194 
further than that it has large handsome 
foliage. From South America. 
GRIFFINIA. 
Griffinias consist of some half-dozen 
species, all stove evergreen South American 
Amaryllidaceous plants, compact in habit, 
and of a free-blooming character; the 
flower-stems spring from the centre of the 
bulbs and rise well above the foliage, 
terminating in a large umbel of delicate 
blue and white or purple and white flowers, 
in shape not unlike those of the blue 
Agapanthus. Few bulbous plants better 
deserve a place in even the most select 
collections of stove subjects than these. 
They are at all times handsome, and when 
strong specimens are in flower they con- 
tinue to open their blooms in succession for 
three months at a time, and are equally 
suitable for conservatory decoration or for 
cutting ; for the latter purpose they have 
few equals, the colour (always scarce except 
in flowers of diminutive size) particularly 
adapting them for arranging with others 
of paler or more vivid hues ; their substance 
also enables them to retain their freshness 
for days in water, or in any moisture- 
holding material. The plants likewise 
have the merit of being easily grown, and 
can be cultivated successfully by those who 
have not the means of growing a number 
of things requiring a very high temperature. 
An intermediate heat, such as that of a 
vinery where a little fire is used, will 
answer for them quite as well as a warmer 
situation, but they should never, except in 
warm weather, be subjected for a long time 
to a greenhouse temperature, even when 
they have completed their growth and are 
at rest, or they are liable to suffer. The 
only drawback to their more general cul- 
tivation is their scarcity, consequent upon 
their slow habit of growth, a circumstance 
still further aggravated by keeping them 
quite dry when at rest. Nothing can be 
more injurious to any evergreen bulb than 
this kind of treatment when carried too 
far, and especially in the case of Griffinias. 
Unlike Eucharis amazonica, Griffinias 
cannot be grown and periodically rested so 
as to induce them to flower several times 
in the year; on the contrary, they need a 
long season to become fully developed, and 
want a long rest afterwards before flower- 
ing, during which the soil should be kept 
much drier than when they are in active 
growth, but should never be so dry as to 
eanse the leaves to flag. 
Another reason why these plants are 
scarce is that so few succeed in raising them 
from seeds, the failure being often attribut- 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
GRIFFINIA. 
able to the seeds being covered with soil, 
whereas they should be allowed to remain 
on the surface of the soil in the pots, other- 
wise they will decay. Griffinias can also 
be increased by separation of those bulbs 
that are produced as offsets in the same 
manner as with Amaryllis, but their pro- 
gress is very slow, and the roots are so 
closely interwoven as to render their 
separation almost impossible without con- 
siderable mutilation. When they are to be 
divided, the ball should be turned out of 
the pot and the whole of the soil washed 
very carefully from amongst the roots, by 
which means they may be more readily 
disentangled without so much breakage. 
They should then be placed singly in from 
4 to 6 inch pots, according to the size of the 
bulbs, and treated as hereafter described 
for plants raised from seed. After bloom- 
ing in summer and autumn the seeds make 
their appearance, growing to the size of 
Potato Apples, but in appearance more like 
small green unripe Tomatoes, being cor- 
rugated and irregular in shape. They 
must be allowed to remain on the plants 
until they either fall off of their own 
accord or can be removed by very slight 
pressure, and should then be sown 
immediately. For this purpose use an 
ordinary seed-pan proportionate in size to 
the number of seeds, put an inch of drainage 
in the bottom, and on this a little sphag- 
num or turfy material. 
The soil should consist of yellow loam, 
with about one-sixth of sand added ; the 
loam should not be sifted even for the 
seeds, but pulled into small pieces and 
pressed moderately close, a little sand 
should besprinkled on the top, and the whole 
given a good watering ; then lay on the 
seeds, pressing them gently into the surface, 
so that they may imbibe the moisture from 
the soil, which must be kept continually 
damp ; put them in a temperature of 55° 
at night, with a few degrees higher during 
the day ; so treated, they will in the course 
of two or three months vegetate. They 
should not be disturbed until the pro- 
truding roots have descended into and got 
a firm hold of the soil, during which time 
a leaf will be formed to each seed. This 
will usually occupy the whole of the winter 
and spring after they are sown. Through 
this time the soil must be kept moderately 
moist, after which they should be trans- 
ferred singly into well-drained pots, in soil 
similar to that in which they were sown. 
Through the spring the temperature should 
be gradually raised, and during the summer 
it may range in the night from 60° to 65°, 
and 10° or 15° higher in the daytime with 
sun-heat. Keep the plants well up to the 
