LASIANDRA, 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 933 
ing the roots much. When they have 
bloomed the next autumn it will be best 
to destroy them, unless where required 
very large, as young plants are in every 
way to be preferred, and from their quick 
and easy growth succession stock can al- 
ways be brought on to take their place. 
The other variety, L. macrantha, when 
first let out, very much disappointed those 
who grew it, from its straggling upright 
habit, which no amount of stopping and 
attentive cultivation appeared capable of 
counteracting, and for this reason, in most 
cases, it was discarded as worthless. It 
frequently happens that a plant which is 
admirably adapted for some particular 
purpose gets a bad character by reason of 
its inability to conform to a process of 
culture opposed to its natural habit. Thus 
it was with this Lasiandra : its straggling 
growth, although rendering it unfit for 
growing intc a compact bushy specimen, 
naturally suits it for the purpose of train- 
ing up a pillar, wall, or rafter ; grown in 
any of these situations in a structure, with 
a few degrees more warmth in the winter 
than the ordinary hardwooded house, it is 
one of the finest flowering plants in exist- 
ence, blooming for weeks in such profusion 
that no’one, except those who have seen it 
so employed, can form any idea of the 
gorgeous effect it produces. It forms large 
clusters of from a dozen to a score of 
flowers at the points of the shoots, which 
keep on opening in succession for weeks 
together, but to be grown to perfection in 
such situations it should not be confined to 
a pot, but should be planted out in a well- 
drained bed of good loam, to which has 
been added a liberal admixture of sand, 
with the addition of a good sprinkling of 
charcoal or bricks, broken the size of 
pigeons’ eggs, to prevent the soil getting 
sour. 
In thus using this plant, as in the case 
of many others, the mistake is frequently 
committed of turning them out whilst in a 
small state ; so treated the soil becomes 
sour before the plant has enough roots 
to lay sufficient hold of it. On this point it 
may be, and frequently is, urged that 
plants in a state of nature commence their 
existence, even from the germination of 
the seed, in an unconfined space, without 
the soil becoming unsuited for their well- 
being ; but in the open air the conditions 
of the soil, in common with other things, 
are altogether different ; full exposure to 
the air and light prevents its becoming in 
such condition as is inevitable in the best 
ventilated and light-admitting structure, 
and in nature’s planting it must be borne 
in mind that all do not grow that come in 
contact with the soil—only such as happen 
to be placed under conditions of situation 
suitable to their requirements. Thus with 
plants that are intended to be turned out 
in borders, such as the one under considera- 
tion, we have always found, except in 
the case of extremely strong-growing sub- 
jects, that it was much the best way to 
grow them on for a time in pots until they 
had acquired considerable strength before 
turning out, with the precaution, at the 
time of planting, of spreading the roots 
out so as to prevent the ill-effects of the 
spiral root-curve inseparable from pot 
culture. For the above reason it is better 
to grow this Lasiandra in a pot for a 
season, treating it in every way as to soil, 
water, air, and shading, as has been advised 
for L. macrantha floribunda, but not to 
stop the shoots, simply growing the plants 
on with a single stem until they have 
attained the height which will best adapt 
them for the position they are required 
for. Afterwards it will be necessary to 
take out the points, so as to induce the 
formation of shoots to cover sufficiently 
their allotted space, when they will require 
nothing more than being kept tied loosely 
in, with sufficient use of the knife after 
flowering, to keep them within bounds. 
In such situations this and other plants 
frequently get weakly, through the soil 
becoming impoverished, to prevent which 
every spring, before active growth com- 
mences, an inch or two of the surface-soil 
should be removed and new added, with 
an occasional application of manure-water 
during the growing season ; so treated they 
will last many years. 
Insrcts.— Lasiandras are not plants per- 
ticularly subject to insects. Red spider 
will sometimes make its appearance if the 
syringe is not sufficiently used ; in such 
case repeated washings with clean water 
will be the best remedy, the texture of the 
leaves being such as not to bear without 
danger of injury any application of the 
usual insecticides. Scale, either white or 
brown, will live upon them; the brown 
species is usually small and puny, but in 
such state it is not so easily destroyed as 
when upon a plant that suits it better, and 
on which it is found in that peculiar fat 
condition which indicates good feeding. 
Where it exists upon these plants, the best 
way to proceed is, after flowering, to 
shorten back, cutting away all the leaves 
and then washing thoroughly with insecti- 
cide—repeating this two or three times in 
the course of ten days. The plants, after 
this cutting in, should be kept in a tem- 
perature of 50°, so as to induce them to 
break, for it often happens when any plant 
