1 873-] TRICHINUM MANGLESII. 471 



TRICHINUM MANGLESII. 



Though known to botanists fully twenty years before, it is only some 

 eigbt or ten years ago since, if our memory serves us rigbt, Mr 

 Thompson of Ipswich was fortunate enough to raise plants of this 

 lovely Amaranthaceous perennial from seeds he had sent him from the 

 Swan River. 



The advent of the " interesting little stranger" created a consider- 

 able sensation at the time, and very soon thereafter it was to be found 

 pretty freely scattered over the country. From some cause, however, 

 to us inexplicable, certainly neither from its lack of beauty or facility 

 of culture, it seems to have fallen into neglect, and is now rarely to be 

 met with. With a view to rescue this plant from what we believe to 

 be unmerited oblivion, we have conceived the idea of penning these 

 few lines, fully convinced that by-and-by those of the readers of the 

 ' Gardener' who can appreciate a really good flower will be constrained, 

 if they could but penetrate our nom dej^hime, to thank us personally 

 for reminding them of, or introducing them to, one of the greatest 

 gems of recent years. 



To those who do not know the plant in question, it may be interest- 

 ing to say that it requires greenhouse treatment — that is, it will not 

 stand frost — and that it forms at first a tuft of radical leaves of a form 

 which botanists call oblong spathulate ; they have long foot-stalks, and 

 are of a dark shiny-green colour ; from among these the fiower-stems 

 shoot up to heights of from 6 to 9 inches, sometimes, if the root is 

 strong and vigorous, a few inches higher. They are generally branched, 

 and each branch terminates in an oblong spike, consisting of a mass 

 of pink-coloured bracts clothed most profusely with long silvery hairs, 

 from amongst which the beautiful satiny rosy-purple flowers are pro- 

 duced. It is difficult to imagine a more striking or effective plant 

 when well grown and in full flower. 



As far as culture is concerned, the modus operandi is simple in the 

 extreme, and may be briefly stated as follows : The plants, whether 

 obtained from division of the roots, an operation which can be safely 

 done about April, or from seed, which should be sown in a pan in the 

 summer of the previous year, should be shifted in spring into 4 or 5 

 inch pots, according to the strength of the roots, using a compost of 

 one-third well-decomposed leaf-mould, two-thirds rich flbry loam, with 

 plenty of sharp sand to render it moderately porous, the whole 

 thoroughly mixed up and incorporated, and used in a dry state. After 

 potting, they should be kept in a cold frame or greenhouse near the 

 glass till there is no possible danger of frost, and afterwards be fully 

 exposed for the remainder of the summer in a warm sunny place out of 



