1879.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



41 



eOcharis crandiflora. 



BY "WM. JAMISON, MANAYUNK, PHILADELPHIA. 



There cannot be too much said in praise of this 

 charming and ahnost ever-fiowering stove plant. 

 It is a plant miiversally known, and is found in 

 almost every private and commercial establish- 

 ment. I am sorry to say that it is in most cases 

 existing under extreme difficulties, and it is a 

 great rarity to find a truly fine specimen. The 

 plants as usually seen are from three to six 

 bulbs in a pot ; sometimes in the greenhouse, 

 and sometimes in some nook or corner in the 

 stove. !N^eglected, which in many cases I find 

 it is, how can it be supposed that under such 

 treatment it can thrive ? 



This truly magnificent plant can be had in 

 flower almost any month in the year, with a 

 little good management and care, and a mode- 

 rately good stock of plants. 



The Eucharis grandiflora, commonly known 

 as Eucharis Amazonica, is a native of Xew Gre- 

 nada, found growing on the banks of the tribu- 

 taries and rivulets of that gigantic river Amazon, 

 from which it derives its name. 



The Eucharis grandiflora belongs to the Ama- 

 ryllidacere, and, like most of its family, it re- 

 quires a season of rest, which every practical 

 gardener thoroughly understands. When I say 

 a season of rest, I do not mean a thorough drj^- 

 ing of the plants, although I have seen some 

 specimens treated in this way with results highly 

 favorable. I have succeeded well with my 

 plants by resting them about eight or ten weeks 

 every year, giving them a little water occasion- 

 ally to keep the bulbs plump. I have also seen 

 some very fine plants that have been kept grow- 

 ing all the time. This system I am not an ad- 

 vocate of, as the plants are ver}' apt to flower 

 when they are not required. 



The Eucharis, in its growing season, delights 

 in a warm and moist atmosphere, and an abun- 

 dance of water. When the bulbs have matured 

 their growth, they should be put into a house 

 of say ten to fifteen degrees lower temperature, 

 and here they should be gradually rested. After 

 the resting period is over, they should be brought 

 into heat, commencing at 60°, raising to 65°, and 

 so on, in accordance with the heat required by a 

 stove plant. Under this treatment they can be 

 had in flower almost when desired. 



It would pay our florists to set up a structure 

 on purpose for growing and flowering the Eu- 

 charis, because it can be had in bloom when 



flowers are most valuable — at Christmas and the 

 holiday season. A leading nurseryman says the 

 price brought for Eucharis flowers is fifty dollars 

 per hundred, wholesale, being twice the price 

 of White Camellias. 



The most successful mode of growing them I 

 ever saw, was in a place in the North of Eng- 

 land. The little house where they grew was 

 once a cucumber house and was span roofed, and 

 was about thirty feet long and twelve or four- 

 teen feet wide. There was a walk in the middle 

 and a bed on each side, heated with hot water; 

 two pipes ran the length of each bed, and 

 through to another house connected by valves. 

 There were four pipes along the walk, also con- 

 nected with the other house, and each bed was 

 filled with cocoanut fiber. The Eucharis' were 

 brought in a few plants at a time, and plunged 

 in the fiber. This treatment, with the gentle 

 bottom heat, and the healthy under moisture 

 seemed to act like magic, and soon repaid the 

 trouble. There were a few very fine specimens 

 produced; one, I particularly remember, had on 

 it at the time over forty flower spikes. 



If Eucharis' are to flower at Christmas, the 

 plants should be potted in May, then put in 

 their house, and keep them growing all the sum- 

 mer months, supplying them with plenty of 

 water, and syringing them three times a day. 

 This treatment should be followed up from May 

 until the end of August or beginning of Septem- 

 ber, when the temperature, as well as the water- 

 ing and syringing, should be gradually reduced. 

 During the summer months they require proper 

 shading, the eff'ects of the sun being very injuri- 

 ous to the soft green leaves. At this time it 

 would be highly beneficial to the plants, if they 

 were put out of doors for about two or three 

 weeks, shaded from the direct rays of the sun 

 and also from rains, and placed on pieces of 

 slate or boards to keep the worms from working 

 their way into the pots. 



About the first or second week of November, 

 I would bring them into the house and plunge 

 some of the pots in cocoanut fiber. Some should 

 be stood on top of the fiber. Commence water- 

 ing and syringing, keeping the house humid, at 

 about 60°, gradually rising to about 70° or 75°. 



The Eucharis thrives best in soil composed of 

 good rough turfy loam, a small quantity of peat, 

 leafmould, and sand, and a moderate quantity 

 of cow manure. It is also most essential to have 

 the pots well drained. 



When the Eucharis' are in flower they should 



