HEXACENTRIS. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
205 
should suppose that it must have come 
from an elevated district. When well- 
grown, its drooping flower-spikes extend 
to as much as 15 inches in length. It is 
best adapted for draping the rafters of the 
house in which it is cultivated, or it may 
be trained during the growing season on 
thin twine near the glass, where it will be 
fully under the influence of light, and then 
trained on a trellis like the twining 
Clerodendrons. It is a quick grower, and 
can be got to aconsiderable size in a single 
season. It may either be planted out or 
grown ina large pot. We prefer the latter, 
as so managed it attains a size sufficient for 
all ordinary purposes, and being a free- 
rooting subject, it quickly exhausts the 
soil, which can be more readily renewed 
under pot culture than when planted out. 
It appears to be aplant that under cultiva- 
tion has no fixed season of blooming. We 
have had flowers in abundance through 
the winter and early spring months on 
growth produced the preceding summer, 
well ripened up during the autumn and 
slightly rested. We have also succeeded 
in having plenty of flowers during the late 
summer and autumn on the current 
season’s growth without any previous rest ; 
but, to effect this, it must be ina thoroughly 
light house, with little shade, more air, 
and less moisture than the majority of 
stove plants need, and also not too much 
heat, otherwise it keeps on growing with- 
out seeming to have time to flower until 
checked. 
The ripening process should be effected 
by a drier state of both atmosphere and 
soil. Plants that have been rested through 
the autumn or winter in a temperature of 
about 55° at night soon commence to grow 
when subjected to 5° or 10° more warmth 
and produce abundance of cuttings. These 
should be taken off with a heel of firm 
wood attached to them when about 6 
inches long, inserted singly in small pots, 
two-thirds filled with sandy loam, the 
remaining portion pure sand, kept moist 
and covered with a propagating glass in a 
temperature of 70°. They will root in 
a few weeks, when they may be gradually 
inured to the full air of the house, and 
when sufficient roots have been formed 
(which will be by the beginning or middle 
of May) they may be moved to 6-inch pots, 
well drained and filled with good fibrous 
loam, to which should be added enough 
sand to allow the water to pass away 
freely. The plant appears to grow equally 
well in either peat or loam, but we prefer 
loam through all stages of its growth, as in 
it it has a less disposition to make wood, 
and is more inclined to flower. When the 
plants have attained a foot in height, pinch 
out the points to induce the production of 
several shoots, which should be kept 
regularly trained round four or five tall 
sticks inserted in the pots for the purpose. 
Keep them now tolerably near the glass in 
an ordinary stove temperature day and 
night, or if they can be accommodated in 
a temperature a few degrees cooler, all the 
better. Sixty degrees at night is sufficient 
with 80° in the day, but a few degrees 
either way matters not, provided the plants 
are where they can receive a little more 
air with a drier atmosphere than the 
generality of stove plants are treated to at 
the present day. Syringe freely overhead 
every afternoon, and use a slight shade 
in the brightest part of the day if the 
leaves are found to scorch, not otherwise. 
By the middle of July the roots will have 
filled the pots, when the plants can be 
moved to others 3 inches larger, the soil 
used now being a little rougher than before, 
but of a similar nature. Keep the shoots 
regularly trained round the sticks ; if this 
is not done they are sure to get entangled. 
Continue the same treatment as before 
until the beginning of September, when 
syringing should be stopped. More air 
ought to be given now and less water at 
the roots, so as to gradually induce a state 
of rest. Through the winter keep them at 
from 50° to 55° by night and a few degrees 
higher in the daytime, with no more water 
than will just prevent the leaves flagging. 
About the middle or end of February 
increase the temperature 5° day and night, 
and as soon as the plants begin to grow 
they may have a large shift—-a 16 or 18 
inch pot will not be too much—using the 
loam ina lumpy state ; if destined to be 
erown as roof-climbers the shoots should 
be trained under the rafters, or in whatever 
position they are to occupy. Be careful 
not to over-water, as it will take some time 
for the roots to fairly enter the large body 
of new soil. Admit sufficient air during 
the day through the spring, but avoid cold 
draughts, and syringe freely at the time of 
closing the house in the afternoon. As the 
sun’s power increases give a little more 
heat, but no more shade than seems ab- 
solutely necessary. 
Continue to train the shoots as they 
advance in growth, treating the plants in 
other respects through the summer as in 
the preceding year ; in autumn give more 
air, withholding atmospheric moisture and 
reduce the amount at the roots, so far as can 
be done without injuring the foliage. Let 
the treatment through the winter be the 
same as before. Again, as the days lengthen 
in spring increase the heat and give more 
