CYCLAMEN. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
135 
I 
ing itself in the inequalities at the under 
side of the leaves. 
CYATHEA. 
A fine genus of Tree Ferns, the most 
important of which are greenhouse species. 
Several of them are unsurpassed for their 
majestic appearance. Among the finest is 
C. dealbata, which forms a_ beautiful, 
straight, well-proportioned trunk,  sur- 
mounted by a grand head of plume-like 
fronds of enduring character. C. medul- 
laris is one of the largest and handsomest 
species, requiring a large house for the 
exhibition of its true character. Cool 
treatment, with much less root-room than 
usually given these and other Tree Ferns, 
is preferable to the humid stove heat and 
over-potting often practised. 
For propagation and cultivation, see 
Ferns, general details of culture. 
GREENHOUSE SPECIES. 
C. Burkei. South Africa. 
C. Cunninghamii. New Zealand. 
C. dealbata. New Zealand. 
C. Dregeit. South Africa. 
CO. medullaris. New Zealand. 
C. princeps. Mexico. 
O. Smithw. New Zealand. 
CYCAS. 
These are noble -looking plants, the 
leaves of which much resemble Tree Ferns 
in form, but are hard and tough in texture, 
enduring long on the plants. They are 
amongst the finest ornaments of the stove 
or conservatory. Their flowering in this 
country is not a very common occurrence, 
and when they do bloom the flowers are 
nothing more than a curiosity. 
They seldom produce suckers so as to 
give an opportunity of increasing them by 
this means. The plants are nearly always 
imported. Their cultivation is very simple; 
they succeed in good ordinary loam made 
sufficiently porous by the addition of sand. 
The pots must be well drained, as the roots 
will not bear stagnant moisture. Most of 
the species do not require so much root- 
room as the generality of plants equal in 
size, and it is a mistake to overdo them in 
this respect. An ordinary stove or inter- 
mediate temperature will answer for them 
summer and winter—there is no necessity 
for being particular to a few degrees ; 55° 
to 60° in the night during winter, with a 
proportionate rise by day, and 60° to 70° 
in the night in summer will answer. Most 
of the kinds, however, will bear as much 
heat as any of the stove occupants in the 
day through the growing season, but there 
is no need for subjecting them to so much; 
it is simply a question of their growing 
quickly or slowly. They may be kept for 
years in moderate-sized pots or tubs if a 
moderate shift is given them when they 
are moved. During the growing season 
they should have plenty of hight and room 
to fully extend their leaves ; they also like 
a drier atmosphere than most plants. 
The following are fine kinds :— 
C. Armstrongit. A handsome, bold- 
leaved sort. 
C. circinalis. A very large leaved, hand- 
some kind, requiring a good deal of room. 
A native of India. 
C. circinalis glauca. 
form of the above. 
C. media. A handsome kind, of mode- 
rate size. New Holland. 
C. plumosa. Has beautiful plume-like 
foliage ; a handsome species from India. 
C. revoluta. A Chinese species that will . 
thrive in a warm greenhouse. 
CO. Riuminiana. A fine kind from 
the Philippine Islands. 
Insecrs.—The hard nature of the leaves 
is such as not to afford much food for in- 
sects, but scale will sometimes become 
troublesome, and sponging is the best 
remedy. 
A glaucous-leaved 
CYCLAMEN. 
The Cyclamens now so largely used for 
pot cultivation are almost wholly confined 
to the race of seedling varieties of C. per- 
cisum that in recent years have been so 
much improved both in thesizeand colourot 
their flowers, as also in the disposition to 
produce them in much greater quantities 
than the original species could be induced 
to. So great is the improvement that the 
Cyclamens of the present day are amongst 
the most beautiful and continuous bloomers 
of all greenhouse plants. 
The cultural treatment, with more 
warmth stimulating quick growth, that 
this new race is found to best succeed 
with, is very different from the old slow 
method of growing them, by which the 
plants were yearly, after blooming, sub- 
jected to a severe drying process whereby 
they were much enfeebled. The ordinary, 
and much the best way of propagation is 
from seed, which may be sown at different 
times of the year, according to the season 
they are required to flower. If well 
managed the plants will be large enough 
to admit of flowering when from fifteen to 
eighteen months old. To bloom in spring 
sow about November or December; if 
wanted to come into flower during the 
