132 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
CURCULIGO, 
eo ee ee 
large leaves as near the base as possible ; 
otherwise they will have a thin, straggling 
appearance, that can never be corrected 
until they are headed down. As this 
Cupania is a strong grower, it prefers good 
fibrous loam to peat. Move the young 
plants into larger pots before the roots get 
cramped, 6 or 7 inch will not be too large. 
During the spring and summer they will 
bear as much heat as most of the ordinary 
stove occupants, with a little shade in the 
middle of the day and air proportionate to 
the weather, syringing daily through the 
growing season ; this is necessary to keep 
down red spider and thrips, both of which 
frequently attack the plant. 
heat get below 60° in the night. 
required ; the size of pots which are ulti- 
mately given will depend on the size the 
plants are required to be grown to con- 
sequent on the size of the house they are 
intended to be kept in. This Cupania is 
very effective for an exhibition group 
when it gets 8 or 10 feet in height, but 
smaller examples will be more generally 
useful. 
When larger than required the best way 
to proceed is in the spring just before 
growth commences, to let the soil get 
moderately dry, and then to head down to 
within 6 or 8 inches of the pots, putting 
them at once afterwards in a brisk heat to 
assist them to break. All the shoots that 
are made, except one to each plant, may be 
taken off and struck in the way described ; 
the stools should then be turned out of the 
pots, any small roots that are matted at the 
bottom of the balls cut off, and most of the 
old soil shaken away, transferring them to 
smaller pots, but large enough to admit 
the roots with a little fresh soil. Treat 
afterwards similarly to when the plants 
were younger, giving them above all plenty 
of light, so as to keep the growth short. 
After heading down, the young shoots will 
make much larger leaves near the bottom 
than were produced by the first growth, 
and be proportionately more effective 
amongst large plants. Heading back may 
be repeated as often as requisite. Where 
a brisk heat is maintained, two years will 
generally be as long as the heads can be 
kept within the bounds of an ordinary 
stove. C. undulata is a handsome plant but 
inferior to C. filicifolia. 
InsEcts.—In addition to thrips and red 
spider, aphides, scale, and mealy bug will 
live on Cupanias. The least objectionable 
of these pests can be kept under by syring- 
ing with tepid water ; for scale and bug 
A lower 
temperature in the autumn and winter 
will suffice, but it is not well to let the 
Move 
into larger pots as more root-room is 
syringe with some insecticide and sponge 
carefully. 
CUPHEA. 
Most of these pretty free-flowering plants. 
are evergreen shrubs, with a low bushy 
habit, seldom growing much above a foot 
high. 
They are easily propagated, and as easily 
grown, requiring treatment similar to. 
Libonia floribunda, which see. 
A considerable number of species have 
been introduced, but most of them need 
more warmth than a greenhouse affords, 
and are not of sufficient merit to be worth 
the room they occupy when such numbers 
of better plants are at command. 
The undermentioned will succeed under 
greenhouse treatment :— 
C. cinnabarina. Has pale crimson 
flowers, and comes from Guatemala. 
C. eminens. Flowers red and yellow, 
blooms in summer and autumn. From 
Mexico. 
C. platycentra. 
scarlet and white flowers ; 
tinually through the summer. 
A Mexican species with 
blooms con- 
CURCULIGO. 
These are stove plants remarkable for 
their beautiful habit of growth ; the long 
lance-shaped leaves, borne on well-pro- 
portioned stalks, are elegantly curved so 
as to give them a distinct and well-marked 
character. The leaves are like those of 
some Palms, while the latter are in their 
early stages before they are old enough to 
exhibit the divisions that later on are 
present. Few things that can be grown 
in such comparatively small pots are so 
effective for using among flowering plants, 
or with those that have massive foliage. 
They are readily increased from suckers, 
which as the plants get old and large are 
produced in moderate numbers; these 
suckers should be taken off in spring before 
growth begins, put singly in pots large 
enough to hold them, and at once placed 
in a strong heat. Afterwards give more 
root-room, maintain a brisk heat through 
the growing season, with plenty of light, 
vive a moderate amount of air in the day, 
with a moist atmosphere, and shade when 
the weather is sunny. They must not be 
let to get too cold even in the winter when 
at rest. They come from India. ‘ 
C. recurvata. A green-leaved species. 
much used for decorative purposes. 
C. recurvata striata. The leaves of this 
plant are deeply plaited like the green 
species, but have a well-defined white 
band running down the centre. 
