1873.] STREPTACARPUS BIFLORA. 469 



with bronze yellow, and spots of mauve. Mrs Neilson has been 

 honoured with 5 first-class certificates, and is generally considered the 

 most beautiful of the Fancies. The blotch is brilliant violet-purple, 

 veined regularly with deep indigo, encircled with a broad margin band 

 of French white, unbroken all round the flower ; eye clear yellow, 

 and conspicuous on the upper division of the flower are deep markings 

 of shining purple. Stephen Nairn, ground imperial yellow, blotch 

 shining velvety black, eye yellow, margin bronze dashes, with golden 

 bronze. Richard Deans, a massive flower, ground chrome yellow, blotch 

 dark maroon, velvety upper petal clouded with rich mahogany, fine. 

 Thomas Granger, a beautifully finished flower of the rich wallflower- 

 brown type ; blotch intense glossy-black, eye yellow, bound by a belt 

 of deep Indian red, tinged faintly with bronze, under petal furnished 

 with a thread lacing of bright yellow, fine substance, extra. Mrs Bul- 

 len is furnished with an extra large blotch, which nearly covers the 

 lower petals. Colour indigo, blending to black towards the centre, 

 with lighter rays adjoining the margin ; upper petals splashed purple 

 on a sulphur ground, while the entire petal is encompassed by a 

 band of rich yellow. Mrs M'jSTee : this worthy flower of the white 

 ground type exhibits a large blotch of glossy dark blue, changing to 

 black near the eye, which latter is yellow, of small dimensions, beauti- 

 fully exact in form, and without radiating streaks. The upper portion 

 is furnished with markings of violet purple, surrounded by a margin 

 belt of white, which extends over the undermost petals also ; texture 

 solid and polished. A large bold circular flower without a wrinkle. 



A. Kere. 



STREPTACARPUS BIFLORA. 



The Streptacarpus biflora is one of the prettiest and most useful 

 plants we have. The flower, which resembles the Gloxinia, is much 

 prettier, although not affording such a variety of colour. It is far 

 more useful than Gloxinia, for it remains in constant bloom all the 

 year round, and is just the plant to suit amateurs, for it can be easily 

 grown, and well repays the attention it requires with a profusion of 

 flowers. It can be easily propagated either from leaves or by division. 

 If a quantity of leaves are put in a compost of peat, loam, leaf-mould, 

 and sand in January, and placed in a little bottom-heat, they will 

 soon strike root. They should then be potted off into 72-sized pots 

 and placed in a warm greenhouse or intermediate house, where they 

 will make rapid growth. When they have filled the pots with roots, 

 they should be shifted into large 60's, using the same compost as 

 before, only adding a little cow-dung or mushroom-dung. When they 



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