234 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
LESCHENAULTIA. 
is headed back, if kept in a temperature too 
low to excite growth, that it either dies or 
breaks weakly—the roots, under such con- 
dition, generally suffering more than they 
otherwise would through the severance of 
the branches. If affected with white scale, 
they will require cutting back to the hard, 
mature wood, and dressing with strong in- 
secticide ; the mixture should be washed 
well into the equalities of the bark, and 
the dressing repeated several times before 
the plants break into growth. 
LASTREA. 
A genus of Ferns, containing stove, 
greenhouse, and hardy species; most of 
the tender sorts are inferior in appear- 
ance to the generality of stove or green- 
house kinds, but those who form collections 
may deem a few worth growing. 
For propagation and cultivation, see 
Ferns, general details of culture. 
STOVE SPECIES. 
L. melanocaulon. 
LL. membranifolia. Isle of Luzon. 
L. patens. West Indies. 
GREENHOUSE SPECIES. 
L. aristata variegata. Japan. 
L. decomposita. Australia. 
L. decurrens. Japan and China. 
LATANIA., 
A genus of handsome cool stove Palms, 
of easy culture. They are manageable in 
size in the early stages of their growth, but 
as they get old require much room. 
The method of propagation and after 
management will be found under Palms, 
general details of culture. 
L. aurea. This is a very strong grower, 
with thick leaf-stalks, the leaves are 
palmate in shape, deeply divided and dis- 
tinctly plaited. From the Mauritius. 
L. rubra. A handsome species, with 
strong leaf-stalks, red in colour. The 
leaves, which are palmate, are deeply 
divided, and distinctly plaited. From the 
Mauritius. 
LESCHENAULTIA. 
These fine evergreen greenhouse plants 
are natives of New Holland; they com- 
prise some half-dozen species and varieties. 
L. biloba major is justly esteemed as one 
of the finest plants in cultivation. Its 
splendid light blue flowers have no equal 
among plants of this class; they are pro- 
duced freely from the points of the shoots 
in spring and summer, and last five or 
six weeks in beauty. A well-flowered 
example of this Leschenaultia is not only 
a fine and attractive subject in itself, 
but from its distinct habit of growth and 
colour it harmonises with any other plants, 
more especially those bearing yellow 
flowers, such as the Allamandas, from 
which cause it has always been a favourite 
with exhibitors. There is no plant that 
has a more telling effect, or is a greater 
source of attraction on the exhibition stage, 
yet here, of late years, it has not been so 
often seen as in time past. There are 
several reasons that account for this; it 
does not attain so large a size as most of 
the subjects now grown for showing are 
required to do, consequently where a 
reasonable uniformity in size is looked for, 
it is found too small. It is also a short- 
lived plant, liable to get into bad condition, 
or go off, without any apparent cause. 
Nevertheless, it is a subject that deserves a 
better fate than to get into the list of 
neglected plants, where there is some 
danger of its going. It is one of the things 
the cultivation of which no young plant 
grower should rest satisfied until he has 
mastered. It requires different treatment 
from most other plants, and any attempt 
to grow it under the exact conditions 
that some natives of the same country 
want, will end in failure. Three principal 
things to observe are :—In potting not a 
single root must be injured that can be 
avoided, not even by the removal of the 
crocks; in the winter it must not be 
allowed to remain long in a temperature 
lower than 45°; and it should never be 
stood in the open air. The first and last 
of these will cause the stunted condition 
that it often gets into, and from which it 
rarely recovers, and a lower temperature 
than that named will speedily lead to the 
attack of mildew, to which it is much 
subject. 
To ensure success it is necessary to have 
free young plants to begin with—without 
this there is little prospect of their doing 
well. 
This Leschenaultia strikes freely from 
cuttings made of the points of the young 
shoots about 3 inches in length, taken off 
early in spring ; put them 2 inches apart 
in pots filled with sand, cover with a pro- 
pagating glass, keep moist, and shaded in 
an intermediate house and they will root 
in six or eight weeks, when gradually 
expose them to the full air of the house 
and pinch off the tops of the shoots—as soon 
as they begin to move freely putting them 
singly in 3-inch pots in fine peat to which 
a good sprinkling of sand has been added ; 
