COCHLIOSTEMA. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
117 
where they are intended to be grown. 
They will thrive in either peat or loam, 
and should have the bed or border in 
which they are planted confined to from 
18 to 24 inches square (except where 
a very large space is to be covered), other- 
wise they grow so fast as to be un- 
manageable. Little further is required 
except training the shoots as they grow, so 
as to fill the desired space, and cutting the 
plants in freely each spring to keep them 
within bounds. 
The following are the kinds usually 
grown :— 
C. scandens. A quick grower, with 
purple-tinted flowers. Mexico. 
C. scandens penduliflora. A strong- 
growing, drooping-flowered kind. 
C. scandens variegata. A variegated 
leaved variety, with pretty foliage. 
Insects.—Free syringing all through 
the summer is generally sufficient to keep 
them clear from the usual pests. If affected 
with any of the more objectionable para- 
sites, wash with insecticide when cut back 
in the winter. 
COCCOCYPSELUM REPENS. 
This is an old, creeping, evergreen stove 
plant. It is only worth growing for its 
berries, which are effective, and deep blue 
in colour. The shoots being of creeping or 
trailing habit, render the plant suitable 
for growing in hanging baskets, in which 
way its pretty berries are best seen. It is 
easily managed, and can be increased by 
shoot-cuttings struck in spring, and grown 
on in moderate stove heat, giving addi- 
tional pot-room as required. It comes 
from the West Indies. 
COCHLIOSTEMA JACOBIANUM. 
In this valuable introduction from 
Ecuador we have a stove plant not only 
of distinct and stately appearance but of 
remarkable beauty. It resembles a Brome- 
liad with a very short stem. Its leaves 
crow toa length of from 2 to 3 feet, and 
they are 7 inches broad at the widest part. 
They are arranged somewhat closely in a 
tuft-like form, springing from the short 
stem, which gives the plant the appearance 
of a huge Tillandsia. They are spreading, 
slightly recurved, and of a somewhat pale 
green colour, their appearance being much 
enhanced by the beauty of the large spikes of 
flowers which are produced freely from 
their axils. A strong specimen will con- 
tinue blooming, more or less, for three or 
four months in succession. The flowers 
may be described as of a bluish-violet, and 
are borne upon smooth, stout pink stalks 
from 12 to 18 inches in length and as thick 
as a man’s finger. These are furnished 
with pale pink bracts from 3 to 4 inches in 
length by 2 inches in breadth, which, 
contrasting with the flowers, produce a 
charming effect, altogether different from 
anything else. It usually commences 
blooming in spring, the particular time, of 
course, being influenced by the condition of 
the plant and the temperature in which it is 
grown. In addition to its fine appearance 
it possesses the good properties of not being 
difficult to manage, and it can be placed in 
a conservatory when in bloom during the 
summer months without sustaining injury 
therefrom, when care is taken not to allow 
it to stand in a draught or too near where 
air is admitted. At the same time with 
this, as with most other stove subjects, it 
does not under such conditions make much 
growth, and consequently must not receive 
too much water; for although it delights 
in plenty of moisture when in active 
growth in a moderately high temperature, 
an over-wet condition of the soil when 
there is little root development going on 
is calculated to endanger its health. For 
a considerable time after its introduction 
its high price, owing to the slow rate of its 
increase, kept many from growing it, but 
now that it is cheaper it ought to find a 
place in even the most choice collections. 
It has an agreeable, but not over-powerful 
perfume. 
It may be propagated by means of 
suckers, which are produced near the base 
of the plants. These, when sufficiently 
strong, may be taken off in the spring, 
stripping off a few of the under leaves, and 
placed singly in pots proportionate to their 
size in soil consisting of half sand and 
loam; they will soon root in a tempe- 
rature of 70° kept moderately, but not too, 
close. When sutliciently rooted, the young 
plants should be gradually exposed to 
the full air of the house, giving them 
plenty of light, but not direct sunshine. 
They should, however, by no means be 
shaded by other plants, for if so they will 
never make enough roots to support a 
vigorous head of leaves, without which the 
plant cannot be seen in its best condition. 
When the pots are moderately filled with 
roots shift into others 7 or 8 inches in 
diameter. It will succeed in a mixture of 
two-thirds good yellow turfy loom and 
one of fibrous peat, to which a liberal ad- 
mixture of sand, broken crocks, or char- 
coal should be added, and a little chopped 
sphagnum. Drain the pots well; ¢rocks 
to one-fifth of their depth will not be too 
much, as, in common with other things of 
