ii6 



A UNIQUE LECTURE HALL 



(with plate 288) 



During the February and March courses of greenhouse lectures, 

 a small Cineraria show was set up in the Central Display House 

 of Range 2. Some three hundred dwarf large-flowered plants of 

 the Dreer strain were flowered for the Cineraria lecture of Feb- 

 ruary, as an example of a type that can be grown by persons with 

 a small home conservatory. The plants of the stellata and larger 

 types of this beautiful flower formed the background, with the 

 smaller in front, as viewed by the audiences at the lectures (see 

 froxtispiece). 



Since the first j)hotograph of the Central Display House was 

 published in the Journal (20: pi. 240. 1919), the warm-temperate 

 trees and shrubs have grown rapidly. The great dome of this 

 house seemed wholly adequate at that time to cover the variety 

 of plants rooted in the ground. Now cedars and araucarias are 

 nearing the glass. These, with the Bermuda Red Cedar, Canary 

 Pine, Podocarpus, Bottle-brush, and Queensland Tulip-tree, form 

 an evergreen background to the whole. 



In the right background corner are Australian trees and shrubs; 

 in the left corner, semi-troj)ical fruits such as Loquat, Feijoa, Fig, 

 etc. The center floor view, looking in either direction, is perhaps 

 the most inviting, embracing the pools and running brooks, with 

 banks of Selaginella and Helxine. The latter is the dainty small- 

 leaved plant which carpets the floor of the miniature forest under 

 glass, spreading as if by magic wherever planted. The front cor- 

 ners of the Cineraria display are set ofT by green pyramids of this 

 plant which the gardeners have made by stacking pots of diff"erent 

 sizes and allowing Ilelxine to creep over the whole. This little 

 plant is native of the coasts of Corsica, is sometimes called the 

 Corsican creeping nettle, and has been offered as a rock-garden 

 plant in warmer climates than ours. The New York Botanical 

 Garden has introduced it into many ])rivate and public conserva- 

 tories, for the decoration of which no i)lant is more charming. 

 Ilelxine is particularly happy under benches or over rockeries. 



The sides of the house carry vines of Clytostoma, Bouiiainvillca, 

 Passion-flower, and the double white Lady Banks Rose, now in 

 flower, which set off f)r frame the lecture hall. 



KlCNNl.TII R. BOVN'TON. 



