RONDELETIA. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
303 
cultivation has been attempted it has often 
happened that they have bloomed indif- 
ferently. This may generally, we think, 
be traced to their having been grown in too 
much heat, or to their roots being confined, 
as they do not succeed so well in pots as 
when planted out. They are hardwooded 
evergreen shrubs. Their flowers are borne 
in bunches, in form not unlike those of a 
Rondeletia. Their propagation is by cut- 
tings, which strike best when made of 
shoots produced from branches that have 
been cut back, taking the young growths 
off with a heel in spring as soon as large 
enough. These we have found to root 
much better than cuttings made of ordi- 
nary shoots. They do best put singly in 
little pots filled with sand, kept moist, 
close, and shaded. When they are well 
rooted and sufficiently hardened pot in 
sandy peat. A temperature of 60° in the 
night is enough for them during the 
summer, with a proportionate rise by day. 
Syringe overhead daily, allowing them 
plenty of light, with a little shade in very 
bright weather, and more air than the 
generality of stove plants require. 
By the middle of July move them into 
6-inch pots, using good peat. During this 
time they will need the points of the shoots 
pinched out, otherwise they will run up 
thin with insufficient branches. Give more 
air in the autumn; in the night, through 
the winter, a temperature of 50° will be 
enough, and just as much water as will keep 
the soil fairly moist should be given. In 
March use a little more warmth, and as 
soon as they show signs of beginning to 
grow, move them into 9-inch or 10-inch 
pots, treating them during summer as ad- 
vised for the preceding season. Should 
any of the branches evince a disposition to 
out-grow the rest, cut them back. The 
pots they are now in will be large enough 
for the season. Treat as before during the 
summer and following winter, and in the 
spring they should be planted out where 
they are to remain. The best position is 
against the end of a house, where their 
heads will get a fair amount of light, and 
a small border can be made wherein to 
turn them out; drain it sufficiently and 
fill it with turfy peat, to which add a 
moderate quantity of sand and some broken 
crocks. The shoots should be trained out 
in fan shape, and will only require to be kept 
regularly arranged to cover the allotted 
space. They will flower during the ensuing 
summer, after which slightly cut them in 
and encourage further growth. Each year 
when the blooming is over they will want 
more or less shortening back according to 
the extent to be covered. When the soil 
gets tolerably well filled with roots a good 
plan is to give weak manure-water once a 
week through the growing season. If this 
course is pursued, the result will be sturdy 
examples that will in due season produce 
plenty of flowers. 
There are only a small number of species 
in cultivation, of which the undermentioned’ 
are the most desirable :— 
R. amena. <A pretty rose-coloured kind 
that blooms in the summer and autumn. 
A native of Guatemala. 
R. gratissima. Flowers pink, a fine 
species which, treated as above advised, 
grows well. It comes from Mexico and 
blooms in the summer and autumn. 
f. versicolor. Has red flowers, and is 
also a summer and autumn bloomer ; from 
Central America. 
Insects.—These plants are not usually 
much subject to insects if they are kept 
syringed, as they should be, during the 
summer, and they are not placed in con- 
tact with other things that are affected 
with scale ; this is troublesome when once 
it gets established on them, and it is best 
removed by sponging. 
RONDELETIA SPECIOSA MAJOR. 
This and the smaller-flowered type are 
stove plants, and possess much to commend 
them to the general cultivator. They are 
frequently seen on the exhibition table, but 
are scarcely showy enough to find favour 
with growers for show purposes; this, 
however, does not in any way detract from 
their merits as regards decoration or the 
production of cut flowers. For the com- 
paratively small quantity of high-coloured 
flowers that a tasteful bouquet should con- 
tain, we know of no plant more suitable 
than the Rondeletia; it possesses the 
essential property of endurance when the 
growth and flowers have been made under 
the conditions requisite to impart this cha- 
racter to them. ‘To this in the selection of 
flowers for such purposes, sufficient atten- 
tion is not always given. The flowers are 
equally durable on the plant, and will 
keep fresh for many weeks in a conserva- 
tory or greenhouse—that is if the plant 
has been grown so as to avoid the soft, 
tender state, consequent upon too much 
heat and an over-moist atmosphere, with 
the absence of sufficient light, for the 
Rondeletia is more of an intermediate 
house subject than of an ordinary stove. 
It isa native of Havana, and will winter 
without injury in a night temperature of 
50°, with a corresponding rise during the 
day. Hence those who have the means for 
keeping up as much heat as this need not 
