AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 75 
Gloxinia—continued. 
FIG. 117. ERECT-FLOWERED GLOXINIA, 
variegated with spots, axillary, usually singly or a few 
together, large, nodding. Leaves opposite, stalked. The 
innumerable forms which are cultivated as Gloxinias 
Fig. 118. ERECT-FLOWERED GLOXINIA. 
Gloxinia—continued. 
rightly belong to the genus Sinningia, and most of them 
are derived from 8. speciosa. On account, however, of 
their being so universally known as Gloxinias, the culti- 
_ vation is here given. 
Few stove plants are more beautiful than Gloxinias; 
and they may, by potting successionally, be had in flower 
throughout the greater part of the year. They always 
prove attractive in a warm house, and are very useful for 
cutting. The flowers originally were all drooping, as 
shown in Fig. 116, which detracted considerably from 
their beauty, as now exhibited in the numerous varieties 
with erect flowers (see Figs. 117 and 118), Some have 
colours of intense rich crimson; others are pure white, or 
are delicately spotted and pencilled internally. 
Propagation. Gloxinias may be annually increased in 
large quantities by seeds, and by cuttings of the stems 
or leaves. Seeds should be sown early in February, in 
well-drained pots or small pans of finely-sifted soil, com- 
posed of peat, leaf mould, and sand, in about equal pro- 
portions. After the seeds are thinly sown, and only 
very slightly covered with soil, they should be care- 
fully watered, placed in a temperature of about 70deg., 
and kept shaded. On the appearance of the seedlings, 
a sharp look-out must be kept, to prevent them damping ; 
and, as soon as large enough, they should be pricked off, 
‘about lin. apart, in other pots of similar soil, and, in 
due course, potted into single ones. Seedlings form good 
plants, and flower the same season, if sown early, and 
afterwards grown on without check, being always kept 
shaded, and in a moist, warm temperature. Cuttings of 
shoots may be secured when the old bulbs are started in 
spring ; they strike very readily in a close propagating 
frame, and make good plants for flowering the following 
summer. Leaf cuttings may be inserted when the plants 
are ripening, or at other times if firm ones can be spared. 
They should be inserted with a small portion of the 
petiole attached—a bulb forms at the base of this for ~ 
flowering the next year. A method of propagating more 
rapidly by matured leaves, is to cut through the midribs 
at the back of each, at distances of about lin. apart, 
Fic. 119. GLOXINIA DIVERSIFLORA. 
