. 
AASCHYNANTHUS. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
27 
branching sprays of coral, and last and 
retain their colour for months after the 
flowers are gone. It is one of the best 
comparatively small growing decorative 
plants in cultivation. When grown in 
6 in. or 8 in. pots it is especially useful for 
standing during the summer months in a 
conservatory, where its intense colour con- 
trasts well with other things. From 
Cayenne. 
Ay. fulgens discolor is a variety of the 
above, requiring similar treatment. 
_ 4G. Furstenbergii. A Bahia species of 
decidedly distinct character, with stout, 
long, spiny-edged leaves. The panicles of 
flowers are large, with rose-coloured bracts 
and bracteoles. 
Af. hystrix. A large-growing handsome- 
leaved species. The flower-stalk is longer 
than in most of the Achmeas, and the 
violet flowers are densely packed on the 
spike. It comes from Cayenne. 
i. Marie Regine. <A truly regal plant 
from Costa Rica ; it is of stately growth, 
the leaves are 18 inches in length and 
gracefully curved. The  flower-spike, 
which is from twenty inches to two feet 
in length, springs from the centre ; it is erect 
and partly clothed with ample deep rose- 
coloured bracts, which retain their colour 
for many months. The flowers are tipped 
with blue, and as they get older change to 
a salmon colour. It blooms in July. 
4f, miniata. A smaller habited kind 
than Al. Fulgens, with darker foliage ; the 
individual flowers, as well as the whole 
inflorescence, are smaller than those of 
Ai. fulgens. 
4H, Veitch. A handsome species, 
which bears a dense head of flowers, 
scarlet in colour, as are also the bracts. 
From Colombia. 
Insrcts.—Aichmeas are not very sub- 
ject to the attacks of insects. Mealy bug 
and scale will live upon them, but the 
texture of the leaves is such as to admit 
of these being easily removed by sponging 
and a free use of the syringe. 
ASCHYNANTHUS. 
These are beautiful free-flowering stove 
plants, possessing a very distinct habit of 
Slee ; they are mostly indigenous to the 
ot, damp, woody districts of Java, and 
consequently will bear and require a high 
temperature to grow well. Their splendid 
scarlet and yellow or deep crimson flowers 
are produced freely from the axils of the 
leaves and extremities of the current 
season’s shoots. In their native habitat 
they are of an epiphytal character, growing 
on the trunks and branches of trees, to 
which the roots cling like our native Ivy. 
In a cultivated state they are of moderate 
growth, and are especially adapted for 
growing in pots or baskets, suspended in 
the stove over paths from the rafters; so 
managed they are very effective, and 
supply a place for which comparatively 
few things are suitable. Their blooms are 
borne in succession over a considerable 
period during the summer and autumn 
months, at which time they form an 
agreeable contrast to other plants. They 
flower freely in a small state, conse- 
quently are suitable for either large or 
small houses. 
To grow well they require too much 
heat to succeed satisfactorily all the year 
round in an ordinary Fern-house, © but 
should be kept in the stove whilst making 
their growth and until the flowers begin to 
open; they can then be removed to a 
conservatory or Fernery, and in the latter 
situation they have a beautiful effect, with 
their bright-coloured flowers drooping over 
the varied green fronds of the Ferns. All 
the kinds root freely from half-ripened 
cuttings taken off in the spring, inserted in 
small pots in half sand and peat, and kept 
close in a propagating frame or under a 
bell glass; they will do without bottom 
heat, provided the temperature of the 
house is sufficient to promote growth. 
Cuttings may usually be had in right 
condition about the beginning of April ; 
these, if placed in a night temperature of 
70°, will root in a month, when they may 
be gradually inured to the full air of the 
house, the glasses tilted a little more each 
day until they can be dispensed with 
altogether. Pinch out the points of the 
shoots at a few joints above the base, to lay 
the foundation for the future plant by 
inducing the formation of several shoots. 
As soon as the pots are filled with roots, 
remove into others a couple of inches 
larger, using fibrous peat, to which add 
one-sixth of sand and crocks broken small, 
in equal parts ; this will be found to suit 
the roots better than a closer material. 
Fill the pots to one-fourth their depth with 
drainage, as these plants cannot endure 
stagnant moisture ; at the same time, during 
the growing season they require an abun- 
dant supply of water to the roots, and this 
necessitates provision being made for its 
passing freely off. They should be stood 
on a front shelf, where they will receive a 
fair amount of light, but should have a 
thin shade in the hottest part of the day. 
As the season advances keep the tempera- 
ture at from 65° to 70° in the night, 
allowing it to get 10° higher when the sun 
is upon the glass, giving air when required, 
