120 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
COMBRETUM. 
C. Reine des Belges. Carmine, light green, 
and maroon. 
C. Troubadour. 
white, and crimson. 
Insects.—Few insects affect these plants, 
their sap being of too crude a nature to be 
palatable to the parasites. Aphides some- 
times make their appearance, for which 
fumigate, and if red spider is at all trouble- 
some syringe freely with clean water. 
Bright green, creamy 
COLUMNEA. 
These are remarkably free-growing and 
equally free-flowering stove Gesnerads that 
continue in bloom fora long time. Plants 
of a scandent habit when grown with 
nothing to cling to or to support them 
naturally droop, and become suitable for 
hanging baskets. Many that possess this 
form, however, grow too long and straggling 
to be of use for cultivating in this way ; 
hence it is that we have not too many 
that can be made to adapt themselves to 
this purpose. On this account one of the 
Columneas, C. scandens, is valuable for 
suspending in the stove or intermediate 
house, where its bright tube-shaped flowers 
show themselves off to the best advantage. 
They bloom for a considerable time during 
the summer and autumn. 
Cuttings made of the points of the shoots 
taken off in April, put singly in small pots 
in sand, placed in a propagating frame in 
ordinary stove heat and kept moist, will 
strike in a short time, as they emit roots 
not alone from the joints, but all up the 
stem. After they are rooted treat them 
like the general occupants of the stove as 
to warmth, water, air, and shade; the last 
they do not require so much of as more 
delicate plants ; and they should receive 
only what is found necessary to keep them 
from getting scorched. Pinch out the 
points of the shoots as soon as they have 
begun to grow, after which move them 
into 6-inch or 7-inch pots, which will be 
large enough for the first summer ; in July 
again pinch out the points of all the shoots 
and repeat the operation later on in the 
summer if the growth made is such as to 
require it, the object being to keep them 
as bushy as may be. Reduce the heat in 
autumn ; a temperature of about 60° will 
suffice through the winter. In spring, 
about the end of March, those that are 
intended for growing in baskets should 
have those prepared for them ; they may 
consist of the ordinary rustic pattern, made 
of wood, or of iron wire. They can be 
lined with moss, and then have the plants 
turned out into them in the usual way, or 
they may be moved to larger pots and 
plunged in moss within the baskets ; in 
either case the baskets should be of a good 
size, as the plants are free growers. If to 
be grown in the ordinary way they will 
require 12-inch pots ; use good turfy loam 
with a little sand and leaf-mould, and 
again stop the shoots. They will need 
more warmth as the solar heat increases, 
with a plentiful supply of water when free 
growth sets in. The shoots should then be 
supported with sticks and ties; if in 
baskets, as a matter of course they will re- 
quire to be allowed to hang down. It 
would not be advisable to again stop them, 
as this would interfere with their blooming. 
Treat generally as during the preceding 
summer. 
The flowers are produced at the axils of 
the leaves, and have a very distinct and 
handsome appearance ; individually they 
are not unlike single blooms of some of the 
larger Gesneras. When they have done 
blooming, the branches should be cut close 
in, after which keep them moderately 
warm, so as to encourage them to break 
into growth ; winter as before. When 
they are inclined to start in spring, turn 
them out of their pots, remove a consider- 
able portion of the old soil and replace it 
with new. The pots they have occupied 
last summer will be big enough, unless very 
large plants are wanted, in which case they 
must have more room. As soon as the 
soil has got well filled with roots give 
manure-water ; this will support them 
without the necessity for large pots. After 
the second year’s flowering they may be 
discarded, and young stock struck to take 
their place. 
The family is limited to a few species, 
the two best of which are :— 
C. erythrophea, which has long-tubed 
red flowers, and is a native of Mexico, and 
C. scandens, which bears bright scarlet 
flowers, and comes from the West Indies. 
Insects.—The hairy stems of these 
plants afford shelter for mealy bug, which 
will live upon them, but the texture of the 
stems and leaves is such as to admit of their 
being freely syringed with tepid water if 
they happen to get affected, laying them 
down on their sides at the time. 
COMBRETUM PURPUREUM. 
This belongs to a somewhat numerous 
family, mostly evergreen twiners from hot 
regions, but it is the only one that has 
found favour with plant growers. It does 
not get so large as many stove climbers, 
and on that account is more suitable for 
places where the space that can be afforded 
to it is limited. Its flowers, which are 
