466 THE GARDENER. [Oct. 



its usefulness as a pot-plant for summer and autumn decoration. I 

 never met with it until a week or two ago, when I saw it in the 

 Parisian llower-markets, and also as grown by the French florists, who 

 give it an excellent character for its elegant habit, free-flowering 

 qualities, and durability. It grows freely in any common garden soil, 

 though loam and leaf-mould are preferable, forming a dense bush about 

 15 inches high. Its flowering branches droop gracefully nearly to 

 the pot-tops, and the white flowers somewhat resemble those of a small- 

 flowered Eriostemon scabrum. Branches broken off and thrown on 

 damp sand or soil root freely, and go on flowering in a very uncere- 

 monious manner; or it can be raised from seed, which is freely pro- 

 duced. 



Nerine Fothergillii. — Doubtless many know this beautiful old 

 bulbous plant ; but it is rarely met w^ith nevertheless. When well 

 grown, it flowers profusely, bearing heads of scarlet or crimson flowers 

 3 or 4 inches in diameter on scapes a foot or more in height. 

 It grows w^ell in a greenhouse, all the attention it requires being re- 

 potting once a-year and a liberal supply of water when growing — a 

 season, by the by, when it is too often thrown under the stage and 

 neglected. The great secret in growing all bulbous plants to perfec- 

 tion is to grow them liberally, and thus induce them to develop their 

 foliage, which in its turn supplies nutriment to the bulbs for the 

 next season's flowering. 



Oncidium obryzatum. — This free-flowering Orchid seems very 

 local in its distribution, although it deserves general cultivation, being 

 one of the easiest to grow in the whole family. Its great spikes of 

 golden-yellow, sweet-scented flowers are produced during the winter 

 and spring, and being very freely branched, furnish elegant sprays for 

 cutting. The plant grows well in fibrous peat and sj^hagnum moss, in 

 a moderately warm and humid atmosphere. Oncidium flexuosum is 

 another well-known and easily-grown species that flowers freely under 

 the same treatment; and if the equally well-known Dendrobium nobile 

 be added, w^e have a trio of the best Orchids for a quantity of cut 

 Orchid blooms during the winter and spring months. All may be 

 grow^n in an ordinary plant-stove. 



Sparmannia Africana. — This old plant is rarely met with, but 

 when grown in small pots is useful for winter and spring decoration. 

 It strikes freely from cuttings in the early spring ; and these, grown on 

 in a moderate temperature during the summer, will flower profusely 

 the following spring. It bears great trusses of white-petalled flowers, 

 the cluster of anthers in the centre being crimson and yellow. It is 

 a nice addition to greenhouse decorative plants, and interesting as a 

 souvenir of Captain Cook's second voyage round the world. 



