CLERODENDRON. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
113 
to the two first-named kinds, but does not 
need so much root-room. It is a native of 
China. All the above are sufficiently stout 
in their habit of growth not to need any 
support beyond a single stick to each 
shoot. 
C. splendens. This is an evergreen twiner 
of moderate, but not very quick growth. 
The flowers, which are deep scarlet, are 
produced in slightly drooping panicles 
from the young wood, and are very hand- 
some. This species is well adapted for 
clothing a pillar or rafter, and looks well 
trained on a moderate-sized wire trellis. 
It is from Sierra Leone, and can be propa- 
gated by means of cuttings, but these re- 
quire to be selected with judgment, as if 
made from hard, wiry shoots, they do not 
either root or grow freely, and, on the 
other hand, if too soft they generally damp 
off. The best cuttings are those obtained 
from a strong, mature branch that has 
been cut back. The young shoots that 
afterwards break from it should be taken 
off with a heel when about 8 inches long. 
These can be got in the summer, and will 
rootin sand. They should be placed singly 
in small pots under a propagating glass ina 
temperature of 75°, and when well-rooted 
they should be moved into 6-inch pots in 
fibrous peat, to which has been added one- 
sixth of sand. When they begin to grow 
place a stick in each pot for support, giving 
them a light situation, with air every day, 
and shade when the weather is such as to 
require it, syringing overhead when the 
house is closed untilautumn. Reduce the 
heat 5° day and night as the sun gets less 
powerful, and in winter a night tempera- 
ture of 60° will be sufficient. About the 
middle of February give them 5° more 
warmth, which will induce the roots to 
move, and a month afterwards shift them 
into 10-inch pots, again using good peat 
and enough sand to keep it open ; pinch 
out the points of the shoots in order to 
induce them to break back. During the 
spring and summer they will bear a 
temperature of 70° at night, giving air 
when the thermometer rises to 80° ; shade 
in sunny weather during the middle of the 
day, and syringe freely overhead when the 
house is closed, which should be done early 
in the afternoon. As the growth requires 
support, put in each pot four or five sticks, 
round which train the shoots, but do not 
allow them to become entangled one with 
another, which often happens if not 
attended to. Keep them in these pots 
during the season, again lowering the 
temperature in autumn, and discontinue 
the use of shading and syringing ; winter 
as last year, gradually raising the tempera- 
ture when the days lengthen sufficiently 
to require it. About the same time in 
spring shift them into their flowering pots, 
which for this first season should be 13-in. 
ones; put them in soil similar to that 
previously recommended, and place a wire 
trellis to each plant, over which train the 
shoots evenly. Give heat, shade, and air 
as during the previous summer, and also 
water to the roots and overhead. B 
midsummer they may be expected to show 
flowers, which will continue to open and 
remain in good condition for several weeks, 
during which time the plants may be 
placed where they can be kept a little 
cooler, but they must not be put where 
they will be subjected to draughts or to too 
low a temperature, or the flowers will fall 
off before they open. Keep the shoots 
regularly trained as hitherto. After the 
blooming is over, they may, if too full of 
growth, be slightly cut in and kept through 
the autumn and winter as before. Again 
about the time that growth is commencing 
the plants should be turned out of their 
pots, removing any loose soil that may 
exist, but they must not be shaken out, as 
is often done in the case of deciduous 
subjects, or the leaves will suffer; move 
them into pots 3 inches larger, using soil 
the same as previously, and treating them 
in every way similarly. They will last for 
many years by removing a little of the 
surface soil each spring without disturbing 
the roots too much; they will also be 
benefited by receiving manure-water in the 
growing season. When this Clerodendron 
is used as a climber it is better to grow it 
in a pot, as from its moderate habit of 
growth the roots are not so well calculated 
for planting out. C. speciosum, which is 
a handsome variety of C. splendens, may 
be treated in every way like it. 
C. Balfourt. Among deciduous, twining 
Clerodendrons this is much the best. It 
is a vigorous, quick grower, and may be 
either planted out or grown in a pot, for 
which latter purpose it is well adapted 
either for flowering in a small state, or for 
growing into large specimens. It strikes 
freely from cuttings, which should be taken 
off with a heel as soon as they are 8 inches 
long, and if the plants have been started 
about the beginning of February, the 
cuttings will be large enough to take off 
by the end of March. Put them singly in 
3-inch pots, filled with two-thirds sand to 
one of loam, sifted fine. Being very soft, 
they require to be kept moist, or they will 
flag if much air is given. Keep them until 
rooted under a propagating glass in a night 
temperature of 70°, with a little more heat 
during the day. Give just as much air as 
