactus and others, ilany 

 succulents are also grown for their remarkably showy flowers. 

 Cereus flagelliformis, the whip-thong Cactus, makes also a unique 

 basket plant ; its large, rosy flowers are simply gorgeous. • Many 

 kinds of Crassulas, Aloes, Mesembryanthemums, and others might 

 well be grown, either for their flowers or their curious appearance. , 

 For those who are fond of sweet-scented plants — (and who are not ?) 

 — let me recommend two for that purpose, neither of which should 

 be overlooked, viz. Aloysia citriodora, the sweet-scented verbena, 

 and jMimulus moschatus, the musk plant, or its improved variety, 

 Harrison's musk. 



TEA AXIl TOBACCO. 



jMany are not aware that the tea plant {Thca viridis), a native of 

 China, is so hardy. I assure you, however, that some varieties are 

 as hardy as any laurel bush. A plant of it has lived in an open 

 border, in the Botanic Gardens here, for some thirty or forty years ; 

 and though severely punished during the winters of 1880 and 1881, is 

 still perfectly healthy and vigorous. Surviving after such an ordeal. 



